"Gritty, Raw & Uncensored" (LA Times): 'Smithsonian Rock and Roll' Out Today From Smithsonian Books

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 24th, 2017 - Today, Smithsonian Books publishes 'Smithsonian Rock and Roll,' a "gorgeous" (Parade) collection of mostly crowd-sourced rock and roll photography that features photos of some of rock's most iconic artists -- including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, The Who, Rolling Stones, and Metallica -- along with accompanying write-ups from music industry veteran Bill Bentley. It has received praise from theWashington Post, Parade, AARP, Mashable, Dangerous Minds and more, with the LA Times calling it "gritty, raw and uncensored...a candid compendium of musical history marked by the trapped-in-time moments that moved a concert-goer to raise camera to eye, or cellphone to air."

In December 2015, the Smithsonian called on rock and roll lovers around the world to collect photos and stories of their favorite moments in music. Fans dug through attics, basements, closets, shoeboxes, digital cameras, and photo albums to upload great rock shots to rockandroll.si.edu. As a result, the book features 142 artists spanning more than six decades of music history that, presented together, create a kaleidoscopic history of the music, the concerts, and the fans.

Says Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips: "If rock and roll were a planet, Bill Bentley would be the head astronaut and 'Smithsonian Rock and Roll' would be the operator's manual."

Bill Bentley is a musical Zelig and "legendary record man" (Philadelphia Inquirer) who has spent over four decades in the industry, most recently as A&R Director at Concord Music Group and Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. He has been a drummer, record store clerk, DJ, concert promoter, music producer, and record label publicist. Through it all he's also been a writer, and in 2007 he was given the ASCAP Deems Taylor award.

Praise for Bill Bentley and 'Smithsonian Rock and Roll':

"Gritty, raw and uncensored...a candid compendium of musical history marked by the trapped-in-time moments that moved a concert-goer to raise camera to eye, or cellphone to air." - LA Times

"A handsome new photography book" - Washington Post

"Gorgeous...a sweeping photographic history of stars, performances, style and magical moments" - Parade

"An ambitious crowdsourced history of rock 'n' roll photography...real jaw-droppers" - Dangerous Minds

"A compendium of hundreds of previously unpublished photos scrounged from attics, shoeboxes, and dusty albums...intimate, audience-level snapshots." - Mashable

"Not your average book of photos...a visual documentation of how fans experienced the music of their heroes." - AARP

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