Jim Dawson


Jim Dawson is an American author and self-proclaimed "fartologist", who has specialized in pop culture of early rock and roll and the history of flatulence, having written three books on the latter subject.

Biography

Jim Dawson is a Hollywood-based writer who has specialized in American pop culture and the history of flatulence. Mojo magazine called his What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record, 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 and eventually to the 1987 biopic La Bamba, 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. He's currently working on a novel about a 1920 coal mine war in his native West Virginia.

Books

  • 1999 'Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart'
  • 2006 'Blame It on the Dog: A Modern History of the Fart'
  • 2010 'Did Somebody Step on a Duck? A Natural History of the Fart'
  • 1992 'What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?',
  • 1995 'The Twist: The Story of the Song and Dance That Changed the World'
  • 1994 'Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely and the Rise of the Honking Tenor Sax'
  • 1996 'Memories of Buddy Holly'
  • 2003 '45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains of a Pop Music Revolution'
  • 2005 'Rock Around the Clock: The Record That Started the Rock Revolution'
  • 2008 'Los Angeles's Angels Flight'
  • 2009 'The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words'
  • 2012 'Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero'