I'm a rock disciple—one of a fanatical bunch for whom musical influences from one's formative years haven't been tarnished by time or iTunes. Mere adulthood hasn't tamed the beast.

An intricate song called Tom Sawyer was my calling card in college—the lyrics were a portrait of a modern-day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding through the world with intent. It's everything my 18-year-old self wanted to be. Forty years later, the words and the riffs still resonate: