Jim Dawson (born September 10, 1944) is a Hollywood, California-based author who has specialized in American

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

(especially early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

) and the history of

flatulence Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...

. A self-proclaimed "fartologist", he has written three books about

, including the best-selling ''Who Cut the Cheese?''

Biography

Jim Dawson is a Hollywood-based writer who has specialized in American pop culture (especially early rock 'n' roll) and the history of flatulence (three books so far, including his 1999 top-seller, ''Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart''). Mojo magazine called his ''What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record'' (1992), 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 Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens was killed i ...

. The piece led directly to Rhino Records reissuing Valens' entire catalog (with Dawson's liner notes) 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' (

Ten Speed Press Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by Phil Wood. Ten Speed Press was bought by Random House in February 2009 and is now part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & N ...

) *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' (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

) *1992 'What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record?' (with Steve Propes; introductions by

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

and

Billy Vera Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being " At This Moment", a US number 1 ...

), (

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

) *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' (Big Nickel Publ.) *1996 'Memories of Buddy Holly' (Big Nickel Publ.) *2003 '45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains of a Pop Music Revolution'(Backbeat Books/ Hal Leonard) *2005 'Rock Around the Clock: The Record That Started the Rock Revolution'(Backbeat Books/ Hal Leonard) *2008 'Los Angeles's Angels Flight' (

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publi ...

) *2009 'The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words' ( Feral House) *2012 'Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero' (History Books)

References

External links

Random House

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Jim Living people 1944 births American non-fiction writers People from Parkersburg, West Virginia