Sesiones

My mom and dad, Kathy and Ray Fournier, have always been supportive of my choices, even the dumb ones (lord knows there have been plenty of those). I can’t thank them enough.

Same goes for the rest of the family.

My aunt, Kathy Lacroix, can finally put my book on her shelf.

I am grateful for the opportunity afforded to me by David Barker and the rest of the gang at Continuum Press.

Mike Watt has been an inspiration for so long. His involvement is an honor.

Thanks to Robyn Gittleman, Cynthia Stewart, Howard Woolf and the staff of the Experimental College at Tufts University for taking a chance on me.

During my stay in Los Angeles, John LeBlanc and Kimee Balmilero went above and beyond every expectation of hospitality. I couldn’t have done this without them.

Leslie Brokaw cheerfully endured my questions and occasional panic.

Ned Greene, Duane Gorey, Terry G. Lorber II, Ed McNamara, Tommy Pichette, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Frank “The Bank” Trippi, and other assorted drunks Make Mondays Tuesdays. (Quick, write that down.)

Dr. Damian Adshead gets stuff done.

Big ups to the folks who contributed their time and thoughts:

Steven Blush, Joe Carducci, Clint Conley, Chuck Dukowski, Ryan Gear, Lance Hahn, Ed Hochuli, Ian MacKaye, Mac McCaughan, Kara Nicks, Dale Nixon, Jack Rabid, Paul Rachman, David Rees, Bruce Siart, Dirk Vandenberg.

Don Cheadle is America’s actor.

When it comes to editing, Howard Martin III is number one in Easton! Southboro! West Northborough! Framing-ham! New Brunswick!

First readers: Pam Ginzler, Rebecca Griffin, Simon Joyce, Rich Ladew-tang, Miriam Leibowitz, Honor Moody, Jay O’Grady, Patrice Taddonio.

The academy: Austin Bagley, Matt Barre, Don Bixder, Campaign for Real-Time, MK Carroll, Giordana & Peter Chipcagni, Marc “Gus” Desgroseilliers, the Fagen High Council, Shelly Fank & Jacob Meyer, First Strike, Michelle Fournier, Everyone at Gargoyles on the Square, god.fires.man, Joseph Grillo, Lake Effect, Dennis Livoli, Brian Lobao and the Key Foundation, Zeke Mermell, Menendez and Mendoza Oblongata, Q, Rideside, Andy Rubenstein, John Straub, Ryan Tacy, all my friends and brothers at Wah-Tut-Ca Scout Reservation, Public Emily Weinsinger, and you.

Oh, and to the Fight for Time’s Right: You’re not fooling anyone.

More praise for the 33 1/3 series:

We . . . aren’t naive enough to think that we’re your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way . . . watch out). For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, you’d do well to check out Continuum’s “33 1/3” series of books.—Pitchfork As individualistic and idiosyncratic as the albums that inspired them—Rob Trucks, Cleveland Scene

The best albums ever made—turned into books!—Blender magazine

This is some of the best music writing going on right now—Pulse of the Twin Cities

Music writing done right—Tape Op magazine

Admirable. ... 33 1/3 has broken new ground—THES (UK) The series quietly breathes some life into the world of music fanaticism ... an explosion of sincere, humbled appreciation—The Portland Mercury

The series represents the Holy Grail of millions of late Baby Boomers—All About Jazz

Inspired—Details

Neat—Nick Hornby, The Believer

A much-needed reprieve from the bite-size capsule reviews that rule much of today’s music criticism—San Francisco Bay Guardian

Informed, fun and personal—Paste Magazine

The series tries to inject new life into a tired form—Newsday All [these] books revel in the distinct shapes and benefits of an album, its ability to go places film, prose or sculpture can’t reach, while capable of being as awe-inspiring as the best of those mediums—Philadelphia City Paper

These first few installments set the bar pretty high for those to come—Tangents

At their best, these Continuum books make rich, thought-provoking arguments for the song collections at hand—The Philadelphia Inquirer

A really remarkable new series of books—The Sunday News-Herald, Michigan

A brilliant idea—The Times (London)

The series treats its subjects with the kind of intelligence and carefully considered respect they deserve—Pop Culture Press Lucid . . . each volume provides insightful commentary—The Paper, Central Illinois

Idiosyncratic, pocket-sized monographs done with passion and insight . . . the analysis is both personal and articulate—Harp Magazine

The series delves as deep as it’s possible to go without resorting to padding ... 5 stars each—Classic Rock Magazine (UK)

Passionate, astutely written, and they lend real insight—Amplifier Magazine

If an enterprising college professor were to put together a course on pop criticism and classic rock ‘n’ roll records, the textbooks could clearly be found among the ... 33 1/3 series presented by Continuum Books. Each book delves deeply into an iconic album of the past 40 years, with a variety of approaches—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Informative, thought-provoking, creative, obsessive and more—Albany Times Union

Articulate, well-researched, and passionate—Library Journal A cracking good idea, and if you like the albums in question, you’re sure to love the books—Leaf Salon, New Zealand Eclectic enough that there should be something for everyone—Maxim

A nifty little string of books that deserves more attention—Columbia Daily Tribune

These little tomes have captured me in a gobsmacked haze. . . . These writings are so vivid and uplifting—Cincinnati City Beat

Cultural elitism never had it so good—Louisville Eccentric Observer

Praise for individual titles in the series:

Meat Is Murder

My personal favorite of the batch has to be Joe Pernice’s autobiographic-fiction fantasia. . . . Over little more than a hundred pages, he manages a vivid recollection of a teenage New England Catholic school life circa 1985, in all its conflict and alienation, sexual fumblings and misplaced longing—Tangents

Pernice’s novella captures these feelings of the despair of possibility, of rushing out to meet the world and the world rushing in to meet you, and the price of that meeting. As sound-tracked by the Smiths—Drowned in Sound

Pernice hits his mark. The well-developed sense of character, plot and pacing shows that he has serious promise as a novelist. His emotionally precise imagery can be bluntly, chillingly personal— the Boston Weekly Dig

Continuum ... knew what they were doing when they asked songwriter Joe Pernice to pay homage to the Smiths’ Meat Is Murder—Austin American-Statesman

Pernice’s writing style reminded me of Douglas Coupland’s:

the embodiment of youthful vitality and innocent cynicism, clever, quickwitted, and aware of the ridiculous cultural symbols of his time—Stylus Magazine (University of Winnipeg)

Forever Changes

Love fan Andrew Hultkrans obsesses brilliantly on the rock legends’ seminal disc—Vanity Fair

Dusty in Memphis

Warren is a gready gifted good heart, and I love him. Read his book, listen to his record, and you will too—Stanley Booth, author of the True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

Warren Zanes ... is so in love with Dusty Springfield’s great 1969 adventure in tortured Dixie soul that he’s willing to jump off the deep end in writing about it. Artfully blending academic citation, personal memoir and pungent commentary from Dusty in Memphis principals such as producer Jerry Wexler, Zanes uses the record as a springboard into the myths and true mysteries of Southern life—Rolling Stone (4 star review)

James Brown Live at the Apollo Masterful—The Big Takeover

Exemplary. ... Most astonishing, however, is Wolk’s conjecture that to avoid recording distortion, the riotous album captured “James Brown holding back”—Mojo (UK)

Let It Be (Replacements)

These are solid short-short stories with bona fide epiphanies—that they shed light on Meloy’s past only makes them more engaging—Village Voice

For reviews of individual titles in the series, please visit our website at www.continuumbooks.com and 33third.blogspot.com