Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967–2017 by Robert Christgau

Abstract

Reviewed by: Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967–2017 by Robert Christgau Shelley L. Rogers Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967–2017. By Robert Christgau. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018. [v, 443 p. ISBN 978147800082 (hardcover), $109.95; ISBN 9781478000228 (paperback), $27.95; ISBN 9781478002079 (ebook), varies.] Index. The eight-page introduction is the only segment of this book that is totally new content by the author; the rest is previously published material by the famed rock music critic that originally appeared in other publications. This practice is consistent with Robert Christgau's other books, such as Any Old Way You Choose It: Rock and Other Pop Music, 1967–1973 (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1973) and Grown Up All Wrong: 75 Great Rock and Pop Artists from Vaudeville to Techno (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998). Christgau earned a degree in English from Dartmouth in 1962. He does not have degrees in journalism or music, but his command of the English language and constant pastime of listening to music has enabled him to earn a living as a music journalist, which began with Esquire in 1967 but continued primarily with employment at the Village Voice (1969–72, 1974–2006). He is perhaps best remembered for his short, graded record reviews in the Village Voice (which stopped publishing in August 2018) and his "Pazz & Jop" music polls. The compilation in Is It Still Good to Ya? does not include those graded reviews from the Village Voice, but it does draw most heavily on that newspaper with four dozen of his columns, plus other pieces from the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin, Barnes & Noble reviews, and so forth. Although these pieces are not new, Christgau did revise them: "almost every one condensed to make room for others and spruced up to mitigate stylistic shortfalls or correct factual errors but never to revise opinions or predictions gone awry, with a bunch substantially revised and marked as such" (pp. 1–2). Christgau does not provide additional information on how he amended the individual columns, which may lessen the value of this book to historians researching rock music; they will still want to read Christgau's original texts for his criticism in that time and place. This new volume would be of most use to those who are interested in Christgau's opinions in general or perhaps those doing research specifically on him. After the introduction and the prologue, the book is divided into six sections: "History in the Making," "A Great Tradition," "Millennium," "From Which All Blessings Flow," "Post-modern Times," and "Got to Be Driftin' Along." Each section features at least [End Page 601] six of his columns. Although this topical organization is roughly chronological, the columns are not in chronological order. The source (e.g., "Village Voice, 2006") appears after the text, which I found annoying; before reading the piece I always flipped to the end to find this information in order to give the piece more context. This format is also consistent with his other books, such as Any Old Way You Choose It, and a consistent editorial failure. As most of Is It Still Good to Ya? consists of selected pieces about particular artists, this volume is in no way encyclopedic in its coverage of rock music; rather, it represents Christgau's opinions about a smattering of iconic or influential artists. The index is helpful in determining if a particular artist or group is covered. As rock music did not spring from a musical vacuum and does not continue without influence from other musical styles, Christgau includes criticism of jazz, blues, popular, and country artists that one may not immediately associate with rock, such as Louis Armstrong, Lady Gaga, and Brad Paisley. Before compiling a collection of previously published works, the author and editors should consider, apart from commercial calculations, two aesthetic questions: (1) whether the quality of the original pieces is sufficient, making them worth reprinting, and (2) whether there is value to the collection: is it more than the sum of its parts? As Christgau declared that "almost every" piece was condensed, "spruced up," and...