Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2021 i Classic Rock

WELCOME Seven weeks. That’s just 49 days, and an insignificant length of time in the grand scheme of things. But 30 years ago, over seven weeks during the summer of 1991, one hell of a lot happened in the world of rock. The passage of time has meant that often people think back to 1991 as the summer of grunge, but in truth it really wasn’t. It might have been a period in which many pivotal albums that would herald the heyday of grunge were released, but much of their success would come later the following year or even long after that. Originally, we’d planned to just take a deep-dive look back at the first 30 years of Pearl Jam’s incredible career – these days a bona fide classic rock…

the DIRT RIP Thank you and good night. Phil Johnstone September 1, 1957 - May 31, 2021 Guitarist, keyboard player, producer and songwriter Phil Johnstone was a member of Robert Plant’s group from 1987 until 1993, touring with the former Led Zeppelin frontman and appearing on the albums Now And Zen, Manic Nirvana and Fate Of Nations. He went on to work with Alannah Myles and The Levellers, among others. No cause of death for the 64-year-old has been revealed. BJ Thomas August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021 Paul Stanley, Dionne Warwick and Richard Marx are among the stars to pay tribute to the singer whose version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head is one of the most popular tracks in music. “When…

Florian Pilkington-Miksa June 3, 1950 – May 20, 2021 SONJA KRISTINA BROKE the news of the passing of Curved Air’s original drummer. Florian Pilkington-Miksa, who co-founded the British prog group in 1970 and had three spells with them. “Florian was a unique man and musician,” Curved Air vocalist Kristina wrote on Facebook. “His style incorporated all the rhythms of the notes, so that he played ‘the song’ rather than a textbook drum beat. His spirituality was centred around Beings of Light and a Universal Consciousness. Florian was also a sculptor. He created extraordinarily beautiful images of his angels.” Pilkington-Miksa was a co-founding member of Sisyphus, who morphed into Curved Air in 1970. He appeared on their first three records: Air Conditioning (1970), Second Album (’71) and Phantasmagoria (’72). After they…

SOCRATES DRANK THE CONIUM Socrates Drank The Conium, Polydor, Greece, 1971. £400. One of the great names from the Greek progressive scene of the early 70s, Socrates Drank The Conium formed in 1969 and were a regular fixture in the underground clubs of Athens. A power trio, initially influenced by the blues-rock sounds of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, their self-titled debut is a raw refection of those 60s vibes but with a heavier, up-to-date style incorporating elements of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Maintaining a psychedelic presence gives the album added appeal, though the minimal production doesn’t quite give the material the oomph needed to do the band justice. Having said that, it’s an enjoyable and charismatic hippie rock album from start to finish. Live In The Country…

WELCOME BACK Doogie White The well-travelled singer on his solo album, fronting Alcatrazz and working with ‘difficult’ artists. JJ BURNEL: JOSEPH BRANSTON SINCE 1984, DOOGIE White has sung with numerous acts including Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Praying Mantis, Tank, Cornerstone and Demon’s Eye. Most recently he joined Alcatrazz. A tenth-anniversary edition of White’s only solo album, As Yet Untitled, now includes a bonus disc of covers. Do you know how many albums you’ve appeared on? Including sessions over the past thirty years, I’ve no idea. Some I did gratis because I believe in giving back; I’ve led such a charmed and magical life. Why did it take you so long to make the solo album? Because I had no money nor clue to go about it. It came out…

PEARL JAM MIKE McCREADY ON TEN “We’ve always looked out for one another,” Vedder concluded. “We want to make each other proud – I want them to be proud of their guy, and I’m proud of mine. It shouldn’t be that hard. We’re a fucking rock band!” They’re into long-term relationships, in their personal lives, with each other as bandmates and with their crowd. That’s how Pearl Jam keep turning the page. Interview: Richard Bienstock Photos: Lance Mercer Pearl Jam are not exactly a band prone to nostalgia. That said, when lead guitarist Mike McCready is asked about the origins of the band’s debut album, Ten – which, given the speed at which they moved in the early days also dovetails with the origin of Pearl Jam itself – acknowledges…

REVIEWS BEST OF THE REST Other new releases out this month. J Lee & The Hoodoo Skulls Beggars Soul SELF-RELEASED With a swaggering swing in their guitar-fuzzed raunch‘n’roll, Surrey’s Hoodoo Skulls conjure up gutsy blues-based swampland boogie as Mr Lee slithers from hellhound holler to sultry falsetto. Bewitching. 7/10 Cleopatrick Bummer NOWHERE SPECIAL This garage-based Canadian duo’s distinctive take on guitars-ahoy DIY indie invariably crackles with electricity. Hip-hop beats and near-Muse-like intensity characterise a debut rich in raw potential. 8/10 Deap Vally American Cockroach EP COOKING VINYL A touch of Sioux here (that’ll be Savages’ Ayse Hassan), a hint of the desert, a smidgen of delinquent pop (EODM’s Jennie Vee also guests) and a heap of chutzpah. Another four-tracker, another cracker. 7/10 Stone Whiskey Rebels Of The Sun SELF-RELEASED Proper…

REVIEWS BEST OF THE REST Other new releases out this month. Circle Jerks Group Sex Deluxe TRUST Landmark SoCal hardcore reissue from 1980 featuring ex-Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris gets 40th-anniversary vinyled. Its original 15-minute running time is now bolstered by five early rehearsal tracks. Genre-defining. 7/10 The Wedding Present Seamonsters (30th Anniversary) SONY Muscular Albini-recorded album that transformed Leeds’ gruff Buzzcocks into borderline psychotic, guitar-flaying balls of perilously intense, barely retrained fury. Expanded with singles and Peels, but no less monstrous. 8/10 Alligator Jackson Southern Barbecue JUKE JOINT 500 Lost southern rockers Alligator Jackson recorded in the late noughties but never played a show. This 12-track epitaph captures the trio blending down-home rock‘n’roll with country manners in spirited Nuthin’ Fancy style. 7/10 Lipstick Killers Strange Flash: Studio & Live…

This month’s contributors NIALL DOHERTY Niall Doherty is a music journalist and the former Deputy Editor of Q magazine (RIP). The greatest day of his life (don’t tell his family) is when he visited Pearl Jam’s HQ in Seattle and hung out with Eddie Vedder for an afternoon in 2011. He recently helped launch the music newsletter The New Cue. He wrote this issue’s cover story celebrating 30 years of Pearl Jam (p28). LANCE MERCER Lance, who took this month’s cover photo (and the cover photo of Pearl Jam’s Ten) and many pictures in our PJ feature (p28), is in demand as a visual storyteller, applying his talents in the music, editorial and commercial worlds, as well as in the production, direction, and filming of documentary projects. You can find…

NEWS Kevin Clark December 3, 1988 – May 26, 2021 The actor who played Freddy, the drummer in the School Of Rock movie, has been killed in a bicycle accident in Chicago at the age of 32. Its lead actor, Jack Black, is “heartbroken” by the shock news. Rob Farr December 6, 1963 – May 9, 2021 The bassist with Los Angeles-based heavy metal band Warrior passed peacefully in his sleep. Farr had recorded the group’s fourth album, The War Of Gods And Men, with them in 2004. He was 57 years old at the time of his passing. Don Heffington December 20, 1950 – March 24, 2021 Los Angeles native Don Heffington was a co-founder of the band Lone Justice and also played drums for Lowell George, Bob Dylan,…

Phil Naro March 13, 1958 - May 2, 2021 BILLY SHEEHAN HAS led the tributes to his bandmate from Talas, describing frontman Naro as “one of the finest human beings I have ever known”. After being diagnosed with cancer of the neck and tongue in 2013, Naro underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumour. He was 63 years old when he died. “Phil fought a valiant battle till the end, and inspired all who knew him to stay positive and keep going against all odds,” wrote Sheehan, and also revealed that his friend had completed vocals for a new Talas record during his final months. GETTY x4; WILL MECUM: AVALON Born in Rochester, New York, Philip Sampognaro (his real name) appeared on the Talas album Live Speed On Ice, released…

WELCOME BACK Counting Crows Frontman Adam Duritz on mental illness, dairy produce, romance, the band’s new EP and shaving off his dreads. ADAM DURITZ: MARK SELIGER/PRESS; ROGER WATERS: KEVIN NIXON; ROGER TAYLOR: XAVIER VILA - COPYRIGHT MIRACLE PRODUCTIONS LLP/PRESS ON COUNTING CROWS’ 1993 album August And Everything After, band leader Adam Duritz announced his quietly devastating songcraft, sketching broken lives in small towns and hollow dreams of fame with an eloquence worthy of Bruce Springsteen. True to the sentiment of breakthrough hit Mr. Jones, stardom hasn’t always suited the singer, who is open about his struggles with mental illness. But Duritz says this year’s Butter Miracle, Suite One, the band's four-song EP, which has shades of The Band and Mott The Hoople, is the product of the happiest period of…

WELCOME BACK Black Label Society Zakk Wyde talks about the new BLS box set, Zakk Sabbath, working with Ozzy and not working with Ozzy. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY: JUSTIN REICH/PRESS IN THEIR 20-PLUS-year history, Black Label Society have released 10 studio albums, which have now been gathered in a vinyl box set titled None More Black. Guitarist and band leader Zakk Wylde, never one to dwell on past glories, is already plotting the next phase in the band’s career. Outside BLS, Wylde has been Ozzy’s principal guitarist for nearly 35 years, and also fronts Zakk Sabbath, a tribute band to the original Black Sabbath line-up. Talking to Classic Rock, he explains the reasoning behind the box set, and plans for both BLS and himself. Why do a Black Label Society box…

the DIRT HIGH HOPES Rich Ragany And The Digressions Meet the former Role Model who’s making happiness from heartache with his new band. “It’s supposed to give you f**king strength. There’s a joy in the change of dark to light.” YOU’D BE HARD-PRESSED to find a musician as gregarious, talkative and quick with a chuckle as former Role Models frontman Rich Ragany, a man exuding vibes so upbeat he makes Dave Grohl look like Montgomery Burns. Born in Calgary, Canada and based in the UK with his young family, he makes music that instils a similar sense of positivity, with influences ranging from Tom Petty, Elvis Costello and XTC, to The Faces, The Pretenders, Fleetwood Mac and REM, wrapped around lyrics that tell tales of struggle and inner turmoil. “My…

THE SEVEN WEEKS THAT CHANGED ROCK The 80s weren’t dead and the 90s hadn’t really begun. This is the story of how seven weeks of summer in 1991 belonged to rock (and not just grunge). Words: Rich Hobson In rock history, 1991 is most often seen as The Year Everything Changed. Anecdotally, grunge crashed down like a meteorite to annihilate the hair-metal dinosaurs that had dominated the rock landscape over the previous decade. But in truth there was no instant annihilation event for LA glam (or thrash, or just about any other form of popular guitar music of the 80s). Instead, a procession of landmark releases from August to September 1991 helped transform alt. rock’s steadily growing snowball into an all-enveloping avalanche. “By the end of the late eighties, the…

THE SEVEN WEEKS THAT CHANGED ROCK SCREAMADELICA PRIMAL SCREAM Bobby Gillespie: “We always believed we were fucking great. I know it sounds really arrogant, but when it did happen for us with Screamadelica we weren’t surprised. We’d been out there for years and knew how to play live, and we were fucking ready for anything. It wasn’t like we were some band who came out of nowhere, had success then didn’t know what to do with it. Plus we were still angry too. We were total punk rockers. “I have this big thing about the fact you should be able to dance to rock’n’roll. What I liked about the whole acid thing was that you were dancing. Maybe you were dancing because you were on MDMA, but nevertheless there were…

COLOURSØUND LUST FØR LIFE A collaboration between Cult guitarist Billy Duffy and The Alarm frontman Mike Peters when their main bands are inactive, Coloursøund is a labour of love rather than a ‘supergroup’. Words: Grant Moon Billy Duffy might have lived the longhaul rock’n’roll dream as the guitarist in The Cult, and he might be calling Classic Rock from his pad in LA, but he grew up on a council estate in Manchester, and his accent is untainted by any mid-Atlantic drawl. His inner punk wouldn’t let that happen. We’re talking about his second swing at Coloursøund, his freshly revived collaboration with The Alarm’s Mike Peters, and Duffy is keen to pre-empt any ‘supergroup’ alarm bells. “You read about these so-called ‘rock stars’ who get together and you think:, ‘Oh…

Who Are… Lovebreakers? Singer/guitarist Jack Perry answers our questions. Describe your sound in a sentence? Feelgood, power-pop rock’n’roll. How, when and why did the band get together? I’d had a few years out from music, and started writing songs again in 2018. Me and Christian [bass] go way back in terms of playing in bands around Birmingham, so we started chatting about having a jam. Christian brought along a drummer he knew, and the band kind of grew from there. We were a three-piece for about six months before getting Cheeno [lead guitar] in the band. We found Nathan [new drummer] online. Let’s talk influences: who are your go-to guitar heroes? I gravitate towards the sound/style of guitar players rather than their technical ability. I love players like Pete Townshend,…

REVIEWS ROUND-UP: BLUES By Henry Yates ZACH PIGG/PRESS John Hiatt With The Jerry Douglas Band Leftover Feelings NEW WEST Arriving in Nashville in 1970, John Hiatt rented a $15-a-week fleapit within spitting distance of RCA Studios. A lifetime later, the 68-year-old arrives full circle with a live-tracked session in RCA’s Studio B. With the spirits of Elvis and Waylon in the air, lap-steel master Jerry Douglas bringing crystalline twang and Christian Sedelmyer’s fiddle a constant flavour, here Hiatt’s palette tends a little towards country, but the best cuts still fall to the blues. Mississippi Phone Booth and Little Goodnight have such sun-baked grooves that you don’t notice the lack of drums. Buddy Boy offers a Douglas solo so heartfelt it hurts. The lyrics land, too, with Hiatt darkening Light Of…

FREE QUEEN BOOKAZINE + FUNKO POP! WORTH £19.98 WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBR TO CLASSIC ROCK Discover the stories + music behind Queen Funko Pop! Freddie dazzles in his iconic gold jacket. Perfect for any Queen fan. Order online at www.magazinesdirect.com/CRK/BR20 Choose your package… PRINT ONLY £24 SIX-MONTHLY SAVING 38% PRINT + DIGITAL £26.50 SIX-MONTHLY SAVING 59% Instant access on iPad, iPhone and Android devices Order online at www.magazinesdirect.com/CRK/BR20 or call 0330 3331113 and quote BR20 Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (GMT). TERMS & CONDITIONS: Offer closes July 20, 2021. Offer open to new subscribers only. Direct Debit offer is available to UK subscribers only. *£24 (print) £26.50 (bundle) payable by six-monthly Direct Debit. This price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you…

Essential Playlist Dirty Love Back Street Symphony Backstreet Symphony Back Street Symphony Love Walked In Back Street Symphony Higher Ground Back Street Symphony Like A Satellite Laughing On Judgement Day A Better Man Laughing On Judgement Day Low Life In High Places Laughing On Judgement Day River Of Pain Behind Closed Doors Loser Shooting At The Sun I Love You More Than Rock’N’Roll The Magnificent Seventh The Devil Made Me Do It Robert Johnson’s Tombstone On The Radio Bang! Wonder Days Wonder Days Resurrection Day Wonder Days Rip It Up Rip It Up In Another Life Rip It Up Last One Out Turn Off The Lights All The Right Noises Destruction All The Right Noises…

LIVE! An Evening With Nightwish In A Virtual World The Islanders Arms A glacial display of superiority from the Finnish symphonic-metal giants. Some rushed headlong into the world of online performance; Nightwish took their time. These two shows from The Islanders Arms, a picturesque virtual location, are meticulously planned for maximum effect. Interspersed with illustrations of a cascading waterfall and an airship called The Spirit Of Punk, and enhanced by a perfect sound, Nightwish finally get around to debuting material from their 2020 double album Human.:II: Nature. Over the course of both evenings we get Noise, Tribal, Harvest, How’s The Heart, Pan and, best of all, a superlative Shoemaker, accompanied by a ‘best of’ catalogue summation. The saddening exit of long-time bassist/co-vocalist Marko Hietala puts certain standards, such as The…

Tawny Kitaen August 5, 1961 – May 7, 2021 THE STAR OF a number of Whitesnake videos has died at the age of 59. American actress Tawny Kitaen came to prominence during the hair-metal boom while in a relationship with (and later married) David Coverdale, appearing in the MTV-rotated promos for Still Of The Night, Is This Love, the re-recorded version of Here I Go Again and The Deeper The Love. Her appearance in those popular clips helped Whitesnake’s 1987 album to sell eight million copies in the US alone. Julie Ellen ‘Tawny’ Kitaen was born in San Diego, California. Her first brush with fame in the music world came after her legs adorned the cover of Ratt’s debut EP, Ratt. Kitaen was dating the band’s guitarist Robbin Crosby at…

“He told whopping porky pies” Roger Waters aims new blows at David Gilmour. ROGER WATERS HAS renewed his spat with David Gilmour during the apparent build-up to the long-delayed remaster of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals. Waters published a redacted version of the project’s sleeve-notes, written by Classic Rock contributor Mark Blake, and fact-checked by himself, Gilmour and Nick Mason. It insisted that the “Gilmour/Samson camp”, a reference to Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson, has “claimed more credit for Dave on the work he did in Pink Floyd, 1967-1985, than is his due.” Waters added: “Yes, [Gilmour] was, and is, a jolly good guitarist and singer. But, he has for the last 35 years told a lot of whopping porky pies about who did what in Pink Floyd when I was…

the DIRT HIGH HOPES Mojothunder With a 9/10 review last issue for their debut, here’s a rock’n’roll band you need to listen to. “We’re not indie, we’re not hard rock, we just like to make good music and we have our way of doing it.” IT’S NO FUN waitin’ around to become a millionaire. Just ask the pride of Lexington Kentucky, Mojothunder. Their just-released debut album, Hymns From The Electric Church, is a stunner; a sun-dappled potpourri of everything good and true about American rock’n’roll, from crunching hard rock to soulful blues, from breezy cosmic Americana to head-bopping summertime arena-rock anthems. In a normal world, they’d be on the road, clawing their way to the top, clocking up miles on endless highways, seeing a million faces and rocking them all.…

ON EVERY STREET DIRE STRAITS On the face of it, Dire Straits didn’t belong in this new decade. Put it down to the cultural baggage of 1985’s Brothers In Arms – the inescapable fifth album that surfed the CD boom into a billion yuppie glove boxes. But by 1991, as the grunge storm gathered in Seattle, the South London band were widely seen as a muso relic. “We got a lot of flak,” reflects guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler. “For a while I was just as happy playing a game of tennis as picking up a guitar.” Knopfler had form when it came to being out of step, of course. Back in 1978, on the Straits’ self-titled debut album, the guitarist had raced through the flash-fingered outro solo to Sultans Of Swing…

The Hendrix of The shara With its West African grooves, his Eddie Van Halen-inspired guitar mastery, soul-steeped vocals and a socio-political theme, Mdou Moctar‘s new album looks set to take him out of Africa and on to the world stage. Words: Dave Everley When Mdou Moctar was 17, he decided he wanted his own guitar. There were just two obstacles. Firstly, the music he wanted to play was antithetical to the wishes of his strict Muslim parents. Secondly, growing up in Agadez, a town in the West African country of Niger whose main source of income stems from nearby uranium mines, guitars were hard to come by. So he did what any resourceful, rebellious teen should do: he built one. “There was no internet, I didn’t even have a phone,”…

As The Crow Flies A six-song essential STC playlist. I SAW AMERICA Outlining their ambition – and showcasing Jimmy Dewar’s co-lead vocal talents – this 17-minute piece is several songs in one, a travelogue of genuine experience reflected in a barrage of musical hustle and bustle. If it’s ‘only’ roots rock, this shows how wide the genre really THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER A powerful blend of American soul after it went through the British Invasion blender, matching the scale of Joe Cocker’s cover of With A Little Help From My Friends. The opening salvo, led by McGinnis’s keyboard, makes you wish you were there. I MAY BE RIGHT I MAY BE WRONG Capable of being the theme tune to any 70s US sitcom about self-discovery, this Faces-esque barroom blues number…

The Soundtrack Of My Life Singer, songwriter, radio host and actor Dee Snider on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to him. Interview: Dave Steinfeld “Leslie West spoke to me as a singer – because he played melodies.” It takes more than a global pandemic to slow Dee Snider down. The former Twisted Sister frontman has a lot going on these days, among them a new solo album called Leave A Scar due for release this summer. He also plays with Matt Sorum’s band Kings Of Chaos, and hosts his long-running radio show The House Of Hair. This autumn (subject to covid) he plans to star on Broadway in Rock Me Amadeus, a new musical that includes classic songs from different centuries. THE FIRST SONG I…