BYCU: Bands that Sell-Out to Beer

Later addendum: John Densmore's excellent The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes on Trial is only $2.99 on Kindle.

5 Band Beers
1. Dogfish Head Grateful Dead Juicy Pale Ale (5.3% ABV)
2. Juice Runners Paloma Remix (5.9% ABV)
3. Hanson Brothers Beer Mmmhops IPA (6.3% ABV)
4. Short’s Brewing Thirst Mutilator Grape (0% ABV)
5. 311 Stealing Hoppy Hours Hazy IPA (less than .5% ABV)

The 1960s, that garish carnival of babyboomer delirium, had a certain raw charm.

Even Jim Morrison, the era’s snake-charming poster boy for self-destruction, wielded a charisma so potent it lingers like cheap incense in the collective memory. His old bandmates, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, thought they’d cash in on that mystique, itching to peddle “Break on Through” to Cadillac, but John Densmore stood firm in court, declaring, “This ain’t just about Jim’s memory, it’s about the pact we made, and hell, we’ve got enough coin already.” He won, so Led Zeppelin sold out to Cadillac instead.

Those days, though, are as dead as a rusted-out Chevy in a junkyard. If you want a cinematic glimpse of that boomer idealism curdling into crass materialism, cue up Almost Famous, where rock-n-roll’s soul gets traded for a quick buck. Or, better yet, cast your eyes on Washington, DC, where the same boomers cling to power like barnacles on a sinking ship, wringing every last drop of graft from the rotting husk of the republic.

I could rant till the cows come home about art’s slow surrender to commerce. Back in the day, artists had patrons, some Medici fat cat bankrolling their frescoes. Now, it’s the public, that fickle beast, who decides whether you starve. Same game, different players: the artist’s gotta eat, whether it’s Renaissance florins or Spotify streams.

The muse don’t pay the rent.