Did you know that on the same weekend that Woodstock took place, Milwaukee played host to its own concert featuring Jeff Beck, Blind Faith and other rockers at the Wisconsin State Fair Park? Rock ’n’ roll’s history in Milwaukee goes back decades, starting with post-World War II nightclubs that catered largely to African American audiences. Now a new book by Milwaukee veteran journalist and photographer Larry Widen recounts some of the city’s most famous music-related moments.
Told in five short chapters, Milwaukee Rock and Roll is a concise chronicle of Milwaukee’s musical past that beautifully captures some of the city’s greatest rock ’n’ roll happenings. From Bob Dylan walking off the stage after only two songs in 1964 to the early days of Summerfest, this local history is a stunning compilation of all who have rocked the streets of the Brew City. The story is told through a combination of stunning photographs and engaging stories, as well as a vast portfolio of rock ’n’ roll-related images.
Author Larry Widen is both an accomplished photographer and a seasoned journalist whose photographs have been exhibited in numerous galleries and whose previous book titles include Milwaukee Movie Theaters and Entertainment in Early Milwaukee. Currently serving as a photography instructor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, this music fanatic has worked with countless famous musicians from B.B. King to Alice Cooper and the late Johnny Winter, to name just a few. Widen will appear at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2.
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Book Happenings
Kevin J. Miyazaki
7 p.m., Oct. 8
Books & Company
1039 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc
Commissioned by the Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki traveled around our favorite Great Lake, capturing the water in its many moods and a sampling of people tied to the lake. Many of those photos are published in Miyazaki’s new book, Perimeter: A Contemporary Portrait of Lake Michigan. Portraits featured in Perimeter include longshoremen from Milwaukee’s harbor, the skipper of the Denis Sullivan, scientists from UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences and the Shepherd Express’ John Schneider, who walks his dogs along the lakefront.
Mary-Liz Shaw
6:30 p.m., Oct. 7
Helfaer Hall, Mount Mary University
2900 N. Menomonee River Parkway
Seasoned food writer and blogger Mary-Liz Shaw is scheduled to headline Mount Mary University’s upcoming “Writers on Writing” event. Writing on topics as wide-ranging as nutrition and pop culture, Shaw’s column “A Literary Feast” appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for over a decade.
