Crawdaddy (magazine)

Apr 23, 2026 - 02:03
0 0
Crawdaddy (magazine)

M Horowitz' cover story on Jim Morrison (April 1969) was the only article cited by Rolling Stone in its ensuing obituary.

← Previous revision Revision as of 20:31, 22 April 2026
Line 27: Line 27:
'''''Crawdaddy''''' was an American [[rock music]] magazine launched in 1966. It was created by [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy)|Paul Williams]], a [[Swarthmore College]] student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine was named after the [[Crawdaddy Club]] in London and published during its early years as '''''Crawdaddy!''''' (with an exclamation point).{{cite web|last=Vitello|first=Paul|date=March 31, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/arts/music/paul-williams-father-of-rock-criticism-is-dead-at-64.html?_r=0|title=Paul Williams, Father of Rock Criticism, Is Dead at 64|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 16, 2016}}
'''''Crawdaddy''''' was an American [[rock music]] magazine launched in 1966. It was created by [[Paul Williams (Crawdaddy)|Paul Williams]], a [[Swarthmore College]] student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine was named after the [[Crawdaddy Club]] in London and published during its early years as '''''Crawdaddy!''''' (with an exclamation point).{{cite web|last=Vitello|first=Paul|date=March 31, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/arts/music/paul-williams-father-of-rock-criticism-is-dead-at-64.html?_r=0|title=Paul Williams, Father of Rock Criticism, Is Dead at 64|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 16, 2016}}


Preceding both ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' and ''[[Creem]]'', ''Crawdaddy'' was the training ground for many rock writers just finding the language to describe [[rock and roll]],{{cite web|url=http://beatpatrol.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/peter-knobler-crawdaddy-2008|title=Peter Knobler — ''Crawdaddy''|date=Aug 2, 2009|website=The Beat Patrol|first=Peter|last=Knobler|author-link=Peter Knobler}}{{cite web|url=http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/paulwilliams/01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043556/http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/paulwilliams/01.html |date=2007-09-27 |title=The Godfather of Rock Criticism: Paul Williams|first1=Pat|last1=Thomas|first2=Christoph|last2=Gurk|website=RockCritics.com|archive-date=Sep 27, 2007}} which was only then beginning to be written about as studiously as [[folk music]] and [[jazz]]. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''Crawdaddy'' was "the first magazine to take rock and roll seriously",{{cite web |last=Rockwell |first=John |date=June 9, 1976 |title=Crawdaddy Party Mirrors Magazine |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/09/archives/crawdaddy-party-mirrors-magazine.html |access-date=March 22, 2022 }} while ''Rolling Stone'' acknowledged it as "the first serious publication devoted to rock & roll news and criticism".{{cite news |newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=1077 |date=April 30, 2009 |page=26 |first=David |last=Fricke |author-link=David Fricke |title=Rockers Reach Out to Pioneering Music Critic}} Cited in {{cite web |publisher=rollingstone.com |date=April 21, 2009 |title=''Crawdaddy'' Founder Paul Williams Asks for Help |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/21/crawdaddy-founder-paul-williams-asks-for-help|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427103617/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/21/crawdaddy-founder-paul-williams-asks-for-help|archive-date=April 27, 2009|url-status=dead |access-date=June 1, 2015 }} The magazine spawned the career of numerous rock and other writers. Early contributors included [[Jon Landau]], [[Sandy Pearlman]], [[Richard Meltzer]], [[Peter Knobler]],{{cite web|url=http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive|title=Crawdaddy back issues. Archived version of issue #8|date=March 1967|issue=8|page=3|access-date=May 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508135725/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive|archive-date=May 8, 2009|url-status=dead}} Issue #8 from March 1967. See page 3 for Table of Contents, showing authors. Also [http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive issue #19, page 3.] and [[Samuel R. Delany]].
Preceding both ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' and ''[[Creem]]'', ''Crawdaddy'' was the training ground for many rock writers just finding the language to describe [[rock and roll]],{{cite web|url=http://beatpatrol.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/peter-knobler-crawdaddy-2008|title=Peter Knobler — ''Crawdaddy''|date=Aug 2, 2009|website=The Beat Patrol|first=Peter|last=Knobler|author-link=Peter Knobler}}{{cite web|url=http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/paulwilliams/01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043556/http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/paulwilliams/01.html |date=2007-09-27 |title=The Godfather of Rock Criticism: Paul Williams|first1=Pat|last1=Thomas|first2=Christoph|last2=Gurk|website=RockCritics.com|archive-date=Sep 27, 2007}} which was only then beginning to be written about as studiously as [[folk music]] and [[jazz]]. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''Crawdaddy'' was "the first magazine to take rock and roll seriously",{{cite web |last=Rockwell |first=John |date=June 9, 1976 |title=Crawdaddy Party Mirrors Magazine |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/09/archives/crawdaddy-party-mirrors-magazine.html |access-date=March 22, 2022 }} while ''Rolling Stone'' acknowledged it as "the first serious publication devoted to rock & roll news and criticism".{{cite news |newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=1077 |date=April 30, 2009 |page=26 |first=David |last=Fricke |author-link=David Fricke |title=Rockers Reach Out to Pioneering Music Critic}} Cited in {{cite web |publisher=rollingstone.com |date=April 21, 2009 |title=''Crawdaddy'' Founder Paul Williams Asks for Help |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/21/crawdaddy-founder-paul-williams-asks-for-help|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427103617/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/21/crawdaddy-founder-paul-williams-asks-for-help|archive-date=April 27, 2009|url-status=dead |access-date=June 1, 2015 }} The magazine spawned the career of numerous rock and other writers. Early contributors included [[Jon Landau]], [[Sandy Pearlman]], [[Richard Meltzer]], Michael Horowitz, [[Peter Knobler]],{{cite web|url=http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive|title=Crawdaddy back issues. Archived version of issue #8|date=March 1967|issue=8|page=3|access-date=May 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508135725/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive|archive-date=May 8, 2009|url-status=dead}} Issue #8 from March 1967. See page 3 for Table of Contents, showing authors. Also [http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1022#archive issue #19, page 3.] and [[Samuel R. Delany]].


After Williams left ''Crawdaddy'' in 1968, the magazine was edited by Knobler from 1972 until its last issue in 1979. Knobler's ''Crawdaddy'' discovered Springsteen in the rock press and was his earliest champion.{{cite web | title="Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium" | date=August 6, 2012 | url=https://www.monmouth.edu/news/glory-days-a-bruce-springsteen-symposium/ }} From 1993 to 2003 Williams self-published a ''Crawdaddy'' reincarnation. In 2006 it was sold to [[Wolfgang's Vault]] and later resurrected as a daily [[webzine]].[http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1124 Crawdaddy.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219143150/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1124 |date=December 19, 2008}} Effective August 5, 2011, visits began redirecting to the music website ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'', which announced that ''Crawdaddy'' "relaunches as a blog on Paste, where we'll share stories from the Crawdaddy archives and publish new content on legacy artists".{{cite magazine|url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/crawdaddy/2011/08/crawdaddy-comes-to-paste.html|date=August 5, 2011|first=Josh|last=Jackson|title=Crawdaddy! Comes to Paste|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019143826/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/crawdaddy/2011/08/crawdaddy-comes-to-paste.html|archive-date=Oct 19, 2011|magazine=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]}}
After Williams left ''Crawdaddy'' in 1968, the magazine was edited by Knobler from 1972 until its last issue in 1979. Knobler's ''Crawdaddy'' discovered Springsteen in the rock press and was his earliest champion.{{cite web | title="Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium" | date=August 6, 2012 | url=https://www.monmouth.edu/news/glory-days-a-bruce-springsteen-symposium/ }} From 1993 to 2003 Williams self-published a ''Crawdaddy'' reincarnation. In 2006 it was sold to [[Wolfgang's Vault]] and later resurrected as a daily [[webzine]].[http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1124 Crawdaddy.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219143150/http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Static.aspx?id=1124 |date=December 19, 2008}} Effective August 5, 2011, visits began redirecting to the music website ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'', which announced that ''Crawdaddy'' "relaunches as a blog on Paste, where we'll share stories from the Crawdaddy archives and publish new content on legacy artists".{{cite magazine|url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/crawdaddy/2011/08/crawdaddy-comes-to-paste.html|date=August 5, 2011|first=Josh|last=Jackson|title=Crawdaddy! Comes to Paste|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019143826/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/crawdaddy/2011/08/crawdaddy-comes-to-paste.html|archive-date=Oct 19, 2011|magazine=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]}}
Read More