John Rants about Systemic Bigotry--F#@k Jann Wenner and the Racist Sexist Stone he Rolled in on. 

Little Richard was also a pioneer that took forever to be recognized. I guess he had two strikes against him, being black and gay.

Rant on, John DeVore! And thank you. RU-vid doesn't need more "VC" channels. RU-vid needs more discourse like this.

Rolling Stone magazine ain’t even worthy of ass wipe.

I'm a 55-year-old POC man and I didn't know about the full effect of other POC on rock and roll till I started listening to "The History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs" podcast. It took an autistic Englishman's podcast to learn about my own country and culture's history with the music I listen to the most.

Rant away John. Your pain and frustration is warranted . I’m 61years old. When I was 24 a wonderful woman warned me about lists and particularly mens obsessions with ranking and categorising people and their creative/intellectual output . That she was a survivor of Auschwitz may have had something to do with it. Consequently I have scant regard for all but the most rigorous and useful lists. Who is “better” at whatever is at best tabloid fodder. At worst ……….. divisive propaganda .

Excellent John, speak the truth brother! I'm a white male and agree 100% with you! My wife is a proud founder and owner of a biotech company and in her world, 1.8% of the venture start-up money goes to women. Now of that 1.8%, guess how much goes to women of color...just about 0% - its in the realm of your previous rant on measurements and distortion, less than 0.00001%. Our world is controlled by a few extremely wealthy and powerful white men, its a fact.

Mr. Devore. Thank you for this moment of truth. It does not take a lot of imagination to hear gospel and R&B in the creations of many that we revere as the greats of rock and roll. Not the least of which is the Stones. A band that I enjoyed as a teenager when I had no idea what Blues or Gospel music were. I just knew that I liked it. A lot. Now we can give credit where it is due.

Well said and spot on, but there are others who are just as guilty. I grew up here in New York during the 70s and 80s, where the "rock" radio stations suffered the same amnesia as Rolling Stone.

Bravo and right on! Sadly we'll never know how r&r would have evolved had racism not been, and not continue to be, a significant factor in the music business. Thank you for saying it.

Well said. And making the connection to CRT needed to be said out loud. Thanks. On the music side I was already a Big Mamma Thornton fan but I wasn't aware of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I paused the video at that point and went ot Qobuz to check her out...wow. Before returning to the rant I listened to her 1939 Decca recording of This Train. Now I can't wait to get off the computer and listening to those Decca recordings in full.

John, thank you - not a rant, just the truth. We may never eradicate the racists, bigots, and misogynists but what I took from your commentary was that we must identify and eradicate such gatekeepers.

A big AND important rant! Please keep on ranting, for a deeper understanding of music - and humanity.

Another reason to not read Rolling Stone.

Thank you for your clear words👍❤️ Greetings from Germany

Thank you for speaking up.

Thanks for the music lesson .

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The moral panic stirred up (intentionally) around Critical Race Theory is ludicrous. It was little more than an academic tool for studying history, known to a relatively small number of academics. It was never intended to be taught in schools, though the new interpretations of history which flowed from it might be eventually. The irony is that now everyone has heard of it and its profile has been raised remarkably. I enjoyed this rant, if enjoy is the right word, and as a non- American, wish more of your countryfolks had similar views and were able to articulate them as skilfully.

Thank you for this, including the history which I appreciate as I am not very good with music history. Your stock just went *way* up in my book.

Thank you. ❤

Well said !!!!!!

Extremely important to explain this the way you did 👌

Anyone who has studied CRT, as I did as part of my pre-law undergrad work, understands it as a legal theory. Like any other sociological theory, it’s meant to be used as a tool to understand how systems evolve and create certain outcomes. It’s is not, and has never been, the only theory to explain such outcomes. It’s is merely a tool of analysis and should not be viewed as an explanation of complex systems in toto. I do love your rants, though I wish I could afford your speakers. Maybe someday. 😅

Sadly, it wasn't just Rolling Stone, but all "rockist" cultural outlets (radio, press, etc) that lionized the white, male view of what credible rock music was and that women and, more so, artists of color (especially Black artists) were relegated to importance only as much as they either influenced or emulated white, male rock artists. It's sad it took rock effectively dying out as a cultural force for this to finally be corrected, but it's still a refreshing and necessary change. I'm hoping this leads folks to rediscover all of the great music and artists that were neglected along the way...

Thank you, John. You are a true American.

excellent rant. thanks John.

Of course and I read your comments as soley directed at Jaan. Wenner. I was thinking how easy it would have been for him to reach out to any rock star and inquire about their influences before his interview with the Times.

Bravo! Well said.

Amen, dude. Amen!

Thank you John!

Well articulated truth a beacon in these trying times (I suppose it has always been trying times)

I think it is dangerous to say "white supremecist" Bias and stupidity yes but beyond that unless you know the person I think is too far. I support your right to rant on whatever you want. Best JH

Goes to show we are hardly a post bigotry or misogyny culture. We have more work to do.

I wonder if Jann Wenner ever listened to Curtis Mayfield's music.

John, if I believed in religion…….you would be my God!! You always nail it and are an inspiration to those of us that appreciate music and song…..for what it is…..the #1 one unifying emotion/condition that connects and inspires all of humanity irrespective or race, religion, skin colour, sex, country of origin, etc.

I won't allow my female Great Pyrenees to play with neighbor's male Rottweiller....most likely because I read Rolling Stone in the 60s

I feel albino musicians could neutralise all the racial problems. Sly Stone

Thank you John, Well said. The tentacles of racism is far-reaching... The struggle goes on.

Totally agree with this video. Rock N' Roll was invented by black musicians. All of the greatest american music is. Jazz, blues, rock n' roll, hip hop. Wenner can play fast and loose with facts, but he's wrong. Keep on ranting!

Watching this from the outside, namely Scandinavia, this is exactly what divides your country and people and the end of that story might not end good, with this kind of talk. It drives people to each side. Also, it so so easy to come late to the party and criticize all and everybody from the past, I also could get on that train if I wanted to. Let´s look forward. We are though, moving in the right direction with good speed and so many positives. It will take some time to get there, if we ever get there, all the way! I Gotta be careful though, not to stir the pot too much! Love your company and products.....

I heard you have an amp coming. Is that true?

Thank you ! That list should be torn up and a much more legitimate version created ! THAT would be interesting!

That was a justified rant.

RS Magazine was my parakeet’s favorite cage floor liner.

What makes you think I'm more interested in your politics than you are in mine? I just became less interested in Devore speakers.

John, yours is such an important voice, not just in HiFi but in the world of RU-vid and media in general. Your cohesiveness and articulation are second to none. I appreciate your rants so much... it makes me really wish I could afford your speakers just to be able to throw support your way!

I appreciated the rant because I actually learned something. Had no idea this type of stuff was still going on and from someone That important at rolling stone. It makes you how he has been able to survive that long without saying sim.iar stuff over that many years? Any plans for rolling stones to make another revision of the top 500 records/albums by someone else? Feel free to rant any time you need to educate us! Thanks john!

It's Rock n Roll. Not R&B, or World Music. Demographics should matter. And are what percentage of the artists are female. Less than 50% I guarantee. Quotas are disingenuous.

Rave on with wild abandon, rave on.

I think you should discuss with your old school mate Joe Rogan. That would be interesting

Perhaps we should construct our own top 10 greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums of all time. And while I certainly as a huge fan of the Beatles would include their albums, as some of the greatest not only rock ‘n’ roll albuns but greatest albums of all time period lets go back and choose those albums by sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Arthur, big boy Crudup and Little Richard and I would throw Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry in there to round out the top 10. And some of those rock ‘n’ roll pioneers on Central Avenue in Los Angeles as well. Bill Haley and the comets? That’s just a freak accident of history. That guy had about as much swing and soul in his bones as Mr Softee

Excellent video, spot on. But I would like to raise an issue, perhaps for a future video: namely, what makes for a “great album”? I would say that it is not just about the artist or the individual songs, but especially about how the entire record works as a whole. This is not to justify the Rolling Stone list or counter your overall point, but could perhaps explain the prevalence of the Beatles, who were masters of the genre. (Again not arguing against your overall point, or trying to justify including four albums by one group, even the Beatles).

Excellent history lesson

I think folks need to get out of New York more.

Mr. Chuck Berry ❤

Thank you John for speaking up, it's really appreciated. You are truly decent human being.

Well said! Here in the UK a different view of the roots of Rock'n'roll! As if to prove your point I suggest people search for the 1978 Rolling Stone record guide for some offensive insulting reviews! Comparing Kate Bush to a vacuum cleaner just one of them!!

That's why we need quotas for everything. We shouldn't allow people to be judged on merit, but have to make sure there is equality of outcomes divided amongst da races and sexes, like they do in China and Venezuela. Jon, please hire me to be VP of DEI at DVF and CFO (chief fun officer) Thanks! Namasté 🙏🏿✝🙏🏿

a good rant, a good rant.

Great video and totally agree with the comments you put out there . The haters will no doubt be out in force because it obviously hurts when you smack them in the face with the truth .

Well I just read up on this sort of controversy that honestly I didn't really know anything about because truthfully I don't really keep up with the music business. But yeah his sentiments basically fall in line with what I've seen with other corporate entities and corporations when it comes to saying one thing and doing another or the opposite. You know often you'll see a company or a corporation, especially over the last few years, talk about inclusion and you know trying to beef up the ranks of management and so on with disenfranchised people or people of color or so on and so forth, but at the end of the day they maybe higher one guy and all of a sudden between that and the campaign of the fact that they hired him as a manager or a supervisor or whatever that was all that they did. And sometimes you know it kind of feels like it's maybe not enough. I don't know I think if you want my honest opinion I think if we really want true equality the whole entire system has to change, everything has to change. But the reality is that it won't change and I personally see it not changing because if it did change it would mean that these people, the upper echelon people, would be out of a job. I don't know sometimes I I feel like I get made to feel like any sort of opinion that I have is naturally wrong, particularly in the social climate we currently exist in. But the one thing I think we all can agree on is that as I said we really need a fundamental shift in society at its most basic level for not only racial equality but also what I consider to be a bigger evil in this world and that's climate change. We could sit around all day and talk about inequality but it won't matter when the sky is on fire. And so we really truly need this fundamental shift taking us away from the way we've been living life for the last 100 years and move it towards a new future. But as I said I really don't see that happening and it's kind of sad when you think about it. I remember an incubus song where he talks about" when it's all over, we'll all sit around and write books about the way it should have been" And I don't think how ever hard you believe in the moral superiority of the right versus the left none of it's going to matter at the end of it, and when the empire finally falls it's going to be the biggest damn waste in human history.

Invite Lewis Black on for a conversation :-) - and keep on telling the truth!

You are spot on John. I expect you will get quite a few MAGA rocks thrown at you after this rant. I applaud your willingness to put this out there. The only way to fight back against this nonsense is to call it out when you see it.

it is just music, how can there be such academic standards? and any album list is personal.

didn't they try and dethrone elvis because they said his moves were african american incepted o.o

Spot on John…Critical Race Theory is an important lens to see how race and it’s intersections create social injustice.

Well-said John! The guy did not even made an effort to hide his obviously strong opinions about what stood behind his ideas. He's kept it inside him for too long. He had to say it out and loud. This is his root belief. He said it! hahaha.. what a dork...

My friend Louise Grief Mom lent Weiner the $500 he needed to start rolling stone magazine back in the 60s when they were still in San Francisco. Ralph Gleason was a great reviewer. He turned me onto a lot of good music, but Weiner has always been a whiner.... His prejudice extends to white bands too IE Led Zeppelin, he was very political, and a manipulator of the industry, thinking he was a power broker, he was also vindictive and held a grudge. Still he was an immature fan boy during that period. Ben Fung Torres is another troglodyte. They have been wrong so many times, anyone that read rolling stone during its heydays pays no attention to it anymore. John the world has changed RS's target audience majority listen to their music compressed using earbuds. The last time I remember Rolling Stone being read the riot act is when they took advertising from the army during the Vietnam war. That's when they lost all credibility with me.

I was like you, John. Then reality hit me and made me radically change my mind. Welcome to us in Sweden, and you will see what mass immigration from Africa and the Arab countries has caused. Then you can make a 'rant' about our situation.

CRT isn’t simply teaching the history of racism, that is already taught, certainly in UK where I live it is. People have an issue with CRT when you define good and bad by skin colour. You are already seeing new forms of segregation in the name of progress. How can we not learn from history, if you raise a nation to hate a certain skin colour (in this instance white), it only ends in disaster.

He's 77. The list was fitting with the state of American culture when he started it. He didn't adapt to modern culture or topple the old culture but that doesn't make him bad. Would it make sense to berate people in nursing homes for not learning the new pronouns? Discrimination is unacceptable in 2023 American Culture but it's common in homogenized societies like Japan and Denmark. I don't think that makes Portland morally superior to Kyoto and Copenhagen. Jann became out of step with his time and place. The problem was that we continued viewing him as a trendsetter for too long and finally, he apologized. If you believe in rehabilitation and forgiveness it should apply not only to violent criminals but to people who make insensitive remarks as well

Why even talk about the Rock & Roll HOF which is so despised by the inductees that they can’t travel there for an induction. Baseball inductees travel to tiny Cooperstown and basketball inductees travel to small Springfield while NFL inductees travel to Canton, not exactly a huge metropolis but R&R inductees cannot be seen near their HOF. Obviously their HOF is a big nothing!

I totally agree with you.

People need to listen to James Lindsay if you really want to understand the truth about critical race theory. Hes studied it for years and is spot on.

John. Great video. You explanation of Critical Race Theory is right on. Thank you.

Thank you for using your position to spread the truth!

Absolutely fabulous!!!

"Bigoted" goes too far. Rolling Stone & RRHofF are not the voice of god. He's speaking to his audience. What a surprise.(not)

Bravo John. A lot that needed to be said.

What do you expect from a society that its Jesus Christ looks like a white rock star ⭐️ even though he’s coming from Middle East which of course have the same color skin and hair and eyes of this region. Racism, sexism and racial discrimination are everywhere and thank you 🙏🏼 for bringing this up ⬆️. Black music 🎶 and musicians are and have always been my favorites and my heroes ✊🏾🫡

Jeez. White supremacist? That’s a pretty strong charge. I appreciate inclusion of songs from women and people of color and love Joni Mitchell but don’t agree that Rolling Stone is racist.

Please don't apologise about your 'rants'

rolling stone has no revelance now lost me years ago

Is this what you talk about at your all white brooklyn dinner parties?

When I see a list of the 500 best albums, I expect the music to be what it is valued by. Not all other kinds of parameters. That is some woke crap from you John, right there!!

I come here for the music reviews, I’ll see myself out.

John stick to record reviews and equipment.

The Beatles were so revolutionary and special that I don’t have a problem with them dominating the top 10. That being said, I love Marvin Gaye, Sam, Cooke, and Otis Redding more than almost any other artists. Rod Stewart also who I feel us in the same class.

This is so cringe and so cliche. 😂

Welcome to Umpty Dumpty “trumpies” world😢

#LOL Are you going woke?

White supremacists? Bigoted? The rant diluted the meaning of those words. The subject can be debated and public opinion improved with great points you made. But you chose to use words that only serve to inflame. You cannot look at history with a present day lens. Context is paramount. This is not the way to change historical perspective. Disappointed.

With a war in Ukraine and what just happened in Israel this is what you spent all week thinking about? Wenner is not my favorite but he has the right to put who ever he wants in his book. Over the years there have been plenty of women on the cover and Jimi Hendrix is worshipped by the magazine. Elvis was considered the founder of Rock N Roll before Rolling Stone was ever published. Let us not forget that back in the 70s Rolling Stone was one of the only rock magazines you could find. They kept us informed on what was happening on the music scene, a big help. Hey John how about you start a rock magazine that can last 56 years or maybe just stick to speakers.