Nothing to freak out about: Albert Goldman's Freakshow
Why did I buy it? And why did I read it (some of it)? Er, I'm talking about Albert Goldman's Freakshow: Misadventures In The Counterculture, 1959-1971 , his ragamuffin collection of articles on music, comedy and cultural trends, first published in 1971. Get ur freak on: Albert Goldman's book Why, indeed. Actually, it was probably the combination of the decent title and the acid-coloured cover design (from the 2001 reprint), along with a dim memory of having read Goldman's book-cum-hatchet job on John Lennon and quite enjoying it, not least the lurid tales of druggy excess and paranoia during Lennon and Yoko Ono's Dakota building years. Anyway, we all make mistakes. In my humble estimation, Freakshow is pretty terrible. At least that's how I found the 80 or so pages on "rock music" - the sections on "Rock Theatre" and "The Death Of Rock", which I must admit are the only parts of the book I've managed to read. After wading throu...
