book review :The Birth of Loud

[fazool]

I love histories that weave the chronological story of products and technologies.

For example, the best one I ever read was called "Engines of the Mind" which is a phenomenal story of the history of computing. It tells a story that really no one understands or thinks about and illustrates how it's not one instant invention but a glacially-slow evolution (in that case over, yes, hundreds of years). Ask someone who invented computers or even "software" and there is a 99% chance you will get famous popular names but the wrong answers. And in these stories are deception, competition and human drama making the myths even more misleading.

As the saying goes "History is written by the winners" and that is so true when it comes to electric guitars.

My wife bought me this book for Christmas:



The opening pages were a bit sluggish and I was afraid I didn't like the writing style. Part of that was because of the immediate discomfort I felt that the history I thought was deliberately wrong. So I was defensive, at first, thinking "this can't be!"

But then, after about half of a chapter, I got hooked on the real story.

I took the book on vacation and picked it up every chance I could. That's not my reading style - even my wife and kids commented about how voraciously I was reading this book.

I won't give out any spoilers .

I will say that the writing is excellent - it's like a good historical fiction story, except it's not fiction. It's even a bit of a dramatic page-turner.

I found that I actually didn't even like the main characters - they were flawed humans, whose behaviors were mostly selfish and/or awkward.......in other words "human".

That was a powerful part of this story: to see the flaws and inadequacies of the iconic people and their products.

Again, I am avoiding details because I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

If you like the type of history I described above and you like guitars (not just acoustics), then I strongly encourage you to read this book.

I didn't like the story and the behaviors and the way credit was doled out. But I loved the book, and the way it told that story - truthfully and without the mythology we inaccurately apply.

Great, great, great book!

[Otterhound]

Somehow , I figure that a book titled " The Birth of Loud " , should be about amp manufacturers more than guitar builders or players .
Of course , Leo Fender should be included in that book .

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

...Of course, Leo Fender should be included in that book...

From an amp standpoint, it would be remiss to neglect the contributions of Nat Daniel (Epiphone/Danelectro) and Everett Hull (Ampeg) - contemporaries of Leo Fender who, while not as well-known to the average player, were also highly influential in the postwar development of the American electric guitar amplifier - as well as the team of Tom Jennings/Dick Denney (Vox) and Jim Marshall, who would pioneer a distinctly "British" school of amplification in the early-60's which, by decade's end, forever redefined the sound of rock music...

[Dru Edwards]

I've heard great things about that book, Fazool. Thanks for your thread. It's a book on my list.

[Jaden]

Thanks for the reminder of this book (I haven’t read it yet) - particularly appealing is your critical impression of the characters involved and portrayed in the realistic context of the American entrepreneur of the 20th century - will be of interest to gearheads like myself, and along the way I’m sure from your review it sounds like good literature on a deeper level.

[Bob Womack]

Yep. my wife got me that book for Christmas and it is in the que. Right now I'm wrapping up Earnest K. Gann's, Fate is the Hunter, which my son bought me for Christmas. It has been an interesting ride!


Bob

[guitararmy]

I may have to get me a copy of that book, sounds interesting!

About a year ago I read a similar book that was good as well:
https://www.amazon.com/Play-Loud-His...29823228&psc=1

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

Somehow , I figure that a book titled " The Birth of Loud " , should be about amp manufacturers more than guitar builders or players .
Of course , Leo Fender should be included in that book .

Well that is a good point to consider . Not to mention that (If I remember correctly) I believe it was the first Beatles US tour that more or less demonstrated that the combo guitar amps by themselves not mic'ed they were using (and the PA as well) were not sufficient to overcome the multitude of screaming girls that literally drowned out the music in a stadium setting. And arguably launched the march to multi stack head and speaker cabs and now the massive large venue line array systems of today.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

Somehow , I figure that a book titled " The Birth of Loud " , should be about amp manufacturers more than guitar builders or players .
Of course , Leo Fender should be included in that book .

Don't worry, Leo is one of the two main characters in the book.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yep. my wife got me that book for Christmas and it is in the que. Right now I'm wrapping up Earnest K. Gann's, Fate is the Hunter, which my son bought me for Christmas. It has been an interesting ride!


Bob

Gann was my favorite aviation writer. I read him in my youth, and I've been re-reading him lately.

[ziapack]

Thanks for the recommendation, think I will check it out.

[619TF]

Thanks for the reminder about this one. I'd forgotten about it and am happy to say my local library had a copy that I'll be picking up later today.

[M Sarad]

I read it in an afternoon. Filled in a few gaps. Worth it.

[Otterhound]

Originally Posted by Birdbrain

Don't worry, Leo is one of the two main characters in the book.

I understand this very clearly .
Irony , which I do love , shows us that neither Leo or Les were on the quest for loud . They were playing , at least Les was , in the early electric Jazz era . Clarity and purity were the goals at the onset of their presence .
Loud morphed from their outside of their initiative . They , at least Leo did , simply followed suit once the race began .

[jseth]

Yep - I liked it a lot!

Got to where I didn't want it to end... very unusual for me when reading non-fiction!