The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll
Encyclopedia
The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll is a non-fiction narrative that tells the history of rock & roll seen through the lives and legacies of 34 musicians who each died at the age of 27 (also known as the 27 Club
). The 27s was created by Eric Segalstad (author) and Josh Hunter (illustrator). It was independently published, and distributed by Random House. The 27s won silver in the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Award for Popular Culture.
The book was intended as equal parts music history book and visual journey, and weaves the lives of Robert Johnson, Brian Jones
, Jimi Hendrix
, Janis Joplin
, Jim Morrison
, Kurt Cobain
and more than two-dozen other musicians into a narrative. Josh Hunter told Huffington Post that, "The artwork tells its own story as well. There are these other layers, these hidden symbols and cryptic messages that, if you're alert to them, you're going to find we're packing-in as well." In addition, The 27s feature twenty-two original portraits. The book's creators gave an example on how the art added more to the story in an interview with WNEW
: "We wanted visual stimulation. The art correspond with the words here, supporting the story, visualizing it in an artistic interpretation. Then there are times when the art tell a different story or add to the words. Around Brian Jones' death in The 27s there's a photo of a freshly dug grave adorned with flowers. The overlay of white butterflies is an example of the latter. It tells a story about Brian's death that's not described using words."
The book's storyline snakes through the history of rock in a largely linear fashion (although The 27s can also be read at random), albeit with detours into the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
as it applies to music, numerology
, astrology
, and the findings that more rock stars have died at 27 than at any other age.
27 Club
The 27 Club—also occasionally known as the Forever 27 Club, Club 27 or the Curse of 27—is the title for a group of popular musicians who all died at the age of 27...
). The 27s was created by Eric Segalstad (author) and Josh Hunter (illustrator). It was independently published, and distributed by Random House. The 27s won silver in the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Award for Popular Culture.
The book was intended as equal parts music history book and visual journey, and weaves the lives of Robert Johnson, Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
and more than two-dozen other musicians into a narrative. Josh Hunter told Huffington Post that, "The artwork tells its own story as well. There are these other layers, these hidden symbols and cryptic messages that, if you're alert to them, you're going to find we're packing-in as well." In addition, The 27s feature twenty-two original portraits. The book's creators gave an example on how the art added more to the story in an interview with WNEW
WNEW
WNEW may refer to:*WNEW , a radio station licensed to Jupiter, Florida, United States*WBBR, a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States, which used the call sign WNEW until December 1992...
: "We wanted visual stimulation. The art correspond with the words here, supporting the story, visualizing it in an artistic interpretation. Then there are times when the art tell a different story or add to the words. Around Brian Jones' death in The 27s there's a photo of a freshly dug grave adorned with flowers. The overlay of white butterflies is an example of the latter. It tells a story about Brian's death that's not described using words."
The book's storyline snakes through the history of rock in a largely linear fashion (although The 27s can also be read at random), albeit with detours into the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
as it applies to music, numerology
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
, astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, and the findings that more rock stars have died at 27 than at any other age.
The 27s in the book
- Alexandre LevyAlexandre LevyAlexandre Levy was a Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor.Born in São Paulo, he pioneered a fusion of classical composition with Brazil's popular folk music and rhythms. Levy died prematurely at 27 and his hometown grants a prestigious award in his name.-1882:* Fosca, fantasia brilhante, op....
- Louis ChauvinLouis ChauvinLouis Chauvin was an American ragtime musician.Born in St. Louis, Missouri of a Mexican Spanish-Indian father and an African American mother, he was widely considered the finest pianist in the St. Louis area at the turn of the century...
- Robert Johnson
- Nat JaffeNat JaffeNat Jaffe was an American swing jazz pianist. He was married to singer Shirley Lloyd.Jaffe lived in Berlin from 1921 to 1932, where he received classical training on piano. Upon his return to the U.S., he began playing jazz music, working with Noel Francis, the Emery Deutsch Orchestra, and as a...
- Jesse BelvinJesse BelvinJesse Lorenzo Belvin was an American R&B singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s, whose success was cut short by his death in a car crash aged 27.-Career:...
- Rudy Lewis of The DriftersThe DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
- Malcolm Hale of Spanky and Our GangSpanky and Our GangSpanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's popular Our Gang comedies of the 1930s...
- Brian JonesBrian JonesLewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
of The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up... - Alan WilsonAlan Wilson (musician)Alan "Blind Owl" Christie Wilson was the leader, singer, and primary composer in the American blues band Canned Heat. He played guitar and harmonica, and wrote most of the songs for the band.-Early years:...
of Canned HeatCanned HeatCanned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists... - Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
- Janis JoplinJanis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
- Arlester "Dyke" Christian of Dyke and the Blazers
- Jim MorrisonJim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
of The DoorsThe DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger... - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
- Roger Lee Durham of BloodstoneBloodstone (band)Bloodstone is a former American R&B, soul, and funk group, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. The band charted thirteen songs between 1973 and 1984.-Biography:...
- Wallace Yohn of ChaseChase (band)The band Chase was created in 1970 by Bill Chase, Ted Piercefield, Alan Ware, and Jerry Van Blair, all veteran jazz trumpeters who were also adept at vocals and arranging. They were backed up by a rhythm section consisting of Phil Porter on keyboards, Angel South on guitar, Dennis Johnson on bass,...
- David Michael Alexander of The StoogesThe StoogesThe Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
- Pete Ham of BadfingerBadfingerBadfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
- Gary ThainGary ThainGary Mervin Thain was a rock bassist, best known for his work with British band, Uriah Heep.-Biography:Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thain was part of the rock trio The New Nadir, and with the drummer Peter Dawkins, he travelled from New Zealand to London, and once jammed with Jimi Hendrix...
of Keef Hartley Band and Uriah HeepUriah Heep (band)Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals... - Helmut Köllen of TriumviratTriumviratTriumvirat was a German progressive rock trio that formed in 1969 in Cologne, Germany. The founding members were: keyboardist/composer Hans-Jürgen Fritz , drummer/lyricist Hans Bathelt, and bassist Werner Frangenberg....
- Chris BellChris Bell (musician)Christopher Branford "Chris" Bell was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist born in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with Alex Chilton, he led the power pop band Big Star, which recorded albums during the early 1970s...
of Big Star - D. BoonD. Boond. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
of the MinutemenMinutemen (band)Minutemen were an American hardcore punk band formed in San Pedro, California in 1980. Composed of guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in December 1985... - Pete de FreitasPete de FreitasPete Louis Vincent de Freitas was a musician and producer, best known as a drummer with Echo & the Bunnymen, and whose drumming skills have been compared to Dave Grohl's....
of Echo & the BunnymenEcho & the BunnymenEcho & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut... - Mia ZapataMia ZapataMia Katherine Zapata was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits.-Life and career:Zapata was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky...
of The GitsThe GitsThe Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic... - Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
of NirvanaNirvana (band)Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987... - Kristen PfaffKristen PfaffKristen Marie Pfaff was an American bass guitarist, best known for her work with Hole.-Early life and career:Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, attending Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. She spent a short time in Europe and briefly attended Boston College before ultimately...
of Janitor JoeJanitor Joe (band)Janitor Joe, a Minneapolis noise-rock band, formed in 1992. Founding members were guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer , bassist/vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger, though bass duties were later assumed by Wayne Davis following Pfaff's departure in 1993 to join Courtney Love's band,...
and HoleHole (band)Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson... - Richey James EdwardsRichey James EdwardsRichard James Edwards was a Welsh musician who was rhythm guitarist and lyricist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He was known for his politicized and intellectual songwriting which, combined with an enigmatic and eloquent character, has assured him cult status...
of Manic Street PreachersManic Street PreachersManic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s... - Fat Pat
- Freaky Tah of Lost Boyz
- Sean McCabe of Ink & Dagger
- Maria Serrano Serrano of Passion FruitPassion Fruit (band)Passion Fruit was a Eurodance/bubblegum dance group consisting of three girls of German, Spanish and Dutch descent:*Maria Serrano Serrano *Nathaly van het Ende...
- Jeremy Michael WardJeremy Michael WardJeremy Michael Ward was the sound technician and vocal operator for The Mars Volta and for the dub outfit De Facto. He created many of the soundscapes heard on The Mars Volta's album De-Loused in the Comatorium...
of De FactoDe Facto (band)De Facto was a dub reggae band which included Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Jeremy Michael Ward.- Biography :...
and The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - Bryan Ottoson of American Head ChargeAmerican Head ChargeAmerican Head Charge is an industrial metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, earning nominations at the Kerrang! Awards on two occasions.-Formation:...
Reviews and interviews
- Segment on NPR’s All Things Considered
- Interview on Vermont Public Radio with author Eric Segalstad
- Atlanta Journal of Constitution review and interview with illustrator Josh Hunter
- Huffington Post’s roundup of Book Expo America
- Interview in Seven Days with author Eric Segalstad
- Sugarbuzz magazine review and interview
- Review and interviews from the Missoula Independent
- Music Tomes interview with Josh Hunter