Innehållsförteckning för November 2018 från Classic Rock

WELCOME This month finally sees the release of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody – a movie that has been beset with so many difficulties along its journey that lots of people, including Queen themselves, wondered whether it would ever see the light of day. In celebration, we’re taking a deep dive into the period of Queen’s story that the film covers, culminating in their amazing, career-rejuvenating performance at Live Aid in 1985. We sit down with Dr Brian May to discuss Freddie, the film, his new book and more besides. Elsewhere, we talk to Journey’s former frontman Steve Perry as he returns to the rock’n’roll fray after a two-decade absence, chat with Dave Davies about The Kinks, hang out with Nashville Pussy, get the meaning of life from Wayne Kramer, and so…

the DiRT RIP Thank you and good night. Maartin Allcock January 5, 1957 – September 16, 2018 Manchester-born multi-instrumentalist Maartin Allcock, who had spells with Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, The Mission, among others, has died of liver cancer. He was 61. Allcock also performed as a session player on more than 200 albums from artists ranging from Robert Plant to Cat Stevens. A statement from Jethro Tull said: “He leaves behind a treasure trove of recordings and a feast of memories.” Tony Camillo Died August 29, 2018 The man who co-produced Gladys Knight & The Pips’ 1973 chart-topper Midnight Train To Georgia has died of as-yet unknown causes, aged 90. Tony Camillo was also an arranger, musician, songwriter and studio owner. The many bands and artists he worked with include…

NEWS American music magazine JAM claims to have heard from “a reliable inside source” that Angus Young is piecing together a new AC/DC album which “will include Malcolm Young playing rhythm guitar on all of its tracks”. All the tracks are said to have been recorded during the sessions for the Black Ice album, Mal’s final record with the group. It’s an audacious claim for a band known for their out-take-free approach to recording, but time will tell. Rob Halford is planning to write an autobiography though he has no timeframe in which to do it, remarking: “It’ll happen one day.” Judas Priest will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2019. Dave Grohl (pictured) is to appear on an upcoming episode of Sesame Street, the long-running kids’ education show that celebrates…

THE STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS Small Faces Lazy Sunday Not representative of the band’s style and released without their knowledge, it nevertheless became a big hit – and, says drummer Kenney Jones, “was the final nail in the coffin in finishing us off”. Words: Richard Purden While on an extensive tour in the spring of 1968, the Small Faces were blissfully unaware that they’d scored their biggest UK hit single since All Or Nothing – which made No.1 almost two years previously. Lazy Sunday, which started out as something “to make each other laugh more than anything else”, as frontman Steve Marriott put it, is arguably still their best-known song. “We didn’t know anything about it,” drummer Kenney Jones explains today. “Steve Marriott bought a copy of Melody Maker, we read…

CHRIS STEIN Picture This Blondie guitarist Chris Stein talks about New York during the punk years, and illustrates it with a selection of images from his new photo book. INTERVIEW: ALEX BURROWS; INSET PIC: GETTY I was at the School Of Visual Arts in New York, and before that I had a close friend who I grew up with in Brooklyn who was a really great photographer. He was getting stuff in the newspapers and worked with [celebrated American photographer] Diane Arbus. He was a big influence. With the new book, I’m trying to With the new book, I’m trying to give a feeling for the atmosphere and what it was like for us in the city and what the streets were like. It’s not focused so intently on the…

CLASSIC ROCK ALBUM OF THE WEEK CLUB Every week we choose a classic album – some obscure, some well known – and share knowledge and opinion. Listen and debate with us at: http://bit.do/aotw. Have your say on the history of rock, one album at a time… and you might just see yourself in print. The Yes Album Yes (1971) WHAT YOU SAID John Wilson: I really like this album, and it gets better every time I hear it in its entirety. Usually I listen to half the album in other ways, such as a live album or my own playlist mixes, but hearing it all together makes for a great relaxing experience. The album’s artwork isn’t one of my favourite of theirs by far though! Robert Dunn: I fell asleep…

THE HARD STUFF ALBUMS Ace Frehley Spaceman EONE/SPV While his guitar playing can still thrill, words fail the former Kiss guitarist. Based on the Spaceman sleeve, Ace ‘The Spaceman’ Frehley appears to be in no particular hurry. Shrink-wrapped in spandex, reclining on a silver throne, he’s every inch the coasting, royalty funded veteran. But the numbers tell a different story. Spaceman is the 67-year-old’s third solo album in four years, a hot streak that makes the Kiss mothership look positively sluggish (six years and counting since Monster). In fairness, Frehley isn’t exactly painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with these late-period solo releases. Apart from Quantum Flux, the album’s impressive prog-instrumental finale, Spaceman is route-one, no-frills, knock-it-out-and-fuck-off-home rock’n’roll – and that’s (usually) no criticism. When Ace’s hooks, riffs and…

REVIEWS BEST OF THE REST Other new releases out this month… By Ian Fortnam Alexis Korner Every Day I Have The Blues… GRAPEFRUIT A three-disc compendium of formative British blues from scene godfather, CCS founder and broadcaster Korner. 7/10 Television Marquee Moon deluxe vinyl RHINO Ludicrously brilliant, toweringly influential, an NYC landmark defining mind-over-cock dual-guitar precision to perfection. 9/10 Various Harmony In My Head CHERRY RED Glen Matlock was ejected from the Sex Pistols ‘for liking The Beatles’ in 1977. He wasn’t alone and they’re all in here. From Accidents to Yachts. 6/10 L7 L7 EPITAPH Capturing the indomitable LA hellions’ ‘88 metamorphosis from punk beginnings to delicious slack-jawed proto-grunge mega-graunch. 7/10 Jilted John True Love Stories BOSS TUNEAGE 40th Anniversary Edition of classic concept work. Fancy mice, bus shelter…

Heavy Load Heavy questions for heavy rockers Roger Daltrey on The Who, Pete Townshend’s arrest, not having regrets and the secret of a successful marriage. Interview: Ian Fortnam “I’m as driven by Teenage Cancer Trust now as I ever was by The Who.” Roger Harry Daltrey CBE fashioned his first guitar with his own hands. He’s been a sheet metal worker, portrayed Franz Liszt on the silver screen, farmed trout and is the driving force behind the Teenage Cancer Trust charity. In addition to an esteemed solo career, he’s fronted The Who, interpreting the lyrics of Pete Townshend for more than half a century while trying to keep the peace in one of the most volatile bands in rock history. Do you, or did you ever, believe in God? Going to…

This month’s contributors ALEX BURROWS Raised in an anarcho-syndicalist commune, Alex is seen here playing a cover of Napalm Death’s Multinational Corporations with late-80s hardcore punks Millions Of Thatcher’s Victims. He later abandoned a potentially illustrious drumming career to become a writer. This issue he spoke to Blondie’s Chris Stein (p66) and wrote the Bob Mould Buyer’s Guide (p92). HENRY YATES Henry is a busy man who has written for NME, Guitarist, Total Guitar, Metal Hammer, Rhythm, Country Music, Shortlist and the Telegraph, and wrote Walter Trout’s official biography, Rescued From Reality. This month he interviews Brian May about the rocky road to the release of the new Queen film (p44). For more visit www.yatescreativecopywriting.com PAUL ELLIOTT Paul Elliott first wrote about Journey in 1986 with a five-star review of…

Steve Howe Receives ‘Prog God’ Award Steven Wilson also triumphs at Prog Awards. YES GUITARIST STEVE Howe was named this year’s Prog God at the 2018 Progressive Music Awards, which took place recently at the Underglobe in London’s Globe Theatre. Howe was the third member of Yes to receive the honour (following Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson) in its seven-year history (the others are Peter Gabriel, Ian Anderson, Tony Banks and Carl Palmer). Hosted by comedian Al Murray, the event saw Steven Wilson nominated in three categories and winning two of them – Album Of The Year for To The Bone, and the UK Band/Artist Of The Year, and Caravan picked up a Lifetime Achievement award. There were also wins for the PFM, Space Rocks festival, Big Big Train, Alan…

the DiRT ★ HIGH HOPES The Blinders This incendiary trio refuse to shy away from politics - or succumb to rock-star stereotypes. “We’re politically minded people, therefore our songs are politically minded.” “GOOD ROCK’N’ROLL comes in times of desperation,” says Charlie McGough, effusive bassist with white-hot Manchester-via-Doncaster trio The Blinders, purveyors of a dark, melodic strand of agit-popping alt.rock, swathed in atmospheric surf-guitar reverb. “The greatest songs always come from a time and place of protest.” With the world lurching from crisis to crisis on a tidal wave of divisive right-wing populism, you’d imagine today’s rock community would be involuntarily stimulated toward greatness by every news bulletin. Yet apart from a select few voices of dissent (Idles, Strange Bones, The Blinders), numb generic complacency and apathetic denial appear to be…

the DiRT ● RAW POWER Silver Machine John Mayer’s latest signature electric guitar – released with an unprecedented level of controversy. JOHN MAYER HAS had his fair share of signature models, and the latest guitar to bear his scribble, the PRS Silver Sky, is possibly the most controversial new guitar of any released in recent times. As news of its spec got out, the online guitar community was immediately up in arms, insulted by its resemblance to a Fender Stratocaster, and any player who dared to even point at a Silver Sky was open to the kind of abuse only the internet can impart. That said, it should have been of little surprise that Mayer, a long-time Strat fan who allegedly became ‘dissatisfied’ with what Fender were doing, would opt…

the DiRT ★ HIGH HOPES Those Damn Crows Influenced by grunge, arena rock and a bit of country, they aim to leave a mark on the world. “Every single one of us in the band loves Aerosmith.” BRIDGEND ROCKERS Those Damn Crows started out as school friends, listening to the likes of Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters, and jamming in the music room on their lunch break. As teenagers they began playing gigs under the band name Shirker. Boosted by an inspiring music teacher, it was a promising start. But soon the guys who would later become the Those Damn Crows went their separate ways. Then about 10 years later a chance meeting got the ball rolling again. “Some of the guys had joined a band called…

Q&A Dave Davies The Kinks guitarist on his new album, the 70s, growing up, personal struggles and a new Kinks record. Words: Rob Hughes Dave Davies refuses to slow down. Since recovering from a stroke in 2004, the 71-year-old has issued a series of collaborative and solo albums, as well as revisiting his own archive. His latest release is Decade, which gathers together ‘lost’ songs from the 70s that his sons Simon and Martin salvaged from “under beds, in attics, in storage”. Together they represent a striking, poignant snapshot of a key moment in Davies’s life. Davies founded The Kinks with his brother Ray in London in 1964. The band had a string of Top 20 singles and albums in the 60s and 70s, and in their heyday were one…

THE SHOW MUST GO ON As the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic finally arrives in cinemas, Brian May looks back at the rocky road to its completion, the “bullshit” tabloid rumours, and why casting Sacha Baron Cohen as Freddie would have been a “disaster”. Words: Henry Yates Brian May can laugh about it now: the fired directors, the departed leading men, the eight agonising years when the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, crawled through production, up among the leaders in the bad-luck stakes. “I think the best thing is to look forward, and not back,” the ever-diplomatic Queen guitarist considers when asked for his crowning head-in-hands moments. At last, Bohemian Rhapsody is here – and despite that difficult birth, early signs suggest it’s one of the best rock biopics of recent times.…

REVIEWS BEST OF THE REST Other new releases out this month. The Marcus King Band Carolina Confessions SNAKEFARM The singer/guitarist showcases brassy soul, blues and rock on this classy fusion of southern velvet and grit. A worldly head on young shoulders. 7/10 John Butler Trio Home BECAUSE MUSIC Engaging and varied collection of mostly country-flecked, often punchy roots-rockers from class-act Australian singer-songwriter. 7/10 The Chills Snow Bound FIRE The eighth album from the Kiwi indie popsters is tasteful and eloquent, in the synth-infused vein of Split Enz or R.E.M. – minus the killer tunes. 5/10 White Widdow Victory AOR HEAVEN Fifth album of keyboard-drenched AOR. Second Hand Heart, Late Night Liaison and the stirring Fight For Love maintain their usual high standards. 8/10 NoSound Allow Yourself KS COPE Italian post-rockers…

Mott The Hoople Mental Train (The Island Years 1969-1971) UMC From a band that had two lives, a collection drawn from their fist and most exciting one. GETTY There were effectively two Mott The Hooples: the one that had a hit with All The Young Dudes and enjoyed a kind of glam-rock chart success in the mid-70s, and an earlier one that never made it yet recorded some great, almost-lost rock albums as the 60s became the 70s. It’s that first Mott The Hoople who made the records in this new box set: their four albums for Island Records, along with a rarities set and a live disc, from a time in the band’s career that has never been properly anthologised; eighty-nine tracks, six discs, a wealth of new material…

★CLASSIC★ ROCK RECOMMENDS Tour Dates GETTY ROBERT PLANT & THE SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS You know the singer. If you don’t know his band, it’s time you did. Together they’re something a bit special. London BluesFest, O2 Arena Oct 26 SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS The guy with the guitar, the fella with the voice, some top-rockin’ songs and a band to deliver them with oomph. See over the page for dates. Currently February 16-20. OZZY OSBOURNE Some up-and-coming singer from Birmingham, thought we’d give him a plug. Support comes from the mighty Priest. See below for dates. Currently February 1-11. KEVIN NIXON THE STRUTS The band of the moment, stars in the making, with a zinger of a new album. Catch them before they ‘go arena’. See below…

INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROCK the DiRT The Kinks Village Green Exhibition Fiftieth-anniversary exhibition celebrates the group’s masterpiece. Photos by Barrie Wentzel IMAGES COURTESY OF PROUD GALLERIES © BARRIE WENTZELL, © OLA SVENSSON/BILDER I SYD Photo by Ola Svensson. THE 50TH-ANNIVERSARY reissue of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, the sixth studio album from The Kinks, one of the great British bands of the 60s, is being celebrated with an exhibition of the same name. Taking place at Proud Central gallery in central London, it brings together vintage memorabilia, photography from the era and specially commissioned and hand-signed artworks by the surviving band members, brothers Ray and Dave Davies and Mick Avory. Photographs by British photographer Barrie Wentzell, whose work was featured on the album’s original artwork as…

Final tours… Ozzy only endured Sabbath’s farewell; Kiss, Bob Seger and Krokus plan their own goodbyes. OZZY OSBOURNE “DIDN’T have a great time” on Black Sabbath’s farewell tour last year. The singer was “getting bad vibes” from his bandmates on the worldwide trek for “being Ozzy”. The now-solo Osbourne, who tours the UK next February with Judas Priest as his special guests, told Philadelphia’s The Inquirer that while he had spent a decade of his professional life working with guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, his time away from them represented “over thirty years”. “[When I’m] with them, I’m just a singer. With me, I get to do what I want to do,” Ozzy added. “I was getting bad vibes from them for being Ozzy. I don’t know, what…

“RIP UFO!” Way wants no part in 2019’s 50th-anniversary farewell tour. ALONG WITH FORMER UFO guitarist Michael Schenker, Pete Way will not be taking any part in UFO’s 50th-anniversary shows next year. Fans had hoped that various ex-members might join the group on stage for an all-star jam on the final night of their UK tour. But with Schenker telling Classic Rock: “For me, UFO only exists with the original five members, plus producer Ron Nevison” (see page 99), bass player Way, who left the band in 2008, wants it known that he feels the same way. “I would like to make sure that nobody is under the illusion that I will be appearing,” he says of the jam – which at this stage is just rumour. “I will be…

BURIED TREASURE Riches from the rock underground MUSEO ROSENBACH Zarathustra, Ricordi Records, Italy, 1973. £1,000. Museo Rosenbach formed Bordighera in 1972. Zarathustra, a crown jewel of the underground Italian progressive rock scene during its bustling golden era, is a stunning example of the desire to break standard rock boundaries of the time. Italian prog was way more musically explorative (some might say pompous) as a whole than its European counterparts. Based on Nietzsche’s Superman, the 21-minute title track (split into five parts and taking up the whole of side one) is very classical in its construction, with bold dynamics, superb playing and memorable melodies. It ranges from dreamy and symphonic to heavy, doomy and bombastic. Dazzling use of Mellotron brings to mind early King Crimson, Genesis and, of course, Yes.…

MY FIRST LOVE Abraxas SANTANA The Metallica bassist finds himself stirred by that old Black Magic (Woman). By Rob Trujillo “My father played flamenco guitar as a hobby and used to listen to a lot of Santana. It was the early seventies, I was probably around nine years old, but I knew that I wanted Abraxas. “Abraxas had Black Magic Woman on it. I was drawn to the Latin flair of this great rock song. I felt Santana had a very dynamic range. He’d [Carlos Santana] bring in heavy guitars for the riff to get everyone excited, and with the use of percussion there was this indigenous quality to the beat, the rhythm, the flow of the music he was producing. Not to mention all those nice, beautiful instrumental moments. “The…

the DiRT Heavy Rotation What we’ve been listening to this month Heavy Rotation 1 Primadonna Like Me The Struts The latest video from rock’s brightest, sparklyest new young things includes cowbells, casinos, a spot of knife-throwing with Alice Cooper, and oodles of wide-eyed, jazz-handed charisma. If you thought they might have peaked on previous album Everybody Wants, think again. This is easily one of the best things they’ve ever done. Flick through to the page 82 for our lowdown on the whole new album Young & Dangerous. 2 Do Your Worst Rival Sons Jay Buchanan, Scott Holiday and co. are back with new music, and it’s right good. After the more pronounced soulful factor of previous album Hollow Bones, this new tune from the Long Beach band suggests a return…

ONCE IS NOT ENUFF They were the band of the moment, poised to write their name in the brightest lights. Then they hit the self-destruct button. Since then Enuff Z’Nuff have continued to try to fly high again. Words: Dave Everley There have been times when Chip Z’Nuff could have rolled over and given up, and nobody would have blamed him. During the glory days of the late 1980s, his band Enuff Z’Nuff were fêted as rock’s Next Big Thing. They were power-pop princes in glam-metal clothing – The Beatles and Cheap Trick reinvented for the lip gloss-’n’-hair-spray set. Bassist Z’Nuff and singer/guitarist Donnie Vie were one of the great double acts of the era. They were blood brothers, as close a pairing as you’ll find, and together they had…

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO WAYNE KRAMER America has a gun problem. Most prisoners shouldn’t be in prison. We need rock’n’roll. Being a parent is tough but can be rewarding… These and more life lessons from the MC5/MC50 guitarist. Interview: Ian Fortnam Fifty years ago, Detroit’s Motor City 5 released their debut live album Kick Out The Jams, a record so feral it inspired successive generations of sonic insurrectionists to take rock’n’roll to new peaks of intensity. The MC5 were Wayne Kramer’s baby. It was the blistering firepower of his lead guitar that defined the band’s sound. After delivering three landmark albums, the 5 split in ’72. Kramer fell into addiction and found himself in federal prison for two years. Hooking up with Johnny Thunders in Gang War upon his release,…

★ CLASSIC ★ ROCK 2,061,440 AND STILL GROWING! SOCIAL CLUB Get social, debate and interact with Classic Rock Join us via email (classicrock@futurenet.com), Facebook or Twitter TO CD OR NOT CD… CONTINUED Dave Jordan’s letter in issue 254 is not a lone voice. He is spot-on with everything I wanted to say about my disappointment at finding no CD, only replace by a download. As for trying something different, remember: if it is not broken, don’t fix it. Alan Rochelle, via email Responding to Dave Jordan (great second name – [Classic Rock issue 254], I have thousands of albums on vinyl and CD, and cherish them all – but haven’t played any of them in years! In fact I don’t have a CD player in home or car. Yet via…

ROUND-UP: BLUES By Henry Yates Joe Louis Walker, Bruce Katz & Giles Robson Journeys To The Heart Of The Blues MUNICH Ever since Cray, Collins and Copeland’s Showdown!, the blues has enjoyed a proud tradition of the ménage à trois. Joe Louis Walker, Bruce Katz and Giles Robson might look like three pangenerational soaks molesting the pub piano, while their mission statement – to strip a raft of standards to their acoustic kernel – sounds like the stuff of musical taxidermy, but the trio have produced a quite beautiful baby. Ostensibly the junior partner, harp player Robson is a revelation, asserting himself on the reed-busting rattle of G&J Boogie and the lonesome wheeze of I’m A Lonely Man, jockeying for position with Katz’s mellifluous plink-plonk on Hell Ain’t But A Mile…

INTERVIEWS Fields Of The Nephilim With no new album to plug, expect plenty of favourites. MICHAEL SCHENKER: WILL IRELAND Frontman Carl McCoy checks in as the veteran goths gear up to perform three concerts that will encompass All Hallows Eve and The Day Of The Dead. These shows, including London on Halloween, celebrate “the dark energies of Samhain”. Why is this time of year so important for you? I was brought up believing it was a special occasion. It’s a time of rebirth and death. It’s more than just a date on a calendar. It’s also the thirtieth anniversary of the band’s self-titled second album and their biggest hit, Moonchild. Will you play that album in its entirety? We did that whole album a few years ago, so that won’t…

Godsmack The “we’re not” metalheads play UK dates in November. Formed 23 years ago in Massachusetts, Godsmack have amassed 20 million album sales. Frontman/guitarist Sully Erna, 50, explains why the metalheads have calmed things down a notch or two with their new album, When Legends Rise. Seven albums into the band’s career, When Legends Rise reveals a growth and maturing of the Godsmack sound. As a band we’ve been around for quite a while, and musically and as individuals all of us have changed. This record is a reflection of that evolution. However, I never considered us a metal band – that would be disrespectful to the likes of Slayer and Megadeth. We always rode that line. Classic Rock’s review said: “Godsmack are no longer trying to compete with the…