Judith Sims
From the beginning of her journalism career, Judith Sims was in a unique position. In 1964, Capitol Records created The Teen Set, a teen focused promotional tool exclusively featuring Capitol artists. By 1965, after two successful issues, Capitol decided to establish TeenSet as a monthly magazine which was no longer exclusive to their artists. With this new venture, Capitol also released control of the magazine to the Kimtex corporation, where music-loving Judith Sims was employed as a secretary. At 25 years-old and with little-to-no experience in journalism (beyond contributing to staff reports in her college newspaper), Sims was handed the editorial reins of Teen Set.
Throughout her term with TeenSet, there was little input from Capitol and infrequent oversight from the various publishers, leaving Sims to include musicians and cultural events which piqued her interest. This editorial role enabled a deep involvement in popular music and cultural scenes allowing her to frequent Hollywood's Sunset Strip, rub elbows with many preeminent figures and musicians such as, Derek Taylor, Photographer Jim Marshall, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, and the Beach Boys. Her intimate coverage of the Beatles is especially of note. In 1966, she joined the Beatles for their U.S. tour, and in 1967, she spent time in EMI's Abbey Road Studio Two during the recording of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sims reported first-hand what was happening on the 1960s fading Hollywood and the blossoming San Francisco Scenes, and consistently featured the Swinging London Scene contributed by Carol Gold. Her reporting of popular music and culture was cutting-edge, including early features of many up-and-coming musicians such as Buffalo Springfield (a personal favorite of Sims) and a full 16-page photo spread (by Jim Marshall and Bruce McBroom) of the Monterey Pop Festival. Ultimately, with TeenSet, Sims navigated a changing musical landscape of the mid-to-late 1960s, and, as the editor, Judith Sims became a pioneering popular music journalist.
During her tenure at TeenSet and into the mid-1970s, Sims moonlighted for the British publication, Disc and Music Echo (later Disc) magazine. After the collapse of TeenSet (renamed AUM for the final three issues) in 1969, Sims was recruited by colleague Ben Fong-Torres to write for Rolling Stone. She wrote many articles for Rolling Stone considering Hendrix, the Beatles, the Who, Tim Buckley, and more. By the 1980s, Sims wrote for The Times, Washington Post, collaborated on small one-off teen publications, and in the 1990s, worked as assistant editor of the L.A. Times before she died of cancer in 1996. Sims was, and historically is, a force to be reckoned with in popular music journalism, but she is often overlooked. Although more recently, Sims and TeenSet have been briefly considered by Richard Morton Jack, Don Armstrong, and, most notably, past Rolling Stone editor Chet Flippo, in general, her role and impact is lacking from the broad popular music discourse. However, Sims, and TeenSet, is currently the focus of an upcoming academic book, and past British PhD thesis, both by Allison Bumsted, in which Sims is refocused as an invaluable contributor to 1960s culture and popular music journalism.
Biography Contributed by Allison Bumsted
Ben Fong-Torres' tribute to Judith
36 articles
List of articles in the library
Herb Alpert, Joe Cocker, Carole King, Sergio Mendes: A&M Records: Two Lonely Bulls & How They Grew
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 12 October 1972
LOS ANGELES — Ten years ago this month Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert put their initials together and formed a record company that has since ...
The Asylum Choir, Marc Benno, Mance Lipscomb, Leon Russell: Marc Benno: More Minnows to Come
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 22 June 1972
LOS ANGELES — Marc Benno used to be Leon Russell's musical partner; as the notorious Asylum Choir they made two albums together in Los Angeles ...
Report by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 7 November 1974
LOS ANGELES — Robbie McIntosh, 24, drummer with the Average White Band, died in his North Hollywood hotel room September 23rd of an overdose of ...
Average White Band: White Band with Soul
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 19 December 1974
LOS ANGELES — Their name has a nice sense of irony and confidence, because the Average White Band plays music that is anything but white; ...
The Beatles: Four Who Dared : Backstage With the Beatles on Their Last Tour
Retrospective by Judith Sims, Los Angeles Times, 3 August 1986
Twenty years ago this month, the Beatles, on their third American tour, staged 18 concerts in 14 cities and played to more than 450,000 screaming ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin and the Boys in the Band
Report by Judith Sims, TeenSet, September 1968
IT WAS beginning to dawn on me. Janis Joplin was a Superstar, complete with her photo in Vogue magazine (which must be some sort of ...
Report by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 10 October 1974
HONOLULU — BACKSTAGE violence erupted before an August 31st concert at Hawaii Raceway Park which starred War, Black Oak Arkansas, Billy Preston and Brownsville Station. ...
Column by Judith Sims, TeenSet, September 1967
HOWDY, hip happies! I'm in a good mood, in case you couldn’t guess from that kray-zee salutation! Why am I in a good mood? You ...
Tim Buckley Dead at 28; Murder Charged
Report by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 14 August 1975
LOS ANGELES — Singer/songwriter Tim Buckley died at the Santa Monica Hospital emergency room at 9:42 p.m. on June 29th. At first police suspected that ...
The Butts Band, The Doors: Butts Band: Double Doors Get Jammed
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 15 August 1974
LOS ANCELES — Already they've split up. The five-piece Butts Band is now back to its original twosome, looking for more members. Drummer John Densmore ...
The Byrds, Gene Clark, David Crosby: Reunion Of Old Byrds: A Time For Peace
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 4 January 1973
LOS ANGELES — The five original Byrds are together again and not for the last time. They've made their first album together since Turn! Turn! ...
Interview by Judith (Judy) Sims, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1973
LOS ANGELES — Back in 1969 Gram Parsons, rhythm guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist, and Chris Ethridge, bassist, decided to form a country rock band ...
Canned Heat: Get set to boogie with Canned Heat
Interview by Judith Sims, Disc and Music Echo, 24 August 1968
JUDY SIMS in Los Angeles interviews the new British chartbusters ...
Chicago: A James William Guercio Enterprise
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 19 July 1973
CHICAGO, THE line goes, would be a useless slag heap of Midwestern has-beens went it not for the strong hand of their producer, a young ...
The Cowsills, Grateful Dead: But is Britain ready for the Grateful Dead?
Profile by Judith Sims, Disc and Music Echo, 9 December 1967
By JUDY SIMS, Disc's new Hollywood reporter ...
Profile and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 17 August 1972
LOS ANGELES — The four Eagles — Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner and Don Henley — had barely been introduced to each other when ...
The Doors, Jim Morrison: Pam Morrison: A Final Curtain on Her Affair with Life
Report by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 6 June 1974
LOS ANGELES — "Pamela was Jim's other half," said ex-Door Ray Manzarek. "The two of them were a perfect combination; I never knew another person ...
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 8 May 1975
LOS ANGELES — 'Shaving Cream', a 1947 song by Paul Wynn, was an unlikely candidate for the Number One rating on the nation's most popular ...
Emerson Lake & Palmer: ELP...What? ELP!... What? ELP...
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 25 April 1974
LOS ANGELES — Say what you will about the music, Emerson, Lake and Palmer's recently completed four-month American tour was the heaviest rock & roll ...
The Faces, The Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood: Ron Wood: Not Just Another Pretty Face
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 24 October 1974
LOS ANGELES — I've Got My Own Album To Do is a good title for Ron Wood's first solo album: It fits his sly, impish ...
Dobie Gray: Singles: Dobie Gray — 'Drift Away' (Mentor Williams), (Decca 33057 MCA)
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 26 April 1973
DOBIE GRAY, a member of 'The In Crowd' eight years ago, has returned to the airwaves with 'Drift Away', on a new label, MCA, with ...
Jefferson Airplane: The Master's Grunt: Jefferson Airplane Tries Shock Rock
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 7 December 1972
NEW YORK — At a rainy concert in Gaelic Park, a girl on stage stripped off her blouse and urged the audience to do the ...
Jethro Tull: Tull on top: Ian Anderson Speaks His Mind
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 27 March 1975
LOS ANGELES — Ian Anderson, leader of Jethro Tull, did not seem pleased, even though his group had just broken all attendance records at the ...
Manassas, Stephen Stills: Stephen Stills: The Reformation Of a "Jive" Artist
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 27 September 1973
LOS ANGELES — It's difficult to name a rock & roll star who's been put down, chopped up, dismissed and generally hated as much as ...
Maria Muldaur: A Singer Who Has the Pipes
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 31 January 1974
LOS ANGELES — "Not that many people are issued good voices," said Maria Muldaur, curled up on her hotel sofa on Christmas Eve, "That's probably ...
Anne Murray: Canada's Sweetheart Stays Put
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 7 June 1973
LOS ANGELES — "Canada has never had a star in the real sense of the word. They've had people big in Canada and nowhere else, ...
Ann Peebles: "You're My Idol": Ann Peebles Is Next
Profile and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 28 February 1974
MEMPHIS — The track may be pure chooglin' Memphis: There's that Willie Mitchell/Al Green horn arrangement easing in midway, and there's that easy glide in ...
Billy Preston: Singles: 'Space Race' — Billy Preston
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 20 December 1973
AFTER BILLY Preston's first Number One single last June (and a gold record, too) of 'Will It Go Round in Circles', it was inevitable that ...
Bonnie Raitt: Troubadours: Why Bonnie Raitt Wants a Break
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 9 November 1972
LOS ANGELES — "Freebo, my bass player, he's a jock, he sits in his hotel room watching football games on television." Bonnie Raitt gestured in ...
Smokey Robinson: Quiet Stormbringer
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 5 June 1975
LOS ANGELES — During the three years since Smokey Robinson retired from the Miracles and the road, he's released three solo albums — Smokey, Pure ...
Steely Dan: Ultimate Spinach Meets Naked Lunch's Dildo
Profile and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 26 April 1973
LOS ANGELES — Steely Dan named itself after William Burroughs' mighty dildo in Naked Lunch. "We just wanted to give the band a little more ...
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 2 January 1975
LOS ANGELES — Her name means "sweet singer" in India; in Swahili it means "one of uniqueness, or something like that," but Syreeta Wright claims ...
James Taylor: Sessions: James Taylor's One Man Dog
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 23 November 1972
LOS ANGELES — James Taylor is a very slow songwriter. It takes him months to write enough to justify a session, but once he's in ...
List of genre pieces
1967, The Summer of Love: There Was a Brief Moment When the Sun Really Shone
Memoir by Judith Sims, Los Angeles Times, 2 August 1987
I'LL GET right to the point: 1967 was one of the best years of my life. ...
Carol Kaye's Bass: Solid Gold Hitmine
Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 22 November 1973
LOS ANGELES — Carol Kaye is one of the few successful female session musicians, certainly one of Los Angeles' finest and busiest bassists. Her list ...
Sir Doug Weston's Troubadour: They Hate it, but They Play it
Report and Interview by Judith Sims, Rolling Stone, 18 January 1973
LOS ANGELES — Why was Joni Mitchell recently playing the Troubadour folk club for several nights when she could play for as many people (and ...
back to LIBRARY