David Fricke
Born1951 or 1952 (age 71–72)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMuhlenberg College
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • editor
EmployerRolling Stone

David Fricke (born 1951 or 1952 (age 71–72))[1] is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years.[2] In the 1990s, he was the magazine's music editor[3] before stepping down.

Early life and education

Fricke graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1973.[4][5][6]

Career

The first concert that Fricke attended was a show by Pink Floyd. His love of live music inspired him to pursue a career in music journalism.[7] He has recalled meeting George Harrison, at a promotional event in Washington, DC for the former Beatle's Thirty Three & 1/3 album, as a particularly "remarkable moment", saying, "it changed the way I listened to his music ... I had spoken to the man, not the History."[8]

Before joining Rolling Stone, where he became senior editor, he wrote for Circus, Trouser Press, Synapse, and Good Times.[7][2] He has since written for Melody Maker, Mojo, and JazzTimes.[9]

Fricke has been nominated for a Grammy Award for his album liner notes and is a three-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism.[9] He has appeared on the Classic Albums documentaries on the making of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Cream's Disraeli Gears, Def Leppard's Hysteria, Nirvana's Nevermind, Metallica's Black Album, Peter Gabriel's So, Frank Zappa's Apostrophe and Over-Nite Sensation as well as Rush's Moving Pictures and 2112 albums. Fricke has also appeared on a number of Lou Reed documentaries and in the Wilco documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.[10]

The Domino Recording Company released the North American version of the 30th anniversary reissue of Aztec Camera's debut album, High Land, Hard Rain, in 2014 with liner notes written by Fricke.[11][12]

As of 2013, he was creator of the "Fricke's Picks Radio" podcast and the Alternate Take blog in Rolling Stone, as well as serving as the Host of the Friday Night Affair on “Tom Petty Radio”.[13] He is currently a DJ at Sirius XM Radio.[9]

Bibliography

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2016)

Essays and reporting

Album reviews

Album title Artist Reviewed in
Dungeon Golds The Minus 5 Fricke, David (May 2015). "[Untitled review]". Reviews. Rolling Stone (Australia). 762: 95.
Policy Butler, Will Fricke, David (May 2015). "[Untitled review]". Reviews. Rolling Stone (Australia). 762: 98.

Liner notes

Fricke has written liner notes for a number of albums, compilations and box sets, including:

References

  1. ^ Masley, Ed (December 12, 1999). "Rock Long and Prosper". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. G-11. Fricke is 47.
  2. ^ a b "David Fricke, of Rolling Stone magazine, discusses navigating his way through 'chaos'". The Express Times. March 23, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  3. ^ [1] Archived October 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Dave became Station Manager of WMUH-FM in 1971, making the station a leader in the college radio circuit."David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine tells intimate rock stories during talk at Allentown Art Museum". lehighvalleylive.com. March 28, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  5. ^ "Muhlenberg magazine cover" (PDF). Muhlenberg.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  6. ^ "#132 Muhlenberg College". Forbes.com. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "David Fricke of Rolling Stone tells intimate Rock stories during talk at Allentown Art Museum". The Express Times. March 28, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  8. ^ David Fricke, "George Harrison Dark Horse", The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992 box-set booklet (Dark Horse Records, 2004), p. 20.
  9. ^ a b c "David Fricke". JazzTimes. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  11. ^ "Aztec Camera – High Land, Hard Rain". Aztec Camera on Discogs. Discogs. 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  12. ^ "HIGH LAND, HARD RAIN". Domino USA. Domino USA. February 18, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  13. ^ Fricke, David. "Alternate Take". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
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