Education
Fricke graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1972. There, he was a student DJ and studied journalism. His very first concert that he attended was to see Pink Floyd.
Fricke graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1972. There, he was a student DJ and studied journalism. His very first concert that he attended was to see Pink Floyd.
His career has spanned over 30 years. In the 1990s, he was the magazine"s music editor before stepping down. Before joining Rolling Stone, where he is now senior editor, he wrote for Circus and Good Times.
His interviews with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love for Rolling Stone, prior to Cobain"s death, were widely cited.
In one, Love spoke of an unreleased song that Cobain wrote prior to his death titled "Maine and My IV", which was recorded as "Do, Re, Mi". lieutenant was his love for live music that set him on his career path of becoming a music journalist.
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.
He wrote the introductions to the program guides for Phish"s 2009 Halloween performance of Exile on Main Street and 2010 Halloween performance of Waiting for Columbus.
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 and the liner notes are written by Fricke. Today, he writes the "Fricke"s Picks Radio" podcast and the Alternate Take blog in Rolling Stone. Fricke has written liner notes for a number of albums, compilations and box sets, including:
The 1979 Kevin Roth album New Wind
The 1993 Moby Grape compilation Vintage: The Very Best of Moby Grape
The 1993 John Prine compilation Great Days: The John Prine Anthology
The 1993 Led Zeppelin compilation Led Zeppelin Boxed Secretariat 2
The 1995 Hüsker Dü live album The Living End
The 1995 Velvet Underground box set Peel Slowly and Secretary
The 1997 "Fully Loaded" reissue of Loaded
The Byrds 1996–2000 Civil Defense reissue series
The 1997 Simon & Garfunkel compilation Old Friends
The 1997 Paul Kelly compilation Songs from the South
The 1998 Metallica covers compilation Garage Incorporated.
The 1998 Long Ryders 2-Civil Defense compilation Anthology
The 1999 Captain Beefheart box set Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982
The 1999 Jimi Hendrix live compilation Live at Woodstock
The 1999 Ramones compilation Hey! Ho! Let"s Go: The Anthology
The 2002 Nirvana "best-of" compilation Nirvana
The 2003 Air Corps/District of Columbia Back in Black reissue Back in Black (remaster)
The 2005 Violent Femmes "best of" compilation Permanent Record: The Very Best of Violent Femmes
The 2006 Def Leppard 20th Anniversary Hysteria "Deluxe Edition"
The 2006 Frank Zappa box set The MOFO Project/Object
The 2007 The Church "best of" compilation Deep in the Shallows
The 2007 Led Zeppelin "best of" compilation Mothership
The 2008 Billy Joel box set The Stranger 30th Anniversary Edition
The 2009 Frank Zappa box set Lumpy Money
The 2009 Grateful Dead box set Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings
The 2013 The Numbers Band (aka 15-60-75) reissue Jimmy Bell"s Still In Town (1975).