Let me introduce myself...
I was pop music critic and pop music editor of the Los Angeles Times from 1970 through 2005, and am now writing books. A memoir, "Corn Flakes with John Lennon And Other Tales from a Rock 'n' Roll Life," was published the fall of 2009.
Background
I was born in rural Louisiana, where I grew up on the blues and country music styles that eventually gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll. My family moved to Southern California in the mid-1950s. After graduating from California State University, Northridge in 1961, I worked briefly at the Valley Times TODAY, a daily newspaper in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Then I spent a few years as a public information officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 1966 I realized I missed writing and that pop music was becoming such an exciting art form, thanks chiefly to Bob Dylan and the Beatles, that I wanted to get back into journalism. After freelancing for the Los Angeles Times for four years, I was hired as a full-time critic by the paper in the summer of 1970.
While at the Times, I was the only music writer to accompany Johnny Cash for his landmark Folsom Prison concert. I also went along with Elton John when he became the first Western rock figure to play in the Soviet Union, with Paul Simon on the “Graceland” tour stop in Zimbabwe, with Bob Dylan for his first concerts in Israel and with Michael Jackson on much of the Jacksons' Victory tour. I also spent a week on the road with the Sex Pistols during their first and only U.S. tour.
During my years at the Times, I was an early defender of rap when it was under attack by law enforcement agencies and members of Congress. I have long been a member of the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My wife, Kathi, and I live in Los Angeles. I have two children, Kathy Morris and Rob Hilburn, and four grandchildren, Chris and Lindsey Morris and Genny and Grant Hilburn. I left the Times in 2006 to write books.
While at the Times, I was the only music writer to accompany Johnny Cash for his landmark Folsom Prison concert. I also went along with Elton John when he became the first Western rock figure to play in the Soviet Union, with Paul Simon on the “Graceland” tour stop in Zimbabwe, with Bob Dylan for his first concerts in Israel and with Michael Jackson on much of the Jacksons' Victory tour. I also spent a week on the road with the Sex Pistols during their first and only U.S. tour.
During my years at the Times, I was an early defender of rap when it was under attack by law enforcement agencies and members of Congress. I have long been a member of the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My wife, Kathi, and I live in Los Angeles. I have two children, Kathy Morris and Rob Hilburn, and four grandchildren, Chris and Lindsey Morris and Genny and Grant Hilburn. I left the Times in 2006 to write books.
Critical Philosophy
When I started writing about music, I thought of rock as an inevitable chain of events -- much like thousands of dominoes in a line that neatly fell one after another once Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry helped kick things off. But I eventually realized that concept was naive. If you took away as few as two dozen artists from that endless row of dominoes, rock would have collapsed as an art form. Imagine your record collection without Bob Dylan, the Beatles or U2. Because of that, I felt one of the main challenges of a critic was to focus on those musicians who expanded that art form. In search of those artists, I have frequently ended up writing about false promises; artists who ran out of ideas, self-destructed or compromised their music in hopes of wider sales. But I was also fortunate enough to connect with many of the most important artists of the rock era.
Interacting with those figures, I came to appreciate the tremendous toll that rock can take on an artist's personal life; how there is often far more drama off-stage than on. In the end, all it takes to be a star is luck and a commercial sound, which explains why we have so many mediocre hit-makers. To be a true artist, you need enormous talent, fierce ambition, an original vision and an unyielding toughness. I saw some artists triumph because they were tough and others die because they weren't tough enough.
I've also spoken to thousands of fans about what they want from music. Some are just after entertainment; others respond to unchecked anger and rebellion or comfort and reassurance; still others like a band because their friends do; and there are those who value artists with the insight and craft to uplift and inspire us. No single rock diet works for everybody. We all have different musical DNA and we all follow different musical paths. Yet there is a unifying quality about rock 'n' roll that helped instill confidence and hope in millions of fans in their lives when little else made sense.
Interacting with those figures, I came to appreciate the tremendous toll that rock can take on an artist's personal life; how there is often far more drama off-stage than on. In the end, all it takes to be a star is luck and a commercial sound, which explains why we have so many mediocre hit-makers. To be a true artist, you need enormous talent, fierce ambition, an original vision and an unyielding toughness. I saw some artists triumph because they were tough and others die because they weren't tough enough.
I've also spoken to thousands of fans about what they want from music. Some are just after entertainment; others respond to unchecked anger and rebellion or comfort and reassurance; still others like a band because their friends do; and there are those who value artists with the insight and craft to uplift and inspire us. No single rock diet works for everybody. We all have different musical DNA and we all follow different musical paths. Yet there is a unifying quality about rock 'n' roll that helped instill confidence and hope in millions of fans in their lives when little else made sense.
 | What linked Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, the Beatles and Bob Dylan was the old-fashioned American notion that each individual can make a difference, whether you are a truck driver from Memphis or a blind piano player from southwest Georgia. Rock 'n' roll was the promise of a better day and the best artists spread that message with an almost missionary zeal. I've always believed in that liberating message, which is probably why I responded most to artists who fought to keep the promise alive.
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Johnny Cash photo taken in 1968 by Jim Marshall. That's me standing on John's left. For more photos by Jim go to marshallphoto.com
Keith Richards photo (that's me on the left) taken by George Rose for the Los Angeles Times. For more photos by George go to georgerose.com
Elvis photo taken in 1974 by John Lockwood for the Los Angeles Times.
Keith Richards photo (that's me on the left) taken by George Rose for the Los Angeles Times. For more photos by George go to georgerose.com
Elvis photo taken in 1974 by John Lockwood for the Los Angeles Times.
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