Chiefly essays originally published in The New Yorker magazine, 1968-1975.

Includes bibliographical references.

Before the flood. Dylan (from Cheetah, 1967) -- The world-class critic. Two soul albums (November 1968) ; The Who sell (July 1969) ; Songs of innocence and experience (February 1970) ; New morning : Dylan revisited (December 1970) ; Breaking the vinyl barrier (July 1971) ; Morrison live (June 1972) ; Elvis Presley? In person? (July 1972) ; Bowie's limitations (October 1972) ; Frankenstein at the Waldorf (November 1973) ; The Rolling Stones now (December 1973) ; The best of '74 (January 1975) ; Liner notes from Lou Reed's Rock and roll diary, 1967-1980 (1980) ; The Velvet Underground (from Greil Marcus's Stranded, 1979) ; The decade in rock lyrics (from Village voice, January 1980) ; The new talking World War III blues (from Salon.com, October 2001) -- The adoring fan. The big ones (February 1969) ; East versus West (July 1971) ; Their generation (August 1971) ; Yesterday's papers (August 1972) ; Creedence as therapy (September 1972) ; Believing Bette Midler, mostly (December 1973) ; Dylan and fans : looking back, going on (February 1974) -- The sixties child. Pop ecumenicism (May 1968) ; Randy Newman (August 1971) ; George and John (February 1971) ; Consumer revolt (September 1971) ; My Grand Funk problem... and ours (February 1972) ; Into the seventies, for real (December 1972) ; Roseland nation (October 1973) ; Sympathy for the Stones (July 1975) ; Creedence Clearwater Revival (from Rolling stone illustrated history of rock 'n' roll, 1980) ; Janis Joplin (from Rolling stone illustrated history of rock 'n' roll, 1980) ; Selections from Don't turn your back on love (liner notes to Janis, a Janis Joplin box set, 1993) -- The feminist. But now I'm gonna move (October 1971) ; Joni Mitchell : still traveling (March 1973) ; Women's music (June 1974) ; After the flood (April 1975) ; Beginning to see the light (from Village voice, 1977) ; The abyss (from Village voice, June 1979) ; Preface to Barbara O'Dair's Trouble girls : The Rolling stone book of women in rock (1997) -- The navigator. Newport : you can't go down home again (August 1968) ; The scene, 1968 (November 1968) ; Summer of love in Queens (July 1969) ; Elvis in Las Vegas (August 1969) ; The cultural revolution saved from drowning (September 1969) ; Stranger in a strange land (December 1969) ; The return of the Dolls (January 1973) ; San Francisco habitat (August 1973) -- The sociologist. Pop blues (April 1968) ; The ordeal of Moby Grape (June 1968) ; The star, the sound, and the scene (July 1968) ; Roots (February 1969) ; Dylan's anti-surprise (April 1969) ; Elliott Murphy's white middle class blues (February 1974) ; Mott the Hoople : playing the loser's game (May 1974) ; Springsteen : the wild, the innocent, and the street kid myth (November 1974) ; The importance of Stevie Wonder (December 1974) ; Introduction to Beginning to see the light : sex, hope, and rock 'n' roll (1981).