THE MASTERS

Rock gods in conversation with one of their biggest fans.

Wenner’s latest book is a serious, self-important undertaking, a visit to the Mt. Olympus of rock, the pinnacle of achievement where only immortals reside. All of the interviewees are white men of a certain age, as is their interviewer, who launched Rolling Stone in 1967 to chronicle and celebrate the culture galvanized by such music. “That there are no women or Black musicians in this collection is obvious,” writes Wenner. “This is reflective of the prejudices and practices of the times.” Well, yes and no. Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone were all making popular, important, and influential music at the time, but these rambling, chatty interviews are evocative of the editor’s taste and comfort level. It’s illuminating to revisit Pete Townshend in 1968, talking at length about a rock opera that the Who had yet to record or title Tommy; to watch Jerry Garcia explain in 1972 just how and why the Grateful Dead came together and why they would remain so far outside the realm of commercial acceptance; and to hear the cathartic anger from John Lennon in 1970 in the wake of the Beatles breakup, directed toward Paul McCartney in particular. There are two visits with Bob Dylan, 40 years apart, that lack the edge that other Rolling Stone interviewers would bring to that challenge. Then there are Mick Jagger (from 1995), Bono (2005), and Bruce Springsteen (2023), the latter two (along with their wives) included in the book’s dedication to “dearest friends.” Though Wenner turns up a few interesting insights, there’s too much mutual glad-handing and back-scratching and not enough of the sort of questioning that might make an interviewee uncomfortable.

A fairly stale collection best suited for Wenner and/or Rolling Stone completists.