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Roy Carr

Roy Carr

The late Roy Carr began his career as a member of Blackpool-based band the Executives. The band supported many leading acts in the mid-1960s, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who, and had several unsuccessful singles issued on the Columbia and CBS labels. Carr became friendly with many leading musicians, including John Lennon; in 1969, when working with a local promoter in Toronto, Carr reported on Lennon's appearance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival.

After first starting to write reviews for Jazz News and the NME in the early 1960s, he joined the NME staff in March 1970. He contributed as a reviewer, interviewer and columnist to the magazine's relaunch later in the decade under editors Alan Smith and Nick Logan. During the 1980s and 1990s, he compiled the majority of free tape and CD compilations that were given away with music magazines such as NME, Vox and Melody Maker, including the influential C86 cassette compilation.

Carr also worked as a broadcaster, record producer, and writer of album liner notes.His career as a music journalist and magazine editor continued until his official retirement in 2006, in later years contributing as a freelance writer to jazz magazines. Roy's health deteriorated after the sudden death of his son in 2013. He died of a heart attack in hospital on 1 July 2018, aged 73.

180 articles

List of articles in the library

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The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Cream, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison: George And Eric Inspire Each Other

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 December 1969

Friendship and a mutual love of music brought George Harrison and Eric Clapton together for the recent Delaney and Bonnie tour. At a stopover In ...

The Beatles, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison: Question Time With George Harrison

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 December 1969

Roy Carr concludes his exclusive Question-time with George Harrison, taped in the lounge of a Liverpool hotel during a break in the recent Delaney and ...

Booker T & The MGs, Steve Cropper: ROY CARR, who joins NME this week, conducts an Ask-in with... STEVE CROPPER

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 14 March 1970

Guitar ace with Booker T, Stax producer and formerly with Otis Redding's show ...

Fairport Convention, the Humblebums: Lyceum Ballroom, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 March 1970

ANY DOUBTS about the future of the new-look Fairport Convention since Sandy Denny's departure were immediately shattered after their opening number at the Lyceum on ...

Pickettywitch Take Up Dancing!

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 March 1970

ONE GROUP which really seem to have a most positive and realistic approach to their future in the highly competitive record game are NME chart ...

Yes: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 28 March 1970

LAST SATURDAY saw the solo debut by what must surely be one of the next major concert attractions in this country... Yes. Before a capacity ...

Junior Walker & the All Stars: Back To School For Jr. Walker!

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 April 1970

DROP INTO any discotheque you care to mention in any city or holiday resort in Europe and you can bet safely that at least three ...

Jimmy Ruffin Forecasts Motown Sound Chances

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 April 1970

"WITHOUT A doubt there is going to be a big change in the Motown sound as we know it. And many of today's 'happening' names ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Creedence's "Band" Tribute To Rock Stars

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 April 1970

"IN THE States, they tell us Creedence Clearwater Revival are the stop-gap between the Beatles and the 'next Beatles — whoever the next Beatles may ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: In Europe With Creedence

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 18 April 1970

SCARY GERMAN FUZZ-FAN SCENE! ...

Black Sabbath: Black Magic Is Not Our Scene Say Black Sabbath

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 June 1970

We're fed up with the confusion, they tell ROY CARR ...

The Beatles, Booker T & The MGs: Booker T-MGs Invade Beatle Land

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 June 1970

THINK YOU recognise the album cover on the right? Well, just look again! It's the sleeve to Booker T & the MG's new album McLemore ...

Free Out-Draw Leading Groups

Profile by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 June 1970

THEY MAY be new to the charts, crashing in at No. 18 with 'Alright Now', but Free are by no means newcomers on the scene. ...

Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, Derek & The Dominos: Derek & the Dominos, Ashton, Gardner & Dyke: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 June 1970

Clapton leads — and sings his heart out ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Creedence John's Convictions Landed Him In Prison

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

For 20 years I was in a 'dungeon' ...

Free: Fans make it a Free for all

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

TO MANY wide-eyed, starstruck groups, a hit record is the culmination of their career; they can see no further. It is, for them the be-all ...

Led Zeppelin, Screaming Lord Sutch: Happier than ever — says Zep's John "Bonzo" Bonham annoyed by rumours of a break-up...

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

JOHN BONHAM is an incredibly happy person. But if there is one thing that's apt to annoy Led Zeppelin's powerhouse drummer and arch-raver, it's the ...

Jimi Hendrix: Band Of Gypsys (Track stereo Super. 2406.002; 42s. 6d.)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

JIMI HENDRIX is one of the very few true originals in music. He is a power unto himself and perhaps the only person to whom ...

Steppenwolf: Steppenwolf Live (Stateside stereo SSL 5029; 39s 11d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 June 1970

HERE COMES THE WOLF ...

Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Sexy? It's all a bit of a giggle says Zeppelin's Robert Plant

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 July 1970

THERE IS no denying that Robert Plant is bestowed with the contemporary handsomeness and poise of which pop heroes are made. Subsequently, and without any ...

Ten Years After a Week: Alvin Lee

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 July 1970

WOODSTOCK FILM BIG BOOST FOR ALVIN ...

Deep Purple: Lyceum Ballroom, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 July 1970

Deep Purple at riotous best ...

Free: Fire and Water (Island stereo, ILPS.9120. 37s. 5d.)

Review and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 July 1970

FREE'S FASTEST-SELLER Roy Carr's track-by-track with vocalist Paul Rodgers ...

Colosseum, Steppenwolf: Steppenwolf, Colosseum: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 July 1970

Roy Carr at Wolf's concert ...

Black Sabbath, Yes: The Lyceum, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 25 July 1970

WITH CHAMPAGNE in hand, Herr Klook re-emerged before a capacity crowd to present his new series of Friday night scenes at the Lyceum. ...

Kevin Ayers, The Edgar Broughton Band, Lol Coxhill, Formerly Fat Harry, Roy Harper, Pink Floyd: Pink Floyd, Kevin Ayers & the Whole World, the Edgar Broughton Band et al: Hyde Park, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 25 July 1970

I THOUGHT I'd just wander down to Hyde Park, lay under a tree and quietly listen to the music. However, it seems that Blackhill organisers ...

Taste: the Marquee, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 25 July 1970

NOT ONLY were there some incredible scenes going on inside the Marquee on Tuesday when the Taste completely shattered the all-time box office record held ...

Free's chart success makes it tough on the fans

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 1 August 1970

'But its the only thing that bothers us' says SIMON KIRKE ...

Hotlegs' hit more atmosphere than songs says Lol Creme

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

"I SUPPOSE you could say that 'Neanderthal Man' is really a freak record... Well, it's hardly a song, is it?" ...

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, ...

Yes: Time And A Word (Atlantic stereo, 2400.006; 42s. 6d.)

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

YES, IT'S SUPERB! ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Slips The Questions

Interview by Roy Carr, Richard Green, New Musical Express, 12 September 1970

Put to him by Richard Green and Roy Carr ...

Desmond Dekker Is To Reveal His Two Sides On Double LP

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 September 1970

THE WHOLE economical structure of pop music is to seek out an acceptable format and then market it for mass appeal and consumption. So what ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 September 1970

Sly and Family Stone send Lyceum ravers berserk ...

CCS, Alexis Korner, The Rolling Stones: Alexis Korner Couldn't Afford Jagger As Radio Vocalist So Mick Started Stones!

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 2 October 1970

Blues pioneer thinks Union out of date ...

Bread: Quick-Rising Bread

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 10 October 1970

AS WITH the legendary knights of old, reputations or a fair damsel's heart were either won in the lists or on the field of honour. ...

Humble Pie: We May Lose Humble Pie: "We're not having to do the walking on the water bit"

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 10 October 1970

STEVE MARRIOTT PHONES FROM PHILADELPHIA ...

Emerson Lake & Palmer: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 31 October 1970

IT MUST have been around 10.30 p.m. on Monday night at the Royal Festival Hall, when Keith Emerson proved beyond all fear of contradiction that ...

Johnny Winter And: Johnny Winter And (CBS stereo, 64117, 39s 11d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 November 1970

I THINK IT'S about time that certain people stopped getting themselves hung-up on what they figure to be Johnny Winter's somewhat bizarre appearance and got ...

Merry Clayton: Gimme Shelter (A&M Ode 70 series, stereo, AMLS 995, 39s 11d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 November 1970

OVER THE last year or so Merry Clayton has graduated in status to the almost royal ranks of the fashionable clique of international sessioneers. Her ...

Free: Highway (Island, ILPS 9138, 39s 11d)

Review and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 19 December 1970

Free have never felt so close before Paul and Andy talk to Roy Carr about the new album ...

MC5: Back In The USA (Atlantic stereo SUPER 2400 016. 42s 6d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 19 December 1970

STUDIO DRIVE ...

Blood Sweat & Tears, Bob Dylan, Al Kooper: Al Kooper, Blood Sweat & Tears creator and Dylan sideman, brought brass and jam sessions back

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 16 January 1971

WHEN IT comes to the subject of owning-up-time, I suppose we've all got to admit to having a dusty, decaying skeleton hanging up in our ...

Black Sabbath, Curved Air: Guild Hall, Southampton

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 16 January 1971

BLACK SABBATH are about as subtle as an enraged mule kicking down a stable door, yet it is this controlled use of sheer physical brute ...

Soft Machine: Robert Wyatt — an out of work singer currently on drums with Soft Machine

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 16 January 1971

WHEN SOFT Machine aren't packing concert halls across America and Europe, their extremely good humoured drummer Robert Wyatt, and part-time Centipede luminary, can often be ...

Chicago: Chicago III (CBS stereo. 66267. 59s 10d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 23 January 1971

Disappointing Chicago ...

Delaney & Bonnie: To Bonnie From Delaney (Atco, stereo, Super, 2400, 029, 42s 6d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 23 January 1971

DELANEY & BONNIE — AN ESSENTIAL BUY ...

Allman Brothers Band: The Allman Brothers Band: Idlewild South (Atco, stereo. Super. 2400, 032, 42s 6d)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 23 January 1971

Bros across the ocean ...

Yes move into the gap left by Nice

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 23 January 1971

SOME CHEERFUL dullard in his misguided wisdom recently asked Yes, (quote) ..."When are you chaps going to happen?" To which he was promptly and most ...

Santana: Elusive Santana phone from California

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 30 January 1971

WE DON'T WANT TO BECOME A BAND OF GRINNING STARS ...

Buddy Miles: We Got To Live Together (Mercury, stereo, 6338028; £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 February 1971

YOU CAN'T be non-committal about that big black boogalooin' buddah of rock... Buddy Miles; you either dig him or you don't. It's as simple as ...

Grand Funk Railroad: Live (Capitol, stereo, E-STDW.1/2, £3.10)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 February 1971

NEVER TAKE sweets from a stranger and never accept albums from a grinning assistant editor. For, with almost Machiavellian delight, our beloved John Wells, walked ...

Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band: Pearl (CBS 64188; £2.25)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 February 1971

JANIS, THE ROCK TRAGEDIENNE An in-depth review of her last album by ROY CARR ...

James Brown the Cassius Clay of Music

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971

JAMES BROWN — broad and stocky — America's Soul Brother Supreme, with a warm smile etched deep into his granite face — perhaps the very ...

James Brown: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971

"I WANNA know... do I you feel alllllrrriiiigggght?" "Yeaaaaahhhh," roared the audience in reply. "Did yaa bring your sex machine with you?" The affirmative cry ...

James Brown: The Cassius Clay of Music

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1971

JAMES BROWN — broad and stocky — America's Soul Brother Supreme, with a warm smile etched deep into his granite face — perhaps the very ...

Mott The Hoople: America's druggies scared Mott to death

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

"IF PEOPLE want revolution then they should join an organised party en block instead of sitting on their backsides bemoaning their fate. It's absolutely no ...

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 ...

Yes: From groups' group to people's band

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

"THEY OUGHT to play Frank Zappa's 'Peaches En Regalia' on Two-Way Family Favourites instead of constantly churning out 'Land Of Hope And Glory', because it ...

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! ...

Mott The Hoople: Wildlife (Island, ILPS 9144; £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 10 April 1971

WILDLIFE CAN WIN MOTT WIDER FAME ...

Yes Mustn't Sit On Their Backsides

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 24 April 1971

REAL PROS, the ones who last, take a little longer than "overnight" before they find mass appeal. In the case of Yes it was three ...

Free: Live (Island ILPS 9160. £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 12 June 1971

Free's last album — their finest ever? ...

Tami Lynn Hit Cost £5 A Copy

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 12 June 1971

In true Mickey Spillane style, Roy Carr investigates the case of the six-year-old hit. ...

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 ...

B.B. King: Question & Answer with B.B. King, legendary guitarist

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

IT'S NOT every day of the week that one gets the rare opportunity of meeting a legend, let alone a childhood idol. For that is ...

Tami Lynn Is All Woman

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

And ROY (Humphrey) CARR is very glad about it! ...

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 ...

The Doors, Jim Morrison: Jim Morrison, Dec. 1943-July 1971

Obituary by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 July 1971

AMERICA DIDN'T have a Jagger. It did have Jim Morrison... the first major American male sex symbol since James Dean. ...

Mott the Hoople: Royal Albert Hall, London

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

WHEN MOTT the Hoople took the dear old Albert Hall by storm on Thursday evening it was like a return to the halcyon days of ...

Slade: Bovver Boys Who Grew Their Hair And Got A Hit

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 July 1971

SLADE, BRITAIN'S first skinhead band — were launched just over a year ago in the true tradition of eye-catching pop publicity. But the implications of ...

Jonathan King: My Ego? Its Still Huge Says Jonathan King

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 24 July 1971

Each week Roy Carr puts an In-The-News name in the NME Hot Seat ...

The Doors: L.A. Woman (Elektra EKS.75011; £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 24 July 1971

CONTROVERSIAL DOORS ...

Heads Hands and Feet: Heads, Hands & Feet: Heads, Hands & Feet (Island ILPS 9149; £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 21 August 1971

THIS DEBUT album has been a long time in coming, but it has been well worth the wait. With foresight the group have held off ...

Mick Farren: Rock Rebel with a Cause

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 28 August 1971

TWENTY-SIX-year-old Mick Farren, ex-singer with the Deviants, writer, political activist and spokesman for the underground, has been called many things. However, he prefers to define ...

King Crimson, T. Rex: BP Fallon: He can't do our press, he doesn't wear socks

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

IT WOULD have been so easy and so obvious to give the third degree treatment to one of these hard-sell publicists who daily hog the ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Free Trade Hall, Manchester

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

ANY DOUBTS as to the impact of the new streamlined Creedence Clearwater Revival were completely erased from people's minds by the time they had roared ...

Jack Bruce, Roy Harper, King Crimson: Hyde Park, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

AFTER THE confusion that reigned at Weeley, it has become quite apparent that you don't need every band that lives, breathes and plugs in to ...

Jefferson Airplane: Bark (Grunt Records. FTR 1001. £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

Airplane: One of year's best LPs ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival: John Fogerty: I've always wanted to be a rock 'n' roll star

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

IF THERE has been one solitary factor which has completely dominated John Fogerty's lifestyle, it has been his insatiable desire to be a successful rock ...

Miles Davis: A Tribute to Jack Johnson (CBS 70089; £2.19)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

FOR WELL over two decades of music, trumpeter Miles Davis has remained as one of the few unchallenged innovators and to this day he still ...

Mott The Hoople: This Group Means T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971

...or that's what some promoters think as Mott The Hoople face the same hang-ups that the Rolling Stones once experienced It's unfair, as any fan knows, ...

James Brown: Hot Pants (Polydor 2425086 £2.15p)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 6 November 1971

IF YOUR big turn on is leapin' n' boogalooin' about in stuffy, sweatin' coalbunker discotheques while having your ears and mind blown by a thundering ...

Allman Brothers Band: At Fillmore East (Atlantic T659005, £3.45)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 November 1971

WITH THE current output of albums at saturation point, it is extremely hard for a reviewer to devote more than just one brief hearing to ...

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic Deluxe, 240.1012 £2.35)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 November 1971

A GUARANTEED million seller well before it's release, perhaps in theory even before it was recorded, this, the long-awaited fourth album from Led Zeppelin is ...

Mountain, Wishbone Ash: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 November 1971

WISHBONE ASH are without  a doubt one of our finest new bands — they make good albums, and their ever-increasing following is loyal. However, at ...

Jimi Hendrix: Rainbow Bridge (Reprise. K44159, £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 November 1971

THIS IS the second album of hitherto unreleased Hendrix material put out by different companies in as many weeks, three if you count the duplications ...

Led Zeppelin, Stone the Crows: Empire Pool, Wembley

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 November 1971

Zeppelin circus roars into town ...

Mott The Hoople: Brain Capers (Island ILPS 9178, £2.15)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 1 December 1971

MOTT: NEAR PERFECTION ...

New Riders Of The Purple Sage: New Riders Of The Purple Sage (CBS 64657, £2.08p)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 1 December 1971

"Unknown" Riders will please you ...

Emerson Lake & Palmer: Pictures At An Exhibition (Island, HELP. 1; £1.50).

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

"HANS, IS das cheering on zee stereo gramafunken for zee Furhrer at zee 1937 Nuremburg Rally?" ...

Family: Rainbow Theatre, London

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

IT WAS A Family affair on Friday evening, when the Fearless Five doubled the size of their personnel to perform a diverse selection of their ...

Grateful Dead: Grateful Dead (Warner Bros. K66009. 2-album set, £3.75).

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

IT'S A SAD but true fact. There are not many people in this country who have had the enviable pleasure of actually seeing THE Great ...

Humble Pie: The Roundhouse, London

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

THE STARK black and white posters for Sunday's Humble Pie London concert boldly proclaimed, "Humble Pie Performance, Rockin' The Roundhouse," and that's exactly what the ...

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 ...

Mott The Hoople: Mott, Working Class Heroes

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

IF IAN HUNTER'S vision becomes a reality, then we are about to witness the first generation gap within the new rock culture. For Hunter states ...

Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey (Warner Bros. K.46114; £2 15)

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

THERE ARE those albums which one enjoys so much that one doesn't want to review them, but just play continuously. This, Van Morrison's latest epistle, ...

Edwin Starr: Involved (Tamla Motown)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

THIS ALBUM'S title is Edwin Starr — Involved, but somehow it comes across as being a token gesture. Black white soul at its most blatant ...

Isaac Hayes: Black Moses (Stax)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

HAYES SPREADS IT THIN ...

Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia: A Rare Interview

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

Roy Carr in New York: the problems of making the Dead NOT happen ...

The Chi-Lites: Roy Carr in Harlem sees the Chi-Lites

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 5 February 1972

IT HAS TAKEN the Chi-Lites ten years to become an overnight success. A decade of dues playing on the Chitlin' circuit which helped justify their ...

Deep Purple: Orchid Ballroom, Purley

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972

FORGET ABOUT chart placing and record sales for just one moment. The true testing point of any big group is its drawing capacity at the ...

Aretha Franklin: Young, Gifted & Black (Atlantic)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 25 March 1972

THIS NEW album once again illustrates Aretha as one of the finest interpretive artists of this era and the diverse material — beautifully arranged by ...

Slade: Slade Alive! (Polydor)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 25 March 1972

SLADE: BRASH, RAW, FLASHY — AND GREAT ...

Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead: The Dead

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 8 April 1972

GARCIA stabs at the record business — 'We want to get out' ...

Al Green: Let's Stay Together (London)

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

WHILE SUPER Spade and Mighty Whitey have been down in the alley battling it out to see who has the most soul n' funk, Al ...

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 ...

Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead: Empire Pool, Wembley, London

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

SINGIN' AND BOPPIN' WITH THE DEAD ...

Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything? (Bearsville Records)

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

ENTER, ONE lanky fair-haired youth called Todd Rundgren weighed down with an armful of instruments, a clear head filled with sun-blessed songs 'n' sounds, a ...

Allman Brothers Band: Allman Brothers: Duane is dead, but his spirit lives on everytime the band goes on stage

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

TALKING TO the Allman Brothers at their overnight camp in a palatial hotel in Hollywood, it soon became obvious that everyone still thinks and talks ...

Hot Tuna: Burgers (Grunt Records)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 April 1972

DESPITE THE fact that Hot Tuna are a direct off-shoot from the Jefferson Airplane hanger, they have managed with discretion to avoid any obvious hype, ...

James Brown: Revolution Of The Mind (Polydor Double-Album).

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 April 1972

SOMETIMES IT'S hard to separate James Brown the entertainer from James Brown the social voice of the down-trodden American negro, but in Brown's case he ...

Valerie Simpson: Exposed (Tamla Motown)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 22 April 1972

THIS DEBUT album is one of those rare and very beautiful moments when an artiste is completely successful. ...

The Rolling Stones: Eight Stone Exiles

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 April 1972

IT COULD TAKE the Rolling Stones' new double-album Exile On Main Street, says NME's ROY CARR, to awaken those members of the rock nation so ...

Led Zeppelin: Gassin' With Zeppelin

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 April 1972

HOW ROBERT PLANT STAYS FRESH ...

The Band, Todd Rundgren: Raving Over The Runt, Alias Todd Rundgren: Rock Whiz-Kid

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 April 1972

THE NAME Todd Rundgren may sound more like a catarrhal growl than the monicker of an aspiring 23-year-old young musical whiz-kid. ...

The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (Rolling Stones Records)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 April 1972

And here, a track by track of the upcoming Exile On Main Street set three weeks before release ...

Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones: Jagger: Solo Without Splitting

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 May 1972

JUST LIKE the thrill-seekers who attend a bullfight in the hope of seeing the handsome matador gored or the daring young man on the flying ...

The Eagles: Eagles (Asylum).

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 15 July 1972

BY WORD-of-mouth reputation alone, this debut album by the Eagles — born out of Poco and the Burritos — has suddenly become one of the ...

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? ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Not Only Sly, But Sometimes Just Plain Damn Evasive

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 July 1972

ROY CARR talks to Sly Stone — why he missed Bardney and other tales ...

Curtis Mayfield: Curtis the Crusader

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 18 November 1972

FIGHTING A DRUG MENACE IN AMERICAN GHETTOES ...

Marvin Gaye: Trouble Man (Tamla Motown)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 January 1973

THE GAYE JAMES BOND ...

Led Zeppelin: Houses Of The Holy (Atlantic)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 31 March 1973

Zep make masochism worthwhile ...

The Miracles, Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: No stop for Old Smokey, all ready to go

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 12 May 1973

LOS ANGELES: If we hadn't been formally introduced by a super cool hip slingin' secretary I very much doubt that I'd have recognised Smokey Robinson. ...

The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, International Submarine Band, Gram Parsons: Parsons the Country Preacher

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 12 May 1973

This is the man Presley's musicians turn to when they're sick of those Las Vegas riffs. ...

Ike & Tina Turner: Tina Turner: Get Your Eyes Off... and Listen

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 May 1973

THE MAKING of Tina Turner — was it the singer or the song? Well, we all know the answer to that one don't we? The ...

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 ...

The Temptations: Masterpiece (Tamla-Motown).

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

AND SO it came to pass, dat one day de Nazz summoned Norman Whitfield — de man dat dotted de most funkiest of crotchets — ...

Sweet Little Sixteen making out on Sunset Strip

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 30 June 1973

FROM ROY CARR A KEYHOLE GUIDE TO THE GROUPIES OF L.A. RESEARCH: CHARLES SHAAR MURRAY, NICK KENT ...

Dr. John's Casebook

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 7 July 1973

SEX, DRUGS, VIOLENCE AND THE MAFIA? FORGET IT. THIS GUY'S THE SAVIOUR OF NEW ORLEANS. ROY CARR reports from Montreux. ...

Professor Longhair: Longhair, the man who started it all

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 14 July 1973

ROY CARR MEETS PROFESSOR LONGHAIR, THE WORLD'S MOST RIPPED-OFF LEGEND ...

David Bowie: The Case For and Against Bowie: Shrewd Publicity Stunt Or Necessity?

Interview by Roy Carr, Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 14 July 1973

AFTER CALLING Jeff Beck on stage to climax last week s final night of his British tour, David Bowie reappeared alone before the curtain to ...

Van Morrison, Them: Van Morrison: Early Them and all the vocal fire of Tarzan with a hernia

Retrospective and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 August 1973

BUT WITH CONTROL, MAN, WITH CONTROL ...

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. ...

Ace in the Hole

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 10 November 1973

ROY CARR in Wandsworth with another of those up'n coming pub bands. ...

Cockney Rebel: The Human Menagerie (EMI)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 January 1974

JUDGING FROM the mass of press coverage that Cockney Rebel are currently grabbing for themselves, it would appear that their verbose frontman Steve Harley is ...

Charlie Rich: Behind Closed Doors (Epic)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 9 February 1974

IT HAS taken Charlie Rich all of twenty years of concentrated recording and innumerable kick-backs to become the kind of big star his devotees always ...

Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno, Nico: Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Nico, Eno: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 8 June 1974

Ayers puts the A in ACNE ...

Phil Spector (1975)

Interview by Roy Carr, Rock's Backpages audio, 1975

A brief clip where Roy Carr listens as a drunk Phil Spector rants.

File format: mp3; file size: 4.3mb, interview length: 4' 29" sound quality: ***

Ace gotta play their cards right

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975

When you've spent your life on the breadline, one hit single doesn't mean a financial freakout. Our economics correspondent ROY CARR reports. ...

Allman Brothers Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Black Oak Arkansas, Charlie Daniels, Kinky Friedman, Hydra, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Jerry Reed, The Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, ZZ Top: The South Gon' Rise Again

Overview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 18 January 1975

"Oh yeah, who says?" asks a sceptical ROY CARR who, after swigging hard on the Confederacy's brew of Redneck Rebel Rock, remains stubbornly unintoxicated. ...

Graham Central Station, Sly & the Family Stone: Larry Graham: With Sly as a friend you don' need enemies

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 8 February 1975

SO GRAHAM CENTRAL STATION RUNS TO SCHEDULE... ...

The Beatles: Apple Corps: They didn't have to be so nice... (We would have liked them anyway)

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975

Inquest by ROY CARR ...

The Band of Holy Joy, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds: Everything you never wanted to know about Led Zeppelin ...and had no intention of asking...

Special Feature by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975

Hey, punk! — Didja know that... ...

KC & the Sunshine Band, Junior Walker & the All Stars: KC & the Sunshine Band, Jnr. Walker & the All Stars: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975

YOU KNOW when you're frantically searching for a specific waveband on a cheap pocket transistor radio, and no matter how hard you try to tune ...

Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run (CBS Import)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 6 September 1975

Roy Orbison makes big comeback ...

Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac (Reprise)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 27 September 1975

Have the Mac lost the knack of attack? ...

The Who: The Who By Numbers (Polydor)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 October 1975

Once upon a time Pete Townshend was young and full of hope. That was then. ...

Keith Moon, The Who: Keith Moon: The Chancellor and the Drummer Boy

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 January 1976

Is KEITH MOON The Biggest Loony in the World? Or is DENIS HEALEY Even Dafter? ROY CARR tells the heart-tugging tale of The Chancellor and ...

Phil Spector: Upstairs, downstairs and in my mixing chamber

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 6 March 1976

DATELINE: MARCH 31, 1974. ...

The Beatles, Dion, George Harrison, John Lennon, Darlene Love, Phil Spector: Phil Spector Again

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 March 1976

Flourishing a revolver our weird hero enters his dark, refrigerated room to recount strange tales the likes of which may never before have been heard ...

Derek & Clive: The Worst Job I Ever 'Ad

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 September 1976

Derek and Clive and the rich panorama of sub-human life ...

Stevie Wonder: The Selling of Stevie

Report by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

MAYBE I'M just a cynic... but from where I'm standing it appears that, in terms of pushing as much product as humanly possible, the 13 ...

Blondie Cometh

Profile and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 13 November 1976

THE SENSUOUS POUT FROM CBGB ...

New York Dolls: Meet The Boys In The Band: The New York Dolls

Retrospective by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 December 1976

Prime movers of P**K, this gang of poseurs were wearing safety pins when they were still in diapers. ...

Emmylou Harris: Luxury Liner (Warner Bros.)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

While the Hot Band get hotter, Emmylou just gets better... ...

Jermaine Jackson: My Name Is Jermaine (Tamla Motown)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

COULD BE that marrying the boss's daughter has caused Jermaine Jackson a few problems. Not only is the boss' son-in-law expected to try that much ...

Bootsy Collins, The Undisputed Truth: Bootsy's Rubber Band: Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (Warner Bros); The Undisputed Truth: Method To The Madness (Warner Bros)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 January 1977

'Dock Of The Bay' was never like this! Soul Music shifts a gear ...

Marc Bolan, John's Children, T. Rex, Tyrannosaurus Rex: Rock and Roll Heart: Marc Bolan 1947-1977

Obituary by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 24 September 1977

MARC BOLAN was born on September 30, 1947, in Hackney Hospital, East London, the second son of Sid and Phyllis Feld. ...

Ian Dury: New Boots And Panties!! (Stiff)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 1 October 1977

WHAT WE have in New Boots And Panties!! is a long overdue solo album from one of Britain's most unique and uncompromising talents. ...

George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Funkadelic, Parliament: The Creation of Dr Funkenstein

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 7 January 1978

The scene: Maggotropolis, Hollywood. The target: the infamous Mr. GEORGE CLINTON High Priest of a Black Unholy Trinity. Enter a reporter clutching a clove of ...

Art Pepper, Before And After Life

Profile and Interview by Roy Carr, Brian Case, New Musical Express, 11 February 1978

And still going strong. The alto legend is working again after beating heroin addiction and 12 years in jail. ...

Wings: The Trial of James Paul McCartney

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 29 April 1978

IMAGINE THAT Paul McCartney didn't bury himself in hermit-like seclusion in Liverpool after the assassination attempt by Jack Ruby that followed the break-up of The ...

Steel Pulse: Black Pride Don't Mean Black Racism... Meet — The Handsworth Klan

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 10 June 1978

Steel Pulse guitarist DAVID HINDS talks to ROY CARR about the joys and vexations of a British reggae band. ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: "I've Only Fallen Over Twice In Fifteen Gigs..." The Keith Richards Interview

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

  CONTRARY TO legend, out on the road the Rolling Stones attempt to lead as normal a life as one can expect when living out of ...

Roky Erickson, 13th Floor Elevators: Roky Erickson: Darkness at the edge of your mind...

Profile by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 6 January 1979

...and other remembrances of psychedelic times past and future. ROKY ERICKSON, the Martian Van Morrison, will be visiting your town in "person" next month with ...

Charles Mingus: Charlie Mingus: April 22, 1922 — Jan 5, 1979

Obituary by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 January 1979

SOME TIME back a 'friend' borrowed a large number of my jazz albums — and sold them. All I can say is that the rip-off ...

Dire Straits: A Poor Man's Guide To That First Million

Report and Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 9 June 1979

ROY CARR gives DIRE STRAITS a lesson in market forces. But M. Knopfler Inc. need no telling. ...

Method Actors, Pylon: Pylon, the Method Actors: The Post Bouffant Bop

Interview by Roy Carr, Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 6 December 1980

Athens, Georgia, apres the B-52's: still weird, but definitely not wacky ...

Manu Dibango: Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino de Montreux

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

IN MUCH the same way that reggae ultimately required the charismatic presence of Bob Marley to give it international focus, the Modern Music of Africa ...

Miles Davis: Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino de Montreux

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

DADDY COOL! ...

Rubén Blades: Casino de Montreux, Montreux, Switzerland

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

FLASHING BLADES! ...

Johnny Copeland, Stevie Ray Vaughan: Stevie Ray Vaughan: Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino de Montreux

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

AS WITH limpid Blue Eyes there's always a ready-made market for or'nery-looking electric guitar slingers. The sight of devotees in the audience holding aloft large ...

Art Blakey, Horace Silver: Blue Note Records: The Rolls Royce of Jazz

Retrospective by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 26 October 1985

For 30 years the Blue Note label was the premier outlet for jazz. Now its catalogue is being made available again. ROY CARR breathes a ...

Miles Davis: Man of many colours

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 September 1986

Miles to work with Prince? Maybe. Sinatra? Possibly. Wynton Marsalis? Splatch! Forty years on there's Tutu, and the hues and cries of MILES DAVIS — ...

Dr. John: Dr John: In A Sentimental Mood (Warner Bros LP/Cassette/CD)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 May 1989

FUNNY OL' game the record business! First, we have the triumphant return of the Neville Brothers to the A&M stable after a ten year absence ...

Lamont Dozier: Holland-Dozier-Holland

Interview by Roy Carr, Gavin Martin, Uncut, September 2004

They were pop's most prolific hit factory, producing 70 US Top Ten singles and 20 No. 1s. On the 45th anniversary of Motown, we meet ...

Led Zeppelin: Thirty Years Gone: Remembering John Bonham

Book Excerpt by Roy Carr, 'Talk on the Wild Side' (EarBooks), 2009

WELL, THIS IS L.A., so I assume we're being hit by an earthquake. What else could cause the walls of my hotel room to vibrate ...

The Who: Live at Leeds (Super Deluxe Edition)

Review by Roy Carr, Classic Rock, January 2011

IT TURNS OUT that the greatest live album in rock history was only the soundcheck. Actually, Live at Leeds was the second choice – a ...

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