Rolling Stone issue #44 had a cover date of October 18, 1969. 48 pages. 35 cents. Cover photo of David Crosby by Robert Altman.
48 pages this time, with tons of reviews to make up for the previous issue that had none. The funniest review is a spoof written by Greil Marcus under the pseudonym T.M. Christian for a non-existent album called The Masked Marauders featuring “the unmistakable vocals make it clear that this is indeed what it appears to be: John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan backed by George Harrison and a drummer…” The hoax created such a hubbub that the Rolling Stone editors actually hired a band to record the album! Rhino Handmade reissued it in 2001, and it’s currently available on streaming services. Now that’s a good joke.
Features: “Rock and Roll Revival Surprise: John & Yoko” by Melinda McCracken; “Great Dope Purge Of 1969”; “Big Sur” by Jerry Hopkins; “The Fifties” by Howard Junker; “Sha Na Na Na Yip yip Mum mum get a job” by Jan Hodenfield.
News: “Lennon on Toronto: ‘Bloody Marvelous'” by Ritchie Yorke; George Harrison On Abbey Road; “Mothers’ Day Has Finally Come” by Jerry Hopkins; James Brown Off His Night Train; “FM Hang-up: ‘You Can’t Say That…'” by Ben Fong-Torres; Split, Fight Over Woodstock Stock; A Pop Festival in The Mother Lode; Blues’ Josh White Dead at 61; Tiny Tim Loves ‘Miss Vicki’; Delaney & Bonnie’s ‘Super’ Friends; Band Opens Up Old Fillmore; “Harenchi” by Michael Berger; “Pachuko” by Rafeal Espinosa. And Random Notes.
Reviews: Original Golden Greats, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Jerry Lee Lewis (by Bob Kirsch); Truly Fine Citizen, Moby Grape (by Ben Gerson); “My Guitar”, The Mothers (by Black Shadow); “Carry Me Back”, The Rascals/”Suspicious Minds”, Elvis Presley (by Greil Marcus); The Flock (by Langdon Winner); Fear Itself/Tons of Sobs, Free (by Ed Leimbacher); The Stooges (by Edmund O. Ward); Preflyte, The Byrds (by Lester Bangs); Green River, Creedence Clearwater Revival (by Bruce Miroff); Word of Mouth, Merryweather (by John Morthland); The Masked Marauders (by T.M. Christian); Santana (by John Morthland and Langdon Winner); Fathers and Sons, Muddy Waters-Paul Butterfield-Mike Bloomfield-Otis Spann-Duck Dunn-Sam Lay (by Pete Welding); Black and White, Tony Joe White (by Ed Ward); Karma, Pharoah Sanders (by Langdon Winner); Sssh, Ten Years After (by Ben Gerson); In the Plain, Savage Rose (by Lester Bangs); Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2), Rolling Stones (by Greil Marcus); The Band (by Ralph J. Gleason); Direct Hits, The Who (by Ed Ward); “Curly”, The Move/”Something in the Air”, Thunderclap Newman (by John Mendelsohn).
Columns: “Astrology” by Ambrose Hollingsworth.
Poetry: “I Know What You’re Thinking” by Billy Collins; “Woke Up This Morning Feeling” by Robert Sundstrom.
Subscription offer: Love Man by Otis Redding, free with 50 cents shipping. $6 for 26 issues; $10 for 52.
Previously: Issue 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43.