After all these years, is it harder for music to fascinate you?
Yeah, it is. I think it’s very difficult for a person starting out. Think of all the stuff that’s been written. Look at the ‘60s when the Beatles and the Who and the Stones started off, they almost had virgin territory; they could do anything. As each group comes along, that’s been done before. So you have to take a variation of it; you have to find a new way of saying things. But the biggest thing for me as a critic was—when I first started reviewing—if I’d go into a club and I heard one good song from an artist or a band, I would think, Well that’s interesting, and write about that. As time went on, I realized that there [were] lots of people who have one good song. So it would take more from a band to get me interested than just the one or two good songs. I had to have five or six or an album or a sense that they were going somewhere. The number of times a year I was excited about something was fewer, but when those things came along and measured up to that level, I’d get just as excited as I was before.
Cornflakes With John Lennon: And Other Tales From A Rock ‘N’ Roll Life, published by Rodale Books, is currently available at booksellers retail and online. Visit Robert Hilburn's official website for more information.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Fantastic job on this Donald. Hilburn is a great subject, and you asked exactly the right questions, getting him to talk about stuff not in the book (like Tom Waits).
Hilburn's take on the role of the qualifications of rock critics who aren't musicians particularly resonated with me. It's all about knowing your history, and having the instincts to trust what you know in your gut could be potential greatness -- or what resonates with you deeply on an emotional level.
His story about the Strokes also struck a chord with me personally. I remember going to see them at some dive in Tacoma when the hype around them was huge. It was a decent show, but after it was over I remember turning to my friend and saying that not only wasn't it anything special, but that I couldn't visualize them even five years from then making any lasting impact -- to say nothing of in twenty.
Great interview Donald. It just saddens me that there aren't any new writers cut from the Hilburn cloth -- at least not that I can see anyway.
-Glen
2 - brad laidman
well done - the RRHOF thinking about leaving Bowie of the ballot is pretty scary stuff
3 - El Bicho
very good contribution to the music section.
I used to read Hilburn all the time, but it's funny to hear him talk about new artists because all I remember is the stuff with Bruce or Dylan. The letters used to get on him a lot about his fawning.
4 - Helen Neely
This is a well written review. I will check out the book at the local bookshop on Monday during lunch.
5 - Christopher Davis
If you didn't share Robert Hilburn's personal tastes or political beliefs, you didn't deserve his respect, I guess.