Career
A self-proclaimed "fartologist", he has written three books about farting, including the best-selling "Who Cut the Cheese?"
Jim Dawson is a Hollywood, California-based writer who has specialized in American popular 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". lieutenant 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.
The piece led directly to Rhino Records reissuing Valens" entire catalog (with Dawson"s liner notes) and eventually to the 1987 biopic Louisiana 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 Rhythm & Blues in Los Los Angeles
He"s currently working on a novel about a 1920 coal mine war in his native West Virginia.