The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's by Steven Lee Beeber

Political revolution and nihilism – quintessentially Jewish themes, especially in the 60’s and 70’s – resound across the music of not just Dylan, but Jewish protest singer Phil Ochs and the American Punk Rock bands of the 1970’s. The notoriety afforded by the Nobel committee’s recognition of Dylan’s lyrics as a kind of poetry representative of the global zeitgeist leads us to reflect: What is the common theme transcending language barriers that makes a song speak to all humankind? Surely, in Rock music unrequited love is one such focal point. Alan Freed, the Cleveland DJ often credited with coining the phrase Rock n’ Roll and pioneering the genre’s popularity, was of Russian-Jewish ancestry. It is no wonder a list of current and future Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famers is replete with birth names like Zimmerman, Hyman (Joey Ramone), Weinstein (Mountain’s Leslie West), Roth, and Knopfler, et al. But eloquent expressions of emotional pain are a cultural hallmark that appears in all Jewish artistic expression and has been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

What do the songs penned by these Rock stars representing different eras and a wide-raging array of musical styles have in common, for the most part? Angst, of course.Įxistential angst, especially the teenage variety, isn’t the sole domain of Jewish Rock musicians by any means. Rock music’s co-religionists include: Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, The Go-Go’s Susanna Hoffs, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, Joey and Tommy (a literal Yeshiva Bocher) of the Ramone’s, The Band’s Robbie Robertson, Lou Reed and, of course, Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman), among a slew of others. The list is star-studded, indeed, even if you ignore crypto-Jew Elvis Presley, whose matrilineal Jewish heritage is unquestioned. The annals of Rock n’ Roll history are imbued with major Jewish stars who’ve left an indelible mark on contemporary music and culture.

We’re endlessly amused by the essentially semitic game “Who’s the Jew?” In my house, we fervently celebrate the Jewish identity of celebrities, athletes, artists and writers or historical figures famous or obscure, and bitterly lament the transgressions of Jewish bad actors (see Madoff, Bernard).

The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's by Steven Lee Beeber