When 17-year-old Paul Williams began publishing Crawdaddy! magazine in 1966, just as the American counterculture was poised to explode, the world was only beginning to take rock music as seriously as the intelligencia took folk and jazz. Preceding both Rolling Stone and Creem, Crawdaddy! has gone down in history as the pioneer of rock journalism, and was the training ground for many rock writers who would later become stars in their own right. Now, Paul Williams has gathered the best of Crawdaddy! into a revealing anthology that captures a fascinating historical moment when Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Grateful Dead and Buffalo Springfield were unknown and as yet unheard, and inspired writers were struggling to find the language with which to describe this new, vital music. Peter Guralnick, Ralph Gleason, Richard Farina, Jon Landau, Samuel R. Delany and Richard Meltzer are just a few of the later-day luminaries who cut their teeth writing for Crawdaddy! and who are showcased in this stunning collection. Featuring essays and notes by Williams and over 25 photos, The Crawdaddy! Book is a must for anyone who loves the spirit of Rock 'n' Roll. Paul Williams is the author of more than 25 books, of which the best-known are Outlaw Blues, Das Energi and Bob Dylan, Performing Artist, the acclaimed three-part series. He is a world-renowned scholar and leading authority on the works of musicians Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson and Neil Young, and science fiction writers Philip K. Dick and Theodore Sturgeon. His most recent book is The 20th Century's Greatest Hits (A "Top 40" List) (Forge/St. Martins, 2000). Williams currently lives in San Diego, California.