Library Rock's Backpages

Songwriters and Singer-Songwriters

3,515 articles

Cliff Richard, The Shadows: Another Hit for Cliff but This ISN'T Expected

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 15 April 1961

CLIFF RICHARD, winner of eight of our Silver Discs, has another hit on his hands, and one he did not really expect. The number is ...

Bob Dylan, The Greenbriar Boys: The Greenbriar Boys, Bob Dylan: Gerde's Folk City, New York NY

Live Review by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 29 September 1961

Bob Dylan: A Distinctive Folk-Song Stylist 20-Year-Old Singer Is Bright New Face at Gerde's Club ...

Bob Dylan (1961)

Interview by Billy James, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1961

In short clips from his very first interview, with Columbia publicist James, the young Bob Dylan mentions his love of Charlie Chaplin, then reflects on living in a big city for the first time, being a folk singer, and playing piano like Little Richard.

File format: mp3; file size: 2.8mb, interview length: 4' 36" sound quality: *

Bob Dylan: The First Interview

Press Release by Billy James, Columbia Records, October 1961

DYLAN: Well, let me say that I was born in Duluth, Minnesota – give that a little plug. That's where I was born and, uh, ...

Geoffrey Goddard: 'Buddy Holly Spoke To Me' says singer who wrote 'Tribute'

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 26 October 1961

THREE weeks before the release of 'Johnny Remember Me', songwriter Geoffrey Goddard claims he received a "message" from the late Buddy Holly saying "this song ...

Del Shannon: Mix-Ups and Mr. Shannon

Profile by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 10 March 1962

BY NOW, mix-ups seem to be an integral pact of DEL SHANNON'S recording career. ...

John D. Loudermilk and Fred Foster: Nashville Men Take a Look at London

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 9 June 1962

TRAVELLING companions on a brief visit to London last week were songwriter and RCA recording artist John D. Loudermilk, and Fred Foster, the 30-year-old boss ...

Del Shannon Digs 'Nutty' Sounds

Interview by Ian Dove, Record Mirror, 22 September 1962

THE 'RUNAWAY' SINGER WANTS TO SEE SOME FOOTBALL ...

Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Little Eva: Four Careers & Carole King

Profile by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 22 September 1962

FOUR CAREERS? At twenty? How come you may well ask. In CAROLE KING'S case it comes naturally. ...

Cliff Richard, The Shadows: The Unseen, But Not Unheard Side Of The SHADOWS

Profile by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 16 February 1963

THE SHADOWS: top instrumental group; world travellers; hit disc-makers; theatre packers-in; fan-forming personalities. But while they've strummed and struck their way to fame, they've been ...

Carole King: The Dumb Sound

Report and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Saturday Evening Post, August 1963

2003 note: The following was trimmed down to fit in the pages of the Saturday Evening Post by Bill Ewald, one of the few editors ...

Mort Shuman: The Man Who Writes Hits For The U.S. Stars

Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 4 January 1964

IF ANYONE bothers to look just under the titles of their records, they'll see a name or names in brackets. Those names are the songwriters. ...

Chuck Berry, Little Walter: Chuck Berry Tells Guy Stevens About "How I Write My Songs"

Report and Interview by Guy Stevens, Record Mirror, 4 April 1964

MY FIRST MEETING with Chuck Berry proved to be as exciting and interesting as I had expected. I met him in the offices of Chess ...

Bob Dylan: If Bob can't sing it, it must be a poem or a novel or something...

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 16 May 1964

SOME SAY that Bob Dylan is a genius; others say he is a very moderate folk singer but not bad at the guitar. I say ...

Bob Dylan: If You Want To Do It — Then Do It

Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 23 May 1964

It's the rules that cause the trouble ...

Burt Bacharach: The man who put neurosis into top pops

Profile and Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 29 August 1964

THE INTRODUCTION of the Neurotic Ballad to British popular music is the responsibility of an American called Burt Bacharach. We first developed a taste for ...

Burt Bacharach, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick: Burt Bacharach: "Time Is My Enemy"

Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 4 September 1964

"I JUST DON'T get enough time to cram everything in," top U.S. songwriter, arranger and producer Burt Bacharach told me, during a two-day visit last ...

Mort Shuman: Writing Songs Is So Easy

Profile and Interview by Maureen Cleave, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 11 October 1964

FOR SONG-WRITING we British make do with Lennon/McCartney. The Americans are more extravagant; they use Pomus and Shuman, Leiber and Stoller, Goffin and King, David ...

Delaney & Bonnie, Jackie DeShannon: Jackie DeShannon: The girl who began when she was two

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 24 October 1964

JACKIE DeSHANNON might be considered an alarming girl. She is one of those prodigies in whom the Americans seem to specialise. She appeared on the ...

Jackie DeShannon: Jackie Jumps For Joy

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 7 November 1964

RIGHT NOW, let's stop messing around. Let's not keep the delectable Jackie de Shannon in suspense any longer... just one good heave-ho and her first-rate ...

The Ivy League: Songwriting Hit-Makers

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 13 February 1965

FROM INSIDE the music publisher's office came the familiar sounds of creation, Tin Pan Alley style — tentative chords being hammered out on a piano ...

Gene Pitney: Flashback for Gene Pitney to The Most Ridiculous Session Ever

Interview by Ian Dove, New Musical Express, 5 March 1965

WORD WENT around very quickly about the "most ridiculous recording session ever." Accountants blanched as they put the cost in their account books. Heads of ...

Donovan, Bob Dylan: Dylan v. Donovan

Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 March 1965

DOUBLE EXPOSURE ON THE FOLK SCENE ...

Burt Bacharach: 'Money Means Nothing To Me' says Bacharach

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 17 April 1965

ISN'T IT weird how people who make a living out of a particular talent often have personalities quite different from that you might expect? A ...

Cilla Black, Randy Newman: Cilla Black: "The Song My Mum Doesn't Like"

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 1 May 1965

WHAT I asked Cilla Black was what she thought of the controversy surrounding her latest single, 'I've Been Wrong Before'. And a Liverpool accent which ...

Donovan, Bob Dylan: Screams for Dylan

Report and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 1 May 1965

BOB DYLAN got the full star treatment at London Airport on Monday night. A mainly young crowd of about 150 created chaos as the 24-year-old ...

Burt Bacharach, Manfred Mann: Bacharach helps the Manfreds

Report and Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 8 May 1965

RICHARD GREEN TALKS TO THE MANFRED MEN ...

Bob Dylan: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 15 May 1965

Different Dylan ...

Jack Nitzsche: Music Above All

Profile and Interview by uncredited writer, Record World, 14 August 1965

HOLLYWOOD – Jack Nitzsche, arranger and songwriter extraordinaire, got his first big break in 1958 and says, "There hasn't been any biggest break since then, ...

Bob Dylan: Forest Hills Stadium, Forest Hills Stadium NY

Live Review by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 30 August 1965

DYLAN CONQUERS UNRULY AUDIENCE Folk Singer Offers Works in'New Mood' at Forest Hills ...

P. F. Sloan: A Portrait: P.F. Sloan — A Many-Colored Personality Revealed Here

Interview by Eden, KRLA Beat, 6 November 1965

AT SOME time during your childhood, you may have had the experience of peering through a kaleidoscope with its multitude of shapes and designs. Part ...

The Beach Boys: Head Beach Boy: Brian Wilson Turns Serious

Interview by Jamie McCluskey III, KRLA Beat, 6 November 1965

A FUNNY THING happened to me as I was sidewalk surfin' the other day. At the crucial moment, just when I was about to hang ...

Fred Neil: Where's It All Going?

Interview by uncredited writer, Hit Parader, January 1966

LISTEN TO the music of Fred Neil, particularly 'Travelin' Shoes', 'Country Boy' and 'Gone Again' from his Bleecker & MacDougal Street album and you'll dig ...

Bob Dylan, The Rising Sons: Dylan Sells Out Seven West Coast Concerts

Report by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 1 January 1966

"HE'LL BE America's greatest troubadour, if he doesn't explode." ...

Roger Miller: Coppers on Bikes Got Roger Miller Swinging!

Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 7 January 1966

"England swings like a pendulum do. 
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two. 
Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Big Ben; 
The rosy-red cheeks of the little children."
(Part ...

The Changing Times: A Chat With The Changing Times

Interview by Carol Deck, KRLA Beat, 15 January 1966

"I WAS BORN," he stated very positively as he sprawled across the end of the bed staring curiously at the ceiling like he'd never noticed ...

The Animals, Petula Clark, The Drifters, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel: Citysongs

Essay by Paul Williams, Crawdaddy!, March 1966

ROCK 'N' ROLL songs, according to a joke now about ten years old, have three types of lyrics: a) I love my baby, b) my ...

The Beatles: Lennon and McCartney: Songwriters — A Portrait from 1966

Interview by Michael Lydon, unpublished, March 1966

Just after the release of Rubber Soul, I had the chance to meet John Lennon and Paul McCartney in London, and I conducted in-depth interviews ...

Paul McCartney, Peter and Gordon: Paul McCartney did write 'Woman', but DON'T BLAME US, PLEASE! say PETER and GORDON

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 25 March 1966

LAST WEEK NME revealed that Bernard Webb, writer of Peter and Gordon's latest hit, 'Woman', was no less than Paul McCartney. The reason for the ...

Donovan, The Modern Folk Quartet: Donovan, the Modern Folk Quintet: The Trip, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 26 March 1966

Donovan Ranges From Satire to Folk ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon: 'I Thought I Was a Has-Been at 19'

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 30 April 1966

PAUL SIMON is the composer of 21 songs, most of which have been put to work for him very profitably. ...

Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde (Columbia)

Review by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, June 1966

LOOKING LIKE a man who's been waiting in line for two hours to find a vacant john, Bob Dylan peers in full color from the ...

Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil: Creating Number One Singles, Mann-Style

Profile and Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 11 June 1966

DID YOU EVER wonder how the Righteous Brothers came up with 'Soul And Inspiration', how Paul Revere and the Raiders came up with 'Kicks', or ...

Crispian St. Peters: Follow Me (Decca)

Review by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 25 June 1966

IF IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY, THEN JUDGING BY HIS FIRST LP CRISPIAN ST. PETERS MUST BE ELVIS' BIGGEST FAN... ...

Roger Miller: A Punny Man

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 1966

"A WOMAN'S place is in the stove," Roger Miller drawled over the babble of four housewives sitting behind him in a plush Encino restaurant. ...

Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Composer Burt Bacharach Avoids Pop Music Pitfall

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 1966

BETWEEN BITES of eggs Benedict in an elegantly subdued lunchery, Burt Bacharach, the gold-fingered composer of 'What's New Pussycat?', 'Wives and Lovers', 'What the World ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Too Many Releases 'Kill' Simon And Garfunkel 'Rock' Single

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 15 July 1966

IN AUGUST, 1965, an album titled The Paul Simon Song Book was released by CBS featuring the composition 'I Am A Rock'. In September a ...

Bob Dylan: Dylan: Is He Weird?

Comment by Eden, KRLA Beat, 27 August 1966

MILLIONS UPON millions of words have been written about this man, and usually — they are words of great eloquence, sentences highly stylized in their ...

Simon & Garfunkel: A Law Firm They're Not

Interview by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 28 August 1966

ALMOST BEFORE the public knew whether Simon and Garfunkel was a comedy act, a law firm, or a partnership in the garment industry, the two ...

Lamont Dozier, The Supremes: Holland & Dozier: Motown's Money

Profile and Interview by Carol Deck, KRLA Beat, 10 September 1966

THE SUPREMES strolled into the crowded club where the Temptations were playing and instantly everyone in the room knew they were there. ...

Janis Ian, Jimmy Ruffin, The Supremes: Who Else but the Supremes Would Pedal a Rickshaw?

Report and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 30 September 1966

IMAGINE DIANA Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard in Taipei, pedalling rickshaws and letting the regular drivers ride in the seat. Picture Mary falling off ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Other Smokey Robinson — Songwriter

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 14 October 1966

BACK IN 1957 Bill "Smokey" Robinson, then 17, bumped into Berry Gordy Jr. Smokey had a stack of about 100 songs he had written, and ...

Mark Spoelstra: Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 October 1966

THERE IS a soft centre at the heart of much of contemporary American songwriting in the folk or near-folk idiom which makes it difficult ever ...

Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush: Tom Rush Tells Why He's Now Electrified!

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 11 November 1966

ONCE UPON a time folk singers looked at electric guitars and top 40 radio in horror. Then several years back the big hero of the ...

Tom Paxton: Paxton: Singing First

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966

AS HANK Locklin's recording of 'The Last Thing On My Mind' climbs into the charts, the man who wrote it, folksinger-writer Tom Paxton, is back ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (Columbia CS-9363, CL 2563)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 20 November 1966

S and G Sing of Sly Sociology ...

Arlo Guthrie: One Of America's Most Interesting Young Folk Singers For Some Time

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966

PEOPLE WHO go along to hear Woody Guthrie's son, Arlo, during his three week tour of Britain expecting to hear a carbon copy of the ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Simon And Garfunkel Selling Intellectualism

Comment by Carol Deck, KRLA Beat, 17 December 1966

INTELLECTUALISM has always been an underground movement in America. It is something that the majority of people view as just a fad — like swallowing ...

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, The Monkees: The Story Of Tommy Boyce And Bobby Hart

Report by Derek Taylor, World Countdown News, 1967

THE HOTEL CHESTERFIELD is not one of New York’s most majestic hotels, but it has a virtue prized by lyricists and tunesmiths for it is ...

Joe Tex: The Old Philosopher

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, January 1967

I LIKE TO write songs from true experiences. Things that have actually happened. You can't get away from the truth of everyday life. Sometimes I'll ...

Neil Diamond: Strictly In The Diamond Bag

Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 14 January 1967

FOR ONE reason or another, most people tend to throw Neil Diamond into the "serious, loner, angry young man" bag. Which is something like terming ...

Don Covay: Quotes by Don Covay

Profile and Interview by Bill Harry, Record Mirror, 21 January 1967

DON COVAY burst on the music scene as a singer in the U.S. in 1964 with a self-penned smash hit called 'Mercy Mercy'. As a ...

Lamont Dozier, The Four Tops, The Supremes: Holland-Dozier-Holland: This Tamla Trio Top The Hitmakers Chart

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 28 January 1967

HOLLAND-DOZIER-Holland may sound like a firm of solicitors, but they must rank among the most prolific songwriting teams in history. ...

Cat Stevens: the Family Cat

Interview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, February 1967

Cat Stevens is very much a family man. Success hasn't sent him searching for anything more than pleasing his parents and making his mum happy. ...

The Beach Boys, Jackson Browne, Buffalo Springfield, Love: Los Angeles: The Vanishing Underground

Report by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 16 February 1967

LOS ANGELES — Sunset Strip is dead. ...

Hoyt Axton, Kaleidoscope: the Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 24 February 1967

Hoyt Axton Sounds of Sad, Glad ...

Cat Stevens: Tin Pan Alley Cat

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, March 1967

Songwriter, singer, sometimes loner, sometimes family man — Tin Pan Alley's latest discovery is all these things. RAVE's Dawn James finds out more for you ...

Roy Harper: Sophisticated Beggar (Strike JHL 105)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 March 1967

THE TROUBLE with real innovators is that they make life very difficult for anyone who tries to emulate them. Bert Jansch and John Renbourn have ...

Chet Atkins, Janis Ian, The Lovin' Spoonful, Sonny & Cher: Loraine Alterman on Records: Janis Ian, Sonny & Cher, Chet Atkins, Lovin' Spoonful

Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 26 March 1967

Janis Ian: She's Hip at 15 ...

Donovan: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 29 April 1967

DONOVAN AT THE SAVILLE — A PSYCHEDELIC TROUDADOR ...

Tim Buckley, Pat Paulsen, The Stone Poneys: Pat Paulsen, Tim Buckley, the Stone Poneys: Troubadour, Los Angeles

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 1967

Pat Paulsen Sparkles at Troubadour Outing ...

Rod McKuen: "Money Is Only Good To Buy Candy Bars"

Interview by Louise Criscione, KRLA Beat, 17 June 1967

NESTLED ON the side of a hill in Hollywood is the home of an extremely talented, highly successful, completely unassuming man named Rod McKuen. A ...

Roy Harper: Is Roy the man to succeed Dylan?

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 June 1967

MAKE A note of this name: Roy Harper. The international folk scene is going to hear a lot of this talented 25-year-old singer-songwriter with drooping ...

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Candy Store Prophets, The Monkees: Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart On Monkees, Music & Mayhem

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, July 1967

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart are responsible for a lot of Monkee music and soon, a lot of their own music. In the following interview ...

Janis Ian: 'Society's Child', And Why the Ban Is Being Lifted

Report by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 14 July 1967

"Walk me down to school, baby Everybody's acting deaf and blind Until they turn and say 'Why don't you stick to your own ...

Janis Ian: Musical Psychologist: Janis The Voice Of Mini-Hippies

Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 21 July 1967

HERE WE go again. Another great song-writer is upon us. ...

Scott Walker: Scott Keeps One Step Ahead

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 July 1967

AND SO THE moving singer, having moved — moves on. Scott Walker is still one jump ahead of the fans in his pursuit of privacy. ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Snap, Crackle, Pop World of Simon and Garfunkel

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 1967

"I WAS NOT prepared for success. My image of myself was not that of a teen star, a Monkees type of scene. I felt very ...

Procol Harum: Beyond A Poem

Profile by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 29 July 1967

"BEYOND THESE things" is a blue-eyed British group who named themselves after a Siamese cat, recorded a poem, sent it to number one in England ...

The Beatles, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane: Pills and Pop Music: A Psychedelicate Subject

Comment by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 1967

One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don't do anything at all." ...

Candy Store Prophets, The Monkees, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart: Boyce & Hart On Monkees, Music & Mayhem (part 2)

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, August 1967

IF YOU own the first two Monkees' albums, you know that Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote 'Last Train To Clarksville', 'I'm Not Your Steppin' ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Inside The Mind of Paul Simon (part 1)

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, August 1967

A LOT OF readers have been asking for an interview with Simon and Garfunkel. After much difficulty in tracing them down (it was impossible to ...

Otis Redding: "Soul Survivor"

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, August 1967

WHO WILL be the big soul singer, the one to last and last? We have James Brown, Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett and the subject of ...

Jackson Browne, Penny Nichols: The Billy James Underground

Report by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 3 August 1967

HE CRUISES along the Freeway out of Los Angeles in an open Rolls, the kind that used to have upholstery and windows. His young son ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Miracle They Call Smokey And How He Climbed from the Ghetto To the Top of His Musical World

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 6 August 1967

IN 1946 AT Dwyer Elementary School in Detroit, a six-year-old first-grader, wearing a pasted-on beard and white high-top shoes, played Uncle Remus in a school ...

Neil Diamond: Writer First, Singer Second

Profile and Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 25 August 1967

HE'S RATHER quiet. ...

The Byrds, David Crosby: The Byrds' David Crosby (1967)

Interview by Ted Alvy, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 August 1967

The Cros talks about the new vibe of co-operation between musicians, Monterey, the disintegration of Haight-Ashbury, seeing Cream play the Fillmore the night before, and all kinds of other fine stuff

File format: mp3; file size: 36.4mb, interview length: 39' 47" sound quality: ***

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Inside The Mind of Paul Simon (part 2)

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, September 1967

Last month, Paul Simon commented on current singers, songs and his own songwriting. He gets into it again this time along with a dash of ...

Tim Buckley: The Incredible Tim Buckley

Profile and Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, September 1967

WE ARE sitting around talking about music when the adjective and the noun link: someone says that Tim Buckley is incredible. ...

Bob Dylan: An Attempt at Analysis: What's So Good About Dylan?

Essay by Michael Gray, Oz, October 1967

DYLAN'S LYRICS are not poems, they are parts of songs. This is not to assert that Dylan is not a poet but simply to remember that ...

Tom Paxton: A Portrait of Paxton

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967

THERE ARE just seven clear free days in the crowded schedule of Tom Paxton, who arrived in Britain this week for a three-week stay which ...

Bobbie Gentry: Ode to Bobbie Gentry

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 21 October 1967

AND STILL Bobbie Gentry won't let on. Pestered persistently at a reception in her honour (it took up a fair whack of her 36-hour stay), ...

Tim Hardin: Tim Hardin 2 (Verve/Forecast)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, November 1967

TIM HARDIN is one of the giants of contemporary pop music and his new record, Tim Hardin 2, is the kind of haunting and haunted ...

Arlo Guthrie: Arlo Takes a Giant Step

Profile and Interview by Richard Goldstein, The New York Times, 5 November 1967

  WOODY GUTHRIE'S son Arlo is a folk-singer, too. ...

Tim Buckley: Garrick Theater, New York NY

Live Review by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 14 November 1967

BLUES-ROCK BAG SUNG BY BUCKLEY California Tenor Enlivens a Quiet Monday 'Village' ...

The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes: The Supremes: Psychedelic Tamla!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 18 November 1967

Brian Holland, one of Motown's famous composing team, speaks to Alan Smith, and tells about PSYCHEDELIC TAMLA! ...

Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins: Judy Collins Discovers Success as Folk Singer

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 24 November 1967

FIVE ALBUMS, one each year, established Judy Collins as a very good folk singer, though not as important as Joan Baez. She was one of ...

The Tokens: Suddenly it's Happening for the Tokens

Report and Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 2 December 1967

THE BACK-ROOM boys of pop music, such as record producers, arrangers, engineers and managers, seem to be getting as much fame and fortune as the ...

The Beach Boys, Van Dyke Parks: Van Dyke Parks: Pop Music's Pilot Through the Aesthetic Shoals

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 10 December 1967

WHAT FOLLOWS is an exorbitant number of words about and from an insignificant recording artist named Van Dyke Parks. He is insignificant at the moment, ...

Leonard Cohen: Beautiful Creep

Profile and Interview by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 28 December 1967

And the child on whose shoulders I stand whose longing I purged with public, kingly discipline today I bring him back ...

Tim Buckley: A New Poet Tim Buckley

Readers' Letters by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 30 December 1967

Dear Beat, I KNOW YOU get a good deal of mail pertaining to new groups that various people throughout the country feel are talented. Because of ...

Fred Neil: Sessions (Capitol)

Sleeve notes by Pete Johnson, Capitol Records, 1968

EIGHT TRANSCRIPTS of Fred Neil's life rise from a grey-crinkled formica counter, plastic on plastic, half-inch dun highways which had whispered through the antiseptic jaws ...

Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding (Columbia)

Review by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 14 January 1968

Bob Dylan makes a comeback ...

Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding (Columbia)

Review by June Harris, New Musical Express, 20 January 1968

DYLAN'S NEW LP IS GIGANTIC WINNER ...

Harry Nilsson: Nilsson: An Underground Artist Surfaces

Interview by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, 27 January 1968

NILSSON IS a new singer-composer who is wholly unique. It is totally superfluous to compare him to anyone else on the pop scene today, for ...

David Porter, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave: The Stax Story (Part 6): Porter & Hayes, Producers

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, February 1968

ISAAC HAYES and Dave Porter have written about one hundred and fifty songs together for Stax artists and also produced most of them. So far their ...

Alan Price: Fought Back

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 10 February 1968

THERE ARE few people in pop who deserve as much respect as that truculent Geordie with the big baby face, who speaks through his nose ...

Leonard Cohen: Songwriter Who Got Into Folk By Accident

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 February 1968

WHEN THE new album by the uncrowned queen of the non-folk, Judy Collins, is issued this month a lot of people will start talking again ...

Leonard Cohen: Songs of Leonard Cohen (Columbia)

Review by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 24 February 1968

THIS IS THE first album for a very talented Canadian poet. Prior to this album, Cohen's reputation rested mainly on his film scoring for Nobody ...

Tim Rose: Meet Tim Rose, Man Who Helped To Put Jimi Hendrix On The Hit Trail

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 24 February 1968

TIM ROSE is an American in the odd position of having been responsible for two of pop's standard classics — without actually having a hit ...

Eddie Floyd, Steve Cropper: The Stax Story (part 7): Eddie Floyd

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, March 1968

EDDIE FLOYD, born June 25, 1935 in Montgomery, Alabama, grew up with the idea of entertaining as a profession. Eddie idolized Johnny Ace from the ...

Tim Buckley, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Sunshine Company, Brenton Wood: Tim Buckley, the Sunshine Company, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Brenton Wood: The Circle Star, San Carlos CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 2 March 1968

"Rock and Roll '68" — Good Panorama of the Pop Scene ...

Leonard Cohen, Van Dyke Parks, The United States of America: Unique Interpreters Of Pop: The United States of America, Leonard Cohen, Van Dyke Parks

Profile and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, 9 March 1968

THE REVOLUTION in pop music has produced some extraordinary people. Attracting poets, jazz musicians and classical music enthusiasts, the field has now expanded into a ...

Rod McKuen: 'We're Being Bombarded With Love'

Interview by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, 23 March 1968

ARE WE rushing headlong into another Romantic Era? The Doors, the Stones, Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol all belie that fact, but other trends seem ...

Janis Ian, Judy Collins, Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin: The Folk Poets: Hardin, Buckley, Ian & Collins

Profile by Jacoba Atlas, KRLA Beat, 23 March 1968

MUSIC HAS become a very personal thing. With the advance of the writer-singer, songs have become an expression of internal feelings mirrored for everyone. These ...

The 5th Dimension, Johnny Rivers, Jimmy Webb: Jim Webb: Flood Of Grammys — Songwriter Hits the Top at 21

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 24 March 1968

AT THE AGE of 9, Jim Webb took up the organ, a utilitarian move since his father was (and is) a Baptist minister in Oklahoma ...

Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra: Lee Hazlewood — America's Million Seller Who Once Quit Because Of The Beatles

Profile by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 30 March 1968

LEE HAZLEWOOD is the 38-year-old one-man army and musical talent who turned Nancy Sinatra into one of the world's most popular recording artistes — and ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson: The Miracle Of Motown

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, April 1968

BILL "SMOKEY" Robinson, the leader of the Miracles, couldn't decide between athletics and engineering. At Northern High School in Detroit (where all the Miracles were ...

Solomon Burke, Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro: Eli and the 13th Confession (Columbia)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 7 April 1968

Laura Nyro Makes a Change ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey and His Associates Work Hit Parade Miracles

Profile by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 31 May 1968

MOTOWN'S MOST VERSATILE ACT ...

Joni Mitchell: the Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 1968

Canadian Singer in U.S. Debut ...

Joni Mitchell: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Stephen M H Braitman, Van Nuys Valley News, 7 June 1968

Joni Mitchell Sings Own Songs In Debut At Troubadour Nitery ...

Joni Mitchell, Jerry Jeff Walker: Jerry Jeff Walker, Joni Mitchell: Singer-Songwriters Are Making a Comeback

Profile by Robert Shelton, The New York Times, 5 July 1968

Developing Trend Indicated at the Bitter End by Jerry Walker and Joni Mitchell ...

David Ackles, Cream, Aretha Franklin: Albums from Cream, David Ackles and Aretha Franklin

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 1968

Second Thoughts on Cream Album ...

Jimmy Webb, Richard Harris: Richard Harris Talks About Jim Webb

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 13 July 1968

On transatlantic phone to NME's Keith Altham ...

Jimmy Webb, Richard Harris: Richard Harris: A Tramp Shining (Dunhill)

Review by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 20 July 1968

RICHARD HARRIS-JIM WEBB LP MUST BE BEST SELLER ...

Tim Hardin Talking Of Life's Raw Deal...

Interview by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 20 July 1968

THAT TIM HARDIN actually arrived in London last week to embark on his first concert tour is a history-making event in itself. ...

Herb Alpert: My 'Guy' Called For No Great Vocal Pipes!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 August 1968

Says Herb Alpert to Alan Smith ...

Merle Haggard: Home-fried Humor and Cowboy Soul

Profile and Interview by Al Aronowitz, Rolling Stone, 10 August 1968

COUNTRY MUSIC is blowing in like a fresh wind from the West. America can't be defined by its pay-toilets and its smog. Merle Haggard never ...

The Band, Cream, Hearts & Flowers, Joni Mitchell: The Groove: Albums from Joni Mitchell, Cream, the Band and more

Review by uncredited writer, TeenSet, September 1968

AT ONE point almost every creative songwriter in this country has been labeled a poet by one critic or zealous reviewer, and students of English ...

Mason Williams: The Mason Williams Phonograph Record

Review by Gene Sculatti, Rolling Stone, 14 September 1968

THE RECORDING DEBUT of Mason Williams is an intriguing affair. The Mason Williams Phonograph Record was released many months ago but only recently has it ...

Harry Nilsson: Computers to Composer

Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 28 September 1968

SOMETIMES – not very often – but sometimes. What? Sometimes exciting things happen in pop music. Talents emerge that are new, refreshing. A shot in ...

Joni Mitchell: Joni, The Seagull From Saskatoon

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1968

TALKING TO Joni Mitchell about her songs is rather like talking to someone you just met about the most intimate secrets of her life. Like ...

The Impressions

Profile and Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, October 1968

THE IMPRESSIONS have proved that it is possible to become tops in the record field without resorting to the loud, unintelligible sounds that can hardly ...

David Ackles: Travelling Man with a Difference

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968

FIRST THING Illinois-born singer-songwriter David Ackles did when he arrived in Britain last week was to arrange to hear Julie Driscoll's next single, 'Road To ...

David Ackles: Meet David Ackles, The Man Who Wrote Jools' Next Hit

Interview by Hugh Nolan, Disc and Music Echo, 5 October 1968

WHEN THE man came to see David Ackles with a view towards making him lots of money and propelling him into a world of beautiful ...

Cat Stevens: Cat's Back

Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 12 October 1968

Cat's back. Dogs and Matthew and his offspring and guns and things and now his wife. Not that he has a wife – but here ...

Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young: Neil Young Charts His Own Course

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 28 October 1968

"MAYBE SOME group will come along and be big, you know, but who cares," Neil Young says in his slow country way. "It's just happened ...

Fred Neil: Bleeker And McDougal (Elektra EKS 7293)

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968

FRED NEIL is a name that won't be too familiar to British folk enthusiasts but his album Bleeker And McDougal (Elektra EKS 7293) should help. ...

Roy Harper: St Pancras Town Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 23 November 1968

A first solo flight to remember ...

Whatever Happened To All The Christmas Hits?

Report and Interview by David Hughes, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968

REMEMBER THAT golden oldie from the King Presley, 'Blue Christmas'? 'Twas something of a hit four years ago, and in 1968 just about sums up ...

Jimmy Webb Writes For The Lonely

Profile and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express Annual, December 1968

IT IS VERY difficult for me to be objective about Jim Webb because there are some composers or artists who hit a chord of sympathy ...

Joni Mitchell: Top Tunes: Joni Mitchell

Interview by Michael Oberman, Evening Star, The (Washington DC), 7 December 1968

HER SONGS have been recorded by 19 many artists, but it's been only recently that Joni Mitchell has made a mark as a singer herself. ...

Tim Hardin: A conversation with Tim Hardin

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

"You've got to come down to the Au Go Go and listen to me sing now. It's different!" A legend comes into his own — ...

Randy Newman: Hit-Maker Randy Can't Stand His Voice!

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 25 January 1969

THE BEATLES are steadfast admirers of the songwriting talents of Randy Newman. Other artistes have reason to be grateful for his songs — like Cilla ...

Randy Newman: The Man They All Dig Doesn't Dig Himself

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 25 January 1969

BEATLE PAUL McCartney phoned to say how much he likes his work; Frank Sinatra wants him to write an album but the man himself doesn't ...

Tim Hardin: Candid Conversation With... Tim Hardin

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1969

PART TWO of the Tim Hardin interview. ...

Joni Mitchell: Zellerbach Hall, University of California, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 17 February 1969

Joni Mitchell Does It Right ...

Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young: Neil Young: On His Own In His Own Special Way

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 28 February 1969

NEIL YOUNG is into doing things his own way. ...

Tim Hardin: "My way of singing is natural enough."

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, March 1969

PART THREE of the Tim Hardin interview. ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 13 March 1969

Neil Young Featured in Show at Troubadour ...

Mack Rice Hopes For a Comeback

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 14 March 1969

"'MUSTANG SALLY' has definitely been good to me, but you can't live off one big record. You need a string of 'Sally's' to be able ...

Moby Grape, James Taylor: James Taylor: James Taylor (Apple SKAO 3352); Moby Grape: Moby Grape '69 (Columbia CS 9696)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 16 March 1969

James Taylor: Fine Folk Feeling ...

Marv Johnson: Part-time Hitmaker from the Grocery Shop

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 22 March 1969

THE STORY behind the success of Motown man Marv Johnson — one of the host of Tamla invaders in the chart — reads like a ...

Tony Joe White: Music Millionaires

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 29 March 1969

TONY JOE WHITE has a sleepy southern Louisiana accent, looks and sounds a lot like American heavy actor Claude Akins, and plays a fast guitar. ...

Leonard Cohen: Bad Boy Leonard Cohen Now Turned Good

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Detroit Free Press, 4 April 1969

  THEY USED to describe Leonard Cohen as disrespectful. They also accused him of being controversial, outrageous, bitter and even an egomaniac. They, of course, being ...

Joe South: Joe Tells of the Games People Play...

Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 5 April 1969

GET UP, GO over to the window and look out. Up and down that pavement outside every day walk People, some for pleasure, some going ...

Leonard Cohen: Songs From A Room (CBS 9767 import)

Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 11 April 1969

LEONARD COHEN is not the world's greatest singer, his voice has a raspy edge to it and one often gets the impression that he's singing ...

Joe South: I'm Proud To Be Schizophrenic!

Interview by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 12 April 1969

JOE SOUTH is a songwriter, singer, guitarist and record producer and self-confessed schizophrenic. But first he is a poet. His publicist told me this in ...

Willie Dixon: The Men Who Make the Blues: Willie Dixon

Profile by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 12 April 1969

...

The Doors, Tim Hardin: Tim Hardin: Hobnobbin' With The Superstars

Report by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 19 April 1969

LOS ANGELES – The Chateau Marmont is one of the nicest places and reasons to stay in Los Angles. It retains the charm of old ...

Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline (CBS)

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 22 April 1969

Nashville Skyline man to tell the time by ...

Melanie, Mason Williams: Mason Williams, Melanie: Troubadour, Los Angeles

Live Review by Stephen M H Braitman, Van Nuys Valley News, 25 April 1969

AGAINST THE backdrop of the giant life-size poster of a greyhound bus, Mason Williams and Melanie provided an easygoing evening's entertainment at Doug Weston's Troubadour ...

Tim Hardin on Songwriting

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, May 1969

ON THE eve of his first Columbia album, Suite for Susan Moore and Damion — We Are One, One, All in One, Tim Hardin talked ...

Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb: "Jimmy Webb Is A Country Boy", Glen Campbell tells R.M.'s Lon Goddard

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 3 May 1969

"JIMMY WEBB," explained smooth voiced Glen Campbell, somewhere south of Wichita, but still on the line, "is a likeable easy going country boy. One of ...

Van Morrison: Astral Weeks (Warner Bros. 1778)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 1969

VAN MORRISON is one of the rock vocalists. He was lead singer and primary writer for Them during their 'Gloria', 'Baby Please Don't Go', 'Here ...

Joni Mitchell

Profile and Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, Rolling Stone, 17 May 1969

FOLK MUSIC, which pushed rock and roll into the arena of the serious with protest lyrics and blendings of Dylan and the Byrds back in ...

Joe South: A Kaftan and Cups of English Tea

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 24 May 1969

Royston Eldridge catches up with Joe South over breakfast at the May Fair ...

Joe South: Eligible Joe just loves his guitar!

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 31 May 1969

JOE SOUTH is one of America's most eligible bachelors. He's 25, wealthy, handsome, suntanned and talks in a deep Southern drawl that seems to come ...

Brewer and Shipley, Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro, Brewer & Shipley: the Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 1969

LAURA NYRO reminded me that she is my favorite female singer Thursday night at the Troubadour, where she will appear through Sunday for two reserved-seat ...

The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield: Life With The Impressions

Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, June 1969

As told to Jim Delehant ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts)

Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 June 1969

NEIL YOUNG has allowed his full creative ability loose and hasn't ignored any type of music he's acquainted with in putting this album together. ...

Simon & Garfunkel: What friendship means to Simon and Garfunkel

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 7 June 1969

THE INFLUENCE of today's rock musicians is a very real one, and Paul Simon is a songwriter who reflects the times and society we live ...

Gordon Lightfoot: "Bob Dylan Gets Uptight If He's Bent Around" — Says Gordon Lightfoot

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 14 June 1969

CAN YOU imagine someone becoming a well known poet and singer, yet never cutting a record? ...

Roy Harper: Waiting for the Bullets to Fly

Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 14 June 1969

"I'M NEVER going to be a music industry hype. If they ever tried to make me into that I'd go round to what are considered ...

Joni Mitchell: Clouds

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 24 June 1969

JONI MITCHELL has written songs for Tom Rush, and the Fairport Convention have used her songs on both their albums. ...

Bobbie Gentry Explains The Trouser Suit Scene

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 5 July 1969

BOBBIE GENTRY has written so many songs she's lost count. Maybe around two hundred. Since she's constantly travelling to various countries (as well as moving ...

Neil Young: What It's Worth

Essay by Greil Marcus, Good Times, August 1969

NEIL YOUNG used to be number one or number two man with the Buffalo Springfield, depending on your taste; after the group broke up for ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young with Crazy Horse: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise)

Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 15 August 1969

THE AFFECTION one feels for Neil Young is already immense because of his contribution to Buffalo Springfield, and the many beautiful things he wrote and ...

Chicago, Tom Paxton, Elyse Weinberg: Tom Paxton, Chicago, Elyse Weinberg: Schaefer Music Festival, Central Park, New York NY

Live Review by Danny Goldberg, Billboard, 23 August 1969

A Double Triumph For Elyse Weinberg ...

Bob Dylan: "My Friend Bob", as told by Marc Ellington

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 30 August 1969

"I REMEMBER him as a very nervous person," he said, looking into space and recalling the times he'd shared with the young Bob Dylan. ...

Joni Mitchell: Clouds (Reprise RSLP 6293)

Review by Wesley Laine, Record Mirror, 6 September 1969

Beautiful new Joni Mitchell LP – but it's an acquired taste ...

The Doors, Floating Bridge, The Fugs, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, The Groundhogs, High Tide, Lightnin' Hopkins, Junior's Eyes, Gordon Lightfoot, Loretta Lynn, Gene Pitney, The Sir Douglas Quintet, The Stooges: Doors' Soft Parade leads US underground LP releases

Review by uncredited writer, Record Mirror, 13 September 1969

THE DOORS: The Soft Parade — 'Tell All The People'; 'Touch Me'; 'Shaman's Blues'; 'Do It'; 'Easy Ride'; 'Wild Child'; 'Runnin' Blue'; 'Wishful Sinful'; 'The ...

Joni Mitchell, Bridget St John: Bridget St. John: Ask Me No Questions (Dandelion 63750); Joni Mitchell: Clouds (Reprise RSLP 6341)

Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 10 October 1969

TWO BEAUTIFUL records both with an element of surprise; Joni's isn't as immediately impressive as was her first and Bridget's manages to emanate an aura ...

Harry Nilsson: Nilsson — The Complete Opposite of a Pop Star

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 25 October 1969

NICE GUY Nilsson remains — as ever — a nice guy... And in a pop world which occasionally tends to suffer a little too much ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: Beatle Single — By George!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 1 November 1969

1969 WILL END up being George Harrison's year. He's waited a long time for real recognition, has George, but his composition 'Something' is released as ...

Holland, Dozier, Holland: This Song Team Wrote 7 Million-Sellers On The Trot!

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 15 November 1969

No. 2 IN THE LP CHART THIS WEEK IS MOTOWN CHART BUSTERS, VOL 3. THREE HITS ON THIS ALBUM WERE BY HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND ...

Karen Dalton, Delaney & Bonnie, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lighthouse, The Modern Jazz Quartet: Albums from Lighthouse, Delaney & Bonnie, Karen Dalton, Lightnin' Hopkins, The Modern Jazz Quartet

Review by Wayne Robins, The Berkeley Barb, 5 December 1969

FROM THIS week's flood of albums come a few disappointing second LP's by some promising performers, a pleasant surprise from a talented newcomer, an outstanding ...

David Ackles: The Bitter End, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 16 December 1969

DAVID ACKLES is one of the more interesting young performers working in the Brecht/Weill area of dramatic song. The 32-year-old Californian, a former playwright, writes ...

Tony Joe White: Tony Joe, Elvis, and Polk Salad Annie

Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 1970

TONY JOE WHITE was one of the first of the new school of Southern singer/songwriters – along with Jerry Reed, Joe South, Leon Russell, Dough ...

Joni Mitchell: The Crawling Eye: Protest peace... and Joni Mitchell

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 10 January 1970

JONI MITCHELL is ever such a nice person. ...

David Ackles: Subway To The Country (Elektra stereo EKS 74060; 39s 11d)

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 17 January 1970

DAVID ACKLES seems to have a preoccupation with gloom, doom and disaster when writing songs, but it usually turns out that numbers written in that ...

Joni Mitchell: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 24 January 1970

A triumph for Joni ...

Laura Nyro: Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 26 January 1970

Poetess at the Piano Comes Back on Top ...

Buddy Holly, Tom Jones: 11 Years After, Buddy Holly Still Vital to Rock Music

Report by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 3 February 1970

THE TRAGEDY OF all tragedies in the rock world took place 11 years ego, Feb. 3, 1959. A plane, carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper ...

Simon & Garfunkel: Simon and Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (CBS Stereo 63699)

Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 7 February 1970

A long wait for S and G album — but well worth it! ...

Chairmen Of The Board, Freda Payne: Eddie Holland: A Musical Magician, Once of Motown, Bidding for His Own 'Detroit Sound'

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 8 February 1970

Yes, Holland-Dozier-Holland DID Split with the Giant; Yes, Eddie Holland DID form Invictus Records; Yes, Invictus IS Climbing the Charts ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson, Proving That Miracles Still Happen

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 14 February 1970

WILLIAM 'Smokey' Robinson is the lead singer of the Miracles, vice president of Motown Records and the man Dylan has described as "America's greatest living ...

Steve Cropper: Cropper: The Living Legend from Memphis

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970

A MELODY MAKER EXCLUSIVE BY ROYSTON ELDRIDGE ...

John and Beverley Martyn: Stormbringer (Island ILPS 9113)

Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 7 March 1970

Are you ready for the stormbringer ...

Merle Haggard

Comment by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 16 March 1970

IF MERLE Haggard wasn't one of the two or three most creative persons in country music, it would be easy to dismiss him as just ...

Nick Drake, Fotheringay, The Humblebums: Fotheringay, Humblebums, Nick Drake: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, The Times, 1 April 1970

Group of promise ...

Eddie Holland Is 300% Happier Now

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 2 April 1970

DETROIT — Edward Holland learned a lot at Motown besides how to make hit records. Edward Holland learned the art of the controlled interview, an ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 2 April 1970

Neil Young Appears Singly ...

Elton John: Good Laugh

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 18 April 1970

PEOPLE ARE too serious in this business is the conclusion presented by Elton John. Elton and Bernie Taupin composed 'Border Song', which is receiving wide ...

Kevin Ayers: Ayers Apparent

Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970

KEVIN AYERS says that he wants to involve people in his music, and to make every gig more of a party than an ordinary job. ...

Elton John: Elton John (DJM)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 25 April 1970

IT'S NICE TO see Cat Stevens and Elton John providing the British answer to Neil Young, and Van Morrison. And make no mistake, Elton is ...

Neil Young: Contra Costa Junior College, San Francisco

Live Review by John Morthland, Rolling Stone, 30 April 1970

EVERYTHING about Neil Young’s approach to music has become so highly personalized that when he performs, he seems at first to be oblivious of his ...

Stevie Wonder: Invite Me To Britain pleads "homesick" Stevie Wonder, who says he may marry in six months!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 2 May 1970

ALAN SMITH talks to Tamla's most consistent solo hitmaker ...

Leonard Cohen: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, The Times, 11 May 1970

THE GREATEST achievement of modern pop has probably been its renewal of respect for the word in popular music: compared with the moon-and-June inanities of ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 28 May 1970

PAUL SIMON arrived wearing a blue loden coat with the hood pulled up. Beneath it he had on black trousers and a black shirt. He ...

Pentangle, James Taylor: James Taylor, Pentangle: Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 30 May 1970

Pentangle holds up its half of show ...

Nick Drake: He locks himself away – to write his songs!

Interview by uncredited writer, Jackie, 30 May 1970

NICK DRAKE is tall, gentle, modest, and very, very shy. ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 13 June 1970

Flowerpower returns to the Fillmore ...

John Phillips: John The Wolfking of L.A. (Stateside)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970

INSIDE THE Mama's and the Papa's, something better was waiting to get out – and this is it. ...

Joni Mitchell: Let's Make Life More Romantic

Profile and Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970

JONI MITCHELL is a poet whose time has come. Because she uses the vehicle of music, her words and thoughts reach out to countless minds. ...

Roger Miller: Roger Miller 1970 (Mercury stereo 6338 001; 30s. 11d.)

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

BECAUSE ROGER Miller is such a good songwriter it's odd that only one of the tracks here is his own composition. It would be much ...

Joni Mitchell

Report by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, July 1970

JONI MITCHELL is a beautiful lady, one who write and sings songs born from the depths of her experience, a word painter who shows us ...

Cat Stevens: A Bottle A Day Kept Cat Away

Interview by Val Mabbs, Record Mirror, 4 July 1970

THERE WAS a time, a time, almost four years ago now, when the young Cat Stevens would rush into a theatre, down a vodka, and ...

Jimmy Cliff, Cat Stevens: Jimmy Cliff Has No Plans To Do Another Stevens Song

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 August 1970

WHEN I ARRIVED at Island Records' outpost, which is just a stallholder's cry off the colourful Portobello Road street-market in West London's Notting Hill Gate, ...

Bread Aim to be One of the World's Top Five Groups

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 29 August 1970

DAVID GATES FLIES IN AND CHATS TO RICHARD GREEN ...

David Ackles: The Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Anne Moore, Phonograph Record, September 1970

Ackles Intellectual ...

Jackie DeShannon: Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Anne Moore, Phonograph Record, September 1970

DeShannon Shines ...

Joni Mitchell: Isle of Wight Festival, Afton Down

Live Review by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 5 September 1970

Update, 2019. LIKE SO many who were there, my sense of life's possibilities was changed forever by the Isle of Wight five-day open-air festivals created ...

Leonard Cohen: "The greatest thing would be to play a concert in front of fifty thousand middle-aged people"

Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970

LEONARD COHEN, man or myth, or what? He's a dreamer, but as he says his dreams are only products of real things, and fact. Basically ...

Mac Davis, Elvis Presley: Mac Davis: The man who put Elvis in the ghetto

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970

IT'S ONLY a week or two since guitarist-singer-songwriter Jerry Reed hit London Town. And he starred on Lulu's TV show. ...

Joni Mitchell: Glimpses of Joni

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 19 September 1970

SCENE IN A television studio: a girl in a long pink shift, which catches at her ankles when she walks, picks hesitantly at a few ...

Elton John: Elton Storms The States

Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970

AL KOOPER, talking about Elton John's last album: "That album's really got me screwed up. It's just the perfect album, and I carry it around ...

Jimmy Webb: Did Jim Webb Really Need Richard Harris?

Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, October 1970

WORK ON the theory that ‘talent will out’ – and Jim Webb, fantastically consistent young American composer, would have made it anyway. In fact, though, ...

Gordon Lightfoot: Scotch & Pretzels: The Gordon Lightfoot Interview

Interview by Rick McGrath, Mike Quigley, The Georgia Straight, October 1970

  ANOTHER TWO-TIMER with Mike and I. We really did this one as a favour for the record company exec, who used to give us lots ...

Hot Chocolate, Music Chocolate!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 10 October 1970

Just the job for a cold night indoors ...

Bob Dylan: New Morning (CBS KC 30290)

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 23 October 1970

Update, 2019. EMERGING FROM Hibbing to New York's Village. His pilgrimage to Woody Guthrie. The protest songs sung like a crow that are now a national ...

James Taylor Comes To Town

Profile and Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 31 October 1970

JAMES TAYLOR was in town and you could tell it by the buzz in the air and the musicians who walked around muttering his name ...

James Taylor, Matthews' Southern Comfort: Palladium, London

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 31 October 1970

THE CLUMSY, gangling, instantly lovable James Taylor conquered the London Palladium and made his eventual return to England a triumphant one on Sunday. ...

Elton John Steams 'Em Up

Report and Interview by Robert Greenfield, Rolling Stone, 12 November 1970

LONDON – "If this is the revolution, why are the drinks so fucking expensive," someone has written on the wall in the toilet of London's ...

Tim Buckley: Lorca (Elektra)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 14 November 1970

THIS IS presumably Buckley's last album for Elektra, being recorded (so I'm told) at the same time as Happy/Sad and before his first Straight album, ...

Emitt Rhodes: Emitt Rhodes (Dunhill)

Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 15 November 1970

EMITT RHODES' new LP is a one-man job that sounds like Paul McCartney's first solo effort. That crossed my mind to the point of mentioning ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Staying Home: Brian Wilson

Report and Interview by Derek Grant, Melody Maker, 21 November 1970

"IT WAS A MISTAKE but I had to try it. After about half an hour I realised I couldn't go on. My ears hurt, I ...

Elton John, Bernie Taupin: Elton John: New Superstar

Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Circus, December 1970

ELTON JOHN played the Troubadour in Los Angeles and overnight became an industry superstar. Public relations people, having no personal or professional claim to the ...

Elton John: Elton Sings 'Your Song' and Finds Himself New Star of the 70s

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 19 December 1970

ELTON JOHN is a pianist, singer, songwriter and newfound hero of musicians and music lovers alike. Bob Dylan came to see him one night and ...

Michael Chapman: Window (Harvest SHVL 786)

Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 19 December 1970

ON ONE hearing, there's little on this album which can be related to either the Rainmaker or Fully Qualified Survivor albums. It is generally less ...

Randy Newman: In Praise of the Ten Second Song

Comment by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 19 December 1970

THE MOST influential record of 1970 was the Edwin Hawkins' Singers' 'Oh Happy Day', which came out in 1969. It takes a while for people ...

Judee Sill: Judee Sill (Asylum)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1971

JUDEE SILL IS one of those breed of American girls who’ve taken to singing who one supposes were previously engaged in quietly knitting at home ...

Laura Nyro

Profile by Richard Williams, The Times, 5 January 1971

THE CURRENT STATE of pop music allows its performers to make the most naked personal statements. Only an artist with considerable character, though, can keep ...

Carole King

Comment by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 9 January 1971

THERE must be about four generations of pop music fans reading this paper, and to each of them Carole King means something different. ...

Van Morrison: His Band And The Street Choir (Warner Bros.)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 30 January 1971

Has Van Morrison eased up? ...

John Hammond, Neil Young: Neil Young, John Hammond Jr.: Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 1 February 1971

Neil Young Great As A Solo ...

Laura Nyro: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 8 February 1971

LAURA NYRO treads a path the width of a knife edge, between stark reality and empty histrionics. Placing herself at a distance from her audience, ...

Tim Hardin: Contemporary Songwriters: Tim Hardin

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 27 February 1971

MANY SONGWRITERS could be said to expose a little of their soul during the course of their writing, but there can't be anyone in the ...

Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jerry Garcia, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, John Sebastian, James Taylor: Joni Mitchell, James Taylor et al: The Pop Aristocrats

Overview by Caroline Boucher, Disc and Music Echo, 20 March 1971

There's a new pop elite in America today, a closely-knit group of singers and musicians who have taken the music scene by storm. The members ...

Neil Diamond: A Boy Who Outgrew His Hits

Interview by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 20 March 1971

IT TOOK a long while but the U.K. public woke up one day and discovered Neil Diamond. And with 'Sweet Caroline' providing a quick follow-up ...

Melanie: Given Up All Hope Of Making It Here

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 March 1971

Within minutes I felt I was talking to an old friend ...

David Crosby: If I Could Only Remember My Name (Atlantic stereo deluxe 2401005; £2.40)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 April 1971

DAVID CROSBY SOLO: WITH MANY FRIENDS! ...

Anne Briggs: Feasting Off The Open Roads...

Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 17 April 1971

ANNE BRIGGS' way of life can be compressed into a romantic conjunction of cast iron clichés; but the odds on her future survival would probably ...

Elton John (1971)

Interview by Rick McGrath, Mike Quigley, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 April 1971

Elton chats backstage about doing interviews; the Friends soundtrack and the 17-11-70 live album; on being hyped and the hype machine; doing TV with Andy Williams; on why he likes Canada; on Liberace; on his own style, and his hero worship of Leon Russell.

File format: mp3; file size: 11.7mb, interview length: 27' 56" sound quality: **½

Elton John (1971) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Rick McGrath, Mike Quigley, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 22 April 1971

This is a transcription of Mike & Rick's audio interview with Elton, conducted in Vancouver. Listen to the audio of this interview. (Note that due to ...

Loudon Wainwright III: A Tale of Loudon Wainwright III

Interview by Lenny Kaye, Rolling Stone, 29 April 1971

NEW YORK – The word was out, carried by the wind and a few strategic newspaper clippings, and everybody, everybody was making it on down ...

Shawn Phillips, Gary Wright: Gary Wright: Extraction (A&M AMLS 2004); Shawn Phillips: Second Contribution (A&M AMLS 2006)

Review by Nick Jones, Cream, May 1971

ALTHOUGH BOTH these A&M albums appear to be "solo" outings it should be realised as soon as possible that neither of them are solitary landscapes. ...

Tim Buckley: Starsailor (Straight 1064)

Review by Nick Jones, Cream, May 1971

THE BELIEF that certain kinds of music have a quintessential equilibrium which, when penetrated by the listener transforms itself into regenerative power, may conceivably make ...

David Bowie: Contemporary Songwriters: David Bowie

Profile by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 1 May 1971

THE WORK of songwriters is conditioned by many things. Their environment, their childhood, their brushes with love, their hopes and dreams, their disillusionment. And they ...

James Taylor: Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (Warner Reprise)

Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 1 May 1971

GOOD OLD predictable James has done it again. He offers not the slightest hint of surprise on his new album, and as expected he has ...

Jackie DeShannon, Randy Edelman: Jackie DeShannon: Venetian Room, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 7 May 1971

Jackie Jolts Walls ...

Loudon Wainwright III: He's shy, he's unfit for army service and his name is L Wainwright III

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc and Music Echo, 15 May 1971

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT is the archetype all-American boy. He looks like Trampas from The Virginian complete with fair fair and freckles. He even played baseball when ...

Laura Nyro: Lady Laura

Report by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971

"LAURA WANTS the monitor turned up please." ...

Carole King, Little Richard, Paul McCartney: Albums from Paul McCartney, Little Richard and Carole King

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 21 May 1971

THERE IS NO way to make great rock music from retirement. Paul McCartney may have been seduced — by reading that he's equalled Schubert — ...

Carly Simon: The Bitter End, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 22 May 1971

CARLY SIMON SINGS AT THE BITTER END ...

Paul McCartney: Ram (Apple)

Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1971

Mutton dressed as Ram? ...

Phil Ochs: God Help The Troubadour

Profile and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1971

Who was that foolThrew the basket in the pool? ...

Carol Hall, Carole King, Carly Simon, Ronnie Spector: New Albums from Carole King, Carly Simon et al

Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 29 May 1971

King and friends Carole King: Tapestry (A&M AMLS 2025); Carly Simon: Carly Simon (Elektra EKS-74082); Carol Hall: If I Be Your Lady (Elektra EKS-7407R); Ronnie Spector: ...

Boz Scaggs: Moments (CBS 64248)

Review by Nick Jones, Cream, June 1971

WHEN AN album takes so much in, puts so much out, and somehow remains itself, then before long the great cosmic public are going to ...

Labelle, Laura Nyro: And Laura Nyro Captivates, Too!

Report by Nancy Lewis, New Musical Express, 19 June 1971

says Nancy Lewis from New York ...

Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lindisfarne: Bob Johnston: The most envied man in pop

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 19 June 1971

Roy Carr talks to the man who records Dylan, Cash and Cohen ...

Carole King: Look Out For Carole

Report by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 19 June 1971

YOU'LL BE hearing the name Carole King a lot very soon, so be prepared. Quietly her album Tapestry was released on Ode Records in the ...

John Kongos: Point Blank Refusal To Cash-In On Hit

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 19 June 1971

YOU'RE NOT going to find John Kongos suddenly rushing around the country on a quickly arranged, nationwide tour just because his single 'He's Gonna Step ...

Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash: Joni Mitchell: Blue/Graham Nash: Songs for Beginners

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 29 June 1971

JONI MITCHELL'S new album, Blue, is about to be released here by Warner Brothers (K 44128). A large proportion of Joni's most notable songs, to date, ...

Kevin Coyne

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, July 1971

"WHEN I WAS very young, a fat-arsed bingo club manager said: 'You're going to the top, right to the top, and I am going to ...

John Denver: The Bitter End, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 3 July 1971

John Denver Shows Sensitivity and Style In Bitter End Songs ...

Loretta Lynn: Everybody's Got a Soul and a Heart

Interview by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 12 July 1971

(RBP editor's note: the intro to this article was written by Paul Connah, the interview undertaken primarily by Gene Guerrero) ...

Jo Mama, Carole King, James Taylor: James Taylor, Carole King, Jo Mama: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 July 1971

FROM THE outset you just can't but help having a warm affinity for James Taylor. Seemingly all arms, legs and baggy trousers, Taylor shyly lopes ...

Burt Bacharach, Orange Colored Sky: Cow Palace, Daly City CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 24 July 1971

An Evening With Bacharach Pop Format-Artistry Gets to Be Repetitious ...

Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar: George Harrison et al: Concert for Bangla Desh, Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 2 August 1971

Raga and Rock Link 2 Cultures ...

Badfinger, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr: George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar et al: Concert for Bangla Desh, Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Nancy Lewis, New Musical Express, 7 August 1971

GEORGE CREATES GREATEST ROCK SPECTACLE OF DECADE ...

David Bowie: The Space Oddity Comes Down To Earth

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 14 August 1971

AT ONE TIME singer/songwriter David Bowie used to write songs because, "I truly believed we songwriters were going to change the face of the world." ...

Loudon Wainwright III is Some Kind of Genius

Profile and Interview by Mike Jahn, New York Times Special Features Syndication, 14 August 1971

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III's first appearance in New York was an official big deal. The record company held a press party and invited the chic. ...

Carole King, James Taylor: Carole King — Secret Star on the James Taylor Tour

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, Los Angeles Times, 15 August 1971

Author's note, 2018: A transcendent moment in Carole King's life was during the evening of 7 December 2015 in Washington. She is sitting next to ...

Randy Newman: Lonely at the Top

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971

PEOPLE STILL talk of the press reception for Randy Newman. ...

Pamela Motown — a home-grown hit-maker

Interview by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 28 August 1971

PAMELA SAWYER is one of Motown's most successful songwriters. And as such is unique. She's the only English staff writer the company has. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Album II (Atlantic)

Review by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, September 1971

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT II was (still is, for that matter) one of the best, most readable of the bleeding-heart-liberal slick-paper journalists; his son, Loudon Wainwright III, ...

Jimmy Webb: And So: On (Reprise RS-6448)

Review by Ben Edmonds, Rolling Stone, 2 September 1971

ARRIVING IN nearly the same breath as the magnificent Words And Music, this second album by Jimmy Webb is another impressive step in the conspiracy ...

Al Stewart: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by Andrew Means, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to consider Al Stewart without including his lovelife. In those familiar with his songs he has invested his own deeply-felt emotions and something ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young: Joni and the Laurel Canyon Mob

Comment by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971

SO YOU wanna be a rock and roll star, right? Well, our advice is to head out Laurel Canyon way. Take a tip from one ...

Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra: Lee Hazlewood: We Only Record For The Fun Of It

Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 18 September 1971

THREE YEARS ago, Lee Hazlewood tired of writing and producing Nancy Sinatra – split to Stockholme to carry on his interest in film work – ...

The Carpenters: "I've Got a Problem Here"

Profile and Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 18 September 1971

THE CARPENTERS were into jazz for a while — Richard and Karen and a bassist. Then they went into rock — Richard and Karen and ...

The Monkees, Michael Nesmith: Michael Nesmith

Interview by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 20 September 1971

MIKE NESMITH was a member of the Monkees, now he's doing his own thing, come see him at the press party at the Bistro. That's ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Miracle of Smokey Robinson

Profile and Interview by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 25 September 1971

ABOUT twelve years ago, Berry Gordy told Smokey Robinson how to write songs: "Every song should have an idea, tell a story, mean something." Smokey ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Album II (Atlantic SO 8291)

Review by Mark Leviton, Coast, October 1971

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT'S first album last year was concerned with communication on a middle-Dylanish leveland it presented Loudon's character quite clearly: with sensitivity to his surroundings ...

Cat Stevens: Coliseum, London

Live Review by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 2 October 1971

LOOKING UNUSUALLY relaxed, perhaps with more confidence than he has previously had, Cat Stevens took the stage at the Coliseum on Sunday, with the house ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: Working Class Hero: Gilbert O'Sullivan

Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 October 1971

WHOEVER WOULD have thought it? Gordon Mills, manager of Tom and Engel, those popular, polished professionals, taking a shine to an odd young Irishman whose ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: What Rhymes With O'Sullivan?

Profile and Interview by Andrew Bailey, Rolling Stone, 14 October 1971

The strange case of the pop star with the pudding basin haircut ...

Carole King: How Carole King Became Queen...

Profile by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 23 October 1971

IN MANY ways, and for many reasons, it took Carole King a long time to record her first album, Writer, in 1970. As a writer ...

Emitt Rhodes

Interview by Anne Moore, Metropolitan Review , November 1971

EMITT RHODES is a one man band-singer-composer-producer. He does everything on his own terms, controlling his creativity as few artists in the business have ever ...

Nick Drake: Nick Drake (Island)

Review by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, November 1971

NICK DRAKE — who is, despite his name, a singer/songwriter and not a prototypical 1942- vintage private detective radio hero — has made a first ...

Ian Matthews, Randy Newman: Randy Newman, Ian Matthews: The Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, November 1971

RANDY NEWMAN looks like a kid you used to know in high school — the one who always read Scientific American and got A's in trig. Which ...

John Lennon

Essay by Felix Dennis, Ink, 2 November 1971

"I still think that kids are more influenced by us than by Jesus". ...

Emitt Rhodes: Mirror (Dunhill)

Review and Interview by Harold Bronson, UCLA Daily Bruin, 4 November 1971

FEBRUARY 9th was the day of the famous Los Angeles earthquake. After it was over, the damage totaled $300 million. For me the loss was ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Loudon Wainwright III: Guildhall, Cambridge

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 6 November 1971

WHEN ALL the dust had finally settled, Buffy Sainte-Marie conducted her Sunday evensong within the precincts of Cambridge's Guildhall with grace and poise. ...

John Martyn: Say John Martyn… Louder

Profile and Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc and Music Echo, 1 December 1971

JOHN MARTYN's family are very proud of him. And to show that they are, they travel great distances to see him when he does big ...

Emitt Rhodes: The long and winding Rhodes

Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, 4 December 1971

Hailed as a "one man Beatles" EMITT RHODES talks about his musical influences to Andrew Tyler ...

Melanie: Gather Me (Buddah 2322 002 £2.35)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 December 1971

IT WOULD appear that everyone I Know is in love with Melanie. And once you've seen her you realise that she is the enigmatic image ...

Billy Joel: Rock Pianist Gets All Abuse: Joel

Interview by Ian Dove, Billboard, 25 December 1971

NEW YORK — Equipment for amplifying pianos lags "far behind" corresponding equipment for other instruments in the rock field, despite the fact that use of ...

John Prine: The Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Lester Bangs, Phonograph Record, January 1972

EVERYBODY'D BEEN talking about this guy Prine, how he was Kris Kristofferson's boozin' buddy or something, and since I like Kristofferson's Kerouacian American romanticism I ...

Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar: George Harrison & Friends: The Concert for Bangladesh (Apple)

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 4 January 1972

Update, 2019: The first time I met George Harrison was in the late 1960s, when he was still a Beatle. I quite often went to ...

Neil Young: Harvest

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 29 January 1972

Harvest is surely come: Geoffrey Cannon previews NEIL YOUNG's new album Harvest, released next month ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: Himself

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

DON'T BE MISLED: however extraordinary Gilbert O'Sullivan may look in his imbecile haircut, knickers, and other things Thirties Irish schoolboy, he sounds sufficiently like your ...

The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies

Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

CAN YOU TELL the Kinks apart in the picture on the cover of their new album? No, of course. Except for Ray, they all look ...

The Archies, Carole King, The Monkees: Don Kirshner: I Discovered Carole King

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 12 February 1972

THEY MOST often call Don Kirshner the King of Bubble-gum. But he's not worrying. Sitting high in his suite at the Dorchester he has the ...

Ian Matthews: Tigers Will Survive

Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Rolling Stone, 17 February 1972

ONCE UPON A time Ian Matthews was a member of Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention then decided they wanted to head in the direction of traditional ...

Harry Nilsson: Nilsson: Nilsson Schmilsson (RCA)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 17 February 1972

IS NILSSON just an old-school crooner in modern dress? Is he a writer of children's songs who wants to broaden his appeal? And why does ...

Tom Rapp: Beautiful Lies You Could Live In

Review by Richard Cromelin, Rolling Stone, 17 February 1972

IT'S PAINFULLY OBVIOUS that Tom Rapp has some serious obstacles littering his path to musical/ poetic fulfillment. ...

Elton John: Start of a New Era

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 26 February 1972

MIDNIGHT ON Monday evening and in his luxury ranch-style house in Surrey, where the carpet grows deep and the huge knife-edged plants threaten to eat ...

Labelle, Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro, Labelle: Community Theatre, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 28 February 1972

Laura Nyro's Murky Depths ...

Bernie Taupin: Bernie Taupin (Elektra)

Review by Lester Bangs, Phonograph Record, March 1972

ON NEW YEAR'S EVE of 1972 I attended a great party thrown by someone I didn't know and inadvertently fell into a protracted conversation with ...

David Blue: Stories (Asylum SD-5052)

Review by Ben Edmonds, Rolling Stone, 2 March 1972

FORGET ANYTHING, good or bad, which you might ever have associated with the name David Blue. Stories might as well be considered as David Blue's ...

Carly Simon: Carly

Interview by Phil Symes, Disc and Music Echo, 4 March 1972

CARLY SIMON has been compared to a lot of people. She admits: "I'm told I sound like Judy Collins and my style of writing is ...

Leonard Cohen: The Cohen songs you'll never hear

Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 4 March 1972

A remarkable interview with LEONARD COHEN... by Roy Hollingworth ...

Cat Stevens: Top Cat: Cat Stevens

Profile and Interview by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times Magazine, 5 March 1972

TO DISCUSS brilliance in pop music is difficult; for there you are a genius by proclaiming yourself one, and the greatest of them all, Elton ...

Randy Newman: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972

WITH AN awkward shuffle and an embarrassed wave to the adulating audience, Randy Newman left the stage of the Festival Hall, London, on Monday night ...

Randy Newman: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 11 March 1972

ANYONE WHO considers sarcasm the lowest form of wit has not heard the heights to which Randy Newman has raised the art during a live ...

Manassas, Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills: The Loner

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 March 1972

Step aside, open wide. It's the loner. ...

J.J. Cale, Bonnie Raitt: The Ash Grove, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 17 March 1972

J. J. Cale on Stage at Ash Grove ...

Randy Newman: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 18 March 1972

NEWMAN GIVING HIS ALL ...

America, Judee Sill: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 25 March 1972

America — simply so successful ...

Judee Sill: Lunch And Judee

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 March 1972

SHE HAS JUST been discoursing on her past activities as lerpatologist when her attention was distracted. "That's the same man who was lying on the ...

Smokey Robinson: The Way You Do The Things You Do

Profile by Charlie Gillett, Creem, April 1972

ABOUT TWELVE YEARS AGO, Berry Gordy told Smokey Robinson how to write songs. "Every song should have an idea, tell a story, mean something." Smokey ...

Bobby Womack: The Stark Soul of Bobby Womack

Essay by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, April 1972

A NEW WOMACK record is at hand. So what? the more unenlightened among you might ask. So plenty, now that you mention it. Plenty and then ...

Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr: Concert for Bangla Desh (Dir. Saul Swimmer; 20th Century Fox)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Nancy Lewis, New Musical Express, 1 April 1972

BANGLA FILM RELEASED ...

Ashford & Simpson, Valerie Simpson: Valerie Simpson: Valerie's Black and Proud

Interview by Phil Symes, Disc, 1 April 1972

THE HERALDING of one more female songwriter-singer may make you want to throw your hands in the air and mutter something along the lines of ...

Judee Sill: A Sill-y Story: Judee Sill

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 8 April 1972

JUDEE SILL is quite a remarkable woman. When you consider her past it becomes apparent just how remarkable. She lost both her parents and her ...

Judee Sill

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 8 April 1972

ACCORDING to Judee Sill: "Out of the mud grows a lotus". In other words something beautiful comes from something unpleasant. The phrase applies well to ...

Judee Sill Leaves Out the Juicy Bits

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 8 April 1972

"WHERE WOULD you like me to start? Past, present or future?" exclaimed the cat-like figure that swooped in and instantly slid on to the sofa. ...

Harry Nilsson: Nilsson's New Album

Interview by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 8 April 1972

Producer Richard Perry talks to Lon Goddard ...

Linda Lewis, Jimmy Webb: Jimmy Webb, Linda Lewis: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 15 April 1972

THERE MAY BE something extremely valid in a composer performing his own highly successful material in concert, and though Jimmy Webb accomplished this to a ...

Valerie Simpson: Exposed (Tamla Motown STML 11194)

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 29 April 1972

THIS FIRST solo album by songwriter Valerie Simpson could be subtitled Motown's answer to Carole King. Certainly there are many facts that tie in between ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan

Interview by Tony Norman, New Musical Express, 6 May 1972

THE MUSIC MAN sits there sipping tea and talking music.  Although he has always been a bit of a loner, he is certainly not an ...

Jackson Browne: Vanishing Minstrel

Profile and Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 20 May 1972

JACKSON BROWNE is no new name to pop. He's been here all the time. He's one of those guys who used to just appear at ...

Joni Mitchell: An Interview (part 1)

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 3 June 1972

THE LADY WHO walks on eggs is sitting in her hotel suite overlooking St. James' Park with her legs tucked up, her chin resting on ...

Joni Mitchell: An Interview (part 2)

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 June 1972

LAST WEEK Joni Mitchell spoke for the first time in over two years about why she virtually "retired" from the music scene during a period ...

Lou Reed Talking About His First Solo Album

Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, July 1972

Author's note, 2018. This was my scoop. New York, June 1972. Lou discusses all the tracks, one by one, in detail and with diversions, on ...

R. Dean Taylor: An Insider's View Of Motown

Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Hit Parader, July 1972

MOTOWN IN the Sixties. The image, if we can narrow it down to one, was slickly packaged blackness. It was Holland-Dozier-Holland producing bump-and-grind jukebox hits. ...

Harry Chapin Takes 'Taxi' Wherever He Can

Interview by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 6 July 1972

"I NEVER REALLY drove a cab," said Harry Chapin, the filmmaker-turned folkstar, "But I do have a hack license in case of emergencies – like ...

Bill Withers: Music Makers: Bill Withers

Interview by Michael Oberman, Evening Star, The (Washington DC), 8 July 1972

IN JUST over a year, Bill Withers has gone from manufacturing toilets for airplanes to writing and singing hit songs like 'Ain't No Sunshine' and ...

Paul Williams: The Dwarf Genus

Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc, 8 July 1972

HE WAS hanging out in one of those saucy marble and satin masterpieces tucked away neatly behind Piccadilly. His suite, equipped with Scotch, peanuts, a ...

Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar: The Concert for Bangla Desh (Apple/Twentieth Century-Fox)

Film/DVD/TV Review by John Pidgeon, New Musical Express, 15 July 1972

A SPECIAL PREVIEW BY JOHN PIDGEON ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson: Motown And Mafia, And Why He's Quitting The Miracles

Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 15 July 1972

SMOKEY ROBINSON is a hell of a lot more than just a giant of soul or Motown. For more than a decade, his original and ...

America, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, Neil Young: This is David Geffen, by Gentlemen's Agreement Manager to the Superstars

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 July 1972

Will CSN&Y ever re-unite and find true happiness? ...

Willie Nelson: The Words Don't Fit The Picture (RCA LSP-4653)

Review by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 24 July 1972

Country Willie ...

Bill Withers, Superstar

Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 August 1972

WITHIN a year of its composer Bill Withers taking it high up the American chart, 'Ain't No Sunshine' has become firmly established as a soul ...

Jackie DeShannon: Jackie (Atlantic).

Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 August 1972

ONE OF THE few white singers ever to get convincingly into soul-music and be accepted even by purist fans. ...

Randy Newman: Sail Away (Reprise)

Review by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 12 August 1972

RANDY NEWMAN AND ACID OBSERVATIONS ...

Eric Andersen: Blue River

Review by Lenny Kaye, Rolling Stone, 17 August 1972

ERIC ANDERSEN is not one who has been graced with the best of luck. ...

John Prine: An Interview with John Prine

Interview by Norman Jopling, unpublished, September 1972

JOHN PRINE IS THE GUY that sang the song about the hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes, and a whole bunch of ...

Sandy Denny, Marian Segal: Sandy Denny and Marian Segal

Profile and Interview by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, September 1972

AN ARTICLE on Sandy Denny and Marian Segal, huh? O.K. Now who's Marian Segal? ...

Bill Withers: Morale Music For The People In The Ghetto

Interview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 2 September 1972

A TELEPHONE CABLE that runs off the edge of Britain, down under the Atlantic, and up again into the heart of North America to St. ...

Van Morrison: Saint Dominic's Preview (Warner Bros. K46172, £2.09)

Review by Andrew Tyler, Disc, 2 September 1972

FOLLOW THAT VAN ...

The Impressions, The Staple Singers, Stephen Stills, Tom Rush: Stephen Stills, The Impressions, The Staple Singers, Tom Rush albums

Review by Loraine Alterman, The New York Times, 10 September 1972

Stephen Stills: Manassas (Atlantic); The Impressions: Times Have Changed (Curtom); The Staple Singers: Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax); Tom Rush: Merrimack County (Columbia) ...

Barbara Lynn

Profile by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 22 September 1972

BARBARA LYNN is probably best known for her composition of 'You'll Lose A Good Thing', which she recorded herself in 1962 and gained a Gold ...

Colin Blunstone, Good Habit: Civic Hall, Guildford, England

Live Review by Harold Bronson, Phonograph Record, October 1972

IT WAS MIDNIGHT, and as my nose was dripping, I was freezing on the last train to London. Colin Blunstone, ex-lead vocalist of the Zombies, ...

David Ackles: American Gothic (Elektra)

Review by Nick Tosches, Creem, October 1972

WHAT IS THIS sophomoric obsession with didactic irony and moralism anyway? I mean, is this guy serious or what? I've heard of living in the ...

Kim Fowley: I'm Bad (Capitol 11075)

Review by Gary Kenton, Fusion, October 1972

PERSONALITY AND spunk. Isn't that what rock & roll has been missing lately? Well, here's Kim Fowley with a new album and he's got plenty ...

David Ackles: Oh Lord, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: The Overrating of David Ackles

Essay by Jeff Walker, Phonograph Record, October 1972

A FEW MONTHS ago a sometimes pleasant, sometimes depressing, sometimes intriguing, sometimes boring album by David Ackles, called American Gothic, was released by Elektra Records. ...

John Denver: Carnegie Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Daily News, 2 October 1972

Denver a Sweetie Pie ...

Bob Dylan, John Prine: Troubadours: Who Was That Harp With Johnny Prine?

Report and Interview by Ed McCormack, Rolling Stone, 12 October 1972

NEW YORK — Last night John Prine squinted out into the audience at the Bitter End and drawled, "Whar's that harmonica player?" ...

Lou Reed: The Black Sheep of New York

Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 21 October 1972

THE INTERVIEW is to take place in a pub just off London's Curzon Street at around lunch-time. Lou Reed arrives late, looking papery. He's not ...

Tim Buckley: Greetings From L.A. (Warner Bros/Straight)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 21 October 1972

AFTER THE gradual progression through Lorca, Blue Afternoon, and Starsailor, one might have expected Buckley to continue with such a startlingly fresh line of development ...

Domenic Troiano, Tim Buckley: Tim Buckley: Greetings from LA/ Domenic Troiano: Dom

Review by Simon Frith, Cream, November 1972

DOMENIC TROIANO has just been signed up as lead guitarist for the James Gang (transfer fees?) but I don't know where he came from nor ...

Bill Withers: Lots of Sunshine for Bill Withers

Profile and Interview by Phil Symes, Disc, 11 November 1972

MOST SONGWRITERS dream of one day writing a standard. Singers dream of establishing one. Bill Withers does both – frequently. You only have to look ...

James Taylor, West, Bruce & Laing: James Taylor: Radio City Music Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 12 November 1972

Radio City Rocks and Rolls ...

Bill Withers: Making Music Till He Drops

Report and Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 18 November 1972

THE QUEST for that intangible magic with which so few of us are blessed, can often entail a very long journey indeed. And whilst Bill ...

James Taylor: Sessions: James Taylor's One Man Dog

Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 23 November 1972

LOS ANGELES — James Taylor is a very slow songwriter. It takes him months to write enough to justify a session, but once he's in ...

Tim Hardin: Painted Heads

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 23 November 1972

TIM HARDIN GOT so close to the top of the heap that it's hard to imagine how he could've blown it. ...

Claire Hammill

Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 25 November 1972

DRIVING OUT of London in his sparkling red Citroen, bound for Manor Studios, Oxfordshire, John McCoy talked about his girl Claire Hamill in a manner ...

Bill Withers: The Raggety Genius

Interview by Robin Katz, Disc, 9 December 1972

"I DON'T want to get dependent on being called a genius to survive. I don't want to get so sucked in by flattery that I ...

Cat Stevens: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972

Bad nerves dog Cat ...

Joni Mitchell: For The Roses

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 9 December 1972

MORE SONGS OF transient euphoria and stabbing loss, played out against an ambiguous background of relentless fatalism and constant hope, mingled in approximately equal proportions, ...

Joni Mitchell: The Troubadour, Los Angeles

Live Review by Steven Rosen, Sounds, 9 December 1972

Steve Rosen reports from the West Coast ...

Dory Previn: Surviving All Odds: Dory Previn

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 16 December 1972

WHEN DORY Previn wrote: "I no longer plead with heaven or go rummaging in books for the answers to the questions life contains", she had ...

Bill Withers: A Star Now, Shocked By the Shallowness

Interview by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 27 December 1972

THE HUGELY successful singer Bill Withers is a big guy. When he comes through the doorway, he fills it; when he shakes hands, he really ...

John Simon, Weather Report: John Simon: Max's Kansas City; Weather Report: Bitter End, New York NY

Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 28 December 1972

AIN'T BLUE NO MORE ...

Tim Hardin (1972)

Interview by James Johnson, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1972

The vibrato in his body, the band in his head and the drugs in his veins: the legendary singer-songwriter in revealing, if somewhat dazed conversation.

File format: mp3; file size: 29mb, interview length: 31' 37" sound quality: ****

Tim Hardin (1972) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by James Johnson, Rock's Backpages transcripts, Spring 1972

This is a transcript of James's audio interview with Tim. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Ray Davies: The Definitive Ray Davies Interview

Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, January 1973

Glenn O'Brien, with the help of Warhol Superstars Candy Darling and Tinkerbelle, talks to Kink Ray Davies ...

Joni Mitchell: A Tender Dignity

Guide by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 6 January 1973

ONE DAY, many years ago, Al Kooper went home with a blonde Canadian chick who used to hang out with the Blues Project. In the ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Album III (CBS)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 13 January 1973

YOU'LL PROBABLY never meet anyone less like a star than Loudon Wainwright III. G.I.-short hair with the stubble of his next beard, scruffy clothes that ...

Valerie Simpson: Valerie Simpson (Tamla-Motown)

Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 20 January 1973

SOME FACTS about Valerie Simpson: yes, she is a good songwriter and has been responsible for such fine numbers as 'And If You See Him', ...

Lynsey De Paul: "Peel called me a bloody idiot... I was quite pleased, he doesn't talk to many people."

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 27 January 1973

LYNSEY DE PAUL is a Gemini, which she thinks explains a lot. ...

Elton John: They Laughed When He Played The Piano

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 3 February 1973

FOR MANY MOONS it has been ever-so-chic to take pokes at Elton John. To admit to a considerable admiration for the man and his work ...

Biff Rose, Bruce Springsteen: Bruce Springsteen, Biff Rose: Max's Kansas City, New York NY

Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 8 February 1973

EVERYBODY GRUMBLES about Max's for some reason, but most of us keep climbing through the dark to the top of the stairs once or twice ...

Stevie Wonder: The New Wonder Ingredient

Interview by Tony Norman, New Musical Express, 17 February 1973

BLACK AND PROUD, MUSIC FROM THE SOUL ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: The First Genius of Reggae?

Profile and Interview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973

BOB MARLEY, slightly-built and quiet to the point of diffidence, is a leader. He's the master of Reggae, the man who's about to give it ...

Leonard Cohen: Cohen, Cohen, Gone: Leonard Cohen

Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 24 February 1973

"LET'S sing a song, boys. . . . This one has grown old and bitter"– fragment from Songs of Love and Hate ...

Neil Sedaka: Solitaire (RCA)

Review by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, March 1973

WAY BACK IN 1959, Sedaka was a teenage songwriting prodigy. He wrote a love song to an equally precocious girl who worked in the same ...

Tim Buckley: Boarding House, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 2 March 1973

Stupendous Show by Tim Buckley ...

J.J. Cale: Contemporary Songwriter: J.J. Cale

Profile by Martin Hayman, Sounds, 10 March 1973

Just listen to the mystery man ...

Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure

Interview by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 17 March 1973

...is the title of Roxy Music's sensational second album. Roy Hollingworth presents an exclusive preview with comments from Roxy's Bryan Ferry. ...

Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young: Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt: Winterland, Sand Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 22 March 1973

Neil Young: A Reminder of Mellower Days ...

Chuck Berry's Influence on the UK R & B Scene

Essay by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, April 1973

'DING-A-LING' gave Chuck Berry his only British No 1 seventeen years after his first record release, 'Maybellene'. He had five Top Ten hits in the ...

Joe South: A Look Inside (Capitol)

Review by John Swenson, The Village Voice, 12 April 1973

BEFORE HE recorded his first album, Joe South spent years honing down his material — from the age of 15 he had been playing steadily, ...

Don Covay: Are You Reggae For Don Covay?

Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 21 April 1973

AMERICA JUST had to catch on to reggae. After all, the roots of Jamaican music lie in the '50s out-put of Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis ...

Dory Previn: Madness, Fear and the Demons Inside

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 5 May 1973

AT THE END of the Dory Previn concert at Carnegie Hall, a couple of New Yorkers are standing near the exit, one whispering to the ...

Paul Simon: Here Comes Rhymin' Simon

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 12 May 1973

MM EXCLUSIVE! Paul Simons — due to play British dates next month — talks to LORAINE ALTERMAN in New York ...

Carly Simon, Dory Previn, Mary Travers: Record World Forum: Three Artists on the New Consciousness

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Record World, 19 May 1973

Carly Simon, Dory Previn and Mary Travers are three major artists whose work and lives exemplify the independent role women are assuming in society. As ...

John Hammond, Tom Waits: John Hammond Jr. and Tom Waits: Folk-Blues — Two Times And Places

Profile by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 30 May 1973

POPULAR MUSIC generations are particularly short in recent years — styles change, young artists establish new norms, a huge maturing audience sets new standards twice ...

Neil Young: Unsettling Looseness

Live Review by David Rensin, Music World, June 1973

WRITING ANYTHING about Neil Young is always a labor of love, but the tendency to be both overly critical and sympathetic concerning his artistic fluctuation ...

Tom Waits: Thursday Afternoon, Sober as a Judge

Profile and Interview by Jeff Walker, Music World, June 1973

IT IS SOMETIMES extremely difficult to separate an artist from the trend he's involved in; even if there's only a single element that makes him ...

Gordon Lightfoot's Mid-Day Madness

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 2 June 1973

IT'S MIDDAY in Toronto on Thursday of last week and Gordon Lightfoot is sitting back and reckoning that everything's getting just a touch silly. Which, ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 2 June 1973

PERHAPS THE most refreshing thing about Loudon Wainwright's concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall last Monday was that there was a songwriter who was more ...

Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman: The Dynamic Duo Of Plastic Pop

Interview by Jonh Ingham, New Musical Express, 2 June 1973

Nicky Chinn is an ex-public schoolboy, Mike Chapman a one-time waiter. Together they're... The Dynamic Duo Of Plastic Pop ...

Bill Withers: Live At Carnegie Hall (A&M)

Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 9 June 1973

FIRST TIME I saw Bill Withers live he was appearing at the huge Louisiana State Fair in Baton Rouge to a matter of about 20,000 ...

Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen's Bar Blues Are Over

Interview by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 9 June 1973

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN is the new Bob Dylan. No, really? He's spent his life down, and comparatively out, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, cooking up some ...

Alice Cooper, Paul Simon: Paul Simon: Carnegie Hall; Alice Cooper: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 10 June 1973

Paul Simon & Alice Cooper, So Differently the Same ...

Cat Stevens: Summer in the city

Interview by Ray Fox-Cumming, Disc, 16 June 1973

CAT STEVENS in his Fulham retreat talks to Ray Fox-Cumming ...

Paul Simon: Rhyme and Reason

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 16 June 1973

PAUL SIMON minus his famous side-kick Art, in part one of his interview with Caroline Boucher ...

Tim Rice: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice: Bible Rockers Talking Shop

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 21 June 1973

(PLEASE ALLOW the writers of Jesus Christ, Superstar and Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to introduce themselves). ...

Carole King: Lou Adler — voice of a King

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 23 June 1973

IT WAS after making Tapestry that Carole King met her producer, Lou Adler, one day and just casually enquired how the album was selling. It ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Simon on the split... The Paul Simon interview — part two

Interview by Caroline Boucher, Disc, 23 June 1973

WHEN CONFRONTED with the inevitable questions about the split partner, Artie Garfunkel, Paul Simon always says now that it is three years since he made ...

Carole King: Subtle, Intense: Carole King: Fantasy (Ode Import)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 23 June 1973

AFTER THE DISAPPOINTMENT of Rhymes & Reasons, I found myself approaching this album with a certain degree of trepidation. For, having failed to ignite any ...

Albert Hammond: The Free Electric Band

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, July 1973

ALBERT HAMMOND, despite his recent ascension to the pop limelight, is no overnight phenom. ...

Ellie Greenwich: Let It Be Written Let It Be Sung

Review by Ken Barnes, Rolling Stone, 5 July 1973

A NEW ELLIE GREENWICH album won't provoke Pavlovian ecstasy among the masses, but the news will intrigue a certain hard corps of faithful girl-group fanatics. ...

Andy Pratt: Avenging Andy

Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 July 1973

The name's unpromising, but Andy Pratt could be the next cult hero. He used to play with Edgar Winter, has cut a couple of solo ...

Carole King, Melissa Manchester: Carole King: Fantasy (Ode); Melissa Manchester: Home To Myself (Bell)

Review by Loraine Alterman, The New York Times, 15 July 1973

A Bland Carole King ...

Judee Sill: Heart Food (Asylum)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 July 1973

JUDEE WRITES and sings beautiful songs, and they are well represented on this second album, which features among its many tracks, 'The Kiss', where her ...

Martin Mull: The Wonderful, Wacky World of Martin Mull

Interview by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, August 1973

And His Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room!!! ...

Albert Hammond: Moroccan Strip Clubs To All American Boy

Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 August 1973

DESPITE THAT rich, drawling brogue and songs like 'It Never Rains In Southern California', Albert Hammond is no American. As it happens, he was born ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers, Bruce Springsteen: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley & The Wailers: Max's Kansas City, New York NY

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 11 August 1973

Wailers fail to catch afire ...

Bluesology, Elton John, Bernie Taupin: The Rolling Stone Interview: Elton John

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 16 August 1973

ELTON JOHN wanted to do The Rolling Stone Interview when we first suggested it to him in February. A grueling British tour kept him occupied ...

Carly Simon, James Taylor: Carly and James: The Taylors in Paris

Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 18 August 1973

WITH CARLY MAKING OLE LONESOME JAMES SMILE (WELL ALMOST) — IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF TRUE LOVE GUARANTEED TO THREATEN THE DEFENCES OF THE MOST HARDENED ...

Joan Armatrading: Whatever's For Us (Cube)

Review by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 30 August 1973

FROM HER opening piano passage on 'My Family', the most endearing keyboard introduction since the first notes of 'Your Song' led off Elton John, one ...

Jaki Whitren: The I Don't Want To Be A Star Star

Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 1 September 1973

NOT THE USUAL pub or press office for interviewing this newcomer. Oh no. For Jaki Whitren — CBS have put their money where their faith ...

Judy Collins: Judy In Disguise

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Melody Maker, 1 September 1973

Judy Collins film director? The singer – songwriter has taken a year out of her life to make a movie with a strong Womens' Lib ...

Leonard Cohen: Last of the Pop Poets

Interview by Mike Jahn, New York Daily News, 2 September 1973

ANY ROOM containing both furniture and Leonard Cohen would be overcrowded. ...

Essra Mohawk: Just Baiting for Laura Nyro

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973

THIS IS a slightly strange situation to be in. Over there, in the corner of the room, Sherry Bo Berry, a member of the Cockettes-derived ...

Cat Stevens: A Happier Cat Stevens Explains Foreigner and Other Mysteries

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 13 September 1973

LONDON — Cat Stevens is happy these days. "Happier now than I can recall being," he said. "Not laughing-happy. I don't go 'Haha! — oh, ...

Back Door, Beck, Bogert and Appice, Blue (Scotland), Golden Earring, Lou Reed, James Taylor, Tony Joe White: Lou Reed, James Taylor, Beck Bogert & Appice, et al: Crystal Palace Bowl, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 29 September 1973

  LOU REED and James Taylor on the same bill? What a masterstroke of pure gonzo rock n' roll strategy! ...

Kevin Coyne: From a Crushed Dandelion to a Rampant Virgin — K. Coyne Esq.

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1973

RIGHT, NOW you've got a sensational headline, now bloody read the words. No, much more important, get off your arses and buy the record, because ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter

Review by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 6 October 1973

ANYONE WHO IS a regular reader of this paper will be aware that in the past I've criticised Gilbert O'Sullivan quite strongly, and yet I've ...

Bill Withers One of Today's Most Talented Singer-Songwriters

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 26 October 1973

IN CASE you are wondering — as was I — just what has been happening to Bill Withers since he was in Britain over a ...

David Blue (1973)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1973

The singer-songwriter talks about living in Greenwich Village in the early '60s, and being encouraged as a writer by Bob Dylan; signing to Elektra and recording his first album; his brief band American Patrol; signing to Reprise, and the "company freaks"; making These 23 Days in September; Elliot Roberts, David Geffen, and signing to Asylum; Graham Nash producing Nice Baby and the Angel; gettting his live band together, playing live, and his guitarist and future Eagle Don Felder.

File format: mp3; file size: 62.6mb, interview length: 1h 05' 11" sound quality: ****

Loudon Wainwright III: Album III (CBS)

Review by Felix Dennis, Oz, November 1973

WAITING! ...

Ellie Greenwich: Leaders of the Pack

Interview by Roy Carr, Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 3 November 1973

Ten years ago the American pop scene was dominated by two opposing song factories — KIRSHNER'S Krazy Kids and the Behemoths of the BRILL BUILDING. ...

Merry-Go-Round, Emitt Rhodes: Emitt Rhodes: On And Off The Merry-Go-Round

Retrospective by Mark Leviton, UCLA Daily Bruin, 7 November 1973

MY FIRST MEMORY of Emitt Rhodes is still very vivid — he was on the television program Where the Action Is as a part of the group ...

Bill Withers: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 November 1973

POSSIBLY BECAUSE most major soul people only make one trip over here every year or every other year, it's true to say that most of ...

Thom Bell, The Delfonics, Ronnie Dyson, Johnny Mathis, New York City, The Spinners, The Stylistics: Thom Bell: Creator of Classical Soul

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 9 November 1973

IF YOU study Thom Bell's creative work, there is an undeniable classical influence in everything he does. The easy explanation to this is that the ...

Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks: Van Dyke Parks

Interview by John Tobler, Hot Wacks, 9 November 1973

...with contributions from Lowell George and Pete Frame. ...

Van Dyke Parks (1973)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 November 1973

The great man talks about many things, including his Southern roots; Los Angeles and the California experience; acting in TV and movies as kid; his early music experiences in LA; surfing, and the Beach Boys; his first album Song Cycle; Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Lenny Waronker, and the whole Warner Bros. Records scene; Brian Wilson, and what happened to Smile; his Discover America, and the associated lawsuit, and writing songs with Lowell George (who makes an appearance)...

File format: mp3; file size: 152.2mb, interview length: 2h 38' 33" sound quality: ****

Ashford & Simpson: Alice Tully Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 16 November 1973

Pop Music: Twin Talents Of Ashford and Simpson ...

Jackson Browne, Phillip Goodhand-Tait: Roxy, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 November 1973

LOS ANGELES: It would be nice to be able to report in true nationalistic spirit that Phillip Goodhand-Tait swept the audience off their feet in ...

Jackson Browne: The Roxy, Los Angeles

Live Review by Steven Rosen, Sounds, 17 November 1973

JACKSON BROWNE possesses a unique facility known as credibility. Whether he's accompanying himself solely with an acoustic guitar or being backed with electric guitar and ...

Elliott Murphy

Profile and Interview by John Swenson, The Village Voice, 29 November 1973

I DOUBT IF anyone has ever taken a poll, but Blonde on Blonde seems to be recognized in a lot of circles as Dylan's "best" ...

Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — Elton John Rockets Over The Rainbow

Interview by Stephen Demorest, Circus, December 1973

Running up against Evil Alice and The Rolling Stones, the good spell-caster fights to be head wizard in the Emerald City of rock. ...

Don Covay: Super Dude!

Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Black Music, December 1973

DON COVAY is a permanent fixture in the music of this era. ...

Ashford & Simpson, Marvin Gaye: Entertainers: Ashford and Simpson

Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Essence, December 1973

"OH, I JUST love Marvin Gaye," Valerie Simpson says, bouncing up and down with all the enthusiasm of an avid fan. "He's such a beautiful ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (Columbia)

Review by Bruce Pollock, The New York Times, 16 December 1973

Springsteen Celebrates Street Life ...

Barry Manilow (1974)

Interview by Tom Graves, Rock's Backpages audio, 1974

Interviewed by Kini Kedigh and Tom Graves just as he's starting to hit big, Manilow talks about his background in music, backing Bette Midler at the Continental Baths, and gives his opinions on just about everything under the sun.

File format: mp3; file size: 45.1mb, interview length: 49' 16" sound quality: *

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Buffy (MCA)

Review by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, 1974

TINA TURNER apparently has some new competition in the ethnic carnality sweepstakes. In the quickest turn of plume since Sacheen Littlefeather showed up in Playboy, ...

Linda Lewis: Fathoming Out Linda Lewis

Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, 1974

THE FACT that a British girl got high up in the charts with her own self-penned song a few months ago seemed to pass unnoticed ...

Elliott Murphy: Last of the Rock & Roll Stars?

Profile and Interview by Dave Marsh, Creem, January 1974

UNLIKE THE everyday American pop star, Elliott Murphy doesn't need to demand attention when he enters a room; he just walks in, and he's got ...

Thom Bell, The Delfonics, The Spinners, The Stylistics: Philly Special: The Thom Bell Story

Interview by Tony Cummings, Black Music, January 1974

THOM BELL smiles a lot. And it isn't only his natural good humour which creases his handsome, bearded face into another explosion of laughter. Over ...

Elliott Murphy: Aquashow (Polydor PD-5061)

Review by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, 3 January 1974

DON'T YOU just hate to pick up a music magazine (or megapaper, as the case may be) and see a review in which some snot-nosed ...

Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)

Review by Loraine Alterman, The New York Times, 6 January 1974

Joni's Songs Are For Everyone  ...

Jackson Browne, Survivor

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 January 1974

AT NIGHT we sit on the verandah, Myrna and I, watching the bobbing lights of the yachts in the harbour below as the fireflies endlessly ...

The Band, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: Planet Waves (Island)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974

ANY NEW Bob Dylan album induces a somewhat unnerving emotional response in the reviewer, but the very latest record from Dylan, to be released here ...

Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974

OF ALL THE female writers and singers post-dating Joan Baez in pop music, Joni Mitchell seems to me to have arrived at the most complete ...

Tim Hardin: The Legend of Tim Hardin

Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 26 January 1974

A CHUNKY, muscular figure. Penetrating eyes. Wispy black hair ever so slightly receding. What the hell is a legend supposed to look like anyway? "The ...

John Prine: Sweet Revenge (Atlantic)

Review by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 31 January 1974

SWEET REVENGE is another side of John Prine, a departure from the nearly unrelenting somberness of his earlier work, and an engaging picture of the ...

Carly Simon: "I Don't Enjoy Performing"

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Modern Hi-Fi and Music, February 1974

NOW THAT she and her husband James Taylor are parents, Carly Simon has no plans to perform except on vinyl. And with her fourth album ...

Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott: Joni Mitchell: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 9 February 1974

Folk‐Rock's Ethel Merman ...

David Ackles: Just A Handful Of Songs

Interview by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 16 February 1974

DAVID ACKLES has got a great house in Pacific Palisades, a few miles west of Los Angeles, and thereby close to the ocean, although the ...

Toni Brown, Chi Coltrane, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon: Albums from Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell et al

Review by j. poet, The Berkeley Barb, 22 February 1974

j poet advertizes fer joni: male groopie wanted ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Attempted Mustache (CBS)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 23 February 1974

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT'S a mean son of a bitch. Maybe his bark is worse than his bite, but his bark is still pretty nasty. ...

Roy Harper: Valentine (Harvest)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 23 February 1974

THIS ALBUM is going to sell a lot of copies, and not just because Jimmy Page and Keith Moon are on it, either. It's going ...

Bob Dylan: Planet Waves (Asylum 7E-1003)

Review by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 28 February 1974

LIKE THE reformed gunslinger-turned-family man, who's barely kept his pistol from rusting by occasionally battling some tin cans in his backyard — Dylan's been called ...

Carly Simon: Hotcakes (Elektra)

Review by Kim Fowley, Phonograph Record, March 1974

IT USED TO be said in the late '60s that if you wanted to give your kid sister an LP the choice would be the ...

Gallagher & Lyle: Gallagher and Lyle: Music For The People

Profile and Interview by Dave Laing, Let It Rock, April 1974

BENNY GALLAGHER and Graham Lyle aren't singer-songwriters, they're songwriters who sing. They are not really interested in the idea of baring their souls before the ...

Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)

Review by Bruce Malamut, Crawdaddy!, April 1974

Red Roses for a Blue Canyon Lady ...

Seals and Crofts: Seals & Crofts: Hotbed Of Controversy — 'Unborn Child'

Interview by Stephen Demorest, Circus Raves, April 1974

They became soft rock's #1 duo on the strength of pretty music and sweet lyrics, but when a Strawberry blonde delivered her anti-abortion poem to ...

John Martyn: Talking with John Martyn

Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, April 1974

BARD BON-VIVEUR BULLSHITTER DOPER ENTERTAINER EXPLORER GUITARIST HERO HOBO LEGEND LOVER MINSTREL MUSICIAN PATHFINDER PERFORMER PICKER PIONEER PISSARTIST PLAYER POET RACONTEUR RAMBLER RHYMER ROMANCER SINGER ...

Lamont Dozier: Out Here on My Own (ABCX-804)

Review by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 11 April 1974

FAMOUS WRITER-producer Lamont Dozier neither wrote nor produced this album, so it represents a break from his Motown and Invictus work. There isn't much novelty ...

Van Morrison, the Persuasions: Felt Forum, NYC

Live Review by Happy Traum, Rolling Stone, 25 April 1974

Inventive Van Impresses ...

Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott & the L.A. Express: New Victoria Theatre, London

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 27 April 1974

THE divine Miss M ...

Ashford & Simpson: Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing

Interview by Vicki Wickham, Black Music, May 1974

NICKOLAS ASHFORD and Valerie Simpson have, of course, been writing great songs for years. Songs like 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', 'Reach Out And Touch ...

Gram Parsons, Chip Taylor: Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (Reprise MS 2171); Chip Taylor: Last Chance (Warner Bros, BS 2718)

Review by Phil Hardy, Let It Rock, May 1974

WITH THIS album, Gram Parsons ends what was probably one of rock's most uneven and exciting careers on a high note. Always a writer of ...

Joni Mitchell: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee

Live Review by Steven X Rea, Phonograph Record, May 1974

JONI MITCHELL has finally accepted stardom and all the craziness that goes with it. During her Memphis appearance she still revealed her female submissiveness on ...

Leiber And Stoller Part One: The Blues (1950-1953)

Retrospective by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, May 1974

JERRY LEIBER AND MIKE STOLLER. They rank alongside Berry as rock ‘n’ roll’s wittiest composers and their influence as record producers has been immeasurable. ...

Cat Stevens' Return: Pop Goes the Poet

Report and Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 9 May 1974

LONDON — Two children, one black and one white, played on the doorstep of Cat Stevens's terraced house. ...

Harry Chapin: Short Stories of Harry Chapin

Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 May 1974

SHORT STORIES is the most apt title for Harry Chapin's new album, for Chapin is not so much a singer as a storyteller, an artist ...

The Eagles, Neil Young: Luesta College, San Luis Obispo CA

Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 23 May 1974

Punch Card Pop ...

Joni Mitchell: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Mick Gold, Let It Rock, June 1974

WHEN JONI MITCHELL sang in a cinema next to Victoria Station, her entire audience fell in love with her three nights running. For weeks afterwards ...

Leiber And Stoller Part Two: The rock 'n' roll years

Retrospective by Bill Millar, Let It Rock, June 1974

THE SWITCH from blues to rock ‘n’ roll was gradual and, as far as Leiber and Stoller were concerned, never total. ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon: Not So Simple Simon

Essay by Dave Laing, Let It Rock, June 1974

Dave Laing surveys Paul Simon's ten years in music ...

The Eagles, Sarah Kernochan, Tom Waits: Sarah Kernochan: House of Pain; Tom Waits: Closing Time; Eagles: On The Border

Review by j. poet, The Berkeley Barb, 7 June 1974

j poet moans: step on me i like it ...

Tim Buckley: How a Hippie Hero became a sultry Sex Object...

Interview by Chrissie Hynde, New Musical Express, 8 June 1974

...and had a simply devastating effect on the glands of a certain Chrissie Hynd [sic]. ...

Elton John: Caribou

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 15 June 1974

Take a holiday, Elton. Take two. ...

Richard Thompson, Richard and Linda Thompson: Richard and Linda Thompson: Life without Fairport

Interview by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 15 June 1974

RICHARD THOMPSON wrote 'Meet On The Ledge', in case you'd forgotten. On that basis alone the man would be due a certain portion of immortality. ...

Carly Simon: Charmin' Carly

Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 29 June 1974

NOW THIS lead's going to sound confusing, but please bear with me. There are people you like just for their music and there are musicians ...

Laura Nyro: The Five-Year, Five-Album Span Of High-Pressure Creativity

Overview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 29 June 1974

"Nights in New York street angels running down steps into the echoes of the train station to sing..." ...

Mose Allison

Interview by Chrissie Hynde, New Musical Express, 6 July 1974

The cool gentleman above is MOSE ALLISON. Among others, he penned 'Young Man Blues', 'Live The Life I Love', and 'Parchman Farm'. Randy Newman's spiritual ...

Bette Midler, Bo Diddley, Carly Simon, Don McLean, Randy Newman: What Does It Feel Like to Create Today's Music?

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Family Weekly, 21 July 1974

"I guess there are some people who sit down and say, 'All right, I want to write a hit single. Let's see, what's a big item ...

10cc: The Worst Band In The World?

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, August 1974

WHILE MANY of the veterans on the 1960s musical scene are still around, few are creating much in the way of new musical excitement. There ...

Jackie DeShannon: Your Baby Is A Lady (Atlantic SD 7303)

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, August 1974

JACKIE DeSHANNON is one of the greats. Writing memorable hits for Brenda Lee and the Fleetwoods ('Dum Dum', 'Heart in Hand', 'The Great Impostor'), then ...

Joni Mitchell: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale NY

Live Review by Dave Marsh, Newsday, August 1974

Big time now ...

Ashford & Simpson: Behind A Painted Smile

Profile and Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 3 August 1974

'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', 'You're All I Need To Get By', 'Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing', and 'The Onion Song' were all hits ...

Johnny Bristol

Profile and Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 10 August 1974

JOHNNY BRISTOL'S 'Hang On In There Baby' is currently moving up the American charts. It sounds very much like the Isaac Hayes-Barry White school of ...

Johnny Mercer: Hey, Mr Tangerine Man!

Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 17 August 1974

The name should be familiar — lyricist Johnny Mercer has written hundreds of hits — 'Moon River', 'Black Magic', 'Fools Rush In' among them. He ...

The Band, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan & The Band: Before The Flood (Asylum AB-201)

Review by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 29 August 1974

"THERE'S A flood out in California, and up north it's freezing cold/and this living off o' the road — it's gettin' pretty old." John Phillip ...

Harry Nilsson: Pussy Cats

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 31 August 1974

Rock verite — the Beatrix Potter way ...

Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: So Far

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 7 September 1974

Gormlessly groping ...

Dory Previn: Dory Previn (Warner Bros.)

Review by Loraine Alterman, The New York Times, 8 September 1974

The Perceptive Songs Of Dory Previn ...

Dolly Parton: The — travails of dualism

Profile by Nick Tosches, The Village Voice, 26 September 1974

SINCE SHE first hit the country Top 20 with 'Something Fishy', Dolly Parton has earned a reputation as one of the best songwriters in country ...

Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt: Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 26 September 1974

Browne-Raitt concert lifts the usual to new heights ...

John Denver: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Wayne Robins, The Village Voice, 26 September 1974

John Denver? How about John Terre Haute? ...

Leonard Cohen: New Skin For The Old Ceremony (CBS)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974

LEONARD COHEN is an artist who worries a great many people. Dismissed on the one hand as pretentious, on the other as a plain old ...

Tom Jans: Tom Jans

Press Release by uncredited writer, A&M Records, October 1974

TOM JANS is a native Californian with a life-long love for music and language. He crammed his adolescence full of books, sports, and music, playing ...

Mick Greenwood: Midnight Dreamer

Review by Fred Dellar, New Musical Express, 5 October 1974

THERE ARE a large number of musicians who make music that's always eminently listenable though hardly likely to send record companies' sales-graphs climbing like a ...

John Sebastian, Randy Newman: Randy Newman: Good Old Boys (Reprise); John Sebastian: Tarzana Kid (Reprise)

Review by Loraine Alterman, The New York Times, 6 October 1974

The Songwriter Sings ...

Bruce Springsteen: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 October 1974

Hail to the new genius! ...

Pete Atkin: Secret Drinker

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19 October 1974

IT MUST BE something of a bringdown for Pete Atkin that so much of the critical interest in his albums is focused on his collaborator, ...

Tim Buckley: Look At The Fool (Discreet Import)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 19 October 1974

SO WHAT'S all this fuss about Tim Buckley all of a sudden, already. ...

The Bay City Rollers: Phil Coulter: The Creator

Interview by Harry Doherty, Disc, 2 November 1974

Disc meets the man behind the Rollers and many others ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Singing His Way Into M*A*S*H

Interview by Dave Marsh, Newsday, 17 November 1974

CAPT. CALVIN Spaulding entered the Korean war recently as one of the crazed crew of doctors who staff CBS TV's M*A*S*H. But even the most ...

Bob Dylan, Eric Weissberg: Blood on the Tracks: Dylan Looks Back

Report and Interview by Larry Sloman, Rolling Stone, 21 November 1974

NEW YORK — It looked like old times at Columbia's A&R Studio September 16th. John Hammond Sr. was there, Phil Ramone was working the board. ...

Dory Previn's Songs: Many Sides Now

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Rolling Stone, 21 November 1974

LOS ANGELES — Forget about her fear of flying. It's still easy to understand why Dory Previn is reluctant to travel from her comfortable home ...

Bruce Springsteen: Lone Star

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 November 1974

He laughed when critics called him "the new Dylan". But he stuck to his guns and he's now playing to ecstatic audiences. MICHAEL WATTS in ...

Neil Sedaka: The Tra-La Days Are Back

Profile by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, December 1974

I DON'T NEED to refer to any books or charts to tell you that Neil Sedaka's ‘Breaking Up is Hard to Do’ was one of ...

Leonard Cohen Interviewed

Interview by Danny Fields, SoHo Weekly News, 5 December 1974

Leonard Cohen sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Danny Fields on November 6, 1974, at the Chelsea Hotel, New York City. They discuss how ...

Thelma Houston: Sunshower (ABC)

Review by Fred Dellar, New Musical Express, 7 December 1974

IF I REMEMBER correctly, this is the third time that Sunshower has appeared in this country — not that I'm complaining, I just think it's ...

Don McLean: Homeless Brother

Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 14 December 1974

UNEASY PREAMBLE: I don't really know what to make of this album. Bits of it seem to me very good, other bits leave me unconvinced, ...

Harry Chapin: Avery Fisher Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 December 1974

NEW YORK: The trouble with Harry is that he's such a goddam regular guy. The way he handles himself onstage, for instance. Like a scoutmaster, ...

Janis Ian, Billy Joel: Billy Joel, Janis Ian: Avery Fisher Hall, New York City November 15th, 1974

Live Review by Ian Dove, Rolling Stone, 19 December 1974

UNLIKE HIS records, Billy Joel in person is a halfway dynamic performer and his largely suburban audience treats him with the reverence accorded any minor ...

America's Dewey Bunnell (1975) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1975

This is a transcript of Ian's interview with Dewey. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Doc Pomus

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

DOC POMUS (with Mort Shuman), Jerry Leiber (with Mike Stoller), Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and a handful of others were the seminal figures during the ...

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

THIS HUSBAND-AND-WIFE country songwriting team have been at it for more than twenty-five years, proving the old adage, the family that plays together, stays together. ...

Gerry Goffin

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books) , 1975

ALONG WITH HIS first wife, composer Carole King, Gerry Goffin has been responsible for some of the most memorable and enduring music of the early ...

Harry Chapin

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

HARRY CHAPIN IS probably the most novelistic of our songwriters. Using techniques most often found in prose, he has created a series of story songs, ...

John Prine

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

ALTHOUGH AT FIRST he may sound like an early incarnation of Bob Dylan, lyrically John Prine has a voice all his own. Fusing his country ...

John Sebastian, The Lovin' Spoonful: John Sebastian

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to describe the feeling, being away from the Village for the first time, living in San Francisco in the summer of 1965, ...

Lou Reed Does Not Want Anyone To Know How He Writes His Songs

Interview by Bruce Pollock, Modern Hi-Fi and Music, 1975

LOU REED THINKS he's gone as deep as he wants to go for his own mental health. If he got any deeper, he'd wind up ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

ANOTHER OF THE new breed of songwriters – sharp, witty, terse, incisive – Loudon Wainwright III arrived on the Greenwich Village scene just as it ...

Melanie Safka

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

MELANIE EMERGED on the music scene, a tiny figure in the rain at Woodstock in 1969, alone onstage with her guitar and her songs. She ...

Linda Creed, Thom Bell: Philly’s Lyric Queen: Linda Creed

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

IN THE ‘70S THE most popular form of music is, once again, R&B, also known as Soul. Emanating primarily from Philadelphia, it is a laid-back ...

Randy Newman

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, In Their Own Words (Collier Books), 1975

SLOWLY BUT SURELY, almost against his will, Randy Newman has become a legend in his own time – although not too many people know it, ...

Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter: Robert Hunter

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

ROBERT HUNTER is the resident lyricist for the Grateful Dead, rock eminences of the San Francisco scene. An underground poet with a solo album, Tales ...

Tim Rice

Book Excerpt by Bruce Pollock, 'In Their Own Words' (Collier Books), 1975

FIRST TOM SANKEY brought The Golden Screw to off-off Broadway. Then, summarizing rapidly, Al Carmines applied his lyric touch to the outrageous Home Movies and ...

Elton John, Pete Atkin, Randy Newman: Elton John: Greatest Hits; Randy Newman: Good Old Boys; Pete Atkin: Secret Drinker

Review by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, January 1975

Randy Newman’s album starts:‘Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV showwith some smartass New York Jewand the Jew laughed at Lester MaddoxAnd the ...

Joni Mitchell: Miles Of Aisles

Review by Tom Nolan, Phonograph Record, January 1975

THE TWO MOST annoying things (to me) about Joni Mitchell in the early years of her career were her songs, which often seemed impersonal, shallow ...

Neil Sedaka: Packing Up Is Hard To Do

Profile and Interview by John Pidgeon, Let It Rock, January 1975

1. A Stairway To HeavenAs a Brooklyn-born Jewish boy of Spanish descent, Neil Sedaka may have been a typical New Yorker, but he wasn't a ...

Randy Newman: Good Old Boys (Reprise MS 2193)

Review by Susin Shapiro, Crawdaddy!, January 1975

RANDY NEWMAN has never been one to woo the predictable or cling to the musical status quo for inspiration. In his sleep-soaked tousled tenor he ...

Joni Mitchell

Essay by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975

Question: what well-known biped possesses an upper-register vocalic system, is pleasant to look upon, and is almost universally misunderstood and/or patronised? Answer: any Rock 'n ...

Harry Chapin: Harry & Sandy Chapin's Cat

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 16 January 1975

HARRY CHAPIN'S hit that hits close to home came from within his own. "My wife, Sandy, had written a poem that implied I was on ...

Leo Sayer: Imperial College, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 18 January 1975

Sayer passes concert test ...

Richie Havens: Mixed Bag II

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 18 January 1975

ONE DAY WHEN it was raining, I swore a great and terrible oath. ...

Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks (CBS)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975

DYLAN: Seeking gentler ground Special preview of Blood On The Tracks by MICHAEL WATTS ...

Lamont Dozier: Black Bach (ABC) ***; The New Lamont Dozier/Love And Beauty (US Invictus XS98) ****

Review by Tony Cummings, Black Music, February 1975

WHEN, AFTER all those years languishing in the background boy's shadows, things started to move for Lamont as an artist, they moved with lightning speed. ...

Essra Mohawk: Essra Mohawk

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975

AHA! ESSRA Mohawk, formerly plain ol' Sandy Hurvitz. You may remember her as the original Uncle Meat in F. Zappa's late sixties circus until she ...

Leiber and Stoller: Jerry Leiber And Mike Stoller: By Royal Appointment

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975

THE SCENE IS the Dorchester Hotel, one of the last vestiges of Britain's Imperial splendour and we've just been refused admission to the restaurant for ...

Leo Sayer: One Man Band No Longer

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975

WHEN LITTLE Leo Sayer does his Michael Crawford impersonation and becomes disaster prone Frank, protective instincts are aroused, and folk cluster around to prevent him ...

Tom Rush - Ladies Love Outlaws

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 22 February 1975

IN THE PAST Tom Rush has been hailed as a great interpreter, someone who can lift a number by nuance and feeling. His latest album ...

Loggins & Messina: There's Gold In The Middle Of The Road

Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 27 February 1975

THE RUSTIC HOUSE on Round Valley Drive in the hills of the San Fernando Valley is in one of those pockets of geography that provides ...

Mac Davis's Ode to Rock & Roll

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 27 February 1975

MAC DAVIS has written a number of hits for himself and other artists but, on a promotional trip to North Dakota, he heard a record ...

John Lennon Talks About Music, Money, Marriage, and Fame

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Viva, March 1975

ONE OF JOHN Lennon's friends, Elton John, spends $5,000 for a pair of sunglasses and buys his manager a yacht for a birthday present. Another ...

Leonard Cohen: The Romantic in a Ragpicker's Trade

Interview by Paul Williams, Crawdaddy!, March 1975

"I THINK MARRIAGE is the hottest furnace of the spirit today," Leonard Cohen said on the phone from Mexico. "Much more difficult than solitude, much ...

Elton John: Baileys Club, Watford

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975

THEY DON'T strike medals for rock stars — do they? A pity, because E. John, singer and songwriter of this parish, deserved some kind of ...

Tim Buckley: Greeetings From L.A.

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 1 March 1975

WAY BACK in the dim and distant, old Tim had to sing for his supper, along with the likes of Steve Noonan and Jackson Browne, ...

Paul Kossoff, John Martyn: John Martyn: Imperial College, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 15 March 1975

YES, THAT'S right, "Koss" turned up for the final couple of numbers. ...

Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks

Review by Michael Gray, Let It Rock, April 1975

I DON'T KNOW HOW, but some adjustment in our consciousness must now follow from the fact that it is Bob Dylan who has produced, in ...

Cockney Rebel, Steve Harley: Steve Harley Interviewed

Interview by Ira Robbins, Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press, April 1975

Hear the audio interview from which this article derived ...

Gloria Gaynor: I just love your British discos

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975

ROGER ST. PIERRE talks to GLORIA GAYNOR, the girl who sums up what the disco boom is all about ...

Harry Nilsson: Nilsson Ratings: Injured, Brilliant

Interview by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 April 1975

NOTE: The interview had to wait until we watched the latest episode of the PBS series, The Ascent of Man. I asked Harry about the ...

Carly Simon: Carly — playing possum

Interview by Jacoba Atlas, Melody Maker, 19 April 1975

A FEW months ago, with surprisingly little fanfare, Carly Simon, husband James Taylor and daughter Sarah slipped into Los Angeles for what has become an ...

The Byrds, David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young: David Crosby

Profile by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19 April 1975

IT STARTED with trademark objects, really. When The Byrds got their hit with 'Mr Tambourine Man', Jim McGuinn established himself as the one with those ...

Pete Atkin And Clive James: From Little Atkins Great Oak Trees Grow

Interview by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 26 April 1975

A fearsome encounter between two of the foremost minds of a Generation...uh...two of the most cerebral Rock Critics afloat...um, two of the most Accomplished Raconteurs...the ...

Carly Simon: Attitude Dancing

Interview by Tom Nolan, Phonograph Record, May 1975

THE HOUSE WAS set back behind a stone wall, at the end of a cul-de-sac off Coldwater Canyon between Beverly Hills and the San Fernando ...

John Prine: Common Sense

Review by Tom Nolan, Phonograph Record, May 1975

FLESHED OUT WITH such guest performers as Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Glenn Frey and Steve Goodman, Common Sense comes on like Prine's ultimate supersession production; ...

Gordon Lightfoot: Cold on the Shoulder (Reprise)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1975

FOR A DECADE NOW, Gordon Lightfoot has been a neo-folk hero in Canada. His early records and performances were distinguished by a rugged romanticism that ...

Tim Buckley: Starwood, West Hollywood, CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 1975

Tim Buckley and His Band: Sinuous Folk-Rock ...

Bread: Gates' Philosophical Process

Profile and Interview by Dave Laing, Sounds, 10 May 1975

ONE IMPORTANT fact about the geography of American rock which often gets overlooked is the importance of Oklahoma in the scheme of things. Not the ...

Joan Armatrading: Reluctant Singer Returns

Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 31 May 1975

"I'M THE most boring person in the whole world," Joan Armatrading announces, sticking her head out the window of A&M's Oxford Street offices, breathing in ...

Mud, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Nicky Chinn: From Riches to Riches

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Let It Rock, June 1975

LiR EXCLUSIVE: Journey to the centre of pop. Nicky Chinn interviewed ...

Judy Collins: The Liberation of Judy Collins

Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 7 June 1975

JUDY COLLINS is a liberated lady who feels that the feminist movement's mistake has, in many cases, been to isolate itself. She sees her job ...

Elton John: I Want To Chug, Not Race

Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975

IN AMSTERDAM LAST WEEK, while canals evaporated in the heat wave, eight musicians and three singers were stirring the sluggish air with an electric sound ...

Joan Baez, Ry Cooder, Jim Croce, John Denver, Arlo Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine: Singer-Songwriters: Back To The Roots!

Overview by Dave Laing, Melody Maker, 21 June 1975

In this exclusive extract from a major new rock book, The Electric Muse, Dave Laing investigates the post-Woodstock singer/songwriter syndrome, and charts the rise in ...

Neil Young: Tonight's the Night: Play It Loud and Stay in the Other Room!

Interview by Bud Scoppa, New Musical Express, 28 June 1975

NEIL YOUNG isn't out to win any popularity contest. Just as he reached the top of the heap three years ago with the huge-selling Harvest, ...

Steely Dan: Whole Is Greater Than Parts

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 1975

"It has been said many times and in many ways that what the world needs now is another rock 'n roll band. This could very ...

Barry Mann: Rock & Roll Survivor

Profile and Interview by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, July 1975

Who put the bomp in the bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp?Who put the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong?Who put the bop in the bop-shoobop-shoobop?Who put the dit in the dit-didit-didit?Who ...

Jerry Jeff Walker & the Lost Gonzo Band: Palomino, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Stephen K. Peeples, Cash Box, 5 July 1975

Jerry Jeff Cooks At Palomino ...

Barrett Strong: Stronghold

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 8 July 1975

IT'S STRANGE to think that without Barrett Strong, it is quite conceivable that the whole Motown empire would have never gotten off the floor because ...

Tim Buckley Dies: He Put His Soul Where His Mouth Was

Obituary by Idris Walters, Sounds, 12 July 1975

TIM BUCKLEY died at his home in Santa Monica, California, after appearing at a concert on Sunday, June 29. The exact cause of death of ...

Tim Buckley: The Candle Died, Now You Are Gone, For The Flame Was Too Bright

Obituary by Andy Childs, ZigZag, August 1975

LESS THAN a month after I started work at ZigZag, I had the privilege of meeting Tim Buckley. I interviewed him at some length and ...

Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger (Columbia)

Review by Nick Tosches, Creem, August 1975

I USED TO think Willie Nelson wrote sissy songs, that he was just another doily-brained sensitivo. Then, about two years ago, I came across an ...

Tim Buckley Dead at 28; Murder Charged

Report by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 14 August 1975

LOS ANGELES — Singer/songwriter Tim Buckley died at the Santa Monica Hospital emergency room at 9:42 p.m. on June 29th. At first police suspected that ...

Neil Young: Tonight's The Night

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 28 August 1975

"I'm sorry. You don't know these people. This means nothing to you." — Neil Young, in the liner notes ...

Andy Pratt: Nobody Knows My Name

Profile by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 30 August 1975

HAVE your albums been deleted? Do they even refuse to take them at second-hand shops? Are you even now living off the dole, wondering where ...

Neil Young: Tonight's the Night (Reprise)

Review by Wayne Robins, Creem, September 1975

IF YOU THOUGHT Berlin was depressing, wait till you hear Tonight's the Night. Even the label is black. It is an album of resolute drugginess ...

Tim Buckley: A Fleeting House: The Music of Tim Buckley

Retrospective by Idris Walters, Let It Rock, October 1975

LIFE AND DEATH are becoming indistinguishable. New biologies are beginning to prove that Death is just a change of state in the cycle of life. ...

Jackie DeShannon: Creemcheese

Interview by Marty Cerf, Phonograph Record, October 1975

"IT SEEMS that I've always been ahead of my time — or 'about to happen' ever since I started in the early '60s," says Jackie ...

Kevin Coyne, Neil Young: Neil Young: Tonight's The Night (Reprise MS 2221); Kevin Coyne: Matching Head & Feet (Virgin VR 13-117)

Review by Bruce Malamut, Crawdaddy!, October 1975

Young and Coyne En Route to Martyrdom ...

Garland Jeffreys, Tom Waits: Tom Waits, Garland Jeffreys: The Cellar Door, Washington DC

Live Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, October 1975

THE NIGHTHAWK SOARS ...

Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger

Review by Mick Houghton, Let It Rock, October 1975

WILLIE NELSON has never written easy songs or recorded easy albums. He has penned his share of country standards over the past fifteen years, all ...

Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years (CBS 86001) 35 mins

Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 18 October 1975

THE WAIT has been worth it. If you exclude Live Rhymin' (and most people do) this is Simon's first record for more than two years, ...

Bob Dylan: Plymouth Memorial Hall, Mass. USA

Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 15 November 1975

BOB DYLAN'S ROLLING Thunder Revue hit the Plymouth Memorial Hall at 8.20 p.m. on Tuesday November 4.That's Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, by the way, and it ...

Bruce Springsteen

Report and Interview by Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 15 November 1975

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN says he just writes down his impressions of stuff whereas here in Hollywood, Calif., there are people in from New York who believe ...

Joni Mitchell: The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 29 November 1975

ON THE INSIDE sleeve of this album, Joni has a short, cryptic liner note stating that the record is "graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally" a ...

Tom Waits: Not So Much a Poet, More a Purveyor of Improvisational Travelogue

Profile and Interview by Todd Everett, New Musical Express, 29 November 1975

Could TOM WAITS really be The Next Big Thing? TODD EVERETT, in Los Angeles, finds out. ...

Patti Smith: Art for Art's Sake

Profile by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, December 1975

I WAS ON the telephone to one of New York's successful management firms last week and, like all successful New York firms, they put me ...

The Carpenters, Neil Sedaka: Neil Sedaka: Second Stairway To Heaven

Report and Interview by Tom Nolan, Rolling Stone, 4 December 1975

AWAY FROM the Vegas casino clatter, inside the Riviera Hotel's now empty Versailles Room, onstage, seated at a piano is a petite, energetic man who ...

Neil Young: Sooner or Later it All Gets Real...

Essay by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 December 1975

The greening of the lean American: NICK KENT attempts a critical reappraisal of the work of NEIL YOUNG ...

Simon & Garfunkel Reunite: It's Paul, But Is It Art?

Report and Interview by Wayne Robins, Rolling Stone, 18 December 1975

NEW YORK – Comedian Richard Belzer was warming up the studio audience for NBC's Saturday Night program, October 18th. This, he was saying, was an ...

The Band: Northern Lights — Southern Cross (Capitol St— 11440)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975

The Band is back — almost ...

Joni Mitchell: Hostess Twinkies for Your Dreams

Live Review by Michael Gross, Swank, 1976

Joni Mitchell: Nassau Coliseum ...

Carole King: On This Side Of Goodbye

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Phonograph Record, January 1976

HE COMES HOME from a night of petting heavily in the back row of the RKO Fordham. Aching from the pains of halted passion, he ...

Laura Nyro: Five Years of Silence

Essay by Lita Eliscu, Phonograph Record, January 1976

BORN LAURA Nigro, she was fated to sing the blues. Though her solitary visions weren't attuned to the pop pulse of the movement-minded sixties, she ...

Bill Withers: Making Music (Columbia PC 33704)

Review by Tom Vickers, Rolling Stone, 1 January 1976

BILL WITHERS' metier is middle-of-the-road soul. On Making Music, Withers has traded in his earlier, sparse sound for a muted lushness. The browns and deep ...

Gene Clark: The Soulful Return Of Gene Clark

Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 24 January 1976

WHILE ROGER McGuinn plays with his electronic toys in his Hollywood mansion and makes records that are mere shadows of his past work; while David ...

Elton John, Paul Simon: Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years (Columbia PC 33540); Elton John: Rock of the Westies (MCA 2163)

Review by Mike Jahn, High Fidelity, February 1976

ROCK MUSIC, like basic black in fashion can hide a multitude of sins — such as poor lyrics. In rock that is played at any ...

Steve Goodman: Jessie's Jig And Other Favourites

Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1976

I HAVE an uncomfortable feeling that this is almost exactly the sort of record that the great majority of the critics on the weeklies have ...

Gil Scott-Heron: "You Will Not Be Able To Plug In, Turn On, Cop Out"

Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, Street Life, 7 February 1976

IT'S A mystifying truism that perhaps the most surprising thing about Gil Scott-Heron is that he is still standing very much in the shadows as ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Warner Bros. Import BS 2862)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976

Sisters of mercy ...

Laura Nyro: In From The Cold

Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 February 1976

MICHAEL WATTS reports from Connecticut on a long-awaited return... ...

Van Dyke Parks: The Clang of Van Dyke Parks

Profile by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 7 February 1976

"He deals in streams of consciousness and clicks someone’s brain on to accepting an abstract concept... he can grab those feelings and wrench them out ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle (Warner Bros.)

Review by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 16 February 1976

Kate and Anna Carry Through ...

Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Rocket to the States

Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976

NEIL SEDAKA does not look like a wealthy entertainer, not even when he's surrounded by the splendour of his rented luxury apartment above Fifth Avenue ...

J.J. Cale: A Natural Man

Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976

The legendary apostle of laid-back rock, J.J. Cale, is coming to Britain for two London concerts next month and his new album and old material ...

Phoebe Snow: Second Childhood (CBS) 39 mins****

Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 6 March 1976

BEST KNOWN to British audiences for her sing-along duet with Paul Simon on 'Gone At Last', Phoebe Snow is a very talented singer-songwriter who deserves ...

Bobby Womack (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 10 March 1976

After running down Ace's 'How Long' on guitar and offering a post mortem on his British stage debut, the great soul singer-songwriter recalls writing for wicked Wilson Pickett, confesses to hating his recent Safety Zone album, and reminisces about playing with white musicians at Muscle Shoals...

File format: mp3; file size: 58.9mb, interview length: 1h 01' 24" sound quality: ***

Jesse Winchester: Learn To Love It (Bearsville K55506) 30 min *****

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 13 March 1976

The holy rock 'n' roller ...

Tom Waits: Personality Without Pretension

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 14 March 1976

THERE'S NO PLACE like Tom Waits' home. There's no home, at any rate, quite like Tom Waits' place. The Silver Lake court cottage looks like ...

Phoebe Snow Has No Regrets...Yet

Interview by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 15 March 1976

'Which will prove more important, keeping open the WATS line to her career or being the best possible mother, in a first-person plural world?' ...

The Bee Gees: What Comes After Main Course: Barry Gibb & The Bee Gees on Top Again

Interview by Ian Dove, Phonograph Record, April 1976

BARRY GIBB considers Arif Mardin the main ingredient for Main Course's success. He adds: "Quite simply he's the best producer in the world for us. ...

Dory Previn: Children Of Coincidence And Harpo Marx (Warner Bros.) ****

Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 3 April 1976

OF THE RANDY Newman/Harry Nilsson school of absurdist, black comedy, Dory Previn unleashes her cryptic wit and dry tongue once again. Hallelujah! Dory Previn albums ...

J.J. Cale: J.J. Acts Naturally

Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Sounds, 17 April 1976

Which means he doesn't talk much. But Ian Birch gives us the full low-down on the low-key Mr. Cale. ...

Kevin Coyne: New London Theatre, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 17 April 1976

KC's Sunshine band ...

Ashford & Simpson: Perfect Harmony

Interview by Kevin Allen, Record Mirror, 24 April 1976

A COUPLE OF years ago the names Ashford and Simpson meant little more to British soul fans than credits in the small print on Diana ...

J.J. Cale: Endurance Of The Anti-Hero

Interview by Martin Hayman, Street Life, 1 May 1976

J.J. Cale reckons he's pretty good at doing nothing. He sleeps as long as he can ...

Phil Ochs Dead

Obituary by Dave Laing, Street Life, 1 May 1976

PHIL OCHS, who committed suicide in Los Angeles on April 9, was among the most sardonic and militant of the Greenwich Village folksingers of the ...

Laura Nyro: Smile (Columbia PC33912)

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 6 May 1976

LAURA NYRO'S first album in four years fails to live up to the promise of her lovely early records. While Smile has a certain charm ...

Gloria Jones: From Classic Soul to Rock 'N' Roll

Interview by Tamara Jermott, Black Echoes, 8 May 1976

WHAT DO Gladys Knight, Marc Bolan, Edna Wright of Honeycone, Eddie Kendricks, Billy Preston, The Los Angeles cast of Hair, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye have ...

Gloria Jones, Marc Bolan: Gloria Jones: Keeping Up With The Joneses

Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 8 May 1976

GLORIA JONES is the sultry lady sprawled across the sheets who screams through T. Rex's 'Get It On'. Very Tina Turner, and judging from all ...

Tom Waits: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York NY

Live Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 10 May 1976

True believer, but not Kerouac the second ...

Dolly Parton: Parton's Creative Country

Interview by Mick Brown, Street Life, 15 May 1976

Heard the one about the Heathrow cowboy with Dolly tattooed from neck to backside? ...

The Brecker Brothers, Jimmy Cliff, Paul Simon, Phoebe Snow: Paul Simon, Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

Simon's magical living room ...

Jesse Winchester: Winchester '76

Interview by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 29 May 1976

JESSE WINCHESTER is diffident, reluctant to elaborate on the bare essentials of his biography. He was born in Louisiana, brought up in Memphis, studied in ...

Jesse Winchester (1976)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1976

The songwriter-in-exile talks about his religious background; his stay in Munich; getting his draft notice and moving to Montreal; meeting Robbie Robertson and signing to Ampex; being managed by Albert Grossman and joining Bearsville; his recorded output; favourite covers of his songs; being supported by Joan Baez, and still not being allowed back into the USA.

File format: mp3; file size: 40.6mb, interview length: 42' 16" sound quality: **

Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon (Asylum)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Phonograph Record, June 1976

THEY'RE ALL HERE – various Eagles, an Everly Brother, Buckingham/Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Carl Wilson, David Lindley, J.D. Souther, and Jackson Browne himself, acting as producer ...

Janis Ian: The Ugly Duckling That Laid A Golden Egg

Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 5 June 1976

'I am a swan!' sez Janis Ian. 'Right!' sez Robin Katz. ...

Jesse Winchester: Exile on Main Street

Profile and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 5 June 1976

Giovanni Dadomo releases his frustrations to tell you all about Jesse Winchester ...

Tom Waits: Waits Going On

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976

TOM WAITS, currently appearing at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to Karl Dallas. ...

Janis Ian: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Robin Katz, Sounds, 12 June 1976

TO EVEN the artist's surprise, the concert was sold out. Standing room was also sold out. The New Victoria audience once more displayed knowledgable enthusiasm ...

Janis Ian: Society's Child Grows Up

Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 12 June 1976

ONE JOURNALIST WHO knew Janis Ian in 1969 thought she was the snottiest kid he'd ever met, "the cocky, pretentious product of an 'old Lefty' ...

Tom Waits: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Mick Houghton, Sounds, 12 June 1976

IT'S NOT easy to discover the real Tom Waits. He's continually performing. Off stage, in conversation, he frequently draws from his onstage material in his ...

Tom Waits: Warm Beer, Cold Women

Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 12 June 1976

TOM WAITS rocks backwards and forwards in his chair, pulls at a cigarette, draws deep, then turns his face out of the smoke, back into ...

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson: Dylan meets Willie Nelson: Thunder Deep in the Heart of Texas

Report by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 17 June 1976

HOUSTON — It was the Rolling Thunder Revue's second stop here this year, just five months after the less-than-successful Rubin Carter Astrodome benefit, and Bob ...

Leonard Cohen: The Return of Leonard Cohen

Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 3 July 1976

THE POSTER outside the Colston Hall, Bristol announced the appearance that evening of "The Poet of Rock and Roll". ...

Jesse Winchester: New Victoria, London

Live Review by David Hepworth, New Musical Express, 17 July 1976

JESSE WINCHESTER certainly didn't have things easy for his British concert debut last week. For a start, the combination of heatwave and Bonnie And Clyde ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Write on sisters

Interview by Dave Laing, Sounds, 31 July 1976

DAVE LAING meets Kate and Anna McGarrigle, who write and sing songs of rare beauty ...

Joan Armatrading: Joan Armatrading (A&M)

Review by David Hepworth, New Musical Express, 7 August 1976

Joan puts on her sailin' shoes ...

Elton John, Bernie Taupin: He Puts Words Into Elton John's Mouth

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 8 August 1976

WHEN ELTON John takes the stage of Madison Square Garden Tuesday night in the first of an unprecedented seven shows there (long ago sold out), ...

Joan Armatrading: Burning Like Fire

Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 14 August 1976

THE SOUTH LONDON side-street is unimposing and still. Neat houses face each other, their windows opaque, like rows of black eyes shielded by the reflecting ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Open Air Theatre, Regents Park

Live Review by John Tobler, New Musical Express, 21 August 1976

IT'S A LITTLE disturbing to discover yourself in the minority, the camp who really didn't much like the star. But that was the way it ...

Andy Pratt: Avenging Andy Rides Again

Interview by Stephen Demorest, Circus, 24 August 1976

THREE YEARS AGO, Andy Pratt had bats in his belfry. Flutter, flutter -you could hear the unrequited passions playing hide-and-go-seek in his psyche. ...

Neil Diamond: Ace Of Diamonds

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976

WHAT'S A MIDDLE-of-the-road singer like Neil Diamond doing with the Band's Robbie Robertson? Making a hit album, Beautiful Noise, that's what. The two first met ...

Joan Armatrading: What Are We To Do with Joan Armatrading?

Profile by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 20 September 1976

INTO THE non-genre of thinking women's music steps Joan Armatrading, more British than black, more good folks than badass lady of the Midlands. Joan does ...

Joan Armatrading: Just Joan

Interview by Robin Katz, Black Echoes, 25 September 1976

Suddenly England has a lady singer songwriter to vie with America's greatest. Robin Katz talks to Joan Armatrading ...

Roy Harper: Short Hairs: Roy Harper

Review and Interview by Wesley Strick, Blast, October 1976

ROY HARPER is a difficult artist. Roy Harper is a British-born singer, musician and poet. He's not a Rock Star and he doesn't want to ...

Joan Armatrading, Moon: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by David Hepworth, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

MOON GET better weekly. Disciplined, tight, colourful but most important eager to please. They got an encore. Between their leaving the stage and Joan Armatrading ...

Randy Edelman: 'Concrete' Man Gets Set

Interview by Robin Katz, Sounds, 16 October 1976

IF RANDY Edelman's 'Uptown Uptempo Woman' sounds so convincing that it 'must' be true, then trivia buffs will point out the obvious. It 'must' be ...

Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum 7E-1079)

Review by Sam Sutherland, Phonograph Record, November 1976

JACKSON BROWNE'S fourth and best album draws its power from a stunning tension of opposites: he continues to revise and refine many of the same ...

Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum K53048)

Review by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 13 November 1976

IF YOU'RE into anything a little deeper than pop get this album. ...

Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum)

Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

THE CHOICE of Jackson Browne's classic 'Late For The Sky', with all its mystique and aura, as soundtrack to the movie Taxi Driver, was no ...

Jonathan Richman: Town Hall, New York City

Live Review by Lester Bangs, New Musical Express, 13 November 1976

THE FUNDAMENTAL things apply, as time goes by. Like Sister Ray, for instance. It had only been out for a couple of years when Jonathan ...

Leo Sayer: Endless Flight (Chrysalis)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

Leo Sayer (vocals, harmonica). Ed Greene, Steve Gadd, Rick Shlosser, Jeff Porcaro, Nigel Olsson (drums), Andy Muson, Bill Bodine, Willie Weeks, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar, ...

John Denver, Starland Vocal Band: John Denver, the Starland Vocal Band: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 20 November 1976

NEW YORK: For better or worse, John Denver has changed people's lives. His concerts, in America if not elsewhere, are gatherings of almost religious intensity, ...

Tom Waits: Small Change (Asylum, Import)

Review by David Hepworth, New Musical Express, 20 November 1976

Waits refuses to face his critics (to his lasting credit...) ...

Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum K53053)

Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 27 November 1976

JONI More blues ...

Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum K53053) *****

Review by Tim Lott, Sounds, 27 November 1976

The tip of the iceberg ...

Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 27 November 1976

Joan travels on; Joni travels back ...

Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum 7E-1087)

Review by Colman Andrews, Phonograph Record, December 1976

VERY FEW of Joni Mitchell's songs since the Ladies of the Canyon LP have been recorded by other artists, and I suppose that must be ...

Tom Waits: Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 7 December 1976

Emotional Pull of Tom Waits ...

Jackson Browne These Days…

Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

The American singer/songwriter – currently touring Britain – who has made his name by writing constantly demanding, complex and mysterious songs, talks to COLIN IRWIN ...

Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon: Apollo, Glasgow

Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

Jackson: after the deluge ...

Jesse Winchester: Studio Six Concert, Montreal, Quebec

Live Review by John Swenson, Rolling Stone, 16 December 1976

THE ATMOSPHERE AT the small Montreal studio was so much like a living room's that it was hard to believe it was anything more than ...

Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon: We are all on tour: Are you prepared for The Pretender — Jackson Browne?

Special Feature by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 16 December 1976

HOMBRE — I loved that movie. I dig Paul Newman. I love the way he smashed that shot glass into that guy's face. Richard Boone ...

Warren Zevon: Palace Theatre, Manchester

Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 18 December 1976

LOOKING like a university student with a major in English Lit, Warren Zevon walked onstage at the Manchester Palace Theatre, greeted warmly by an audience ...

Bob Dylan: Journey To The Centre Of The Psyche: Blonde On Blonde

Retrospective by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 25 December 1976

IT'S AN almost impossible opening sentence. ...

Warren Zevon: Looking For Links In L.A.

Profile and Interview by David Hancock, National RockStar, 25 December 1976

Warren Zevon explains patiently to David Hancock ...

The Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane

Interview by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 8 January 1977

"A friend of mine in L.A. said 'talkin' about music is a lot like singing about football'." — Jackson Browne. ...

Bernie Taupin, Elton John: Elton John: Elton's Blue Moves

Interview by Wesley Strick, Circus, 17 January 1977

In One Era and Out Another ...

Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum 7E-1079)

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 27 January 1977

Stalking the great Pretender Cycles of uncertainty ...

Melanie, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum 7E 1087); Melanie: Photograph (Atlantic SP 18190)

Review by Fred Schruers, Crawdaddy!, February 1977

JONI DRONES, MELANIE FINDS NEW KEY ...

Wendy Waldman: The Main Refrain (Warner Bros. BS 2974)

Review by Geoffrey Himes, Crawdaddy!, February 1977

HER SURF'S UP, SHE'S NO PET ...

Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum 7E-1087)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 10 February 1977

Mitchell: the siren and the symbolist ...cold steel and sweet fire ...

J.J. Cale Knocks Himself Out

Report and Interview by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 14 February 1977

J.J. CALE IS not smiling. He hasn't smiled for 53 minutes of his set at My Father's Place. The set — highlights from all four ...

Jackson Browne's Two-Year Autobiography

Profile by Kris Nicholson, Circus, 14 February 1977

The Pretender Is Dreamy and Calculated ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Victoria Palace, London

Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 26 February 1977

Incomparigle McGarrigles ...

Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 9 April 1977

The Standard Jim Webb ...

Ashford & Simpson, New York Mary: Bottom Line, New York NY

Live Review by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 12 April 1977

So, so satisfyin' ...

Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True

Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, May 1977

ELVIS COSTELLO is a cagey sort of fellow. You can talk to him for hours and still not discover quite what makes him tick. ...

Roy Harper: There'll Always Be An England

Interview by Andy Childs, ZigZag, May 1977

As the pound plummets, the economy slumps and the government totters, there is yet hope for the fair isle of Albion… as we get a ...

Elton John: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977

Elton enthrals ...

Tom Waits: Sound Circus, London

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 7 May 1977

THE OBVIOUS question about Tom Waits — is he, or is he not, a phoney? — ought to be perfectly clear, yet was never quite ...

Essra Mohawk: Essra (Private Stock).

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 May 1977

THE LAST album (on Asylum) was simply called Essra Mohawk. Now, by way of Essra, a title whose warmer, more personal implication is complemented by ...

Dory Previn: Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 May 1977

DORY PREVIN arouses my sympathy, but she doesn't excite my empathy. However much I may agree with what she is telling us about woman's condition ...

Willy DeVille, Mink DeVille: Willy DeVille (1977) [transcript]


Audio transcript of interview by Radio Pete, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 25 May 1977

This is a transcript of Radio Pete's phone conversation with the Mink DeVille frontman. Listen to the audio interview. ...

Jimmy Webb: Ten Years After 'Phoenix' He's Still Looking For Hit City

Profile and Interview by Todd Everett, Phonograph Record, June 1977

JIMMY WEBB is the still-under-30 composer who appeared from nowhere nine years ago with a spate of pop hits including 'By the Time I Get ...

Tony Joe White (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1977

The Louisiana Swamp God on having his best stuff rejected by Warner Bros.; selling songs to others, and his pleasure at some of their versions; Elvis doing 'Polk Salad Annie'; on songwriting; on being compared to Barry White; on going fishing with his mom, and eating catfish; his new album, Eyes, and looking back at how he got started.

File format: mp3; file size: 21.9mb, interview length: 22' 47" sound quality: *****

Gene Clark: Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 1977

A Forgotten Man in the Spotlight ...

Elton John: Elton's Royal Return

Report and Interview by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 30 June 1977

LONDON — "IT WAS so good to play in front of real people," Elton John said in his dressing room, looking tired but exultant after ...

Carole King: Simple Things (Capitol SMAS11667)

Review by Lita Eliscu, Phonograph Record, August 1977

THIS ISN'T simple, it's simplistic. An album full of observations on life and living — none of which comes off without an unbelievable amount of ...

Barry Manilow: Trying To Get the Feeling

Interview by Bob Spitz, Crawdaddy!, September 1977

IT'S ELEVEN-below-zero on the Avenue, pitch black and hailing glassy bullets the size of golf balls. Empty buses on the suicide run choke back jetstreams ...

Kevin Ayers, Soft Machine: Kevin Ayers

Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, September 1977

BACK IN TP 16 Myron Bretholz wrote a lengthy run-down of the life and times of Kevin Ayers, English eccentric, banana artiste and wine connoisseur ...

Harry Chapin (1977)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 11 September 1977

The late singer-songwriter talks about unreleased tracks recorded with Michael Nesmith; his relationship with Elektra; how hits such as 'W•O•L•D' are representative of his work, and about his stage show and relationship with his audience.

File format: mp3; file size: 9.9mb, interview length: 10' 45" sound quality: ****

Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe: England's Elvis — The New Sensation on the Rock Scene

Report by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 October 1977

OUT OF nowhere comes a musician with no apparent past who looks like a good bet to become the biggest new sensation on the rock ...

Dwight Twilley: Twilley Don't Grind

Profile by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 17 October 1977

AWKWARDNESS IS the new vogue. No more smoothies and impeccables to make us feel 10-thumbed; clumsiness is the cornerstone of humanity, or so say the ...

Jonathan Richman

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977

I KNOW IT'S BEEN a hectic year full of surprises but if anything 1977 will go down as the year Jonathan Richman (a) Got in ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, November 1977

This is a transcript of Cliff's interview with Smokey. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Lamont Dozier: Lamont's Laments

Interview by Robin Katz, Record Mirror, 12 November 1977

Songwriter, producer and now singer LAMONT DOZIER tells his heart-rending story to ROBIN KATZ ...

Tom Waits: Foreign Affairs (Asylum 7E-1117)

Review by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 17 November 1977

THE ADMIRING audience that Tom Waits built up with his early work now worries about him in a way that does his derelict's persona proud: ...

Tom Waits: Pantages Theater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 21 November 1977

TOM WAITS' followers keep a close, almost medical eye on their hero's voice, much as Jets fans used to watch the status of Namath's knees. ...

John Martyn: One World

Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 26 November 1977

Secret Weapon. JOHN MARTYN: not taken as seriously as he should be! ...

Steve Martin, Randy Newman: Randy Newman: Little Criminals (Warner Bros. BSK 3079); Steve Martin: Let's Get Small (Warner Bros. BSK 3090)

Review by Bruce Malamut, Crawdaddy!, December 1977

EVIL MINDS, DIRTY HABITS ...

Randy Newman: Inside The Criminal Mind

Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Crawdaddy!, December 1977

EAST BATON Rouge Parish, LA. — "I wasn't unhappy. I didn't feel guilty about it. I just didn't do anything for three years." ...

Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77 (Sire)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, December 1977

AFTER WRITING reviews for eight years, one learns to ignore the press releases that accompany promo copies or at least to read them with a ...

Townes Van Zandt

Interview by Richard Wootton, Omaha Rainbow, December 1977

TOWNES VAN ZANDT is no longer such a well kept secret, known only to a handful of dedicated fans. Thanks to his new manager and ...

Lamont Dozier: The Hitmaker Supreme Who Can't Read Or Write Music

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 20 December 1977

....but he's got a good ear and keeps cookin' up the goodies! David Nathan investigates the art of culinary composing, according to Lamont Dozier. ...

Joan Armatrading shows some motion

Interview by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 29 December 1977

GIVEN THE option of two leather sofas and a comfortable armchair, Joan Armatrading chooses instead to sit on the window ledge, bathed in the pale ...

Joni Mitchell: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (Asylum)

Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 26 January 1978

Mitchell evolves ...

Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (Columbia)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Stage Life, February 1978

LIKE IT OR NOT, you’d better watch out 'cause talent will out, which is exactly why you’re hearing so much about Elvis Costello these days. ...

Joni Mitchell: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (Asylum)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, February 1978

DON JUAN SAYS HE DOESN'T KNOW YOU ...

Richard Hell: To Hell and Back: Richard Hell

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1978

RICHARD HELL had just got up, and one of the first things he focused on was John Tobler, looming over him with a tape recorder. ...

Hirth Martinez: Big Bright Street

Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 4 February 1978

APART FROM its notoriety for encouraging idle hedonism, California also seems to breed an unusually high percentage of oddballs. ...

Be Bop Deluxe: Be-Bop Deluxe's Bill Nelson (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 February 1978

From his school band the Cosmonauts through to latest Be Bop Deluxe album Drastic Plastic, Nelson tells the whole story: teen bands; conversion to Pentecostal Christianity; forming the band, signing to EMI and recording debut Axe Victim; changing the band's line-up, and record producers... not forgetting his perpetual self-doubt.

File format: mp3; file size: 48.9mb, interview length: 50' 53" sound quality: *****

Leonard Cohen: Death of a Ladies' Man (Warner Bros. BS 315)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 9 February 1978

Leonard Cohen's doo-wop nightmare ...

Tom Waits: Foreign Affairs (Asylum)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 February 1978

A RUMOUR IN HIS OWN TIME ...

Karla Bonoff, Kate Bush: Kate Bush: The Kick Inside; Karla Bonoff: Karla Bonoff

Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 25 February 1978

THOUGH ON the surface just another member of the incestuous West Coast singing/songwriting sisterhood, Karla Bonoff is different in one crucial respect — she isn't ...

Jerry Jeff Walker: Jerry Jeff Rides Again... Again

Profile and Interview by John Morthland, Country Music, March 1978

THEY SAY AROUND Austin that Jerry Jeff Walker can do no wrong, but whoo boy, does he ever give it his best shot. ...

Jackson Browne Thrives on the Endless Road

Profile and Interview by Wesley Strick, Circus, 2 March 1978

LATE LAST summer, Jackson Browne sipped a glass of Burgundy backstage and said, "I'm touring with the Section, who are the best studio players in ...

Pere Ubu, Hedy West, Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon: Rained out of his home

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 3 March 1978

THIS WINTER has done more than dump masses of snow on the East. It's also made a lie out of Albert Hammond's song 'It Never ...

Jackson Browne: This Wheel's on Fire

Interview by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1978

LIKE MOST good artists, Jackson Browne is capable of doing more than one thing at a time, so it's no surprise that Running on Empty, ...

Warren Zevon on the Loose in Los Angeles

Profile and Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1978

IN THE OPENING LINES of the title song from Warren Zevon's new album, Excitable Boy, the title character smears Sunday pot roast all over his ...

Ian Dury (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Radio Pete, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 21 March 1978

This is a transcript of Mark "Radio Pete" Bliesener's audio interview with Ian. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Elvis Costello: Disgust! Irritation? Revenge! Obsession?

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 25 March 1978

NICK KENT — whose 1977 interview with ELVIS COSTELLO was internationally quoted as the definitive piece on The Man In Glasses — goes back for ...

Harry Chapin: Singing for the World's Supper

Report and Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1978

THE MORNING OF February 3rd, singer/ songwriter Harry Chapin flew to Washington D.C. from Ontario. He'd just done a concert and, having slept on the ...

Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson: Kris Kristofferson: Young Blue Eyes is Back

Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 8 April 1978

Kris Kristofferson was a hell-raiser. He also grabbed country music by the scruff of its neck and dragged it into the Seventies. Now he's to ...

Kevin Coyne: Matching girth & vision!

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 15 April 1978

In both cases, the operative term is "broad". At a time when the unique worldviews of Elvis Costello and Ian Dury have become chartbound sounds, ...

The Only Ones: The One and Only

Profile and Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 15 April 1978

PUNK. NEW Wave. I groan inwardly at all these new clichés that seem more painfully predominant as the years go by. It seems that most ...

Judee Sill: Heart Food

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 April 1978

"AN EXORCISM of low-riding smack-shooting ghosts" was how Rolling Stone described Judee Sill's life, in issue 106/April '72 it was. Interestingly enough, that same issue ...

Randy Edelman, Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Live Review by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, 22 April 1978

THIS GUY really is the archetypal singer-songwriter. I write that with no malice, because he gives a lot of people a lot of pleasure. But ...

Nico: Return Of The Pagan Exile

Interview by Maureen Paton, Melody Maker, 29 April 1978

Nico, in London for a one-off gig last Monday and to record an album, talks to Maureen Paton. ...

Randy Edelman: People on record: This week Randy Edelman

Interview by Robin Katz, Girl About Town, 2 May 1978

WHEN RANDY Edelman comes to London, he always stays at the same W1 hotel. It seems to bring him good luck. The last time he ...

Andrew Gold: Roxy, LA

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 13 May 1978

SPEND TOO much time in the sun and you will soon dry up. Let this be a warning to all who make the sound of ...

Bob Dylan: The Man Behind the Image

Interview by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 13 May 1978

BOB DYLAN will be pocketing over £500,000 for the six shows he'll perform before more than 90,000 people at Earls Court next month. ...

Elvis Costello, Warren Zevon: Costello, Zevon dazzle beantown

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, Bangor Daily News, 15 May 1978

LAST WEEK, two of rock's most exciting new artists, Elvis Costello and Warren Zevon, played Boston concerts on consecutive nights. Both shows were hotly anticipated ...

The Modern Lovers, Jonathan Richman: The Jonathan Richman Colouring Scrapbook

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 20 May 1978

Fun for all the family in the Modern World as No.1 citizen J. RICHMAN holds court in a rare and candid interview with our own ...

Kate Bush: The Kick Outside

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 3 June 1978

2002 Prologue: I remember this interview with massive warmth. I knew me and Kate were obviously getting onside ‘cos this was done at the family ...

Jimmy Buffett: Red-Eyed Sails in the Sunset

Profile by Fred Schruers, Circus, 8 June 1978

Jimmy Buffett Floats Home Another Relaxing Rock Monster ...

Randy Newman: Randy Takes The Fifth Amendment

Interview by Brian Case, New Musical Express, 10 June 1978

RANDY NEWMAN talks to BRIAN CASE...but BRIAN CASE does the talking ...

Bob Dylan: Earls Court, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 16 June 1978

Dylan finds the key to success in the 70s ...

Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 June 1978

The Lizzy front man talks about the current tour; the Live and Dangerous album; his solo plans, and ruminates on the meaning and effects of fame.

File format: mp3; file size: 13.8mb, interview length: 15' 01" sound quality: ****

Elvis Costello is Angry and Convincing: This Year's Model Fulfils Every New Wave Expectation

Profile by Fred Schruers, Circus, 22 June 1978

IT'S 1:30AM IN the Bootlegger Lounge in Syracuse, NY. Elvis Costello, the one with the owlish stare and the spitting mad vocals, the man whose ...

Tom Waits: The Bad Liver and Broken Heart Brigade

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 15 July 1978

The gent pictured on the left has quit the organisation listed below, at least as far as vocally viewing life through the bottom of a ...

Joan Armatrading: Girl On A Wild Goose Chase

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 29 July 1978

Barry Cain finds out about Joan Armatrading's dark past. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Animus Americus Unpoliticus

Interview by Stephen Demorest, Creem, August 1978

 [L — Fair-haired, guitar-playing carnivore indigenous to America; leaves characteristic trail of Coke bottles.] ...

Bob Dylan

Interview by Mark Rowland, unpublished, 23 September 1978

Marc Rowland interviews Dylan in Rochester prior to his concert at the Rochester Auditorium. The interview was broadcast on US radio. The transcript is from ...

Kate Bush: Bringing It Back Home

Interview by James Johnson, The Evening Standard, 26 September 1978

THE feverish quality of the pop world barely intrudes into the calm atmosphere of the large comfortable family house on the edge of the Kent ...

Bruce Springsteen: Capital Centre, Largo, MD

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 18 November 1978

Listen and be born again ...

Tom Waits: Blue Valentine (Asylum 6E-162)

Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 10 December 1978

TOM WAITS, BEAT-ERA RELIC ...

Billy Joel: The Miracle of 52nd Street

Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 14 December 1978

NOBODY EVER mistook Billy Joel for a matinee idol. In a world that worships angular, tall, rangy types like Robert De Niro and John Travolta, ...

Terry Reid: Still Making Waves

Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 15 December 1978

SANTA MONICA — Suppose for a moment you're a member of some English supergroup in the midst of a 30-city tour of the United States ...

Tom Waits: Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 December 1978

IT'S FITTING that Tom Waits is appearing at the Huntington Hartford, usually the home of legitimate stage productions. Waits finally has come upon an ideal ...

The Flatlanders, Butch Hancock: Butch Hancock

Interview by Richard Wootton, Omaha Rainbow, Spring 1978

YOU HAVE four songs on Joe Ely's album; how did you get started into songwriting? ...

Patti Smith (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, Spring 1978

This is a transcript of John's interview with Patti. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Joe Jackson: Nashville, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 20 January 1979

Spiv rock — the big thing in '79? ...

Tom Waits: Blue Valentine (Asylum)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, February 1979

ONCE I WAS really drunk in this very fancy bar where they had this woman playing piano, looked like somebody's grandmother, and I kept asking ...

Kevin Coyne: Music Of A Different Coyne

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 3 February 1979

And my message to the people Is don't tie me to the steeple Don't put me with the stocks and in your market square. ...

Ian Dury is an Xmas Cake (Relax, it's a compliment)

Profile by David Hepworth, Smash Hits, 8 February 1979

1979 is still only a few weeks old, and already the No. 1 singles slot has been occupied first by a buncha camp New Yorkers ...

Billy Joel: Redefining a Rock Star

Profile by Robin Katz, Man About Town, March 1979

The comparisons — and the influences — are obvious. He writes with the directness of Lennon, shares the melodic skill of McCartney, and understands the ...

Ian Hunter, Mott The Hoople: Ian Hunter

Interview by Larry Jaffee, Imagine, March 1979

"I LEARNED MORE in the last three years than I would in 20 with Mott The Hoople," said Ian Hunter recently while awaiting to join ...

Peter Hammill: The Two Sides of Peter Hammill

Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, April 1979

FOR OVER 10 years Peter Hammill has been the object of a particularly intense cult following. As the leader of Van der Graaf Generator and ...

Elton John: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 3 April 1979

Elton is still way ahead of the rest ...

Bill Withers, Soul Singer

Profile by Vernon Gibbs, The Village Voice, 16 April 1979

SINCE NO one else has had the nerve to say it, I might as well. Bill Withers is a great soul singer. Some purists might ...

Steve Forbert: So You Thought You'd Seen The Last...

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 21 April 1979

...of introspective singer/songwriters in blue jeans with acoustic guitars and pained expressions... Well think again as globe-trotting talent scout Hugh Fielder proclaims: "I have seen ...

Tom Waits: Palladium, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979

Doing the Palladium slouch ...

Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson: Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson: Waiting For The End Of The World

Comment by Penny Valentine, Creem, May 1979

TWO GOOD things about rock music: how it makes even cynics get emotionally involved when they least expect it; how the best moments are the ...

Tom Waits: Wry & Danish To Go

Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979

...

Rickie Lee Jones: Rickie Lee Jones (Warner Bros.)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 17 May 1979

Rickie Lee Jones' rebop madonna ...

Elvis Costello: Accidents Won't Happen: The Premeditated Rise Of Elvis Costello

Essay by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, June 1979

A COUPLE OF days before Christmas, trying to make it home on the London tube before I dropped the bottle of tequila and the Times ...

Nick Lowe: Labour Of Lust

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 2 June 1979

PERSONS FAMILIAR with Nick Lowe in his recent incarnation as cynical-old-Basher, the man who'll steal any lick that isn't nailed down, disguise himself as anything ...

Lamont Dozier: Lamont Takes To The Road

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 5 June 1979

Lamont Dozier is putting together a show to promote his new album and these will be his first live gigs for some 20 years! ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Cocktails for Kerouac and an appointment with the Hype Machine

Report and Interview by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 9 June 1979

ABOUT THE crassest tag anyone has tried to hang on Rickie Lee Jones is that she’s "the female Tom Waits". It is also the kind ...

Judie Tzuke: Welcome To The Cruise (Rocket)

Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 23 June 1979

'FOR YOU' WAS one of last year's better off-the-wall singles, a remarkable vignette of overdubbed and interlocking harmonies backed by a classical string quartet which ...

Tom Waits: BBC Studios, London

Live Review by David Hepworth, Sounds, 30 June 1979

A man alone ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Carnegie Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 24 July 1979

DESPITE THE immediate success of her debut album, there has been some question as to whether Rickie Lee Jones was a one-shot hot-shot or an ...

Chris Rea: Up from Cleveland... England

Profile and Interview by Mark Williams, Rolling Stone, 26 July 1979

Singer/songwriter with an edge ...

Dire Straits, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (CBS 86095)*****

Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 25 August 1979

Rich man enters kingdom of heaven shock ...

Randy Newman: Born Again (Warner Bros K56663)

Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979

HOW IS IT that Born Again should be Randy Newman's worst album to date, and yet his most marketable? For a start, it is topically ...

Charles Mingus, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell: Mingus (Asylum)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 6 September 1979

The babe in bopperland and the great jazz composer ...

John Hiatt and the Sub-American Shoe Polish

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 15 September 1979

HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, at four in the afternoon; sultry, but no rush hour. A street strewn with soggy cheeseburgers, watery Coke (registered trade mark) in giant ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Dominion Theatre, London

Live Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 22 September 1979

THE LONG cool sleaze of Rickie Lee Jones wafted through the Dominion Theatre with a balmy breeze that fulfilled the expectations of those who'd come ...

Marianne Faithfull: Broken English (Island Ml) ***½

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 17 November 1979

NOT SO much a comeback as a c-c-c-comeback. Marianne Faithfull has restarted her career more times than Frank Sinatra's retired. ...

Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming (Columbia)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, December 1979

FADE IN. ...

The Go-Betweens: Go-Betweens

Profile and Interview by Clinton Walker, Roadrunner, December 1979

IT WAS ABOUT two years ago. In Brisbane, at Baroona Hall, the Survivors and the Leftovers were playing... ...

Randy Newman: Born Again

Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, December 1979

AFTER FIVE ALBUMS and almost ten years of intermittent brilliance, Randy Newman achieves a number one single with a nastily amusing ditty. ...

Randy Newman: Dominion Theatre, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 8 December 1979

RANDY NEWMAN was wandering around backstage at the Dominion gazing disconsolately down. "Why doesn't anyone like my ELO song?" he kept asking no one in ...

Randy Newman: Standing Up For The Small Man

Interview by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 8 December 1979

THERE ARE hotels and there are hotels. And then there are hotels like Claridge's, an elegant art deco reminder of the pre-war age of luxury ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (Backstreet/MCA)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 13 December 1979

DAMN THE Torpedoes is the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album we've all been waiting for — that is, if we were all Tom Petty ...

Blondie, The Knack, Mud, Nervus Rex, Suzi Quatro, Sweet: Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn: Ballroom Blitz & Hearts of Glass

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979

Mike Chapman began with Mud and Sweet, disappeared when glitter-rock went cold, and came back to make the new wave palatable for America with the ...

Guy Clark

Interview by Richard Wootton, Omaha Rainbow, Spring 1979

I WAS BORN in this tiny West Texas town called Honihans in 1940. Honihans was named after some Irishman who found the well there - ...

Janis Ian: Night Rains (CBS)

Review by Fred Dellar, New Musical Express, 5 January 1980

FIRST THE vital question — has marriage cheered up our ever-ailing heroine and caused her to cease spilling teardrops on the Steinway? On the evidence ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: The Trials of Tom Petty: Petty gets it…

Report and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 8 March 1980

Washed clean by legal wranglings, Tom Petty is settling down to write good rock 'n' roll songs. "That's all I want to do," he tells ...

Robert Wyatt: Up from rock bottom

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Melody Maker, 15 March 1980

Writing letters to political prisoners, listening to Radio Havana, thinking about music... Robert Wyatt hasn't been inactive during his five-year absence from the studios. VIVIEN ...

Steve Forbert: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 24 March 1980

This boy's no clone ...

Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter: "Sometimes The Cards Ain't Worth A Dime... If You Don't Lay 'Em Down": The Robert Hunter Interview

Interview by Ken Hunt, Dark Star, April 1980

IN NOVEMBER, 1979, someone dear to the hearts of Dark Star's staff and readers crossed the briny deep to play a couple of largely under-publicised ...

Leonard Cohen: Incurable Romantic

Profile and Interview by Anthony O'Grady, RAM, April 1980

WHEN LEONARD COHEN takes the stage there's a small, collective gasp, almost resembling the threshold of tumescence, or the sudden realisation of a dream come ...

Warren Zevon: How L.A.'s 'Excitable Boy' Won the Battle with the Bottle

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 10 April 1980

"L.A. rock's newest darling desperado, Warren Zevon, likes to start his day with a screwdriver, then clear his head with coffee and a side of ...

Paul McCartney, Wings: Paul McCartney (1980) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, May 1980

This is a transcript of John's audio interview with McCartney. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Warren Zevon: Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School (Asylum)

Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, May 1980

IT'S EASY to see why the music of Warren Zevon — make that the idea of the music of Warren Zevon — has the more ...

Bob Seger: Against The Wind

Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 15 May 1980

LISTENERS WHO first discovered Bob Seger with Night Moves and Stranger in Town clearly find his new album an even more palatable product, since it ...

John Prine: A Non Philosophical Singer/Songwriter?

Profile and Interview by Martin Hawkins, Country Music People, June 1980

WHEN I SPOKE to John Prine during a recent visit he made to Britain, he was searching, in this order, for his girlfriend (who plays ...

Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel (Charisma)

Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 7 June 1980

YOU COULDN'T call Peter Gabriel prolific. And neither of his solo albums so far have lived up to expectations, mainly because the ideas and the ...

Warren Zevon: Backbeat: Warren Zevon

Interview by Sam Sutherland, High Fidelity, July 1980

Don't the sun look angry through the trees Don't the trees look like crucified thieves Don't you feel like desperados under the eaves ...

Grace Jones: New Wave for a Disco Diva

Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 1980

Grace Jones' new LP tailors the music to fit her flamboyant visual concepts. ...

Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Robert Hunter: "Sometimes The Cards Ain't Worth A Dime... If You Don't Lay 'Em Down": The Robert Hunter Interview #2

Interview by Ken Hunt, Dark Star, August 1980

Dark Star: David Grisman and Vassar Clements were beefing on once about the fact that they never got any money from Old And In The ...

John Hiatt: Two Bit Monsters (MCA 5123)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, August 1980

LAST YEAR'S most exciting newcomer returns with his fourth album, hoping to become an overnight sensation after ten years. Forgetting an early pair of weak ...

Warren Zevon: Life In The Mental Combat Zone

Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, August 1980

"THIS IS A .44 magnum revolver...do I have five or six bullets left...Are you feelin' lucky tonight, PUNK?" And then the hapless caller to Warren ...

Jackson Browne: On love, marriage and the girl in his songs

Interview by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 7 August 1980

BECAUSE JACKSON Browne and his music seem to occupy a special place among Rolling Stone readers, a brief introductory note should suffice. Why Browne is ...

Rodney Crowell: A Songwriter Surfaces

Profile and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 21 August 1980

'Ashes by Now': his first hit ...

John Hiatt: Rock 'n' Roll Or Else

Interview by Bill Bentley, L.A. Weekly, 29 August 1980

HE'S OUT there, in his old white Volvo, trying to come in from the cold. It's not an easy job, and the odds of ever ...

Carly Simon: Come Upstairs (Warner Bros.)

Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 1 October 1980

Carly Simon Yells and Screams ...

Tom Waits: Heartattack & Vine (Asylum/WEA)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 October 1980

American stars and bars ...

Paul Simon: What Do You Do When You're Not A Kid Anymore And You Still Want To Rock & Roll?

Profile and Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 30 October 1980

IN ONE-TRICK PONY PAUL SIMON LOOKS AT THE WAY THINGS MIGHT HAVE BEEN. ...

Joni Mitchell: Shadows and Light (Asylum BB704)

Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 2 November 1980

JONI'S NEW ALBUM STAYS IN SHADOWS ...

Smokey Robinson: Smokey — Once & Future

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 23 November 1980

THE TEST OF time is one accepted yardstick for determining great songs and, by that standard, Smokey Robinson certainly ranks as one of the premier ...

John Martyn: The Exorcism

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 29 November 1980

After the breakdown of his marriage, John Martyn spent seven months on a complete bender, but the result of that desperation was his finest album for years. Nick Kent ...

Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter, Jefferson Starship: "Sometimes The Cards Ain't Worth A Dime... If You Don't Lay 'Em Down": The Robert Hunter Interview #3

Interview by Ken Hunt, Dark Star, December 1980

HOW DID you come to get involved with Roadhog? As far as I can tell, they were an existing band. ...

Tom Waits on Heartattack and Vine

Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, Elektra-Asylum Records, Spring 1980

NOTE: With the appointment made to conduct a Tom Waits interview on the Zoetrope Studios lot in Hollywood on Sept. 4, 1980, I listened to my ...

Smokey Robinson: Warm Thoughts; Where There's Smoke (Motown)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 10 January 1981

Waiting for a Miracle: NICK KENT reappraises the latest works of the doyen of '60s soul, SMOKEY ROBINSON ...

Stephen Bishop's Escape From Hollywood

Profile and Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 16 January 1981

IN APRIL 1975, an obscure singer-songwriter named Stephen Bishop wrote an article for the small Los Angeles publication Folkscene which stated he'd been writing songs ...

Elvis Costello And The Attractions: Trust (F-Beat)

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 24 January 1981

All trussed up (and nowhere to go) ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Man Who Would Save Rock And Roll

Essay by Greil Marcus, New West, February 1981

LAST OCTOBER Bruce Springsteen released his fifth album, The River, which went swiftly to number one in the States, and began a tour that will ...

Neil Young: Hawks & Doves (Reprise HS2297)

Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, February 1981

NEIL YOUNG stands alone in his ability to startle an audience with the most familiar techniques. As a master of everything from quiet folk to ...

Neil Young: Hawks and Doves (Warner Bros.)

Review by John Swenson, Creem, February 1981

I DON'T KNOW what Neil Young had in mind when he made this record, but its timing is so weirdly appropriate it's spooky. ...

Elvis Costello, Squeeze: Sports Arena, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 7 February 1981

The feeding of the 15,000 ...

Elvis Costello, Squeeze: the Palladium, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 14 February 1981

WHAT DO Squeeze value? Professionalism. Tightness. Songs of classic construction. Entertainment. Making the little girls smile and yell. ...

Elvis Costello: Elvis goes eyebrow

Report by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 28 February 1981

Mr Costello and a high class chatshow confrontation witnessed by Sylvie Simmons ...

Warren Zevon: Hollywood's Prince of Darkness

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 28 February 1981

I SHOULD'VE known better with an excitable boy like him. "You misjudge my sense of humour," said Warren Zevon, carefully disarming me of my .44 ...

Warren Zevon: How He Saved Himself from a Coward's Death

Special Feature by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 19 March 1981

  ALCOHOLISM. THAT'S what this story's supposed to be about. How Warren Zevon, after some heartwarming and colorful misadventures, licked the Big A and lived happily ...

Tom Waits: The Beat Buff Speed Poet Home Booze Hayseed

Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 28 March 1981

Or: the ten-piece Tom Waits jigsaw puzzle. As manufactured by Ian Penman ...

Garland Jeffreys: A Fan Meets the Ghost Writer, Garland Jeffreys

Profile and Interview by Bill Bentley, L.A. Weekly, 21 May 1981

Airborne, May 7, 1981 ...

John Martyn: Making Tracks to the Top

Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 23 May 1981

John Martyn, in concert in London tonight, has been a cult figure for far too long. Now he plans to change all that, as Mick ...

John Martyn: Dominion, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 26 May 1981

WITH A NEW four-piece band and a new record contract behind him, John Martyn is clearly hoping to translate his loyal cult following into something ...

Lamont Dozier, Future Flight, Zingara: Lamont Dozier: Me an' my piano...

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 28 July 1981

Despite a proven track record, the multi-talented writer, producer and artist, continues to strive for success, and STILL spends 4-5 hours every day sitting at ...

The Specials: English Music Scene Like a 'Ghost Town'

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 August 1981

This town coming like a ghost town... Bands won't play no more — Too much fighting on the dance floor... Why must ...

Harry Chapin: 1942-1981

Obituary by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 3 September 1981

HARRY CHAPIN often described himself as a "third-rate folk singer," and judging from most of the reviews he received in these pages and elsewhere, he ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Black Snake Diamond Role (Armageddon)

Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 5 September 1981

THOSE OF us who never could see all that much of worth in Syd Barrett's music, either solo or with that group he used to ...

Marshall Crenshaw: Someday... Someway... You'll... meet... Marshall Crenshaw

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, October 1981

EVERY NOW and then, some group, performer or recording of special merit floats up from the steady stream of unremarkable independent or "underground" music which ...

Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris: Rodney Crowell: Country's New Laureate?

Profile and Interview by Todd Everett, L.A. Weekly, 1 October 1981

  "I EXPECTED him to be more of a household word than he is now," admits Emmylou Harris, echoing the opinion of some of the world's ...

John Martyn: Glorious Fool (WEA k99178)

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 3 October 1981

JOHN MARTYN'S twelfth album, his first with Warners and his first with a band. The glorious fool continues to go his own way with little ...

Richard Thompson: Strict Tempo (Elixir LP I)

Review by Chas de Whalley, Record Mirror, 17 October 1981

ALBUMS LIKE this are comparatively rare these days. Strict Tempo simply presents good music for its own sake, showcasing the style and skill of a ...

The Flesh Eaters: Flesh Eaters' Chris D.'s Carnal Knowledge

Essay by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, December 1981

IN MY OPINE, Chris Desjardins is the best goddamn singer/songwriter ('r "S/S" in classic Creemspeak) that's e'er poked his pate above the stiflin' smog that covers ...

Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil: Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

MANN AND WEIL were the hipsters of the Brill building set. While Carole King and her friends were basically square, middle-class types who wrote things ...

Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry: Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich: Weavers Of Dreams

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

THE THIRD GREAT husband and wife team of the Brill Building era, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich hit the scene late. ...

The Singer Or The Song

Retrospective by Greg Shaw, The History of Rock, 1982

BEFORE 1960, rock ‘n’ roll had inevitably been seen as a rough-edged, spontaneous invention of teenagers. By that year, however, the teenage performers — and ...

Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Re-Ac-Tor (Reprise HS 2304)

Review by Steven X Rea, High Fidelity, January 1982

THERE ARE two Neil Youngs: the wacked out rocker with the reckless, turbulent guitar that cuts to the bone with the steely force of a ...

The Kinks' Resurgence Continues

Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1982

NINETY MINUTES after the Kinks' show at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Ray Davies is strolling out of a restaurant called Bob Murray's Dog House, a ...

Nick Lowe: Life Among "Witless Clods"

Interview by Steven X Rea, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 12 March 1982

IT'S 1:30 IN the afternoon when Nick Lowe pries open the sliding door of his West Hollywood hotel room and peers up at the sky ...

Joan Armatrading: Angel of Intrigue

Interview by Carol Cooper, Musician, April 1982

Joan Armatradlng has bartered her acoustic folk roots into a gutsy, punk maelstrom; her new album, Walk Under Ladders, crackles with aggressive electricity and sensual ...

Van Dyke Parks: McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 1982

ESOTERICA FROM VAN DYKE PARKS ...

Richard and Linda Thompson: Dominion, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 7 May 1982

LOOSELY SPEAKING, Richard Thompson is the sole practising legatee of the British folk-rock tradition which he was instrumental in establishing 14 years ago as a ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Phantom of Psychedelia

Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 8 May 1982

RICHARD COOK follows the Robyn Hitchcock guide to transport — physical, mechanical, mental and musical. ...

Bobby Womack: The Poet (Beverly Glen Music) ***½

Review by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1982

ORIGINALLY A protégé of Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack is a gritty-voiced soul singer who has written a wealth of terrific songs, including 'It's All Over ...

Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw (Warner Bros.)

Review by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1982

MARSHALL CRENSHAW'S rock & roll has the kind of crafty simplicity that has to be called classic. Like the Everly Brothers and the early Beatles, ...

Jonathan Richman: The Venue, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 29 May 1982

JONATHAN RICHMAN made his name by singing about the modern world in a style that belonged to the cityscapes of the Velvet Underground. Then he ...

Doc Pomus: "Doc" Pomus: Songwriter Superhero

Retrospective and Interview by Gary Kenton, Musician, June 1982

The writer of such greats as 'Save The Last Dance For Me', 'Teenager In Love', 'Hushabye' and 'Suspicion' talks about his life as a Brill ...

John Hiatt Opens Up

Interview by Todd Everett, Trouser Press, July 1982

ONE FREQUENTLY repeated cliche of the rock press has it that John Hiatt is the "American Elvis Costello." ...

Jesse Winchester: The quiet and low-key Jesse Winchester

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 12 July 1982

THE SPOTLIGHT of the news media shone brightest on Jesse Winchester in 1977. Jesse Winchester squirmed. ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Sheet Music

Essay by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 31 July 1982

IS EVERYTHING AS wonderful as it seems in the current reiteration of the Song? ...

Dwight Twilley: Salvation Through Water Sports

Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, August 1982

DWIGHT TWILLEY, his tall, rangy frame barely contained by the walls of EMI Records' conference room, is thinking about one of the only good things ...

Squeeze: The Fine Art Of Pop Songwriting

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Musician, August 1982

ATTENTION! LINDA Ronstadt and Willie Nelson! Attention Bonnie Raitt and Judy Collins! Attention Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra! Attention all you interpretive pop singers who ...

Everything But The Girl: Cole Minors

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 7 August 1982

  THE NAME comes from a furniture store in Hull, the tune from the songbook of the master, Cole Porter. Everything But The Girl's version of ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Songs From a Bohemian Past

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore Sun, 10 August 1982

RICKIE LEE Jones appeared out of nowhere in 1979 with a stunning self-titled debut album. The mysterious bohemian blonde — who comes to the Merriweather ...

Marshall Crenshaw's True Pop Ways

Profile and Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, September 1982

"I don't try to hang anybody up or get anybody over-involved in my hang-ups. I don't try to bore people with my problems. The main ...

John Martyn: Well Kept Secret

Review by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 4 September 1982

I LIVE WITH THE constant nagging worry that my house will soon burn down. ...

Ashford & Simpson: Hope Is Where You Find It

Interview by Don Waller, L.A. Weekly, 9 September 1982

AFTER 18 YEARS, seven hit singles and three gold albums, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are probably best known for starring in a Coca-Cola commercial. ...

Kate Bush: The Dreaming

Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 11 September 1982

UNDER THE premise that the Great British Public instinctively turns its nose up at anything that's a little unexpected, or which doesn't meet its carefully ...

Kate Bush: Kate Takes Charge

Interview by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 11 September 1982

Mick Brown meets the singer with a new album out on Monday ...

Rosanne Cash: Somewhere In The Stars (Columbia)

Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, October 1982

MOST OF the songs on Somewhere In The Stars, the third album by Rosanne Cash, are about the pitfalls of contemporary liaisons, the moments when ...

Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska (Columbia 38358)

Review by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 October 1982

IN AN ARTISTICALLY daring move virtually unprecedented in the record business, Bruce Springsteen refused to succumb to pressures to follow up the No. 1 success ...

Kate Bush: "My music sophisticated? I'd rather you said that than turdlike!"

Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 23 October 1982

A modern, multi-media, adult-orientated entertainer or a wild and wuthering heroine who's been dreaming since a brilliant start to her career......Richard Cook plays Heathcliff to ...

Everything But The Girl, Marine Girls, Tracey Thorn: Tracey Thorn: Ahead of her time

Interview by Mick Sinclair, Sounds, 23 October 1982

MICK SINCLAIR dials TRACEY THORNE and wonders if she's... ...

Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Imperial Bedroom (Columbia)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, November 1982

E.C.'s EMOTIONAL RESCUE ...

Lydia Lunch: 13.13 (Ruby)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, November 1982

IN A BUSINESS where women singers are a dime a dozen these days (and trite women singers the norm), Lydia Lunch can be proud of ...

Warren Zevon: The Envoy (Asylum)

Review by Craig Zeller, Creem, November 1982

THE ZEVE is one of our most critically overrated troubled troubadours. 'Member those in-print cartwheel raves his debut garnered? Ever listen to the damn thing? ...

John Martyn: Solid Heir

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 13 November 1982

"SO SOUNDS think I'm an old hippie, do they?" muses John Martyn as we stand in the hotel lobby waiting for the limo (the manager's ...

Billy Bragg: Captain’s Cabin, London

Live Review by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 1983

PLACING a heavy burden on a small but genuine talent, Billy Bragg has been hailed as the next big thing. ...

Leonard Cohen: Songs from a Room: The Inside Story of Leonard Cohen

Retrospective by Liz Thomson, The History of Rock, 1983

IT WAS IN 1956 that the work of Leonard Cohen first appeared before the general public in book form, an event that marked his transformation ...

Donald Fagen Revisits an Era of Innocence

Interview by Fred Schruers, Musician, January 1983

"LACK OF IRONY," says Donald Fagen with a wry grin, "is not exactly my specialty." It's an odd apology – more like a boast – ...

Jonathan Richman: Wax Museum, Washington DC

Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Musician, January 1983

IT'S EASY TO laugh at Jonathan Richman's wavering, off-key singing as he drifts off into naive, spoken monologues. When he visited Washington's Wax Museum this ...

Randy Newman: Laughter in Paradise

Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 29 January 1983

Punk, people, performing and parenthood – Randy Newman talked about his life, work and hates to Richard Cook ...

John Cale (1983) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 31 January 1983

This is a transcript of John's audio interview with John Cale. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Donald Fagen: The Nightfly (Warner Bros.)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, February 1983

DESPITE WHATEVER initial impressions you might get from hearing it on the radio, this is not the new Steely Dan album minus an apparently expendable ...

David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash: Joni Mitchell (1983)

Interview by Dave Zimmer, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1983

Joni talks about the Canyon scene: the people, her house, what it was like; she talks about playing the coffee house circuit in New York, and meeting David Crosby; leaving New York for Los Angeles; Crosby producing her first album; meeting the foppishly dressed Graham Nash; and Crosby, Stills & Nash getting together; she then talks about not getting to Woodstock, and subsequently writing the song.

File format: mp3; file size: 26.8mb; Interview length: 27' 54"; sound quality: **

Randy Newman in Paradise

Interview by John Hutchinson, unpublished, February 1983

JH: Was there any family influence on your decision to be a musician? Your uncles wrote movie music, didn't they? ...

Warren Zevon: The Ritz, New York NYC

Live Review by Karen Schlosberg, Trouser Press, February 1983

WARREN ZEVON is arguably the most compelling and exciting member of the LA singer/songwriter set. His latest album, The Envoy, is his most movingly powerful ...

Grace Jones: Living My Life (Island)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Creem, March 1983

CLEARLY, WE are dealing here with a case of Persona, in this case as outsized as War And Peace. And static too — who, recently, ...

Ric Ocasek: Worms On A String Revisted

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Creem, March 1983

THE OFFICE IS dark and silent. Here, in one of the rooms where Elliot Roberts, creme de la creme of rock star managers, and his ...

John Cale: The Venue, London

Live Review by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 19 March 1983

OVER THE past 20 years John Cale has gone from the Royal College of Music to Lamont Young's avant garde Theatre of Eternal Music to ...

Randy Newman: Backbeat: Randy Newman's Coming-Out Party

Interview by Sam Sutherland, High Fidelity, April 1983

Called a recluse and a bigot by some, Newman has more to say than most "confessional" singer/songwriters. ...

Joan Armatrading: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 9 April 1983

THERE IS about Joan Armatrading a quality of self-containment, resolution and a complete absence of any suggestion of faddishness, artifice or compromise which is enormously ...

Joni Mitchell: The Public Life of a Private Property

Profile and Interview by Michael Watts, The Sunday Times, 17 April 1983

One of the few pop singers for whom the term "artist" isn't just gross exaggeration, Joni Mitchell ends a British tour at Wembley next weekend. ...

Joni Mitchell: Wembley Arena

Live Review by Mary Harron, The Guardian, 25 April 1983

WITH JONI Mitchell, the music and the life are inseparable. As a confessional songwriter the appeal is based on identification; with those of us who ...

Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil: Still Going Strong After 20 Years

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 20 May 1983

HOLLYWOOD — The walls of their workroom are covered floor to ceiling in awards certificates, gold records and photographs of the biggest hit-makers of today ...

Steve Goodman: After A Bout Of Leukemia, Steve Goodman Hits The Road

Interview by David Gans, Record, July 1983

LOS ANGELES — Red Pajamas Records is a one-act label with a one-title catalogue. But Steve Goodman, proprietor and Red Pajamas recording artist, doesn't mind ...

The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield: So Proud — The Moral Standard of Soul

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 9 July 1983

Regarded by many people as the first conscience of American Black music, CURTIS MAYFIELD's illustrious career now spans 20 years — from being a teenager ...

Joni Mitchell: Jones Beach Theater, New York

Live Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 26 July 1983

DURING THE COURSE of her unpredictable but resilient career, Joni Mitchell has been the dewy-eyed sophomore, the slit-eyed hipster, the clear-eyed visionary. Her songs of ...

Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Punch The Clock (Columbia FC38897)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 7 August 1983

COSTELLO CLOCKS OUT ...

John Hiatt: Half Moon, Putney, London

Live Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 17 September 1983

FOR THE SECOND time in a matter of weeks this body-choked backroom played host to a mislaid American master. In John Hiatt’s territory he has ...

Carly Simon breaks away

Profile by James Hunter, The Boston Phoenix, 20 September 1983

No longer one of the girls ...

Elvis Costello: Every Day A Different Book

Interview by Bill Bentley, L.A. Weekly, 22 September 1983

THE SCENE: Austin, Texas. The overbearing Texan had buttonholed Elvis Costello's flamboyant manager, Jake Riviera, at a party in Los Angeles a couple of years ...

Ian Dury: Too Much Noddy Business

Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 1 October 1983

WHERE HAS IAN DURY BEEN FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND WHY HAS HIS LONG-AWAITED NEW LP, 40,000 WEEKS HOLIDAY BEEN DELAYED UNTIL JANUARY? GAVIN ...

The Go-Betweens: Mysteries of Exile

Interview by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 1 October 1983

The GO-BETWEENS come from Australia, but you don't need a visa to love them. Lynden Barber suggests we drop our passport control mentalities and tune ...

Clarence Clemons, Billy Joel, Tom Waits: Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island ILPS 9762); Billy Joel: An Innocent Man (CBS 25554); Clarence Clemons: Rescue (CBS 25699)

Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 1 October 1983

Piercing fragments from the gutter ...

Clarence Clemons, Billy Joel, Tom Waits: Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island); Billy Joel: An Innocent Man (CBS); Clarence Clemons: Rescue (CBS)

Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 1 October 1983

Piercing fragments from the gutter ...

Elvis Costello: Master Blaster

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 8 October 1983

WHEN IT COMES TO SOUL, THIS MAN BEATS ALL YOUR WELLERS AND ROWLANDS HANDS DOWN — BUT FOR ELVIS COSTELLO PASSION HAS NEVER BEEN JUST ...

Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island ILPS 9762)

Review by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 8 October 1983

WITH 15 TRACKS, this is sketchbook Waits and indicates the range of his writing gifts. Maybe it's the influence of writing music for movies, but ...

Kate Bush: The Barmy Dreamer

Interview by Jane Solanas, New Musical Express, 15 October 1983

Kate Bush has moulded herself in an icon of pop erotica — so much that suburban couples claim her breasts stimulate their love making. Yet ...

Brian and Eddie Holland (1983)

Interview by John Pidgeon, Rock's Backpages audio, 17 October 1983

The Motown legends tallk about their partnership with Lamont Dozier; songwriting and production; Berry Gordy; their work with the Four Tops; crossing over to the pop market, and leaving Motown.

File format: mp3; file size: 37.2mb, interview length: 40' 35" sound quality: ****

The The: Soul Mining (Some Bizzare)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 22 October 1983

DIGGING FOR VICTORY ...

Del Shannon (1983)

Interview by Ellen Sander, Rock's Backpages audio, 27 October 1983

The 'Runaway' man on the trials and tribulations of being a still-creative musician on the "oldies" circuit; songwriting; working with Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Dave Edmunds; and his insecurities and struggle with alcohol.

File format: mp3; file size: 50.5mb, interview length: 55' 11" sound quality: ***

Culture Club, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Paul Haig, John Hiatt: Culture shock as Bob Dylan is outshone by the Boy Wonder

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 5 November 1983

Culture Club: Colour By Numbers (Virgin V2285); Bob Dylan: Infidels (CBS 25538); John Hiatt: Riding With The King (Geffen GHS4017 Import); The Doors: Alive, She ...

Aztec Camera: Soft celluloid

Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 19 November 1983

RODDY FRAME may be a fresh faced youngster of a mere 19 years but his exquisite stitches in rock's rich tapestry already far outweigh the ...

Elvis Costello: "Now is the time, and the time is as good as any": The Elvis Costello Interview

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, RAM, 25 November 1983

IF THE GREAT GREY they put the numb into number and the boot into beauty, then who, pray, puts the El into the element within? ...

Carly Simon

Interview by James Hunter, Music & Sound Output, January 1984

CARLY SIMON talks a relaxed, slyly attentive kind of talk, zeroing in on a particular point as instinctively as she watches evasive moods and emotions ...

Carly Simon: Free, White, & Pushing 40

Interview by Nick Tosches, Creem, January 1984

"Maybe It Was My Big Mouth" ...

John Hiatt: Riding with the King (Geffen GHS 4017)

Review by Steven X Rea, High Fidelity, January 1984

A PARADE of rock critics have tagged John Hiatt "the American Elvis Costello." If that's the case, then Riding with the King is not only ...

Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones (Island ILPS90095-1)

Review by Sam Sutherland, High Fidelity, January 1984

BETWEEN HIS fall from grace at his old record company (due as much to executive shifts as poor sales) and his time-consuming involvement in the ...

John Hiatt: Riding With The King (Geffen)

Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 14 January 1984

KING JOHN, ASSUREDLY ...

Bob Dylan: Infidels (Columbia)

Review by John Swenson, Record, February 1984

BOB DYLAN is the most consistently misunderstood figure in pop music history. Dylan's approach to songwriting, and to his public persona in general, has always ...

Orange Juice: Bridge on the River Clyde

Interview by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 11 February 1984

Sour grapes over The Smiths? Sound of Young Scotland four years late? Juicy new tunes squeezed? EDWYN COLLINS unzips his lip! Purple prose: MAT SNOW. ...

The Smiths: The Smiths (Rough Trade}

Review by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 25 February 1984

"A COMPLETE signal post in the history of popular music." Little Stevie Morrissey's verdict on his own work bears his usual stamp of camp immodesty ...

Paul Simon: Hearts and Bones (Warner Bros.)

Review by John Swenson, Record, March 1984

THE ARTIST RETURNS ...

Prefab Sprout: Faith, Hope & Glory?

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Face, March 1984

"IF ALL THIS HADN'T worked out, I was resigned to being a librarian. That's what I wanted to do." Thus speaks Paddy McAloon, brains in ...

Womack and Womack: Womack & Womack: Love Wars (Elektra)

Review by James Hunter, Record, March 1984

WITH A sassy authority too gritty to be bitchy, too determined to be shrill, Linda Womack lithely barks out the phrase "I can't understand that" ...

Prefab Sprout: Sprout's honour

Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 3 March 1984

IN THE beginning, I wasn't convinced. With a name like that they just had to be jokers, or terminally dour, or both, and cursory (I ...

Christine Perfect/McVie: Fleetwood Mac's Songbird Flies Solo

Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 9 March 1984

CHRISTINE MCVIE'S Greatest Hits? Yeah, I have a copy on cassette that I play in my car, but don't go looking for it in the ...

The Pale Fountains: Fountains of Youth

Interview by Helen Fitzgerald, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984

Helen FitzGerald swoons in the company of THE PALE FOUNTAINS, back with a new album after a fruitless search for the ideal record producer. ...

Bobby Womack: The Poet II (Beverly Glen import)

Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 24 March 1984

AN OLD-FASHIONED man in the midst of a booming, disordered black music, Bobby Womack's journeyman career comes to a glorious peak with The Poet II. ...

Barry Manilow: Opium of the Missus

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, Marxism Today, April 1984

IF BARRY Manilow’s career is on the wane, you’d never have guessed it from last summer’s grandiose Concert At Blenheim Palace, when 40,000-odd pilgrims, preponderantly ...

Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw: Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones: Identikit Pop

Interview by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 7 April 1984

And the mediocre shall inherit the earth... Or at least the charts. RICHARD COOK fits out the faceless folk of pop. ...

Elvis Costello: 10 Bloody Marys And 10 How's Your Fathers

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 21 April 1984

10 AND 10 is 20 postaged stamps of the left-out-of-mainstream Costello: mislaid or temporarily missing 'B'-side moves, free 45s that got lost on the Press, ...

Jonathan Richman: Shoot-Out at Sesame Street: Jonathan Richman Talks!

Interview by Bill Holdship, Creem, May 1984

I HATE IT when my heroes get attacked. That's why I screamed "Ignorance!" and threw a copy of Musician magazine across the room when this ...

Tom Waits

Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Interview, May 1984

TOM WAITS writes great songs and sings them with greatness. He made his first album ten years ago. It was called Clos­ing Time; he has been ...

Womack and Womack: Womack & Womack: Soul Dispatches & Gospel Truths From The Funky Front Of Love Wars

Interview by J.D. Considine, Musician, May 1984

CECIL AND Linda Womack are sitting on a couch in their home near Philadelphia while Micah, their youngest, plays with a pull-toy on the floor. ...

T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello: Elvis Costello, T Bone Burnett: State University of New York, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, 5 May 1984

IT WAS THE old, familiar scene of singer/songwriter bearing acoustic guitar and playing for an attentive college crowd. What wasn't so familiar was that the ...

Billy Joel: The Joel Story

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 24 May 1984

HE THINKS HIS SONGS ARE LIKE "BABIES", VIDEOS ARE "A CHORE" AND HE'S WORRIED ABOUT GETTING "COMPUTERISED". SOUNDS LIKE TIME BILLY JOEL HAD A CHAT ...

Terry Allen: Architect's Association, London

Live Review by John Tobler, Melody Maker, 26 May 1984

BEFORE YOU ask "Who?", Terry Allen is the singer/songwriter from Lubbock, Texas, who, unlike the other two internationally known Lubbock musicians, is (a) not dead, ...

Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie: Christine McVie: Egos Can Be Painless

Interview by Steven X Rea, High Fidelity, June 1984

Fleetwood Mac member and solo artist Christine McVie is confident when she says, "I'll leave the trailblazing to the teenagers." ...

Billy Joel: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 7 June 1984

IT IS, OF course, too easy to say that once you've seen the video, the real thing can only be a disappointment. Indeed, there were ...

The Hoodoo Gurus: Hoodoo Gurus, Beating the Trodden Path

Interview by Clinton Walker, The Age, 8 June 1984

THE HOODOO Gurus don't beat around the bush. Right from the very outset, with the first track on their debut album, Stoneage Romeos, they stake ...

Elvis Costello: Constitution Hall, Washington D.C.

Live Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, July 1984

"I'M GOING TO do something you've never seen me do before," Elvis Costello told the audience at Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Hall as he unstrapped his ...

Bob Dylan: "Jesus, Who's Got Time to Keep Up with the Times?"

Interview by Mick Brown, The Sunday Times, 1 July 1984

This week Bob Dylan comes to Britain. The folksinger-cum-folk hero of the 1960s has not always had a good reception here. In 1965 purists attacked ...

Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Goodbye Cruel World (Columbia)

Review by Fred Schruers, Musician, August 1984

BEFORE YOU sink into Elvis Costello's latest, brilliant slough of despond, make sure you keep your copy of the lyrics (printed on the album sleeve). ...

Davitt Sigerson: Falling in Love Again (Island/ZE)

Review by James Hunter, The Boston Phoenix, 7 August 1984

WITH OPEN EYES Davitt Sigerson drives into the wreck ol romance on Falling in Love Again (Island/Ze), his American début. ...

Davitt Sigerson: Falling In Love Again (Ze Records)

Review by Jane Solanas, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984

I'M HAPPY to announce this is The Worst Record I've Ever Listened To, not so ecstatic to say that it's on Ze Records, the reason ...

Peter Hammill: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984

A SCHOLAR comes out of his cell. Peter Hammill's art has been obsessively documented by records but less so by performance. This solo show looked ...

The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: "Once There Was Away To Get Back Homeward..."

Interview by Deborah Frost, Record, September 1984

LONDON. IN A city where nearly every kid on the street looks like he's rushing off to audition for Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, dressed for ...

Peter Hammill: The Love Songs

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 1 September 1984

PETER HAMMILL is one of our stranger voyagers. Alone at a piano last month, he put most of the music we cover to shame. He ...

Davitt Sigerson: AOR? Write On! An Interview with Davitt Sigerson

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 22 September 1984

DAVITT SIGERSON insists he isn’t smarting from the NME review which described Falling In Love Again as ‘The Worst Record I’ve Ever Heard." ...

Rickie Lee Jones: The Magazine (Warner Bros)

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, October 1984

For song, as sung by you, is ... notWooing of something finally attained.Far other is the breath of real singing.An aimless breath. A stirring in ...

Greg Kihn: Reckihning & Rolling

Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Creem, November 1984

EVEN IF YOU'VE never heard Greg Kihn's music, you probably know who he is – he's the character who comes up with dumb puns on ...

Leonard Cohen: Various Positions (CBS)

Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 9 February 1985

VATICAN 69 ...

Leonard Cohen: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 27 February 1985

FOR WHAT are undoubtedly all the wrong reasons, one has come to approach Leonard Cohen with suspicion. The air of long-suffering torture one associates with ...

Richard Thompson, Richard and Linda Thompson: Richard Thompson: A Rock Veteran's New Beginning

Profile and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 17 March 1985

RICHARD AND Linda Thompson, whose 10-year marriage and musical partnership ended in 1982, were a decidedly low-profile couple by rock standards. In fact, they were ...

Richard Thompson, Richard and Linda Thompson: "The Most Exciting Thing Is Playing Live" — Richard Thompson Downplays Studio Work

Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, 30 March 1985

NEW YORK — Considering that Richard Thompson's albums invariably end up near the top of year-end critics' polls, one would think that the veteran British ...

Bob Dylan: Real Live (Columbia)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, April 1985

I REMEMBER the last time I interviewed Bob Dylan: it was on October 12, 1978 in front of 20,000 people at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. ...

Richard Thompson: Across A Crowded Room (Polydor)

Review by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 4 May 1985

DICK GETS DULL ...

Joan Armatrading, Cook Da Books: Radio City Music Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, 11 May 1985

IF JOAN Armatrading is still an artist with a cult following, as she has been here for so long, then let's just say her cult ...

Ashford & Simpson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 22 May 1985

SINCE THE SONGS they wrote in the 1960s for Marvin Gave and Tammi Terrell put a patent on the genre, it was not surprising that ...

Joan Armatrading: Surprising Secrets: Forget Folk, Forget Feminism, Forget All The Myths About Joan Armatrading

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, June 1985

"SINCE I'M A songwriter," Joan Armatrading explains, "I'd like to think I can write lots of different things. I suppose that can confuse people." ...

The Smiths

Profile by Jon Savage, Spin, June 1985

They aren't teen idols, but have a number-one album thanks mainly to Morrissey, their asexual, charismatic singer-writer. ...

Ashford & Simpson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Sounds, 1 June 1985

REVELATION ONE. Ashford (Mr) gets down on his knees, and tells us the meaning: "Grrr nga nga nga huh witness!" Revelation Two. Ashford: "When I ...

Leonard Cohen: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Ralph Traitor, Sounds, 11 June 1985

JOHN LENNON'S celebrated quip about the upper crust rattling their jewellery might be adapted to Leonard Cohen with a small adjustment. To wit: rattling their ...

Ashford & Simpson: Ashford and Simpson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 22 June 1985

THE WORD 'classy' perfectly sums up this show. As in superior, stylish, staid and conservative. The A&S seal of musical quality guaranteed a packed Odeon, ...

Prefab Sprout: Sproutspout

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, City Limits, 19 July 1985

Can a group that conjure up ugly buildings and vegetables conquer the world? Do they want to? MARK COOPER meets the makers of Steve McQueen. ...

Neil Young (1985)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1985

Over the course of almost two hours, Neil talks about world politics, the state of America today, his philosophical outlook, his current country-music tour and his love of that music; and about the transition from 'Heart of Gold' to Tonight's the Night, drugs and David Crosby, meeting Charles Manson... and the event that became Farm Aid.

File format: mp3; file size: 101.2mb, interview length: 1h 45' 24" sound quality: ***

Billy Bragg: Life's a Riot With Spy vs. Spy (CD Presents)

Review by RJ Smith, Spin, September 1985

IT'S ABOUT time to write a deconstructionist regulation sheet to be posted in the halls of rockcritdom. I mean, surely it is so when a ...

Robert Plant: Shaken'n'Stirred (Es Paranza)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, September 1985

AS LUCK WOULD have it, just a couple nights ago I tuned in Radio 1990 and caught the ever-photogenic Mr. Plant, who was being grilled ...

Dan Penn (1985)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 16 September 1985

A short chat with the country-soul legend, talkin' about writing 'Cry Like A Baby', producing the Box Tops and the sadly MIA Eddie Hinton. (Chipping in with occasional comments: Dan's wife Linda...)

File format: mp3 File size: 9.2mb Interview length: 10 minutes Sound quality: ****

Womack and Womack: It's A Family Affair

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 21 September 1985

The brotherhood lives on with Womack & Womack. Hugh Fielder finds it all very relative. ...

The Cure: Robert Smith: A Suitable Case for Treatment

Interview by Fiona Russell Powell, The Face, October 1985

"We can't make it. We are ready to die when we are born. We are the patsies. And I hate the intellectual freak who realises ...

Jane Siberry: The Eccentric Charms of a Pop Poet

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 7 October 1985

DRESSED IN white lace stockings and a silky smoking jacket, she fluttered tentatively around the stage. With her frail figure and whispery voice, she seemed ...

Tom Waits: Dominion, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 18 October 1985

Saloon bar ballads ...

Tom Waits: Hard Rain

Interview by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 19 October 1985

"I told you I was sick" ...

Joni Mitchell: Dog Eat Dog (Geffen)

Review by Mark Rowland, Musician, November 1985

Joni looks at dogs from both sides now: coyotes to curs to sheepskin wolves ...

Big Star, Alex Chilton: Alex Chilton: Alex's Wild Years

Interview by Martin Aston, Melody Maker, 2 November 1985

If anybody can really claim to be a living legend, ALEX CHILTON is the guy. From the Box Tops to Big Star to the booze, ...

Allen Toussaint: Club Lingerie, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 30 December 1985

A NEW ORLEANS KING ...

Alex Chilton (1986) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1986

This is a transcript of Martin's audio interview with Alex. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

The Eagles, Don Henley: Don Henley in Conversation

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Record, 1986

YOU'RE DON HENLEY. You spent the '70s behind a drum kit as a part of the Eagles, the quintessential American band of the era. Millions ...

Guy Clark (1986)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1986

The Texan songsmith talks about having his songs covered by others; not regarding himself as a country singer but as a songwriter; writing for himself rather than for other people; collaborating with his wife, painter-songwriter Susanna; his writing process; his musical roots in folk and blues, and his relationship with language.

File format: mp3; file size: 45mb, interview length: 46' 52" sound quality: ***

Van Morrison

Interview by Mick Brown, promo for 'No Guru, No Method, No Teacher', 1986

Musical Roots ...

Tom Waits: Rain Dogs (Island)

Review by Mark Dery, Record, January 1986

THIS IS HOW the other half lives, the dark underbelly for whom being born in the U.S.A. means Huey Long, Lenny Bruce on a bender, ...

Townes Van Zandt (1986)

Interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 January 1986

The Texas troubadour talks about his rootless youth; getting his songs covered by stars; the dangers of the road; bluesmen in general and Lightnin' Hopkins in particular; songwriting, "sky" songs and 'Pancho and Lefty'; and sharing a house with Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell!

File format: mp3; file size: 36.7mb, interview length: 40' 06" sound quality: *****

Townes Van Zandt (1986) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 4 January 1986

This is a transcript of Holger's audio interview with Townes. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Bob Dylan: Gates of Eden Revisited: A Conversation with Bob Dylan

Interview by Toby Creswell, Rolling Stone (Australia), 16 January 1986

IT DOESN'T REALLY matter now whether Bob Dylan is a fundamentalist Christian, anymore than it mattered whether he was going to the Synagogue when he ...

Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love (EMI America)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Creem, February 1986

IF THEY were going to run a contest for Most Irritating Rock Star, there'd be plenty of candidates. The Smiths, David Lee Roth, Sting, Stevie ...

Richard Berry (1986)

Interview by John Pidgeon, Rock's Backpages audio, 17 February 1986

The 'Louie Louie' man on pre-rock'n'roll R&B, the relationship between black music and white singers and fans, the double entendre in black music, indies v the majors, and that song.

File format: mp3; file size: 62.2mb, interview length: 1h 07' 55" sound quality: *****

Nico: The Girl With The Faraway Eyes

Interview by Clinton Walker, The Age, 21 February 1986

THERE IS PERHAPS no world quite so cruel as rock and roll, where youth is everything, and with age comes not maturity but redundancy. Unless ...

Elvis Costello: The Costello Show Featuring the Attractions & Confederates: King Of America (F-Beat)

Review by Nick Kent, Melody Maker, 22 February 1986

CROWNING GLORY ...

Nick Lowe: Isn't That Nick Lowe?

Interview by Karen Schlosberg, Creem, March 1986

"I SEEM TO occupy a funny sort of position in the music business," Nick Lowe says with a trace of a grin and a sigh. ...

Elvis Costello: The Costello Show And Tell

Interview by Richard Cook, Sounds, 1 March 1986

The self-proclaimed 'King of America' talks to RICHARD COOK about his new LP, his uncomfortable relationship with the music press, and the mediocrity of today's ...

Jackson Browne: Lives In The Balance (Asylum EKT 31)*****

Review by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 8 March 1986

BROWNE SUGAR ...

Elvis Costello: The Elvis Costello Show: King of America (Columbia)

Review by Tim Riley, The East Village Eye, April 1986

ALONGSIDE ALL the "detritus" that Greil Marcus writes about on Elvis Costello's King of America, there's an inventiveness despite the way it turns on itself. ...

The Nightingales: Nightingales: We Spit In Your Gravy

Interview by Neil Taylor, New Musical Express, 5 April 1986

So say the reanimated NIGHTINGALES, who've found a new lease of life — on the fiddle. NEIL TAYLOR hears about country life and the strings ...

Jackson Browne: Lives In The Balance (Asylum)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, May 1986

JACKSON BROWNE is mad as hell. He's also a gentleman, which removes the sting from his expressions of outrage on Lives In The Balance. Although ...

Kate Bush: The Girl With The Stars In Her Eyes

Comment by Richard Cook, Sounds, 7 June 1986

KATE BUSH remains a mystical if not mythical creature, even after the latest surge in her ten year career. RICHARD COOK peers through the looking ...

George Michael: Mein Whampf!

Interview by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 28 June 1986

"ALTHOUGH I AM honest, I will deal with an interview with the confidence of GEORGE MICHAEL, POP STAR. And the way I deal with people ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards Shares His Songwriting Secrets

Interview by Bruce Pollock, Guitar, July 1986

LIKE A POLITICIAN ON THE PODIUM, whistle-stopping across the boondocks on a flatbed, Keith Richards has his share of timeless bromides, comfortable answers his tongue ...

The Go-Go's' Charlotte Caffey (1986)

Interview by Gerrie Lim, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 July 1986

The former Go-Go talks about the breakup of the band; about writing for and touring with the newly-solo Belinda Carlisle; about changes in her lifestyle in her 30s; and about how she was influenced by Debbie Harry and in turn influenced new women in pop. Plus she discovers that Belinda's solo album is in the Billboard charts with three bullets...

File format: mp3; file size: 30.4mb, interview length: 31' 39" sound quality: ***

Bob Dylan: Knocked Out Loaded (Columbia)

Review by Roy Trakin, Musician, September 1986

DESPITE A high-visibility tour with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, his best band since the Band, Bob Dylan's new studio album is being released with ...

Lou Reed: The Prince of Darkness Lightens Up

Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, GQ, September 1986

I NEVER SAW the Velvet Underground during their five-year lurch through the New York music scene. From 1965 to 1970 I was on the left ...

Jane Siberry, Canadian Woman

Profile and Interview by Laura Fissinger, Creem, October 1986

THE GUY'S about 45, a classic born-and-bred New Yawk City street tough, and a publisher of music magazines more likely to feature Motley Crüe than ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde (1986) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages transcripts, October 1986

This is a transcript of Mat's interview with Chrissie. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Tina Turner: Mega Woman Conquers the World

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, October 1986

QUEEN TINA DOES NOT WANT ANY MORE POP, FUNK, REGGAE OR SOUL. QUEEN TINA WANTS TO ROCK 'N' ROLL ...

Nanci Griffith: McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 7 October 1986

GRIFFITH SINGS AND STRUMS COUNTRY ...

Paul Simon: Graceland (Warner Bros.)

Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 23 October 1986

IN HIS TYPICALLY understated way, Paul Simon has been an ardent musical explorer since he went solo in 1972. His songs have incorporated almost every ...

Peter Case: Shaw Theatre, London

Live Review by Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 25 October 1986

CASE OF NERVES ...

Elvis Costello: Broadway Theatre, New York NY

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, 15 November 1986

ELVIS COSTELLO'S five-night stand on Broadway roughly coincided with the World Series, which may have kept die-hard Mets fans at bay. Still, the Costello series ...

Paul Simon: Graceland (Warner Bros. 25447-4)

Review by Hank Bordowitz, High Fidelity, December 1986

SIMON SAYS, "JIVE!" ...

Peter Case: Do You Want A Man Of Steel?

Interview by J. Kordosh, Creem, December 1986

BACKSTAGE, AFTER a show, Peter Case is talking baseball. The game is one of Case's passions: he tells of his recent visit to Cooperstown and ...

Tom Waits: Frank's Wild Years

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 1987

SUBTITLED "Un Operachi Romantico In Two Acts", Frank's Wild Years is effectively the final part of a trilogy that began in 1983 with the extraordinary ...

Jackson Browne: "A Dixie Cup of Nuclear Waste Could Kill the Planet"

Interview by Steve Turner, Q, January 1987

Jackson Browne used to hang his head and weep when he considered the folly of Man. These days he doesn't bother. These days he gets ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: Kontemplating the Kinks: Nothing's as Bad as Ray Davies Thinks

Interview by John Hutchinson, Musician, January 1987

RAY DAVIES, we've always been told, is quintessentially English. The classic Kinks songs of the '60s – 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion', 'Sunny Afternoon', 'Waterloo Sunset' ...

Paul Simon: Graceland (Warner Bros.)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, January 1987

OUT OF AFRICA ...

Paul Simon: Still Mbaqanga After All These Years

Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, January 1987

For 20 years, Paul Simon whined and kvetched about the same things. Then he went to Africa and finally had fun. But he broke the ...

Suzanne Vega: "I loved the idea of the solitary wanderer with the guitar recreating Woody Guthrie"

Profile and Interview by Steve Turner, Q, January 1987

The small, shy voice of Suzanne Vega has finally found its audience. Steve Turner follows her passage from the New York folk clubs that first ...

Rosie Vela: Out of this world

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 23 January 1987

Adam Sweeting meets Rosie Vela, the former cover-girl now looking for success as a singer-songwriter ...

Robbie Nevil: Robbie Nevil (Manhattan Records)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Rolling Stone, 12 February 1987

MY BEEF with Robbie Nevil is such a stock critic's kvetch that it seems only mannerly to preface it with kudos and huzzahs. Which, by ...

Robyn Hitchcock: One Night in November with Robyn Hitchcock

Interview by J. Kordosh, Creem, March 1987

  AT SCHOOLKIDS Records in Ann Arbor, Bill Holdship, Robyn Hitchcock and myself are looking through the records. It's the evening of the day the Bruce ...

Steve Earle & the Dukes: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 26 March 1987

IF ANYONE has given substance to the idea that there is something more to "New Country" than a handy promotional slogan, then it is Steve ...

Gene Clark, Carla Olson: Gene Clark and Carla Olson: At My Place, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Gerrie Lim, L.A. Weekly, 2 April 1987

"IT'S JUST a little folk music," Gene Clark deadpans to the packed house in Santa Monica, and he couldn't have been more self-deprecating. This was ...

Paul Simon: The Boy in the Boycott

Report by Mark Sinker, Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 4 April 1987

Is PAUL SIMON "a genius and a loathsome coward"? Does the lack of anti-apartheid statements on Graceland amount to condonation of Botha's regime? Or has ...

Leonard Cohen: The Songwriter: Lenny Plays It Cool

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Music Connection, 6 April 1987

The Various Positions of a Pop Guru ...

Chris Isaak: A Soft Touch

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 17 April 1987

Chris Isaak's melancholy songs hark back to the teen ballads of the Sixties, reports Mark Cooper ...

Pulp

Interview by Martin Aston, Underground, May 1987

Jarvis Cocker, diplomat, playwright, crooner and NH spex wearer, this is yer page... ...

Suzanne Vega: Solitude Standing (A&M)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 2 May 1987

SUZANNE VEGA's first album I found promising but irritating: the Joni/Rickie Lee persona presented with a knowing, sickly coyness. As a harbinger of the singer-songwriter ...

Randy Newman: Lonely At The Top (WEA)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 30 May 1987

"Let's drop the big one..." ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Guitar Poet

Interview by Deborah Frost, Guitar World, July 1987

LIKE LOU Reed, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, to whom he has been compared, Robyn Hitchcock's lyrics are so brilliant they tend to obscure everything ...

Warren Zevon: Rugged Individualism

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1987

The return of Warren Zevon (with a little help from Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Don Henley, George Clinton, REM...) ...

Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years (Island)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 30 August 1987

WAITS: DREAMLIKE, DISTANT ...

Squeeze: Access All Areas

Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, September 1987

Don't Pull That Trigger ...

Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Bob Dylan/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers /Roger McGuinn: Modena Autodrome, Turin

Live Review by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 26 September 1987

ROCK HACKS aren't allowed near Bob. He's got no time for the press. In fact, someone who once met his grannie's dog-minder tells me Bob ...

John Hiatt : Have A Little Faith

Interview by Bill Holdship, Creem, October 1987

JOHN HIATT IS onstage at the Roxy in L.A.; just him and a piano. It's part of this international convention A&M Records is holding to ...

Tom Waits is Flying Upside Down (On Purpose)

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, October 1987

"IT'S ALWAYS the mistakes," Tom Waits is saying. "Most things begin as a mistake. Most breakthroughs in music come out of a revolution of the ...

Warren Zevon

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Creem, October 1987

WARREN ZEVON has perfected the art of squirming without perceptible movement. Crumpled on a couch in a windowless record company boxroom, the man with the ...

Warren Zevon: Sentimental Hygiene

Review by Bud Scoppa, Creem, October 1987

AS A HARD-BOILED confessional work, Sentimental Hygiene (Zevon's seventh album and his first in five years) has less in common with current rock than it ...

John Hiatt: Return of the Demon Conqueror

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 9 October 1987

Singer-songwriter John Hiatt is back — at his best — from the drugs-and-booze brink. Adam Sweeting reports ...

Aztec Camera, Roddy Frame: Aztec Camera: Cameraman Has Got The Picture

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 16 October 1987

At 23, Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera has an old head on his shoulders, and as Adam Sweeting found out, his new LP benefits from ...

Townes Van Zandt (1987)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 16 October 1987

The cult Texan troubadour talks about the difference between the pro-active Butch Hancock and his own laid-back self; making live albums and playing solo versus having a band; his sometime roommate Roky Erickson; seeing Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show and obtaining his first guitar; his oft-covered 'Pancho and Lefty'; the UK hurricane of 1987; his pals Steve Earle, Jerry Jeff Walker and Guy Clark, and the death of "Skinny Dennis" Sanchez; plus Lyle Lovett, Chips Moman... and Scotty Moore's guitar.

File format: mp3; file size: 55.6mb, interview length: 57' 57" sound quality: ****

Van Morrison: Poetic Champions Compose (PolyGram)

Review by Roy Trakin, Musician, November 1987

"IF MY HEART could do the thinking, and my head began to feel," pleads Van Morrison on a song from his latest album, a sentiment ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 5 November 1987

Motown's slogan was "The Sound of Young America" not "The Sound of Black America." ...

George Michael: By George, he's really got it

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 9 November 1987

Rich, talented, and politically aware, George Michael skilfully charts the tricky waters of superstardom. ...

Tom Waits: Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 9 November 1987

Tom Waits Shines His Lamp on Sleazy Underside of Life Quirky Sounds, Offbeat Lighting, Wiggy Jigs Make for a Highly Stylized, Intimate Concert ...

Tom Waits: I Just Tell Stories For Money: Tom Waits

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 14 November 1987

SOMETIMES YOU CAN get a pretty good idea about someone's music just by checking out their appearance. If clothes maketh the man, they also speak ...

The Band, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Ronnie Hawkins, Daniel Lanois, Levon & the Hawks, Robbie Robertson, U2: The Second Coming of Robbie Robertson

Special Feature by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 19 November 1987

Eleven, years ago, the enigmatic leader of the Band walked away from the rock world. Now, after some years of wild living, he's joined with ...

Robbie Robertson: Songs of a native son

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 23 November 1987

STEPPING OFF a Greyhound bus from Toronto in 1961, a 17-year-old boy found himself in West Helena, Ark., by the banks of the Mississippi River, ...

Warren Zevon: Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 23 November 1987

Zevon: Mean and Black ...

Elvis Costello: Rebirth of a Punk Hero

Profile by Mark Mordue, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 27 November 1987

Mark Mordue profiles Elvis Costello, now in his post-punk phase and about to tour Australia next week. ...

Steve Earle: Sweet success for one of country's new voices

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 17 December 1987

DEPENDING ON your point of view, country-rocker Steve Earle is an overnight sensation or a guy who fought the good fight for more than a ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson: Good and Bad Vibrations

Interview by Jeremy Gluck, The Guardian, 1988

Beach Boy Brian Wilson owes his survival to his doctor and a regime of psychotherapy, diet and exercise, he told Jeremy Gluck. ...

The Humblebums, Gerry Rafferty: Gerry Rafferty: A Humble One

Interview by Colin Irwin, Folk Roots, 1988

GERRY RAFFERTY is one of the more elusive and enigmatic figures on this increasingly strange roundabout. A Scotsman bred on traditional music, he was never ...

Prince: Time of the Sign

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Imp of the Perverse' (Virgin Books), 1988

1987 WAS A comparatively low-profile year for Prince, a year that saw some of his greatest music on the double Sign 'O' The Times album ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: What Was And What Might Have Been: A Lost Interview with Brian Wilson

Interview by Jeremy Gluck, unpublished, 1988

NOTE: It's 1988, Brian Wilson had just launched his solo career with the release of the eponymous Brian Wilson album, and Jeremy Gluck gets to ...

Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon (1988)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, January 1988

King Sprout McAloon on the state of songwriting and production in 1988, Bruce Springsteen and Robert De Niro, Newcastle, fame, breaking America, and... Issac Hayes!

File format: mp3; file size: 18mb, interview length: 19' 40" sound quality: ***

Leonard Cohen: Crocodile Tears

Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 2 January 1988

LET'S TALK misconceptions. Like the one about Cleopatra being Egyptian (she was Greek), Christmas being a time for giving (take take take), Ben Elton and ...

Prefab Sprout: All The Way To Memphis

Report and Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 30 January 1988

THE BEARD HAS gone. Yes, squeamish sartorial onlookers will be relieved to note that Paddy's shrubbery has been shorn, that his shapely chin now positively ...

Leonard Cohen (1988)

Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1988

Laughing Lennie talks to Mat Snow about songwriting; meditation and religion; the collapse of literary culture; the misperception of him as a Gloom Merchant; music as therapy; ambiguity, songwriting and 'My Way': Sinatra vs Vicious; his relationship with the press; Montreal; the idealism of '68, and the rise of the post-punk Cult of Cohen.

File format: mp3; file size: 81.7mb, interview length: 1h 25' 08" sound quality: ***

Leonard Cohen: Cohen's Way

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, The Guardian, February 1988

WE LIVE IN THE days of the flood, says Leonard Cohen. "Most of my psychic landmarks have evaporated. I'm reluctant to apply the psychic realm ...

Aztec Camera in Love

Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 13 February 1988

Aztec Camera have just completed their first tour for four years and are gradually steering their way back into the nation's heart and soul. Paul ...

Leonard Cohen: A Mercy Mission With... The Man With A Golden Voice

Interview by Mat Snow, Sounds, 20 February 1988

Once the diarist of doom, LEONARD COHEN has suddenly released a disco-comedy LP, I'm Your Man. MAT SNOW meets the 53-year-old mentor of Ian McCulloch, Matt Johnson, ...

Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians: Hackney Empire, London

Live Review by Robin Gibson, Sounds, 27 February 1988

THE ODD MAN OUT ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Globe of Frogs (A&M)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, March 1988

EXALTED BY an adoring audience, rock 'n' roll cult figures frequently turn amusing quirks into annoying affectations. Happily, this isn't the case with Robyn Hitchcock, ...

Lyle Lovett: Lovett and Leave It

Profile and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 4 March 1988

Lyle Lovett is top of the country charts but the laid back Texan has no intentions, he tells Adam Sweeting, of ending up on the treadmill ...

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (CBS LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Richard North, New Musical Express, 5 March 1988

OSTENSIBLY LENNY has that kind of graceless seriousness which makes the more frivolous amongst us uncomfortable. He's been dismissed by a multitude as an old ...

Prefab Sprout: A Satisfying Whiff of Glue

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 11 March 1988

Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout talks to Mark Cooperabout Tin Pan Alley, nostalgia and his search for enchantment ...

Shack: Construction Time Again: The House That Shack Built

Interview by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 26 March 1988

Liverpool's SHACK discuss the concrete and clay behind their latest album. ROY WILKINSON unearths the EastEnders and Derek Hatton influences. ...

Terry Allen: Lubbock (On Everything) (Special Delivery SPT 1007/8)

Review by Ken Hunt, Folk Roots, April 1988

OVER THE LAST month or so, each time you turned on the TV, opened the paper or virtually any magazine that runs to book reviews, ...

Joni Mitchell: Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm

Review by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 4 April 1988

THE FIRST LINES on Joni Mitchell's new album, Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, are an invitation to intimacy "I'm going to take you to ...

Joni Mitchell: Portrait of an Artist in her Prime

Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 4 April 1988

IT HAS BEEN 24 years since Joni Mitchell left Saskatoon and eventually arrived on the coffeehouse circuit in Toronto's Yorkville district. And although she has ...

Nanci Griffith: Country Rose of Texas

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 29 April 1988

Nanci Griffith's music may live happily in bedsit or honky-tonk but she tells anecdotes onstage to stop her audience fist-fighting, reports Adam Sweeting ...

Joni Mitchell: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, May 1988

She's danced to the beat of her own drum all the way from Laurel Canyon to uptown Los Angeles. Joni Mitchell talks about her life, ...

Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Warnes: Leonard Cohen: The return of the modern troubadour

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 9 May 1988

LEONARD COHEN, hailed 20 years ago as Canada's answer to Bob Dylan, had slipped into obscurity. It was the mid-1980s, and audiences seemed more interested ...

Neil Young: Cruise Control: Neil Young's Lonesome Drive

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, June 1988

  EVEN IN Los Angeles, where cool cars are as common as Taco Bells, you can't help but ogle the elegant black and chrome Caddy limo ...

Joni Mitchell: Idol Talk: Joni Mitchell

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 4 June 1988

"THE POET is the vainest of the vain, even before the ugliest of water buffalo doth he fan his tail." ...

Leonard Cohen's Nervous Breakthrough

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, July 1988

"I THINK IF I HAD ONE OF THOSE GOOD VOICES, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY," Leonard Cohen ruminates. "I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE SUNG ...

Melissa Etheridge: Places in the Heart

Interview by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 2 July 1988

AMID THE PRESENT GLUT OF FEMALE SINGER-SONGWRITERS, MELISSA ETHERIDGE IS PROVING HERSELF ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE PACK. PAUL MATHUR COMES OVER ALL ACOUSTIC AND ...

Siedah Garrett: S★I★E★D★A★H

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 5 July 1988

  SINGER-SONGWRITER Siedah Garrett hasn't exactly had herself a bad year by anyone's reckoning. Aside from duetting with Michael Jackson on 'I Just Can't Stop Loving ...

Exene Cervenka, Johnette Napolitano, Victoria Williams: Victoria Williams, Exene Cervenka, Johnette Napolitano: McCabe's, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 1988

Three Women, One Fine Show ...

Carly Simon (1988)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 21 July 1988

The singer-songwriter discusses the soundtracks to the movie Heartburn (and current project Working Girl); plus Reagan, Dukakis and Jessie Jackson, and American politics in general; growing up in the illustrious Simon (& Schuster) family; the pros and cons of Live Aid; drugs and her generation; working with Clive Davis at Arista... and her reluctance to play live.

File format: mp3; file size: 40.3mb, interview length: 41' 59" sound quality: ***

Carly Simon: Free as a liberal prude

Profile and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 30 July 1988

Carly Simon is back after years of artistic famine. She tells Adam Sweeting about life beyond the emotional bumps ...

Laura Nyro Returns for a Soulful Connection

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 11 August 1988

IN THE YEAR of the comeback, the touted returns of Brian Wilson and Patti Smith are no more startling than the re-emergence of Laura Nyro, ...

Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould: Bob Mould's Quiet Life After Husker Du

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 19 August 1988

FOR THE BETTER part of the 1980s, Husker Du was the leading light of the American rock 'n' roll underground. The Minneapolis-based trio came crashing ...

Patti Smith Resurfaces

Profile and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 27 August 1988

DETROIT – "I'm still shaky from this," says Patti Smith, who's been driven by her husband, Fred Smith, through a hellish rainstorm and rush-hour traffic ...

Billy Bragg: Workers Playtime (Go! Discs LP/Cassette/ CD)

Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 17 September 1988

YOURS SINCERELY ...

Bruce Hornsby's Southern Comforts

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1988

Rock's other Bruce is a home-town boy — that's just the way he is ...

Randy Newman: Still Grouchy After All These Years

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 22 September 1988

Randy Newman has overcome Epstein-Barr and has made another brilliant album. But that doesn't mean he's happy. ...

Michelle Shocked: Short Sharp Shocked (Mercury Records)

Review by Gillian G. Gaar, The Rocket, October 1988

MICHELLE SHOCKED is the latest example of this year's primary trend (three or more of anything in the music business constitutes a trend): the female ...

Laura Nyro: Mayfair Theater, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by David Nathan, Billboard, 1 October 1988

BACK ON tour after a lengthy hiatus, innovative singer/songwriter Laura Nyro has been reminding audiences that she is a unique and exceptionally gifted artist. At ...

Tom Waits: Big Time (Island LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 1 October 1988

START MAKING SENSE ...

Nanci Griffith: Everyday stories of Country

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 7 October 1988

Nanci Griffith, New Country singer and novelist, talks to Andy Gill ...

Randy Newman: A Nightmare on Main Street

Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, 21 October 1988

RANDY NEWMAN was sitting in the Forum Arena in Inglewood a while ago, watching the Lakers put on yet another basketball clinic at the expense ...

Joe Ely (1988)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 October 1988

The Texan Troubadour talks about the disappearance of the honky-tonks and the resulting change in his music; a 13-year-old Charlie Sexton playing in his band; his association with the Clash; his album Hi-Res and the lost final MCA album; Lord of the Highway and his new band; his latest album Dig All Night; fellow Flatlanders Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore; how Shelby Singleton screwed that trio; playing solo versus with playing with a band; and his hometown of Austin, Texas.

File format: mp3; file size: 64.8mb, interview length: 1h 07' 33" sound quality: ****

Randy Newman: Pop's Mark Twain Continues to Mix the Oil With the Vinegar

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, November 1988

EVERY FIVE years or so, Randy Newman gets a little famous. Back in 1972, he recorded 'Sail Away', a song that grew so much in ...

John Hiatt's southern drive

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, December 1988

"IT'S KIND of a body, these last two albums," John Hiatt says. He's explaining why his recent concerts include only material from Slow Turning and ...

Edie Brickell and New Bohemians: Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars (Geffen) ***

Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 1 December 1988

"I'm not aware of too many things/I know what I know if you know what I mean/Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box/Religion is ...

John Hiatt

Interview by Ken Hunt, Omaha Rainbow, Spring 1988

What's your date and place of birth? August 20th 1952, Indianapolis, Indiana. I'm a Hoosier. ...

David Crosby (1989)

Interview by John Pidgeon, Rock's Backpages audio, 1989

The Cros talks about his biography, Long Time Gone (co-written with Carl Gottlieb), his years of addiction and rehab, friends Mama Cass and Graham Nash, and looks back at Woodstock.

File format: mp3; file size: 39.3mb, interview length: 42' 53" sound quality: ****

David Crosby (1989) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Pidgeon, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1989

This is a transcript of John's interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Don McLean (1989)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1989

The singer/songwriter talks of his environmental concerns; being too commercial for the folk world; working in Nashville; choosing the musician's life; his association with the Weavers' Lee Hayes; his early albums including American Pie; playing with the Persuasions and Jordanaires; keeping his copyrights, and the importance of ideas.

File format: mp3; total file size: 38.4mb, total interview length: 40' 01" sound quality: *****

Gerry Rafferty: Right Down the Line

Sleeve notes by Jerry Gilbert, EMI USA Records, 1989

THE SHADOW OF melancholy now seemed to rise like a weight from Gerry Rafferty's shoulders. 'Baker Street' was an instant smash and he went on ...

Lou Reed (1989) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages transcripts, January 1989

This is a transcript of Martin's audio interview with Lou. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 4 February 1989

THE MESSY BEAT Angels were well and truly bushed after a week of post-Dali wassailing, but the sight of Edie Brickell's band was as startling ...

Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians: the New Marquee, London

Live Review by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 11 February 1989

DAY DREAM RELIEVER ...

Ian Tyson: Cowboy troubadour: Ian Tyson is riding high again

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 13 February 1989

THE AUDITORIUM was a sea of cowboy hats in a variety of styles – High Sierra, Ridgetop and Cattleman. The ranchers, cowhands and wives were ...

Lou Reed: New York

Review by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 23 February 1989

NEW YORK is Lou Reed's rock & roll version of The Bonfire of the Vanities. But whereas Tom Wolfe maintains an ultimately cynical distance from ...

Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney: Elvis Costello in Love & War

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, March 1989

THERE'S A deceptive balm in the air, a bright December afternoon curdled by icy darts of breeze, as Elvis Costello and Cait O'Riordan stride along ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara (1989)

Interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 March 1989

The Canadian songstress on the making of her album Miss America: how she co-produces her music; her wildness onstage; comparisons with Van Morrison and Patti Smith; disputes with Virgin Records over her recording direction, and being helped by Joe Boyd; her acting career; about herself as a singer; rock critics' views of her, and on her favourite songs on the album.

File format: mp3; file size: 61mb, interview length: 1h 03' 34" sound quality: ***

Guy Clark: Old Friends (Sugar Hill) ***½

Review by Holly Gleason, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1989

THIS IS THE first album in five years by Guy dark, one of the deans of Texas songwriting. Like his previous work, Old Friends evokes ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara: Discreet Enquiries

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 11 March 1989

MARY'S MISS AMERICA WAS LAUDED AS ONE OF THE MOST STARTLING AND FRESH ALBUMS OF '88, SHE MESSED UP HER LIP-SYNCH ON THE 'BODY'S IN ...

Tanita Tikaram: Ancient Heart (Reprise)

Review by Holly Gleason, Rolling Stone, 23 March 1989

AS HER album title suggests, Tanita Tikaram possesses an old soul. There's a worldliness to her work that belies her nineteen years, as she writes ...

Lucinda Williams: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 5 May 1989

Twang go the heart strings ...

Elvis Costello: Palladium, London

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 13 May 1989

GETTING HIGH ON E ...

Peter Case: The Man With The Blue Post Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar (Geffen)

Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989

PETER CASE'S debut album arrived in 1986 and the applause was thunderous. One could be forgiven for thinking that the new Bob Dylan had finally ...

Randy Newman: Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA

Live Review by Holly Gleason, Rolling Stone, 18 May 1989

Old Four Eyes Is Back ...

Lucinda Williams: Walking The Line

Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 20 May 1989

LUCINDA WILLIAMS was caught just in time, the singer/songwriter was just about to head off into the hills when somehow Rough Trade pulled her back. ...

Cindy Lee Berryhill: Beat Poetry

Profile and Interview by Mark Kemp, Spin, June 1989

Cindy Lee Berryhill, a bowl of musical trailmix, left California for New York. But she brought a lot of folklore with her. ...

Edwyn Collins: The Return of Fast Eddie

Interview by Everett True, Melody Maker, 10 June 1989

AFTER FIVE YEARS IN THE ROCK'N'ROLL WILDERNESS, FORMER ORANGE JUICE MAIN MAN EDWYN COLLINS IS BACK WITH HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM, THE HIGHLY-ACCLAIMED HOPE AND ...

Cindy Lee Berryhill: Naked Movie Star (Rhino)

Review by Holly Gleason, Rolling Stone, 29 June 1989

CINDY LEE Berryhill comes across as a mixture of beat poet, street waif and social gadfly — a dangerous combination that threatens to slide into ...

Carole King: Stepping Out Of The Shadows

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 14 July 1989

Carole King is coming out from behind her piano because she wants to rock. Mark Cooper reports. ...

Phranc: Folk Singer Enjoys Being Phranc at Last

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 22 July 1989

'I ENJOY Being a Girl' is the title song of Phranc's new album, and when she sings the 1958 Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune it ...

Bernie Taupin, Elton John: Bernie Taupin: Elton's Write Hand Man

Interview by Steven P. Wheeler, Music Connection, August 1989

IT IS THE summer of 1989, six months of phone calls and patience have finally paid off. Bernie Taupin, the man who has been placing ...

Labi Siffre: So Strong

Interview by Paul Mathur, Spin, August 1989

Seventeen years ago Labi Siffre was a British R&B star who sang nothing but love songs. Today he's once again a star, singing about struggle ...

Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt: Life Lessons: Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, August 1989

Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt find hope in a hard world. ...

Melanie

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Paytress, Record Collector, August 1989

MANY OF THE ACTS at Woodstock were already well established names, but if anyone can claim to have been broken by the festival, it must ...

Leonard Cohen

Profile and Interview by Mark Dery, Keyboard, September 1989

"MOST MUSIC criticism," griped Leonard Cohen in a recent Musician interview, "is...so far behind, say, the criticism of painting. Nobody is identifying our popular singers ...

Van Morrison: CD Reissues

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, September 1989

Earthy but out of this world: at last on CD, Van Morrison's swinging '70s. ...

Paul McCartney: Paul Gets Back

Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 2 October 1989

ENGLAND WAS basking in an unseasonably warm and bright afternoon one day last week. Paul McCartney, however, was spending it enveloped by darkness and fog, ...

Phranc: I Enjoy Being a Girl (Island)

Review by Deborah Frost, Rolling Stone, 5 October 1989

'FOLKSINGER', THE opening cut on I Enjoy Being a Girl, instantly encapsulates everything that is right — as well as everything that is wrong — ...

Jane Siberry: Bound for Glory

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 9 October 1989

IT IS A LONG climb up two flights of stairs, past a wall of hanging hats, into Jane Siberry's private world. In many ways, her ...

Lucinda Williams: Passionate Kisses (Rough Trade)

Review by John Morthland, L.A. Weekly, 19 October 1989

IN AUSTIN, Texas, where I live, a considerable number of people spend a considerable amount of time wondering when Lucinda's gonna come back home from ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Keeping Her Cool

Profile and Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 25 October 1989

Shot to stardom 10 years ago, Rickie Lee Jones has fought her way back – no less cool but much more confident. Mark Cooper reports ...

Don Henley: Eagle's elegy

Interview by Mark Cooper, The Guardian, 28 October 1989

Don Henley of the Eagles is 42. Mark Cooper found him lamenting lost youth as he prepares for his London concert. ...

Warren Zevon: The low-key life of a rock star

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 4 November 1989

LOS ANGELES — These days, it seems every movie and rock star has a charity to tout or a special cause to promote. Singer-songwriter Warren ...

Michelle Shocked: Culture Shocked

Interview by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 8 November 1989

Feminist fans may be outraged by her apparent change of image, but it's no sell-out, as Michelle Shocked tells Lucy O'Brien ...

Tracy Chapman: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 17 November 1989

A glum, tedious sing-along ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara: Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Interview by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 2 December 1989

Gawky Canuck MARY MARGARET O'HARA unfit for Irish TV shock! So should we be flinging her magical-pop-with-freaky-dancing at our kids? Most deffo, reckons MICHELE KIRSCH. ...

Felt: Too Much Monkey Business

Interview by Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, 9 December 1989

THE RECENT ME AND A MONKEY ON THE MOON LP WAS FELT'S LAST SHOT, THE COMPLETION OF A 10-YEAR PLAN, THE PRE-DESTINED END OF THE ...

Jimmy Buffett: Oh, The Stories He Can Tell

Profile and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 17 December 1989

"IF THE NUNS at school saw me signing like this, they'd hit me on the knuckles with a ruler," says Jimmy Buffett, scribbling his name ...

Kirsty MacColl (1989)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1989

The singer-songwriter talks about her family background; early recordings and Stiff Records; working with the Pogues and Tracey Ullman; her new album Kite and being produced by husband Steve Lillywhite; meeting the Smiths; the position of women in the arts; songwriters she admires... and writer's block.

File format: mp3; file size: 62.2mb, interview length: 1h 04' 50" sound quality: *****

Edwyn Collins: Hope Springs Eternal: Edwyn Collins

Interview by Len Brown, Cut, Fall 1989

Though his brand of jangly guitar pop is oft-imitated, commercial success has eluded EDWYN COLLINS. But the ex-Orange Juice frontman isn't bitter, as LEN BROWN ...

Diane Warren (1990)

Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, 1990

The woman Michael Bolton calls "the Hit Bitch" talks about her working practice; how a song goes from demo to hit; her favourite artists; how she persuaded Cher to record 'If I Could Turn Back Time'; seeing the Beatles as a kid, and becoming a writer; not being keen on co-writing; still being thrilled to hear her songs on the radio; not wanting to be a performer; the writers she admires... and the songs Rod Stewart turned down.

File format: mp3; file size: 43.8mb, interview length: 45' 35" sound quality: **½

Guy Clark, Bap Kennedy, Conway Savage, Steve Young: Guy Clark: Cold Dog Soup, Steve Young: Primal Young, Conway Savage: Nothing Broken, Bap Kennedy: Lonely Street

Review by Clinton Walker, HQ, 1990

"JOHNNY CASH DIES": It's a headline that some of us, with more than a tinge of sadness, have been dreading to see for some time ...

Kirsty MacColl (1990) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1990

This is a transcript of Ira's audio interview with Kirsty. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Paul Simon: Spirit Voices Vol. I

Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, 1990

"There is a girl in New York City Who calls herself the human trampoline And sometimes when I'm falling, flying or tumbling in turmoil I ...

Paul Simon: Spirit Voices Vol. II

Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, 1990

"Some stories are magical Meant to be sung Songs from the mouth of the river When the world was young And all of these spirit ...

The Crickets, Sonny Curtis: Sonny Curtis (1990)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1990

From Buddy Holly to the Clash: songwriter/guitarist Curtis talks about his time with Holly and his lengthy association with the Crickets; the number of mistakes in the movie The Buddy Holly Story; backing the Everly Brothers, plus their cover of his 'Walk Right Back'; writing 'I Fought The Law', the mystery of Bobby Fuller's death, and the Clash's version of his most famous song; hanging out with Eric Clapton; writing The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme tune, and jingles; his lengthy association with Waylon Jennings, and his return to Nashville.

File format: mp3; file size: 68.3mb, interview length: 1h 11' 10" sound quality: *****

Butch Hancock: Own & Own (Demon LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 6 January 1990

OUT OF the Texas troubadour tradition croaks the least famous former Flatlander (early '70s cult Country band — write a letter to Fred Fact for ...

Lucinda Williams: Annadale Hotel, Sydney

Live Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 6 January 1990

MICK FROM Weddings Parties Anything and Jon from Paul Kelly's Messengers are The Indigo Boys, the support act, and something I miss entirely except for ...

Warren Zevon: Transverse City (Virgin America LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990

WARREN ZEVON is one hell of an American songwriter with a brilliant — albeit sometimes cynical — eye zoomed in on the way both his ...

Tanita Tikaram: Do Not Disturb: Tanita Tikaram

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, February 1990

Bookish, Studious, unsurprisingly naïve, Tanita Tikaram sidestepped university at the age of 18 when her darkly sonorous vocals and "sixth-form poetry" suddenly found an international ...

Del Shannon: Pop Before the Beatles

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 10 February 1990

THE APPARENT suicide of Del Shannon at his home in California puts the final tragic twist to a story which began well with a string ...

Del Shannon 1939-1990

Obituary by Bill Holdship, L.A. Weekly, 22 February 1990

THE MOST tragic thing would be for Del Shannon to be lumped with, as he sometimes was in the past, all the Bobbys and Frankies ...

Sinead O'Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Ensign LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 10 March 1990

THE FIRST ONE had O'Connor screaming in a storm of icy blue. This one has a sleeve that looks like a Phil Collins album, all ...

John Martyn: Starting again at the bottom

Report and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, Sunday Correspondent, 18 March 1990

TWO YEARS AGO, after Island Records rejected his last LP; John Martyn entered a "black period" that lasted six months. In an alcoholic haze, he ...

Kirsty MacColl (1990)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, April 1990

The much-missed singer-songwriter talks about, well, everything: her love of collaboration and those she has worked with; her family; the UK Poll Tax riots and politics; the epiphany of 'Good Vibrations' and so much more.

File format: mp3; file size: 70.8mb, interview length: 1h 17' 16" sound quality: ****

Suzanne Vega: Godmother Of New Age

Interview by Len Brown, New Musical Express, 14 April 1990

Suzanne Vega was brought up as a Puerto Rican, attended the neo-legendary New York School Of Performing Arts and went on to become the sensitive ...

Billy Bragg (1990)

Interview by Larry Jaffee, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1990

The Bard of Barking talks about being politicised, the Miners' Strike, experiences of racism in the Army, his new album The Internationale... and rather a lot about Margaret Thatcher.

File format: mp3; file size: 30.1mb, interview length: 32' 54" sound quality: ****

Cowboy Junkies, Kris Kristofferson: Kris Kristofferson Meets The Cowboy Junkies: Country Music On The Morning After

Interview by Fred Schruers, Musician, June 1990

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON occupies an unusual place among American songwriters. His songs have been covered by such legends as his inspiration Bob Dylan ('They Killed Him'), ...

Roger Waters (1990) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages transcripts, June 1990

This is a transcript of Martin's 1990 audio interview with the former Floyd man. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Vic Chesnutt: And a Singer Grows

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 1990

"I AIN'T NO fashion plate," singer Vic Chesnutt conceded when asked about the price tag on the collar of his thrift-shop Western shirt. "I just ...

Victoria Williams: Swing The Statue! (Rough Trade)

Review by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 2 June 1990

THREE YEARS ago, Victoria Williams emerged with a debut set of 13 songs which invited us to revise and re-define our notion of folk music. ...

Napalm Death: A Rage Of Reason

Interview by Paul Elliott, Sounds, 8 September 1990

Napalm Death are back, and as terrifying as ever but 1990 sees the band advancing musically as Paul Elliott discovers. ...

Crazy Horse, Bob Dylan, Neil Young: Bob Dylan: Under The Red Sky (CBS 647188); Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Ragged Glory (Reprise WX 734)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 14 September 1990

Neil's your brother, Bob's your uncle ...

Prefab Sprout's Jordan: An Interview with Paddy McAloon

Interview by Tom Doyle, International Musician & Recording World, October 1990

The new Prefab Sprout album, Jordan: The Comeback, is a veritable potpourri of styles. Tom Doyle talks to mainman Paddy McAloon about singing, songwriting and ...

Steve Earle Does It the Hard Way

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, October 1990

DRIVING WEST out of Nashville on a summer afternoon the hills look green and lazy, a deceptively pastoral view. "This is a poor county," Steve ...

Prefab Sprout: Waxing Lyrical

Profile and Interview by Nick Coleman, Time Out, 17 October 1990

Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon fancies himself as a metaphysical Michael Jackson. Not only does he pride himself on his ability to mix musical genres, he ...

The La's: This Could Be The La's Time

Interview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 20 October 1990

It took three years to make, it cost an unfeasibly huge sum, it's stuffed with great songs – but THE LA's still hate their new ...

Paul Simon: Rhythm Of The Saints

Review by David Quantick, Vox, November 1990

FOUR YEARS AFTER GRACELAND and Paul Simon returns with another album of Third World inspired pop music, this time songs recorded with Brazilian musicians. Rhythm ...

Victoria Williams: Swing the Statue! (Rough Trade)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, November 1990

ECCENTRIC AND proud, Victoria Williams could be a cross between Tom Waits and Natalie Merchant. Or maybe Jonathan Richman and Kate Bush. Anyway, Swing the ...

Paul Simon: Across The Tracks: The Rhythm of the Saints

Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, December 1990

'Obvious Child' "I THOUGHT IF anything was going to be a single it would be that. I thought that as soon as we recorded the drums, ...

Warren Zevon In Hard Times

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 13 December 1990

FOR WARREN Zevon, the past year has not been the best of times. It has been rough and it has been weird. To start with, ...

Joan Armatrading (1990)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1990

The singer songwriter charts her recording career from her debut (with Pam Nestor), Whatever's for Us, up to her current release Hearts and Flowers: producers like Gus Dudgeon, Glyn Johns and Steve Lillywhite; musicians like Dave Mattacks, Jerry Donahue and Sly & Robbie and songs such as 'Love and Affection' and 'Me Myself I'. She also talks about real musicians v high tech instruments, being photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe and Lord Snowden, and her love of comics.

File format: mp3; file size: 48.6mb, interview length: 50' 40" sound quality: *****

Bob Dylan: The Song Talk Interview

Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, 1991

"I've made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot"(‘I and I’) ...

Leonard Cohen: Porridge? Lozenge? Syringe?

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, 1991

He's been a poet and songwriter for more than 40 years, but Leonard Cohen still can't find a rhyme for 'orange'. "It drives you mad," ...

The Go-Betweens: The Go-Betweens – 1978-1990 (Beggars Banquet)

Review by Clinton Walker, Rolling Stone (Australia), January 1991

IT WAS PROPHETIC that the Go-Betweens should have prepared this album, a double compilation of their greatest "hits and misses", or rather "misses and outtakes", ...

Edwyn Collins: Town & Country Club, London

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991

THERE ARE those who hold that to fully appreciate the mastery of Edwyn Collins one should be fully conversant with every nuance of his decade-long ...

Prefab Sprout: McAloony Tunes

Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991

Prefab Sprout's latest album, Jordan: The Comeback, was lavished with even more praise than their previous two classics, and their European dates are inspiring the ...

Mark Eitzel: Borderline, London

Live Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 26 January 1991

The last laugh ...

Edie Brickell: Edie Rising

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, February 1991

After the unexpected and phenomenal success of her debut LP, Edie Brickell reinvented herself for Rolling Stone magazine but ultimately had to tell the truth. ...

Joe Ely: Ely Rider

Interview by Gavin Martin, Vox, February 1991

Joe Ely hocked all he owned to get his latest album released, making him the loan star of the Lone Star state. Gavin Martin meets ...

Joni Mitchell: Conversation with a wandering dreamer

Interview by David Sinclair, The Times, 11 February 1991

Joni Mitchell, artist, photographer and grande dame of rock, talks to David Sinclair. ...

Joni Mitchell: They paint paradise

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 14 February 1991

Now Joni Mitchell's more at ease at her easel, reports Adam Sweeting ...

Joni Mitchell: Lookin' Good, Sister

Interview by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 23 February 1991

THE HAIR still tumbles to the shoulders, sunshine blonde; the smile is as winsome as ever; the perfect bone-structure remains, well, perfect. ...

Aretha Franklin, Dan Penn: Dan Penn

Interview by John Pidgeon, Record Hunter, March 1991

DAN PENN WROTE his first hit ('Is A Bluebird Blue?' for Conway Twitty) at fourteen, and collaborated prolifically with Spooner Oldham, turning out mid '60s ...

Tanita Tikaram: Everybody's Angel

Review by Max Bell, Vox, March 1991

WHETHER IT'S by design or by some happy accident, Tanita Tikaram's third album finds the oddball girl-in-woman's-clothing locating her real voice at last. ...

Joni Mitchell: Joni Rides Home

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Vox, April 1991

JONI MITCHELL MAY HAVE CUT HER MUSICAL TEETH DURING THE ERA OF LOVE AND PEACE BUT SHE TAKES NONE TOO KINDLY TO COMPARISONS WITH TODAY'S ...

John Hiatt: The Fugitive: Slow Talking with John Hiatt

Interview by Chris Bourke, Rip It Up (New Zealand), April 1991

  JOHN HIATT can't seem to relax. He's in his Auckland hotel room — at the Hyatt, naturally — getting his photo taken. His worn, buttoned-up ...

Bob Dylan (1991)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 April 1991

Bob on why he writes songs, how he writes songs, what he writes songs about, what he doesn't write songs about, the keys he writes songs in, where he likes to write songs, what songs are and aren't, and some memories of his own songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 75.5mb, interview length: 1h 22' 29" sound quality: **½

Elvis Costello (1991)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 17 April 1991

Mr McManus on new album Mighty Like A Rose: the songs, the production and the musicians; his split from the Attractions; new music, and his admiration for The Band.

File format: mp3; file size: 83.2mb, interview length: 1h 30' 53" sound quality: ***

Cathy Dennis, D Mob: Cathy Dennis: Cathy Comes Home

Interview by Betty Page, Vox, July 1991

Currently the UK's biggest female success Stateside, "D Mob Diva" Cathy Dennis returns to her native Norwich only to be met with a resounding... who ...

Joni Mitchell

Interview by Steve Matteo, CD Review, July 1991

BACK IN 1975, Rolling Stone mercilessly slammed Joni Mitchell's The Hissing of Summer Lawns, charging the singer/songwriter with adapting styles of music – jazz and ...

Bob Dylan: Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 6 July 1991

MANSFIELD – What about Bob? Long before the hit movie came along this summer people have been asking that question about the Bob that is ...

The La's: Have Mersey: An Interview with The La’s’ Driving Force and Angriest Member Lee Mavers

Interview by Tom Graves, Rock & Roll Disc, September 1991

JUST WHEN YOU think you’ve seen or heard everything that could happen in the music business, something like the La’s imbroglio comes along. The ...

Tom Waits: The Early Years Volume I (Edsel)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, September 1991

LONG BEFORE he became the rather self-conscious Harry Dean Stanton type he is today, Tom Waits used to intone straight-to-the-heart-of-the matter barroom blues, most of ...

Lloyd Cole: Don't Get Weird On Me, Babe (Polydor/All formats)

Review by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 14 September 1991

WEIRD BARD ...

Robert Wyatt: Dondestan (Rough Trade/All formats)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 14 September 1991

IT'S BEEN six years since Robert Wyatt last made a record, the wayward and twisty Old Rotten Hat. Before that, Wyatt spent a decade making ...

Phranc: Frankly Phranc

Interview by Mark Dery, Guitar Player, October 1991

PIERCED LABIA. Khaki-clad lesbian soldiers, posing topless in the Saudi Arabian sun. Advertisements for adult toys that resemble Star Trek props — the sort of ...

Hole: Pretty on the Inside (Caroline)

Review by Robert Gordon, Spin, October 1991

THE WEATHERVANE continues turning, from R.E.M. to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and now, perhaps, to Sonic Youth. Coproduced by SY's Kim Gordon and Don ...

Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home (Elektra)

Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 31 October 1991

ALTHOUGH BILLY Bragg is often a great songwriter, it's no surprise that his socialist-propaganda ditties haven't converted young Americans to the teachings of Marx and ...

Donald Fagen, Steely Dan: Donald Fagen (1991)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 13 November 1991

The former Dan man talks about the New York Rock & Soul Revue; Steely Dan's influence on UK groups; the serious process of recording Dan albums; his forthcoming album Kamakiriad; The Nightfly, 'IGY' and "mock sentimentality"; writer's block and psychotherapy; Walter Becker's drug problem, and being reunited with him; his childhood, his parents and Jewishness; meeting Walter at Bard College; on '60s soul; on Prince, hip hop, and De La Soul sampling 'Peg', and on the Dan members, and catalogue reissues.

File format: mp3; total file size: 51.6mb, interview length: 53' 43" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Matthew Sweet: A New Girlfriend for Matthew Sweet

Profile and Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 28 November 1991

Hard-edged album documents romantic turmoil ...

Neil Young: Frontman: Neil Young

Interview by Tony Scherman, Musician, December 1991

WHAT'S THE best way for you to write? I pick up things from people on the streets, in airports, at parties. The night before last ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Start Making Sense: Robyn Hitchcock finds a method to his madness

Interview by Michael Azerrad, Details, December 1991

A SHARP-dressed man, Robyn Hitchcock never leaves home without his American Express card. But, true to his station as a legendary alternative-rock guru, Hitchcock's plastic ...

Suzanne Vega's Book of Dreams, Pt. 1

Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, Winter 1991

"ALL THE MYSTERIES of life come in A minor," Suzanne Vega said, curled up on a couch in Hollywood. ...

Bob Dylan, Eric Von Schmidt: Eric Von Schmidt on Bob Dylan (1992)

Interview by Larry Jaffee, Rock's Backpages audio, 1992

The venerable folkie looks back to the Yale folk scene, and first meeting Dylan; discusses who actually wrote 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down' — the Rev. Gary Davis? Blind Boy Fuller? Von Schmidt? — and Dylan's magpie tendencies; he also recounts meeting Dylan in London in 1963 with Richard Fariña, and drinking gin and smoking pot.

File format: mp3; file size: 37.8mb, interview length: 39' 47" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Evan Dando, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando: Deeply Dippy

Interview by Simon Witter, Sky, 1992

SINKING INTO the bar-room sofa of one of Kensington's more sterile, demi-swank hotels on the morning after America re-bombed Baghdad, Evan Dando smiles with a ...

Jerry Jeff Walker (1992)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 1992

The 'Mr Bojangles' man talks about his current place in music; his favourite albums; his adoptive hometown of Austin, Texas; meeting the real Mr. Bojangles; his problem with studio musicians; his musical background, and becoming a songwriter; his friend Guy Clark; on "manager" Michael Brovsky; inventing his name; his long-lasting marriage; Hondo Crouch, and Luckenbach, Texas; the Lost Gonzo Band; restarting his career after trouble with the IRS, and playing golf!

File format: mp3; file size: 64.3mb, interview length: 1h 06' 56" sound quality: ****

Johnny Mandel (1992)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 1992

Over lunch at Musso & Frank, the Hollywood songwriter and arranger talks about 'The Shadow of Your Smile'; about his collaborations with musicians and lyricists, including Peggy Lee and Shirley Horn; making the Unforgettable album with Natalie Cole and the ghost of her father; the brilliance of Michael Jackson and Barbra Streisand; and writing 'Suicide is Painless' for Robert Altman's classic M*A*S*H.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.3mb, interview length: 51' 20" sound quality: ***

Leonard Cohen (1992)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 1992

The Great Canadian talks at length and in detail about the process by which, through sheer hard work, he crafts his songs, from the recent The Future album back to such classics as 'Suzanne' and 'Bird on a Wire'.

File format: mp3 File size: 81.5mb Interview length: 1h 29' 00"; Sound quality: ***

Leonard Cohen On Songwriting

Interview by Paul Zollo, from 'Songwriters On Songwriting', 1992

WE ARE SITTING Indian-style on the second floor of Leonard Cohen’s home in Los Angeles. On his bookshelf are many books that he’s written himself, ...

Pet Shop Boys: Oh Mister Songwriters!

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1992

What is it like, that magical moment when the creative juices start to flow? Is it one glorious spurt? Or merely a dutiful grind? The ...

Tori Amos: Ginger Nut

Interview by Barbara Ellen, New Musical Express, 11 January 1992

She's a Grade A, Class One, Turbo-driven Fruitcake, but Southern belle TORI AMOS might just be the antidote to all those cloying bottle blonde bimbettes ...

Tori Amos: Vote Tori

Profile and Interview by Nick Coleman, Time Out, 22 January 1992

Some songwriters wash their dirty linen in public. Tori Amos dries hers there as well. Nick Coleman dodges the rows of hanging knickers to meet ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: The Kinks' Ray Davies (1992)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 January 1992

The King Kink on politics; songwriting (and titling!); cover versions of his songs; on Joe Meek and Noel Coward; on Chrissie Hynde, and on living with his songs for so many years.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.5mb, interview length: 54' 07" sound quality: ****

Lloyd Cole, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan: Lloyd Cole, Grant McLennan & Robert Forster: The Academy Theater, New York NY

Live Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 6 February 1992

A GUY WHO can sing a line like "Baby, you're too well-read" and mean it, Lloyd Cole is the intellectual in the black leather jacket ...

PJ Harvey: Powerhaus, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 February 1992

LAST NIGHT A PJ SAVED MY LIFE ...

PJ Harvey: Sex and Bile and Rock and Roll

Interview by Jim Arundel, Melody Maker, 8 February 1992

IT'S SUNDAY AFTERNOON, grey and bitter and it looks like rain. Your flatmate, Lisa, and her gangly boyfriend, Ben, are in her room. They're burning ...

K.T. Oslin: Making Smart Moves

Interview by John Morthland, Country Music, March 1992

The independent singer/songwriter has to wear many hats in her career. While she finds life on the road difficult, she's aware of its pitfalls and ...

Steve Forbert: The American in Me (Geffen)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, March 1992

HE HAS seen the best minds of his generation, ripped by recession and crunched by credit rates, run screaming from the country club of life. ...

Luka Bloom Doesn't Want To Be Just Another Boring Folkie

Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 19 March 1992

A STRICT VEGETARIAN, Luka Bloom is right at home at a fanatic health-food restaurant in Manhattan's East Village, where he's outlining the fundamental problem with ...

Julian Lennon: Kensal Dock, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 April 1992

IT IS DIFFICULT to contain a sneaking compassion for Julian Lennon. Unwelcome comparisons, rarely in his favour, continue to dog his career. They surfaced even ...

Tori Amos Finds Herself

Report and Interview by Paul Zollo, Musician, May 1992

"IT ALL COMES from the centre," she says, pointing to her navel. Tori Amos is explaining where her songs are conceived. "It's like a constant ...

Tracy Chapman: Matters of the Heart

Review by David Browne, Entertainment Weekly, 1 May 1992

ANY SERIOUS-MINDED artist who calls an album Matters of the Heart would normally be asking for trouble — titles like that are generally reserved for ...

Melissa Etheridge: Never Enough (Island)

Review by Cathi Unsworth, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

OH OH. Bare flesh alert. In an unintentional but uncanny facsimile of PJ Harvey's NME cover shot, Melissa Etheridge stands on her album sleeve in ...

Tracy Chapman: Matters Of The Heart (Elektra)

Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992

I'M ALWAYS prepared to be surprised. I like surprises, me. If, for example, Tracy Chapman made an album — not a terrifically surprising event in ...

Desmond Child, Diane Warren: Tracks Of Their Tears

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 May 1992

Caroline Sullivan hunts down the US songwriters responsible for the junk ballad ...

Tom Waits: Night On Earth (Island)

Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 30 May 1992

NOT A new album as such, but the soundtrack to the new Jim Jarmusch movie, which stars, among others, Winona Ryder, Giancarlo Esposito and Beatrice ...

Sounds of Blackness, Ralph Tresvant, Luther Vandross, Caron Wheeler: Jam & Lewis: Future Perspectives

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 16 June 1992

Jam & Lewis have been voted the best songwriters in the B&S poll of the second year in succession. However, in a chaotic year, the ...

Elton John, Bernie Taupin: Bernie Taupin: Him Indoors

Interview by Robert Sandall, Q, July 1992

The 25-year You-wash-I'll-dry relationship between Elton John and lyric-writing househusband Bernie Taupin has never been happier. ...

John Prine (1992)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, July 1992

The singer-songwriter talks about writing a song with Phil Spector; on Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt; on songwriting; favourite songwriters; writing with Shel Silverstein; setting up his own label Oh Boy; recording in Memphis and Nashville; his friendship with Steve Goodman... and being covered by John Denver.

File format: mp3; file size: 61.3mb, interview length: 1h 03' 52" sound quality: ****

Alejandro Escovedo: Down to Earth

Profile and Interview by John Morthland, L.A. Weekly, 2 July 1992

Alejandro Escovedo puts his arm around a memory ...

PJ Harvey: Dry (Indigo)

Review by Deborah Frost, The Village Voice, 7 July 1992

"SHOW US YER TITS!" is still the rule of thumb for yobbos throughout the global village whenever a woman dares open her mouth a little ...

Juliana Hatfield (1992)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 10 July 1992

The ex-Blake Baby talks about breaking up that band; her first solo album Hey Babe; her relationship with the Lemonheads; her songwriting and confessional lyrics; her plans for her next album, and on the impact of Nirvana.

File format: mp3; file size: 34mb, interview length: 35' 24" sound quality: ****

Mary Margaret O'Hara: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 July 1992

THE NIGHT is only three songs old when a lone, drunken heckler decides he's had enough. "Stop singing, Margaret," he admonishes. "You'd better stop that ...

Peter Gabriel (1992) [Transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 27 July 1992

This is a transcript of Adam's interview with Gabriel. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Bob Dylan: Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Mark Rowland, Musician, August 1992

THE UNITED States may be too vast a place for any one person to hold the title of greatest living songwriter. So let's be fair ...

Elvis Costello: Can I Be Frank…?

Essay by Mark Sinker, The Wire, September 1992

2005 note: The original manuscript began and ended with some kind of lyrical gibberish swansong for the song as a music-form (in the age of ...

Warren Zevon: Tales from the Dark Side

Profile and Interview by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, September 1992

THE VARIOUS ENCYCLOPAEDIAS of rock don't do justice to Warren Zevon. He got a snippy microscopic reference in the 1991 New Illustrated Rock Handbook ("well-established ...

Clint Black: Gone Hollywood? "I Don't Worry About It"

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 17 September 1992

CLINT BLACK looked like the country star of the '90s when his debut album, Killin' Time, was released in 1989, spawning five No. I country ...

R.E.M.

Interview by Ira Robbins, Pulse!, October 1992

Ten years down the road, Athens, Georgia's little-band-that-could takes stock of fame, fortune and folk music. * ...

Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island/PLG)

Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Spin, November 1992

ON THE five years following his last studio album, Tom Waits moved to the country and became a family man. The influences of wife, children, ...

Leonard Cohen: The Loneliness of the Long-Suffering Folkie: Leonard Cohen

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 22 November 1992

ON HIS NEW ALBUM The Future (Columbia), Leonard Cohen views history's changing currents with more than a little bit of wariness. "Give me back the ...

Leonard Cohen, Ice Cube: Leonard Cohen: The Future (Columbia COL 472498 2); Ice Cube: The Predator (4th & Broadway BRCD 592)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 26 November 1992

Dark knight of the soul ...

Leonard Cohen: Heavy Cohen

Interview by Cliff Jones, Rock CD, December 1992

  WRINKLED, GREY, HUMOROUS and urbane, wearing a crumpled suit and a huge pair of coke bottle specs that magnify his lacquered brown eyeballs to an ...

The Auteurs: A Novel Approach

Interview by Simon Price, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992

Failed ice-cream man Luke Haines of the Auteurs wants to rescue you from mindless grunge, and sees his heart-stopping new single, 'Showgirl', as a mini-screenplay. ...

Squeeze: Up The Junction With Difford & Tilbrook

Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, Spring 1992

WHEN YOU TALK to Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, unlike other collaborators who finish each other's thoughts, they sit at opposite ends of ...

James McMurtry: Candyland (Columbia CK 46911)

Review by Bill Wasserzieher, Rock & Roll Disc, Fall 1992

Producer: John Mellencamp Engineer: Not available Total disc time: 42:32 (AAD) Merit: *** Sound: **** ...

Bobby Bare: Detroit City and Other Hits/500 Miles Away from Home (RCA)

Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, RCA Records, 1993

THE FIRST THE WORLD thought it had heard from Bobby Bare was in the summer of 1963 when 'Detroit City' hit the Top 20 in ...

Otis Redding: The Definitive Otis Redding

Sleeve notes by Carol Cooper, Rhino Records, 1993

THE HISTORY IN JUNE 1993, Essence magazine published the results of a listener poll conducted by WBGO-FM’s Felix Hernandez, host of the weekly rhythm & ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Paul Simon (1993)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 1993

In the context of his retrospective box set Paul Simon 1964/1993, the veteran singer-songwriter looks back over his relationship with Art Garfunkel; 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'; his artistic evolution in the shadow of the Beatles and Dylan; his black NYC influences; Graceland's success and controversy; accusations of cultural appropriation; his longevity and place in the world.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.7mb, interview length: 1h 02' 19" sound quality: ****

Paul Simon (1993)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 1993

Concentrating on Hearts and Bones and Graceland, Paul Simon ruthlessly re-examines such songs as 'Allergies', 'Boy in the Bubble' and 'The Late Great Johnny Ace', covering such issues truth in songwriting, heroes as subjects and musical and lyrical influences. Oh, and he really dislikes 'Slip Sliding Away' as "too simple"!

File format: mp3; file size: 80.1mb, interview length: 1h 27' 27" sound quality: **½

Paul Simon (1993) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1993

This is a transcript of Adam Sweeting's interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Tori Amos

Interview by Mark Petracca, Entertainment Weekly, 1993

THE LAST PERSON you'd expect pumping the stair master at your local "Y" would be Tori Amos, but lo and behold, there she was in ...

Warren Zevon Flinches at Life Without Humor

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 1993

LAST SUMMER, as he was in the early stages of playing concerts being taped for a live album, Warren Zevon decided the album would be ...

Donald Fagen: Fagen and Becker on Kamakiriad

Report and Interview by Hank Bordowitz, Schwann Spectrum, January 1993

IN A WAY, the ID Donald Fagen did for New York's WNEW-FM, arguably the best album rock station in a city with little choice in ...

Leonard Cohen: The Future (Columbia)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, January 1993

A PRESIDENTIAL term of office in the making, Leonard Cohen's The Future is designed to see all those buggers out. It will captivate those who ...

Neil Young: Young's Winter Warmer

Interview by Max Bell, Vox, January 1993

Twenty years after Harvest, Neil Young has released Harvest Moon. But don't look for parallels — there aren't any, he says. ...

Pam Tillis Counts Down to Success

Interview by John Morthland, Country Music, January 1993

At a point in her career where she's more focused and more successful than ever, Pam Tillis knows what works for her. She's hoping to ...

Tom Waits' Wild Year

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1993

NOT LONG ago, Tom Waits and his family uprooted from Los Angeles, his home for many years, and moved up the coast to the quieter, ...

Curtis Mayfield: The Anthology 1961-1977

Review by Joe McEwen, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1993

CURTIS MAYFIELD and the Impressions: The Anthology, a two-CD, forty-song set, is a remarkable document. Lovingly assembled by Chicago-soul authority Robert Pruter, this collection connects ...

The Auteurs: Auteur Magic For The People

Interview by John Harris, New Musical Express, 20 February 1993

Fed up of noisy, brutish Brit bands ripping off tired ideas from the Yanks? Nothing to excite you in the modern, cutting-edge of music? Then ...

Jonathan Richman: I, Jonathan

Review by Chas de Whalley, Vox, March 1993

WHEN JONATHAN RICHMAN and The Modern Lovers first surfaced with Roadrunner, late in 1976, the studied '60s simplicity of their garage band arrangements and Richman's ...

Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music: Bryan Ferry (1993)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 March 1993

The old smoothie talks about "lost" album Horoscope; his new covers album Taxi and the joys of interpretation; the pleasures of working with Robin Trower and the perils of 48-track recording; his work ethic; being a family man; owning his own studio, and his lifelong interest in art.

File format: mp3; file size: 58.2mb, interview length: 1h 00' 38" sound quality: *****

Tasmin Archer: St George's Hall, Bradford

Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 9 March 1993

A BLACK WOMAN based in Yorkshire, singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer might be seen as a figure on the margins in almost every sense. Add to that ...

American Music Club, Mark Eitzel: American Music Club: Humour with an anguished howl

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 27 March 1993

Mark Eitzel insists that he is just telling stories ...

Womack and Womack: House of Zekkariyas: Womack and Womack Transformation to the House of Zekkariyas (Warner Brothers 4-450-75)

Review by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 28 March 1993

THE SINGING group House of Zekkariyas (formerly known as Womack and Womack) has a soul pedigree that runs river deep. Linda Womack is the daughter ...

Lindsey Buckingham: Paradise, Boston

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 29 March 1993

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM was always the least meek of the Mac, Fleetwood Mac, that is, and he was always the guy who put the spice in ...

Aimee Mann: Sweet Revenge

Interview by Mac Randall, Musician, April 1993

"WE'VE HAD a joke going recently," Aimee Mann says, "that the new album has three themes: despair, defeat and revenge." ...

The Brodsky Quartet, Elvis Costello: Elvis Costello: The Other Side of Elvis

Interview by Chris Heath, Details, April 1993

Two years ago, Elvis Costello was a celebrated songwriter with a bad beard and a sharp tongue. His Latest record is The Juliet Letters. He's ...

Frank Black: The Post-Pixie

Interview by RJ Smith, Details, April 1993

With the demise of the Pixies, Black Francis assumes a new identity: Frank Black ...

John Martyn: Couldn't Love You More (Permanent CD9)

Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, April 1993

JOHN MARTYN has roamed his own byways, apparently lost in a mythic search whose obstacles were all his own devising — only he knew the ...

Leonard Cohen: Inside the Tower of Song

Profile and Interview by Paul Zollo, SongTalk, April 1993

I said to Hank Williams, "How lonely does it get?"Hank Williams hasn't answered yet.but I hear him coughing all night long,a hundred floors above me ...

Jefferson Airplane: The Jefferson Airplane Chronicles: Marty Balin

Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Relix, April 1993

READING THE following interview, one might get a sense that there are two Marty Balins. ...

The The: Lip Tripping

Profile and Interview by Jon Wilde, Volume, April 1993

IT'S HARDLY A surprise to learn that Matt Johnson, that most untypical of pop star types, experienced a less than typical upbringing. ...

PJ Harvey: Rid Of Me (Island CID8002/514 696-2)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 April 1993

Somerset psyche ...

Donald Fagen, Candid and Vulnerable

Interview by Wayne Robins, unpublished, May 1993

Author's note: This interview took place in Manhattan, May 19, 1993. Without his partner in crime Walter Becker to deflect questions, Fagen was more candid ...

Liz Phair (1993)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 13 May 1993

Phair talks about soon-to-be-released landmark debut Exile in Guyville; explains what her songs are about and how she writes; discusses collaborating with producer Brad Wood and their production process; talks about having a mainstream ear and her love of pop radio; about starting to play live, being girly, writing songs all her life and recording tapes at home.

File format: mp3; file size: 24.2mb, interview length: 25' 11" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Mark Burgess: The Witchwood, Ashton-under-Lyne

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 30 May 1993

SO HERE IS is, then, Mark Burgess, former singer with the Chameleons, the great lost '80s band who prompt more letters to the Maker's Info ...

Elliot Roberts (1993)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1993

The L.A. deal-maker on first finding Joni Mitchell in NYC and becoming her manager; on moving to L.A. and into David Crosby's orbit; on getting Joni signed to Warners; on meeting Neil Young and the end of Buffalo Springfield; on the L.A. music scene; on David Geffen; on the Eagles; on cocaine; on Tom Waits and Warren Zevon... and the end of his partnership with Geffen.

File format: mp3; file size: 48.1mb, interview length: 50' 07" sound quality: ****

PJ Harvey: Less is More for PJ Harvey

Profile and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 25 June 1993

MOST BAND leaders dream of taking it to the top, of packing arenas worldwide. Not Polly Jean Harvey. At least not yet. ...

Leonard Cohen

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, July 1993

LEONARD COHEN does not mind taking extreme positions in his songs. In 1966, he kissed off the memory of a tryst with Janis Joplin in ...

Victoria Williams' Sweet Visions

Profile by Mark Rowland, Musician, July 1993

VICTORIA WILLIAMS resides on the second story of a rustic, wood-framed house, with a back porch that overlooks a sloping garden full of giant chard ...

Paul Westerberg: Borderline, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 5 July 1993

Grunge godfather or master melodist? ...

Brenda Russell: Talkin' Proud and Sayin' Something...

Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, 20 July 1993

BRENDA RUSSELL, singer/songwriter extraordinaire, is sitting in the tasteful living room of her house, tucked away from the madness of LA at the end of ...

Billy Joel: Christie Put The Kid In Billy Joel

Interview by Mal Peachey, Mail On Sunday, 25 July 1993

POP SUPERSTAR Billy Joel, husband of supermodel Christie Brinkley, sits in his favourite restaurant in the fashionable Hamptons district, east of New York. ...

Harry Nilsson

Interview by Steven P. Wheeler, Music Connection, August 1993

2010 note: Harry Nilsson succumbed to heart failure and died on January 15, 1994, less than six months after this interview took place. ...

Joni Mitchell at Troubadours of Folk Festival: Drake Stadium, UCLA

Live Review by Mark Rowland, Musician, August 1993

FOR HER FIRST public performance in several years, Joni Mitchell found a way to affirm her spiritual ties to the folk music community whence she ...

Billy Joel (1993)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 7 August 1993

The Piano Man talks at length about his last album of original material, River of Dreams: about the composition of the songs, the production process, and working with Danny Kortchmar. He also discusses his identity as an artist and his new sense of confidence and legitimacy.

File format: mp3; file size: 54.3mb, interview length: 56' 36" sound quality: ***

Jane Siberry: Songs in a Brave New Key

Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 9 August 1993

MOST PERFORMERS would call getting booed during a concert their worst nightmare. Not Jane Siberry. Although she suffered that fate last year, at the height ...

Billy Joel Gets the Blues

Interview by Ira Robbins, Newsday, 10 August 1993

JOHN SEBASTIAN of the Lovin' Spoonful was all of 22 when he sang, "I think I've come to see myself at last." ...

PJ Harvey: Primed and Ticking

Interview by Deborah Frost, Rolling Stone, 19 August 1993

PJ Harvey beat the sophomore jinx and get their mojo workin' with an American tour and their powerful new album, Rid of Me. ...

Liz Phair

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, The Independent Catalogue, September 1993

IT'S FOUR IN the afternoon, and Liz Phair is itching to go jogging. But there's plenty of time; this is her first bout of UK ...

Pete Townshend: The Kid's Still Alright: Pete Townshend

Interview by Gerrie Lim, BigO, September 1993

"WHAT A PLEASURE to meet you," Pete Townshend says, hiding nothing behind blue eyes once I'd mentioned the magic mantra (BigO). He quickly extends his ...

Liz Phair: HQ Club, London

Live Review by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 29 September 1993

A FEW years back, with acid house at its peak and video games beginning to bite into record sales, there emerged a theory that rock ...

PJ Harvey: Good golly, Ms Polly

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 1 October 1993

Screeching harridan? Feminist heroine? One thing's certain: Polly Jean Harvey's tortured song-tantrums are a far cry from Captain Beefheart. ...

Billy Joe Shaver: Tramp on Your Street (Zoo/Praxis 72445-11063; CD and cassette)

Review by Holly Gleason, The New York Times, 3 October 1993

AT A TIME when country music has been reduced to an arena-ready formula, Billy Joe Shaver is a blotch on the horizon. Unapologetically raw, the ...

Jackson Browne: The Return of the Pretender

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, GQ, November 1993

The politics on Jackson Browne's new album are strictly interpersonal. ...

Kate Bush: The Red Shoes (Columbia)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, November 1993

IF YOU'VE pegged Kate Bush as a dreamy cosmic spirit, don't miss the climax of The Red Shoes, where the stunning 'You're the One' renews ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Traffic From Paradise (Geffen GED24602 CD/MC/LP)

Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, November 1993

RICKIE LEE Jones continues on her own singular way, making records which will not reap her the Four Non Blondes audience, will not return her ...

Kirsty MacColl: Singer Kirsty MacColl: Wry with a Twist of Laughter

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 12 November 1993

DEPRESSION AND despair have their place in pop music, especially in English pop. In recent years, it's come through most tellingly in the shimmering sadness ...

Jackson Browne: I'm Alive

Review by Mick Houghton, MOJO, December 1993

HAS TIME STOOD STILL? Fifteen years on and Jackson Browne's running on empty again. He's out of love yet surviving, holding himself together but now ...

Kate Bush: Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, December 1993

She might be a self-confessed power head, prone to control freakery and studio-hermitdom and a total stranger to the nightclub dancefloor... "bit I'm never grumpy, ...

Laura Nyro: The Unsung Blues

Profile and Interview by Rob Steen, The Independent, 2 December 1993

MY WIFE KEPT REMINDING ME: "Whatever you do, don't mention you named our daughter after her." Too creepy. What about the dispassionate dignity of the ...

The Shangri-Las: Shadow Morton (1993)

Interview by Tony Scherman, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1993

The legendary songwriter/producer takes us back to his days in the Brill Building: the Shangri-Las' '(Remember) Walking In The Sand'; the people who surrounded him: Leiber & Stoller, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, George Goldner, Cynthia Weill & Barry Mann, and Seymour Stein; Kama Sutra and Red Bird records; the insanity of the scene, and his personal style. He also talks about his Brooklyn and Long Island childhood, his alcoholism, his break from music and surviving his aneurysm.

File format: mp3; file size: 118.3mb, interview length: 2h 03' 14" sound quality: ** (background noise)

Carole King: A Natural Woman – The Ode Collection

Sleeve notes by Stephen K. Peeples, Sony Records, 1994

ON FEBRUARY 6, Legacy will premiere a video of King's 1971 BBC live studio performance with James Taylor accompanying on guitar. The set includes live ...

Harry Nilsson: Singer, Songwriter, Fab-Across-The-Water 1941-1994

Obituary by Derek Taylor, MOJO, 1994

John and Paul were asked to name their favourite artist. "Nilsson." And band? "Nilsson." ...

The Triffids: Hell of a Summer

Book Excerpt by David Cavanagh, 'Love is the Drug' (Penguin), 1994

HAILING FROM Perth, Western Australia, the five (later six)-piece Triffids lived in London for much of 1984-5 and were part of a brief musical wave ...

Pete Townshend, The Who: The Who's Pete Townshend (1994) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1994

This is a transcript of Simon's audio interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Elvis Costello: Crimes and Misdemeanours: Elvis Costello

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Q, January 1994

Elvis Costello stands accused: of committing three grievously over-egged albums; of conspiring with classical quartets; of proceeding in a soundtrackular direction; of masterminding The Wendy ...

James Carr, Dan Penn: Cheatin' Meeting of Minds: 'The Dark End of the Street'

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Independent on Sunday, 9 January 1994

"THIS IS probably one of the greatest songs that's ever come out of black American music," announces Ricky Ross over the piano intro to Deacon ...

Kristin Hersh: Hips And Makers (4AD)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 15 January 1994

PELVIS IS KING ...

Tori Amos: The Keys to Success

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 16 January 1994

Tori Amos, the piano's Nigel Kennedy with a prettier face, has swapped America and her classical training for Britain and its pop. ROBERT SANDALL meets ...

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: Space Cowboy

Profile and Interview by Pat Blashill, Details, February 1994

From Texas to the ashram and back again: the earthbound adventures of country rocker Jimmie Dale Gilmore ...

Liz Phair: Phair Enough: The Girl From Guyville

Profile and Interview by Gerrie Lim, BigO, February 1994

This is the story of Liz Phair, the "new" gal in town who shocked the music biz flack and functionaries when she gave GERRIE LIM ...

Kate Bush: Frontwoman: Kate Bush

Interview by Jon Young, Musician, March 1994

THE DEDICATION of the album to your mother and songs like 'Moments of Pleasure' lend a strong sense of loss to The Red Shoes. ...

Kirsty MacColl

Profile and Interview by Mark Paytress, Record Collector, March 1994

KIRSTY MACCOLL first came to prominence as a solo artist during the early 80s, scoring Top 20 hits with 'There's a Guy Works Down The ...

Beck: Mellow Gold (Geffen/All formats)

Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 19 March 1994

INGOT'S DREAMING ...

Beck: Kip Winger With A Protein Shake: The Punknology According to Beck

Interview by Gerrie Lim, BigO, April 1994

THOSE OPENING NOTES attempt to warn you: a slinky salvo of slide guitar and then some hip-hop percussion, and then some dude starts rapping, wending ...

Richard Thompson

Interview by David Sinclair, MOJO, April 1994

THEY SAY THERE'S ONE IN EVERY CROWD. BUT HE'S ALWAYS hard to spot because he looks so normal. Quiet, polite, a little shy even. You ...

Jeff Buckley: A Son's Star Trip: Jeff Buckley: Borderline, London

Live Review by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 2 April 1994

"I NEED A Guinness," murmurs Jeff Buckley, after completing one of his many audacious sorties on the collective heartstring this evening. "And I really mean ...

Richard Thompson: The Many Moods of Richard Thompson

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 15 April 1994

RICHARD THOMPSON, godfather of grunge? "Well, I think so," the droll singer-guitarist says, on the phone from Columbus, Ohio, during a tour stop. "I was ...

Aimee Mann (1994)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 April 1994

Ms. Mann talks about her first band Til Tuesday; record company indifference; songwriting collaborations past and future (but not Ray Davies!); and working with Jon Brion on Whatever.

File format: mp3; file size: 18mb, interview length: 19' 41" sound quality: ****

Aimee Mann (1994) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 18 April 1994

This is a transcript of Ian's audio interview with Aimee. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Townes Van Zandt: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 26 April 1994

Return of a rambler ...

David Ackles: Where Is He Now

Profile and Interview by Martin Aston, Q, June 1994

"POPULAR MUSIC, in all its rich varieties, has milestones." So began the Sunday Times review of David Ackles's 1972 album, American Gothic, which compared the ...

Beck: Def Beck

Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, June 1994

How can Beck be a Loser? He's ridiculed MTV, yet it still gives heavy rotation to this Kansas runt and his band of OAPs. ...

Ray Davies: Three Minutes: Ray Davies

Interview by Stuart Maconie, MOJO, June 1994

It's an exacting, exhilarating discipline: everything you want to say condensed into 180 seconds. "It's the ultimate song structure and I hope it'll never die." ...

Shane MacGowan: Up For It Again and Still Never Normal

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 4 June 1994

SHANE MacGowan assumes the position at the bar of his favourite north London watering hole, Filthy MacNasty's in Amwell Street, shouting his personal drinks order ...

Liz Phair: Sexual Perversity in Chicago

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Details, July 1994

Where and when did you write the famous line "I want to be your blowjob queen"? ...

Randy Newman: Thunderclap Newman: Randy, Poet Laureate of New Orleans

Interview by Chris Bourke, Real Groove, July 1994

I'VE ALWAYS WONDERED what Southerners think of Randy Newman's Good Old Boys, his 1974 concept album about the American Deep South. With its sardonic but ...

Vic Chesnutt, Guy Clark, Dan Penn, Joe South, Allen Toussaint: Dan Penn, Allen Toussaint, Guy Clark, Joe South, Vic Chesnutt: Southern Songwriters' Circle, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 27 July 1994

A southern heaven ...

Dan Penn: A Career Made of Being Where He Doesn't Belong

Profile and Interview by Amy Linden, The New York Times, 31 July 1994

DAN PENN is propped against a graffiti-covered wall in Harlem. The photographer motions to him and Mr. Penn responds by pushing his sunglasses down and ...

Jeff Buckley: Man with the child in his eyes

Report and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 26 August 1994

Jeff Buckley had to become an adult before his time. What he learnt helped to make him a special one ...

Jeff Buckley: Son Arise

Interview by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 27 August 1994

Born with a voice to die for and a runaway father who follows him everywhere, JEFF BUCKLEY's wish not to discuss the late, great old ...

Lyle Lovett: The World's Greatest Lover

Interview by Mal Peachey, Country Music International, September 1994

Dour of face, frizzy of hair, sharp of wit. He came from Texas, wrote the song, played the guitar and got the girl. Now he's ...

Tori Amos

Retrospective and Interview by Ben Edmonds, Contemporary Musicians, September 1994

AFTER SPENDING years in classical piano training, then experimenting with the Los Angeles rock scene, Tori Amos attracted a popular music audience with her pure ...

American Music Club: 'I'm An Ant'

Interview by Caitlin Moran, Melody Maker, 3 September 1994

Yup, Sultan of Sorrow and Mr Low Self-Opinion Mark Eitzel of American Music Club — arguably the most exquisitely miserable band on the planet — ...

Jeff Buckley: The Garage, London

Live Review by Andrew Smith, The Guardian, 5 September 1994

AS JEFF Buckley ambled lugubriously on to the stage, the faces of pretty much everyone in the capacity crowd betrayed the same thought — "How ...

Joni Mitchell (1994)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 14 September 1994

The First Lady of the Canyon looks at her past and present, from her Canadian youth through the Canyon days, the nightmare of the '80s and to her place in 1994. Songs, places, lovers, friends, gender and politics. Oh, and Bob Dylan's bad breath.

File format: mp3; file size: 116.9mb, total interview length: 2h 1' 46" sound quality: ***

David Gray: Flesh (Hut 8 39770 24 10 tracks/45 mins/FP)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 17 September 1994

FLESH. HONEST title. Bare, bloody, real and sweaty. Neat choice from a man apparently on an endearingly Quixotic solo crusade to rescue the idea of ...

Jeff Buckley: Grace (Columbia)

Review by Byron Coley, Spin, October 1994

ONE OF MY favourite sorts of music has no real generic handle by which it can be carried into the marketplace. Informed by jazz, rock, ...

John Martyn: The Boy Can't Help It

Interview by Nick Coleman, MOJO, October 1994

Rambunctious loons, Soave-swilling romantics, tireless anarchists, people who fill baths with dead fish, all detect in him some sort of kindred spirit. John Martyn by ...

Joni Mitchell: Lady of the Canyon

Report and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 31 October 1994

FOR JONI MITCHELL, fame has been a fickle lover. In the 1970s, it lavished her with sold-out tours and numerous magazine covers. She was the ...

Shawn Colvin: Cover Girl (Columbia 57875; CD and cassette.)

Review by Holly Gleason, The New York Times, 20 November 1994

COVER GIRL, the singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin's third album, seems like a cop-out. The silvery-voiced troubadour has earned critical praise for her emotionally incisive lyrics. Yet ...

American Music Club: Roxy, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 24 November 1994

American Music Club Takes Sad Songs to Upbeat Levels ...

Sheryl Crow: Wide-eyed and egoless

Interview by Paul Sexton, The Times, 25 November 1994

Paul Sexton meets Sheryl Crow, awed but unspoilt by her international success ...

Prefab Sprout: Phone Home: Paddy McAloon

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, December 1994

"I'M ACTUALLY going for the record of being the longest hold-out character on the face of the earth. I'm trying to evaporate into a realm ...

Sting: Gentleman's Agreement: Sting dreams a world without junk...

Comment by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 2 December 1994

"IN THE POLICE he was a pop star, the best we've had, a potent force delivering blistering reggae-tinged chart-friendly hits apparently to order." ...

Lisa Germano: Stepping Out From John Mellencamp's Shadow, Singer and Violinist Lisa Germano Hits a Nerve On Geek The Girl

Profile and Interview by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 15 December 1994

"IT DOESN'T FEEL good to be stuck," Lisa Germano says, as she surveys the opening of a dark tunnel that cuts a 30-foot passageway through ...

Nick Drake: Joe Boyd on Nick Drake (1994)

Interview by Gerrie Lim, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1994

The legendary producer looks back at the brilliant, doomed singer-songwriter: Drake's enduring qualities; first hearing him; has strong hands and guitar playing; the onset of his troubles, and the clues in his songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 29.3mb, interview length: 32' 02" sound quality: *** (phoner)

Lloyd Cole: Causing a Commotion: Lloyd Cole

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, 1995

AT THE BEGINNING, he seemed tailor-made for rock stardom. Young, good-looking and menacingly literate, Lloyd Cole exploded out of nowhere (well, Scotland actually) in ...

Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys: Robyn Hitchcock Rocks Groovily On

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Thompson, B-Side, 1995

ROBYN HITCHCOCK is confused. At least, he's as confused as anyone who's been told they'll be called by a writer in America, with all the ...

Beck

Interview by Andrew Smith, The Face, January 1995

You probably know him as "that slacker guy" who recorded 1994's lo-fi radio anthem 'Loser'. That's fine by Beck, but just don't call him the ...

Bettie Serveert, Jeff Buckley: Jeff Buckley, Bettie Serveert: Astoria 2, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 January 1995

WHEN JEFF Buckley's debut album, Grace, was released last year, it received ferocious acclaim and spawned a resurgence of interest in Jeff's folk singing father, ...

Laura Nyro: Union Chapel, Islington, London

Live Review by Rob Steen, MOJO, February 1995

WHEN LAURA PLAYED MONTEREY, nerves and rushed rehearsals saw her flounder as the hairies waited for Hendrix. Tonight there are enough baldies in the pews ...

Alanis Morissette: Adventures of Alanis in Wonderland

Profile by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 1 February 1995

SHE IS THE newest cover girl for "alternative" rock, a populist answer to Courtney Love. Fans and critics throughout North America have embraced Ottawa native ...

Nick Lowe: Wetlands Preserve, New York City

Live Review by Jim Farber, New York Daily News, 1 February 1995

NICK LOWE picked a strange place to get serious Monday night. The famously whimsical rocker gave a decidedly sober performance at the Wetlands, an odd-shaped ...

Kristin Hersh, Throwing Muses: Kristin Hersh: Strength in numbers

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 3 February 1995

That Kristin Hersh, she's a one. Actually, she's two — leader of Throwing Muses and deeply sensitive solo singer-songwriter — and three if you count ...

Dan Penn: Once More With Feeling

Interview by Robert Gordon, MOJO, March 1995

Otis. Janis. Aretha. Gram. Each cut classic songs by the hallowed Dan Penn. Coaxed out of retirement, he recorded last year’s universally acclaimed Do Right ...

David Gray

Interview by Colin Harper, Folk Roots, March 1995

"THE REASON," says David Gray, at the end of our interview, "that journalism doesn't work most of the time is 'cos the artist isn't there ...

Elvis Presley, Leiber and Stoller: Jerry Leiber And Mike Stoller: By Royal Appointment

Interview by Harvey Kubernik, MOJO, March 1995

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the greatest rock 'n' roll songwriting team of all time, have their songs celebrated in the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe ...

Kirsty MacColl: At home with Lauren, margarita and me

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 17 March 1995

Still after that elusive No 1, Kirsty MacColl is the most dangerous of party animals: genius that drinks ...

PJ Harvey, Tricky: Town & Country Club, Leeds

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 18 March 1995

THE REBIRTH OF GHOUL ...

Elvis Costello (1995)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 1 April 1995

Mr. Eclectic talks about his new album of covers versions, Kojak Variety: about working with L.A. musicians Jerry Scheff, Jim Keltner and James Burton; about his reasons for choosing the songs and his connection to the originals. He also talks about curating London's forthcoming Meltdown festival, and touches on the upcoming Attractions album All This Useless Beauty. Lastly he discusses singing at London's Brixton Academy with Bob Dylan.

File format: mp3; file size: 60.2mb, total interview length: 1h 02' 45" sound quality: ****

Leiber and Stoller: A Yakety Yak

Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Goldmine, 28 April 1995

IF THEY'D only written, say, 'Hound Dog', 'Kansas City' and 'Stand By Me', they would already deserve their place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame ...

Vic Chesnutt: Is Vic All There?

Profile and Interview by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, 29 April 1995

"I DRANK as much as anybody, but I'm not drinking now... except tonight." ...

Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers: Scott Walker: “That Francis Bacon, In-The-Face Whoops Factor...”

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995

TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD Noel Scott Engel was on the run from Uncle Sam. He was fleeing from a country that would never connect with his ...

Jeff Buckley: Hero of the midnight hour

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 5 May 1995

Caitlin Moran tries to find out why Jeff Buckley has dreams about having his skin flayed by a mad sculptor ...

PJ Harvey: Bataclan, Paris

Live Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 13 May 1995

SCARLET IT BLEED ...

Elvis Costello: They Think It's All Covers... Er, It Is Now!

Interview by Terry Staunton, New Musical Express, 20 May 1995

After 18 years of being either a sneering young turk or cumudgeonly old bugger, ELVIS COSTELLO has decided it's time for a change – he's ...

Stephin Merritt: Stephen Merritt: Bubble Gum With a Punk Attitude

Essay by Eric Weisbard, The New York Times, 21 May 1995

TO STEPHIN MERRITT, one of alternative rock's newest cult figures, Top 40 jingles are purer music than any punk. Yet it's punk fans who have ...

PJ Harvey: Harvey's New Hooks, Persona

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 26 May 1995

POLLY JEAN HARVEY has become, of late, a very public face. Last month's cover of Spin, a recent Tower Pulse, the current issue of Request. ...

Liz Phair: Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 1 June 1995

"FABULOUS... NOT so fabulous," SAID Liz Phair as she strapped on her red Fender Musicmaster guitar and faced a hall full of fans from Hollywood's ...

Sophie B. Hawkins: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 7 June 1995

Tongues, tails and torch songs ...

PJ Harvey: Queen of the Night: P.J. Harvey

Profile by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 12 June 1995

SHE’S TAKING America by storm. She’s very fashionable at the moment. She’s hipper than hip. That’s what Paul McGuinness says; he’s the manager of U2 ...

Stephin Merritt: Man With A Plan

Profile and Interview by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1995

Stephin Merritt: Low-fi Svengali ...

Sarah McLachlan: Front and Centre Stage

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 28 July 1995

SARAH MCLACHLAN was lounging in her air-conditioned trailer, exhausted but exhilarated after a day spent fielding media questions and a night spent singing, strumming and ...

Pearl Jam, Neil Young: Neil Young: Mirror Ball (Reprise 9362 45934-2/4/1)

Review by Max Bell, Vox, August 1995

FIRST THINGS first. It's age before beauty. Young before youth. Finally, the worst kept secret in rock — that Neil Young was recording an album ...

Warren Zevon: Left Jabs and Roundhouse Rights

Interview by Steve Roeser, Goldmine, 18 August 1995

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE a romantic. These might be the words of wisdom for those who have ever counted themselves fans of singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, especially the ...

Jane Siberry: The Woman Who Scared Herself

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1995

Your new LP, Maria, sounds very different to your other albums. I gather it was recorded fairly spontaneously. ...

Willie Nelson: Get set for good old Country Music: Willie Nelson's End of Summer Picnic

Profile and Interview by Lon Goddard, Daily Astorian, 7 September 1995

"MAMA, DON'T let your cowboys grow up to be babies," joked quintessential crossover music legend Willie Nelson from the stage of Portland's 3,200 capacity Rose ...

Ron Sexsmith: Ron Sexsmith (Interscope)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rolling Stone, 7 September 1995

PROVOCATIVE INCONGRUITIES abound on this major-label debut. Sexsmith is a boyish 31-year-old artist from Toronto, a classic crooner in an era of tormented shriekers. He's ...

Sheryl Crow: Greek Theatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 8 September 1995

There's Nothing Much to Crow About at the Greek ...

David Bowie (1995) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 4 October 1995

This is a transcript of Simon's audio interview with David. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

k.d. lang: No more ingenue: The Constant Craving of k.d. lang

Profile and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 8 October 1995

NEW YORK – Curled up on a couch in a hotel suite, dressed in baggy black athletic garb, k.d. lang ponders the nature of the ...

Burt Bacharach: Bacharach to the Future

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995

As grey-haired, 67-year-old composers go, Burt Bacharach is pretty f***ing cool. Paul Lester interviews the melodic inspiration behind Oasis, Stereolab and Pulp. ...

Billy Joe Shaver: The Live Wire: Billy Joe Shaver at McCabe's

Live Review by Bill Wasserzieher, L.A. View, 27 October 1995

BILLY JOE SHAVER seemed the archetypal Texas good ol' boy at McCabe's Friday night, dressed in a washed-out denim shirt and a western hat that ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Professional Confessions: Loudon Wainwright

Review and Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, November 1995

INTELLECTUAL SINGER-songwriters, doncha jus' luv 'em? LW3 has been at it for 20 years, spilling his guts, sharing his fears and generally earning a living ...

Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks: Brian Wilson And Van Dyke Parks: Orange Crate Art

Interview by Bill Holdship, MOJO, December 1995

BH: Was it hard getting Brian involved in the making of Orange Crate Art? ...

Tori Amos: Ginger Nut

Profile and Interview by Pete Paphides, Time Out, 20 December 1995

SOMETIMES IT'S hard to know where the marketing stops and the music begins. When Tori Amos's record company launched her first album, Little Earthquakes in ...

Vic Chesnutt (1995)

Interview by Elaine Cusack, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1995

Chesnutt talks about Athens, Georgia; alcohol; his Is The Actor Happy album; the poetry of Stevie Smith and the writing of Flannery O'Connor, and his upcoming film debut in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade.

File format: mp3; file size: 55.5mb, interview length: 1h 00' 36" sound quality: ****

Warren Zevon (1995)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1995

Zevon talks about recording new album Mutineer using modern technology; his early musical activities including being musical director for the Everly Brothers; his various record labels; his songwriting viewpoint, and not being a cynic; his drink and drugs use, and detoxing; being happy with his career; the success of ‘Werewolves of London’; meeting Stravinsky; novelists he likes; his fascination with the dark side of society; albums like Transverse City and Mr Bad Example; classical and other modern serious music; the Oklahoma bombing; writing with Carl Hiaasen, and writing music for television.

File format: mp3; file size: 103mb, interview length: 1h 47' 16" sound quality: ****

John Denver: Reflections (Songs Of Love & Life)

Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, RCA Records, 1996

NO ONE WAS ever less ashamed of wearing their heart on their sleeve than John Denver. No one was ever less afraid to share moments ...

George Michael: Dance again, George

Profile by Andy Beckett, Independent on Sunday, 7 January 1996

He's back and he's seven-minute serious. Andy Beckett on pop's sharpest risk-taker ...

Paul Kelly (Australia): Paul Kelly: Poet of the Common Man

Report and Interview by Mark Mordue, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 12 January 1996

PAUL KELLY'S back in town. I meet him at a King's Cross hotel where his daughter, Madeleine, is turning her slice of cheese into a ...

Joan Osborne: Borderline, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 23 January 1996

Meat and potato with little relish ...

Melissa Etheridge: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 January 1996

Perky pioneer lacking magic ...

Jeff Buckley: Grace under Fire

Interview by Toby Creswell, Juice, February 1996

"THE RECORD IS FANTASTIC, you and I know that. The band is really great and, let's face it, all the women want to get into ...

Lou Reed: The Lion in Winter

Interview by Frank Broughton, i-D, February 1996

He's been a junkie, a beatnik, a Rock & Roll Animal. But these days, Lou Reed is taking a walk on the mild side. ...

Joan Osborne: Relish (Blue Gorilla/Mercury 526 699)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 23 February 1996

A Pelé of the blues ...

Aimee Mann: the Roxy, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 24 February 1996

Mann's Stylized Concert Leaves No Room for Intimacy ...

Jarvis Cocker, Pulp: Jarvis Cocker: Serious about songs

Profile by Andy Beckett, The Independent, 25 February 1996

Andy Beckett on the wry idol who was more than ready for overnight success ...

Burt Bacharach: "Do you know the Way to Monterey? Santa Fe? Whitley Bay?"

Retrospective and Interview by Bill DeMain, MOJO, March 1996

Thankfully, Messrs. Bacharach and David got there in the end, polishing yet another pop gem and putting an unremarkable California city on the map forever. ...

Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground: A Dark Prince at Twilight: Lou Reed

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, March 1996

THE DAY DOES not begin auspiciously. The first flakes of a snowstorm descend as I open the curtains in my hotel room, adding yet another ...

American Music Club: Godlike genius, or what?

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 29 March 1996

Mark Eitzel's got something. Caitlin Moran, for a start ...

The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield: Mighty Mighty

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, April 1996

From the Impressions to Superfly, he's left an indelible mark on American music. Now, six years after a paralyzing accident, Curtis Mayfield is down but not out. ...

Steve Earle (1996)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, April 1996

Fourteen months into sobriety, the country rebel discusses his multiple marriages; his anger at the press and ex-colleagues; his admiration for Bruce Springsteen; country radio and the Nashville establishment... and talks at length about addiction and recovery.

File format: mp3; file size: 76.3mb, interview length: 1h 19' 25" sound quality: ****

Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Fela Kuti, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Keith Richards, The Stone Roses: That's Another Fine Messiah You've Got Me Into

Comment by Johnny Cigarettes, New Musical Express, 6 April 1996

John Lennon thought The Beatles were bigger than IT, some people think Elvis is/was IT and Michael Jackson seems to think he is IT. So ...

Paul Westerberg: Too fast to live, too old to die

Interview by David Sinclair, The Times, 12 April 1996

David Sinclair talks to rehabilitated rock'n' roller Paul Westerberg about drugs, death, hellraising and the joys of a quiet evening in ...

Steve Earle: Back in the Saddle

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Rolling Stone, 18 April 1996

C&W outlaw STEVE EARLE returns from his lost years ...

Pet Shop Boys: An Attitude Thing

Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 20 April 1996

THERE IS NO MORE embarrassing chapter in the big book of Pop Interview Ritual than the one in which you're forced to listen to music ...

Burt Bacharach: Lost Horizon

Interview by David Toop, GQ, June 1996

NOTE: This is the "director's cut" version of an interview published by GQ in 1996. ...

Sleeper: i-Q: Louise Wener

Interview by Susan Corrigan, i-D, June 1996

Sleeper's leading lady has more to offer than big boots and a big mouth. Susan Corrigan examines the true colours of a lass with sass ...

Rosanne Cash: Turn the Page

Interview by Amy Linden, Replay (Sam Goody), June 1996

With a new album and a book of short fiction, Rosanne Cash reinvents herself again. ...

Chris de Burgh: Hampton Court Palace, Surrey

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 18 June 1996

Chris de Burgh's banter saves the day at Hampton Court Palace, says Caroline Sullivan ...

Stephen Bishop: Songs In the Rough – From 'Heartbreak Hotel' to 'Higher Love': Rock's Greatest Songs in First-Draft Form

Book Review by Tom Graves, The Washington Post, 23 June 1996

ESSENTIALLY A NOVELTY book for novice songwriters, Songs In the Rough is both shy on substance and skimpy on songs. The idea behind the book ...

Bob Dylan: He's glum, he's 55 and he sang at Hyde Park. So who listens now?

Comment by Andy Beckett, The Independent, 29 June 1996

"DON'T WRITE that we're all old hippies," said the Dylan fan, short-haired, hatchet-faced and over 40. He walked off across the bookshop, handing out set ...

Burt Bacharach: See You Later, Elevator!

Profile and Interview by Stuart Maconie, Q, July 1996

Imprisoned in music's metaphorical lift for years, Burt Bacharach has emerged on to a mezzanine packed with thousands of dewy-eyed disciples. "It's sensational news," he ...

Beck: After the Gold Rush

Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, August 1996

Is there life after 'Loser'? Eric Weisbard explores the artistic ups and commercial downs of the boy wonder known as Beck. ...

Jimmy Buffett: Q&A: Jimmy Buffett

Interview by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 22 August 1996

IT'S BEEN nearly 20 years since Jimmy Buffett bided his time wasting away in Margaritaville. Today, rock's romantic poet-pirate has become a virtual one-man theme ...

Beth Orton: Go Orton!

Interview by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 24 August 1996

CONTEMPORARY FEMALE singer-songwriters, then: fiercely independent, forever marketed as several colours short of a full palette and ever-prone to massive crossover success care of the ...

Fiona Apple: Fifty Foot Teeny

Interview by Cliff Jones, The Face, September 1996

FIONA APPLE is a Manhattan teenager ablaze with songs of love, loss, anger and pain. "Given my way, I'd tie all shrinks together and burn the fuckers!" ...

Sheryl Crow, Kevin Gilbert: Kevin Gilbert: More Than "The Piano Player"

Report by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 September 1996

Dumped by Sheryl Crow after propelling her to success, brilliant musician Kevin Gilbert died before finding his own ...

Marshall Crenshaw: Miracle Of Science (Razor & Tie)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rolling Stone, 19 September 1996

MARSHALL CRENSHAW occupies a small but special niche in modern American rock: He's a power-pop singer/songwriter. Unfortunately, with one foot in the cultish dBs/Mitch Easter ...

Sheryl Crow: Success is the sweetest revenge

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Daily Telegraph, 21 September 1996

When her first album came out, they said she was angry. But Sheryl Crow was laughing. Now, discovers Vivien Goldman, she's flying with the angels. ...

Beth Orton: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

OH ALRIGHT, Beth ain't quite this big on her own terms yet (tonight's mini-set is as special guest to grim old folkie John Martyn) but ...

Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Brian Wilson: Pop, In The Name Of Love: Grace of My Heart

Report and Interview by David Kamp, Vanity Fair, October 1996

The soundtrack for Grace Of My Heart, Allison Anders's film a clef about the early-1960s blossoming of artists such as Burt Bacharach, Carole King, and ...

The Beatles: "We're a damn good little band"

Interview by Mat Snow, MOJO, October 1996

On the eve of the release of Anthology 3, Paul McCartney casts his mind back to The Beatles' glorious sunset.                                                           * ...

Sheryl Crow: Carrion up the Charts

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 5 October 1996

SHERYL CROW doesn't torture small furry animals with big eyes or sponsor international terrorism. In fact, she's a smart and charming lady. OK, so she ...

Ed Kuepper: A man totally untainted by success

Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 11 October 1996

How can you release 21 albums of divine songs and still be unknown? Ed Kuepper, this is no life for you ...

Harlan Howard: How I Wrote All Those Songs by Harlan Howard

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, November 1996

"I HIT NASHVILLE with the greatest bunch of guys — Roger Miller, Bill Anderson, Willie Nelson. We were hanging together every night at Tootsies, playing ...

Amy Rigby: Diary of a Mod Housewife (Koch)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, December 1996

IN THE LINER notes to her inspired study of relationship hell, Amy Rigby describes a mod housewife as "a woman being dragged kicking and screaming ...

Amy Rigby, Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw/Amy Rigby: Park West, Albany, NY

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, December 1996

ON THE first date of an East Coast mini-tour, Marshall Crenshaw and Amy Rigby are playing things semi-safe: Park West is a club sandwiched between ...

Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham: Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham: St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn NY

Live Review by Amy Linden, New York Daily News, 9 December 1996

First Penn & Oldham wrote great songs, now they play 'em ...

Vic Chesnutt: About To Choke (Capitol)

Review by Ira Robbins, Rolling Stone, 12 December 1996

A RUSTY, banged-up sign with hand-painted words swings slowly over a porch in a light Georgia breeze, conveying its simple promise without need of neon. ...

Joni Mitchell: Hits and Misses

Review by Susan Whitall, Houston Press, 26 December 1996

IN A POP WORLD where female musicians are designed, micromanaged and as carefully positioned in the marketplace as a new brand of air freshener, how ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie (1996)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1996

Ms. Sainte-Marie talks about making art in the digital domain: creating music and pictures on computers, the importance of technology to artists, having her own website; working online with indigenous American communities; her early musical experiences; revisiting older material on new album Up Where We Belong; on 'Soldier Blue', the song and the film; and being part of Sesame Street.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.5mb, interview length: 51' 31" sound quality: ****

Jimmy Webb: An Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997

What first made you want to write a song? ...

Beck, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Beck meets Petty

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1997

Rockin', Writin', Survivin' in L.A. ...

Evan Dando, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando's New Traditionalism

Interview by Mac Randall, Musician, January 1997

A Lemonhead's Personal History of Song ...

Iris DeMent: Frontwoman: Iris DeMent

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, January 1997

YOUR LAST record, My Life, was centered around the death of your father and felt very introspective. On The Way I Should, you address themes ...

Bruce Springsteen Finds "A Sense Of Place"

Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 6 February 1997

SUNRISE, FLA.; "Don't make me come out there and slaaaap that tan off ya." Bruce Springsteen's warnings to potentially restless crowds tend to have a ...

Terry Callier, Beth Orton: Beth Orton: The next Dusty springs from the trailer park to centre stage

Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 19 March 1997

Beth Orton is an unlikely creature: a beautiful, long-limbed folk singer who's got the grapevine buzzing. Her pop comes from the American trailer park and... ...

Beth Orton: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 15 April 1997

Finger in the ear to the ground ...

Ani DiFranco: Living in Clip (Righteous Babe)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 20 April 1997

YOU DON'T need stacks of amps to be larger than life, not when you have a persona as outsized as Ani DiFranco's. That's more than ...

Prefab Sprout: Paddy McAloon: In God's Prefab are Many Mansions

Profile and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 25 April 1997

Paddy Mcaloon once trained to be a priest. Now he's a Prefab Sprout, but he still has his faith. ...

Elliott Smith: Something Happened: Elliott Smith's real-life blur

Interview by James Hunter, L.A. Weekly, May 1997

BORED BY stories, interested in the unruliness of things. Portland's Elliott Smith is a singer-songwriter suspicious of singer-songwriter certainties. Angles, hypotheses, probabilities, lucid emotions arising ...

Prefab Sprout: Paddy McAloon: Sprout on his own

Profile and Interview by Nick Coleman, The Independent, 9 May 1997

Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon talks to Nick Coleman about his new album, epic songs of the heart and why he flies in the face of ...

Bill Callahan, Smog: Bill Callahan: Communication chord

Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 11 May 1997

Bill Callahan spares nobody in his songs — himself least of all. Ben Thompson talks to the American who chooses to go by the name ...

Jewel: A hot front from the frozen north

Profile and Interview by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 13 May 1997

She's just 17, hails from Arctic America and has been taken up by the likes of Dylan and Sean Penn. What more could a budding ...

Bobby Charles (1997)

Interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 May 1997

The great New Orleans songwriter talks about writing for Fats Domino; about his time in Woodstock with Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Albert Grossman and others; and about such classics as 'See You Later Alligator', 'But I Do' and 'Jealous Kind'.

File format: mp3; file size: 14.2mb, interview length: 15' 28" sound quality: *****

Bobby Charles (1997) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 23 May 1997

This is a transcript of Holger's audio interview with Bobby. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

ABBA: Welcome to the Palindrome

Review by Nick Hornby, MOJO, June 1997

Reissues: Their entire oeuvre freshly silvered, remastered and mid-priced. RING RING/ WATERLOO/ ABBA/ ARRIVAL/ THE ALBUM/ VOULEZ VOUS/ SUPER TROOPER/ THE VISITORS/ ABBA LIVE Agnetha, ...

Burt Bacharach: What's It All About, Bacharach?

Special Feature by Bill DeMain, Switch, June 1997

"WHERE IS that whistling coming from?" ...

Jewel's Paradise

Report and Interview by Steven Daly, Details, July 1997

She's the wonder from the tundra, a guitar-strumming siren who spent the past two years on the road, driving herself to the top. Steven Daly ...

Neil Young: The Year Of The Horse

Review by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, July 1997

2-CD, 13-track live document of last year's Broken Arrow tour, recorded mainly in America but featuring tracks from Berlin, Toronto…and downtown Saskatchewan. ...

Prefab Sprout

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997

Absolutely Prefabulous: Far from the sonic mainstream with Paddy McAloon ...

Ron Sexsmith: Other Songs (Universal IND90123)

Review by David Hepworth, Q, July 1997

Ron Sexsmith: a case of, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. ...

Dar Williams: End of the Summer (Razor & Tie, $15.98) ****

Review by j. poet, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 July 1997

Dar Williams Plays With Pop Impulses ...

Tracy Chapman, Sarah McLachlan, Kinnie Starr, Suzanne Vega: Songs of the Sirens: Lilith Fair

Report by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 28 July 1997

THEY READ tarot cards on the grass in the afternoon sun and danced under the moon to the sounds of Tracy Chapman. And before they ...

Bob Dylan: Preemptive Obituaries

Comment by Greil Marcus, Interview, August 1997

I WAS IN England in late May, trying to get people to read a book about Bob Dylan's 1967 basement tapes recordings, when the story ...

Jeff Buckley: "It's Never Over"

Obituary by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1997

JUST BEFORE 9PM ON THE EVENING of Thursday, May 29, Jeff Buckley and his friend Keith Foti realised they were lost. ...

Elvis Presley, Leiber and Stoller: Elvis, homoeroticism and 'Jailhouse Rock'

Essay by Peter Silverton, The Observer, 10 August 1997

'Oh yes,' said Stanley, a builder - though not a man known ever to have displayed his bum cleavage beyond the privacy of his own ...

Fountains Of Wayne: A Tossed Off Masterpiece

Interview by Bill DeMain, In Natural, September 1997

JAMES THURBER once said that what he strived for most in his humor pieces was a "tossed off quality." ...

Leah Andreone, Tracy Chapman, Paula Cole, Lauren Hoffman, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Mudgirl, Kinnie Starr, Suzanne Vega, Cassandra Wilson: Lilith Fair: The Gorge Amphitheatre George, Washington

Live Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Spin, September 1997

"JUST A SECOND, just a second now," said Canadian performer Kinnie Starr as she abruptly swung her electric guitar down and stepped off the tiny ...

Phil Ochs: Van Dyke Parks on Phil Ochs (1997)

Interview by Steve Roeser, Rock's Backpages audio, September 1997

VDP on his relationship with Phil Ochs, Ochs' relationship with Bob Dylan, producing Greatest Hits, and his dislike of the Byrds

File format: mp3; in 2 parts, total file sizes: 38.2mb, total interview length: 41' 41" sound quality: * (phoner)

Ron Sexsmith: Westbeth Theater, New York City

Live Review by Jeff Apter, No Depression, 25 September 1997

WHILE THE REAL world is tough on outsiders, they'll always be welcomed in the land of thinking-person's music. Toronto troubadour Ron Sexsmith has perfected the ...

Jewel: Daddy cruel — Jewel: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 October 1997

For a while on stage, Jewel exudes vulnerability. Then she tells you she wants to bash her father's teeth in. CAROLINE SULLIVAN reports ...

Leonard Cohen: More Best Of (Columbia)

Review and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, November 1997

A CATCH-UP collection of the best of the past couple of decades for those who fell in love with, or to, early Len and may ...

Richard Davies: Mojo Rising

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, November 1997

RICHARD DAVIES is cooped up in the Turtle Creek barn, a hallowed old recording studio haunted by ghosts of Woodstock past and present. (A picture ...

Bob Dylan: A Map You Can Throw Away: Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind

Review by Greil Marcus, The San Francisco Examiner, 2 November 1997

THE CHALLENGE of Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind – his first collection of self-written songs since 1990 – is to take it at face ...

Jarvis Cocker, Pulp: Pulp: Sorted for Pipe and Slippers

Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, Telegraph Magazine, 8 November 1997

At the age of seven, Jarvis Cocker realised he was not immortal. Now the Pied Piper of his generation has decided the end is nigh. ...

John Denver 1943-1997

Obituary by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 27 November 1997

Country-pop star dies in plane crash ...

Beth Orton: A Kinky Disco Kid

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Guardian, 28 November 1997

Singer Beth Orton shrugged off the tragedies of her youth and was inspired by acid house to mix folk with breakbeats. Sheryl Garratt hears how ...

Burt Bacharach: Anyone Who Had A Heart: The Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Retrospective and Interview by Robin Platts, DISCoveries, December 1997

AS THE 1960s sped from Beach Blanket Bingo through Beatlemania to Psychedelia, Vietnam and beyond, the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David played on ...

The Kinks, Ray Davies: Kinks: The Singles Collection/Waterloo Sunset — The Songs Of Ray Davies

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, December 1997

It's a shame about Ray: Classic chartbreakers and their creator's solo furrow ...

Steve Earle: El Corazon (E-Squared/Warner Bros.)

Review and Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, December 1997

Slice of Life ...

Lucinda Williams: The Fillmore, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 11 December 1997

"I'VE READ that I'm a demanding perfectionist and a difficult diva," quipped a sinewy Lucinda Williams, who lately has gotten as much press for her ...

Todd Rundgren (1997)

Interview by Bill DeMain, Rock's Backpages audio, 11 December 1997

America's foremost Utopian on the songwriter's job: on originality and plagiarism; the process of writing and realisation; on revisiting his old songs on With a Twist; on the emerging Internet and how it will change the way artists and songwriters work... and the tyranny of the long-form CD.

File format: mp3; file size: 34.2mb, interview length: 35' 39" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Beth Orton: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 17 December 1997

Unplugged and unvarnished ...

John Fogerty (1997)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1997

The former Creedence frontman looks back on the end of Creedence and his relations with the band; on Fantasy Records boss Saul Zaentz and being sued for "self-plagiarism"; on his tricky relationship with brother Tom; on not being psychedelic in San Francisco during the Summer of Love; on hearing the blues, Elvis and Bay Area R&B radio... and on life after Creedence and how much happier he is now.

File format: mp3; file size: 51mb; Interview length: 53' 07"; sound quality: ****½

Jacques Brel

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 1998

Alan Clayson profiles the life and music of the great chansonnier ...

Neil Young at Heart

Essay by Mick Gold, unpublished, 1998

IT MUST HAVE been 1969 or 1970. There was a rave review of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in Rolling Stone and I bought it ...

Bernie Taupin, Elton John: Bernie Taupin

Interview by Paul Zollo, Musician, January 1998

AS ELTON John's lyricist for three decades, Bernie Taupin is one of the most famous British songwriters of all time. ...

Bob Dylan

Comment by Glenn O'Brien, Artforum, January 1998

I HEARD A TRACK from Bob Dylan's new Time Out of Mind (Columbia) on the radio a few weeks before the album's release. I didn't ...

Mark Hollis, Talk Talk: Return from Eden: Mark Hollis

Profile and Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, January 1998

As the prime mover behind Talk Talk, Mark Hollis threw off the shackles of a pop existence to create the bleakest, yet most lyrical orchestral ...

Richard Thompson: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 21 January 1998

BELFAST'S WATERFRONT Hall embodies all the characteristics of a provincial Barbican – a kind of clinical, beige Gormenghast of a place where corridors lead to ...

Fiona Apple: The Caged Birds Sings

Interview by Chris Heath, Rolling Stone, 22 January 1998

  WHEN FIONA Apple pulls into a new town — some place where she has never been before but where tonight there is a theater with ...

Kristin Hersh: 12 Bar Club, London

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 24 January 1998

KRIST ALMIGHTY! ...

Mark Hollis: Composing Himself

Profile and Interview by Andrew Smith, The Sunday Times, 25 January 1998

ANDREW SMITH meets the former Talk Talk singer whose haunting new album marks the next stage in an intriguing musical odyssey.  ...

Ani DiFranco: Just an Old Fashioned Girl (with Blue Hair)

Interview by Jeff Apter, nyrock.com, February 1998

JUST WHO is Ani DiFranco anyway? Doc Martin-clad punk-poet icon, do-it-yourself business guru, feminist folksinger: there are so many sides to this Buffalo girl from ...

Mark Hollis: Mark Hollis

Review by David Bennun, The Guardian, February 1998

FROM 1980S synth-pop with Talk Talk, Mark Hollis is now a solo artist of rare contemplation… It's all gone quiet over here. Mark Hollis has ...

Chris Rea: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 1 February 1998

Dire Rea ...

Beck: Mutations

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1998

Supposedly one of his "parenthetical" releases in the vein of Stereoscopic Soul Manure and One Foot In The Grave. The "official" follow-up to Odelay is ...

Brian Kennedy

Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998

BRIAN KENNEDY is caught between a pillow and a soft place. On the one hand, he's an emerging solo artist whose debut album in 1990 ...

Nick Heyward: The Apple Bed

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 1998

Core, fruits you, Sir! Heyward's sixth post-Haircut 100 LP, and his debut for Alan McGee ...

Paul Brady: The Ever-Changing World of Paul Brady

Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, March 1998

A MENTOR ONCE told me there were two rules to writing about other people's lives: First, always remember that as the journalist, you're not the ...

The Lovin' Spoonful, John Sebastian: The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian (1998)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 16 March 1998

The Spoonful front-man on his music-packed upbringing in Greenwich Village; starting out playing guitar; becoming a songwriter, and talks about some of his bigger hits.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.7mb, interview length: 46' 39" sound quality: *****

Chris Rea: The Blue Café

Review by Kit Aiken, Uncut, April 1998

SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL movies (La Passione) and life threatening illnesses (collapsed colon and peritonitis) out of the way, Chris Rea is back making music like nothing has ...

Donnie Fritts: Leanin' Man from Alabam'

Interview by Chris Bourke, Real Groove, April 1998

DONNIE FRITTS MAY be one of the unsung heroes of American music, but a peek inside his address book shows how his talents are appreciated. ...

Michael Head: The Magical World of the Strands

Review by Johnny Black, Q, April 1998

IT ALWAYS SEEMS as though Michael Head's 15 minutes of fame are imminent. Over the last two decades, this unfairly neglected Liverpudlian has written much ...

Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon (1998) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages transcripts, April 1998

This is a transcription of Barney's audio interview with Paddy. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Toby Keith: Home Is Where His Heart Is

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Country Music, April 1998

Success has found Toby Keith in terms of hit records, a new business venture and, award nominations. And though he's enjoying it all, Toby still ...

James Taylor: Hammersmith Apollo, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, Rolling Stone, 30 April 1998

A Hazelnut Voice for All Seasons ...

Van Morrison: Van The Man: 1979-88

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 1998

Van arm-chair heaven ...

Jeff Buckley: Grace under fire

Retrospective by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 1 May 1998

Singer Jeff Buckley lived in the shadow of his father Tim's death. Dave Simpson remembers meeting the visionary of pain and loss, and hears the ...

Jeff Buckley: Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk) (Epic)

Review by Stevie Chick, Melody Maker, 16 May 1998

YOUR INITIAL thoughts as you listen to this — the first posthumous release from mercurial troubadour Jeff Buckley (who drowned in the Mississippi last May) ...

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra's 'My Way'

Essay by Peter Silverton, The Observer, 17 May 1998

As songs go, 'My Way' doesn't so much wear its heart on its sleeve as rip it from its chest, throw it down and shout: ...

Tori Amos

Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 24 May 1998

"The more comfortable I get with my sexuality, the less it leaks all over the place" ...

Elliott Smith: Either/Or (Domino) ****½

Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 30 May 1998

THE FIRST thing you'll hear is a slight whisper, a lone voice sighing with warm-hearted devotion. Then a few similarly sensitive souls will chip in, ...

Willie Nelson: Interview: Willie Nelson

Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 31 May 1998

The songs come out of suffering. Like being beaten senseless with his wife's broom... ...

Elliott Smith: Interview Transcript

Interview by Neil Mason, unpublished, June 1998

I'D BEEN TO SEE Elliott Smith's first UK show a week earlier, can't recall where, but it was clearly enough to get me back a ...

Imogen Heap

Profile and Interview by Dan Gennoe, Making Music, June 1998

7PM AND THE West London pub where Making Music is currently propping up the bar is starting to fill up in anticipation of the Italy ...

Jeff Buckley: Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk) (Columbia)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1998

FANS OF Grace might find this album tough going. For one thing, it's hard to divorce the circumstances of its existence from the music – ...

John Martyn (1998)

Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1998

We start with Smith's second attempt at interviewing Martyn: the Scottish bard on his covers album The Church of the One Bell; on starting out as a musician; on his influences such as Davey Graham and the impressionist composers; on writing 'Solid Air' for (and about) Nick Drake. Following that, we present Smith's first attempt at the interview, in which a soused Martyn slurs about impressionism, drink and religion, and tells incomprehensible jokes.

File format: mp3; file size: 38.2mb, interview length: 39' 49" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Rufus Wainwright: Roxy, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 1998

Wainwright an Engaging, Versatile Singer ...

Shania Twain: Arrowhead Pond Arena, Anaheim CA

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 25 June 1998

Point proved, Shania ...

Tori Amos: Her Secret Garden

Interview by Steven Daly, Rolling Stone, 25 June 1998

With a little help from her faeries, she is doing more than just getting by ...

Lucinda Williams Is Ready for Her Close-Up Now

Profile by James Hunter, New York Observer, 29 June 1998

THE COGNOSCENTI are wigging. "How did a 45-year-old 'neurotic diva' with one foot in Faulkner's South and one foot in Garth's make the year's best ...

Lucinda Williams: Lost in America

Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, July 1998

HOW DID A 45-YEAR-OLD "NEUROTIC DIVA" WITH ONE FOOT IN FAULKNER'S SOUTH AND ONE FOOT IN GARTH'S MANAGE TO MAKE THE YEAR'S BEST ALBUM? SIMPLE, SAYS ...

Neal Casal: Out-duding the early James Taylor

Profile and Interview by Tom Cox, Uncut, July 1998

NEAL CASAL grins craftily — he's been careful to bring his electric guitar to Uncut's photo session and not his acoustic. "No Nick Drake shots ...

Joni Mitchell (1998)

Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1998

Shortly after participating in the Woodstock "Day in the Garden" concert, Joni talks about missing the original festival; not really joining in with youth culture; her youthful tangle with polio; starting smoking at nine; her musical adventures; her Canadian bolthole; her dislike of the music business; her new album Taming the Tiger; her guitars and tunings; finding Jaco Pastorius; becoming a painter... and being reunited with her daughter.

File format: mp3; file size: 126.2mb, interview length: 2h 11' 26" sound quality: ***

Crowded House, Neil Finn: Neil Finn: Former Crowded House Frontman

Interview by Bill DeYoung, Goldmine, August 1998

THERE'S A lush, green exotic-ness to Neil Finn's songs, as if they were created in some kind of hothouse rain forest where only the most ...

Randy Newman: Here Comes The Rain

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

Ian MacDonald salutes Randy Newman's first solo album as a flawless masterpiece. ...

Rufus Wainwright: Raise the Rufus

Profile and Interview by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 7 August 1998

The son of Loudon Wainwright III, this melodramatic young folk singer might be the next Jeff Buckley. Tom Cox meets him ...

Elliott Smith: Roman Candle; Elliott Smith (Domino)

Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, 8 August 1998

PORTLAND, OREGON singer/songwriter Elliott Smith is the man responsible for this year's most vital album release, the mesmerising Either/Or. Imagine a more focused Sebadoh or ...

Neil Young: "You're All Just Pissing In the Wind"

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, September 1998

RIGHT NOW, Neil Young is in kind of an invidious position. On The Beach is his equivalent of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album in terms ...

Erykah Badu, Indigo Girls, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Billie Myers, Sinéad O'Connor: Sarah McLachlan, The Indigo Girls, Erykah Badu et al: Lilith Fair, Civic Stadium, Portland, Oregon

Live Review by RJ Smith, Spin, September 1998

BEFORE ANYTHING else is said about the opening night of the 57-date Lilith Fair, let's note the nice: The climate at Portland's Civic Stadium was ...

Willie Nelson (1998)

Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 September 1998

The outlaw-country icon talks about what makes Texas such fertile ground for songwriters and musicians; about his discovery of the Austin scene; his early years as a writer in Nashville, and pitching 'Crazy' to Patsy Cline; the struggle to break through as an artist, and at some length about songwriting.

File format: mp3; file size: 23.9mb, interview length: 24' 51" sound quality: ****

Pulp Friction

Profile and Interview by Mark Mordue, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 18 September 1998

JARVIS COCKER wanders through London's Tower Books and Records like a spy in a foreign country. Close by, music fans are harvesting the racks of ...

Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello: Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello: Kings of America

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 19 September 1998

Burt Bacharach had his first hit when Elvis Costello was in short trousers. Costello had hits of his own when Bacharach's star was waning. Now, ...

Jonathan Richman: There's Something about Jonathan

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, The Independent, 25 September 1998

Jonathan Richman introduced us to the abominable snowman in the supermarket. Now, like wow, he's a film star. ...

Lisa Germano: Slide (4AD)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, October 1998

Slide Show ...

Mark Lanegan: Scraps at Midnight (Sub Pop)

Review by Mac Randall, Musician, October 1998

THINK BROWN. Brown clouds of dust hanging on the horizon. Big brown rocks catching the last rays at sunset. Warm brown whiskey in a hip ...

Lisa Germano: Happy to be Centre Stage, at Long Last

Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 15 October 1998

Big stars? Glum rockers? Don't let the buggers grind you down. Lisa Germano didn't. ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Portrait of an Artist in the Making

Profile and Interview by Ben Thompson, The Independent, 22 October 1998

Badly Drawn Boy is challenging pop's establishment. He's that hard, is Damon. ...

Joni Mitchell: "I'd Rather Not Compromise. I'm In It For The Musical Adventure."

Interview by Steven Daly, Rolling Stone, 29 October 1998

BY THE time she got to Woodstock, they were 25,000 strong — and it was twenty-nine years too late. But Joni Mitchell cared not that ...

Don McLean: Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 30 October 1998

"PEOPLE ASK ME what 'American Pie' means" says Don, midway through his enviably well-attended show. "It means I don't have to work any more if ...

Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello: Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach: Painted From Memory

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, November 1998

ONLY FIVE years ago in the UK, it needed to be reaffirmed that Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest popular musicians of the second ...

Counting Crows, Natalie Imbruglia: Singing in the Rain

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, November 1998

Reflections on singing, with Natalie Imbruglia and Counting Crows' Adam Duritz. ...

Lucinda Williams (1998)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 November 1998

Ms Williams talks about the often-torturous gestation of her magnificent Car Wheels On A Gravel Road album, and about her roots and influences, musical and literary.

File format: mp3; file size: 29.8mb, interview length: 32' 29" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Shawn Mullins: Soul's Core  

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 17 November 1998

FORMER ARMY airborne soldier Shawn Mullins is a sensitive tough guy. Inside the sleeve of Soul's Core – the Atlanta troubadour's seventh album but his ...

Burt Bacharach: The Look of Love – The Burt Bacharach Collection

Review by James Hunter, New York Observer, 23 November 1998

Kitschy-Kitschy-Koo: Look of Love Gets Too Cute ...

Vic Chesnutt: Gravity's Rainbow: Vic Chesnutt

Profile by Will Hermes, The Village Voice, 24 November 1998

LIKE PLENTY of other folks in wheelchairs, Vic Chesnutt doesn't want your sympathy. In fact, he can challenge the compassion of even those closest to ...

Lucinda Williams: Small town fireworks

Interview by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 27 November 1998

Three parts honey, two parts bourbon — the road-movie songs of folk-rocker Lucinda Williams have been hugely influential over the past 20 years, and a ...

Beck: Mutations

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 1998

Downbeat apocalypse: US master of ironic eclecticism unearths a diamond in the trash. ...

Lucinda Williams: Breaking Through to the Mainstream

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 3 December 1998

IT'S ALWAYS a bittersweet day for music fans when their cult favorite finally breaks through to the mainstream. On one hand, there's happiness that the ...

Thomas Anderson: Flying Saucer Rock & Roll

Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 29 December 1998

WITH THREE FINE albums and a recent seven-song EP, available respectively from Dutch East India, Bomp, and now Germany's Red River, Thomas Anderson is clearly ...

Elliott Smith: An Interview in NYC, 30th April, 1998

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Spring 1998

Listen to the audio of this interview here. ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: Lemons And Lemonade

Interview by Bill DeMain, unpublished, 1999

"I'M A LUDICROUS optimist," says Andy Partridge. "I'm in front of the firing squad and I've got the clown's makeup on and I'm telling gags ...

Elvis Costello: Elvis Goes Mellow?

Interview by Tim Footman, Flipside, 1999

IT'S A TOUGH JOB, but someone's gotta do it. Declan Patrick 'Aloysius' McManus, aka Napoleon Dynamite, aka The Imposter, aka Tiny Hands Of Concrete; a ...

Alanis Morissette, Joan Osborne, Sheryl Crow: Silent Partners: Writers, Producers, Players

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, 1999

Phil Sutcliffe looks at the men who helped midwife albums by Sheryl Crow, Joan Osborne and Alanis Morissette ...

The Dream Syndicate, Gutterball, Steve Wynn: Steve Wynn (1999)

Interview by Francesco Calazzo, Rock's Backpages audio, 1999

The ex-Dream Syndicate frontman looks back fondly at the Paisley Underground; being on tour for many years; his new album My Midnight; his side project Gutterball; on singers and singing, and guitars and guitar playing; songwriting; his move to New York, and being revered by a new generation of artists.

File format: mp3; file size: 88.1mb, interview length: 1h 36' 11" sound quality: ***

Elliott Smith: He's Mr Dyingly Sad, And You're Mystifyingly Glad

Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, January 1999

ELLIOTT SMITH recovers nicely. Just one hour ago he was sitting in a tiny backstage room, enjoying a postshow libation and breathing in a blue ...

Roy Harper: Vicar Street, Dublin

Live Review by Colin Harper, MOJO, January 1999

ROY ASSURES ME that it only happens in Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin. "It" being the verge-of-chaos spectator sport and crowd participation version of what would ...

Vic Chesnutt: The Salesman and Bernadette (Capricorn)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, January 1999

THIS IS THE best record of the year at making time stop. Vic Chesnutt tells a story. Maybe the tale pulls into it specific figures, ...

Elliott Smith: ULU, London

Live Review by Neil Kulkarni, Melody Maker, 2 January 1999

CRITICS AND musicians love him. He can do no wrong. And that's when you get suspicious. That's when you start to wonder if something so ...

Tom Waits (1999)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 January 1999

On his new album, Mule Variations; on changing labels; on his formative influences... and on edible slugs! On Beatniks, recording, songwriting, Frank Zappa and L.A.... and his first tattoos!

File format: mp3 File size: 71.4mb, interview length: 1h 14' 23", sound quality: **

The Band, The Beatles, Gene Clark, Nick Drake, George Harrison, Curtis Mayfield, Todd Rundgren, Tom Waits: The alternative top 10

Guide by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 29 January 1999

1 Nick Drake Bryter Layter (Island, 1970) ...

Tracy Chapman: Hardcore Troubadour

Interview by Peter Murphy (Irish), Hot Press, 3 February 1999

TRACY CHAPMAN’S eponymous debut album was one of the biggest sellers of last year – more than ten years after its release. She spoke to ...

Todd Rundgren: Out on his Todd again

Retrospective and Interview by Robert Webb, The Independent, 19 February 1999

Todd Rundgren is a pioneer. His eclectic albums were the benchmark for a decade, his innovative studio techniques one step ahead of the music industry. ...

Smog: Bill Callahan

Profile and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, March 1999

THERE'S NOTHING BILL Callahan likes better than watching a Polaroid develop, "struck in this transition state, always surprising me". Some might say he needs to ...

Joe Henry: Fuse

Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 10 March 1999

LEONARD COHEN stepped into an avalanche; it covered up his soul. Now, when he is not this hunchback that you see, he sleeps beneath the ...

Freedy Johnston learns to let go

Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, April 1999

FREEDY JOHNSTON has this complicated relationship with control. He wants it over his music, for all the right reasons, but he knows from experience that ...

Janis Ian, Stan Ridgway: Songwriting: Sex and Memory

Interview by Paul Zollo, Musician, April 1999

Janis Ian and Stan Ridgway discuss the changing role of gender in modern lyrics. ...

Tom Waits: Mule Variations (Epitaph)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 15 April 1999

The Big Noise ...

Smog: Play Misty For Me

Interview by Simon Price, Uncut, May 1999

Smog's Bill Callahan is to Nineties USA what Morrissey was to Eighties Britain: the undisputed bard of smalltown melancholia. Simon Price meets the pea-souperman. ...

Elliott Smith: Pretty Barfly: Elliott Smith

Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 1 May 1999

ELLIOTT SMITH is a philosopher, a jocular barroom buddy, but he's also a loner, the Bukowski-esque malcontent with a great American sadness etched into his ...

Tom Waits: Guthrie's Heir?: Tom Waits' Mule Variations

Review by Gene Santoro, The Nation, 6 May 1999

TOM WAITS IS an imaginary hobo. He cruises the oddball corners of American pop culture, collecting the deft and moving and loopy short takes he ...

Elliott Smith: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 15 May 1999

AT FIRST, THE hushed, respectful, masses can't believe their eyes. They've come to sit and worship at the feet of the man who redefined sensitive, ...

Burt Bacharach: Hal David (1999)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 25 May 1999

In London to receive an Ivor Novello Award, the great lyricist recalls his days in Manhattan song factory the Brill Building with writing partner Burt Bacharach; hanging out with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; writing for Frank Sinatra; Dionne Warwick's transformation from demo singer to star; 'Make It Easy On Yourself' and 'Anyone Who Had a Heart'; his favourite songwriters; riding the rock wave; and the revival of interest in his work.

File format: mp3; total file size: 57.5mb, total interview length: 59' 54" sound quality: ****

Burt Bacharach: We're In Love With This Guy: Hal David

Interview by Terry Staunton, music365.com, 27 May 1999

Lyrical legend HAL DAVID has just become the first non-Briton to be honoured with a prestigious Ivor Novello Award by the British Academy Of Composers ...

Sebadoh: Psychobabble: Sebadoh's Lou Barlow

Interview by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 29 May 1999

He'd consider making a necklace from his toes, when he's dead he wants his body to be cut up and distributed to people... And he's ...

Shack: Mersey Blues

Interview by Tom Doyle, The Face, June 1999

HEROIN. ARSON. DEATH. DESTROYED STUDIOS. BLOWN OPPORTUNITIES. THE BALLAD OF SHACK IS HARDLY EASY LISTENING. BUT NOW, WITH A GLORIOUS NEW ALBUM, BRITAIN'S GREAT LOST ...

Lee Hazlewood: The Return of Nancy's Boy

Profile and Interview by Andrew Smith, The Observer, 13 June 1999

NEW YORK CROWDS don't get much hipper than this. The women look either like a young Patti Smith or Marianne Faithfull circa Girl On A ...

Ben Christophers: Kashmir Club, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 July 1999

THE UK music business is amply stocked with Wellers and Hucknalls, and even the Williams slot is filled. What it has lacked, though, is a ...

Bruce Cockburn: HQ, Dublin

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Independent, 5 August 1999

God plays a mean guitar ...

Randy Newman: Q&A: Randy Newman

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 19 August 1999

BEFORE ICE Cube, before Eric Bogosian, before Chris Rock, before the country was close to ready, Randy Newman wrote and sang thorny portraits of racists, ...

Kevin Coyne: Sugar Candy Taxi

Review by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 23 August 1999

BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER Kevin Coyne is a strange one. As influenced by the rough-and-tumble sounds of Mississippi blues as by his job as a counselor to ...

Dido, Kendall Payne: the Troubadour, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 27 August 1999

Dido's Electronic-Folk Goes in Search of Depth ...

Mary Gauthier (1999)

Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 September 1999

Ms. Gauthier talks about her road from a tricky childhood, via addiction and alcoholism, to her place as a songwriter: ambition vs. self-destruction; her community of outsiders; the meaning of truth; her move to Boston and running restaurants; doing her first open-mic nights, and all about songwriting.

File format: mp3; file size: 30.9mb, interview length: 32' 11" sound quality: ***

David Bowie: David Buckley: Strange Fascination – The Definitive David Bowie Story

Book Review by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 23 September 1999

WHILE MOST BOWIE biographies (notably Alias David Bowie, Peter & Leni Gillman's 1986 exposé of family mental illness and the Bowie "myth") are as welcome ...

Beck: "Postmodern Irony Is Like A Bad Smell In The Bathroom"

Interview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 16 October 1999

Has he who smelt it dealt it? Beck answers some burning questions. ...

Beth Orton: Academy, Manchester ****

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 19 October 1999

Real angry woman ...

Shelby Lynne: Embassy Rooms, London ****

Live Review by Lucy O'Brien, The Guardian, 27 October 1999

ONE OF THE new breed of US country crossover stars, Shelby Lynne doesn't have the smooth, invincible sheen of a Shania Twain or a Mindy ...

Ben Harper at Byron Bay

Profile and Interview by Mark Mordue, Madison, November 1999

IT COULD BE the definition of what an artist does when he sets out to make something. ...

Brian McKnight: The Professional

Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, November 1999

Writer. Singer. Producer. Arranger. Player. Brian McKnight is a musician's musician. So Amy Linden has to wonder, why does this highly trained master at his ...

Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus Wainwright: Fathers & Sons: Loudon and Rufus Wainwright

Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 11 November 1999

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, 53, was the folk-singing son of a famous Life magazine writer and came on the scene with several other "new Dylans" in ...

Tom Rush: Nightstick: 'No Regrets'

Report by Kirk Silsbee, New Times Los Angeles, 18 November 1999

CAN'T REMEMBER exactly when the seminal folkie Tom Rush was last heard around here, but Saturday's show at McCabe's is definitely a case of long ...

Sting: "I think I am the edge": Sting faces 50 and the millennium

Interview by Bob Spitz, Delta Sky, December 1999

FROM THE MOMENT the Police made their debut in 1978, it was clear that Sting wasn't about to go away. It wasn't so much that ...

Richard Buckner: Bloomed (Slow River/Rykodisc)

Retrospective by Matt Hanks, No Depression, Summer 1999

RICHARD BUCKNER'S 1994 debut album, Bloomed, heralded the arrival of a uniquely expressive and honest songwriter and reaped Buckner tomes of critical praise, a deal ...

Andrew Gold

Interview by Joe Matera, International Songwriter, 2000

Joe Matera: Tell me a bit about your background. You started writing songs at 13?Andrew Gold: Yeah, I started around then (13). My first song ...

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)

Review by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2000

New double-disc remastering of George’s solo debut. Now with out-takes, remixes and a re-recorded version of ‘My Sweet Lord’. ...

Mary Gauthier: The Darker Side of Dixie

Interview by Chris Smith, Rockrgrl, January 2000

MIDNIGHT HAS LONG since passed, and we're sitting in the dim alley behind the legendary Club Passim in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fire ...

Mickey Newbury: On the Porch With Mickey Newbury

Interview by Ben Fong-Torres, AllMusic.com, January 2000

MICKEY NEWBURY is 60, and he's slowed down a bit, spending much less time on the road than at his home in Oregon, where he's ...

Primal Scream, Simon & Garfunkel: I wanna be Bobby's grrl

Review by Barbara Ellen, The Times, 21 January 2000

SUGGESTING THAT you might like the new Primal Scream album, Exterminator (Creation £14.99) is a bit like saying that you might enjoy having a helicopter ...

Fred Neil: I Don't Hear a Word They're Saying...

Retrospective and Interview by Ben Edmonds, MOJO, February 2000

He gave Dylan his start, wrote a song you know by heart, and was rated by many performers as the very best there ever was. ...

Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra: The Very Special World of Lee Hazlewood

Interview by Kieron Tyler, Record Collector, February 2000

He sings, produces, writes and arranges, and had no. 1 hits with Nancy Sinatra. Kieron Tyler meets the legendary genre-straddling icon. ...

Curtis Mayfield: The Soul of Soul: Curtis Mayfield 1942–1999

Obituary by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 3 February 2000

"EVERYTHING WAS A SONG," Curtis Mayfield once said. "Every conversation, every personal hurt, every observance of people in stress, happiness and love ... if you ...

Warren Zevon: Pictures From Life's Other Side

Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 4 February 2000

'Death doesn't scare me. I have the impression that life is the lobby and death is the apartment – maybe it's OK' ...

Steely Dan: Hey 19: It's About Time

Profile and Interview by Wayne Robins, Los Angeles Times, 27 February 2000

"WHAT RECORD COMPANY are we on, by the way?" Donald Fagen wants to know. "I'm not kidding." ...

Curtis Mayfield

Obituary by Ben Edmonds, MOJO, March 2000

With his high, pure tenor and songs of peace, love and empowerment, Curtis Mayfield was a soul revolutionary whose influence spanned four decades. Ben Edmonds ...

Fiona Apple: Hard Core Pawn

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, March 2000

Therapised and raped by the age 12, famous and alienated by the music industry at 19, Fiona Apple is feeling better, thank you. She's got ...

Joan Armatrading (2000)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, March 2000

Ms. Armatrading gives the low-down on her life as a songwriter: where songs come from; what she writes about; how she started writing and playing; the songs she'll talk about and those she won't, plus individual songs like the great 'Love and Affection'.

File format: mp3; file size: 38.4mb, interview length: 41' 56" sound quality: ***

Lou Reed: Ecstasy (WEA)

Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 24 March 2000

IT BEGINS WITH a grumble: not Lou himself, but a bass guitar attempting to clone the sound of an OAP getting on a downtown bus, ...

Patti Smith: Gung Ho

Review by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 28 March 2000

ONE OF THE beautiful things about art is that it restores one's faith in humanity – in the gifts of vision, creativity, and awareness that ...

Dwight Twilley: Magical Mystery Man

Retrospective and Interview by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 21 April 2000

The name Dwight Twilley probably doesn't ring a bell, but to the cognoscenti he's a rock'n'roll legend blessed with pop sensibility and irresistible animal magnetism. ...

Bow Wow Wow, Joan Jett, Darlene Love, Tony Orlando: Kenny Laguna: Laguna Tunes

Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 29 April 2000

IT'S TEMPTING TO imagine that Kenny Laguna invented the lifework he chronicles in the songs and liner notes of Laguna Tunes, that this parade of ...

Aimee Mann: Catcher In The Wry

Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, May 2000

She scored with the heartbreaking Magnolia soundtrack, but Aimee Mann isn't gloating just yet ...

Smog: Dongs Of Sevotion

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2000

Ninth dry—lipped album from the Buster Keaton of sadcore ...

Warren Zevon (2000)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, May 2000

Taking tea in Soho's brand-new Sanderson Hotel, the great singer-songwriter talks about... well, almost everything: getting older; being perceived as a "dark" moralist; not being commercial; his good pal Jackson Browne; David Geffen; addiction, sobriety and therapy; his parents; plus songwriting and his diffidence in talking about it.

File format: mp3; total file size: 43.6mb, interview length: 45' 22" sound quality: ***

The Magnetic Fields, Stephin Merritt: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

Interview by Tim Page, The Washington Post, 7 May 2000

NEW YORK — There is a distinct whiff of Disney to the Lower East Side these days. Tidied and fattened by the Manhattan real estate ...

Travis: Luv Hurts: Travis' The Man Who

Review by James Hunter, L.A. Weekly, 17 May 2000

POP RECORDS can come with some pretty heavy reps. Travis' The Man Who appears in the U.S. after moving two and a half million copies ...

Heinz, John Leyton, Joe Meek, The Tornados: Geoff Goddard, 1939-2000

Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 25 May 2000

Innovative songwriter in an era before the Beatles ...

Cat Stevens, Yusuf: Cat Stevens: Time to Make a Change

Profile and Interview by Colin Irwin, MOJO, June 2000

It's one of music's most overdue reconciliations. Yusuf Islam has made peace with Cat Stevens. ...

Gary Lucas: Improve The Shining Hour: Rare Lumiere 1980–2000 (Knitting Factory)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, June 2000

THE GLITTERING career of US guitarist Gary Lucas has inevitably become overshadowed by the work he produced for Captain Beefheart during the early 80s on ...

Lee Hazlewood: 13/The Cowboy And The Lady (Smells Like)

Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, June 2000

LEE HAZLEWOOD is not one of those cult objects who, on closer inspection, looks like a frail talent protected by decades of vinyl scarcity and ...

Neil Young: Silver & Gold (Reprise)

Review by RJ Smith, Spin, June 2000

"I DON'T KNOW what I'm doing/My software's not compatible with you," Neil Young moans on 'Without Rings', the last song on his 36th (!) record. ...

King Biscuit Time: What's Up Duck

Profile and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 17 June 2000

After "losing it big time" around the release of the Beta Band's ill-fated alburn, Steve Mason is back with another King Biscuit Time EP and ...

Badly Drawn Boy: The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, July 2000

Could Damon Gough's long-awaited debut be the indie Pet Sounds? ...

Badly Drawn Boy: This Charming Man

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, July 2000

Floral tributes please for Badly Drawn Boy: incurable romantic, nicotine addict and, quite probably, the best songwriter in the world... ...

John Martyn: Glasgow Walker/Classics

Review by Chris Ingham, MOJO, July 2000

30th-odd album plus old song collection from Glaswegian songwriter. ...

Paul Anka: Vegas Style – The Best of the Late RCA and Buddah Recordings

Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, Taragon Records, July 2000

WE CATCH PAUL Anka in one of life's in-betweens. He had been one of the biggest stars of the '50s and would spectacularly resurrect his ...

Bright Eyes: On Band: Bright Eyes

Report and Interview by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 1 July 2000

AT THE RIPE age of 20, Conor Oberst is a little long in the tooth to be properly termed a prodigy, but his talents are ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty: John Fogerty: The saddest story in rock

Retrospective and Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 11 July 2000

In 1988 John Fogerty was sued for plagiarising his own songs. Adam Sweeting talks to the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman about 12 years of bitter ...

Allison Moorer: A simple tale of country folk

Interview by Nick Coleman, The Independent, 21 July 2000

Allison Moorer is from Alabama. And yes, she sings about lost love and death. But so would you if you'd seen what she's seen... ...

Laura Nyro: Oh My Love-Trumpet Soul: Laura Nyro's New York Tendaberry

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

AND A GREAT tenderness came forth from the unforgiving streets of the East Side. It's easy to dislike Laura Nyro. Your first requirement is to ...

Scott Walker: Scott/Scott 2/Scott 3/Scott 4/Boychild: 1967-1970

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000

The Arctic explorer's '60s solo oeuvre remastered with new pix and full lyrix. ...

Steely Dan: Two Against Nature

Review by Rick McGrath, Culture Court, August 2000

ALTHO' I'M A long-time Dan Man, Steely Bopper and convicted Fagenite, it was with a mixture of lip-licking anticipation and eye-narrowing dread that I crept ...

Thea Gilmore

Report and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2000

Fiercely-independent young singer-songwriter looks to past for inspiration. ...

John Denver: Various Artists: Take Me Home – A Tribute to John Denver

Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 2 August 2000

A FEW YEARS back, King Kong's Ethan Buckler taught me the essentials of a good poem or lyric: "It must have three things: the visual, ...

Mark Eitzel: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 14 August 2000

It's not all doom and gloom ...

The Beach Boys, Tim Buckley, Brian Wilson: Various Artists: Sing A Song For You (Tribute To Tim Buckley) and Caroline Now! (The Songs Of Brian Wilson And The Beach Boys)

Review by Ian Penman, The Wire, September 2000

IS THERE any point in anyone trying to recast the lassitudinous spacesail of Tim Buckley? As a singer, Buckley belongs to the Eternal(s), so aren't ...

Vic Chesnutt and Mr & Mrs Keneipp: Merriment

Review by Fred Mills, No Depression, September 2000

EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE Georgia-based Paralympian once deadpanned to a Spin interviewer that "Vic Chesnutt is an autodidactically pretentious writer of pseudo-symbolic, text-centred dirge-ballads…singing in a distinctive ...

Victoria Williams: Water to Drink (Atlantic)

Review by RJ Smith, Spin, September 2000

I SING THE SONG of the okra: There's a lot more there than you think. If it's the pluperfect artifact of the country kitchen, the ...

The Go-Betweens: The Friends of Rachel Worth (Jetset)

Review by Holly George-Warren, Rolling Stone, 14 September 2000

Sleater-Kinney aid return of '80s post-punk rockers. ...

Neal Casal: Borderline, London

Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Guardian, 25 September 2000

IT IS HARD not to sympathise with Neal Casal: he is surely doing this for love, not money. After seven mostly impressive albums in five ...

Finley Quaye

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Select, October 2000

Soup Is Blood! Tony Blair's Baby Was Born At Sea! Finley Ouaye Is Reborn As A Manic Street Preacher And He'll Smack You If You ...

Emmylou Harris: Red hot and no sign of a cowboy

Interview by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 11 October 2000

Forget all those whiney, lovesick singers. Emmylou Harris is the performer who makes country music respectable. Tim Cooper talks to her in New York as ...

Eileen Rose: Spitz, London

Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Guardian, 19 October 2000

ANOTHER WEEK, another female singer trying to merge Alanis Morissette's lyrical convolutions, Sheryl Crow's tuneful rock chickery and that hint of kookiness Jewel embraces with ...

PJ Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 October 2000

HEARING P J Harvey's new album, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (Universal) is like coming home to find your studious little sister ...

Shea Seger: Borderline, London

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 20 October 2000

THANKS TO THE likes of Liz Phair, Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette, the '90s saw strong but emotionally fragile, female singer-songwriters become big business. ...

Bob Dylan: The Point Depot, Dublin

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2000

YOU CAN trust in Bob, the magnificent minstrel and incredible icon, the prime preserver and arch plunderer of 20th century Americana, to pull a surprise ...

Merle Haggard: Workin' Man Blues

Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, November 2000

MERLE HAGGARD'S DONE MORE TIME THAN OL' DIRTY BASTARD AND HAS BEEN MAKING HARDCORE COUNTRY RECORDS SINCE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. AT 63, HE'S GOT ...

Eliza Carthy: Manchester University

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Guardian Unlimited, 11 November 2000

Eliza Carthy goes pop ...

Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker

Review by Stevie Chick, New Musical Express, 27 November 2000

IT BEGINS WITH AN ARGUMENT. Surprisingly, Ryan Adams and his bandmate aren't arguing about some dusty Gram Parsons track, but a Morrissey record. And, surprisingly, ...

PJ Harvey: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2000

Self-produced sixth album is curate's egg ...

Elliott Smith: Coming Up Roses: Elliott Smith

Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, Revolver, Spring 2000

ELLIOTT SMITH indulges in a poor man's speedball – coffee and a camel light – while an engineer loads a tape containing rough mixes from ...

Kirsty MacColl

Profile and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Times, Spring 2000

One of our finest singers is also one of our finest writers, and has been for all of 21 years. Caitlin Moran meets the never ...

Jimmy Reed, Emancipator of the South: An Oral History

Retrospective and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Blues Access, Summer 2000

IT BEGINS WITH the discovery of a black-and-white photograph dated 1961. The setting is Walker's Auditorium, a chitlin' circuit showcase for touring black musicians in ...

Vashti Bunyan: Just Another Diamond Day

Review by Richie Unterberger, AllMusic.com, Fall 2000

ABOUT FIVE YEARS after briefly surfacing as part of Andrew Loog Oldham's stable, Vashti — now billing herself with her full name, Vashti Bunyan — ...

Angela Winbush

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. St Louis, Missouri, USA ...

Bobby Bare: The Singles 1959-1969

Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, BMG International, 2001

AN OUTLAW before his time, a folk singer who never played a coffee house, a rock 'n' roller who gave away his biggest hit. Bobby ...

Bruce Hornsby

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 23 November 1954, Williamsburg, USA ...

Chip Taylor

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. James Wesley Voight, 1940, New York, USA ...

Chris De Burgh

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Christopher Davison, 15 October 1948, Argentina ...

Chris Rea

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 4 March 1951, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England ...

Cyndi Lauper

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. Cynthia Anne Stephanie Lauper, 22 June 1953, Brooklyn, New York, USA ...

Dan Fogelberg

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 13 August 1951, Peoria, Illinois, USA ...

Danny O'Keefe

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 1943, Wenatchee, Washington, USA ...

David Ackles

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 20 February 1937, Rock Island, Illinois, USA, d. 2 March 1999, Tujanga, California ...

Doris Troy

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Doris Payne, 1937, New York, USA ...

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

Boudleaux, b. 13 February 1920, Shellman, Georgia, USA, d. 30 June 1987; Felice Scaduto, b. 7 August 1925, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ...

Gerry Rafferty, Stealers Wheel: Gerry Rafferty

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 16 April 1947, Paisley, Scotland ...

Gordon Lightfoot

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 17 November 1938, Orillia, Ontario, Canada ...

Hank Thompson

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. Henry William Thompson, 3 September 1925, Waco, Texas, USA ...

Hoyt Axton

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 25 March 1932, Comanche, Oklahoma, USA, d. 26 October 1999, Oklahoma ...

Jackie Edwards

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Wilfred Edwards, 1938, Kingston, Jamaica, d. 15 August 1992 ...

Jerry Reed

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Jerry Hubbard, 20 March 1937, Atlanta, Georgia, USA ...

Jim Croce

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 10 January 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 20 September 1973, Natchitoches, Louisiana ...

Jimmy Buffett

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 25 December 1946, Mobile, Alabama, USA ...

Joe Ely

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

A CRITICS' FAVOURITE, Ely's brash high-energy blend of Texas honky-tonk styles and rock was an important influence on country performers at a time when the ...

John Stewart

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 5 September 1939, San Diego, California, USA ...

Jonathan Richman

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 16 May 1951, Boston, Massachusetts, USA ...

Leon Russell

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. Hank Wilson, 2 April 1941, Lawton, Oklahoma, USA ...

Leonard Feather

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 13 September 1914, London, England, d. 22 September 1994, New York, USA ...

Neil Diamond

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. 24 January 1941, Brooklyn, New York, USA ...

Neil Sedaka

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, 'Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music', 2001

b. 13 March 1939, Brooklyn, New York, USA ...

Norman Greenbaum

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 20 November 1942, Malden, Massachusetts, USA ...

Paul Williams

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 19 September 1940, Omaha, Nebraska, USA ...

Peter Skellern

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 1947, Bury, Lancashire, England ...

Rod McKuen

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Rodney Marvin McKuen, 29 April 1933, Oakland, California, USA ...

Shea Seger

Profile and Interview by Dan Gennoe, Making Music, 2001

"I WAS SHOCKED," is the only response Shea Seger can muster as she pushes her spoon round a bowl of decidedly unappetising green soup and ...

Peter Skellern: Stardust and Coaldust: The melancholy magnificence of Peter Skellern

Retrospective by Tim Footman, Tangents, 2001

FOR VARIOUS REASONS I've been thinking about brass bands lately. Maybe it's a spin-off from my (by now doubtless wearying) fanboy crush on Hiroo Nakazaki's ...

Rufus Wainwright: The Rueful Master Wainwright

Interview by j. poet, Stereotype, 2001

"A LOT OF SONGWRITING is revenge," Rufus Wainwright quipped, from his New York City hotel room. ...

Tom Rapp

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

On his own and with the group Pearls Before Swine, Rapp produced some of the most engaging and idiosyncratic music of the late sixties and ...

Tommy Edwards

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 17 February 1922, Richmond, Virginia, USA, d. 22 October 1969, Richmond ...

William Bell

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music, 2001

b. William Yarborough, 16 July 1939, Memphis, Tennessee, USA ...

PJ Harvey: New Boots & Panties

Report and Interview by John Harris, Q, January 2001

Loud guitars, PVC, bit of leg — Polly puts the metal on… ...

Joe: Better Days

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 14 January 2001

WHEN YOU'RE born with a name as memorable as Usher or Aaliyah, there's no need to rack your brains for a zappy alter ego. If, ...

Jesse Winchester: Taking Another Shot

Profile and Interview by j. poet, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 January 2001

Eclectic singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester cuts his first new album in 11 years ...

Dido: What went right?

Profile and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 29 January 2001

LAST NOVEMBER, 29-year-old Dido Armstrong and her boyfriend Bob were discussing their day at work. Bob had gone to the office and relaxed with a ...

Charles Trenet: BOUM!: The Life And Art Of Charles Trenet

Obituary by Alan Clayson, unpublished, February 2001

A MORE TIDY-minded author might portray Charles Trenet (1913-2001) as a French Noel Coward. A multi-faceted talent, he was best known for combining qualities of ...

Del Shannon: Buried Treasure: Del Shannon's Home And Away

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, February 2001

US pop singer hits London, meets Andrew Oldham, makes psych classic. ...

Gary Lucas: Invisible Jukebox: Gary Lucas

Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, February 2001

Every month we play a musician a series of records which they're asked to identify and comment on — with no prior knowledge of what ...

Ani DiFranco: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Guardian, 1 February 2001

WITHOUT A HINT OF MAINSTREAM chart or media attention over a decade-long career, without a new record to promote and without any discernible music industry ...

Dido: Scala, London N1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 12 February 2001

WHEN DIDO scheduled her first British tour since becoming a star in America, opening at a small London club must have seemed like a smart ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Backpages Interview: Chrissie Hynde

Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, 23 February 2001

Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders have just finished a fall 2000 U.S. tour opening for Neil Young. Hynde and her group included versions of Young's ...

Stephen Malkmus: Easy Street

Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 24 February 2001

In the high-voltage world of alternative rock, American singer Stephen Malkmus has always preferred a more relaxed path. ...

Jeb Loy Nichols: Just What Time It Is

Review by uncredited writer, No Depression, 28 February 2001

JEB LOY NICHOLS'S first release since his acclaimed 1997 disc Lovers Knot is so laid-back, it should come packaged in a hammock. And while there's ...

Bob Dylan: An Exclusive Interview with Bob Johnston

Interview by Richard Younger, On the Tracks, March 2001

THE LEGEND OF Bob Johnston looms large in the career of Bob Dylan. More than any other producer, Johnston is responsible for producing what many ...

Serge Gainsbourg: Intoxicated Man: The Life and Times of Serge Gainsbourg

Retrospective by Chris Campion, Dazed & Confused, March 2001

AN ARTISTIC DEMAGOGUE flaunting a reputation that was an unholy cross between Warhol, Dylan and the Marquis De Sade, Serge Gainsbourg performed a decadent waltz ...

Jeb Loy Nichols: Just What Time It Is

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, March 2001

JEB LOY NICHOLS shares a gift with folks like reggae's Joe Higgs, country rock's Victoria Williams, and soul's Bill Withers: He can be corny without ...

Stephen Malkmus: Stephen Malkmus

Review by Ben Thompson, MOJO, March 2001

Solo debut from ex-Pavement mainman and urbane resident of Portland, Oregon. Think Pavement, but with longer hair. ...

Stephen Malkmus, Pavement: Stephen Malkmus: Invisible jukebox

Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, March 2001

Every month we play a musician a series of records which they're asked to identify and comment on — with no prior knowledge of what ...

Robbie Fulks: Country Music is Not Pretty: A User’s Guide to Robbie Fulks

Review and Interview by Martin Colyer, Rock's Backpages, 24 March 2001

Prologue Anyway, before long the room has filled with people, and I grab my beloved Martin 00028 and take the stage. The show is one of ...

Gordon Downie: Gord goes it alone: The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 26 March 2001

GORDON DOWNIE inhabits an enviable place in Canadian culture. At concerts, thousands of fans chant his lyrics as if they were mantras. They hang on ...

Judy Henske: An Interview

Interview by Richie Unterberger, unpublished, 27 March 2001

ONE OF THE most eclectic early-1960s folk singers, Judy Henske started to use band backup and even drums on some of the recordings in 1963 on ...

Bob Dylan: Howard Sounes: Down the Highway – The Life of Bob Dylan

Book Review by Peter Stone Brown, Gadfly, April 2001

BOB DYLAN HAS been the subject of innumerable books. In this (the fifth) full-scale biography, British reporter Howard Sounes tracked down people previously unknown and ...

Kevin Coyne: Moody Blues

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, April 2001

KEVIN COYNE has been balancing on the border of sanity for more than 30 years now. Adolescent jobs as a psychiatric nurse, arts therapist and ...

Paul Williams: Someday Man

Review by Bob Stanley, MOJO, April 2001

En route to the Carpenters, "boy" actor gets gorgeously baroque. ...

Bob Dylan: The Art of the Ageless Bob Dylan

Retrospective by Michael Gray, Daily Telegraph, April 2001

Bob Dylan is approaching his 60th birthday on a tide of adulation. Michael Gray, a long-time Dylan chronicler, considers his lasting appeal. ...

Laura Nyro: Songs in the Key of Life: Laura Nyro's Angel in the Dark

Review by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 6 April 2001

THIS ALBUM IS incomplete, but so was Laura Nyro's life. It is the project on which she was working when she died of ovarian cancer ...

Brian Wilson, Card-carrying Genius

Essay by Ira Robbins, salon.com, 10 April 2001

After a life custom-made for cable catharsis, the force behind the Beach Boys is now being honored even for things he didn't do. Does that ...

Hawksley Workman: Hawksley's Moxie

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, 21 April 2001

IS HAWKSLEY WORKMAN too good to be true? At 26, the Canadian singer-songwriter has already drawn comparisons to figures like David Bowie and Tom Waits ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Irving Plaza, NYC

Book Excerpt by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 1 May 2001

YOU COULD CALL Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, the British indie equivalent of the Little Engine That Could. ...

The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Once Upon A Beatle

Comment by David Dalton, Gadfly, 14 May 2001

"DADDY, TELL US how it all began, how the walls of Pepperland crumbled, how the Blue Meanies with their lawyers and chartered accounts came and ...

Dido: How Dido did it

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Observer, 20 May 2001

Dido was always an outsider: the girl with ratatouille on rye packed lunches at school, who wished she'd been christened Claire. Now, thanks to an ...

Nick Cave: Sweet Misery: The Mellowing of Nick Cave

Review by Nick Hornby, The New Yorker, 28 May 2001

IT'S THE SHEER UBIQUITY of pop music that presents such an obstacle to older fans. When I was fifteen, it was satisfyingly hard to hear ...

Alanis Morissette: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by David Bennun, Mail On Sunday, June 2001

SAY WHAT YOU like about Alanis Morissette – and I intend to – there's no denying the girl can belt it out. Alone among the ...

Patrick Sky: Songs That Made America Famous (Adelphi/GENES Records, Inc.)

Review by Gary Pig Gold, In Music We Trust, June 2001

IN 1965, YET another Greenwich Village folkie signed to Vanguard Records and released an album full of pleasing if inconsequential singalongs, more or less in ...

Ron Sexsmith, Rufus Wainwright: The New Romantics: Ron Sexsmith and Rufus Wainwright

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Maclean's, June 2001

THEY ARE THE sensitive boys of Canadian pop. Both are acclaimed singer-songwriters, and both are unabashedly emotional. One is gay, with an impeccable musical pedigree, ...

Bob Dylan: Wild Mercury: A Tale Of Two Dylans

Essay by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 2001

"Lotta people seeing double tonight.From the disease of conceit"– 'Disease Of Conceit' (Oh Mercy, 1989) ...

Rufus Wainwright: "My Parents the Folk Heroes"

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, The Guardian, 15 June 2001

THE WITTIEST REQUEST from the crowd at Rufus Wainwright's New York show last week was for ‘Rufus is a Tit Man’, a song written aeons ...

Rufus Wainwright: Parlour Of Vices: Rufus Wainwright's Poses

Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 19 June 2001

BACK IN THE days of Stephen Foster, the piano was the centerpiece of the parlour. That was the room that women ran, the room where ...

Leiber and Stoller: The Backpages Interview: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

Interview by Cleothus Hardcastle, Rock's Backpages, 30 June 2001

The names Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are inseparable from the stories of rhythm’n’blues and rock’n’roll. They were two Jewish teenagers who felt black and ...

Gene Clark: Flight Fantastic

Retrospective by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, July 2001

GENE CLARK'S NO OTHER IS ONE OF THE GREAT LOST ALBUMS. ...

Radiohead: Walking on Thin Ice

Interview by Simon Reynolds, The Wire, July 2001

Radiohead may be one of the biggest groups on the planet, but their dissenting voice and exploratory studio techniques conflict with the commercial pressure to ...

Rufus Wainwright: Poses (DreamWorks)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, July 2001

AS RUFUS WAINWRIGHT is far too aware, the studied indolence that undercuts his artistry is also the essence of his appeal. ...

The Who: 'Won't Get Fooled Again'

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, July 2001

Billboard debut: 7 August 1971 Label: UK – Track/US – Decca Performers: Pete Townshend: guitar & synths/Roger Daltrey: vocals/John Entwistle: bass/Keith Moon: drums Producer: Glyn Johns Released: UK – ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson: 'Help Me, Rhonda' indeed!

Comment by David Dalton, Gadfly, 9 July 2001

HEY, ALL YOU surfin' dudes and hardbody wahinis, check out this thing on TNT. It's a tribute to the surf god, Brian Wilson! An American ...

Fred Neil

Obituary by Colin Irwin, The Guardian, 11 July 2001

HE WROTE ONE of the most famous songs of the late 20th century, but Fred Neil, who has died aged 64 of cancer, remains one ...

Simon & Garfunkel Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2001

Wednesday Morning, 3am*/The Sounds Of Silence****/Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme***/Bookends*****/Bridge Over Troubled Water*** (All Columbia) Sixties folk-rock digitally done up and decorated with extra tracks ...

Roy Harper: The Spirit Lives: Roy Harper

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, August 2001

"I DON'T THINK I'm very good at interviews, because I have too many thoughts going off at the same time to be able to explain ...

Carina Round: Elbow Room, London

Live Review by Max Bell, The Evening Standard, 6 August 2001

Sweetness rules in the pool hall ...

Björk: Alone in the Dark: Björk on Vespertine

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001

Björk's eerie night songs are infused with the mythological landscapes of her native Iceland and the concrete fjords of Manhattan. She tells David Toop about ...

Chocolate Genius: Godmusic (V2)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, September 2001

LISTENING TO this album on headphones, I feel like I still need headphones within the headphones. ...

Elbow

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2001

Laid-back troupe shoot from zero to Square One in just over a decade! More power to them, says Jim Irvin. ...

Fred Neil, 1936-2001

Obituary by Richie Unterberger, No Depression, September 2001

FRED NEIL, one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the early folk-rock era, died in his sleep on July 7 at the age of 65. ...

Aimee Mann: Key Largo: A Catchup Chat with Aimee Mann

Interview by Alvaro Costa, Rock's Backpages, September 2001

AC: So you haven't become a "Lady of The Canyon" after all... ...

Luke Haines: The Oliver Twist Manifesto

Review by Paul Morley, Uncut, September 2001

Solo debut from sometime Auteur, Black Box Recorder and Baader Meinhof pop terrorist. ...

Prefab Sprout: The King Of Rock'n'Roll

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2001

FOR SOMEONE who's only ever strived to bring a little wistful beauty into our pop lives, with an honest and artisan approach to the craft ...

Fred Neil: The Other Side Of This Life: Fred Neil, 1936-2001

Obituary by Joel Selvin, MOJO, September 2001

"FREDDIE TAUGHT me a lot," says David Crosby, speaking exclusively to me on the death of Fred Neil. "He was an amazing folk singer, probably ...

Long John Baldry, The Foundations, Pickettywitch, Geno Washington: Various Artists: Buttercups and Rainbows – The Songs of Macaulay and Macleod

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Castle Music, September 2001

TONY MACAULAY and John Macleod had the Midas touch. When their 'Baby Now That I've Found You' hit number in November 1967 it was replaced ...

PJ Harvey: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York

Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 3 September 2001

APPARENTLY I'D HEARD correctly — and the critic was the gangling boy behind me, piping up shortly after lead singer Polly Jean Harvey joined her ...

Ben Christophers: Spitz, London

Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Guardian, 6 September 2001

TIMES ARE TOUGH right now for the musical descendants of Jeff and Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin and Talk Talk in their noodly period. Always on ...

Ryan Adams: "I'm not a star to myself. I just make records"

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 19 September 2001

THE YOUNG BOB DYLAN once said that the only way for an aspiring songwriter to develop was to write 10 songs every day, then throw ...

Bill Callahan, Smog: Bill Callahan: I want to be alone

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 21 September 2001

Alt-country's reluctant star, Bill Callahan, aka Smog, is not a man to stand still. Or get too close to people. Or talk much. Andy Gill ...

Leonard Cohen: Zen Len pens ten

Profile and Interview by James Medd, Esquire, October 2001

Leonard Cohen proves that you can take the songwriter out of the Zen monastery, but you can't take the Zen monastery out of the songwriter. ...

Bob Dylan: Life and Life Only: Bob Dylan at 60

Retrospective by Mick Gold, Rock's Backpages, October 2001

HE'S BEEN RECORDING FOR 40 years, 43 albums, never-ending tours. There’s something Shakespearean about the complexity of his work: so many points of view expressed ...

Ray Davies: Story Teller

Profile and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 4 October 2001

IT HAS BEEN less than a week since the terrorist attacks, and Ray Davies just doesn't have his mind on music. ...

Neil Innes: Innes's Humor Doesn't Compromise His Rock

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 9 October 2001

CAMBRIDGE – Neil Innes, a bald man sporting a gray, Beatles-like wig, took the stage at the House of Blues Sunday night. The members of ...

Bob Dylan: Love and Theft

Review by Marc Weingarten, Slate, 25 October 2001

TO READ THE reviews of Bob Dylan's new album, Love and Theft, you would think the rock legend had returned to the salad days of ...

Pulp: Jarvis Cocker: An Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001

Jim Irvin grills the willowy Pulp frontman about Scott Walker, Ginster's pasties and encounters with his younger self. ...

Leonard Cohen: Felonious Monk

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, November 2001

He stole hearts and sought refuge in Hydra, bagged a celebrity fiancée, then disappeared to a monastery. Sylvie Simmons talks through the many lives of ...

Richard Davis, Van Morrison: Nothin' But A Stranger In This World: Van Morrison and Astral Weeks

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, November 2001

THE FITFUL BRITISH SUMMER of 2001 is ending not with a whimper but a bang – a burst of Bank Holiday heat that's got everyone ...

Smashing Pumpkins: 'Today'

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, November 2001

Song title: 'Today'Artist: Smashing PumpkinsLabel: Virgin ...

Burt Bacharach, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Gerry Goffin, Ellie Greenwich, Carole King, Leiber and Stoller, Barry Mann, Neil Sedaka, The Shangri-Las, Steely Dan, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Wexler: The Hit Factory: New York's Brill Building

Retrospective and Interview by David Kamp, Vanity Fair, November 2001

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I spent much of 2001 interviewing the songwriters, machers, and artists of the Brill Building era for this oral history. It was the ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 6 November 2001

THE MAN ON stage with the bulging barfly beard and ruffled scraps of remaining hair may not look much like royalty. But Bonnie "Prince" Billy, ...

Leonard Cohen: Ten New Songs

Review by Ian Penman, Uncut, December 2001

WHO DARES, whispers and doesn't boast. Listen to Leonard Cohen's The Future (1992) now and hear how certain awful futures are inscribed with Psalmic grace ...

Smog: Old Vic, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, December 2001

SMOG'S BILL CALLAHAN remains an enigma not, it seems, because he won't say anything, but because he can't. ...

Clifford T Ward: Clifford T. Ward, 1944-2001

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 22 December 2001

Singer-songwriter whose work added melody and poetic sensibility to the pop scene ...

Prefab Sprout

Interview by Jason Cohen, Stereophile, Winter 2001

THE NEWS was right up there with Brian Wilson playing Pet Sounds live, Steely Dan making a new record and Mario Lemieux lacing up the ...

Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments, Pete Brown's Piblokto, Cream: Pete Brown on Cream (2001)

Interview by Steve Roeser, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 2001

The redoubtable Battered Ornament talks about his long writing partnership with Cream's Jack Bruce, getting into blues and poetry, and the Brit Blues boom.

File format: mp3; file size: 27mb, interview length: 29' 28" sound quality: * (phoner)

Bill Callahan, Smog: Bill Callahan (2001)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 2001

Mr Smog talks about his latest album Rain on Lens; about his songs not being autobiographical; on not deserving his reputation as a miserabllist; discovering music in his youth, from John Lee Hooker to punk; enjoying a peripatetic existence; playing the 2000 Meltdown Festival and meeting Scott Walker; on not trying to make hit records, and his admiration for Buster Keaton.

File format: mp3; file size: 33.6mb, interview length: 35' 01" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Bob Dylan: Love and Theft

Review by Peter Stone Brown, Gadfly, Fall 2001

"Some day everything's gonna be different /When I paint my masterpiece" – Bob Dylan, 1971 ...

Lou Reed: The Velvet Evolution

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, Mojo Collections, Fall 2001

Even the coolest stars had to learn their craft at some point and Lou Reed was no exception. Kieron Tyler picks the dark one's early ...

Marianne Faithfull

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, AnOther Magazine, Fall 2001

ON THE TOP floor of a Georgian townhouse, a punt away from the Lansdowne Road rugby stadium, one of rock's greatest female icons bends down ...

Elvis Costello: Elvis Gets His Groove Back

Interview by Roy Trakin, Hits, 2002

THE ONCE-ANGRY young man of punk-rock is now practically a pop music singer-songwriting icon. It's been more than 25 years since a bespectacled nerd with ...

Phil Collins: His Turn to Testify: An Exclusive HITS dialogue with Phil Collins

Interview by Roy Trakin, Hits, 2002

JUST WHEN IT SEEMED like Phil Collins was ready to kick back and relax with his new wife Orianne and his 14-month-old son Nicholas in ...

James Taylor: One Part Genius...The Trail to October Road

Essay by Craig W. Thomas, unpublished, 2002

WHEN I WAS 14 years old the person I most wanted to be was James Taylor. It's a long time ago now. 1971. I remember ...

The Beautiful South: A Drink With… Paul Heaton

Interview by Dan Gennoe, Esquire, January 2002

BEAUTIFUL SOUTH singer Paul Heaton, is an unlikely popstar. He never wanted fame, riches or to sing, and formed his first band, the Housemartins with ...

Kelly Joe Phelps: Blackheath Halls, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, January 2002

THIS PLUSH municipal concert hall in the well-heeled south London neighbourhood of Blackheath may seem a strange destination for the blues. But it's not as ...

Ryan Adams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, January 2002

I SAW rock'n'roll's future and its name is… all right, calm down everybody. ...

The Miles Hunt Club: Borderline, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 11 January 2002

MODESTY WAS never regarded as one of Miles Hunt's attributes, and although his stadium-size years with the Wonder Stuff have receded into posterity's rear-view mirror, ...

Chuck E. Weiss: When the Gig Ended, His New Career Began

Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 27 January 2002

Story line: Los Angeles club legend records first album in his late 40s, and now follows it with a stellar effort that includes a 32-year-old ...

Alanis Morissette: King's College, London

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 28 January 2002

SOMEONE IN Alanis-Iand has a plan. Rather than announce her imminent return to the charts with a sell-out stadium show or a celebrity-studded party, the ...

Mary Chapin Carpenter/Anne Lamott: Royce Hall, UCLA

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 28 January 2002

THE PAIRING OF author and singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter at UCLA's Royce Hall on Saturday could have gone any number of ways. ...

Alicia Keys: Rock Me Amadeus

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, February 2002

It's a long way from New York's 42nd Street to the 44th annual Grammy Awards. But after seven years of juggling Harlem street life, fractious ...

Bob Dylan: Time Out Of Mind

Review by Toby Manning, Q, February 2002

DYLAN'S 41st ALBUM announced his creative rebirth after nearly a decade in the doldrums. ...

Melissa Etheridge: Dominion Theatre, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 5 February 2002

IT’S NOT every performer who could fill a theatre the size of the Dominion with just their voice and a guitar, but Melissa Etheridge pulled ...

Elvis Costello (2002)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 February 2002

The erstwhile Declan McManus, in the context of new album When I Was Cruel, looks back at the Attractions, punk, Thatcher, and talks about the craft of songwriting.

File format: mp3; file size: 44.6mb, interview length: 48' 43" sound quality: ****

Gary Allan: Scumbag in the Dark: Gary Allan's Alright Guy

Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 19 February 2002

"THIS ALBUM," the booklet inside Gary Allan's current Alright Guy reads, "is dedicated to Willie, Waylon, Johnny, George, Buck & Merle," which is a way ...

Josh Rouse: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by John Aizlewood, The Guardian, 28 February 2002

NASHVILLE-BASED JOSH ROUSE is not one to bare his soul. "People often ask me what this or that song means," he mutters, before stepping into ...

Husker Du, Bob Mould: The Real Godfather of Grunge: Bob Mould's Modulate

Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 20 March 2002

KURT COBAIN WAS a wonderful musician, but the combination of a best-selling record, a tabloid marriage and a lurid suicide inflated his reputation all out ...

Sheryl Crow

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 March 2002

Sheryl Crow tells Caroline Sullivan about Britney, Beyoncé and the state of rock'n'roll — 'I worry about how these girls are sexualised at such a young ...

Smokey Robinson: 10 Questions for Smokey Robinson

Interview by Bill DeMain, MOJO, April 2002

Bill DeMain speaks to Motown's legendary songwriter and singer about Billy Eckstine, Marvin Gaye, school plays and positive rap. ...

Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley, James Talley, Uncle Tupelo: Alt Country, Old Country and New Country: Uncle Tupelo, James Talley, Jim Lauderdale and Ralph Stanley

Review by Peter Stone Brown, Gadfly, April 2002

NOW WAY BACK in 1966, Bob Dylan at the suggestion of his producer decided to record in Nashville. The result of course was Blonde On ...

Elvis Costello: Reissues

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2002

Second phase of Bonus-packed reissue programme for Costello catalogue ...

Terry Callier: An Interview

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, April 2002

IT'S JUST another rainy night in April, and the Green Mill, a bar on Chicago's north side, is hosting its regular Monday resident. Opening with ...

Desaparecidos: Youth of Today

Interview by Ben Myers, Kerrang!, 20 April 2002

Conor Oberst began his musical career as a 14-year-old singer-songwriter. Seven years later, he has formed the fiery Desaparecidos. His mission: to open America's eyes… ...

Bob Mould, Paul Westerberg: The Living End: Can Bob Mould and Paul Westerberg handle middle age?

Review by Jason Cohen, Slate, 30 April 2002

OLD ROCKERS keep on getting younger. "Hope I die before I get old" remains the relevant credo, but it's no longer restricted to those who ...

CeeLo Green: Cee-Lo Green: Cee-Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections

Review by Amy Linden, XXL, May 2002

HE ISN'T a gospel singer, but there's no denying that there's a whole lot of chu'ch in Cee-Lo. Yet since the singer/rapper and founding member ...

Wilco: Hi, My Name's Jeff, and I'm a Wilcoholic

Interview by Toby Manning, Q, May 2002

LIKE ALL LAS VEGAS hotels, the Mandalay Bay is a self-contained city, comprising restaurants, bars, even a "beach," complete with electric waves: anything and everything ...

Josh Rouse: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2002

ON HIS SECOND LP, Home, Nashville-based Nebraskan Josh Rouse seemed to favour the brass-brushed country-soul sound of friend and fellow citizen Kurt Wagner. But new ...

Elvis Presley, Otis Blackwell: Otis Blackwell 1932 - 2002

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, May 2002

Prolific writer behind some of Elvis’s greatest hits ...

The Beatles' 'Ticket To Ride' 


Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, May 2002

RELEASED: 19 April 1965 (US) HIGHEST CHART POSITION: 1 ...

The Clash's 'Train in Vain'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, May 2002

Song title: 'Train In Vain' Artist: The Clash Label: CBS Performers: Mick Jones – guitar/vocals Joe Strummer – guitar Paul Simenon – bass Topper ...

Tom Waits (2002)

Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages audio, May 2002

On Charley Patton and James Brown, encounters with William Burroughs and Keith Richards, and being a 'rectal thermometer' for Frank Zappa...

File format: mp3; file size: 61.8mb, interview length: 1h 07' 29" sound quality: ****

Warren Zevon: A Literary Answer to Lyricist's Block

Report and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2002

Musician/bookworm Warren Zevon recruits famous authors for lyrics on a new album. ...

Ed Harcourt: Bowery Ballroom, NYC

Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 29 May 2002

AFTER TAKING A healthy swig from what appeared to be a bottle of cheap red wine, Ed Harcourt became possessed. It was the culmination of ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Amoeba Records, Hollywood

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2002

WITH HIS WOOL skull cap, scraggly beard and black T-shirt bedecked with glitter graffiti, English singer-songwriter Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, could have been ...

Oasis: Heathen Chemistry

Review by Craig McLean, The Observer, 23 June 2002

Noel and Liam — unchained ...

Petula Clark, Tony Hatch, The Searchers, Jackie Trent: Call Me: The Songs Of Tony Hatch

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Sanctuary Records, July 2002

WHEN PETULA Clark hit number one in America with 'Downtown' in January 1965 she became the first British solo singer to top the US charts. ...

Edwyn Collins: Blue Boy

Profile and Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, July 2002

HIS FIRST GROUP, ORANGE JUICE, MIXED TOGETHER VELVETS GUITARS AND CHIC RHYTHMS. THEN, 15 YEARS AFTER THEIR HEYDAY, EDWYN COLLINS HAD A MONSTROUS WORLDWIDE SOLO ...

Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, July 2002

Performers:   Eddie Vedder: vocals Jeff Ament: bass Mike McCready: guitar Stone Gossard: guitar Dave Krusen: drums Rick Parashar: keyboards Producer: Rick Parashar Released: September 1992 Highest chart position: 79 ...

Willie Nelson’s Straight Story

Report and Interview by Peter Murphy (Irish), Hot Press, 23 July 2002

IN DAVID LYNCH’S The Straight Story, the septuagenarian Alvin Straight showed his steel when the twin freak mechanics the Olsens tried fleecing him for repairs ...

Dave Matthews Band: Busted Stuff (RCA)

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, August 2002

DAVE MATTHEWS' dark side has been spotted frequently but only fleetingly, lurking in the shadowy corners of otherwise upbeat tunes but bolting the minute those ...

Bob Dylan: Scene of the Crime: Bob Dylan at Newport

Essay by Gene Santoro, The Nation, 15 August 2002

EVERYONE KNOWS what happened thirty-seven years ago when Bob Dylan fronted an electric band at the Newport Folk Festival, which is why August 3 saw ...

Elvis Costello

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Herald, 23 August 2002

YOU DON'T REALLY interview Elvis Costello. It's more a matter of tossing a few loaded questions at him then taking cover as each enquiry explodes ...

Bruce Springsteen: Hey, He's Bruce

Essay by Gene Santoro, The Nation, 29 August 2002

WHEN BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and the E Street Band, reunited to tour behind The Rising, came to Madison Square Garden on August 12, they juxtaposed '41 ...

Beth Orton: Daybreaker

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2002

Third album from Norfolk singer-songwriter, featuring numerous collaborators. ...

Beck, Sue Garner: Low Down and Low Key: Taking the Road Less Travelled

Essay by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, September 2002

BECK SOUNDS like he's channelling the long-dead British folk-rock poet Nick Drake on his latest album, Sea Change (Geffen). For ‘Round the Bend’ the pace ...

Warren Zevon: Life'll Kill Ya

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, September 2002

PITTSBURGH, 1989: WEREWOLF IN THE MALL "I'd read things I didn't know I'd done/It sounded like a lot of fun..." (Warren Zevon, 'Trouble Waiting to Happen') ...

Beck: I'm a Muso, Baby: Beck

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 September 2002

Beck's new album, written after a nasty split with his fiancee, is so forlorn that the music press is afraid for his health. But, he ...

Steve Earle: The Dissent Of Man

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 20 September 2002

Forget Springsteen's posturing and the redneck mentality of Toby Keith; it's Steve Earle's response to September 11 that has been causing a stir in the ...

Aqualung: Who the hell are ... Aqualung

Profile by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 20 September 2002

Aqualung... dreaming of badass rap and bruising beats ...

Cathy Dennis, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark: Songwriters: Musical Chairs

Special Feature by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 21 September 2002

Today's pop stars, say their critics, aren't half as talented as their predecessors because they have little or nothing to do with writing their songs. ...

Beck: Sea Change (Geffen)

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, October 2002

Tears of a Clown: Beck is back, riding that midnight train from Malibu ...

Bright Eyes: Lifted, Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (Wichita)

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2002

Nebraskan boy wonder bunkers down for apocalypse. ...

David Bowie: Fifty Ways To Love Your Bowie: Half a Ton of Fave Daves

Guide by William Higham, Rock's Backpages, October 2002

WITH THE Bard of Beckenham on a critical high right now (and yes, new album Heathen IS his best in years), it seems an opportune ...

John Otway: All aboard the Otway express

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 3 October 2002

The one-hit wonder behind 'Really Free' is returning to the charts, with a bit of help from Chiltern Railways, Mystic Meg ... and Adam Sweeting ...

Steve Earle: John Walker Sings His Own Blues

Essay by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, 5 October 2002

STEVE EARLE'S decision to write from the perspective of the 'American Taliban' in the controversial song 'John Walker's Blues' appears to have stemmed from the ...

Jackson Browne: The Naked Ride Home

Review by James Hunter, Rolling Stone, 17 October 2002

FROM THE COOL romanticism of 1993's I'm Alive to the textured ruminations of 1996's Looking East, Jackson Browne has explored, with a sense of flash ...

James Luther Dickinson: Free Beer Tomorrow (Artemis)

Review by Joe Nick Patoski, Austin Chronicle, 18 October 2002

YOU MAY KNOW Jim Dickinson as the daddy of those North Mississippi All-Stars, producer of the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me, or the guy who ...

Leonard Cohen: The Essential Leonard Cohen

Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 22 October 2002

THE DARK, POETIC music of Leonard Cohen should be listed on the table of periodic elements — when you discover it, it suddenly seems as ...

Jeff Buckley: Keeper of the Flame: Jeff Buckley's Mum

Report and Interview by Mark Paytress, The Guardian, 30 October 2002

IT IS FIVE YEARS since Jeff Buckley took his final, mid-evening stroll into the Wolf River, a sleepy tourist spot on the outskirts of Memphis, ...

Badly Drawn Boy: The rough guide to genius: Badly Drawn Boy: Have You Fed The Fish? (XL) *****

Review and Interview by Jon Wilde, Uncut, November 2002

Follow-up proper to the 2000 Mercury Prize-winning album is a masterpiece of disjointed eclecticism ...

Tori Amos: My Life in Music

Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, November 2002

BE CAREFUL what you wish for. When we asked Tori Amos to compile a list of the records that have inspired her music, she brought ...

Badly Drawn Boy: Have You Fed the Fish?

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 1 November 2002

BOTH OF Badly Drawn Boy's full-length albums begin the same way. There's the rush of esotericism right away, the musical equivalent to gibberish, which lasts ...

Tim Rose, 1940-2002

Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 12 November 2002

Singer best known for his 1967 version of the anti-nuclear song 'Morning Dew' ...

Rod Stewart: It Had To Be You ... The Great American Songbook

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 November 2002

IN BRITAIN, Rod Stewarthasn't a hope of ever being hip again. Like Elton John, he can still sell out shows, but only if he stuffs ...

Joni Mitchell: "I'm quitting this corrupt cesspool"

Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 November 2002

Why Joni Mitchell has had it with the music business ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Making of 'Free Bird'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, December 2002

VITAL STATISTICS

 SONG:
 'Free Bird'

 ARTIST:
 Lynyrd Skynyrd

 LABEL: MCA/Sounds Of the South

 PERFORMERS: Ronnie Van Zant: vocals Allen Collins: guitar
 Gary Rossington: guitar Ed ...

Terence Trent D'Arby, David Gray, Sananda Maitreya: Terence Trent D'Arby: Forum, London/David Gray: NEC Arena, Birmingham

Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 1 December 2002

Terry's all gold – even though his name is now Buddhist Jesus II ...

Richard Buckner: Impasse (Fargo)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 6 December 2002

RICHARD BUCKNER'S four previous albums somehow slipped under my radar, an indication, perhaps, of the difficulties that fringe talents experience in securing adequate promotion and ...

Steve Earle: Country Maverick Steve Earle vs. The Nashville Machine

Report and Interview by Michael Simmons, L.A. Weekly, 20 December 2002

"LATELY I FEEL like the loneliest man in America," writes Steve Earle in the liner notes of his most recent album, Jerusalem (Artemis). ...

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Missy Elliott, Isis, Liars, Secret Machines, The Streets, Wilco: Yancey Strickler's Favorite Recordings Of 2002

Retrospective by Yancey Strickler, Neumu, 31 December 2002

In terms of great music, 2002 is as good a year as I can remember. It says a lot that when making this list, and ...

Warren Zevon: Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon

Sleeve notes by Will Self, Rhino Records, Fall 2002

WHAT I DO is this; I leave the city and go about 50 miles away to a town in the county of Wiltshire called Swindon. ...

Beck: All Change: Beck

Interview by David Dalton, AnOther Magazine, Fall 2002

LATE AFTERNOON, hotel room in L.A. I’ve just downloaded four tracks from Beck’s new album. A song is playing. ‘The Golden Age’. "Desert wind cool ...

Joni Mitchell: Back Catalog: Joni Mitchell

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, Blender, Fall 2002

IF ANY WOMAN has kept up with the big boys (Dylan, Young and co.) in the obstacle race that is folk-based singer-songwriter rock, that woman ...

Dashboard Confessional: MTV Unplugged 2.0

Review by Dan Gennoe, Q, 2003

Softly spoken EMO hero gets crushed by overzealous fans. ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono: A 1992 Interview

Book Excerpt by Paul Zollo, 'Songwriters on Songwriting' (rev. edn, Da Capo), 2003

IT WAS A SAD and a little spooky to walk into the Dakota on this dark and rainy winter night, an evening not unlike the ...

Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank The Cradle

Review and Interview by Keith Cameron, MOJO, January 2003

Debut album from 28-year-old Miami cinematographer and part-time roots savant Sam Beam. Could be time to quit the day job. ...

Peter Hammill: Clutch

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2003

Dark, worldly-wise solo return from Van der Graaf Generator man ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Petty Grievances

Interview by Alan di Perna, Guitar World, January 2003

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers take on the corporate giants with their new concept album, The Last DJ. ...

Willie Nelson: Stars & Guitars

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, January 2003

Shotgun Willie recorded live in the country capital with a clutch of great names including Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris. ...

Elvis Costello & The Imposters: Cruel Smile

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 10 January 2003

ELVIS COSTELLO is one of those artists that people love. Not just listen to and like, not just appreciate and admire, but actually wholly love, ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: Fuzzy Warbles 1/Fuzzy Warbles 2

Review and Interview by Kit Aiken, Uncut, February 2003

Frontman of much-loved — and much-bootlegged — eccentric English pop band clears out his compositional closet on the first two CDs of a 10-disc series. ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: English Settlement

Report and Interview by Pete Paphides, MOJO, February 2003

BEARING IN MIND his back catalogue, it may not be too surprising to learn that Andy Partridge is an assiduous recycler. ...

Josh T. Pearson: Josh Pearson: Upstairs At The Spitz, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003

The real fired-up deal — Lift To Experience frontman's acoustic solo debut ...

Josh T. Pearson: Upstairs At The Spitz, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, February 2003

The real fired-up deal — Lift To Experience frontman's acoustic solo debut ...

Lou Reed: The Raven

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, February 2003

Reed shows off "heavy bear" side on two-CD tribute to 19th-century poet ...

Evan Dando, The Go-Betweens: Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored/The Go-Betweens: Bright Yellow Bright Orange

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 28 February 2003

A DECADE AGO, Evan Dando was pretty much the perfect pop star. He was a tousle-haired, scatterbrained blond who posed for teen magazines with his ...

Norah Jones: Keeping up with Jones

Report and Interview by Edward Helmore, The Guardian, 28 February 2003

Multiple Grammy winner Norah Jones honed her skills in the clubs of New York — and now those dingy venues are bracing themselves for a ...

Chuck Barris: Confessions of a Populist Mind

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Rock's Backpages, March 2003

Steven Rosen talks to self-confessed CIA assassin Chuck Barris – inspiration to George Clooney – about the pop classic he penned back in 1962. ...

Ed Harcourt: From Every Sphere

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2003

Further helpings of articulate and soulful intensity from highly-acclaimed British singer-songwriter on the follow-up to his Mercury Prize-nominated debut from 2001, Here Be Monsters ...

Ed Harcourt: From Every Sphere

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, March 2003

IF THEY DON'T write songs like they used to, no one told Ed Harcourt. Before the 26-year-old former chef put out his first album — ...

Lou Reed: The Artist on the Biz

Report and Interview by Larry Jaffee, Medialine, March 2003

AT THE 45th annual Grammy Awards ceremony last month, Lou Reed was introduced by his co-presenter of the Best Pop Song category as a "true ...

LOU REED's new album…

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2003

… is a sprawling epic inspired by the work of drugged-up 19th-century horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Is it a marriage made in heaven, or ...

Terry Reid: River

Review by Byron Coley, MOJO, March 2003

BY ALMOST any measure, 1973 was a craven, rotten fuck of a year. Although many pick 1968 as the nadir of 20th century underground culture, ...

John Doe: Dim Stars, Bright Sky

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 3 March 2003

JOHN DOE IS on a mission, albeit an undefined one. He tells us as much in 'Magic', a song that comes two thirds of the ...

Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks: Stevie Nicks (2003)

Interview by Bill DeMain, Rock's Backpages audio, 3 March 2003

The Mac frontwoman talks about writing songs for their latest album, Say You Will; how 'Illume (9-11)' was the result of the twin towers attack; on her songwriting process and how she uses her journals; the volatility of the band and her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham; her friendships with Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks, and she ends by going back to her first musical experiences.

File format: mp3; file size: 70.1mb, interview length: 1h 12' 58" sound quality: ***

Norah Jones: Q&A: Jonesing

Interview by Precious Williams, New York Magazine, 7 March 2003

SUDDEN FAME and fortune have a way of changing people—fast. But you won’t see Norah Jones in a Christina Aguilera getup anytime soon. And she’s ...

Evan Dando: Baby I'm Back

Interview by Ted Kessler, New Musical Express, 8 March 2003

FEW ROCK'N'ROLLERS have crashed from such a spectacular height as Evan Dando. Fewer still live to tell the tale. In 1992, he was primed to ...

Mira Calix, Vivian Green, Norah Jones, Terri Walker: After Norah

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 10 March 2003

Norah Jones's Grammy-grabbing success has opened the floodgates for young, female singer-songwriters like Terri Walker, Vivian Green and Mira Calix ...

Janis Ian: An interview

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 14 March 2003

JANIS IAN released her first song, 'Society's Child', in 1967 when she was 15. The famous record producer Shadow Morton wasn't interested until Janis set ...

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Pig Lib

Review by Will Hermes, Entertainment Weekly, 21 March 2003

STEPHEN MALKMUS is indie rock's Jack Nicholson: a guy whose insouciant faculty is so great he need only arch a musical eyebrow to entertain. And ...

Ed Harcourt: Fez, New York

Live Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 26 March 2003

ED HARCOURT has always been a solo artist, but tonight, he seems even more alone, maybe even lonely. ...

Evan Dando: Baby I'm Bored

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, April 2003

The mighty Lemonhead gets seven-year-itch and returns a much-changed man. ...

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant: Felice Bryant 1925-2003

Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, April 2003

SONGWRITER FELICE BRYANT (77) died of cancer at her home in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on April 22. She and her husband Boudleaux Bryant were very ...

Jon Brion

Profile and Interview by Don Waller, MOJO, April 2003

Jon Brion, America's most in-demand singer-songwriter and producer, has his own L.A. residency. Don Waller went to check it out. ...

Mull Historical Society: Us

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2003

Darkly uplifting second album from Scottish pop visionary ...

Elvis Costello: Nobody talks like Elvis Costello

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2003

On the eve of his second quarter century Elvis looks back, sideways but most of all forward. "I've started to sing from directly inside of ...

Songs: Ohia: The Magnolia Electric Co.

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

Unheralded Chicago-based tunesmith comes of age ...

Townes Van Zandt: Wanderin' Star

Retrospective by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, April 2003

What do you do when you're really down? Listen to Townes Van Zandt Sylvie Simmons charts the artistic triumphs and personal disasters of sadness's most ...

Daniel Johnston: Use Your Delusion: Daniel Johnston: Fear Yourself (Sketchbook) ****

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2003

Twenty-first album from America's startlingly original lord of lo-fi ...

Vic Chesnutt: Dark Side of The Tune

Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 4 April 2003

IN 1983, VIC CHESNUTT, an obscure country misfit, was 18, drunk again, and crashing his car in America's southern state of Georgia. When he woke ...

India.Arie: India Arie: Cry no more

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 11 April 2003

After the tearful disappointment of last year's Grammys, India Arie is back. Andy Gill finds her wiser, stronger and reaping the rewards she deserves with ...

Lucinda Williams: World Without Tears

Review by Will Hermes, Entertainment Weekly, 11 April 2003

"WE ARE SO out of touch," sang Lucinda Williams on 2001's Essence. It's a line that could double as a proud slogan for her label, ...

Vashti Bunyan: The Folk Myth

Interview by Bob Stanley, The Times, 15 April 2003

Cult singer Vashti Bunyan vanished 30 years ago — now she's back ...

Burt Bacharach: Little Big Things: Burt Bacharach's What the World Needs Now

Review by James Hunter, L.A. Weekly, 28 April 2003

IN THE LATE '80s, I sat with the great Japanese pop artist and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto on a hotel rooftop in L.A. talking about Burt ...

Ed Harcourt: Ghost Writer

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2003

His new album's won critical raves on every front,
 so why is Ed Harcourt so spooked? ...

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Stephen Malkmus: Just for Jicks

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, May 2003

Generational icon, quirky wordsmith, and esoteric record hound, Stephen Malkmus, the former lead singer of Pavement, indie rock's most important band, has unleashed a second ...

Earl King, Edwin Starr, Homer Banks, Little Eva, Nina Simone: The Grim Reporter May 2003

Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, May 2003

Phast Phreddie Patterson on those gone but not forgotten ...

Neil Young: "Will I be deported?"

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 22 May 2003

IT IS DIFFICULT to find supportive things to say about George Bush unless your construction company is rebuilding Iraq, but it would be a droll ...

Adam Masterson: Younger and wiser

Interview by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 27 May 2003

THE GLUT OF ARTISTS working in the alt-country and folk-rock areas might be a logical reaction against the treacly deluge of pubescent pop, but there ...

Arab Strap: Monday At The Hug & Pint (Chemikal Underground)

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, June 2003

More misery from Scots satirists ...

The New Pornographers: Bands to watch: The New Pornographers

Profile and Interview by Jason Cohen, Spin, June 2003

They may look like mild-mannered grad students, but they're actually super-rockin' Canadians!: Todd Fancey, Neko Case, Blaine Thurier, Carl Newman, Kurt Dahle, and John Collins ...

Meat Loaf: Hello Goodbye: Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, June 2003

They met to create musical drama. After years of huge success, it ended in managerial rancour and paralysed vocal chords. ...

Wild Man Fischer, Gold Chains, Bob Log III, Moondog, Tiny Tim: I Am The Band: Bob Log III and the One-Man-Band

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Dazed & Confused, June 2003

Let me introduce the band to you. On the cymbal… left foot. Over here on the bass drum, we've got right foot. Shut up! My left hand does ...

Steely Dan: Everything Must Go

Review by Chris Ingham, MOJO, June 2003

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, maestros of pristine '70s jazz-rock, follow-up 2000's multi-Grammy-winning comeback Two Against Nature. ...

Eels: Shootenanny!

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 2 June 2003

EELS MAINSTAY E is a misunderstood man. Even his name is misunderstood – E apparently being Mark Oliver Everett's childhood nickname (all his friends were ...

Liz Phair: Ex-indie rock queen is back on the scene

Interview by Evelyn McDonnell, Miami Herald, 22 June 2003

IT HAS BEEN 10 years since Liz Phair first shocked the prudish world of independent rock with the frank sexual confessions of her debut album, ...

Liz Phair

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Blender, July 2003

Alt-queen Liz Phair wants stardom. And your "hot, white cum", too. Goodness! ...

Lou Reed: NYC Man -The Ultimate Lou Reed Collection

Review by Richard Riegel, Harp, July 2003

FOR "QUINTESSENTIAL New Yorker" Lou Reed, the irony he's directed toward his fans has often been less subtle patronization than his hectoring middle finger thrust ...

Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life: Omaha: Next Stop Nowhere

Report and Interview by Will Hermes, Spin, July 2003

America's new indie-rock capital was born when a 13-year-old songsmith named Conor Oberst started putting out recordings on his brother's bedroom cassette label. Ten years ...

Steely Dan: Everything Must Go

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2003

They used to be great... they still are ...

Todd Rundgren: Todd

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, July 2003

THE SINCERE generational belief in the socially transformative powers of love and peace which marked the peak of the high '60s had, by 1974, dissipated ...

Daniel Johnston: An Outsider's Songs of Pain and Longing: Daniel Johnston

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2003

LOCKED ON his own in an Xfm recording booth, Daniel Johnston casually flips through the weathered ring binder that holds his songbook and begins to ...

David Bowie: Conversation Piece

Interview by Pat Pierson, Yeah Yeah Yeah, 23 July 2003

I WILL TRY not to bother with self-indulgences, but please allow some room for the usual blah blah blah; that or just skip the intro. ...

Bill Withers: Who Is He… (And What Is He To You)?

Profile and Interview by Don Waller, MOJO, August 2003

Remembered as a smooth '70s balladeer and a raw soul pioneer, Bill Withers is the music legend who opted out. Don Waller tracked him down ...

Gillian Welch: The Girl With No Name

Profile and Interview by Toby Manning, The Word, August 2003

The fastest-rising folk singer of her generation is an urban college girl writing spare, soulful country tunes set in a bygone America. Her natural mother ...

Elbow: Given The Elbow: The Confessions Of Guy Garvey

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, August 2003

Two years ago, Elbow released Asleep In The Back, an intense suite of prog-inflected songs that stands as one of the finest albums ever to ...

Lloyd Cole: Music In A Foreign Language

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, August 2003

Cynical, articulate UK singer-songwriter sends home thoughts from abroad. ...

Neil Young: On The Beach/American Stars 'N Bars/Hawks & Doves/Re•ac•tor

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, August 2003

I SPOKE TO Neil Young in 1992, when one of his riffs was the shortcomings of digital sound. "You ever sit down with a CD ...

Neil Young: On The Beach

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2003

At last, the Holy Grail to Neil Young collectors — the last part of the Doom Trilogy makes it on to CD. ...

Rufus Wainwright: Chelsea Mourning: Wanting Rufus Wainwright

Comment by Kandia Crazy Horse, Rock's Backpages, September 2003

YOU’RE WALKING, you’re virtually running, exhilarated, exultant, across West 23rd Street, away from Chelsea where you’ve tripped the Apocalypse of Rufus Wainwright and at once ...

Dido: Life For Rent

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2003

EVERYBODY LOVES a happy ending. And in 2000 the Dido story provided one guaranteed to appeal to the British sense of fair play and love ...

Randy Newman: Is Randy Newman the Old Eminem?

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2003

The funniest and least sentimental songwriter in America has revisited his back pages on The Randy Newman Songbook, Volume 1. BARNEY HOSKYNS asks him about ...

Neil Young: Greendale

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, September 2003

Narrative 10-song cycle about a fictional clan is Young's best work in a while. ...

Shack: Here's Tom With The Weather

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, September 2003

THEY'RE A LUCKLESS lot, Shack. They made Waterpistol, an album that might have been one of the defining recordings of 1991, had the studio not ...

Pernice Brothers: The Pernice Brothers: Yours, Mine And Ours

Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, September 2003

EVER SINCE THE Scud Mountain Boys shot their way into our consciousness like the eponymous missile via their Sub Pop discs (still available as Massachusetts ...

Randy Newman: What made Randy Newman invisible at the Oscars?

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, September 2003

RANDY NEWMAN comes from Hollywood's leading musical family. Two of his uncles were major screen music composers and conductors. His own father was a musician ...

Erin McKeown: Grand

Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 12 September 2003

ERIN MCKEOWN is a singer-songwriter introvert who just happens to be partial to pop and a bit of jazz. She writes intriguing (if slightly fussy) ...

Elvis Costello: Get Happy!!/Trust/Punch The Clock [New Editions] (Edsel)

Review by Jon Wilde, Uncut, October 2003

"OH, I JUST DON'T know where to begin," Elvis Costello swooned in the opening line to his lusciously hummable 1979 hit 'Accidents Will Happen'. ...

Randy Newman: The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1

Review by Chris Ingham, MOJO, October 2003

Excellent 18-song retrospective solo recital from one of the great individual singer-songwriters. ...

Thea Gilmore: Avalanche

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2003

Fifth album from prolific, acerbic British singer-songwriter ...

David Olney: Borderline, London

Live Review by Tim Clifford, Rock's Backpages, 1 October 2003

THE QUALITY OF his writing has earned him namechecks from the late Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle, and the likes of Emmylou Harris and ...

Kurtis Blow on 'The Breaks', the evolution of sampling, and 'Sun City'

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 4 October 2003

KURTIS BLOW gets a lot more airplay these days than he did in the '80s. That's because back in the day – when the long-term ...

Peter and Gordon, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor: Peter Asher (2003)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 October 2003

The singer-turned-producer talks about returning to Los Angeles with client James Taylor; the Troubadour scene; the people: Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, J.D. Souther; meeting Linda Ronstadt and being turned on to C&W; fellow businessmen David Geffen and Elliot Roberts, and the rise of the Eagles.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.1mb, interview length: 1h 01' 31" sound quality: ***

Thea Gilmore: "It's sad the lengths girls go to, pouting on the cover of their CD"

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 October 2003

Thea Gilmore has released five albums, received rave reviews and turned down endless offers from major labels. And she's still only 23. She talks to ...

Liz Phair's slick new sound has shocked her fans

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 26 October 2003

IMAGINE PJ HARVEY recording with Pete Waterman, or Bjork co-writing songs with one of Simon Fuller's stable of top pop tunesmiths. Weird, and not in ...

Thea Gilmore, Adam Masterson: Thea Gilmore/Adam Masterson: Liverpool University

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 27 October 2003

WITH SO MANY SINGER-SONGWRITERS around, establishing an individual identity has never been more difficult. When Adam Masterson cranks up his croaky voice and harmonica, the ...

Amy Winehouse: Dietrich with a nose-stud

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 28 October 2003

Her voice belongs in a 1940s jazz bar. But Amy Winehouse may be the future of hip-hop. Dave Simpson meets her ...

Christina Aguilera: Christina stripped bare

Interview by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 30 October 2003

The video for 'Dirrty' transformed Christina Aguilera overnight from girl next door to sex siren. As she plays Wembley, Tim Cooper talks to her about ...

The Byrds, David Crosby: David Crosby: A Long Strange Trip

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, November 2003

Over the past 40 years David Crosby has done it all, from crafting transcendental, psychedelic harmonies for the Byrds and CSNY to living a life ...

Elvis Costello: Elvis Goes North

Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment, November 2003

MY EDITOR thinks Elvis Costello's latest album, North, is a lot like Frank Sinatra's 1954 classic In the Wee Small Hours. He's right: both recordings ...

Liz Phair: Liz Phair

Review by Robert Sandall, The Word, November 2003

IF YOU'VE NEVER heard her earlier records — which, if you've been resident in the UK for the past 10years, you probably haven't — Liz ...

R.E.M.: Radio Songs

Retrospective and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, November 2003

As R.E.M release their first compilation — and 32nd single — for Warners, David Stubbs asks America's greatest band to talk about their 20 greatest ...

Randy Newman: Good Old Boy

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2003

RANDY NEWMAN, pop music's blackest humourist tells us why he's similar to Eminem, why make-up girls don't "get" him, and why he's just re-recorded a batch ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Evening Of My Best Day

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, November 2003

Former L.A. hipster, now a mother and keen gardener, starts a new songwriting life after a six-year drought. ...

Warren Zevon: The Wind

Review by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, November 2003

Thirteenth and final studio album. Guest appearances by an impressive list of pals. ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: What does Sophie Ellis-Bextor write after her autograph?

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Word, November 2003

"THE CHEWING GUM's two quid a packet… and this," husks Sophie Ellis-Bextor, fondling a tube of Berocca vitamin fizz-up, "is eight fifty. So I'm going ...

Morrissey: Mark Simpson: Saint Morrissey

Book Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 16 November 2003

Former World's Biggest Smiths Fan Simon Price checks his credentials against a passionately provocative analysis of Morrissey's art. ...

Sting: Broken Music

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 16 November 2003

AROUND THE TIME he won his scholarship to Newcastle grammar school, Sting – or Gordon Sumner as he was then known – witnessed his mother ...

Ryan Adams: "I've Been Jumping Off Bridges"

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, The Guardian, 21 November 2003

THE ONE GOOD thing about projectile vomiting is that at least your T-shirt stays clean. Ryan Adams's frat-house top is a spotless scarlet, its brightness ...

Bob Dylan, Ian Hunter, Mott The Hoople, Mick Ronson: An Interview with Ian Hunter

Interview by Larry Jaffee, On the Tracks, December 2003

LJ: IN YOUR BOOK Reflections of a Rock Star, it mentions your life-long ambition was to meet Dylan was set back again. You said you'd ...

Hawksley Workman: Lover/Fighter

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2003

Cult Canadian dandy grapples with his dual personality on third LP. ...

Josh Rouse: I ♥ 1972

Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2003

He's just made an album of sublime early-'70s radio pop that could make him a big star. Now all Josh Rouse has to do is ...

Bread, David Gates: Legends of Songwriting: David Gates of Bread

Profile and Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, December 2003

REMEMBER "soft rock?" You don't hear the term much anymore, but in the early 1970s, this musical genre floated onto the AM airwaves in the ...

Nick Cave: Out of the Shadows

Interview by James Medd, The Word, December 2003

After years on the dark side of the street, Nick Cave lightens up. ...

Rickie Lee Jones: The Evening Of My Best Day

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, December 2003

Cherished US singer-songwriter back on form ...

John Mayer: Growing Up In Public

Report and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Paste, 1 December 2003

"WHEN I FIRST FINISHED the record, I thought, 'I can't talk about this. It's like fishing through your own poop,'" says John Mayer, fresh from ...

Nelly Furtado: Looking back to go forward

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2003

Pressured by the expectations for her new album, Nelly Furtado dug into her Latin roots for inspiration, she tells Lisa Verrico. ...

Ed Harcourt: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, The Guardian, 18 December 2003

THE SOUND MAN is got up as Santa and a roadie is dressed as an elf. There's tinsel around the mic stand and an inflatable ...

The Flatlanders: Wheels Of Fortune

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 31 December 2003

MUCH AS I LIKED Now Again, the reunited Flatlanders' 2002 album, it was also a somewhat frustrating set that in the long run seems a ...

Gordon Lightfoot on Songwriting

Retrospective and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, SOCAN Words and Music, Winter 2003

ON AN UNSEASONABLY warm Thanksgiving, Gordon Lightfoot is in an uncharacteristically reflective mood, sipping coffee and looking back on a career that has produced every ...

Eels: The Canny Everett Show

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Fall 2003

Eels frontman Mark "E" Everett is as slippery as the fish his outfit takes its name from. After weeks of interview schedules aborted due to ...

Scott Walker: It Don't Come Easy: Scott Walker’s Five Easy Pieces (Universal)

Review by Mark Paytress, MOJO, 2004

Idiosyncratic. Inspired. Perplexing. Well, how else would you want your multi-disc "Godlike Genius" retrospective served? ...

The Beautiful South: Paul Heaton

Interview by Dan Gennoe, Red, 2004

"I'M A BIG FAN of black comedy," says Paul Heaton of the Beautiful South's latest album Golddiggas, Headnodders & Pholk Songs, a collection of cover ...

Sandy Dillon: Nobody's Sweetheart

Review by Dave Thompson, AllMusic.com, 2004

TWENTY YEARS ON from the unreleased LP that should have established her as a superstar-in-waiting, the mid-'80s set recorded with Mick Ronson, New York singer/songwriter ...

Bob Dylan: PalaLottomatica (Pala Eur), Rome

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2004

November 1, 2003 ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Cecil Sharp House, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2004

PHOTOS OF MORRIS dancers adorn this home of the English Folk Dance & Song Society, and the atmosphere is pin-drop reverent as the Prince's legions ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Essential Bruce Springsteen

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2004

HIS HUGE, mournful, wounded bear of a voice is so effective and emotive when placed against fresh backdrops that it remains a pity Springsteen doesn't ...

Harlan Howard: Legends of Songwriting: Harlan Howard

Profile and Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, January 2004

THE TYPICAL songwriter who rolls into Nashville is an unknown hopeful with an acoustic guitar and a notebook full of half-finished songs and titles. When ...

Sia: Colour The Small One

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, January 2004

THERE CAN BE few people with ears who wouldn't recognise the jazzy slurs of Sia Furler's voice. ...

Tori Amos: Tales Of A Librarian

Review and Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, January 2004

DRAWING ON her albums from 1992's Little Earthquakes to 1999's To Venus And Back, this collection tracks the numerous crests and vicissitudes of Tori Amos' ...

Candi Staton: Candi Staton (Capitol)

Review by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 10 January 2004

ONCE UPON a time, before Beyoncé Knowles was conceived and Whitney Houston ordered up her first re-mix, R&B divas were valued for their grit rather ...

Emitt Rhodes: Happy Happy, Joy Joy: Emitt Rhodes

Retrospective and Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, LA CityBeat, 22 January 2004

EMITT RHODES still doesn’t know what hit him. Thirty years ago, he was the new Paul McCartney, an ambitious kid who craved the perfect pop ...

Bob Seger's 'Night Moves'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, February 2004

VITAL STATISTICS 

SONG:
 'Night Moves

' ARTIST:
 Bob Seger

 LABEL: Capitol
 
 ...

Lambchop: Aw Cmon /No You Cmon

Review by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, February 2004

Not a double album, we're told, though you can't buy one without the other. Nashville country-soul collective's seventh (and eighth) full-length release(s). ...

Mark Lanegan

Interview by Stevie Chick, Loose Lips Sink Ships, February 2004

When was your first time in jail?"I was twelve years old... It was for shoplifting. Shoplifting booze, heh heh heh."Have you always been attracted to ...

Sophia: People Are Like Seasons

Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, February 2004

Fourth album from Euro-resident US singer-songwriter Robin Proper-Sheppard. ...

Sufjan Stevens

Comment by Devon Powers, PopMatters, February 2004

POSTMODERNISM HAS jacked it all up. In its wake, the cultural zeitgeist of irony has become so prevalent and requisite that plain old earnestness ceases ...

Rodney Crowell: Uncompromised 

Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 12 February 2004

Rodney Crowell creates art for the soul in the cracks of Nashville's music machine. ...

Sia: Cargo, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 17 February 2004

IS SIA FURLER destined to join the roll-call of great Australians, up there with Kylie, Edna Everage and Mel Gibson? She is probably too self-effacing ...

Elliott Smith: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

Retrospective and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, 18 February 2004

WHEN ELLIOTT SMITH played Los Angeles in the fall of 2002, after more than a year of semi-seclusion, he didn't look so good. His hands ...

Grant-Lee Phillips: Virginia Creeper

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2004

Country-rock class from Rolling Stone's one-time "best male vocalist" ...

The Velvet Underground: Heart Of Darkness: The Velvet Underground

Retrospective by Victor Bockris, MOJO, March 2004

The Velvets biographer on Lou Reed, love songs and the band's harrowing third album. ...

John Cale: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2004

RESCUED FROM his latest career cul-de-sac by an EMI Radiohead associate with clout and taste, Cale's unlikely major label comeback has attracted a relatively sparse ...

Laura Veirs: Carbon Glacier

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2004

LESS THAN ten years ago, Laura Veirs was struck on being a geologist. Then, exploring a remote desert corner of northwest China with a bunch ...

Melissa Etheridge: Hitched, Happy, and On Tour

Interview by Bonnie J. Morris, Gay & Lesbian Review, The , March 2004

MELISSA ETHERIDGE has been a lesbian rock icon since 1988, when audiences who had not heard her at clubs and women's music festivals grabbed her ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2004

YOU KNOW WHEN someone announces they're off their face on drugs, and after that, whether they're joking or not, you notice something a little askew ...

Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2004

IF FIRST IMPRESSIONS were king, I would hate the Scissor Sisters. ...

The Mountain Goats: We Shall All Be Healed

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2004

Latest album from Iowa-based erudite John Darnielle ...

Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks: A Critic's Obsession

Essay by Andy Gill, The Independent, 3 March 2004

TODAY, IN MINNEAPOLIS, a group of musicians will assemble at the Pantages Theater to perform Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks in its entirety. ...

Pink: Shocking Pink

Interview by Ian Watson, The Evening Standard, 18 March 2004

She nearly killed herself with drugs, but now pop's wild child has cleaned up her act. As she prepares to play Wembley, Pink tells Ian ...

Sondre Lerche: Two Way Monologue

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 26 March 2004

I'M LISTENING to Sondre Lerche and drinking tea on an unseasonably cold spring evening. It's been a rather shit season so far. A few pretty ...

Bill Withers (2004)

Interview by Bill DeMain, Rock's Backpages audio, 29 March 2004

The great soul singer-songwriter talks about his classic band, the Watts 103rd Street rhythm section; about his childhood and the music around him; his late start, and his scepticism of the record industry; the magical, mystifying process of songwriting; and of growing old and the lure of daytime TV...

File format: mp3; file size: 33.3mb, interview length: 34' 42" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Blind Faith, Spencer Davis Group, Vivian Stanshall, Traffic, Steve Winwood: 10 Questions for Steve Winwood

Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, April 2004

The blue-eyed soul voice behind the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic on jamming with Jimi Hendrix, the madness of Viv Stanshall and the problems of ...

Bernie Leadon: Still Flying, Without Eagles

Report and Interview by Wayne Robins, The Bergen Record, April 2004

BERNIE LEADON has played in quite a few bands during the last 35 years. ...

Bobby Charles' Bobby Charles

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2004

BY THE TIME he got to Woodstock in 1971, Robert Charles Guidry was a wanted man. ...

David Byrne: Grown Backwards

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, April 2004

New wave god turned worldbeat evangelist gets opera bug ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Hello Goodbye: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys

Retrospective and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, April 2004

Hello: September 1961 ...

Lou Reed: Animal Serenade

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2004

Yet another live album from that model of maturity, Library Lou ...

Norah Jones: Don't Fence Me In

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, April 2004

Success Nearly Cost Norah Jones Her Sanity. Now She's Back – Stronger, Wiser And Ready To Do Things Her Way. ...

Randy Newman: Koningin Elisabethzaal, Antwerp

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2004

RANDY NEWMAN has elected to begin his 2004 solo tour of Europe on a Sunday night in Belgium, a country where his wry but devastating ...

Rodney Crowell: Fate's Right Hand (Sony/DMZ)

Review and Interview by Andria Lisle, MOJO, April 2004

Texas-to-Tennessee country star takes a lonely, introspective journey on this breathtakingly unconventional release. ...

Jill Sobule: The sweeter the bitter

Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 9 April 2004

Beneath the pop veneer, Jill Sobule's songs carry a subversive sting. ...

Steve Earle: Proud to be an American

Interview by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, 16 April 2004

STEVE EARLE'S career has been one of the most extraordinary in American music. He crashed into country music with his 1986 classic rockin' country album ...

Liz Phair: An Extraordinary Interview with Liz Phair

Interview by Dave DiMartino, Yahoo! Music, 25 April 2004

WHEN FIERCELY independent and outspoken singer-songwriter Liz Phair first emerged in 1993 with her watershed debut album, Exile In Guyville – a lo-fi, track-by-track response ...

David Byrne: Grown Backwards (Nonesuch)

Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 29 April 2004

Ex-Talking Head – and the most cosmopolitan man in New York – continues his global luau. ...

Chris Smither: Honeysuckle Dog

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 30 April 2004

RECORDED WITH producer Michael Cuscuna in two sessions – Woodstock, December 1972, and New York City, Spring 1973 – this was to be Smither's third ...

David Byrne: 10 Questions for David Byrne

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, May 2004

The angular former Talking Heads frontman on love, war, the ariasof Verdi and Bizet, and the problems of "art by committee". ...

Jim White: Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2004

A YANKEE-BLOODED outcast in the Bible-thumping enclave of his adopted Pensacola, White has unwittingly spent his entire life foraging on the wrong side of the ...

Josh Rouse: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, May 2004

ROUSE CLOSES the first of two nights here with a version of Neil Young's 'For The Turnstiles' so intense and intimate that when he sings ...

PJ Harvey

Profile and Interview by Ian Watson, Rolling Stone (Australia), May 2004

THE DAY PJ HARVEY turned thirty something clicked in her head. She spent her twenties fighting against herself, trying to quash the parts of her ...

Steve Earle Gives New Meaning To The Expression 'Lifetime Achievement'

Interview by Toby Manning, The Word, May 2004

MARRIED SIX TIMES TO FIVE DIFFERENT WOMEN, HE'S ENDURED THE JUNKIE'S LIFE, DONE TIME AND LIVED TO TELL. NOW A CHANGED CHARACTER, HIGH PROFILE CAMPAIGNER ...

Jolie Holland: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 May 2004

AMY WINEHOUSE happened to be playing around the corner when Jolie Holland was making her London debut, a fact worth mentioning because both singers are ...

Alanis Morissette: So-Called Chaos (Maverick)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, June 2004

Former phenomenon finds herself, but risks losing everyone else. ...

Morrissey

Interview by James Medd, Esquire, June 2004

From his unlikely hideout on the West Coast of America, pop's Greatest Living Englishman has emerged triumphant with his first album in seven years. "Pop ...

Nick Drake: Made To Love Magic

Review by Pete Paphides, MOJO, June 2004

The most anticipated Drake release since his death includes a gorgeous five-minute version of 'Three Hours', and the hitherto undiscovered 'Tow The Line'. ...

PJ Harvey: Uh Huh Her

Review by Everett True, Plan B, June 2004

POLLY HARVEY. This is her seventh album. It's better than her sixth, 2001 's set of NYC travel diaries, Stories From The City, Stories From ...

Vivian Stanshall's Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead

Review by Rob Chapman, Uncut, June 2004

GENUINE ECCENTRICS don't fill out an application form to join the Eccentrics Club and then sit in wood-panelled drawing rooms trading well-honed anecdotes with fellow ...

Nick Drake: Made To Love Magic

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 3 June 2004

PRECIOUS. TRAGIC. BEAUTIFUL. SENSITIVE. DELICATE. DOOMED. These are some of the words that people use about Nick Drake, born in Rangoon, died in Tamworth-In-Arden. Drake ...

Sufjan Stevens: The 50 States of Rock: Sufjan Stevens

Interview by Ben Thompson, Daily Telegraph, 8 June 2004

THERE HAVE BEEN MANY extra-curricular activities traditionally associated with the life of the travelling rock'n'roller. Teaching knitting to the blind is not one of them. ...

Peter Hammill, Van Der Graaf Generator: Peter Hammill: Heart Attack Music

Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 27 June 2004

WHEN PETER HAMMILL collapsed in the street with a sudden heart attack last year, it didn't make the papers. The one-time singer of the group ...

Bobbie Gentry: Chickasaw County Child – The Artistry of Bobbie Gentry

Review by Andria Lisle, MOJO, July 2004

A 23-track set that further mystifies the story of the songwriter behind 'Ode To Billie Joe'. ...

Christine McVie: In The Meantime (Adventure/Sanctuary)

Review by Jaan Uhelszki, MOJO, July 2004

Former Fleetwood Mac songbird flies solo for the first time in two decades. ...

Prefab Sprout, Stevie Wonder: Last Night A Record Changed My Life: Paddy McAloon on Stevie Wonder's Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants

Interview by Pete Paphides, MOJO, July 2004

PANNED ON ITS RELEASE, STEVIE WONDER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS MADE PREFAB SPROUT'S PADDY MCALOON A SONGWRITER. ...

Patti Smith: The MOJO Interview: Patti Smith

Interview by Ben Edmonds, MOJO, July 2004

Working in a piss factory, breaking her neck on stage,
the "horror" of her armpit
hair. All this plus punk poetry,
tragedy and "gentleman"
Bill Burroughs in the amazing ...

Feist: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 6 July 2004

THIS VENUE has recently hosted a succession of newish female songwriters — Polly Paulusma, Jolie Holland -—who are doing a good job of making Dido ...

Syreeta, 1946-2004

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 13 July 2004

Stevie Wonder's partner in music and (briefly) marriage ...

Jay Farrar: Independent Streak

Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 30 July 2004

Alt-country godfather goes it alone. ...

Juliana Hatfield: In Exile Deo

Review by Bud Scoppa, Paste, 1 August 2004

ON HER PREVIOUS half-dozen albums, Boston-based Juliana Hatfield has clearly defined her sexy-waif persona through a steady stream of confessional songs filled with vulnerability, uncertainty ...

Katie Melua: She's got them dancing in the aisles at Tesco

Comment by Adam Sweeting, The Independent, 1 August 2004

RECORD COMPANIES love her across-the-board appeal to music fans who buy from supermarkets. Attempts to package the teenage Georgian as the creator of a new ...

Gabrielle: The Obsession

Interview by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 24 August 2004

Soul diva Gabrielle sold millions of records, before a serious throat condition — triggered by her obsessive compulsive disorder — threatened to wreck her career ...

Ed Harcourt: Strangers

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, September 2004

Third set from Sussex singer-songwriter and follow-up to last year’s acclaimed From Every Sphere. ...

Elvis Costello: Almost Blue/Goodbye Cruel World/Kojak Variety

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, September 2004

AS THE AMBITIOUS Costello reissue programme heads towards completion, the contents of the bonus discs take on a greater significance, bolstering releases that may struggle ...

Joanna Newsom: Daydream Believer

Profile and Interview by Frances Morgan, Plan B, September 2004

Joanna Newsom is a new kind of folk heroine, plucking out spells and lullabies on 46 thrumming strings. ...

The Beatles, The Drifters, Kenny Lynch: Kenny Lynch: Nothing But The Real Thing

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, RPM Records, September 2004

KENNY LYNCH HAS been at the heart of British showbusiness over 40 years. Whether he's acting, writing for light entertainment or drama, singing, performing comedy ...

The Jam, Paul Weller: Paul Weller: The MOJO Interview

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, September 2004

KEITH ALTHAM PR’d The Jam in the late '70s. In his book of post-retirement open letters to former clients, No More Mr Nice Guy, he ...

The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat

Review and Interview by Keith Cameron, MOJO, September 2004

The US sister-brother act who really are brother and sister decided it would be a good idea to make a prog-pop concept album. Crazy — ...

Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler: The Rock’s Backpages Interview: Mark Knopfler

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2004

RBP: You recorded your new album Shangri-La at the studio of the same name in Malibu. When was the studio refurbished? ...

Townes Van Zandt: Van Zandt's New "Love"

Report by Jason Cohen, Rolling Stone, 23 September 2004

IF YOU KNOW your Texas music, it's a famous story: in 1970 a young Joe Ely picked up a hitchhiker on his way to Houston. ...

Kelley Stoltz: Antique Glow (Beautiful Happiness)

Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, October 2004

A Detroit native preoccupied with traffic cones: meet your new favourite lo-fi troubadour. ...

Nick Cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Old Saint Nick: Nick Cave

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Dazed & Confused, October 2004

ON ABATTOIR BLUES, the cheerily-titled first half of the new double album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, there is a song called ‘There ...

Jim Croce: The Way We Used To Be (Sanctuary)

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, November 2004

KILLED IN A PLANE crash in 1973, just weeks after his first US Number One single, Jim Croce was a master of tender beauty and ...

Johnny Cash: The Gunslinger

Retrospective and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, November 2004

A year on, the world is still reeling from the death of Johnny Cash, the speed-crazed rock'n'roller who became America's defining voice. From tragedy to ...

Paul Westerberg: Folk Art

Interview by Bob Mehr, Harp, November 2004

Paul Westerberg on his infamous past, fatherhood and his most personal solo offering to date, Folker. ...

Shawn Colvin: A Conversation

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, November 2004

RBP: 15 years into your recording career, how do you look back on it? Are you content with what you’ve achieved? ...

Elliott Smith: Shooting Star: Elliott Smith

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2004

A YEAR AGO I was sitting in the Los Angeles living room of Mr. Roger Steffens, curator of a huge Bob Marley archive that was ...

Tom Waits: Real Gone (Anti/Epitaph)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2004

SINCE IT’S HARD and possibly verboten to say a bad word about Tom Waits, unholy shaman of whacked-out Americana, I’ll content myself with expressing a ...

Warren Zevon: Various Artists: Enjoy Every Sandwich - The Songs Of Warren Zevon

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, November 2004

LONG BEFORE his death last year from inoperable lung cancer, Warren Zevon knew his time was almost up. Undeterred, he carried on making records bulging ...

Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn: Jacques Levy, 1935-2004

Obituary by Ken Hunt, The Guardian, 26 November 2004

IN 1969, JACQUES Levy, who has died of cancer aged 69, became director of the erotic revue Oh! Calcutta!, off-Broadway. It was that show which ...

Anne McCue: Roll

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, December 2004

ALREADY FAMILIAR to fans of Lucinda Williams after a lengthy stint as an opening act, Australian-born McCue has effortlessly mastered the bluesy drawl of her ...

Camper Van Beethoven: New Roman Times

Review by Richard Gehr, Tracks, December 2004

FOR THEIR FIRST album since 1989's elegiac Key Lime Pie, David Lowery and his original posse of SoCal stoners reunite for a fascinating life-during-wartime alt-rock ...

Elton John: Peachtree Road

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, December 2004

IT HAS BECOME an irritatingly common marketing ploy for any new release by a music veteran to be declared a "return to form". If we ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Newtown, Sydney

Live Review by Mark Mordue, Drum Media, December 2004

SO YOU ASK what magic is? And the roof above you has lights like long red teardrops hanging from it, splashing down stars into the ...

Ray LaMontagne: Ray of Light: Ray LaMontagne

Profile and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Tracks, December 2004

A remarkably mature debut album turned rural Maine resident RAY LAMONTAGNE into a hot property practically overnight. ...

Warren Zevon: Various Artists: Enjoy Every Sandwich – The Songs of Warren Zevon

Review by Bud Scoppa, Tracks, December 2004

LIKE THE hard-boiled American novelists he so admired, Warren Zevon was a wiseass with an oversized heart and a gift for locating big truths in ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Why Is Robyn Hitchcock Better Off Without Hit Records?

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Word, December 2004

ON FIRST impression, only the birds printed all over his shirt detract from Robyn Hitchcock's professorial air. It was his idea to rendezvous in Swiss ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Spooked

Review by Bud Scoppa, Paste, 1 December 2004

THE FIRST CUT on Robyn Hitchcock's new album deals with a guy stuck in a dysfunctional relationship with his TV set; it's precisely the sort ...

Willy Mason: Lo-Fi Charm

Report and Interview by j. poet, Paste, 1 December 2004

AT THE BEGINNING of every autumn, the local music community in Martha's Vineyard comes alive. That's when the vacationers leave and the working-class folks who ...

Kevin Coyne, 1944-2004

Obituary by Alan Clayson, The Guardian, 6 December 2004

KEVIN COYNE was a singer-songwriter respected by his contemporaries but lacking their chart success. Nevertheless, largely through Radio One presenter John Peel's championing, he built ...

Bob Dylan, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robbie Williams: The Holy and Sacred thoughts of His Bobness

Book Review by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 11 December 2004

THE GREATEST music book this year, of course, is Bob Dylan's Chronicles, Vol. 1 (Simon & Schuster, £16.99; offer £13.39) — a cultural event so notable ...

Michael Hurley: Down In Dublin

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 31 December 2004

WITH HIS SIMPLE three-chord songs, unadorned voice and delivery, and straightforward lyrics, Michael Hurley makes it sound so effortless; his music feels like it has ...

Emiliana Torrini

Report and Interview by Dan Gennoe, Voyager, Winter 2004

"IT WAS MY absolute first experience of the healing power of music," says pocket-sized Icelandic-Italian singer Emiliana Torrini of her achingly beautiful second album, Fisherman's ...

PJ Harvey: Love in All the Wrong Places: PJ Harvey

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Tracks, Summer 2004

POLLY HARVEY reclines in regal splendour at the end of the very long and pompous Promenade Room of London’s legendary Dorchester Hotel. Buffed Eurotrash couples ...

PJ Harvey: An Interview

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, Summer 2004

RBP: Not to suggest that Uh Huh Her must be entirely autobiographical – or "confessional" – but you don’t sound terribly happy in these songs. ...

David Byrne Looks Forward...and Back

Interview by Carol Cooper, The L Magazine, Fall 2004

Q: AS A SOLO ARTIST you have worked with horn sections and now with string sections to color and embellish your songs. Aside ...

Elvis Costello: A Man with a Mission (In Two or Three Editions)

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, Fall 2004

ELVIS COSTELLO is about to take over the world. No, he's not going to reveal himself as a nefarious arch-villain in league with Doctor Octopus ...

Joni Mitchell: Andy Wickham: A House Hippie at Warner-Reprise

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

The news just came in that Wickham, the "company freak" who brought Joni Mitchell and others to the attention of Reprise boss Mo Ostin, died ...

Carole King in the Canyon: The Weaving of Tapestry

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (Fourth Estate), 2005

UNLIKE MOST of her Brill Building contemporaries, Carole King was keen to keep pace with the changing times. Having scored as an artist in her ...

Death Cab For Cutie: 'Soul Meets Body' (Atlantic)

Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 2005

IN 1987, WHEN R.E.M., one of the premier indie-rock bands of the '80s, scored a Top 10 hit with 'The One I Love', it gave ...

John Prine: Fair and Square

Review by Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment, 2005

CHICAGO IS THE cradle of modern blues, the place where Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf urbanized and electrified the music of the Mississippi Delta. But, ...

David Blue, Jackson Browne, Ned Doheny, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Judee Sill, J. D. Souther: Play It as It Lays: David Geffen and Asylum Records

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Hotel California' (4th Estate), 2005

This is an excerpt from Barney Hoskyns'  Hotel California: Singer-Songwriters & Cocaine Cowboys in the L.A. Canyons (Fourth Estate, 2005) ...

Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning/Digital Ash In A Digital Urn

Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, January 2005

SOMETIMES YOU can be too darn talented for your own good. Regularly described as a "boy genius", 24 year old Conor Oberst – doe-eyed self-obsessive, ...

Del Shannon: Home And Away – The Complete Recordings 1960-1970

Review by Bob Stanley, MOJO, January 2005

Eight CDs tell the story of one of the '60s' most original rockers, a doomed romantic whose arrested adolescence made him a star but never ...

Donovan

Retrospective and Interview by Richie Unterberger, MOJO, January 2005

MID JULY 2004. In the dark-wooded, rich red subterranea of San Francisco's Cafe du Nord a song is building off little more than a two-chord ...

The Magnolia Electric Co.: Magnolia Electric Company: Trials And Errors (Secretly Canadian)

Review by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, January 2005

I’VE NEVER been a big fan of live albums. Maybe it's because I'm usually just not that interested in live versions of a bunch of ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus

Review by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, January 2005

"THE WORK," Cave told MOJO, "of a genius." Though his tongue was presumably not too many miles from his cheek, he was spot on. This ...

Nick Cave: The MOJO Interview

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, January 2005

It's been a 25-year trip from hard drugs and punch-ups in the Birthday Party to life as a 9-to-5 songwriter/genius. So, in a world of ...

Bob Dylan: Shelter from the Storm: The Inside Story of Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2005

FEBRUARY 13, 1977. Bob and Sara Dylan are screaming themselves hoarse. Sara has just walked down to breakfast in their Malibu mansion to find Bob ...

Tim Booth: The iJAMMING! Interview: Tim Booth

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, January 2005

I HAVE AN instinctive aversion to conducting phone interviews. The medium is fine for quick research, or immediate answers to pressing questions, but when it ...

Plush: 12 Bar, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 January 2005

PLUSH'S LIAM HAYES isn't a man who does things easily. He released his first single in 1994, his first woozy LP in 1998, and didn't ...

Donovan: Beat Café

Review by j. poet, Paste, 18 January 2005

CERTAIN TRACKS on Beat Cafe sound like they could be outtakes from Donovan's 1967 album Mellow Yellow, but I'll let you decide if that's a ...

Bright Eyes: Burning Like Fire

Report and Interview by James Medd, Esquire, February 2005

Bright Eyes, the sharpest act in the US today, turns his gaze from his navel to the world. ...

Lee Hazlewood: "Compared To My Dad, I'm A Soprano"

Retrospective and Interview by Spencer Leigh, Now Dig This, February 2005

"I don't have to run if I want to stay, I don't have to do what the people say, I found my place ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Transistor Radio

Review by Frances Morgan, Plan B, February 2005

THE TRANSISTOR RADIO — best friend of the Shaggs ("My companion is with me wherever I go/My companion is of course my radio"), occult portal ...

Plush: 12 Bar Club, London

Live Review by Frances Morgan, Plan B, February 2005

HE'S SINGING guide vocals, marking the chords on a chiming Gibson. Wordless lilts warm him up and take us down; sweet meetings of finger and ...

Natasha Bedingfield: Colston Hall, Bristol

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 25 February 2005

SURFING ON a tide of hit singles and a monster debut album, Natasha Bedingfield has leapt to the head of the female singer-songwriter queue in ...

Beck: ...Bottle of Blue

Interview by Mac Randall, Harp, March 2005

PREDICTING BECK Hansen's next artistic move is a game for fools and rock pundits only. Any sane person gave up trying long ago. Plot this ...

Bill Fay: Tomorrow Never Knows

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Young, The Wire, March 2005

AFTER MAKING TWO OF THE FINEST BUT OVERLOOKED APOCALYPTIC SINGER-SONGWRITER ALBUMS OF THE EARLY 70S — WITH JAZZ ARRANGER MIKE GIBBS AND FREE GUITARIST RAY ...

Chris Isaak (2005)

Interview by Joel Selvin, Selvin On The City, KSAN 107.7, March 2005

The American icon, together with sidekick Kenney Dale Johnson, spins some favourites and sings a couple of tunes too!

File format: mp3 File size: 32.2mb Interview length: 35' 13"; Sound quality: *****

Elliott Smith: Roman Candle, Elliott Smith, Either/Or

Review by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2005

First three from masterful songwriter who committed suicide in 2003. ...

Joni Mitchell

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2005

NINE WAS A memorable age for Roberta Joan Anderson. Three things occurred that year, more than 50 years ago, which affect her to this day: ...

Laura Veirs: The Triumphs And Travails Of Orphan Mae

Review and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2005

First UK release of Veirs' second album, in wake of hugely acclaimed Carbon Glacier. ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Transistor Radio

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2005

Fourth album from Portland dream-catcher follows up 2003's Transfiguration Of Vincent. ...

Rufus Wainwright: The Backpages Interview: Rufus Wainwright

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, March 2005

RBP: Is Want Two in any way the flipside to, or a contrast to, Want One? Or is it just a companion collection? ...

Alex Chilton, The Replacements, Paul Westerberg: According to Paul

Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 11 March 2005

Rocker Paul Westerberg talks about fame and his bad reputation. ...

Rufus Wainwright: Want Two

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 11 March 2005

EXCESS, THY NAME is Rufus. How else do you explain starting the most important album of your career with a 6-minute pseudo-classical drone of a ...

Moby: Garage, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 17 March 2005

AMONG MOBY’s many hats are producer, remixer, club DJ, techno-nerd and ambient maestro. For this one-off gig to mark the arrival of his new album, ...

Jimmy Webb (2005)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 March 2005

The Great American Songwriter looks back at his strict Baptist upbringing; the catastrophe of his mother's death; his love of complex chords, and how that has gone missing today; his love of Burt Bacharach and the Beatles; his early LA experiences and becoming a music copyist; the importance of Pet Sounds; his nostalgia for grace, and on his fabulous luck as a songwriter.

File format: mp3; file size: 87.5mb, interview length: 1h 31' 10" sound quality: ****

Beck, Guero and Scientology

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Scotland on Sunday, 26 March 2005

ON THE SURFACE, nothing is wrong with Beck Hansen. No wires protrude from his dirty-blond moptop. No glazed expressions, no shifty answers, no sense of ...

Martha Wainwright: Going Her Own Way: Martha Wainwright Makes Her Musical Mark

Report and Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, LA CityBeat, 31 March 2005

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT almost didn't bother to pursue music. Because of her parents, singer-songwriters Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, who occupy certain esteemed places in ...

Hal: Irish Nostalgists Crossing The Harmonic Pop Divide

Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, April 2005

Who are they and what do they sound like? Hal were formed by brothers Dave (vocals/guitar) and Paul Allen (bass/vocals), whose parents were a double act ...

Jimmy Webb: The Moon's A Harsh Mistress

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2005

The gifted composer of 'Wichita Lineman' and 'MacArthur Park' made five bold, mature solo LPs. Nobody noticed. ...

Judee Sill: Spirited Away

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, April 2005

UNTIL RECENTLY, Judee Sill and her two Asylum albums were all but forgotten. Her story is so tragic as to be nearly unbelievable, the antithesis ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Have Love Will Travel

Interview by Everett True, Plan B, April 2005

A visit to soulful songwriter M Ward's Portland home: Schumann, Sonic Youth and "musical silence". ...

Rufus Wainwright: Want Two

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, April 2005

LATE LAST YEAR, Rufus Wainwright was a guest on Tom Robinson's BBC6 radio show, answering questions about music, life and celebrity while pointedly avoiding allusion ...

Tori Amos: Roses And Thorns

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), April 2005

In her 25 year recording career, Tori Amos has been many things. Hairsprayed rock chick, prodigious pianist and enigmatic lyricist are some of the deliciously ...

Bryan Ferry: On Second Thought: Bryan Ferry's Mamouna

Retrospective by Alfred Soto, Stylus, 12 April 2005

For better or worse, we here at Stylus, in all of our autocratic consumer-crit greed, are slaves to timeliness. A record over six months old ...

Tara Angell: "I'm not just a chick singer-songwriter"

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 15 April 2005

A debut dripping in smoky-voiced pain... and "the darkest record since Black Sabbath". ...

Johnathan Rice: "I fought for this"

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 25 April 2005

When Johnathan Rice got his record deal, he was too poor to eat. Now, along with his pop-star girlfriend, he's the toast of the US ...

Crosby and Nash: Harmony and Discord

Interview by Sid Griffin, MOJO, May 2005

In the UK for the first time since 1978, David Crosby and Graham Nash discuss their musical and personal bond. ...

Lou Reed

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, May 2005

Listen up limeys! From the Velvets to The Raven, Lou Reed has remained pure, "professional" and the scourge of "asshole journalists". And he's still here. ...

Smog: A River Ain't Too Much To Love (Drag City)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, May 2005

THERE'S SOME kind of desert here, some grand landscape hinged between dusk and dawn that Bill Callahan evokes. ...

Jimmy Webb: The Backpages Interview: Jimmy Webb

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, May 2005

RBP: Bones Howe remembered you as being very shy when he first met you circa 1967. Is that how you remember it? ...

Tom Russell: Hotwalker

Review by Joe Nick Patoski, Harp, May 2005

"I'M A FRUSTRATED writer," Tom Russell confessed to me a couple of years ago. ...

James Blunt: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 5 May 2005

IN THE FRENZY to find a new Damien Rice or David Gray, it suddenly seems as if there's a sensitive singer-songwriter on every street corner. ...

Jimmy Webb: The man who made the whole world sing

Interview by John Aizlewood, The Evening Standard, 6 May 2005

Jimmy Webb, composer of classics such as 'Wichita Lineman' and 'Up, Up and Away', is about to step up to the mike for two rare ...

Kathryn Williams: Over Fly Over

Review by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 7 May 2005

KATHRYN WILLIAMS is one of those artists for whom a Mercury nomination – for her 2000 debut Little Black Numbers – brought a level of ...

Van Morrison: Magic Time

Review by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 21 May 2005

AS 36TH ALBUMS go, Van Morrison's latest is a laid-back marvel. ...

Aimee Mann: The Forgotten Arm

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, June 2005

FILM DIRECTOR Paul Thomas Anderson used Aimee Mann's music as the starting point and inspiration for his Oscar-nominated Magnolia, about the intertwining, desperate lives of ...

Jimmy Webb: Almost Blue: Jimmy Webb

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, June 2005

JIMMY WEBB is sad. He looks around him at the world we inhabit and sees culture nose-diving everywhere. Subtlety is squeezed, ambiguity flattened. People don’t ...

Beck: The Man Who Wasn't There

Profile and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, June 2005

Beck's back, with a b-boy bouillabaisse to compare with his grooviest work. But behind the impassive visage, what's really going on? And can he really ...

Bruce Springsteen: Devils & Dust

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, June 2005

The E Street Band stand down again. So more for fans of Nebraska and The Ghost Of Tom Joad as Bruce leaves politics for the ...

Bruce Springsteen: Two River Theatre, Red Bank, NJ

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, June 2005

Springsteen records his first-ever VH1 TV Storytellers session and rather likes it — two hours, eight songs and any amount of explanatory chat before an ...

David Pajo: Pajo: Pajo (Drag City)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, June 2005

I DIDN'T KNOW what I felt about this record by David Christian Pajo. Then I hated it. ...

Sleater-Kinney: The Power Of Three

Interview by Everett True, Plan B, June 2005

Seven albums in, trailblazing Olympia trio Sleater-Kinney still feel like punk rock ruffians. ...

Tanita Tikaram: "I Was An Odd Kid"

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 June 2005

SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, during her first flush of success as a precocious young songwriter, Tanita Tikaram was lampooned by 'Smash Hits'. Under a photo of ...

Jim Ford, Bobby Womack: Bobby Womack on Jim Ford (2005)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 June 2005

The Last Soul Man talks about his friend and collaborator Jim Ford: being introduced by Ford to Sly Stone, such great songs as 'Harry Hippie' and 'Point Of No Return', and writing songs with the man.

File format: mp3; file size: 19.8mb, interview length: 21' 35" sound quality: * (phoner)

James Blunt: Back from Bedlam

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 10 June 2005

How did ex-soldier James Blunt go from serving in Kosovo to playing gigs? Tim Cooper finds out. ...

Ringo Starr: The Hot Seat: Ringo Starr

Interview by Alan Light, New York Post, 19 June 2005

RINGO STARR handed his Mercedes over to the valet and bounded up the steps of West Hollywood's Argyle Hotel. He may be the most famous ...

Bruce Springsteen: Unplugged Life: Bruce Springsteen Ages Into The Intimate Singer/Songwriter Album With Devils and Dust

Report by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 29 June 2005

HUMAN TOUCH: After mastering the rockin' Bruce album, Bruce Springsteen is now honing the acoustic Bruce album. ...

Shannon McNally: No Bones About It

Profile and Interview by John Morthland, No Depression, 30 June 2005

THIS IS A STORY about new beginnings, or at least about keepin' on keepin' on. Or maybe it's about, as some really pissed-off wit once ...

Sufjan Stevens (2005)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, July 2005

Mr Stevens talks about his latest album, Illinois: his memories of Chicago and Peoria; reading biographies of both cities; how his writing is informed by fiction, and how fact and fiction interchange; the instruments used in making the album; his long track titles; Detroit v Chicago; the influence of Terry Riley; his Steiner School upbringing, and his addressing of the Native American genocide.

File format: mp3; file size: 19.3mb, interview length: 20' 07" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Teenage Fanclub: Love In A Cold Climate

Retrospective and Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, July 2005

Ladies and gentlemen! Gasp, as Scots prestidigitators the Teenage Fanclub turn base indie guitar slag into romantic pop gold! Gape, as their death-defying story is ...

Matchbox 20, Rob Thomas: Rob Thomas: Anonymity in the UK

Report and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 6 July 2005

Rob Thomas can claim 75 million album sales. So who is he? ...

James Blunt: Strange Life Of An Army Dreamer

Interview by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times, 8 July 2005

James Blunt came to pop stardom the hard way, via Harrow, Sandhurst and the Household Cavalry. ...

Chip Taylor: Lock 17, London ****

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 30 July 2005

EVEN BEFORE he met Carrie Rodriguez, Chip Taylor's life had the authentic ring of fiction about it. ...

Nick Cave: The Songwriter Speaks

Interview by Debbie Kruger, Weekend Australian, 30 July 2005

Writer Debbie Kruger spoke to the biggest names in Australian music for her new book Songwriters Speak. In this exclusive extract, Nick Cave explains why ...

Graham Parker & The Rumour: "It's R&B from the future – you just haven't caught up with me yet"

Retrospective and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Record Collector, August 2005

AS GRAHAM PARKER & the Rumour trooped off stage after what turned out to be their last show together at the German Rock TV show ...

Marissa Nadler: Death Becomes Her

Profile and Interview by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, August 2005

IN THE BACK of a small pub in South London, surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers, Marissa Nadler tunes up her acoustic 12-string guitar ...

Neil Young (2005)

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Rock's Backpages audio, 21 August 2005

Mr. Young on his latest album Prairie Wind; his aneurysm and surgery; the great Spooner Oldham; his Archives project; the Heart of Gold movie.

File format: mp3; file size: 46.6mb, interview length: 50' 55" sound quality: ****

Jimmy Webb: Interview: Jimmy Webb

Interview by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, 27 August 2005

BEFORE HE WAS 21 Jimmy Webb had already written some of pop's most enduring songs, including 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' (which Frank ...

Coldplay: Chris Martin: Justify My Thug

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, September 2005

Coldplay's front man is addicted to the game ...

David Gray: Life In Slow Motion

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, September 2005

FIRST THE GOOD news: two albums on from White Ladder, David Gray has lost none of his fragile humanity or bleary-eyed longing. ...

Richard Hawley: Coles Corner

Review by Ian Watson, Yahoo! Music, September 2005

IMAGINE BRITPOP never happened. No Pulp, no Longpigs, no exuberant resurgence in literate guitar pop. ...

Rufus Wainwright (2005)

Interview by Maureen Paton, Rock's Backpages audio, 14 September 2005

The younger Wainwright talks about fighting his destiny to become a musician; his musical family background and traditions; his and sister Martha's childhoods, and his relationship with his father and mother; coming out and homophobia; HIV and AIDS, and his own promiscuity and addictions; his school days; his strengths and weaknesses, and his relationship with Martha.

File format: mp3; file size: 45mb, interview length: 46' 50" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Gretchen Wilson: Here for the Party

Review by Jim Farber, New York Daily News, 25 September 2005

Honky tonk angel — Gretchen serenades the joys of beer, chaw and real men ...

John Martyn (2005)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, October 2005

Martyn looks back to his youth in the UK folk scene; his hero Davey Graham; Roy Harper; his "health problems"; his folk-jazz fusion, and playing with Harold McNair; living in Woodstock; Bless the Weather, using an Echoplex, and 'Glistening Glyndebourne'; slurring his vocals; his bass player Danny Thompson, and still touring and recording in 2005...

File format: mp3; file size: 30mb, interview length: 31' 12" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Sergio Mendes: Legends of Songwriting: Sergio Mendes

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, October 2005

ON TIMELESS, the latest album by Sergio Mendes, there's a line in the title track that goes, "Kindness is timeless/Love is so easy." ...

My Morning Jacket: Z

Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, October 2005

Epic sounds from the Big Country, with a pocketful of soul and sanctified song. The Kentucky quintet's fourth album is a religious experience, says Keith ...

Burt Bacharach: The Backpages Interview: Burt Bacharach

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, October 2005

RBP: What exactly did Sony BMG's Rob Stringer say that prompted you to try something so different with At This Time? ...

Laura Veirs: The DIY Queen of Quirk

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 6 October 2005

Laura Veirs is bringing her irresistibly oddball folk-rock to Europe. And, Robert Sandall finds, she's doing it the hard way. ...

Sinéad O'Connor, Liz Phair: Playing Against Type: When Musicians Change, They Risk Alienating Fans

Report and Interview by Will Hermes, The New York Times, 17 October 2005

WHEN JOHNNY CASH returned to the spotlight in 1994 with American Recordings, the first in a series of records that presented him as a folkie ...

Isaac Hayes, David Porter: Isaac Hayes and David Porter: Perfect Match

Report and Interview by Andria Lisle, Memphis Flyer, 21 October 2005

Songwriting legends Isaac Hayes and David Porter come together (again) for two big events. ...

Neil Young: Rebel without a pause

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 30 October 2005

Neil Young famously wrote that it was "better to burn out than to fade away". Now, approaching his 60th birthday and confronted by his own ...

Burt Bacharach: At This Time: Burt Bacharach

Report and Interview by Gene Sculatti, ICE, November 2005

AFTER 40-PLUS YEARS, one of America's greatest songwriters finally has something to say. Which is not to suggest that songs like 'Close to You' or ...

Liz Phair: CIVIL WAR VET. PSYCHIC. AMATEUR PORNOGRAPHER. THIS POTTY-MOUTHED POP STAR'S BEEN MANY THINGS, BUT... Who Does Liz Phair Think She Is?

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Blender, November 2005

TELL US ABOUT YOUR SELF-PORTRAIT. WHO IS PRINCESS SCRIBBLY? ...

Liz Phair: Is All Phair In Rock 'N' Roll?

Interview by Bob Mehr, Harp, November 2005

THE PENINSULA HOTEL is an elegant, bordering on ostentatious, spot in the heart of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. As the concierge and desk staff scurry about ...

John Martyn: I've Had a Wonderful Time

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Herald, November 2005

IT IS FAR from unusual to discover whole fathoms of deep blue sea between the artist and their art. Nothing, however, quite prepares you for ...

Liz Phair: Who Does Liz Phair Think She Is?

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Blender, November 2005

TELL US ABOUT YOUR SELF-PORTRAIT. WHO IS PRINCESS SCRIBBLY? ...

Babyshambles: Down in Albion

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 11 November 2005

HOW TONY PARSONS delighted in playing the contrarian on last Friday's Newsnight Review. Having lived with Babyshambles' long-awaited debut album for a week, the Mirror columnist took ...

David Crosby, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell: Barney Hoskyns: Hotel California – Singer-Songwriters & Cocaine Cowboys in the L.A. Canyons, 1967-1976

Book Review by Nick Coleman, Independent on Sunday, 13 November 2005

DOES NARCISSISM have a sound? If it does, it is surely a dulcet, soft, melodic, tender sound. The music – for narcissism is nothing if ...

Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard

Review by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 17 November 2005

SOMETIMES EVEN royalty needs a kick in the ass. That's what Sir Paul McCartney got for himself by pegging Beck/Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich to helm ...

Chris Whitley

Obituary by Colin Irwin, The Independent, 29 November 2005

HE WAS ALTERNATIVELY described as a rock'n'roll troubadour, a "nu blues" artist, an alt country pioneer, a slide guitar master and a trailblazing singer-songwriter who ...

Neil Young: Prairie Wind

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, December 2005

THE MOST POIGNANT moment on a masterly record full of insight and articulacy comes in the chorus of its opening song, 'The Painter'. It's just ...

Randy Newman (2005)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 12 December 2005

The great songwriter, sat at the piano, tells the stories behind the songs: writing in character; geography, the "untrustworthy narrator". Interviewer Zollo plays the tracks in question.

File format: mp3; file size: 108.7mb, interview length: 1h 58' 43" sound quality: *****

Randy Newman (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 12 December 2005

This is a transcript of Paul's audio interview with Randy. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Elvis Presley: Elvis and the Songsmiths

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut Legends, Spring 2005

CLYDE OTIS and Ivory Joe Hunter had just returned from a day's duck-hunting when the phone rang. It was the song publishers Hill and Range ...

The Coral: The Invisible Invasion

Profile and Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Spring 2005

"I HATE KNOBS who hang on the very thought of Pete Doherty being on smack and thrive off it – they're dickheads," the Coral's guitarist ...

The Fiery Furnaces: An Interview with Matthew Friedberger

Interview by Scotty Almany, ARC magazine, Spring 2005

AFTER GOING THEIR separate ways as young adults after supposedly, a less than congenial childhood, siblings Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger reunited in their hometown of ...

Big Star: "It Isn't Even a Record": Big Star's 'Stroke It, Noel' and Sister Lovers

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Rozzo, Oxford American, 2006

ONE CHILL November evening several years ago, I found myself camped around a driftwood fire on the banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis, watching ...

Bill Withers: The Very Best of Bill Withers (Sony/BMG)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2006

19-track mixed-bag from funky L.A.-based singer-songwriter, beloved of Dr Evil and Mini-Me. ...

Mike Scott, The Waterboys: Mike Scott

Profile and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, 2006

OF ALL THE PLACES to establish a spiritual community, one mile from a RAF base seems a trifle ill-conceived: transcendence must require every ounce of ...

P. F. Sloan: P.F. Sloan Reveals the Jewish Origins of 'Eve of Destruction'

Retrospective and Interview by Steven Rosen, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 2006

'EVE OF DESTRUCTION', the famous folk-rock-protest hit record from 1965, isn't usually regarded as a specifically Jewish song. Or even a religious one, for that ...

Iggy Pop: Story of the Song: 'The Passenger' by Iggy Pop

Interview by Robert Webb, The Independent, 2006

Author's note: I'm not sure where the Q&A came from. Maybe Ricky taped the interview and transcribed the audio. ...

Babyshambles: Down In Albion

Review by Johnny Sharp, MOJO, January 2006

SOME PUBLIC figures make reality TV shows about their turbulent tabloid lives. Here, Pete Doherty and his band have made Being Pete Doherty — The ...

Kate Bush: Aerial

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, January 2006

IT HARDLY seems to begin or end. Just continue. With Aerial, Kate Bush's first CD in 12 years, we could be anywhere between her first ...

Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac (Capitol)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, January 2006

YOU CAN'T EXPECT these things. So let me start in another place to explain. ...

Solomon Burke, Joe Henry, Bettye LaVette, Allen Toussaint: Joe Henry

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Paste, 10 January 2006

BEFORE PRODUCING Solomon Burke's modern-day soul landmark, Don't Give Up On Me, in 2002, Joe Henry was a modest-selling "critic's darling" with a reputation for ...

Dave Matthews Band: Dave Matthews: Gospel according to Matthews

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 20 January 2006

He's the biggest music star in the USA, but probably couldn't get arrested here. Tim Cooper meets a man for whom success means having the ...

Jenny Lewis: Poor little rich girl

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 20 January 2006

Jenny Lewis has gone from child star to singing with Rilo Kiley to solo act. It's been a bittersweet experience, hears Tim Cooper. ...

Richard Ashcroft: Keys to the World (Parlophone)

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 20 January 2006

HE MAY BE "a million different people from one day to the next", but if recent form is anything to go by, only one of ...

Jerry Lynn Williams: The Lone Ranger: Jerry Lynn Williams

Retrospective by Bill Bentley, Austin Chronicle, 27 January 2006

You say you want it and you want it bad And that you'd sacrifice all you ever had And that you'd be happy instead of ...

Al Stewart: A Reticent Recording Artist

Profile and Interview by Larry Jaffee, Record Collector, February 2006

AL STEWART’S four-decade career recently was capsulated by a 5-CD boxed set Just Yesterday from EMI. His first four UK albums on CBS never were ...

Cat Power: The Greatest (Matador)

Review by Will Hermes, Spin, February 2006

Memphis Belle: Down South, Chan Marshall gets the blues ...

Jason Mraz: Mr. A-Z

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, February 2006

THE UK CHARTS' obsession with all things American may suggest otherwise, but there are some US musical offerings which we Brits just can't seem to ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: Ray Davies (2006)

Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages audio, February 2006

The King Kink on getting shot in New Orleans, his relationship with brother Dave, his childhood and upbringing, and on songwriting and lyrics, plus so much more.

File format: mp3; file size: 56mb, total interview length: 58' 21" sound quality: ****

Ray Davies, The Kinks: Ray Davies (2006) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages transcripts, February 2006

This is a transcript of Gavin's audio interview with Ray. Hear the interview here ...

Ray Davies: Supper Club, NYC

Live Review by Larry Jaffee, Record Collector, February 2006

RAY DAVIES, the leader of the Kinks, is back in circulation after an extended layoff, due to getting shot in New Orleans while trying to ...

Richard Thompson: RT

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, February 2006

A celebration of the life and music of Richard Thompson: folk rock legend so culty they boxed him twice: this time for fans only. ...

The Jam, Paul Weller: Paul Weller: "The Jam? They were a way of life."

Retrospective by John Harris, The Guardian, 3 February 2006

As Paul Weller prepares to receive a Lifetime Achievement Brit, John Harris salutes a giant. ...

Nick Drake: Trevor Dann: Darker Than The Deepest Sea – The Search for Nick Drake (Portrait)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 5 February 2006

THIS BOOK IS surprisingly topical, and not just because of the deepening spell cast by Nick Drake, the English singer-songwriter, 31 years after his death. ...

Katie Melua: Apollo, London W6

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 February 2006

THE AUDIENCE stayed in their seats all evening, applauded politely at the end of each song and, despite the occasional invitation, refused to join in ...

Lewis Taylor: Soul Enigma: Lewis Taylor Comes to America

Report and Interview by Mark Anthony Neal, PopMatters, 8 February 2006

FOR MUCH OF THE LAST DECADE, arguably the most brilliant R&B artist of this generation has toiled in relative obscurity in Britain. ...

Rosanne Cash: Seven-Year Ache, King's Record Shop, Interiors

Retrospective by Alfred Soto, Stylus, 10 February 2006

IT'S TEMPTING TO BELIEVE that in a better world, Rosanne Cash would inspire as much love and reverence as her father Johnny, but since no ...

Corinne Bailey Rae : Corinne Bailey Rae: Corinne Bailey Rae

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 24 February 2006

LEST WE FORGET, this isn't the first time that a new artist has been propelled into the spotlight to massed cries that she's the new ...

Isobel Campbell: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 February 2006

AS AN ex-member of the potentates of twee, Belle and Sebastian, singer/cellist Isobel Campbell can't be expected to stride across the stage like a rock ...

James Talley: Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 28 February 2006

FIRST RELEASED in 1975, at a time when the Outlaw movement was opening Nashville up to all manner of previously unimaginable sounds, James Talley's debut ...

Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not...

Review by Johnny Sharp, MOJO, March 2006

AS BANDS WITH Number 1 singles go, there's something marvellously raw and untutored about Arctic Monkeys. ...

Kelley Stoltz: Below The Branches

Review by Bob Mehr, MOJO, March 2006

Third LP and second consecutive corker from Bay Area-based cosmic troubadour. ...

Terry Reid

Retrospective and Interview by Geoff Barton, Classic Rock, March 2006

He turned down Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Meet rock's ultimate nearly man. ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Pretenders: Notes on 15 singles

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, 'Pirate Radio' (Rhino), March 2006

'STOP YOUR SOBBING' The debut single, produced by Nick Lowe, hot from his solo records, work with Elvis Costello and live outings with Dave Edmunds' Rockpile. ...

Donald Fagen: The Cat Will See You Now

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 2 March 2006

First there was The Nightfly. Then Kamakiriad. And now, a mere 24 years on, the trilogy is complete. Robert Sandall meets Steely Dan's Donald Fagen ...

Merle Haggard: Swing Me Back Home

Review by Eric Weisbard, The Village Voice, 2 March 2006

<i>Strangers/Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down I'm a Lonesome Fugitive/Branded Man Sing Me Back Home/The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde Mama Tried/Pride in ...

Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat

Review by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 3 March 2006

HOW DO YOU write a song about homeland security without sounding preachy or trite? On the other hand, how do you make honest music in ...

Mark Morrison: ’I'm the most reallest black artist in England'

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 8 March 2006

After the court cases, the jail time and the unfounded rape allegation, Mark Morrison is keen to put his bad boy image behind him. He ...

Prince: 3121 (Universal)

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 17 March 2006

IN THE SIXTIES, when record companies thought nothing of squeezing two albums a year from their artists, the music industry benefited rampantly productive artists. As ...

Ray Davies, Donald Fagen, David Gilmour, Van Morrison: Rock of the Aged: Morrison, Gilmour, Davies, Fagen

Review by Steven Ward, Las Vegas Weekly, 23 March 2006

YOU KNOW WHAT Van Morrison, David Gilmour, Ray Davies and Donald Fagen have in common, besides their royal rank in rock geezerdom? They have new ...

Imogen Heap: "It's just a magic thing"

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 March 2006

After being dumped by her label, singer Imogen Heap was broke and despondent. Then a surveyor, a TV soap and a lion came to her ...

Morrissey: Ringleader Of The Tormentors

Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, April 2006

Funny things happen on the way to the Forum: Morrissey's eighth album is a love-letter to Rome and getting it on. ...

Martha and The Muffins: One Hit Wonders: Martha and the Muffins' 'Echo Beach'

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, April 2006

MARTHA AND the Muffin's moodily reflective 'Echo Beach' is a new wave perennial, but somehow the Toronto band failed to score a follow-up British hit, ...

Paul Weller

Retrospective by Chas de Whalley, Record Collector, April 2006

As Paul Weller polishes his award for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music at this year's Brits, Chas de Whalley looks back at the days ...

Willie Nile: Streets Of New York

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2006

MUSICIANS NEVER give up, which is more often a cause for sadness than celebration. I reviewed my last Willie Nile record in 1980. I thought ...

Fiona Apple Q&A

Interview by John Lewis, Time Out, 4 April 2006

FIONA APPLE was born in New York in 1977. She has since recorded with Johnny Cash, dated Paul Thomas Anderson and David Blaine, been a ...

Bruce Springsteen's take on classic folk

Interview by Will Hermes, The New York Times, 18 April 2006

ASBURY PARK, New Jersey — On a bright, brisk April afternoon in one of America's most famous faded seaside resorts, a band is playing in ...

Daniel Johnston: "I know the darkness"

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 21 April 2006

"I love that girl so much I can't get enough of her crazy love" ('Crazy Love', Daniel Johnston) ...

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan: When Beauty Met the Beast

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 21 April 2006

What happened when Isobel Campbell teamed up with the wild man of rock, Mark Lanegan? The result, says Laura Barton, could make her Queen of ...

Josh Ritter: Songs of innocence and experience

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 28 April 2006

Mark Twain, Bob Dylan, Einstein and Thomas Jefferson – singer-songwriter Josh Ritter tells Laura Barton what makes him tick. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright III

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 30 April 2006

WHEN HIS FIRST two virtually interchangeable albums were released in 1970 and '71, Loudon Wainwright III was touted as one of the many Next Dylans ...

The Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan: Goodbye Fireboy: Grant McLennan 1958 - 2006

Obituary by Toby Creswell, Rock's Backpages, May 2006

GRANT MCLENNAN, who died in his sleep on MAY 6, 2006, was one of the outstanding songwriters of his generation. He was acknowledged an artist ...

Pete Townshend: The Deluxe Edition Solo Albums (Universal Music)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, May 2006

THIS IS IN DEFENSE of Pete Townshend, who'd probably be the first to argue that he doesn't need anyone defending him in public—least of all ...

Serge Gainsbourg: Behold The Dirty Old Man

Report and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, May 2006

Fifteen years after he smoked his last Gitanes, Serge Gainsbourg goes international. ...

David Ackles: The Golden Horse Is In Hell: David Ackles' Theatre of Melancholy

Retrospective by Michael Baker, Perfect Sound Forever, May 2006

To be born is to be wrecked on an island. J.M.Barrie, in a review of Coral Island ...

The Waterboys: The Man In The Ironic Mask

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, May 2006

Back with what's being heralded as their best album for two decades, the Waterboys have a busy year ahead. Mike Scott cracks a smile for ...

Scott Walker: Not Easy on Himself

Interview by Robert Webb, The Independent, 5 May 2006

IN 1995, SCOTT Walker, the moody, boy-band pinup turned existential cult-figure, broke a 12-year silence with the album Tilt. Stark and uncompromising, as brittle as ...

Cortney Tidwell: ICA, SW1

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 16 May 2006

CROUCHED BEHIND an acoustic guitar on a pocket-sized stage, Cortney Tidwell struggled to be heard above the chatter of the late-night drinkers who crowded her ...

Grandaddy: Jason Lytle: "Stuff doesn't happen unless I'm alone"

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 19 May 2006

The critics loved them. Their peers loved them. But Grandaddy never made the jump to stardom their contemporaries the Flaming Lips managed. Now the band's ...

Martha Wainwright: Fire in her belly

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 22 May 2006

She grew up in one of folk's first families and tried to resist following them into a musical career. But then Martha Wainwright fell in ...

Corinne Bailey Rae : Corinne Bailey Rae: Who's That Girl

Profile and Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, June 2006

She's the British R&B sensation who wants to keep it "underground". But can Corinne Bailey Rae convince America's taste-makers without selling her soul? ...

Shack: Heads Down: Shack

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2006

MARCH 2006, and in Liverpool feral rat-faced folk with the lean and hungry look seem to be everywhere. Junkies – on the street or selling ...

Jackie DeShannon: Jackie de Shannon: Majestic DeShannon

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, June 2006

Jackie Deshannon — Folk Rock Pioneer, Chart Artist and Songwriter of Renown ...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Breaking The News

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), June 2006

IT'S REALLY very simple: with their second album Show Your Bones, New York act Yeah Yeah Yeahs blasted themselves beyond insular, ragged rock with the ...

Martha Wainwright: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

Live Review by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 1 June 2006

THIS WAS AN evening that lent fresh meaning to the term "intimate" – and, for that matter, "spontaneous". It made you feel like you'd been ...

Pink: P!nk

Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 4 June 2006

"Opinionated" barely begins to cover it. Barbara Ellen meets the ballsy, bolshy pop star who has refreshingly barbed advice for Prince William, the Queen, shallow ...

Bic Runga: Today New Zealand, tomorrow the world

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 7 June 2006

Is Bic Runga the next great chanteuse? Caroline Sullivan finds out. ...

Sandi Thom: Smile… It Confuses People

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 12 June 2006

EVEN WITH everyone now claiming to have been "discovered" on the internet, the story of latest overnight-online-success, twenty-four year-old Sandi Thom, is still pretty fantastic.  ...

Nelly Furtado: Loose

Review by Will Hermes, Entertainment Weekly, 19 June 2006

POP STARS generally xerox other acts' looks and hooks — it's expedient, and it works. But Nelly Furtado's multiplatinum 2000 album, Whoa, Nelly! (which included ...

Grandaddy, from beyond the grave: Jason Lytle talks

Interview by Mike Diver, Drowned in Sound, 28 June 2006

PERHAPS WE should have seen it coming: the official "it's over" announcement was a way off yet, but Grandaddy's penultimate release (excluding singles), Excerpts From ...

James Blunt: "'You're Beautiful' Got Me Laid"

Interview by William Shaw, Q, July 2006

The Americans think he's "Prince William with a guitar". There is one important difference. James Blunt knows 53 ways to kill a man. ...

Raspberries: The Raspberries' 'Go All The Way
'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, July 2006

VITAL STATISTICS LABEL: Capitol PERFORMERS: Eric Carmen – vocals/piano/guitar Wally Bryson – lead guitar David Smalley – bass Jim Bonfanti – drums PRODUCER: Jimmy Ienner CHART DEBUT: 19 August 1972 HIGHEST CHART POSITION: 5 ...

Judee Sill: The Stars That Fame Forgot: Judee Sill

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2006

LA's doomed lady of the canyon who lost her genius to drugs ...

Wire: Not About to Die

Retrospective by Fred Mills, Harp, July 2006

IT'S SOMETIME in late '77 or early '78 and yours truly is toiling away at the distribution center for North Carolina record store chain the ...

Sufjan Stevens: Liturgical sounds for restaurant place-mats

Interview by Craig McLean, Daily Telegraph, 29 July 2006

Sufjan Stevens makes dazzling celestial music from the minutiae of everyday life. Craig McLean meets him. ...

Bob Dylan: Modern Times (Columbia)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, September 2006

THIS RECORD came in a wooden box. When I opened it, the hinges creaked. Inside there was an old phonograph and a dusty 78, cracked. ...

P. F. Sloan: P.F. Sloan

Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Harp, September 2006

PF SLOAN was a 19-year-old bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders when he wrote the protest classic 'Eve of Destruction' back in ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Surprise Surprise: Paul Simon

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, September 2006

"THE TRUTH is flexible and complex," says Paul Simon. On the eleven songs that make up his latest album Surprise, the legendary songwriter sizes up ...

Blaze Foley: The Fall and Rise of Blaze Foley

Retrospective by Joe Nick Patoski, No Depression, September 2006

THE BLACK GRANITE headstone is lost among the other markers in the Live Oak Cemetery in deep South Austin. Several small objects including a small ...

The Who: Generation Terrorists

Profile and Interview by Simon Garfield, The Observer, September 2006

It seemed like it was all over for the Who. But solo projects and trout fishing will only get you so far. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: Highway Companion

Review by Mat Snow, MOJO, September 2006

On his third outing without the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty mixes nostalgia, protest and resignation to pay bittersweet tribute to his rock'n'roll radio roots. ...

John Martyn: There's mystery in the air as John Martyn revives a classic

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 7 September 2006

FOR AN ALBUM that had no noticeable commercial impact here when it first appeared in February 1973, John Martyn's Solid Air has enjoyed a remarkable ...

Isobel Campbell: Lone Star

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 28 September 2006

Since leaving the safety of Belle & Sebastian, Isobel Campbell has found her creative voice and produced her finest work. ...

ABBA: Arrival (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, October 2006

'DANCING QUEEN', 'Fernando', 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and 'Money, Money, Money' – these four tracks all belong at the top of the list of ABBA's ...

The Lemonheads: The Lemonheads

Review by Keith Cameron, MOJO, October 2006

Forget smoking rocks, just bring back the rock. After a 10-year hiatus, Evan Dando returns to his first love. ...

Lloyd Cole: Singing for Grown-Ups in 3D

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 7 October 2006

WHEN LLOYD COLE says that a lot of the things he enjoys "don't sit very well with youth culture", you can see his point. Today's ...

Jarvis Cocker: The Jarvis Cocker Record (Rough Trade)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, November 2006

CAN HIPS BE witty? Jarvis Branson Cocker proved it last year as part of the stellar ensemble for Came So Far for Beauty, the Leonard ...

Joanna Newsom: The New Kate Bush?

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2006

Angelic voice, radiant songs about "flickering wastelands" and childhood trips to Folk Summer Camp. Meet Joanna Newsom. ...

John Phillips: John Phillips (John, The Wolfking of L.A.)

Review and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2006

HIPPY DREAMS DEFILED, HOLLYWOOD AFFAIRS, HERCULEAN DRUG USE: THE LONG-LOST SOLO ALBUM FROM MAMAS & PAPAS LYNCHPIN. ...

Oasis: "The plan was always to become the biggest band in the world"

Interview by James Brown, Uncut, November 2006

Next month, Oasis unleash their first greatest hits compilation. In this exclusive interview, Noel and Liam tell the true stories of the songs that shaped ...

Daniel Johnston: The Reporter and Daniel Johnston

Report by Michael Simmons, Artillery, November 2006

We all come from families and spend the rest of our lives embracing and escaping them and creating new ones. Art breeds its own family. ...

Mary Gauthier: The Roundhouse, London NW1

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 7 November 2006

IN ITS CONTINUING BID to corner every must-see gig in town, the refurbished Roundhouse has incorporated the Freedom Studio, a 180-capacity "multi-form" room, buried in ...

Joanna Newsom: Ys

Review by Mike Barnes, bbc.co.uk, 14 November 2006

Her lyrics may be childlike at times but there's nothing mimsy or fey about them. ...

Iron & Wine: Sam Beam: Love, God, death and a tree of bees

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 November 2006

The famously uncommunicative singer-songwriter Sam Beam — also known as Iron & Wine — discusses his hauntingly poetic musical world with Andy Gill. ...

Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel: Going for a song: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's 'Don't Give Up'

Retrospective by Tom Cox, The Sunday Times, 19 November 2006

I'D HAD WAITING jobs before, and could deal with the £2.56 hourly wage, the slave-driving supervisor who wouldn't stop talking about his masturbation habits, and ...

George Michael: Twenty Five

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, 20 November 2006

WHILE THE AWARDS, accolades and warm sense of achievement are all nice, the best thing about having a pop career that's survived a quarter of ...

Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (Anti/Epitath)

Review by Larry Jaffee, The Audiophile Voice, 21 November 2006

SINCE JOINING indie label Anti/Epitaph, Tom Waits has released four albums, the Grammy-winning Mule Variations (1999), Real Gone (2004), and in between, simultaneously Alice and ...

Yusuf: An Other Cup

Review by Steven Ward, Las Vegas Weekly, 30 November 2006

WHEN I FIRST heard the sweet-sounding chorus, "I go where true love goes/I go where true love goes" from 'Heaven/Where True Love Goes' on the ...

10cc: Perfect 10

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, December 2006

10cc made smart pop for smart people, and surprised many (including themselves) when they crossed over to the mainstream. Terry Staunton spoke to Graham Gouldman ...

George Michael: Twentyfive (Sony/BMG)

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, December 2006

THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be part of George Michael's big comeback: a greatest hits album to follow a sell-out European tour. And, fleetingly, it was ...

King Creosote: It's the Wee Folk Hobbit!

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2006

After 20 years, King Creosote — humble cottage-industry troubadour — has reached the Rivendell of a major label and a signing to Elton John's management. ...

Tom Waits: Weird Science

Interview by Mark Kemp, Harp, December 2006

Whackv.tr.1. To strike (someone or something) with a sharp blow; slap.2. Slang: To kill deliberately; murder.n.1. A sharp, swift blow.2. The sound made by a ...

Sandi Thom: Lie… It Confuses People

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 14 December 2006

IN THE SPACE of a year she's risen from performing in a dank basement to smashing Australian chart records with her debut single 'I Wish ...

Powell St. John, 13th Floor Elevators: The Kingdom of Heaven: It's time you knew Powell St. John

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Bentley, Austin Chronicle, 22 December 2006

THE BAND'S been playing at least an hour, but it feels like five minutes. Besides 'You Really Got Me', 'Roll Over Beethoven' and Bob Dylan's ...

Judee Sill: A Brief Life, an Enduring Musical Impression

Retrospective by Tim Page, The Washington Post, 30 December 2006

ON THE DAY after Thanksgiving 1979, Judee Sill, a 35-year-old, deeply depressed and physically broken singer-songwriter, took an overdose of opiates and cocaine in her ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Post-War (Merge)

Review by Mark Mordue, Neumu, Summer 2006

STRANGE TITLE: makes you wonder what he means. Though the words to M Ward's cover of Daniel Johnston's 'To Go Home' may get to the ...

Neko Case: The Singer and the Song

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, SOCAN Words and Music, Summer 2006

FOR YEARS, Neko Case has been hailed as a siren, a honky-tonk angel with a stunning contralto described variously as "eerie," "luscious," "transcendent" and "the ...

Lou Reed: Another Brick in the Wall: An interview with Lou Reed about Berlin

Interview by Mark Mordue, unpublished, Fall 2006

This story appeared in various edited versions in Rolling Stone Australia, December-January 2006-07, New York magazine, USA December 11, 2006, and The Word, UK February ...

Ian Dury: Lord Upminster/4000 Weeks Holiday

Sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea, unpublished, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS! You are now holding the least-loved work by one of the UK's best-loved artists. ...

Mental as Anything: Murray Waldren: The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa

Book Review by Clinton Walker, unpublished, 2007

Note: This piece never got published. It was commissioned by Australian Book Review magazine but not run, for reasons never given, and certainly wasn't paid for.  I ...

Bobbie Gentry: Mystery Girl: The Forgotten Artistry of Bobbie Gentry

Retrospective by Holly George-Warren, 'Listen Again' (Duke University Press), 2007

SHE'S BEEN called the J.D. Salinger of rock & roll. Mississippi-born singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Bobbie Gentry is every bit as mysterious as the steamy, Delta-flavored story-song she ...

Neil Sedaka: The Definitive Collection (Razor & Tie)

Sleeve notes by Gene Sculatti, Razor & Tie, 2007

IT'S ALMOST LIKE A scene from a movie, one of those Fifties cinematic cash-ins about crazy music and hopped-up teens. At a high-school talent show, ...

Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley: The Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley (2007)

Interview by Mark Petracca, Rock's Backpages audio, 2007

The Buzzcocks' frontman looks back at the formation of the band with Howard Devoto, and at Devoto's subsequent exit; talks about himself as a songwriter and looks at his subsequent solo career.

File format: mp3; file size: 41.2mb, interview length: 44' 52" sound quality: *****

Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley: The Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley (2007) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Mark Petracca, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2007

This is a transcript of Mark's interview with Pete. Listen to the audio of the interview. ...

Josh Ritter: Girl In The War

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2007

Delicate Mini-Album From Idaho Minstrel ...

Lee Hazlewood: Cake or Death

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, January 2007

BARTON LEE Hazlewood remains the cult artist's cult artist, an American maverick who's operated by his own supremely offbeat rules ever since producing Sanford Clark's ...

Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

Film/DVD/TV Review by John Lewis, Sight & Sound, January 2007

Synopsis: Documentary about the Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, artist and novelist Leonard Cohen, based around a lengthy interview with him, punctuated by tributes from assorted ...

Tori Amos

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, January 2007

"AT THE END of the day," says Tori Amos, "if I'm not inflammatory, I wouldn't be Tori." ...

Steve Forbert: Roots artist Forbert saw commercial flashes early on

Profile and Interview by Bob Mehr, The Commercial Appeal, 19 January 2007

EVEN AT THE lowest point of his travails within the music industry, when he was stuck in legal limbo with labels and his star was ...

Bobby Bare: A Bird Named Yesterday/Talk Me Some Sense/Down & Dirty... Plus

Review by Fred Dellar, MOJO, February 2007

BARE'S A COUNTRY giant, up there alongside Cash, Haggard, Waylon'n'Willie. A one-time pop kid who toured with the likes of Bobby Darin, he notched a ...

Norah Jones: Not Too Late

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2007

MOR Superstar's Third Album: Subtle, Political, Surprisingly Radical ...

Peter Perrett

Report and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2007

The Only One wants to cut one more LP "before death comes". ...

Lucinda Williams: Westside Story: Lucinda Williams' Confessions of Love, Lust and Violence

Profile and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Relix, February 2007

LUCINDA WILLIAMS is a little distracted. She keeps popping up from her seat, perched between the four overstuffed pillows that are arranged artfully on her ...

Everything But The Girl, Tracey Thorn: Tracey Thorn: Everything and More

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 24 February 2007

Tracey Thorn is the voice of Everything But The Girl, one of pop's most enduring partnerships. Seven years after retreating from music to raise her ...

Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry: Knockin' on Dylan's Door: Bryan Ferry

Interview by Ken Scrudato, Flaunt, March 2007

HIPPIES. PERHAPS no other collective of modern countercultural revolutionaries has left a more ambiguous imprint. Dada, Situationism, Punk—all boast fairly intact legacies, the original philosophical ...

Jimmy Webb: Legends of Songwriting: Jimmy Webb

Profile and Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, March 2007

"SOMEONE LEFT the cake out in the rain." No single lyric is more infamous in pop music than the one Jimmy Webb wrote forty years ...

Mika: Life In Cartoon Motion

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, March 2007

THE BUZZ about Mika is already at fever pitch. Beirut-born, London-based, 23 and boyishly pretty, he's tipped to be the face of 2007. ...

Peter Hammill

Retrospective and Interview by Mike Barnes, The Wire, March 2007

"I DIDN'T HAVE white tunnels, but I did have the feeling that if I got too tired, which at a certain point might have been ...

Richard Swift: Dressed Up For The Letdown

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2007

CONNOISSEURS OF grand American pop will love Richard Swift. Like the young Van Dyke Parks or Harry Nilsson, his baleful, piano-led cabaret sounds like an ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Sermon On Exposition Boulevard

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2007

Startling Return Of L.A.'s Duchess Of Coolsville. ...

Tracey Thorn: Sublimely nonchalant electro-pop majesty: Tracey Thorn's Out of the Woods

Review by James Hunter, The Village Voice, 20 March 2007

TRACEY THORN, of the now-on-hiatus duo Everything But the Girl, sings with the transparency of country air and the significance of Louis XIV furniture. Alone ...

Bright Eyes: That Vision Thing

Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, April 2007

As Bright Eyes he's spent half his 27 years as the boozy Dylan of disaffected youth. On the eve of a new album, Stevie Chick ...

Dennis Linde

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, MOJO, April 2007

The sound of the wildly original country cat who penned Elvis' 'Burning Love'. ...

Madness: The Making Of 'Our House'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007

The Nutty Boys nailed their "English Motown" sound on this infectious classic — one of the lasting monuments of '80s pop. Suggs and the band ...

Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2007

From Archives: A Spellbinding 1971 Solo Homecoming Show ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: The Associates: Wild and lonely

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, April 2007

In January 1997, Billy Mackenzie, the most astonishing singer of his generation, was found dead. 10 years on, no one quite knows why the mercurial ...

Elvis Costello, Robert Wyatt: The lasting legacy of 'Shipbuilding'

Retrospective by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 5 April 2007

During the Falklands war, Elvis Costello wrote a passionate elegy for a lost way of life that still resonates today, says Robert Sandall. ...

Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett: Lyle Lovett/Joe Ely/Guy Clark/John Hiatt: State Theatre, Cleveland

Live Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 30 April 2007

YOU HAVE TO start at the end – where they paid respects to Townes Van Zandt, the songwriter/compadre who captured the essence of life after ...

Elliott Smith: New Moon

Review by Dan Gennoe, dotmusic.co.uk, May 2007

IT'S A TESTAMENT to the immense songwriting genius of Elliott Smith that even his decade old cast-offs are worth hearing. It's also a massive relief. ...

Joni Mitchell: How Joni Mitchell Got Her Groove Back

Interview by Robin Eggar, Rolling Stone (Germany), May 2007

JONI MITCHELL is lost in her own music, eyes closed, head still, an American Spirit burning between her fingers. A scarcely sipped glass of red ...

Mike Scott, The Waterboys: Mike Scott: The Man In The Ironic Mask

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, May 2007

Back with what's being heralded as their best album for two decades, the Waterboys have a busy year ahead. Mike Scott cracks a smile for ...

Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen (Kitchenware/Sony)

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2007

Remastered '85 masterpiece with extra acoustic disc. ...

Debbie Harry: Q&A: Debbie Harry

Interview by Stephen Dalton, Classic Rock, 7 May 2007

The Blondie frontwoman and figurehead reflects on personal survival, the 1970s New York scene at CBGB and how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

Elliott Smith: New Moon

Review by Mark Kemp, Paste, 8 May 2007

ONE DAY in the late 1990s, not long after his sublime performance of 'Miss Misery' in between the bombast of Celine Dion and bravado of ...

Steve Forbert: Strange Names & New Sensations

Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 31 May 2007

WHEN 'ROMEO'S TUNE' bubbled out of late '70s car radios, it was a wide-eyed kid from the small-town south trying to get the girl with ...

Elliott Smith: New Moon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2007

Astonishing Two-Disc Trove Of Unreleased Mid-'90s Vintage. ...

Ne-Yo: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, June 2007

Ne-Yo couldn't step to the left if he wanted to. He's actually stepping forward on to superstardom — and there are rumors and X-rated photo ...

Paul Kelly (singer-songwriter): Paul Kelly's Stolen Apples

Report and Interview by Jeff Apter, Rave (Australia), June 2007

PAUL KELLY obviously likes the look of the road less travelled. Who else would consider fusing the poetry of lower-case American e.e. cummings with an ...

The Beach Boys: The Making of 'Good Vibrations'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2007

Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine guide Uncut through their perfect "pocket symphony", three minutes and thirty-six seconds of avant-garde pop. ...

Doll By Doll: The Stars that Fame Forgot: Doll by Doll

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, June 2007

Too dangerous for punk! The mad, bad story of Jackie Leven's Celtic Soul rebels. ...

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

Review by Andy Gill, Uncut, June 2007

Tweedy and Co.'s Surprising Soft-Rock Therapy. ...

Elvis Perkins: All About My Mother: Elvis Perkins

Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 June 2007

Elvis Perkins tells Caroline Sullivan how the tragic deaths of his famous parents have shaped his melancholy pop. ...

Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full

Review by Daryl Easlea, bbc.co.uk, 5 June 2007

STARTED BEFORE AND completed after the downbeat-yet-still-satisfying Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, Memory Almost Full is a perfect capture of Paul McCartney, the pop ...

George Michael, Wham!: George Talks: His Frankest Interview Ever

Interview by Steve Pafford, Richard Smith, GAY TIMES, July 2007

ALTHOUGH IT'S probably not what George Michael would like to be remembered for, something happened a year ago that summed him up beautifully. George was ...

Warren Zevon: Keep Him In Your Heart: Swan Songs of the Late Great Warren Zevon

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, July 2007

LIFE'LL KILL YA, Warren Zevon sang in one of his most grimly humorous songs - and it did. The grotesque multiplication of cells we know ...

Nick Lowe (2007)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, July 2007

The Brit rock veteran talks about his new album At My Age and what its title reflects; his desire to make "handmade" records; his love of '50s American music; his songwriting and its songwriting process; making his new album and collaborating with Chrissie Hynde; his friend Elvis Costello; not feeling part of the pop business; his ex-wife Carlene Carter and his former father-in-law Johnny Cash.

File format: mp3; file size: 41.1mb, interview length: 43' 06" sound quality: ***

Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2007

Boy Wonder Eases Up: Only His 9th LP In Seven Years ...

Sinead O'Connor

Interview by Alan Light, eMusic.com, July 2007

IT WAS PERHAPS the most shocking crash and burn in pop music history. With her 1987 debut, The Lion and the Cobra, 20-year-old Sinead O'Connor ...

Squeeze: The Making of 'Up The Junction'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, July 2007

"We almost had a shining toward each other..." Master songwriters Difford  and Tilbrook recall their '79 hit, where art would come to imitate real life. ...

The Libertines: Up The Bracket

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, July 2007

Before the supermodels, the drug busts and the tabloid fallouts, Doherty and Barat cooked up a little cracker. ...

Rufus Wainwright: Release the Stars

Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 31 July 2007

FULL CIRCLE    ...

Brandi Carlile: The NeverEnding Story

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), August 2007

AFTER YEARS of slogging it out in any Seattle venue that would offer her a free meal in exchange for a music set, American songwriter ...

Crowded House: Time On Earth

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2007

Pure, quiet quality from the reunited Kiwi Beatles ...

Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe: Nick Lowe: Nick of Time

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, August 2007

With a long-overdue album in the shops, Nick Lowe explains his lengthy absence, touches on late fatherhood, bigs up his new songs, and attempts to ...

Oasis: The Making Of 'Don't Look Back In Anger'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, August 2007

How Noel Gallagher's 1996 Lennon-loving No. 1 fuelled the brothers' simmering rivalry and became the new yardstick for British stadium rock. ...

Kate Nash: Made of Bricks

Review by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 4 August 2007

YOU WOULD THINK that Richey Edwards from the Manic Street Preachers carving "4 real" into his arm, in 1991, might have ended the British fascination ...

Judee Sill: Live in London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973

Review by Jeff Tamarkin, The Boston Phoenix, 7 August 2007

IF JUDEE SILL'S story isn't fodder for a Lifetime TV movie, then nothing is: the early deaths of her father and brother; an alcoholic mother ...

Grant-Lee Phillips: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 10 August 2007

THE CALIFORNIA SONGWRITER who shares his first name with America's two main civil war generals is anything but combative. Given to gentle jokes mid-performance, the ...

Doc Pomus: Alex Halberstadt: Lonely Avenue – The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus (Cape)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 19 August 2007

On the face of it, pop treated Pomus abysmally. A harder look at how and why would have given a lively biography a bit more ...

Kate Nash: Made of Bricks

Review by Nick Southall, Stylus, 21 August 2007

TAKEN AT FACE VALUE, 20-year-old popstrel du jour Kate Nash is the Lily Allen it's OK to like — if you need a shot of ...

Lori McKenna: Dreams of an Everyday Housewife

Profile and Interview by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 31 August 2007

LORI MCKENNA has always loved the same boy. She first laid eyes on him in third grade. They started dating in their junior year, married ...

Bob Lind

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, September 2007

The 'Elusive Butterfly' collector, immortalised by Jarvis Cocker. ...

Elvis Costello: True Stories

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, September 2007

Thirty years after the release of My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello is set to revisit his classic debut. Terry Staunton looks back at the ...

Fionn Regan: History Lesson

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2007

THE PRETENDERS and the one-trick-ponies are always found out in the end. The procession of new Dylans has been relentless – and mostly underwhelming – ...

Fionn Regan: History Lesson: Fionn Regan

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2007

THE PRETENDERS and the one-trick-ponies are always found out in the end. The procession of new Dylans has been relentless – and mostly underwhelming – ...

Legends of Songwriting: Diane Warren

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, September 2007

ASKED WHETHER she could ever love a person as much as she loves songwriting, Diane Warren doesn't miss a beat in answering an emphatic "No." ...

Mick Jagger

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, September 2007

"I THINK YOU just learn as you go along," says Mick Jagger, "whether you're playing with the Rolling Stones or playing with other musicians." If ...

Richard Hawley: From Sheffield….to Eternity!

Profile and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, September 2007

It's taken 25 years for Richard Hawley to be celebrated as the "Sheffield Sinatra". But how did Pulp, death and a diet of "Grolsch and ...

Stephen Stills: Just Roll Tape – April 26th 1968

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, September 2007

Post-Springfield, Pre-CSN Stills in Magisterial Solo Mood ...

Stevie Nicks: A Survivor's Story

Profile and Interview by Mick Brown, Telegraph Magazine, 8 September 2007

Thirty years after she sold her soul to the devil and, with Fleetwood Mac, set new records for rock'n'roll overindulgence, Stevie Nicks has somehow lived ...

KT Tunstall: Wilton's Music Hall, London ***

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 12 September 2007

KATE TUNSTALL uses her initials for the same reason Joanne Rowling became JK — she thought a female name would generate preconceptions. Her music also ...

KT Tunstall: Wilton's Music Hall, London

Live Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 23 September 2007

ON THE DAY that her second album, Drastic Fantastic, went on sale, KT Tunstall played a semi-secret pre-tour warm-up gig at Wilton's, in east London. ...

PJ Harvey steps into the light

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 23 September 2007

PJ Harvey's previous albums have embraced the dark side of life, but White Chalk's upbeat originality wipes the slate clean. ...

Gilbert O'Sullivan: "The equal of any songwriter"

Retrospective and Interview by John Lewis, Financial Times, 28 September 2007

WORLD-WEARY songs about death. Waggish wordplay. A scruffy urchin persona. When Morrissey performed Gilbert O'Sullivan's 1970 hit 'Nothing Rhymed' at a gig in Dublin last ...

PJ Harvey: Songs of innocence and experience

Interview by John Harris, The Guardian, 28 September 2007

PJ Harvey sings like a child on her new, stripped-down album, but it's full of grim subject matter. John Harris hears how the elusive singer-songwriter ...

ABBA: ABBA – The Album (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, October 2007

AS CAREER trajectories for top-level pop groups go, certain aspects of the ABBA story could almost serve as a textbook example. "The first tentative steps", ...

Devendra Banhart: Folk Hero

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, Q, October 2007

Devendra Banheart was born in Texas, raised in Caracas, then fetched up in Paris and San Francisco and currently lives in a world of his ...

Chuck Berry: Hail, Hail, Chuck Berry!

Essay by Jonh Ingham, Jonh Ingham's Blog, October 2007

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry."– John Lennon ...

Ben Taylor: Sons and lovers: Ben Taylor

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, October 2007

David Burke talks to Ben Taylor about his dislike of folk music and his plans to shake it up a bit. And then there's the ...

John Lennon: The Vulnerable Beatle: John Lennon's Narrative-like Solo Catalog Tailor-made for Digital Delivery

Retrospective by Mark Kemp, Paste, October 2007

ONE OF THE MORE telling songs in John Lennon's solo catalog is the tender 'Look at Me.' Not the well-scrubbed version on his first album, ...

Joanna Newsom/Roy Harper/The Moore Brothers: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 1 October 2007

"CAN I GET the house lights on for a second?" Joanna Newsom rocks her harp on her heels, peers through her cameraphone at the raucous ...

Bruce Springsteen: Magic

Review by Amy Linden, The Village Voice, 3 October 2007

THE E STREET BAND last convened around Bruce Springsteen on 2001's The Rising; since then, the Boss (who looks finer as he gets older) has ...

The Go-Go's, Jane Wiedlin: Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 22 October 2007

THE GO-GO'S emerged from the late '70s Los Angeles punk/New Wave scene to become pop sensations and MTV darlings. They write their own songs, which ...

Aimee Mann: Boxing Clever

Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2007

AIMEE MANN reckons she could take Bob Dylan in a boxing bout. It would be a close run thing but age and height advantage would, ...

Damien Dempsey: Dublin Boy: Damien Dempsey

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2007

Damien Dempsey has a few things he wants to get off his chest and finds a willing listener in David Burke. ...

James Taylor: One Man Band

Review by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, November 2007

BACK IN THE protopunk wars of the early '70s, we were all supposed to revile James Taylor and his kind. "James Taylor Marked For Death," ...

John Fogerty: Revival

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, November 2007

Finally at peace with his past, Creedence legend makes storming return. ...

Joni Mitchell: Shine

Review by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, November 2007

JONI MITCHELL declared in 2002 that she was done with the music biz and would never, ever, make another album. I can't have been the ...

Leiber and Stoller

Retrospective and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, November 2007

THE LEGENDARY songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller will be honored in person at the 2007 Gala Benefit Concert of the Lauri Strauss ...

Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2007

Poetic, Eclectic, Atmospheric: A Grammy-Winning Snapshot Of The South. ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: Ray Davies: Album By Album

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2007

"MY SONGWRITING has been my ally through life," Ray Davies muses, "because I ain't got much else." As the creative force behind the Kinks, Davies ...

Suzanne Vega: Blue Notes

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2007

THE SONG 'Bound' on Suzanne Vega's quite brilliant new album, Beauty & Crime, finds her wondering "if you might still want me". ...

Robyn: Scala, London N1

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 3 November 2007

ROBYN’S WEBSITE makes the contentious claim that the Swedish singer is the "most killingest pop star on the planet", which will be news to, say, ...

John Fogerty: Revival

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 5 November 2007

ON REVIVAL (Fantasy Records), John Fogerty comes to terms with and maybe even makes peace with his past. In doing so he's created one of ...

Josh Ritter: The Ritter Stuff

Profile and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 12 November 2007

His parents are neuroscientists who read him Huxley at bedtime. No wonder Josh Ritter has a way with words, says Tim Cooper. ...

The Eagles: Eagles: Long Road Out Of Eden (Universal)

Review by Max Bell, Classic Rock, December 2007

WHEN STEELY DAN sang the immortal line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbours are listening" on their mid-'70s sex-swinging party anthem 'Everything You Did', the ...

Neil Young: "I've learned a lot about the trail I've left and the debris behind me…"

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, December 2007

As he puts the finishing touches to his momentous Archives retrospective, Neil Young escorts us on an unusually revealing journey through his past. From car ...

Steve Earle: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2007

PLAYWRIGHT, NOVELIST, activist, actor... when Steve Earle has found a moment over the past couple of decades, he has also managed to string together a ...

Warren Zevon: The Wind

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, December 2007

Affecting all-star valediction from an American original. ...

James Blunt: The Universal Soldier

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 14 December 2007

OFFICER JAMES BLUNT, pocket-sized former Captain in the Life Guards regiment and 12 million-selling global superstar, clambers out of the car carrying his guitar case. ...

Kate Nash: Hugs and Kisses 24: The Kate Nash Interview!

Interview by Everett True, The Village Voice, 18 December 2007

LISTEN. I CONDUCTED THIS INTERVIEW — what — almost two months ago, same night as a Kate Nash show in Brighton. ...

James Taylor: "I used to check my bumpers for blood"

Report and Interview by Paul Sexton, The Guardian, 20 December 2007

He sang sweet simple tunes with deeply felt narratives, but James Taylor's demons almost tore him apart. The thrice-married ex-drug addict tells Paul Sexton how ...

Feist: Fantastic Feist

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, SOCAN Words and Music, Summer 2007

TORONTO'S MUSIC Gallery is housed in St. George the Martyr Church, on the edge of a park and a stone's throw from Queen Street West. ...

Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon

Sleeve notes by Bob Mehr, Rhino Records, 2008

THIS STORY BEGINS like one of Warren Zevon's own songs – with a few pleading lines scribbled on a postcard sent to some far-off locale. ...

Willy DeVille

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, 2008

The artist formally known as Mink demonstrates a direct and colourful use of language as he discusses his rich and varied career with David Burke. ...

Billy Bragg: Patriot Games

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, January 2008

As BILLY BRAGG blows out 50 candles on his birthday cake, TERRY STAUNTON sharpens his pencil for a musical history lesson ...

David Crosby on If I Could Only Remember My Name

Interview by Sid Griffin, MOJO, January 2008

IF I COULD Only Remember My Name, David Crosby's 1971 debut solo album sits high on a hill, shining brightly, and quite alone in the ...

Donald Fagen: The Nightfly Trilogy (The Nightfly/Kamakiriad/MorphThe Cat)

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, January 2008

Steely Dan man's smooth tales of paranoia, boxed. ...

Jill Scott: The Real Thing – Words and Sounds vol. 3

Review by Lois Wilson, MOJO, January 2008

Scott chronicles her marriage break-up. More Let's Get It On than Here, My Dear, though, says Lois Wilson. ...

Kate Nash: Singing oh oh on a Friday night

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), January 2008

WHILE TOM MORELLO strums away in his Nightwatchman guise around the corner, British newcomer Kate Nash is sitting backstage in her dressing room at the ...

Mott The Hoople: The Making Of 'All The Young Dudes'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, January 2008

Breakups! Bowie! Gay roadies! The strange tale of glam rock's glorious singalong ...

PJ Harvey: An Interview

Interview by Keith Cameron, MOJO, January 2008

Keith Cameron speaks to Polly Jean about finding her voice, the muse and playing harmonica down the pub. ...

Susan Christie, Wendy Flower, Heather Jones, Selda: Lie back and think of ukuleles: Lost Ladies of Folk

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 2 January 2008

SOMETHING PECULIAR happened at the dawn of the 21st century: eccentric folk music of the late 1960s became covetable again. ...

Joe Jackson: "Actually, I quite like landmines"

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 5 January 2008

Joe Jackson, songwriter and contrarian, talks to Robert Sandall about smoking, Berlin, and his new album. ...

Colin MacIntyre

Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 18 January 2008

AFTER THREE ALBUMS as Mull Historical Society, Colin MacIntyre has decided to head out on his own and his new album, The Water, will be ...

Laura Marling: Folk-rock's Laura Marling, a star in U.K. at 17, hits New York Friday

Report and Interview by Gene Santoro, New York Daily News, 18 January 2008

IN 2006, LAURA Marling, a 16-year-old Brit from Hampshire, started heading to London every week, looking for clubs to play and flats to crash at ...

John Stewart, 1939–2008

Obituary by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 21 January 2008

Folk patriarch recorded California Bloodlines ...

Sheryl Crow: Why Sheryl Crow is starting over

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 26 January 2008

Battling cancer and adopting a child led Sheryl Crow to reassess what is important in life. No longer concerned with what people think, she has ...

John Hiatt: Bring The Family

Review by Adam Sweeting, Uncut, February 2008

Harrowing '87 confessional enhanced by Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe and Jim Keltner. ...

Radiohead: Chasing Rainbows

Interview by Mark Paytress, MOJO, February 2008

Four years in the making, In Rainbows is both tortured and triumphant… Here, for the first time, is the unexpurgated inside story of the album ...

Eels: The Eels: Meet The Eels: Essential Eels Vol 1 (1996-2006)/Useless Trinkets: Rarities And Unreleased (1996-2006)

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2008

E's are good: revisiting a brilliant back catalogue ...

Laura Marling: "My songs are not pretty"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 4 February 2008

IN A RECENT POSTING on a music website, one of Laura Marling's growing army of fans described her output as "pretty folk songs about boys". ...

John Stewart: Daydream Believer: John Stewart, 1939-2008

Obituary by Michael Simmons, Huffington Post, 21 February 2008

JOHN STEWART – singer, songwriter, guitarist, artist, husband, father, grandfather, Californian, American – was scheduled to perform at McCabe's in Santa Monica on Saturday, February ...

Bon Iver: Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll: Bon Iver

Report and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 29 February 2008

IF WE HAVE spoken in the past couple of weeks, I apologise. If you have poured out your heart and found me blank-faced, if you ...

Adele: 19

Review by Lucy O'Brien, MOJO, March 2008

Soulful, streetwise debut from the much-hyped Tottenham chanteuse. ...

Bob Dylan: Stories and Questions

Comment by Kirk Silsbee, Life After 50, March 2008

Well I'll be damned; here comes your ghost again... (Joan Baez, 'Diamonds and Rust') ...

Buzzcocks: The Making of 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008

Treasured by John Peel, the 1978 powerpop perennial by Manchester's melodic punks ...

Camille

Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, March 2008

ON THE EVE of Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Britain, another French export is already launching her latest cross-channel charm offensive in London. ...

Mark Eitzel: Doctor Eitzel's Hellraising, Heartbreaking True-Life Songs Of Love And Hate – Satisfaction Guaranteed Or Your Money Back

Profile and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2008

When American Music Club play live, frontman Mark Eitzel has to be kept away from the cash; if he thinks it's been a bad show, ...

Grant Hart: Intolerance

Review by Roy Wilkinson, MOJO, March 2008

This month in our dusting-off of the ignored: post-punk's answer to Lou Reed's Transformer. ...

Joe Jackson: Still Looking Sharp

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2008

David Burke catches a rare sighting of pop music's invisible man. ...

Madness: Album By Album

Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008

2008 WILL SEE Madness' first album of new material for nine years. The Liberty Of Newton Folgate is a concept LP of sorts, inspired by ...

Morrissey: Greatest Hits

Review by David Quantick, The Word, March 2008

There's a lot of Morrissey's newer, louder, less subtle music on his latest greatest hits. David Quantick finds his patience is at an end. ...

American Music Club: The Golden Age of American Music Club

Report and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2008

MARK EITZEL sounds very chipper – not at all the lugubrious character that comes across in his songs. With the release of American Music Club's ...

Nick Lowe: Jesus of Cool – 30th Anniversary Edition

Review by Bill Holdship, San Antonio Current, 5 March 2008

DUE TO A religious right that was screwing things up even then, a worried Columbia Records cowardly retitled this seminal New Wave classic Pure Pop ...

John Stewart, 1939-2008

Obituary by Michael Simmons, MOJO, April 2008

American singer and songwriter John Stewart died on January 19. His friend Michael Simmons says goodbye. ...

Thin Lizzy: The Making of 'The Boys Are Back In Town'

Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, April 2008

The shit-kicking '76 hit that saved Phil Lynott's bad-boy brawlers in the nick of time. ...

Kimya Dawson is just peachy

Report and Interview by Gene Santoro, New York Daily News, 4 April 2008

THE LEFT-FIELD success of Juno didn't end at the movie box office. The Oscar winner's soundtrack went all the way to No. 1, making its ...

Willie Nelson: One Hell Of A Ride

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 30 April 2008

SOMEDAY, SOMEBODY with great taste, and no desire to be all things to all markets, is going to put together a Best Of Willie Nelson ...

Bruce Springsteen: E Street shuffle: Bruce Springsteen

Retrospective by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, May 2008

The Boss is coming to town! David Burke looks at the career and impact of the man whose been described as "the Steinbeck of rock'n'roll". ...

The Byrds, Gene Clark, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Gene Clark remembered: "Genius and insanity hand in hand…"

Retrospective by Luke Torn, Uncut, May 2008

IT'S ANOTHER DAY in the busy life of one of the biggest bands in America. The Byrds have just recorded 'Eight Miles High', and are ...

The Beatles, James Taylor: James Taylor: Taylor Made

Profile and Interview by Paul Zollo, Record Collector, May 2008

TO GET TO his home, you drive down a winding country road in the heart of rural Massachusetts, under arches of ancient oaks and elms, ...

The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age Of The Understatement

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, May 2008

NOW IT ALL makes sense. Anyone who, on hearing Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare, wondered where Alex Turner had mislaid his melodies now has their ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Making of 'Hong Kong Garden'

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2008

The oddly light debut smash that shoved punk's dark primitives out of the shadows ...

Minnie Driver: Minnie adventure: Miss Driver turns her attention to country music and motherhood

Report and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 8 May 2008

She's conquered Hollywood, stars in a hit TV series, and is one of Britain's most successful acting exports. ...

Martha Wainwright: "I like old guys cos they like me!"

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2008

Singer Martha Wainwright tells Adam Sweeting about the soap opera of her family life ...

Carole King's monumental 1971 Tapestry Returns In 2 CD Deluxe Edition

Special Feature by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, 12 May 2008

Harvey Kubernik tells the story of the making of this epochal album, and interviews producer Lou Adler ...

Kathleen Edwards: Asking for Flowers (Zoe/Rounder)

Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 14 May 2008

BEING OF so-called American Indian and African descent, I have never believed in borders. These imperial lines have only wreaked havoc and sealed our fate. ...

Lightspeed Champion: Meet the Lightspeed Champion Devonté Hynes

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 17 May 2008

Wacky tunes, specs and furry hat? Our correspondent meets an unlikely new champion of indie cool. ...

Sandi Thom

Essay by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 20 May 2008

THE HYPING OF HER FIRST RECORD seemed a step too far. Can a new album restore this singer's popularity? ...

Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 23 May 2008

HEARTBREAK OFTEN buckles sad records, turning sentimental confessions into whiny navel-gazing exercises. So thank heaven for Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who avoids this problem beautifully. ...

Dolly Parton: American Idol

Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, MOJO, June 2008

Raised in a one-room cabin in Tennessee, schooled in love songs by a pompadoured '60s TV start, Dolly Parton turned her back on pop and ...

Flaming Lips: Album By Album

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2008

THINGS HAVE CHANGED monumentally for the Flaming Lips over the course of their 23-year career. "We were just dorks who liked music," says sonic ringmaster ...

Half Man Half Biscuit: CSI: Ambleside

Review by John McCready, The Word, June 2008

Forget the TV-obsessed japery of their John Peel years. Half Man Half Biscuit are now the most perceptive satirists in British music. ...

Lou Reed: Waiting for the Man

Profile and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 8 June 2008

Lou Reed's live version of Berlin, now a film, is hailed as his masterpiece. So, is he any easier to interview? Not really... ...

Walter Becker's Circus Money

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2008

"THEN YOU find you're back in Vegas with a handle in your hand" goes a memorable line from Steely Dan's debut hit, 'Do It Again'. ...

Aimee Mann: @#%&*! Smilers

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 13 June 2008

PERHAPS HEARTENED BY the (artistic) success of 2006's One More Drifter in the Snow — the only serious addition to the ranks of Christmas albums ...

Leonard Cohen: Manchester Opera House

Live Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 22 June 2008

ARRIVING ON the stage at the Manchester Opera House for his first British dates in 15 years, Leonard Cohen immediately apologised for "putting some of ...

Ashanti: The Declaration

Review by Dan Gennoe, Yahoo! Music, 23 June 2008

THERE WAS A POINT where Ashanti Douglas could do no wrong. Following a string of guest spots providing the melodic charm to Ja Rule and ...

Billy Joel on The Stranger

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, July 2008

IN 1977, BILLY Joel was struggling to catch a break. The Long Island native was approaching 30, and had released four albums to no great ...

The Hold Steady

Profile and Interview by Paul Moody, Uncut, July 2008

They started the band as "a positive jam", but now The Hold Steady have become one of the best in America. With an astonishing fourth ...

The Waterboys: The Making Of 'The Whole Of The Moon'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2008

"Big Music", a massive hit, and the anthem the band are still arguing about. ...

Billy Joel's N.Y. State of Mind

Guide by Hank Bordowitz, New York Daily News, 13 July 2008

IT SEEMS FITTING that Billy Joel should play the last concert at Shea Stadium before it meets the wrecking ball. Shea has hosted the most ...

Blondie: The Making Of 'Heart Of Glass'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, August 2008

A reggae song? By a "cult folk band"? Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and taskmaster/producer Mike Chapman relive the disco-punk boot camp that built a gleaming, ...

David Byrne

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, August 2008

IN NEW YORK CITY this summer, David Byrne is everywhere. His installation titled Playing the Building transformed the Battery Maritime Building into a giant musical ...

Randy Newman: Harps & Angels

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, August 2008

Back with a blinder after almost a decade. ...

Walter Becker: Rock'n'Roll Confidential: Walter Becker

Interview by Mat Snow, MOJO, August 2008

One half of the Steely Dan superbrain talks Dylan, psychology and the blues. ...

Rodriguez: Detroit's comeback king

Retrospective and Interview by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 8 August 2008

We meet Rodriguez on the eve of his first headlining show in America, 38 years after his debut Cold Fact. ...

John Martyn: Ain't No Saint: 40 Years Of John Martyn

Sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea, Island Records, September 2008

"Love finds a way, just let it stay From day to day, just let it flow, just let it grow It will get you together ...

Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah, We Love Him So: Leonard Cohen's Comeback

Report by Johnny Black, Audience, September 2008

How the world's pre-eminent septuagenarian Jewish Buddhist singer-poet staged 2008's most remarkable comeback. ...

John Martyn: Still Wide-Eyed and Increasingly Legless

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2008

INTERVIEWS ARE like minefields. Amidst the chummy showbiz chat, there's almost invariably at least one potential hair-trigger moment when someone like me has to ask ...

Mary Gauthier: Liberty Belle

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2008

Singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier was something of a late starter – but once she picked up that pen she certainly had plenty to write about. Having ...

Randy Newman: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, September 2008

"CHRIST, I'M getting old," notes Randy Newman, distracted momentarily by his troublesome back. There is nothing, fortunately, wrong with his memory, as he trawls through ...

Randy Newman: Harps For Harps' Sake

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, September 2008

The new record is in the shops, but RANDY NEWMAN admits he has no excuses for his "ridiculous" output of three albums in 20 years. ...

Teddy Thompson: A Piece Of What You Need

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2008

The son also rises. A great, Orbison-inspired piece of work. ...

Todd Rundgren: Todd Almighty

Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, September 2008

As he turns 60 and prepares a new album and UK tour, Todd Rundgren surveys his brilliant 40-year career as a producer, solo artist and ...

Kimya Dawson: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 17 September 2008

KIMYA DAWSON has always traded in the infantile, and never more than now. The former Moldy Peaches singer, whose solo material tends towards the coy ...

Marvin Gaye, Edwin Starr, The Temptations, The Undisputed Truth: Norman Whitfield, 1941-2008

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 19 September 2008

He co-wrote and produced some of Motown's greatest hits ...

John Martyn: Ain't No Saint

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, October 2008

Outtakes and unreleased live recordings shine new light on the angels and demons at war in a 40-year career. ...

Kevin Ayers: Exile On Mean Street

Profile and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, October 2008

Rumpled romantic, booze-fuelled philanderer, gifted golden boy of art-rock, Kevin Ayers fled abroad 40 years ago and now lives a strange, impecunious life wrestling with ...

Lindsey Buckingham: Gift Of Screws

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, October 2008

Mac man's punchy pop-rock manifesto ...

Public Image Ltd: PiL: The Making Of 'Public Image'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2008

With old scores to settle, John Lydon kicked off his post-Pistols career with an explosive first single. "Some say it's dub, but we all loved ...

Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, Tim Buckley, Harry Chapin, Leonard Cohen, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Rickie Lee Jones, Carole King, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot, Don McLean, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Laura Nyro, John Prine, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Warren Zevon: School of Rock Study Guide: Singer-Songwriters

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, iTunes, October 2008

"WHERE DO YOU have left to go but in?" It was a question posed by Joni Mitchell, the brilliant Canadian blonde who specialized in intensely ...

Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Young: Neil Young: Against the Tide

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Cooper, Observer Music Monthly, 11 October 2008

Charles Manson, the Iraq war, a near fatal aneurysm: Neil Young has spent five decades fighting anything foolish enough to get in his way. On ...

Massive Attack: Song of the year: 1991 – Massive Attack's 'Unfinished Sympathy'

Retrospective by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 12 October 2008

IT WAS CLEAR by the end of the 1980s that dance music was here to stay. Following the "rave" explosion of 1987, clubs all over ...

Hoyt Axton: My Griffin Is Gone

Review by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, 23 October 2008

HOYT AXTON'S 1969 LP My Griffin Is Gone, originally released to little notice on Columbia, belongs to that group of orchestrated baroque pop albums that ...

Dido: Queen of the Road

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 29 October 2008

Dido is Britain's most successful female artist ever, yet is releasing only her third album since her 1999 breakthrough. She tells Sheryl Garratt about the ...

Echo & the Bunnymen: The Making of 'The Killing Moon'

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Uncut, November 2008

1984's shimmering indie-pop epic is part Elvis, part Leonard Cohen, and part Bing Crosby, according to Ian McCulloch and co. Oh, and it's also "the ...

Jarvis Cocker: A Bit of Rough

Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, November 2008

Jarvis Cocker could tell you all about glaciers but instead this month he's choosing to celebrate one of Britain's finest independent record labels. John Lewis ...

Lucinda Williams: Little Honey

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2008

Nine albums in, the queen of heartbreak tempts fate by cheering up. ...

Paul Weller: Q&A: Paul Weller

Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, November 2008

50 this year and touring his best album in decades, the Modfather talks to John Lewis about Algerian passions, drunken binges and a wariness of ...

John Hiatt: Tune-up: John Hiatt

Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2008

JOHN HIATT WAS a complete fuck-up. The year was 1984 and his addiction to booze and cocaine induced what he referred to as "a semi-blackout ...

J. D. Souther: J.D. Souther comes back

Interview by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 5 November 2008

THOUGH HE'S ONE of the most underrated composers of the rock era, J.D. Souther's songs — especially those he wrote for the Eagles — are ...

La Roux: New Band of the Day: La Roux

Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 November 2008

Make no mistake, today's new artist is a solo female synth star in waiting. ...

Dave Stewart: The Songfacts Interview

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 20 November 2008

THE HALF OF Eurythmics that is not Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart has written hits with Tom Petty, No Doubt, Jon Bon Jovi, Bono, Mick Jagger ...

Will Young: From Now On

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 28 November 2008

Since winning Pop Idol in 2002, Will Young has had huge commercial success, yet depression and self-doubt have dogged his achievements. Now with his critically ...

Jesca Hoop's musical magic

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 29 November 2008

JESCA HOOP is gleefully pulling a wad of vintage lace out of her shopping bag. Layer after layer appears — is a grandmother somewhere being ...

Paul Weller: Paul Weller At The BBC

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, December 2008

4-CD set proves he's more changing man than Plodfather. ...

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: Cardinology

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, December 2008

Intermittent greatness from Americana's hardest-working man.  ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara: Christmas wishes from Canada's psychic singer-songwriter

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 5 December 2008

DOWN THE WIRES from Canada comes Mary Margaret O'Hara, her voice as devastatingly delicate as shattering glass. ...

Thom Bell and the Sound of Brotherly Love

Retrospective and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 8 December 2008

WHILE THE ubiquitous songs of Detroit's Motown get anthologized and commercialized ad infinitum, and the critics salivate over the gritty southern soul of Memphis' Stax, ...

Kurt Vile: Childish Prodigy

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, 2009

Like some obscure 70s rock LP discovered by chance in a charity shop. ...

Ned Doheny: Ned Doheny

Sleeve notes by Richie Unterberger, Asylum Japan, 2009

WHEN NED Doheny's self-titled debut LP appeared in 1973, the artist had already been active in the Southern California singer-songwriter scene for several years. In ...

Elliott Murphy at the Hotel Café, L.A.

Review by Roy Trakin, Rock's Backpages, January 2009

BACK IN 1973, this celebrated Long Island singer/songwriter and the New York Dolls were the twin toasts of the town's still-nascent rock-crit community. ...

Lucinda Williams: Album By Album

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2009

"SNOW COVERS the street lamps and the windowsills," sang the alt.country queen on 2003's 'Minneapolis'. When Uncut calls her in that same city on her ...

The Kinks: The Making Of 'Waterloo Sunset'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2009

The timeless 1967 hit, regarded by many as the most beautiful pop song every written, was something so personal that Ray Davies didn't even want ...

Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, January 2009

His first classic, midwifed by L.A.'s rock royalty, plus a disc of extras. ...

Graham Nash: Classic Rock Corner: Graham Nash Interviewed

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 4 January 2009

THERE ISN'T MUCH mystery to Graham Nash. Not that that's a bad thing at all. In fact, if you want to know how the British ...

The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder, Luke Haines: Luke Haines: Bad Vibes – Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall (Heinemann)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 4 January 2009

ROCK HISTORY, like other sorts, tends to get told from the point of view of victors rather than losers. By popular acclaim, the big winners ...

Jeb Loy Nichols: Parish Bar

Review by j. poet, Crawdaddy!, 14 January 2009

WHEN YOU PUSH THE PLAY BUTTON on a track by Jeb Loy Nichols, you never know what you're going to get. Parish Bar opens with ...

Crosby and Nash, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Graham Nash: Wild Tales: A Candid Conversation with Graham Nash

Interview by Bill DeYoung, Goldmine, 16 January 2009

"I knew that I would have to spend years with these guys" – Graham Nash  ...

Karen Dalton Lives

Review by Michael Simmons, Huffington Post, 29 January 2009

For the second year running, a new Karen Dalton record is my choice for The Album of the Year. ...

Fleetwood Mac Unleashed: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham speak

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, February 2009

A FEW WEEKS ago in Los Angeles, the members of Fleetwood Mac – Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks – gathered together ...

Graham Nash: Reflections

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, February 2009

The nice guy with the soaring voice finally gets his due. ...

Morrissey: Years Of Refusal

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 5 February 2009

AGE CAN undermine lesser rockers. But time's cruel toll just validates Morrissey's morbid drama-queen spiels — to paraphrase a lyric from his old band the ...

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Lightning Rod

Review by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 19 February 2009

Ex-Trucker takes on heartland rock and brooding weepers. ...

Buddy Holly: Buddy-buddy

Comment by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 25 February 2009

THE BIRTH OF Motown isn't the only 50th anniversary pop music is noting this year: 2009 also marks the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death. ...

Bruce Springsteen: Working On A Dream

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, March 2009

After the furious state-of-the-union of Magic, the Boss returns to the home front — where things are rather better, says Andrew Mueller. ...

Graham Nash

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, March 2009

IT HAS NEVER occurred to me before Graham Nash points it out, but 'Marrakesh Express' isn't just a breezily literal account of the illicit delights ...

The Bird and the Bee: Greg Kurstin: Mister Fairy Dust

Interview by James Medd, The Word, March 2009

When Lily Allen, Kylie, Britney, Beck, Flaming Lips, Ladyhawke or Little Boots need a multi-instrumentalist or musical director, they send for Greg Kurstin. And for ...

Johnny Thunders: Sticks & Stones – The Lost Album

Review by Kris Needs, Record Collector, March 2009

Johnny was a great songwriter… here's the proof. ...

M. Ward: M Ward: Hold Time

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, March 2009

Lo-fi tinkerer completes his transfiguration into major artist. ...

Magazine: The Making of 'Shot By Both Sides'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2009

Powered by a razor-riff, nihilist lyrics, some classic-rock chops and an infamous showing on Top Of The Pops, this ferocious anthem was the closest thing ...

Nick Cave, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Grinderman: Nick Cave: King of Pain

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, March 2009

"TEA? PIECE OF CAKE?" says Nick Cave civilly. After an earlier on-tour interview at the Malmaison Hotel, Manchester, he's invited MOJO to his office, a ...

Elbow: Q&A: Guy Garvey

Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, March 2009

John Lewis asks the Mercury-winning Elbow main-man and BBC 6Music broadcaster about winklepickers, Nat King Cole and cheese on toast. ...

Mary Black: There's something about Mary Black

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2009

MARY BLACK wouldn't class herself as a dreamer, even though she's realised a few dreams others of us have maybe harboured. Playing London's Royal Albert ...

The Mamas and The Papas, John Phillips: King of the Wild Frontier: Papa John Phillips

Retrospective and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, 15 March 2009

IN AUGUST 1977, John Phillips was supposed to be recording the album with Keith Richards that would mark his comeback. ...

Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic Revisited

Retrospective by Rob Steen, Rock's Backpages, 27 March 2009

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS ago this month, Pretzel Logic, the album that alerted the world beyond L.A. and NYC to the thrillingly unpigeonholeable sound of Steely Dan, ...

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Retrospective and Interview by Kris Needs, Record Collector, April 2009

With all 14 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds albums being remastered and reissued, Kris Needs chronicles one of music's most compelling catalogues, with help ...

Pete Doherty: Peter Doherty: Grace/Wastelands

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, April 2009

The Libertine has landed, with a proper solo debut, says David Quantick. ...

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Will Oldham: Album by Album

Retrospective and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, April 2009

Will Oldham has developed a forbidding reputation since first attracting attention as part of the Palace Brothers in the early '90s. Whether glowering from album ...

Procol Harum's Keith Reid (2009)

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 2 April 2009

Procol Harum lyricist Reid looks back at the writing of such classics as 'Whiter Shade of Pale', and brings us up to date with his current projects.

File format: mp3; file size: 19.7mb; Interview length: 42' 59"; sound quality: ***

Bat for Lashes: Two Suns

Review by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 6 April 2009

IF KATE BUSH was the most frequent comparison cited in reviews of Natasha Khan's 2006 debut album Fur And Gold, the debt is equally palpable ...

Leiber and Stoller: Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography

Press Release by Harvey Kubernik, promotional interview, May 2009

LEGENDARY SONGWRITERS Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were in the delivery room for the birth of rock and roll, yet as Stoller said the day ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: From Her To Eternity/The Firstborn Is Dead/Kicking Against The Pricks/Your Funeral... My Trial

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, May 2009

AS ONE CONTRIBUTOR to the episodic documentary that features across the DVDs of these four reissues observes, Nick Cave was well on his way to ...

Jackie DeShannon: Return Of The Starry-Eyed Girl

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 1 May 2009

IT'S LUNCHTIME at Claridge's, and a glamorous blonde in sparkling stilettos shimmers out of the lift. No one bats an eyelid, but then she starts ...

Grizzly Bear: Brooklyn Foursome Talk Veckatimest

Profile and Interview by Mike Diver, Clash, 27 May 2009

GRIZZLY BEAR are about to take a step into the unknown. Again. "This is probably the biggest thing we've been asked to do here in ...

John Prine (2009)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 May 2009

The former mailman talks about how he started as a songwriter; on being a performer; on songs such as 'Angel from Montgomery'; the detailed ins-and-outs of songwriting; and looks back at his friend and collaborator Steve Goodman.

File format: mp3; file size: 93.0mb, interview length: 1h 42' 34" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt: Steve Earle: Townes (New West)

Review by Roy Trakin, SonicBoomers.com, 29 May 2009

IF YOU'RE LOOKING for a dark-horse Grammy Album of the Year contender, you couldn't find a better one than this effort, which boasts the requisite ...

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Review and Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, June 2009

Confident country-soul from former Drive-By Trucker. ...

Neil Sedaka Looks Back

Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2009

IT'S OBVIOUS to anyone with even a smattering of pop music suss that without Neil Sedaka there would be no 'Breaking Up Is Hard To ...

Steve Earle: Townes

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2009

All-covers homage to his mentor, Townes Van Zandt ...

Brad Paisley: American Saturday Night

Review by Andrew Mueller, bbc.co.uk, 26 June 2009

A spirited challenge to the prejudices of both sides of country's enduring schism. ...

Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey: Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey: Paul Rock's backyard, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles

Live Review by Roy Trakin, Hits, July 2009

MAYBE THIS IS the future of the record business. On a balmy summer evening in L.A., we're gathered in a suburban backyard, twinkling lights strung ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie: Running for the Drum (Cooking Vinyl)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 3 July 2009

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE'S first album in 17 years finds her spirit as undiluted as her charm, still making persuasive, engaging arguments for Native American attitudes, and ...

Neil Young: Out of the blue: Neil Young's archives

Essay by Kandia Crazy Horse, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 7 July 2009

THIS IS THE briar patch, the place from which all funky thangs flow. On the anniversary of the death of my Afro-Algonquin Southern (re)belle mother, ...

Billy Childish: Archive From 1959 – The Billy Childish Story

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, August 2009

IT USED TO BE 1979. It's now 2009. Billy Childish — author, poet, painter, musician, influence on everyone from Tracey Emin to The White Stripes ...

Ellie Greenwich, 1940-2009

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, August 2009

NOT LONG AFTER Ellie Greenwich, who has died at the age of 68, met her future husband and songwriting partner Jeff Barry at a Thanksgiving ...

Liz Phair: Exile In Guyville (15th Anniversary Edition)

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, August 2009

All's Phair In Love And War: Raw, rude and "very 1993", Liz Phair led Girl Power's first offensive. ...

Richard Thompson: Walking On A Wire

Review and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, August 2009

Atop the emotional tightrope... an expansive, career-spanning four-CD set for Anglicana's finest guitar warrior. ...

Arrows, Laura Nyro, Vodka Collins: Alan Merrill: An Interview

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 1 August 2009

THE SON OF jazz musicians Aaron Sachs and Helen Merrill, Alan moved from New York to Japan when he was still a teenager, becoming the ...

David Byrne: Speaking in Tongues

Profile and Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 1 August 2009

THE SUN HAS just melted into the distant purple mountains on a sweltering Italian night when David Byrne starts speaking in tongues, throwing his arms ...

Ellie Greenwich: Remembering Songwriting Legend Ellie Greenwich

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 August 2009

SHE CHANGED the shape of 60s pop by writing some extraordinary songs, including 'Be My Baby' and 'Da Doo Ron Ron' ...

7 Worlds Collide, Neil Finn: 7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, September 2009

Neil Finn's very own supergroup — involving Radiohead, Wilco and Johnny Marr.  ...

Prefab Sprout: Erase And Rewind: Paddy McAloon

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, September 2009

Paddy McAloon’s lost folly has just been released after 17 years. Many and complex were the obstacles in its path, as he tells GRAEME THOMSON. ...

J.J. Cale: The Real Slowhand

Retrospective and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, September 2009

IT'S A SUNNY morning in San Francisco but the hotel conference room is dark, empty except for an enormous table circled by chairs. One of ...

Gemma Ray: Lights Out Zoltar!

Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 6 September 2009

GEMMA RAY sounds like a character from an imaginary 1950s sci-fi flick – possibly titled Lights out Zoltar! – and the songs on her second ...

Ellie Greenwich: Rock Music Legend Sandy Pearlman On The Passing Of Feminine Culture Power Source, Ellie Greenwich

Obituary by Howie Klein, Huffington Post, 6 September 2009

ON MY FIRST DAY of college freshman orientation I met the president of the student body, Sandy Pearlman. He had long hair and I figured ...

The Cribs, Johnny Marr, The Smiths: The Cribs

Interview by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 11 September 2009

In a revealing interview, Johnny Marr and The Cribs discuss what went wrong with indie, why LA destroys creative thought, the curse of the lad, ...

Yoko Ono: Still Walking On Thin Ice

Retrospective and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 17 September 2009

After 40 years of being unfairly accused of breaking up the Beatles and harshly mocked for her avant garde art and pop music, Yoko Ono ...

Leonard Cohen: This story about Leonard Cohen has sex in it

Memoir by Mike Jahn, Rock's Backpages, 22 September 2009

I REMEMBER Leonard Cohen well from the Chelsea Hotel. This story has sex in it. ...

Linda Thompson, Richard Thompson, Richard and Linda Thompson: Richard and Linda Thompson: Keeping Up with the Thompsons

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, October 2009

Once flippantly but affectionately called "the Sonny & Cher of the folk world", Richard & Linda Thompson are worshipped as living legends, a jewel in ...

The Leisure Society

Interview by Johnny Sharp, MOJO, October 2009

Midlands Lifer Spins Heartbreak Into Songwriting Gold ...

Wilco: Kiwi Polish

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), October 2009

IF CHICAGO'S Wilco sound at ease on their current release Wilco The Album, perhaps it's due to the climes in which the album was recorded. ...

Judee Sill: The Disappearing Crayon Angel

Retrospective by Graham Reid, Elsewhere, 18 October 2009

THERE SEEMS to be an alarming number of women musicians written out of popular culture: Doris Troy, Minnie Ripperton, Laura Nyro, Judy Henske, Mireille Mathieu, ...

Vic Chesnutt's back with three new albums in as many months…

Report and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 18 October 2009

He calls himself "the biggest fuck up in the music business" but, according to Wyndham Wallace, Vic Chesnutt is turning into one of its greatest ...

Sufjan Stevens's symphony for New York

Report and Interview by Andrew Purcell, The Guardian, 27 October 2009

THE BROOKLYN-QUEENS EXPRESSWAY is a miserable stretch of road. The BQE, as New Yorkers call it, has narrow lanes, no hard shoulder, countless potholes, and ...

Jonathan Wilson: Son of the Source

Comment by Kandia Crazy Horse, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 28 October 2009

CALIFORNIA MY WAY: Pacifica in all her roaring glory; 'Bluebird'; Gene Clark suffering for his art at the Troubadour; Arthur Lee perched atop Laurel Canyon ...

David Gray: "I was ready to throw off the past"

Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2009

YOU'D THINK having three number one UK albums and two that charted in the US top 20, not to mention the biggest selling Irish album ...

Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2009

The freak-folk messiah confronts pop conventions on his first album for a major label. ...

Ellie Greenwich: Leader Of The Pack

Obituary by Bob Stanley, MOJO, November 2009

BARRY MANN and Cynthia Weil were the social conscience, Gerry Goffin and Carole King the most tortured, but it was Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry ...

Laura Marling

Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2009

DESPITE ALL HER best efforts to stick a spike in the wheel of success, Laura Marling is fast-becoming the most talked-about young singer-songwriter of recent ...

Richard Hawley: Truelove's Gutter

Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, November 2009

A THIRD consecutive album named after a lost corner of his beloved Sheffield hometown might suggest it's business as usual for Hawley, but the lush ...

Smokey Robinson: Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 2 November 2009

Smokey delivers exactly what you expect, but can still surprise. ...

Robyn Hitchcock in Nowhere-Land: I Often Dream of Trains in New York

Film/DVD/TV Review by Michael Azerrad, Rock's Backpages, 14 November 2009

IT WAS FITTING that a Robyn Hitchcock DVD arrived in the mail the same week as the Monty Python documentary debuted on the IFC channel ...

Ian Dury: New chips off the old Blockhead

Retrospective by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 29 November 2009

He could be warm and witty... or cruel and obnoxious. But there was never any doubt he was a true artist. We recall the life ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Album by Album: Rickie Lee Jones

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, December 2009

THOUGH SHE will always carry the pop albatross that was her Top 5 hit 'Chuck E's in Love' (1979), Rickie Lee Jones remains one of ...

Buzz Linhart: BUZZY's buzzy (BuzzArt Enterprises Inc.)

Review by Steve Roeser, hollywoodconcerts.com, December 2009

THIS WAS Buzzy Linhart's first album, released in the late '60s, and Buzzy (with a big assist from his partner, Art Berggren) re-issued it himself ...

Bob Dylan: Good As He's Been To You: Bob Dylan's Best Albums

Guide by Mick Gold, Rock's Backpages, December 2009

Mick Gold makes a personal selection of Dylan's Finest Works. A slightly modified version of an article for the Bobzine Isis. ...

Mark Eitzel: Klamath

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2009

YOU COULD never accuse Mark Eitzel of having an inflated sense of self. He recently claimed to have no idea how to write a song, ...

Neil Young: Sugar Mountain - Live At Canterbury House

Review by Larry Jaffee, Audiophile Review, December 2009

NEIL YOUNG HAS BEEN such a music staple in our collective consciousness for so long that it’s nearly impossible to remember that he was once ...

Pilot: High Flyers

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, December 2009

'70s hit-makers Pilot were the missing link between pop and prog. Paul Lester meets the (oh-oh-oh... it's) magic band. ...

Ellie Goulding: Pop Sensation

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 12 December 2009

"I KNOW THESE cups look dirty," says Ellie Goulding, frowning at the two floral mugs she carries across the room, "but really they're not. It's just ...

Elliott Murphy (2009)

Interview by Archie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, 23 December 2009

The man who bore the weight of being the "New Dylan" in the mid-'70s looks back at his early days, his move to Europe, and brings us up to date with where he's at in the 21st century

File format: mp3; file size: 20.9mb; Interview length: 22' 52"; sound quality: ***

John Prine: The Blue Railroad Interview

Interview by Paul Zollo, Blue Railroad, Summer 2009

"You can write about anything. Anything at all. As a matter of fact, the less familiar, the better." ...

Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 2010

IT'S NOT going out on any limbs to declare that Joanna Newsom's voice divides opinion. ...

Nick Drake and Five Leaves Left: An Interview with Omnibus' Chris Charlesworth

Interview by Eddie Blower, unpublished, 2010

In 2010, Chris Charlesworth was interviewed by Eddie Blower about Nick Drake and Five Years Left for an unpublished article. ...

Tom Waits: Albums of the Decade: Tom Waits' Real Gone

Review by James Medd, The Word, January 2010

ISTHERE A musician whose stock is higher? It's certainly hard to think of another whose songs are covered by both the singer of Led Zeppelin ...

Cat Stevens

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, January 2010

ON A CLEAR DAY, from the roof of the Shaftesbury Theatre, you can gaze out over London's West End theatreland, and listen for the echoes ...

Laura Veirs: July Flame

Review and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, January 2010

Peachy "comeback" from Portland nature-lover. ...

Laura Veirs: Mixed-Up Confusion

Interview by John Lewis, Hotline, January 2010

Laura Viers came to folk via punk, is geeky yet cool, young but experienced and both delicate and tough. John Lewis meets her. ...

The Special AKA: The Making Of 'Nelson Mandela'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2010

"ALL I DID was write a song. People in South Africa gave up their lives..." Jerry Dammers & Co on 1984's earth-shaking political hit. ...

Julian Casablancas on the Strokes and going solo

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Sunday Times, 18 January 2010

He's the privileged kid who with The Strokes shaped the future of, among others, Kings Of Leon and Arctic Monkeys. Now he's all alone ...

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate McGarrigle: Acclaimed musician left her mark

Obituary by Nicholas Jennings, The Globe and Mail, 20 January 2010

FOLK SINGER KATE McGarrigle left a deep musical legacy both in recordings with her older sister Anna McGarrigle and in her two children, singer-songwriters Rufus ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde (2010)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 January 2010

The Pretenders frontwoman on songwriting and songs; being a band member, and an extended exposition on her vegetarianism and the brutality of the meat business.

File format: mp3; file size: 70.8mb, interview length: 1h 17' 22" sound quality: *** (phoner)

David Bowie: David Bowie

Review by Rob Young, Uncut, February 2010

The Dame's debut: an enduringly curious dispatch from "Gnome-man's land", expanded and remastered. ...

Eels: End Times

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, February 2010

EELS' MARK EVERETT, usually known as E, has not deployed an unconsidered word in seven previous albums, but the title of his eighth is exquisite ...

Tindersticks: Falling Down A Mountain

Review and Interview by Chris Roberts, Uncut, February 2010

The return of a cherishable British band. ...

Ne-Yo: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 16 February 2010

IF YOU wanted a Valentine’s Day show with all the trimmings, then Ne-Yo on Sunday night was your man. There was champagne and fireworks, bunches ...

Joanna Newsom: The Conversation: Joanna Newsom

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 20 February 2010

She is a homebody who models for Armani, a harpist and possibly the best composer of her generation ...

Fionn Regan: My Way or the Highway

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 22 February 2010

His debut album was nominated for the Mercury prize – then his label locked away the follow-up. For his third album, Fionn Regan is going ...

Kathryn Williams: The Quickening

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 22 February 2010

A soft soul with hard edges, who shows us how quietness can resound so loudly. ...

Lonelady: Nerve Up

Review by Jude Rogers, The Quietus, 22 February 2010

IT'S TIME we forgot about the myth of Manchester. ...

Buddy Holly: Not Fade Away – The Complete Studio Recordings And More

Review by David Quantick, Uncut, March 2010

IN A 50-YEAR recording career, Buddy Holly, who died last Christmas at the age of 74, influenced everyone from the Beatles to Bob Dylan, and ...

Laura Veirs

Interview by Johnny Black, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2010

"I DON'T OWN MANY THINGS," Laura Veirs tells me. "I'm not a things person." ...

Stephen Stills

Interview by Rob Hughes, Record Collector, March 2010

Stephen Stills looks back on a rollercoaster career that has seen him survive superstardom, booze, drugs and cancer to enjoy his current renaissance. ...

Carly Simon: A Not So Vain Superstar

Interview by Paul Sexton, Sunday Express, 14 March 2010

TALKING TO Carly Simon is like getting an invitation to the most impossibly sophisticated party you'll ever go to but instead of making you feel ...

Black Francis: NonStopErotik

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 26 March 2010

HAVING SPENT over a decade pottering on the periphery with an air of janitorial resignation, Frank Black has finally turned in the greatest number of ...

Bill Fay: Apocalypse When?

Profile and Interview by Rob Young, Uncut, April 2010

The return of a remarkable English visionary. ...

Carly Simon: The Making of 'You're So Vain'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, April 2010

Just who was this massive '73 hit about? Jagger? Beatty? Taylor? Or some guy named 'David'? "You're missing the point," Carly tells us... ...

Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, April 2010

Avant-garde American folkstress's triple album. Not understated. ...

John Hiatt: The Open Road

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, April 2010

Nashville-based veteran rips through the gears. ...

Regina Spektor: A Sorta Fairytale

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), April 2010

IT'S A LITTLE-KNOWN fact, but D-grade celebrity oaf David Hasselhoff taught Regina Spektor English. After emigrating from Moscow to New York in the late 1980s, ...

Rufus Wainwright: Cash For Questions

Interview by Paul Moody, Q, April 2010

FOR THE RECORD, THEN, OUR INTREPID DIVA: DOES HAVE HIS LEDERHOSEN CUSTOM-MADE, WAS TEMPORARILY SENT BLIND BY INJESTING TOO MANY DRUGS AND, OH YES, SINCE ...

Richard and Linda Thompson, Richard Thompson, Teddy Thompson: The Family Business: Richard Thompson and Relatives

Retrospective and Interview by Larry Jaffee, Audiophile Review, April 2010

Sept. 2011 note: I spent 18 months working on this piece. Richard was the easiest to get hold of. When I shared this tidbit with ...

Paolo Nutini: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 11 April 2010

HE'S VAIN, sings reggae like Sting and has terrible posture. But just try telling that to the ladies... ...

She & Him: A Musical Marriage Made in Heaven

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 15 April 2010

"HOW'S THE SOY cappuccino?" asks Zooey Deschanel, sliding back into her seat and peering over at the white cup and saucer set before M Ward. ...

Paul Weller: Sins Of The Modfather: Paul Weller Speaks About Leaving His Comfort Zone

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 19 April 2010

After running into Paul Weller at a Sunn O))) gig last year, The Quietus have been obsessed with finding out exactly how deep Paul Weller's ...

John Grant: Queen of Denmark (Bella Union)

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 22 April 2010

JOHN GRANT used to front the Czars, whose failure to translate acclaim into sales no doubt further fuelled his supersized self-loathing. ...

Kate Nash: Village Underground, London

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 23 April 2010

Growing up and away from Lily ...

Hole: Nobody's Daughter

Review by Everett True, BUST, 26 April 2010

HEY. GLAD YOU could make it. Thought we might want to establish a few rules before I get down to the actual reviewing. ...

Bill Callahan, Smog: Bill Callahan: Album by Album

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, May 2010

"I'M SOMEWHERE between a gumshoe and a journalist," Callahan says. "A writer, not a symbol. I don't want to be a performer who gets applause ...

Emitt Rhodes: An Interview

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, May 2010

Thwarted! He could have been L.A.'s McCartney. Instead, he ended up "ashamed of being human". ...

Fionn Regan: Shadows and light

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, May 2010

Fionn Regan has just released his much-anticipated second album. It was something of a long haul, as he explains to David Burke. ...

Lowell George, Little Feat: Lowell George: Time Loves a Hero

Retrospective by Michael Simmons, MOJO, May 2010

A '70s guitar visionary and genius songwriter, Lowell George of Little Feat is rock's lost star. Michael Simmons pays tribute. ...

Rufus Wainwright

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, May 2010

"WE DON'T shy away from the fire, us McGarrigle-Wainwrights," Rufus Wainwright laughs. "We're made of stern stuff." ...

Stevie Wonder: Mark Ribowsky: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered – The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 2 May 2010

His charisma is beyond doubt but, as this valiant life reveals, Stevie Wonder is on a different wavelength from everybody else. ...

Kris Kristofferson: A Nashville Rebel Reminisces

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Guardian, 6 May 2010

THERE'S SOME wonderful YouTube footage of Kris Kristofferson receiving a gong at the 1970 Country Music Association awards. He lopes on stage with his hair ...

Keane: Tim Rice-Oxley: The chart-topping songwriter from somewhere only he knows

Profile and Interview by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 7 May 2010

In his first solo interview, the man behind Keane, the band once written off as "Coldplay-lite", tells Nick Hasted about being a small-town boy, his ...

Joanna Newsom: "Is It Time For A Glass Of Wine?"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 9 May 2010

She models for Armani, enjoys a game of baseball and likes to stay out drinking cocktails. Jude Rogers meets Joanna Newsom, the outspoken singer making ...

Jack Johnson: Reluctant Superstar

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, 23 May 2010

THERE'S A TRACK on the new Jack Johnson album with a chorus that reveals, "I can tell you anything but the truth…" an admission that ...

Everything But The Girl: Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt: Everything But The Grief

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 May 2010

They wrote sad songs, survived serious illness and fell out of love with pop. Now Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt are back. ...

Grizzly Bear: Freed From Captivity

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 27 May 2010

Grizzly Bear are the cult indie group that suddenly got rather big. Jude Rogers talks to their frontmen. ...

ABBA: A Matter Of Blood, Sweat And Tears: ABBA's Voulez-Vous (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, 31 May 2010

HINDSIGHT IS A wonderful thing. When studying the track list of compilation albums such as ABBA Gold, or perusing chart statistics, it is easy to ...

Brian Kennedy

Profile and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, June 2010

IN THE COURSE of twenty years in the music business, Brian Kennedy has been there and done that. He's won awards, published two best-selling novels, ...

Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Déjà Vu: The Unstoppable Dionne Warwick

Retrospective and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Arroyo Monthly, June 2010

You could be a good singer from now 'til hell and back and if you haven't got material, you're just standing there with your mouth ...

John Hiatt, Little Village: Hello Goodbye: John Hiatt and Little Village

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, June 2010

WE CONVENED at Ry [Cooder]'s house in Santa Monica. Set up some amps in a ground-floor room which opened out on to his garden. ...

Steve Winwood: Revolutions – The Very Best of Steve Winwood

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, 7 June 2010

Career retrospective for enduring R&B legend, available as no-filler disc or four-CD set. ...

Midlake get set to take Glastonbury

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 18 June 2010

MIDLAKE'S TIM SMITH is hunched over the small sink beside his Bristol dressing room. Possibly because an overnight trip from Belgium has left him bereft ...

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: Before Today

Review by Mike Barnes, MOJO, July 2010

Eleventh album by West Coast former home-recording recluse — now with band — might just be his breakthrough. ...

Jackson Browne, David Lindley: Jackson Browne & David Lindley: Love Is Strange

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2010

Reunited with his '70s musical Mr Fixit, Browne delivers a great career-spanning live set — his best album in years. ...

Phil Collins Goes Back

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, July 2010

"I CAN LOOK back now," reflects Phil Collins, "and see how annoying I must have been to people in the '80s and '90s." ...

The Stranglers: The Making of 'No More Heroes'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2010

The "punk" outcasts' abrasive '77 classic: "Totally on the button for now, and it always has been," says former frontman Hugh Cornwell. ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: Mojo

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2010

NINE TRACKS INTO MOJO, Tom Petty's first album with The Heartbreakers for eight years, the band fire up a plodding blues groove, and Petty makes ...

Phil Spector: The Agony Of Phil Spector

Comment by Mitchell Cohen, Rock's Backpages, 8 July 2010

I CAN LISTEN to six hours of Phil Spector recording sessions, some of which amount to take after take of Spector instructing the lead singer ...

Beyoncé Does Not Write Her Own Songs. Really?

Comment by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages, 15 July 2010

MY GAST WAS unutterably flabbered earlier this week when record producer Bangladesh "revealed" that Beyoncé does not write her own songs. ...

Plan B on overcoming his anger

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 17 July 2010

His hit 'She Said' is the song of the year so far, and half a million people have bought his critically acclaimed album. But if ...

Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino: Dave Bartholomew

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, August 2010

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In 2010, I put together a 4-CD box set for JSP Records which was never actually released. Year later, I produced a new ...

Jackson Browne: Album By Album

Retrospective by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, August 2010

"MUSIC HAS AN impact because a lot of people experience it at the same time, and that can't happen exactly the same way again " ...

Lissie: Catching A Tiger

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 2010

State-hopping Americana, primed for the mainstream. ...

Phil Selway: Familial

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, August 2010

GUARANTEED WORLDWIDE coverage because of his day job as Radiohead's drummer and signed to Bella Union, a UK indie label currently at the top of ...

Phil Selway: Radiohead's Philip Selway strikes out alone

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 14 August 2010

It's tough going solo when you're in one of the biggest bands in the world — Radiohead — and a drummer to boot ...

Dylan LeBlanc: "Songs are like headstones to me"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 19 August 2010

Dylan LeBlanc has crammed the baggage of his 20-year-old life — lost loves, southern living and breakdown — into his music. Now the new Neil ...

Arlo Guthrie (2010)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 August 2010

Arlo talks about songwriting and the folk tradition; his memories of his father, Woody Guthrie; on guitar playing; music and politics, and his family's history of Huntington's chorea.

File format: mp3; file size: 55.7mb, interview length: 1h 00' 47" sound quality: ****

Dylan LeBlanc: Paupers Field

Review by Everett True, bbc.co.uk, 23 August 2010

Louisiana singer taps into Gram Parsons and Neil Young on a smooth debut LP. ...

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Hawk

Review by Keith Cameron, Q, September 2010

Third album of rootsy glower from Scots/US beauty/beast duo. ...

Kris Kristofferson looks back on his early years

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Record Collector, September 2010

THERE WERE two crucial moments in Kris Kristofferson's early career. The first came on the night of 8 April 1970, in a converted old church ...

Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon: Mark Kozelek: Album By Album

Guide by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2010

NEARLY 20 YEARS into a career spanning Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon and several solo records, singer; songwriter, producer and label boss Mark Kozelek ...

Mary Chapin Carpenter: Modern Miracles: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Report and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2010

Having successfully overcome a major health scare, and now with a UK tour imminent – her latest album finding favour with fans and critics alike, ...

Arcade Fire: The Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

Review by Dorian Lynskey, Q, September 2010

IN MAY, WHEN news broke that Arcade Fire's third album would be called The Suburbs, one online fan posted a joke tracklisting featuring such numbers ...

Black Francis brings "Erotik" art to intimate space

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, 1 September 2010

BLACK FRANCIS will be doing what he's done a lot over the past few years. He'll be singing and playing guitar with the Pixies, the ...

Harry Nilsson: For the love of Harry: Nilsson documentary finally hits the big screen

Report and Interview by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 10 September 2010

I'VE BEEN WAITING for this day for a long time.  Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? opens today at the ...

Scissor Sisters: "Being on stage is some sort of revenge"

Report and Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Times, 11 September 2010

Scissor Sisters talk supporting Lady Gaga, breaking the no-clowns rule at Bestival and their filthy new live show ...

Bruce Springsteen: "People thought we were gone. Finished."

Retrospective and Interview by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 23 September 2010

Hobbled by legal wrangles, a frustrated Bruce Springsteen turned Born to Run's optimism on its head – and Darkness on the Edge of Town was ...

Ben Folds/Nick Hornby: Lonely Avenue

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 24 September 2010

WHEN IT WORKS the clever lyrical conceits glow like the criminals you see on helicopter cameras, but it's an uneven affair. ...

James: The Making Of 'Sit Down'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2010

It took a while to hit, but this Manc anthem of "madness and frailty" was inescapable in 1991. "It can still be an amazing, healing ...

Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay: Sandy Denny: "I don't think she ever gave the future the time of day…"

Retrospective by Rob Young, Uncut, October 2010

When Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention at the height of their success, she seemed destined for solo stardom. What went wrong? With the help of ...

Grateful Dead, Robert Hunter: Unsung Heroes: Robert Hunter

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, October 2010

The man who put the words into Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia's mouths... ...

Sharon Van Etten: Epic

Review by Laura Barton, bbc.co.uk, 11 October 2010

Melds pedal steel and electronica into something really rather gorgeous. ...

The Psychedelic Furs: All Of This And Nothing: The Psychedelic Furs On Talk Talk Talk

Retrospective and Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 20 October 2010

The Psychedelic Furs return to the UK in late October to play their second album, Talk Talk Talk, in its entirety. Alex Ogg spoke to ...

Blue Öyster Cult: The Making of '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'

Retrospective and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, November 2010

Riff approaching! Buck Dharma and co's "trans-awesome" tune, and the spookiest FM staple ever. "Nothing like the Byrds," apparently... ...

Journey: How 'Don't Stop Believin'' Became Such a Monster Hit

Report by Steven R Rosen, American Songwriter, November 2010

POP STARS OF disparate ages and musical styles, when forced to share a stage, can be as awkward together as "strangers waiting up and down ...

Daniel Lanois, Neil Young: Neil Young and Daniel Lanois: It's A Big Explosion

Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2010

Join us by the fire at the Mountain House restaurant in California, where Neil Young is hanging out with his new collaborator, Daniel Lanois, and ...

Mickey Newbury: Unsung Heroes: Mickey Newbury

Retrospective by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2010

Glory Glory Hallelujah! It's the original Nashville rebel... ...

Adam Ant, Primal Scream: Adam Ant: Scala, London/Primal Scream: Olympia, London

Live Review by Simon Price, The Independent, 28 November 2010

HE WAS "a little bastard" according to Adam Ant, affectionately recalling Matthew Ashman. "He'd try to catch peanuts in his mouth and say, 'Don't believe ...

Ray Davies: A Dedicated Chronicler of Fashions

Profile and Interview by Jon Savage, The Observer, 28 November 2010

IN LATE 1965, Ray Davies threw a party. One of his guests was a clothes designer, and as Davies recalled: "I got pissed off with ...

America: The Making of 'A Horse With No Name'

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, December 2010

The early '70s anthem of Californian hippiedom — all the way from Staines, Surrey. "A Satanic drug song? All I'd had was a cup of ...

John Grant's Queen of Denmark: MOJO Album of 2010

Review and Interview by Martin Aston, MOJO, December 2010

AUTHOR'S NOTE: John Grant's debut solo album Queen Of Denmark deservedly won MOJO Magazine's album of 2010. I interviewed him about the MOJO victory and ...

Johnny Flynn's Special Relationship

Profile and Interview by Andrew Purcell, The Guardian, 2 December 2010

Johnny Flynn followed his childhood sweetheart to New York, then came back and fired up the English antifolk scene. He tells Andrew Purcell about a ...

The Beach Boys, Cristina, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Shakin' Stevens: Bob Stanley's guide to writing the perfect Christmas hit

Guide by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 16 December 2010

From Elvis to Shakey, from Cliff Richard to Mark E. Smith, every pop star worth their salt has sung a song of Santa at some ...

Marina and the Diamonds: Marina & the Diamonds

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 23 December 2010

One of the breakthrough acts of 2010, Marina Diamonds shone brightly this year via her debut album The Family Jewels and colourfully skewed pop singles ...

Dan Hill: Coming Full Circle

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, SOCAN Words and Music, Spring 2010

HE'S ONE OF Canada's most successful songwriters, an artist whose songs have topped the country and pop music charts around the world. As a composer, ...

Kurt Vile: So Outta Reach

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, 2011

Stray tracks from slacker-savant singer-songwriter ...

Thunderclap Newman: One Hit Wonder: 'Something In The Air'

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO '60s, 2011

Thunderclap Newman's ethereal anthem nailed 1969's rebel Zeitgeist. Then the rows started... ...

Ron Sexsmith (2011)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 2011

The Canadian singer-songwriter talks about being underrated and about the disillusion and "creeping pessimism" in his lyrics for Long Player Late Bloomer; about Love Shines, Doug Arrowsmith's film about him; about getting signed at the ripe old age of 31; about working on Long Player with producer Bob Rock; about how he wrote songs such as 'Strawberry Blonde'; about 'God Loves Everyone' and Westboro Baptist Church; and about repeatedly watching a live DVD by Neil Diamond.

File format: mp3; file size: 64.3mb, interview length: 1h 6' 57" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Elliott Smith: The Lost Boy

Retrospective by Keith Cameron, Q, January 2011

He was the modern-day Nick Drake: a brilliant, troubled troubadour whose life was cut tragically short in mysterious circumstances, leaving a small but influential legacy. ...

John Grant

Profile and Interview by David Quantick, Uncut, January 2011

John Grant overcame religious bigotry, homophobia, drug addiction and depression to make one of the greatest albums of 2010. But why does one of his ...

Terry Reid: What Is And What Should Never Be

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, January 2011

He could have been the frontman of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Spencer Davis Group. Instead, Terry Reid embarked on a remarkable musical adventure ...

Phil Ochs Lives!

Retrospective and Interview by Michael Simmons, Huffington Post, 3 January 2011

The late Phil Ochs, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of the 1960s in a rarified perch with Dylan, Joni and Cohen, wasn't a household name ...

The Humblebums, Gerry Rafferty, Stealers Wheel: Gerry Rafferty, 1947-2011

Obituary by Michael Gray, The Guardian, 4 January 2011

Singer and songwriter known for 'Stuck in the Middle With You' and 'Baker Street' ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Promise: Bruce Before The Beatles

Review by Wayne Robins, Wayne's Words blog, 5 January 2011

IT WAS EARLY New Year's Eve, and I played Bruce Springsteen's The Promise for the friends with whom we spend that night – and sometimes ...

John Grant: Success At Last For A Rock'n'roll Survivor

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 7 January 2011

Dangerous sex, addiction and self-loathing – John Grant's turbulent life inspired one of the best albums of last year. Andy Gill meets him ...

The Archies, The Monkees: Don Kirshner

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 20 January 2011

IT IRKED Don Kirshner, who has died of heart failure aged 76, that he was never inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ...

Neil Young: Harvest Revisited

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, February 2011

A GOLDEN RICH GUITAR PHRASE pulses out warmth and beauty and Neil Young keens "I want to live/I want to give/I've been a miner for ...

Anaïs Mitchell: Going Underworld

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, February 2011

Anaïs Mitchell reworked the Opheus myth into the micro-folk stage show Hadestown in '06. My, how its grown... ...

Cat Power: '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'

Retrospective by James Medd, The Word, February 2011

SHORN OF A RIFF and chorus that are both as familiar as any in rock and roll, just verses and rhythm and a single guitar, ...

Cristina, Peggy Lee, Leiber and Stoller: Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?'

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Word, February 2011

HERE ARE TWO gutsy blondes, a million miles apart musically, turning people's heads with the same Leiber and Stoller song. ...

Danny Schmidt: Man of Many Moons

Review by Colin Irwin, bbc.co.uk, February 2011

Schmidt gambles everything on lyrical intensity and simple presentation, and succeeds. ...

Ducktails: Ducktails III – Arcade Dynamics

Review by Rob Young, The Wire, February 2011

REMEMBER HOW slack and casual early Pavement releases like Slanted And Enchanted seemed at the time? ...

Iron & Wine: "It ruins something for me when I know all the answers"

Profile and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, February 2011

PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, there is little privacy in Sam Beam's house, an octagonal behemoth one hour's drive from Austin, Texas. ...

John Cooper Clarke: "The Secret Of Longevity Is Idleness"

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, February 2011

Spidery bard, beanpole buddha of suburbia, GCSE syllabus fixture — John Cooper Clarke plants his flag on the summit of Mount Wisdom. ...

Johnnie Allan, Chuck Berry: Johnnie Allan's 'Promised Land'

Retrospective by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2011

ON 5th MARCH 1960, the same day that his rival Elvis Presley was being discharged from the army and welcomed back as an all-American icon, ...

Ron Sexsmith: Long Player: In Praise of Ron Sexsmith

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, February 2011

"We have had a gutful of fast art and fast food. What we need more of is slow art: art that holds time as a ...

Anna Calvi, Joan As Police Woman, Mélanie Pain: Mélanie Pain: My Name/Joan As Police Woman: The Deep Field/Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi

Review by James Medd, The Word, February 2011

Three records rich in charm and melancholy. Give it up for Mélanie Pain, Joan As Police Woman and Anna Calvi. ...

Randy Newman, Nina Simone: Nina Simone's 'Baltimore'

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2011

WHEN RANDY NEWMAN'S Little Criminals was released late in 1977, ending a three-year drought for the irony tsar of Tin Pan Alley, critics queued up ...

Paul Simon

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, February 2011

A GREAT SONGWRITER'S imagination knows no bounds. Take Paul Simon. His 70th birthday is coming up in October and his musical and verbal cornucopia of ...

All About Eve, Cardiacs, Levitation, The Magic Numbers: Cardiacs tribute album to raise money for paralysed singer Tim Smith

Report and Interview by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 3 February 2011

Cardiacs singer Tim Smith suffered a heart attack and a paralysing stroke two years ago, and musicians are now flocking to cover his strange, unique ...

Todd Snider: The Storyteller

Review by Steve LaBate, Paste, 8 February 2011

Songwriter's songwriter creates hilarious and heartbreaking time capsule of life in our time ...

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Review by John Doran, The Quietus, 11 February 2011

THE SPANISH PAINTER Francisco Goya was in an ideal position to comment on The Peninsula War of 1804-1808. ...

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Island)

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 11 February 2011

ON WHAT MAY be her best album, Polly Harvey offers a portrait of her homeland as a country built on bloodshed and battle, not so ...

Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst: Catching Up With... Bright Eyes

Interview by Steve LaBate, Paste, 23 February 2011

AFTER A LENGTHY FOUR-YEAR HIATUS from the band that launched his career, Conor Oberst has reunited with his longtime Bright Eyes collaborators Mike Mogis and ...

Gerry Rafferty: City To City

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, March 2011

THE RECENT, TRAGIC, DEATH of Gerry Rafferty reminded thousands of fans just how vital his contribution to the '70s was, first as a member of ...

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Review by James Medd, The Word, March 2011

PJ Harvey is "a human being affected by politics" in an absorbing new record suffused with imagery from wars past and present. And they said ...

Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers

Film/DVD/TV Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2011

The quixotic songwriter, profiled in relentless close-up. ...

Beth Ditto: Winning The Fame Game With No Regrets

Interview by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 1 March 2011

As she prepares to release her new EP with Simian Mobile Disco, Luke Turner sits down with Beth Ditto and finds that, a million record ...

Josh T. Pearson: Last of the Country Gentlemen (Mute)

Review by Kandia Crazy Horse, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 15 March 2011

SOME COWBOY angels have been crying into their beer for salvation; meantime, some of us singing cowgirls who are also in struggle push onward to ...

Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones: Behind The Song: 'Not Fade Away'

Essay by Steven R Rosen, American Songwriter, 16 March 2011

AT THIS YEAR'S Grammys, 67-year-old Mick Jagger was out from the get-go to tell the audience how it was gonna be. He wasn't ceding anything ...

Rumer: The persistence of Rumer

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 17 March 2011

Sarah Joyce was given a mission by her dying mother: to make peace with her past. She talks about the journey to Pakistan that freed ...

Roddy Woomble: The Impossible Song & Other Songs

Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, 21 March 2011

Idlewild singer's cosy, contented second solo effort. ...

Raphael Saadiq: Stone Rollin'

Review by Lloyd Bradley, bbc.co.uk, 25 March 2011

Vintage touches and modern twists combine on an irrepressible soul record. ...

Smokey Robinson: My Date With Smokey

Interview by Jon Wilde, Sabotage Times, 27 March 2011

On his 70th birthday, William "Smokey" Robinson grants exclusive access to Jon Wilde to talk cocaine, the roots of Motown and why the Stones still ...

Smog: Bill Callahan: Searching For Smog

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Word, April 2011

How, after 11 albums, has the mysterious Bill Callahan stayed so supremely unknowable? ...

Paul Simon: So Beautiful Or So What

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2011

After a 70-year emotional odyssey, Paul Simon offloads his hard-won black humour and shrugging folk wisdom. ...

Bob Dylan: In Concert: Brandeis University 1963

Review by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, 8 April 2011

WHILE LIBRARIES are filled with books about what's been gained from Dylan going electric, it's worth taking a couple minutes – maybe while listening to ...

Leon Russell: Ever the Journeyman: Leon Russell Interviewed

Retrospective and Interview by Graham Reid, Elsewhere, 13 April 2011

WHEN LEON RUSSELL left his home in Tulsa for Los Angeles after having played in teenage rock bands, a career in music wasn't what he ...

PJ Harvey: Polly Harvey reflects on a career marked by exploration and taking chances

Report and Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 15 April 2011

SAT IN THE ornate lounge room of a salubrious London hotel, Polly Jean Harvey apologises that she's finishing off a mouthful of nuts. With her ...

PJ Harvey: "I feel things deeply. I get angry, I shout at the TV, I feel sick."

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 24 April 2011

Polly Harvey opens up to Dorian Lynskey about 20 years in music and the emotions behind her latest dark masterpiece. ...

Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex: Poly Styrene

Obituary by Chris Salewicz, The Independent, 27 April 2011

Singer who blazed a trail for punk's feminist revolutionaries ...

The Waterboys: There's Something In The Water: The Waterboys' This Is The Sea at 25

Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 27 April 2011

Wyndham Wallace talks to Mike Scott of The Waterboys about his classic album This Is The Sea, 25 years on from its release… ...

Steve Earle: Alive and Kicking: Steve Earle

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, May 2011

STEVE EARLE IS, as his fellow Americans are wont to say, in a good place. "I'm pretty happy. I've got a new little boy, a ...

ABBA: Expanding the boundaries: The making of Super Trouper

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, May 2011

FOR A BAND whose music has sometimes been described as being born out of the long dark hours of the Scandinavian winter period, it may ...

Gil Scott-Heron: 1949-2011

Obituary by James Maycock, The Independent, May 2011

GIL SCOTT-HERON lived a life of two distinct, very different halves – as dissimilar as night and day. Up to his mid-30s, Scott-Heron was a ...

Mickey Newbury: American Trilogy (Saint Cecilia Knows/Mountain Retreat)

Review by Rob Young, The Word, May 2011

Mickey Newbury's songs were made famous by other people. In his own hands they reveal a strange and magical thumbprint. ...

Kate Bush: The Vanishing Siren

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Daily Telegraph, 12 May 2011

As one of pop's finest and most reclusive talents releases her first album in six years, Graeme Thomson explains her enduring appeal. ...

Matraca Berg: Dreaming Fields

Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 13 May 2011

I SHOULDN'T be writing this. It's not right. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright: 40 Odd Years and Counting

Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, 20 May 2011

THE SINGER-SONGWRITERS who came of age in the 1960s and early 1970s are the Boomers' major contribution to the Great American Songbook, and Loudon Wainwright ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 26 May 2011

JUSTIN VERNON'S life could be the most implausible reality-TV show ever. Five years ago, he split from his beardy prog-folk band, DeYarmond Edison, and moved ...

Alicia Keys Q&A

Interview by Alan Light, W, June 2011

WHAT'S THE first thing you think of when you think back ten years to the days of Songs in A Minor? The first thing I think ...

The Beatles, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor: David Browne: Fire And Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story Of 1970 (Da Capo)

Book Review by Rob Young, The Word, June 2011

AROUND 15 MAY 1970, Neil Young glanced at Time magazine's coverage of the killing of four students at Kent State, grabbed a guitar and within ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards: The Rake's Progress

Interview by Mark Ellen, The Word, June 2011

From the coal smoke of '40s Dartford to a one-million concert audience in the 21st Century, Keith Richards' rollicking memoir is the tale of an ...

PJ Harvey: Polly Harvey: An Interview

Interview by James Medd, The Word, June 2011

SHE'S SO ON-BRAND, it's like 20 years never passed: a black sleeveless vest top over a physique suggesting food is not an interest, the black ...

The National: An Interview with Matt Berninger

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, June 2011

It's been a long, slow slog to the summit for The National — "You either plant your flag or you're forgotten" ...

Arctic Monkeys: Alex Turner: "Tupac's 'California Love' is my karaoke tune of choice"

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 6 June 2011

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner talks to Metro about how living in the US made the band's new album Suck It and See sound more ...

Bon Iver: "I'm really confused right now"

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 9 June 2011

Bon Iver's first album brought Justin Vernon success beyond his comprehension. With his hugely anticipated second album out soon, Laura Barton asks – can he ...

J. D. Souther: J.D. Souther: Natural History

Review by Andrew Mueller, bbc.co.uk, 13 June 2011

Old songs, newly recorded, many of which are fine indeed. ...

East River Pipe: "A Songwriter Who Works at Home Depot": F.M. Cornog of East River Pipe interviewed

Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 15 June 2011

Cult singer songwriter Fred Cornog of East River Pipe talks to Wyndham Wallace about "scratching out a living, and trying to survive with a little ...

Fleet Foxes: How Fleet Foxes are handling high expectations

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 16 June 2011

Huge success began a steep learning curve for the Seattle band. Bandleader Robin Pecknold explains how the second album put the band in a "dark ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, July 2011

"Folk" prodigy steps outside the cabin, and engages with the world. Widescreen, intimate and glorious, says Bud Scoppa. ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver (4AD)

Review by Rob Young, The Word, July 2011

After the world's greatest break-up album, Bon Iver has pulled himself out of the quagmire of regret — with invigorating results. ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Bohemian Rhapsody

Interview by Bob Mehr, MOJO, July 2011

Fuelled by a bitter split with lover Tom Waits, scarred by spiraling addictions and underwritten by her traumatic childhood, Rickie Lee Jones' Pirates album took ...

Roy Harper: Songs Of Love And Loss: Volumes 1 & 2

Review by Rob Hughes, The Word, July 2011

Like Marmite and modern jazz, Roy Harper tends to polarise opinion. The man allergic to authority gets a digital reboot. ...

John Maus: We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 1 July 2011

IN ACADEMIA, pop enigma John Maus comes up in discussion about where hauntology meets 'utopian theory', an area of scholarly pursuit wherein blog intelligentsia will ...

Andrew Gold, 1951–2011

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 6 July 2011

Singer-songwriter famed for the 1970s chart hit 'Lonely Boy' ...

Washed Out: Within and Without

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 22 July 2011

AS THE chillwaver least inclined to confection, on his introductory EP — complete with genre-iconic artwork — Ernest Greene's one dimensional wares trod a precarious ...

Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Industry Profile: Hal David

Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 26 July 2011

HAL DAVID'S NAME should be a lyric. This prolific American lyricist who turned 90 on May 25, 2011, is chairman emeritus of the Songwriters Hall ...

Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full of Holes

Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, 1 August 2011

Wry New York power-popsters can pen a tune, but can't quite win your heart. ...

Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full of Holes

Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, 1 August 2011

Wry New York power-popsters can pen a tune, but can't quite win your heart. ...

The Brill Building Sound

Retrospective by Steven R Rosen, Paste, 22 August 2011

WHEN DON MCLEAN'S "American Pie" was released in late 1971, everyone tried to analyze what he meant by "the day the music died." McLean was ...

Ashford & Simpson: Nick Ashford, 1941-2011

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 23 August 2011

Singer and songwriter who had a string of hits with his wife, Valerie Simpson, during Motown's heyday. ...

Paul Simon: How does Paul Simon deal with his compulsive side?

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, September 2011

THE MEASURE OF Paul Simon's output first came home to me over 20 years ago when I went to see him perform at Wembley Arena. ...

Glen Campbell, J. D. Souther: J.D. Souther: Natural History/Glen Campbell: Ghost On The Canvas

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, September 2011

Half-centuries of rugged individualism are celebrated in two finely-chiselled new records. ...

Roy Harper

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, September 2011

"Unwanted Alien" — the stamp on Roy Harper's passport in 1962. It's been the story of his life: troubled outsider tries to break in. ...

Laura Marling: "I've got the confidence now"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 1 September 2011

AT JUST 21, folk star Laura Marling is already three albums into a career built on furious talent and untempered ambition. She talks to Laura ...

Ed Sheeran: +

Review by John Lewis, Metro, 11 September 2011

SINGER/SONGWRITER Ed Sheeran is a 20-year-old Prince Harry lookalike from Suffolk who somehow straddles the worlds of folksy MOR and hip hop. ...

Ed Sheeran: +

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 12 September 2011

HAVING SEEN his debut single, the haunting picture of a teenage drug-addict prostitute that was 'The A Team', hit number three earlier this year, Sheeran ...

Craig Douglas, Nic Jones, Cliff Richard: Copyright extension: good for Cliff and the Beatles, bad for the little guys?

Report by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 15 September 2011

The extension in copyright law is hailed as a victory for musicians. But while it will surely benefit Cliff, the Beatles et al, it will ...

Lindsey Buckingham: Town Hall, NYC

Live Review by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 29 September 2011

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 (New York, NY) – Most of the over-55 rocker set are phoning it in these days, playing it all too safe amidst ...

Feist: Metals

Review by John Lewis, Metro, 30 September 2011

Feist's direct, simple and appealingly childlike melodies shine throughout latest album. ...

Feist: Metals

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, October 2011

The ravishing, quasi-pagan soundscapes of Feist's third album connect most powerfully just before dawn. Prepare to be spooked. ...

The Coasters, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Big Mama Thornton: Jerry Leiber, 1933-2011

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

The man who made "15-minute radio plays" into hits. ...

Mara Carlyle: Torched Songs

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, October 2011

Mara Carlyle's album was jinxed — delayed for years in legal wrangles, then all the stock was burnt in a riot-related warehouse fire. But in ...

Nick Lowe: The Old Magic

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, October 2011

Come raise a glass in the small, vivid, brilliantly disordered universe of Nick Lowe — its life, just not quite as we know it. ...

Pajama Club: Marital Records

Profile and Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

The moment their kids left home, Neil and Sharon Finn formed a new band. Pajama Club is their "empty-nest album". ...

Paul Simon

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, October 2011

"CAN YOU IMAGINE us years from today?" wrote Paul Simon in 'Old Friends', from Simon and Garfunkel's 1968 album Bookends. "Sharing a park bench quietly/How ...

Thomas Dolby: Appliance Of Science

Interview by James Medd, The Word, October 2011

Name a musician that hasn't felt the magic plug-in of hyperactive studio dweeb Thomas Dolby. ...

Sandy Denny, Thea Gilmore: Thea Gilmore breathes new life into the words of a tragic lost star

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 14 October 2011

Folk-rock pioneer Sandy Denny left a wealth of lyrics that have inspired the artist's new album. ...

Laura Marling: Manchester Cathedral

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 25 October 2011

Laura Marling showed her uncommon poise and gift for bewitchment during her When The Bell Tolls gig at Manchester Cathedral. ...

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Review by Tom Doyle, Q, November 2011

AS THE WAR of the Gallaghers thunders on, there's little doubt that this has been a messier separation than might even have been predicted. ...

Bill Ryder-Jones: If…

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, November 2011

POP MUSICIANS have many aspirations, but one that is often hardest to fulfil is to be taken seriously. ...

Feist: Metals (Polydor)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, November 2011

LESLIE FEIST'S career path has been a zigzag. The Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based artist played guitar with rapper Peaches (who nicknamed her Bitch Lap Lap) and ...

Kate Bush: 50 Words for Snow

Review by Jude Rogers, bbc.co.uk, November 2011

The sublime and the ridiculous: this is classic Kate. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: The MOJO Interview

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, November 2011

"LOOK WHAT can happen!" grins Loudon Wainwright III, examining then-and-now portraits on the lid of his career-spanning box set, 40 Odd Years. In 1970 he's ...

'Summertime' Forever

Retrospective by James Maycock, Daily Telegraph, November 2011

IT'S EVERYWHERE. It's become part of the air we breathe. 'Summertime' certainly feels like it's been with us forever. One day this June, while making ...

Thea Gilmore: The Long Goodbye

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, November 2011

THEA GILMORE has written music for ten lost Sandy Denny lyrics. Creative time-travel or over-milking a legacy? ...

Pat Boone, Tim Buckley, David Gray, King Creosote, This Mortal Coil: 'Song to the Siren''s irresistible tang

Retrospective by Martin Aston, The Guardian, 17 November 2011

Its writer refused to record it. Pat Boone almost killed it. Then it was resurrected as a B-side to an indie prestige project. Martin Aston on how ...

George Gershwin: Searching for 'Summertime': Gershwin's masterpiece

Retrospective by James Maycock, Daily Telegraph, 19 November 2011

In some versions it's a tender lullaby, in others a siren song. Filmmaker James Maycock explores the bittersweet mysteries and colourful past of Gershwin's most ...

John Prine: Innocent Days

Interview by Holly Gleason, Paste, 23 November 2011

"FIONA MADE ME CLEAN OUT THE GARAGE," John Prine confesses with a chuckle that's equal parts warm breeze, cold beer and fried chicken. "I cursed ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver, Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)

Review by Bud Scoppa, Rock's Backpages, December 2011

ADOPTING THE nom de plume Bon Iver, Justin Vernon made the leap from unknown to major artist in the few seconds between the strummed acoustic ...

Laura Nyro

Retrospective and Interview by Bruce Pollock, brucepollockthewriter.com, December 2011

ONE OF THE MOST enigmatic and evocative and emotionally intense songwriters ever to hit the Top 40, Laura Nyro's career survived numerous dips and bends. ...

Lana Del Rey Takes Her Place On The Internet's Sacrificial Altar With Born To Die

Review by Maura Johnston, The Village Voice, 2 December 2011

IN ANOTHER era, Lana Del Rey would just be another pretty pop singer with a second-rate voice and big, unrealized ambitions, a major-label footnote maybe ...

KT Tunstall: A nice walk with a rock star — KT Tunstall

Interview by John Lewis, Do Not Disturb, Spring 2011

NOWADAYS, SINGER-SONGWRITER KT Tunstall spends a lot of time in and out of hotel rooms, touring every continent on earth. She's one of the UK's ...

Adele

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Gentlewoman, Spring 2011

2011 saw a perfect start for Adele Adkins, a British singer with incredible international appeal. When her second album was released in January, it went ...

Lily Allen, Billy Bragg, Elton John: Britain in song

Essay by John Lewis, Do Not Disturb, Summer 2011

How do the British address their cities in song? With bathos, pathos and a large helping of silliness, says John Lewis ...

Pete Townshend: Who He Is

Profile and Interview by Simon Garfield, Intelligent Life, Summer 2011

ROCK MUSIC in 2011 is not quite what it was in the mid-1960s. For one thing, it is full of challenging coincidences, such as the ...

St. Vincent: Strange Mercy

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, Fall 2011

WITH THE CRITICAL mass now in her favour, a commercial breakthrough seems inevitable for St. Vincent, known otherwise as Annie Clark, poster girl for indie ...

Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, 2012

Ivor Novello Award winner takes things a little too seriously. ...

Glen Campbell (2012)

Interview by Robin Platts, Rock's Backpages audio, 2012

The master interpreter talks about his long, fruitful relationship with songwriter Jimmy Webb, from first recording such classics as 'Galveston' and 'By The Time I Get Phoenix', to their recent collaboration on the Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session album.

File format: mp3; file size: 11.8mb, interview length: 12' 55" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Rick Springfield: Beginnings

Sleeve notes by Richie Unterberger, Real Gone Music, 2012

TO LISTENERS in the United States and most of the world, Rick Springfield's name was not familiar until he rocketed to pop music and television ...

Kate Bush: Album by album: Kate Bush

Guide by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, January 2012

It would be inadvisable to get carried away, but two album releases in 2011 suggests Kate Bush is returning to a more agreeable rate of ...

Anna Calvi: Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, January 2012

Siren of art-house blues-rock, raised on Beefheart and modelled on Edith Piaf. Ashamed of her attraction to Glee. ...

Dave Davies, The Kinks: Dave Davies: The Dedicated Follower

Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2012

Dave Davies swashbuckled his way through the '60s, a teenage musical revolutionary and provocative dandy about town. But in the early '70s, the Kinks guitarist ...

Kathleen Edwards: Voyageur

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, January 2012

Classy Americana from Canadian chanteuse produced by Bon Iver. ...

Lisa Hannigan: Companion Piece

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, January 2012

David Burke spends a little time with Lisa Hannigan and hears how her latest solo album, Passenger, is an altogether more relaxed affair. ...

Nanci Griffith: Blue Moons and True Believers

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, January 2012

About to make a welcome return to our concert halls and with a new album imminent, Nanci Griffith is in conversation with R2's David Burke. ...

Roy Wood

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, January 2012

Anyone else apart from Roy Wood ever been sued by a prime minister? ...

Todd Rundgren: The MOJO Interview: Todd Rundgren

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, January 2012

TWO DAYS AFTER a throat-shredding three-night stand at London's Jazz Café, Todd Harry Rundgren seems relieved merely to be talking. Still sporting multi-coloured – black ...

Beth Jeans Houghton: Eat To The Beat

Interview by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

Managers, labels, producers — all of them got short shrift. Beth Jeans Houghton knows precisely how she wants things to be — "edible". ...

The Black Keys: Black Keys: Keys to the Kingdom

Interview by Andy Gill, Uncut, February 2012

How an unassuming garage blues duo from Akron became the biggest new rock band of the decade. With a little help from Danger Mouse, two ...

Craig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2012

Hold Steady man's impressive solo flight. ...

Evan Dando, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando: Different Drum

Profile by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

Evan Dando's dismissal as the work-shy poster boy of bubble-grunge masks a monumental talent. Reconsider this man! argues James Medd. ...

Jackie Leven, 1950–2011: "I'm too connected to the pain of other people. It really breaks me up."

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, February 2012

In his life as in his music, the Scottish singer-songwriter who died last November found inspiration in the raw extremes of human behaviour, which he ...

Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2012

Laughing Len's new outing seems to imply it could be his last. But then again, he's done that before... ...

Paul McCartney: Macca's Ration Book Romance: 'We Three'

Comment by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, February 2012

PAUL MCCARTNEY'S latest album, Kisses On The Bottom, is, to a great extent, based around a number of songs his father once loved: age-old standards ...

Dory Previn: Remembering Dory Previn

Memoir by Loraine Alterman, Rock's Backpages, February 2012

MY DEAR FRIEND of nearly 40 years, Dory Previn, died last week. She was a great songwriter who exposed her deep feelings about love ...

Tim Hardin: The Unforgiven: Tim Hardin

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, February 2012

AS CONCEPT ALBUMS go it was one of the more eccentric creations of the late 1960s. The mouthful of a title alone (Suite for Susan ...

Tim Hardin: The Unforgiven: Tim Hardin and the Shock of Grace

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, February 2012

NOTE: This is the "director's cut" version – at almost twice the length – of a piece written for MOJO and subsequently used as the ...

Beth Jeans Houghton: Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 February 2012

IT'S NO surprise to learn that Beth Jeans Houghton has synesthesia, a condition that causes her to "taste" colours (red is just like Safeway crisps, ...

Ed Sheeran: Mercury Lounge, NYC

Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 2 February 2012

WHAT'S WITH Ed Sheeran and homelessness? The subject provides two short stories and three songs during his second set ever in the US at Mercury ...

Emeli Sandé: Her Version Of Events: Emeli Sandé Interviewed

Interview by John Doran, The Quietus, 8 February 2012

Emeli Sandé discusses human brains, Virginia Woolf and Cher Lloyd with John Doran ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon & I

Comment by Mark Leviton, Rock's Backpages, 14 February 2012

I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE about the parallels I continue to find between my own life and Loudon Wainwright III's, as he expresses events and feelings in ...

Perfume Genius: "I've learned not to trust myself"

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 16 February 2012

Porn footage and his mum were two of the inspirations for songs on Mike Hadreas's second album, which, yes, features the same themes of lurid ...

Jack, Anthony Reynolds: Anthony Reynolds

Retrospective by Chris Roberts, The Quietus, 23 February 2012

THE SONG 'Cinematic' name-checks Cocteau, Picasso and Warhol in the first lines before confessing that "I was never there, I only read the book, I ...

Bruce Springsteen: Wrecking Ball

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 24 February 2012

IN 1944, WRITING a script for a radio show Woody Guthrie wrote: "I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any ...

The Doors: When the music's never over: L.A. Woman and the Doors (or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Wasps)

Retrospective by Rob Steen, Rock's Backpages, 28 February 2012

BY NOW, they said, I would have outgrown it. When imagining myself plunged deep into the darkest inner recesses of middle age, I, too, once ...

Chris Isaak

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, March 2012

Moon pies, Brylcreem, Elvis... Why has Chris Isaak been stuck in the '50s since the 1960s? ...

Pet Shop Boys: Format 1995-2009

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2012

Pet Shop Boys' later B-sides — now compiled into a titillating album — offer an alternative narrative to the last two decades. ...

Simone Felice: Beyond Thunderdome

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2012

Acclaimed singer-songwriter and sometime novelist Simone Felice talks life, love and near-death with fellow author – and R2 philosopher – David Burke. ...

ABBA, The Beatles, John Cale, Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, The Libertines, Megadeth, Oasis, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen: Writing To Reach You

Overview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, March 2012

Because sometimes the only way musicians can actually talk to each other is by writing songs ...

Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Skip Spence: We need to talk about... Skip Spence: Oar in dark water

Retrospective by Graham Reid, Elsewhere, 5 March 2012

SYD BARRETT of Pink Floyd and Roky Erickson of Thirteenth Floor Elevators don't own the category of "mad '60s acid casualty" exclusively. ...

Paul Weller: "Be Mutton Dressed As Ram!"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, April 2012

Curmudgeonly theorist, phone-hacked serial dad, raffish poster-boy for inquisitive middle age — Paul Weller gives himself a good talking-to ...

Paul Weller: Sonik Kicks

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, April 2012

Paul Weller's unchanging image limits our view of him. His third "experimental" record fizzes with aural innovation. ...

P.P. Arnold, Sandy Denny, Thea Gilmore, Joan As Police Woman, Maddy Prior, Scritti Politti, Trembling Bells: Sandy Denny: The Battle Of Evermore

Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, April 2012

The Sandy Denny tribute show is expanding, a long-running fight to "give her songs a future". ...

Richard Thompson Goes to Camp

Report and Interview by Charles Bermant, No Depression, 6 April 2012

RICHARD THOMPSON is messing with the standard performer/audience equation in two ways this year. There was his participation in the Cayamo Songwriters' cruise in February, ...

Lambchop stands out from the herd

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, 17 April 2012

YOU'LL GET THE cut of meat, of course. And you'll find Lamb Chop, Shari Lewis' iconic hand puppet from the '60s. But at No. 1, ...

ABBA: The Visitors (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Records, 23 April 2012

The final phase: The making of The Visitors ...

Carole King: A Natural Woman: A Memoir

Book Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 25 April 2012

MY FAVORITE SCENE in Carole King's long-awaited A Natural Woman comes near the beginning — appropriately, since the teen hitmaker was the epitome of an ...

Alex Chilton: O My Soul!

Retrospective by David Cavanagh, Uncut, May 2012

Evil spirits. "Trotsky. Machiavelli. Sports. Astrology." Sessions with the Cramps and Tav Falco. Periods without shoes. Dishwashing and tree-climbing. And a heroic last stand against ...

The Divine Comedy: Neil Hannon On Lyric-Writing

Interview by James Medd, The Word, May 2012

It takes weeks to make it sound this easy, says Divine Comedy songsmith. ...

Richard Hawley: Standing At The Sky's Edge

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, May 2012

It's trippy up north. Richard Hawley has made a full-blown, widescreen psychedelic rock album — and it's a masterpiece. ...

Richard Hawley: Standing at the Sky's Edge

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, May 2012

"… AND THIS ONE'S for all the men in the house." Yes, after a decade of seducing career couples with the Roy Orbison stylings of ...

Rufus Wainwright: What I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, May 2012

Songwriting, film-scoring opera-pop dandy with formative Thomas Hardy habit. Puccini apologist and Family Guy fanatic. ...

Rufus Wainwright: Out of the Game

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 1 May 2012

FEW PEOPLE TWIST the opposing aesthetics of lush and stark with the dexterity of Rufus Wainwright, the chanteuse with the steady aim on broken hearts ...

Elvis Costello: SECC Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 15 May 2012

LOOKING AND SOUNDING like Eric Morecambe's impish rock-star nephew, Elvis Costello revealed his hitherto untapped talents as a music-hall comedian at the debut British date ...

Ray Wylie Hubbard plays Joe's Pub tonight, talks new album (with a Beatle)

Report and Interview by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 17 May 2012

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD will bring his raw, honest Texas rock'n'roll to Joe's Pub tonight. When I caught up with him the other day he was ...

The Flamingos: A Doo-Wop Dream of Love Addiction: The Pop Perfection of the Flamingos' 'I Only Have Eyes for You'

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, Catalog for Doug Aitken's Song 1 exhibition, June 2012

I WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD – a glam-rock brat awakening to the golden innocence of pre-Beatles American pop – when I shelled out for the ...

Neil Young on Americana

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, June 2012

"I JUST DIDN'T want any new songs," says Neil Young. "I was not anxious to go down that road – to have people analyzing them ...

Rufus Wainwright: The MOJO Interview

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, June 2012

WHAT WAS ON Rufus Wainwright's mind while making his new album, the sparkly, pop-ish, Mark Ronson-produced Out Of The Game? Only this. ...

Rumer

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, June 2012

"TEA ANYONE?" says Rumer from the doorway of her beach hut. "Plenty of sandwiches left." Dazed by the mad March sun, her audience of biz ...

Patti Smith: Banga

Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2012

AFTER HER National Book Award-winning memoir Just Kids greatly expanded her audience, Patti Smith could have done the usual aging-rock-legend safety move: record an album ...

Bruce Springsteen: Marc Dolan: Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll (Norton)

Book Review by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Chronicle, 15 June 2012

WHILE MOST classic rockers his age are either slowing down, retired or dead, sexagenarian Bruce Springsteen (who might also be called "sexy-genarian" by legions of ...

Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Review by Mitchell Cohen, Rock's Backpages, 21 June 2012

THE AUDACITY of the new Fiona Apple album makes me so happy, because I can imagine what went on over at her record company when ...

Joe Walsh: Taking It Easy: Joe Walsh Of The Eagles Interviewed

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 21 June 2012

Julian Marszalek speaks to Joe Walsh about life with the world's biggest rock group, going solo and, er, boshing pills and going out raving to ...

Nic Jones: What the folk! Nic Jones is back

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Irwin, The Guardian, 28 June 2012

Thirty years after the car crash that almost killed him, folk hero Nic Jones is returning to the stage. He talks about his rebuilt body ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: The dramatic ups and downs of Ray Davies

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, July 2012

RAY DAVIES is not an easy man to pin down. Our interview is planned for 5pm at a café in Highgate. No, hang on; it's ...

M. Ward: Koko, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 4 July 2012

MATTHEW WARD is set to bid farewell to his cult status. After a decade spent forging a solo career in the cosy backwater of the ...

Robert Ellis: New band of the week: Robert Ellis

Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 July 2012

Gram Parsons is long dead, but those with a taste for LA country might sense the return of the Grievous Angel in this singer ...

Jonathan Richman: The Echo, Los Angeles

Live Review by Roy Trakin, Hits, 13 July 2012

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME since I've seen the legendary founder of the Modern Lovers, the man-child my fellow companion at a show once showered ...

Diane Warren (2012)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 14 July 2012

The fabulously successful songwriter talks about her inspirations (Brill Building, Motown); not wanting to be a performer; breaking into the business, and the artists — from Laura Branigan to Aerosmith — who've covered her songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 33.4mb, interview length: 36' 31" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Kimya Dawson: The Haunt, Brighton

Live Review by Simon Price, The Independent, 14 July 2012

JUNO, THE JASON REITMAN FILM from 2007 about teenage pregnancy, divided opinion. Some inferred a conservative pro-Life agenda, others a liberal, feminist message. One thing ...

Morrissey: MEN Arena, Manchester

Live Review by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 30 July 2012

Morrissey the solo artist, playing a homecoming show at MEN Arena in Manchester, again struggles in the shadow of The Smiths, writes Rob Hughes. ...

Ed Sheeran: And another thing: Miserable songs

Comment by David Hepworth, The Word, August 2012

Writing miserable songs doesn't make you deep, boys and girls ...

Bill Fay: Life Is People

Review by Martin Aston, bbc.co.uk, August 2012

The stunning return of a prodigal son you never knew existed ...

Elton John: Panning for Gold

Retrospective by Andy Gill, The Word, August 2012

Elton John was prospecting in the land of his dreams long before he set foot in the States as a flamboyant frontiersman. ...

Rodney Crowell's Melodic Literacy

Interview by Charles Bermant, Rock's Backpages, 6 August 2012

RODNEY CROWELL, who turns 62 on August 7, has been on our radar since the 1970s, when he was the freshest horse in Emmylou Harris' ...

Bill Fay: Life Is People

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 11 August 2012

SUCCESS IN songwriting is as much a lottery as a measure of true quality. Some writers instantly catch the zeitgeist, and become household names; others, ...

World Party: Karl Wallinger: The Song that Saved My Bacon

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Daily Telegraph, 15 August 2012

IN 1997 WORLD PARTY released a song called 'She's the One'. A simple, affecting piano ballad written by Karl Wallinger "in ten minutes and recorded ...

Cate Le Bon: Cyrk II

Review by Martin Aston, bbc.co.uk, 20 August 2012

A second helping of Cyrk, accentuating the dreamier haunts of part one. ...

Jackson Browne: Cain Park, Cleveland

Live Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 20 August 2012

FOR JACKSON BROWNE, like James Taylor, a summer stop in Cleveland, Ohio is like the swallows returning to Capistrano. Throughout the '70s, the socially conscious ...

Donald Fagen: An Interview

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, September 2012

Here's Donald Fagen in New York to discuss his latest solo album, Sunken Condos. "It's a metaphor for my current phase of life," the 64-year-old ...

Aimee Mann: The Discreet Charm of Aimee Mann: An Interview

Interview by Martin Colyer, Rock's Backpages, September 2012

A freewheeling chat, taking in Mann's new Charmer, her talented collaborators, reality TV, turning up the treble, Laura Linney's focus, Jack Kerouac's drying-out and women's ...

Bob Dylan: Tempest

Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 5 September 2012

DYLAN FANS have invented some amusing parlour games. One is 'Guess That Song' from the strange, incomprehensible soup of his live performance. Another is keeping ...

Joe South, 1940-2012

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 12 September 2012

American singer and songwriter best known for 'Games People Play' ...

Mika meets Dita Von Teese: "I've had to work hard to stay like this"

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 October 2012

The flamboyant singer and the burlesque performer share their thoughts on fetishism, sexuality and pop as the ultimate masquerade. ...

Ed Sheeran: "I miss my friends and family, and Nandos": Mild-mannered Ed Sheeran's feet are firmly on the ground

Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 12 October 2012

In the era of autotuned idols, the appeal of a unflashy young man and his heartfelt songs obviously strikes a universal chord ...

Van Morrison: Born To Sing: No Plan B

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 12 October 2012

FOR VAN MORRISON, first and foremost, it's always been about the music, and finding that magic place inside the music that takes you someplace else, ...

Nick Lowe: The 'Peace' Maker: Nick Lowe

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Cincinnati CityBeat, 19 October 2012

WHEN CONSUMMATE singer/songwriter Nick Lowe played his most famous composition — '(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding' — near the World Trade Centre ...

Hurray for the Riff Raff: Protest and Survive

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, November 2012

MUSIC AS AN instrument of change – remember that concept? It may seem a little naïve at a time when even the mighty have fallen ...

ABBA: Really Doing Something: The Making of the ABBA album

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Music, November 2012

WHAT WOULD you do if you were a Swedish band who had just won the Eurovision Song Contest, a victory that resulted in the first ...

Robbie Williams: Take The Crown

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 5 November 2012

"I THINK everything about Robbie Williams is fantastic," Morrissey once declared, "except the voice and the songs." ...

Ron Sexsmith (2012)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 November 2012

The Canadian singer-songwriter on his latest album Forever Endeavour: being reunited with producer Mitchell Froom; its contrast with his previous album, the Bob Rock-produced Long Player Late Bloomer; the recording process, Froom's production and the musicians involved, and the songs... where they came from; the moods that informed them, and how they were realised.

File format: mp3; file size: 65.8mb, interview length: 1h 8' 31" sound quality: *** (Skype)

Donald Fagen

Report and Interview by Bruce Pollock, Songfacts, 7 November 2012

AT THE KEYBOARDS, Donald Fagen was the smoky voice and songwriting co-conspirator (with Walter Becker) on all of Steely Dan's classic hits, from 'Reelin' In ...

Connie Smith: Honoring Connie Smith: 45 RPM at Douglas Corner, Nashville

Live Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 7 November 2012

FOR THOSE WHO believe real country music has fled Nashville, the recent CMA Awards would do little to ease your notion. Bombast, smoke, lasers and ...

Rodriguez in Columbus, OH

Report by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, 9 November 2012

Currently riding a crest of newfound attention thanks to the recently released documentary film about his unlikely career, the Sugar Man himself arrived at Columbus' ...

Gary Barlow: Bournemouth International Centre

Live Review by David Bennun, Daily Mail, 19 November 2012

CUT GARY BARLOW, one suspects, and he bleeds light entertainment. ...

Graham Parker repeats the Rumour

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 23 November 2012

IN THE NEW Judd Apatow movie, This Is 40, Paul Rudd's character runs an indie record label that reunites Graham Parker and the Rumour, the ...

Donald Fagen: Nostalgia and The Nightfly: Good Times Never Seemed So Good (or Real) as on Donald Fagen's First Solo Set

Retrospective by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, 27 November 2012

ITEM: A recent Los Angeles Times article reported that the city's Wende Museum, which houses more than 100,000 Cold War artifacts, had outgrown its present ...

Beth Orton: Memorial Hall, Sheffield

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 28 November 2012

"GOOD EVENING Shef-f-f-f-f-iel-d-d-d," begins Beth Orton, as an incorrectly set microphone makes her voice sound as if it has been remixed by King Tubby. Then ...

David Sancious, Bruce Springsteen: E Street Serenade: Bruce Springsteen, David Sancious and the E Street Shuffle

Retrospective and Interview by Rod Tootell, Rock's Backpages, December 2012

IN SEPTEMBER 1974, a Swedish journalist was interviewing a rock singer pretty much unknown in Sweden. His name was Bruce Springsteen. ...

Neil Young

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, December 2012

"THERE'S A day of reckoning coming," says Neil Young. "These superstorms and disasters — they're not a surprise, they were predicted, and they're only going ...

Martha Wainwright: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 3 December 2012

AMONG THE prodigal polymath musicians of the Wainwright-McGarrigle clan, Martha seems destined to come second to her brother Rufus. Among the prodigal polymath musicians of ...

Rosanne Cash: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 December 2012

A HOST OF FACTORS, including brain surgery, have conspired to keep Rosanne Cash away from London for the last six years. Returning to a full ...

Kris Kristofferson: Troubadour writing on into the sunset

Interview by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 4 December 2012

Country singer Kris Kristofferson reflects on a long and "lucky" career on his new album, Feeling Mortal. He talks to Rob Hughes about why. ...

Ben Bullington, Rodney Crowell: Rodney Crowell, Ben Bullington and More: Station Inn, Nashville

Live Review by Holly Gleason, No Depression, 7 December 2012

BEN BULLINGTON had never played Nashville. The Montana doctor who'd lovingly crafted three albums thick with simple details and a voice that has a warm ...

Foals' Yannis Philippakis: Getting on his highbrow horse

Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 14 December 2012

There's a lot going on in the mind of Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis – Metro finds out more. ...

Jimmy McCracklin, 1921-2012

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, 28 December 2012

Versatile blues singer and songwriter whose compositions included 'Tramp', recorded by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. ...

Laura Mvula: Ones to watch in 2013: Laura Mvula

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 31 December 2012

Her soulful vocals and florid soundscapes have helped this 26-year-old invent a new musical genre – gospeldelia ...

John Cale: Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, Fall 2012

IT'S UNFAIR THAT, almost half a century since their formation, John Cale remains best known for his role as co-founder of the Velvet Underground. ...

The Band, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, Bruce Springsteen: This Must Be The Place: Holy Grails and Musical Meccas in Pop Culture

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Fall 2012

FOR TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT, my oral history of Led Zeppelin, one of the interviews I conducted was with Dave Bates, an almost-famous A&R man from ...

The Bee Gees: Barry Gibb: Three-Minute Genius

Book Excerpt by Clinton Walker, 'Rock Country', ed. Christian Ryan (Hardie Grant), 2013

IN 1961 THE Gibb family – parents Hugh and Barbara and kids Lesley, Barry, twins Robin and Maurice, baby Andy – were living on Queensland's ...

Donald Fagen, Steely Dan: Donald Fagen

Interview by Paul Zollo, American Songwriter, January 2013

On the occasion of Donald Fagen's latest non-Steely Dan effort, Sunken Condos, we sat down to talk about this new classic, and the previous ones. ...

Jake Bugg

Interview by Tom Doyle, MOJO, January 2013

Notts' young songwriter-voice bottles lightning, goes to Number 1. ...

Doc Pomus: It's Great to Be Young and in Love

Review by John Morthland, Wondering Sound, 3 January 2013

YEAH, that Doc Pomus, the one who wrote such '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll standards as 'Save the Last Dance for Me' for the Drifters, 'Teenager ...

Johnny Marr, The Smiths: Johnny Marr on the Smiths, Morrissey and putting politics back in pop

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 11 January 2013

With the release of his first solo album The Messenger, the former Smiths guitarist talks about finally embracing his old sound, David Cameron and why ...

Erin McKeown: Manifestra

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 15 January 2013

WITH A LOUCHE SAUNTER and a thick, descending ripple of horn punctuations, Erin McKeown opens her first self-released album with a high-ironic colonic that skewers ...

Come: Chris Brokaw and Thalia Zadek: Come On My Shirt, Come In My Ear

Interview by Neil Kulkarni, The Quietus, 17 January 2013

I'LL NEVER FORGET. 1994. A cold Wednesday morning in March. The Embassy Hotel, Bayswater. I'm sat down, inside, smoking 'cos you could back then, and ...

Tim Hardin: Remembering the lost genius of his music

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Daily Telegraph, 18 January 2013

BOB DYLAN once called him "the greatest songwriter alive" and Joe Strummer regarded him as a "lost genius of music". Yet when Tim Hardin died ...

Matthew E. White: Lexington, London

Live Review by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 24 January 2013

"THIS ONE'S a groover," smiles a hirsute, check-shirted Matthew E White, looking like the Kings of Leon's friendly stoner cousin as he leads his five-piece ...

SOAK: One to watch: SOAK

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Guardian, 27 January 2013

The 16-year-old singer-songwriter from Derry SOAK aka Bridie Monds-Watson, releases her second EP in a year ...

Aimee Mann: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 29 January 2013

"WOW, THERE ARE people in here all of the way to the back!" marvels Aimee Mann two songs in, shielding her eyes to gaze deep ...

Richard Thompson: Electric

Review by Charles Bermant, No Depression, 29 January 2013

YOU GOTTA FEEL for someone who doesn't own any Bob Dylan or Neil Young albums and hasn't a clue where to start. There are too ...

Lianne La Havas: Effenaar, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Live Review by Jude Rogers, Q, February 2013

YOU'RE 23 AND released your first single a year ago. ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Push the Sky Away

Review by Mark Mordue, The Monthly, February 2013

WE DON'T OFTEN go on journeys with musicians any more. Not over the length of an album. From iTunes to Spotify, we live in an ...

Ron Sexsmith: Forever Endeavour

Press Release by Barney Hoskyns, Cooking Vinyl Records, February 2013

IN A WORLD of workaday singer-songwriters mired in vacuous self-regard, news of a new Ron Sexsmith record can only gladden the heart of those who ...

Eels: Wonderful, Glorious

Review by John Lewis, Metro, 1 February 2013

THE TENTH ALBUM from Eels shows that, while they may have fallen out of the limelight, their music is as sharp as ever. ...

The Troggs: Reg Presley, 1941-2013

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 5 February 2013

THE TROGGS WERE not among the most technically proficient of British pop groups of the 1960s, but they generated great affection among audiences and disc ...

Frightened Rabbit: "We were never cold enough to be art school"

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Metro, 7 February 2013

Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison talks about swearing, not being an art school band and their new album Pedestrian Verse. ...

Kris Kristofferson: Feeling Mortal

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 12 February 2013

AT 76, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON is one of Americana's true icons. A witness to old-school hillbilly music, rock's excess, punk's rebellion and modern country, the Rhodes ...

Frightened Rabbit: Concorde 2, Brighton

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 14 February 2013

UNTIL RECENTLY, Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit were best-known for being bigger in America than at home. ...

Mark Kozelek: Like Rats

Review by Steve LaBate, Paste, 19 February 2013

THE CONCEPT BEHIND Mark Kozelek's new record — take metal songs, punk songs, classic-rock and pop songs and deliver 'em slow and soft, accompanied only ...

Kevin Ayers, 1944-2013

Obituary by Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 20 February 2013

Founder member of Soft Machine and a key figure in British psychedelic rock. ...

Devendra Banhart: Mala

Review by Laura Barton, bbc.co.uk, March 2013

A sense of love and lightness lingers after this eighth album has run its course. ...

John Fullbright

Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2013

AN OKLAHOMAN FARMBOY joining the dots between Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt. ...

Sinead O'Connor: How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?

Interview by John Lewis, Barbican show programme, March 2013

"WHEN I'M AN old lady, I promise you I'll write my memoirs," Sinead O'Connor tells me. They promise to be quite a tale, because it's ...

Ed Harcourt: Death Before Silence: Ed Harcourt's Baker's Dozen

Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 4 March 2013

Singer, songwriter, pianist and all round bon viveur Ed Harcourt talks to Wyndham Wallace about his favourite records. ...

Leo Abrahams: Zero Sum

Review by Wyndham Wallace, bbc.co.uk, 4 March 2013

Prized session guitarist teases with six tracks of graceful simplicity. ...

Steve Mason: "I don't think rioting is the answer any more"

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Observer, 10 March 2013

Former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason explains why not everything on his new solo album is political. ...

Billy Bragg: SXSW: Billy Bragg plays songs from new album, plus one inspired by the Bible

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 15 March 2013

"THE PROBLEM with most protest songs," Billy Bragg said Wednesday afternoon, "is people spend all their time on the protest and not enough on the ...

The Magnolia Electric Co., Songs: Ohia: Jason Molina, 1973-2013

Obituary by Everett True, The Guardian, 19 March 2013

US singer-songwriter who combined rock with alt-country as Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. ...

John Grant: 'This Addictive Personality Permeates My Entire Being'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Independent on Sunday, 24 March 2013

After fighting drug problems, John Grant declared on stage that he was HIV-positive. Nick Hasted meets a very candid indie star ...

Stephen Stills: Carry On

Review by Mick Houghton, Record Collector, April 2013

CAN SOMEBODY be just too talented? If so, Stephen Stills is a perfect case study, and this new four-disc set offers up a myriad examples ...

Yip Harburg and the Story of 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead'

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, April 2013

THOUGH I HAVE tremendous sympathy for those who lost their jobs, their dignity and sometimes their lives, following the pit closures and ensuing strike of ...

Greg Lake (2013)

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 17 April 2013

The late progster talks about writing songs for ELP and King Crimson; writing methods; writing with Pete Sinfield; the pleasure of playing live, and one particularly hairy gig with ELP in Bologna, Italy.

File format: mp3; file size: 33.7mb, interview length: 36' 50" sound quality: *** (phoner)

Burt Bacharach: "He writes in hat sizes. Seven and three-fourths." Frank Sinatra on Burt Bacharach

Comment by Mitchell Cohen, Rock's Backpages, 27 April 2013

IF THE DETAILS of Burt Bacharach's romantic escapades — and there were many, since as Sammy Cahn once said, Burt was the only songwriter who ...

Michael Hurley: On the Trail of the Lonesome Snock

Profile and Interview by Byron Coley, Arthur, 27 April 2013

Wily folkplayer Michael Hurley (aka Elwood Snock) has charmed hip audiences for over fifty years now with his timeless surrealist tunes and sweetly weird comics, ...

The Doors, Ray Manzarek: Ray Manzarek was the key to the Doors

Comment by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 21 May 2013

As a teenager, I stuck a picture of Ray Manzarek on my school pencil tin — no other musician could make you feel like you ...

Laura Marling: Once I Was an Eagle

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 24 May 2013

EVEN IN A CAREER already marked by unusual precocity, Once I Was an Eagle is an extraordinary achievement, the kind of album that both summarises ...

Lianne La Havas: "I get pure happiness from making songs"

Interview by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 26 May 2013

She is compared to Sade and Amy Winehouse, with the biggest names in music lining up to duet with her. Barbara Ellen meets Lianne La ...

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: How we made: Jiggs Chase and Ed Fletcher on 'The Message'

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 27 May 2013

The producer and MC of the hip-hop classic recall trying to persuade Grandmaster Flash to grow a social conscience.               ...

Travis: How We Learned to Hate Travis and Why We May Be Wrong

Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 28 May 2013

With Where You Stand, their seventh album – and first for five years – due out this summer, frontman Fran Healy joins Wyndham Wallace to ...

Deerhunter: The Tall Guy

Profile and Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, June 2013

Corrupted from birth by Lou Reed, driven by his own otherness and "music that sounds haunted", Deerhunter's Bradford Cox is the most intense, extraordinary, outspoken ...

Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, June 2013

WHEN LAURA Marling announced that her follow-up to 2011's A Creature I Don't Know would be a mostly solo acoustic affair, one may have been ...

Laura Marling: Once I Was An Eagle (Virgin)

Review and Interview by Andy Gill, Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2013

The "English Joni" ruthlessly dissects her love life on confessional fourth. ...

Laura Mvula: South by Southwest, Austin, Texas

Live Review by Bob Mehr, MOJO, June 2013

Brummie nu-soul darling beats fast food hand-outs and industry hype at US debut in Lone Star state. ...

Tom Waits: Tom's Wild Year: The Story of Swordfishtrombones

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Classic Rock, June 2013

HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU it was not. Tom Waits did, however, have news for fellow guest Ian Hislop, rounding on the latter after ...

Burt Bacharach: What Was it All About?

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 1 June 2013

AT THE AGE OF 85, the man who has been described as the greatest songwriter of the 20th century cuts a surprisingly energetic and restive ...

Laura Nyro, Mark Winkler: Mark Winkler Finds Healing in the Songs of Laura Nyro

Report and Interview by Kirk Silsbee, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 7 June 2013

ASK JAZZ SINGER and songwriter Mark Winkler which of his parents he favors and he's unequivocal.  "Oh, I'm definitely my mother's son," he grins.  "My ...

Lorde: New Band Of The Week: Lorde

Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 June 2013

THIS NZ TEEN is about to make a big splash beyond blog-land. Think Lily meets Lana, only cuter and more cutting. ...

Elton John: Don't Shoot the Piano Player: Elton's Croc-Rock Reconsidered

Retrospective by Gene Sculatti, Rock's Backpages, 17 June 2013

FOR SOME REASON — most likely the much-reported news of his participation in the new Queens of the Stone Age album — I've lately found ...

Miracle Legion, Mark Mulcahy: Heart Still Attached: Mark Mulcahy & Miracle Legion

Retrospective and Interview by Fred Mills, Blurt, 24 June 2013

The erstwhile Miracle Legion vocalist crafts a fresh solo masterpiece. Meanwhile, Blurt presents a Mulcahy interview from the deep archives. ...

Cat Power: Swooning Songs and Psychotic Episodes

Interview by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 25 June 2013

CHAN MARSHALL has things on her mind. Big things. We're in the games room of her London hotel — all dim-lit ambience and trophy antlers ...

Burt Bacharach: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 27 June 2013

BURT BACHARACH strolls onto the Festival Hall stage like he's stepping on board a yacht, the brass buttons on his blazer gleaming in the spotlight. ...

Guy Clark: My Favorite Picture Of You

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, July 2013

Deeply personal return for seasoned Texan ...

J.J. Cale: Real Gone: J.J. Cale

Obituary by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, July 2013

Call him the breeze. The originator of the Tulsa Sound died age 74 of a heart attack in California. ...

Willie Nile Hits New Career Peak with American Ride

Report and Interview by Jeff Slate, Guitar World, 1 July 2013

ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, BBC disc jockey Spencer Leigh reviewed a show by my old band, the Badge, and wondered how we were able to ...

Petula Clark: An Interview

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 4 July 2013

PETULA CLARK WAS 80 years old when she released her 2013 album Lost In You, an elegant and contemporary set produced by John Williams – ...

Ian Hunter: When I'm President

Review by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 17 July 2013

WHILE MOST OF the Old Guard have slipped into the comfort of greatest hits packages and endless reissues, a few of them – Bob Dylan, ...

Burt Bacharach: Royal Festival Hall, London SE1; Anyone Who Had a Heart (Alcourt)

Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 18 July 2013

The effect of seeing Bacharach live at the Royal Festival hall was to be hit by more top-40 songs that you'd think a single act ...

Valerie June: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Lois Wilson, MOJO, August 2013

Memphis singer follows the gravelled road to Camden Lock. ...

Jack Clement, 1931-2013

Obituary by Tony Russell, The Guardian, 11 August 2013

JACK CLEMENT, who has died aged 82, was not only a prolific and successful songwriter and an able musician but had a long track record ...

Roy Harper: Confessions of a Hippie Sage

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 15 August 2013

Roy Harper has a glittering list of admirers, from Pink Floyd to Kate Bush. He tells Rob Hughes why it's taken 13 years to make ...

Zola Jesus: A Zola Jesus Baker's Dozen: 13 LPs By Women Who Inspired Me To Sing

Interview by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 27 August 2013

Zola Jesus (Nika Rosa Danilova) gives us a special Baker's Dozen — 13 albums by female singers who inspired her to find her own voice ...

Robbie Fulks: Gone Away Backward

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 27 August 2013

ALWAYS THE contentious kind, Robbie Fulks flexes the old Tareyton Cigarettes mode of doing business: "I'd rather fight than switch." To that end, he's remained ...

Leonard Cohen, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor: Nine Inch Nails: Reading Festival / Leonard Cohen: The Brighton Centre

Live Review by Simon Price, The Independent, 31 August 2013

The Nine Inch Nails frontman is still furious after all these years. But, at 78, Leonard Cohen knows it's better to be a lover than ...

Anna Calvi on Anna Calvi

Interview by Martin Aston, MOJO, September 2013

Twickenham's intense guitar and voice bailaor breathes again with album two. ...

Beck: Barbican & Union Chapel, London

Live Review by John Lewis, Uncut, September 2013

Where he's at… Beck tackles his backlog of songs, with a little help from his friends  ...

Elvis Costello, The Roots: Elvis Costello and Questlove

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, MOJO, September 2013

Forged in the unlikely surroundings of an American late-night TV show, the transatlantic union between Elvis Costello and The Roots' drummer and co-frontman Questlove has ...

Harry Nilsson: I Sang My Balls Off For You, Baby!

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, September 2013

"I'D JUST CALL Harry Nilsson a genius," says Van Dyke Parks. "And by the way, I haven't met any others. He redefined what a song ...

Warren Zevon: Keep Him In Your Heart For a While: Remembering Warren Zevon

Retrospective by Jim Sullivan, Rock's Backpages, September 2013

IT WAS THE FALL of 1989 and I was having lunch with Warren Zevon at Musso & Frank's, the famous Old Hollywood restaurant where he ...

The Band, Robbie Robertson: Robbie Robertson

Interview by Alan Light, MSN.com, September 2013

ROBBIE ROBERTSON isn't exactly known for being prolific. In the almost 37 years since The Last Waltz marked his final show with The Band, he ...

Ron Sexsmith: A spoonful of sugar

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, September 2013

Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith's true-life confessions are easy to swallow, says David Burke. So why isn't he more widely prescribed? ...

Bob Dylan: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971), The Bootleg Series Vol. 10

Review by Jeff Slate, Guitar World, 2 September 2013

THE THING ABOUT being a fan of Bob Dylan is that the discovery of his greatness is never-ending. ...

Neko Case: The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 3 September 2013

ONCE MERELY A third of the New Pornographers' indie-rock-Avengers front line and a solo act with country-rock leanings, ginormous pipes and comedy-club-stage banter, Neko Case ...

Prefab Sprout: Paddy McAloon: "I'll do without an audience to make the music I want"

Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 September 2013

Prefab Sprout sold millions of records in the '80s, but singer Paddy McAloon always made music for himself rather than the masses. Now he's back ...

Elton John: Rocket Man on a New Mission

Report and Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 13 September 2013

After serious illness, the star is back with his best album in years. He tells Andy Gill how he found a new lease of life. ...

Tears For Fears: This Is Going To Hurt: The Mad World Of Tears For Fears’ Debut LP

Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 20 September 2013

In his 100th piece for The Quietus, Wyndham Wallace talks to five key figures behind Tears for Fears to present an epic oral history of ...

Ty Segall: Garage rock's Pied Piper leads a new march

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Guardian, 21 September 2013

The hardest-working slacker in lo-fi has another album coming out, but this time he's having a bash on drums. ...

Kitchens of Distinction: An Accidental Comeback: Reassembling Kitchens of Distinction

Retrospective and Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 23 September 2013

The return of Kitchens of Distinction was unexpected, even for the band. Wyndham Wallace joins them for their first face-to-face interview together in almost two ...

Garland Jeffreys: Truth Serum

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 27 September 2013

FOR MORE THAN four decades, Garland Jeffreys has been playing, writing, performing, always close to the top, but somehow remaining the invisible man who never ...

ABBA: Ring Ring (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Records, October 2013

The First Step: The Making Of The Ring Ring Album ...

Julia Holter: Loud City Song

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, October 2013

Massive step forward for mesmerising talent. ...

Lorde: Pure Heroine

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 1 October 2013

"DON'T YOU THINK that it's boring how people talk," Lorde hypnotically intones as Pure Heroine, her wildly anticipated debut opens on the confessional 'Tennis Court'. ...

Lorde be praised

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, 27 October 2013

The 16-year-old Ella Yelich-O'Connor looks like the most remarkable songwriter of her generation ...

Lou Reed: I Thought That Lou Reed Would Outlive Death Itself

Obituary by John Doran, Noisey, 28 October 2013

STUPIDLY, I thought Lou Reed would outlive death itself. It wasn't just his implacable, gimlet-eyed countenance; his face already a kind of premature living death ...

Lou Reed, 1942-2013

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 28 October 2013

Velvet Underground frontman and solo artist whose hymns to transgressive behaviour created an audience of outsiders. ...

Lou Reed: The Wild Side, Magic, and Loss

Obituary by Robert Dean Lurie, National Review, 29 October 2013

His subjects were difficult and his voice abrasive, but he never tried to be anyone other than himself. ...

Jake Bugg: Shangri La

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, November 2013

IT IS JAKE BUGG'S misfortune to be recording in a cynical, over-mediated age. ...

Lou Reed: Why no one wanted to write his obituary

Comment by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 1 November 2013

MOST ROCK STARS are about 70 years old these days, so their departure is a constant possibility and music journalists are mentally prepared to trot ...

Paul Williams – Still Alive!!

Retrospective by Gary Pig Gold, PopDiggers, 9 November 2013

I FIRST BECAME aware of the man in 1970, as composer of what to this very day remains my absolute favourite Three Dog Night tune, ...

St. Vincent: The Totally Original Sound of St. Vincent

Profile and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Smithsonian , December 2013

TO UNDERSTAND Annie Clark's inventiveness as a composer, it helps to listen more closely to the first single off her latest solo album, Strange Mercy. ...

Jackson C. Frank: The tragic tale of Jackson C. Frank, forgotten legend of the '60s

Retrospective by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 9 January 2014

He was one of the great singer-songwriters of the '60s folk scene, more highly regarded by some than Paul Simon. But he only recorded one ...

Albert Hammond Jr.: Albert Hammond, Jr.: Chasing Greatness

Interview by Steve LaBate, Paste, 20 January 2014

IT'S BEEN 13 lucky years — count 'em — since The Strokes' epic garage- and post-punk-channeling debut provided an indispensable shot in the arm to ...

Leonard Cohen: This Is What It's Like To Have Lunch With Leonard Cohen

Retrospective and Interview by Jon Wilde, Sabotage Times, 20 January 2014

ONE OF THE finest talents of modern music, Leonard Cohen has enjoyed something of a resurgence in later life. I got the opportunity to pick ...

Bill Callahan: Have Fun With God

Review by Steve LaBate, Paste, 21 January 2014

AS THE TITLE suggests, this record is the ghost of Bill Callahan's Dream River, drifting hypnotic across the astral plane and breaking through the white ...

Rosanne Cash: The River & The Thread

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 21 January 2014

LIKE A GOOD claret or damp moss, Rosanne Cash's singing is something to sink into. Surrender to the tones – mostly dark, but marked by ...

Matraca Berg: The Daughter of Music Row

Retrospective and Interview by Holly Gleason, Oxford American, 22 January 2014

A SLIGHT, YOUNG brunette stood alone in a navy Richard Tyler slip on the Opry House stage, backed by a pianist and a string quartet, ...

Rosanne Cash: The River and the Thread

Review by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, 23 January 2014

ONE OF THE LAST songs Johnny Cash recorded was the moving 'September When It Comes' with his daughter Rosanne for her 2003 album Rules of ...

Mark Lanegan, Screaming Trees: Mark Lanegan: Shadow Play

Interview by Rob Hughes, Record Collector, February 2014

Over a series of solo albums, work with Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age, among others, Mark Lanegan has proved his worth as ...

Suzanne Vega: The Sage, Gateshead

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 3 February 2014

The black-clad singer-songwriter gives her new album an ethereal feel, but still delivers her crowd-pleasing classics — and pays homage to a legendary fellow New ...

Suzanne Vega (2014)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 February 2014

The singer/songwriter talks about her first album in seven years, Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles; her writing process and collaboration with Gerry Leonard; the influence of spiritualism and the Tarot, and sampling 50 Cent!

File format: mp3; file size: 12.7mb, interview length: 13' 54" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Rosanne Cash (2014)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 10 February 2014

The not-so-native New Yorker on her current album The River and the Thread; on rediscovering the American South, and the Tallahatchie Bridge; on being Johnny Cash's daughter; working with her husband and co-writer John Leventhal; on songwriting, and her sewing circle!

File format: mp3; file size: 57.9mb, interview length: 1h 00' 16" sound quality: ****

Beck: Morning Phase

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, 24 February 2014

A MAVERICK musical magpie, Beck has over his 20-year career veered off into nu-folk, Mississippi blues, hip-hop, country, funk and electro-hued pop noir. He never ...

David Crosby: "The FBI scare me more than Hell's Angels"

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 26 February 2014

The legendary songwriter on Janis Joplin, being "the voice of cosmic America" and Croz, his first solo album in 20 years.   ...

Elbow's Guy Garvey reveals how New York – and its cab-drivers – revitalised both him and his songwriting

Profile and Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 26 February 2014

WHEN GUY GARVEY split from his long-time partner Emma Unsworth, he had to get away. Far away. The genial, bear-like singer knew he needed a ...

Fleetwood Mac: Then play on

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, March 2014

British blues band Fleetwood Mac rose to fame on the strength of Peter Green's playing and writing. Their success as an Anglo-American AOR act is ...

Lykke Li: MOJO Working

Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, March 2014

Heavy sorrow and the revealing light of Los Angeles combine on the third album from emotional Swede. ...

Marissa Nadler: July (Bella Union)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, March 2014

AN INITIALLY unlikely partnership that, if you think about, makes perfect sense, July sees folk-gothic singer songwriter Marissa Nadler team up with producer Randall Dunn, ...

Sheryl Crow

Report and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2014

SHERYL CROW'S made a country album, they said. She's living down there in Nashville, hanging out with Vince Gill and Brad Paisley, going to church ...

Beck's back: A new album from pop's coolest chameleon

Profile and Interview by Ian Gittins, Daily Telegraph, 1 March 2014

The singer-songwriter Beck talks about his new album, Morning Phase, the latest turn on a zig-zag career. ...

Lorde: Sound Academy, Toronto

Live Review by Juliette Jagger, Exclaim!, 16 March 2014

A LONE SPOTLIGHT cut through the blackness in the room to reveal Lorde at centre stage, where her presence was immediately overwhelming. ...

Banks: Trinity, Bristol

Live Review by Simon Price, New York Observer, 23 March 2014

Banks is on everyone's Next Big Thing list. This haunting show proves the American R&B star worthy of the hype ...

Eric Carmen: "I Wanted to Find Where the Magic Was"

Profile and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 26 March 2014

VERY FEW articles about Eric Carmen (including, sadly, this one) do not include the term "power pop" somewhere to describe the music he's made with ...

ABBA: Reaching Out: The making of Waterloo

Sleeve notes by Carl Magnus Palm, Polar Records, April 2014

THE DATE IS April 6, 1974, and the scene is backstage at the Dome in Brighton, England, the spectacular building hosting the BBC's production of ...

Chrissie Hynde: "Alcohol is worse than heroin and my pal Kate Moss should lose the fur coats": Chrissie Hynde on fighting form

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 12 April 2014

She has single-handedly built the template for the modern female rock'n'roller: she has out-partied, out-married and, in many cases, outlived her contemporaries. ...

Kate Bush: Sonic Foam: Kate Bush

Essay by Ian Penman, London Review of Books, 17 April 2014

A DREAM, just before waking. It's a day or two after Kate Bush's unexpected announcement of her return to the concert stage for a series ...

Hamell On Trial: The trials of being Ed Hamell

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 21 April 2014

He thrashes his battered guitar and sings about De Niro and Bill Hicks. But he's lucky to be alive, following a car accident for which ...

Eels: The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 22 April 2014

THERE'S AN INHERENT SOFT-FOCUS to Mark Everett's worldview. His jagged details scrape your flesh to the bone, but his bitterness or rancor is tempered with ...

Damon Albarn: "Pop's gone back to showbiz. It's like the Beatles or Dylan never happened."

Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 27 April 2014

WHEN DAMON ALBARN was nine, he persuaded his parents, who were in the process of moving house from Leytonstone in east London to rural Essex, ...

Afghan Whigs: The Afghan Whigs: Do To The Beast (Sub Pop)

Review by Simon Price, Q, May 2014

WOMEN OF a certain age and tastes still come over all peculiar at the mention of Greg Dulli's name. Certain men, too. Of all the ...

Bobby Charles: Bobby Charles

Review and Interview by Luke Torn, Uncut, 12 May 2014

Swamp-pop goes Woodstock: Louisiana legend's rarely heard '72 masterpiece with The Band... ...

Bert Berns: Joel Selvin: Here Comes the Night – The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm & Blues

Book Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 12 May 2014

EVERY SO OFTEN, a music bio arrives that becomes "the book to read." Think of Last Train To Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley and ...

Dave Mason, Traffic: Traffic Jammer Dave Mason Peers Into His Future's Past

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 14 May 2014

MOST OF THE TIME, a traffic jam is a wholly unpleasant experience and something to avoid at all costs. But when the said confluence of ...

Leonard Cohen: Liel Leibovitz: A Broken Hallelujah – Rock 'n' Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen

Book Review by Robert Dean Lurie, Front Porch Republic, 16 May 2014

LEONARD COHEN occupies an unusual position in popular music history. He is routinely neglected by those "Best of the 60's" nostalgia-fests you see on VH1, ...

Bert Berns: Hit Man: Joel Selvin's Here Comes the Night

Book Review by Robert Gordon, The New York Times Book Review, 30 May 2014

BERT BERNS the producer is the Phil Spector you've never heard of. Bert Berns the songwriter is the Leiber and Stoller you've never heard of. ...

Hurray for the Riff Raff: Bard of the Big Easy

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 31 May 2014

Alynda Lee Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff was living rough until New Orleans inspired her to sing. "I owe the city," she tells ...

Bobby Womack: Save The Children (Solar)

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, June 2014

WHEN BOBBY WOMACK died on June 27th, 2014, at the age of 70, he was one of the last links to the world of '60s ...

Bobby Womack: It's All Over Now: Remembering Bobby Womack

Memoir by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, June 2014

[This is the original – and very slightly different – version of a piece that appeared in the Observer on 29 June, 2014.] ...

Ned Doheny: Separate Oceans

Review by Steven R Rosen, Blurt, June 2014

Smooth '70s soul-pop, as revisited by the estimable archivists at Numero Group, never sounded silkier. ...

Roddy Frame: Seven Dials

Review and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, June 2014

IT'S BEEN EIGHT years since Roddy Frame's last album, Western Skies, and over 30 since his arrival as a precocious prodigy from East Kilbride, the ...

Sharon Van Etten: Are We There (Jagjaguwar)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, June 2014

It's fair to say she's arrived. ...

Sharon Van Etten: Are We There

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2014

Sharon Van Etten's follow-up to her 2012 breakthrough is full of elegantly drawn gloom. ...

Chrissie Hynde: Talker Of The Town: Chrissie Hynde

Interview by Simon Price, The Quietus, 10 June 2014

Chrissie Hynde is releasing her first-ever solo album. But never mind that. Just let her talk. Because the legendary Pretenders leader can talk for London, ...

Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence: What the Critics Are Saying

Report by Roy Trakin, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 June 2014

Sophomore album proves the chanteuse has created a strong identity, thanks to a back-to-basics production by Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. ...

Bob Dylan: Unlike a Rolling Stone

Comment by Robert Dean Lurie, The American Conservative, 20 June 2014

Why Bob Dylan, troubadour of the revolution, turned homeward. ...

Gerry Goffin, 1939-2014

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 20 June 2014

Lyricist who, with his partner Carole King, wrote many hit songs of the 1960s. ...

Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull: The Fast-Moving Mind (and Mouth) of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 2 July 2014

IT SEEMS THAT Gerald Bostock, the noted writer and lyricist, is at it again. ...

Future Islands: Singles Night

Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 10 July 2014

Baltimore's synthpop trio Future Islands are so hot right now, not even Hollywood royalty can stand in their way. ...

Daniel Patrick Quinn: Acting The Rubber Pig

Review by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 25 July 2014

WHERE HAVE ALL the awkward bastards gone, the square pegs in round holes, those who wilfully follow difficult paths, to their own detriment, in a ...

Courtney Barnett: Truth Blurts Out

Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 31 July 2014

Humble Aussie singer returns from an explosive U.S. tour ...

Kate Bush

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, August 2014

YOUNG KATE. I sat across from her in EMI offices and Abbey Road Studios for around seven hours, 1979-89, asking awkward questions and getting awkward, ...

The Kooks' Luke Pritchard: "When I look back on some of the songs I wrote, it makes me laugh"

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 August 2014

The new Kooks record features electric church music, a strong Ethiopian-jazz influence ... and no songs about the singer's penis. No wonder Luke Pritchard thinks ...

The Eagles: Some Dance to Remember, Some Dance to Forget: A Few Thoughts on Iraq, 'Hotel California' and Coming Home

Essay by Deanne Stillman, Los Angeles Review of Books, 23 August 2014

FOR THE PAST three years, I've been away from California, living in Arizona but returning to the Golden State as much as I could. It ...

Garland Jeffreys: Truth Serum (Luna Park)

Review by Larry Jaffee, The Audiophile Voice, September 2014

TALK ABOUT SECOND acts. After much success as an acclaimed recording artist and performer from the early 1970s through the early 1980s, Garland Jeffreys sort ...

James Yorkston : The Cellardyke Recording & Wassailing Society (Domino)

Review and Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, September 2014

IT’S A RARE joy when an artist with unfailingly high standards over a decade-long career reaches a new level of excellence – and, with his ...

Ed Sheeran: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London ****

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2014

Choirmaster builds to a climax... but keeps his shirt on. The multimillion-selling star stretches English self-deprecation to the limits while creating a whole band's worth of ...

Taylor Swift on 1989

Interview by Alan Light, Radio.com, October 2014

  "EVERY RECORD, I've tried to challenge myself to make something different," says Taylor Swift. "Red was really experimental, so I ended up with a sound ...

Lynsey de Paul "stood out like a cut-glass decanter among milk bottles"

Retrospective by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 2 October 2014

Author Bob Stanley pays tribute to singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul, who has died from a suspected brain haemorrhage. ...

Lynsey de Paul, 1950-2014

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 2 October 2014

Singer, composer and the first female musician to win an Ivor Novello award. ...

Bachman Turner Overdrive, The Guess Who: Randy Bachman Is Forever Takin' Care of Business

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 8 October 2014

IN HIS CAREER as a co-vocalist/guitarist/songwriter for not one but two pretty successful classic-rock bands, the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Randy Bachman has sold ...

Julian Casablancas: "I have nothing against gentrification"

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 9 October 2014

The Strokes singer on brunch and banks, dictatorship in the US and his Voidz protest album, Tyranny. ...

Neil Young's After The Gold Rush

Review by Juliette Jagger, Noisey, 10 October 2014

RELEASED IN THE fall of 1970, Neil Young's After The Gold Rush has over the course of the past 40 plus years become widely known ...

Jackson Browne: Standing in the Breach

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 21 October 2014

IN 1974, JACKSON BROWNE released his third album, his masterpiece Late For The Sky, a record that was brilliantly constructed in every way from the ...

Jackson Browne: Chronicling the Daze Between Washington and Wall Street

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 21 October 2014

IN 1974, JACKSON Browne released his third album, his masterpiece Late For The Sky, a record that was brilliantly constructed in every way from the ...

Jake Bugg: Alexandra Palace, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 22 October 2014

JAKE BUGG'S ASCENT to fame may have been precipitous, but his idea of showmanship remains remarkably minimalist. ...

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold – Songs from the Vault

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 23 October 2014

The star re-records a batch of lost demos from four decades, using Nashville session A-team. ...

George Harrison Revisited, Part One: The dark horse bolting out of the gate

Retrospective by Graham Reid, Elsewhere, 24 October 2014

PERHAPS HE WAS no more contradictory than any of us, but because of his larger life George Harrison sometimes seemed to be a man of ...

Survivor: Jim Peterik Still Has That Eye of the Tiger

Retrospective and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 28 October 2014

AN ANSWERING-MACHINE message not only changed Jim Peterik's life forever, but led to the creation of one of the '80s biggest anthems that can still ...

Baxter Dury: It’s A Pleasure

Review and Interview by Jamie Atkins, Classic Rock, November 2014

BAXTER DURY’S last album, Happy Soup, saw the singer-songwriter follow a period of extended downtime with a more pared-back and lo-fi sound. It’s A Pleasure, ...

Bruce Cockburn: Rumours of Glory

Sleeve notes by Nicholas Jennings, True North Records, November 2014

IN HIS ILLUMINATING memoir, also called Rumours of Glory, Bruce Cockburn writes: "My songs are influenced by what I read, where I travel and what ...

Jackson Browne (2014)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, November 2014

The singer/songwriter talks about his appreciation of the tribute album Looking Into You; on Los Angeles then and now — the cheap rents, and sharing with JD Souther and Glenn Frey, and the emergence of country rock; his new album Standing In The Breach, and avoiding writing political songs; modern American politics, school massacres and the NRA; the role of David Geffen, and his memories of his father.

File format: mp3; file size: 45.3mb, interview length: 47' 13" sound quality: ****

Paul McCartney: Team Macca Inside Out — The Inside Story of the Out There Tour

Interview by Johnny Black, Audience, November 2014

WHEN LIVERPUDLIAN teenager Paul McCartney first met John Lennon, in Woolton Church Hall on July 6, 1957, he could not have imagined that over fifty ...

Courtney Barnett: El Rey Theatre, L.A.

Live Review by Roy Trakin, Addicted To Noise, 10 November 2014

ROCK 'N' ROLL may be on its last legs, but it is still capable of providing an epiphany along its death spiral. Thank god for ...

Supertramp's Roger Hodgson: The Paramount, NYC

Live Review by Larry Jaffee, Huffington Post, 13 November 2014

Supertramp's Roger Hodgson Still Eating Breakfast in America ...

Bob Dylan: Cover Star: Bob Dylan

Comment by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, December 2014

BOB DYLAN DOES covers like a constant wash cycle of the soul, inspiration to aspiration to fulfilment. Then repeat. Until death us do part… ...

Richard Dawson: Nothing Important

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, December 2014

WITH A TRACKLISTING running to just four songs, Richard Dawson's latest album might at first seem like an underwhelming prospect. As it happens, nothing could ...

Sid Griffin: The Trick is To Breathe

Review by Terry Staunton, Uncut, December 2014

SINCE THE demise of the Long Ryders at the beginning of the '90s, Kentucky native Griffin has made London his musical base, cutting records mostly ...

Taylor Swift: Billboard Woman of the Year Taylor Swift on Writing Her Own Rules, Not Becoming a Cliche and the Hurdle of Going Pop

Interview by Alan Light, Billboard, 5 December 2014

TAYLOR SWIFT never doubted that her fifth album, 1989, would sell 1 million copies in its first week. But others were not so confident. ...

Billie Holiday: Blood on the Leaves: Eric Garner and 'Strange Fruit'

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 5 December 2014

"I CAN'T BREATHE," Eric Garner moaned moments before dying on a Staten Island street on July 17 of this summer. As one of millions who ...

Bob Dylan plays to an audience of one in Philly

Review by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 16 December 2014

ONE OF THE MOST powerful songs at the closing night of Bob Dylan's five-show run at New York City's Beacon Theater earlier this month was ...

Gene Clark: The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark (Four Suns DVD)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Bill Wasserzieher, Ugly Things, Spring 2014

OF ALL THE hard-luck tales about musicians who died before their time – Brian Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Parsons, Bloomfield, Cobain, Winehouse, et al. – ...

Sarah McLachlan

Report and Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, Fall 2014

REVERED CANADIAN songwriter Sarah McLachlan has never played for the Denver Broncos or the Seattle Seahawks, yet she sustained an injury during the Super Bowl ...

Blake Mills: Heigh Ho

Review and Interview by Bud Scoppa, Uncut, January 2015

"PHENOMENAL" (says E Clapton) guitarist fashions an instant classic. ...

Joni Mitchell: Love Has Many Faces – A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced (Rhino)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, January 2015

AFTER THE SUCCESS of her 2007 war-themed ballet The Fiddle And The Drum, Joni Mitchell set herself the task of distilling her myriad writing on ...

The Go-Betweens: G Stands For Go-Betweens – Volume 1, 1978-1984 (Domino)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, January 2015

DOMINO TAKE a fittingly comprehensive approach to anthologising this rarefied band. The first in a planned three-volume set, it collects the group's first trio of ...

The Decemberists, The Mountain Goats, Mark Ronson: Songs for Swinging Authors: Can novelists write good lyrics?

Report and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 January 2015

Forget moon in June. Today's pop lyrics are written by Pulitzer-winning novelists. We talk to the writers muscling into pop – and the musicians flirting ...

Natalie Prass: Natalie Prass

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 23 January 2015

Soul slow-burner charms on her gorgeous debut. ...

Elvis Costello, Wendy James: Elvis Costello and Wendy James: That Year's Model

Retrospective by Graham Reid, The New Zealand Herald, 26 January 2015

TRANSVISION VAMP were one of those British bands who got through the door in the post-punk/New Wave era, but didn't quite know what to do ...

Jessie J: Brixton Academy, SW9

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 30 January 2015

Jessie J’s show felt more like an X Factor final than a proper gig ...

Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2015

IN TERMS OF audacious ways to announce a new album, the way Josh Tillman heralded the arrival of his second as Father John Misty takes ...

Chris Bell: He was the Cosmos: The Tragedy of Chris Bell

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, February 2015

NOTE: This article is comprised of adapted excerpts from my big MOJO story written about Big Star and published in February 2000 – BH.     ...

Jesse Winchester: Seems Like Only Yesterday: Live in Montreal 1976

Sleeve notes by Gene Sculatti, Real Gone Music , February 2015

AMONG THE more effective pieces of ordnance most writers keep close at hand is a gift for understatement. Jesse Winchester's arsenal has always been well-stocked. ...

Hozier: O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, W12

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 2 February 2015

PERHAPS EVERY Hozier show now starts with the audience screaming for so long that the wild-haired Irishman has to wait awkwardly, a grin frozen to ...

Don Covay, 1938-2015

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 4 February 2015

Songwriter, singer and record producer whose compositions became hits for stars including Chubby Checker and Aretha Franklin. ...

Marc Almond: Let's Talk About Death

Interview by Simon Price, The Independent, 17 February 2015

Simon Price talks to the enigmatic singer about Soho, Soft Cell and mortality. ...

Brandi Carlile: Union Chapel, London N1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 18 February 2015

IN THE United States, Washington-born Brandi Carlile is sufficiently established to make whatever sort of music she pleases. Her five albums to date — one ...

Sandy Denny: Mick Houghton: I've Always Kept a Unicorn – The Biography of Sandy Denny

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Guardian, 21 February 2015

WHAT, HYPOTHETICALLY, would have happened if Sandy Denny had tried out for The Voice UK? Would Rita and Ricky and Will.i.am and Sir Tom have ...

Kat Edmonson, Robert Ellis: Kat Edmonson/Robert Ellis: Rams Head On Stage, Annapolis

Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 25 February 2015

KAT EDMONSON AND Robert Ellis, who brought their tour to Annapolis Tuesday night, are Houston singers with the same final initial and current Brooklyn addresses. ...

Don McLean

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, March 2015

THE OBJECTS OF pop culture iconography never grow old. Elvis Presley is forever framed as the hip-thrusting, kiss-curled, impossibly beautiful boy king, just as Bob ...

Sandy Denny, Jackson C. Frank: Learning the Game: Sandy Denny and Jackson C. Frank

Book Excerpt by Mick Houghton, 'I've Always Kept a Unicorn' (Faber), March 2015

"I think my first songwriting influences came from somebody called Jackson Frank. He's an American bloke who made one album over here just called Jackson ...

James McMurtry: Landscape Artist

Profile and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, American Songwriter, 5 March 2015

MOST OF JAMES MCMURTRY's songs are populated by rural and small-town characters, but these are not pastoral hymns to the easygoing joys of country living. ...

Ray Wylie Hubbard, James McMurtry: Down in Austin, music is something of a family business

Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 19 March 2015

AUSTIN MUSIC IS becoming a family business. Parents are passing down to their children songwriter/performer brand names as if they were used-car lots, drug stores, ...

Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 27 March 2015

A cathartic exercise exploring the effect of his estranged mother Carrie's death ...

Nick Cave: The SICK BAG Song (Canongate)

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Guardian, 28 March 2015

WHEN YOU'VE personally witnessed Nick Cave nodding out on heroin and slowly lowering his head into a candle flame – his mass of dyed black ...

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat: Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat: The Most Important Place In The World

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, April 2015

2011'S UNSUNG marvel Everything's Getting Older saw former Arab Strap chanteur Aidan Moffat and composer Bill Wells cataloguing the grimy process of aging with black ...

Björk: Vulnicura (One Little Indian)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, April 2015

WHILE THE initial conversation surrounding Björk’s latest full-length concerned the internet leaks that led to its premature online release, it quickly became apparent that the ...

Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, April 2015

EVER THE restless soul, Sufjan Stevens has, since the hysteric electro of his last album proper, 2010's The Age Of Adz, released an album with ...

Todd Rundgren: Songwriter Interviews: Todd Rundgren

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 2 April 2015

'I SAW THE LIGHT' came a little too easy for Todd Rundgren. The song took him maybe 20 minutes to write, just going up and ...

Laura Marling: Short Movie

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 9 April 2015

"I'M JUST A horse with no name," sings Laura Marling on 'Warrior' — slyly invoking the 1970s soft-rock hit by America while conjuring a wanderer ...

Sufjan Stevens: Beacon Theatre, New York NY

Live Review by Iman Lababedi, Rock NYC, 12 April 2015

THE DIFFERENCE between Rufus Wainwright's full length lament for his late mother, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, and Sufjan Stevens, Carrie And Lowell, is ...

Tracey Thorn: "I'd kill to be able to sing like Adele"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 12 April 2015

The Everything But the Girl frontwoman, whose book about the art of singing is out this month, on Twitter, The X Factor – and why ...

Dwight Yoakam: Second Hand Heart

Review by Alfred Soto, Spin, 13 April 2015

ARTISTS DEPENDENT ON TRADITION as muse and subject gamble on fate. Eventually the marketplace will deal — so they think. Well, Dwight Yoakam has won ...

Curtis Mayfield: Revisiting Curtis Mayfield's There's No Place Like America Today

Retrospective by David Bennun, The Quietus, 16 April 2015

NOTE: This article was adapted by its author from a piece in the 1995 Melody Maker book Unknown Pleasures. ...

Prince's Around the World in a Day at 30

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 22 April 2015

IN THE SPRING of 1985, there were two types of Prince fans – those who boarded the violet-hued bandwagon years before Purple Rain (both the ...

Lionel Richie: "There was something seriously wrong with Michael Jackson. But this is Hollywood"

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 25 April 2015

The downside of marrying a model half his age. The day he discovered Michael Jackson was as mad as a snake. And why the Ku ...

Lee Hazlewood: "I'm just an old cowboy who wrote a few songs…" A First Encounter with the legendary Lee Hazlewood

Book Excerpt by Wyndham Wallace, 'Lee, Myself & I' (Jawbone), May 2015

The following extract takes place within a few minutes of my first meeting with Lee Hazlewood in April, 1999, at New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel, ...

Townes Van Zandt: The Nashville Sessions

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2015

IT COULD HAVE been the record that made him; maybe, even the record that saved him. ...

Shelby Lynne: Groove Girl

Interview by Holly Gleason, Paste, 11 May 2015

"AS I STAND HERE TALKING TO YOU," Shelby Lynne confesses, on the phone from her Palm Springs home, "I have no clothes on. I can ...

Twinkle

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 26 May 2015

Singer and songwriter who found fame in the 1960s with her teenage tragedy hit record 'Terry'. ...

Burt Bacharach: Inside the head of... Burt Bacharach

Interview by Jon Wilde, Event Magazine, 30 May 2015

The composer says he's a perfectionist to the point of obsession (as Dionne Warwick or Cilla Black will tell you). It caused his biggest regret: ...

Kathryn Williams: "Sylvia was a big shadow over my writing"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 14 June 2015

Singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams talks about how Sylvia Plath inspired her new album, and why she is determined to rescue the poet from the 'sexy, depressing ...

Foals' Yannis Philippakis (2015) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Pip Williams, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 19 June 2015

This is a transcript of Pip's audio interview with Yannis. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

James Taylor: "A big part of my story is recovery from addiction"

Profile and Interview by Paul Sexton, Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2015

At the age of 67, James Taylor has made his 16th album, his first in 13 years. After spending his early career addicted to heroin, ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, July 2015

DON'T TELL THE wife, but I've fallen for Buffy Sainte-Marie. She probably doesn't feel the same way about me, but then being well-versed in the ...

James Bay

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, Q, July 2015

IN TWO YEARS, THE YOUNG BRIT SINGER-SONGWRITER JAMES BAY HAS GONE FROM BARMAN TO CHART-TOPPING, AWARD-WINNING HEARTTHROB AND IS MOBBED WHEREVER HE TRAVELS. NO WONDER ...

Natalie Prass: The Future And The Past

Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, July 2015

IN TUMULTUOUS times, artists face big choices. To confront, deflect or ignore; to drill down into the darkness; or find alternative sources of light. Some ...

SOAK: Before We Forgot How To Dream (Rough Trade)

Review by Laura Barton, Q, July 2015

Derry youth's fragile debut. ...

Joss Stone: Water For Your Soul

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 14 July 2015

JOSS STONE, modern queen of the timeless old-school soul, has propelled herself into a project merging hip hop, reggae, world music and R&B. Her tenure ...

Doug Sahm: Joe Nick Patoski on Doug Sahm

Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, stephenkpeeples.com, 25 July 2015

Totally true tall tales from Texas about Biblical floods, Doug Sahm, Texas music, Texas Tornados, rednecks, cowboys, hippies, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Huey P. Meaux, ...

Paul McCartney, Wings: Vinyl Icon: Paul McCartney & Wings' Band On The Run

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, August 2015

KNIFE-WIELDING ATTACKERS, primitive recording facilities, medical emergencies – for sheer unadulterated behind-the-scenes drama and bizarre shenanigans, no other Paul McCartney album comes even remotely close ...

Paul Anka's enduring work has ranged from Sinatra to Nirvana

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Cape Cod Times, 1 August 2015

"I'M 98 YEARS OLD!" he crows on the phone. Not quite; he's 74. But he's still going strong, singing with an orchestra Friday at the ...

Sun Kil Moon: St George's Church, Brighton

Live Review by David Bennun, The Guardian, 4 August 2015

BACK, THEN, to the old question of whether, and how, one separates the artist from the art. Mark Kozelek's music has been justly treasured since ...

Curtis Mayfield: 10 of the best

Guide by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 5 August 2015

Deploying sweet soul and blistering funk – and pouring his gorgeous, honeyed falsetto over it all – Curtis Mayfield veered between breezy optimism and hard-edged ...

John Lydon, Public Image Ltd, Sex Pistols: John Lydon (2015)

Interview by Paul Zollo, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 August 2015

The venerable (post)punk talks about how he writes, from the Pistols days through PiL: his influences, motivation and about specific songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 31.3mb, interview length: 34' 09" sound quality: ** (phoner)

The Apartments: album's birth so traumatic 'it's a miracle it exists at all'

Profile and Interview by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 7 August 2015

Peter Milton Walsh had no intention of releasing the songs he wrote after tragedy struck. After 18 years he is ready to share them at ...

Willie Nelson: Willie and the Weed Factory

Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, GQ, 31 August 2015

Marijuana's state-by-state march toward full legalization would never have happened without Willie Nelson. He's 82 now, and he's spent nearly half his life as America's ...

Sufjan Stevens: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, 4 September 2015

IN AN INTERVIEW with The Quietus' Jeremy Allen in October 2010, with music streaming still in its relative infancy, Sufjan Stevens opined that technological change ...

Blick Bassy: "I want to expose the dangers of the immigration dream"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 9 September 2015

The Cameroonian singer-songwriter draws on figures from Miles Davis to African freedom fighters to produce his soulful, melodic sound — but it wasn't until he ...

Carly Rae Jepsen: No ifs, buts or maybes

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 13 September 2015

Move over, Taylor Swift — Carly Rae Jepsen has made a retro pop album of genius ...

Joan Armatrading

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 16 September 2015

The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in 'Drop the Pilot' ...

Halsey: Koko, London

Live Review by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 18 September 2015

KOKO IS one of London's most splendid gig venues; a converted theatre at the foot of Camden High Street that plays host to an eclectic ...

Morrissey: Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

Live Review by Kate Allen, Fashion Music Style, 21 September 2015

"THIS IS MY LIFE," are the words Morrissey welcomes the crowd with. And what a life it is at the moment: playing a large number ...

Nerina Pallot: Scala, N1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 22 September 2015

IF ALL WERE FAIR in folk and pop, Nerina Pallot would be one of Britain's most celebrated singer-songwriters and her extraordinary new album The Sound ...

Fleetwood Mac: Eye Witness: Fleetwood Mac Start Work On The Follow-Up To Rumours

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 2015

After a huge world tour and a two-month break, Fleetwood Mac reconvene in an expensively-customised L.A. studio to make the follow-up to the biggest selling ...

Françoise Hardy: Françoise Hardy

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Light in the Attic Records, October 2015

  ANY MENTION of the name Françoise Hardy conjures images of Gallic sophistication, an attitude to lyrics and music informed by a literate sensibility and a ...

Françoise Hardy: L'amitié

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Light in the Attic Records, October 2015

  AS IT WOUND down, 1965 proved itself as the year when Françoise Hardy became a global phenomenon. She was now more than about the music, ...

Ezra Furman: MOJO Rising: Ezra Furman

Profile and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, October 2015

The "gender-wobbly", weirdo Springsteen talks doo wop, fearlessness and Judaism. ...

The Libertines: Anthems For Doomed Youth

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, October 2015

IT’S ASTONISHING to discover that the long-running soap opera, The Libertines, has been mildly piquing the interests of the nation for just two years less ...

Sam Smith's James Bond Theme

Comment by John Lewis, Metro, 7 October 2015

How to write a great Bond theme, and why Sam Smith hasn’t managed it. ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: "I was killed when I was 27": the curious afterlife of Terence Trent D'Arby

Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 9 October 2015

Terence Trent D'Arby's 1987 debut album sold a million copies in three days. The music press went mad for him. Where was there to go ...

Elvis Costello: Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink (Blue Rider Press)

Book Review by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Chronicle, 18 October 2015

Elvis Costello's autobiography offers musical influences, celebrity anecdotes and rock and roll mythology. ...

Joanna Newsom: Divers

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 23 October 2015

"WHY IS THE PAIN of birth lighter borne than the pain of death?" asks Joanna Newsom on the title-track of her first release in five ...

Bruce Springsteen: The Ties That Bind – The River Collection

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, November 2015

ON HIS FIFTH E Street Band album, Springsteen still struggled "to gain the knowledge of how to make records". But this sense of technical difficulty ...

Elvis Costello: Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, November 2015

LIKE A HANDFUL of rock stars I have encountered along the way – among them Townshend, Bowie and Zappa – Elvis Costello would have made ...

Joanna Newsom: Divers

Review by Mark Paytress, MOJO, November 2015

Freak-folk Cinderella follows acclaimed 2010 triple with an album of erudite pop and deepening moods. Mark Paytress takes the plunge. ...

John Grant: Grey Tickles, Black Pressure

Review by Paul Trynka, MOJO, November 2015

UNHAPPY PEOPLE, a Russian once suggested, are more varied and interesting than happy ones — which makes John Grant a very special person indeed. Over ...

Mac DeMarco: Mirror Man

Interview by Martin Aston, MOJO, November 2015

"Gap-toothed, greasy enigma" of indie yacht-rock Mac DeMarco stage-dives in London and Wiltshire, finds his own cool place. ...

The City: Now That Everything's Been Said

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, November 2015

Carole King's missing link between songwriter and solo superstar. ...

Ella Henderson: O2 Empire, London W12

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 11 November 2015

THE CONVEYOR-BELT culture of modern pop makes slipping off the radar a risk. Hence it could have been foolish for Ella Henderson to take more ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Warren Zanes: Petty – The Biography (Henry Holt)

Book Review by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 11 November 2015

YOU WOULD THINK that Tom Petty had it all in the mid to late '90s. On the backside of his forties, he had already enjoyed ...

Julia Holter: Islington Assembly Rooms, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Blue Moment, 13 November 2015

WHEN I TOLD my friend Howard Thompson that I was going to see Julia Holter at the Islington Assembly Hall last night, he said: "You ...

Patti Smith's Journey to Horses: A Timeline

Retrospective by Caryn Rose, Vulture, 13 November 2015

PATTI SMITH'S Horses, which turned 40 this week, is such a perfectly formed rock-and-roll artifact that it's difficult to imagine that Patti didn't just wake up ...

Adele: 25

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 18 November 2015

New album arrives to save the music industry ...

Adele: 25

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 20 November 2015

ANTICIPATION'S A BITCH. For Adele, whose bajillion-selling 21 (okay, not a bajillion, but 30 million worldwide) proved emotional exorcism is its own commercial reward, how ...

Bill Ryder-Jones: West Kirby County Primary

Review and Interview by Keith Cameron, MOJO, December 2015

Since he left the Coral, the Wirral wunderkind has wrestled inner demons. His third solo album proves he's winning. ...

Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home

Retrospective by Phil Sutcliffe, MOJO, December 2015

NOTE: This piece appeared in Mojo 265, in an enclosed 52-page "book" entitled Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. ...

Joanna Newsom: Divers (Drag City)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, December 2015

WHILE THE five years since the stunning triple album Have One On Me have seen Joanna Newsom expanding her horizons with acting roles and guest ...

Howe Gelb, Giant Sand: Sands of time — Way Too Much Light: Howe Gelb And Friends

Live Review by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, December 2015

Thirty years of Giant Sand celebrated with guests aplenty at Danish arts festival. ...

Kacey Musgraves: The New Rebel Queen of Nashville

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, Daily Telegraph, 1 December 2015

THREE DAYS before I meet Kacey Musgraves, the American country singer appears at the Royal Variety Performance in London, sharing a bill with One Direction, ...

Kinky Friedman: Is Kinky Friedman "The Loneliest Man I Ever Met"?

Report and Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, stephenkpeeples.com, 5 December 2015

THE NIGHT after Kinky Friedman finished recording The Loneliest Man I Ever Met, between the epic floods of spring 2015, the Texas-based singer-songwriter, humorist, entrepreneur and ...

Carly Rae Jepsen: Islington Assembly Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 8 December 2015

'The Call Me Maybe' singer infuses her 80s-textured pop with believability and uses her underdog status to win over the audience ...

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: The Agora, Cleveland 1978

Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, 12 December 2015

BRUCE WAS LEADING a leaner, meaner E Street Band in 1978, road trained to the nth degree from playing night after night throughout '76 and ...

Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: Big Brother: John Simon in Woodstock and Bearsville

Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Small Town Talk' (Faber & Faber), 2016

Two excerpts from Small Town Talk that tell part of the story of John Simon, producer of The Band and Janis Joplin… plus one excerpt ...

Guy Clark: Randall Knives, Desperados & Homegrown Tomatoes

Memoir by Holly Gleason, The Bitter Southerner, 2016

IT'S 6:42 in the morning, and traffic ain't moving. There's no notion of how far this snake of pick-ups, sedans, mini vans twists and lays ...

The Rolling Stones, Bobby Troup: 'Route 66' is the Quintessential American Tune

Essay by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2016

FOR SIX DECADES, Bobby Troup's '(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66' has been a musical guidebook, transcending styles and fashion, recognizing no boundaries. ...

Bert Berns, The McCoys: 'Sloopy' Hangs On: How a Latin-R&B Song Became a Pop-Rock Anthem

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2016

'HANG ON SLOOPY' is one of the dozen or so songs (along with 'Wild Thing,' 'Gloria,' 'Louie Louie,' 'Twist and Shout,' 'Hey Joe') that make ...

John Cale: "Danger: Depressing": John Cale's Music for a New Society

Sleeve notes by Barney Hoskyns, Domino Records, January 2016

JOHN CALE'S Music for a New Society startled in 1982 and it startles in 2016. It was markedly at odds not only with the synthetic ...

Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham: Do Right Men: Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham

Retrospective and Interview by Lois Wilson, MOJO, January 2016

DAN PENN AND Spooner Oldham still remember the day everything changed. "I was in American Studios in Memphis working on the Box Tops," recalls Penn. ...

Bob Dylan: How Bob Dylan And The Holy Trinity Changed Music Forever

Retrospective by David Dalton, Classic Rock, January 2016

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde are the highwater mark of '60s rock, and with the quasi-religious reverence due ...

Nadia Reid: Listen To Formation, Look For The Signs

Review by Mike Barnes, MOJO, January 2016

Inspired debut by a young New Zealand singer-songwriter you'll feel you've known forever. ...

P. F. Sloan: P.F. Sloan: Requiem For An Icon of Song

Retrospective by Kirk Silsbee, Glendale News-Press, 2 January 2016

SONGWRITER P.F. Sloan died in November of pancreatic cancer, at age 70.  Though the general music audience has seldom known his name, among singers and tunesmiths ...

Dion: The Wanderer Pens a New Love Letter to the Big Apple

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 19 January 2016

OFTEN, EARLY rock and roll artists were tied to a certain geographical area, becoming something of unofficial (and unelected) city representatives. Elvis meant Memphis. Buddy ...

Lukas Graham's '7 Years': A catchy song about growing up in a "utopian community" in Denmark is a massive hit

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, The Independent, 25 January 2016

JUST WHEN WE thought we didn't have any more space in our life for 21st century Denmarkia, along comes another slice of Danish. This time, ...

David Bowie, 1947-2016

Book Excerpt by Chris Charlesworth, 'The Little Black Songbook' (Wise Publications), February 2016

"I pour out what has already been fed in. I merely reflect what is going on around me." (David Bowie, July 1973) ...

Eleanor Friedberger: New View

Review by Stevie Chick, MOJO, February 2016

Former Fiery Furnace goes rad in the country. ...

Leonard Cohen: "You can add up the parts, but you can't find the sum"

Special Feature by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2016

So said Leonard Cohen himself in 1992's Anthem. But RC's Jamie Atkins still tries to do the math in this tribute ...

Lissie: My Wild West

Review by Holly Gleason, Paste, 12 February 2016

LISSIE, IN MANY WAYS, is emblematic of the millennial/post-millennial generation's golden promise: follow your dream, work social media, find believers, win! Moving to California, her ...

Barry Adamson: "I've been called the outsider's outsider"

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 15 February 2016

The Bad Seeds and Magazine bassist on writing music for David Lynch, being ignored by Morrissey and moving to Moss Side to recuperate after the ...

Joy Williams: The Surrender Of Joy Williams

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, The Fire Theft Project, 15 February 2016

With a varied musical career that began at age 17, Joy Williams has faced her share of forks in the road. Now, with the sun setting on ...

Birdy: Oslo, London

Live Review by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 20 February 2016

BIRDY'S SHOW at East London's Oslo marked both a triumphant debut for her new material, and a point of note along an unusual career trajectory. ...

Emitt Rhodes: Rainbow Ends

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, March 2016

Cult American singer-songwriter delivers his first new album in 43 years ...

Tim Hardin: Black Sheep Boy

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, March 2016

50 years on from his debut, Uncut considers the extraordinary music and harrowing life story of Tim Hardin. A tale of blood, arson, rooftop chases, ...

Graham Nash (2016)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 March 2016

The ex-Hollie and CSN(Y) associate talks about his new album This Path Tonight; about seeing the Everlys in Manchester as a youth, harmony singing, the recent changes in his life; about Trump, religion and the state of the world, and his continuing love of photography; and about the tribulations of David Crosby and the health of old flame Joni Mitchell.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.5mb, interview length: 51' 35" sound quality: *****

Crosby and Nash, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Graham Nash: Graham Nash (2016) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 8 March 2016

This is a transcription of Adam's audio interview with Graham. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Billy Bragg: English national anthem: Is 'Jerusalem' the hymn we've been looking for?

Comment by Peter Silverton, The Independent, 10 March 2016

In its 100 years, the hymn 'Jerusalem' has been sung with feeling by those of all political colours, says Peter Silverton. ...

Lianne La Havas: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 16 March 2016

In her headline debut, the south London singer was at her best on numbers that featured just her voice and a guitar ...

Lukas Graham: Lukas Graham

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 31 March 2016

LUKAS GRAHAM FORCHHAMMER, to give this Danish songwriter/frontman his full name, has scored the biggest hit of 2016 so far with '7 Years'. ...

Merle Haggard: a Rebel To The End

Obituary by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 8 April 2016

I GUESS IT WAS sometime in early 1969, in some Morningside Heights apartment, when a friend sang a song about a death row prisoner on ...

Al Green: 10 of the best

Guide by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 20 April 2016

From a chequered career, the tussle between the religious and the secular is audible on all of Green's best songs – even the ones he ...

Prince: How Prince's Androgynous Genius Changed the Way We Think About Music and Gender

Essay by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 22 April 2016

His clothes, songwriting, and production prowess all played a part in breaking through any and every type of convention. ...

Beyoncé's Lemonade is an object lesson in collaboration

Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 28 April 2016

She's the centripetal force that marshals the likes of Robert Plant, Jack White, Kendrick Lamar and MNEK to craft exquisite pop music that transcends boundaries ...

Beyoncé, Bob Dylan: A message to you, Jay Z: Beyoncé's Lemonade is the latest example of pop music as public address

Comment by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 29 April 2016

From Bob Dylan to Eminem, it's become natural to express intimate thoughts through songwriting for millions to hear ...

Donnie Fritts

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, May 2016

DONNIE FRITTS MAY be an alumnus of Muscle Shoals, the Alabama mecca of southern soul, and a renowned songwriter and recording artist in his own ...

Marissa Nadler: Strangers (Bella Union)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, May 2016

ON 2014's July cult folkie Marissa Nadler made the rather unexpected move of working with Randall Dunn, a producer best known previously for his work ...

Ani DiFranco: Righteous Babe: Ani DiFranco On Music, Politics, And Staying Independent

Interview by Mark Leviton, The Sun Magazine, May 2016

SINGER-SONGWRITER Ani DiFranco doesn't like her music to be labelled. Some have called it "folk-punk," but when asked to define what she does, DiFranco says, ...

Father John Misty: Roundhouse, NW1

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 20 May 2016

Despite some soft-rock padding, Misty’s signature brand of darkly funny lounge-singer archness came to the fore on slower numbers ...

Bob Dylan: How Dylan's Blonde On Blonde created the modern album

Retrospective by James Medd, Bigmouth, 23 May 2016

Fifty years ago, Bob Dylan turned pop entertainment into a vehicle for dazzling visions – and it's been that way ever since. James Medd investigates the album that invented an ...

Ben Harper

Report and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, June 2016

WHEN BEN HARPER reunited with his band, the Innocent Criminals, for a sold-out four-night run at San Francisco's Fillmore in March, 2015, seven years after ...

Bruce Springsteen on 'Born To Run' (2016)

Interview by David Kamp, Rock's Backpages audio, June 2016

The Boss digs deep into the mighty 'Born To Run'; talks about his use of rock's clichéd imagery and how he added to it; about the way the song's emotional directness connects with audiences and how personal the song is for him; how the song has grown over time; how he and the E Street Band are both pre- and post-hippie worlds; how he needed to write American music; how lyrics to be singable and musical... and how long it took to write the song.

File format: mp3; file size: 22.6mb, interview length: 23' 31" sound quality: *****

Terry Reid: The Other Side Of The River (Future Days)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2016

TERRY REID'S place in rock history is secure if only for his decision not to be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin (it wouldn't have ...

DM Stith: Interview: DM Stith on his new album Pigeonheart

Interview by Wyndham Wallace, The Quietus, 6 June 2016

After touring with Sufjan Stevens, and working on the Revival Hour's debut album with the Earlies' JM Lapham, DM Stith discusses the difficult genesis of ...

Serge Gainsbourg, Mick Harvey: Mick Harvey: Delirium Tremens

Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 23 June 2016

Two decades after Intoxicated Man and Pink Elephants, Nick Cave's right-hand man returns to Serge Gainsbourg's oeuvre to explore even stranger corners. ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: Mid-Morning Matters

Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, July 2016

"Empires and whole XTC albums have been built on Tunnock's wafers. Their packaging! It's like the glam version of traditional." XTC's main songwriter and musical ...

case/lang/veirs: case/lang/veirs (Anti-)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, July 2016

WHILE A collaboration was first mooted several years ago, it was only when k.d. lang and Neko Case contributed to Laura Veirs' underrated 2013 album ...

Christy Moore

Profile and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, July 2016

WHEN YOU THINK about it, email is only a truncated form of letter writing. The art of literary correspondence re-imagined. And every bit as revealing ...

Paul Simon: Stranger To Stranger

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, July 2016

2011's So Beautiful Or So What was an unheralded marvel from Paul Simon. It was a poised, wise set of songs that hinged upon Simon's ...

Will Oldham: Will's World

Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, July 2016

Over the past two-and-a-half decades Kentucky, Lousiville's Will Oldham, or the artist most commonly known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, has amassed one of the strongest ...

The Lemon Twigs: New band of the week: The Lemon Twigs

Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 July 2016

Prodigious brothers from New York make lush, lo-fi pop inspired by the Beatles, Beach Boys and any number of eclectic influences. ...

Ani DiFranco, Woody Guthrie: Ani DiFranco Seeks a Higher Truth

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Cape Cod Times, August 2016

"THE IMPORTANT thing in poetry or songwriting is to ignore the facts and tell the truth," says singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, on the phone from her ...

Donovan: Tripping Out: How Two Donovan Songs Defined the '60s

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, August 2016

'SUNSHINE SUPERMAN' and 'Season of the Witch' each kicked off a side of Donovan's 1966 Epic Records debut, an album that he's celebrating next month ...

Bert Berns: The Ecstatic Agony of a Producer/Songwriter

Report and Interview by Mitchell Cohen, Best Classic Bands, 7 August 2016

The Rock Hall member behind such classics as 'Brown Eyed Girl,' 'Twist and Shout' and more. ...

Dierks Bentley: How Dierks Bentley Became Country Music's Most Relatable Star

Profile and Interview by Maura Johnston, Esquire, 25 August 2016

IT'S A SULTRY August afternoon at the St. Louis record mecca Vintage Vinyl, and in the back of the shop amidst carrels of LPs, Dierks ...

Lisa Hannigan: At Swim

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 August 2016

IT'S 14 YEARS since Lisa Hannigan first came to attention as the second voice on Damien Rice's debut, O, and five since her last album, ...

Joanna Newsom: End of the Road festival, Wiltshire

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2016

THERE AREN'T MANY contemporary musicians I'd stand in the pissing Wiltshire rain at summer's end to hear: I'm too ancient to care too much about ...

Jesca Hoop, Iron & Wine: Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 September 2016

The voices of Iron & Wine's Beam and Californian singer-songwriter Hoop pool mellifluously together until they seem made for each other. ...

KT Tunstall: KIN

Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 4 September 2016

THE LAST TIME we heard from KT Tunstall, she was struggling with the double whammy of a broken marriage and the death of her father. ...

Ed Harcourt: "I'm coming out with fists flying"

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 14 September 2016

It's taken seven albums, visions of the child catcher and Billy Bunter's reflection in the mirror, but the English songwriter has finally refound his voice ...

Nick Cave: One More Time With Feeling, Skeleton Tree and the power and language of grief

Interview by Mark Mordue, The Guardian, 19 September 2016

The subject matter is heavy – the death of a child – but the results are divine in an album that emerges from struggle to ...

Gene Clark: 10 of the best

Guide by David Bennun, The Guardian, 28 September 2016

From hallucinatory stormers to Dylan-esque big-city tales, here are 10 tracks that define an artist forever ahead of a game he always ended up losing. ...

Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run (Simon & Schuster)

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, October 2016

TWO OF THE best Bruce Springsteen shows I ever saw were at Wembley Stadium in July of 1985. ...

Mose Allison: Who Is... Mose Allison?

Retrospective by Geoffrey Himes, Music Aficionado, October 2016

THE LEGENDARY British organ player Georgie Fame once described his hero Mose Allison as "the jazz version of Bob Dylan." When an interviewer asked Fame's ...

Wilco: Schmilco

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, October 2016

IF MOST BANDS were to announce that their 10th album, 21 years into their career, will be a largely acoustic affair, it would cause all ...

Nick Jonas: Last Year Was Complicated

Interview by Pip Williams, Coup De Main, 10 October 2016

IN EARLY April, a piano bar in one of Westminster's swankiest hotels played host to a preview of one of the most highly awaited pop ...

Arab Strap: The Cluny, Newcastle upon Tyne

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 October 2016

Aidan Moffatt and Malcolm Middleton revive tales of chaotic lifestyles for Brexit Britain, with music that ricochets between folk, pop and intense dance. ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Pretenders: Alone

Review by Stephen Dalton, Classic Rock, 17 October 2016

Chrissie Hynde reveals her rootsy Americana side with help from some Nashville friends ...

Marc Almond: "I've had the chance to be subversive in the mainstream"

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 23 October 2016

With a career-spanning 10-album box set coming out, the Soft Cell star reflects on the '80s, Brexit and his fading love affair with London. ...

The Jayhawks Soar Back Into Houston

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 26 October 2016

THEY INITIALLY CAME to prominence under the alt-country/No Depression banner in the mid '90s. But no listener to the whole discography of the Minnesota-bred Jayhawks ...

Nina Simone: What happened, Miss Simone?

Film/DVD/TV Review by Richard Williams, Uncut, November 2016

The often harrowing life and times of a musical and political force. ...

Michael Kiwanuka: Move on Up

Profile and Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, November 2016

Two years ago, in crisis, doubting his worth and dismissed by his own label. Then he started to sing about that uncertainty, and everything changed. ...

Tim Buckley: The Dream Belongs to Me: The Tragic Journey of Tim Buckley

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Shindig, November 2016

FIFTY YEARS AGO this month, an album was released that, in its own strangely magical way, managed to stand out among the recent folk boom ...

James Blake: O2 Academy, Bristol

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 1 November 2016

JAMES BLAKE has had a bumper year, guesting on Beyoncé's Lemonade album and releasing his own sublime third long-player, The Colour in Anything. ...

Leonard Cohen: Looking at Leonard Cohen's darkness misses the warmth of his words

Comment by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 11 November 2016

When you listen to the lyrics Cohen wrote, you realise how alive his language is – and how much he was seeking the light. ...

Leonard Cohen and his eternal search for peace

Retrospective by Mick Brown, Sunday Telegraph, 13 November 2016

IN 1999 LEONARD COHEN travelled to India to see a spiritual teacher named Ramesh Balsekar.  Cohen was a man in search, if not exactly of ...

Leon Russell, 1942-2016

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 14 November 2016

IN 2010, ELTON JOHN surprised his fans by releasing an album in collaboration with the pianist, singer and songwriter Leon Russell, whom he described as ...

Kate Bush: "I'm not sure you're ever really happy with what you create"

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 24 November 2016

In a rare interview, the reclusive 'Wuthering Heights' singer opens up about her nerves performing live and working with her son on the spectacular visuals for her 2014 shows, ...

Gillian Welch: Boots No. 1 - The Official Revival Bootleg

Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, 28 November 2016

THE ARRIVAL OF A new record from Gillian Welch and her partner Dave Rawlings is an eagerly anticipated event at Just Backdated. ...

Belle And Sebastian: Belle & Sebastian: The Jeepster Singles Collection

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, December 2016

ON DELVING into this generous box set, you'll find reproductions of Belle & Sebastian's first three mail-outs to fans. ...

John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season

Sleeve notes by Barney Hoskyns, Domino Records, December 2016

THOUGH FRAGMENTS of a Rainy Season is the fourth live album released by John Cale in his post-Velvet Underground career, it's the first to feature ...

Paul Simon

Interview by Alan Light, MOJO, December 2016

"YOU GOTTA stop making hits at a certain point," says Paul Simon, 74. And yet, when his thirteenth solo album, Stranger to Stranger, was released ...

Paul Simon: Peter Ames Carlin: Homeward Bound – The Life Of Paul Simon

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, December 2016

IF EVER A career in music was pre-ordained, it is that of Paul Simon, the ambitious, gifted and ever-so-scrupulous first son of a professional double-bass ...

Paula Cole: The Songfacts Interview

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 22 December 2016

PAULA COLE NEVER watched the Grammys, which made it a little weird when she won the award for Best New Artist in 1997 (also weird, ...

George Michael: Why George Michael was the greatest pop star of the MTV era

Comment by Maura Johnston, The Guardian, 26 December 2016

Jackson had the moves, Madonna had the moxie, Prince had the sex – but George Michael had the voice … and thrilling songs like spinning ...

John Prine: Songs from the Gut: A Conversation with John Prine

Interview by Holly Gleason, No Depression, Fall 2016

JOHN PRINE, the original "new Dylan", has always written songs with a deep heart and a strong empathy for the people who go unseen. ...

Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Them: How 'Gloria' Became the Ultimate Rock Anthem

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2017

'GLORIA', WRITTEN more than fifty years ago by Van Morrison for his band Them, is the simplest song. Just three chords – my musician friends ...

Chuck Berry: You Can't Catch Me: Chuck Berry's Final Years

Retrospective by David Burke, Vintage Rock, 2017

THE ARTIST IS immortalised in death as seldom in life. At least that's mostly the way of things. But not when it came to Chuck ...

Kate Bush: Not Drowning But Waving

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2017

Forty years into her career, Kate Bush is still looking for fresh ways to exhaust herself. Before The Dawn, her run of 22 live shows ...

The Band, Robbie Robertson: Robbie Robertson: "I remember saying to Dylan, there's too many verses in this"

Interview by Michael Simmons, MOJO, January 2017

DECKED OUT IN an all-black suit, Robbie Robertson exudes elegance and a well-read intelligence – the latter all the more fascinating given his teenage education chicken- pickin' in honky-tonks ...

Willie Hutch: Soul Portrait/Season For Love (Be With)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, January 2017

IN THE FEW years they've been around, Be With have ensured so many great LPs are back on the racks that they're practically providing a ...

Peter Sarstedt, 1941-2017

Obituary by Dave Laing, The Guardian, 9 January 2017

Singer-songwriter who topped the charts in 1969 with 'Where Do You Go to (My Lovely)' ...

The Band, Robbie Robertson: Robbie Robertson: Testimony

Book Review by Clinton Heylin, The Spectator, 21 January 2017

THE RECENT SPATE of rock memoirs has proved one of the less rewarding sub-genres in the post-digital Gutenberg galaxy. Obeying few rules of a good ...

The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield: Beautiful Brother: The Gentle Genius Of Curtis Mayfield, Part One

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Shindig, February 2017

How a poor boy from Chicago became the voice of the civil rights movement in soul's greatest vocal group, defined the black pride anthem and ...

Kris Kristofferson: How Kris Kristofferson saved Nashville

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, February 2017

THERE ARE SO many reasons to be in awe of Kris Kristofferson. He survived Barbra Streisand's A Star Is Born, Heaven's Gate, and the movie ...

Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now (Heavenly)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2017

OVER THE course of five albums, Sweden's Jens Lekman has established himself as a worthy successor to the likes of Jonathan Richman, Edwyn Collins and ...

Jim Lauderdale: Jim Changes Everything

Interview by David Burke, Country Music, February 2017

JIM LAUDERDALE knows his country music history – and he's very aware of his and his contemporaries' modest place in it compared to the iconic ...

The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2017

EVIDENTLY, STEPHEN Merritt is the sort of man who believes in grand musical gestures, and they work – the most extravagant thus far (69 Love ...

JoJo is seeking serenity

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 20 February 2017

Pop heavyweight JoJo reveals to Pip Williams some of the stories behind her third album Mad Love.  Covering everything from Wiz Khalifa to the serenity prayer ...

Linnea Olsson: Track By Track: Pop cellist Linnea Olsson on For Show

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 23 February 2017

Linnea Olsson shares her own thoughts on every track of her new EP For Show, including the home-made stop-motion videos that accompany them. Overwhelmingly inspired ...

Rickie Lee Jones

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 27 February 2017

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump. ...

Chuck Berry (1926-2017)

Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, March 2017

THANKS TO HIS duck walk, the way he swung the neck of his guitar around and those nifty little bent-note licks that opened his songs, ...

Ed Sheeran is shit

Comment by Everett True, Music That I Like, March 2017

ED SHEERAN is shit. Do not believe the crowd. ...

Jeb Loy Nichols: Country Hustle

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, March 2017

ON COUNTRY HUSTLE, Jeb Loy Nichols' characteristic strain of expat-Americana leans away from folk and country, towards soul and funk of various forms, from his ...

Curtis Mayfield: Move On Up: Curtis Mayfield Part 2

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Shindig, March 2017

VASTLY EXCEEDING his hopes when it was released that September, Curtis was greeted as the most exciting soul album since Isaac Hayes' Hot Buttered Soul ...

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: One More Time With Feeling (Bad Seed)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, March 2017

IN THE BEST possible sense, there has always been an air of the caricature about Nick Cave: the public persona. His career has felt like ...

Jordan Klassen: Track By Track: Jordan Klassen on new EP Curses

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 1 March 2017

Jordan Klassen writes for us on his forthcoming Curses EP, outlining the stories behind each of the five tracks on the follow-up to 2016's Javelin. ...

Justin Hayward's Endless Nights in White Satin

Profile and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 3 March 2017

OF ALL THE HITS that the Moody Blues have charted over the past 50-plus years of existence, the one big calling card for the English ...

John Lydon: Mr Rotten and the Weaponry of Words

Interview by Julian Marszalek, Gigwise, 6 March 2017

John Lydon opens up about 40 years of lyric writing ...

Prefab Sprout: Why Prefab Sprout's return with 'America' is a whim and a wonder

Report by Pete Paphides, The Guardian, 6 March 2017

Paddy McAloon surfaced on Friday with a new track that is heartbreaking in an entirely unexpected way. ...

Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Navigator

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 9 March 2017

"I FEEL THAT the soul of New York is under attack," Americana songwriter and Bronx native Alynda Segarra recently said. Her sixth album as Hurray ...

Chuck Berry was not always a nice man, but his music stood the test of time

Comment by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 19 March 2017

He helped shake the world into looser, better ways, and explained the first real teenagers to themselves. ...

Nelly Furtado: Canadian Bands You Should Know: Nelly Furtado

Profile and Interview by Juliette Jagger, nmc.ca, 24 March 2017

AT THE ONSET OF 1998, Nelly Furtado was a fresh-faced, bright-eyed, 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Victoria, BC, sharing a partitioned apartment at Yonge and Finch in ...

Jesca Hoop: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 29 March 2017

THE TRADITIONAL music business strategy of finding a distinctive style and sticking to it doesn't apply to Jesca Hoop. ...

Elton John: Madmen Across the Water: How Elton John (and Bernie Taupin) stormed the USA

Retrospective by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, April 2017

IN NOVEMBER 1970, Elton John performed an intimate concert at A&R Studios in New York, recorded for WABC FM. In front of 125 people, Elton ...

Thundercat: Drunk (Brainfeeder)

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, April 2017

WHILE BASSIST Thundercat has been responsible for the nimble low-end of albums by the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus, and has ...

Sting: Eventim Apollo, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 11 April 2017

On the faux-raunchy rock numbers he simply lacked conviction: antiseptic, anodyne and asexual. The blond leading the bland. ...

Declan McKenna on debut album What Do You Think About The Car?

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 13 April 2017

It's no mean feat, being labelled the voice of a generation. ...

Laura Nyro: The passion and soul of Laura Nyro

Retrospective by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 19 April 2017

Twenty years after her death, the rhythmic and shifting life of a songwriter who composed for the stars – but sidestepped celebrity herself – is ...

Nick Cave: The Love and Terror of Nick Cave

Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, GQ, 27 April 2017

For four decades, Nick Cave has been at the edge of music, putting his spin on everything from punk rock to lovesick ballads – much ...

Bob Dylan: Palladium, London

Live Review by David Bennun, The Guardian, 30 April 2017

Singer who redefined rock'n'roll 50 years ago continues to confound expectations as tour brings him to London Palladium. ...

Bert Berns, Lorraine Ellison, Garnet Mimms, Jerry Ragovoy, Howard Tate: Roll with the Punches: An Interview with Jerry Ragovoy

Interview by Dan Nooger, Record Collector, May 2017

The late Jerry Ragovoy wrote and arranged some of the greatest records of the last century. This unpublished interview by Dan Nooger found him recalling ...

Ed Sheeran: O2 Arena, London

Live Review by Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 2 May 2017

His rapping may be workmanlike, his music sentimental, and his wardrobe straight outta Oxfam, but Sheeran's phenomenal rise is justified: he's great live ...

John Grant's North Atlantic Flux festival, Hull

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 May 2017

The American singer-songwriter played a rapturously received selection of barbed ballads at his own boutique festival. ...

Lou Reed's friends dismiss claim that 'Walk on the Wild Side' is transphobic

Report and Interview by Edward Helmore, The Guardian, 20 May 2017

Defence came after Canadian student body apologized for "hurtful" lyrics to the trans community after including the 1972 hit on a playlist at a campus ...

Elton John, Neil Sedaka: Neil Sedaka on Elton John and more

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 10 June 2017

Elton John loved his songs so much that he rescued him from the recording wilderness. So why did Neil Sedaka, creator of 'Oh! Carol' and ...

Public Service Broadcasting

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 17 June 2017

The band's new album, Every Valley, chronicles the destruction of the Welsh coal industry and how its legacy still resonates in these uncertain times. ...

John Murry: A Short History Of Decay

Review by Tim Cooper, The Quietus, 19 July 2017

EVERYTHING ABOUT John Murry is blurred. From the Southern Gothic backstory to the near-death drug overdose to the recurring cycle of tragedy and redemption, right ...

Feist: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 28 July 2017

JARVIS COCKER joined Feist on stage at the Empire, ambling on during 'Century' to ask: "How long is a century? Almost as long as a ...

Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher: Jen Cloher and Courtney Barnett: "We couldn't be more contrary if we tried"

Profile and Interview by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 28 July 2017

A PIECE OF PAPER stuck to the entrance of the Coburg RSL in Melbourne reads "cash only (dark ages)". It's not much warmer inside than ...

Roger Waters: Fearless

Profile and Interview by Alan Light, MOJO, August 2017

IN JULY 1978, the members of Pink Floyd gathered at Britannia Row, their studio in London. It had been almost exactly a year since the ...

Jen Cloher: Jen Cloher

Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 10 August 2017

A slow-burning masterpiece from a first-class songwriter ...

PJ Harvey: Playhouse, Edinburgh

Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 13 August 2017

THERE'S NO NEED to ask how PJ Harvey takes her coffee. From the all-black dress code and shadowy stage lighting to the dense, dusky music, ...

Nick Lowe: Nick the Knife and other reissues (Yep Roc)

Review by Jon Young, Mother Jones, 21 August 2017

Nick the Knife/The Abominable Showman/Pinker and Prouder Than Previous/Party of One/Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit/The Rose of England (Yep Roc) ...

Neil Finn: Out of Silence

Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 2 September 2017

Piece by piece, Neil Finn's Out of Silence comes together in simplistic beauty. ...

Chris Rea

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 19 September 2017

'FOOL (IF YOU Think It's Over)' got Chris Rea out of debt, but it put him in a kind of musical prison that took seven ...

William Bell: The Musical River of Memphis: Deep, Wide and United

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 27 September 2017

WRITTEN BY singer William Bell and keyboardist Booker T. Jones specifically for their Stax Records labelmate Albert King to record, 'Born Under a Bad Sign' ...

Harry Styles: Harry Styles

Review by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 29 September 2017

HARRY STYLES has gone back to the future. Sooner or later, this short, wiry singer with the tousled hair and giddy tenor had to leave ...

Ian and Sylvia, Tom Russell: Tom Russell: Folk Hotel/Play One More – The Songs of Ian & Sylvia

Review by Peter Stone Brown, CounterPunch, 29 September 2017

IT WOULD BE easy to say that Tom Russell's new album Folk Hotel (Frontera Records) is a tribute to the Greenwich Village folk music scene ...

Bruce Springsteen: Live In Belfast 1996 – The Ghost Of Tom Joad Revisited

Review by Rod Tootell, Rock's Backpages, October 2017

RUNNING THROUGH October and November, Bruce Springsteen will play a series of solo shows at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway. It seems a fitting ...

Terence Trent D'Arby, Sananda Maitreya: Why Terence Trent D'Arby became Sananda Maitreya: "It was that or death"

Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 October 2017

In 1987, his debut album saw him hailed as a rival to Michael Jackson and Prince — but then his star crashed and burned. He ...

Shilpa Ray: Door Girl (Northern Spy)

Review by Jon Young, Mother Jones, 22 October 2017

Shilpa Ray's songs capture life on the edge in New York City. Door Girl echoes the streetwise, hard-boiled vibe of Lou Reed. ...

Morrissey, The Smiths: The Smiths: The Queen is Dead

Review by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 22 October 2017

Newly reissued as a boxed set, the Smiths' 1986 masterpiece still stands as an enduring testament to England in the '80s, the complex relationship between ...

Joe Henry: Thrum

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 26 October 2017

DESPITE A personal output of 14 solo albums, Joe Henry remains more celebrated as a producer than a performer in his own right, thanks to ...

George Harrison: The Vinyl Collection

Review by Steve Matteo, Under the Radar, 30 October 2017

GEORGE HARRISON would have turned 74 this year. He died in 2001, and his untimely death at such a relatively young age still haunts his ...

Baxter Dury: Prince Charming

Profile and Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, November 2017

After being given an impromptu tour of his manor in search of a decent cup of coffee, RC's Jamie Atkins talked to Baxter Dury about ...

Debbie Gibson: All-American Girl

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, November 2017

DEBBIE GIBSON feels as though she's in a Tina Turner moment at this stage of her career, on the precipice of a midlife renaissance. ...

Luke Haines: Godfathers of Pop: Luke Haines

Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, November 2017

LUKE HAINES has fronted the Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder, released 13 albums under his own name, composed the soundtrack for Paul Tickell's ...

St. Vincent: Masseducation

Review by Tom Doyle, MOJO, November 2017

Heartache and nihilism meet sonic trickery in Annie Clark's troubled fifth. ...

The Eagles: Trouble in Paradise: The Eagles' Hotel California and mid-'70s Los Angeles

Retrospective by Ed Doheny, Rock's Backpages, November 2017

DON HENLEY once described the Eagles' 1976 album Hotel California as "our interpretation of the high life of Los Angeles", adding that the band had ...

Ray Padgett: Cover Me – The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time

Book Review by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 10 November 2017

Songs get a second chance of life with cover versions. ...

St. Vincent: Catching St. Vincent at the Anthem? Expect to see two acts, like a play.

Profile and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 24 November 2017

THE LAST SONG that Annie Clark wrote for Masseduction, the new St. Vincent album, was the title tune. The track begins with a stuttering percussion ...

Noel Gallagher: Who Built the Moon?

Review by Jude Rogers, GQ, 28 November 2017

AS ROCK AND ROLL'S elderly hounds go, few are as fun to kick as Noel Gallagher. Bend the leg and let's go: he's the ultimate ...

Shack: Waterpistol

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, December 2017

WATERPISTOL WAS meant to be Shack's second album. Although work towards completing the follow-up to March 1988's Zilch had begun in 1990, nothing went to ...

Shack: Zilch

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, December 2017

SHACK'S DEBUT album Zilch was originally issued by a label expressly set up to promote the talents of the band's leader Mick Head, the former ...

Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten: Angel Olsen: Phases/Sharon Van Etten: (it was) because i was in love

Review by Jon Young, Mother Jones, 9 December 2017

WHETHER PERFORMING stark acoustic folk or giving her confessional songs a jolt of electricity, Angel Olsen always sounds like she's one beat away from a ...

The War On Drugs: A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic)

Review by Graeme Thomson, Daily Mail, Summer 2017

ADAM GRANDUCIEL, strategist-in- chief behind Philadelphia's the War On Drugs, works in a field we might call ambient Americana. Imagine the music of Bruce Springsteen, ...

Joni Mitchell: David Yaffe: Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell

Book Review by Clinton Heylin, unpublished, Fall 2017

WARREN ZEVON, a Laurel Canyon contemporary of Joni Mitchell, once wrote a song called 'Accidentally Like A Martyr'. Taking a leaf from Zevon, David Yaffe's ...

Eric Carmen, Raspberries: Why (the) Raspberries Mattered

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2018

THEY HAD TO be kidding, right? "Raspberries"? That's only a few degrees removed from "1910 Fruitgum Company." And then there were the poufy hair, the ...

Echo & the Bunnymen: Shooting from the Lip

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, January 2018

STEVE EARLE ONCE said he'd stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table and declare his mentor Townes Van Zandt the best songwriter he'd ever heard. ...

Robert Finley

Retrospective and Interview by Lois Wilson, MOJO, January 2018

"IT NEVER FELT like it was going to be a life-changing moment," says Robert Finley. "It was just an ordinary Saturday morning, and I was ...

Peter Blegvad: Go Figure

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 4 January 2018

ARTIST, POET, illustrator, philosopher, cartoonist – so broad are Peter Blegvad's other interests, and so protean his muse, that one sometimes has to wait for ...

Calexico: The Thread That Keeps Us

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 17 January 2018

NOW EXPANDED to a full-time septet, Calexico display a new resourcefulness and determination on The Thread That Keeps Us, which may be the album that ...

Kate Bush: What joy – 40 years of hitting the heights with Kate Bush

Comment by Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 21 January 2018

THE KATE BUSH song 'Wuthering Heights' is 40 years old this month. One could argue that this has momentous import for Bush, female musicians and ...

Shawn Colvin: Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow

Live Review by Peter Ross, The Times, 23 January 2018

The folk veteran's rendition of her 1997 album A Few Small Repairs was full of polish, with great cover versions, but lacked a vital spark. ...

Mary Gauthier: Rifles & Rosary Beads

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 25 January 2018

MARY GAUTHIER'S reputation as one of today's greatest songwriters, admired by peers such as Tom Waits and Bob Dylan, is rooted in her relentless commitment ...

Beck: "I miss people. I have a longing for connection and human contact": Life on Planet Beck

Profile and Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 30 January 2018

THE CHILSTON PARK Hotel in Lenham, Kent, was once owned by Judith and Martin Miller, the antiques stars of the '80s who wrote the Miller's ...

Toto: How we made 'Africa'

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 30 January 2018

"If this is a hit," I said, "I'll run naked down Hollywood Boulevard." ...

Graham Coxon: The End Of The F***ing World

Review by Andy Gill, The Independent, 1 February 2018

GRAHAM COXON has always seemed the least comfortable of star guitarists, less concerned with image, bravado and pose than with matters of pure sound and ...

Go-Kart Mozart: Mozart's Mini-Mart

Review by Mick Middles, The Quietus, 21 February 2018

It's Lawrence, with the most effervescent and creative album of his extraordinary career. ...

The Jazz Butcher: The Violent Years

Review by Tim Cooper, Louder Than War, 21 February 2018

The Jazz Butcher has been one of Britain's most prolific and unique talents for more than 35 years. Now, as a re-release programme continues with ...

Bob Dylan: "A hundred-mile-an-hour clip": Bob Dylan and the Beats

Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'Kerouac on Record' (Bloomsbury), March 2018

Editor's note: The just-published Kerouac On Record includes many essays about the influence of Jack Kerouac on musicians, including the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, Tom ...

Anna von Hausswolff: 'Forget about space and time, it's eternal and mysterious'

Interview by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 2 March 2018

The Swedish singer-songwriter on her new album Dead Magic   ...

Ayo: Nigerian-German Singer Ayo Didn't Go Into Music To Make Pop Hits And Is Unapologetic About It

Interview by Miles Marshall Lewis, Essence, 2 March 2018

ANYONE ATTEMPTING to prove the redemptive power of music needs to look no further than the Nigerian chanteuse, Ayo.  ...

David Bowie: On Reflection: David Bowie

Retrospective by Paul Gorman, Vice, 13 March 2018

AFTER FIVE YEARS touring the world, David Bowie Is, the juggernaut retrospective organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is now in its largest ...

Eels: The Deconstruction

Review by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 5 April 2018

THE SECOND EELS album, Electro-Shock Blues, defined Mark Everett's mode of beautiful, redemptive reactions to a growing list of personal tragedies, spinning him off the ...

Brigid Mae Power: Servant Jazz Quarters, London

Live Review by Tim Cooper, Louder Than War, 8 April 2018

After two acclaimed albums and a harrowing #metoo contribution, Brigid Mae Power performed her first sell-out date in East London. Tim Cooper went along for an ...

Willis Alan Ramsey: The Follow-Up

Retrospective and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, NPR, 9 April 2018

The price of perfection is cheap, if that's all you spend your money on. ...

Natalie Prass: Bush Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 April 2018

The Virginia songwriter has added funk and soul to her swooning ballads and '60s pop, fired up by "all the crap that's going on in ...

Courtney Marie Andrews: Islington Assembly Rooms, London

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 25 April 2018

PICKING UP THE gong for International Artist of the Year at the recent UK Americana Awards, Arizona's Courtney Marie Andrews came to Islington with expectations ...

Belly On Recording Dove, Their First Album In 23 Years

Interview by Julian Marszalek, Gigwise, 1 May 2018

Tanya Donelly tells how self-releasing a crowd-funded album has liberated Belly ...

Journey's Jonathan Cain: Still Believin' in Music and Other Higher Powers

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 1 May 2018

YOU COULD practically hear the piercing screams of millions of HBO viewers across the land on the night of June 10, 2007 as they were ...

Aisha Badru: Pendulum

Review by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 4 May 2018

Aisha Badru's identity is made crystal clear on her debut record ...

Eleanor Friedberger: Rebound

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 4 May 2018

IN 2016, ELEANOR Friedberger spent a month in Athens, Greece, ending up in what the half-Greek American describes as an "'80s goth disco" – called ...

Plan B: Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose (Atlantic) 

Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 6 May 2018

LAST TIME we heard from Ben Drew, six years ago, he was the Poet Laureate of Broken Britain, listing the London riots, crack addiction and ...

James Taylor: Going on tour with his old friend Paul Simon

Profile and Interview by Paul Sexton, The Sunday Times, 13 May 2018

Fifty years after he signed up with the Beatles, Taylor is returning to London. He's not stopping yet. ...

Stephen Malkmus Doesn't Think He Was a Jerk

Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, The New York Times, 14 May 2018

"I HATE BEING TAN," Stephen Malkmus said almost immediately, standing in the lobby of a Midtown hotel. His olive complexion, the unwanted result of a ...

Courtney Barnett: Coping Mechanisms

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 15 May 2018

Ahead of her second album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, Courtney Barnett tells Pip Williams how she's embraced anxiety and used it as a ...

G Flip: Flip Out

Profile by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 16 May 2018

Christened into the music industry at this year's SXSW, Melbourne's G Flip is getting people seriously excited. ...

Arctic Monkeys: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 17 May 2018

Space is the place where Alex Turner can let his solipsistic weirdness emerge. ...

Courtney Barnett on coping with fame, homophobia – and thinking she still sucks

Profile and Interview by Jenny Valentish, The Guardian, 17 May 2018

The Australian musician has gone from indie darling to global star, but she's still uneasy in the limelight and wracked with self-doubt – even self-hate. ...

Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel (Marathon Artists / Milk! Records)

Review by Tim Cooper, Louder Than War, 18 May 2018

Courtney Barnett releases her hugely anticipated sophomore solo album Tell Me How You Really Feel. Three years after the Australian's landmark debut attracted plaudits and awards, ...

Janis Ian: How we made 'At Seventeen'

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 May 2018

Janis Ian, singer and songwriter ...

Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel

Review by Alfred Soto, Spin, 14 June 2018

TO BE COURTNEY BARNETT and learn that Liz Phair released the Girly-Sound to Guyville set is like being Bryan Ferry and opening your door to ...

Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Róisín Murphy: "Pop's about putting across the primitive parts of yourself"

Retrospective and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 21 June 2018

The former Moloko singer on the freedom and heartbreak that inspired her favourite tracks from her back catalogue ...

Tori Amos: An angry 40-year-old is a scary thing

Report and Interview by Bill DeYoung, The Stuart News, 23 June 2018

TORI AMOS recently celebrated her 40th birthday, and the singer/songwriter says it was no big deal. She'd already had her rites of passage. ...

Florence and the Machine: Florence + the Machine: High As Hope

Review by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 29 June 2018

Florence + the Machine boast sincerity over spectacle on fourth record High As Hope ...

Violent Femmes: These Daddies Haven't Gone Anywhere

Profile and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 29 June 2018

BRIAN RITCHIE says that he gets asked a certain question often. Maybe somebody sees him with his long blond hair. Or that he's carrying a ...

The Beach Boys, Gaz Coombes, The Cure, Brian Eno, Serge Gainsbourg, Harmonia, Inspiral Carpets, Iggy Pop, Elliott Smith, Patti Smith, Spacemen 3, Scott Walker: Gaz Coombes: The World's Strongest Fan

Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, July 2018

Ever been curious about what's pumping on Gaz Coombes' stereo? RC's Jamie Atkins was, so he headed to Oxfordshire to find out. ...

Sudan Archives: I'm new here: Sudan Archives

Profile and Interview by John Lewis, Uncut, July 2018

This month: heady, Afro-futurist R&B from the violinist and singer otherwise knownas Brittney Denise Parks   ...

Olivia Chaney: Shelter (Nonesuch)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 6 July 2018

FOLK ARTISTS stepping into singer-songwriter territory are often treated with suspicion, as if their egos must be propelling them beyond the small stories of smaller ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde

Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 4 August 2018

Still super-hip (and all lip) at 66, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde tells Event why she swears at fans, enrages sex abuse victims… and has swapped ...

Richard Thompson: Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire

Live Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 12 August 2018

Half a century after his first gig with Fairport Convention, folk-rocker Richard Thompson is as cool and contemporary as ever. ...

Loudon Wainwright III: The Two Sides of Loudon Wainwright III

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Cape Cod Times, 17 August 2018

"I'VE ALWAYS thought of myself as a switch-hitter," says singer-guitarist-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. "I can do the dark and the light, and I enjoy doing ...

The Beasts of Bourbon: Beasts of Bourbon's Spencer P Jones: hellraiser among Australian rock greats

Obituary by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 23 August 2018

Some were scared off by the guitarist's snarling delivery and reputation, but you'd be hard pressed to name a bad song. ...

Madison Beer: Pop interview: Madison Beer on 'Home with You', five years after Justin Bieber declared her a star

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 26 August 2018

The teenage singer is storming up the charts without the help of a record label. Is this the future? ...

Anna Calvi: Hunter

Review by Simon Price, Metro, 28 August 2018

IT WASN'T ALWAYS easy to discern the purpose of Anna Calvi. A spare PJ Harvey in case we lost the real one down the back ...

Amanda Shires: To The Sunset

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, September 2018

Prolific enlivener of other people's records returns to centre stage. ...

Paul Simon: The Final Concert

Review by Wayne Robins, Rock's Backpages, September 2018

THE FLUSHING Meadow Park concert area is a stout walk from both the Citi Field parking lots and subway stations. ...

Prince: Piano And A Microphone 1983

Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 8 September 2018

We already knew Prince was a genius, but worth-the-wait posthumous release Piano And A Microphone 1983 deepens our understanding of why. ...

The Beatles, Paul McCartney: The Untold Stories of Paul McCartney

Interview by Chris Heath, GQ, 11 September 2018

He's as famous and accomplished as a man can be. He could just stay home, relax, and count his money. But Paul McCartney is as ...

The Go-Betweens: "It's a widely misunderstood song": How the Go-Betweens made 'Streets of Your Town'

Retrospective and Interview by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 19 September 2018

Is the winner of Guardian Australia's Songs of Brisbane poll about Brisbane? Even band members aren't sure. ...

Prince: Piano & a Microphone 1983 — revelatory listen from a colossal talent

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 September 2018

THE RECORDINGS on this posthumous Prince album weren't originally intended for release. But they capture Prince Rogers Nelson at the peak of his powers, alone ...

Cat Power: "I didn't know I loved myself when I was younger"

Interview by Sophie Heawood, The Observer, 23 September 2018

Erratic stage shows, psychotic breakdowns, rehab… Cat Power's chaotic life is in direct contrast to her soulful music. Now a new album and motherhood have ...

Bob Dylan: No One Else Could Play That Tune: An Introduction

Book Excerpt by Clinton Heylin, 'No One Else Could Play That Tune' (Route), October 2018

And I could never let you go, No matter what goes on, 'Cause I love you more than ever, Now that the past is gone. —Last ...

Martin Stephenson & The Daintees: The Godfather of Pop: Martin Stephenson

Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, October 2018

THE NOW-DEFUNCT Sounds magazine reckoned Martin Stephenson "one of the finest and grossly underrated singer-songwriters this country has given birth to". ...

Lisa Hannigan and Stargaze: Barbican, London

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 5 October 2018

LISA HANNIGAN is still best-known for her work alongside Damien Rice: her voice was the ethereal counterpoint to his earthy tones on multi-platinum-selling O in 2002.  ...

MØ’s journey to Neverland

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 26 October 2018

Her new album Forever Neverland may court eternal youth, but MØ won't allow herself the luxury of denial. Denmark's hottest export explains the paradoxical nostalgia ...

James Booker: Real genius

Essay by Geoffrey Himes, American Songwriter, November 2018

MANY NEW ORLEANS pianists are better known — Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Harry Con- nick Jr., Professor Longhair, Fats Domino and Art Neville — but those ...

The Wandering Hearts, Ward Thomas: Why country music is cool: the rise of Ward Thomas and the Wandering Hearts

Report and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 4 November 2018

Inspired and nurtured by Nashville, British acts are putting well-crafted lyrics and storytelling back at the heart of pop. ...

George Ezra: SSE Arena, Wembley

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 16 November 2018

Upbeat Ezra wraps arena in a cuddly cardigan with his big-hearted balladry. ...

Howard Jones: Breaking Down Barriers

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, December 2018

MUSIC HAS always been a tribal thing, and the music press – Classic Pop excepted, of course – has always derived a certain sadistic pleasure ...

Van Morrison: The Prophet Speaks (Caroline International)

Review by Stevie Chick, Metro, 4 December 2018

NOVEMBER MARKED the 50th anniversary of Van Morrison's masterpiece, Astral Weeks, but for the longest time, the artist formerly known as Van The Man might ...

LP: "I can feel the male and female in me flying around in a fury when I'm singing": LP on songwriting and diversity

Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 5 December 2018

She has written hits for Rihanna, Cher and Christina Aguilera — and she's been dropped by a series of major labels. Is it finally time for ...

Blossom Caldarone: On the Rise: Blossom Caldarone

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 5 December 2018

Blossom Calderone is making waves with her storytelling pop bops. ...

Lily Allen: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Rick Pearson, The Evening Standard, 18 December 2018

Singer shares her thoughts exactly in brave confessional ...

Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: The Next, Not the Last

Report and Interview by Alan Light, Savoy Magazine, Fall 2018

Nile Rodgers has long been considered one of the coolest artists on the music scene, and shows no sign of slowing down. Following his victory ...

Crosby Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills & Nash: At Large

Book Excerpt by Ellen Sander, Dover Publications, 2019

Excerpted from Ellen's seminal 1973 book Trips: Rock Life in the Sixties, reissued in 2019 in an "Augmented Edition" by Dover Publications ...

Grin, Nils Lofgren: How Nils Lofgren Almost Became the Next Big Thing

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2019

THE ADVERTISEMENT for Grin, the first album that positioned Nils Lofgren front-and-center in his own band, said "until recently, only insiders could be absolutely certain ...

Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Pet Shop Boys: When song lyrics become literature

Essay by Jude Rogers, New Statesman, 2 January 2019

From Pet Shop Boys to Kate Bush, pop stars are publishing their songs as books. What do their words reveal about them? ...

Sharon Van Etten: "The more I let go, the more I progress as a human being"

Profile and Interview by Laura Barton, The Observer, 6 January 2019

Known for complex songs about the dark side of love, the acclaimed singer-songwriter is back with a fifth album that explores synths, rock anthems, mental ...

Delines, The : The Delines: Imperial

Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, 11 January 2019

IT'S BEEN A long way back for Amy Boone. In March 2016, the singer was hit by a car as she walked through a parking ...

Phil Collins: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane — life-affirming MOR ballads delivered against all odds

Live Review by Andrew Stafford, The Observer, 20 January 2019

A notable hobble and diminished vocal range don't detract from an enjoyable night of nostalgia backed by a crowd that have been waiting for this ...

Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow (Jagjaguwar)

Review by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 23 January 2019

In Van Etten's new album, life's mess is powerful and holding it all in your arms is a creative act. ...

Arlo Parks: On The Rise: Arlo Parks

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 28 January 2019

18-year-old South Londoner Arlo Parks puts identity and generational anxiety at the heart of her affecting, soulful left-field pop. ...

Uncle Tupelo, Wilco: Jeff Tweedy: At Least That's What He Said

Interview by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, February 2019

The recent publication of his autobiography and the release of his first solo album, Warm, have seen Wilco man Jeff Tweedy reflect on a remarkable ...

Joe Jackson: Don't Look Back in Anger

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, February 2019

JOE JACKSON doesn't strike you as someone who's all that bothered about anniversaries, preferring to remain in the present rather than return to the past. ...

Tim Bowness: Flowers At The Scene

Review by Chris Roberts, Prog, February 2019

Bunches of guest stars adorn accomplished album ...

Billie Eilish: The teenage pop sensation who soundtracked 13 Reasons Why

Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 3 February 2019

LEARNER DRIVER Billie Eilish pulls up outside her house on the outskirts of L.A. in a scruffy station wagon. Her mum gets out of the ...

Mark Hollis, Talk Talk: A sacred voice: Mark Hollis sang the English gospel

Comment by Graeme Thomson, The Guardian, 26 February 2019

Talk Talk began as '80s synth-pop stalwarts, but Hollis developed not only what became known as post-rock, but his own transcendent music. ...

Jenny Lewis: On The Line

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 22 March 2019

On her fourth solo LP, the singer/songwriter returns with songs rooted in her home turf, with help from Beck, Ringo Starr and others. ...

Billie Eilish: When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 31 March 2019

HEAVENS, HOW teen pop stars have changed since Britney Spears tantalised dads in school uniform. The L.A.-born Billie Eilish wears what she wants, smiles as ...

Bill Medley, Jennifer Warnes: How we made Dirty Dancing's '(I've Had) The Time of My Life'

Interview by Henry Yates, The Guardian, 9 April 2019

Franke Previte, co-songwriter: ...

Aldous Harding: Designer

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 25 April 2019

On her third LP, the New Zealand singer pivots artfully from folk eccentric to pop eccentric. ...

Aldous Harding: Chasing rainbows with Kiwi cult star Aldous Harding and her many voices

Interview by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 25 April 2019

THE THIRD ALBUM by Aldous Harding, New Zealand's woman of a thousand voices, is called Designer. Its sleeve represents the title vertically – white on ...

Nick Cave, Larry "Ratso" Sloman: Ratso Has A Record (and a duet with Nick Cave)

Comment by Michael Simmons, Dangerous Minds, 25 April 2019

WHAT MOST PEOPLE dream about, Larry "Ratso" Sloman makes happen. Anyone who's read Ratso's first book, 1978's On The Road With Bob Dylan, has witnessed ...

Lewis Capaldi: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 15 May 2019

IF EVER A record's title amounted to that "Come on, then!" gesture from a pub squabble, Lewis Capaldi's is surely it. Still early into a ...

Nick Lowe: "Whitney Houston made me a million…"

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Mail On Sunday, 19 May 2019

How the staggering success of The Bodyguard's soundtrack saved the career of songwriter Nick Lowe. ...

Wheatus: How We Made 'Teenage Dirtbag'

Interview by Henry Yates, The Guardian, 22 May 2019

Author's note: This is the original version of the piece submitted to the Guardian.   ...

Elton John: Rocketman: Melody Maker Memories of Elton

Film/DVD/TV Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, June 2019

MONDAYS ON Melody Maker were always a bit stressful for me. It was the day when we had to come up with a front-page lead story ...

Paul Simon and the Road to Redemption

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, June 2019

YOU COULD ARGUE whether Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years deserved its trophy for Album of the Year when the Grammys were handed out in ...

The Chills: Martin Phillipps' triumph and tragedy told with extraordinary candour

Film/DVD/TV Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 14 June 2019

THE INDEPENDENT scene that emerged from Dunedin, New Zealand, in the early 1980s had all the strange qualities musical trainspotters around the world associate with ...

The Beatles: Danny Boyle's Yesterday

Film/DVD/TV Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, July 2019

A WORLD WITHOUT the Beatles is not somewhere I would want to live, but this is the unlikely scenario on which this strange, occasionally enjoyable ...

Guy Clark's Triumphant Last Act

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, July 2019

IF YOU WERE watching television after midnight on July 21, 1998, you may have witnessed a musical performance that belongs in the history books. David ...

Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves: Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and the Politics of Joy

Comment by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, July 2019

NOT MANY people in the audience at Irving Plaza in New York knew who Kacey Musgraves was when she opened there for Little Big Town ...

Tessa Violet: On The Rise: Tessa Violet

Profile and Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 3 July 2019

The colourful, quirky Tessa Violet channels her love of music into a unique electro-pop sound and ambitious aesthetic. ...

Sharon Van Etten: Cambridge Junction

Live Review by David Bennun, Metro, 3 July 2019

SHARON VAN ETTEN has changed. She seems no longer consumed by the rage and pain she has had good reason to feel, and has channelled ...

Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah! What a love affair...

Retrospective and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Daily Mail, 13 July 2019

A new film tells the entrancing – and ultimately tragic – story of Leonard Cohen and the muse he always adored... ...

Ed Sheeran: No. 6 Collaborations (Atlantic)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, Metro, 15 July 2019

OTHERWISE known as Pop's Insanely Successful Mr Average, Ed Sheeran rouses many people to eye-rolling disbelief: four albums in, how can Ginger Ordinaire still be ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson and the Art of Pop

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, August 2019

"I DON'T LIKE you, but I love you." Those eight words, the ones that start off 'You've Really Got a Hold on Me', were the ...

Lewis Capaldi: Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 15 August 2019

EVERY LEWIS Capaldi gig has a gag — OK, several, but typically one that runs. At Glastonbury it was the singer's Oasis-baiting attire. In Glasgow ...

Aldous Harding: Metro, Sydney

Live Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 27 August 2019

Watching the folk singer perform is to be touched by something deeply human and oddly universal. ...

Ezra Furman: Twelve Nudes

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 27 August 2019

"TRANS" IS QUITE the motif for indie cult hero Ezra Furman. ...

Ben Folds: "I dreaded that song coming out": Ben Folds on 'Brick', William Shatner and hitting rock bottom

Interview by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 29 August 2019

In Australia with his new memoir, the 'songwriting sociopath' discusses creativity and what Shatner taught him about coolness: 'He just does not give a shit' ...

Neil Diamond Is Not (Just) Who You Think He Is

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, September 2019

THERE'S A SCENE in Ted Demme's 1996 film Beautiful Girls where Uma Thurman strolls into a bar, turns heads, and has all the local guys ...

The Cars, Ric Ocasek: You're All I've Got Tonight: Brush Your Rock& Roll Hair, Ric Ocasek's Gone To Heaven

Memoir by Holly Gleason, hollygleason.com, September 2019

IT WAS COLD, steely but not metal. It swirled and encircled you like a cartoon vine, only it was staccato – and the beat was so evident. ...

Brittany Howard: History Repeats

Profile and Interview by Alan Light, Relix, October 2019

"THAT'S SCARY, but don't worry," says the tarot card reader. "The devil is kind of weirdly positive, though it looks crazy." ...

Elton John with Alexis Petridis: Me

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, October 2019

A POPULAR musician who has stepped on stage dressed as Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse and Amadeus Mozart, complete with elevated, powdered wig, is unlikely to ...

Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton: How Dolly Parton Became America's Sweetheart

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, October 2019

THE LAST SONG on Dolly Parton's My Tennessee Mountain Home, her autobiographical concept album from 1973, is a three-minute story about how she arrived in ...

Rickie Lee Jones: Adult Kicks

Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, October 2019

AS HER TOUR BUS heads across Texas on the way to the Kessler Theatre in Dallas, a song that's been running around inside Rickie Lee ...

The Kinks' Arthur: Its genius and its fate

Retrospective by Geoffrey Cannon, Rock's Backpages, October 2019

Arthur (the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), the Kinks's second song-cycle, was released half a century ago, in October 1969. It is now ...

Angel Olsen: All Mirrors

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 2 October 2019

With cinematic strings and goth-noir drama, the singer-songwriter makes her biggest, boldest record yet. ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: Ghosteen

Review by Mark Mordue, The Electrified Journalist, 6 October 2019

NOTE: I wrote these notes upon a first listening to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Ghosteen. I tried to evolve the words into something ...

Lana Del Rey: How the world caught up with Lana Del Rey

Comment by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 9 October 2019

When Lana Del Rey emerged, she was attacked for being inauthentic. But her strange brand of brooding, bruised Americana now seems to fit the times. ...

Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure

Retrospective by Rob Tannenbaum, Pitchfork, 13 October 2019

Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today, we ...

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy on clashing with Billy Bragg, being insulted by Diddy, and why bands don't need record labels

Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 14 October 2019

IN 2001, WILCO fired the first shot in a war against an industry that had done them wrong. When Reprise Records rejected their fourth album, ...

Billy Bragg: Best Of Billy Bragg at the BBC, 1983–2019

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 24 October 2019

The radical pedigree of Billy Bragg's latest compilation release shows why he's in danger of becoming a national treasure, says Tony Burke. ...

Richard Dawson: Anthems for a blighted nation

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 27 October 2019

Celebrated for his incredible voice and outsider-folk charm, the musician is stepping out of the shadows with his new album, 2020, a one-of-a-kind opus that ...

Beck (2019)

Interview by Andrew Stafford, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 October 2019

Beck talks about his latest album, Hyperspace: working with Pharrell Williams; what the songs are about; on not being a slacker, and his working life; looking back at the '90s, and feeling outside of that periods's music; modern production processes; on his Record Club and Song Reader; writing for Johnny Cash; having no single musical home; his LA youth; losing his recordings in the Universal Studio fire; on not being a Scientologist, and it having no influence on him, and lastly how he sees his future.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.2mb, interview length: 1h 01' 41" sound quality: *****

Beck (2019) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Andrew Stafford, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 30 October 2019

This is a transcript of Andrew's audio interview with Beck. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Michael Kiwanuka's music is medicine for the soul

Interview by Paul Moody, AnOther Magazine, 31 October 2019

The softly-spoken singer opens up to Paul Moody about the 70s, self-expression and his self-titled new album, which comes out tomorrow ...

Donnie Fritts, 1942-2019; Jimmy Johnson, 1943-2019; Larry "The Mole" Taylor, 1942-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, November 2019

SINGER, SONGWRITER and piano player Donnie Fritts – a key member of the session musicians who shaped the sound of soul music recorded in Muscle ...

The Beatles, Bert Berns, The Isley Brothers: How 'Twist and Shout' Shook the World

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, November 2019

UNLIKE MOST stories, this one begins with a twist. "Come on, baby," Hank Ballard commanded, "let's do the Twist," immortalizing a dance that was catching ...

Johnny Rivers: When Everything Went a Go-Go

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, November 2019

IT WAS EARLY 1964, a couple of months after JFK was killed, and everyone just wanted the heavy clouds of mourning to lift. A new ...

Tim Hardin: The Haunted Saga of Tim Hardin

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, November 2019

TIM HARDIN DIED in December 1980, not quite a week after his 39th birthday, and to the extent that his passing was felt in the ...

Michael Kiwanuka: Kiwanuka

Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 1 November 2019

The soulful singer's third LP is timeless and contemporary at the same time, with shades of everything from What's Going On to Screamadelica. ...

Gene Clark: No Other

Review by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 3 November 2019

Deep-digging revisitation of one of the pre-punk 70s' best albums ...

Beck: "I think there's a misconception": Beck on Scientology

Profile and Interview by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 22 November 2019

BECK LOOKS toasted. Under round vintage sunglasses and a broad-brimmed black hat, the cheeks of one of the most inventive, elusive artists of the last ...

Leonard Cohen: His Muses Were Many Women

Essay by Larry Jaffee, Record Collector, 3 December 2019

THE NEW DOCUMENTARY Leonard & Marianne: Words of Love, directed by Nick Broomfield, ostensibly is about the romance on the Greek island of Hydra in ...

Bill Fay: Countless Branches

Review and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, January 2020

HAD JEFF TWEEDY not chosen to cover 'Be Not So Fearful' in the 2002 Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, the song's ...

Dave Alvin: From An Old Guitar – Rare and Unreleased Recordings

Review by Wayne Robins, Copper, 14 January 2020

YOU'RE DRIVING through the New Mexico desert in the dark. Your teeth are grinding, though the buzz of the blue meth or whatever you were ...

James Blunt: How we made 'You're Beautiful'

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 14 January 2020

'It's portrayed as a romantic song but it's actually a bit creepy. It's about a guy — me — stalking someone else's girlfriend while high' ...

Grimes: Miss Anthropocene (4AD)

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 25 February 2020

WHAT DO YOU do when you become not only a star but a style? When a host of other artists keep remaking (pretty well, too) ...

Burt Bacharach and the Invention of Modern Cosmopolitan Pop

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, March 2020

GENERALLY, SONGWRITERS who aren't also performers don't become celebrities. They don't get to host television specials, or appear in commercials alongside their glamorous wives, or ...

Bob Dylan: Dylan Dials Up JFK, the Wolfman, and Whitman

Essay by Wayne Robins, Copper, March 2020

'MURDER MOST Foul', Bob Dylan's newly released song, is long. It is 17 minutes and change, about as long as 'Desolation Row' and 'Like a ...

Gordon Lightfoot: Just Like a Paperback Novel

Profile and Interview by Nicholas Jennings, Zoomer, March 2020

I'M DRIVING NORTH up Toronto's Bayview Avenue on a winter's night in early January. I turn east on Post Road and into the Bridle Path ...

Michael Kiwanuka: O2 Academy, Birmingham

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 2 March 2020

The two-time Brit nominee rejects a brash victory lap in favour of a deep dive into his socially conscious hit album ...

Alanis Morissette: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London


Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 5 March 2020

Morissette's acoustic outing for her smash-hit album's anniversary proves these songs are as lacerating as ever ...

Jamie Cullum: Barbican, York

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 12 March 2020

Although some routines are getting well-worn, Cullum hops between hip-hop, crooning and one-liners with aplomb ...

Morrissey, The Smiths: The Cult Of Steve: Morrissey Live At Wembley Arena

Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 17 March 2020

John Calvert is dragged by his lifelong Smiths fan girlfriend to Wembley — but will he finally see what all the fuss is about? ...

Rick Astley, Stock Aitken Waterman: Rick Astley: How we made 'Never Gonna Give You Up'

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 23 March 2020

"One day I was making the tea for Bananarama. The next I was at No 1." ...

Lewis Capaldi: Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

Live Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 March 2020

With his self-deprecating wit and blue-eyed soul, the young Scots chart-topper delights with a celebratory show mined from undiluted misery. ...

Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel: "You still have us": how Peter Gabriel's 'Don’t Give Up' became a lifeline for the lonely

Retrospective by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 27 March 2020

IT IS ALMOST eight years since the video clip for 'Don't Give Up' first appeared on YouTube. Written and sung by Peter Gabriel, and featuring ...

Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Review by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 17 April 2020

The unhurried artist's first studio album in eight years is astonishing, intimate and demonstrates a refusal to be silenced ...

AC/DC, The Band, James Brown, Kate Bush, Johnny Cash, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Aretha Franklin, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Marley & the Wailers, MC5, Metallica, Joni Mitchell, Motörhead, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Ramones, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Supertramp, Talking Heads, Thin Lizzy, U2, The Who, Wilco, Bill Withers: The 30 best live concert albums of all time

Guide by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 22 April 2020

LAST WEEK, A STORY appeared in the New York Times that predicted that live music would not return to the world's stages until the autumn ...

Steve Earle & the Dukes: Ghosts Of West Virginia

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2020

ON APRIL 5, 2010, 300 metres beneath Raleigh County, West Virginia, methane seeping from the coal seams of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine ignited ...

Elyse Weinberg: Forgotten folk singer had a surprising late-in-life comeback

Obituary by Nicholas Jennings, The Globe and Mail, 15 May 2020

SHE WAS one of Yorkville's forgotten female folkies, a contemporary of Joni Mitchell and a friend of Neil Young who left Toronto in 1968 for ...

Sparks: Ron Mael discusses new Sparks album A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

Profile and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Rock's Backpages, 15 May 2020

… and reveals details of two upcoming movies involving the duo – an unusual musical and a long-awaited documentary. ...

Lucinda Williams: Good Souls Better Angels

Review and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, June 2020

IT MAY BE because she's not long come off the road from a lengthy live trek marking the 20th anniversary of her most celebrated album, ...

Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel: Simon & Garfunkel and the battle of Central Park: Inside the concert that tore them apart

Retrospective by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 3 June 2020

IN THE SUMMER of 1981, Paul Simon received a call from the Long Island concert promoter Ron Delsener. The 44-year-old Tri-State impresario was speaking on ...

Heather Leigh: Glory Days

Review by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 15 July 2020

Not your bog standard lockdown project, Heather Leigh's Glory Days feels like a new lease of life, finds Luke Turner ...

Sam Fender: Virgin Money Unity Arena, Newcastle — the return of live music, at a distance

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 14 August 2020

Sam Fender was the first to perform at the socially distanced Virgin Money Unity Arena music venue ...

Paul McCartney: Flaming Pie (Paul McCartney Archive Collection 2020)

Review by Steve Matteo, It's Psychedelic Baby!, 31 August 2020

PAUL MCCARTNEY'S post-Beatles career can be divided up in many ways. He has worked solo, with his band Wings, collaborated with other artists on brief ...

David Crosby: Long Time Comin'

Interview by Jon Newey, Jazzwise, September 2020

From early 1960s gigs with Terry Callier and having a song covered by Miles Davis to latter-day collaborations with Snarky Puppy and Steely Dan's Donald ...

Bill Callahan: "Having a kid changed my whole perspective"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Independent, 3 September 2020

The singer-songwriter is releasing his 21st album, the acclaimed Gold Record. He talks to Laura Barton from his home in Texas about settling down, fatherhood ...

Sufjan Stevens: "I Wish There Could Be A Revolution": Sufjan Stevens Interviewed

Interview by Patrick Clarke, The Quietus, 21 September 2020

On his new album The Ascension, Sufjan Stevens has abandoned his trademark intricacy and found the power in platitudes. He speaks to Patrick Clarke about ...

Fleet Foxes: "You can fake a guitar solo. You can't fake your voice"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 23 September 2020

Back with a warm new album, Robin Pecknold talks about how the pandemic cured his anxiety – and how the Beach Boys' golden falsettos changed ...

Helen Reddy, 1941-2020

Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 30 September 2020

Australian singer who enjoyed huge success with her 1972 feminist anthem 'I Am Woman' ...

Annie: Dark Hearts (Annie Melody)

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 22 October 2020

HEY ANNIE – well, look at you. ...

Eels: "Both my songs of the year are by people in their 70s!"

Interview by Laura Barton, The Independent, 28 October 2020

The mercurial L.A. songsters are back with their sweetest-natured album ever. Laura Barton talks to the band's founder about being reclusive, old-school songwriting and why ...

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass at 50

Retrospective by Harvey Kubernik, Music Connection, 10 November 2020

GEORGE HARRISON'S debut solo album All Things Must Pass was recorded May-October 1970 in London at the Abbey Road, Trident and Apple studios. It was ...

Lauren Aquilina is learning to live with her growing collection of ghosts

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 10 November 2020

Two years on from a two-year hiatus, Bristol-born singer/songwriter Lauren Aquilina has announced her first project since 2016 debut album Isn't It Strange?. ...

Gary Numan with James Hogg: (R)evolution (Little, Brown)

Book Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 15 November 2020

IN DYLAN JONES'S recent oral history of the New Romantic movement, Sweet Dreams, Gary Numan stands out like a sore pale thumb. He fell into ...

James Taylor: "I took legal heroin – it's the safest way to be an addict"

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 7 December 2020

ON THE AFTERNOON of 7th December 1980, James Taylor was accosted by a stranger who knew his name. As the singer-songwriter battled his way home ...

Taylor Swift: Evermore

Review by David Bennun, Metro, 15 December 2020

AT LEAST THIS suspended animation has been good for something, then. All those artists who have been denied the road and excused the promotional treadmill ...

Celeste: Not Your Muse (Polydor)

Review by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 31 January 2021

ANOINTED BY the Brit awards as 2020’s rising star, Celeste hasn’t lived up to the hype. ...

Nick Cave: The Journalist and the Singer

Book Excerpt by Mark Mordue, 'Boy On Fire' (Allen & Unwin), February 2021

THE FIRST TIME I ever spoke to Nick Cave was in a phone interview to promote his second solo album, The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), ...

Jane Weaver: Flock

Review by Chris Roberts, Prog, March 2021

Experimentalist goes pop but can't help bringing the sinister. ...

Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt: The Story of Guy and Susanna Clark Unfolds in New Documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, American Songwriter, 15 March 2021

The documentary movie, Without Getting Killed or Caught, is as much about Susanna Clark as it is about her husband Guy. Which makes sense, because ...

Desmond Child

Interview by Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access, 29 March 2021

This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Desmond Child, songwriter and producer. ...

Gordon Lightfoot: Gord's Gold

Interview by Max Bell, Record Collector, April 2021

  THE VOICE ON the other end of the line is hesitant. The hearing is none too good. Talking on the phone is a challenge. "Can ...

Sananda Maitreya: Pandora's PlayHouse (TreeHouse)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, April 2021

YEARS BEFORE Terence Trent D'Arby renamed himself Sananda Maitreya, he was a mid-1980s sensation embraced by the UK pop media, the US alternative press, Black ...

St. Vincent: Daddy's Home

Review and Interview by Laura Barton, Uncut, June 2021

AT LAST YEAR'S SUNDANCE, Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein premiered a mockumentary they named The Nowhere Inn. Playing augmented versions of themselves, the film cast ...

Crowded House: Dreamers Are Waiting

Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 3 June 2021

The band's first album since 2010 is full of beautiful details and deceptive tonal shifts – a slow burn but worth the effort ...

Joni Mitchell: Kind of Blue: Joni’s masterpiece track by track

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, The Times, 21 June 2021

1 'All I Want' For all the rapturous words bestowed on Blue, it's rarely remarked that it starts with two bars of uncomfortable dissonance: Joni's strummed ...

Raye: Polydor records respond after RAYE says she hasn't "been allowed" to release her debut album

Report by Patrick Clarke, New Musical Express, 30 June 2021

RAYE has expressed her frustration that she's yet to release her debut album, despite having been signed on a major label deal with Polydor for ...

Ornette Coleman, Chris Darrow, Nico: All That Is My Own: Nico at Steve Paul's The Scene, October 1967

Book Excerpt by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, 'You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone' (Faber), July 2021

Excerpted from Jennifer Otter Bickerdike's You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nico, published this month by Faber ...

Laura Nyro: the Gothic genius who transformed Sixties pop — then quit

Retrospective by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2021

The late songwriter, whose music is now being re-released, lent her tales of private agony to everyone from Barbra Streisand to Diana Ross. ...

Orla Gartland: DIY 'til she dies

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 19 August 2021

Tomorrow, Orla Gartland releases her debut album, Woman On The Internet. In the decade since the Irish singer/songwriter began uploading tracks to YouTube as a ...

Diane Warren: "I'm a one in a billion": how Diane Warren penned windswept power ballads for Cher, Gaga and Dion

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 26 August 2021

SHE'S THE QUEEN of the power ballad mega hit – and has even written songs for Biden, Harris and Ringo Starr. Now the world's most ...

Gerry Rafferty: Blue Is The Colour

Interview by Paul Sexton, The Independent, 29 August 2021

Ten years after his death, a new record, Rest in Blue, adds to Gerry Rafferty's treasured legacy. Paul Sexton speaks to his daughter Martha about ...

Jackie Leven: "Strong on the outside, brittle on the inside": the life, death and genius of Jackie Leven

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, Daily Telegraph, 15 September 2021

The troubled, genre-defying Scot told stories that no one else dared to. Who cares if they weren't all true? ...

Sherry Rich: The Divine Crimson V

Review by Jeff Apter, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 17 September 2021

EVER SINCE she formed a high school band with a blonde Queensland up-and-comer named Keith Urban, good people have gravitated to Sherry Rich. ...

Martha Wainwright: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Evening Standard, 21 September 2021

The singer songwriter was on perky form in a set that hinged on songs that explored her recent divorce ...

Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac: The Legend of Zimmerman

Retrospective by Simon Warner, Rock and the Beat Generation, 24 September 2021

Bob Dylan delighted in the tales he could spin to embroider his early biography and Jack Kerouac adapted his own life for fictional purposes. ...

Billy Bragg: "Boris was trolling me the whole time. We've got a wind-up merchant as PM."

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Guardian, 29 October 2021

As the bard of Barking tours a new album, he reflects on modern politics, his scraps with the Daily Mail and why he could do ...

Caroline Polachek: Roundhouse, NW1

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 29 October 2021

Spooky singalongs from a cult indie star ...

Courtney Barnett on being forced to stop: "I felt myself opening up in a different way"

Interview by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 5 November 2021

A breakup, a pandemic and a homecoming left the singer with time to sit and think. Her new album radiates the calmness and kindness she ...

Joni Mitchell: "I didn't want anyone to know it was me": On being Joni Mitchell's 'Carey'

Retrospective and Interview by Kate Mossman, New Statesman, 17 December 2021

For 50 years, the "mean old daddy" immortalised in one of Mitchell's best-loved songs has been an enigma. Now he tells his side of the ...

Paul Kelly (Australia): Enough with the gravy: a plea for a new national Christmas anthem

Comment by Jeff Apter, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 22 December 2021

I REMEMBER the first time I heard 'How to Make Gravy'. It was 1997, and I was about halfway through a two-year stint living in ...

Fontaines D.C.: An Interview

Interview by Patrick Clarke, Marvin, 6 January 2022

Hailing from Dublin, the indie rockers of Fontaines D.C. stay true to their roots during rapid growth. ...

Janis Ian: "I make people uncomfortable"

Retrospective and Interview by Liz Thomson, i, 4 February 2022

56 years after her first single was banned, the musician and songwriter is still causing a ruckus. She tells i about learning from Hendrix, and ...

Cate Le Bon: Pompeii

Review by Irina Shtreis, Louder Than War, 10 February 2022

The sixth album by Welsh songwriter and producer Cate Le Bon balances a lukewarm new-wave sound against the intensity of emotion. ...

Delines, The : The Delines: Two If By Sea

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Rock & Roll Globe, 12 March 2022

Willy Vlautin and Amy Boone overcome the odds to create their best album with The Sea Drift. ...

Griff: Chalk, Brighton

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 21 March 2022

After the baffling flop of her single 'Black Hole', the pop singer-songwriter is still ready to reach for the stars in this breezy, funny show ...

Michael Kiwanuka: O2 Academy, Glasgow

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 9 May 2022

MICHAEL KIWANUKA began this tour two years and two months ago. Just three dates in, acute laryngitis forced him off stage in Bournemouth before Covid ...

Bob Neuwirth: An Appreciation

Memoir by Gary Lucas, Culture Catch, 23 May 2022

I FIRST RAN into Bob Neuwirth on a change of planes in Chicago, on the way from NYC to play the Winnipeg Folk Festival, must have ...

Zola Jesus on spirituality and overcoming the lone genius archetype

Interview by Pip Williams, The Line of Best Fit, 20 June 2022

Against a striking backdrop of towering ancient rock formations in Turkey, Zola Jesus filmed the video for recent single 'Lost'. Blanketed in snow, this landscape ...

Arctic Monkeys: Drive My Car

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, July 2022

Note: This was written as a bio at the behest of Domino Records' marvellous Colleen Maloney, at least three months before the release of the ...

Bret McKenzie, Flight of the Conchords: "Trying not to be funny was a challenge": Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie on his serious solo debut

Interview by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 20 August 2022

He has written duets for man and Muppet, parodied Morrissey in The Simpsons, and become Hollywood's go-to for bringing "heart" to the movies. Now he's ...

Kate Bush: 'Under the Ivy' on The Tube, 1986

Book Excerpt by Tom Doyle, Nine Eight Books, October 2022

RAMSHACKLE AND FUNNY, chaotic and controversial, Channel 4's live-to-air music show The Tube flew in the face of the glossy pop cultural trends of the ...

The Beatles' Revolver: A report and five rave reviews

Retrospective by Various Writers, Rock's Backpages, October 2022

1: Revolver is Title for New Beatle LP Tony Barrow, KRLA Beat, 13 August 1966 ...

Chuck Berry: RJ Smith: Chuck Berry – An American Life (Omnibus)

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, November 2022

"HE DIDN'T have personal friends," says Dick Allen, a showbiz agent who worked with Chuck Berry for years. "I travelled all the time with him. ...

Lewis Capaldi: "I didn't expect my life to be so sad"

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Sunday Times, 1 April 2023

In this soul-baring interview the superstar-next-door reveals why his fragile mental health may force him to quit. ...

Pete Brown and His Battered Ornaments, Pete Brown's Piblokto, Cream: Pete Brown: Superstar poet and Cream of the crop

Obituary by Simon Warner, Rock and the Beat Generation, 20 May 2023

BACK IN 2010, in the heart of the most bitter January I can recall, I visited the home of Pete Brown with a BBC radio ...

Bob Dylan: How Bob Dylan Gave His Blessing to Girl From the North Country

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Cincinatti Magazine, 6 October 2023

Playwright Conor McPherson is still amazed at the creative freedom Dylan gave him with the musical, playing this month at the Aronoff Center. ...

Bridget St John: Still Bridget St John

Retrospective by Mark Cooper, Rock's Backpages, November 2023

I CAN'T RECALL ever having seen Bridget St John before although I owned her first couple of albums as the '60s wobbled into the '70s. ...

Crowded House, Neil Finn: Running Down a Dream: the making of Together Alone

Book Excerpt by Jeff Apter, 'Don't Dream It's Over' (Jawbone), February 2024

This is an edited extract from Don't Dream It's Over: The Remarkable Life of Neil Finn by Jeff Apter, published in the UK by Jawbone ...

Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant: Tracy Chapman: I Could Be Someone

Retrospective by Mark Cooper, Rock's Backpages, February 2024

THE FIRST TIME I heard Tracy Chapman was in the office of an Elektra A&R man at 9229 Sunset Boulevard late in 1987. ...

Mojo Nixon: You Can't Kill Me: Mojo Nixon, Free, Drunk & Horny and Ready to Rumble

Memoir by Holly Gleason, Rock's Backpages, February 2024

MOJO NIXON was crazy. Walking on a razor edge, laughing into the wind like some kind of kamikaze "Hey, y'all! watch this!" good ole boy ...

back to LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT NOTICE