Rolling Stone May 19, 2016

Q+A THE FUNK IS BACK! Soul singer Charles Bradley’s new album, Changes, blends heartbreak anthems with James Brown-inspired funk. We spoke to him about the death of his mother, covering Black Sabbath, and why it’s never too late to find success. TV ON THE SCENE WITH GERVAIS Ricky Gervais tells us about his latest movie, Special Correspondents, a comedy about a radio journalist who fakes reporting on an uprising in South America. BOOKS THE 10 BEST BEATLES BOOKS In honor of Philip Norman’s new Paul McCartney bio, we round up the best Fab Four books, from Michael Braun’s Love Me Do to Ian MacDonald’s Revolution in the Head. POLITICS ROCK AGAINST POLLUTION The music industry is working to reduce the massive carbon footprints that concerts leave behind, focusing on getting venues to stop selling singleuse plastic containers. WHEN ROCK MAKES A STAND In…

Misfit Royalty well-researched and written cover story [“The Curse of the Ramones,” RS 1259]. Mikal Gilmore captured the essence of the band’s dysfunctional relationships and its prolific body of work. The way some revere the Beatles is the way I feel about the Ramones. Ryan Gilfedder, Forest Hills, NY band that helped cement my music taste. Thanks for helping to educate the new crop of punks about the roots of this music. (No, son, Blink-182 did not invent the genre.) Andy Lippitt, Stoughton, MA fan, I loved the cover story. I was surprised Gilmore didn’t mention the subgenre of pop punk that includes bands like Screeching Weasel, the Riverdales and the Huntingtons, ones that used the Ramones’ sonic formula – Johnny’s signature riff, Dee Dee playing along with Johnny note for note, and bubblegum-pop melodies…

To accompany Mikal Gilmore’s Ramones cover story, our editors compiled a comprehensive list of punk rock’s most iconic records [“The 40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time,” RS 1259]. Readers from around the country weighed in on the rankings and on records we failed to include. NO DISRESPECT TO BILLIE Joe Armstrong, but the Dead Kennedys’Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables merits a higher ranking than No. 40 and was arguably a far bigger influence on punk than Green Day’s Dookie. Mark Flythe, Hamilton, NJ WHERE’S THE FRIGGIN’ MC5? There would be no Ramones if it weren’t for Fred Sonic Smith! Kick Out the Jams is the bible not only for every heavy-metal band but for every punk band as well! John Hefty, Crestone, CO DEAD BOYS’ “YOUNG, LOUD and Snotty” not at the top of…

1. D’Angelo “Sometimes It Snows in April” Performing on Fallon (and backed by Princess), D’Angelo turned Prince’s mournful ballad into an elegy for the genius we’ve all lost. 2. Bruce Springsteen “Purple Rain” Two nights after Prince died, Springsteen opened a Brooklyn show bathed in purple light, playing Prince’s most beloved song – saying goodbye to a fellow legend in a moment of pure arena catharsis. 3. Chris Stapleton “Nothing Compares 2 U” Nashville iconoclast Stapleton’s growled country-soul take was a genre-bending moment Prince would’ve loved. 4. David Gilmour “Comfortably Numb” and “Purple Rain” Playing the Floyd classic at a London show, Gilmour worked an epic Prince homage into his solo, holding a guitar-god séance. 5. LCD Soundsystem “Controversy” Not every Prince tribute was a sad farewell – at Week Two of Coachella, LCD got the crowd moving as…

The Black Crowes frontman is on a solo tour, and hosting the psychedelic radio show Gurus Galore on Sirius XM. Gong “I Never Glid Before” Don’t mention “psychedelic music” if you aren’t familiar with Gong. This is the perfect union of great jazz and rock, under a psychedelic dome. Broadcast and the Focus Group “The Be Colony” There’s a darkness in the vocals, but it’s wrapped in a beautiful pop moment of great imagination. Canned Heat “Poor Moon” This is a song about the environment, where they basically say, “If we could, we’d fuck up the moon.” Judee Sill “Enchanted Sky Machines” Judee was the first artist signed to Geffen Records, but there’s little info out there about her bizarre life. This song has a heavy message, but it’s still beautiful. Ariel Kalma “Ecstasy Musical Mind Yoga” The track is so expansive, and can take…

Aand the sky turns purple over Indio Valley’s Empire Polo Club grounds on October 7th, Bob Dylan will take the stage. Later, the Rolling Stones will follow. It will be the first day of a historic three-day concert that will also include Neil Young, Paul McCartney, the Who and Roger Waters – two acts a day, performing full sets with their own stage productions. The event – which is the result of a year of secret meetings and careful negotiations – doesn’t have a name. “What name could be bigger than these acts?” says Paul Tollett, the CEO of Goldenvoice, who put the event together. For the past 17 years, Tollett has staged the Coachella Music & Arts Festival, also held at the Indio, California, site, which has made its reputation…