Still Rockin', Still Rollin'?
The Rolling Stones are coming! The Rolling Stones are coming!
How much rolling they do nowadays, it's anyone's guess. They're all in their 70s now.
The iconic rock group is touring this summer, and Detroit is on the travelogue, with the Stones playing Comerica Park on July 8.
This isn't ageism, but one can only wonder how strong the voices are, how powerful the guitar riffs are and how much energy is in the tank for the Mick Jagger-led group, who can all order off the seniors menu at every restaurant in the country.
I've been listening to a lot of 1960s-era rock lately, thanks to a nifty little mobile app called Milk Music. The tunes (sans commercials) come in handy while walking the pooch.
The Rolling Stones are part of that, of course, but sprinkled in with the bands I am listening to are performers like Jim Morrison (The Doors), Jim Croce, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mama Cass Elliot (the Mamas and the Papas) and others who died before their time.
So the question begs: what would have become of those artists had they lived as long as Jagger, Richards, Wyman, Watt et al?
The argument could be made that each of the aforementioned music artists, who all died in their 20s (except Elliot, who was 32 when she passed), were trailblazers for acts who came behind them.
But would their acts have stood the test of time?
We'll never know, of course, but it's still fun to imagine what kind of music The Doors would be pumping out in 2015, or if Croce's ballads would have evolved over time or if Hendrix would still be wailing on the electric guitar some 45 years after he died.
Then again, there are many bands and individual artists from the British Invasion years that have pretty much vanished from the public eye---all while remaining alive and kicking.
The Rolling Stones are still a draw because they, like The Who, Paul McCartney and others who've been at this rock-and-roll thing for 50-plus years, pumped out so many hits in their prime that it never gets old for their fan base---many of whom are also in their senior years---to hear those hits performed live, no matter the age of the performers.
The bodies of work of Morrison, Croce, Hendrix, Joplin and Elliot, combined, averaged about four years at their peak. If it seems like it was longer, then that's both a testament to their music's influence and to the fact that they died young. James Dean only made four movies, believe it or not. Yet a prevailing belief is that Dean's filmography is more voluminous than that.
Elvis Presley would have turned 80 in January. But forget The King's music; how would those hips have held up?
How much rolling they do nowadays, it's anyone's guess. They're all in their 70s now.
The iconic rock group is touring this summer, and Detroit is on the travelogue, with the Stones playing Comerica Park on July 8.
This isn't ageism, but one can only wonder how strong the voices are, how powerful the guitar riffs are and how much energy is in the tank for the Mick Jagger-led group, who can all order off the seniors menu at every restaurant in the country.
I've been listening to a lot of 1960s-era rock lately, thanks to a nifty little mobile app called Milk Music. The tunes (sans commercials) come in handy while walking the pooch.
The Rolling Stones are part of that, of course, but sprinkled in with the bands I am listening to are performers like Jim Morrison (The Doors), Jim Croce, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mama Cass Elliot (the Mamas and the Papas) and others who died before their time.
So the question begs: what would have become of those artists had they lived as long as Jagger, Richards, Wyman, Watt et al?
The argument could be made that each of the aforementioned music artists, who all died in their 20s (except Elliot, who was 32 when she passed), were trailblazers for acts who came behind them.
But would their acts have stood the test of time?
We'll never know, of course, but it's still fun to imagine what kind of music The Doors would be pumping out in 2015, or if Croce's ballads would have evolved over time or if Hendrix would still be wailing on the electric guitar some 45 years after he died.
Then again, there are many bands and individual artists from the British Invasion years that have pretty much vanished from the public eye---all while remaining alive and kicking.
The Rolling Stones are still a draw because they, like The Who, Paul McCartney and others who've been at this rock-and-roll thing for 50-plus years, pumped out so many hits in their prime that it never gets old for their fan base---many of whom are also in their senior years---to hear those hits performed live, no matter the age of the performers.
The bodies of work of Morrison, Croce, Hendrix, Joplin and Elliot, combined, averaged about four years at their peak. If it seems like it was longer, then that's both a testament to their music's influence and to the fact that they died young. James Dean only made four movies, believe it or not. Yet a prevailing belief is that Dean's filmography is more voluminous than that.
Elvis Presley would have turned 80 in January. But forget The King's music; how would those hips have held up?
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