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Karl Dallas

Karl Dallas

Karl Dallas was a contributor to Melody Maker from the 1950s to the 1970s. He also wrote for Musical Opinion, the Daily Worker (later, the Morning Star), The Times, The Independent, Sounds, Kerrang, Schlager (Germany), and other international magazines. He also published a number of magazines including Folk Music, Folk News, Acoustic Music, Jazz Music News, and Folk Music NewsKarl passed away in June 2016.

161 articles

List of articles in the library

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Carolyn Hester: Problems of the Pop/Folknik

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 December 1965

WHEN A FOLK singer hits the big time, he or she often has to look at records in a different way from the strictly album-type ...

Tom Paxton, The Watersons: Cecil Sharp House, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966

THERE WAS one solitary "boo" — when he sang an anti-LBJ song about Vietnam — but apart from that Tom Paxton was greeted with tumultuous ...

Bert Jansch: Jansch digs back into tradition

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966

THE BALLAD the young man sang was long but the audience hung on every word. In his own individual way he managed to project some ...

Sandy Bull: Les Cousins, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 July 1966

IT'S STRANGE that while British guitar experimentalists abound, America doesn't have much in this line to offer — apart, that is, from Sandy Bull, who ...

Judy Collins, The Lovin' Spoonful: "All Folk Music Now" at Newport

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 30 July 1966

THIS YEAR'S Newport Folk Festival was more like a blues show or a pop show, with traditional folk music supported by a very small hard ...

Martin Carthy, The Dubliners, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Julie Felix, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Dave Swarbrick: Beaulieu Folk Festival, Beaulieu, Hampshire

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966

Beaulieu — a real triumph thanks to the downpour ...

Davey Graham: Midnight Man (Decca LK 4780)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 August 1966

DON'T JUDGE Davey Graham's latest LP, Midnight Man (Decca LK 4780) on the basis of one hearing alone or, like me, you'll decide it's not up to ...

Phil Ochs: Phil Ochs In Concert (Elektra EKL 310)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 August 1966

Vicious, brilliant dynamite from Phil ...

Davey Graham: Les Cousins, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 September 1966

THE big question is: why isn't Davy Graham booked into Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club? He has as much to say as his fellow guitarist and ...

Bert Jansch: Jack Orion (Transatlantic TRA 143)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966

BERT JANSCH has always been an interesting performer, and he has been the nearest thing Britain has had to offer to compare with the crop ...

Phil Ochs: America's Fieriest Songwriter

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 September 1966

LAST TIME American singer/songwriter Phil Ochs was here he stormed around from gig to gig, ending up in a four-letter-worded altercation with a St Pancras ...

Carolyn Hester: Not Ashamed To Do Some Folk Rock

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966

INTO BRITAIN last weekend flew Carolyn Hester, the American folk singer with the fantastic range, for a tight schedule of ten TV dates and two ...

The Watersons: The Watersons (Topic 12T142)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966

THE WATERSONS' latest record was originally planned as a "live" recording at their Hull club — why, I can't think. The idea that folk music ...

Bert Jansch: St. Pancras Town Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 October 1966

TAKE ONE of our most introspective folk singers and put him alone on a stage for nearly three hours. It sounds like madness, but when ...

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 ...

Judy Collins: Collins: A Singer, Period

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966

"I AM FINALLY beginning to see what my direction is. I'm a singer and songs like these are what I want to sing." Lovely Judy ...

Ewan MacColl: Manchester Angel (Topic 12T147)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966

IT IS UNFORTUNATE that while Ewan MacColl has continued to develop as a singer, many of the available recordings were made long before he had ...

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 ...

Judy Collins, The Incredible String Band, Tom Paxton: Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, The Incredible String Band: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 November 1966

A TRIUMPH — there is no other word for the reception Judy Collins and Tom Paxton received at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday. The ...

Pete Seeger: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 19 November 1966

HE DID it again! Every time Pete Seeger puts on a solo concert in Britain I wonder if he can pull it off, the unique ...

Jacques Brel: Brel, The Man Who Wrote The Hard-To-Get Rule Book

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 November 1966

CONCERT promoter Roy Guest rubbed his chin dubiously when I asked for an interview with Jacques Brel. the legendary French singer-songwriter whose Albert Hall concert ...

Jacques Brel: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 November 1966

THE ALL-PERVADING perfume of Gauloises and an audience that went hysterical at the beginning, climax and end of each song reminded me of the atmosphere ...

Jean Ritchie: Jeanette Cochrane Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 December 1966

JEAN — PERFECT AT LETTING THE SONG TELL THE STORY ...

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 ...

Arlo Guthrie: Cochrane Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 December 1966

HIS hair is a lot longer — just about as bushy as dad's used to be in his heyday — and he's an inch or ...

The Watersons: 'Entertainment' Isn't Enough For The Watersons

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967

BIGGEST bombshell to hit the folk scene since Dave Swarbrick left Ian Campbell was my news in last week's MM, that the Watersons are to ...

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 ...

Alan Lomax: Cowboy Songs and other Frontier Ballads by John A. Lomax; American Ballads and Folk Songs by John A. and Alan Lomax (both Macmillan)

Book Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 May 1967

IT ALL started with the Lomaxes — at least it often seems that way. Though there have been other American folksong collectors, before and since, ...

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 ...

The Incredible String Band: Now It's Folk Flower Power

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 June 1967

THE TWO young Scots who call themselves the Incredible String Band, Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, are going to set both the folk and pop ...

The Incredible String Band: The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion (Elektra EUK 257)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 September 1967

STRING BAND — NO LONGER FOLK SINGERS ...

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 ...

Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick: Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy: No Restrictions On Tour For Dave And Martin

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967

FOLK FIDDLE virtuoso Dave Swarbrick will accompany guitarist-singer Martin Carthy when he returns to Britain in the New Year. But at the end of a ...

Al Stewart: Bedsitter Images (CBS 63087)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967

AL LEAVES THE RANKS OF FOLK FOR IMAGES ...

Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick: Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick: Byker Hill (Fontana TL 5434)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967

MARTIN CARTHY and Dave Swarbrick's third album together, Byker Hill really marks a peak in the development of their partnership which is underlined by Dave's ...

The Dubliners: More of the Hard Stuff (Major Minor MMLP5)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1967

QUESTION: HAS chart success spoiled the Dubliners? Answer: judging by their new album, More of the Hard Stuff (MMLP5) for Phil Solomons' Major Minor label, ...

Judy Collins, Julie Felix, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Al Stewart: No strings attached...

Comment by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 January 1968

DEAR JUDY, Julie, Phil, Tom and Al: Girls! Fellows! What's got into you? It's getting so a folksinger isn't a folksinger any more. ...

Tom Rush: Rush Reaches For The Pop Audience

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968

TOM RUSH walked into my office shortly after he had arrived to record a BBC-2 colour TV show with Julie Felix and John Renbourn last ...

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 ...

The Incredible String Band: Once Again, Is It Folk?

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 March 1968

WHEN poet Pete Brown, lyric-writer for the Cream, heard the new Incredible String Band LP, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, he said: "That's what the Rolling ...

Carolyn Hester: Les Cousins, London

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

SUCCESS USUALLY means that singers quit the folk club circuit and restrict appearances to concerts. Which is a pity, since often the club scene which ...

Tim Buckley, The Incredible String Band: Incredible String Band/Tim Buckley: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 April 1968

TIM BUCKLEY made a guest appearance at the Incredible String Band's packed Royal Festival Hall concert last Saturday and amply illustrated the difference in approach ...

Roy Harper: Speakeasy, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968

LONDON'S Speakeasy must be the most difficult gig for any folk-type artist, and when Roy Harper sang there on Sunday, sandwiched between an old Mae ...

Pentangle: The Many Talents Of The Pentangle

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 May 1968

ANSWER THE following questions to win five points: Which group is playing at the Cambridge Jazz Festival one weekend in July, and at the Cambridge ...

Shirley Collins: Shirley is a bit of a Good Fairy

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 May 1968

THE YOUNG man fitted together what looked like a short walking stick with holes and showed it to folksinger Shirley Collins. "That's what we call ...

The Incredible String Band: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 July 1968

Time to get off the Incredible String Band's mystery tour ...

Phil Ochs: The War Isn't Over for Phil Ochs Yet

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 July 1968

WHEN PHIL OCHS arrived in England on his recent visit the immigration people almost didn't let him in. "They asked me did I want to ...

1910 Fruitgum Company, Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, Ohio Express: Bubblegum Music is Sweeping the States

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968

BUBBLEGUM music is making a lot of money for New York record producers Jeffrey Katz and Jerry Kasenatz. Yes, that's right, bubblegum music. That's what ...

The Doors: Jim Morrison: Is He The American Mick Jagger?

Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 August 1968

LOOK OUT, England! Jim Morrison is coming to get you! ...

Bob Dylan: We May Never See Him Perform Again

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

BOB DYLAN is unlikely ever to appear in concerts again. This is my considered opinion after two weeks talking with his friends and business associates ...

Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin: Lock Up Your Sons

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

SHE WEARS a micro-length dress with a neckline plunging down to the navel. She swoops around the stage like some kind of female bat about ...

Judy Collins: Stand by for the "electric" Judy Collins

Report by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968

WHEN JUDY Collins makes a brief visit to Britain at the beginning of November, some of her fans are going to get a bit of ...

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 ...

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 ...

Al Stewart, Joni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell, Al Stewart, The Johnstons: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 October 1968

OPENERS AT Roy Guest's "Festival of Contemporary Song" at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday, the Johnstons, finished their set with Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides ...

Joan Baez: Baptism (Vanguard SVRL19000)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 November 1968

Lovers of Baez folksong will be disappointed ...

Roy Harper: St Pancras Town Hall, London

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

A first solo flight to remember ...

Melanie's Looking For A Bag Of Her Very Own

Profile by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 19 April 1969

YOU CAN'T BE neutral about Melanie. She's one of those people who comes along and creates new dividing lines in the scene, setting people at ...

Fairport Convention: Fairfield Hall, Croydon

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969

THERE'S only one question in my mind after having heard the Fairport Convention's superlatively excellent performance at the Fairfield Hall last Friday: why the hell ...

The Edgar Broughton Band: Edgar Broughton: Meet Edgar The Agitator

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 January 1970

BOUNCERS ARE one of the bad old traditions of pop music, with roots reaching back through the 'Rock Around the Clock' riots to the Sinatra ...

Arlo Guthrie: Trying to escape from Alice's Restaurant

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1970

ARLO GUTHRIE is a young man trying to escape from Alice's Restaurant. He says he likes the movie, and he enjoyed seeing it again at ...

Pentangle: Four plus one

Profile by Karl Dallas, The Times, 14 March 1970

FOR A WHILE NOW there has been something of a quiet backlash in pop music. It started long before Crosby, Stills and Nash began charming ...

Sandy Denny, Fotheringay: Fotheringay: Sandy and the New Band

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 March 1970

FOTHERINGAY, the new band which has been formed by Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention and Trevor Lucas of Eclection, with Garry Conway (Eclection) and Pat ...

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 ...

Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Matthews' Southern Comfort, Steeleye Span: Fairport Convention et al: Electric folk

Overview by Karl Dallas, The Times, 18 April 1970

IT IS EASY to forget that pop, nowadays, has become an organic process. The music industry is still mostly in the hands of people whose ...

Fairport Convention, Matthews' Southern Comfort: Matthews Southern Comfort and Fairport Convention: The Roundhouse

Live Review by Karl Dallas, The Times, 25 April 1970

If A PROMENADE CONCERT, in the traditional Royal Albert Hall manifestation, is an event allowing for direct comparisons between related but differing musics, then Thursday ...

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 ...

Sandy Denny, Fotheringay: Fotheringay, The Sea and Sandy Denny

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 June 1970

A FEW months ago Fotheringay was a pretty name for a group of musicians who happened to play together. Today it is the name of ...

Roy Harper: On-Off Genius?

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 18 July 1970

ROY HARPER is a sort of Gerald Scarfe of music. Like the cartoonist, what he does isn't always pretty, it isn't always enjoyable, but by ...

Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams: Jack Bruce: Royal Court, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, The Times, 3 November 1970

WHEN JACK BRUCE played bass guitar with Cream, he extended what had until then been the instrument's limited range into nearly equal status with Eric ...

Mr. Fox, Steeleye Span: Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span: Electric Folk – The Second Generation

Comment by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 9 January 1971

NOW WE'VE had a chance to hear Mr. Fox and Steeleye Span properly, it is clear that we are already into the second generation of ...

Reverend Gary Davis: Rev. Gary Davis: Song of a Preacher Man

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971

MANY BLACK SINGERS draw an artificial distinction between holy music — gospel — and sinful music — the blues. ...

Sandy Denny: The North Sea Grassman and the Ravens (Island)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971

WE ALWAYS knew Sandy Denny had the capacity to make a brilliant record, and we were right. ...

Shirley Collins: No Roses

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 August 1971

The First Lady Goes Electric ...

Reverend Gary Davis: Rev. Gary Davis: Farewell to the Holy Bluesman

Obituary by Karl Dallas, Max Jones, Melody Maker, 20 May 1972

THOUGH I'M not what most people would call a religious man, when I heard that at the age of 76 and after several strokes the ...

The Band: Rock of Ages (Capitol E-STSP 11)

Review by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, February 1973

IT IS WHAT The Band leave out as much as what they include that makes them impressive. Among all the welter of ego-tripping pyrotechnicians which ...

Faust and Foremost

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, March 1973

IT IS TWELVE noon, and in the smoky sunshine of a London afternoon a group of German longhairs are unloading a huge Mercedes truck full ...

Faust: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, June 1973

LONDON'S RAINBOW looked like a Berliner Ensemble production of a rock musical version of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. The stage backdrop had been raised, revealing ...

Sandy Denny: Howff, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 8 September 1973

SANDY, FROM HERE on you can do no wrong as far as I am concerned. On Monday at London's Howff you did what I've always ...

Sandy Denny: Softie Sandy

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 September 1973

ALL IN ALL, it's been a funny sort of year for Sandy Denny. She hadn't performed in this country before last Christmas though she's worked ...

Faust, Slapp Happy: Faust: Machine Heads

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 October 1973

THE MACHINES are taking over. My cassette recorder has started talking back at me and a minute ago my typewriter savaged my left hand. And ...

Reverend Gary Davis, Stefan Grossman, Scott Joplin, David Laibman, Joshua Rifkin: Rag, Mama, Rag

Overview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 5 January 1974

IT IS 1974. A young man in patched blue jeans walks to the front of the folk club, a guitar in his hand. He sits ...

Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (Atlantic K80001)

Review by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, February 1974

IF YOU TEND to wonder if the critics (with the noble exception of Bob Shelton) were right and this double album is the bummer they ...

The Staple Singers: From Gospel to Protest

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 February 1974

IT'S A LONG, long way in space and time, from Drew, Mississippi to the 23rd Floor of the London Hilton. Fourteen years of singing and ...

Loudon Wainwright III: Loudon Alone

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 June 1974

THE PR MAN in the coffee lounge of the Hotel Russell was anxious about the Loudon Wainwright's appearance. "Is he cleanshaven or bearded." he wanted ...

Mike Oldfield: High On The Ridge

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 August 1974

Toy gliders, house-hunting and a jam with a harpsichordist in a restaurant. It's all happening on the Welsh Marches where Karl Dallas meets Mike Oldfield. ...

Black Oak Arkansas, Medicine Head: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974

Pure hokum — but damn fine! ...

Black Oak Arkansas: "I don't need no thirty tons of drums to play heavy..."

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974

Tommy Aldridge, drummer with Black Oak Arkansas, talks to Karl Dallas ...

Mike Oldfield: I Can't Stand People Who Play Things Blandly...

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 September 1974

MIKE OLDFIELD and David Bedford looked worried as they started morosely into their glasses of orange juice. It was a measure of their anxiety that, ...

Mike Oldfield: Balm for the Walking Wounded

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, December 1974

Mike Oldfield, the man and his music, by Karl Dallas. ...

Alexis Korner (1975)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 1975

The Father of British Blues talks about splitting from skiffle in the late '50s; working with such luminaries as Chris Barber and Cyril Davies; his band Blues Incorporated which, at various times, included Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts; meeting Brian Jones and wet-nursing the early Rolling Stones; and talks at length about where the Stones go post Mick-Taylor.

File format: mp3; file size: 36.6mb, interview length: 39' 36" sound quality: ****

Chris Barber, Blues Incorporated, Jack Bruce, Ken Colyer, Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner, Steve Marriott, The Rolling Stones: Alexis Korner (1975) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1975

This is a transcript of Karl's interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Charisma COS 101)

Review by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, January 1975

JUST WHAT the world needs now, as Frank Zappa might well have been heard to exclaim, another concept album! ...

Suzi Quatro: Your Momma Won't Like It

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975

...but black leather isn't all there is to Suzi Quatro explains KARL DALLAS ...

Stomu Yamashta: 24 Hour Man

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 8 February 1975

STOMU YAMASHTA was looking pretty chipper for someone who's been getting just two hours sleep a night for the past month. For a man who ...

Alexis Korner: Why Alexis Won't Join The Stones

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 February 1975

ALEXIS KORNER laughed, his suntanned face creasing up into laughter lines, his body rocking very gently back and forth. "Oh," he said. "No way." ...

Geoff Muldaur: Blues Is The Basis

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975

You're probably more familiar with Maria — but Geoff Muldaur has an impressive track record of his own, taking in the legendary Blues Project, the ...

Ewan MacColl: MacColl — a true Critic

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 February 1975

AS LONG as I can remember, there hasn't been a time when Ewan MacColl hasn't had a major project in the offing, which has influenced ...

Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger: Ewan MacColl: Acoustic is best!

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975

Karl Dallas concludes his interview with Ewan MacColl ...

Jackson C. Frank: Frankly Speaking

Retrospective by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975

MM's series on the underrated musicians of yesterday. This week: JACKSON C. FRANK ...

Soft Machine: Parc des Expositions, Paris

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975

PARIS. DEAR Comrade. Here is my report on the delegation of British musicians to the rally of French Communist youth in the Parc des Expositions ...

Bill Monroe: Grand Ole Opry, Newmarket, Suffolk

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975

EVERYONE SAID we'd gone to the wrong concert. The second of Monroe's two bluegrass concerts at Newmarket's Grand Ole Opry on Sunday was the one ...

Drums of Rasta: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 May 1975

THEY START with a simple, slow double beat on the drums. There are between 20 and 30 of them spread across London's Roundhouse stage, all ...

Desmond Dekker

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 May 1975

SEVEN YEARS ago, Desmond Dekker was a raw, gangling boy from St Thomas, Jamaica. ...

Frank Zappa: What Did You Do In The Revolution, Dada?

Essay by Karl Dallas, Let It Rock, June 1975

Karl Dallas asks the pertinent questions... ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley (1975)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 19 July 1975

The day after his legendary Lyceum show, Marley expounds on Babylon, Rastafari, Jamaica, his universal message, and the meaning of 'I Shot The Sheriff'.

File format: mp3; file size: 11.5mb, interview length: 25' 01" sound quality: ****

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Wailin'

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975

After two amazing gigs last week in London, Bob Marley is being universally hailed as reggae's first superstar. Karl Dallas watches the Wailers in action ...

Cymande, The Drums of Rasta, Rico Rodriguez: Drums of Rasta, Cymande, Rico & the Undivided: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975

IF ANYONE wants to know where the underground is, from which British rock is to get its next and much-needed injection of musical energy, they ...

Maria Muldaur: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 July 1975

THE TROUBLE with Maria Muldaur is that she is so Goddamn talented it could make you sick. At Ronnie Scott's London, she was all the ...

Maria Muldaur: Maria Hangs Loose

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 2 August 1975

Maria Muldaur, the American singer who has just completed a highly-successful week at London's Ronnie Scott Club, talks to KARL DALLAS ...

Cecil Taylor: A Piano is an Orchestra

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 16 August 1975

...says CECIL TAYLOR, a controversial figure ever since he erupted at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 with his quartet, but even those who dislike ...

Kraftwerk: Synthetic Rockers

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 September 1975

Kraftwerk are happiest when surrounded with technology and artificial items. Karl Dallas reports ...

Wayne Shorter, Weather Report: Wayne Shorter: The Sunny Weatherman

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 December 1975

TO SAY that Wayne Shorter looked happy would be the understatement of the year. ...

Kraftwerk: Radio-Activity (Capitol)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 December 1975

Kraftwerk: too mechanical ...

Brand X, Genesis: Collins cleans up with Brand X

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 10 January 1976

LET'S GET two things very clear at the outset: one, Brand X is a serious, full-time band, not a spare-time excuse for jamming or having ...

John Martyn, Danny Thompson: Danny Thompson: Man of Many Parts

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976

THE NEWS that Danny Thompson is getting back into jazz will please the many who have missed the big, fat tone of his bass during ...

Burning Spear: Ruby's Dub Gems

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 February 1976

REGGAE IS in many ways a producer's music. More than any other ethnic music since Twenties hillbilly, it is a music that has been created ...

Gil Scott-Heron: Manchester University, Manchester

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 February 1976

Gil's the word! ...

Toots & the Maytals: Toots Got Soul

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 March 1976

FIRST BOB Marley and the Wailers. Then, Toots and the Maytals. ...

Toots & the Maytals: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 March 1976

GOD, I JUST can't take it any more! Where is all this incredible music coming from? It's getting more than flesh and blood can stand, ...

Stanley Clarke, Alan White: Stanley Clarke and Alan White: Solo Flights

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 3 April 1976

Once, when individual members of a band began to make solo albums, it was a sign that the seams were beginning to split a portent ...

Leonard Cohen: Cohen Down the Road

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

GOD'S IN his heaven, all's right with the world. The words, surprisingly enough, came from Leonard Cohen, and he was making the first of several ...

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. ...

John Cale, Judy Collins, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, John and Beverley Martyn, Pink Floyd: John Wood: Pioneer of the 'English Sound'

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 June 1976

THOUGH SOUND recording celebrates its centenary next year, it is only in the past ten to 16 years that studio techniques have reached the present ...

Brand X: Band Breakdown : Brand X

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976

WHEN YOU consider what a prestige gig of world class it is to play Ronnie Scott's, it may seem surprising, even a touch opportunistic, that ...

Mighty Diamonds, U-Roy, Delroy Wilson: Mighty Diamonds, U Roy, Delroy Washington: Lyceum, London

Report by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 August 1976

THIS SHOULD be a review of the Diamonds' and U. Roy's appearance at London's Lyceum on Wednesday night, but back here in the tiny ghetto ...

The Flamin' Groovies: Flamin' Groovies: Brunel University, Uxbridge

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

"WE WERE into punk a long time ago. but we've cleaned up a bit since then." The speaker was John Wilson, singer with the Flamin' ...

Tangerine Dream: Twilight of the Dream

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 December 1976

TANGERINE DREAM seem to have strange ideas about off-duty entertainment. ...

Can: New Victoria Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

VIEWED IN isolation, Can's recent singles seem like some kind of sell-out. What, after all, is a "serious" German rock band, whose members include former ...

Sandy Denny (1977)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 1977

The Queen of English Folk-Rock talks about going back on the road (the repertoire, the musicians and the nerves), about her recent split from Island Records, and about her new baby Georgia.

File format: mp3 File size: 9.5mb Interview length: 10' 23"; Sound quality: ****

Sandy Denny (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1977

This is a transcription of Karl's audio interview with Sandy. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Choralerna, Andraé Crouch: Andrae Crouch, Choralerna: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977

ANDRAE CROUCH is a smoother character than the gospel stars who turned our heads around in the Forties and Fifties, his music being as rooted ...

Little Bob Story, Hooker: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 15 January 1977

LITTLE BOB Story is at London's Dingwalls, and the joint is packed to overflowing. They are only letting new people in when and if anyone ...

Ry Cooder, Flaco Jimenez: Flaco Jimenez: Viva los Accordion

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977

THE DIATONIC accordion is basically a fairly rudimentary instrument. Like a mouth organ, it plays one note as you pull it out and another as ...

Steve Reich: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 12 February 1977

OSTENSIBLY, the two Steve Reich concerts at London's Roundhouse last Sunday and the Sunday before reversed the natural order of things, starting with a complete ...

Pink Floyd: Empire Pool, London

Report and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 26 March 1977

GLC fuck-ups at Empire Pool ...

Sandy Denny: Rendezvous

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, May 1977

THIS IS THE ALBUM we have been waiting for since Sandy left Fairport Convention for the second time at the end of 1975. Over six ...

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 ...

Frank Zappa: Carry On Composing

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 January 1978

No Edgar Varèse trip for Frank Zappa, who's just sold out four shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (not bad for a hippie in '78, eh?). ...

Frank Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 February 1978

Cynical Zappa ...

Tangerine Dream: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 1 April 1978

TANGERINE DREAM got what must surely be the greatest ovation of their career when they played at Hammersmith Odeon last Monday. ...

Helen Reddy: Palladium, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 20 May 1978

THERE IS something about Helen Reddy which just gets up my nose. I didn't know that, mind you, before I went to the first of ...

John Cage: National Theatre, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 24 June 1978

THE LIGHTS went down in London's National Theatre and a bearded, slightly stooped guy in blue denims came on, sat at a lecture table and ...

Pink Floyd, Rick Wright: Big is Beautiful: Rick Wright

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 4 November 1978

HAVING JUST divested himself of his first solo album, Rick Wright has a second project roaring and ready to go. But he reckons it will ...

Mike Oldfield: This Is The Year Of The Expanding Man...

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 25 November 1978

What Scientology did for Chick Corea (and John Travolta), Exegesis is doing for mild, retiring Mike Oldfield. He puts the stare on KARL DALLAS ...

Bill Monroe (1979)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 1979

The King of the bluegrass Mandolin discusses his approach to music, the influence of the blues, playing with the likes of Flatt & Scruggs, and gives his view of contemporary bluegrass artists such as the Dillards.

File format: mp3; file size: 9.4meg; Interview length: 10' 16"; sound quality: ***

Bill Monroe (1979) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1979

This is a transcription of Karl's audio interview with Kentucky's bluegrass king. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Tom Waits: Palladium, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 28 April 1979

Doing the Palladium slouch ...

Nina Simone: Lady Trashes The Blues

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979

Nina Simone's concerts are almost as nerve-racking as her turbulent personal life, which makes it easy to see her as a weird, tragic mixture of Billie Holiday and Judy Garland. KARL ...

Mike Oldfield: Boy Genius "Not Broke" Shock

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 29 December 1979

Things haven't been going smoothly for Mike Oldfield. Tours have lost money, expensive gear has been scrapped and he's had a dispute with his label ...

Steve Hackett: Defector (Charisma)

Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, July 1980

THIS IS THE album we knew Hackett was capable of making: powerful heavy and relevant. It's the first of his four solo efforts to succeed ...

Wolfman Jack (1980)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 July 1980

The Personality Jock numero uno takes us through his entire career bestriding the airwaves: after his East Coast initiation, heading South of the Border to the big Mexican stations – pistoleros, gunfights, corruption and R&B; the move to Los Angeles, TV with Midnight Special and starring in George Lucas' American Graffiti, and he also runs down his pretty immaculate Top Ten tunes.

File format: mp3; file size: 53.1mb, interview length: 57' 59" sound quality: ***

Max Roach: Evolutionary Forces

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 23 August 1980

A prime mover in the Bebop era, Max Roach knows all about revolution. He tells KARL DALLAS that revolution without foundation is doomed, and warns ...

John Martyn: Martyn's Identity Papers

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 6 December 1980

ACCORDING to the official biog, John Martyn was born in New Malden, Surrey, but was brought up for the first 15 years of his life ...

Dave Van Ronk: Van Ronk Remembers

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 21 March 1981

Karl Dallas discusses asthma, cigarettes and the nature of music with blues veteran Dave Van Ronk ...

Mike Westbrook: Present use of the past tense

Profile and Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981

IT WAS AN appropriate setting to meet Mike Westbrook, perhaps the most decidedly English of all jazzmen: an English garden. ...

Mike Batt: The composer at the console

Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 9 January 1982

Karl Dallas goes Batty with the ex-Womble in a Berlin studio ...

Herbie Mann: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 30 January 1982

HERBIE Mann came to London with the burden of a hit single that sold three-quarters of a million units, but we shouldn't hold that against ...

David Gilmour, Pink Floyd: Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour (1995)

Interview by Karl Dallas, Rock's Backpages audio, 19 May 1995

The Floyd guitarist talks about family life; playing guitar; the state of the band; making the live album and video; working with Storm Thorgerson, and political and social issues in his life and songs.

File format: mp3; file size: 40.5mb, interview length: 44' 14" sound quality: ****

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: ****

Lloyd Bradley: Sounds Like London – 100 Years Of Black Music In The Capital (Serpent's Tail)

Book Review by Karl Dallas, Morning Star, 8 October 2013

Authentic account of black music's capital origins ...

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