Course

This course covers the first ten years of rock and roll, which shook the world during the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. It spans the ascendance of pioneers like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard to the harmonizing vocal groups, surf, soul, and girl groups of the early ’60s. It features greats like the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Ray Charles, and the Beach Boys, with plenty of rare film clips of the heroes in action. It also celebrates the record labels, the producers, disk jockeys, songwriters, and teenage audience that helped make it happen.

Faculty Bio

Richie Unterberger is the author of numerous rock history books, including volumes on the Beatles, the Who, the Velvet Underground, and Bob Marley. His most recent book, published in 2022 by Taschen, is San Francisco: Portrait of a City.

This is a Best of OLLI Course

• Best of OLLI courses are popular courses recorded a previous term
• Videos are available to watch the moment you sign up through Aug 30
• Available for $75 to Annual Plus, Premium Plus, Best of OLLI and Fee Assistance members. Learn about membership.
• Current Annual and Premium members can upgrade to Annual Plus or Premium Plus for an additional $10

Member Praise for Richie Unterberger

Everything worked! His class is academic in nature and he has a very deep understanding of the subject matter, and imparts his knowledge so professionally!

Yay, Richie! Mr. Unterberger has an impressive encyclopedic knowledge of rock music and blues. Add to that a skill at assembling historical notes and ferreting out film clips (sometimes obscure) to create a comprehensive, entertaining, and empathetic narrative of his subject. 

Faculty Q&A

• Read an interview with Richie Unterberger from our archive.