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Ritchie Yorke

Ritchie Yorke

Ritchie Yorke was the Canadian correspondent for Rolling Stone for several years. He was also the author of, among other books, Led Zeppelin: The Definitive Biography. Until his death in 2017, Ritchie lived and worked in Brisbane, Australia.

The Ritchie Yorke website

50 articles

List of articles in the library

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Jose Feliciano: Jose Makes Old Very Avantgarde

Profile and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 12 October 1968

IF, AS THE cynics say, there is nothing new in the world, then the mark of the truly creative performer is one who can make ...

Dion: Today I Think I Got A Chance

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 21 December 1968

NORTH MIAMI – After a six year battle with drugs, singer Dion DiMucchi has his pointed Italian shoes firmly planted on the comeback trail. His ...

Jose Feliciano Sings the Star-Spangled Banner

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 4 January 1969

JOSE FELICIANO sat stiffly on a wooden stool in the middle of sun-bathed Detroit Stadium, his burgundy suit almost gaudy below the glint of his ...

Traffic: No More

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 4 January 1969

TRAFFIC has broken up. The announcement, made in London this week, came at a time when Traffic had finally broken through in the United States. ...

Joe Cocker: 'U.S.'s Only Culture is Black'

Profile and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1969

LONDON – Joe Cocker, the frizzy-haired new idol of the English pop scene, lives modestly in a first floor bed sitter in South Kensington. You ...

Leonard Cohen: Bad Boy Leonard Cohen Now Turned Good

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Detroit Free Press, 4 April 1969

  THEY USED to describe Leonard Cohen as disrespectful. They also accused him of being controversial, outrageous, bitter and even an egomaniac. They, of course, being ...

Bob Dylan: Nashville Skyline

Review by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 19 April 1969

DYLAN HAS CHANGED again. His latest album, Nashville Skyline, the 14-month-later follow-up to John Wesley Harding, presents the folk-rock star in a completely new guise. ...

The Beatles, John Lennon: John Lennon: Ringo's Right, We Can't Tour Again

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 7 June 1969

JOHN LENNON, over here in Canada with his wife Yoko, revealed for the first time that there had been considerable disagreement between him and Paul ...

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Question-Time with Smokey of the Miracles

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 21 June 1969

KNOWING THAT Smokey Robinson is one of the five vice-presidents of the fabulously successful Tamla Motown label, I expected him to be a bustling businessman, ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: Bedding In For Peace: John and Yoko in Canada

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 28 June 1969

TORONTO – It started like a pretty normal Sunday. The churches were filled, the radio news bulletins beamed out the latest on wars and starving ...

Ronnie Hawkins

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 9 August 1969

IT'S A TYPICAL Toronto Friday night. Hoods with greasy ducktail haircuts are dragging up and down Yonge Street, the city's main thoroughfare and girl-watching area. ...

Blind Faith

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 6 September 1969

The four members of Blind Faith – the instant super group whipped up with two-thirds of the soured Cream – were entrenched in a plush ...

Jimi Hendrix: "I'm Into Different Things," Says Jimi Hendrix

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Los Angeles Times, 7 September 1969

JIMI HENDRIX is about to shed some of his Experience. His next three albums will not feature either bass guitarist Noel Redding or drummer Mitch ...

The Band, Ronnie Hawkins: From Stud to Star: Ronnie Hawkins

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 20 September 1969

TORONTO — Ronnie Hawkins, the Arkansas rock and roller now living on a farm near Toronto, has signed a long-term contract with Atlantic Records. Hawkins, ...

Kim Fowley

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 20 September 1969

LOS ANGELES — Kim Fowley, the rock and roll missionary and visionary, lives in a room above a garage in Laguna, Calif., with no sheets ...

The Beatles: George Harrison Talks About The Beatles' Album, Abbey Road

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Detroit Free Press, 26 September 1969

LONDON — Abbey Road is a short street in North London with only one distinctive feature — it houses the studios of E.M.I., the world's ...

The Temptations: Making Hits Is As Easy As Pie says Temps Dennis

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 4 October 1969

"MAKING HIT records," claims Dennis Edwards, lusty lead singer of the Temptations, "is like making cakes. You just need the right basic ingredients and you're ...

John Lennon: John, Yoko, And Eric Clapton Kick Up Their Blue Suede Shoes

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 18 October 1969

LONDON – John Lennon and Yoko Ono were beaming when they arrived at their plush white office in Apple's Savile Row headquarters in London on ...

Holland, Dozier, Holland: This Song Team Wrote 7 Million-Sellers On The Trot!

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 15 November 1969

No. 2 IN THE LP CHART THIS WEEK IS MOTOWN CHART BUSTERS, VOL 3. THREE HITS ON THIS ALBUM WERE BY HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND ...

The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

THE NEWS that the Rolling Stones are to resume personal appearances is likely to gladden hearts everywhere. The Stones always were the most important performing ...

Fat Mattress, Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding: Redding On Jimi: "I Said Stuff It"

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 15 November 1969

LONDON — It was an experience, yes, but it was no picnic to have been Jimi Hendrix' bass player for three years. In the end, ...

Crosby Stills Nash & Young: In The Reaches of Laurel Canyon

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Fusion, 28 November 1969

RITCHIE YORKE visited Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "in the reaches of Laurel Canyon". At the beglnnlng of his interview he reported a feeling he ...

The Band, The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Blind Faith, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richard on Mick, Beatles, Led, Faith, Tull, Gees

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 6 December 1969

THE NEWS that the Rolling Stones have resumed personal appearances must have gladdened the hearts of pop fans everywhere. The Stones always were the most ...

Harry Nilsson: Everybody's Talkin' ‘Bout Harry Nilsson

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Fusion, 12 December 1969

FEW SINGERS COULD have found a more aptly-named success vehicle than Nilsson's current hit record, 'Everybody's Talkin'', which is featured so persuasively in the film ...

The Beatles, George Harrison: Harrison Assesses the Beatles' Past, Present, Future

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Los Angeles Times, 21 December 1969

LONDON — George Harrison, long reputed to be the most "normal" member of the Beatles, was sitting in a spacious armchair at Apple headquarters, writing ...

Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 31 January 1970

Hendrix joins the friends bandwagon ...

The Beatles, John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John Lennon: A Private Talk With John

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 7 February 1970

YOU'VE BEEN talking lately about the fact that the Beatles aren't the musical group they were two or three years ago — that you are ...

The Beatles, Ronnie Hawkins, John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John, Yoko & Year One

Report by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 7 February 1970

TORONTO — The scene couldn't have been more appropriately peaceful if it had been staged by a film director. A color TV set flickered soundlessly ...

John Lennon, Yoko Ono: John, Yoko, Kyoko Get Trimmed

Report by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 21 February 1970

AARLBORG, DENMARK — Tuesday, January 13th, had been a normal winter's day in this small city in the northern Jutland province of Denmark. It had ...

Led Zeppelin: ASK-IN with a LED ZEPPELIN a week: Bassist JOHN PAUL JONES

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 4 April 1970

Part one of an exciting New Series by RITCHIE YORKE ...

Led Zeppelin: ASK-IN with a LED ZEPPELIN a week: Robert Plant

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 11 April 1970

LAST WEEK, I reported the sayings of bass player John Paul Jones. Continuing NME's four-part series on Led Zeppelin, I turned to lead singer Robert ...

Led Zeppelin: ASK-IN with a LED ZEPPELIN a week: JOHN BONHAM drummer extraordinary known as BONZO

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 18 April 1970

THE THIRD member of Led Zeppelin to be interviewed in-depth in our four-part Ask-In profile of the group is drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham, surely the ...

Eric Clapton Thanks The Lord

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 28 May 1970

LONDON – Even after Cream, Blind Faith, the Plastic Ono Band, and Delaney and Bonnie, after doing backup on the solo albums of George Harrison ...

Stephen Stills: An Interview in England - Part 1

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Circus, August 1970

THE HOUSE now occupied by Stephen Stills is 350 years old and it really looks it. It has thick old oak beams, leadened bay windows, ...

Stephen Stills: An Interview in England - Part 2

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Circus, September 1970

This is the second part of an interview made in Stephen Stills' English country home in early 1970. ...

Eric Clapton: An Interview with Eric Clapton

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Circus, October 1970

ERIC CLAPTON STARTED work on his solo album (Atco) while in Los Angeles with Delaney and Bonnie. He came back to England with the unfinished ...

Led Zeppelin: Zeppelin: More Solid Than Ever

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 25 September 1971

Ritchie Yorke, in Canada, attends a Led Zeppelin concert and, with Jimmy Page, previews the group's next album ...

Led Zeppelin: Page's Rages — And in this Led Zeppelin blast-off it's the Press and critics who catch a cold

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 2 October 1971

Part two of RITCHIE YORK'S interview in Canada ...

Mountain’s Pappalardi: Hell-Bent On Becoming A Rock Legend

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972

"And the cold winds blow,He was brave but he's laid lowBy her body in the island mist,I saw him give her one last coldkiss...one last ...

The Rolling Stones: Going into Exile — Producer Jimmy Miller talks about the Stones' new album

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 3 June 1972

The degree of enjoyment is the only yardstick to use ...

The Chi-Lites, The Rolling Stones, Spencer Davis Group, Spooky Tooth, Traffic: Stones Producer Jimmy Miller Part Two: The tracks I like best

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 10 June 1972

In this final part of his interview with Ritchie Yorke, Miller talks about the many artists he has recorded, and in particular about tracks which ...

Led Zeppelin: Zeppelin Take The States By Storm

Report by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 26 May 1973

THE LATEST Led Zeppelin tour is taking America by storm, proving yet again that this is the top rock 'n' roll band in the world. ...

Allman Brothers Band: Allman Explosion

Report by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 8 September 1973

IT'S THE speed of the thing that's been most memorable – the way the Brothers And Sisters album literally exploded across North America. Within the ...

Alice Cooper: Alice Shows His Muscle

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 22 September 1973

"YA WANNA SCOOP?" grins Shep Gordon, the inimitable manager of Alice Cooper, a paragon of virtue in his rust-coloured brushed velvet jacket. "Sure" hisses the ...

Lighthouse: Can You Feel It

Review by Ritchie Yorke, Phonograph Record, November 1973

THE CANADIAN group Lighthouse had the potential to become one of the biggest bands in the world. They may well do it yet. ...

Van Morrison: A Van For All Seasons

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, New Musical Express, 23 February 1974

LET'S talk about the albums, starting with Hard Nose The Highway. ...

Allman Brothers Band: Macon Georgia

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, ZigZag, March 1974

THIS HUGE OLD Southern mansion has seen much better days. The dozen giant columns which surrounded it are flecked by peeling paint, grimly revealing the ...

Van Morrison: An interview with Van Morrison

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Stage Life, June 1977

HEAD THE HOLLYWOOD WHEELS westward along Sunset Blvd., out past the "Riot House" hotel, the Rainbow, the Roxy, the record company offices entwined on either ...

R.E.M.: Michael Stipe: He's Singing A New Tune

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Sunday Telegraph (Australia), 3 October 2004

EVEN MICHAEL STIPE'S eyes are smiling. The R.E.M. lead singer's face beams the delighted glow of an individual who has uncovered what feels like their ...

PJ Harvey: PJ's Swansong

Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Sunday Mail (Australia), 14 November 2004

IT WAS WITH her usual subtle-as-an-A-bomb aplomb, that British singer-songwriter PJ Harvey dropped this bombshell down the phone line from Canada: "I think I might ...

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