Table of contents for Issue 237 in Classic Rock

WELCOME You say you want a revolution…’ When John Lennon sang those words nearly half a century ago, he wasn’t talking about musical revolutions. But in this issue of Classic Rock, we are. And the revolution in question is the one that took place as the 1970s morphed into the 80s, and is a very British one. Yep, this month we’re taking a deep dive into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, a time when bands such as Iron Maiden and Saxon were born and the likes of Judas Priest and Motörhead really hit their stride. The time when Britain truly got heavy again. Elsewhere this month we finally tell the tale of the making of Led Zeppelin III, we go back in time to 1967 to revisit The…

RIP Thank you and good night. Banner Thomas Died April 10, 2017 A fond southern rock farewell to the bassist who joined Jacksonvillebased rockers Molly Hatchet in 1974 and played on their first four albums. Banner Thomas was 63 and had been recovering from pneumonia in both lungs and a sinus infection. Brian Matthew September 17, 1928 – April 8, 2017 BBC director general Tony Hall has paid tribute to “an outstanding broadcaster who entertained and engaged millions over generations”. Matthew worked for the Beeb from 1954 and had presented Sounds Of The 60s since April 1990. Clive Brooks December 28, 1949 – May 5, 2017 The Canterbury scene community mourns the passing of the drummer best-remembered for playing with Egg and who also played with The Groundhogs and Liar.…

J Geils February 20, 1946 – April 11, 2017 John Warren ‘J’ Geils Jr and his band are best-known for their pop hit Centrefold (which topped the US chart in 1981 and reached No.3 in the UK), although to the more discerning connoisseur the band’s real legacy will be that of a hard-working, R&Binfluenced blue-collar rock band Guitarist Geils was born in New York City and was of German descent. In 1968 he co-founded the J Geils Band in Boston with frontman Peter Wolf, bassist Danny Klein, harmonica player Richard ‘Magic Dick’ Salwitz, vocalist/keyboardist Seth Justman and drummer Stephen Bladd. They released a self-titled debut in 1970, but it would take numerous tours, 12 years and 10 more studio albums before they found fame with Centrefold. Wolf left in 1983…

HIGH HOPES Brothers Osborne Refusing to compromise has paid offfor the Grammy-nominated country/rock siblings. “Country music and classic rock go hand in hand,” says John Osborne, one half of fast-rising aces Brothers Osborne. “Rock’n’roll is about an attitude more than anything. We grew up listening to music we thought was genuine – authentic country and rock’n’roll from the sixties and seventies. It’s a huge part of what we are.” Siblings TJ and John are currently the hottest duo in Nashville. Trading as Brothers Osborne, their debut album Pawn Shop, which covers a range of styles from surly southern rock to country twang to smouldering slide-blues, has already racked up six-figure sales in the US, bolstered by hit singles Rum, 21 Summer and Stay A Little Longer. They won Vocal Duo…

RAW POWER Fan Favourite A striking acoustic guitar full of innovations and sheer tone. Pictured here is the unusual yet wholly incredible Steven Wilson ID Series Signature acoustic from JeffBabicz, which combines the skills of two true innovators. Veteran US luthier Babicz cut his teeth with Steinberger Sound during the 80s and 90s, the company famous for their innovative headless guitar designs (for function more than for style) that wooed players as diverse as Allan Holdsworth, Geddy Lee and David Bowie, while Wilson is one of today’s most revered musicians and composers. Probably the guitar’s most striking feature is the fan of strings that spread out from behind the bridge and are anchored to the solid Englemann spruce top. This configuration creates a string pull that exerts lateral compression of…

HIGH HOPES Hunter & The Bear Every band likes compliments, but if you annoy these guys you might get credited on an album. “Being a debut album, we didn’t want to come across as a one-trick pony.” despite having a name that might suggest otherwise, Hunter & The Bear are not a 70s US buddy-cop drama, nor a kids’ fairy tale, but a Londonbased four-piece who mix Soundgarden-esque vocals and Foos-style driving riffs with a soupçon of Springsteen. That quaint name? Hunter is guitarist Jimmy, The Bear is Scottish-born frontman Will Irvine. “When I was a kid everyone called me Bear cos I was like a dustbin for everyone’s food,” he explains. “I know it’s a strange name but, really, we had so many other terrible options. I’m sure we’ll…

The Police Message In A Bottle Sting’s “book of lyrics” was the starting point for many of The Police’s classic tracks – including this one, which gave them their first UK No.1 single and put them on the road to superstardom. Words: Greg Prato ‘Second-album slump’ is one of the most dreaded phrases you can foist upon a new rock artist, as it can often equate to another unpleasant label – ‘career killer’. But this didn’t seem to cross the minds of The Police trio of singer/bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland when they began thinking about a follow-up to the band’s hit debut album Outlandos d’Amour (which had spawned hit singles including Roxanne and Can’t Stand Losing You). “What was interesting about Sting as a songwriter was…

Essential Playlist Day Of The Eagle Bridge Of Sighs Too Rolling Stoned Bridge Of Sighs Daydream Robin Trower Live! I Want To Take You With Me Living Out Of Time Seven Moons Songs From The Road Caledonia Long Misty Days Fine Day For Earth Below I Can’t Wait Much Longer Twice Removed From Yesterday A Tale Untold For Earth Below Long Misty Days Long Misty Days Farther On Up The Road Farther On Up The Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983 For Earth Below For Earth Below Born Under A Bad Sign Roots And Branches Lady Love Bridge Of Sighs When Will The Next Blow Fall Where You Are Going To Precious Gift 20th Century Blues Bridge Of Sighs Bridge Of Sighs…

Alter Bridge The band are back to play Download in June. Having progressed from playing the University Of London Union to the Mean Fiddler, to the Astoria and Hammersmith Odeon before reaching Wembley, it’s been a slow but steady climb for Alter Bridge. As the Florida band prepare for a Special Guest spot below Aerosmith at the Download Festival, guitarist Mark Tremonti hopes that bigger things are still to come. Was playing London’s O2 Arena on Alter Bridge’s most recent UK tour a step into the really big league? It was an amazing, unbelievable moment. I might even say that show was the highlight of our career to date. We were honoured and humbled to be there. This year is second time the band have been Special Guests of Aerosmith…

Jesus Jones The AC/DC-loving indie/ electronic fusioneers return. DANNY CLINCH/ RACHEL C MOORE /PRESS Best remembered for their 1990 hit Right Here, Right Now, Jesus Jones formed in Wiltshire in 1988. The band’s fusion of electronic music, house, techno and indie rock was somewhat ahead of its time, and guitarist Mike Edwards believes the band have something to offer readers of Classic Rock. Do you feel comfortable about being in a magazine called Classic Rock? Not really [laughs]. I was thinking about that ten minutes before you called. To me it’s quite weird, but I suppose that’s probably where we belong. Stylistically speaking, will a few eyebrows be raised by people seeing you in it? Probably. But the technological aspect of dance music is now ingrained into the style of…

This month’s contributors MICHAEL HANN Michael Hann is a former music editor of the Guardian. The first album he bought was Powerage by AC/DC, he has a low tolerance for extended soloing, he once reversed a car into a tree in an empty car park and he firmly believes Pat Benatar to be a wrongly overlooked pop genius. This issue he talks to Aerosmith (p44) and Jason Isbell (p60). STEPHEN DALTON An adult survivor of NME and a regular CR contributor, Stephen Dalton is still a tourist in the exotic kingdom of prog, and his first live encounter with the majestic soundscapes of avant-rock guitar legend Steve Hackett came as a very pleasant surprise (p116). He is now planning to compose his own wizard-themed triplevinyl concept album. KEVIN NIXON Kevin…

NEWS Southend-based retrorockers Purson have split up after five years together. They sign offwith a one-track single, a newly recorded song, Chocolate Money, that does not appear on the band’s second and final album, Desire’s Magic Theatre. David Crosby has branded Ted Nugent “a brainless twit” after the guitarist posed for a picture with President Trump. Crosby said: “This picture says it all – the two most insincere smiles in history. What a pair of assholes.” Filming has begun on a movie about the plane crash in 1977 in which members of Lynyrd Skynyrd lost their lives. Directed by Jared Cohn, it is to be titled Street Survivors: The True Story Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash. Taylor Clift will play the part of singer Ronnie Van Zant, who was…

Floyd: The Show Does Go On The band's long-awaited V&A exhibition opens its doors. ON MAY 13, Pink Floyd exhibition Their Mortal Remains opened at the historic Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Put together by Hipgnosis founder Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell, who worked closely with Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and the estates of Richard Wright and Syd Barrett, it features more than 350 items and runs until October 1. Their Mortal Remains follows 2013’s hugely successful David Bowie Is… and 2015’s You Say You Want A Revolution events in a growing trend that, alongside last year’s Rolling Stones production Exhibitionism, proves there’s longevity and significance in rock’n’roll for fans and museum creators alike. “The V&A welcomed us with open arms,” Powell says in the accompanying 320-page catalogue. “It…

ART Supernatural Fairytales, Island Records, UK, 1967. £375+ Art were originally known as the V.I.P.s, who formed in Carlisle in late 1963. They released a handful of decent beat/R&B singles, the third of which, I Wanna Be Free, gave them a hit in France. Due to the lack of success with follow-up single Straight Down The Line, and in a bid to get with the psychedelic times, in ’67 there was a change of personnel. They were joined briefly by Keith Emerson, who soon left to form The Nice, at which point The V.I.P.s changed their name to Art. Housed in a fantastic period sleeve, designed by Hapshash And The Coloured Coat, Supernatural Fairytales is an important, under-acknowledged album. With opener Think I’m Going Weird, the subject of drugs makes…

Sharp Dressed Man Rock ’n’ Roll accessories Edwin Coach jacket This neat coach-style jacket from Japanese denim gurus Edwin has got us all a-fluster for the warmer months that are enticingly just around the corner. With pointed collar, metal press-stud closure and a lightweight twill, this will make a great go-to piece. £120 Edwin-Europe.com @EdwinEurope Red Wing Merchant boots We’re somewhat in love with the simplicity of these Red Wing Heritage boots, cut from ebony harness leather to the original 245 style from 1920. They’re classic workwear and perfect for summer – turn up to work in them, and then straight out to a gig. Ideal! £249 @RedWingHeritage RedWingHeritage.com Slackjaw Saloon T-shirt We’re still loving the output from the Slackjaw guys. It’s perfectly pitched for us here at SDM, lying…

HIGH HOPES The Weeks Kings Of Leon’s Mississippi-born protégés mix southern swagger with indie-rock edge. “It’s always been slow and steady for us. We could take another twenty years. The Weeks We don’t care.” Classic Rock’s High Hopes slots are usually reserved for eager young whippersnappers fresh out of rock’n’roll’s starting gate, not groups who released their first record more than 10 years ago. But we’ll make an exception for The Weeks, who mix Skynyrd-like swagger with Kings Of Leon-style indie rock, and in true southern style are supremely relaxed about their arduous, decade-long route to this point. “Yeah, I guess it might seem a bit frustrating from the outside,” frontman Cyle Barnes says with a laugh. “But I love being in this band. Our thing was always: ‘We’re going…

Q & A Gary Brooker The Procol Harum singer/pianist on lyricists, banging his head and losing his hearing, and falling offlogs in Finland Interview: Hugh Fielder It might feel as if Procol Harum are emerging from an extended break – it has been 14 years since their last studio album, after all. But, as Gary Brooker is quick to point out, if that is the case, then what are they doing on tour every year? He does admit, however, that the band’s itinerary has included just three British shows in the past decade. Still, in the meantime there’s been a steady flow of live souvenir albums and DVDs, several of them featuring an orchestra in an attempt to emulate the band’s landmark Live With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra back in…

Permanent Vacation? Af ter all the drink, drugs, fighting and… sore feet, Aerosmith are back on the road for what will be the last time. Or will it? The Toxic Twins reveal all. Words: Michael Hann Images: Ross Halfin On June 11, Aerosmith will headline Download. The familiar bluesy chug of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford’s guitars will drift across Donington Park, Steven Tyler’s feral yowl laid on top. And tens of thousands of people will howl along, perhaps not contemplating the miracle that the five men on stage are able to play for them. Leave aside the years of living so fast it broke all speed limits, the fact is Aerosmith don’t make life easy for themselves. Even now, as they traverse Europe on their Aero-Vederci Baby! tour, what…

Tribal gathering It’s difficult to tell whether it’s the band or the 2,600 devoted fans in attendance who are having the most fun at this year’s Marillion Weekender in Holland. Words: Philip Wilding Photos: Will Ireland It’s the third and final night of Marillion’s sell-out weekend at Center Parcs in Port Zélande, a holiday resort near the southern Holland coastal town of Ouddorp. It’s a glorious finale to what has been a remarkable few days, Marillion ending their final show by playing their 1999 album marillion.com in its entirety. The In Praise Of Folly string quartet, dressed as four eerie Miss Havershams, open the show, there are guest appearances by sax and trumpet players (Phil Todd and Neil Yates) and sometime Marillion lyricist John Helmer, and the audience could not…

The Magpie Salute London Under The Bridge Former Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson’s new band thrill with a blend of covers and his old band’s favourites. When Captain Guitar swoops into view on stage, stars-and-stripes cape flapping to the groove, he whips up a tornado of voodoo magic. Here he comes now, darting from the shadows like a Gotham rock vigilante, delivering BLAM! BIFF! KERPOW! licks to Terry Reid’s Dean faster than a speeding plectrum. And then, with a flick of his forelock, he disappears as mysteriously as he came. Who was that caped bluesader? “Any time I get the cape out in public it’s a good day,” says Captain Guitar, backstage in his everyday human alter-ego disguise as Marc Ford of The Magpie Salute. “A friend from Bristol had…

Pretenders London Royal Albert Hall Chrissie Hynde and co. deliver the timeless hits and more. The Pretenders always were the most classy of the new wave bands. Tonight the audience witness a celebration of classic virtues; old-fashioned, even: we are requested to put mobile devices away and “enjoy the show in real time”. Only two original members remain, but it’s enough: Martin Chambers is introduced as “the world’s greatest rock’n’roll drummer” by Chrissie Hynde, who many would argue is (still) the world’s greatest rock’n’roll frontwoman. She struts on stage in a military tunic and spangly jeans, still skinny, her voice the last word in steely insouciance. Opening number Alone sets out her stall: ‘Nobody tells me I can’t/Nobody tells me I shan’t’. Not that she’s beyond crowd-pleasing; the set is…

Heavy Load John Mellencamp on celebrity, hypocrisy, being misunderstood and not giving a f**k about anything Interview: Paul Lester “I see the truth in everything. I also see the lie in everything.” Heavy questions for heavy rockers John Mellencamp seems to take pleasure in being grouchy. The musician and sometime painter – once dismissed as a pop-weight Boss, with hits such as Jack & Diane, more recently praised by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan and cited by Billboard as “arguably the most important roots rocker of his generation” – doesn’t suffer foolish assessments of his life or work gladly. On the release of his new album Sad Clowns And Hillbillies, featuring Carlene Carter, the cig-smoking heartland rocker refutes suggestions that he is what he sings about, and (following high-profile relationships…

INSIDE THE WORLD OF ROCK The Dirt Maiden’s Voyage Two shows left on UK tour – but manager hints that it won’t be the last. FOR MORE NEWS: www.classicrockmagazine.com SET-LIST Nottingham, May 4 If Eternity Should Fail Spee d Of Li ght Wrathchild Children Of The Damned De ath Or Glory The Re d And The Black The Trooper Powerslave The Great Unknown The Book Of Souls Fe ar Of The Dark Iron Maiden Encore: The Numbe r Of The Beast Blood Brothers Wasted Ye ars IRON MAIDEN HAVE almost completed their first major indoor tour of the UK and Ireland for six years, a 13-date outing that winds up with two sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena. Having topped the bill at Download 2016 and Sonisphere 2014, a full-on…

Heavy Rotation What we’ve been listening to this month prince: getty 1 Lights Out Royal Blood The trendiest hot young rock things of 2014 (they were lapped up by just about everybody, us included), Royal Blood are back to prove that the success of their debut wasn’t a fluke. Lights Out takes the deep swagger and bluesy grit of their earlier tracks and adds a few more funky guitar touches. More of the same, essentially, but better. 2 Do Ya Feel Like Lovin’ Rox Championed by Classic Rock’s GeoffBarton back in the 1980s, Mancunian titans Rox were briefly fêted as Britain’s answer to Kiss, Angel and Starz. They’re now back in action with the three-song Teenteeze EP, and this little ditty will superglue itself into your head and remain there…

A Bustle In your Headgerow When the reigning kings of rock holed up in the Welsh countryside to write a new album, no one expected the folk y pastoral results. Critics hated it, fans didn’t get it, but Led Zeppelin II I is arguably the band’s most impor tant record Words: Mick Wall By the time Led Zeppelin returned from their latest US tour in April 1970 – 25 ‘heartland’ dates, no New York, no LA, just deep inside the belly of the beast – what Robert Plant called “the craziness count” had definitely gone up. John Bonham, whose bouts of homesickness seemed to be growing in direct proportion to how successful the band became, began drinking more heavily and taking out his frustrations on hotel rooms. The show at…

PAINS, PLANES AND AUTOMOBILES In 1967 The Who toured the USA for the first time. Cue thrills, spills, cops, smashed guitars, exploding toilets and the birth of the legend that is Keith Moon. It was The Who Versus America – and there would be only one winner. Words: Mark Blake getty The putrid stench spilled out of the bathroom. It was the smell of decaying flesh mixed with the tang of day-old booze and cigarettes. The maid pushed her cleaning cart through the doorway and squinted into the darkness. It was daytime, but the motel suite’s previous occupant, Keith Moon, had left the curtains drawn, as if concealing the evidence of some heinous crime. The maid opened the bathroom door gingerly. Her eyes were drawn first to the half-empty tub…

Roger Waters Is This The Life We Really Want? Columbia ‘This is a protest album, a series of howls of despair.’ First solo album in 25 years from Pink Floyd co-founder. It’s ironic that the former major?domo of the quintessential stoner band should in recent years have recast himself as rock’s last angry man. We knew from their 70s output, from Dark Side Of The Moon to Animals and The Wall, that Pink Floyd specialised in a sort of melodic mordancy or ambient acrimony. And yet their rails against the system seemed designed to erase or raze your consciousness. Now here’s the Floyd’s main writer succeeding in raising it. He’s doing it with his politicised concert spectaculars – The Wall Live, which made him the highest-grossing solo artist of all…

Jethro Tull Songs From The Wood – 40th Anniversary Edition Chrysalis ian anderson archive/press The album that took Tull out of the woods. After the aberration that was 1976’s Too Old To Rock ’N’ Roll: Too Young To Die! Jethro Tull needed fresh inspiration. Rather than go back to the concept albums that had given the band their American breakthrough, Ian Anderson decided to head in a folk direction. This was not as strange as it seemed; Anderson had recently produced Steeleye Span, whose rock approach had broadened the appeal of folk music, and he was canny enough to see how traditional folk music could enhance the distinctive Englishness of Tull’s music. The result was a career-saving triumph, with Anderson’s songwriting getting another burst of creative enthusiasm and the band…