In his 33 years on this earth, Bangs seemed to be everywhere. It's something that's human, and I think most music today isn't. To me good rock 'n' roll encompasses other things, like Hank Williams and Charles Mingus and a lot of other things that aren't strictly defined as rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' roll is an attitude, it's not a musical form of a strict sort. It's a way of doing things, of approaching things.
Writing can be rock 'n' roll, a movie can be rock 'n' roll.
It's a way of living your life. Bangs certainly lived his own creed. His writing made him famous if not rich. But that was part of Bangs' appeal. He absolutely refused to treat rock stars as some kind of deities.