Alverno Presents: Greil Marcus, Jon Langford, Sally Timms: The History of Rock & Roll in Ten Songs

Alverno Presents will bring three legends of rock to Wehr Hall on Friday, November 20 at 8:00 p.m. The History of Rock & Roll in Ten Songs unites esteemed culture critic Greil Marcus and Jon Langford and Sally Timms of the legendary band The Mekons.

Unlike all previous versions of rock ’n’ roll history, Marcus’ book, The History of Rock & Roll in Ten Songs, omits almost every iconic performer and ignores the over-explained and the obvious. Instead, Marcus selected ten songs recorded between 1956 and 2008, and then proceeded to dramatize how each embodies rock ’n’ roll as the animating force of our lives. Rock legends Langford and Timms will join Marcus in the conversation and perform each of the ten songs (including To Know Him Is to Love Him, Money (That’s What I Want), This Magic Moment, and In the Still of The Night).

Marcus is at the forefront of the first generation of rock critics, the baby boomers who invented the genre around 1965, but none of his peers can rival his imposing body of work, including his four major books, Mystery Train, Lipstick Traces, Invisible Republic, and The Shape of Things to Come.

Langford was originally the drummer for the punk band The Mekons when it formed at the University of Leeds in 1977, but he later took up the guitar as other band members left. Since the mid-1980s he has been one of the leaders in incorporating folk and country music into punk rock. Timms joined The Mekons in 1985 as a vocalist.

Langford is also a prolific and respected visual artist best known for his striking portraits of country music icons including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. His multimedia/music/spoken-word/video performance, “The Executioner’s Last Songs,” premiered at Alverno Presents in 2005 and has been performed in several other cities.

Tickets are $30 and are available online at http://alvernopresents.alverno.edu or at Alverno Presents Box Office at 414-382-6044. The Box Office is open Monday-Friday from noon to 6 p.m., and on the day of the performance from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

About Alverno Presents

Alverno Presents, the performing arts series of Alverno College, is celebrating its 56th year. The series has innovated beyond our history as the longest running, continuous arts presenter in the city, to our niche of presenting contemporary dance, world music and jazz and an array of performance events. Alverno Presents shares the school’s mission by ensuring broad access to and participation in learning, experiencing and developing the arts for the learning community of Alverno, and our community as a whole. For more information on Alverno Presents, special projects, media reviews and more, visit alvernopresents.alverno.edu, contact Alverno Presents Managing Director at 414-382-6151, or e-mail rory.trainor@alverno.edu.