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John Fogerty sues former Creedence bandmates – again

Michael Bonner
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John Fogerty sues former Creedence bandmates – again
John Fogerty has filed a civil claim against his former Creedence Clearwater Revival bandmates. Associated Press (via Rolling Stone) reports Fogerty is suing Stuart Cook and Doug Clifford over unpaid royalties. Cook and Clifford currently perform under the name Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Fog...

John Fogerty has filed a civil claim against his former Creedence Clearwater Revival bandmates.

Associated Press (via Rolling Stone) reports Fogerty is suing Stuart Cook and Doug Clifford over unpaid royalties.

Cook and Clifford currently perform under the name Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

Fogerty previously sued the men over using the Creedence Clearwater name, but settled with them in 2001 for a share of their touring and merchandise income.

Forgerty’s lawsuit claims he hasn’t been paid his share since December 2011.

In December 2014, Cook, Clifford and Patricia Fogerty, the widow of rhythm guitarist Tom – John’s brother – preemptively sued Fogerty ahead of what they suspected was “pending litigation”.

Ultimate Classic Rock claims they believed that Fogerty was about to go after them for unpaid royalties — which he appears to have just done.

Fogerty releases his autobiography, Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, on October 6.

“I want to tell the story of how I fought – hard – to maintain my artistic integrity in the face of opposing forces,” he said in a statement issued through his publisher, Little, Brown.

“The kid from El Cerrito wanted to be the best musician in the world—my promise to myself,” Fogerty said. “I accomplished that goal against all odds, only to have it fall apart on top of me. The songs and the music stopped; you didn’t hear from John Fogerty for years. All of this took its toll on me. I couldn’t write a song, sing a song. And it was so hard on me, all of the lawsuits and betrayals. I was personally fading away. My story will share the ups and downs and how it all affected me. The road back was a bumpy one, and I knew that it would take years to come out of it, but I did. Happily, I did, with my dear wife, Julie, by my side.

“I have come to a place where I can look back and reflect on those stories and share what really happened. I am the guy who lived it, and you will hear me tell the story for the first time.”

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

John Lydon: “One Direction can really sing, fair play to them”

Michael Bonner
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John Lydon: “One Direction can really sing, fair play to them”
It seems that John Lydon has apparently mellowed. Speaking to British tabloid The Sun ahead of the release of PiL's new album, What The World Needs Now..., Lydon was reportedly asked for his opinion on boyband, One Direction. "The thing with those boys is, they can really sing. Fair play to them,"...

It seems that John Lydon has apparently mellowed.

Speaking to British tabloid The Sun ahead of the release of PiL‘s new album, What The World Needs Now…, Lydon was reportedly asked for his opinion on boyband, One Direction.

“The thing with those boys is, they can really sing. Fair play to them,” Lydon reportedly said.

He added: “I’m never going to put another artist down. Anyone who wants to make music is all right by me.”

What The World Needs Now… is PiL’s tenth album. It is released on September 4, preceded by lead single “Double Trouble” on August 21.

PiL have also announced details of an upcoming tour of the UK and Europe. Lydon and co will undertake a 23-date run of shows, beginning in Glasgow on September 18, before playing Manchester, Bristol, London and other major cities.

The band will then play several Europeans dates, with North American shows to be announced. See their live schedule in full below.

Public Image Ltd will play:

Glasgow 02 ABC (September 18)
Manchester Academy (19)
Newcastle Riverside (20)
York Fibbers (22)
Coventry Warwick University (23)
Bristol 02 Academy (25)
Buckley Tivoli (26)
Reading Sub 89 (27)
Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion (29)
Norwich UEA (30)
London 02 Shepherds Bush Empire (October 2)
Frome Cheese and Grain (3)
Southampton Engine Rooms (4)

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Thom Yorke, Patti Smith confirmed for climate change concert

Michael Bonner
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Thom Yorke, Patti Smith confirmed for climate change concert
Thom Yorke and Patti Smith will both perform at Pathway To Paris at Le Trianon theatre in Paris on December 4, 2015. Pathway To Paris is planned to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference, which runs in Paris from November 30 to December 11. Pathway To Paris was co-founded by Jesse Paris Sm...

Thom Yorke and Patti Smith will both perform at Pathway To Paris at Le Trianon theatre in Paris on December 4, 2015.

Pathway To Paris is planned to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference, which runs in Paris from November 30 to December 11.

Pathway To Paris was co-founded by Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, who will appear at the concert alongside featured speakers Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and Vandana Shiva and other musicians including Flea and Dhani Harrison.

The concert, held in partnership with 350.org, follows Pathway to Paris’s 2014 event at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, where Smith, Lenny Kaye and Thurston Moore performed.

Meanwhile, Yorke is scheduled to play Tokyo’s Summersonic Festival on August 15, 2015.

Yorke will appear at Hostess Club’s all-nighter in Tokyo, which is part of the Summersonic Festival.

The Hostess Club website bills Yorke’s performance as a Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes show.

Recently, Yorke recorded the soundtrack to a new exhibition by visual artist Stanley Donwood.

Donwood, who has been designing Radiohead’s artwork since The Bends, launched the showcase on May 21 at Carriageworks in Sydney, Australia. The exhibit, which spans 25 years’ worth of work, is titled The Panic Room and closed on June 6.

Yorke’s ambient soundtrack, “Subterranea“, last 432 hours – or 18-days. Billboard reports that the track was built from 25,920 pieces of music.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material

Laura Snapes
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Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material
Kacey Musgraves meets an ancient country crossroads on her second major label album: having found success singing about suffocating small-town life, where next? 2013’s Same Trailer, Different Park offered a precisely observed portrait of Musgraves’ young life in Golden, Texas: population approx ...

Kacey Musgraves meets an ancient country crossroads on her second major label album: having found success singing about suffocating small-town life, where next? 2013’s Same Trailer, Different Park offered a precisely observed portrait of Musgraves’ young life in Golden, Texas: population approx 300, best known for its annual sweet potato festival. “We get bored so we get married/Just like dust, we settle in this town”, she sang on her poetic breakout single “Merry Go Round”. Even if the waitresses gossiped and the slipped-halo churchgoers frowned, Musgraves sympathised with her tradition-abiding characters while also cheering for gay relationships and getting stoned. Her stories were neat and funny without falling into country moralising: the friends-with-benefits of “It Is What It Is” didn’t get pregnant or wreck any homes, but decided to keep hooking up “‘til something better comes along”.

Country music radio refused to playlist this comparatively radical voice, but the record won Musgraves two Grammys, fans who had previously never touched the genre, and support slots both with Willie Nelson (who guests on an untitled bonus track here) and Katy Perry, indicating her place on the sliding scale between country gold and pop sparkle. The first two songs on Pageant Material deal astutely with this change in fortunes. Opener “High Time” sets the record’s rich, swooning tone – something like Glen Campbell at the luau – and sees the 27-year-old singing about ditching her flashy clothes to “[catch] up with the old me”. She sings of meeting Willie Nelson and travelling the world on “Dime Store Cow Girl”, but admits, “maybe for a minute I got too big for my britches”. So back home she goes, her perspective shifted by distance: on Same Trailer.. small towns were a trap, but here they offer lessons in surviving anything life throws at you.

Sadly, Pageant Material lacks some of the specific characters and touchstones that made Same Trailer… so sublime. There are several indistinct love songs, the shuffling “Family Is Family” boils down to ‘can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em’, and the mournful pedal steel of “Somebody To Love” has a similar structure, with opposing qualities (angels, devils; thorns, roses) stacked against each other to find humanity in the space between. Jaunty sing-along “Biscuits” is a funny warning against taking pleasure in your neighbour’s misfortune (“mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy”), though it feels too much like a rehash of Same Trailer…’s “Follow Your Arrow” without its radical queer-love message.

Songs about small towns usually come with some aspirational breakout message, but Musgraves dispenses with the idea that a proper job or any amount of possessions can bring redemption or happiness. The noir-ish “This Town” is a reminder that just because your area’s on the up (“a good Mexican restaurant, a beauty shop or two”) doesn’t mean that neighbourly kindness should be forgotten. On the sweet “Cup Of Tea”, Musgraves lists what would conventionally sound like a litany of failures – old clothes, crap job, reputation for being easy – only to suggest taking comfort in individuality instead of pat redemption in the form of god or gold at the end of the rainbow. And the goofy title track is Musgraves at her sharp, funny finest, paying lip service to smiling beauty queens over dreamy acoustic guitar, before admitting, “it ain’t that I don’t care about world peace, but I don’t see how I can fix it in my swimsuit on a stage”, demonstrating her rare gift for realism and empathy without cynicism.

Saying that, Musgraves shines when she calls out her enemy – dishonesty and pessimism. Pageant Material’s standout track is the strutting “Good Ol’ Boys’ Club”, a triumphant takedown of country’s corrupt backhanders from someone who’s succeeded without them. The only character who doesn’t receive sympathy here is the glass-half-full protagonist of “Miserable”, who Musgraves, the eternal optimist, has to cut loose. But as if to absolve her appearing judgmental, the following song, “Die Fun”, seems as if it should be a triumphant kiss off (“let’s love hard, live fast, die fun”) but it’s set to forlorn streaks of pedal steel, and sees her trying to make drinking and fleeing seem like romantic rebellion rather than dead-end fate: she’s as prone to fatalism as anyone.

If liberal listeners were attracted by the idea of Musgraves as a rebel voice, they might be disappointed by the message of Pageant Material, which is essentially: life’s too hard and short to waste time judging others. But as “Good Ol’ Boys’ Club” points out, Musgraves’ success is radical in its own way. Today’s most successful country acts are big-hatted men singing fairytale homilies about trucks and broads. Musgraves’ willingness to address a life built on knotty contradictions give her songs resonance far beyond Golden’s borders.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Watch the trailer for Roger Waters new The Wall concert film

Michael Bonner
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Watch the trailer for Roger Waters new The Wall concert film
Roger Waters has released a new trailer for his upcoming concert film, Roger Waters The Wall. The film is scheduled for to screen at cinemas worldwide on September 29, 2015. Written and directed by Roger Waters and Sean Evans, the film debuted at last year's Toronto Film Festival. The film include...

Roger Waters has released a new trailer for his upcoming concert film, Roger Waters The Wall.

The film is scheduled for to screen at cinemas worldwide on September 29, 2015.

Written and directed by Roger Waters and Sean Evans, the film debuted at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. The film includes concert footage from Waters’ three-year solo tour in which he played The Wall in its entirety, as well as behind-the-scenes footage of Waters’ exploring his own family history during World War 1 and World War 2.

Roger Waters said, ”I hope these world wide screenings this coming 29th September will be a good opportunity to remember, not just our fallen loved ones, but all the other guys fallen loved ones. Ashes and diamonds foe and friend we were all equal in the end.”

Waters will also reunite with his Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason on September 29 for a Q&A to accompany the screenings.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Neil Young plays “Hippie Dream” for the first time in 18 years

Michael Bonner
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Neil Young plays “Hippie Dream” for the first time in 18 years
Neil Young played "Hippie Dream" for the first time in 18 years during this show at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska. The show took place on July 11, 2015 during Young's Rebel Content tour with Promise Of The Real. "Hippie Dream" appeared on Young's 1986 album, Landing On Water. Young last p...

Neil Young played “Hippie Dream” for the first time in 18 years during this show at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska.

The show took place on July 11, 2015 during Young’s Rebel Content tour with Promise Of The Real.

“Hippie Dream” appeared on Young’s 1986 album, Landing On Water. Young last played it on August 24, 1997 at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, Florida.

During his 29 song set, Young also played “Bad Fog Of Loneliness” for the first time since 2008, “Words” and “Out On The Weekend” for the first time since 2009.

Young has also dusted down a number of other deep cuts on this current tour. On the opening night on July 5, 2015 at Marcus Amphitheatre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he played “Don’t Be Denied” for the first time in 12 years, Greendale’s “Double E” for the first time in 10 years and performed Ragged Glory track, “White Line”, live for only the sixth time.

There are 8 dates remaining on the Rebel Content tour, which breaks at Wayhome Festival, Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Canada on July 24, before Young and Promise Of The Real reconvene for Farm Aid on September 19 and two shows at the Bridge School Benefit (October 24, 25).

Neil Young and Promise Of The Real’s set list for Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska, July 11, 2015:

After The Gold Rush
Heart Of Gold
Long May You Run
Old Man
Mother Earth
Hold Back The Tears
Out On The Weekend
Unknown Legend
Peace Of Mind
From Hank To Hendrix
Field Of Opportunity
Wolf Moon
Harvest Moon
Words
Flying On The Ground Is Wrong
Bad Fog Of Loneliness
Walk On
A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop
People Want To Hear About Love
A New Day For Love
Down By The River
Big Box
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
If I Don’t Know
Monsanto Years
Love And Only Love
—
Hippie Dream
Cinnamon Girl

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

The Kinks’ Ray and Dave Davies: “It’s like Cain and Abel”

Tom Pinnock
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The Kinks’ Ray and Dave Davies: “It’s like Cain and Abel”
“I don’t want to see the legacy of The Kinks soured by two miserable old men doing it for the money,” says Dave Davies. In a series of frank interviews, Uncut discovers the state of The Kinks in the 21st Century – a saga involving Godfather-style confrontations, flamenco songs, cursed concep...

“I don’t want to see the legacy of The Kinks soured by two miserable old men doing it for the money,” says Dave Davies. In a series of frank interviews, Uncut discovers the state of The Kinks in the 21st Century – a saga involving Godfather-style confrontations, flamenco songs, cursed concept albums, a troublesome pet rabbit and the tantalising prospect of, at last, reconciliation…

Originally published in Uncut’s February 2014 issue (Take 201). Story: Nick Hasted.

______________________

In the late summer of 2013, two brothers, both in their late sixties, met in a pub in Highgate, north London. Ray and Dave Davies, the creative heart of The Kinks, were talking seriously for the first time in nine years. They were meeting to discuss whether as The Kinks’ 50th anniversary loomed there was any future for their great old band. “We got together in August, and the first few days were beautiful,” recalls Dave. “We went up the pub and had a few Guinnesses, and we were talking about all kinds of shit, the old days and what-ifs.”

Getting to this point had not been easy for the brothers. The last time Ray and Dave tried to write together was in late 2003, six years after The Kinks had played their last show at the Norwegian Wood festival near Oslo, on June 15, 1996. Then, before anything between them could be taken much further, two things happened. On January 4, 2004, Ray was shot in New Orleans; five months later, on June 30, Dave suffered a massive stroke. Any plans they may have had then for a reunion were duly scuppered. Following his stroke, Dave spent a month at Ray’s house – ostensibly they were both there to recuperate, but predictably the brothers found themselves arguing instead. “That was the last time we spent any significant time together,” admits Ray. In the interim, however, Dave recovered from his stroke and last May, he started playing live again, giving rise to speculation of a Kinks reunion to coincide with their 50th anniversary. That seemed increasingly unlikely, however, after comments Dave gave in an interview in Rolling Stone
in September last year, where he described his brother as a “cunt” and an “asshole”.

But over a series of exclusive interviews with Ray, Dave and original Kinks drummer Mick Avory, conducted during October and November 2013, it becomes apparent that plans for a reunion are very much alive. “It’s as close as it’s ever been to happening,” Ray confirms to Uncut. Of course, any new Kinks activity relies entirely on Ray and Dave getting on. Speaking to both Davies brothers, you can’t help but pick up on their frustrated fraternal love – as well as a mutual desire to give each other one more chance.

Johnny Marr on memoir: “I don’t want to be too self-important or pompous”

Tom Pinnock
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Johnny Marr on memoir: “I don’t want to be too self-important or pompous”
Johnny Marr has shed light on his upcoming memoir, due for release in 2016, claiming he doesn't want the book to be too "pompous". "The important thing is that the people who like what I do still like me the same once they know everything," he tells NME. "I take writing seriously, but I also want i...

Johnny Marr has shed light on his upcoming memoir, due for release in 2016, claiming he doesn’t want the book to be too “pompous”.

“The important thing is that the people who like what I do still like me the same once they know everything,” he tells NME. “I take writing seriously, but I also want it to be entertaining, because I don’t want to be too self-important or pompous.”

The currently untitled book will cover the whole of Marr’s career, from his days with Morrissey and The Smiths, through to his time with The The and Electronic, and his work with Modest Mouse, The Cribs and most recently as a solo artist.

Discussing possible titles for the book, Marr explains: “It absolutely won’t be This Charming Marr, Isn’t It Marrvelous or any pun like that. I’ve been looking at those headlines all my adult life, thanks very much.”

Marr’s Smiths bandmate Morrissey released his own memoir, Autobiography, through Penguin Classics in 2013.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Keith Richards announces solo album, Crosseyed Heart

Tom Pinnock
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Keith Richards announces solo album, Crosseyed Heart
Keith Richards has announced a new solo album, Crosseyed Heart. The album – the Rolling Stones guitarist's first release under his own name since 1992's Main Offender – is released on September 18 on EMI, and is reportedly inspired by "reggae, rock, country and the blues". In a press release, ...

Keith Richards has announced a new solo album, Crosseyed Heart.

The album – the Rolling Stones guitarist’s first release under his own name since 1992’s Main Offender – is released on September 18 on EMI, and is reportedly inspired by “reggae, rock, country and the blues”.

In a press release, Richards says: “I had a ball making this new record and working with [drummer] Steve Jordan and [guitarist] Waddy Wachtel again. There’s nothing like walking into a studio and having absolutely no idea what you’re going to come out with on the other end.”

Crosseyed Heart is Richards’ third solo album, following Main Offender and 1988’s Talk Is Cheap. Wachtel and Jordan have appeared on all the guitarist’s solo work.

The new album features a number of other musicians, including saxophone from Bobby Keys, recorded before he died in December 2014.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

 

The 24th Uncut Playlist Of 2015

John Mulvey
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The 24th Uncut Playlist Of 2015
One of the several hundred things I didn’t manage to mention in my Grateful Dead feature this week was the role played by Neal Casal in Fare Thee Well, as composer of interval music which felt beamed in from the middle of a particularly serpentine jam at the Fillmore circa 1968. Before witnessing...

One of the several hundred things I didn’t manage to mention in my Grateful Dead feature this week was the role played by Neal Casal in Fare Thee Well, as composer of interval music which felt beamed in from the middle of a particularly serpentine jam at the Fillmore circa 1968.

Before witnessing the excellence of Trey Anastasio in action, Casal was my dark horse pick as Garcia sub for these shows, chiefly thanks to his work in the Chris Robinson Brotherhood – the one band I’ve encountered, these past few years, who seem to most effectively channel the possibilities presented by the Dead. A few weeks ago, I also came across this amazing set by Phil Lesh And Friends featuring Casal; a Fare Thee Well Pre-Compression warm-up, with a focus on the same heavy ’60s repertoire that dominated Night One in Santa Clara.

By some serendipitous karma, just as I was finishing my Dead piece, a new album prominently featuring Casal turned up at the office. “Pacific Surf Line” is by a band called Gospelbeach that features the Beachwood Sparks’ Brent Rademaker alongside Casal, and it’s a knowing but hugely enjoyable attempt to cut a vintage path between Topanga Canyon and Marin County.

You can find a Gospelbeach track below, along with plenty more music from what has been an unusually great week: the wild mercury return of Robert Forster, a genuine personal hero for upwards of 30 years now; this week’s James Elkington appearance, this time in cahoots with Nathan Salsburg (wait ’til you hear their mind-blowing Takomised take on the Smiths’ “Reel Around The Fountain”); a brilliant find by Numerophon, in the shape of the Elyse Weinberg album from ’69, produced by David Briggs and featuring some deep contributions from Neil Young; and last but definitely not least, the Julia Holter album, which I’ve been dying to mention for weeks, and which may well end up as one of the key albums of 2015. Dig in…

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

1 Robert Forster – Songs To Play (Tapete)

2 Various Artists – Total 15 (Kompakt)

3 Various Artists – Ork Records: New York New York (Numero Group)

4 The Edge Of Daybreak – Eyes Of Love (Numero Group)

5 The Grateful Dead – Live In Chicago, July 3, 2015 (nyctaper.com)

6 The Grateful Dead – Live In Chicago, July 4, 2015 (nyctaper.com)

7 Gospelbeach – Pacific Surf Line! (Alive Naturalsound)

8 Alela Diane & Ryan Francesconi – Cold Moon (Believe Recordings)

9 Various Artists – Low Down: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Light In The Attic)

10 Elyse Weinberg – Greasepaint Smile (Numerophon)

11 Duane Pitre – Bayou Electric (Important)

12 Bilal – In Another Life (BBE)

13 Bill Callahan – Dream River (Drag City)

14 Bill Callahan – Rough Travel For A Rare Thing (Drag City)

15 Phil Cook – Southland Mission (Thirty Tigers)

16 James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg – Ambsace (Paradise Of Bachelors)

17 Joan Shelley – Over And Even (No Quarter)

18 Julia Holter – Have You in My Wilderness (Domino)

The Rolling Stones exhibition poster banned by London Underground

Michael Bonner
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The Rolling Stones exhibition poster banned by London Underground
The Rolling Stones' poster ad for their forthcoming EXHIBITIONISM retrospective has been banned from the London Underground by Transport for London. The Guardian reports that Exterion Media, which regulates advertisements on the tube, and Clear Channel, a regulator for bus shelters, told the band t...

The Rolling Stones‘ poster ad for their forthcoming EXHIBITIONISM retrospective has been banned from the London Underground by Transport for London.

The Guardian reports that Exterion Media, which regulates advertisements on the tube, and Clear Channel, a regulator for bus shelters, told the band that the poster was not suitable to run in its original form.

The poster was the work of British designer Mark Norton. It shows the crotch of a woman in a bikini along with the band’s famous lips logo; both regulators deemed the placing of the logo was too risqué and suggestive.

Instead, London stations and bus stops will see an altered version of the poster featuring the logo positioned over the woman’s belly button instead. They will launch on Monday [July 13, 2015], while the original posters will be unveiled elsewhere nationwide.

A spokesperson for the Rolling Stones said: “We are dumbfounded and perplexed at this rather silly decision. Perhaps something to do with the fact that it’s the Rolling Stones and controversy still seems to follow them everywhere.”

EXHIBITIONISM will run from April 6 2016 – September 2016 at London’s Saatchi Gallery, where it will occupy nine themed galleries spread across two entire floors.

The career-spanning exhibition includes over 500 artefacts and will include original stage designs, dressing room and backstage paraphernalia; rare guitars and instruments, costumes, rare audio tracks and unseen video clips; personal diaries and correspondence; original poster and album cover artwork, and unique cinematic presentations.

In related news, the Rolling Stones are reportedly readying the next archival release in their From The Vault series.

This latest addition is dedicated to the band’s Hyde Park concert from July 5, 1969, reports the Superdeluxeedition website.

DVD and Blu-ray editions are currently listed on Amazon.com and also Amazon’s Canadian site.

The release date on both Amazon sites is listed as July 24, 2015.

As yet, there is no confirmed UK release date; nor is it known whether this release will be available on vinyl and CD, as per the previous releases in the series.

The Stones recently released a recording of their Sticky Fingers club gig, from May 20, 2015, on iTunes.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Read David Crosby’s latest anti-Kanye West rant

Michael Bonner
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Read David Crosby’s latest anti-Kanye West rant
David Crosby has launched into a fresh tirade against Kanye West. Asked during one of his regular Twitter Q&As, 'How do you feel about Kanye at Glastonbury saying he is the greatest Rock Star of all time?', Crosby replied: "He is an egomaniac He is dumb as a post He creates nothing" https://tw...

David Crosby has launched into a fresh tirade against Kanye West.

Asked during one of his regular Twitter Q&As, ‘How do you feel about Kanye at Glastonbury saying he is the greatest Rock Star of all time?’, Crosby replied: “He is an egomaniac He is dumb as a post He creates nothing”

https://twitter.com/adamweiler_/status/618983191899193345

Screen Shot 2015-07-09 at 08.44.28

This isn’t the first time Crosby has expressed his strong views against the rapper.

In March, 2015, during a similar Twitter Q&A, Crosby called West “an idiot and a poser….has no Talent at all”.

In June, Crosby reinforced his position during an interview with The Huffington Post.

“It all stands on what you produce; what you actually put down,” Crosby said. “Kanye West can’t write, sing or play. So I have trouble with him as anything but a poser. Produce? That means he sits in a chair while the engineer does the work. He’s a poser! And I’m not backing off it.”

Meanwhile, Crosby will be taking part in Rock Camp, an all-star music school which will be held in Hollywood, California from November 5 to 8.

Crosby will mentor the camp participants, along with former Cream drummer Ginger Baker.

Time reports that the Crosby/Baker package costs $5,999. The camp offers other packages as well, including a youth camp for 12 to 16-year-olds and a recording studio session.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Fare Thee Well, The Grateful Dead…

John Mulvey
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Fare Thee Well, The Grateful Dead…
Three hours before The Grateful Dead begin their brief and poignant farewell tour in Santa Clara, California, a couple called Jeremy and Karen are setting up their stall of bespoke tie-dyed articles in the parking lot. As they arrange the $70 silk shirts and $10 bandannas, they are talking of their ...

Three hours before The Grateful Dead begin their brief and poignant farewell tour in Santa Clara, California, a couple called Jeremy and Karen are setting up their stall of bespoke tie-dyed articles in the parking lot. As they arrange the $70 silk shirts and $10 bandannas, they are talking of their times on the road following the band; journeys which began in the 1970s for both of them, and which reached a sustained climax for Jeremy between 1987 and 1995, when he was present at every one of the Dead’s last 300-odd shows.

“It wasn’t just music,” he says now, looking like a cross between Jerry Garcia and John Goodman. “The term Utopia is very maligned in society, especially in this age. What we had wasn’t a working blueprint for Utopia, but it was an unfolding better way of living, away from the safety net of a society that acts as either a sieve or a meat grinder. It was a different way of doing things. It had all the regular trappings and problems of society, but it offered hope.”

 

A few hundred metres away, Santa Clara’s year-old Levi’s Stadium, normally home to the San Francisco 49ers, awaits today’s influx of 83,000 multifarious Deadheads. Lifers like Jeremy and Karen mingle with new young fans, and a great many middle-aged men and women whose love of the Dead has endured long after their own quests for Utopia have ended. Over the next two weekends, the four remaining core members of the Grateful Dead and their accomplices will play five Fare Thee Well shows, two here and three in Chicago, which will reportedly net $40 million in ticket sales alone. Out in the parking lots, however, a more idiosyncratic brand of entrepreneurship is flourishing, even while cops patrol the aisles on golf buggies.

This is Shakedown Street, storied hub of the grey economy that has long clustered around the Dead, an ad hoc marketplace for all your quainter hippy needs. Hash pipes proliferate, as do conch shells and vegetarian burritos. There are drum circles, hackysack players, dogs in bandannas, and t-shirt memorials to Brent Mydland, one of the multiple keyboard players who died during the Grateful Dead’s original lifespan between 1965 and 1995. A large man loudly advertises the hash brownies that he is selling, neatly packaged in branded plastic containers. Another wanders through the crowds, carrying a mysterious box labelled “Take a gift”.

Jeremy, though, has a living to make. The day Jerry Garcia died, Tuesday August 9, 1995, he postponed thoughts of getting a job for a good 24 hours. The next day he found work at the University of Santa Cruz, but soon took to the road again, selling his tie-dyes at festivals through the summers, until it became harder and harder to survive the winters. Finally, he had an idea; America’s only make-your-own tie-dye store, A Brighter World. “Jeremy’s one of the few people who made it,” says Karen. “Everybody had their little things – I crocheted crazy stuff to get me across the country – but he actually turned it into a business. People who can combine the hippy thing with a work ethic, they can find a really interesting way to live.”

Jeremy claims he is mostly here to promote his business. After several hundred shows, though, a profound emotional attachment to the Dead remains, transcending his cynicism over the premise of Fare Thee Well, and his scepticism that the band can still be meaningful without Garcia. “I just hope they play like it’s their last one, as opposed to going through the motions,” he finally decides. “It could be like going to someone’s house for a home-cooked meal but they got sick, so they ordered out. It’s OK, but I hope it won’t be like that…”

 Heads up! Next month’s Uncut – on sale July 28 in the UK – comes with a FREE GRATEFUL DEAD CD: our historic attempt to piece together the album that should have followed “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty”…

Continue

The Wrecking Crew

Rob Hughes
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The Wrecking Crew
Among the many talking heads in Denny Tedesco’s film about LA’s hired help is Roger McGuinn. The ex-Byrd recalls that “Mr. Tambourine Man”’s backing track was one of two songs cut in three hours by the Wrecking Crew. By comparison, he says, The Byrds took 77 takes to nail “Turn! Turn! Tu...

Among the many talking heads in Denny Tedesco’s film about LA’s hired help is Roger McGuinn. The ex-Byrd recalls that “Mr. Tambourine Man”’s backing track was one of two songs cut in three hours by the Wrecking Crew. By comparison, he says, The Byrds took 77 takes to nail “Turn! Turn! Turn!”. It’s a story that neatly illustrates the proficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Wrecking Crew, the go-to sessioneers who played on thousands of recordings during the ‘60s and early ‘70s, largely without credit.

The list of artists indebted to these people is lengthy: The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, The Righteous Brothers, Sonny & Cher, Herb Alpert, The Mamas & The Papas, Phil Spector and more. And Tedesco duly shines a light on the Wrecking Crew’s core members, chief among them drummer Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye (bass), Earl Palmer (drums), Plas Johnson (sax) and his own father, guitarist Tommy.

The best stories, perhaps unsurprisingly, centre around the twin architects of ‘60s Cali-pop. Phil Spector is remembered as very demanding by Palmer, though Cher is less diplomatic when suggesting that they all thought “Phillip” was nuts and that his ego was such that, despite the Wrecking Crew providing his fabled Wall of Sound, “in his mind it was all him”. Brian Wilson, on the other hand, is portrayed as a flat-out genius by pianist Leon Russell, who’s still astounded by his ability to teach individual parts to the various studio hands.

The Wrecking Crew is enjoyable enough as a musical document of time and place. But where it fails is in its lack of objectivity. Predictably, Tedesco veers towards the hagiographic, purely intent of portraying his dad and colleagues as undiscovered heroes and therefore depriving the film of a critical eye. And while it covers similar ground to 20 Feet From Stardom and Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, it lacks the wider narrative and deeper human detail that made those works so memorable.

The nature of its gestation also lends it a slightly worn, uneven feel. As tribute to his ailing father, who died of cancer in 1997, Tedesco began filming nearly 20 years ago. Thus we have interviews with others who’ve since passed on (Palmer, Dick Clark, Al Casey and more) alongside updated footage of figures like Hal Blaine, explaining how six wives all but wiped out his fortune. This editorial bumpiness may also be explained by the fact that The Wrecking Crew was first shown at SXSW in 2008. The process of securing music rights and production costs, necessary for a full release, wasn’t finished until recently.

There’s probably a better documentary to be made about this extraordinary band of musicians, but The Wrecking Crew is nevertheless a manful effort to give them their dues.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

New Order announce tour dates

Michael Bonner
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New Order announce tour dates
Following news that New Order are to release a new album, Music Complete, in September, the band have announced a run of European tour dates. New Order play: November 4 - Paris, Casino de Paris November 6 - Brussels, Ancienne Belgique November 8 - Stockholm, Annexet November 11 - Berlin, Tempodrom ...

Following news that New Order are to release a new album, Music Complete, in September, the band have announced a run of European tour dates.

New Order play:
November 4 – Paris, Casino de Paris
November 6 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
November 8 – Stockholm, Annexet
November 11 – Berlin, Tempodrom
November 16 – London, Brixton Academy
November 19 – Glasgow, Academy
November 21 – Liverpool, Olympia
November 24 – Wolverhampton, Civic Hall

Tickets go on sale from 9am on Friday 10 July.

Meanwhile, the band have released additional information about the content of Music Complete.

Brandon Flowers, Iggy Pop and Elly Jackson (La Roux) will appear on the album.

Flowers appears on album closer, “Superheated”, which features additional production by Stuart Price.

Pop provides vocals for “Stray Dog” while Jackson appears on “Tutti Frutti”, “People On The High Line’” and “Plastic”.

Music Complete is produced by New Order, except “Singularity” and “Unlearn This Hatred”, both produced by Tom Rowlands.

The tracklisting for Music Complete is:
Restless
Singularity
Plastic
Tutti Frutti
People On The High Line
Stray Dog
Academic
Nothing But A Fool
Unlearn This Hatred
The Game
Superheated

It is the band’s first new material since Waiting For The Sirens’ Call in 2002 and the first to feature Gillian Gilbert since 2001’s Get Ready.

It is the band’s first album for Mute Records and will be released on September 25, 2015.

The album will be released on CD, download and limited edition clear vinyl. In addition, there will be an exclusive 8-piece deluxe vinyl collection that includes the album plus extended versions of all 11 tracks on coloured vinyl. The album can be pre-ordered by clicking here.

The current line up of New Order is: Bernard Sumner, Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris, Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Creation Records box set due for release

Michael Bonner
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Creation Records box set due for release
A new box set celebrating Creation Records is due for release in September. Called The Dawn Of Creation Records 1983-1985, the five CD box set features two discs comprising early A and B sides, a third CD of rarities and album tracks, another comprising previously unissued demos and a fifth disc of...

A new box set celebrating Creation Records is due for release in September.

Called The Dawn Of Creation Records 1983-1985, the five CD box set features two discs comprising early A and B sides, a third CD of rarities and album tracks, another comprising previously unissued demos and a fifth disc of rare BBC sessions.

It’s due for release through Cherry Red records on September 25, 2015.

DISC 1: SINGLES
THE LEGEND! – ‘73 In’83
THE LEGEND! – You (Chunka Chunka) We’re Glamorous
THE LEGEND! – Melt The Guns
THE REVOLVING PAINT DREAM – Flowers In The Sky
THE REVOLVING PAINT DREAM – In The Afternoon
BIFF BANG POW! – Fifty Years Of Fun
BIFF BANG POW! – Then When I Scream
THE JASMINE MINKS – Think!
THE JASMINE MINKS – Work For Nothing
THE PASTELS – Something Going On
THE PASTELS – Stay With Me Till Morning
THE X-MEN – Do The Ghost
THE X-MEN – Talk
BIFF BANG POW! – There Must Be A Better Life
BIFF BANG POW! – The Chocolate Elephant Man
THE JASMINE MINKS – Where The Traffic Goes
THE JASMINE MINKS – Mr Magic
THE LOFT – Why Does The Rain
THE LOFT – Like
THE LOFT – Winter *
THE LEGEND! – The Legend! Destroys The Blues
THE LEGEND! – Arrogant Bastards
THE X-MEN – Bad Girl
THE PASTELS – Million Tears
THE PASTELS – Surprise Me
THE PASTELS – Baby Honey
* Bonus track

DISC 2: SINGLES
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN -Upside Down
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN – Vegetable Man
THE LOFT – Up The Hill And Down The Slope
THE LOFT – Your Door Shines Like Gold
THE LOFT – Lonely Street
THE LOFT – Time
THE BODINES – God Bless
THE BODINES – Paradise
PRIMAL SCREAM – All Fall Down
PRIMAL SCREAM – It Happens
THE JASMINE MINKS – What’s Happening
THE JASMINE MINKS – Black & Blue
MEAT WHIPLASH- Don’t Slip Up
MEAT WHIPLASH – Here It Comes
FIVE GO DOWN TO THE SEA? – Singing In Braille
FIVE GO DOWN TO THE SEA? – Aunt Nelly
FIVE GO DOWN TO THE SEA? – Silk Brain Worm Women
THE MOODISTS – Justice And Money Too
THE MOODISTS – You’ve Got Your Story
THE MOODISTS – Take Us All Home
THE PASTELS – I’m Alright With You
THE PASTELS – Couldn’t Care Less
THE PASTELS – What It’s Worth
BIFF BANG POW! – Love And Hate *
THE WEATHER PROPHETS -Worm In My Brain *
* Bonus tracks

DISC 3: RARITIES & ALBUM
THE LAUGHING APPLE – Participate!
THE LAUGHING APPLE – Wouldn’t You?
THE REVOLVING PAINT DREAM – In The Afternoon (Early Vsn)
THE JASMINE MINKS – The Thirty Second Set Up
THE JASMINE MINKS – Somers Town
BIFF BANG POW! – Fifty Years Of Fun (Almost Live Version)
BIFF BANG POW! – Waterbomb!
J.C. BROUCHARD with BIFF BANG POW! – Someone Stole My Wheels
J.C. BROUCHARD with BIFF BANG POW! – Sunny Days
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN – Upside Down (Demo Version)
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN -Just Like Honey (Oct 84 Demo)
THE BODINES – God Bless (Alternative Version)
THE MEMBRANES – I Am Fish Eye
THE MEMBRANES – Gift Of Life
ALIVE IN THE LIVING ROOM:
THE JASMINE MINKS – Seven And Seven Is
THE JUNE BRIDES – I Fall
THE LEGEND! – Arrogant Bastards
THE THREE JOHNS – A.W.O.L.
THE LOFT – Your Door Shines Like Gold
THE MEKONS – Rock’n’Roll Shoes
THE LEGEND! & HIS SWINGING SOUL SISTERS – Sweet Soul Music
THE JASMINE MINKS – Green Fuz
ALTERNATIVE TV – Lonely Lenny

BONUS TRACKS
TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – A Picture Of Dorian Gray (live)
2TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – The Dream Inspires (live) *
TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – Family Affair (live) *
* = previously unissued

DISC 4: DEMOS
THE JASMINE MINKS – All Fall Down *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Work *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Second Post *
THE LEGEND! – Boredom (Is) *
MEAT WHIPLASH – Losing Your Grip *
MEAT WHIPLASH – Always Sunday *
MEAT WHIPLASH – Walk Away *
THE LEGEND! – Victorian Values *
THE X-MEN – Home *
THE X-MEN – Planet Of The X *
THE MOODISTS – The Train From Kansas City *
THE MOODISTS – The Day They All Wake Up *
THE MOODISTS – I Guess I’m Dumb *
THE LEGEND! – Social Protest (By Numbers) *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Mr Magic *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Friends *
THE LEGEND! – Do You Remember *
BIFF BANG POW! – Lost Your Dreams (Demo)
BIFF BANG POW! – I’m Okay Me (Demo)
THE LEGEND! – Picture The Scene *
THE X-MEN – A Tryst For Liszt *
THE X-MEN – Stone Cold One Note Mind *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Choice *
THE JASMINE MINKS – Everybody’s Got To Grow Up Sometime *
* = previously unissued

DISC 5: BBC SESSIONS
THE X-MEN – The Witch (John Peel 13/9/1984)
THE X-MEN – Little Girl (John Peel 13/9/1984)
THE X-MEN – Xtramental (John Peel 13/9/1984)
THE LOFT – On A Tuesday (Janice Long 9/12/1984)
THE LOFT – Skeleton Staircase (Janice Long 9/12/1984)
THE LOFT – The Canal And The Big Red Town (Janice Long 9/12/1984)
THE LOFT – Lonely Street (Janice Long 9/12/1984)
THE MOODISTS – Other Man (John Peel 10/7/85)
THE MOODISTS – Bullet Train (John Peel 10/7/85)
THE MOODISTS – Take The Red Carpet Out Of Town (John Peel 10/7/85)
THE MOODISTS – Justice And Money Too (John Peel 10/7/85)
MEAT WHIPLASH – Loss (John Peel 28/10/1985)
MEAT WHIPLASH – Walk Away (John Peel 28/10/1985)
MEAT WHIPLASH – Eat Me To The Core (John Peel 28/10/1985)
MEAT WHIPLASH – She Comes Tomorrow (John Peel 28/10/1985)
THE BODINES – Scar Tissue (Janice Long 13/10/1985)
THE BODINES – Therese (Janice Long 13/10/1985)
THE BODINES – William Shatner (Janice Long 13/10/1985)
THE BODINES – The Back Door (Janice Long 13/10/1985)

BONUS TRACKS
THE LOFT – Beware (Live)
THE LOFT – Wide Open Arms (Live)
THE LOFT – Worm In My Brain (Live)
THE LOFT – Up The Hill And Down The Slope (Live)

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Joni Mitchell “has made remarkable progress”

Michael Bonner
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Joni Mitchell “has made remarkable progress”
Joni Mitchell is now at home and "has made remarkable progress", according to a report. People magazine claim to have obtained court papers filed in Los Angles on July 2 which reveal that Mitchell "is expected to make a full recovery" after suffering a brain aneurysm in late March. In the document...

Joni Mitchell is now at home and “has made remarkable progress”, according to a report.

People magazine claim to have obtained court papers filed in Los Angles on July 2 which reveal that Mitchell “is expected to make a full recovery” after suffering a brain aneurysm in late March.

In the documents, Mitchell’s lawyer Rebecca J. Thyne wrote that she had visited Mitchell at her home in California on June 26.

“When I arrived she was seated at her kitchen table feeding herself lunch,” Thyne wrote.

“She also told me that she receives excellent care from caregivers round-the-clock,” Thyne continued. “It was clear that she was happy to be home and that she has made remarkable progress. She has physical therapy each day and is expected to make a full recovery.”

The most recent official statement regards Mitchell’s health came on June 28, 2015 through the artist’s official website: “Joni is speaking, and she’s speaking well. She is not walking yet, but she will be in the near future as she is undergoing daily therapies. She is resting comfortably in her own home and she’s getting better each day. A full recovery is expected.”

In an interview with The Huffington Post published a few days earlier [June 26, 2015], David Crosby had voiced concerns about Mitchell’s health, revealing that Mitchell “is home, she is in care, she is in recovery. How that’s going to go, we don’t know yet. She took a terrible hit. She had an aneurysm, and nobody found her for a while. And she’s going to have to struggle back from it the way you struggle back from a traumatic brain injury.”

Mitchell, 71, was found unconscious in her Los Angeles home on March 31. She was admitted to an area hospital after which conflicting reports emerged concerning her responsiveness.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

Introducing… The History Of Rock

John Mulvey
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Introducing… The History Of Rock
The big news yesterday, that my old home the NME would be undergoing a major brand transformation, was greeted with a lot of nostalgic meditations over yellowing old newspapers. Whenever I had a look at Twitter, people on my timeline were tweeting their favourite NME covers: no-one, as far as I coul...

The big news yesterday, that my old home the NME would be undergoing a major brand transformation, was greeted with a lot of nostalgic meditations over yellowing old newspapers. Whenever I had a look at Twitter, people on my timeline were tweeting their favourite NME covers: no-one, as far as I could see, picked one of the stranger highlights of my career there, when we put Godspeed! You Black Emperor – or rather, a gothically intense Godspeed quote – on the front page.

It’s a serendipitous time, anyhow, for us to unveil our own little publishing revolution. This Thursday, the first edition of The History Of Rock hits newsstands in the UK, though you can already buy it online here. It’s the first in a new monthly series that draws from the archives of NME and Melody Maker to discover how the key stories of rock’s golden years were told at the time. For anyone who’s interested in musical history, or indeed the history of music journalism, we hope it’ll be an essential read: we’re splashing out on some notably lavish production values for each issue, so that they feel even more rich and collectable. What was yesterday’s fish and chip paper has become, magically, today’s luxurious encyclopaedias.

Our story starts with a look at the momentous events of 1965. Here’s John Robinson, who’s doing all the heavy editorial lifting on The History Of Rock, and has become kind of besotted with the hip catchphrase “LP Winner!”, to introduce his handiwork…

“Welcome to 1965. As the year dawns, the personalities who will define much of the music of the next 50 years – be that The Beatles, Bob Dylan, or the Rolling Stones – are all still in their early 20s. They are already working at an extremely high level, producing classic work like “Help”, “Highway 61” and “Satisfaction”. In their wake, a second wave of innovators are busy determining their own paths, inspired by the work of others (“they knocked us out” is a phrase you’ll read a lot) and their own unique visions.

“The music writers of New Musical Express and Melody Maker were there with them all. These were not by any means the faintly dandyish figures of the following decades. Rather, these were diligent newspapermen with musical leanings; dedicated record “trade” professionals who uncovered pivotal detail by their fastidious reporting of music events. They skilfully captured the major personalities up close, at a time where music – and along with it, music writing – was undergoing rapid change.

“This is the world of The History Of Rock, a new monthly magazine and ongoing project which which reaps the benefits of this access for the reader decades later, one year at a time. In the pages of this first edition, dedicated to 1965, you will find verbatim articles from frontline staffers, compiled into long and illuminating reads. You will be present as enduring reputations (“the witty Beatles”; “the battling Kinks”) are formed, but also to discover fascinating byways off the main track.

“You will recognize many of the names, faces and places here, but you’ve perhaps never quite seen them quite so innocently, or so intimately in their time. Here, Carnaby Street is still a fashionable destination. A Rickenbacker guitar, as advertised by John Lennon, will cost you 150 guineas. Andrew Loog Oldham seems to have a hand in everything. America? America is spoken of as an extremely remote place indeed, and a sense of spirited transatlantic competition thrives in the language of much of the reporting.

“What may surprise the modern reader most is the access to, and the sheer volume of material supplied by the artists who are now the giants of popular culture. Now, a combination of wealth, fear and lifestyle would conspire to keep reporters at a rather greater length from the lives of musicians.

“At this stage, however, representatives from New Musical Express and Melody Maker are where it matters. At John Lennon’s dinner table. Being serenaded by John Coltrane in his hotel room. In a TV studio with the Rolling Stones.

“Join them there. You’ll be knocked out!”

The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson

Michael Bonner
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The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson
Julien Temple’s new film about Wilko Johnson takes its title from an unexpected state of euphoria the guitarist first experienced walking home after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. As he explains, Johnson felt “vividly alive… everything was tingling… present, future, past, it was all...

Julien Temple’s new film about Wilko Johnson takes its title from an unexpected state of euphoria the guitarist first experienced walking home after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. As he explains, Johnson felt “vividly alive… everything was tingling… present, future, past, it was all concentrated down into that moment.”

Since being given 10 months to live in January 2013, Johnson admits he has never felt so good. Indeed, Temple’s follow-up to Oil City Confidential finds Johnson reflecting on his life and current circumstances with gleeful aplomb. Indeed, for much of the film, Johnson quite literally looks death in the face: in a nod to Ingmar Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal, Temple shoots Johnson on the jetty at his native Canvey Island, recounting his extraordinary story over a game of chess with a hooded opponent. Footage from A Matter Of Life And Death, Hamlet At Elsinore, Nosferatu and Orphée offer complimentary views on death, meanwhile readings from Traherne, Marlowe, Blake and Milton underscore Johnson’s former career as an English teacher. “It takes eight and a half hours with a break for lunch to read Paradise Lost,” he mentions in passing.

While some of the film inevitably overlaps with Oil City Confidential – in particular, the histories of Canvey and Johnson’s old band, Dr Feelgood – the focus is on Johnson and his own wide-ranging interests, including astronomy and Viking lore. Naturally, it is inspiring stuff. Given his deadline, Johnson embarks on a farewell tour, beginning in Japan – “a great piece of showbusiness,” he observes approvingly. “Everybody’s crying and that. It’s fantastic!” A final encore of “Johnny B Goode” assumes talismanic properties. An album with Roger Daltrey is hastily convened and becomes a success: Johnson finds himself on the chat show circuit. It seems, despite the circumstances, tremendous fun.

But although there is a happy ending – dear reader, he lives! – at the same time Johnson’s survival presents another set of problems. The life-saving surgery leaves him a diabetic; the mental impact of surviving is equally stressful, as he wrestles with loneliness and melancholia. Johnson’s conclusion – “I wasn’t supposed to be here at all, so it’s all a bonus” – at least provides an uplifting coda to Temple’s film.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

The Rolling Stones reportedly readying next archival release…

Michael Bonner
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The Rolling Stones reportedly readying next archival release…
The Rolling Stones are reportedly readying the next archival release in their From The Vault series. This latest addition is dedicated to the band's Hyde Park concert from July 5, 1969, reports the Superdeluxeedition website. DVD and Blu-ray editions are currently listed on Amazon.com and also Ama...

The Rolling Stones are reportedly readying the next archival release in their From The Vault series.

This latest addition is dedicated to the band’s Hyde Park concert from July 5, 1969, reports the Superdeluxeedition website.

DVD and Blu-ray editions are currently listed on Amazon.com and also Amazon’s Canadian site.

The release date on both Amazon sites is listed as July 24, 2015.

From The Vault consists of live concerts from the Stones which are getting their first official release. Previous releases have included shows from LA Forum in 1975 and Hampton Coliseum in 1981.

The most recent title was the band’s Marquee club show on March 26, 1971, shortly before the release of Sticky Fingers.

Superdeluxeedition flags up that the Stones’ Hyde Park show was originally from British TV and has previously been available on both DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.

It was also included in the US and Japanese versions of the Sweet Summer Sun deluxe edition.

As yet, there is no confirmed UK release date; nor is it known whether this release will be available on vinyl and CD, as per the previous releases in the series.

The Stones recently released a recording of their Sticky Fingers club gig, from May 20, 2015, on iTunes.

The band have also recently announced their first career-spanning exhibition.

EXHIBITIONISM will run from April 6 2016 – September 2016 at London’s Saatchi Gallery, where it will occupy nine themed galleries spread across two entire floors.

EXHIBITIONISM includes over 500 artefacts and will include original stage designs, dressing room and backstage paraphernalia; rare guitars and instruments, costumes, rare audio tracks and unseen video clips; personal diaries and correspondence; original poster and album cover artwork, and unique cinematic presentations.

The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – goes on sale in the UK on July 9. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, the August 2015 issue of Uncut is in shops now – featuring David Byrne, Sly & The Family Stone, BB King and the death of the blues, The Monkees, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

Uncut: the spiritual home of great rock music.

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