Joel Selvin
Encyclopedia
Joel Selvin is a San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle
which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music
and has interviewed a large number of musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone
, the Los Angeles Times
, Billboard
, Melody Maker
and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll
singer.
. He reports that he failed to graduate with his Berkeley High School class of 1967. He moved to San Francisco and was hired as a copy boy at the San Francisco Chronicle. Selvin soon wangled a backstage pass for a show at The Fillmore
and submitted his first piece to the Chronicle's Sunday Datebook in 1969. Selvin left the Chronicle for a brief, unsuccessful effort in undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside
where he wrote for the school paper. Returning to San Francisco, he wrote a review of First Step by the Faces
for Rolling Stone, published in May 1970.
In 1972, Selvin was hired as an assistant to Chronicle music critic John L. Wasserman
, and began to write for both the daily and the Sunday newspaper issues, filing reviews of local shows with rock and roll
as well as rhythm and blues
performances. When Wasserman died in 1979, Selvin picked up the reins of the Chronicle's pop music
coverage. A half year later, one of Selvin's more infamous pieces ran about Bob Dylan
's first concert in San Francisco after his conversion to Christianity
. In his piece entitled Bob Dylan's God-Awful Gospel, Selvin wrote:
In 1994, Selvin began managing other pop music staff writers, directing and overseeing their assignments, and editing their contributions, all while continuing to contribute his own reports.
Selvin reviewed music for the Chronicle for more than three decades. His weekly column was observed by competing journalists as one which sometimes contained errors. Bill Wyman worked for a time as the editor of "Riff Raff", the music review column at the SF Weekly
, a free weekly newspaper distributed in San Francisco. Wyman and his colleagues regularly printed a section entitled "Selvin Watch" which listed small and large mistakes made by Selvin in his Chronicle column. Wyman once wrote that the rule at "Selvin Watch" was to ignore one or two errors, but publish if there were three or more in any one Selvin piece. For instance, the "Selvin Watch" section of April 1, 1998 included mention of five spelling errors in names of people and songs, and an incorrect recounting of how Metallica
was seen to "whip out" the song Fade to Black
and "ride off into the sunset" with it, even though they did not play that song at that concert.
In January 1999, Derk Richardson interviewed Selvin and other San Francisco Bay Area
music critics about the perks that are given to them by music industry promoters. Richardson, at that time the music critic writing for the San Francisco Bay Guardian
, evoked a written response from Selvin saying "You shoulda been around when it was really flowing; cases of liquor at Christmas, lavish parties with hookers
and drugs
(I remember one Lady Sings the Blues affair in particular). Graft is penny-ante these days." Regarding conflict of interest
issues that may result from a critic and a musician becoming friends, Selvin responded, "We are encouraged to develop sources as confidants. The better our sources, the more effective our work. But developing these sources inevitably engenders sympathy or, at least, empathy that might be seen as compromising." Selvin continued, "I think everybody has to kind of draw their own lines of what is compromising in their hearts. For instance, I take the free CDs
and use them as tools of my work. I would not accept any paid travel any longer (I did in the '70s
)." Selvin commented on remaining hard-nosed and aloof: "I always like to remember what Jesse Unruh—remember him?—said about lobbyists
in Sacramento
: 'If you can't eat their food, drink their drinks and vote against 'em the next day, you have no business being here.'" Overall, though, Selvin reported that he felt the work of a music critic had its own value: "I like to think that I make contributions to the community at large and, more specifically, the music community that I report on."
On May 26, 2009 the Great American Music Hall
hosted a retirement party for Selvin featuring appearances by "Big Al" Anderson
, Booker T. Jones
, Charlie Musselwhite
, John Handy
, Bonnie Raitt
, Al Jardine
, Bud E. Luv, Prairie Prince
, Chris Isaak
and Scott Matthews
. Selvin's ex-wife Keta Bill and daughter Carla, both musicians, took part in the celebration. Gibson Guitar Corporation
gave Selvin a Gibson SG
guitar which was signed by many of the artists present.
which was nominated by Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for the Ralph J. Gleason
Music Book award. The book was made into a TV movie
entitled Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol, released in 1999.
In 2001, Selvin helped Paul Grushkin in authoring for Hard Rock Cafe
a book describing highlights of the restaurant and nightclub chain's extensive collection of rock and roll memorabilia.
In November 2010, Selvin published Smartass: The Music Journalism of Joel Selvin, a collection of 40 years of rock and roll reviews, interviews and articles centered on California performances, especially San Francisco Bay Area ones.
, a rock and roll
band composed solely of published writers. Their first public appearance was in 1992. Selvin sang as part of the "Critics Chorus" on one cut of the band's recording Stranger Than Fiction, and again joined the chorus for a performance in Bangor, Maine
in May 1998 where reviewer Kev Quigley noted Selvin's 30-second jumping, screaming vocal solo within the band's profanity-filled version of Louie Louie
. Selvin wrote one of the chapters of the band's book Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, published in 1994. Selvin said that "the magic of the Remainders is that they got to be a rock band—a royally treated rock band—without having to play like one."
In 1993, Selvin co-produced
Dick Dale
's album Tribal Thunder
.
, covering the subject of the music world's activity in politics. In 2006, Selvin appeared as himself in the four-hour documentary Bob Dylan 1975–1981: Rolling Thunder and the Gospel Years.
Selvin was interviewed for a Public Broadcasting Service
documentary called Summer of Love which was completed in 2007. On the subject of the Summer of Love
, Selvin said:
and has lectured at Mills College
, Blue Bear School of Music
, and at the University of California, Berkeley
Journalism Colloquium.
Selvin has taken part in museum events regarding rock and roll memorabilia. In May 1997, he served as featured docent for the San Francisco Sound
half of a psychedelic era exhibit of London and San Francisco memorabilia at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio
. On June 16, 2001, Selvin gave an opening address entitled "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been: Setting the Tone for the Weekend" at the "Monterey Pop Revisited" symposium, a conference assembled in honor of a Monterey, California
museum exhibition of memorabilia from the Monterey Pop Festival
. Selvin told the audience that "Section 43" recorded in 1965 by Country Joe and the Fish
was "the definitive recorded example of genuine acid rock
."
and is a board-member-at-large for the Arhoolie Foundation, an organization branched from Arhoolie Records
to support "traditional and regional vernacular musics."
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and has interviewed a large number of musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
singer.
Music critic
Selvin was born in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. He reports that he failed to graduate with his Berkeley High School class of 1967. He moved to San Francisco and was hired as a copy boy at the San Francisco Chronicle. Selvin soon wangled a backstage pass for a show at The Fillmore
The Fillmore
The Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...
and submitted his first piece to the Chronicle's Sunday Datebook in 1969. Selvin left the Chronicle for a brief, unsuccessful effort in undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
where he wrote for the school paper. Returning to San Francisco, he wrote a review of First Step by the Faces
Faces (band)
Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of the Small Faces after Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie...
for Rolling Stone, published in May 1970.
In 1972, Selvin was hired as an assistant to Chronicle music critic John L. Wasserman
John l. Wasserman
John L. Wasserman was an entertainment critic for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1964 until the time of his death in 1979...
, and began to write for both the daily and the Sunday newspaper issues, filing reviews of local shows with rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
as well as rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
performances. When Wasserman died in 1979, Selvin picked up the reins of the Chronicle's pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
coverage. A half year later, one of Selvin's more infamous pieces ran about Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's first concert in San Francisco after his conversion to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. In his piece entitled Bob Dylan's God-Awful Gospel, Selvin wrote:
In 1994, Selvin began managing other pop music staff writers, directing and overseeing their assignments, and editing their contributions, all while continuing to contribute his own reports.
Selvin reviewed music for the Chronicle for more than three decades. His weekly column was observed by competing journalists as one which sometimes contained errors. Bill Wyman worked for a time as the editor of "Riff Raff", the music review column at the SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
, a free weekly newspaper distributed in San Francisco. Wyman and his colleagues regularly printed a section entitled "Selvin Watch" which listed small and large mistakes made by Selvin in his Chronicle column. Wyman once wrote that the rule at "Selvin Watch" was to ignore one or two errors, but publish if there were three or more in any one Selvin piece. For instance, the "Selvin Watch" section of April 1, 1998 included mention of five spelling errors in names of people and songs, and an incorrect recounting of how Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
was seen to "whip out" the song Fade to Black
Fade to Black (song)
"Fade to Black" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first promotional single from its second studio album, Ride the Lightning...
and "ride off into the sunset" with it, even though they did not play that song at that concert.
In January 1999, Derk Richardson interviewed Selvin and other San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
music critics about the perks that are given to them by music industry promoters. Richardson, at that time the music critic writing for the San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
, evoked a written response from Selvin saying "You shoulda been around when it was really flowing; cases of liquor at Christmas, lavish parties with hookers
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
and drugs
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
(I remember one Lady Sings the Blues affair in particular). Graft is penny-ante these days." Regarding conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
issues that may result from a critic and a musician becoming friends, Selvin responded, "We are encouraged to develop sources as confidants. The better our sources, the more effective our work. But developing these sources inevitably engenders sympathy or, at least, empathy that might be seen as compromising." Selvin continued, "I think everybody has to kind of draw their own lines of what is compromising in their hearts. For instance, I take the free CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and use them as tools of my work. I would not accept any paid travel any longer (I did in the '70s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
)." Selvin commented on remaining hard-nosed and aloof: "I always like to remember what Jesse Unruh—remember him?—said about lobbyists
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
: 'If you can't eat their food, drink their drinks and vote against 'em the next day, you have no business being here.'" Overall, though, Selvin reported that he felt the work of a music critic had its own value: "I like to think that I make contributions to the community at large and, more specifically, the music community that I report on."
On May 26, 2009 the Great American Music Hall
Great American Music Hall
The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater...
hosted a retirement party for Selvin featuring appearances by "Big Al" Anderson
Al Anderson (NRBQ)
Alan Gordon "Al" Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwiter. Between 1971 and the early 1990s, he was the lead guitarist in the rock band NRBQ, also releasing several solo albums. He also played electric guitar on Jonathan Edwards' 1973 album Have a Good Time for Me...
, Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
, Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
, John Handy
John Handy
John Richard Handy III is an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Biography:In the 1960s, Handy led several groups...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Al Jardine
Al Jardine
Alan Charles "Al" Jardine is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, a guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Early life:...
, Bud E. Luv, Prairie Prince
Prairie Prince
Prairie Prince is a rock drummer. He was a member of The Tubes and a founding member of Journey...
, Chris Isaak
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
and Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews , is a singer/songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.His first album Passing Stranger was released on 13 March 2006 on San Remo Records before being re-released on Island Records later in the year. Janice Long was the first of the BBC DJs to play his music...
. Selvin's ex-wife Keta Bill and daughter Carla, both musicians, took part in the celebration. Gibson Guitar Corporation
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
gave Selvin a Gibson SG
Gibson SG
At the launch of the SG in 1961, Gibson offered four variants of the SG; the SG Junior , the SG Special, the SG Standard, and the top-of-the-line SG Custom. However, Gibson's current core variants as of 2010 are the SG Standard and the SG Special...
guitar which was signed by many of the artists present.
Author
In 1990, Selvin published Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation, a biography of Ricky NelsonRicky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
which was nominated by Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for the Ralph J. Gleason
Ralph J. Gleason
Ralph Joseph Gleason was an influential American jazz and pop music critic. He contributed for many years to the San Francisco Chronicle, was a founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine, and cofounder of the Monterey Jazz Festival.-Biography:Gleason was born in New York City and attended Columbia...
Music Book award. The book was made into a TV movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
entitled Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol, released in 1999.
In 2001, Selvin helped Paul Grushkin in authoring for Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
a book describing highlights of the restaurant and nightclub chain's extensive collection of rock and roll memorabilia.
In November 2010, Selvin published Smartass: The Music Journalism of Joel Selvin, a collection of 40 years of rock and roll reviews, interviews and articles centered on California performances, especially San Francisco Bay Area ones.
Music business
Selvin was one of the early members of the Rock Bottom RemaindersRock Bottom Remainders
The Rock Bottom Remainders is a rock and roll band consisting of published writers, most of them both amateur musicians and popular English-language book, magazine, and newspaper authors. The band took its self-mocking name from the publishing term remaindered book, a work of which the unsold...
, a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band composed solely of published writers. Their first public appearance was in 1992. Selvin sang as part of the "Critics Chorus" on one cut of the band's recording Stranger Than Fiction, and again joined the chorus for a performance in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
in May 1998 where reviewer Kev Quigley noted Selvin's 30-second jumping, screaming vocal solo within the band's profanity-filled version of Louie Louie
Louie Louie
"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
. Selvin wrote one of the chapters of the band's book Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, published in 1994. Selvin said that "the magic of the Remainders is that they got to be a rock band—a royally treated rock band—without having to play like one."
In 1993, Selvin co-produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
's album Tribal Thunder
Tribal Thunder
- Track listing :#"Nitro" – 3:19#"The New Victor" – 2:48#"Esperanza" – 3:52#"Shredded Heat" – 2:45#"Trail Of Tears" – 4:52#"Caravan" – 4:47#"The Eliminator" – 2:25#"Speardance" – 5:37...
.
Moving image
Selvin has been interviewed several times on camera for documentaries about the music scene. In 2003, Selvin served as a consultant and appeared on screen in the TV movie Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and ProtestGet Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Protest
Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Politics is a 6x60 minutes documentary TV-series about the relationship between singers and politics in the USA, the UK, Germany and France from the 1960s until 2003. It was made in 2003 by Rudi Dolezal, Hannes Rossacher and Simon Witter as a joint production...
, covering the subject of the music world's activity in politics. In 2006, Selvin appeared as himself in the four-hour documentary Bob Dylan 1975–1981: Rolling Thunder and the Gospel Years.
Selvin was interviewed for a Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
documentary called Summer of Love which was completed in 2007. On the subject of the Summer of Love
Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
, Selvin said:
Teaching and speaking
Selvin has taught classes at San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
and has lectured at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
, Blue Bear School of Music
Blue Bear School of Music
Blue Bear School of Music is a non-profit organization founded in San Francisco, California in 1971. Blue Bear has trained over 20,000 students in voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, drums, horns, songwriting, bands and ensembles. The School currently has more than 1,700 members...
, and at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
Journalism Colloquium.
Selvin has taken part in museum events regarding rock and roll memorabilia. In May 1997, he served as featured docent for the San Francisco Sound
San Francisco Sound
The San Francisco Sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco during these years.- Stylistic Dimensions :...
half of a psychedelic era exhibit of London and San Francisco memorabilia at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. On June 16, 2001, Selvin gave an opening address entitled "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been: Setting the Tone for the Weekend" at the "Monterey Pop Revisited" symposium, a conference assembled in honor of a Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
museum exhibition of memorabilia from the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
. Selvin told the audience that "Section 43" recorded in 1965 by Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish
Country Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.-History:...
was "the definitive recorded example of genuine acid rock
Acid rock
Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream,...
."
Personal life
Selvin was married to musician Keta Bill with whom he had a daughter, Carla. The couple divorced. Selvin and Keta Bill were active in Thunder Road, a youth-oriented alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. Selvin is an important contributor to H.E.A.R.H.E.A.R.
H.E.A.R. is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing hearing loss, mainly from loud rock music. The acronym stands for Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers. It was founded in 1988 by rock musician Kathy Peck and physician Flash Gordon, M.D. after Kathy suffered tinnitus and...
and is a board-member-at-large for the Arhoolie Foundation, an organization branched from Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records is a small record label run by Chris Strachwitz. The label was founded by Strachwitz in 1960 as a way for him to record and publish previously obscure "down home blues" artists such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Snooks Eaglin and Bill Gaither...
to support "traditional and regional vernacular musics."
Published works
Books- 1990. Selvin, Joel. Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation, Contemporary Books, 331 pages. ISBN 0809241870
- 1992. Marshall, Jim; Selvin, Joel. Monterey Pop: June 16–18, 1967, Chronicle Books, 106 pages. ISBN 0811801535
- 1994. Selvin, Joel; Bachman, Randy. Sammy HagarSammy HagarSam Roy "Sammy" Hagar , also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Also sings Country Music....
, illustrator. Photopass: The Rock & Roll Photography of Randy Bachman, SLG Books, 128 pages. ISBN 0943389178 - 1994. King, StephenStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, with Dave MarshDave MarshDave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
, Ridley PearsonRidley PearsonRidley Pearson, born on March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York, is an American writer. Pearson has historically written suspense and thriller novels for an adult audience, but has also begun branching out by writing adventure books for children....
, Amy TanAmy TanAmy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
, Dave BarryDave BarryDavid "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
, Tad Bartimus, Roy Blount, Jr.Roy Blount, Jr.Roy Alton Blount, Jr. is an American writer. Best known as a humorist, Blount is also a reporter, actor, and musician with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band composed entirely of writers. He is also a former president of the Authors Guild....
, Michael DorrisMichael DorrisMichael Anthony Dorris was a prominent American novelist and scholar. During his career he presented himself as Native American and this identity was a key part of his professional activities and his public reputation; but its factuality is in doubt...
, Robert FulghumRobert FulghumRobert Lee Fulghum is an American author, primarily of short essays.He has worked as a Unitarian Universalist minister .During this same period he taught drawing,...
, Kathi Kamen GoldmarkKathi Kamen GoldmarkKathi Kamen Goldmark is an American author, columnist, publishing consultant, radio and music producer, songwriter, and musician...
, Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, Barbara KingsolverBarbara KingsolverBarbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
, Al KooperAl KooperAl Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
, Greil MarcusGreil MarcusGreil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, Joel Selvin. Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude, Hodder & Stoughton, 448 pages. ISBN 0340617543 - 1996. Selvin, Joel. San Francisco, the musical history tour: a guide to over 200 of the Bay Area's most memorable music sites, Chronicle Books, 176 pages. ISBN 0811810070
- 1998. Selvin, Joel; Marsh, Dave. Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History, HarperCollins Publishers, 195 pages. ISBN 0380793776
- 1999. Selvin, Joel. Summer of Love: Ths Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Time in the Wild West, Cooper Square Publishers, 376 pages. ISBN 0815410190
- 2001. Grushkin, Paul; Selvin, Joel. Treasures of the Hard Rock Cafe: The Official Guide to the Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia Collection, Rare Air, 300 pages. ISBN 1892866315
- 2004. Selvin, Joel; Marshall, Jim. Jim Marshall: Proof, Chronicle Books, 132 pages. ISBN 0811843181
- 2010. Selvin, Joel. Smartass: The Music Journalism of Joel Selvin, SLG Books, 416 pages. ISBN 0943389429