Isabel Wilkerson Instagram – It is beyond ironic that, in a book about rock & roll history, the co-founder of Rolling Stone purposely chose to exclude the very people who originated the work he extols. In a NY Times interview about the White men he calls rock & roll “masters,” Jann Wenner actually said that Black musicians “just didn’t articulate at that level.”
It is beyond ironic coming from an editor whose magazine shares its name with a rock band that took its name from the blues legend Muddy Waters.
These scenes are from one of the most iconic moments in music history. It was the night in Chicago in 1981 when The Rolling Stones took the stage with their idol Muddy Waters at the Checkerboard Lounge on the South Side.
The Stones were in town for a concert of their own and stopped at the Checkerboard where Muddy Waters was playing. They took a seat in the audience. But Muddy Waters called them to the stage one by one. Mick Jagger made his way through the crowd, followed by Keith Richards and the rest. They performed Muddy Waters classics like “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
The Stones knew the songs by heart because they had been obsessed with them since adolescence. Muddy Waters was a part of how the band came to be:
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had grown up together in grade school, but the Jaggers moved away. The boys pursued music on their own.
Then on October 17, 1961, they ran into each other on the railway platform in Dartford Station, south of London. Mick Jagger was carrying records by Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, and the two picked up a conversation over their shared love of the blues. They would later name their band after a song by the blues musician who had migrated to Chicago from Mississippi and whose music had brought them together.
Wenner has since been removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and issued an apology. But on that Chicago night in 1981, there was no question. One of the most influential rock bands of all time paid tribute to the musician who had inspired them, and it was clear that night who the master was.
The video of that night is exhilarating, a historical treasure that I urge you to watch. So far, it has 24 million views on YouTube. | Posted on 20/Sep/2023 02:40:01
