Classic Rock Issue 240

WELCOME Siân Llewellyn, Editor Time for a confession. I think every rock fan has a band or two that they know they ought to know more about, or ought to listen to, or ought to explore further, but somehow have just never quite managed to get around to it. For me, I’m afraid it’s the Grateful Dead. I know the name, obviously. I could list many of their line-up. I know their logo. I know the names and sleeves of several of their albums. But their music and their myth? Well, I’m afraid I didn’t know all that much. Until this month’s issue, that is, when we decided to put that right once and for all. And in the UK, at least, I’d wager that I’m not alone. Although they’re…

INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROCK the DIRT PAUL HARRIES/ICONICPIX FOR MORE NEWS: WWW.CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM COPYRIGHT FUTURE 2017 Chester Bennington March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017 Classic Rock’s Dave Ling remembers the Linkin Park frontman. Chester Bennington was a dreamer. A recurring childhood fantasy of his was Depeche Mode flying their private jet into his schoolyard, scooping him up and proposing an abandonment of studies and a humdrum young life to become the fifth member of their group. “I was always so excited [by that],” Bennington told me in a Metal Hammer interview in late 2000 just as his own career with Linkin Park began to gain traction. “We would perform a concert in front of my schoolmates and then fly off for a world tour together.” Bennington’s make-believe tale never…

CHESTER RIP The stars pay tribute “I am in tears. Chester had just told me how happy he was. He was such a sweet and talented man. Feel so sad for his family, band-mates and fans.” Nikki Sixx “Gracious, kind & humble – a rare combination in Rock & Roll. Deeply saddened.” Lars Ulrich, Metallica “We can never know someone’s pain. Prayers to Chester’s family in this tragedy. If you need help REACH OUT.” Paul Stanley, Kiss “Literally the most impressive talent I’ve ever seen live! Vocal beast!” Pop singer Rihanna “RIP, far too young.” David Coverdale “Jesus, no…’ Corey Taylor, Slipknot/Stone Sour “RIP, Chester B” Duff McKagan “RIP Chester Bennington. I still remember the 1st day I went in the basement at Warner Bros Records Burbank to hear you.”…

RIP Thank you and good night Melvin ‘Deacon’ Jones December 12, 1943 – July 6, 2017 Walter Trout has led the tributes to the blues-rock organist, 73, calling him a “mentor, teacher and dear friend”. Besides being a member of Chicago’s Baby Huey & the Babysitters, Jones played with Curtis Mayfield, Freddie King and John Lee Hooker, among many others. “Had Deacon not put me in his band back in the mid-1970s, my life would have been very different,” wrote Trout. Kenny Shields Died July 21, 2017 The lead singer of veteran Canadian rockers Streetheart has succumbed to heart failure in Winnipeg. He was 69. Formed in 1977, the group amassed six gold and four platinum records in their homeland. The nation’s own ‘metal queen’, Lee Aaron, tweeted: “There’s great…

NEWS Although some have dismissed the move as a publicity stunt, Kid Rock is serious about running for the US Senate in his native Michigan. A Republican, the 46-year-old singer, real name Robert James Ritchie, has now emerged as the favourite in a new poll. “[This is] not a hoax, it’s a strategy and marketing 101! No plans for an album or anything else that has been the usual norm in the music business or politics,” he says. Orange Goblin have begun writing a new album, which they hope to release next spring. It will be the London band’s debut for their new label Candlelight Records. Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Cathedral, Paradise Lost) is set to produce, with former Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell making a guest appearance. Under Cover, an…

You Can Be Heroes Bowie/T.Rex producer Tony Visconti fronts new TV music talent show. September sees the arrival of a new music talent show on our TV screens, Tony Visconti’s Unsigned Heroes, to be broadcast on the Sky Arts channel. Visconti tells Classic Rock: “The whole thing started when I was a judge on two of the Guitar Star series on Sky Arts. In the second series I was chief judge, and after the great mutual experience we had, Sky wanted to do another series.” The format for the new series is based on a live show that Visconti has been doing in New York, called The TV Show (geddit?), where the legendary producer invites unknown musicians to perform a set of songs “that have something to do with me”.…