Wild tales of the golden age of
rock by a reporter who was in the middle of it
I'm Mike Jahn, first rock critic of The New York
Times and an award-winning author, reporter, critic, syndicated columnist
and cultural
commentator who was in the center of the golden age of rock and in the company
of its biggest stars. I knew and wrote about Janis, Jim, Jimi, and
John, and many others.
I'm not the only newsman in my family. We have been
reporting on and active in American public affairs and the arts for three-quarters of a
century. As a reporter for the legendary Brooklyn Eagle, my father
covered the Hindenberg Disaster, the Lindberg Kidnapping, and Hitler's attempt
to establish the Nazi Party in America. My son grew up surrounded by speakers and now is a rock marketing
wizard.
I
introduced major American media to serious coverage of rock, not only in The
Times but also more than 100 newspapers across the land. I covered
Woodstock and wrote about and often hung with classic rock's heroes and
villains. I was friendly with some, and not so friendly with
others. Occasionally I took pictures, such as that one of John Lennon at his first American recording session.
Too often I wrote their obituaries. Among other things, I:
Put Jim Morrison
on the floor by shaking his hand too hard
Was mentioned by name in Morrison's Rolling Stone
obituary
Was accused by John Lennon of
conspiring with the CIA to get him deported
Was accused of having been
with Janis
Joplin the night she died
Polished off a bottle of Hennessy in the back of a limo with Rod Stewart
Helped hide Pete Townsend from the law after he threw a fire marshall off stage