Abstract:

This article explores the relationship between jazz and rock criticism in 1967, and in particular, the relationship between the American publications Down Beat and Rolling Stone. It examines the motivations of jazz publications like Down Beat and Jazz to start covering rock music in the summer of 1967, and how such coverage worked in practice. It then focuses on Jann Wenner and the birth of Rolling Stone, taking into account how other magazines, both music-focused and otherwise, influenced Wenner’s conception of what would eventually become the most authoritative rock magazine in the world.

Author: Matt Brennan