Under the Rock Umbrella: Contemporary American Poets from 1951-1977

Alan Freed ( a disc jockey who coined the term rock n' roll) organized the Moondog Coronation ball in Cleveland, Ohio, where it was estimated 20,000 fans crashed the gates and caused the event to be cancelled. This is considered by historians to be the first rock concert and the birth of rock 'n' roll. A person would be hard pressed to discover a modern American poet born between 1951 and 1977 who was not influenced by popular music. Throughout this turbulant twenty-six-year period, the music wove its way into and through the country's sub-consciousness. The period between 1951 and 1977 were watershed years for the country and the underlying influence to a monumental degree was popular music. It was exciting, youthful, and electric. Its influence was indelible. Under the Rock Umbrella brings together the best poets influenced by this powerful era in music to allow us to examine the music of each poet's own verse.