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259 articles

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Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, The Rolling Stones: From Pop Singers To Rock Bands

Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 1965

Update, March 2019: I KNOW exactly when I wrote the piece below, where I was, and why I withdrew it from publication. It was January ...

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

Interview by Michael Lydon, unpublished, March 1966

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

The Beatles: George Harrison: The Scene and Heard Interview

Interview by Miranda Ward, unpublished, September 1967

NOTE: In a brief conversation that appeared on the BBC Radio program Scene and Heard, George Harrison spoke with reporter Miranda Ward from the set ...

The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, The Byrds, Country Joe & The Fish, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, The Kinks, Little Richard, The Mamas and The Papas, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground: 20 Revolutionary Singles, as requested

Letter by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 28 October 1968

25 FLORENCE TERRACE, FALMOUTH, CORNWALL TELEPHONE: FALMOUTH 1840 23rd October 1968 ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon/Yoko Ono Interview

Interview by Miles, unpublished, September 1969

These tapes were made on September 23rd and 24th, 1969, at Apple. When Allen Klein fired Ron Kass, the head of Apple Records, John and ...

Black Sabbath

Report and Interview by Steve Turner, unpublished, March 1970

2003 Note: Having written my very first article for the Beatles Monthly I was asked by the publisher, Sean O’Mahoney (aka Johnny Dean), to contribute ...

Nico: I Always Become The Songs That I Sing

Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 7 March 1970

Author's note, 2018: I took Nico to Julie's in Portland Road in 1970. Its style was inspired by Biba. Magnetic people sat around on sofas ...

The Who: Live at Leeds (Track)

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 15 May 1970

Update, 2019. Below is the complete piece on The Who Live at Leeds written for The Guardian that published a slashed version, and also for ...

Joni Mitchell: Isle of Wight Festival, Afton Down

Live Review by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 5 September 1970

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

Frank Zappa: An Interview with Frank Zappa

Interview by Miles, unpublished, November 1970

This interview recorded at Rattner's on 2nd Ave, New York City, on the 14th November 1970. After we'd eaten we escaped the rude noisy waiters ...

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Charles Manson: The Maggot in the Rose

Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 1971

Author's note, 2018: Nobody talked about flower power or summers of love or fun, fun, fun after the Manson and the Altamont murders, followed by ...

Tom Donahue: Clean Up Your Face And Mess Up Your Mind

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 17 March 1971

Author's note, 2018. This piece on Tom Donahue was one of a number I wrote for The Guardian that was not published. Bah! Nor ...

Alexis Korner, Blues Incorporated, Cyril Davies, Dick Heckstall-Smith: A Conversation With Alexis Korner

Interview by John Pidgeon, unpublished, 15 November 1971

This is a straight transcription of John Pidgeon's interview with Alexis Korner from November 1971 ...

The Trashmen: Carrying That Weight With The Trashmen

Retrospective by Metal Mike Saunders, unpublished, 1972

2003 intro: This was an unpublished piece, wherein I strung together actual Dave Marsh phrases from his Bob Dylan polemics (in CREEM) under the name ...

Roky Erickson, 13th Floor Elevators: Psychedelic Punks Refuse to Die: The Revenge of the 13th Floor Elevators

Profile by Metal Mike Saunders, unpublished, 1972

2009 note: The odd thing about this (unpublished) fall 1972 thing sent to Phonograph Record Monthly (unassigned) is that co-editor Greg Shaw would – I ...

The Rolling Stones' 1972 US Tour: Winterland, San Francisco

Report by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, June 1972

The Rolling Stones. The last boogie 2019 Update: IN MY sixth year of regular rock writing, I was given a great boost by Jo Bergman ...

Lou Reed Talking About His First Solo Album

Interview by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, July 1972

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

John Prine: An Interview with John Prine

Interview by Norman Jopling, unpublished, September 1972

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

Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore: Deep Purple: An Unpublished Interview with Ritchie Blackmore

Interview by Jim Esposito, unpublished, June 1973

2012 NOTE: This Q&A hails from circa June 1973, for an interview published in Creem in September that year. It broke the story about the ...

The Beatles: The Act You've Known For All These Years: The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper

Retrospective by Mick Gold, unpublished, 1974

ALL ENTERTAINMENT HAS AN EXISTENTIAL dimension: all successful performances imply a life-style and a sense of values, a sub-structure of assumptions upon which the performer ...

Bob Dylan: The Flood: Dylan and The Band on Tour ’74

Report by Michael Lydon, unpublished, 1974

"The air was filled with music." – Raymond Chandler ...

Yoko Ono: The Whole World Is My Mother-In-Law

Profile and Interview by Caroline Coon, unpublished, 1974

2012 NOTE: Tidying through my papers some days ago I found, at last, an interview I did with Yoko Ono at home in New York ...

Led Zeppelin: Ten years after — the Rule of Britannia

Memoir by Camille Davis Russo, unpublished, 4 July 1974

ON JULY 4TH, 1976, America will celebrate the 200th anniversary of her independence from Great Britain. Yet the bonds are unbroken, and she's never been ...

Leon Russell: A Recording Studio And Offices For Shelter Records: An Interview With Leon Russell

Interview by David A. Williams, unpublished, 10 December 1974

"I ORGANIZED Shelter Records in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1972, I decided to move back to Tulsa to open one of the few recording ...

The Doors: The End Is Always Near: Dread, Drunkenness and The Doors, Pt. 1

Retrospective by Lester Bangs, unpublished, 1975

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF the Doors should not be underestimated; it has been too often already. When you consider that they represented, in the positivist context ...

The Doors: The End Is Always Near: Dread, Drunkenness and The Doors, Pt. 2

Retrospective by Lester Bangs, unpublished, 1975

HE BEGAN, like all drunks who have arrived at this stage of the movie, to get in trouble. Havoc on planes, arrested in airports. Pulling ...

Lester Bangs: Epistle to a Young Critic: A Letter from Lester Bangs, February 1975

Letter by Lester Bangs, unpublished, February 1975

Thirty years ago, RBP contributor Susan (then Suzan) Compo was an apprentice punkette and aspiring rock scribe living in Tustin, California. An avid reader of ...

Elvin Bishop: The Bourbon Street Irregulars

Report and Interview by Jim Esposito, unpublished, April 1975

2009 note: CREEM flew me up to New Orleans to write a story on Elvin Bishop. Rejected this. Editor told me: "You didn't say why ...

Deep Purple: Let Your Fingers Do The Talking…

Report and Interview by Jim Esposito, unpublished, 14 December 1975

… or Ritchie Blackmore Is Right. He Probably Could Wipe Up The Floor With Most Guitarists. ...

The 101'ers, The Clash, Sex Pistols: The 101'ers — 1976

Special Feature by Ira Robbins, Peter Silverton, unpublished, 1976

September 21, 2021 introduction by Ira Robbins  (www.trouserpress.com) ...

Carole King: The Definitive Carole King Story...

Retrospective and Interview by Miles, unpublished, 1976

...and touching on the Phil Spector Story and the James Taylor Story as well. * ...

George Jones, August 1976, at Sunset Park, West Grove, PA

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, August 1976

NOTE: Originally broadcast on the country/bluegrass show "Sunnyside" on WXPN, FM Philadelphia, in August 1976. ...

Wilson Pickett: Return of the Wicked Pickett

Report and Interview by Michael Lydon, unpublished, 1977

"I’VE ALWAYS WANTED to be a star," said Wilson Pickett. He clapped his hands and fell back into a deck chair behind his house in ...

John Lee Hooker: Interview: John Lee Hooker, October 1977, at the Main Point, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, October 1977

JOHN LEE HOOKER was one of my all-time favourite blues singers. This interview was done between shows in the basement of the Main Point, a ...

The Band, Rick Danko: Interview with Rick Danko, December 21, 1977

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 21 December 1977

I WAS A RICK Danko fan from the first note of the first song he sang on Music From Big Pink, 'Caledonia Mission'.  There was ...

Betty Wright: Interview: Betty Wright

Interview by Cliff White, unpublished, April 1978

This is a transcription of Cliff's audio interview with Betty. Hear it on the site here. ...

Muddy Waters: Interview with Muddy Waters at the Temple Music Festival, Ambler, PA

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 31 July 1978

I GUESS I FIRST heard Muddy Waters in 1965 when my brother bought The Best of Muddy Waters. ...

Bob Dylan

Interview by Mark Rowland, unpublished, 23 September 1978

Marc Rowland interviews Dylan in Rochester prior to his concert at the Rochester Auditorium. The interview was broadcast on US radio. The transcript is from ...

Carl Perkins: Interview: Carl Perkins, October 31, 1978 at the Bijou Café, Philadelphia, Pa.

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 31 October 1978

THIS INTERVIEW took place backstage at the Bijou Café right before Carl Perkins was to do his first show in Philadelphia in years with a ...

Fats Domino: Interview: Fats Domino, November 9, 1978, Palumbo's Restaurant, Philadelphia, Pa.

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 9 November 1978

IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to escape Fats Domino's music growing up.  'Blueberry Hill', 'I'm Walkin'," and 'Walkin' To New Orleans' were staples of Top 40 radio.  ...

Dr. John: Interview: Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), November 14, 1978

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 14 November 1978

THIS INTERVIEW TOOK place on Dr. John's tour bus right before a show at the Bijou Café in downtown Philly.  I'd been a fan of ...

Professor Longhair: An Interview with Professor Longhair

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 10 June 1979

MAKE NO MISTAKE about it, New Orleans R&B would not have been what it is without Professor Longhair, Henry Roeland Byrd, and there are some ...

Lester Bangs, Blondie: Everyone's a rock critic: The lost Lester Bangs interview

Interview by uncredited writer, unpublished, 1980

FOLLOWING the release of Blondie, Lester Bangs was interviewed for a radio program called News Blimp. A copy of the tape was sent to me ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Interview: Hank Ballard at the Locust, Theater, Philadelphia, PA. February 23, 1980

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, 23 February 1980

THERE WAS THIS company in Philadelphia called Sherjam and in the winter of 1979-1980 and maybe the following year they put on a series of ...

The Saints: Paralytic Today, Paris Tonight: The Saints

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1981

AT THIS TIME, A RETROSPECTIVE on the Saints could only be written by someone with a sense of great personal mission. Perhaps it's even a ...

Levon Helm: An interview with Levon Helm

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, March 1981

NOTE: Originally broadcast on the country/bluegrass show "Sunnyside" on WXPN, FM Philadelphia, in March 1981. ...

Jack Nitzsche: Interview with Jack Nitzsche

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, unpublished, June 1981

KNOCKING ON HEAVENS DOOR… ST. GILES CRIPPLEGATE ...

Emmylou Harris

Interview by John Hutchinson, unpublished, 1982

JH: Emmylou, were you always interested in country music? ...

Joe Cocker: The A&M Years 1968-1976

Overview by Bud Scoppa, unpublished, 1982

BETWEEN THE YEARS 1968 and 1976, Joe Cocker recorded his first seven albums (all released on A&M). These recordings were composed of a wonderfully diverse ...

Kim Fowley: Rock'n'Roll Survivor

Press Release by uncredited writer, unpublished, 1982

1957: Kim meets future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and begins to write songs. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: A Kiss In The Dreamhouse (Polydor)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, unpublished, 1982

WITHIN STRAIGHT-LACED Vienna at the turn of the century, Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele were producing graphic works which rebelled against the dying vestiges of ...

Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne: Ozzy Osbourne

Interview by David Gans, unpublished, January 1982

On the bus en route from Salt Lake City to Denver in the early morning hours of January 10, 1982 ...

Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren

Interview by Johnny Black, unpublished, February 1982

This is the full transcript of the interview, a small (1500-word) version of which appeared in Over 21 magazine in May 1982. ...

Del Shannon, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: 30 Years of Teardrops: from Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway’ to Tom Petty’s ‘Refugee’

Retrospective and Interview by Cynthia Rose, unpublished, 1983

THE SPACE inside our souls where real dreams arise is created by a particular breed of gambler: the emotional, sexually aware, desperately honest human who ...

Randy Newman in Paradise

Interview by John Hutchinson, unpublished, February 1983

JH: Was there any family influence on your decision to be a musician? Your uncles wrote movie music, didn't they? ...

The Meters

Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, unpublished, 12 May 1984

"ONE OF MY theories is that as long as I don't know about something, I can continue to seek it out," George Porter reflected in ...

The Sex Pistols: In Defence of the Sex Pistols

Essay by Paul Yamada, unpublished, 1985

ANY SERIOUS study of rock music should sift through the history to discover outbreaks, accidents and ruptures in and, of rock, that offer themselves as ...

King Sunny Ade: An Interview

Interview by Hank Bordowitz, unpublished, 1985

HB: You are doing something most American bands wouldn't think off, touring the country with a 20 odd person entourage. ...

Jackson Browne, The Byrds, The Doors, Terry Melcher, The Mothers Of Invention, The Rising Sons, Frank Zappa: Billy James on Columbia, Elektra and the L.A. music industry

Interview by Richie Unterberger, unpublished, 1986

Author’s note: This was based around one of the first significant historical interviews I did. The essay wasn't published anywhere, just typed out for a ...

Deep Soul Mecca: Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1986

MUSCLE SHOALS: the very name suggests some grotesque image dreamt up by a surrealist painter. Shouldn't it be Mussel, you wonder... and yet this North ...

Harlem’s Finest: The Apollo Theatre

Retrospective by Michael Lydon, unpublished, 1986

THROUGH A GAUZY silver curtain, multi-colored lights outline a band playing a mellow blues with a dancing beat. As the audience begins to cheer, the ...

Jefferson Airplane: Paul Kantner

Interview by David Gans, unpublished, 2 June 1986

This interview was an exploratory conversation for a book project that didn't happen. ...

Gil Scott-Heron: Life After Arista

Profile and Interview by Larry Jaffee, unpublished, August 1986

NOTE: This interview was intended for Tower Records' Pulse!, but was rejected for fear that Arista Records would pull its advertising. ...

George Harrison

Interview by Charles Bermant, unpublished, 17 September 1987

HOW DID YOU pick this time to re-emerge? ...

Alan Vega, Suicide: Alan Vega

Retrospective and Interview by Jeremy Gluck, unpublished, 1988

NOTE: Another unpublished piece for Bucketful of Brains from the prolific pen of Mr Jeremy Gluck, this time on Suicide's Alan Vega, written in 1988 ...

Everything But the Girl: Shining Bright

Profile by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1988

ONE OF THE few good things about the British pop scene in 1988 is that the subtle and reflective music of boy-girl duo Everything But ...

Willie Mitchell: From Hi to Waylo: the Spirit of Memphis Soul

Report by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1988

LOVERS OF authentic southern American soul are in for a major treat this weekend when a "Memphis Soul Revue" holds court at London's Town & ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: What Was And What Might Have Been: A Lost Interview with Brian Wilson

Interview by Jeremy Gluck, unpublished, 1988

NOTE: It's 1988, Brian Wilson had just launched his solo career with the release of the eponymous Brian Wilson album, and Jeremy Gluck gets to ...

Party Town: New Orleans

Overview by Simon Witter, unpublished, May 1988

2002 note: I went to New Orleans to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Dec 87, took a week's holiday there with photographer Chris ...

The 101'ers, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer

Interview by Jon Savage, unpublished, 30 May 1988

This interview was for Jon Savage's classic punk book England's Dreaming, and is published here in its entirity for the first time. ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Out Of The Cage: An interview with Keith Richards

Interview by Ira Robbins, unpublished, 19 September 1988

IR: You’ve done a lot of interviews lately. It’s hard to pick questions you haven’t been asked... ...

Santana: Carlos Santana

Profile and Interview by Len Brown, unpublished, 1989

This article appeared in edited form in New Musical Express"This is a good time to replenish, to renourish and drink silence." ...

Sly & Robbie: Silent Assassin (Island)

Review by Don Snowden, unpublished, 1989

HMM, HMM, HMM, let's see here...looks like Sly & Robbie & KRS-One are on to something here but I don't think it's what most people ...

The Byrds, David Crosby, Crosby Stills and Nash, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Graham Nash: David Crosby: An Interview

Interview by Johnny Black, unpublished, 22 February 1989

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED in the Halcyon Hotel, Holland Park, London, 22.2.89. Crosby casual in jumper, white shirt and slacks. Seriously overweight and often short of breath, ...

Joe Boyd: Elephant Man

Profile and Interview by Len Brown, unpublished, 14 March 1989

IN AN UPSTAIRS storeroom at Hannibal Records HQ, the quarterback-sized Joe Boyd sits on a sack. Around him are boxes, piled high, brimming with the ...

Joan Jett: Motorcycle Slut With The Mystic Cross: Joan Jett roars up the alley in Singapore

Report and Interview by Gerrie Lim, unpublished, December 1989

JOAN JETT is sitting in a dressing room a long, long way from home, and the perceptible sliver of anxiety in her voice suggests that ...

Texas Tornados: A Return of the Sir Douglas Quintet (+ 2)

Report and Interview by Bill Wasserzieher, unpublished, November 1990

PARAPHERNALIA FROM the psychedelic 1960s – retina-blitzing strobes, black lights, go-go dancers in body paint and big-dipper boots – all very, very retro, especially for ...

Birth of the Blues: Touring the Mississippi Delta

Guide by Ira Robbins, unpublished, 1991

"YOU MAY BURY MY BODY DOWN BY the highway side...so my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride." ...

Joey Negro

Interview by Simon Witter, unpublished, 1992

As a re-and-mastermixer, artist, label head and man of many names – too many, some might say – Joey Negro is emerging as one of ...

Donald Fagen, Candid and Vulnerable

Interview by Wayne Robins, unpublished, May 1993

Author's note: This interview took place in Manhattan, May 19, 1993. Without his partner in crime Walter Becker to deflect questions, Fagen was more candid ...

Cliff Richard in Conversation

Interview by Dave Thompson, unpublished, 1994

TELL US HOW you became Cliff Richard… ...

Al Kooper: Interview: Al Kooper, WMMR Studios, PA.

Interview by Peter Stone Brown, unpublished, March 1994

THIS INTERVIEW was done the last week of March in 1994 at what at the time, the studio of WMMR, once the number one FM ...

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Now Is Not The Time To Talk To Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Interview by Angus Batey, unpublished, May 1994

Originally written for the NME, this article was not published ...

Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, The Big Boys, Black Flag, JFA, Minor Threat, The Minutemen, The Necros, Suicidal Tendencies: An Oral History of Hardcore Punk

Retrospective and Interview by Pat Blashill, unpublished, 1995

NOTE: I conducted these interviews and more for a magazine story that never ran. What follows is a rough, incomplete edit of the piece. I ...

Jesse Stone Tells His Story

Interview by Michael Lydon, unpublished, 1995

AT 94, JESSE STONE, arranger, bandleader, and song writer extraordinaire, has spanned the entire 20th century of African-American music. ...

Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant: Robert Plant Unledded

Interview by Alvaro Costa, unpublished, 1995

ROCK GODS SHOULD never leave their Olympus, in particular if they happen to stroll along a Parisian street during the city's Marathon. ...

Blackmore's Night, Ritchie Blackmore: Blackmore's Night: An interview with Ritchie Blackmore

Interview by Steven Rosen, unpublished, March 1995

Ritchie Blackmore, the penultimate electric guitar player, perhaps the main proponent of the Marshall/Stratocaster combo, has traded in his stacks for a tambourine and an ...

Ian Dury: Reasons to be Cheerful

Retrospective and Interview by Chris Welch, unpublished, Summer 1995

In the summer of 1995 Chris Welch visited Ian Dury at his Hampstead home on two afternoons to talk about the glory days of Kilburn ...

Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin: John McLaughlin: God of Fusion

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 1996

Author’s note: I reviewed John’s Cork Jazz Festival gig circa January 1996, and then interviewed him in London shortly after that. Features based on the ...

Butch Hancock, The Flatlanders, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, Terry Allen: Lubbock on Everything: The Best Little Neo-Country Town in Texas?

Retrospective and Interview by Richard Gehr, unpublished, 1996

In 1996, Richard Gehr went down to Texas to explore the history and mythology of Buddy Holly’s home town. This was his unpublished report for ...

Phast Freddie's Hollywood (Circa 1973-1983)

Guide by Phast Phreddie Patterson, unpublished, October 1996

"There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to...."* ...

Lewis Taylor

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, Summer 1996

This previously unpublished interview was conducted in the summer of 1996 — around the release of Lewis Taylor's self-titled debut album — for a short, ...

Radiohead: Can Radiohead Take America?

Report by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

"THERE ARE lots of double standards with British bands when they talk about America," says Jonny Greenwood. "They like to talk badly about it, yet ...

Free: Paul Rodgers

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997

THIS INTERVIEW coincided with Paul Rodgers' 1997 album, Now, his first set of original material since Cut Loose in 1983. It was conducted in a ...

Jimmy Webb: An Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997

What first made you want to write a song? ...

Johnny Thunders: So Alone

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

JOHNNY THUNDERS'S principal solo claim to fame, So Alone consists of Dollsy covers (the Shangri-Las' ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss,’ the Chantays' surf chestnut ...

Kate Bush: Hounds of Love

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

FEW WOMEN HAVE expanded the vocabulary of rock as bewitchingly as Kate Bush; among male stars, only Prince may have taken as many risks. Hounds ...

Fabulous Thunderbirds: My Lunch with the Blues Guys

Interview by Bill Wasserzieher, unpublished, 1997

IT'S NOT NEWS that Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds is a good harmonica player. But he also cuts it as raconteur with stories about ...

Oasis: Definitely Maybe

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

WITH THE swaggering chords of the opening ‘Rock'N'Roll Star,’ Oasis announced that big, brash Brit rock was here to stay--at least for a few years. ...

Orquestra Was: Forever's a Long, Long Time

Review by John L. Walters, unpublished, 1997

I BOUGHT Forever's a Long, Long Time within minutes of seeing it in a record store rack. The reason? I don't just admire Don Was, ...

Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne: Ozzfest ‘97

Report and Interview by Edward Helmore, unpublished, 1997

THE UNEARTHLY NOISE that barrels over the pines and down Alpine Valley in rural Wisconsin last summer was a clear signal that the natural order ...

Paul Simon: Graceland; Warner Bros 925447-2, Released September 1986

Review by Chris Charlesworth, unpublished, 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 ...

Radiohead’s Back Pages

Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, unpublished, 1997

DESPITE THE best efforts of such explosive talents as Suede, Polly Jean Harvey and the Manic Street Preachers, 1992 was not a great year for ...

Sam Cooke: Live at the Harlem Square Club

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

MOST OF SAM Cooke's pop hits were sugary, blanched affairs. This album was the real deal, giving us the church-reared R&B singer who liked to ...

Talking Heads: 77

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

NEXT TO CBGBS peers like the Ramones and the Voidoids, Talking Heads barely sounded like a punk band. After the startlingly non-conformist ‘Love Building on ...

The Cramps: Songs the Lord Taught Us

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

THE CRAMPS GOT away with their Z-movie, zombie-rock schtick because they were so intense in their conviction that it had more value than middlebrow humanist ...

The High Llamas

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

THERE IS nothing quite like the High Llamas, even at a time when symphonic "mood music" is all the rage and neo-easy listening has become ...

Whose Alt.Country Is It Anyway?

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

THEY CALL it Alternative Country, a generous umbrella of a category that makes room for acts as different as Steve Earle, Son Volt and Slobberbone; ...

Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis: April In Paris With Branford And Ellis

Report and Interview by Chris Ingham, unpublished, April 1997

NOTE: Commissioned by Nick Coleman at The Independent, this interview remained unpublished due to Branford and Ellis canceling their live appearances. ...

Radiohead: The Tourist: An Interview With Thom Yorke

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, June 1997

Thursday 22 May, 1997IT'S A SEARING summer's day in Barcelona, one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Three things are creating a buzz in the Catalonian ...

Godley & Creme: Kevin Godley on Consequences

Interview by Kit Aiken, unpublished, 15 December 1997

NOTE: Unedited text of an interview for the piece that appeared in the March 1988 issue of Uncut. * ...

Chic: Hammersmith Odeon, October 1979

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1998

SO FEW AND FAR between are the live performances that have made any real impression on me that they stick out in the memory like ...

Jacques Brel

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 1998

Alan Clayson profiles the life and music of the great chansonnier ...

Mark Hollis, Talk Talk: Mark Hollis Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1998

MARK HOLLIS' self titled debut album was, at one point, going to be a Talk Talk album entitled Mountains Of The Moon, but somewhere between ...

Mercury Rev: Deserter’s Songs

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1998

MERCURY REV, one of the great if most overlooked American groups of the 1990s, are finally releasing a new album, their first for V2 Records. ...

Neil Young at Heart

Essay by Mick Gold, unpublished, 1998

IT MUST HAVE been 1969 or 1970. There was a rave review of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in Rolling Stone and I bought it ...

Pulp: This Is Hardcore

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1998

JARVIS COCKER is that most British of pop creatures, the Nerd-as-Superstar. Like the young Morrissey, he’s the spindly misfit, the scrawny mis-shape who outwitted the ...

Gang Starr: The Greatness of Gang Starr

Report and Interview by Amy Linden, unpublished, 1998

IN 1997 EMI Records was in the process of folding, and among the groups who were up for grabs was Gang Starr, a veteran NYC ...

The Band, Levon Helm: The Weight on Levon Helm

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1998

LEVON HELM is perched on the arm of a carved wooden chair in his large house-cum-recording studio in Woodstock, N.Y., and he’s cackling his head ...

Queen: The Hard Life of Brian: Brian May

Interview by Ian Fortnam, unpublished, April 1998

It's quite a spread – set in the majestic, green sward Jerusalem of the Home Counties' stockbroker belt, and surrounded by idyllic gardens painstakingly landscaped ...

Elliott Smith: Interview Transcript

Interview by Neil Mason, unpublished, June 1998

I'D BEEN TO SEE Elliott Smith's first UK show a week earlier, can't recall where, but it was clearly enough to get me back a ...

Linda Ronstadt: The Linda Ronstadt Interview: Tucson, Arizona, 17 June 1998

Interview by Debbie Kruger, unpublished, June 1998

DK: You are a performer who has covered the most diverse range of genres in popular music, and they are all listed on your bio ...

Elliott Smith: An Interview in NYC, 30th April, 1998

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Spring 1998

Listen to the audio of this interview here. ...

XTC: Andy Partridge: Lemons And Lemonade

Interview by Bill DeMain, unpublished, 1999

"I'M A LUDICROUS optimist," says Andy Partridge. "I'm in front of the firing squad and I've got the clown's makeup on and I'm telling gags ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: Crosby Stills Nash and Young: Looking Forward in Y2K

Interview by Debbie Kruger, unpublished, 1999

GRAHAM NASH IS by nature an ebullient man, but maybe this time he went too far. Such was the anticipation of the long-awaited new Crosby ...

Kim Fowley: Into The Sinister ’70s

Memoir by Kim Fowley, unpublished, 1999

AS WE ALL KNOW, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison all died in fairly quick succession as the ’70s began. By the time Jim ...

Eric B. & Rakim, Marley Marl: Marley Marl

Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, 1999

Marley Marl talks about his inadvertent "invention" of the drum sample and his involvement in the first Eric B and Rakim record. This was originally ...

Kim Fowley: Riding Shotgun in Swinging London

Memoir by Kim Fowley, unpublished, 1999

The arrival of The Beatles in 1964 convinced Kim Fowley that he had no immediate future as a freelance record producer in his native Los ...

Kim Fowley: Smells Like Nirvana: Hollywood Poptopia

Memoir by Kim Fowley, unpublished, 1999

IN THE LATE '50s, I decided I would go into rock and roll. By then it was really exploding. At this point, L.A. hadn’t had ...

The Handsome Family

Interview by Rob Hughes, unpublished, 1999

OCTOBER 1999. On the release of early-years compilation Down In The Valley - and four months prior to fourth studio album, In The Air - ...

Kim Fowley: The Thoughts of Chairman Kim

Memoir by Kim Fowley, unpublished, 1999

On Being the Rock’n’ Roll Rupert Everett ...

Paul Griffin

Letter by Jonathan Singer, unpublished, 4 March 1999

Transcribed below is a letter written by Jonathan Singer to David Hinckley of the New York Daily News. The letter led to Mr. Hinckley's article ...

The Byrds, Roger McGuinn: Roger McGuinn Interview

Interview by Stephen K. Peeples, unpublished, 2 April 1999

AUTHOR'S NOTE, Oct. 11, 2014: The following is an expanded version of my Roger McGuinn interview, a shorter version of which was first published at ...

Frank Zappa: Too Much or Not Enough?

Retrospective by Richard Gehr, unpublished, 11 April 1999

By the time of his death from prostate cancer on December 4, 1993, Frank Zappa's taste for life on the road had all but vanished. ...

ABBA: The Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999

Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...

Echo & The Bunnymen: London, Astoria

Live Review by Alex Ogg, unpublished, 22 May 1999

IT’S A STRANGE TIME for a rock gig to take place – midday on the Saturday of the FA Cup final. The unusual hour is ...

Dom Phillips: An Interview

Interview by Bill Brewster, unpublished, 25 May 1999

NOTE: This interview with the former Mixmag editor, murdered in the Amazon in June 2022 with his friend and activist Bruno Pereira, was conducted as ...

Prefab Sprout: Catching Up with Paddy Mac

Interview by Chris Ingham, unpublished, November 1999

This is an unpublished interview with Paddy McAloon on the release of 38 Carat Gold: The Best Of Prefab Sprout. ...

Captain Beefheart: Three Decades Inside The Mask: Captain Beefheart

Retrospective and Interview by Byron Coley, unpublished, December 1999

NOTE: This article appeared in a much-shortened version in the December 1999 edition of Spin entitled "The Strangest Album Ever Sold: The Making Of Trout ...

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)

Review by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2000

New double-disc remastering of George’s solo debut. Now with out-takes, remixes and a re-recorded version of ‘My Sweet Lord’. ...

Kim Fowley, The Runaways: King of the Nighttime World

Memoir by Kim Fowley, unpublished, 2000

Kim Fowley reveals how L.A. ultravixens the Runaways were formed – and how he helped give birth to Hollywood punk. ...

Mellow Candle: Swaddling Songs (DERAM SDL7)

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 2000

NOTE: This is a slightly longer edit of the piece as published in MOJO, sometime in the early 2000s. Since that time (in the early ...

Pharoah Sanders: An Interview

Interview by Chris Ingham, unpublished, 2000

THERE IS THE aura of legend surrounding the business of Pharoah Sanders. The fez, the dashiki, the Egyptian Prince goatee and the very name conjures ...

Big Star: Stars In Their Eyes: Big Star

Retrospective by Bud Scoppa, unpublished, 2000

NOTE: I was assigned this piece the spring of 2000 by Revolver, but the mag was recast as a metal monthly while I was working ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put A Spell On You: Bill Millar pays tribute to the late, great Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Retrospective by Bill Millar, unpublished, March 2000

"WHY NOT BE at London Airport to welcome Jay?" That was the invitation in the late Roger Eagle’s R & B Scene. And so, on ...

Ian Hunter: Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Sony Legacy)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, unpublished, July 2000

A LONG LONG TIME ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile. But then the '50s came along and wiped ...

Andy Irvine: Andy Irvine: Stray Leaf Folk Club, Mullaghbane

Live Review by Colin Harper, unpublished, 4 July 2000

MOST ROLES and occupations in life are applied for, coveted, stolen or won; with others, the job is so novel it happens by stealth.  After ...

Hubert Sumlin: Guinness Spot, Belfast Festival

Live Review by Colin Harper, unpublished, November 2000

HUBERT SUMLIN – best known as guitarist for the late Howlin' Wolf – is one of the bona fide legends of modern blues. At a ...

Ahmet Ertegun and Various Authors: What’d I Say: The Atlantic Records Story

Review by Bill Millar, unpublished, 2001

THIS IS ONE muthahumping doorstep of a book as big as the Times Atlas and just as heavy. There are 900 photos and 160,000 words ...

The Deviants, Mick Farren: An Interview with Mick Farren

Interview by Martin Herron, unpublished, 2001

UK ROCK CRITICISM has produced its fair share of great writers: Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray and Barney Hoskyns, to name but a few. ...

Bootsy Collins, Funkadelic, James Brown: Looking Back with Bootsy

Retrospective and Interview by Martin Herron, unpublished, 2001

'SEX MACHINE'; 'Superbad'; 'One Nation Under A Groove'; 'Tear The Roof Of Tha Sucker' – Bootsy Collins' bass is the foundation stone of the House ...

The Beatles, Paul McCartney: The Man Who Killed Paul McCartney

Retrospective by Jim Yoakum, unpublished, 2001

The incredible, never-before-revealed true-life event that sparked the greatest rock ‘n’ roll rumor of all time. ...

Willie Nelson Hits Springfield

Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, unpublished, 2001

IT’S LONG PAST midnight at the Springfield, Illinois, State Fairground. Heavy rain slants down, dousing the day’s tangled aromas of corn dog, funnel cake and ...

Charles Trenet: BOUM!: The Life And Art Of Charles Trenet

Obituary by Alan Clayson, unpublished, February 2001

A MORE TIDY-minded author might portray Charles Trenet (1913-2001) as a French Noel Coward. A multi-faceted talent, he was best known for combining qualities of ...

In His Own Right: Ian MacDonald

Interview by Paul Gorman, unpublished, March 2001

I INTERVIEWED Ian MacDonald for my music press history In Their Own Write in March 2001. As charming, tolerant and insightful as the first-class prose ...

Judy Henske: An Interview

Interview by Richie Unterberger, unpublished, 27 March 2001

ONE OF THE most eclectic early-1960s folk singers, Judy Henske started to use band backup and even drums on some of the recordings in 1963 on ...

The Box Tops

Sleeve notes by Colin Escott, unpublished, September 2001

IN THESE trivia-obsessed times, it's probably worth knowing that the first Number One hit recorded in Memphis by a Memphis act was 'The Letter'. It ...

Todd Rundgren: Something/Anything?: 30 Years On

Interview by Rob Steen, unpublished, December 2001

I RANG TODD in his Maui studio in December 2001, while he was remixing Something/Anything? for 5.1 Surroundsound. ...

The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti, Spearhead: A Q&A With Michael Franti

Interview by Stevie Chick, unpublished, Spring 2001

MICHAEL FRANTI has been one of the most consistently insightful, incisive, and intelligent voices in politicised pop music for almost 15 years now. ...

Matthew Herbert

Interview by David Hemingway, unpublished, 2002

House producer Matthew Herbert has made music from underwear, rodents and lazer eye surgery, remixed artists as disparate as Serge Gainsbourg and Moloko and is ...

James Taylor: One Part Genius...The Trail to October Road

Essay by Craig W. Thomas, unpublished, 2002

WHEN I WAS 14 years old the person I most wanted to be was James Taylor. It's a long time ago now. 1971. I remember ...

Slade

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Chapman, unpublished, 2002

LET'S PLAY how to be hip. The rules go something like this. MC5 plus gritty urban Detroit plus White Panther polemic equals street cred and ...

Thomas Dolby: Techno Beatnik: Thomas Dolby

Profile and Interview by Hank Bordowitz, unpublished, 2002

MY WIFE AND two-year-old huddle over my wife’s iMac. Billy, the two year old, giggles uncontrollably as the computer makes boinging and slide-whistle sounds, ...

Green Day: The Biggest Punk Rock Band in the World: Green Day

Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, unpublished, 2002

THE FACTS speak for themselves. With worldwide album sales currently in excess of 23 million, their Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum Dookie debut boasting an almost ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Great Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Or: What you don't know about Black Classical Music could be killing you

Retrospective by Glenn O'Brien, unpublished, 2002

BACK THERE during the revolution, when we called ourselves freaks proudly, rock was rocking the world. Musicians like Hendrix, Clapton, and Page, and philosophical bands ...

Kurt Ralske, Ultra Vivid Scene: Kurt Ralske: An Interview

Interview by David Hemingway, unpublished, 1 March 2002

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was intended as the basis for a feature in Alternative Press. It's never been previously published. ...

The Libertines interviewed at the 100 Club, Oxford Street, London, October 4th 2002

Interview by Ben Myers, unpublished, 4 October 2002

IT WAS A crisp autumn day when The Libertines arrived back in London to play the penultimate show of a 26 date tour at the ...

Andrew WK: Super Fan: Andrew W.K.

Interview by Jason Cohen, unpublished, Fall 2002

With his anthems 'Party Hard' and 'It's Time to Party' blasting from stadiums, soundtracking Sportscenter highlights and fueling beer commercials, Ann Arbor,MI native Andrew W.K. ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Foundation Course

Report and Interview by Stephen Dalton, unpublished, February 2003

JOHN PANDIT is hopping mad. We were supposed to be discussing the latest album by Pandit's multi-cultural protest-pop collective Asian Dub Foundation, but our interview ...

Ian Dury: Buried Treasure: Ian Dury and the Blockheads' Do It Yourself

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, unpublished, March 2003

HOW CAN A platinum-selling album that reached No. 2 in the UK charts be classed as "buried treasure"? Easily. Do It Yourself remains a well-kept ...

Phil Spector: Spector's Heirs

Overview by Robin Eggar, unpublished, April 2003

THE CASTLE PERCHES atop a hill in suburban Alhambra reached after a long and winding climb. The huge iron gates appear to have been shut ...

Wiley

Interview by David Hemingway, unpublished, 1 September 2003

A transcript of an interview that subsequently became an XLR8R feature ...

Robben Ford At The Newcastle Opera House

Live Review by Craig W. Thomas, unpublished, 21 November 2003

I'M TIRED OF the bullshit. I'm tired of TV advertising in my face. I'm sick of calls trying to sell me health insurance and I'm ...

Rocket from the Tombs: On Rock And Rocket From The Tombs: David Thomas

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, unpublished, Fall 2003

WHEN DAVID THOMAS brought his three-day "Disastodrome" musical carnival to UCLA earlier this year, there was a surprise element. ...

Charles Manson: Charlie Don’t Surf

Retrospective by Jim Yoakum, unpublished, 2004

THE NIGHT THAT the four members of the infamous Manson Family drove out to a secluded Benedict Canyon mansion and brutally butchered Sharon Tate, Abigail ...

David Bowie: The Ken Pitt Interview

Interview by Chris Welch, unpublished, 2004

ONE AFTERNOON in 1967 I was interviewing The Nice at a flat in Earls Court when their guitarist David O'List produced a new album he ...

Johnny Cash at San Quentin was my idea

Memoir by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 2004

2018 note: Steve Turner emailed me in 2004 and said he was working on the official biography of Johnny Cash, and had been told that ...

Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys: Just who the hell is Robyn Hitchcock, anyway?

Interview by Jim Yoakum, unpublished, 2004

FUNNYMAN? Serious Artist? Ironic? Fey? Wry? Ask the average punter "Who is Robyn Hitchcock?" and you'll get a variety of replies, from "neo-psychedelic warbler" and ...

Mickie Most, The Yardbirds: Mickie Most

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2004

"The only gift I had as a producer was finding the right song. I felt I knew how it should be done and, after that, ...

Afghan Whigs: The Beast Inside: The Afghan Whigs’ Gentlemen

Essay by David McKenna, unpublished, 2004

AMID THE SLEW of so-called ‘grunge’ acts that emerged in the early ‘90s, Cincinnati rockers The Afghan Whigs stood out for their soul influences and ...

Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster, Dexys Midnight Runners: Vincent Crane

Retrospective and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, 2004

Author's Note: This was commissioned for Mojo but for reasons unclear to me never ran. It was during a period where a lot of writers ...

The Million-Pound Mod: John Stephen

Obituary by Paul Gorman, unpublished, February 2004

JOHN STEPHEN – who died on February 1 aged 69 – was the "£1m Mod" who was a vital element in the look of the ...

Kate Rusby: Reflections on Kate Rusby at the Derby Assembly Rooms

Essay by Craig W. Thomas, unpublished, March 2004

ALEX FERGUSON was interviewed immediately after his team snatched an improbable victory from the back of the throat of defeat in the 1999 Champions League ...

Sparks

Interview by Rob Chapman, unpublished, June 2004

SPARKS ARE IN London to play the Meltdown Festival at Morrissey's request. Outside in the stifling heat the capitol is experiencing its own 90 degree ...

Dan Penn: Muscle Shoals: Soul of the South

Retrospective and Interview by Chris Campion, unpublished, September 2004

Muscle Shoals and Fame Studios are synonymous with the golden era of soul music. But the musicians who wrote and played on the songs that ...

John Lydon: Anarchy In The UK Gold

Guide by Terry Staunton, unpublished, October 2004

JOHN LYDON is expected to put the cat among the pigeons during his forthcoming stint on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here — ...

Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Spring 2004

FRANK ZAPPA was an irrelevant, redundant figure by the late ‘70s. The object of dorkish devotion, Ol’ Silly Beard had meandered off into cul de ...

The Difficult Second Album Syndrome

Comment by Jeff Apter, unpublished, Spring 2004

ONE OF POP MUSIC’S most accurate axioms is that second albums are the toughest. Typically, you have some of the best years of your life ...

Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Shine On

Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2005

IN THE LATE 60s, Jeff Lynne, leader of distinctive psychedelic pop group, The Idle Race, constructed a surprisingly sophisticated demo studio in the front room ...

Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac: The Making of Then Play On

Retrospective and Interview by Toby Manning, unpublished, 2005

IN 1969, FLEETWOOD Mac's prime mover had begun acting very strangely. First of all this East End Jew found Jesus, and began trying to convert ...

Magazine

Retrospective by Toby Manning, unpublished, 2005

IF EVER THERE was a soundtrack for the Cold War era, it was Magazine. Musically and lyrically, this definitive new wave band inhabited the wintry ...

Aerosmith, Joe Perry: The Joe Perry Interview

Interview by Ted Drozdowski, unpublished, May 2005

TO ROCK 'N' ROLL FANS, Joe Perry's half the front line of the dynamic band Aerosmith, a position he's held since co-founding the group with ...

A Swamper Tells the Muscle Shoals Story: An Interview with David Hood

Interview by Carl Wiser, unpublished, 2006

ABOUT TWO minutes into 'I'll Take You There', a sultry bass groove plays while Mavis Staples implores, "Little David, help me out now..." ...

The Everyothers: Pink Sticky Lies (Kill Rock Stars)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, unpublished, 2006

I'LL KEEP IT simple so you'll understand. The Everyothers are the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world and the solid gold standard against ...

Lou Reed: Another Brick in the Wall: An interview with Lou Reed about Berlin

Interview by Mark Mordue, unpublished, Fall 2006

This story appeared in various edited versions in Rolling Stone Australia, December-January 2006-07, New York magazine, USA December 11, 2006, and The Word, UK February ...

Ian Dury: Lord Upminster/4000 Weeks Holiday

Sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea, unpublished, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS! You are now holding the least-loved work by one of the UK's best-loved artists. ...

Mental as Anything: Murray Waldren: The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa

Book Review by Clinton Walker, unpublished, 2007

Note: This piece never got published. It was commissioned by Australian Book Review magazine but not run, for reasons never given, and certainly wasn't paid for.  I ...

The Who, Track By Track, Album By Album

Discography by Steven Rosen, unpublished, 2007

Originally commissioned by Classic Rock Direct Limited for a Who DVD. (Note: All quotations in story come from Steven Rosen's personal archive). ...

Amy Winehouse: Amy meets Amy

Interview by Amy Linden, unpublished, March 2007

This interview was conducted March 2007, the day Amy's Back to Black dropped. As part of the overall story we talked about her relationship to ...

The 50 Year Copyright Conundrum

Report and Interview by Colin Harper, unpublished, July 2007

IN SEPTEMBER 1959, an inmate of Mississippi State Penitentiary named James Carter led his fellows in singing a work song, 'Po' Lazarus', while chopping wood. ...

Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Rydell: North Fork Theatre, Westbury, Long Island

Live Review by John Broven, unpublished, October 2007

A PACKED HOUSE comprising mainly of an adoring fan club of female 60-somethings, with their tagalong husbands, greeted the three South Philadelphia teen idols of ...

Elton John, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page: Guilty Grooves and Covered-Up Covers: When Stadium Rock Stars-In-Waiting Earned Their Tea-Breaks Anonymously In The Studios Of London

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, December 2007

ON THE 17th September, 2007, Your Time In Gonna Come: The Roots Of Led Zeppelin 1964-69 was released by Sanctuary Records. Blighted severely by the ...

Let's Active, Mitch Easter, R.E.M., Sneakers: Mitch Easter Interviewed: Perfect Sound Forever - The Director's Cut

Retrospective and Interview by Fred Mills, unpublished, Summer 2007

NOTE: This is a vastly expanded version of the Mitch Easter feature, "Perfect Sound Forever," written for issue #76, of Magnet, published summer 2007. Interviews ...

George Harrison

Retrospective and Interview by Steven Rosen, unpublished, 2008

IT WAS A day of unmatched California beauty; a startling and fiery sun perched high above in a crystal blue sky and blazed down promise. ...

James Brown: I Got The Feelin': James Brown In The '60s (Shout! Factory)

Review by Jeffrey Morgan, unpublished, 2008

NOTE: previously unpublished; banned after having "been labeled 'offensive' by most of the editorial department here" at Detroit Metro Times. ...

Ray Topping, 1943-2008

Obituary by Mike Atherton, unpublished, 2008

RAY TOPPING, who has died aged 65, was arguably the world's foremost researcher of and authority on rock'n'roll and blues. ...

The Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me

Sleeve notes by Bill Holdship, unpublished, 2008

NOTE: These are Bill Holdship's original liner notes for the new Pleased to Meet Me reissue that were replaced last year when project producer Peter ...

Gnarls Barkley

Interview by Angus Batey, unpublished, January 2008

N.B. This piece was going to run in the Mail on Sunday's Live section, but due to problems with photos — or, perhaps, a fear ...

Neil Young: Deja Viewed: Neil Young on CSNY and Living with War

Interview by Stephen Dalton, unpublished, June 2008

NEIL YOUNG IS in mischievous mood this morning. Sinking into his plush hotel armchair, the veteran Canadian rocker keeps his distance behind mirror shades and ...

Independent Thinker: An Interview with Charlie Gillett

Interview by Alex Ogg, unpublished, Fall 2008

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following is the full transcript from an interview with Charlie that took place towards the end of 2008 as research for my ...

Kevin Ayers, Soft Machine, The Wilde Flowers: Kevin Ayers: An Interview

Interview by Mike Barnes, unpublished, Fall 2008

2013 NOTE: The interview was ostensibly for the "Hello/Goodbye" feature in MOJO 184 (March 2009), on Ayers's time in Soft Machine, but was opened out ...

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, ...

Lester Bangs at Home

Memoir by Richard Riegel, unpublished, May 2009

NOTE: I wrote this mini-memoir for one of the neo-Creem projects of recent years, but it wasn't used. ...

Phil Spector's Christmas Album

Retrospective by Johnny Black, unpublished, December 2009

GUNS HAVE LANDED Phil Spector in no end of trouble over the years. Usually, as in his confrontations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen and the ...

The Yardbirds and the Cereal Killer

Memoir by Keith Altham, unpublished, Summer 2009

THE YARDBIRDS were a '60s band that never quite found a fit and kept losing their shape as dissatisfied members came and went and the ...

Rodriguez: An Interview

Interview by Rob Hughes, unpublished, Fall 2009

"DID I HAVE DREAMS of being a big star? Yeah, I had hopes of making it. We all do, but in music there are no ...

Bob Dylan, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Mike Bloomfield and Bob Dylan: Two Jews Blues, Chapter XI

Book Excerpt by Steve Roeser, unpublished, 2010

Author's note: This is my writing, but the work is mine and Barry Goldberg's together. It is Barry's story of his friendship with Michael (Mike) ...

Nick Drake and Five Leaves Left: An Interview with Omnibus' Chris Charlesworth

Interview by Eddie Blower, unpublished, 2010

In 2010, Chris Charlesworth was interviewed by Eddie Blower about Nick Drake and Five Years Left for an unpublished article. ...

Steve Mason: Metal Thinking

Profile and Interview by Daryl Easlea, unpublished, 2010

NOTE: This piece was commissioned by http://www.metalculture.com after the Village Green Festival in Southend in 2010 but never published. ...

Welcome to Fez: The Sacred Music Capital of the World

Report and Interview by Mark Kemp, unpublished, 1 June 2010

"The city of Fez lies below, very slowly disengaging itself from the morning mist and smoke, while a million cocks crow at once." Paul Bowles, 1947 ...

Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino: Dave Bartholomew

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, August 2010

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In 2010, I put together a 4-CD box set for JSP Records which was never actually released. Year later, I produced a new ...

Dave Bartholomew

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, August 2010

ON CHRISTMAS EVE 2016, Dave Bartholomew celebrated his 98th birthday and over 65 years as a professional musician. ...

Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Unholy: Aubrey Powell on Led Zeppelin

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, March 2011

NOTE: This is a transcription from an interview that Hipgnosis co-founder Aubrey Powell gave me in March 2011, for Trampled Under Foot, my 2012 oral ...

The Libertines: There Are No Innocent Bystanders

Film/DVD/TV Review by Kate Allen, unpublished, May 2011

THE glittering embers of hope for a Libertines reunion were simultaneously stoked and dashed last week at the premier screening of The Libertines — There ...

Led Zeppelin: An Interview with Peter Grant's daughter Helen

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Spring 2011

Author's note: This is a transcript of an interview I did with Helen Grant for Trampled Under Foot, my oral history of Led Zeppelin. ...

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden: Chris Cornell: An Interview

Interview by Pete Makowski, unpublished, Spring 2011

NOTE: This is an uncut version of an interview I did with Chris Cornell in Los Angeles in Spring 2011 for MOJO. Soundgarden had reformed ...

The Doors: Cars Hiss By My Window: The Doors' L.A. Woman landmarks

Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, February 2012

Sunset Sound Recorders, 6650 Sunset Blvd.The Doors had made their first two albums in this celebrated Hollywood studio, but it was also here that L.A. ...

Saxon: Biff Byford: An Interview

Interview by Pete Makowski, unpublished, May 2012

This is a previously unpublished Q&A with Biff Byford, Saxon's enduring, uncompromising and down-to-earth frontman as he contemplates, amongst other things, the prospects of getting ...

Screaming Lord Sutch Is Alive And Well And Living At Number Ten...

Retrospective by Alan Clayson, unpublished, June 2012

...10, PARKFIELD ROAD, South Harrow, that is – where the mere mortal christened David Edward Sutch had tumbled out of bed just prior to the ...

Ravi Shankar: Within And Without Him: Gavin Martin pays Tribute to Ravi Shankar

Obituary by Gavin Martin, unpublished, 13 December 2012

An edited version of this piece appeared in the Daily Mirror on 13 December 2012 ...

The Band, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, Bruce Springsteen: This Must Be The Place: Holy Grails and Musical Meccas in Pop Culture

Essay by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, Fall 2012

FOR TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT, my oral history of Led Zeppelin, one of the interviews I conducted was with Dave Bates, an almost-famous A&R man from ...

Derek & The Dominos, Bobby Whitlock: The strange tale of Derek, Gordon, George …and Bobby Whitlock

Retrospective and Interview by Max Bell, unpublished, Summer 2013

AUGUST 14. Summer of 1969. Oakland Coliseum. Eric Clapton, Rick Grech, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood are on stage during the US tour to promote ...

The Sequence: Funk You Up – The Complete Sugarhill Recordings

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, 2014

SUGARHILL RECORDS was formed in 1979 by Joe and Sylvia Robinson and by early 1980 had presented the world with a "new" music – rap. ...

Bobby Womack: Save The Children (Solar)

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, June 2014

WHEN BOBBY WOMACK died on June 27th, 2014, at the age of 70, he was one of the last links to the world of '60s ...

Bloodstone, David Bowie, Chicken Shack, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays, Mike Vernon: Mike Vernon: Beyond the Blue Horizon

Retrospective and Interview by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2015

If known chiefly as a blues paladin, Mike Vernon plunged headfirst into many other – often unexpected – musical waters. Alan Clayson investigates. ...

Linda Jones: The Complete Turbo Recordings

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, January 2015

"We used to stand backstage and watch that lady sing; even though she didn't have star charisma on stage, she would just stand there and ...

The Moments: All The Hits And More – The Complete Singles As and Bs 1968-1978

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, February 2015

THE MOMENTS WERE the star act at All Platinum Records for over 10 years. Thanks to their European distributor Phonogram Records the label and indeed ...

Brother To Brother: In The Bottle – The Complete Album Collection

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, March 2015

IF THE GROUP, Brother to Brother is remembered for anything, it's their hit interpretation of Gil Scott-Heron's classic 'The Bottle'. The song was written as ...

Shirley & Company: The Shame, Shame, Shame Story

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, March 2015

'SHAME, SHAME, SHAME' was one of the earliest disco hits to break out international eventually selling several million copies around the world. It topped Billboard's ...

"Brother" Jack McDuff: Brother Jack McDuff: Kisses/Having A Good Time/Live It Up (Sugarhill)

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, June 2015

ALL PLATINUM RECORDS, based in New Jersey, was a remarkably powerful force in Black music during the early 1970s and prided itself on being a ...

The Whatnauts: On The Rocks – The Complete Collection

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, June 2015

THE WHATNAUTS, a group revered by collectors of "sweet soul" vocal groups of the '60s and '70s, are yet another act with membership of that ...

The Sugarhill Gang: Jump On It ! – Complete Sugarhill Recordings

Sleeve notes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, July 2015

"All the other rappers didn't consider the Sugar Hill Gang to be real rappers. They just got lucky. They hadn't lived the life they hadn't ...

Capitol's Bhaskar Menon: An Interview

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, September 2015

"I WAS INFORMED on a Thursday that they'd like me to be on the Friday Pan Am flight. There were three of us on the ...

Escape from Sanity: An Englishman in San Francisco in 1967

Memoir by Andrew Tyler, unpublished, October 2016

NOTE: This is an excerpt from an as-yet unpublished memoir by the former Disc/NME writer and Animal Aid activist, who very sadly died on 28 ...

Gary Glitter: Rock 'N' Roll Part 3? Gary Glitter's future

Comment by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2017

IN 2015, 74-old Gary Glitter began a sixteen-year prison term for crimes that, seemingly, were beyond the prerogative of a rock star's outlaw chic. This ...

Shack: Waterpistol

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, December 2017

WATERPISTOL WAS meant to be Shack's second album. Although work towards completing the follow-up to March 1988's Zilch had begun in 1990, nothing went to ...

Shack: Zilch

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, December 2017

SHACK'S DEBUT album Zilch was originally issued by a label expressly set up to promote the talents of the band's leader Mick Head, the former ...

Joni Mitchell: David Yaffe: Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell

Book Review by Clinton Heylin, unpublished, Fall 2017

WARREN ZEVON, a Laurel Canyon contemporary of Joni Mitchell, once wrote a song called 'Accidentally Like A Martyr'. Taking a leaf from Zevon, David Yaffe's ...

1968 and all that

Memoir by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2018

50 years later, Alan Clayson recalls a pivotal year of a '60s that was far from Swinging. ...

The Doors: Rock is Dead: The Doors' Soft Parade

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, May 2019

NOTE: When Rhino asked me to write liner notes for their upcoming reissue of the Doors' worst album, they must have known they might not ...

Tom Waits: Jacquire King on Tom Waits' Mule Variations

Interview by Jacob Paul Nielsen, unpublished, 2020

JPN: What are you listening to right now? ...

Tom Waits: Oz Fritz on Mule Variations

Interview by Jacob Paul Nielsen, unpublished, 2020

Author's note: I interviewed Oz Fritz and Jacquire King about their engineering work on Tom Waits' Mule Variations. Part of the interview wound up in ...

Cab Calloway, August Darnell, Gene Krupa: Time Machine: June 1943 – L.A.'s Zoot Suit Riots

Retrospective by Fred Dellar, unpublished, February 2020

CAB CALLOWAY was something of a superstar by 1943. A would-be Harlem Globetrotter, he'd had that possible career nixed by his big sister Blanche, who ...

The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The Stooges: Farewell to Marc Zermati

Memoir by Nick Kent, unpublished, 15 June 2020

IT'S BEEN FIVE hours now since I received the news that Marc Zermati died in his sleep and — as with all deaths of those ...

Bear Family 45th anniversary

Book Excerpt by Kieron Tyler, unpublished, Spring 2020

ASTONISHINGLY, Bear Family Records celebrates its 45th year in business in 2020. During that time, the label has never stopped producing the ultimate in reissues ...

Pink Floyd, Throbbing Gristle: Gotta Stem The Evil Tide: Pink Floyd and Throbbing Gristle

Retrospective and Interview by Daryl Easlea, unpublished, 2021

THROBBING GRISTLE became a cause celebre in October 1976, with their Prostitution Exhibition at the ICA. Tory MP Nicholas Fairbairn called the noise terrorists "Wreckers ...

Tina Turner: Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin (directors): Tina (Sky/HBO)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Simon Warner, unpublished, April 2021

IF THEY fictionalised the Tina Turner story, it would be so implausible that not even Hollywood's most starry-eyed director would take it on. No one, ...

Sylvia Robinson: Chess Records: The All Platinum Years

Book Excerpt by Dan Nooger, unpublished, October 2022

NOTE: This is part of a proposal for Dan's book about Chess Records ...

Black Flag: R.I.P. SPOT: Glen M. Lockett, 1951-2023

Obituary by Joe Carducci, unpublished, March 2023

I HATE TO type out the words but... SPOT passed away after 10am today/Saturday (Mar. 4, 2023) at Morningside Healthcare in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His nurse ...

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