"Closing Time" is the name of Joseph "Catch 22" Heller's last novel where he revisits his iconic characters still paralyzed by fear of death. Which is a whole other Catch 22, of course. We are terrified of dying and we are gonna die anyway.
But we are all living longer anyway, and those of the progenitors of rock who made it are in or reaching their 80s.
Jerry Lee Lewis – 76
Little Richard – 79
Chuck Berry – 85
Berry is still playing around town, Richard and Jerry Lee a little less often. BB King is 86 and he visits the city a couple of times a year, even if he can go off on a tangent from time to time. I saw Ornette Coleman a year ago -so I guess he was 80 at the time and he was peaking, man. Brubek is an astounding 91 years old and I caught a free concert a coupla years ago. Unbelievable.
Maybe they are keeping music young, or maybe music is keeping them young.
Definitely, catching Mr. Shape Of Jazz to Come is just a straight up honor.
Irving Berlin made it to 101 years old, though he was essentially retired. Bob Hope -who, while always and foremost a comic actor, wasn't a slouch when it came to singing, made it to 100 years old and remained active till near the end. Nothing beats a real long life, I mean if you can afford it and you are healthy, and if you maintain your career.
Retiring will kill ya, it's as simple as that. I wondered why Dick Clark didn't pass on ABC Network's New Year's Eve palaver? Really, they only way to stay alive is to remain vital in the life you live. You may die anyway, but you probably will die anyway if you hibernate. I'm guessing as our 1960s icons head into their 70s
Mick Jagger – 68
Eric Clapton – 66
Paul McCartney – 70 this year…
They may have a lot left in em if they keep rocking till they drop
We all want to retire but none of us want to stop. Another Catch 22.