Let It Blurt: The Biography of Lester Bangs - America's Greatest Rock Critic | Music History Book for Rock Fans & Critics

"Sometimes Lester (Bangs) was full of s---." writes Jim DeRogatis in the jarring first sentence of "Let It Blurt," his fine biography of the legendary critic. In the book, he tries to explain Bangs' long standing reputation as rock 'n roll's standing critic and poet laureate and for the most part, he succeeds. Raised by a mother who was a Jehovah's Witness (which Bangs did not embrace) he grew up worshiping the Beats, most notably of course, Kerouac, who later heavily influenced his manic writing sytle. Bangs' passion for music began as a love for jazz which later morphed into rock and roll. He answered an ad posted in Rolling Stone and submitted numerous album reviews. Bangs only wrote for them a short time before accepting an offer to write for Creem Magazine, which necessitated a move to Michigan where Creem was headquartered. Bangs was the magazine's leading critic and would eventually become a contributing editor there. It was also at Creem where he would become a legend. DeRogatis wisely takes the reader on a brief discourse on the rise of rock journalism and the growth of rock criticism and it's spreading influence under Bangs and his contemporaries like Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau and Dave Marsh. This is invaluable as we get an understanding and context of the world Bangs would hold sway. The Creem years would see Bangs' writing style flourish. Never impressed by the celebrity status of rock musicians, he despised pomposity and spoke to them in tones of irreverence and sometimes, outright sarcasm. His prose was overrun with mayhem, as if Punk Rock was put into prose form. His confrontations with his idol Lou Reed were the stuff of legend. DeRogatis covers this period masterfully. Bangs' articles ran from the hilarious to the touching, but it was album reviews that saw him at his peak. He could artfully rip an album to shreds or become as obsessive as any hormonally driven male teen when he liked something. One of Bangs' strengths as a critic was that he may have disliked a certain album as first (such as the Stones' masterpiece, Exile on Main Street), but he was known every now and then to reverse his opinion and be honest enough to let his readers to know why. DeRogatis chronicles the highs and lows of Bangs' life and work. His prodigious writing, his copious drug and alcohol intake. His failed love life, his love/hate relationships with acts he liked or hated (such as the aforementioned Lou Reed). He also documents Bangs championing (and eventual alienation from) the rising Punk Rock movement before it even had a name. It should be kept in mind that Bangs wasn't right on every review and that some of his opinions have failed to hold up over the time since his death. His spurious views on Led Zeppelin (as well as those of his contemporaries on the band) were off the mark. Not to mention his support of other acts at the expense of ignoring others could be interpreted as thrusting his own tastes on his audience. Bangs could be petty and he nursed grudges far beyond what was necessary. Still, no one wrote better or infused their writing with rock's raucous spirit than when Bangs was at his best. DeRogatis, music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times met Bangs only once, two weeks before his premature death, is fair towards him and can be seen as a touch on the worshipful side. Still, he fairly points out Bangs' strengths and glaring weaknesses (though admittedly, he goes on more of the strengths). "Let It Blurt" is as good a biography of Rock's late great, and still reigning prince of critics as we're likely to get.