Rolling Stone Interv [Paperback]

Peter Herbst (Editor), Ben Fong-Torres (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1989

From its early days in San Francisco, Rolling Stone has covered the music scene from the inside with colorful, penetrating, and brilliant interviews with the men and women who are rock and roll. This definitive collection represents the best of Rolling Stone's first decade and a half.

Product Details

• Paperback: 436 pages
• Publisher: SMP Paperback (September 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312034865
• ISBN-13: 978-0312034863
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,265,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ROCK HISTORY IN THE WORDS OF THE ONES WHO MADE IT, December 21, 2004

By 

traveling wilbury (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rolling Stone Interv (Paperback)

The presses of Rolling Stone magazine began to roll in San Francisco in the midst of a world-shaking consciousness-raising wake-up call centered around music, peace, and love. Many magazines published interviews, but The Rolling Stone Interview was definitive--in the interviewee's own words, unedited, uncensored, and whatever amount of space needed.

This book includes important interviews from 1967 to 1980 with some of the most great musicians of the time. Their words are as timeless as the music.

Ralph Gleason was a SF music columnist with an ear for great music from the jazz era to the emerging music of the mid 60s. Gleason joined with Rolling Stone Founder/Publisher Jann Wenner and contributed crucial reviews about the local bands and musicians. (Those columns alone would make an important book about the times.) Gleason did a Rolling Stone Interview with Bob Dylan in 1967. Dylan was interviewed again in 1969 by Wenner. The amazing 1972 Rolling Stone Interview with Jerry Garcia was a conversation with Wenner and Charles Reich.

The book is illustrated with photographs.

The interviews in this book--

Donovan 1967 (J Carpenter)
Bob Dylan 1967 (Gleason)
B.B. King 1968 (Gleason)
Eric Clapton 1968 (Wenner)
Pete Townshend 1968 (Wenner)
Mick Jagger 1968 (J Cott)
Jim Morrison 1969 (J Hopkins)
Phil Spector 1969 (Wenner)
Bob Dylan 1969 (Wenner)
Little Richard 1970 (D Dalton)
Van Morrison 1970 (H Traum)
Grace Slick & Paul Kantner 1970 (B Fong-Torres)
Rod Stewart 1970 (J Morthland)
John Lennon 1971 (Wenner)
Keith Richards 1971 (R Greenfield)
Jerry Garcia 1972 (Wenner & C Reich)
Paul Simon 1972 (J Landau)
Chuck Berry 1972 (P W Salvo)
Keith Moon 1972 (J Hopkins)
James Taylor & Carly Simon 1973 (S Werbin)
Ray Charles 1973 (B Fong-Torres)
Johnny Cash 1973 (R Hilburn)
Stevie Wonder 1973 (B Fong-Torres)
Elton John 1973 (P Gambaccini)
Paul McCartney 1974 (P Gambaccini)
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant 1975 (C Crowe)
Neil Young 1975 (C Crowe)
Mick Jagger 1978 (J Cott)
Linda Ronstadt 1978 (P Herbst)
Bob Dylan 1978 (J Cott)
Paul McCartney 1979 (P Gambaccini)
Joni Mitchell 1979 (C Crowe)
James Taylor 1979 (P Herbst)
Pete Townshend 1980 (G Marcus)
Billy Joel 1980 (T White)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Classic Years Recalled, December 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rolling Stone Interv (Paperback)

Great talk from the classic era, with great interviews with Led Zep, Dylan, Neil Young, Stones, Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel by writers Ralph Gleason, Jonathan Cott, Timothy White, Cameron Crowe, Bob Greenfield and more rock scribes. Neat time capsule.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with wonderful memories, November 1, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rolling Stone Interv (Paperback)

Reviewed by Mark M. Owen, Ph.D.

Rolling Stone Interviews will strike magical chords in everyone. The book, edited with deep affection by Jann S. Wenner and Joe Levy, binds together reprinted interviews with famous people taken from Rolling Stone Magazines spanning nearly forty years. Starting with Pete Townsend of the Who in 1968 before the release of Tommy, and ending with U2's front man Bono in 2005, the interviews capture and frame a chunk of modern history in a truly unique fashion.

For those unfamiliar with the interviews of Rolling Stone, it's not just about music. Captured in raw form are the thoughts and feelings of directors like George Lucas after the release of the original smash hit Star Wars, and actors like Jack Nicholson after 1983's Best Picture Oscar went to Terms of Endearment. There are interviews with comedian Robin Williams, talk show hosts Johnny Carson and David Letterman, and writers like Tom Wolfe, all stand-out artists in their own right.

The most striking features of the book are the voices. It's rare in a non-fiction title to capture so much passion. John Lennon's interview in 1971 shortly after the breakup of the Beatles has more guttural honesty than a priest's confession. Kurt Cobain's 1994 interview captured shortly before his suicide lays out personal demons and screams for help. Bill Clinton's interview from 2000 breathes enough soul-searching sage advice to garner empathy from any hardened Republican. And there's more.

It must have been difficult to choose which interviews to include in the book. Of the multiple Eric Clapton interviews from various issues of the magazine, how could someone pick just one? Likewise, I'm not sure I would have voted for the Axl Rose saga to be included. But I'm thankful for what is there, all in one place.

Where else could you find the thoughts of the Dalai Lama just pages away from those of Ozzy Osbourne?

Armchair Interviews says: If you love music and the entertainment business-and strong stories and writing,this book is for you.