A portrait of rock ‘n’ roll: Rolling Stone release epic book collating their 50 year visual legacy

“In late 1967, Jann Wenner, a 21-year-old Berkeley dropout living in San Francisco, published the first issue of Rolling Stone. He envisioned the magazine as a chronicle of the growing rock & roll scene, a publication of record for the artists he and his generation loved: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead.

Over the next five decades, Rolling Stone writers interviewed the stars of every era, from David Bowie and Rod Stewart, to Michael Jackson and Madonna, to Nirvana and Beastie Boys.”

See a bunch of the excellent portraits that feature in the book, captioned by excerpts from their accompanying feature articles below.

“My way is music. Music is me being me and trying to get higher. I’ve been into music so long that I’m dripping with it; it’s all I ever expect to do. I can’t do anything else.” – Jerry Garcia, “The Grateful Dead,” RS 40, August 23rd, 1969.

“My visual thing was more my music than the actual guitar. I got to jump about, and the guitar became unimportant.” – “The Rolling Stone Interview,” RS 17 and 18, September 14th and 28th, 1968.

“People have this idea that if you’re sexual and beautiful and provocative, then there’s nothing else you could possibly offer. People have always had that image about women.” – “The Madonna Mystique,” RS 508, September 10th 1987.

“There was a bloke who lived down the road from us who was a Ted – Eric, I think his name was. He had brilliant, curly ginger hair and razor blades in his collar – for purposes of not being molested, I guess, by other Teds. That I found very impressive.” – “Stardust Memories,” RS 498, April 23rd, 1987.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against sex at all. It was a long time before I was as active as some people may think. Yes, I have eight kids, and all of them don’t have the same mothers, but it wasn’t just like an overnight affair. Each one of those ladies I spent much time with.” – B.B. King, “Mississippi Homecoming,” RS 566, November 30th, 1989.

“All I need is a break, and my stress will be over with. I’m going to get healthy and start over.” – Kurt Cobain, “Nirvana,” RS 628, April 16th, 1992.

“People ask me how I come up with these hits, and I can only say that I know what I like, I’m quick to tell a motherfucker what I don’t like and know what people like to play in their cars.” – Dr. Dre, “Day of the Dre,” RS 666, September 30th, 1993.

“I had this idea where we’re in school and bored out of our minds, and we have catholic uniforms on. And I said, ‘Why don’t we have knee-highs and tie the shirts up to give it a little attitude?” – Britney Spears, “Inside the Heart and Mind (and Bedroom) of America’s New Teen Queen,” RS 810, April 15th, 1999.

“I’m doing more now than I’ve done since the early Seventies. From there, I faded out with lack of interest and a lot of medication. Ever since the first All-Starr tour, I’m just excited about music again. And my chops are back – you play a lot better if you play a lot. It’s great to get back, because that was my dream. At thirteen I wanted to be a drummer and nothing else. And that sort of got lost in the madness for a while.” – Ringo Starr, “Q&A,” RS 790/791, July 9th to 23rd, 1998.

“‘Hello’ is as much about regrouping with myself, reconnecting with myself. [The line ‘hello from the other side’] sounds a bit morbid, like I’m dead. But it’s actually just from the other side of becoming an adult, making it out alive from your late teens, early twenties.” – “Adele: Inside Her Private Life and Triumphant Return,” RS 1248, November 19th, 2015

[via Rolling Stone]