Jim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based writer who has specialized in American pop culture (especially early rock 'n' roll) and the history of flatulence (three books so far, including his 1999 top-seller, "Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart"). Mojo magazine called his "What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?" (1992), co-written with Steve Propes, "one of the most impressive musical reads of the year"; it remains a valuable source for music critics and rock historians, and an updated second edition is currently available on Kindle. Dawson has also written a series of articles on early rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll pioneers for the Los Angeles Times, including a front-page story in the Calendar entertainment section on the forgotten tragic figure Ritchie Valens. The piece led directly to Rhino Records reissuing Valens' entire catalog (with Dawson's liner notes) and eventually to the 1987 biopic "LaBamba," which used some of Dawson's research. Since 1983 Dawson has also written liner notes for roughly 150 albums and CDs, including Rhino's prestigious "Central Avenue Sounds" box set celebrating the history of jazz and early R&B in Los Angeles. His most recent book (2012) is "Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero." He's currently working on a novel about a 1920 coal mine war in his native West Virginia.

(Book). Music detective Jim Dawson reveals the real story of rock 'n' roll's beginnings like it's never been told before. It's all here, from the song's murky origins and Bill Haley's early struggles as a professional musician, to the record's explosion through motion pictures like The Blackboard Jungle and Haley's resulting success and eventual burnout. Dawson makes the case that "Rock Around the Clock" besides being the first national No. 1 rock 'n' roll hit killed Tin Pan Alley and heralded the beginning of modern youth culture.