On The Cover of the Rolling Stone

I let my Rolling Stone subscription lapse.

This is significant.

Rolling Stone has been in my life for the vast majority of my adult years. I'm sure there have been lapses, probably during periods when my selfish kids felt it was more important for them to eat than for me to read about rock 'n roll, but, in general, this magazine has been a fact of life for me.

Something I relied on. Something I enjoyed.

You can never ignore the fact that you are aging. You can try to, but life will remind you and laugh at your folly.

I probably should have cancelled Rolling Stone at least five years ago - whenever I reached the point where I consistently thought - who the hell is this person on the cover?

The cover used to be a quiet indulgence for me - Keith Richards, Leonard Cohen, Allman Brothers, Beatles, Stones, writers, poets, actors........................ I enjoyed the pictures - they were creative and often captured the spirit of whoever it was. People who meant something to me. People who meant everything to me.

I got to the point where only 50% or less of the articles in the magazine interested me. But I tried, man - I tried. I read the articles about these strangers, my thought process being  - I don't want to become a grumpy old man - judgemental, dismissive. Maybe I could learn something about these people and spark a new interest in my battered brain.

Nope.

Pretty much found out I don't give a fuck about these people or their music.

I am spolied. I experienced a Birth. The Beatles. There was Sinatra, there was Elvis, there was The Beatles. There will never again be another group or person to explode on the scene like they did.

I experienced Rock 'N Roll from 1963 to 1969. Stunning. The explosion of groups and styles of music in that short period cracked my skull open and let the light shine in.

The only thing I have seen like that since was the explosion of hip hop. It came out of nowhere and morphed and evolved into an amazing variety of styles and artists.

But you cannot compare Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to McCartney and Lennon.

So rock exploded onto the scene at the precise moment I was ready to receive it, and Rolling Stone covered it.

Rolling Stone kept me informed, went behind the scenes, captured incisive interviews, gave me an education about the music industry - it fed my jones, man - it fed my jones.

But like everything else in my life, now, it bores me. I still got the jones - so many things I am into - but the bona fide mechanisms to feed my interests have dwindled.

The people I love are dying off. There were six original members of The Allman Brothers Band. Four of them are dead. John Lennon is dead. George Harrison is dead. Leonard Cohen is dead.

I have to pay to get the music I love because the airwaves are filled with crap.

And now Rolling Stone is dead to me.

It feels like life is trying to erase my life.