Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Classic Rock

This one threw all of us at Classic Rock for a loop. I’m referring, of course, to the sudden, unexpected loss of Jeff Beck. I still don’t quite believe it. Many of my favourite memories of Jeff revolve around the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour. We managed to tempt him into attending one of our bashes in the early days, and from then on he became something of a stalwart of the occasion, whether he was winning or presenting an award or not. He just simply enjoyed coming along and spending an evening in the company of his friends and peers. And, of course, we absolutely loved having him there. One year he played a blinding set at the Roundhouse for us (with guests Chrissie Hynde and Joss Stone), another…

Jim Stuart July 29, 1930 – December 5, 2022 Tennessee-born Jim Stuart was a co-founder of Stax Records, the iconic soul and R&B label with a roster that included Otis Redding, Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Isaac Hayes and Sam & Dave. In 2002 Stuart was inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a “producer, engineer, businessman and mentor”. He was 92. Cause of death has not been announced. Harvey Jett February 17, 1949 – December 21, 2022 Harvey ‘Burley’ Jett was a lead guitarist, singer, pianist and banjo player with proto-southern rockers Black Oak Arkansas, and played on their first seven albums from 1965 until the middle of the following decade when, following a concert in St Louis, Missouri, and tiring of the rock-star treadmill, he…

Iggy Pop has told the New York Times that he received an approach to join AC/DC as their singer, and declined. He didn’t reveal whether this was to replace Bon Scott or Brian Johnson, just that it came “many years ago” via a management representative. He listened to AC/DC’s music and realised: “I can’t fill that bill. I wasn’t like: ‘Ugh, I don’t like them.’ It was quite well made. They do careful work. But I’m not what they needed.” Meanwhile, on the current AC/DC front, Brian Johnson reveals that he can no longer answer questions about playing live with the band. Pressed on the subject by American DJ Eddie Trunk, who sidestepped by enquiring whether a return to live action was something that the singer wanted, Johnson insisted: “I…

“I have a genuine love for the blues, and respect. And hopefully that comes across.” Connor Selby has the hallmarks of a ‘blues guitar prodigy’: the adolescent bedroom beginnings; crazy-high levels of knowledge and skill; a serious monobrow. But unlike so many others, he’s all about songs. “I can appreciate virtuosity like anyone can,” he says. “But if you want to connect with people, songs are the way to do that.” Selby makes good on that belief with his self-titled debut, a startlingly mature collection of bluesy rock’n’soul, flecked with countrified yearning and jazzy undertones. There are at least as many nods here to storytellers like Ray Charles, Hank Williams and Patsy Cline as to the Claptons, Kings and Bonamassas of this world. You’d never think this was the work…

The Shiver formed in the Germanspeaking Swiss town of St. Gallen in the latter half of the 60s. They were joined by English vocalist Peter Robinson. Walpurgis was recorded in early 1969 and is very much an album of its time. It’s not necessarily an all-out classic but it does have some interesting moments. Largely recognised for its stunning early HR Giger-designed gatefold sleeve (his first album cover), it’s highly coveted by many collectors. The album consists mainly of cover versions, which is perhaps the main thing it has going against it. In particular the version of Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, which despite being a decent rendition is perhaps too much of an obvious choice. Their reworking of Procol Harum’s Repent Walpurgis is more ethereal and spooky-sounding, coming…

Any band that reaches their 50th anniversary must have something special going for them. Uriah Heep – the hard rockers who formed in 1969 and have rarely paused for breath since – have Mick Box. At 75 years of age, the guitarist should probably be organising his slipper collection. Instead he’s an exuberant blur of positive energy and garrulous cockney vowels when he greets us just after the end of the World Cup Final. “Did you watch the football? How exciting was that?” he beams. “Mate, what a game! ’Appy days!” Box’s enthusiasm is infectious, and he would probably be equally upbeat even if he hadn’t just witnessed Lionel Messi bringing the Cup home for Argentina. As showcased on their brand new album Chaos And Colour, Uriah Heep are on…

Ten years in the saddle. Tireless fifth album. Riders come and go, but Ricky Warwick has been a constant with Black Star Riders for a decade now. Bass player Robbie Crane has been there since 2014, and drummer Zak St John is a recent addition. Collectively they play like rockers with a fresh mission. The band’s connection to Thin Lizzy has never abated; classic-era Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham will guest on some of the 2023 tour dates, demonstrating the goodwill that persists. He and Warwick effectively led the Lizzy touring band into the Riders formation. The soul of the old band is a still a guiding principle. Album five does not stint with rousing choruses and motivational themes. Warwick gives his community a pep talk with Riding Out The Storm,…

Dark drama shines new light on a classic Nephilim album. While there’s little surprise to be had in knowing what’s going to be played next as Fields Of The Nephilim revisit their second album, The Nephilim, in full, what startles and delights in equal measure is the sheer firepower and sincerity with which they deliver it tonight. It would be all too easy to dismiss the band as little more than cowboy hats, smoke machines and sunglasses after dark, but that would be a grave disservice, because there’s always been so much more about them. Witness the grit under the fingernails working the frets on the sliding and grinding guitars of Endemoniada - apower so somatic, indeed. Thanks to the ushering chimes of The Watchmen and the gloriously epic encore…

The world’s biggest cult band showcase forthcoming new album. ‘Those who’ve turned up for a ‘greatest hits’ set are in for a shock. Entirely appropriately, tonight the UK is gripped by a bleak sub-zero Arctic chill as The Cure open with the dense orchestration of new song Alone from delayed 14th studio album Songs Of A Lost World – looking set to be a major release of 2023. Combining familiar Cure themes – loss of innocence and heartache – with Robert Smith’s less well-known characteristic as a dedicated environmentalist, the cinematic backdrop of a shimmering ocean gradually zooms out into an image of a slowly disappearing planet Earth. ‘I know, I know/My world is growing old,’ he laments on the second new song, And Nothing Is Forever. It sets tonight’s…

Nineties heroes embrace the lesserexplored avenues of their catalogue. With 33 years and 15 albums behind them, it’s only natural that Therapy? would have plenty of lesser-played gems in the vaults. Thankfully, their Love Your Early Stuff tour is all about stepping out of the shadow of Troublegum to explore the often overlooked brilliance elsewhere in their discography. Much like their career, it all starts with Meat Abstract’s post-industrial clatter, dancing bodies spread across two floors of purple poster-clad walls making The Sugarmill feel like alt.metal’s answer to The Hacienda. Therapy?’s sound defiantly rejects categorisation; the bulldozer heft of Wreck It Like Beckett is alien to the chunky Britrock of Ten Year Plan, which in turn bears little resemblance to the unhinged near-numetal weirdness of Little Tongues First, the post-punk…

Mongolia’s chief metal export continue their global conquest. When The Hu played at the Download Festival in 2019, they proved they were much more than just a viral sensation. Performing in a small tent, they were greeted by a sea of faces inside and out, all gathered to hear their unique fusion of Mongolian folk music and heavy metal. Three years later, the venues they perform in may have got bigger, but the scene remains much the same. The Institute is positively heaving before the band come on, and a thrumming excitable buzz becomes a triumphant roar as they arrive. New album Rumble Of Thunder translates well to the live setting; songs like Tatar Warrior and This Is Mongol have an implacable thump that perfectly accentuates the chants of “Hu!…

IRON MAIDEN ARE the subject of a new set of postage stamps from the Royal Mail. On sale now, the dozen images of the band members come from the 1980s until 2018. Four of the new stamps are gathered in a miniature sheet featuring their mascot Eddie The ’Ead, one of which sees him portrayed as a samurai warrior from Maiden’s latest album, Senjutsu. Maiden become just the fifth band to receive the honour, following The Beatles in 2007, Pink Floyd in 2016, Queen in 2020 and the Rolling Stones in 2022. Royal Mail collaborated closely with the group and their management company Phantom Music. The stamps feature the head of the late regent, Queen Elizabeth II, rather than King Charles. The band’s manager Rod Smallwood says: “It’s incredible to…

The bassist and co-founder of The Tubes, Rick Anderson, has died at the age of 75. A social media statement from The Tubes said: “Rick brought a steady and kind presence to the band for 50 years. His love came through his bass. RIP.” The Tubes were formed in the Bay Area in 1972, pulling together members of the Phoenix-based bands The Beans and the Red White And Blues Band, drawn to the area three years earlier. Anderson had been in The Beans. The foundations of the Tubes were laid when former roadie John ‘Fee’ Waybill was added to a prototype line-up. After the band opened for Led Zeppelin, and Rick Wakeman helped them get signed to A&M Records, Anderson played on all eight of The Tubes’ classic-era studio albums,…

Steven Tyler is facing a lawsuit from a woman named Julia Holcomb, who alleges she had a sexual relationship with the Aerosmith frontman when she was 16 during a three-year romance with him. Tyler wrote in his memoir that he “almost took a teen bride” during the same time frame. He is yet to comment on the case. Foo Fighters have said that they will continue as a group, following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in “the most difficult and tragic year that our band has ever known”. Although they are yet to announce a replacement, the Foos have announced three festival appearances in the US and another in Brazil, commencing in late May. Genesis will release a 53-track five-CD and 24-track triple-LP anthology of past vintage performances for…

“Like going back to that fifties rock’n’roll but playing it through a Marshall stack.” Montreal show-stoppers Dangereens formed in proper rock’n’roll fashion. “I was in another band before, and Felix [Brisson] came to see our last show,” frontman Hugo Chatrand explains. “After the show he said: ‘Hey man, that was pretty good.’ So we talked. Some time after, I found him on Facebook and I said: ‘Do you want to start a band?’ He said: ‘Sure.’ And then I said: ‘Okay, do you play an instrument?’ Because I just asked him because he looked cool, you know?” Luckily, Brisson was as good at playing guitar as he was at wearing cowboy boots. The Canadian wonder twins found suitable sidemen, and in 2018 Dangereens were born. Just don’t ask them what…

The Kids are alright – when they’re performing live, at any rate. It’s 1974, and Heavy Metal Kids frontman Gary Holton has arrived at the office of music weekly Sounds, just off London’s grimy Holloway Road. He’s due to be interviewed by yours truly and has dressed for the part: the style is street-urchin Bowie, complete with a pair of ladies’ stiletto heels on his – as the Mockney Kid would call them – plates of meat. We adjourn to a nearby boozer, where the hard-nosed drinkers treat Holton with suspicion bordering on disdain. Unperturbed, he takes it in his stride – well, as big a stride as his heels will allow – and proclaims: “I’m already a star, it’s just that a few million people don’t know it yet.…

London The Roundhouse As reliable as taxes. “This is show a hundred twenty-four this year,” says Clutch singer Neil Fallon, in a tone that can best be described as world-weary, “and it feels like it.” You don’t come to see Clutch and expect a Dave Lee Roth-like tirade of platitudes and air punches. You might get the occasional “thank you kindly”, but Clutch, with the best hard rock album released this year in the shape of Sunrise On Slaughter Beach, work with the adage: let the music do the talking. It’s the last show of the tour and year, so all bets are off, musically speaking. And while Fallon might complain about losing his voice, it appears to be only he who can tell. From piledriving opener Slaughter Beach to…

Triple bills don’t come much tighter, with all three bands bringing their own strengths and flavours. The faithful have gathered. The name and image of tonight’s headliners is blazoned across T-shirts, hats and hoodies, alongside those of a generous helping of solo Myles Kennedy and Tremonti, Metallica, GN’R and other staples of a healthy hard rock diet. Against the odds of thick snow, buggered transport and the O2’s £8 Budweiser pints (not to mention £3.90 for water), we’re here to forget our woes and exorcise some demons via camaraderie, strapping riffage and big-hearted songs. Wolfgang Van Halen and Alter Bridge go way back. They share a longtime producer/collaborator, Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette. Wolf has been touring bassist for Mark Tremonti’s solo band. Now in his own band, Mammoth WVH, he’s opening…

The lead singer with The Specials and former frontman with Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield, Terry Hall, has died aged 63. Coventry-born Hall found an outlet in the punk scene, joining the Coventry Automatics, the band that became known as The Specials in 1979. They blended Jamaican ska with punk rock to create a multi-cultural sound that was riotously entertaining, fiercely political and anti-racist. The Specials notched seven consecutive Top 10 singles in the UK, including the chart-topping Ghost Town in 1981. That same year Hall formed Fun Boy Three who had seven UK Top 20 hits. By 1984 he’d formed The Colourfield, whose wry lounge-pop failed to capture the public’s imagination in quite the same way as The Specials and Fun Boy Three. Post-Colourfield, Hall had a solo…

Welsh singer, guitarist and songwriter Kim Simmonds was the leader of blues-rock band Savoy Brown from their formation in 1965 until his death, and they released more than 40 albums. The 75-year-old had been receiving chemotherapy for stagefour colon cancer. Over the decades, Simmonds hired and fired more than 50 members of the band, including Stan Webb, Jackie Lynton, Bill Bruford and UFO’s Paul Raymond. During a bout of writer’s block in the 80s, his self-doubt prompted him to re-learn the guitar. “I had no idea why I was no longer any good,” he told Classic Rock in 2019. “I didn’t even know what a pentatonic scale was, so I was forced to analyse how I’d done it before and start over. I’ve been right to the bottom and dragged…

Dee Snider opened a can of worms by claiming that while Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and the late Ronnie James Dio rank among “the greatest singers of all time”, neither was a particularly convincing frontman. When fans voiced objection, he tweeted: “My [favourite] frontmen are all over the stage, interacting with the crowd. Showmen. Think David Lee Roth, Paul Stanley, Mick Jagger… Axl Rose… the list goes on.” Tony Iommi is planning to start work on a new album. The former Black Sabbath guitarist has also confirmed that the group’s five Tony Martin-fronted records – The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, Tyr, Cross Purposes and Forbidden, released between 1987 and ’95 – will be repackaged this year. Don’t be surprised if Bob Dylan makes a guest appearance in Coronation Street. In…

With his next batch of tour dates due to commence on May 3, Ozzy Osbourne promises to do his utmost to defy wellpublicised health issues and fulfil existing obligations. “I am determined to be back on stage even if I am nailed to a board with wheels on it,” says the 74-year-old. The unseemly feud between Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain over a number of issues including financial discrepancies continues to escalate, with keyboard player Cain insisting: “If anyone is destroying the Journey brand, it is Neal Schon”. Guitarist Schon said: “[This is] my band and I’ll own it as I should and make the right changes as needed.” Guns N’ Roses continue to be linked with playing on the Pyramid Stage at this summer’s Glastonbury Festival. The band will,…

COMING SOON? Last July, King’s X were forced to cancel an autumn European and UK tour after guitarist Ty Tabor was troubled by “an unforeseen medical issue”, later confirmed as immune system problems. This came after covid had previously forced the cancellation of the tour. “I don’t even want to make a prediction on when we might come back, because we’ve let people down twice,” says bassist/ vocalist Dug Pinnick. “When Ty’s doctor gives him the all-clear, that’s when everything gets re-booked, and not before, and right now we don’t know when that situation might change.” As their producer, manager and mentor, Sam Taylor played a massive part in the rise of Texan trio King’s X. Using knowledge accrued from days working with ZZ Top, Taylor ran King’s X like…

It’s Autumn 1972. John Cale is vacating The Manor, a picturesque residential studio nestled in the Oxfordshire hills. It’s a recent acquisition by a budding music impresario called Richard Branson. The next artist booked in the studio is a wan, taciturn 19-year-old virtually unknown called Mike Oldfield. Noticing a shining silver set of tubular bells among Cale’s equipment, Oldfield asks if he can add it to the two dozen instruments he’ll use to record his one-man symphony, tentatively titled Opus One. Re-titled Tubular Bells and released the following year, after a slow start the almost all-instrumental album went on to become a commercial and cultural phenomenon, and launched Oldfield as one of the UK’s most acclaimed composers. The first album to be released on Branson’s fledgeling Virgin Records, its massive…

Vivid, pre-Britpop fireworks. There’s a select audience that will care about a six-CD collection of the works of S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men. Still, for indie participants of early 1994, such a project might be a minor thrill. For a brief period, The New Wave Of New Wave was a source of insightful, excitable moments and laugh-inducing press stories. NWONW was ahead of Britpop but propelled by similar themes of tedium, attrition and style. It was genetically embroidered by The Who, The Clash, The Only Ones and the Anglo school of art-riot. The proponents began to rise after Thatcher’s landslide election victory of 1983, and they railed against the fog of lethargy and defeatism. The genre was baptised by NME writer Paul Moody in a January 1994 feature, and officiated…

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live? Ry Cooder Billy The Kid Into The Purple Valley Vigilante Man Into The Purple Valley Boomer’s Story Boomer’s Story The Dark End Of The Street Boomer’s Story Tamp ’Em Up Solid Paradise And Lunch Jesus On The Mainline Paradise And Lunch He’ll Have To Go Chicken Skin Music Little Sister Bop Till You Drop The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor) Bop Till You Drop The Long Riders The Long Riders OST Across The Borderline The Border OST Paris, Texas Paris, Texas OST Isa Lei A Meeting By The River Diaraby Talking Timbuktu 3rd Base, Dodger Stadium Chávez Ravine Hank Williams My Name Is Buddy John Lee Hooker For President Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down…

Happy birthday to loo. Famously the only actual ex-public toilet on the UK toilet gig circuit, the Tunbridge Wells Forum hits its 30th anniversary, and champion of grass-roots venues Frank Turner leads the celebrations, as he did on the occasions of its 20th and 25th. “If you’ve got nothing on in 2028,” he quips, strapping on an acoustic guitar for gig number 2,722, proclaiming a new-year rustiness, “I’ll see you here.” These ferocious solo shows are the lifeblood of Turner’s troubadour spirit, where his songs return to their natural habitat of punk jig, rousing folk anthem and reflective ballad, and the richness and intelligence of his lyrics shine (‘You can’t fix the world if all you have is a hammer,’ he declares in the midst of “anti-fascist” stormer 1933). Tonight,…

The past, present and future of metal, in one almighty package. Everybody should see Napalm Death at least once. After more than four decades of uncompromising sonic brutality, their commitment and reliability is priceless. For half an hour, blast-beats rage, heads bang and fists pump before Barney Greenway introduces the Dead Kennedys song that Napalm have made their own, the anti-fascist anthem Nazi Punks Fuck Off. “Love and peace, the only way forward,” he beams as the band exit the stage. Newport ragga-metallers Skindred share Napalm’s values of love, decency and inclusion. How moving it is to see Wembley packed with fans of all ages, sizes and genders, with so many different haircuts. Benji Webbe is the ringmaster supreme. When we don’t sing the refrain to Gimme That Boom loud…

Who wins the battle between these three seasoned rock vocalists? Allotted slightly over half an hour, Graham Bonnet plays things very safe, revisiting a pair of gems from his days with Michael Schenker and another five from the Rainbow album that he fronted, 1979’s Down To Earth, plus his solo hit from the 80s, Night Games. Valiantly, the high notes are not shirked but, bless him, he misses more than he hits. The set is certainly spirited and enjoyable, but in his mid-70s is it advisable for Bonnet to be sharing a stage with Steve Overland and Glenn Hughes? The answer to that question becomes obvious as Overland steps up to croon classily through FM’s opener Synchronised, followed by oldies like Bad Luck, Tough It Out and I Belong To…

Years before nu metal ate the world, Benji Webbe was melding hip-hop, metal, punk and reggae into a startlingly original concoction, first in the sorely underrated Dub War and then in the more successful Skindred. During their quarter-century together the latter have released seven albums (an eighth, Smile, is due this year), forged a global reputation as a ferocious live act and carved out a niche that is uniquely theirs. Certainly, few figures who have featured on this page have claimed influences as diverse as the Sex Pistols, Nat King Cole and Aswad. Oh, and The Banana Splits. THE FIRST MUSIC I REMEMBER HEARING My mum and dad’s record collection played a big part in my life. Motown was strong in my household, and Jamaican reggae. Then there was Bowie,…