The Rolling Stone Interviews: The 1980s

The Rolling Stone Interviews

by Rolling Stone Magazine, Sid Holt

From Publishers This best-of- Rolling Stone compilation features a plethora of aging rock musicians, yet only two blacks and one woman. The cast is often predictable (Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger and Bill Murray) but occasionally surprising (Tip O'Neill and Desmond Tutu). The introduction makes a point of how difficult it is to write a meaningful Q & A interview, and the pieces that follow give ample reason why concisely limned profiles would have been an improvement. It seems as if every other superstar is busy confessing past drug abuse and singing praises to the straight life, or else analyzing in depth a failed and long-forgotten record or film. Still, there are many moments of lucidity, humor and genuine emotion, from Bo Diddley's angry riff about how he was robbed of his royalties to Neil Young's poignant reflection on his two sons handicapped by cerebral palsy. The book also contains one of the last interviews with the late rock balladeer Roy Orbison. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

Rolling Stone is a U.S.-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner (who is still editor and publisher) and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.

Reviews

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skip the intros--with all that New Journalism hokum and snide rehashing of things said earlier. Best interviews: Bill Murray, Desmond Tutu, Bill Graham and Eric Clapton (though the bit about getting hooked on heroin as an exploration was a bit much; and interestingly he talks about taking drugs as a shield from the pain of self-exploration, whereas for me it's more the fear that what you're writing is a piece of shit). Worst interview: David Byrne. Professor Mojo--uh, Mambo and him just should be locked up in a closet at some community college until they promise to stop the slinging.

[Antoine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume in the series (1967-1980), but still interesting.