The Rock & Roll Alphabet

Posted by Mari on October 7th, 2011

I remember, back in the days before kids, when my husband & I would stay up late at night talking about how we were going to make sure our children shared our values: A sense of patriotism and respect; A strong work ethic and belief in doing the right thing.

And a healthy respect for music. Good music.

Nay, Great music.

Because, frankly, when we were having these talks? The popular musical landscape was not awesome. This was the mid-90s, post-grunge, and the musical landscape was rife with bubblegum pop. Britney Spears on the cover of Rolling Stone. Boy bands clogging the airwaves. During this time, we retreated to the safety (and unadulterated awesomeness) of our own music collection, and we discussed the kinds of music we hoped our kids would like. Artists like The Who, Queen, The Rolling Stones, the Beatles.

And most of the artists we discussed can be found in The Rock & Roll Alphabet, written and compiled by Jeffrey Schwartz and featuring photos of rock royalty from the Chuck Boyd Photo Collection. Boyd was a photojournalist who became one of the most trusted and well-liked photographers in the business. A true fan of music, he worked with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, KISS … and so many more. Schwartz is a music historian and teacher who set these photographs to words, to reinforce alphabet skills and serve as an introductory rock history lesson.

From Aretha (Franklin) to (Frank) Zappa, the book features amazing performance photos of musicians with a little history on each featured artist (such as “L is for Led Zeppelin and the songs of Plant and Page.”) that will hopefully spur your little one into asking questions about these characters they see on the page, about these songs that are mentioned. And pretty soon, before you know it, your seven year old isn’t asking for the latest manufactured pop star; rather, she’s asking to hear The Hollies. Or Van Morrison. Or Tina Turner.

Click the pop-out player below to launch a playlist of songs inspired by the artists and titles featured in the book. Find your own copy of The Rock & Roll Alphabet at your local bookstore or online book retailer such as amazon.com for around $15.

Oh, and my kids? They listen to their fair share of current pop music, but it’s mixed with a lot of classic rock, punk and old country.

To learn more about the book, click here. To learn more about the Chuck Boyd photo collection, click here.