Rock's Backpages: Search Results

Curtis Mayfield, Impressions, The: Beautiful Brother: The Gentle Genius Of Curtis Mayfield, Part One

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Shindig, February 2017

How a poor boy from Chicago became the voice of the civil rights movement in soul's greatest vocal group, defined the black pride anthem and ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: 20 Minutes To 20 Years: The Banshees' Tale

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Record Collector, November 2007

As editor of legendary fanzine Zigzag, Kris Needs had a front row seat for the explosive rise of Siouxsie & the Banshees. ...

Vince Taylor: The Leper Messiah

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, November 2000

Black leather, bike chains, orange make-up, a Christ complex: Vince Taylor was the ultimate nut rocker. Kieron Tyler tells the tragic tale of a '60s ...

Spirit, Randy California: California Dreaming: The Wild and Tragic Story of Spirit

Retrospective by Max Bell, Classic Rock, 18 June 2014

Led by mercurial guitarist Randy California, Spirit were buddies of Jimi Hendrix and praised by Led Zeppelin. But their promise would collapse in blur of ...

Skip Spence: Dark Star: The Tragic Genius Of Skip Spence

Retrospective by Rob Hughes, Classic Rock, 23 January 2015

Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence wrote his album Oar in a psychiatric ward after threatening his bandmates with an axe. Fifteen years after his death, artists ...

Gram Parsons, Byrds, The, Flying Burrito Brothers, Emmylou Harris: How the Ghost of Gram Parsons haunts Alt-Country

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, January 2018

GRAM PARSONS didn't care much for the term "country-rock". And he wasn't thrilled by some of the more candy-coated bands who were able to capitalize ...

The Mystery of Terry Southern

Retrospective by Victor Bockris, Gadfly, January 2000

BEFORE THE New Journalism of Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese, before the absurd cinema of Stanley Kubrick, before the Brave Gonzo World of Hunter S. ...

Worth Their Wait: The UK Music Press in the late '70s/early '80s

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 2 September 2014

Originally published in the first edition of our print quarterly The Pitchfork Review last winter, this story finds author Simon Reynolds looking back on his ...

Fifty years of pop

Retrospective by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 2 May 2004

Rock'n'roll has come a long way in the half-century since Elvis first stepped up to the microphone at Sun Studios. Here we choose 50 moments ...

The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: The Bizarre Life And Lonely Death Of Billy Mackenzie

Retrospective by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

TOP OF THE POPS, MARCH 3, 1982. A relatively unknown band from north of the border are about to do what David Bowie, Roxy Music ...

Brian Jones, The Rolling Stones: Brian Jones: 28, February 1944 — 3 July, 1969

Retrospective by Nick Kent, NME, 30 June 1979

Ten Years after his death, a re-appraisal of the life and times of the Rolling Stone who was crushed by success ...

Bill Haley: Indisputably The First

Retrospective by Colin Escott, Goldmine, 19 April 1991

It was, as writer Nick Tosches observed, "one of the first instances of a white boy really getting down to the art of hep." ...

Blind Faith: Born Under A Bad Sign

Retrospective by Johnny Black, MOJO, July 1996

IN THE EVENING COOL OF JUNE 6, 1969, almost 7,000 people made their way to Hyde Park, where they slept under stars to be sure ...

Tim Buckley

Retrospective by Martin Aston, MOJO, July 1995

IN 1965, THE LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE CHEETAH dubbed three emerging singer-songwriters – Jackson Browne, Steve Noonan, and Tim Buckley – 'The Orange County Three'. ...

Gene Vincent: A Record Collector's Guide To Gene Vincent

Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 1999

IT WAS IAN DURY, himself the creator of some of the greatest records of his era, who hit the nail on the head, in one ...

Bob Dylan: Revolution In His Head

Retrospective by Ben Edmonds, MOJO, February 2005

40 years ago this month, Bob Dylan walked into Columbia's Studio A and walked out having invented rock music as we know it. Corralling eyewitness ...

Def Leppard, Girlschool, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Motörhead, Saxon, Tygers of Pan Tang, Venom, Sledgehammer, Diamond Head: NWOBHM: Never Mind The Bollocks

Retrospective by Paul Elliott, MOJO, February 2007

Threatened by punk, Led Zep, Sabbath and Purple came under fire in 1977. A year later Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon led a New ...

Bob Dylan: Shelter from the Storm: The Inside Story of Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2005

FEBRUARY 13, 1977. Bob and Sara Dylan are screaming themselves hoarse. Sara has just walked down to breakfast in their Malibu mansion to find Bob ...