In Search of the Joshua Tree

I care a lot about visiting the various sites of rock and roll history, whether it's the former site of the Cavern Club or the Finsbury Park Astoria or the Palladium or 213 Bowery or the bank that used to be the Fillmore East. But clearly I am close to something very much resembling insane to wake up at 6 a.m. in Las Vegas, rent a car, and head four hours into the desert to look for a dead tree.

Yes. We went looking for The Joshua Tree.

This all started a few years ago, when I brought up a B...