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'33 1/3' spins rock literature
Illustration by Lindsey E. Douthit
May 8, 2008 | 12:50 p.m. CST
In the anguished, misunderstood lives of adolescents, music is often regarded as an essential element to sustain sanity. For Roger Painter, a fictional teenager unjustly thrown into a psychiatric institution in John Darnielle’s book Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality, there is nothing figurative about it.
“He is pleading to his counselor in this psychiatric institution, ‘You got to let me have my Walkman back because I can only survive with my tapes of Black Sabbath,’” says David Barker, editor and creator of Continuum’s “33 1/3” book series, which includes Darnielle’s book. “He is desperately trying to persuade this guy how much music means to him.”
Related Links“That, to me, captures the spirit of this series quite well,” Barker says. “I’ve always wanted these to be really quite passionate books.”
“33 1/3” celebrates the art of the LP, or long-playing record, which spins at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. Each book in the series takes an in-depth look at a significant or influential album through either fiction or more traditional rock criticism. By doing so, the books emphasize the importance of both the music and the meaning behind it. Black Sabbath would be nothing without the Roger Painters of the world.
Offering something of a backstage pass for beloved albums, the books have become required reading for music geeks everywhere. “We are basically selling these to hardcore fans of the artists involved,” Barker says.
Along with obvious choices, including Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, the series includes less famous artists, such as Belle and Sebastian and Nick Drake, which give it an advantage in the niche of music literature. For example, the series’ current top-selling book belongs to the reclusive band Neutral Milk Hotel’s album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
“I thought it would do quite well, but I really didn’t think it would outsell The Beatles and The Rolling Stones,” Barker says. “But there is no other book on Neutral Milk Hotel. So, if you want to know in book form what that band was all about, you have to read this book.”
A variety of authors, ranging from musicians to professors, have taken part in the series, and each writes about an album that has extensive personal significance. “(Jeff Buckley) is just a very important musician to me,” explains Daphne Brooks, associate professor of English and African American studies at Princeton University and author of “33 1/3”’s Jeff Buckley’s Grace. “I think (Barker) was really interested in the reasons why I was so affected by that album and by Jeff Buckley as a recording artist and a live performer.”
Although each book has a different take, they all stand united in their support of the concept of a complete album, an iconic element in the world of music that is currently being challenged by iTunes and other outlets that encourage purchasing music song-by-song. Barker is undeterred.
“I can see quite clearly that (albums are) diminishing in terms of sales,” he explains. “I don’t think it’s really diminishing in terms of being a viable art form. I don’t see it being any different from the novel. Musicians and bands for years and decades to come will be making albums.”
