Men of a Certain Age

From Jeff Beck to Wilko Johnson, Ray Davies to Tom Jones and Kevin Ayers to Roger Taylor, Kate Mossman has long fostered an obsession with male musicians of a certain age. Over fifteen years of music writing, she has developed an alarming overconcern with this powerful archetype, and she has finally decided to figure out what is behind it. 'The signs were there all along: a seven-year infatuation with the drummer from Queen in childhood; a lone, 5000-mile journey to see Glen Campbell in his dotage; later-life lover affairs with Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Beck. I want to investigate the pull of a nearly extinct species, those boys in grey flannel shorts, born between 1940 and 1960, who watched Yuri Gagarin float into space, built their first guitars and became the golden gods - the lunatics, nerds and prophets that made rock 'n' roll. Men of a Certain Age is part meditation, part memoir: why is it that when I am in the presence of a male musician of a certain age, I feel something ignite inside me. What is this strange connection - to feel so excited, yet so at ease. Why do they get under my skin. How do I get under theirs. What is it that I'm identifying with. And how on earth is it that in the presence of a wrinkly male rock star twice my age, I sometimes feel like I'm meeting. me. '.