Old Rock N Rollers

OK - How old do you have to be to be considered an OLD Rock N Roller?  In the Music Business (what's left of it) back in the 60's and 70's, it used to be 30.  Turn 30 and you're over the hill.  You're done.  It's kind of like, if you haven't made it by the time you're 30, you had your chance!  Go away and get a life.

When I turned 28 it really hit me.  Over the hill was just around the corner.  You grow up in your late teens and early 20's with all this energy and local success, all the while time is marching on.  Suddenly another birthday comes around and you're not exactly where you thought you'd be at that time.  Turning 28 was one of the scariest moments of my life as I was thinking playing rock music as a career might not happen for me.   Most all of my friends and others, including some great musicians I had played with as a youth, went to college and were now behind their desks with their careers, fancy cars and homes and were married. But not me.  I was still single and still playing the rock clubs, living the rock n roll lifestyle. But I was 28 and almost over the hill.

Somehow, maybe thanks to the great bands that came out of the 60's and 70's, being an old Rock n Roller is now in!  The richest front man in Rock N Roll is Sir Paul McCartney and he's 70 years old and still playing!  BRAVO!  Keith Richards will soon be 69.  Mic Jaggar is already there.  And how about Chuck Berry?

I'm quickly closing in on 59 and still rocking as if I were 19.  In fact, I'm probably more of a rocker than I ever was.    Like a true gypsy or pirate, it's not really about 'making it' or how old you are . . .  it's really about being who you are and who you want to be.  Isn't it?  Who's to say otherwise?  .  . . .  Like the old saying goes, "Rock n Roll will never die,"  it's also the same with Rock n Rollers . . . Rock n Rollers will never die, either!  

Wouldn't it be great to get inside the mind of an aging Rocker?  Can you even imagine the experiences this rebel must have gone through?  I bet he/she doesn't remember half of what happened in their lives . . .  It doesn't matter.  The older the better!  The fact anybody over 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and even 85 (Chuck Berry) is still rocking is a true testament to them being who the are and who they were meant to be.  And maybe even more remarkable is the testament to the old rockers who never made it and somehow are still doing it in spite of the financial and societal pressures . . . To me, these unknowns still doing it are in the same boat as the famous ones -  true OLD ROCK N ROLLERS!

Keep on Rockin'!

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