Thank you, first of all, to everyone who has taken out a subscription to Uncut, bought a copy from our online shop or downloaded a digital edition recently. I’m humbled and honoured by your continuing support for Uncut – and never more so than during these strange times.
While Uncut endures – alas, the same is not true of some of our musical heroes. During our last week of production on this issue, we lost Tony Allen, Dave Greenfield and – two days before we went to press – Florian Schneider. We have managed to bid to them farewell in this issue, as well as a longer eulogy to John Prine that we’ve been working on for some weeks. Unfortunately, we were too late to pay tribute to Betty Wright and Little Richard: they will both be commemorated in future issues of Uncut.
Speaking of Schneider… Kraftwerk fans, please note, there’s a rather handsome Ultimate Music Guide devoted to Dusseldorf’s finest available to buy now from our online shop.
There’s plenty to look forward to in the next issue of Uncut. Not least our 15-track Cosmic Cratedigging CD – compiled for us by our friends at Light In The Attic Records. This is one for Uncut heads – there’s psychedelic soul, avant-garde pop, weird folk, kosmiche electronics and experimental jazz that’s guaranteed to provide some respite during these troubling times.
Elsewhere, we mark Bob Marley’s 75th anniversary celebrations with a deep dive into one of his most creatively adventurous years – a momentous 12-month period of London exile that not only caught Marley’s uncompromising faith and politics in full flight, but also his charismatic, universalist touch. Graeme Thomson hears the inside story from Chris Blackwell, Marcia Griffiths, Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Junior Marvin and other eyewitnesses.
Beyond our first Bob Marley cover for 20 years, can I steer you towards John Robinson’s splendid survey of Marc Bolan’s rise to glam superstar, or Rob Hughes moving eulogy to John Prine (assisted by Bonnie Raitt, Margo Price and others), Tom Pinnock’s pre-lockdown encounter with Can’s architect-in-chief Irmin Schmidt or Erin Osmon’s colourful trip through Courtney Marie Andrews’ life and times to date.
There’s much more, too – Joy Division, Paul Weller, Captain Beefheart, Sparks, Guided By Voices, Tim Burgess, Joan As Police Woman. Dig in – and, as ever, let us know what you think…
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