Great talk from the classic era, with great interviews with Led Zep, Dylan, Neil Young, Stones, Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel by writers Ralph Gleason, Jonathan Cott, Timothy White, Cameron Crowe, Bob Greenfield and more rock scribes. Neat time capsule.

I bought this book after seeing Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous". That was an exceptional movie and I thought I would relive the era through Ben fong-Torres, who was featured in the movie.

The book is really a reprint of many of his stories in Rolling Stone which the reviews probably stated and I didn't focus on. I would have preferred his story of being close to the Rock and Roll scene. Reading some of the articles that were over 20 years old became somewhat boring and outdated. I did learn quite a bit in some of the stories and Fong-Torres does provide some narrative on each story although it is limited. Overall though, I'd take a pass on this one and look for another if you are looking for a good book about rock in the 70's and 80's.

If you weren't around in the 70s, or you want to "relive" this era, Ben Fong-Torres' book is a good place to start. It's a collection of many of his Rolling Stone feature articles, along with a brief update of the personalities involved. Having "come of age" in the 70s, it brought back memories of my own and it gave me insights into some of the most famous rock personalities of the 70s and early 1980s.

Fong-Torres has an excellent writing style and "captures" a little bit about what made a lot of these musicians "tick." His articles are enjoyable to read or re-read if you've seen them before. While part of the title (A BackStage Pass to 20 Years of Rock n Roll) may seem cliched, it fits here. Fong-Torres in his Rolling Stone articles managed to catch a glimpse of an era now long gone.

A better title would be the Best of Ben Fong-Torres. This book is a collection of articles he wrote for "Rolling Stone". Some of the people written about in this book are Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, The Jackson 5, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, The Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones, Santna, Ricky Nelson, and many others. What really makes the book worth reading is that he gives information on what he had to get the interview and what happened after. Sometimes, the behind the scenes information are as good as or even better than the article.

Ben Fong-Torres is known to us as primarily a chronicler of rock 'n' roll. In his book, "The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese-American-From Number Two Son to Rock 'n' Roll," he adeptly writes about not only himself and his family, but also America. Alex Haley gave us "Roots" and Fong-Torres shares with us his roots and the destiny that America's melting pot had in-store for he and his Chinese-American family.

It is an astounding and at the same time a wonderful story. It is OUR story. I am 3rd generation Polish-American and I see and feel many of the same things that Fong-Torres does as he shares his experiences with us: from his parents efforts to escape China with and enter the US with false identification papers (his father bought a Filipino birth certificate to circumvent immigration laws), to his growing-up in the rice room of his parents restaurant and their demands and expectations, to the rock 'n' roll culture to which he took such a liking to the untimely shooting death at 29 of his older brother. Although he led a somewhat hard life, the book also reveals a humorous side. A truly wonderful sharing of the American experience.

As a second-generation Chinese born to parents who immigrated to North America in the 1970s, I cannot relate to all of the experiences that Fong-Torres presents. However, in many instances, I identify completely.

I also disagree with the view of some reviewers that Fong-Torres had a lack of respect towards Chinese culture. His word choice may indicate an occasional unhappiness with some of the traditions of Chinese culture, but overall, it is clear that he has a deep respect for his past. Especially prominent is his recognition of language barriers with his parents, and an attempt to arrive full circle with his heritage at the conclusion of the book (with a visit to China). Being born what many would term an, "ABC" (American-born Chinese) does not prevent Fong-Torres from embracing Chinese-ness. It is that such an embrace is oftentimes at odds with the white context of America.

Furthermore, if Fing-Torres was UNCRITICAL of Chinese culture, wouldn't that romanticize his experience? I think that his reflexive gestures are necessary and rich.

Also, while Fong-Torres presents a very real and honest depiction of the Chinese-Americans in the 1960s and 70s, by no means can he reflect the entire Chinese-American culture. Certainly, the children of "New Wave" immigrants possess a "whole different set of problems". However, one cannot say that there exists no overlap. Again, I don't think it is his intent to capture all of Chinese-American culture -- it is *his* life and *his* thoughts. (By no means does he attempt to capture the lives of Chinese immigrants.) In fact, I appreciate his honesty.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in Chinese-American culture and especially to Chinese children raised in the America. Parents of ABCs, can also benefit.

I am surprised that anyone contested the worth of Fong-Torres's work. Fong-Torres does not claim to represent the Chinese experience. Rather, he symbolizes the Chinese-American question.

Some readers claim that Fong-Torres's individual experience is made more important than that of his family's, is too acculturated and "patronizing" towards Chinese culture. However, I think that it is necessary to recognize the limitations of the author's upbringing, within the realistic context of immigrant survival, and then appreciate the uniqueness of both his parents' and his experience. If Fong-Torres does reflect negatively, at times, towards his parents' culture, it is because he most negotiate it daily. Just how Chinese should he be? White Americans are never forced to consider these issues.

Like many children of immigrants, his grasp of a home language is at odds with the white American standard of English. Halloween becomes somewhat traumatic. Dating becomes the nightmare of social expectations within his community. Though some readers believe these problems are petty compared with his parents' economic survival, they are formulated honestly and reflexively. In fact, Fong-Torres's eventual return to China, and an interview with his family, would indicate a reverse position--a sincere desire to learn more about his history.

Fong-Torres isn't an authority on Chinese culture; he's only an authority on his own mixed experiences. Furthermore, writing this book, returning to his home country, indicate a desire to explore that contested identity further. No one can determine just "what it means to be Chinese." Therefore, I would remind readers, if you ask a Chinese question, you will receive a Chinese answer.

A great start on the history of Top 40 Radio, but gives surprising short shrift to WABC New York, and other East Coast/Mid West stations. It's understandable with Fong-Torres' Bay Area roots. But don't get me wrtong, if you love radio, you'll LOVE this book; it's wonderful!

Rob Hummel 98 KSLQ St. Louis ALUMNI 1976-78

A great look back at the roots of contemporary radio. Well written and very authentic. Fun reading for anyone who loved 50's and 60's radio. Unlike alot of radio books that whine about commerciality or become absorbed in technical data, this book never travels far from the magic of Top 40. I think Ben Fong-Torres under stated a few stations, but that's a characteristic of Top 40.....whatever YOU listened to was the best.

Ben Fong Torres' love and admiration for the early days of Top 40 radio shows through in this book. He has crafted a wonderful history of how Top 40 began, features on numerous radio personalities (among them Tom Donahue, B Mitch Reed, Robert W Morgan, The Real Don Steele, Alan Freed, Dick Biondi, the list goes on and on). And the CD included with the book featuring airchecks of some of these amazing personalities is wild. Hearing DJ's like Gary Owens, B Mitch Reed, Casey Kasem or Tom Donahue in their early days is a hoot.

If the book has a West Coast slant on personalities, perhaps that's only because Torres grew up in the Bay Area. However, he does not give short shrift to anyone. He also goes into great detail about the people who helped create this format: Chuck Blore of "Color Radio" fame, Bill Drake and Ron Jacobs of "Boss Radio" fame, Gordon McLendon and Tod Storz, among others. It's ironic in a way that Torres' claim to fame came later as first a journalist for Rolling Stone and as a DJ on KSAN in San Francisco (one of those "underground" FM stations that loved to poke fun at the Top 40 stations).

The book traces the beginnings, development, and "growing pains" of this format. How at one time it was hip, then became "square" when the underground FM stations hit the airwaves, and how it now seems to have emerged again. And funny how the underground stations developed as a kind of "antidote" to very restrictive Top 40 formats, just as the Top 40 stations developed as something different to the standard fare of that time.

Amazing stories abound in this book, and being an ex DJ myself I could relate to them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I agree with another reviewer that this book is must reading for any past or present DJ, or any student of the media.

While this is an interesting read - giving readers a long listing of events in this short,tragic life. There is almost no "feel" for what made Gram tick -or how he came posess the unique powers and vision to be a pioneer in his musical genre. The events of his life are detailed - but without a feeling for how or why the events affected him the way they did. I still don't really know why he was so tormented or how it was such a tortured soul could feel his way clear to writing a song like Hickory Wind. I intuit that he was so much more than a "trust fund" hippie- A person such as this who had the vision to meld rock and country music and have a feel for the true essence of country - must have had a strong feeling for the essential purity of it - but this book offers very little insight. I still recommend the book for what I assume is an accurate telling of the facts.

A good account of Gram Parsons' short life, as well as the unusual impact he had on rock & country music. As a long-time fan of Gram's music, I found a number of surprises. I had heard he came from a wealthy family, but had thought that he had abandoned that life and lifestyle -- the book explained that he was a "trust fund baby" to the very end.

The definitive work for those interested in the short life and times of the original Rhinestone Cowboy. Credited by some as being the one who popularized the genre of Country Rock music, Gram disdained this term for his own "Cosmic American Music". Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Gram was probably cursed by genetics. His mother's longstanding bouts with the twin evils of alcohol and depression, and his father sharing those traits, conspired to doom a talent that is recognized more today than when he lived. An impetuous young man, Gram Parson's talent was unquestionable. His inability to manage that talent, while immersing himself in the most hedonistic pursuits of contemporary life, was a large part of his downfall. The story told within these pages is likely to move the reader; not so much in a sympathetic way, as Gram didn't evoke sympathy. He does, though, appear to be a product of his upbringing, which unfortunately led him down a path of self-destruction that ended in his untimely death in a high desert motel. This book reads well, written by an author who always pays attention to detail without inserting his personal judgement.