Ranger Rick: required reading: review

"The Rev." Keith A. Gordon praised Tin Cans, Squeems & Thudpies in a terrific online review featured on Associated Content/The People's Media Company.

"Some of his best, brightest and funniest work," writes Gordon (one of the dozens of friends who helped key in decades-old Reek reviews).

"An example of how good music writing can be," he continues, "the Rick Johnson Reader: Tin Cans, Squeems & Thudpies should be required reading for every hopeful rock critic, and most current so-called writers."

Read Gordon's entire piece here --
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/232146/book_review_rick_johnsons_tin_cans.html

National news service covers Ranger Rick

A national news tip sheet recent ran a short piece from WIU's University Relations office.

Its summary is "One of the most astute rock critics and a former Western Illinois University student -- once called 'the funniest and most incisive wisecracking bad boy at CREEM magazine' -- lived a quiet existence in Macomb, Illinois, far from the limelight of the musicians he wrote about for internationally-known rock magazines."

For the whole story, check it out here -- http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/530266/

'RJR' signing, advance story

Four loons who pitched in to help transcribe years of Rick's material for the book project met in Macomb for a reading on May 19, and all were had by a good time.

Bill Paige Amtraked from Chicago, Steve Tarter drove over from Peoria and Tracy Knight ankled it to Macomb's square from his digs on the northwest side of town to join editor Bill Knight, whose Jeep made it despite an impending valve job. Twenty or so folks turned out, along with an acoustic three-piece group that played a couple of tunes after every round of readings (a cool "Here Comes the Sun" and a nice version of one of Reek's faves: "Walk Away Renee").

Pictured above, left to right (mostly laughing at some Johnson line), are Bill Knight, Bill Paige, Tracy Knight and Steve Tarter.

The western Illinois/eastern Iowa public radio station did an advance story on the event, including a 10-minute interview with Knight. Check it out here --
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wium/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1082943

'Buy it or grow up!' cries collaborator

"Pop Culture Gadabout" and cartoonist Bill Sherman featured a terrific review of Rick Johnson Reader this spring, writing, " Collecting a slew of Johnson's music reviews ... – along with a few shorter sections on television, sports, books and videogames – Tin Cans, Squeems & Thudpies catches both an era where rock 'n' roll fans were so starved for good music that they actually paid attention to the likes of Jefferson Starship or Uriah Heep and the more fecund late '70s/early '80s when the world was so fulla good/promising/pop/rock musicmakers that only a rock critic could keep track of 'em all. In both settings, Johnson's trademark skepticism came in handy: He could be just as incisively nasty about the Next Big Thing as he could the fossilized remains of the Rolling Stones. (Writing about an utterly disposable Roger Daltry solo elpee, he notes that 'No member of the Who has ever put out a listenable solo album, and they never will because they're too old and smart to be anything but boring.') But what elevates Johnson's writing above so many once-&-future snarkmeisters is the way that he always holds onto his down-&-dirty Ilini roots. Check out this pithy measure of an infectiously catchy slice of wimp rock: 'It's a great tune to hum while squeezing the day-old Twinkies at the Sunbeam thrift shop.' It's funny because it's apt."

For the whole Pop Culture Gadabout review and Experience, check it out here: http://oakhaus.blogspot.com/2007/03/buy-it-or-grow-up-am-i-gonna-have-to.html

Sun-Times' DeRogatis cuts to the chase

Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Jim DeRogatis (who wrote the Introduction to the Rick Johnson Reader) briefly summarized the collection in an April 22 roundup of rock books: "Some of his best and most gonzo prose."