"The Masters": Jann Wenner and the articulateness of straight cis white men in music

 

Jann Wenner Defends His Legacy, and His Generation’s

For Jann Wenner: Rock'n Roll Women

After his diss: A dozen rockers (no last names needed) named Rosetta, Aretha, Ronnie, Tina, Bonnie, Linda, Chrissie and more

Jann Wenner’s Blinkered Rock ‘n’ Roll Revolution

He built an empire on the foundations laid by Black musicians—but fails entirely to recognize that. The Nation, Joan Walsh

The above are excerpts of a letter that the great Ellen Willis, one of the key music critics of the 1970s, wrote to Rolling Stone magazine explaining why she was refusing to write for them. Eventually she did end up publishing several pieces in the magazine, including 1975’s “The Trial of Arline Hunt,” a prescient account of a woman who was blamed for her own rape.

Maybe as a result of this kind of push-back by Willis, Rolling Stone partially course-corrected its chauvinism thanks to the work of Marianne Partridge, an important editor of the 70s and, interestingly, founder of the magazine's fact-checking department. Read about that newroom in the article below chronicling that (temporary) change in RS culture.

“It Was Us Against Those Guys”: The Women Who Transformed Rolling Stone in the Mid-70s

Nelson George, author of The Death of Rhythm and Blues, responds

The record corrected:

As Bobby Dylan, Jann's good friend, would say: The times they are a-changing

Jann Wenner’s Rock Hall Reign Lasted Years. It Ended in 20 Minutes.

The day after the Rolling Stone co-founder made remarks widely criticized as racist and sexist in a Times interview, the Hall of Fame called an emergency vote and ousted him.