July 2015

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The Rolling Stones, The 13th Floor Elevators, Ringo Starr and Ian Dury all feature in the new issue of Uncut, out now.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are on the cover, and inside Jagger looks back on the creation of perhaps the band’s greatest album, Sticky Fingers.

The singer and other contributors recall adventures in Muscle Shoals and Stargroves, backstage fights at the Marquee Club, photos in a derelict riding school in Regent’s Park and help from Andy Warhol and the Goddess Kali.

“[There was] a lot of good music,” says Jagger. “Very quickly made and lots of fun to do. And with really great musicians and good production team. And it was very successful. So yeah, I was very proud of this album.”

Uncut infiltrates the 13th Floor Elevators’ improbable comeback, and pieces together their traumatic legend, discovering the current state of Roky Erickson and Tommy Hall (no LSD since 2009).

“I never really had a bad acid trip,” says Roky. “You have to respect it…”

Ringo Starr answers your questions, happily discussing his experiences at Butlins, his friend Peter Sellers and eight years in The Beatles: “I said, ‘Fuck it, it’s too crazy, I’m leaving!’”

The Blockheads reveal how they wrote and recorded their classic No 1 single with frontman Ian Dury, “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick”, tracking it in one epic, chaotic live session.

“It was different,” reckons organist Mick Gallagher of the reasons behind the song’s success, “and people liked the smutty reference in the lyric, I think!”

Elsewhere, we join Sturgill Simpson, psych-country’s rising star, on tour in the United States. “The military was not for me,” he tells us.

James Taylor talks us through nine of his classic albums, from Sweet Baby James right up to his new set, Before This World, while Jah Wobble takes us through the records that have shaped his life.

We also meet up with Jim O’Rourke, Wilco producer, former Sonic Youth member and much-loved solo artist, to talk about life in Japan, bumping into Jimmy Page and his long-awaited Simple Songs record.

The legendary sleeve design collective Hipgnosis are remembered in a feature – “elite Surrealist door-to-door troubadours,” says Robert Plant, while Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason recalls them making “the record company’s life hell.”

Ben E King is remembered in our news section, which also includes interviews with Gill Landry, Peter Zinovieff and The Rezillos.

Our 40-page review section features new albums from Richard Thompson, Sun Kil Moon, Graham Parker, Jamie xx and Kacey Musgraves, archive releases from Michael Head And The Strands, Little Richard, Bobby Womack and Broadcast, and live reviews of Super Furry Animals’ wild return and Nick Cave solo.

The free CD, You Gotta Move, includes songs from The Fall, Richard Thompson, Michael Head And The Strands, Meg Baird, Leftfield and Trembling Bells.

THE NEW ISSUE IS ON SALE FROM 26 MAY

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