2012 EMP Pop Conference

Greil Marcus is the author of, most recently, The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years and Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus: Writings 1968-2010. With Werner Sollors he is the editor of A New Literary History of America, published by Harvard in 2009.   Abstract: | | "'Maybe Someday Your Name Will Be in Lights': Robert Johnson Takes the City" The great producer John Hammond referred to Robert Johnson as a primitive blues singer; he was described as such in the notes to the first...
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Ann Powers is a critic for NPR Music and author of the books Tori Amos: Piece by Piece (with the artist) and Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America.   Abstract: | | "'Free Your Head': Psychedelic Rock's Erotic Cities" Between 1967 and 1969, the youth of America created a floating polis that reshaped the rules of conventional society. Much has been written about the counterculture’s politics, its fashions, its music and its mores. It’s taken for granted that sexual freedom was...
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Jody Rosen is the music critic for Slate, the author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song, and the compiler of Jewface, an anthology of early 20th century Jewish novelty recordings.   Abstract: | | "'Darktown Strutters' Ball': Shelton Brooks' Chocolate City" When the songwriter Shelton Brooks published “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” in 1917, it was an instant hit—a dancehall rave-up for a transitional musical moment, when ragtime began...
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Rob Sheffield is a columnist for Rolling Stone magazine. He is the author of two books, Love Is A Mix Tape and Talking To Girls About Duran Duran.   Abstract: | | "Gold Scenes Inside The Weirdmine: The Doors and LA" The Doors are one of the most popular, famous, acclaimed, and lucrative rock & roll bands of all time. They achieved this despite some daunting limitations: the lead instrument was an organ they apparently rescued from a dumpster outside a tiki lounge, the bassist...
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