Home//Classic Rock/June 2021/In This Issue
Classic Rock|June 2021WELCOMEOn the day that I’m typing this, the UK seems to be making its way – slowly and tentatively – out of lockdown. Who would have thought we would still be working from our sofas when we first hauled the laptops home over a year ago? Not me, that’s for sure. But non-essential shops have opened in England and Wales, so hopefully there is now light at the end of the tunnel, and a return to some sort of normalcy–and, more importantly, live music! – shouldn’t be too far ahead of us.With the absence of live music, though, it’s been the records that have kept me–and I’m sure many others reading this magazine – sane throughout this past 12-months, and this issue we’ve taken a deep dive into the making…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021FANTASTIC PLASTIC!Now into its thirteenth year, Record Store Day this year takes place on Saturday June 12 and Saturday July 17.As this issue went to press, non-essential shops in England and Wales were enjoying their first day of being allowed to open following this year’s period of lockdown, and queues were forming outside many retail outlets. Record shops around the country could therefore be seeing more people than in previous years coming out to shop on the two Record Store Days.As usual, lots of exciting, exclusive, super-collectable goodies will be made available on a first-come first-served basis, and in keeping with tradition there will be something to suit all tastes. The website Recordstoreday.co.uk carries a list of participating stores and a full list of domestic releases.Among this year’s goodies, AC/DC release…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021RIPAlan CartwrightOctober 10, 1945 – March 4, 2021Londoner Alan Cartwright joined Procol Harum in 1971, and was with the band for five years, playing bass on four albums including Live With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The 75-year-old died of cancer.“Alan was a very solid, musical and reliable bass player, and a good bloke who gave his best both in the studio and on tour,” said Procol Harum singer/pianist Gary Brooker.James MacGawDied March 8, 2021Magma have paid tribute to their former guitarist who has lost a battle with cancer. MacGaw was part of the French progressive group’s live lineup but retired from performing in 2015. “You were ‘a child of Magma’, you found your place with us, naturally,” wrote vocalist Stella Vander, the wife of band leader Christian Vander. “Magma lost…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021RIPthe DiRT RIP Thank you and good night. Alan Cartwright October 10, 1945 – March 4, 2021 Londoner Alan Cartwright joined Procol Harum in 1971, and was with the band for five years, playing bass on four albums including Live With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The 75-year-old died of cancer. “Alan was a very solid, musical and reliable bass player, and a good bloke who gave his best both in the studio and on tour,” said Procol Harum singer/pianist Gary Brooker. James MacGaw Died March 8, 2021 Magma have paid tribute to their former guitarist who has lost a battle with cancer. MacGaw was part of the French progressive group’s live lineup but retired from performing in 2015. “You were ‘a child of Magma’, you found your place with us,…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Reg The Lightning?IN A BIZARRE PAIRING, Elton John and Metallica have been collaborating in secret. Sir Elton broke the news via his Apple Music show Rocket Hour, saying: “I’ve just done something with Metallica, during this lockdown period… I haven’t been doing any Elton stuff, but I’ve been doing great stuff with other people.” No further details are available, but, frankly, the mind boggles.In related news, claims suggest that Metallica almost decided to bury their 2004 documentary Some Kind Of Monster. According to its co-director Joe Berlinger, the band watched a preview viewing in stony silence, and initially hated what they saw so much that they debated locking it away forever so that no one else would ever lay eyes on it. The film chronicles the troubled gestation of the ill-fated St…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Trucker DiabloOVER THE PAST 13 years and four previous albums, Trucker Diablo have never held back on delivering bullish, anthemic music that gets right in your face.The Northern Irish foursome have now taken this a stage further on new album Tail End Of A Hurricane. Tom Harte (vocals/lead guitar), Simon Haddock (rhythm guitar), Jim McGurk (bass) and Terry Crawford (drums) still have the big riffs and huge choruses, but are now more diverse than ever. Harte explains the new Diabolical philosophy.The new album veers from the punky pessimism of Insects to the feelgood attitude of Rock Kids Of The 80s. Did you set out to be so wide ranging?Not really. We never had a plan to do this. It’s the way everything fell into place. But that’s great, because there’s something…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021BURIED TREASUREFLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BANDAnywhere. Philips, Japan, 1970. £1,800 (if complete with Obi, £900 without)Flower Travellin’ Band are undoubtedly the most commonly known band from the Japanese underground rock scene of the early 70s. Most members had paid their dues in various bands as part of the Group Sounds (GS) explosion of the mid-to-late 60s. Although strongly influenced by Western hard rock, psychedelic music and progressive sounds, Flower Travellin’ Band also had a unique, traditional Japanese-style ambience to their sound, which became more evident on 1971’s highly regarded follow-up, Satori.Housed in the iconic Easy Rider-in-the-nude sleeve (used by Julian Cope as the front cover image for his excellent book Japrocksampler), Anywhere is a prized item among collectors, particularly if complete with the all-important OBI strip.‘Japanese underground rock from the early 70s… So…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Trucker DiabloWELCOME BACK Trucker Diablo With lyrics that are “social commentaries on the times we live in”, don’t expect songs about beer and girls. GEEZER BUTLER: KEVIN NIXON OVER THE PAST 13 years and four previous albums, Trucker Diablo have never held back on delivering bullish, anthemic music that gets right in your face. The Northern Irish foursome have now taken this a stage further on new album Tail End Of A Hurricane. Tom Harte (vocals/lead guitar), Simon Haddock (rhythm guitar), Jim McGurk (bass) and Terry Crawford (drums) still have the big riffs and huge choruses, but are now more diverse than ever. Harte explains the new Diabolical philosophy. The new album veers from the punky pessimism of Insects to the feelgood attitude of Rock Kids Of The 80s. Did you…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Otis Redding (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The BayOtis Redding was big news by the summer of 1967. Having spent most of his career performing in black clubs, his breakout appearance at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival that year introduced mainstream America to soul music’s most electrifying new star. All that was missing was a major hit.After Monterey, Redding busied himself on the road with his backing band, the Bar-Kays. In August a week’s residency at San Francisco’s Basin St. West finally afforded him some time to write.Accepting promoter Bill Graham’s offer of his houseboat in nearby Sausalito, Redding spent his days idly gazing out at the water, guitar in hand, watching the ferries roll by. Soon he had the first lines of a song: ‘Sittin’ in the morning sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes.’During…6 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Dirty HoneyA YEAR AGO, an unsigned Los Angeles band sprawled on a downtown fire escape for a photoshoot that accompanied a High Hopes piece in Classic Rock. Having scanned the horizon for rock’s next generation of giants, they decided to take the job on themselves. Back then, Dirty Honey’s yardsticks by which to judge success – Aerosmith, Zeppelin, AC/DC – seemed to doom them to disappointment. But while they’re still operating without a record label, the hooky strut of this year’s self-titled debut album suggests the stadium league might soon have to make a little room. Vocalist Marc LaBelle and guitarist John Notto give us their view from the fast lane.Dirty Honey are all about the spit, not the polish.From the ragged glory of their debut album to the happy accidents…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021TAKING LIFE BY THE HORNSIn retrospect, it’s easy to pull at the threads of The Beatles’ studiously scrutinised timeline and examine the source of their unraveling; to point fingers at the capricious actions of each member who may have abdicated (albeit temporarily) along the way, and to speculate on the heroes and villains of their illustrious story. But to the outside world at the time, which was largely unaware of the degree to which contempt had risen within the group, the ending of The Beatles was defined on April 9, 1970, when Paul McCartney announced – via a press release intended to promote his debut solo album, McCartney – that he had no intention of continuing to work with the group.“Personal differences, business differences, musical differences” were his reasons for the break, he wrote,“but…20 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ON THE WINGS OF A DOVEIt’s September 1980. From the deck of the Pacific Palisades home that Stevie Nicks was sharing with her new boyfriend, producer Jimmy Iovine, you could hear the hypnotic push and pull of the ocean. Inside, among the tropical plants, Persian rugs and paintings of dragons and gypsies, there was the even more alluring sound of three siren voices dovetailing in perfect harmony. Stevie and Lori Perry and Sharon Celani, her two closest friends, would spend hours around the upright piano, singing everything from old country and western covers to Stevie’s new songs. It was here that the seeds took root for Bella Donna, the breakout solo record that forever changed both the dynamic in Fleetwood Mac and Nicks’s life as an artist.Exhausted from the previous two years of high-stakes drama…14 min
Classic Rock|June 2021THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MYLES KENNEDYTHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MYLES KENNEDY Always be yourself. Heaven is “right now, this moment”. Hard work takes you to another realm. We all crave the truth. Later-life success is good… These are just some of the things that shape his world view. Interview: Polly Glass Portrait: Chuck Brueckmann The sound of Mozart bursts into the background as we catch up with Myles Kennedy over Zoom in the run-up to the release of his second solo record. “He’s a little spitfire!” Kennedy says from behind stylish glasses, glancing back at the closed door through which Mozart, the family shih-tzu, can be heard barking. Born in Boston and raised in Spokane, Washington (where he resides today), Myles Kennedy has quietly become rock’s voice to beat. He began as a guitar teacher,…13 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The Hot ListIt’s now been more than a year since we first took our office laptops home, and the world is still deep in weirdsville. We’re still keeping our distance, masking up and asking each other questions like: “Are you going to have the vaccine?” as a matter of course. The prospect of foreign holidays this summer hangs in the balance. Some tours and festivals remain cancelled or postponed.And yet as this issue was going to press it looked like there might be (whisper it) light at the end of the tunnel. Pubs and restaurants began serving outdoor punters. Shops and hairdressers reopened. More bands were announced for festivals like Bloodstock and Steelhouse. Talk of UK tours, particularly for homegrown bands, began to tentatively brew… all while the proverbial soil of rock’n’roll,…7 min
Classic Rock|June 2021CAN YOU SEE ME?CAN YOU SEE ME? The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album, Are You Experienced, was pieced together over six frantic months in London. A future classic and a shop window for his genius, it put Jimi on the path to superstardom. Words: David Sinclair SHUTTERSTOCK Are You Experienced is one of the great albums of all time. Over the course of the original UK version’s 11 songs, as well as the three singles and B-sides which preceded it, Jimi Hendrix – the man whose vision and talent both powered it and set it apart from everything else – integrated and manipulated guitar chords, riffs, solos and myriad effects in ways that revolutionised the sound, style and substance of popular music. Less fulsomely acknowledged are Hendrix’s skills as a singer and songwriter,…12 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Royal BloodTyphoons WARNER BROSDisco devastation from Brighton’s mightiest blues-rockers.For decades, anguished blues rock has been a musical gold standard. No matter what scenes, trends and fripperies come and go, there will always be solid currency and credibility in roaring your troubles through a hairy throat to a strutting riff that’s only recently cooled from its magma form. Of the many bands – mostly duos – that plugged in to the source in the wake of The White Stripes, Brighton’s Royal Blood were among the most intriguing, having the ballast of Muse, the snarl of Queens Of The Stone Age and wrenching an entire Zeppelin’s worth of noise from just drum kit and bass guitar on 2014’s self-titled debut. The follow-up, 2017’s How Did We Get So Dark?, doubled down on their…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: MELODIC ROCKRobbie LaBlancDouble Trouble ESCAPE MUSICRobbie LaBlanc has had a fascinating career. In and out of several early bands, the singer once posted a demo through the letter box of producer Arif Mardin, and was thrilled to be offered an audition for Atlantic Records. After it didn’t pan out, LaBlanc quit the entertainment world.Eventually Frontiers Records revived his fortunes, first via the project Blanc Faces and then with Find Me, before he returned as part of East Temple Avenue. In an interview eight years ago, he marvelled: “I’m not even in the music business any more. I make a living from selling wine.”The songs on this album were written by FM’s Steve Overland and prolific Swedish guitarist Tommy Denander (Alice Cooper, Jimi Jamison and more), who also handled the production. From…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: BLUESWilliam The ConquerorMaverick Thinker CHRYSALISFive years ago, as a modestly successful singer-songwriter, Ruarri Joseph sat outside a Scottish pub, stared at his own gig poster and “heard my younger self snigg*ring at me, really disappointed at what I’d become”. The three-piece band born from that flash of clarity has proved more than a rebound, and this third album is something to hear.Joseph is an odd fish as a frontman, more spoken-word drawler than singer as such, on minimal moments like Fiction and Suddenly Scared (24 Storeys High). Yet it works brilliantly, whether that conversational vocal is threading through the robotic verse of wiggy indie-blues The Deep End or Alive At Last’s messy jangle of a chorus. On Wake Up and Reasons he warms up nicely, leading a pair of crackling…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: SLEAZEThe DevilsBeast Must Regret Nothing GOODFELLASNaples’ glamorous, murderous swamppunk duo The Devils return with their third full-length dose of dirty, gnarly, sex-drenched rock’n’roll. Switchblade Erika’s drums lurch around drunkenly as she either purrs suggestively or howls with red-clawed intensity. Gianni Blacula’s guitar is a blunt-force instrument of corrosive scuzz, like the Cramps’ Poison Ivy dragged through mud and razor wire. It’s primitive but big, and Beast Must Regret Nothing is clearly their most ambitious album yet. At times they give off a heady White Stripes aura, particularly on the catchy, raucous foot-stomper Time Is Gonna Kill Me and roaring anti-anthem Life Is A Bitch. Singles I Appeared To The Madonna and Real Man both drip with venom and palpable sleaze, but The Devils are at their best at their most…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: BLUESREVIEWS ROUND-UP: BLUES By Henry Yates William The Conqueror Maverick ThinkerCHRYSALIS Five years ago, as a modestly successful singer-songwriter, Ruarri Joseph sat outside a Scottish pub, stared at his own gig poster and “heard my younger self snigg*ring at me, really disappointed at what I’d become”. The three-piece band born from that flash of clarity has proved more than a rebound, and this third album is something to hear. Joseph is an odd fish as a frontman, more spoken-word drawler than singer as such, on minimal moments like Fiction and Suddenly Scared (24 Storeys High). Yet it works brilliantly, whether that conversational vocal is threading through the robotic verse of wiggy indie-blues The Deep End or Alive At Last’s messy jangle of a chorus. On Wake Up and Reasons he…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: SLEAZEREVIEWS ROUND-UP: SLEAZE By Sleazegrinder JESSICA SQUILLANTE/PRESS The Devils Beast Must Regret NothingGOODFELLAS Naples’ glamorous, murderous swamppunk duo The Devils return with their third full-length dose of dirty, gnarly, sex-drenched rock’n’roll. Switchblade Erika’s drums lurch around drunkenly as she either purrs suggestively or howls with red-clawed intensity. Gianni Blacula’s guitar is a blunt-force instrument of corrosive scuzz, like the Cramps’ Poison Ivy dragged through mud and razor wire. It’s primitive but big, and Beast Must Regret Nothing is clearly their most ambitious album yet. At times they give off a heady White Stripes aura, particularly on the catchy, raucous foot-stomper Time Is Gonna Kill Me and roaring anti-anthem Life Is A Bitch. Singles I Appeared To The Madonna and Real Man both drip with venom and palpable sleaze, but The…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Jethro TullA CHRYSALISOne original album lovingly expanded to three CDs and three DVDs.By the time of 1980’s A, Jethro Tull’s remarkable run of globe-straddling success had peaked. It was their first album not to make the US Top 20 since their 1968 debut, and in a Britain dazzled by Tubeway Army and The Pretenders, Tull were suddenly the oldest of hats.A wasn’t even supposed to be a Jethro Tull album. Instead, Ian Anderson brought in keyboards/electronic violin virtuoso Eddie Jobson (Curved Air, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa), Jobson’s pal Mark Craney, formerly Tommy Bolin’s drummer, and Tull’s Martin Barre and Dave Pegg for a solo album. To Anderson’s lasting regret, his label Chrysalis insisted it being credited to the mothership.This whopping box features five extra tracks; a 1980 Los Angeles show remixed…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Foo FightersOn January 8, 1995, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder broadcast two tracks, one a cover of an Angry Samoans song, from a demo tape by a new rock band, on his Self Pollution Radio show. This was the world’s first exposure to Foo Fighters, a new group led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.In truth, at the point at which these songs were recorded, just three months earlier, there was no band; Grohl had played every riff, pounded every beat and sung every note on his new project’s demo tape himself. On February 19, 1995, Foo Fighters – now including ex-Germs guitarist Pat Smear and the former Sunny Day Real Estate rhythm section of bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith – took their first faltering steps in (semi-) public,…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Superior Reputation cementingThere Is Nothing Left To LoseROSWELL/RCA, 1999With Grohl having fired guitarist Franz Stahl, for album number three the Foos worked as a trio. While not wholly devoid of raucous riff-rock, the set largely drew influence from mid-70s soft rock, with songs such the country-tinged Ain’t It The Life and the wistful Aurora conjuring visions of fireside summer camp bonding sessions. “It was the most relaxed and simple and perfect recording session I’ve ever been in in my life,” Grohl later claimed. “I honestly think it’s my favourite Foo Fighters record… It’s such a relaxed, honest, organic and real album.”Wasting LightROSWELL/RCA, 2011Recorded by Butch Vig and featuring a guest spot from Krist Novoselic, the album reunited three of the four men who made Nevermind. Wasting Light is no Nevermind, nor was…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021This month’s contributorsSIMON HARPERMaking his Classic Rock debut this month is Simon Harper, founder of Clash magazine and lifelong Beatles fan. Since interviewing Paul McCartney for a Clash cover story in 2007, Simon has since worked on a number of projects with the ex-Beatle, and needed no convincing to write this month’s golden-anniversary appreciation of his favourite Macca album, Ram (p26).DAVE LINGAs usual, we managed to keep CR’s news editor busy this issue. Not only did he embark on a deep dive into Iron Maiden’s debut album, with input from Paul Di’Anno and Derek Stratton (page 52), he also found time to have a chat with Kiss’s Paul Stanley about his brand new solo album (page 22). Oh, and Dave also figured out how he’s going to spend all his cash on…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021This month’s contributorsThis month’s contributors SIMON HARPER Making his Classic Rock debut this month is Simon Harper, founder of Clash magazine and lifelong Beatles fan. Since interviewing Paul McCartney for a Clash cover story in 2007, Simon has since worked on a number of projects with the ex-Beatle, and needed no convincing to write this month’s golden-anniversary appreciation of his favourite Macca album, Ram (p26). DAVE LING As usual, we managed to keep CR’s news editor busy this issue. Not only did he embark on a deep dive into Iron Maiden’s debut album, with input from Paul Di’Anno and Derek Stratton (page 52), he also found time to have a chat with Kiss’s Paul Stanley about his brand new solo album (page 22). Oh, and Dave also figured out how he’s going…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Lou OttensTHE DUTCH ENGINEER credited with the invention of the audio tape cassette has died at the age of 94. No cause has so far been reported.In 1963, Lou Ottens changed the course of music with his easily affordable and portable way to capture and recreate sound. An estimated 100 billion tapes have been sold. Ottens also played a key role in the development of the compact disc during the late 70s.The arrival of the CD format would all but wipe out the usage of cassettes, but during the 80s and 90s many bands owed their careers to the tape-trading network. Within the industry there was also considerable paranoia over cassettes and for a while, at the insistence of the British Phonographic Industry, the sleeves of many vinyl albums released in…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Edward Van Halen “disrespected”WOLFGANG VAN HALEN says he was “hurt” by an all-too-short tribute to his late father, Edward Van Halen, during the In Memoriam segment of the recent Grammy Awards. The televised show featured a short clip of EVH performing Eruption. The Van Halen guitarist passed away at the age of 65 last October.Wolfgang, who toured as a bassist with Van Halen from 2006 to 2020, wrote on Instagram: “The Grammys asked me to play Eruption for them and I declined. Nobody could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself. I didn’t realise that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others that we had lost.”He added: “What hurt the most was that he wasn’t even mentioned when…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Journey/Valory/Smith Feud OverJOURNEY HAVE REACHED an “amicable settlement” with their former long-time bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith. In March 2020, guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player Jonathan Cain fired the pair, and filed a $10 million lawsuit that accused them of trying to seize control of the band’s name. In response, Valory despatched his own legal papers, calling the allegations “baseless”.Now it seems the unpleasantness has been laid to rest. A statement released by their management, Q Prime, reads: “The members of Journey who were parties to a recent lawsuit are pleased to announce that they have resolved their differences and reached an amicable settlement agreement. Schon and Cain acknowledge the valuable contributions that both Valory and Smith made to the music and the legacy of Journey. Valory and Smith…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Lou OttensLou Ottens June 21, 1926 – March 6, 2021 LOU OTTENS: GETTY; MALCOLM CECIL: AVALON THE DUTCH ENGINEER credited with the invention of the audio tape cassette has died at the age of 94. No cause has so far been reported. In 1963, Lou Ottens changed the course of music with his easily affordable and portable way to capture and recreate sound. An estimated 100 billion tapes have been sold. Ottens also played a key role in the development of the compact disc during the late 70s. The arrival of the CD format would all but wipe out the usage of cassettes, but during the 80s and 90s many bands owed their careers to the tape-trading network. Within the industry there was also considerable paranoia over cassettes and for a…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Twisted Illusion“In twenty years’ time I want a hundred albums in my discography.”“I DON’T SEE us as a metal band or a rock band, even a prog-rock band,” insists Matt Jones, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, leader and self-confessed “contrarian” of the Mancunian outfit Twisted Illusion. “I like poppy songs. I want to be in a band that can sound like Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac one minute and the next be playing a thirty-minute prog epic.”Despite forming eight years ago, in mainstream terms Twisted Illusion (completed by guitarist/vocalist Saxon Davids, drummer Phil Shacklady, Andy Gotteri on keys and Chris Jones on bass) have flown beneath the radar, racking up 300 gigs and an appearance at Bloodstock, but as Jones points out proudly: “So far we haven’t really been too concerned about the industry. Twisted…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The DatsunsWHEN THEY SHOT on to the scene 20 years ago with their self-titled debut album, bristling with mammoth anthems, punk rock swagger and a dose of psychedelic fuzz, The Datsuns were hailed as the saviours of rock. Five more albums followed, and then things went quiet – all four members were living in different countries, and their last album was released seven years ago.But just when we thought they were finished, they’ve fired back with killer seventh album Eye To Eye. Bassist and singer Dolf de Borst tells us why the return has taken so long.What’s been going on with The Datsuns during the past seven years?The last record was called Deep Sleep, which was apt because we went into a bit of a hiatus [laughs]. We started making this…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021L.A. Edwards“Authentic music is never really in the mainstream, but it never fully goes away either.”Family is a big deal for Luke Edwards. One of seven siblings, he’s been making music with his brother Jay, the keyboard player in his band, since he was seven years old. Little brother Jerry is their drummer, and themes of family, hard work and growing up in a small town all run through their new album Blessings From Home Vol 1, a warm, beautiful slice of Americana that showcases the frontman’s skill for capturing vivid snapshots of life. It’s one that’s been with him since he wrote his first song, as a child, as a Mother’s Day gift.“It was called Meatloaf, Corn and Potatoes,” he says. “It was about our mom’s cooking and that was…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The DatsunsWELCOME BACK The Datsuns The Kiwi rockers on the demons, psychedelia and “word salads” behind their first album in seven years. BILLY GIBBONS: WILL IRELAND WHEN THEY SHOT on to the scene 20 years ago with their self-titled debut album, bristling with mammoth anthems, punk rock swagger and a dose of psychedelic fuzz, The Datsuns were hailed as the saviours of rock. Five more albums followed, and then things went quiet – all four members were living in different countries, and their last album was released seven years ago. But just when we thought they were finished, they’ve fired back with killer seventh album Eye To Eye. Bassist and singer Dolf de Borst tells us why the return has taken so long. What’s been going on with The Datsuns during…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Otis Redding (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The BayTHE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS Otis Redding (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay Written by Redding and his guitarist/producer Steve Cropper, it became one of the Stax label’s enduring songs. Sadly Redding died in a plane crash before he was able to enjoy its success. Words: Rob Hughes Otis Redding was big news by the summer of 1967. Having spent most of his career performing in black clubs, his breakout appearance at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival that year introduced mainstream America to soul music’s most electrifying new star. All that was missing was a major hit. After Monterey, Redding busied himself on the road with his backing band, the Bar-Kays. In August a week’s residency at San Francisco’s Basin St. West finally afforded him some time to…6 min
Classic Rock|June 2021"HE SEEMA TO HAVE GONE STRANGE!"Released on May 17, 1971, Ram was Paul McCartney’s second solo album and his first collaboration with wife Linda. McCartney took early influences such as Keith West’s Excerpt From A Teenage Opera and The Who’s Tommy and rolled with 12 experimental, light-hearted, I’m-in-love-with-Linda tracks, with styles ranging from blues to Buddy Holly, folk to Beach Boys psych-pop, ballads to prog. With ukuleles. And no radio singles. The critics hated it, and his former bandmates joined in, even Ringo stating in Melody Maker that Macca “seems to have gone strange…” But Ram grew in stature over the years and has had influence, particularly on The Beatles’ second-gen fans-turned-musicians. Here’s CR’s pick of the records that join Ram’s odd squad.HARRY NILSSONNilsson Schmilsson (1971)There was much-reported mutual admiration between Harry and Paul, and…6 min
Classic Rock|June 2021THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MYLES KENNEDYThe sound of Mozart bursts into the background as we catch up with Myles Kennedy over Zoom in the run-up to the release of his second solo record.“He’s a little spitfire!” Kennedy says from behind stylish glasses, glancing back at the closed door through which Mozart, the family shih-tzu, can be heard barking.Born in Boston and raised in Spokane, Washington (where he resides today), Myles Kennedy has quietly become rock’s voice to beat. He began as a guitar teacher, then moved on to globe-trotting success with Alter Bridge, singing for Slash and auditioning for Led Zeppelin, among other things, all the while retaining a reputation as one of the most down-to-earth guys in the business.His debut solo album of 2018, Year Of The Tiger, was a largely acoustic-based ode to…13 min
Classic Rock|June 2021RUNNINF UP THAT HILLThe notion of the rock renegade who rises from the gutter to touch the stars is so appealing that it’s become a cliché. And given the number of artists who like to embellish their humble backstory to fit the archetype of the dues-paying, struggling artist, it’s easy to be sceptical when one comes along.You can leave your cynicism at the door when introduced to Ayron Jones. Because he hasn’t had to deal with just challenging early-life events such as his parents dying and spending time in foster care, as well as the many disadvantages that come from simply having black skin in urban America, but as a musician he’s had to battle with “constant” preconceptions based on racially related boundaries we place on music.But a black kid playing hard rock?…5 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ON THE WINGS OF A DOVEON THE WINGS OF A DOVE Forty years ago, Stevie Nicks stepped out from the chaos and control of Fleetwood Mac with a hit-laden debut solo album that showed she could fly just as high on her own. Words: Bill DeMain NEIL ZLOZOWER/ATLASICONS.COM It’s September 1980. From the deck of the Pacific Palisades home that Stevie Nicks was sharing with her new boyfriend, producer Jimmy Iovine, you could hear the hypnotic push and pull of the ocean. Inside, among the tropical plants, Persian rugs and paintings of dragons and gypsies, there was the even more alluring sound of three siren voices dovetailing in perfect harmony. Stevie and Lori Perry and Sharon Celani, her two closest friends, would spend hours around the upright piano, singing everything from old country and western…14 min
Classic Rock|June 2021MAIDEN VOYAGEMAIDEN VOYAGE Former band members Paul Di’Anno and Dennis Stratton look back at the early days of Iron Maiden and the self-titled debut album that changed the face of heavy metal. Words: Dave Ling ALAMY As we know them today, Iron Maiden are six supremely successful rock stars who, armed with an expansive catalogue of music, travel the world on a jet often piloted by their lead singer, and challenge a rival American band called Metallica for the title of the biggest heavy music act in the world. Forty-one years ago it was very different. In January 1980, when bassist Steve Harris and the rest of Maiden arrived at London’s Kingsway Studios to hammer down tracks in the form of a debut album, he was 23 years old. As the…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021NUMBERS OF THE BEASTNUMBERS OF THE BEAST A look at Iron Maiden, track by track. GETTY PROWLER Steve Harris’s disdain for punk rock is well known, although the genre’s raw excitement is evident throughout Iron Maiden’s debut. Starting off with a fierce staccato riff, opening track Prowler is an effective introduction for what follows. Although the record’s DIY production is generally considered something of a handicap, it serves to enforce the notion that this was a band doing something a little bit differently to the rest. The minute-long instrumental section that begins at 1.24 is quite extraordinary, hinting at a love of progressive rock that Harris would later own up to. And, for better or worse, the lyrics, which appear to celebrate a stalker – ‘Well, you see me crawling through the bushes…4 min
Classic Rock|June 2021This Or That?Beatles or Stones?Beatles, in a heartbeat.AC/DC or Zeppelin?Zeppelin.Hendrix or Page?Hendrix. They’re obviously both incredible, but Jimmy Page can be really sloppy.Green or Clapton?Clapton – up until 1970.60s or 70s music?Today I’ll say sixties, because the sun is shining.Gibson or Fender?Gibson. I have a ’71 SG with P90s.Stadium or sweaty club?Sweaty club, for playing and being a punter.Cigarettes or alcohol?Alcohol. I mean, both. But I could live without cigarettes.Fine wine or cold beer?Fine wine. But not very fine. If it’s over six quid then it must be good.Piercings or tattoos?I don’t have either.Love or money?I have a song called f*ck Love, but I’m in a very happy relationship now, so love.Tour bus or plane?Tour bus. Because you can have a party on a tour bus, and you can’t on a public…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The Hot ListThe Hot List THE 12 ESSENTIAL NEW ROCK TRACKS YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS MONTH AND THE BANDS TO HAVE ON YOUR RADAR JUSTIN BORUCKI/PRESS It’s now been more than a year since we first took our office laptops home, and the world is still deep in weirdsville. We’re still keeping our distance, masking up and asking each other questions like: “Are you going to have the vaccine?” as a matter of course. The prospect of foreign holidays this summer hangs in the balance. Some tours and festivals remain cancelled or postponed. And yet as this issue was going to press it looked like there might be (whisper it) light at the end of the tunnel. Pubs and restaurants began serving outdoor punters. Shops and hairdressers reopened. More bands were…7 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Electric BoysUps!de Down MIGHTY MUSICA metal carpet ride from the Swedes, sure, just not a funky one.A year ago, Electric Boys’ enduring frontman and part-time Hanoi Rocks guitarist Conny Bloom released a fun but confounding (to most of us) solo album in his native Swedish. The music was mostly 60s-influenced pop with some jazzy moments. It did not sound at all like the rubbery, bass-popping, party-hearty glam of his main band’s late-80s Funk O Metal Carpet Ride heyday, or even their bluesy, 70s-inspired 2018 album Ghost Ward Diaries. So who knows where the Boys would go next, particularly during these exceedingly weird times.Ups!de Down obviously seemed like the most logical choice. Bloom and original bassist Andy Christell are joined this time by new guitarist Slim Thomander and fill-in drummer Jolle Atlagic,…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Gary MooreHow Blue Can You Get PROVOGUEBlue is still the colour.Despite buying Peter Green’s legendary Les Paul as a precocious teenager in Skid Row in the late 60s, it took Gary Moore another 20 years to ‘come out’ as a blues guitarist. During that time he built up a formidable reputation as a rock/metal axeman, much of it within his rumbustious relationship (to put it mildly) with Phil Lynott. But it left him dissatisfied – “like a dog chasing his tail”, as he put it.He finally made the career change with 1990’s well-received Still Got The Blues and never looked back, although his commercial minders managed to eek a few more hard rock throwbacks out of him. Moore released a dozen or so fine blues albums before his premature death in…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Myles KennedyTHE HARD STUFF ALBUMS Myles Kennedy CHUCK BRUECKMANN/PRESS The Ideas Of MarchNAPALM Alter Bridge frontman brings hope amid banana bread and glitchy Zoom meetings. Get Along berates the state of our apathetic times with a hefty dollop of Kennedy’s blistering guitar playing, which also underpins much of A Thousand Words. In Stride, inspired by the hoarding of toilet roll and pasta, aggressively encourages us to collectively calm down: ‘Cool down, baby, you know you’re gonna burn out in time/Sometimes you gotta let go and just open your eyes.’ In a world where caution is the by-word as we begin blinking blearily into normal life once again, this core message delivered through the power of slide guitar can serve as a daily mantra. A similar insouciance weaves through Moonshot and Wanderlust…8 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The Mars VoltaLa Realidad De Los Sueños CLOUDS HILLA completist’s dream is realised as long-lost recordings finally see the light of day.When Omar Rodriguez-Lopéz and Cedric Bixler-Zavala diverged from the much-loved post-hardcore band At The Drive-In, they went on a two-man mission to out-prog the proggiest proggers in progland with The Mars Volta, an outfit designed to give life to their unique inner visions through often baffling tricks of the guitar and stretched-to-the-limit human voice. It’s not for nothing that this box’s title translates as ‘the reality of dreams’.Starting with debut EP Tremulant and all six of their albums this weighty, 18-LP box set has been remastered specifically for vinyl, is limited to 5,000 copies and is not available on any other format. It also includes a photo-book and a badge –…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Essential ClassicsThe Colour And The ShapeROSWELL, 1997By the time this album was completed, both guitarist Pat Smear and drummer William Goldsmith had tendered their resignations, and Grohl had been served divorce papers by his first wife. A survivor’s manual penned by a man watching his world crumble beneath his feet, it’s the story of a soul in limbo. “My life was f*cking going down the toilet,” he recalled. But the music would be his guide out of the darkness. Everlong, Monkey Wrench and My Hero are the big hitters here, but this is the Foo Fighters’ most complete and cohesive artistic statement and their finest hour.Foo FightersROSWELL/CAPITOL, 1995Following Kurt Cobain’s suicide there were times when Grohl thought he might never play music again. Music had always offered the livewire Virginian escapism,…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021The Mars VoltaREVIEWS The Mars Volta La Realidad De Los SueñosCLOUDS HILL A completist’s dream is realised as long-lost recordings finally see the light of day. When Omar Rodriguez-Lopéz and Cedric Bixler-Zavala diverged from the much-loved post-hardcore band At The Drive-In, they went on a two-man mission to out-prog the proggiest proggers in progland with The Mars Volta, an outfit designed to give life to their unique inner visions through often baffling tricks of the guitar and stretched-to-the-limit human voice. It’s not for nothing that this box’s title translates as ‘the reality of dreams’. Starting with debut EP Tremulant and all six of their albums this weighty, 18-LP box set has been remastered specifically for vinyl, is limited to 5,000 copies and is not available on any other format. It also includes…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021AvoidSonic HighwaysROSWELL/RCA, 2014‘Avoid’ is an overly harsh instruction for an album that is, at worst, a 5/10, but Sonic Highways is much easier to admire than to adore. A companion piece to the HBO TV series of the same name, Grohl’s ‘love letter to the history of American music’, the album was compromised due to the concept: that each of its eight tracks would be written and recorded in a different US city, inspired by the history and musical heritage of its birthplace. A brilliant idea for a documentary, and one beautifully executed. On record the reverential nature of the songs is undeniably heartfelt, but it’s all a bit earnest and dull.…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Jethro TullREVIEWS Jethro Tull ACHRYSALIS One original album lovingly expanded to three CDs and three DVDs. By the time of 1980’s A, Jethro Tull’s remarkable run of globe-straddling success had peaked. It was their first album not to make the US Top 20 since their 1968 debut, and in a Britain dazzled by Tubeway Army and The Pretenders, Tull were suddenly the oldest of hats. A wasn’t even supposed to be a Jethro Tull album. Instead, Ian Anderson brought in keyboards/electronic violin virtuoso Eddie Jobson (Curved Air, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa), Jobson’s pal Mark Craney, formerly Tommy Bolin’s drummer, and Tull’s Martin Barre and Dave Pegg for a solo album. To Anderson’s lasting regret, his label Chrysalis insisted it being credited to the mothership. This whopping box features five extra tracks;…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Foo FightersTHE HARD STUFF BUYER’S GUIDE Foo Fighters Dave Grohl took his one-man project to one of the world’s most commercially successful bands while retaining credibility. DANNY CLINCH/PRESS On January 8, 1995, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder broadcast two tracks, one a cover of an Angry Samoans song, from a demo tape by a new rock band, on his Self Pollution Radio show. This was the world’s first exposure to Foo Fighters, a new group led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. In truth, at the point at which these songs were recorded, just three months earlier, there was no band; Grohl had played every riff, pounded every beat and sung every note on his new project’s demo tape himself. On February 19, 1995, Foo Fighters – now including ex-Germs guitarist…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021StonerLivestreamFormer Kyuss alumni supergroup’s desert show debut.In the desert, no one can lock you down. And one of the better ideas of the past 12 months has been a series of shows staged out where social distancing is the natural order of things.This, the last of five Live In The Mojave Desert sets, features the new, Ronseal-named trio Stoner, featuring Kyuss alumni Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri. Legend has it that the original stoner scene grew out of ‘generator parties’ way out in the California wilderness. Some 30 years on, those two, along with drummer Ryan Güt, look like a dusty grit has solidified in their bones as they thunder through a seven-song set.The scenery is, of course, stunning, but the music is what brings it to life as the…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021WELCOMEWELCOME On the day that I’m typing this, the UK seems to be making its way – slowly and tentatively – out of lockdown. Who would have thought we would still be working from our sofas when we first hauled the laptops home over a year ago? Not me, that’s for sure. But non-essential shops have opened in England and Wales, so hopefully there is now light at the end of the tunnel, and a return to some sort of normalcy–and, more importantly, live music! – shouldn’t be too far ahead of us. With the absence of live music, though, it’s been the records that have kept me–and I’m sure many others reading this magazine – sane throughout this past 12-months, and this issue we’ve taken a deep dive into…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021FANTASTIC PLASTIC!the DIRT INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROCKFOR MORE NEWS: WWW.CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM FANTASTIC PLASTIC! Record Store Day 2021 to go ahead despite covid uncertainty, and there are gems to pre-order. Now into its thirteenth year, Record Store Day this year takes place on Saturday June 12 and Saturday July 17. As this issue went to press, non-essential shops in England and Wales were enjoying their first day of being allowed to open following this year’s period of lockdown, and queues were forming outside many retail outlets. Record shops around the country could therefore be seeing more people than in previous years coming out to shop on the two Record Store Days. As usual, lots of exciting, exclusive, super-collectable goodies will be made available on a first-come first-served basis, and in keeping with…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Edward Van Halen “disrespected”Edward Van Halen “disrespected” Late guitar icon appears fleetingly in Grammy tribute. WOLFGANG VAN HALEN says he was “hurt” by an all-too-short tribute to his late father, Edward Van Halen, during the In Memoriam segment of the recent Grammy Awards. The televised show featured a short clip of EVH performing Eruption. The Van Halen guitarist passed away at the age of 65 last October. Wolfgang, who toured as a bassist with Van Halen from 2006 to 2020, wrote on Instagram: “The Grammys asked me to play Eruption for them and I declined. Nobody could have lived up to what my father did for music but himself. I didn’t realise that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others that we had…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Journey/Valory/Smith Feud OverJourney/Valory/Smith Feud Over “Amicable settlement” wraps up lengthy battle of writs. JOURNEY HAVE REACHED an “amicable settlement” with their former long-time bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith. In March 2020, guitarist Neal Schon and keyboard player Jonathan Cain fired the pair, and filed a $10 million lawsuit that accused them of trying to seize control of the band’s name. In response, Valory despatched his own legal papers, calling the allegations “baseless”. Now it seems the unpleasantness has been laid to rest. A statement released by their management, Q Prime, reads: “The members of Journey who were parties to a recent lawsuit are pleased to announce that they have resolved their differences and reached an amicable settlement agreement. Schon and Cain acknowledge the valuable contributions that both Valory and Smith…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Reg The Lightning?Reg The Lightning? Elton John and Metallica in mind-boggling team-up. IN A BIZARRE PAIRING, Elton John and Metallica have been collaborating in secret. Sir Elton broke the news via his Apple Music show Rocket Hour, saying: “I’ve just done something with Metallica, during this lockdown period… I haven’t been doing any Elton stuff, but I’ve been doing great stuff with other people.” No further details are available, but, frankly, the mind boggles. In related news, claims suggest that Metallica almost decided to bury their 2004 documentary Some Kind Of Monster. According to its co-director Joe Berlinger, the band watched a preview viewing in stony silence, and initially hated what they saw so much that they debated locking it away forever so that no one else would ever lay eyes on…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Twisted Illusionthe DiRT HIGH HOPES Twisted Illusion Expect colossal prog epics and punchy pop rock notes with Manchester’s DIY contrarians. “In twenty years’ time I want a hundred albums in my discography.” “I DON’T SEE us as a metal band or a rock band, even a prog-rock band,” insists Matt Jones, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, leader and self-confessed “contrarian” of the Mancunian outfit Twisted Illusion. “I like poppy songs. I want to be in a band that can sound like Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac one minute and the next be playing a thirty-minute prog epic.” Despite forming eight years ago, in mainstream terms Twisted Illusion (completed by guitarist/vocalist Saxon Davids, drummer Phil Shacklady, Andy Gotteri on keys and Chris Jones on bass) have flown beneath the radar, racking up 300 gigs and an…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021BURIED TREASUREBURIED TREASURE Riches from the rock underground FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND Anywhere. Philips, Japan, 1970. £1,800 (if complete with Obi, £900 without) Flower Travellin’ Band are undoubtedly the most commonly known band from the Japanese underground rock scene of the early 70s. Most members had paid their dues in various bands as part of the Group Sounds (GS) explosion of the mid-to-late 60s. Although strongly influenced by Western hard rock, psychedelic music and progressive sounds, Flower Travellin’ Band also had a unique, traditional Japanese-style ambience to their sound, which became more evident on 1971’s highly regarded follow-up, Satori. Housed in the iconic Easy Rider-in-the-nude sleeve (used by Julian Cope as the front cover image for his excellent book Japrocksampler), Anywhere is a prized item among collectors, particularly if complete with the…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021L.A. Edwardsthe DiRT HIGH HOPES L.A. Edwards Meet the rising Americana crew with roots in farmyard brawls and a Heartbreaker on side. “Authentic music is never really in the mainstream, but it never fully goes away either.” Family is a big deal for Luke Edwards. One of seven siblings, he’s been making music with his brother Jay, the keyboard player in his band, since he was seven years old. Little brother Jerry is their drummer, and themes of family, hard work and growing up in a small town all run through their new album Blessings From Home Vol 1, a warm, beautiful slice of Americana that showcases the frontman’s skill for capturing vivid snapshots of life. It’s one that’s been with him since he wrote his first song, as a child,…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHINGTOO MANY PEOPLEAn unyielding opening salvo driven by a punchy rhythm track that embodies the spite that begot the song’s lyrics, which are aimed directly at John Lennon: ‘You took your lucky break, and broke it in two.’ A fiery guitar solo leads the track to a crashing climax.3 LEGSReportedly inspired by a drawing of a limbless dog made by his eight-year-old daughter Heather, this pleasing acoustic blues number seems to unveil itself as a further dig at The Beatles (‘I thought you was my friend,’ McCartney bemoans, ‘but you let me down/Put my heart around the bend’), although ironically is one Lennon later professed to liking.RAM ONA short and sweet moment of introspective contemplation, led by the gentle strumming of a ukulele. “I just think there’s more heart and…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Dirty Honey6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT…. Dirty Honey In a world over-sweetened with pop syrup, Dirty Honey tell stories from the darker side of Los Angeles. Words: Henry Yates DANIEL PRAKOPCYK/PRESS A YEAR AGO, an unsigned Los Angeles band sprawled on a downtown fire escape for a photoshoot that accompanied a High Hopes piece in Classic Rock. Having scanned the horizon for rock’s next generation of giants, they decided to take the job on themselves. Back then, Dirty Honey’s yardsticks by which to judge success – Aerosmith, Zeppelin, AC/DC – seemed to doom them to disappointment. But while they’re still operating without a record label, the hooky strut of this year’s self-titled debut album suggests the stadium league might soon have to make a little room. Vocalist Marc LaBelle…3 min
Classic Rock|June 2021TAKING LIFE BY THE HORNSTAKING LIFE BY THE HORNS On a remote Scottish farm in 1971, as he escaped the harrowing post-Beatles darkness that threatened to consume him, Paul McCartney created an album that would save his soul - even if it meant severing ties with John Lennon in the process. Fifty years on, this is the liberating story of his solo album Ram. Words: Simon Harper Photos: Linda McCartney In retrospect, it’s easy to pull at the threads of The Beatles’ studiously scrutinised timeline and examine the source of their unraveling; to point fingers at the capricious actions of each member who may have abdicated (albeit temporarily) along the way, and to speculate on the heroes and villains of their illustrious story. But to the outside world at the time, which was largely…20 min
Classic Rock|June 2021MAIDEN VOYAGEAs we know them today, Iron Maiden are six supremely successful rock stars who, armed with an expansive catalogue of music, travel the world on a jet often piloted by their lead singer, and challenge a rival American band called Metallica for the title of the biggest heavy music act in the world.Forty-one years ago it was very different. In January 1980, when bassist Steve Harris and the rest of Maiden arrived at London’s Kingsway Studios to hammer down tracks in the form of a debut album, he was 23 years old. As the band entered the 80s, their discography amounted to a solitary EP, the self-financed Soundhouse Tapes, with one of its tracks, Wrathchild, about to appear on the various-artists compilation album Metal For Muthas.Two previous attempts to formulate…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021NUMBERS OF THE BEASTPROWLERSteve Harris’s disdain for punk rock is well known, although the genre’s raw excitement is evident throughout Iron Maiden’s debut. Starting off with a fierce staccato riff, opening track Prowler is an effective introduction for what follows. Although the record’s DIY production is generally considered something of a handicap, it serves to enforce the notion that this was a band doing something a little bit differently to the rest. The minute-long instrumental section that begins at 1.24 is quite extraordinary, hinting at a love of progressive rock that Harris would later own up to. And, for better or worse, the lyrics, which appear to celebrate a stalker – ‘Well, you see me crawling through the bushes with it open wide… Can’t you believe your eyes? It’s a beauty, girl’ –…4 min
Classic Rock|June 2021RUNNINF UP THAT HILLRUNNINF UP THAT HILL Seattle guitar ace Ayron Jones is channelling a tough upbringing into a big, bad, grungy, bluesy rock noise, all the while battling racial stereotypes. Words: Johnny Sharp ALYSSE GAFKJEN/PRESS The notion of the rock renegade who rises from the gutter to touch the stars is so appealing that it’s become a cliché. And given the number of artists who like to embellish their humble backstory to fit the archetype of the dues-paying, struggling artist, it’s easy to be sceptical when one comes along. You can leave your cynicism at the door when introduced to Ayron Jones. Because he hasn’t had to deal with just challenging early-life events such as his parents dying and spending time in foster care, as well as the many disadvantages that come…5 min
Classic Rock|June 2021CAN YOU SEE ME?Are You Experienced is one of the great albums of all time. Over the course of the original UK version’s 11 songs, as well as the three singles and B-sides which preceded it, Jimi Hendrix – the man whose vision and talent both powered it and set it apart from everything else – integrated and manipulated guitar chords, riffs, solos and myriad effects in ways that revolutionised the sound, style and substance of popular music.Less fulsomely acknowledged are Hendrix’s skills as a singer and songwriter, who applied a ready wit and poetic imagination to words, melodies, and the rhythmic components of his compositions that was every bit as artful as his guitar playing. Nowadays, with the benefit of 50-plus years to study and digest the full panoply of Hendrix’s technical…12 min
Classic Rock|June 2021This Or That?This Or That? Purson mastermind-turned-solo artist Rosalie Cunningham takes on the most intimidating quiz known to man. Beatles or Stones? Beatles, in a heartbeat. AC/DC or Zeppelin? Zeppelin. Hendrix or Page? Hendrix. They’re obviously both incredible, but Jimmy Page can be really sloppy. Green or Clapton? Clapton – up until 1970. 60s or 70s music? Today I’ll say sixties, because the sun is shining. Gibson or Fender? Gibson. I have a ’71 SG with P90s. Stadium or sweaty club? Sweaty club, for playing and being a punter. Cigarettes or alcohol? Alcohol. I mean, both. But I could live without cigarettes. Fine wine or cold beer? Fine wine. But not very fine. If it’s over six quid then it must be good. Piercings or tattoos? I don’t have either. Love or…1 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Myles KennedyThe Ideas Of March NAPALMAlter Bridge frontman brings hope amid banana bread and glitchy Zoom meetings.Get Along berates the state of our apathetic times with a hefty dollop of Kennedy’s blistering guitar playing, which also underpins much of A Thousand Words. In Stride, inspired by the hoarding of toilet roll and pasta, aggressively encourages us to collectively calm down: ‘Cool down, baby, you know you’re gonna burn out in time/Sometimes you gotta let go and just open your eyes.’ In a world where caution is the by-word as we begin blinking blearily into normal life once again, this core message delivered through the power of slide guitar can serve as a daily mantra. A similar insouciance weaves through Moonshot and Wanderlust Begins. The former blends in a hint of blues,…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Royal BloodTHE HARD STUFF ALBUMS Royal Blood TyphoonsWARNER BROS Disco devastation from Brighton’s mightiest blues-rockers. For decades, anguished blues rock has been a musical gold standard. No matter what scenes, trends and fripperies come and go, there will always be solid currency and credibility in roaring your troubles through a hairy throat to a strutting riff that’s only recently cooled from its magma form. Of the many bands – mostly duos – that plugged in to the source in the wake of The White Stripes, Brighton’s Royal Blood were among the most intriguing, having the ballast of Muse, the snarl of Queens Of The Stone Age and wrenching an entire Zeppelin’s worth of noise from just drum kit and bass guitar on 2014’s self-titled debut. The follow-up, 2017’s How Did We…8 min
Classic Rock|June 2021ROUND-UP: MELODIC ROCKREVIEWS ROUND-UP: MELODIC ROCK By Dave Ling Robbie LaBlanc Double TroubleESCAPE MUSIC Robbie LaBlanc has had a fascinating career. In and out of several early bands, the singer once posted a demo through the letter box of producer Arif Mardin, and was thrilled to be offered an audition for Atlantic Records. After it didn’t pan out, LaBlanc quit the entertainment world. Eventually Frontiers Records revived his fortunes, first via the project Blanc Faces and then with Find Me, before he returned as part of East Temple Avenue. In an interview eight years ago, he marvelled: “I’m not even in the music business any more. I make a living from selling wine.” The songs on this album were written by FM’s Steve Overland and prolific Swedish guitarist Tommy Denander (Alice Cooper,…2 min
Classic Rock|June 2021John LennonJohn Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: The Ultimate Collection CAPITOL/UMCWho’d have thought Lennon’s therapeutic confessional could get more exposed?From the ominous church knell heralding the lyrical bereavement therapy of Mother, to the crushed lullaby to no one My Mummy’s Dead, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) – undoubtedly his most raw and revealing solo album, arguably his best – was always a harrowing, uncompromising listen. Stillprocessing The Beatles’ split, and psychologically taken apart but not yet reconstructed, by primal therapy, John Lennon delivered a sonic exorcism, tackling his childhood abandonment by both parents, a lifetime of grief and confusion, and the torments of Beatlehood in a 40-minute collision of corroded blues desperation (Well Well Well, I Found Out), blank cynicism (Working Class Hero), scarred gospel soul (Isolation, Mother, God) and serene existential crises…8 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Electric BoysTHE HARD STUFF ALBUMS Electric Boys Ups!de DownMIGHTY MUSIC A metal carpet ride from the Swedes, sure, just not a funky one. A year ago, Electric Boys’ enduring frontman and part-time Hanoi Rocks guitarist Conny Bloom released a fun but confounding (to most of us) solo album in his native Swedish. The music was mostly 60s-influenced pop with some jazzy moments. It did not sound at all like the rubbery, bass-popping, party-hearty glam of his main band’s late-80s Funk O Metal Carpet Ride heyday, or even their bluesy, 70s-inspired 2018 album Ghost Ward Diaries. So who knows where the Boys would go next, particularly during these exceedingly weird times. Ups!de Down obviously seemed like the most logical choice. Bloom and original bassist Andy Christell are joined this time by new…8 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Gary MooreTHE HARD STUFF ALBUMS Gary Moore JESSE WILD How Blue Can You GetPROVOGUE Blue is still the colour. Despite buying Peter Green’s legendary Les Paul as a precocious teenager in Skid Row in the late 60s, it took Gary Moore another 20 years to ‘come out’ as a blues guitarist. During that time he built up a formidable reputation as a rock/metal axeman, much of it within his rumbustious relationship (to put it mildly) with Phil Lynott. But it left him dissatisfied – “like a dog chasing his tail”, as he put it. He finally made the career change with 1990’s well-received Still Got The Blues and never looked back, although his commercial minders managed to eek a few more hard rock throwbacks out of him. Moore released a dozen…9 min
Classic Rock|June 2021John LennonTHE HARD STUFF REISSUES John Lennon John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: The Ultimate CollectionCAPITOL/UMC Who’d have thought Lennon’s therapeutic confessional could get more exposed? From the ominous church knell heralding the lyrical bereavement therapy of Mother, to the crushed lullaby to no one My Mummy’s Dead, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) – undoubtedly his most raw and revealing solo album, arguably his best – was always a harrowing, uncompromising listen. Stillprocessing The Beatles’ split, and psychologically taken apart but not yet reconstructed, by primal therapy, John Lennon delivered a sonic exorcism, tackling his childhood abandonment by both parents, a lifetime of grief and confusion, and the torments of Beatlehood in a 40-minute collision of corroded blues desperation (Well Well Well, I Found Out), blank cynicism (Working Class Hero), scarred gospel soul…8 min
Classic Rock|June 2021Good Worth exploringMedicine At MidnightROSWELL/COLUMBIA, 2021Ever keen to offer a snappy soundbite, Grohl has sought to draw comparisons between Medicine At Midnight and Bowie’s Let’s Dance, but the title track’s smooth funk-rock grooves owe more to The Power Station, and Cloudspotter is more Foghat than China Girl. Singles Shame Shame (moody), No Son Of Mine (snarly) and Waiting On A War (reflective) make a solid case for the album’s range, but it’s the hazy, largely unheralded Chasing Birds, one of the loveliest songs Grohl has ever written, that leaves the heaviest footprint. Overall a consolidation rather than a revolution.In Your HonorROSWELL/RCA, 2005A decade into the band’s career, it was time, Grohl felt, for “something special”. Recorded at his own Studio 606 complex, and featuring cameos from John Paul Jones, Josh Homme and,…2 min
