As I've researched the authors around whom I've built this section of Randy's Rodeo, I've usually been able to unearth a variety of facts and anecdotes, not just about their books but about the authors themselves. Rock writers, more so than authors in general, tend to be personalities unto themselves. Scribes like Nik Cohn and Dave Marsh shaped the course of rock history with their actions as well as their words, while Lester Bangs became a legend larger than most of the musicians he wrote about - and certainly larger than his own body of work. Regardless, most rock writers - even relative cold fish like Peter Guralnick - inject themselves into the story, if only for the sake of perspective.

Not so with Gerri Hirshey. While her style is as lively and impassioned as her subjects, she concentrates on the music and leaves the spotlight to the stars. Beyond brief descriptions of her varied and impressive résumé (which revolves around twenty years as a contributing editor for Rolling Stone), I found not one whit of biographical data on the web - let alone a picture. Perhaps Ms. Hirshey may one day stumble across my little website and enlighten us, but for now we are left with her work - two concise, entertaining, authoritative books that I strongly recommend.

In 2005, Gerri Hershey wrote the liner notes to Rhino Records' acclaimed boxed set, One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found.

Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music
by Gerri Hirshey (1984)
True to her journalist's perspective, Gerri Hirshey tells the story of soul music largely by letting the stars speak for themselves. Clearly, Hirshey relished her chance to commune with soul legends like James Brown, Solomon Burke, and Wilson Pickett, and her great gift to us is that, she lets them speak for themselves. Taking their endless anecdotes, poignant remembrances, and telling tall tales, Hirshey weaves a riveting epic. Her method is deceptively haphazard; we appear to be jumping from place to place, person to person in a manner barely chronological. In the end, however, Hirshey presents us with a warm, unified, in-depth portrayal of soul - the last great, truly American music. [top of page]

We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The True, Tough Story of Women in Rock
by Gerri Hirshey (2001)
Back about 1973, Time magazine published a cover story about "the women of rock." Featuring such luminaries as Carole King and Joni Mitchell, it pointed out the (then) relative novelty of women making significant, uniquely feminine contributions to rock music. Traditionally, rock 'n' roll girls had distinguished themselves by proving they could rock as good as the boys (Wanda Jackson, Janis Joplin, and, more recently, Joan Jett), or by catering to male stereotypes and fantasies (girl groups like the Cookies or the Shangri-las, or sex bombs like Nancy Sinatra or Tina Turner). So, in 1973, the specter of liberated women topping the charts and speaking their minds was news indeed. Since then, things have changed, and they have remained much the same: while rockers like P.J. Harvey cater to nobody's preconceptions, Britney Spears and her ilk cater to everyone's. And, in 1997 both Rolling Stone and Spin published "women of rock" issues (the former overseen by Hirshey). Women enter the new millennium, however, with more power and freedom in music than ever before. In We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Gerri Hirshey traces their story all the way back to Bessie Smith, then all the forward to the present - not stopping till she reaches Bikini Kill and Lauren Hill. [top of page]

More Women In Rock

• She Bop (Lucy O'Brien, 1995)
• She Bop II (Lucy O'Brien, 2002)
• Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Pop, Rock, and Rap (edited by Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers, 1995)
• She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll (Gillian Gaar, 1992)
• Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground (Maria Raha, 2004)