It’s Music Monday over in the Twitterverse and I started my Monday by watching a morning news interview with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards because tomorrow marks the 39th anniversary and re-release of their seminal album, “Exile on Main Street.” So, join me on a trip down memory lane for some time travel as this wanderlust woman journeys back to her days as a rock journalist.
In my days on the road, in the studio, wherever the rock winds blew, I met some of the most 
interesting, aware and intelligent people. Among them were Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which was why I was baffled that all a journalist could think of asking them today was a handful of banal questions on the drug use and influence in and around the making of “Exile.”
I know this has nothing to do with travel, per se, but this is my site and I don’t have an overbearing editor, so indulge me. First, I could not believe that “Exile” is nearly 40 years old and second, I could not believe that the interview was such a wasted opportunity. I say wasted because there wasn’t one intelligent question asked of either of these men who literally shaped rock music. Keith was asked if in retrospect, as a father, he regrets discussing heroin around his 2 year old son. Give me a break! As Keith so eloquently responded, his son is now 42, healthy and strong, and had a great childhood.
Then Mick was asked if he could have written the songs on “Exile” if he was sober. Really? Was that the best they could ask this icon who happens to be a one-time student of the London School of Economics (one of the most selective universities)? When will it stop being necessary for anyone outside the world of rock to focus only on the drug angle? Mick is by far one of THE most intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He politely responded that he wasn’t going to deal in hypotheticals and that music is music and if it endures then it’s a good song.
There are two bands I would still travel the world to see and the Rolling Stones is one of them. That’s saying alot for someone who grew up in recording studios and interviewed nearly everyone in rock music before the turn of this century.
So, what should they have asked two men who carved a path in musical history? Here are my top 5 in no particular order. What would you ask them? (feel free to comment below)
1. Did the Stones – Beatles rivalry have any substance behind the fanzine fanning of the flames?
2. How would today’s technology have changed the way they made “Exile?”
3. If in centuries to come, they were to find one recording of the Stones, as if a great discovery such as in the great library of Alexandria, which one song would they want to be the ONE they are known for?
4. Do they see any acts today having the musical endurance to last for fifty years and still be relevant?
5. How does today’s music industry business model effect the ability of new bands to have the galactic reach and everlasting influence of bands such as The Stones and The Beatles?
The point is, these legends will not be around forever (not that I am wishing Mick or Keith ill will). However, the sad reality is that life is too short and missed opportunities to explore life and music with people who have made history should not be wasted with banal queries as to drug use, drug discussions and drug hypotheticals. Let’s elevate the discussion beyond shopworn stereotypes so that generations to come will appreciate how the sounds of yesterday shaped the tunes of tomorrow.
