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Cliff White

Cliff White

Cliff White began his music biz career in the 1960s as salesman at London's original HMV store, briefly interrupted by a tour of Germany in early '66 as, ahem, "singer" (don't ask!) in a UK beat group. For most of the '70s he wrote regularly for NME and Black Music magazine, latterly also Black Echoes and Smash Hits. During the '80s he was product manager for key reissue company Charly Records, onto a year with Demon Records. Meanwhile he spearheaded a prolonged campaign of James Brown reissues for PolyGram/Universal and was awarded a GRAMMY in January 1993 for his contribution to the JB Star Time box set. From the early '90s until 2003 he was with the repertoire research division of the MCPS-PRS Alliance, then a label manager for Proper Music Distribution until 2009. Cliff died in January 2018.

Music Week tribute to Cliff

Bill Millar's heartfelt tribute to his friend and fellow R&B fanatic

199 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Jimi Hendrix: Jimi Hendrix (Dir. Joe Boyd, John Head and Gary Weis; Warner Bros.)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Cliff White, Black Music, December 1973

IN THE heady atmosphere of swinging London it was often overlooked that Hendrix was Black. Musically he was pigeonholed in a multi-colour no man's land, ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Profile by Cliff White, Black Music, April 1974

IN 1965 Nina Simone strengthened her newly-won acclaim as the High Priestess of Soul with a dramatic reworking of a unique echo from the fifties. ...

Arthur Alexander: Remembering

Profile by Cliff White, Black Music, August 1974

EIGHTEEN MONTHS ago Warner Brothers issued an album that re-introduced a name from the early sixties. Arthur Alexander (BS.2592) had been a long time coming. ...

The Drifters

Retrospective and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, October 1974

WHEN is a Drifter not a Drifter? That is the question. ...

Solomon Burke: The Solomon Burke Story

Retrospective by Cliff White, Black Music, 1975

IT'S ALWAYS good to see neglected talent straighten up and fly right after seemingly falling by the wayside, especially when the talent is as undeniable ...

James Brown, The J.B.'s, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley: James Brown at the Crossroads

Comment by Cliff White, Black Music, March 1975

Is the Sex Machine slowing down? Can the Godfather Of Soul keep getting down now that he's over 40? Cliff White caught the man's recent ...

Wilson Pickett: Join Me and Let's Be Free

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 26 July 1975

FIRST OF ALL you have to picture the scene. There he stands, up to his elbows in stagnant water, a faraway look in his eyes, ...

James Brown: The Classic Soul of James Brown

Guide by Cliff White, Let It Rock, August 1975

It's White on Black. Cliff White examines the output of the sex machine inch by inch. ...

Various Artists: The Stax Story — Volumes 1&2 (Stax)

Review by Cliff White, Let It Rock, August 1975

COMPILATION ALBUMS are like Chinese meals. A wise choice of carefully balanced ingredients can be delicious: sometimes you just get heartburn. ...

The Four Tops, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, Junior Walker & the All Stars: Tamla albums round-up

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 August 1975

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS. The Supremes' new LP is a winner. ...

Ben E. King: The Ben E. King Story

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975

ATLANTIC, YOU'RE NOT fooling anyone. ...

James Brown: Live at the Apollo Vol.1

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975

EVERY SO OFTEN an album comes along that is more than just another good, bad, or indifferent release from the artist concerned. ...

Junior Walker & the All Stars: Junior Walker

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975

CONSIDERING THAT THEY'D only checked in at 4 a.m. that morning – that they hadn't been notified of our appointment for an interview – and ...

Major Harris: My Way

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 23 August 1975

WANDERING HOMEWARD WITH this album tucked under my arm I was unexpectedly accosted by three ripe young ladies who seemed to want to get to ...

The Isley Brothers: Churnin' of Fraternal Funk

Retrospective by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 30 August 1975

From mock gospel to hypnotic energy, via an engagement with Jimi Hendrix and a 16-year track record that few groups can emulate; CLIFF WHITE charts ...

Joe Simon: Get Down

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 September 1975

LEAPING ONTO THE dance floor of American's all-pervasive disco, Simon recovered from a slump in popularity by intoning "Get down, get down" about fifty-nine times ...

Johnny Nash: Tears On My Pillow

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

ANYONE WHO CAN cheerfully sing "be careful how you hold her, please don't even scold her, she's my cream puff" either deserves a hefty kick ...

Orchestral Soul: So When Was the Last Time You Saw a Black Cello Player?

Overview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

SOUL: the emotional part of man's nature, or the seat of the feelings or sentiments.SOULFUL: of, or expressive of, deep feeling or emotion. ...

The Chi-Lites at Hammersmith Odeon

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 September 1975

AFTER AN HOUR or so of the kind of entertainment that tempts freeloading reviewers to demand their non-existent money back, any halfway-decent act is a ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind, Fire, Dry Ice and Conviction

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

MAURICE WHITE, of the above qualifications, talks to CLIFF WHITE (no relation) about the New Thing in soul music. ...

The Ohio Players: Honey

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 September 1975

EARLIER THIS YEAR Ralph 'Pee Wee' Middlebrook, trumpeter with The Players, admitted in an interview "now we've made it after all that scuffling I suppose ...

Joe Tex: Roots of the Rapper

Retrospective by Cliff White, Black Music, October 1975

Joe Tex, the greatest rapper of em' all, has made yet another (!) comeback. Cliff White traces his 20-year history... ...

Al Green: Al Green Is Love

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 October 1975

REMEMBER WHEN YOU were young, listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes by torchlight? ...

Al Jarreau: We Got By (Reprise)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 1 November 1975

HERE WE have a black singer/songwriter who's into heavy introspective lyrics which he puts across in a distinctly original manner. We'll get to his singing ...

Doris Duke: Woman (Contempo)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 22 November 1975

ONE THING about Doris, she can't be confused with any of the other soul girls around at the moment. ...

James Booker, Bo Diddley, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson: European Blues and R&B Festival

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 22 November 1975

TEN YEARS AGO Britain was set to become the R&B capital of the world. Between 1962 and '67 we were visited by so many legendary ...

Nosmo King: Northern White Soul: Nosmo King

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 November 1975

A TALK WITH Steve King... er no... Nosmo Jameson... er... oh, Nosmo King, that's it. A talk with Nosmo King.* ...

The Temptations: House Party

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 November 1975

IT'S COMFORTING TO have a few acts that you can rely on to keep supplying the goods, and The Temps certainly do deliver. ...

The Staple Singers: Let's Do It Again

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 December 1975

IF MAYFIELD'S lyrics are anything to go by, this film must be whole lots of scenes of funky loving in which they do it again ...

Yvonne Fair: Ths Story of Y: Yvonne Fair

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 December 1975

That's "Y" for "Yvonne." YVONNE FAIR that is, Soul Veterenne and Dominatrix. Cringin' CLIFF WHITE listens to some old sounds, discovers a new kick and ...

The Miracles: City Of Angels

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 December 1975

WHAT A LETDOWN. ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes: Harold Melvin: Wake Up Everybody

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 December 1975

WHEN IS A group not a group? ...

James Brown: Everybody's Doin' The Hustle/Dead On The Double Bump (U.K. Polydor)/Hot (U.S. Polydor)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 December 1975

J.B. reforms the Famous Flames, says hello to '57 ...

Allman Brothers Band, Bonnie Bramlett, Charlie Daniels, Dobie Gray, The Marshall Tucker Band, Travis Wammack, Wet Willie: Capricorn Records' Phil Walden (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 1976

The Capricorn boss talks about his disillusion with soul music after management client Otis Redding's death; his move into white rock with the Allman Brothers Band; the attention brought to southern music as a result; the current state of the Allman Brothers Band; brother Gregg's problems; the Atlanta Rhythm Section; dropping Travis Wammack; Dobie Gray... and Bonnie Bramlett's new album Lady's Choice.

File format: mp3; file size: 25.6mb, interview length: 26' 38" sound quality: **½

Howlin' Wolf: ...Howlin’ for The Wolf

Obituary by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 January 1976

"I was just a country boy, glad to get some sounds on wax" ...

Gil Scott-Heron (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1976

The soulful polemicist talks about his and Brian Jackson's Midnight Band; his diverse influences and the Spirit of the Drum; being a successful musician while doing other work; how he started writing prose as a kid; how black artists and writers are not recognised in the USA; 'Johannesburg' and apartheid; the value of correct information, and 'We Almost Lost Detroit'; writing his first novel and starting to record; 'The Bottle' as message and dance groove, and finally he and Brian Jackson explain how they write together...

File format: mp3; file size: 61.8mb, interview length: 1h 02' 01" sound quality: ****

Gil Scott-Heron (1976) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, February 1976

This is a transcript of Cliff's audio interview with Gil. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Givin' the Blues a Shot

Retrospective and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, February 1976

'I Don't Want To Be A Lone Ranger' recently hit the top ten of the U.S. soul charts and heralded yet another return for a ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Earth Wind & Fire: Gratitude

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 February 1976

PROOF AT LAST that EWF deserve all the acclaim that's been heaped on them in the last couple of years. ...

The Blackbyrds: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 February 1976

BETCHA DIDN'T know there's such a thing as Black-byrdomania. Neither did I until this concert, when a quietly slumbering stalls suddenly became a heaving sea ...

The Isley Brothers: Twist And Shout, Super Hits

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 14 February 1976

SOME RECORDINGS CRY out to be reissued. In fact they never should have been deleted in the first place. Others should never even have been ...

Ann Peebles: Tellin' It

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 28 February 1976

IN 1968 IN Memphis, Tennessee, Willie Mitchell succeeded to the board of an ailing record company called Hi. ...

Gil Scott-Heron: And now, for a fascinating and demanding dialogue...

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 March 1976

Learn more about yourself and about the problem facing our society today in this week's... GIL SCOTT-HERON LECTURE ...

Bobby Womack (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 10 March 1976

After running down Ace's 'How Long' on guitar and offering a post mortem on his British stage debut, the great soul singer-songwriter recalls writing for wicked Wilson Pickett, confesses to hating his recent Safety Zone album, and reminisces about playing with white musicians at Muscle Shoals...

File format: mp3; file size: 58.9mb, interview length: 1h 01' 24" sound quality: ***

Bobby Womack: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 March 1976

POLE-AXED BY SKIN-CRAWLING hot and cold flushes, with a head full of demented panel-beaters, the last thing I wanted to do was travel 50 miles ...

Bobby Womack: BLAM! Bobby Womack Calls The Shots

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 March 1976

CLIFF WHITE hits the floor and runs the tape as the soul veteran pulls the trigger. ...

Bobby Womack: Safety Zone

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 March 1976

IF YOU WANT to do Bobby Womack a favour, you'll ignore this album. ...

Shirley Goodman: Shirley Goodman: Remember Shirley and Lee? Now it's Shirley and Jesus!

Profile by Cliff White, Black Music, April 1976

The 23-year tale behind Shirley and Company's 'Shame Shame Shame' smash. ...

Al Jarreau: Jarreau Gig At La Coupole Goes Molto Bene

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 10 April 1976

"THERE'S NO reason for my deserving this interview any more than the man out there pouring drinks, except that I try to say something through ...

Mike Dorane: The Lone Arranger

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 10 April 1976

"Say, stranger...who's that masked man who just wrote those songs, played all the instruments, sang all the harmonies, mixed the tracks in his home studio ...

Ike & Tina Turner: Her Man, His Woman

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 17 April 1976

RECORDED AND FIRST released as the Get It, Get It L.P. on the L.A. Cenco label circa 1965, this album was snapped up by Capitol ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gladys Knight & the Pips (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 22 April 1976

Gladys and the boys talks about choosing songs and working out vocal arrangements; becoming album artists and going Platinum with Imagination; doing the Pipe Dreams soundtrack album; the role of the Pips, their choreography, and being marvellously rude about the Stylistics' stage moves!

File format: mp3; file size: 26.6mb, interview length: 27' 39" sound quality: ***

Brook Benton: This Is Brook Benton

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 April 1976

THIS MONTH'S MIND-BLOWER: The Benton basement tapes surface after 18 years in the can and turn out to be a bag of fun for all ...

Johnnie Taylor: Eargasm

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 April 1976

THAT THIS ALBUM has already been such an overwhelming success in America must surely be due to US Columbia's marketing techniques rather than the music, ...

Brook Benton, The Stylistics, The Three Degrees: The Stylistics: 'Chitlins In A Basket' Special

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 April 1976

Stylistics/Brook Benton/Three Degrees: The Palladium, London ...

Bootsy Collins, Swamp Dogg, Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Bootsy's Rubber Band a snappy little number

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 1 May 1976

KEEP YOUR ears pimmed back for Bootsy's Rubber Band, a nifty little album soon to be released by WEA. ...

Louis Jordan: The Best Of Louis Jordan/Choo Choo Ch'Boogie

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 1 May 1976

SUFFERING FROM HEAVY metal fatigue? Bunions on your disco feet? Are you too pooped to pop, too puked with punk rock, rasta'd rigid by reggae ...

Gladys Knight & the Pips: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976

HORACE SILVER to Brain Case, NME, May 1st 1976. "I'd prefer just reports on concerts rather than a critique." Quite right too, Horace. O.K. then. ...

Gladys Knight and the Pips: Gladys Knight: Things happen when you're a disciple of Buddah...

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976

... but it helps if you're GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS. Here's how things are going, as told to CLIFF WHITE. ...

Marvin Gaye: I Want You

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976

A COUPLE of weeks ago our very own Mr. Murray suffered a bitter anti-climax after waiting nigh on two years to hear the latest ...

Lee Garrett: Born A Loser

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 22 May 1976

Meet the man who put dues-paying into the big league: LEE GARRETT. Born blind into a poor family and a drifter by his teens, Garrett ...

The Meters: The Battle of New Orleans Re-visited...

Retrospective and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 5 June 1976

It's a battle ART NEVILLE of THE METERS is still fighting. He's happy about being on the Stones tour – but angry at never having ...

Millie Jackson: Free And In Love

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 June 1976

OOWEE, LORD HAVE mercy. This girl just turns me to jelly every time she opens her mouth. ...

William Bell, Margie Joseph, Frederick Knight, Mavis Staples, Little Johnny Taylor: Albums from Frederick Knight, William Bell, Margie Joseph, Mavis Staples and Johnny Taylor

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 26 June 1976

The Sorry Stax story ...

Brothers Johnson: The Brothers Johnson: Look Out For Number One (A&M)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 26 June 1976

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD session bassist Louis "Thunder Thumbs" Johnson and his elder bro, guitarist George "Lightning Licks", leap from the striking cover of this album like two ...

Bootsy Collins, Parliament: The Amazing Disco-Man from Planet X

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

PARLIAMENT: Mothership Connection (Casablanca)BOOTSY'S RUBBER BAND: Stretchin' Out (Warners) ...

The Ohio Players, War: War & The Ohio Players: Say It Loud, I'm Black an' My Bank Manager's Proud

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 3 July 1976

WAR and THE OHIO PLAYERS fall into a similar category –- two flash, young(ish) outfits with artistic and financial freedom and an interesting line in ...

Joe Cocker: Stingray (A&M)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 10 July 1976

SPEAKING AS someone who knows little more about Joe Cocker than he does about me, I am perhaps not the most fitting person in the ...

The Crusaders: After a Quarter of a Century, Yes, It’s Overnight Success

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 July 1976

Yup, it's taken a little time. Uhhuh, that's right – 25 years of bein' hot stuff. But for THE CRUSADERS worldwide acceptance does at last ...

The Meters, The Wild Tchoupitoulas: The Wild Tchoupitoulas: The Wild Tchoupitoulas (Island)/ The Meters: The Best Of ... (Reprise)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 July 1976

WILD TCHOUPITOULAS extend an invitation to all those who've ever loved New Orleans music... ...

Don Covay: Travelin' In Heavy Traffic

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 August 1976

AN APPRAISAL OF THE VIRTUES OF MR. DON COVAY ...

Luther Allison: Luther Dusts His Broom

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 August 1976

HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW that Motown had a blues man on their books? Yeah that's right, blues. Amazing, is it not? Luther Allison's his ...

Sam Cooke: Twistin' The Night Away

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 August 1976

BETWEEN 1960 and 1963 more Twist albums hit the market than the total spinoff products from Elvis, The Beatles and Jaws. ...

Bootsy Collins, Funkadelic, Parliament: It's a PARLIAFUNKADELIC-BOOTSYMENT THANG!!

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 21 August 1976

"THERE'S a lot of chocolate cities around. We got Newark, we got Gary, somebody told me we got L.A. And we're working on Atlanta. But ...

Stax: Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)...

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 21 August 1976

CLIFF WHITE charts the fall of Stax Records ...

The Real Thing

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 September 1976

THE REAL THING seems to be an apt name for a trio who are determined to succeed on their own merits and not as a ...

Bobby Womack: B.W. Goes C&W (United Artists)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 September 1976

RECORDED BEFORE Safety Zone last year, this is the set that Bobby had intended to call Black In The Saddle. UA wouldn't release it at ...

Marvin Gaye (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 September 1976

The Motown great on touring and performing; on the new I Want You and interviewer Cliff White's bad review of it; on his older material, and the difference between English and American audiences; on the meaning of life and death... and his fear of flying and spiders. Read a transcript of Cliff's interview.

File format: mp3; file size: 36.8mb, interview length: 38' 20" sound quality: ****

Marvin Gaye (1976) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 28 September 1976

This is a transcript of Cliff's audio interview with the Motown legend, conducted in London the day after he played the Royal Albert Hall. Listen ...

Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Blues-type Situation With Relative Roots: Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

"I'M SO excited man, I don't know, Jesus Christ, everything is really so grand, the company seems to be so together and I think I'm ...

Dorothy Moore, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds: Dorothy Moore, Jimmy James & Vagabonds, Wild Honey: The Palladium, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

IT'S 1 A.M. and I've just about survived a ludicrous Sunday, beginning at some ungodly hour I never knew existed and exercising patience I never ...

Kool And The Gang: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

DO YOU ever feel out of touch? Secure in the calm of your own head while all about you are losing theirs. It's a disquieting ...

Marvin Gaye: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Cliff White, Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

WELL, IT finally happened. After much speculation, confusion and gnashing of teeth, the rehirsuted one arrived in Britain for the first time in 12 years, ...

The Meters: Trick Bag

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

DAY ONE: can't get past the third track. Before reaching it, 4.08 mins of 'Disco Is The Thing Today' revealed a commercial, characterless leap onto ...

Natalie Cole, Tavares: New Victoria Theatre, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 9 October 1976

NATALIE COLE is an MOR sophisticated lady, right? An exceptional singer in the mould of Aretha Franklin who's chosen to, or been persuaded to, don ...

Marvin Gaye: The Marvin Gaye Interview: Earthly Fights and Mystic Flights

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 9 October 1976

"HOW ARE you? I must say you have the patience of Job." ...

Sun Records reissues: Rock’n’Roll – first dinosaur still extant

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 6 November 1976

CLIFF WHITE examines a major re-packaging of Sam Philips' Sun catalogue. ...

Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Johnny Guitar Watson: Newcastle Polytechnic

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 November 1976

AFTER THIRTY interviews in two days Johnny Watson's throat was as raw as fresh beefsteak. So for the first two gigs of his European tour ...

Leo Sayer: Endless Flight

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 4 December 1976

ALTHOUGH A lot of recorded music is impersonal (not necessarily a bad thing, it's quite possible to enjoy a record for its own sake without ...

War (1976)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1976

Howard E. Scott and Harold Ray Brown of the funk formation War on their two-year recording hiatus; collaboration with harmonica player Lee Oskar; commercial success versus be-your-natural-self approach; the American economic ethos: investment versus bank savings, capitalist society and its effect on War, and the dreams and myths it triggers; the necessity of cooling your mind on tour, and Baptism and salvation.

File format: mp3; file size: 79.5mb, interview length: 1h 22' 47" sound quality: ***

Art Neville, The Meters: The Meters: Twenty Years on the Funk Meter #1

Retrospective and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, January 1977

THE METERS' ART NEVILLE gives his personal account of New Orleans R&B in the first part of a mammoth feature by CLIFF WHITE ...

James Brown: Git Down! Git Down! Git Down!

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 8 January 1977

Is Britain ready for the return of the Godfather of Soul? On the eve of JAMES BROWN'S fourth visit to the UK, Cliff White reveals ...

Gladys Knight & The Pips: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 January 1977

THERE IS AN unwritten guarantee with every ticket for a Gladys Knight & The Pips concert. A guarantee of aural, visual and emotional satisfaction. I've ...

The Blackbyrds, Earth, Wind & Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: Spirit (CBS); The Blackbyrds: Unfinished Business (Fantasy)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 January 1977

Cliff White on recent soul ...

The J.A.L.N Band: J.A.L.N. Band: Life Is A Flight (Magnet)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 January 1977

THIS BRITISH based band are closer to the mark than our previous two contestants, especially on stage where they cut a deeper groove than many ...

Art Neville, The Meters: The Meters: Twenty Years on the Funk Meter #2

Retrospective and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, February 1977

THE METERS Story told in Part Two of Cliff White's mammoth interview with ART NEVILLE ...

Jerry Butler, Bobby Womack: Bobby Womack: Home Is Where The Heart Is (CBS); Jerry Butler: Suite For The Single Girl (Motown)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 February 1977

Womack & Butler: Soul Survivors ...

Funkadelic, Parliament: Funkadelic: Hardcore Jollies/Parliament: The Clones Of Funkenstein

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 February 1977

In the last 12 months no less than eight albums have escaped from this mind-bending menagerie and yet only one (Parliament's Mothership Connection on Casablanca) ...

Has Disco Soul Sold-Out?

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 February 1977

"I TELL YA, man, the blacks have sold out. Listen to the music. No meanin', no feelin', it's all about one thing... dance, dance, dance. ...

The Manhattans, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes: The Manhattans vs The Blue Notes: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 February 1977

THEORETICALLY this bout should have provided at least a points-win decision in favour of Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, although, owing to recent personnel upsets in ...

The Darts, Jerry Lee Lewis: Jerry Lee Lewis/The Darts: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 5 March 1977

"WANKER" "RUBBISH", "R o c k 'n' ROLLL!!!!!" screamed the frustrated bopper just behind my right eardrum. He wasn't the only one. A distinct rumble ...

James Booker: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 March 1977

SOME FOLKS need two tons of equipment, the LSO, and a bunch of chorus girls or a performing elephant to justify their reputation. James Carroll ...

James Brown: After 21 Years, Still Refusing To Lose...

Report and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, April 1977

A MONTHLY magazine cannot attempt to match the ephemeral topicality of a weekly news-sheet, particularly a monthly magazine that works within the rigid structure of ...

Minnie Riperton (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, April 1977

The trilling songthrush talks about playing Las Vegas; about live arrangements; about her collaborators; her stage background; on relationships and self-awareness; on songwriting, and at some length on her struggle with breast cancer, and winning the American Cancer Society's Courage Award.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.1mb, interview length: 44' 54" sound quality: ***

Ronnie Spector: Hi There, Big Boy! Wanna "Interview" Me?

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 9 April 1977

Mmm-mm. Eighty-eight pounds of compact yumminess on parade for all you heavy guys out there. CLIFF WHITE, hot from New York, on delectable RONNIE SPECTOR's ...

Atlanta Rhythm Section: Baby You Can't Drive My Car

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 30 April 1977

THE ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION don't really get on well enough to travel in the same vehicle. There's a personality clash between the sober, introspective section ...

Deniece Williams: Don't Mess with the Celestial Hitman...

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 May 1977

DENIECE WILLIAMS, whose amazing rise to fame began when she was removed from a nursing college to work with Stevie Wonder and tour with the ...

Irma Thomas: Live

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 May 1977

RECORDED at the 1976 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, from which a live double-album of various acts was recently reviewed by Roy Carr, this ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Nuggets

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 May 1977

NOT CONTENT with unearthing far more previously unissued recordings from the Sun vaults than those that were released during the label's prime time, and recycling ...

The Jacksons, Wild Cherry: Convention Arena, Fort Worth, Texas

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 May 1977

A LABEL CHANGE and a substitution of brothers doesn't seem to have harmed the famous five some's charisma any. Michael's still up front and he, ...

Joe Tex: Bumps 'n' bruises in Fayette, Mississippi: On tour with Joe Tex

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 14 May 1977

THE SUN burns out of a clear blue sky like in all the best travel brochures; the air is warm and moist and heavy with ...

Tony Joe White (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1977

The Louisiana Swamp God on having his best stuff rejected by Warner Bros.; selling songs to others, and his pleasure at some of their versions; Elvis doing 'Polk Salad Annie'; on songwriting; on being compared to Barry White; on going fishing with his mom, and eating catfish; his new album, Eyes, and looking back at how he got started.

File format: mp3; file size: 21.9mb, interview length: 22' 47" sound quality: *****

Millie Jackson, Minnie Riperton: Feminism Is, Uh, Like Skinning Cats...

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 4 June 1977

...or something like that, so it says here, in this double-date interview with Mss MINNIE RIPERTON and MILLIE JACKSON ...

Tony Joe White: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 4 June 1977

IT'S MIDNIGHT, and I'm still dazed from a bolt out of the blue which hit me some time around 1.15 this afternoon. Completely unexpectedly, Tony ...

Tony Joe White: Still Going Strong - Polk Salad Annie: It (and She)

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 25 June 1977

THERE'S AN intangible something about Tony Joe White that puts me in mind of Elvis; but whoever he looks like, he is disgustingly handsome. ...

The Commodores: Zoom

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 25 June 1977

THIS ALBUM has caused me I more brain damage than my love life and if I didn't think it was worth the hassle I'd have ...

Michael Jackson: Show You The Way to the Infirmary

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 9 July 1977

MICHAEL JACKSON proves you don't have to be a punk to get the benefits of the health service. ...

The Isley Brothers: Go For Your Guns (Epic)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 9 July 1977

"YOU GET some writers saying, 'Why don't you do something like you did before?' They think they really want it but at the same time ...

Johnny Nash: New Victoria, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 July 1977

FOR HIS first appearance on a British theatre stage (I think he once toured the USAF bases) in over 20 years of recording, Johnny Nash ...

Average White Band, Ben E. King: Ben E. King/Average White Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 30 July 1977

THIS ISN'T an original thought but it bears repeating: Ben E. King is an excellent singer, and highly individual with it – unmistakeable in a ...

Little Richard: Is This the Start of A WOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAM BOOM?

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 30 July 1977

(Or... will the real Little Richard please stand up) ...

Bootsy Collins: Space Bass Reveals Plans for Planetary Domination

Report by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 August 1977

Bootsy's Rubber Band, Funkadelic: On video, from... Houston, Texas ...

Betty Wright, KC & the Sunshine Band, Latimore: The Miami Transfer: Florida Soul

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 August 1977

AFTER SEVERAL year's of British release through President Records, earlier this year Henry Stone's Miami-based TK conglomerate switched outlets to RCA who have ...

The Meters: New Directions

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 27 August 1977

SINCE THIS album was recorded it's reported that The Meters have succumbed to the clash of personalities and aspirations that's dogged their career for several ...

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Southside Johnny: If You Can't Take The Heat

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 September 1977

A BRIEF NATTER over a can of beer in a tent that's tripling as a refreshment bar, dressing room and rehearsal area is not the ...

Maze: Maze (Capitol)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 1 October 1977

ALTHOUGH THIS is the seven-piece group's first album as Maze they've each paid dues in various guises for years. It shows. With one concerted effort ...

Brothers Johnson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 October 1977

AS BONES OF contention go, there is currently none more fat and juicy than the one being wrestled between the main pack of legit music ...

Deniece Williams / Lenny Williams: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 October 1977

REGULAR PATRONS of theatre gigs in Britain have become so wary, not to say weary, of suffering rent-a-stooge warm-up acts that many now don't bother ...

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson (1977)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1977

Smokey goes disco! The great singer-songwriter on producing and recording the soundtrack to the Big Time movie; giving the public what they want; his changing role at Motown; why he left the Miracles; his renewed love of performing; the uniform results of Motown's artist development department... and his current live show.

File format: mp3; file size: 36.2mb, interview length: 37' 45" sound quality: ****

Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Smokey Robinson (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, November 1977

This is a transcript of Cliff's interview with Smokey. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Joan Armatrading: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 November 1977

AS ANY regular user of London's Underground rail network can testify, not all of the strolling troubadours who jostled for recognition in the balmy '60s ...

Smokey Robinson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 12 November 1977

BILL-TOPPERS usually command a bigger stage area and more musicians than opening acts, but on this occasion the position was reversed for Viola Wills with ...

LaBelle: Chameleons Rising

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 November 1977

Nona Hendryx and Patti Labelle unveil their new aspirations ...

The Darts: Darts: Darts (Magnet)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 November 1977

THEY PROBABLY won't thank me for saying so, but there's no getting around the fact that there are marked – if only coincidental – similarities ...

Little Richard: Little Richard Now (Creole)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 November 1977

AT IRREGULAR intervals throughout the 20 years since he cut about a dozen of the greatest rock'n'roll records ever made, Little Richard has re-re-recorded the ...

The Commodores: Live (Motown)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 3 December 1977

So this is Christmas: The Voice of Young Amerika! ...

Nina Simone, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 10 December 1977

YOU CAN'T keep tabs on everybody all the time. It wasn't until this concert was announced that I realised there hasn't been much heard from, ...

Stevie Wonder: Anthology

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 10 December 1977

ON AUGUST 5th, 1975, Stevie Wonder signed an historic contract with Motown. Apart from the little matter of a $13 million guarantee, the deal reputedly ...

Loleatta Holloway (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, January 1978

The disco diva on her forthcoming Queen of the Night album; on singing ballads and dance tracks; on how she works a crowd; on her gospel background and playing clubs with the Mighty Clouds of Joy... and how difficult she found the transition from gospel to secular music.

File format: mp3; file size: 22.4mb, interview length: 23' 21" sound quality: ***

Johnny "Guitar" Watson: Johnny Guitar Watson: Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty (DJM)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 21 January 1978

NUMBER THREE in an open-ended set of however many the market will take before the law of diminishing return starts operating. ...

Millie Jackson: Odeons Birmingham And Hammersmth

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 4 February 1978

Millie's preoccupations, said The Guardian, are sex, sex and more sex; can't argue with that. ...

Earth Wind and Fire: Earth, Wind & Fire: All 'n All

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 February 1978

CBS HAVE A problem. To be sure, it's the sort of ticklish little teaser that most record companies would be glad to scratch, but a ...

Millie Jackson: Another Day, Another Dollar

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 February 1978

A COLLEAGUE FROM another paper and I were swopping reactions about Millie Jackson. He'd interviewed her in London; I'd caught up with her a couple ...

Tina Turner: If This Is Vegas, Give Me More

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 18 February 1978

JANUARY, Millie Jackson; February, Tina Turner; soon to come, Gladys Knight...gee whizz, can it all be too much for this white boy? No, no, no; ...

Roy Brown: New London Theatre

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 March 1978

HALFWAY through, this chaotic gig had all the makings of one of the Great Disasters Of Our Time. ...

Whirlwind: Blowing Up A Storm

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 25 March 1978

IN THEIR infinite wisdom, Chiswick first pressed five-sixths of this rocking package on a 10-inch album. ...

Betty Wright (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, April 1978

Ms Wright on her upcoming live album (and road band); how her daughter has changed her life; her latest album This Time For Real; the freedom she has on TK Records to do what she wants, and her upcoming recording plans.

File format: mp3; file size: 13.5mb, interview length: 14' 02" sound quality: ****

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. ...

Professor Longhair: Ronnie Scotts, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 April 1978

I HAVE immense admiration for Professor Longhair ...

Professor Longhair: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 April 1978

I HAVE immense admiration for Professor Longhair. ...

Tavares: City Hall, Newcastle

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 15 April 1978

ANGELA IS a slim, pretty, 16-year-old blonde with the kind of Camay complexion and wide-eyed innocent appeal that drives randy old journalists into that wretched ...

Bootsy Collins, Raydio: Bootsy's Rubber Band, Raydio: Felt Forum, NYC

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 April 1978

SELF-STYLED Player Of The Year, Bootsy Collins is hip to the dynamics of Showtime. As his music is a fantastic flight from bases built by ...

Meat Loaf (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1978

The erstwhile Marvin Lee Aday (with some contributions from collaborator Jim Steinman) talks about making Bat Out of Hell: the nature of his voice; working with Steinman; how they got their deal, and working with producer Todd Rundgren. He also talks about his theatrical background — Shakespeare, The Rocky Horror Show et al — and how he got his name; then he looks back at his early years in Popcorn Blizzard, performing in Hair, Stoney & Meat Loaf... and about his weight!

File format: mp3; file size: 71.1mb, interview length: 1h 14' 06" sound quality: ****

The Tubes: New Theatre, Oxford

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 May 1978

I DIDN'T see this exotic troupe last time around but I do recall one particularly purple review of them; words to the effect: "Would you ...

Meat Loaf: New Hope for the Heavier Man

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 May 1978

CLIFF WHITE, who thought he had a weight problem, suddenly feels emaciated. Thanks to Slender? No way. Thanks to MEAT LOAF. Say it loud, I’m ...

The Darts: Gaumont Cinema, Southampton

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 May 1978

CLIFF WHITE CRIPPLES THE STARS! (No. 3 in an exciting, if tasteless, new series) ...

Bootsy Collins, Funkadelic: Bootsy Collins (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1978

Bootsy takes us back to Cincinnati in 1968, and he and brother Phelps' band the Pacesetters; from there it's to James Brown and 'Sex Machine'; then via the House Guests it's on to George Clinton and P-Funk: America Eats Its Young and Cosmic Slop; his Space Bass; forming the Rubber Band; new Funkadelic album One Nation Under a Groove; producing Roger Troutman; the people who make up P-Funk, including Bernie Worrell, and on current black music.

File format: mp3; file size: 50.1mb, interview length: 52' 09" sound quality: ***

Brass Construction, Rokotto: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 3 June 1978

...CLIFF WHITE sounds his Funky horn about what he sees as a lack of critical perspective... ...

The Commodores, Platinum Hook: The Commodores: Natural High (Motown); Platinum Hook: Platinum Hook (Motown)

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 24 June 1978

MOTOWN GETS on its good foot again. ...

Bootsy Collins: Bootsy's Rubber Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 29 June 1978

A MESSAGE from the Mothership: "If you ain't gonna get it on, take your dead ass home." Some did...some of those dead asses...they couldn't cope ...

Etta James (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 12 July 1978

Etta takes us from 'Roll With Me Henry' to the present day: Johnny Otis; Modern Records and the Biharis; the move to Chess Records and hitting with 'All I Could Do Was Cry'; the end of Chess and working with Rick Hall, and the almost complete absence of royalties in her hit-making days.

File format: mp3; file size: 73.1mb, interview length: 1h 16' 08" sound quality: ****

Etta James (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 12 July 1978

This is a transcription of Cliff's audio interview with Etta. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Etta James: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 22 July 1978

THEY PROBABLY don't realise it but The Who once dedicated an album to Etta James. Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy it was called, and by ...

Raydio: Raydio & A Moon In June Reality

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

RAY PARKER Jr., creator and main man in Raydio, the American sextet who recently toured with Bootsy and are just scoring their second British hit ...

Smiley Lewis: I Hear You Knocking

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

WHEN FATS Domino first bounced out of the bayou with his bronze voice, gold rings, pumping piano and infectious grin, half a pace behind him ...

Roy Brown: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 August 1978

AT ABOUT 3 pm the Sunday before last, one American rhythm 'n' blues pioneer and six British beer 'n' peanut-circuit musicians got together for the ...

Etta James: Soul Punk Etta: Superstardom the Hard Way on a Dollar a Day

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 19 August 1978

"THANKSGIVING DAY in November will be my silver anniversary: 25 years since I cut my first record and I haven't become a superstar yet. It ...

The Commodores: Motown's Black Beatles

Profile by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 September 1978

HOW'S about it, Expressways Moosik? We're broadcastin' at ya from the command module, Commodore Steamship, Commodore Country, sitting right down town, Tuskogee, Alabama, modulatin', right ...

Mac Curtis, Matchbox: St. Helier Arms, Carshalton

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 16 September 1978

TIME HAS seldom dealt lightly with '50s rock'n'rollers. Be they the white country-based variety or the black R 'n 'B guys, the majority of survivors ...

Chas And Dave: What We Want Is Rockney

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 23 September 1978

...an ethnic feature which eschews 'plastic fantastic kharzis', refers frequently to 'geezers', and acknowledges virtue by repeated use of the colloquialism 'bleedin' great'. Subject: CHAS ...

Etta James: James The First

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, October 1978

Etta James, a star of this year's Montreux Jazz Festival, visited London after her show there en route for her American home. While here, she ...

Rose Royce, Stargard: Odeon, Birmingham

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 October 1978

IT SURE WUZ A GREAT PAAAARTY... ...

The Crusaders: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 7 October 1978

ON STAGE, as on record, The Crusaders an elusive synthesis of assorted musical elements which, although generally bonded in a cohesive sound that is unmistakably ...

George Clinton, Parliament: George Clinton (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, November 1978

A splendidly rambling conversation in which the P-Funk mastermind looks back at the early days of Parliament; fondly remembers Screaming Jay Hawkins and Louis Jordan; the rise of P-Funk; punk v funk; Hendrix and Sly as pioneers; gives a definition of what Funkadelic is, and the birth of 'One Nation Under A Groove'.

File format: mp3; file size: 32.7mb, interview length: 34' 05" sound quality: ***

Jerry Lee Lewis (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 November 1978

After 20 minutes of what-he's-up-to pablum, the Killer gets down to business: the sinfulness of rock'n'roll; how he's surely going to hell; drink, drugs and women (including cousin/ex-wife Myra). Then, after talking about his musical heroes, it's back to religion... jaw-dropping stuff.

ile format: mp3; file size: 86mb, interview length: 1h 29' 34" sound quality: ****

Jerry Lee Lewis (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 9 November 1978

This is a transcript of Cliff's audio interview with Jerry. Hear the interview here ...

Edwin Starr, Isaac Hayes: Isaac Hayes And Edwin Starr: Live In Manchester

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

Two men with but one single thought: Which way is up? ...

Roy Brown: Cheapest Price In Town

Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

ALTHOUGH AT 53 going on 25, Roy Brown is relatively young for an R&B star who first recorded just after the war, there's no getting ...

Funkadelic, George Clinton: Funkadelic: The Noble Art of Rhythm'n'Biz

Profile and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 18 November 1978

WARNER Brothers' New York Office on East 54th is only two blocks across and three up from the Taft Hotel on West 51st; close enough ...

Duane Eddy, Jerry Lee Lewis: Jerry Lee Lewis, Duane Eddy: Live in Margate

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 18 November 1978

WHEN A promoter carts a journalist and photographer off to the opening night of a European tour he obviously wants to get a suitably rave ...

Jerry Lee Lewis: Meet The Killer

Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 25 November 1978

Women, liquor, the devil and me – JERRY LEE tells CLIFF WHITE a torrid tale ...

Latimore: Benny Latimore: Diggin' Deeper

Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, December 1978

FROM THE earliest days of this supergroovalistic megamag we have brought you some of the most comprehensive black music inter/over-views ever published on a broad ...

The Temptations Revisited

Interview by Cliff White, Black Music, December 1978

Is rejuvenation just around the corner for the Temptations? Cliff White asked the questions during their brief British visit. ...

James Brown: OOOP! YAAA! UNNGH!

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 2 December 1978

(That's right, this is a James Brown review.)James Brown: Odeon, Hammersmith ...

Rory Gallagher (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 December 1978

The late Irish blues-rocker talks about the struggles involved in recording Photo-Finish; about breaking his thumb and getting a new drummer; about the recording process; about stagecraft and songwriting; about his admiration for Bo Diddley and his experience in the studio with Jerry Lee Lewis.

File format: mp3; file size: 32.6mb, interview length: 33' 54" sound quality: ****

Johnnie Allan (1978)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1978

The Cajun swamp-pop star talks about his first hit 'Lonely Days, Lonely Nights'; his immortal 1971 cover of Chuck Berry's 'Promised Land' and its belated UK reissue; his road band and stage act; getting drafted in 1961; musical attitudes in the American South; and the way races mixed (or not) in rural Louisiana.

File format: mp3; file size: 32.8mb, interview length: 34' 12" sound quality: ****

Sylvester Steps Out...

Profile by Cliff White, Smash Hits, January 1979

THE READER who wrote to us last month asking whether Sylvester is male or female may be forgiven for his or her confusion. One of ...

Marvin Gaye: Stand Up For Your Rights, My Brothers: Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear

Report and Interview by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 20 January 1979

WHILE TOURING Britain last September, the Temptations were not shy about slagging off their former record company, Motown. Numerous quotes from my interview with the ...

Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White (1979)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, March 1979

Mr. White waxes philosophical about uplifting consciousness; contributing to the musical community; Philip Bailey and himself as singers; his fantasy lyrics and metaphysical lyrical vibrations; perfecting rawness; EW&F's over-the-top stage show; and society's problems.

File format: mp3; file size: 36.1mb, interview length: 37' 34" sound quality: ***

Earth, Wind & Fire

Profile by Cliff White, Smash Hits, 31 May 1979

Would you believe that this lot are out to improve your minds? Gosh, and here were we thinking that they'd come just to boogie! ...

Lee Dorsey (1980)

Interview by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1980

Interviewed at New Orleans' legendary Sea-Saint studio, Dorsey talks about his recent motorbike crash, then looks back at his first hit, 'Ya Ya', and his subsequent recording career; keeping his automobile repair shop; touring Europe; his recent tour with the Clash; recording with producer Allen Toussaint; his Yes We Can and Night People albums, and the advantages of having a decent road band.

File format: mp3; file size: 29.5mb, interview length: 30' 43" sound quality: ***

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: Rock Shock Horror: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1981

INFAMOUSLY KNOWN AS THE "original king of shock rock" or the "weirdest one-hit of them all", Screamin’ Jay Hawkins fits neither bill. He’s never ...

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Hank Ballard: Midnight Man

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

HANK BALLARD is most often remembered as the man who wrote ‘The Twist’ but lost out to Chubby Chucker as the populariser of the dance ...

James Brown: Soul Brother Number One

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

James Brown: the most famous flame of all. ...

Louis Jordan

Retrospective by Cliff White, The History of Rock, 1982

The king of jive who made the good times roll. ...

Joe Tex: Ain't Gonna Bump No More

Obituary by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 28 August 1982

Soul legend Tex is dead ...

Millie Jackson: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 13 November 1982

VOICE: robust and versatile, unique among name entertainers for its dynamic revitalisation of R&B and soul intonations of yesteryear. Humour: sardonic, self-deprecating, ego-crushing, uplifting; more ...

Jackie Wilson: A Tribute

Obituary by Cliff White, New Musical Express, 4 February 1984

WHAT DO YOU think of it so far: 1984? No, neither do I. ...

HMV Revisited

Retrospective by Cliff White, Rock's Backpages, November 2013

AS THE HMV retail chain slowly unravels in the 21st Century multi-tech marketplace, I offer a few off-the-cuff memories of my time working at the ...

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