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Mystery Train
 
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Mystery Train (Paperback)

by Greil Marcus (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 17.00
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  • This item: Mystery Train by Greil Marcus

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

More than 20 years after its initial publication, Mystery Train remains one of the smartest, most provocative books ever written about rock-and-roll. Marcus puts his subjects--which include Robert Johnson, Elvis Presley, The Band, Randy Newman, and Sly Stone--into their proper context, which is the culture-at-large. He makes you understand why these musicians matter, and what they've contributed to the American imagination. In his introduction, Marcus confesses that he's no longer "capable of mulling over Elvis without thinking about Herman Melville"--to the benefit, I might add, of both parties. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

Catch a train to the heart of rock 'n' roll with this essential study of the quintessential American art form. First published in 1975, Greil Marcus's Mystery Train remains a benchmark study of rock 'n' roll and a classic in the field of music criticism. Focusing on six key artists-Robert Johnson, Harmonica Frank, Randy Newman, the Band, Sly Stone, and Elvis Presley-Marcus explores the evolution and impact of rock 'n' roll and its unique place in American culture. This fifth edition of Mystery Train includes an updated and rewritten Notes and Discographies section, exploring the evolution and continuing impact of the recordings featured in the book.
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1.0 out of 5 stars Astonishingly bad, by any standards, May 26 2004
By J Ken Kuzenski (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Mystery Train (Paperback)
Back in the 70s, we hadn't yet learned to "just say no." Perhaps that's why some people liked _Mystery Train._ Rampant drug use is the only possible reason anyone might find this gibberish interesting or enlightening. It's so absurdly overwritten, so pompous, and so empty of actual meaning as to be beneath contempt. This is, to books about music, what "Plan Nine From Outer Space" is to sci-fi movies.
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1.0 out of 5 stars yes PROFESSOR,, Nov 9 2003
By david (ALaMO usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mystery Train (Paperback)
nearly alway predictable,POINTs SO OBVIOUS, ITS NON INSIGHTFULL,always mundane inducing MIGRAINE,MAINSTREAM AND BORING,so nearly accessible for,FOLLOWERS,not thinkers,PONDEROUS, without apology ,doesnt understand formalism FROM COW DUNG,its clearlY HORRIFIC,SPECIFIC AND DEPRESSING,more like a trainwreck[ not meant to be]stupidy MASKING reality, GET REAL LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD,his appropriations are BARELY TOLLERABLE, CHEW ON THIS POST HASTE, this belongs in the trasheep BLEEP.
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1.0 out of 5 stars launched a thousand mediocre rock critics, Jun 6 2003
By Nunov Yerbusiness (massachusetts) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mystery Train (Paperback)
This book struck a nerve when I was a teenager, but years later, I see what a narrow view of rock history it truly is. I also see now how many second generation rock writers have used this book as a jumping off point for their lame work.

Full of pompous opinions and quasi-intellectual gibberish, it puts me in mind of F. Zappa's famous quote that "rock journalism is written for people who can't read, by people who can't write."

The roster of roots rockers who are overlooked (while Marcus focuses on a handful of his favorites) is shameful. Worse yet, this book may be one of main reasons for the overblown legacy of Robert Johnson. Many other blues artists -- Bukka White, Skip James, Charlie Patton -- were doing similar, if not better work than Johnson, but you would never know that reading only "Mystery Train," which props up Johnson's corpse on a pedestal. (One annoying passage finds Marcus speculating on one Johnson legend that he was fronting an early electric combo before his death. If so, concludes Marcus, maybe Johnson was the true originator of rock n roll. Right! Never mind that many bluesmen from the 30s were plugging into rock beats at the same time.)...

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Still one of the truly great Rock 'n' Roll books
The first edition of MYSTERY TRAIN appeared in 1975, and now appears in its 4th Edition. That a study of rock 'n' roll should appear in a 4th edition shows the ongoing appeal of... Read more
Published on Oct 13 2002 by Robert Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding America
Quite simply, this is one of the best books ever written about rock music. I am aware of the criticism a brilliant critic like Greil Marcus arises, but i also know that his... Read more
Published on Aug 22 2002 by Jorge Carnaxide

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Rock Critic At His Best
Mystery Train Greil Marcus

Greil Marcus is indisputably rock n'roll's premier cultural historian. Read more

Published on Dec 11 2001 by Jeremy Reed

2.0 out of 5 stars mystery train blues
I had to struggle to get through this one. I found the writing style contrived and full of meandering attempts at placing rock and roll in a larger philosophical context. Read more
Published on Dec 27 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars In The American Grain
I am a 20yr old English American Studies student, a verified "america-phile" (this is how i've been described by americans in my year abroad at an american university,... Read more
Published on Oct 17 2000 by Papa Hemingway

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the lover of the rock and roll idiom
Founding rolling stone writer Greil Marcus is what you'd describe, were you English and of a certain age, as an "Anorak". Read more
Published on Aug 2 2000 by O. Buxton

4.0 out of 5 stars The Landmark Randy Newman Chapter
Many people love this book for "Presleyiad", the lengthy mythic analysis of Presley's career. Read more
Published on Jul 26 2000 by R. W. Rasband

5.0 out of 5 stars Tops man!
I'm not going to lie. I only read one chapter, Sly Stone, but this book is incredible because of it. Read more
Published on Jun 12 2000 by Jonathan Ashley

5.0 out of 5 stars Endlessly rewarding and insightful
Marcus's book is sort of like a lecture from a brilliant, eccentric professor, already prone to paranthetical asides and lengthy detours, with one too many drinks in him:... Read more
Published on Feb 17 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars bloated
Marcus is sometimes capable of great insight. Unfortunately these rare gems are sandwiched between pages and pages of rambling nonsense. Read more
Published on Sep 21 1999

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