Just how ignorant do you have to be to get kicked out of a club you started? That’s a rhetorical question which was nonetheless answered this week when Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner found himself booted from the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, of which he was also a founder.
Wenner made the fatal mistake of opening his mouth and speaking, as necessary as that process might seem while publicizing a book one has written. Wenner chatted with the New York Times’ David Marchese about The Masters, his soon-to-be published book of interviews he conducted with the likes of John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and others while boss at Rolling Stone.
Marchese asked Wenner about the book’s introduction in which he stated that Black and female artists were “not in his zeitgeist,” and hence were not included in the book.
“The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them,” he said, adding “Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.”
Wenner continued, “Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.
“For public relations’ sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one wo
