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Paul Nelson

Paul Nelson

Paul Nelson (pictured with New York Dolls Syl Sylvain, left, and David Johansen) founded The Little Sandy Review and subsequently worked and wrote for Sing Out!, Hullabaloo, Circus and Rolling Stone. He also signed the Dolls to Mercury Records. Paul died in 2006.

Steven Ward's 2000 interview with Nelson

Raphael Rubinstein reminisces about Nelson

62 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

The Doors, The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones: Got Live If You Want It! (London); The Doors: The Doors (Elektra)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, May 1967

BOLTS OF LIGHTNING ...

Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow (RCA Victor LSP-3766)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1967

Love From An Airplane ...

The Byrds: Younger Than Yesterday (Columbia CS 9441)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1967

Byrds Glorious ...

The Rolling Stones: Between the Buttons (London PS499)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1967

ONE OF the essentials in any record review would seem to be a simple catchword or two describing the contents of the album in question. ...

Tim Buckley: The Incredible Tim Buckley

Profile and Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, September 1967

WE ARE sitting around talking about music when the adjective and the noun link: someone says that Tim Buckley is incredible. ...

The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, October 1967

LIKE THE Beatles themselves, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol) is both enigmatic and brilliant, comprised of so many elements that one hardly knows ...

Country Joe & the Fish

Profile by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, November 1967

HOW GREAT can a group be when one well-known rock writer labels his copy of their new Vanguard LP, "This record is to be played ...

Tim Hardin: Tim Hardin 2 (Verve/Forecast)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, November 1967

TIM HARDIN is one of the giants of contemporary pop music and his new record, Tim Hardin 2, is the kind of haunting and haunted ...

The Blues Project, The Kinks: The Blues Project Live at Town Hall (Verve-Forecast); The "Live" Kinks (Reprise)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, December 1967

"LIVE" STUFF ...

Vanilla Fudge: Vanilla Fudge (Atco)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, December 1967

HAS THERE ever been such a start to an album as on Vanilla Fudge (Atco)? 'Ticket to Ride' is such an ear-popping masterpiece that it ...

The Doors: Strange Days with the Doors

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1968

"We want the world and we want it now!" say the Doors, who open wide for HULLABALOO. They hail from the West and are definitely ...

The Beach Boys: Smiley Smile (Brother)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1968

THE BEACH Boys' Smiley Smile is the long-awaited new Beach Boys album and the sequel to Pet Sounds, the latter being one of the classic ...

The Doors: Strange Days (Elektra)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, March 1968

COMPARED TO the Beatles and the Stones, the Doors are minor leaguers, very talented, very promising, but not quite There yet. Compared to nearly everybody ...

The Rolling Stones: Their Satanic Majesties Request (London)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, March 1968

THEIR SATANIC Majesties Request succeeds by taking enormous chances. One's first impressions' are almost entirely negative: (1) it doesn't sound like the Stones; (2) it ...

Vanilla Fudge

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, March 1968

WHAT'S IT like to interview the Vanilla Fudge? Well, it's like this. ...

The Who: Who? A Conversation With Peter Townshend Of The Who, That's Who!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, March 1968

The who, what, where, when, why — and how! — of the sensational Who! Singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Townshend tells us all! ...

The Who: A Further Discourse with Peter Townshend of the Who

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, May 1968

The lowdown on Blow-Up, all about the Who's influence on the Beatles, and who really invented feedback! ...

Buffalo Springfield: Buffalo Springfield Again (Atco)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, May 1968

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD Again (Atco), the group's second LP (made while they were in a state of flux), isn't a tightly structured unit, but it contains ...

Vanilla Fudge: Part Two of an interview with the Vanilla Fudge

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, May 1968

Tim Bogert raps on white blues groups, Fudge movies, Fudge albums, road tours, trend-setters, protest songs, the Beatles, the Stones, the Monkees, the Doors, and ...

Vanilla Fudge: An Interview With The Vanilla Fudge, Pt. 3

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1968

Bassist Tim Bogert raps on Sgt. Pepper, Elvis Presley, songwriting, the Rascals, the Vagrants, touring, getting mobbed, soul music, and much, much more. ...

Eric Clapton, The Move, Pete Townshend, The Who: Peter Townshend of the Who Talks! We Listen!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1968

"I mean, everyone seems to be arguing who invented feedback. I mean, I did — without a doubt." The whole truth on feedback, Eric Clapton, ...

The Rolling Stones, The Who: Peter Townshend of the Who 
talks about Mick Jagger 
and the Rolling Stones!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, July 1968

PART FOUR of this interview needs even less introduction than did Part Three. You all know Peter Townshend of the Who. Here, he talks with ...

Jefferson Airplane: An interview with Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, August 1968

WHEN WE heard that the Jefferson Airplane, long one of our favorite groups, were in town to play the Fillmore East, we quickly arranged an ...

The Who: Who? A Conversation with Peter Townshend the Who, That's Who!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, August 1968

HERE IS Part Five of our monumental interview with Peter Townshend, guitarist and songwriter of the Who. Go. ...

Jefferson Airplane: A conversation with Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, October 1968

BOTH MARTY Balin and the Jefferson Airplane are far too well-known to require a lengthy introduction here. I talked with Marty for a couple of ...

The Band, Country Joe & The Fish, Cream, Donovan, The Doors, The Incredible String Band, Randy Newman, Phil Ochs: Albums from the Band, Cream, Country Joe & the Fish, Donovan, Randy Newman, the Incredible String Band, Phil Ochs, and the Doors

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, October 1968

HERE WE are, talking to ourselves again, still waiting for the new releases by the Rolling Stones, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Doors, the Byrds, ...

The Who: The Peter Townshend Interview. Who?

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, October 1968

HERE IS Part Seven of our interview with Peter Townshend, guitarist and songwriter of the Who. ...

Country Joe & The Fish, Country Joe McDonald: An Interview with Country Joe McDonald

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, December 1968

I HAVE BEEN an admirer of Country Joe McDonald and the Fish ever since I first heard them years ago on tape at a friend's ...

Tim Hardin: A conversation with Tim Hardin

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

"You've got to come down to the Au Go Go and listen to me sing now. It's different!" A legend comes into his own — ...

Country Joe & The Fish, Country Joe McDonald: Country Joe Continues His Rap

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

HULLABALOO'S Paul Nelson goes Fishing with the very opinionated Mr. McDonald — ...

Harry Nilsson: Aerial Ballet (RCA Victor)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

MY FEELING persists that Harry Nilsson, very good, could be a great deal more than very good if only he could manage not to construct ...

Jefferson Airplane: A Further Rap With Marty Balin

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

HERE IS Part Five of our interview with Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane. In it, Marty tells us how he feels about music, bands ...

Traffic Is Very Heavy Today: An Interview With Steve Winwood

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, January 1969

AT THE time I interviewed Steve Winwood, Traffic's American tour had just been cancelled, and Steve himself was rumored to be in a state of ...

Country Joe & The Fish: Candid Conversation With... Country Joe

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1969

Part Three of the Country Joe McDonald interview. ...

Tim Hardin: Candid Conversation With... Tim Hardin

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1969

PART TWO of the Tim Hardin interview. ...

Traffic: Into Traffic with Steve Winwood

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1969

IN PART Two of our interview, Traffic's Steve Winwood and I talked about producing, songwriting, the creation of 'Dear Mr. Fantasy', and interpretive critics. ...

The Rolling Stones: Beggars Banquet (London)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, February 1969

AS JUST about everybody knows, there is a widespread back-to-the-basics movement going on right now in today's rock scene. Translated into records, this means that ...

Country Joe & The Fish, Country Joe McDonald: Country Joe McDonald: "Janis asked me to write a song about her."

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, March 1969

Part Four of the Country Joe McDonald interview. ...

Tim Hardin: "My way of singing is natural enough."

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, March 1969

PART THREE of the Tim Hardin interview. ...

Traffic: An Interview With Steve Winwood

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, March 1969

TRAFFIC CRASHED recently (see "Hullabulletin" elsewhere in this issue for the story of the split), but not before Steve Winwood and I had a long ...

Tim Hardin on Songwriting

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, May 1969

ON THE eve of his first Columbia album, Suite for Susan Moore and Damion — We Are One, One, All in One, Tim Hardin talked ...

The Kinks: God Save the Kinks

Profile by Paul Nelson, Circus, September 1969

"THEY CAME to us in 1964 wearing pink shirts and long frock coats with a song called 'You Really Got Me', which was their third ...

John Fahey: Hunter College, New York NY

Live Review by Paul Nelson, The Village Voice, 9 June 1975

John Fahey Is a Tough Guy ...

Wings: Venus and Mars (Capitol)

Review by Paul Nelson, The Village Voice, 30 June 1975

Venus & Mars & Rona & Barrett ...

Nils Lofgren: Bottom Line, New York NY

Live Review by Paul Nelson, The Village Voice, 1 September 1975

Nils Lofgren: Quicksand ...

Neil Young Paints It Black: Zuma

Review by Paul Nelson, The Village Voice, 24 November 1975

NOTE: ON APRIL 14, 1983, Elliot Roberts, Neil Young's manager, wrote a letter to Paul: "This is to advise you that we will co-operate with ...

The Ramones: Why the Ramones Are Great (I Think)

Comment by Paul Nelson, Circus, 6 July 1976

RAMONES (SIRE) may or may not be the best album so far this year, but its fate — good or bad — is going to ...

The Ramones: Ramones (Sire SASD-7520)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 29 July 1976

IF TODAY'S Rolling Stone were the Cahiers du Cinema of the late Fifties, a band of outsiders as deliberately crude and basic as the Ramones ...

Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon: We are all on tour: Are you prepared for The Pretender — Jackson Browne?

Special Feature by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 16 December 1976

HOMBRE — I loved that movie. I dig Paul Newman. I love the way he smashed that shot glass into that guy's face. Richard Boone ...

Robert Palmer, Graham Parker, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: Robert Palmer, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Graham Parker & the Rumour: Palladium, New York NY

Live Review by Paul Nelson, The Village Voice, 20 December 1976

Graham Parker Pours It All Out ...

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers: Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers (Beserkley PZ-34800)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, August 1977

SOME HISTORY is necessary. Four or five years ago, David Johansen's New York Dolls and Jonathan Richman's Boston-based Modern Lovers were the most talented progenitors ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richard Caught Live

Interview by Paul Nelson, Circus, 29 September 1977

A Long Look at the Rolling Stones, Love You Live, and the Journey Between Then and Now ...

Leonard Cohen: Death of a Ladies' Man (Warner Bros. BS 315)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 9 February 1978

Leonard Cohen's doo-wop nightmare ...

Jackson Browne: This Wheel's on Fire

Interview by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 9 March 1978

LIKE MOST good artists, Jackson Browne is capable of doing more than one thing at a time, so it's no surprise that Running on Empty, ...

Rod Stewart Under Siege

Special Feature by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1978

What can a poor boy do when the gossips., the punks and the critics want his henna-haired head on a platter? ...

Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen fever

Report and Interview by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1978

  AT THE Music Hall in Boston in late May, Bruce Springsteen begins a song in almost total darkness, a single blue spotlight faintly limning the ...

Jackson Browne: On love, marriage and the girl in his songs

Interview by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 7 August 1980

BECAUSE JACKSON Browne and his music seem to occupy a special place among Rolling Stone readers, a brief introductory note should suffice. Why Browne is ...

Warren Zevon: How He Saved Himself from a Coward's Death

Special Feature by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 19 March 1981

  ALCOHOLISM. THAT'S what this story's supposed to be about. How Warren Zevon, after some heartwarming and colorful misadventures, licked the Big A and lived happily ...

Rod Stewart: Tonight I'm Yours (Warner Bros.)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1982

Owning up for posterity ...

Willie Nelson: Always on My Mind (Columbia)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1982

WHEN, IN the finale of Always on My Mind, Willie Nelson claims he "wasn't tryin'," he seems to be summing up his attitude toward this ...

Lester Bangs: 1948-1982

Obituary by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 10 June 1982

  NEW YORK CITY ...

Chet Baker Gets Lost In Time

Retrospective by Paul Nelson, Musician, October 1990

It takes a tough hopper to be cool ...

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