Rock and Roll [Hardcover]

The photos that make up "Rock and Roll" take me back to a time when music was allowed to dominate my life - before careers, mortgages, and family forced it to a role of mere coexistence; when the musical giants pictured within were more god than human. And this book does an amazing job of feeding that hero-worship - it's oversized pages make the stars seem bigger than life. However, "Rock and Roll" is more than just a nostalgia trip - Goldsmith's photos show their subjects in settings both familiar and unfamiliar, thereby both re-affirming and contributing to our impressions of them.

Bottom line, this is a very cool book filled with amazing photos that any fan of rock & roll will enjoy.

One of the many artist quotes found inside is from Sting: "It's fun to visit the past, as long as you don't go back permanently." I may not go back permanently, but with this book I will definitely go back frequently!

This new large sized coffee table book by the legendary photographer Lynn Goldsmith is beyond superb. From the slick vellum cover with its well-chosen scrawled "rock and roll" font, to the several legendary images within, the book is a true masterpiece and probably one of her best.

Through Lynn's eyes and Iggy Pop's well chosen introductory words, the reader gets a rare glimpse into Lynn's colorful, art filled world of hard rock, blues, punk, pop, rap, beauty, intelligence, blood, sweat and guts. Lynn is all over the place in this book, right there on stage with a sweaty 1978 Mick Jagger, underneath a bloody Sid Vicious, thoughtfully shooting icons like Tom Waits and a young Bruce Springsteen (in very personal moments), to capturing the sex appeal of the early Van Halen and exposing the cool iced grace of Lou Reed. Lynn's ability to try so many kinds of shots and evoke so much raw emotion from her subjects is part of her brilliance and charm. She can even get whimsy out of angry subjects like Roger Daltry and then create iconic, legendary pictures of Frank Zappa, Patti Smith, Grand Funk Railroad, and so many more. Her timing couldn't be better as she always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Whether it's getting a perfect snaggle toothed Johnny Rotten or being right there when Tina Turner is letting it all hang out, Lynn just has her pulse on not only the music, but the places to be when that music is going down.

Lynn, to me, is also far better than most in her league because she is able to work in so many different moods, styles and settings with ease. Her live shots are just incredible, filled with energy and emotion; just see her Bruce and The E Street band shots for a taste, or the fantastic James Brown images. The shows become alive right there on paper. Lynn's studio work is also brilliant. The books filled with noir lighting, bright colorful backdrops, natural light and well-chosen settings. I personally love the studio Dylan shots, you can see her deep admiration for the man in those pictures and the close up shots are just breath taking. I also really love the relationships the pictures have with one another. Shots were well chosen to live side by side in perfect harmony.

Last but not least, besides the great artist commentary towards the end of the book, included in several sections are Lynn's now famous multiple image fold outs where 1000's of images of the artist make up one full sized image...very cool indeed. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

With Rock and Roll, she again delivers an Artist's styling, a poet's phrasing, and a historian's perspective to her work that makes this a must have companion to PhotoDiary. Lynn provides an insiders view into some of the biggest and most influential names in music. This is more than just a collection of photographs, it's a vivid and compelling travelogue through the broad landscape of contemporary music over the past three (nearly four) decades.

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