[Yes, it says “Donate,” but you are simply buying the book. Thanks!]

Daniel Gabriel’s first gig as a roadie came in 1969, in Chicago, with none other than Janis Joplin. His last gig was in 1977, in West Germany, with the Karen Taylor Band. In between, he worked with hundreds of different acts, ranging from B.B. King to ZZ Top, and from Dr. John to Cheech & Chong (on the same bill; with an onstage arrest thrown in). 

Best bill ever? The Wailers opening for Sly & the Family Stone—check out that bit and more, in “Roadwork 1973—the View from Underneath,” the opening memoir here.

Sly Stone (at keyboard) of Sly And The Family Stone performs on stage in 1974 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)

The Rockats rip it up at Duffy’s, Minneapolis 1981.

The other four pieces switch the telescope back across the far side of the stage. Here Gabriel explores slices of rock ‘n’ roll from the fandom side of his early ’60s obsessions: regional rock ‘n’ roll in the Twin Cities (“Land of 10,000 Dances”);

The hidden strengths of early rock’s supposed fallow years (“Jive Twisters & Soul Sisters”), and the atavistic meanings of nonsense lyrics (“Why Put the Bomp?”).

End with “Between the Mike Stands & the Reaching Hands,” a deep dive into meaning and ethos as seen by a coterie of die-hard fans.