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'''Leslie Conway''' "'''Lester'''" '''Bangs''' (December 13, 1948 &ndash; April 30, 1982) was an [[United States|American]] [[music journalism|music journalist]], author and musician. He wrote for ''[[Creem]]'' and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazines,<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=1315 Lester Bangs]. Random House. Retrieved on November 4, 2007.</ref> and has been called "one of the most influential" voices in rock criticism.<ref> http://books.google.com/books?id=8HAYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&lr=&cd=23 Rock criticism from the beginning: amusers, bruisers, and cool-headed cruisers] Ulf Lindberg, Gestur Guomundsson, Morten Michelsen, Hans Weisethaunet. Ed. Ulf Lindberg. Publisher Peter Lang, 2005. ISBN 0820474908, 9780820474908 p. 176. </ref>
'''Leslie Conway''' "'''Lester'''" '''Bangs''' (December 13, 1948 &ndash; April 30, 1982) was an [[United States|American]] [[music journalism|music journalist]], author and musician. He wrote for ''[[Creem]]'' and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazines,<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=1315 Lester Bangs]. Random House. Retrieved on November 4, 2007.</ref> and has been called one of the "most influential" voices in rock criticism.<ref> http://books.google.com/books?id=8HAYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&lr=&cd=23 Rock criticism from the beginning: amusers, bruisers, and cool-headed cruisers] Ulf Lindberg, Gestur Guomundsson, Morten Michelsen, Hans Weisethaunet. Ed. Ulf Lindberg. Publisher Peter Lang, 2005. ISBN 0820474908, 9780820474908 p. 176. </ref>
==History==
==History==
Bangs was born in [[Escondido, California]], USA. His mother was a devout [[Jehovah's Witnesses|Jehovah's Witness]]; his father died when Bangs was young. In 1969, Bangs began writing [[freelancer|freelance]] after reading an ad in ''[[Rolling Stone magazine|Rolling Stone]]'' soliciting readers' reviews. His first piece was a negative review of the [[MC5]] album ''[[Kick Out The Jams]]'', which he sent to ''Rolling Stone'' with a note detailing that should the magazine decide not to publish the review, then they would have to contact Lester and tell him why. Instead, they published it. In 1973, [[Jann Wenner]] fired Bangs from ''Rolling Stone'', a negative review of [[Canned Heat]] being the final event.<ref> [http://books.google.com/books?id=M1t_5_loZysC&pg=PA317&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&cd=8#v=onepage&q=canned%20heat&f=false Let it blurt: the life and times of Lester Bangs, America's greatest rock critic] By Jim DeRogatis p. 95.</ref> He moved to Detroit to edit and write for ''[[Creem]]''. After leaving ''Creem'', he wrote for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', ''[[Penthouse magazine|Penthouse]]'', ''[[Playboy]]'', ''[[New Musical Express]]'', and many other publications.
Bangs was born in [[Escondido, California]], USA. His mother was a devout [[Jehovah's Witnesses|Jehovah's Witness]]; his father died when Bangs was young. In 1969, Bangs began writing [[freelancer|freelance]] after reading an ad in ''[[Rolling Stone magazine|Rolling Stone]]'' soliciting readers' reviews. His first piece was a negative review of the [[MC5]] album ''[[Kick Out The Jams]]'', which he sent to ''Rolling Stone'' with a note detailing that should the magazine decide not to publish the review, then they would have to contact Lester and tell him why. Instead, they published it. In 1973, [[Jann Wenner]] fired Bangs from ''Rolling Stone'', a negative review of [[Canned Heat]] being the final event.<ref> [http://books.google.com/books?id=M1t_5_loZysC&pg=PA317&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&cd=8#v=onepage&q=canned%20heat&f=false Let it blurt: the life and times of Lester Bangs, America's greatest rock critic] By Jim DeRogatis p. 95.</ref> He moved to Detroit to edit and write for ''[[Creem]]''. After leaving ''Creem'', he wrote for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', ''[[Penthouse magazine|Penthouse]]'', ''[[Playboy]]'', ''[[New Musical Express]]'', and many other publications.

Revision as of 04:02, 7 February 2010

Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs during an interview
Lester Bangs during an interview
OccupationMusic critic, musician, author
NationalityAmerican
Period1969–1982
SubjectRock music, jazz

Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 13, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines,[1] and has been called one of the "most influential" voices in rock criticism.[2]

History

Bangs was born in Escondido, California, USA. His mother was a devout Jehovah's Witness; his father died when Bangs was young. In 1969, Bangs began writing freelance after reading an ad in Rolling Stone soliciting readers' reviews. His first piece was a negative review of the MC5 album Kick Out The Jams, which he sent to Rolling Stone with a note detailing that should the magazine decide not to publish the review, then they would have to contact Lester and tell him why. Instead, they published it. In 1973, Jann Wenner fired Bangs from Rolling Stone, a negative review of Canned Heat being the final event.[3] He moved to Detroit to edit and write for Creem. After leaving Creem, he wrote for The Village Voice, Penthouse, Playboy, New Musical Express, and many other publications.

Well basically I just started out to lead [an interview] with the most insulting question I could think of. Because it seemed to me that the whole thing of interviewing as far as rock stars and that was just such a suck-up. It was groveling obeisance to people who weren't that special, really. It's just a guy, just another person, so what?"[4]

Bangs idolized the noise music of Lou Reed.[5] Bangs wrote the essay/interview "Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves" about Reed in 1975. [6]

Bangs was also a musician in his own right. He teamed up with Joey Ramone's brother, Mickey Leigh to put together a New York group named Birdland. In 1980 he traveled to Austin, Texas and met a punk rock group named the Delinquents. During his stay in Austin he recorded an album as Lester Bangs and the Delinquents entitled Jook Savages on the Brazos.

Excerpts from an interview with Lester Bangs appear in the last two episodes of Tony Palmer's All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music.

Death

Bangs died in New York on April 30, 1982, overdosing (through drug interaction) after treating a cold with Darvon and Valium. According to the Jim Derogatis biography, Bangs was listening to The Human League's album Dare at the time of his death.

Selected works

By Lester Bangs

  • "The Greatest Album Ever Made", on 1975 Lou Reed album Metal Machine Music[7]
  • Stranded (1979) on Astral Weeks, album by Van Morrison, released in 1968.[8]
  • Blondie (Fireside Book, 1980)
  • Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic, collected writings, Greil Marcus, ed. Anchor Press, 1988. (ISBN 0-679-72045-6)
  • Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader, collected writings, John Morthland, ed. Anchor Press, 2003. (ISBN 0-375-71367-0)
  • The first piece for Rolling Stone[9]-A Review of The MC5's debut album Kick Out The Jams.

About Lester Bangs

  • Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic, biography, Jim Derogatis. Broadway Books, 2000. (ISBN 0-7679-0509-1).

Works citing Lester Bangs

  • Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, biography, Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. Penguin Books, 1997. (ISBN 0-14-026690-9).

References

  1. ^ Lester Bangs. Random House. Retrieved on November 4, 2007.
  2. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=8HAYAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&dq=%22Lester+Bangs%22+dead+OR+died+OR+death&lr=&cd=23 Rock criticism from the beginning: amusers, bruisers, and cool-headed cruisers] Ulf Lindberg, Gestur Guomundsson, Morten Michelsen, Hans Weisethaunet. Ed. Ulf Lindberg. Publisher Peter Lang, 2005. ISBN 0820474908, 9780820474908 p. 176.
  3. ^ Let it blurt: the life and times of Lester Bangs, America's greatest rock critic By Jim DeRogatis p. 95.
  4. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (1999 November). "A Final Chat with Lester Bangs". Perfect Sound Forever. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |access= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Charlie Gere, Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body (2005) Berg, p. 110
  6. ^ Milk it!: collected musings on the alternative music explosion of the 90s By Jim DeRogatis P. 188
  7. ^ Matt Carmichael
  8. ^ Lester Bangs. "Astral Weeks". personal.cis.strath.ac.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  9. ^ MC5: Kick Out The Jams : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone
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