Part IV in our epic IV part series Music Journalists 101
I’m going to keep my thoughts short, as Lester Bangs should be as common a name as Jerry Lee Lewis in any rock’n’roll fans vocab.
Where Fricke excuses himself from his writing, Bangs implores the gonzo style of journalism making his pieces as much about himself as they are the subject. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, and read his series of pieces on Lou Reed.
Greil Marcus, another featured Hard Times writer, says this about Bangs’ second book Mainlines, Blood Feats and Bad Taste: ”What this book demands from a reader is a willingness to accept that the best writer in America could write almost nothing but record reviews.”
Ok, here’s the real meat of this post: Bangs’ review of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks (incidentally one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time (I have yet to hear the new live recordings)). Seriously, don’t skim this. This review is all I want to say about Bangs - this is why he’s the best.
http://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/%7Emurray/astral.html
When you’re done reading that, check out this clip from Cameron Crowe’s phenomenal movie Almost Famous in which Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Lester Bangs. It’s a wonderful companion to the review you should have just read:
