John Swenson was (with Dave Marsh) co-editor of, and a contributor to, the first edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide, the first comprehensive reference guide to rock albums (also covering some folk, jazz, blues, gospel and country recordings that were influential on rock and pop music). He was also the editor of The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. Records editor of Crawdaddy in the mid '70s, he was a contributor to magazines such as Rolling Stone and the Village Voice, as well as writing several music biographies. Most of these, including ones on the Eagles, John Lennon and the Who, were superseded by subsequent bios that wentinto far more depth. However, his book on Bill Haley (Bill Haley: The Daddy of Rock and Roll) is still useful, considering that the first White rock star has not been well-served by biographies. His biography of Stevie Wonder is less impressive, but again still worth noting given the surprising lack of full-length studies of Wonder's life and music. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide