Backbeats - by John Lingan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Rock and roll thrives on rhythm, but the drummers who drive that pulse often stay in the shadows. In Backbeats,acclaimed music historian John Lingan brings these unsung heroes into the spotlight, delivering a fascinating journey through six decades of rock history."--Provided by publishe

Book Synopsis

A Rolling Stone Best Music Book of 2025, this is an electrifying, "superb" (Atlantic), and "entirely fresh" (Rolling Stone) journey through the history of rock and roll, told through the lives of fifteen iconic drummers and their percussion rivals--from John Bonham and Charlie Watts to Ringo Starr and Questlove.

Rock and roll thrives on rhythm, but the drummers who drive that pulse often stay in the shadows. In Backbeats, acclaimed music historian John Lingan brings these unsung heroes into the spotlight, delivering a fascinating journey through six decades of rock history.

Lingan's deep research and vivid storytelling explores the lives of fifteen pathbreaking drummers and their fellow timekeepers--men and women who together laid down the beat of an era. From Bernard Purdie's legendary work with Aretha Franklin to Dave Grohl's funk- and punk-indebted swing for Nirvana, these drummers redefined what was possible in pop music. Iconic figures like Ringo Starr, whose inventive style transformed the Beatles, and Charlie Watts, the steady backbone of the Rolling Stones, take center stage. But Lingan doesn't stop there--he also shines a light on groundbreaking, underappreciated talents like Maureen Tucker of The Velvet Underground, whose minimalist beats rewrote the rule book, and Sam Lay, a pivotal figure in rock's evolution from the blues.

Packed with insider stories and exclusive interviews--from Robert Plant's reflections on Led Zeppelin's legendary sessions to superstar recording engineer Steve Albini's behind-the-scenes accounts--Backbeats offers an eye-opening glimpse into some of rock's most unforgettable moments, including the seismic shift of Bob Dylan going electric at Newport, James Brown's explosive creation of funk in the late sixties, and the birth of LA thrash metal in the early eighties.

More than just a tribute to an unrecognized group of virtuosos, this book is a love letter to the art of drumming itself. Both "broadly accessible" and "enlightening" (Rolling Stone) to musicians and non-musicians alike, Backbeats shows how these remarkable artists not only kept the beat but drove rock and roll forward. It's a must-read for any music lover, offering a fresh and thrilling perspective on a story we only thought we knew.

Review Quotes

A Rolling Stone Best Music Book of 2025
Selected by the Washington Post for its Worthy Books of 2025 List

"A revelation...So many books have written on the broad history of rock & roll that it's some marvel that John Lingan...has found an entirely fresh way to tell its story. ...Both broadly accessible and enlightening to non-musicians."
--Rolling Stone, Best Music Books of 2025

"Superb...Backbeats is full of moments of transmission--often via vinyl, occasionally in performance--when the creative spark zips and snaps across the pre-artistic darkness and some young drummer somewhere realizes that he's going to have to change his life....The ambition of Lingan's book [is] to tell a story of rock-and-roll evolution from the back, from the bowels, from the under-realm of the creator-drummers."
--James Parker, The Atlantic

"An exploration of the lives and careers of modern music's critically important -- but often ignored -- performers. Lingan's focus sheds new light on notable moments in rock history."
--Washington Post

"A revelation...Like a talented drummer's work, Lingan's writing slides throughout the book, underscoring its themes and occasionally popping out to dazzle us. Like Questlove, who gets a chapter for his work with the Roots and others, he demonstrates that he's a practitioner who's also a scholar and a superfan."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Fascinating reading...Loud but often overlooked, drummers get their due in this entertaining survey...Lingan does a terrific job explaining the technical aspects of drumming to a lay audience; this book is accessible to any rock fan, even ones who don't know the difference between a snare and a tom."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Peppered with colorful anecdotes...the profiles shed light on how drummers have helped shape rock music's 'many sounds and styles.' It's both a vibrant group biography and a fresh perspective on what makes rock and roll special."
--Publishers Weekly

"Enticing."
--Music Connection

"Without drums, it's not rock. With Backbeats, author John Lingan skillfully navigates the cornerstone drummers of rock and illuminates fourteen men--and one woman--who made their instruments speak, brilliantly outlining both the instrument's crucial, often overlooked role in the music and the mad geniuses behind the beats."
--Joel Selvin, New York Times bestselling author of Altamont

"A thrilling ride through rock 'n' roll history told from a perspective we don't know well enough: the drummer's. In exquisite detail and deft prose, John Lingan relates the creative insights and technical mastery of 15 of rock's most influential groove merchants--many still unsung. In doing so, he reclaims the rock narrative from all those frontmen and guitarists, showing how the wizards at the back of the stage were moving the music all along. Like a crisp backbeat, Lingan's chapters carry us through exciting, unheralded tales of the stage and studio, rendering the great rock 'n' roll story anew."
--Ian S. Port, author of The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll

"While singers and guitar players soak up most of the spotlight, it's the drummer in the back who shovels the coal and keeps the whole damn engine moving. In Backbeats John Lingan delivers an intelligent, heartfelt, and long-overdue tribute to the unsung heroes of modern music. Because let's face it--if it ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing."
--Brad Tolinski, coauthor of Play It Loud: An Epic History of the Style, Sound, and Revolution of the Electric Guitar

"With passion and deep knowledge, John Lingan weaves together the history of popular music via fifteen essays about pivotal drummers, musicians who were integral to moving music forward. The only moments I put this book down were to pause and listen to the perfect examples that Lingan, a drummer himself, cites as crucial moments in recordings. Someone told me that drummers are like baseball catchers; they call the game and see the whole field. Here we see and hear the music of our lives unfolding from that wide perspective."
--Bill Janovitz, New York Times bestselling author of Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History

"Backbeats glows with enthusiasm and delivers an insightful glimpse into the sultans of swing who create fire by rubbing two sticks together."
--Bob Spitz, New York Times bestselling author of The Beatles: The Biography and Led Zeppelin: The Biography

"Sitting ten feet from stardom, drummers have had a central but slightly removed view of rock 'n' roll. A drummer himself, John Lingan captures that unique perspective, sharing the stories, supporting the key contributions of heroes known and unsung, from Sam Lay to Dave Grohl. Lingan holds these stories together in steady rhythm, keeping them in synch with the larger point of drummers' importance, while delivering to the reader something fresh and different. It's a hit."
--Preston Lauterbach, author of Wall Street Journal Book of the Year The Chitlin Circuit: And the Road to Rock 'n' Roll

"It's hard to talk about music, and harder to write about it--especially in a way that makes you hear it while you read. It's also long past due for a good writer to "give the drummer some." We're fortunate in both respects to have this damned fine book from John Lingan. Backbeats' featured drummers are a cross section of stylistic marvels: Al Jackson, Jr.'s fatback pocket; Moe Tucker's DIY minimalism; Ringo's uncanny "backwards fills," (cued off the vocals, no less); and John Bonham's tectonic authority. Each one of these drummers can be identified after having only played one measure. Backbeats tells you everything that led up to those defining moments. Indispensable."
--Tom Maxwell, author of A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999

About the Author

John Lingan is the author of Backbeats: A History of Rock and Roll in Fifteen Drummers; Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk; and A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival, named one of the Best Music Books of 2022 by Variety. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Nation, and Oxford American, among many other publications. He lives in Maryland.