Dave Marsh

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Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic.

Growing up in the environs of Detroit, Michigan, he attended Wayne State University but failed to graduate.

Marsh was a co-founder of Creem magazine in Detroit, and he also wrote for Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone magazine. He also edited Rock and Roll Confidential, a newsletter about rock music and social issues. It is currently known as Rock and Rap Confidential. From 1985 to 2002, Marsh was one of Playboy magazine's regular music critics. He is a prolific writer and has published more than two dozen books. He also edited two editions of the Rolling Stone Record Guide.

He is most known for being Bruce Springsteen's quasi-official biographer, with a total of four books published. The first, Born to Run (1979), was a bestseller. However, Marsh's works have been criticized as hagiographies. [1] Marsh is married to Barbara Carr, who is one of Springsteen's managers. Marsh is colleagues and friends with Jon Landau, who is the other of Springsteen's managers, and former producer.

He has performed in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band that includes Stephen King, Amy Tan, and other writers.

Along with Jann Wenner, Marsh is prominent in organising and maintaining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Some have offered criticism that he has prevented adequate recognition of progressive rock in the Hall.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Publications include

Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, (Doubleday) 1979
The Book of Rock Lists, (Dell) 1980
Elvis, (Times Books) 1982
Rocktopicon: Unlikely questions and their surprising answers, (Contemporary) 1982
Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who, (St. Martin's Press) 1983
Fortunate Son (Random House) 1983. A collection of his journalism and criticism.
The First Rock and Roll Confidential Report: Inside the Real World of Rock and Roll, 1984. Compilation.
Sun City: The Making of the Record ,(Penguin) 1985
Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream, (Bantam) 1986
The Rolling Stone Record Guide: Reviews and Ratings of Almost 10,000 Currently Available Rock, Pop, Soul, Country, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel Albums (first and second editions 1979, 1983)
Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s, 1987. A sequel to Born to Run.
The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, (NAL) 1989
Heaven Is Under Our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods, co-editor with Don Henley, (Longmeadow Press, 1991)
50 Ways to Fight Censorship: And Important Facts to Know About the Censors (Thunder's Mouth Press), 1991
Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock'n'Roll song; Including the Full Details of Its Torture and Persecution at the Hands of the Kingsmen, J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I., and a Cast of Millions; and Introducing, for the First Time Anywhere, the Actual Dirty Lyrics, (Hyperion), 1992.
Merry Christmas Baby: Holiday Music from Bing to Sting, (Little Brown) 1992.
Pastures of Plenty: A Self-Portrait with Harold Levanthal and featuring the writings of Woody Guthrie (Perennial) 1992
The New Book of Rock Lists with James Bernard, (Fireside) 1994
Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude (Viking) 1994
Sam and Dave (For the Record series), (Harper Perennial) 1998
Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History (For the Record series), (Quill) 1998
George Clinton & P-Funkadelic (For the Record series), (Harper Perennial) 1998
Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts : The Definitive Biography, 1972-2003, (Routledge) 2003. Combines earlier two works about Bruce and adds a new chapter.
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan with Douglas R. Gilbert (Da Capo Press) 2005
Bruce Springsteen on Tour : 1968-2005 (Bloomsbury USA) forthcoming October 2006