For nearly two decades Harry Hammond was Britain’s leading showbiz photographer. Starting in the late-1940s, his camera captured the definitive images of virtually every leading British musician, as well as visiting Americans. Drawing on the invaluable archive of over 11,000 images housed in the V&A, Alwyn W Turner tells the story of Britain’s embrace – and ultimate domination – of rock ‘n’ roll, from the earliest days with Bill Haley and the Comets to the emergence of the Beatles and Merseybeat. This remarkable collection includes photographs of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, Johnny Kidd, Cliff Richard, Eddie Cochran, the Animals, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dusty Springfield and many more.

 

Alwyn W Turner is a widely published writer on British popular culture. He is the author of The Biba Experience, co-author of Cult Rock Posters 1972–1982, and editor of Portmeirion. He has contributed to The Rough Guide to Rock and the BBC website, and once ghosted a book for Screaming Lord Sutch. His most recent book is Crisis? What Crisis?, an account of high politics and low culture in 1970s Britain.