Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones

By Bill Janovitz

To Bill Janovitz, all artists reveal themselves through their work and the Rolling Stones are no different. Each exposes a little more of their soul. Written by Stones fanatic, musician, and writer Bill Janovitz, this is a song-by-song chronicle that maps the landmarks of the band's career while expanding upon their recording and personal history through insightful and energetic prose. With its conversational tone - much like friends pouring over old records on a Saturday afternoon - the book presents the musical leaps taken by the band and a discussion of how the lyrical content both reflected and influenced popular culture. The song choices - fifty in all - are chronological and subjective. Most of them are the classic hits, however, the book digs deeper into beloved album tracks and songs with unique stories behind them. Rocks Off is the ultimate listening guide and thinking man's companion that will spur readers to dust off those old albums and listen in with a newfound perspective on one of the most famous and acclaimed rock'n'roll bands of all time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Polygon
• Release date: Feb 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9780857907905

Bill Janovitz

Bill Janovitz is a singer, guitarist and songwriter in the band Buffalo Tom. He has also released four solo albums. He wrote Exile on Main Street about the iconic Stones album and has written extensively for the All Music Guide online site. He lives in Massachusetts with his family.

Reviews for Rocks Off

[henrykrinkle-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brief history of the Rolling Stones told in 50 songs. Janovitz, a journalist and rock musician himself is uniquely qualified to analyze tthe Stones music, but besides parsing the structure of some songs, he brings a real fan's passion to his work. The 50 songs things sounds a little gimmicky, but it works really well.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Bad concept, if you ask me,by Janovitz's repeated assertion, the best Stones songs were written and recorded in a span of about 4 years. Just listen to the songs you like.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

nonfiction; music theory/history. I am not super familiar with all of these songs, but found it interesting to see the various musical parts broken down, a bit more history revealed, and the process of recording tracks back in the days.