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On Lennon, Dylan, Presley, Bono and Springsteen
Commentary: Robert Hilburn fears the demise of music critics
By Jon Friedman, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Nov 18, 2009
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Robert Hilburn, the dean of newspaper rock-and-roll critics, is worried these days.
He's the author of the terrific new memoir "Cornflakes with John Lennon," which describes his three decades as the rock-music critic of the Los Angeles Times, where he worked until early 2006. But now, the kind of "revolutionary" music that he grew up listening to in Louisiana and writing about in Los Angeles is a vanishing breed.
The 70-year-old Hilburn commands real respect from media colleagues, readers and musicians. "You had to read what I wrote if you lived in L.A. in 1975 and cared about pop music," he explains.
A different era of celebrity
Stars, usually wary when it comes to being interviewed, often grant Hilburn unusually close access because they know he will be knowledgeable, enthusiastic and, above all, fair-minded.
Over the years, he's been a confidante of rock-and-roll luminaries like Lennon, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson. In fact, U2 front man Bono wrote in the introduction to Hilburn's book: "Bob's role as critic was to encourage suspension of disbelief not just in the audience, but in the artist as well. That is an environment in which music grows. He made us better."
These days, though, Hilburn is lamenting the fact that so many Americans are heavily influenced by such television shows such as "American Idol" -- being thoughtful and realistic enough to fret that the public's fascination with celebrities has resulted in a triumph of style over substance.
"Editors today would give better play to a story about Britney Spears missing a plane than they would to an interview with Bob Dylan because it would get more" page views on a Web site, Hilburn pointed out glumly.
Plus, the Web has forever changed the way critics cover the entertainment industry. In his heyday, Hilburn had the luxury of measuring his copy and taking great care with the tone and substance of his reviews.
"It's a different world because of the Internet and bloggers," Hilburn notes. "Now, every editor is concerned about speed because every minute counts. Speed is more important than content. Whoever gets a review out first becomes the authority."
Interview with an icon
The catchy title of Hilburn's memoir stems from the many hours he spent in the company of the former Beatle, who loved eating cornflakes at midnight. My favorite parts of the book, however, dealt with Hilburn's fascinating interviews with Bob Dylan.
"When Dylan came along" -- and transformed the popular music scene with his early finger-pointing songs and rock-and-roll albums -- "I knew that this is what I wanted to write about," Hilburn says, smiling.
In researching his memoir, Hilburn wanted to find out which artists had been most prominent in his career. It turned out that he had mentioned Dylan about 424 times, nearly 100 times more than either the Beatles or Elvis Presley -- Hilburn's first rock idol -- had shown up in his pages.
While rock music had been "a teen fad," Hilburn noted, "Bob Dylan made it an art form."
Hilburn had some vivid memories of meeting Dylan over the years, first seeking him out in Mexico when Dylan was acting in Sam Peckinpah's 1973 movie "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid."
At that point, Dylan declined to be interviewed, but Hilburn had made a crucial connection with him. A year later, when Dylan was touring with the Band, he again declined a formal interview, but he did eventually perform in concert "Love Minus Zero/No Limit," after Hilburn told him it was his favorite Dylan song.
"On the flight back to Los Angeles, I thought about what a strange guy he was -- he'd rejected my interview requests, but been thoughtful enough to sing my favorite song in his show," Hilburn wrote.
Dylan proved to be Hilburn's most significant interview assignment -- and not only because he could be so elusive.
Before his encounters with Dylan, Hilburn felt a degree of anxiety. "If he doesn't take me seriously," he thought, "I don't know if I can continue in this field."
Why did Hilburn worry so much? "He's the best guy in the field -- and you're trying to be the best in your field" as a journalist, he said.
Dylan did take Hilburn seriously and respected his work. Hilburn launched a special series of interviews several years ago in the hope of understanding a musician's creative process. Interviewing Dylan, naturally, was his top priority.
Hilburn traveled to Amsterdam to talk with Dylan, who granted him six hours -- an extraordinary amount of time for someone as press-shy and busy as Dylan. Hilburn's songwriters' series proved to be a huge success.
Writing a memoir
When embarking on his memoir, Hilburn initially struggled with the tone.
"How much of the story is about you?" he contemplated. He saw himself as the public's "bridge to the artists."
He said he intended to write in the book about the "artists who mattered," which is why there is so much material on the industry's superstars.
"You have a contract with the readers," he pointed out. "If you care about who I want to write about, I'll write about the people you want to read about."
Hilburn easily found common ground between the likes of Elton John, Johnny Cash and Neil Young, answering the questions: What's the connection? Why were they important to me?
Hilburn has found that he is invariably drawn to the lives of the great rock-and-roll songwriters. He is less likely to be captivated by the flavor-of-the-month pop celebrity than by a songwriter who has something to say in his or her music.
"You can have Mariah Carey," he quipped. "I'll take Eminem."
MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is a critic's role in journalism today?
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