Rolling Stone: Images of Rock & Roll

Elvis, Michael, Patti, Bruce--icons all. The Rolling Stone portraits assembled in this book depict five decades worth of musical sensations and idols. The juxtaposition of the shots heightens the fun of flipping through the photos: A young Mick Jagger sitting under a hairdryer faces Snoop Doggy Dog, his curls caught up in a hairdresser's clips; David Bowie in a loincloth counterbalances Björk in a fig leaf; Chris Isaak and John Lee Hooker stand opposite one another, each in a polka-dot shirt; Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley, side by side and enveloped in clouds of smoke. These alignments of musicians from different eras and different genres make a simple, visual statement about the transcendent power of music. Every page reveals another familiar image that transports the readers to the moment they first saw the musicians on the cover of the magazine or heard their music. The undiscovered pictures are a treat as well. Individually, these portraits expose the essence of their subjects and speak volumes about the characters that created and sustain rock and roll.