Jann Wenner says female and black artists “not intellectual enough” to be interviewed for his new book
nme.comRolling Stone and co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, has said female and black artists aren’t “intellectual enough” to be interviewed for his new book, The Masters.Within the book, Wenner asks questions of seven “philosophers of rock”, notably all white men – Bono, Bob Dylan, the late Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, the late John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Pete Townshend.In the introduction of the book, Wenner writes that women and artists of colour were not in his zeitgeist.
He faced questions about this in an interview with David Marchese of The New York Times, and argued it wasn’t a “deliberate selection”.“It was kind of intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way.
The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them. Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level,” he said.Marchese countered this by asking, “You’re telling me Joni Mitchell is not articulate enough on an intellectual level?”Wenner responded: “It’s not that they’re not creative geniuses.
It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest.
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