Course

This course examines the lives and work of eight great songwriter/artists of the golden era of rock and roll. We will study the contributions of, the teams of Carole King and Gerry Goffin and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell. Through the use of audio, video, stories and live in-class performance, we will look at, listen to and break down the musical and lyrical components of songs by these composers, in order to better understand and appreciate the artistry, insight and social context these songwriters brought to popular music.

Faculty Bio

Pete Elman is a musician, an author, a journalist, a historian — and a star educator. He has performed, recorded and produced popular music since 1962, authored four books, been a sportswriter, taught K-12, and, since 2015, has wowed OLLI members with more than a dozen courses on American music. 

This is a Livestreamed + Recorded Course

• Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time 
• Classes will also be video recorded
• You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.

Schedule Highlights

• Course starts on Tuesday, March 31, and ends on Tuesday, May 5
• Classes meet for 6 weeks, 2 hours per session (1–3 PM)
• All course materials will be available in Member Dashboards through May 31

Member Praise for Pete Elman

Another wonderful class from Pete! Once again, he added to my appreciation and understanding of the music and contributions from artists I already have enjoyed and admired for so long.

I gained so much appreciation for the musicians and their music than I expected to. Very, very enjoyable. I'll take any course Pete Elman offers.

Faculty Q&A

• Read an interview with Pete Elman from our archive.