Classic Rock October 2019

WELCOME Heavy metal: two words, 10 letters, and a term loaded with so much musical significance. While the question of who first coined the term in relation to the music we now know and love – William Burroughs in his 60s novels? Rolling Stone man Barry Gifford? Steppenwolf and their talk of ‘heavy metal thunder’ in Born To Be Wild? – is much contested, who knows? And, frankly, who cares? What there can be no denying is that 50 years ago, a Brummie band called Earth changed their name and played their first gig as Black Sabbath, and the rest, as they say, is rock’n’roll (or should we say heavy metal) history. This month we celebrate heavy metal’s first half-century by telling the story of Sabbath’s genesis, looking back at…

This month’s contributors MICK WALL A former editor of CR, Mick also wrote the cover stories for the first five issues, while this month he appears to have written half the mag! His next book, Two Riders Were Approaching, out in November, is a vivid account of the Jimi Hendrix story. He also joins Danny and Luke from Thunder as host on their Unplugged & Unscripted tour in October. STEPHEN DALTON Stephen has been writing about music since the dawn of the industrial revolution, initially using a quill and parchment to review colliery brass bands for the NME. This issue he profiles Wagnerian porno-metallers Rammstein (p50), who once blew his tiny mind with a life-changing show involving penis-shaped foam cannons, simulated buggery and cannibalism. He has never been the same…

the DIRT INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROCK Stars Put Mental Health In The Spotlight Musicians are exposed to circumstances that can lead to problems. Thankfully help is available. BETH HART: MONA NORDOY/PRESS BETH HART’S STRUGGLE with bipolar disorder is well documented. “When I’m doing well and I’m out on the road, I love playing the shows. I feel free, I’m living the musician’s dream of being in a band, playing songs I love to an audience and connecting with them. Other times, when I’m not good, I feel that the audience is hating it, that the band are disappointed in me. There’s a lot of doubt and ugliness and fear. Even being the age I am and with the amount of therapy I have had, it’s still hard. I’m trying to…

RIP Thank you and good night. Larry ‘The Mole’ Taylor June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019 Larry Taylor was the bass player with the original Canned Heat line-up, and appeared with them at both Monterey Pop and Woodstock, before joining John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. His CV also includes credits with Tom Waits, Jerry Lee Lewis, Albert King, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker. The 77-year-old had fought cancer for 12 years. Freddie Bannister December 3, 1934 – August 11, 2019 The British concert promoter passed away 40 years to the day since his final Knebworth Festival, headlined by Led Zeppelin. That series of summer concerts featured appearances from Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and Genesis, among others. Michael Eavis cites Bannister as the inspiration behind Glastonbury. He was 84, and…

NEWS Peter Fonda February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019 Peter Fonda wasn’t a musician but the American actor, director and screenwriter became friends with and influenced The Byrds and The Beatles, and Easy Rider, his 1969 road movie about two long-haired bikers travelling across the United States, made him a counterculture icon. The 79-year-old died from respiratory failure caused by lung cancer. Johnny Clegg June 7, 1953 – July 16, 2019 As a pop star and political activist, Lancashire-born Clegg became one of South Africa’s most popular musicians. Working as a solo artist and as part of the group Juluka, his opposition to apartheid led to him being awarded an OBE. The 66-year-old had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015. Nicky Wonder Died August 8, 2019 Brian Wilson…

DA Pennebaker July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019 BORN IN ILLINOIS, the son of a successful photographer, Donn Alan Pennebaker made some of the most important rock documentaries of all time. Once described as “arguably the preeminent chronicler of 1960s counterculture”, his work included politically based documentaries along with musical endeavours, an early example of the latter being Dont Look Back, a movie that followed Bob Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of England. Later on, the snowballing success of concert films such as Monterey Pop – which covered the 1967 event of the same name starring The Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother & The Holding Company – saw Pennebaker collaborate with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Up Your Legs Forever in 1971. He also made…