Spring Break
The morning star's descent
Nick Tabor
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Arts
Whenever I heard a DJ mention the Rolling Stones, as a kid, I always assumed they'd taken their name from the Bob Dylan song.
Simple chronology dispelled that misconception a long time ago. The band named themselves after a Muddy Waters song.
But I haven't lost hope yet: Rolling Stone magazine released its first issue a year after Bob Dylan's song hit radio stations. Maybe the song did accord as much influence as I wanted to believe.
Mossey Library just acquired a DVD-ROM set called "Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years," which contains every page of every issue - even the advertisements - in full color. It also features a 200-page book with a short summary of each year in the magazine's history.
It doesn't answer my quandary about how the editors choose the magazine's name, but it offers something more exhilarating because it reads like a colorized account of Lucifer's freefall into Hell.
See, during its first few years, Rolling Stone reigned as king of all counterculture journalism publications. Despite its strict commitment to rock 'n' roll, experimental journalism and hippie culture, it also maintained a degree of journalistic integrity the underground pubs rarely achieved.
Fast forward 40 years. What does it cover anymore but the sleekest, sleaziest and most popular music in the world?
The Oct. 19, 2006 issue, for instance, advertises a new "Hot List," featuring "Hot Rumors! Hotter Sex!! The World's Hottest Bands!!!"
If not for the mention of "bands," I'd mistake it for Cosmopolitan.
So where did it go wrong?
I think the key lies in the very first issue: Nov. 9, 1967. Co-founder and publisher Jann Wenner wrote that the magazine was "not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes the music embraces."
That sounds like a noble approach, but it's proven the magazine's downfall in two major ways.
First, Wenner should have defined "the music" more precisely.
The premier issue features John Lennon in his classic "How I Won the War" attire. Tina Turner, the Beatles, Otis Redding, Donovan and Hendrix dominated the next few issues.
Simple chronology dispelled that misconception a long time ago. The band named themselves after a Muddy Waters song.
But I haven't lost hope yet: Rolling Stone magazine released its first issue a year after Bob Dylan's song hit radio stations. Maybe the song did accord as much influence as I wanted to believe.
Mossey Library just acquired a DVD-ROM set called "Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years," which contains every page of every issue - even the advertisements - in full color. It also features a 200-page book with a short summary of each year in the magazine's history.
It doesn't answer my quandary about how the editors choose the magazine's name, but it offers something more exhilarating because it reads like a colorized account of Lucifer's freefall into Hell.
See, during its first few years, Rolling Stone reigned as king of all counterculture journalism publications. Despite its strict commitment to rock 'n' roll, experimental journalism and hippie culture, it also maintained a degree of journalistic integrity the underground pubs rarely achieved.
Fast forward 40 years. What does it cover anymore but the sleekest, sleaziest and most popular music in the world?
The Oct. 19, 2006 issue, for instance, advertises a new "Hot List," featuring "Hot Rumors! Hotter Sex!! The World's Hottest Bands!!!"
If not for the mention of "bands," I'd mistake it for Cosmopolitan.
So where did it go wrong?
I think the key lies in the very first issue: Nov. 9, 1967. Co-founder and publisher Jann Wenner wrote that the magazine was "not just about the music, but about the things and attitudes the music embraces."
That sounds like a noble approach, but it's proven the magazine's downfall in two major ways.
First, Wenner should have defined "the music" more precisely.
The premier issue features John Lennon in his classic "How I Won the War" attire. Tina Turner, the Beatles, Otis Redding, Donovan and Hendrix dominated the next few issues.
Be the first to comment on this story