The answer to the question of the title is this: we must found a magazine that sees first of all the cultural importance that rock will have from the 60s onwards. This is what Jann Wenner saw and On November 9, 1967 he founded the Rolling Stone.

Initially a countercultural magazine to reflect the San Francisco rock scene, the rolling become over the years the Bible par excellence of rock culture.

so much that the rolling stone It went from being an underground magazine to becoming a mainstream media. Like rock.

Some time ago Wenner sold his magazine, of which his son is the keeper of the editorial office.

At 76, it’s time for Wenner to remember then. And since with his first “official” biography, Sticky fingers, signed by Joe Hagan, did not go well. As Wenner looked, Hagan went beyond the expected: there is too much sex in the office in the book and too much dust in the nose …

So Wenner just posted a new bio, Like a rolling stonethis is to your liking.

“I’d like people to read the book and see how important the rock ‘n’ roll theme was; how important was the generation and its place in history, ”says Wenner. “It’s true, we have not solved everything, but we have moved the needle on many social and political issues“.

A few days ago, Wenner was interviewed by Scoreboard, and here we reproduce some of his answers in which he tells how he made friends with some of the greats of rock history. Come and read.

Mick Jagger

“In college, he was kind of an idol to me, the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll: the music, the attitude and the way he behaved. Mick is a difficult person to get to know.but through our respective businesses, I got to know him quite well.

we had a lot of fun together, and it has been a long and very satisfying friendship, which continues to this day. But since he moved into his old house in London I haven’t seen him much anymore.

-In the book you say that Jagger got hurt after reading Keith Richards’ memoirs and you dissuaded him. Do you think the Stones would have disbanded if I hadn’t?

– No no no. I think Mick needed to talk. I was really furious. And he needed someone to let off steam with, someone who could understand it from the outside. I’m sure he talked to other people too. But the Stones had too much momentum and too much money at stake for them to stop.

John Lennon

-I was still a child when I met him, and I didn’t know him as an adult, so it was more of a deep acquaintance. John was really smart, fast, and intellectually impressive. You should have been on guard with him for a while.

After Lennon remembersthe long interview I gave him in 1971 on Rolling Stone (his first major public confession after the breakup of the Beatles, in which he was very critical of Paul McCartney, repentant and unsuccessfully tried to dissuade Wenner from making a book of it), he cut off communications for a while. But he was forgiving and generous in spirit. After his death, I became very good friends with Yoko. Even today Yoko and Sean (Lennon’s son) are an important part of my life.

-What do you mean you had to be on guard with John?

There are some people who are always there, comedians in particular, and you have to be on top to deal with them. It was so clever that you had to step up your game a bit.

Bob Dylan

-Bob is just huge. Whenever we meet, we start making jokes and laughing all the time. He is very reserved and I don’t blame him. Just like Mick, he’s too much to deal with. They have meant a lot to the people in their lives, and it’s hard to respond to people who think so.

-It’s not their responsibility, but people come to them as if it were … He’s always been great with me. We only had one confrontation, which I left out of the book because it was so long and dragging. But I passed the test.

-Any detail that can be known …?

-One small thing, nothing serious: who will direct this interview, you or me? It was on the tour Rumbling of thunder (Dylan’s famous tour in the years 75/76). We were in the middle of a party, he calls me and says “Sit down” and points to the floor. I had to sit on the floor for him. And what’s more, in front of all those people! His court (laughs).

So, I said, “Well, ask one of your men to bring me a chair.” And then he: “How come you don’t put on hurricane (Dylan’s theme dedicated to the unjustly imprisoned black boxer Rubin Carter) on the cover? “And I: ‘And why didn’t you put it on the album cover? He said:” I did. I said no. “You made a single; we’ll take note.” Until he finally gave up. It was like a game, but it wasn’t serious.

– Do you listen to current music?

-Not too much.

-Pop and hip-hop are dominant and have been for years. What do you think of that turning point?

-There are a lot of good things as well as a lot of junk and mundane things. Honestly, I don’t think it’s as good as rock ‘n’ roll. I don’t think the vocals are that good, nor are the arrangements. Historically it will be seen as another turning point in the cycle …

If rock ‘n’ roll comes back, maybe not, because the sound is so different and the circumstances are so different. But I’m kind of stuck with the music I liked when I was young. give me those rolling stones (rolling stones). There’s a new Bruce Springsteen album coming out; He passed it to me the other day, I feel it. Is gorgeous!

CJL