Rick Shefchik spent almost thirty years in daily journalism, mostly as a critic, reporter, and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is the author of From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota (Minnesota, 2012). He’s a novelist and author of three works of nonfiction and has been in several working bands as a guitarist and singer.

"Engrossing and exhaustive, Everybody’s Heard about the Bird is an invaluable pop history document that chronicles the nascent Minneapolis recording and music industry and early rock-and-roll stew. All in all, a labor of love that feels both fresh and long overdue."-Jim Walsh, journalist, songwriter, and author of The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History"A meticulously researched and thoughtfully told celebration of the successes Minnesota musicians achieved in the ‘60s."-Pioneer Press"A deep, exhilarating, educational and inspiring rabbit hole that leads to aural artifacts from a time when ballroom dance floors looked like sizzling pans of human flesh, so wild and freely were they filled with dancing kids."-MinnPost.com"If you didn’t experience rock and roll in Minnesota in the 1960s, this book will make you wish you had."-Fox 9 News"Relive the years of Augie Garcia and Bobby Vee, the Castaways and the Trashmen, whose hit “Surfin’ Bird” inspired hundreds of bands in the Upper Midwest. Word is that this fun read. . . is selling out all over town."-Pioneer Press"Just like ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and the other songs of that era, the best word that could be used to describe Shefchik’s book is simply ‘fun.’"-Star Tribune"Rick Shefchik...has meticulously re-created the scene whose biggest names included the Castaways, the Underbeats, the Avanties, and the Gestures."-Minnesota History"Shefchik’s meticulously researched history is the authoritative document of this early, fertile era of rock ‘n’ roll."-Minnesota History

• ContentsPrologue1. Suzie Baby2. The Rajah of the Records3. Battle of the Bands4. Trashman’s Blues5. The Bird is the Word6. The British Arrive7. On the Move8. The Big Three9. The Great Deception10. Run, Run, Run11. Liar, Liar12. We Gotta Get Out of This Place13. Dream if You CanEpilogue: Bringing It All Back HomeAcknowledgmentsIndex

Rick Shefchik spent almost thirty years in daily journalism, mostly as a critic, reporter, and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is the author of From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota (Minnesota, 2012). He’s a novelist and author of three works of nonfiction and has been in several working bands as a guitarist and singer.

"Engrossing and exhaustive, Everybody’s Heard about the Bird is an invaluable pop history document that chronicles the nascent Minneapolis recording and music industry and early rock-and-roll stew. All in all, a labor of love that feels both fresh and long overdue."-Jim Walsh, journalist, songwriter, and author of The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History"A meticulously researched and thoughtfully told celebration of the successes Minnesota musicians achieved in the ‘60s."-Pioneer Press"A deep, exhilarating, educational and inspiring rabbit hole that leads to aural artifacts from a time when ballroom dance floors looked like sizzling pans of human flesh, so wild and freely were they filled with dancing kids."-MinnPost.com"If you didn’t experience rock and roll in Minnesota in the 1960s, this book will make you wish you had."-Fox 9 News"Relive the years of Augie Garcia and Bobby Vee, the Castaways and the Trashmen, whose hit “Surfin’ Bird” inspired hundreds of bands in the Upper Midwest. Word is that this fun read. . . is selling out all over town."-Pioneer Press"Just like ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and the other songs of that era, the best word that could be used to describe Shefchik’s book is simply ‘fun.’"-Star Tribune"Rick Shefchik...has meticulously re-created the scene whose biggest names included the Castaways, the Underbeats, the Avanties, and the Gestures."-Minnesota History"Shefchik’s meticulously researched history is the authoritative document of this early, fertile era of rock ‘n’ roll."-Minnesota History

• ContentsPrologue1. Suzie Baby2. The Rajah of the Records3. Battle of the Bands4. Trashman’s Blues5. The Bird is the Word6. The British Arrive7. On the Move8. The Big Three9. The Great Deception10. Run, Run, Run11. Liar, Liar12. We Gotta Get Out of This Place13. Dream if You CanEpilogue: Bringing It All Back HomeAcknowledgmentsIndex

Rick Shefchik spent almost thirty years in daily journalism, mostly as a critic, reporter, and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is the author of From Fields to Fairways: Classic Golf Clubs of Minnesota (Minnesota, 2012). He’s a novelist and author of three works of nonfiction and has been in several working bands as a guitarist and singer.

"Engrossing and exhaustive, Everybody’s Heard about the Bird is an invaluable pop history document that chronicles the nascent Minneapolis recording and music industry and early rock-and-roll stew. All in all, a labor of love that feels both fresh and long overdue."-Jim Walsh, journalist, songwriter, and author of The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History"A meticulously researched and thoughtfully told celebration of the successes Minnesota musicians achieved in the ‘60s."-Pioneer Press"A deep, exhilarating, educational and inspiring rabbit hole that leads to aural artifacts from a time when ballroom dance floors looked like sizzling pans of human flesh, so wild and freely were they filled with dancing kids."-MinnPost.com"If you didn’t experience rock and roll in Minnesota in the 1960s, this book will make you wish you had."-Fox 9 News"Relive the years of Augie Garcia and Bobby Vee, the Castaways and the Trashmen, whose hit “Surfin’ Bird” inspired hundreds of bands in the Upper Midwest. Word is that this fun read. . . is selling out all over town."-Pioneer Press"Just like ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and the other songs of that era, the best word that could be used to describe Shefchik’s book is simply ‘fun.’"-Star Tribune"Rick Shefchik...has meticulously re-created the scene whose biggest names included the Castaways, the Underbeats, the Avanties, and the Gestures."-Minnesota History"Shefchik’s meticulously researched history is the authoritative document of this early, fertile era of rock ‘n’ roll."-Minnesota History

• ContentsPrologue1. Suzie Baby2. The Rajah of the Records3. Battle of the Bands4. Trashman’s Blues5. The Bird is the Word6. The British Arrive7. On the Move8. The Big Three9. The Great Deception10. Run, Run, Run11. Liar, Liar12. We Gotta Get Out of This Place13. Dream if You CanEpilogue: Bringing It All Back HomeAcknowledgmentsIndex