Keith Richards, in his memoir, Life, said the following about the fortieth anniversary edition of the Stones’ 1971 release, Exile on Main St.:
“[Exile on Main St.] was recorded in 1971, nearly forty years ago as I write. If I had been listening to music that was forty years old in 1971, I would have been listening to stuff that was barely recordable. Maybe some early Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton.”
Richards is overstating his case—Armstrong’s seminal Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings from the late 1920’s are a far cry from “barely recordable.” That goes for Jelly Roll Morton’s output (and a lot of other music from that era), too. But he has a point. You didn’t see big commemorative re-releases at the time of Exile’s release like you do today.
It’s not just the Stones or other Boomer-approved music getting the commemorative celebratory treatment either (like the massive fiftieth anniversary release of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s slated for June 1). U2 re-released The Joshua Tree—a generation-defining album for many Generation X-ers—for its twentieth anniversary and hit the road to commemorate its thirtieth. Metallica re-released their Megaforce-era catalog last year (and it’s probably more influential now than it was at the time). I mean, heck, think how many millennials lost their shit when Nirvana’s Nevermind turned 25.
What happened? Continue reading You’re not going to buy that 50th anniversary reissue of Sgt. Pepper’s because you’re feeling nostalgic