R E V I E W

Night Beat
Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek
Mikal Gilmore's writings on rock 'n' roll culture

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T A B L E__T A L K

Unfortunately, Dick Clark couldn't make it, but you can still list your Top 10 albums of all time in the Music area of Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Robbie Robertson
Contact From the Underworld of Redboy
Capitol
(03/18/98)

Steve Poltz
One Left Shoe
Mercury
(03/17/98)

Various artists
Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger
Red House Records
(03/16/98)

Towa Tei
Sound Museum
Elektra
(03/13/98)

Buju Banton
Inna Heights
VP Records
(03/12/98)

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BROWSE THE
MUSIC ARCHIVES

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V O W E L L

Sound Salvation
By Sarah Vowell
Marilyn Hanson
When the antichrist arrives, he won't be a goth rocker -- he'll be a three-headed blond
(03/06/98)

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_[_Death and Violence in Rock 'n' Roll_]

MUSIC CRITIC MIKAL GILMORE
TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW
DARK HISTORY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL,
KEITH JARRETT'S BAD BEHAVIOR
AND LOU REED'S IDENTITY CRISIS.
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BY CYNTHIA JOYCE

If, as the rave generation has proclaimed, rock 'n' roll is indeed dead, then Mikal Gilmore has written a fitting eulogy with his "Night Beat: A Shadow History of Rock 'n' Roll." In this collection of profiles, interviews and essays written for Rolling Stone, the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner during the past 20 years, Gilmore probes the dark side of rock history with a searing passion. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Gilmore doesn't lament that rock 'n' roll has seen its best days: "I am thankful that I was allowed to come of age in an historical moment -- that is, to 'grow up' -- when rock 'n' roll made some bold and upsetting advances," he writes in his introduction. "And I am thrilled with the realization that I will 'grow old' with music that will continue to do the same."

Those familiar with "Shot in the Heart," Gilmore's moving memoir about his family's violent history and the eventual execution of his brother, convicted serial killer Gary Gilmore, might assume that a collection of musings about music and culture would make for considerably lighter reading. But whether he's deciphering Lou Reed's inner demons, keeping vigil by Timothy Leary's deathbed or visiting the ghost town of Aberdeen, Wash., that Kurt Cobain left behind, Gilmore bores deep into rock 'n' roll's dark core, revealing how the violence and desperation of American culture are redeemed by its music. But perhaps more important, Gilmore's book stands as a reminder that there was a time when talking about how the Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on Feb. 9, 1964, "changed my life, man" wasn't a cliché -- it was simply true.

Recently, Gilmore spoke to Salon about Dylan, death and how life changed his rock 'n' roll.

In reading "Night Beat," it's clear how the experiences you wrote about in "Shot in the Heart" informed your musical sensibilities.

Well, actually, the vast majority of these essays were written before "Shot in the Heart" -- only a few were written after. So in a weird way, it may be that the sensibility in this book informed what's in "Shot in the Heart" more so than vice versa. For one thing, this book is every bit as personal, maybe even more personal in some ways.

But darkness and death are recurring themes in "Night Beat" -- they form the prism through which you interpret a lot of the music. Do you think you would you have been writing about these artists had you not grown up in such a violent environment?

Good question. I admit that I respond to that, that I'm a sucker for it. Even Portishead, or Tim Buckley -- that kind of mood can pull me right in. But probably the more hidden part, and the more consequential part, is that now when I look back, I see my tendency is to find the darkest shadow and bury my nose in it. I can see now that came from my family experience. It was a Gothic and dark place to grow up in. Actually, I don't think I could have done this book without having first done "Shot in the Heart": I had to come to some kind of understanding first.