50 Years of Rolling Stone the Music Politics and People That Changed Our Culture Book Review
By Richard Jones
It was the year of the Summertime of Love, and although unemployed 21-year-sometime San Francisco graduate Jann Southward Wenner had a passion for the groundbreaking music coming out that year, he wanted to create a magazine that took stone 'due north' roll seriously.
The starting time issue of Rolling Stone mag rolled off the presses on November 9, 1967.
To get it off the ground, Wenner had borrowed $seven,500 from his family and the parents of his presently-to-be wife, Jane Schindelheim, and worked on the publication using donated part infinite and old typewriters.
In the showtime result, Wenner explained that the title of his mag referred to the 1950 blues song, 'Rollin' Rock', recorded by Dingy Waters, rock 'n' roll band the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan's hitting single 'Like a Rolling Stone'.
In May 2017, almost five decades on from the first issue of Rolling Stone, the Stone and Roll Hall of Fame in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, unveiled a sprawling new exhibition.
Spread out over the meridian 3 floors of the museum, it explores the magazine'south meaning impact on music, civilisation, journalism and the earth over the past 50 years.
"The book moves through the last five decades, giving equal coverage to each"
Its opening also corresponds with the publication of 50 Years of Rolling Stone: The Music, Politics and People that Changed Our Culture, a glossy, hardback book documenting the mag's history, decade by decade, in words and photographs.
Not just does this landmark volume document the magazine's rise to prominence every bit the vocalisation of rock 'n' coil, it is also a reminder of how Rolling Stone became, and still is, a showcase for era-defining photography.
Afterward the personal introduction written by Wenner, the book moves through the last five decades, giving equal coverage to each.
The 1960s saw a seismic alter in society and music, and Rolling Rock'south covers during this decade sum upwards the shifting moods in America and effectually the earth. The opening chapter includes features on Pete Townshend, Woodstock, The Groupies, Other Girls and American Revolution 1969.
From a celebrated signal of view, this is probably the almost interesting section, every bit it non but outlines the decade of social revolution, it also perfectly encapsulates the beginnings of the magazine itself.
By the end of the 1970s, Rolling Stone had moved from its original home in San Francisco to New York, and world-course photography, particularly that of Annie Leibovitz, had get an integral part of its output.
"Interesting and sobering"
This section contains pieces on Finding Patty Hearst, The Death of Karen Silkwood, The Family – A Photo Portfolio past Richard Avedon, John Lennon, Charles Manson, Sex activity Pistols, Ralph Steadman and Hunter S Thompson.
Gonzo announcer Thompson is referred to a lot in this volume, and understandably so. He outset published his almost famous work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas within the pages of Rolling Stone, where he remained a contributing editor until his decease in 2005.
Probably because of my age, merely also due to the quality and style of photography in the chapter, the 1980s is my favourite section in this book. The function nearly John Lennon's death at the beginning of the decade is particularly interesting and sobering – the murder hit Wenner and his staff pretty difficult.
Guns N' Roses, Keith Richards, Tom Wolfe, The Devil and John Holmes, Inside the AIDS Epidemic, David Letterman and Michael Jackson all feature in the chapter dedicated to the magazine'southward third decade.
At that place are ii startling images of Jackson in the book – 20 or and so pages apart which show his 'transformation' from the cherubic singer in Jackson Five to the worldwide popular phenomenon, and some would say extravaganza, he would afterwards get.
Author and founder of Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner
epitome courtesy of Rolling Stone
"Reputation was legendary"
Moving onto the 1990s, and the magazine underwent alter as new musical styles such every bit grunge and gangsta rap came to the fore.
Chapters on Eminem, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, PJ O'Rourke on Government Waste material, Marilyn Manson, Kurt Cobain, Madonna Mankind and Fantasy, A Photo Portfolio by Steven Maeisel, Fast Nutrient Nation and Mandatory Minimums tell the tale of the Bill Clinton-inspired post-war generation taking over from the established guild in America.
By the 2000s, Rolling Stone's reputation was legendary, however, in a post-ix/xi earth increasingly shaped by social media, the magazine faced challenges remaining current moving into the new millennium
This section contains manufactures entitled: Bono, Matt Taibbi'due south "Great Vampire Squid", The Osbournes, Bob Dylan, David Foster Wallace, Within Scientology, The Genesis Project: A Photograph Portfolio by Sebestiao Salgado.
The concluding chapter in the book, The 2010s, which although simply two thirds completed, provides nevertheless more memorable moments, as Rolling Stone competed with online as well every bit print rivals. Politics has taken a more central role in the magazine, with the issues such as climate change driving much of the editorial content.
There are articles on and interviews with Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, The Downfall of Gen Stanley McChrystal, Bye Miami, Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen, as well as the thoughts of former US President Barack Obama.
"Interviews with rock legends"
Nearly A3 size and 288 pages long, 50 Years of Rolling Stone is non the kind of book yous can deport around. It is a heavy souvenir keepsake which one buys every bit a gift for someone, or yourself, and sits proudly on the java table or the bookshelf.
It contains interviews with rock legends such as Dylan, Jagger, Cobain and Springsteen, merely their words are given extra meaning and colour when paired with Leibovitz, Baron Wolman or Mark Seliger's iconic photographs.
"If you look at stone 'n' whorl, it was about the visuals," Wenner has said. "A lot virtually the sex entreatment and the fashion and the fashion. And so, seeing these people, and shooting them correct, and showing that side of the music was really, really important.
"Early on on, I said nosotros just can't be running pictures of people in operation with a black background and a microphone in their face.
"We take to shoot original, studio portraits of people. We started off right away doing that."
"An irresistible and essential keepsake"
The book is a feast for the eyes. Likewise as existence hard to elevator up, it is also hard to put down – y'all can't resist turning the page to run across the next photograph of, or interview with, an iconic popular culture icon.
For the past v decades, Rolling Stone has been a leading voice in journalism, cultural criticism, and – higher up all – music.
As Wenner wrote in editor's note for the starting time edition: "Rolling Rock is not just about music but also the things and attitudes that the music embraces."
This book is an irresistible and essential keepsake of the magazine that has defined American music for generations. In the age of the net, Rolling Rock remains an exception – a print magazine that is ahead of the news, ofttimes making it.
Here'southward to the side by side fifty years.
'50 Years of Rolling Stone: The Music, Politics and People that Inverse Our Culture' by Rolling Stone and Jann South. Wenner (Abrams, out now, £45)
Source: https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/book-review/non-fiction/50-years-of-rolling-stone/
0 Response to "50 Years of Rolling Stone the Music Politics and People That Changed Our Culture Book Review"
Post a Comment