Joel Selvin
| Joel Selvin | |
|---|---|
Selvin prepares to grill a chili pepper, July 2009
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| Born |
February 14, 1950 Berkeley, California, United States |
| Occupation | Music critic, music journalist |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1970–present |
| Subject | Pop music, rock music |
| Website | |
| www |
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Joel Selvin (born February 14, 1950) is an American San Francisco-based music critic and author known for his weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle which ran from 1972 to 2009. Selvin has written books covering various aspects of pop music—including the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock" with Sammy Hagar—and has interviewed a large number of musical artists. Selvin has published articles in Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, Billboard, Melody Maker and has written liner notes for dozens of recorded albums. He has appeared in documentaries about the music scene and has occasionally taken the stage himself as a rock and roll singer.
Selvin was born in Berkeley, California. He has stated that he failed to graduate with his Berkeley High School class of 1967. He moved to San Francisco and was hired as a copy boy at the San Francisco Chronicle. Selvin soon wangled a backstage pass for a show at The Fillmore and submitted his first piece to the Chronicle's Sunday Datebook in 1969. Selvin left the Chronicle for a brief, unsuccessful effort in undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside where he wrote for the school paper. Returning to San Francisco, he wrote a review of First Step by the Faces for Rolling Stone, published in May 1970.
In 1972, Selvin was hired as an assistant to Chronicle music critic John L. Wasserman, and began to write for both the daily and the Sunday newspaper issues, filing reviews of local shows with rock and roll as well as rhythm and blues performances. When Wasserman died in 1979, Selvin picked up the reins of the Chronicle's pop music coverage. A half year later, one of Selvin's more infamous pieces ran about Bob Dylan's first concert in San Francisco after his conversion to Christianity. In his piece entitled Bob Dylan's God-Awful Gospel, Selvin wrote:
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