Along with MOJO NAVIGATOR on the west coast, CRAWDADDY is generally recognized as the first "rock" magazine
in the world, writing about rock music and rock performers in a serious and
occasionally intellectual way. Founded in the Spring 1966 by Paul Williams when
he was still a teenager, the magazine grew fast, and managed to bring in
full-page ads from major record labels from an early stage. The first few issues have a fanzine look, but already in its second year, Crawdaddy looked
fairly mainstream. Indeed, the good funding behind the magazine made for what
is today one of its greatest assets, namely the high quality paper stock that
reproduced images -- like a photo collage of Arthur Lee -- in excellent
quality.
As for the writing, I don't think it has aged that well. The line
that divides the ambitious from the pretentious is crossed so many times, even
in just one single issue, that you may find it hard to take some pieces
seriously. Of the 10 early issues I've scrutinized so far, there has been
something of value in each one, but the bulk of the writing -- perhaps as much
as 75% -- comes across as pseudo-intellectual rants that offer little insight
into the artist and music, and a lot of unwanted insight into the smug college
student who wrote them. A piece about Tim Buckley may start off with two brief
background paragraphs about Buckley, then a reminiscence from the writer's
childhood, which in turn is followed by 1, 1.5, maybe even 2 whole pages about
Duchamps, Schoenberg, Pynchon and whoever else that can be namedropped, before
some brief comments on Tim Buckley's music are tacked-on at the end. Sound
like fun? No... 40 years later it's just boring. Richard Meltzer's writings in
particular have aged poorly; I don't think I managed to finish a single one of
his long-winded and chaotic "I'm smarter than you" essays. Equally dull, but in a different way, are Jon Landau's reviews of various rock
bands, whom are usually dismissed in the most cold and scornful way you can
imagine. When Landau writes about something he likes -- i e: soul and r'n'b --
the disgust is replaced by a neutral, academic tone, similar to when British
music professors write about Delta blues. Man, what a drag. In defense of
these and other writers, they were all quite young (around 20) at the time.
Paul Williams himself is more readable, and he shows a remarkable
astuteness in singling out worthwhile bands, and worthwhile releases, in the
extraordinary creative explosion of 1966-68. The Doors, the Kinks and the
Beach Boys are household names in Crawdaddy, and are all written about in an
intelligent and non-offensive way. There's also fun coverage of semi-forgotten
bands like Autosalvage, who for some reason were deemed the next big thing. Then again, their flop album is good and has aged well.
The first two years of Crawdaddy are worth checking out, since the magazine
covers such an extremely interesting period in rock music, and (as I mentioned
above) there's always something that grabs you in each issue. Of the
individual issues I've read, #14 is probably the best, and an indication of
what all issues could and should have been like. Below are scans
of covers and content tables for several issues from 1966-68, along with a few
select pieces from each mag. I would particularly draw your attention to the
"What Goes On" sections, which have a myriad of interesting facts,
rumors and mysteries flying by. Great things sure were happening at a fast
pace back then. If there's something you want to read but isn't here, the
original issues are findable for $20-25 with a little patience and skill. Paul
Williams has also published a Crawdaddy
Book with selections from the early years of the magazine.
Crawdaddy magazine continued for many years, with some changes in the
editorial seat in late 1968, as well as going over to the Rolling Stone-style tabloid
format in the late 60s.
v 1.1 - August 2007 - issues #13 + 14
added
v 1.2 - October 2007 - issues #10 + 16 added
v 1.3 - November 2008 - issues #17 + 18 added
#6 -
November 1966
#8 -
March 1967
#9 -
May 1967
#10 -
August 1967
#11 -
September 1967
#12 -
December 1967
#13 -
February 1968
#14 - April 1968
#16 -
June 1968
United States Of America (the band)
#17 - August 1968
Great Society retrospective
Moby Grape article
The Boston scene; Velvet
Underground and the Mel Lyman Family
Current events
#18 - September 1968
Incredible String Band article (one of the first ever in the US)