Circus Magazine's Dead Pool - February 1970

Courtesy of retronaut.co:

Circus featured a very morbid cover in February 1970, asking which of 20 pictured musicians would survive the 1970s.

All but four made it, those four obviously being Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Elvis, the first three succumbing to illicit drugs and Elvis succumbing to a combination of illicit drugs, plus bacon.

Thoughts on some of the selections for the cover:

All four Beatles - Sensible enough if perhaps a bit excessive. It's not as though they held a monopoly on drug abuse.

Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts - In a feature about the survival prospects of rock stars, how do you include any member of The Rolling Stones not named Keith?

Grace Slick - No argument here. If I were filling out pool brackets, I'd have taken her over Janis Joplin.

Johnny Winter - Another logical inclusion, though I'm not sure on what basis they included Johnny while excluding Edgar. Both brothers survived the 1970s, as did my 8-track copy of They Only Come Out At Night.

David Crosby - Probably responsible for thwarting more dead pool participants than anyone else, ever, full stop. Picking him must have seemed as easy as picking the Harlem Globetrotters over the Washington Generals.

Jimmy Page - A solid pick, though perhaps no more so than any other member of Led Zeppelin would have been.

Pete Townshend - In a feature about the survival prospects of rock stars, how do you include any member of The Who not named Keith?