Chris Charlesworth
Chris Charlesworth first heard the call of rock'n'roll at the age of ten: Little Richard singing 'Tutti Frutti'. Seeing the Beatles in 1963 inspired him to buy a guitar and, after training as a journalist, he joined the Bradford Telegraph & Argus whose first ever pop music column he wrote in 1968. Two years later he became a full time music writer on the staff of Melody Maker, first as their News Editor and, in 1973, as their US Editor, based in New York. In seven years on MM he interviewed and/or wrote about just about every rock icon of the era, and his sole regret is never seeing Elvis.
After a spell working for a management company in New York and at RCA in London, he began writing books, including biographies of the Who, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Slade and Cat Stevens. In 1983 he succeeded Miles as Editor at Omnibus Press, whose editorial fortunes he has guided ever since. He has now commissioned and edited over 500 rock and pop books, probably more than anyone else in the world. Outside of Omnibus, Chris' long association with the Who resulted in his compiling and co-producing their 30 Years Of Maximum R&B box set, released in 1995, and subsequently overseeing the wholesale upgrade of their back catalogue on remastered CDs. Though now mostly occupied by coming up with book ideas and editing the work of other writers, his occasional musings have appeared in Record Collector, sundry national papers and on RBP.
Chris Charlesworth's Rock's Backpages blog
List of articles in the library by artist
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1975
"YES," SAID Graham Gouldman without any hesitation, "we are deadly serious to break over here." ...
Essay by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, October 2008
FOR MANY years now I have been a closet Abba fan. This was not always the case. ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
PONTIAC Stadium rises out of the Michigan earth like a four-walled town. ...
Gregg Allman: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
GREGG ALLMAN, the usually shy keyboards wizard, emerges into the limelight at last. Chris Charlesworth was there... ...
Gregg Allman, Allman Brothers Band: Gregg Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
GREGG ALLMAN picked up an old Gibson acoustic guitar and allowed his nimble fingers to slide over the six new strings. He tuned it and ...
Allman Brothers Band: Leavell Headed Allman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
PIANIST CHUCK Leavell is the least heralded member of the Allman Brothers Band, a musician first and a talker second. ...
Allman Brothers Band: Elected! Rock and US Politics
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
After Jimmy Carter's victory in the U.S. Presidential elections, Chris Charlesworth in New York investigates the role of rock in American politics... ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
DOWN ON COTTON Avenue in Macon, Georgia, lie the offices of Capricorn Records, slotted between a funeral parlour and a beauty salon that's anything but ...
Joan Armatrading: Bottom Line, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
PERHAPS IF Joan Armatrading had opened for an artist less popular than Richie Havens, her U.S. debut would have been more fruitful. At the Bottom ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
AIN'T IT just like the February sunshine to play tricks with the mind? Here I am, sat aboard the Long Island Railroad Express, rattling out ...
Average White Band, Sweet: Unmasked: "Mick Tucker" and Other Rock Impostors
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, March 2002
I NEVER knew Mick Tucker, Sweet’s drummer, who died last week, but I once met a man who impersonated him, or at least pretended he ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
Bad Company's formation has been a shot in the arm for Paul Rodgers – and he's raving over the band's tour of the States as ...
Bad Company: City Hall, Newcastle
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1974
BAD COMPANY were big before they were born. Any band that included Paul Rodgers in its ranks and a bassist with the talents of Boz ...
Bad Company: Kings Of The Castle!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1974
CLEARWELL CASTLE, Gloucestershire, Thursday – Mick Ralphs, clad in blue jeans, tee-shirts with Texas written on the front and dirty white fur-lined coat, hovers around ...
Badfinger: Fickle Fate Of Badfinger
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1971
"EVERYONE who interviews us wants to talk about the Beatles. Sure, we were influenced by the Beatles, like ten million other groups. ...
Band, The, Rick Danko: Rick Danko: Solo, But Not Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
WITH THE possible exception of Robbie Robertson, the individual members of the Band have enjoyed a remarkable anonymity that belies their status as one of ...
Band, The, Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan & The Band: Knocking On Heaven's Door
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
THEY CHEERED and clapped and waved for fifteen minutes even though the house lights were up and 'Greensleeves' was playing through the PA system and ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Kings Of Pop!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
IN THE same week that Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight boxing title, the featherweight crown of pop, too, has changed hands. ...
Bay City Rollers, The: The Bay City Rollers: Rollers' American Civil War
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
THE STATE TROOPER, with his tall hat perched firmly on a head with very little hair, seemed to be in control. One hand grasped a ...
Beach Boys, The: The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations In The Rain
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1973
The Beach Boys: Convention Centre, Anaheim, California ...
Beach Boys, The, Chicago: Beachago: The Beach Boys meet Chicago
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
PERHAPS THE MOST the most interesting side-effect of the depression in the United States has been the decision of two potential headliners to go out ...
Beach Boys, The, Dennis Wilson: Wilson Returns!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976
A NEW studio album is in the works, Brian Wilson is back in business and the Beach Boys are planning to visit England in late ...
Beatles, The: Two Encounters With Neil Aspinall
Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, March 2008
RBP REGULARS will doubtless have read last week's obituaries for Neil Aspinall, who worked for the Beatles from 1961 until shortly before he died. He ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
OF ALL the guitar heroes to emerge from the British blues boom of the mid-Sixties, Jeff Beck has been the most slippery to follow. There ...
Bee Gees, The: The Bee Gees: Nights on Broadway
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
BEE GEES: 'The Beatles influenced us in the early days and before that Neil Sedaka. Now we let Stevie Wonder influence us.' ...
Maggie Bell: Queen of the Night
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
MAGGIE BELL'S first solo album is with us at last. It's been a lengthy wait and there have been countless rumours concerning who would be ...
Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple: Ritchie Blackmore
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S DEPARTURE from Deep Purple comes as no surprise to followers of Deep Purple who have watched their activities closely over the years. For ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
Black Oak Arkansas are UK bound and MM's man in America, Chris Charlesworth, warns: watch out for the sexiest thing since Jim Morrison ...
Black Sabbath: Sabbra Cadabra!
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
THE GRINDING riff sears through the eardrums, ripping the senses and dulling with monotony. It crashes through the PA system, hurtling itself towards the back ...
Blood Sweat & Tears: New Sweat
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE WIND of change that spread through Blood Sweat and Tears a year ago is beginning to make itself felt at last. Their forthcoming album ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: They say that heavy rock is on the decline and it's become fashionable to put down bands whose music is based on a ...
Blue Oyster Cult: We Copped A Lot From Sabbath
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
EVEN THE hardest of hearts must soften sometime, and so it is with Blue Oyster Cult, whose fifth album Agents of Fortune offers a degree ...
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, 2004
A WHIFF OF hedonism lingered amid the dense fog of cigarette smoke inside the top floor suite of Detroit's luxurious Ponchartrain hotel. David Bowie sighed, ...
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
A NEW album release by David Bowie is today looked on with as much awe as a release by the Beatles in the sixties. Later ...
David Bowie: Birth Of The New Rock Theatre
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
A FEW THOUSAND lucky Canadians witnessed a completely new concept in rock theatre last weekend when David Bowie opened his North American tour in Montreal ...
David Bowie: Ringing The Changes
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
"I'M JUST DOING this tour for the money. I never earned any money before, but this time I'm going to make some. I think I ...
Jackson Browne: Jackson's Song For Everyman
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
JACKSON Browne arrived half an hour late. He'd been figuring out how to repair the plumbing at his house, and had finally succeeded in getting ...
Brownsville Station: Smokin' Out America's Slade
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
FIRST PLACE the tip of the digit finger on the first fret of the third string, then place the second finger on the second fret ...
Jack Bruce, West, Bruce & Laing: Jack Bruce
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
JACK BRUCE has turned full circle. The best bass guitarist Britain has produced, whose career has merged jazz and rock to the extent where he ...
Tim Buckley: Digging Deeper to the Roots
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1973
IN A WORLD that seems grossly over-populated with singer/songwriters whose crotchets and quavers reflect their personal attitudes and experiences, Tim Buckley stands out like the ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE 'PHONE DOESN'T stop ringing in Eric Burden's room at the Holiday Inn at Swiss Cottage. So many people, explains Katie from Island Records, are ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1970
JOHN SEBASTIAN brought a little sunshine into a gloomy Hyde Park, London, on Saturday. ...
Carpenters, The: The Carpenters: It's Plane Sailing!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
HEAD DOWN THE Santa Ana freeway, turn off on San Gabriel, make a couple of rights and you're in Downey, a right-wing, unpretentious suberb of ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
HARRY CHAPIN, the singer who tells stories rather than sings songs, has recently moved his craft a giant leap forward with the opening of The ...
Harry Chapin: Short Stories of Harry Chapin
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 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 ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
FEW BANDS have enjoyed the stability of Chicago, those rather dull "pioneers of jazz-rock" whose 'If You Leave Me Now' not only tops the charts ...
Chicago: One Date Only For The Chicago Seven
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
WITH THE news that Chicago will play just one concert at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 1, instead of two as they planned after ...
Eric Clapton, Band, The: Eric Clapton: A Hero Comes To Town
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
PITTSBURGH, PA. – The tint on the TV screen gave the newscaster a peculiarly reddish face, almost as if he was genuinely quite excited about ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1975
Judy Collins – back in the MM chart with a hit single, 'Send In The Clowns' – talks to Chris Charlesworth in New York ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 1976
Ry Cooder, cult figure and esoteric guitarist, tells CHRIS CHARLESWORTH in New York why he's now into Tex-Mex music ...
Rita Coolidge, Byrds, The, Dixie Flyers, The: The Byrds, Rita Coolidge: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
THE BYRDS are like an institution. They seem to have been around as long as the Houses of Parliament with their own particular style of ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1974
Chris Charlesworth has a round – of golf, that is – with Alice Cooper in New York and finds the ghoul of rock is a ...
Alice Cooper: Alice Is Still Swinging — By The Neck!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1972
THE KIDS AT GREEN'S PLAYHOUSE, GLASGOW, were yelling "Alice, Alice, Alice" at the top of their voices in deafening unison as the object of their ...
Alice Cooper: Alice's Tasteful Nightmare
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
THE NEW Alice Cooper Revue, which opened in Chicago last week and moved on to Detroit and Cincinnati, is yet another step forward in the ...
Crazy Horse, Neil Young: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Palladium Theatre, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
NEW YORK Only an artist with the charisma and talent of Nell Young could perform with a lacklustre band such as the current Crazy Horse ...
Crosby and Nash: Crosby & Nash: Central Park, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
NEIL YOUNG and Steve Stills may have blown out their tour in a flurry of sore throats and, reportedly, short tempers, but the "other half" ...
Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Love The One You're With!
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
MILE HIGH STADIUM, as the name implies, is 1,760 yards high. That's a mile above sea level, but even so it sits at the foot ...
Charlie Daniels Band, The: The Charlie Daniels Band: The South Rises Again
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1975
Southern bands like the Allmans, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Wet Willie have smashed their way to the top of American rock. Now add a new name ...
David Cassidy, Mick Ronson: David Cassidy & Mick Ronson: Cassidy Lights Up With Ronson
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
DAVID CASSIDY is to form a band with Mick Ronson, the British guitarist whose services as a freelance player are much in demand these days. ...
Dawn, Glen Campbell: Live in Las Vegas: Dawn and Glen Campbell
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1973
"HANG ON tight," said the man in the next seat on the Western Airlines jet. "Landings in Las Vegas are the roughest in the world." ...
Deep Purple: Stormbringer (Purple Records)
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
'Stormbringer'; 'Love Don't Mean A Thing'; 'Holy Man'; 'Hold On'; 'Lady Double Dealer'; 'You Can't Do It Right'; 'High Ball Shooter'; 'The Gypsy'; 'Soldiers of ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1971
OFTEN ABUSED BY critics and disc jockeys, Deep Purple have won through during the past two years to become one of this country's top groups. ...
Deep Purple: A New Bassman — But Still No Singer
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
"PAUL RODGERS was asked to join us, but there were just too many things in the way. Apart from just the contractual side of it, ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
THE FORTUNES of Deep Purple have taken strange paths over the past 12 months. But changes in line-up and strange stories about their antics in ...
Deep Purple: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
ALTHOUGH it wasn't one of Deep Purple's best nights on Friday, it was certainly one of the best nights of the Camden Festival with London's ...
Deep Purple: Who'll Be Purple's New Voice?
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE NEWS that Ian Gillan is to leave Deep Purple comes at a time when the group are on the crest of world-wide acclaim. Yet ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
WITH THE SUNSHINE on his shoulders and the mountain water in his veins, John Denver is an enigma surrounded by moonbeams, a v friendly postman ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
From 'Hang On Sloopy' to the Winter Brothers – and now Rick Derringer's got a hit US single and album ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 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 ...
Donovan: Flower Child's Second Bloom
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
FEW ARTISTS evoke memories of the Sixties as much as Donovan who, even in this enlightened age, still clings resolutely to the styles that developed ...
Doobie Brothers: Doobies — With Added Skunk
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
KALAMAZOO: Over thirty guitars, mostly Gibsons, sit on racks in one dressing room and a wooden packing case in another contains suits of clothing that ...
Doors, The, Ray Manzarek: The Doors: When The Music's Over
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
HELPING HIMSELF to one of my British cigarettes and inhaling deeply, Ray Manzarek coldly and without emotion spoke about why The Doors finally decided to ...
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Hook, Line And Sinker
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
"HEY MAN, that was really great. They really hated us out there. There was a guy at the front who kept shouting 'you suck' all ...
Bob Dylan: Jacques Levy: Dylan's Write Hand Man
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1976
THOSE WHO have already acquired a copy of Dylan's new album, Desire, will have noticed at least one difference between this and other Dylan records ...
Eagles, The: Eagles: Where Eagles Dare…
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
WHAT'S it like, I asked, being an Eagle? Glenn Frey, a perpetual talker, paused to consider the question and the silence lasted almost a minute. ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: Eagle Eyed
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
HOLLYWOOD: On a clear day Glenn Frey can see from his living room right out to sea, right across the Pacific to Catalina, the island ...
Eagles, The: The Eagles: The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
SPECTRUM, Philadelphia: You can't get much more Los Angelean than the Eagles. Right down to the faded jeans and slightly wrinkled tee-shirts, the fuzzy moustaches ...
Duane Eddy: The Guitar Man Twangs Back
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
THE FIRST REAL guitar superstar of the rock and roll age sits in an office no larger than a bathroom on North Vine off the ...
Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Live in Philadelphia
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
WE ARE gathered together, ladies and gentlemen, for a recital by that promising septet of young British musicians who call themselves the Electric Light Orchestra. ...
John Entwistle, Who, The: John Entwistle, 1944-2002
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Bass Guitar, July 2002
IT IS A CLICHÉ THAT CELEBRITIES tend to be shorter in real life than they appear on stage. John Entwistle, who often wore brightly-coloured Cuban-heeled ...
Faces, The: The Faces: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
IF ANYONE still doubts that the Faces haven't yet "made it," talk to one of the 2,000 or so who visited Thursday night's show at ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
From the Turtles via the Mothers and T. Rex to their own radio show. Chris Charlesworth meets Flo and Eddie in New York ...
Peter Frampton: How I Cracked America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
"IT'S ALL QUITE unbelievable really. I don't want to think about it too much. I know it's great and it's made me really happy, but ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1970
Beatlemania-type Free-fever grips Britain. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH reports from the front line ...
Free, Mott The Hoople: Fairfield Hall, Croydon
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1970
FAIRFIELD Hall, Croydon, has seen some amazing scenes since it became South London's home of rock, but I doubt whether the old faithfuls at the ...
Funkadelic: It's Just To Get People's Attention
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
EVER since Keith Emerson set fire to an American flag on the stage of London's Royal Albert Hall, the banning of groups from that particular ...
Art Garfunkel: Art For Art's Sake
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
ART GARFUNKEL cut an odd dash at the Top of the Pops rehearsals last week. Slotted between Pan's People and Mud and closely followed by ...
Genesis: Beacon Theatre, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
WITH THE RELEASE of A Trick Of The Tail Genesis demonstrated that, on record at least, they could carry on at the same degree of ...
Genesis, Lindisfarne: Lindisfarne, Genesis: Dublin Stadium, Dublin
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1972
TO BE CASUAL is to be Lindisfarne, but even the most relaxed of bands have a hard time putting over a set of new numbers ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Funk On A Grand Scale
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
RINGING EARS are a symptom of excessive listening to loud rock and roll. When the ears tingle after a gig, you know the band in ...
Grand Funk Railroad: Isn't Life Grand!
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
THEY said it would never happen. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1976
IT IS, I GUESS, the third time around for Dobie Gray who, at the present moment, is stretched out full length on a bed on ...
Hall & Oates: Hall and Oates: A Bigger Splash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
JOHN OATES: 'I find the audiences in Europe more intelligent and receptive – music in Europe and England still retains its mystique and excitement.' ...
Hall & Oates: Hall and Oates: The Palladium, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1976
NEW YORK: Like it or not, Hall and Oates are currently running the distinct risk of becoming just too perfect for their own good. At ...
Emmylou Harris Makes Up Leeway
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
IT CAME as something of a surprise to learn that Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band were in town last week. To be precise, they ...
Debbie Harry: Encounter with a Stiletto: Debbie Harry in 1974
Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, February 2005
EVERY TIME Bob Gruen called me he’d open the conversation with "What’s happening, man?" Of course it was me who should have been posing the ...
Buddy Holly: The Legend Lives On
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1975
"DEAR BUDDY, I have several records of yours and my favourite is 'Oh Boy'. Please send me a picture with your autograph." With the constant ...
Nicky Hopkins: Sixth Stone Rolls Alone
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
THE NEWS THAT the Rolling Stones are to tour next month without their long serving pianist Nicky Hopkins will come as a surprise to those ...
Ian Hunter, Hunter-Ronson, Mick Ronson: Hunter-Ronson: Till Death Us Do Part
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1975
Forget all the rumours, Hunter-Ronson are still happily married, as they tell Chris Charlesworth ...
Jackson 5, The: The Jackson 5: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
NEW YORK: There's something about Michael Jackson that is almost frightening to behold. How can it be possible for a kid that age to be ...
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
ABOUT ONE year ago this week Dick Clark, in his infinite wisdom, decided to host a ten year anniversary edition of his TV rock show ...
Jefferson Airplane: Plane Sailing
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
A LITTLE GIRL on a bicycle, who couldn't have been older than 12, overheard me asking the way to Olympic Studios last Wednesday night. I'd ...
Jethro Tull: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
RISE SIR Ian of Flute, for thou hast indeed redeemed thyself. The critics have had their way, the Passion Play has been forgotten and Jethro ...
Elton John: Elton's Bitter Sweet Album
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1975
Chris Charlesworth in New York previews Elton John's new album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy – and talks to the man himself... ...
Elton John: He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
THE WHOLE FAMILY was there. Mum, dad and three children all waited patiently by the elevators in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel on ...
Elton John: Elton's Finest Hour!
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
Elton John: The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles ...
KC & the Sunshine Band: KC & Sunshine Band: Let The Sunshine In
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
ALTHOUGH it has yet to register in the US Top 100, 'Queen Of Clubs' by K. C. and the Sunshine Band represents the second big ...
King Crimson, Roy Harper, Jack Bruce: King Crimson/Roy Harper/Jack Bruce: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1971
JUDGING BY THE weather this week, the title of Saturday's free concert in Hyde Park – "Farewell To Summer" – was a little premature. And ...
Kinks, The: The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1971
SUPERSTARS may come and go but the Kinks keep marching on. They don't change as much as musical styles change around them; not for them ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
"I DON'T feel I have to defend myself to you, and I won't take your criticism either. I'd take the criticism of a fan, though. ...
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2003
NOTE: Like almost everyone else who encountered Led Zeppelin in their pomp in the ‘70s, including many in their employ, I was intimidated by them. ...
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same
Film/DVD Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
THE FOUR members of Led Zeppelin received standing ovations at the premiere in New York last week of their film The Song Remains The Same. ...
Led Zeppelin: How Could They Fail? An Overview
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, unpublished, 2009
NOTE: The first time I encountered Led Zeppelin was interviewing Jimmy Page by phone when I was a reporter on the Bradford Telegraph & Argus, ...
Led Zeppelin: Robert Plant: Recording's No Race For Us
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1975
WITH WEEKS of the current Led Zeppelin tour under his belt, Robert Plant is feeling the strain. One show has been cancelled because he caught ...
Led Zeppelin, Bad Company: Bad Company: Led Zep Join The Company
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
It was a night to remember...when Robert Plant and Jimmy Page jammed with Bad Company on stage in Los Angeles. ...
Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant: Plantations
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Creem, May 1976
SHOULD RALPH NADER JOIN LED ZEPPELIN? ...
John Lennon Gets His Ticket To Ride
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
NEW YORK: John Lennon has won his five-year battle against the immigration authorities in the United States. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
WHERE DOHENY DRIVE cuts Sunset at the edge of the Beverly Hills estate, there's a tobacconist shop that carries all makes and brands. It's called ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
It's a busy time for JOHN LENNON – hit singles, a new album of oldies and recording with Elton John and and David Bowie. Plus ...
John Lennon: Memories Of John Lennon
Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, 2001
THE FIRST TIME I heard John Lennon’s voice was in mid-January 1963 in my father’s white Triumph Vitesse car, travelling from Skipton to York, going ...
Lindisfarne: We Can Swing Together: A Day In The Life Of Lindisfarne
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1972
SIMON COWE ordered a pint of cider and told me he hadn't eaten anything for two days. He'd had plenty of cider though. ...
Little Feat: Real Dixie Chickens
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
LITTLE FEAT come to Europe with a high reputation to live up to. While the Doobie Brothers headline one of the two nights at each ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
DESPITE substantial success in the United States, Loggins and Messina have remained an unknown quantity in the U.K. ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1974
I DOUBT very much whether Lynyrd Skynyrd, those Southern rock and rollers who take the stage to the strains of a tape of 'Dixie', could ...
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Memories Of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Peter Rudge
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, 2001
LYNYRD SKYNYRD WAS MANAGED BY my friend Peter Rudge from late 1973. Rudge’s main pre-occupation at this time was The Who, for whom he’d worked ...
Steve Marriott, Humble Pie: Humble Pie: Pulling In The Soul Audience
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1973
THE STORY SO FAR: Steve Marriott, one time leader of pop idols the Small Faces and now boss of "progressive" rock and rollers Humble Pie, ...
Dave Mason: Why Dave Mason Is Trying To Go The Paul Simon Route
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
THE VERY fat man with a pony tail who sat himself down next to me twitched almost uncontrollably as the Englishman with the red Stratocaster ...
C.W. McCall: McCall Keeps On Trucking
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
JUST IMAGINE the scenario: a thousand massive trucks, a petroleum-driven army, hurtling down the highway in a strict convoy formation, all the drivers linked together ...
George McCrae's Last Chance – A Smash
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
STRANGE how chance plays its part in the record business. If George McCrae hadn't decided to have one last try at making a hit record ...
Roger McGuinn: Bottom Line, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
NEW YORK: Roger McGuinn is an institution in American rock music and, like all institutions, he seems to crop up at least once a year ...
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
"JEEZ, I HOPE the sound guy is straight tonight." said Al. "The guy who did it last night didn't have a clue. Might wind up ...
John McLaughlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra: John McLaughlin: It Was Natural Evolution
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: Although John McLaughlin's decision to disband the Mahavishnu Orchestra came as a surprise in the closing weeks of 1973, further reflections point to ...
Don McLean: How A Hobo Could Save McLean From Endless Pie
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
THE BIZARRE tale of a black hobo with one leg who fell from a Dallas bound train in the early part of this century and ...
Steve Miller: Flying Like An Eagle
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
STEVE MILLER seems to be the kind of guy who would act first and ask questions afterwards, a tough-looking Texan brought up on bands and ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
LOS ANGELES: For Montrose this is their second visit to the UK having played here as support act on a Status Quo tour earlier this ...
Keith Moon: Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1978
SOMETIME IN 1972, when my admiration for the Who was at its most passionate peak, I spent an afternoon at Keith Moon's house in Chertsey. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
"I'M TELLING ye mon, there was this bird in 'ere and she can't 'ave been more than fifteen mon, and she's telling me she's wearing ...
New York Dolls: The New York Dolls: Broken Dolls
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
NEW YORK: The many critics of the New York Dolls will doubtless be pleased to hear that their fortunes recently have spiralled downwards. Unless a ...
Maxine Nightingale: Maxine — Right Back At The Top
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
NEW YORK: Maxine Nightingale, who comes from Wembley, seemed neither over-awed nor surprised that her record 'Right Back Where We Started From' was topping the ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
FEW ARTISTS have quite as much faith in themselves as Ted Nugent, the Midwestern rocker and former leader of the Amboy Dukes. He is getting ...
Phil Ochs: Home Thoughts Of Phil Ochs
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1974
ALTHOUGH I'M typing this in Greenwich Village, New York City, this story really begins 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles. ...
Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, November 2002
BACK IN AUGUST 1973, Melody Maker sent me to Los Angeles to become their US correspondent, the third in line after Roy Hollingworth and Michael ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
FOR A band that was formed virtually by accident one night on a European tour four years ago, Orleans have now come a long way, ...
Pink Floyd: No One Knew What They Looked Like: Pink Floyd and the Press
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, 2004
THE BOX ARRIVED in Melody Maker’s offices in December 1970, just in time for Christmas, addressed to Michael Watts. It was a sturdily constructed hardwood ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, we are here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
IN THE current era, when groups and artists come and go with alarming regularity, the continuing success of the Pink Floyd is a peculiar state ...
Pink Floyd: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1974
"WELL, WE ARE here and you are here so let's get started," announced a slightly apprehensive but essentially laid back Roger Waters from the stage ...
Iggy Pop, Stooges, The: Iggy Pop: Iggy Breaks Out Of His Cage
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1973
IGGY POP swam out to sea, his wiry frame floating over the waves of Manhattan Beach, his dyed blonde head bobbing along the ripples, his ...
Procol Harum: Palladum, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1975
IT COULD WELL have been two different bands appearing at the London Palladium on Sunday. The first was a shambling, incohesive bunch whose dull, plodding ...
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap: Gary Puckett: How We Split The Gap
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
"YEAH I GUESS you could say I was kinda surprised when I got the news. But the funny thing is that I kinda predicted it ...
Bonnie Raitt: Raitt Place, Raitt Time
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
BONNIE RAITT JUGGLED happily between the various lines on the desk telephone in an office at Warner Brothers' New York headquarters. She seemed to be ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
AS AGATHA CHRISTIE discovered to her considerable advantage, everybody loves a mystery. The subject of this mystery is Leon Redbone, a musician whom we can ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
UP ON THE 37th floor of a Park Avenue office block which faces north and thus commands an extensive view of New York's Central Park ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
MINNIE RIPERTON is as fizzy as a soda bottle shaken on a hot summer day. Life, it is reassuring to know, can be enjoyed even ...
Rolling Stones, The, Bobby Keys: The Rolling Stones: Bobby Keys
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1971
"IT'S BOBBY Keys, the greatest saxophone player in the world," said Mick Jagger. And Bobby smiled modestly towards me. ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones Hit The Road…
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973
...and at every date the promoter is expected to provide 50 security men, five limousines, a doctor, ten dozen roses, two bottles each of whisky, ...
Rolling Stones, The: The Rolling Stones: Stones In Exile
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1971
CANNES is a strange place. It sits on the Cote D'Azur beckoning the rich to part with their dollars, pounds and francs in glorious sunshine. ...
Linda Ronstadt: Linda's Liberation
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
WHEN THE film industry was at its peak and the Hollywood Hills beamed down on the Babylon city in its celluloid wrapper, someone decided that ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1973
GEE, YOU GUYS from Roxy sure do have style. Mmmmmmm, yummy yummy. what I couldn't do to that Bryan Ferry if he dropped around my ...
Roxy Music: We're Not Killing Ourselves In America
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
BRYAN FERRY was exhausted. Utterly. Not much lounging for the lounge lizard this week. All go. Up at dawn to another city. Another round of ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
TODD RUNDGREN loped into Bearsville's offices on East 55th Street the other day with a South American raccoon on one arm and a lady dressed ...
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Buffy St Marie: Buffy Breaks Away
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
"HI, IT'S Buffy St. Marie here. How are you?" The call came through some 48 hours after it was expected, rousing this writer from a ...
Santana: Guitarists Bore Me To Tears
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1975
OF ALL the great groups to have emerged out of San Francisco since the mid-sixties, Santana have retained a musical credibility that surpasses their home ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
Carlos Santana is in Britain this week with a new vocalist, a new name and a new energy – thanks to the divine intervention of ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1976
LOUNGING IN HIS suite at the Pierre Hotel, an opulent home for the wealthy, once owned by Paul Getty, Boz Scaggs completes a picture of ...
John Sebastian: Welcome Back With A Half Hour Hit
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1976
"YES...I can understand that people in England might have felt that I'd given up music or something, but the fact is I haven't at all. ...
Neil Sedaka: Sedaka's Rocket to the States
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 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 ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1976
EARLIER this summer, Bob Seger appeared in concert at Pontiac Stadium, a giant indoor arena on the outskirts of Detroit, attracting some 70,000 crazed Michigan ...
Paul Simon: Graceland; Warner Bros 925447-2, Released September 1986
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, 1997
IN THE SUMMER of 1984, as he faced the problem of furthering a critically successful but commercially waning career, Paul Simon received a gift from ...
Slade, Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Earls Court, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1973
IT'S MONDAY morning and my ears are still ringing. The night before, I'd been among the 20,000 fans who packed London's Earls Court to prove ...
Sleevenotes by Chris Charlesworth, Polydor Records, 2005
IT IS JULY 1971 and I'm with Slade in Amsterdam's Vondelpark where they are shortly to perform on a bandstand in the centre of a ...
Slade: Ambassador Theater, St. Louis, MO
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
ST LOUIS: The wide Missouri River flowed beneath the hotel window and a few paddle steamers, now tourist traps or floating restaurants, were securely tied ...
Slade: America Feels The Noize
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
NO COMPROMISE says Noddy. No compromise at all. America will just have to go crazee, feel the noize and get their boots off Just like ...
Sly & The Family Stone: The Palladium, Los Angeles
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1973
HOLLYWOOD: Will he? Won't he? Will he? Won't he? Sly Stone's reputation is too firmly etched for these questions not to be asked when he's ...
Sly & The Family Stone: Sly Stone: Super Sly
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
HE EXTENDED A HAND but looked elsewhere. Who could tell where his eyes focused beneath those silver shades? He gripped and I felt pain through ...
Sly & The Family Stone, Larry Graham: Larry Graham: Platform For Station
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
OAKLAND: Few people can ever have listened to a Sly Stone record without experiencing a gut feeling as the bass guitar runs through its paces, ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1976
FEW ARTISTS have experienced such a turbulent – yet short – career as Phoebe Snow, whose second album, just released, is already on its way ...
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes: Southside Of The Tracks
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY: Springsteen protege from Asbury, so-named because he sounds like a Chicago Southside blues singer. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1976
RANDY CALIFORNIA: re-formed Spirit after picking pineapples and advice from a fortune teller ...
Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen Turns On The Heat…
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
HE STANDS there looking like a cross between Elvis Presley and a reject from Sha Na Na with faint Dylanesque overtones and a battered Fender ...
Bruce Springsteen: The Palladium, New York
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
IT MAY rain or snow, and the temperature in New York might even drop below freezing-point this weekend, but so long as Bruce Springsteen is ...
Starland Vocal Band: Starry-eyed
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
NEW YORK: As each summer rolls by it brings with it an easily identifiable summer hit which is almost always a catchy vocal treatment of ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1974
ALTHOUGH IT'S quite incidental to the story that follows, let's begin by explaining the meaning of the term Steely Dan. It has nothing to do ...
Cat Stevens: Cat's Back With The Cream...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1970
LAST WEEK SAW the return of Cat Stevens to the MM chart after a disappearance act worthy of Houdini. It is 12 months since the ...
Cat Stevens: The Making of Cat Stevens
Book Excerpt by Chris Charlesworth, Proteus Books, 1984
An extract from Cat Stevens by Chris Charlesworth, originally published by Proteus Books in 1984 but now out of print. ...
Rod Stewart: I Dream Of A Solo Concert
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1974
"ANYTHING I say is not meant to be a blot on anyone's character...or trousers." ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
Steve Stills tells Chris Charlesworth in New York why he's touring solo after all these years... ...
Stephen Stills: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1974
NEW YORK: There's really no substitute for experience in rock music and there are few musicians around with as much experience as Steve Stills who ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1975
NO QUESTION about it. Styx were stuck. Their second album had lain on the record warehouse shelves for two years doing nothing but gather dust. ...
Supertramp: 'Tramp On The March
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
FOR ALL THAT has been heard of Supertramp during the past six months, you could be forgiven for doubting their very existence. ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1976
THOUGH Tavares are scoring for the first time in Britain with 'Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel', the quintet of brothers has been together as ...
Tower of Power: Tower Of Power
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, January 1975
BY FAR THE biggest ensemble to be visiting Europe on the Warners tour is Tower of Power, the Oakland based blues and soul outfit whose ...
Pete Townshend, Who, The: Pete Townshend: March Of The Mod
Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, May 1974
IT MAY WELL have been pure chance that produced the most visually exciting guitarist in rock. If Peter Townshend hadn't been born with a big ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Whimsical Wainwright
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1976
NEW YORK: The smart way to begin a story about Loudon Wainwright III would be to concoct some snappy couplet not unlike those that form ...
Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Wainwright: I Like To Be Laughed At
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1974
...which is as good a reason as any for Loudon Wainwright to play a role in the weekly comedy TV series, Mash. He spoke to ...
Joe Walsh: Barnstorming the USA
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, September 1973
THINGS ARE starting to happen for Joe Walsh. In the corridors of rock and roll where informed people discuss what, where and when, elbows are ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1975
Top-rated guitarist JOE WALSH – due in Britain in June – talks to Chris Charlesworth in Iowa ...
Essay by Chris Charlesworth, Crawdaddy!, 1998
THREE YEARS AGO I met Paul Williams for the first time at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This resulted in Omnibus Press, of which I am ...
Who, The: How The Who’s My Generation LP Finally Came Out On CD in the UK
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Record Collector, 2002
STRANGE THOUGH it might seem, it took an ad on eBay offering the master tapes for sale to anyone with half a million dollars to ...
Who, The: Kit Lambert: A Profile
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2004
"GET HIM OUT of here." "What?" "Get him out. He’s making things worse." "But Pete, he’s... he’s Kit, their manager." ...
Who, The: Pete Townshend in New York
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1974
"LAST NIGHT," says Roger Daltrey, screwing his face up to obtain maximum effect, "we was f...'orrible. Really f...'orrible. It just shows that we ARE human, ...
Who, The: The Who: (Keith) Moon Probe
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, April 1972
2005 note: As well as being their drummer and resident comedian, Keith Moon was the Who's PR man. Journalists unfamiliar with the group may have ...
Who, The: The Who: The Who Sell Out from The Complete Guide to the Music of the Who
Book Excerpt by Chris Charlesworth, Omnibus Press, 2004
Original UK issue: Track 612 002 (mono) & Track 613 002 (stereo), released December 1967; UK CD: Polydor 835 727-24, remixed Polydor 527 759-2, 1995. ...
Who, The: The Who: Bingley Hall, Stafford
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, October 1975
LIKE MOUNTAINEERS tottering on the brink of some huge ravine, the Who crashed into their first tour in over two years at the weekend and, ...
Edgar Winter: Great White Wonder
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, July 1974
EDGAR WINTER shoots pool pretty good considering he's as blind as a bat. The green ball gives him trouble because that's the same colour as ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, February 1976
IT IS NOW ten months since Wishbone Ash packed up their troubles and settled in the USA, choosing a spot in Westport, Connecticut, that is ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, December 1975
BOBBY WOMACK is the kind of guy who lights up a room when he enters, and this suite in the Plaza Hotel is no exception. ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, June 1976
AFTER TEN years of trial and error – with eight of them spent in England drifting in and out of Spooky Tooth – Gary Wright ...
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, March 1974
Rick Wakeman said it: the MM's Yes concert at Madison Square Garden was the best yet. ...
List of genre pieces
CBGBs, Max's etc: Underground Overground
Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, November 1976
"PUNK ROCK? What's that supposed to mean? The bands that play at my club aren't punks. They might wear leather jackets, chew gum and try ...
Memoir by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, December 2001
It is a year since IPC shut down Melody Maker, the oldest of all popular music magazines. In this affectionate memoir, former MM staffer and ...
Ray Coleman: The Man Behind the Maker
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Daily Telegraph, September 1996
RAY COLEMAN, who has died from cancer aged 59, played a leading role in the growth of the British music press in the Sixties and ...
Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Guardian, The, July 2002
IN HIS POLKA-DOT bow tie, cream chinos and white buckskin shoes, Timothy White, who has died aged 50, cut a stylish figure in a profession ...
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