Great book detailing the early Rock scene of London in the '60s. Pretty much every band is covered and it really makes you feel like you are in the thick of it. A must for readers of magazines like Mojo and Uncut.

Absolutely fascinating! I very much enjoyed reading all of the little-known tidbits, the things you wouldn't know about if you weren't there, the kinds of things that seem unimportant at the time but make such a difference akin to the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. So many times, I found myself saying, "wow" and/or shaking my head. What a wonderful, exciting, life-affirming time and place to be! What a "can-do" attitude these people had, of course, why not try to play the music you like to listen to, it doesn't seem to happen as much these days. What do I know, these days, I sound like that cranky old person - hey kids, get off my lawn! Really, though, what do I actually know about these days, I am regularly and good naturedly (I think ...) teased that my musical knowledge doesn't go past the eighties and really is stuck in the seventies. My son and husband consider me slightly less than open minded musically. What can I say, I like what I like.

London Reign Over Me: How England's Capital Built Classic Rock by Stephen Tow is very well researched. It is written by an author who clearly enjoys the subject and has found a writing style that shares knowledge in a conversational and casual tone. The reader can feel a part of conversations with various musicians, reporters, music fans, etc. of the day. I learned a lot about how the music was created, about the ins and outs of the business, about how society helped create the moods, fashions and thinking of the era. I was somewhat aware of the influence the post-war attitudes and deprivations had on this generation but it was interesting to read the particulars of it all. It has always made a deep impression on me how many of our favorite singers and musicians left home so very young to begin their musical journeys, it is unheard today. 12, 13, unbelievable, and thank you for being brave and doing it! I think back to when I was that age, I couldn't do it and thinking of the boys I knew then, they couldn't have handled it either. It was truly a different time and a different place. I wonder if it was more of a European thing.

I loved reading about all of the groups and pairings - the ones I knew previously and the ones I did not. Lots to explore, hooray for youtube! In fact, I think it would be a great idea to include a cd soundtrack with this book.

If I had a complaint, it would be this one, why oh why did I have to wait until I was 51% into the book before the first mention of Free?! Okay, just kidding, obviously a book of this nature has to be chronological. I get it. I do wish there was more info concerning Free, perhaps, in your next installment (hint, hint), there will be more. In fact, I hope there really is another book, I'm one of those who say "and then what happened". This is such an amazing period of time, musically and just, well, everything was kinda happening. So many changes in what is, relatively speaking, a short amount of time. As someone who lived through the seventies but as a groovy little kid (I was born in 1967), pretty much everthing was over my head at the time. And, yes, I was groovy, if only in my own mind. If you asked me then and now what song makes you think "rock and roll", my answer has always been "All Right Now". If you needed to explain rock music to someone, play that song. 'Nuff said, perfect band, everyone just doing their thing and doing it well. Paul Rodgers, would listen to him sing the phone book, perfect voice, perfect phrasing, then and now. How many voices get better with age?! In kindergarten, I thought Jimmy Page was a pretty man. He was, those curls, ruffly shirts, embroidered jeans - pretty. I listened to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road for the first time on headphones when it came out (thank god for older cousins) and still think that is the only and best way to listen to it (played Funeral For A Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding, etc. for our son who agrees). I love the seventies, when the bands may not have been photogenic but man, could they play. Who know what anyone looked like and who cared? No autotune, that's why it is better and I guess that's why I am not so open-minded.

When in school I remember certain bands seemed a "rite of passage", especially for the boys. Most of the groups were mentioned in this book. That is how long lasting these bands were/are and their legacies. You could discern a lot about someone by which bands they listened to, how they spent their free time, dressed, whether they were jocks, stoners, into Dungeon &Dragons, etc. Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, and others. They were popular in the sixties, seventies (elementary school) and the eighties (high school) and, I think, even now. Good music is timeless music.

If you are interested in music, if you are interested in creativity, if you are interested in how people come together to create music, this is the book where you can find out "how the sausage is made". London Reign Over Me is a really good read with really good pacing and really good research. I highly recommend this book and when it is published, I plan on getting a copy for my guitar playing, music loving husband.

I hoped I would recognize more of the artist/bands interviewed and discussed in this novel. Unfortunately I'm not as in tune to the British music scene as I thought I was, so this wasn't as interesting as I anticipated (me problem, not this book's problem)

An electrifying cultural history of the British Invasion and the identity of Rock music in London. Tow's book examines the confluence of events and personalities that created the diverse London musical culture that we celebrate today. This book is packed with details, enough that even a seasoned music biography reader will probably learn something new about their favorite artists. This would make an excellent gift for any music lover in your life.

Review to be posted on Goodreads and Instagram upon publication of the book.

For anyone who loves rock’n’roll, especially classic rock this is an essential read. Using numerous contemporary articles and interviews the author gives a birds eye view of the 60’s British rock scene as it unfolded. I find this so much more fascinating than reading interviews conducted 50 years after the fact when everyone remembers the same think completely differently. Great read. Highly recommended.

History of London bands from around 1962 through the mid-70's with a focus on the British Invasion (and its blues/R&B roots) and, towards the end of the book, Prog rock. There was definitely some info here that I did not already know, much of it seemingly received by the author via email correspondence with some of the C-list players from the era. Interestingly though, the Beatles, while mentioned several times, are not focused on as much as, say, The Rolling Stones presumably because they were from Liverpool. I also thought The Kinks were short-changed.

For decades I've read about the English musicians from the rock era being influenced (and even thieving) music from American blues musicians. I always thought that was interesting and wondered how that music made it's way to England, entirely passing up the American market. Those British boys certainly found away to cover, and then innovate, to create their own genre of music and present it to the world! Shows what laissez faire parenting can do! Bravo Prof. Tow! Great story of how Rock came to be! Well researched and entertaining. Make a great gift for the rock fan (in other words, just about everyone!)

Dad rock is the best rock, and I've long loved reading about my favorite classic rock stars: I've devoured the autobiographies of Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, and Keith Richards, and I've read the biographies of many others. I'm also a longstanding Anglophile, and as far as I'm concerned London's the best city on the planet; it's the birthplace of so much of my favorite literature, television, and music, and though I'm thoroughly American, visiting always feels like going home. In other words, this book hits a heckuva lot of my sweet spots.

On one hand, because of my interest I know a bit more than the average bear about the outlines of classic rock's development and its English origins; I'm well-aware of the hardscrabble post-war upbringings of many of my heroes and I've spent (probably too much) time watching YouTube clips of their lip-synched Top of The Pops and Old Grey Whistle Test performances. I know who Lonnie Donegan was and what skiffle is. But on the other hand, because my knowledge has come mainly from biographies, I really appreciate how Tow's focus on events in the city of London weaves the threads of my understanding into something more cohesive. While much of the story was familiar, the context is fresh.

And certain elements of the story were still new to me; while I'd take anyone in a Stones or Zep trivia context, my knowledge and understanding of progressive rock is much more limited--it's simply not my taste. Tow's skill as a writer and his positioning of this genre as a cousin to the blues, folk, and rock forms I love made me interested in a type of music I've thought and known little about.

That said, when the book was over, I was left wanting more. The book ends with 1970, so a number of English contributions to the development of rock aren't considered. For example, Led Zeppelin is mainly discussed as a blues/folk/rock fusion, and it's contributions to the development of heavy metal are not examined. David Bowie gets a few mentions, but the rise of glam rock isn't really addressed, and classic rock radio staple Queen falls outside of Tow's scope.

But Tow's work here is a fun, quick, and engaging read that provides a new way of looking at events familiar to avid classic rock fans and a compelling description of the early development of the genre. It's a fine addition to the body of classic rock writing, and Tow has left himself a perfect opportunity to explore the further development of classic rock in 1970s London.

"London, Reign Over Me" is a bloody brilliant book that dives deep with historical and cultural perspectives on why the British Invasion happened in the Sixties. In other words, the book is all about how London developed as the center of the rock universe during the Sixties and gave birth to all those amazing rock acts such as the Beatles, the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, the Animals, and so much more. If you are interested in rock history, this is one book you absolutely no question about it have to pick up.

Several things coalesced at once to make England, and London in particular, as the center of the musical universe. First, there was the skiffle bands whereby young kids could make homemade instruments and play a sort of jazz and blues and anybody could get in the act. Second, post-war London in the fifties was a different place to grow up than the U.S.A. The streets were still filled with bomb craters and the teenagers had grown up with bombs literally bursting overhead and a fear that the island kingdom would fall to the Germans. Third, there was a great openness to the blues and jazz there as compared to the U.S.A. where radio stations often had segregated music and "Black music" was not played on top 40 radio. Fourth, instead of the GI Bill, they had free "Art School" and a whole generation of teenagers left high school and took three years to work on "art" which explains why when you read rock biographies so many of these guys met in art school. All of these things coalesced at one time to spawn a generation of creativity in music that can be traced from the American Blues into what became the Rock n Roll of the Sixties and Seventies.

There are various chapters in the book tracing not just the sociological history of the British Invasion music, but also the different directions the music led from blues rock to psychedelic pop to progressive rock. Every page of the book is meticulously researched and well-written. It is absorbing reading, particularly where you see how the different bands developed out of similar traditions. Can't recommend this enough.