What will save rock 'n' roll?

Little Steven has made some comments about rock n roll lately. I tend to agree with him...

"I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business -- the music," the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and "Sopranos" star said in a speech to the SXSW music and arts festival in March. "The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks!

"Who are we kidding here?" he said. "Nobody's buying records? Because they suck!"

He called the speech "A Crisis of Craft," and implored listeners to get back to rock 'n' roll's roots. Learn how to play cover songs, he said. Get people to dance. Harness your working-class energy. Take pride in craft.

It's been two months since that speech, and Van Zandt is still passionate about the subject.

"[Rock 'n' roll] is a craft that has to be learned," he tells CNN. "There are things you learn by listening to great records, copying heroes." He believes that he said some things that people were thinking, but haven't said out loud.

I would say to Little Steve, that this is definitely a generational thing. This younger generation doesn't have that sense of history. But perhaps one day, they will.

A couple years ago I asked a 21 year old if he's heard of Led Zeppelin. He hadn't. Sad. Years later, he approached me saying that he loves Led Zeppelin. So is it up to the younger generation to know, or us older dudes to teach?

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