Andrew Grant Jackson’s 1973:Rock at the Crossroads stuffs a dizzying amount of details into his accountof this most pivotal year not only in music, but as well in the world’s political,social, and economic strata. Thecolorful threads he chooses to align, woven together, form a discerniblycomprehensive and decadent design when viewed from a distance- certainly hemakes his case for 1973 as a more-than-worthy candidate for a look back- butexamined up close it’s almost mind-numbing how it all connected; such asseemingly incidental couplets like changes in U.S oil policy being consequentialto the future of the LP as a medium, as just one example.
If it sounds prohibitively academic, it isn’t. Jackson is a master tailor of the tales andthe tidbits, though, at times, the sexuality of the era- with a particularemphasis on David Bowie- seems to hold his attention disproportionately to someof the music. Yet, it’s also whereJackson shines, allowing his chronicle to indulge in sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, and politics, andeconomics, and religion (including awinking acknowledgement of Sammy Davis Jr.’s sympathy for Satan worship). It’s laid out chronologically, moving throughthe calendar, stopping to devote full chapters to the more significant albumsand artists, but is by no means restrictive. Pre and post ’73 causes and effects are suggested and argued here, aswell.
Jackson relies heavily on both Rolling Stone and Billboardas his arbiters of the lasting impact of ‘73’s output, citing chart positionsand “Best Of” lists for affirmation. Healso extracts contemporaneous quotes (from previously published material),keeping the reader in the moment the thought was verbalized, rather than askingthose concerned for their retrospective feelings on the era, likely to besanitized or hazy. That’s a key choicehe’s made in accurately and more interestingly returning to the past, and justone of several exceptionally smart moves in a winning effort. Jackson’s latest is a book so abundant infact and feelings it can serve equally as an entertaining trip back in time andan all-knowing reference source for, perhaps, the last truly triumphant year inrock-and-roll.
