It is not just The Rolling Stones that
are growing old disgracefully. IMO, most
rock bands don't mature very well. Rock
is basically built upon youth and their
youthful energy. 'Tis a young mans game
I think.When you go past a certain point
in the Rock biz as far as age goes you
only look ridiculous. I mean to say is
there anyone more pathetic & silly than
a 50 year old punk rocker? Not good.

This is why Jazz and Blues artists are
just the opposite. In these fields of
music, age is plus.They were never that
reliant on the youth market to begin
with and they draw upon the accumulated
wisdom of age and experience to fuel
their songwriting and musical chops.

Jazzmen and Blues artists age like fine
wine,where as Rock artists are more like
an open soda, you need to drink it up
quickly as it goes flat with age.

hhhmmm...all I have to say is that rock music (came about in the 50s) is a much younger form of music than jazz, blues, classical, etc. It is now reaching an older age.

That is good. These older guys wrote the songs and can play them better than ever thru equipment far more advanced than when they were youngsters. They were there. I appreciate them telling their story thru their music.

I have no problem than that. Just play, no need to jack off anymore.

Townsend is as energetic as ever. Caught The Who last summer while visiting the SF area and they put on an extrordinary show. Bassist Pino Palladino isn't Thunderfingers, who me miss quite a bit, but he's amazing nonetheless. Zak Starkey rocks the drums better than anyone (for The Who) since Keith Moon died.

I have a CD from the show I attended, the intro and lead in to Emminence Front is better than the studio version, as is the rest of the song.

Rock On!

Fair enough, HW, and for just this logic, Keef in particular has taken to talking of them as blues guys. That seems fair enough.

The question should be performance. Can Mick et al get it up? Granted, they haven't made a decent able in a long time, but they still seem to be a more than credible live act. They're really just getting grizzled and aged enough to be proper blues singers.

As much as I ever hate to feel sorry for the Rolling Stones, whom I'll always be eternally grateful to for their music, it bugs me how it's become fair game to make fun of them simply for being in their sixties, as has been done in much media.

Hats off to those guys for making rock 'n' roll last a lifetime; not many among their ranks left. Sure, they're not very good anymore. But they still can deliver the essential goods, at least intermittently.

And sure, I'm sure a lot of it is ego; a need to prove to themselves that they're still alive, still capable. But good; may we all have similar needs as we grow older.

Commited musicians do what they do until they die onstage, or off.

HW Saxton's observation about the differences between basic musical approach to rock and jazz is a good illustration of why the Stones look unbecoming in what they're doing. And why their music ceased developing years ago, and remains stuck in a teen-with-a-white-beard rut its in and will probably remain.

It's not their fault; can't blame them for what they are. I have no inclination whatsoever to shell out a fortune to see them; I'm content with my Beggars Banquet, Rolling Stones Now!, and Sticky Fingers.

Here's my top ten of sixtysomethings (or close) who still have something useful left (even if greatly diminished), in no particular order):

1. Neil Young (actually 59, I think)
2. Bob Dylan
3. Eric Clapton (also 59-ish I think)
4. Van Morrison
5. George Clinton
6. ZZ Top
7. Richard Thompson
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Paul McCartney
10. Rush
11. Dolly Parton (she still melts my heart, at 60-something)

Still active, and I root for 'em, but don't expect much from anymore:

1. The Dead (depends on how good the dope is)
2. Leonard Cohen (now 71)
3. Paul Kantner/Marty Balin/Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane/Starship)
4. Maria Muldaur (she used to be hot)
5. Fleetwood Mac
6. Hot Tuna
7. Paul Simon (still a hometown hero, but I lost faith after "Capeman")
8. Crosby, Stills, and Nash
9. Ray Davies/The Kinks
10. Eric Burdon/The Animals
11. Sky Saxon/The Seeds
12. Arthur Lee/Love
13. Roger McGuinn
14. Petula Clark (in her 70's now, god bless her)
15. Blue Oyster Cult
16. Robert Plant
17. Jimmy Page

Most of them look uncomfortable, too.

I'm soon to be 37. What I now know about getting older is that you have to listen to yourself...your own wants and needs. You can't let others tell you that you have to conform to a certain style, attitude, or demeanor because of being a certain age.

I'm not ready to act much differently than I did in my twenties...although there is hopefully a little more wisdom there.

We live in a society where, instead of celebrating humans surviving, we act like they committed a crime, wore out their usefulness, affronted youth by not crawling off to die somewhere.

Rock is not about youth...youth just wished that it were so. It is a time when you think that all you can see and touch, you should be able to claim and own.

I have no problems with the Stones or any other band growing older as long as they sound good. Our problem is we are too youth orienated in this country. If you are not under thirty with a rock hard body, you are considered useless by some and there is something wrong with that line of thinking.

I am not the only ones in this household that listen to the older bands rock on. My Niece is 21 and a beatles fan. she had all their music played at her wedding. My daughter likes zz top as well as my nephews. They don't care how old they are. They sound good. We all listen to Rod Stewart too.

I have no problems with the Stones or any other band growing older as long as they sound good. Our problem is we are too youth orienated in this country. If you are not under thirty with a rock hard body, you are considered useless by some and there is something wrong with that line of thinking.

I am not the only ones in this household that listen to the older bands rock on. My Niece is 21 and a beatles fan. she had all their music played at her wedding. My daughter likes zz top as well as my nephews. They don't care how old they are. They sound good. We all listen to Rod Stewart too.

I have no problems with the Stones or any other band growing older as long as they sound good. Our problem is we are too youth orienated in this country. If you are not under thirty with a rock hard body, you are considered useless by some and there is something wrong with that line of thinking.

I am not the only ones in this household that listen to the older bands rock on. My Niece is 21 and a beatles fan. she had all their music played at her wedding. My daughter likes zz top as well as my nephews. They don't care how old they are. They sound good. We all listen to Rod Stewart too.

I love the Beatles. They're possibly my favorite band of all time...but they broke up while still young men.

Enter the contradiction... The first Rolling Stones album I ever bought was "Voodoo Lounge." Sure I grew up hearing the 'classics' as a kid, but the first Stones disc I plunked down money for was "Voodoo Lounge." In the years that have followed I have beefed up my collection and now own nearly all of the band's records. Wanna hear a funny? I still like "Voodoo Lounge." Is it better than "Exile?" Nope. Is it close? Not really. But the best moments on "Voodoo" stand shoulder to shoulder with a lof of the Stones' other hits.

I think the band still sounds very good (the 4 Flicks DVDs would be my evidence) and I think they are still capabale of delivering half an album of decent-to-very good music. I think their downfall has been embracing one aspect of technology. The CD. Follow me through this: their most recent albums (start with "Steel Wheels") are too fucking long! If you trim 3-5 songs from each of them you are left with a lean, strong album. The records are hampered by their heft. The great songs are dulled by the filler. In that way, at 60, The Stones are no worse than 90% of the bands working today. The difference: The Stones have a back catalog none of today's bands will ever have.

Some musicians who have written some great songs twenty five or thirty years into their careers are Elvis Costello, Aerosmith, and Todd Rundgren. Todd performed a song called "Whatever happened to Soul Brother?" on Letterman and he rocked. Maybe the Stones too, I haven't heard a lot of their newest stuff. Mick does need some work done. Whoever said that at fifty you get the face you deserve was talking about him and he's sixty. David Bowie looks great. I guess that generation is getting their own back when they said not to trust anyone over thirty or that they'd rather die before they got old.