ABSTRACT
I want to talk-sympathetically-about the current situation of rock and roll in the United States. To understand its specificity and possibilities, we must first ask how rock and roll works for its fans for, as I will argue, to call something “rock and roll”—and more than music is encompassed by that term-is to say that it works for its fans. Hence, I define “rock and roll” as a mode of functioning. I do not intend to speak either as a fan (although I am one) or as a critic (although I have been one) for, from either of these positions, one can only make judgments about the quality of the music or the appropriateness of the audience’s response.
