Rock's Backpages: Search Results

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 3 May 1988

Adam Sweeting marvels at a mega-star in action at the Birmingham NEC ...

Sweet Thunder: Versatility Is The Name Of The Game

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 20 June 1978

AS THEIR biography says, the name of Sweet Thunder does sound like a paradox but if you listen to their new and charted album – ...

Kendrick Lamar Voices the Ferguson Era

Review by Miles Marshall Lewis, Ebony, 17 March 2015

WE CAN FINALLY take Black Messiah off repeat; masterpiece two has arrived. To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar's thematically and musically layered 16-track sophomore album, ...

Joe Simon

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1971

WITH JOE Simon's signature, Spring Records have gained their first real entry into the super-star league. Joe's first for the label, 'Your Time To Cry', ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 25 August 1972

EVERY YEAR, there are only a handful – maybe six – records which go on to become all-time personal favourites, records that get played at ...

Sam Cooke: When you're well-read and dress like wham!

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 20 October 1962

WE HAD the wireless on throughout. Sam Cooke wore red-patterned pyjamas, a black dressing-gown and a beaten gold ring, which he wears because he doesn't ...

Usher: From Usher With Love

Interview by Ian Gittins, Q, August 2001

He was discovered at 14 by Puff Daddy, wants to move like Fred Astaire, sing like Michael Jackson and talk like the Fonz. He sold ...

Bobby Womack: One More River Crossed

Report and Interview by Hugh Fielder, Sounds, 12 October 1985

Big 'Mack tells his survival story to HUGH FIELDER. ...

Irma Thomas: Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music: Irma Thomas

Retrospective and Interview by John Swenson, Offbeat, January 2006

IN 1960, ALLEN Toussaint and Irma Thomas showed up to audition at WYLD studio in New Orleans for Joe Banashak and Larry McKinley of Minit ...

Ne-Yo: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Interview by Amy Linden, Vibe, June 2007

Ne-Yo couldn't step to the left if he wanted to. He's actually stepping forward on to superstardom — and there are rumors and X-rated photo ...

Linda Jones: The Complete Turbo Recordings

Sleevenotes by Bob Fisher, unpublished, January 2015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 ...

Chaka Khan, Rufus: Chaka Khan: Chaka's Naughty Bits

Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 22 April 1980

Naughty is the title of Chaka Khan's new album, but she denies trying to project a 'naughty' image. However, she confesses to being naturally impish ...

Lauryn Hill: Evening News Arena, Manchester

Live Review by Robin Bresnark, Melody Maker, 12 June 1999

EX OFFENDER ...

Linx: Sunny Side Up

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 1 October 1981

Linx don't mind the weather, just as long as they're together. Forecast: Dave Rimmer. ...

Drifters, The: The Drifters: Drifting With An Endless Identity Crisis

Report by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 31 August 1974

"BELL RECORDS and Henry Sellers Ltd., on behalf of Faye Treadwell, manager of the Drifters, wish to make known that Charlie Thomas and the Drifters ...

Phil Fearon & Galaxy: Everything's Clicked!

Interview by Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, 29 March 1984

PHIL FEARON HAD A HIT IN 79 AND THEN... WHAT? A LONG HARD PENNILESS SLOG TO FIND A SOUND THAT WOULD DRAG PEOPLE BACK ON ...

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: Denver Show Starts Celebration of 50th-anniversary Recording

Report and Interview by Steven R Rosen, Denver Post, 15 January 1997

THIS YEAR is Clarence 'Gatemouth'' Brown's 50th as a recording artist, and virtually everyone is preparing to honor the blues musician. ...

Garnet Mimms: Unsung Heroes: Garnet Mimms

Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 12 October 1993

Roger St Pierre tracks some of the legendary names from R&B history. ...

Benjamin Booker: How I turned my personal meltdown into a rallying cry for black America

Profile and Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 21 June 2017

He was overweight, abusing drugs and fleeing from his self-harming past. So he took all his problems – and turned them into the sensational new ...

Sam Cooke: Portrait Of A Legend 1951-1964 (ABKCO Records)

Review by Gary Pig Gold, Rock's Backpages, February 2011

MOST EVERY single time the 20th century's greatest singer-songwriters find themselves getting lionized or even litanized, it seems one towering figure is strangely, sorrowfully AWOL. ...