Rock's Backpages

In this episode we welcome the great Robert Greenfield, beamed in from his home in Carmel, California, and ask him about his early '70s adventures with the Rolling Stones that inspired the seminal book S.T.P..

Robert recounts his journey from Fusion and Boston After Dark, via Rolling Stone's London bureau, to his stellar career as an author and biographer — including his celebrated books about Bill Graham, Jerry Garcia and Augustus "Owsley" Stanley III. He describes how he showed up at Keith Richards' Villa Nellcote in August 1971, during the recording of the now-50-year-old Exile On Main St.. After this we hear about the defining 1972 pieces he wrote for Rolling Stone about that album's final overdub/mixing stages in L.A., and about the start of the "Stones Touring Party" trek through North America. We also hear a 1997 audio clip of Keef looking back on Exile and its gradual rise to acclaim as the group's greatest album, plus there's a digression on photographer-filmmaker Robert Frank, whose Cocksucker Blues was (like S.T.P.) a key document of that triumphant 1972 tour.

From there we go to clips from the week's new RBP audio interview, which features John Tobler in a 1992 conversation with folk-country legend Jerry Jeff Walker, the object of veneration on Steve Earle's new album Jerry Jeff. The genial and engaging Mr. Walker talks to Tobler about the difference between Nashville and his adopted Austin, his beloved 1968 song 'Mr. Bojangles', and (in the episode's outro) his encouragement of fellow troubadour Guy Clark — another object of Earle's Texan veneration.

After valedictory reflections on Dylan crony and "stars' superstar" Bob Neuwirth, Microdisney/Fatima Mansions frontman Cathal Coughlan, and Greek prog-electronic deity Vangelis — news of the deaths of Depeche Mode's Andy Fletcher and former Yes drummer Alan White came in after the recording of this episode — Mark Pringle quotes from his favourite new additions to the RBP library. These include pieces about Scott Walker, the Wailers, choreographer Cholly Atkins and self-proclaimed "bedroom bore" Aphex Twin, after which Jasper weighs in with remarks on the Streets and Shontelle.

Many thanks to special guest Robert Greenfield. Find his books, including S.T.P.: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones, in all good bookshops.

Pieces discussed: Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones tour, Keith Richards audio, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Jeff Walker audio, Al Aronowitz on Bob Neuwirth, Cathal Coughlan, Vangelis, Scott Walker, Cholly Atkins, The Wailers, Aphex Twin, The Streets and Shontelle.

In this episode we are joined by the droll and charming Chris Roberts, who looks back on his career as a journalist, author and musician.

Chris recalls the seminal early experience of first hearing T. Rex's 'Metal Guru' and explains how this led eventually to his writing for Sounds and then Melody Maker in the '80s. After detours via the ill-fated Ikon magazine and the fascinating Idle Worship anthology, we get to Chris' Uncut years and hear an audio clip of him being very cheeky to Debbie Harry. This brings us up to the present day and the publication of his fine new study of the Velvet Underground.

We then turn to the week's featured artist, the divine Missy Elliott, and discuss her 25-year-old debut Supa Dupa Fly, reviewed by Chris for the Maker — and the "Misdemeanor" gal's amazing career in general. Another album turning 25 is Radiohead's towering OK Computer, which affords the perfect excuse to hear clips from not one but two audio interviews — the first with Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood from 1993, the second with Phil Selway from 1997, shortly after OK Computer's release. Chris reminisces about two Radiohead shows he saw, including a Royal Festival Hall gig he reviewed in 2000.

Mark then runs through the articles he's most enjoyed adding during the previous fortnight, including pieces about the Ronettes, the Impressions, Ray Parker, Jr. and A Guy Called Gerald. Jasper finishes things off with remarks about interviews with Fall Out Boy and Grandmaster Flash.

Many thanks to special guest Chris Roberts. His new book The Velvet Underground is published by Palazzo and available now.

Pieces discussed: Debbie Harry audio, Chris on Supa Dupa Fly, Missy Elliott, Radiohead audio: Thom Yorke & Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway, The Ronettes, John Mayall, Stonewall riots, Popol Vuh, Guy Called Gerald, The Impressions, Ray Parker Jr., Fall Out Boy, Grandmaster Flash and Ayo.

In this episode we mark the 40th anniversary of the death of arguably the greatest — and certainly the most "almost famous" — writer in the history of music journalism.

Two of Lester Bangs's closest Creem colleagues (both wonderful writers in their own right) join us from California to reminisce about the man and his work. Jaan Uhelszki, who started in the Creem office the same day as Lester, gets the ball rolling by putting Detroit's "anti-Rolling Stone" in context. Robert Duncan, who arrived two years later in 1974, adds his recollections of "America's only rock'n'roll magazine" [sic] before paying tribute to Lester. Respect, laughter and sadness ensue as Robert & Jaan discuss their friend's gonzoid genius, his exasperating foibles and the addiction that killed him at 33, six years after Robert persuaded him to move to New York.

Seminal New York duo Suicide — beloved of Bangs — are the subjects of the week's new audio interview, clips from which feature pioneering electropunks Alan Vega & Martin Rev talking in 1998 about their "confrontational" live act, their introduction of the word "punk" into NYC's music scene in 1971… and Vega's love of British comedy The Full Monty!

Finally, Mark talks us through his highlights among the articles recently added to the RBP library, including pieces about the Righteous Brothers, Laura Nyro, Jeff Beck at the Fillmore East, Pharoah Saunders and England's miserable Bickershaw festival. Barney notes a 1988 Paul Morley rumination on, yes, music journalism… and Jasper quotes from a John Doran "review" of Aphex Twin's Collapse.

Many thanks to special guests Robert Duncan and Jaan Uhelszki; you can visit Robert's website at duncanwrites.com and find more of Jaan's writing on her RBP writer's page.

Pieces discussed: Lester on RBP, Lester Bangs and Almost Famous, Richard Riegel on Lester, Robert Duncan, Lester on the MC5, Lester on how to be a rock critic, Lester on Astral Weeks, Lester on punk/jazz, Suicide audio, Righteous Brothers, Laura Nyro, Pharaoh Sanders, George Jones, Grateful Dead & Jeff Beck Group, Bickershaw festival, KISS, Divine, Paul Morley on the rock press and Aphex Twin's Collapse.

In this episode we welcome the wonderful Vashti Bunyan — all the way from her home in Edinburgh — and ask her about her magical music and the remarkable memoir she's just published.

The "freak folk" legend — though she strongly disavows the "folk" tag — begins by talking of her early musical memories, among them meeting an unhappy Cliff Richard backstage in Blackpool in 1961. She describes her dream of becoming a pop singer in mid-'60s London, and how that led her to the Mayfair office of Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Briefly and unhappily typecast as "a dark-haired Marianne Faithfull", she recalls the session for the Jagger-Richards song 'Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind', backed up in the studio by Jimmy Page & Nicky Hopkins.

Vashti explains how she felt equally adrift in the world of folk, eventually dropping out of the London music scene to travel to the Outer Hebrides in a horse-drawn wagon. This is the journey she writes about so vividly in Wayward, leading circuitously to Joe Boyd producing her 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day. After a discussion of that exquisite record, she talks about why she neither wrote nor sang another song for 30 years… then admits how much it meant when younger admirers like Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart discovered the album in 2000, subsequently appearing on her Lookaftering (2005) and Heartleap (2014).

With Nick Drake's final album Pink Moon turning 50 this year, we take Vashti back to the awkward afternoon she spent trying to write a song with him after Joe Boyd had introduced them. Along the way we hear clips of Joe speaking to Gerrie Lim about Nick's guitar playing and "romantic doom" in 1994.

After paying our respects to Saints frontman Chris Bailey, we touch on highlights among the 120+ articles just added to the RBP library, including pieces about Charles Mingus (1962), Dusty in Memphis (1969), the Smiths (1987) and Fatboy Slim (1997). Jasper's selection of a recent Michael McDonald interview gives us the perfect excuse to explain to Vashti what "Yacht Rock" is… after which we hear a final clip from the Boyd interview.

Many thanks to special guest Vashti Bunyan; Wayward is published by White Rabbit and available now. You can visit Vashti's website at anotherday.co.uk.

Pieces discussed: Vashti Bunyan, Heartleap, Robert Kirby, Lost Ladies of Folk, Joe Boyd on Nick Drake, The Saints, Chris Bailey, Muddy Waters, Jimi and Janis, The Smiths, Fatboy Slim, Charlie Mingus, Dusty Springfield, Robyn, Ry Cooder, Duke Ellington, ESP Disk, Michael McDonald and Phil Collins.

In this episode we welcome the excellent Devon Powers — beamed in from Philadelphia — and ask her to talk about The Village Voice, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the White Stripes… and music journalism since the turn of the century.

Devon begins by talking about the music she loved when growing up in her native Michigan — and her first awareness of "rock critics". We hear about her move to New York City in 1999, her early pieces for the PopMatters site, and the Anglophilia that led to umpteen pieces about the likes of Clinic, Starsailor, Badly Drawn Boy and, yes, even Ocean Colour Scene. Citing a great 2003 piece she wrote about Red Hot Chili Peppers, who released a new album the week of this recording, we ask Devon what those punk-funk Californicators meant to her in the '90s and noughties.

After a brief discussion of Devon's 2004 thinkpiece 'Is Music Journalism Dead?', we turn our attention to Writing the Record: The Village Voice and the Birth of Rock Criticism, the 2013 book which came out of her doctoral dissertation at NYU. She talks about the vital New York weekly paper, and the "rock critics" who were such a key part of its arts coverage — particularly Richard Goldstein, several of whose '60s Voice pieces we have on RBP. We then pay tribute to another Voice contributor, John Swenson, lost to us a few days before this recording, as well as to Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins and Mighty Diamonds frontman "Tabby" Shaw.

Two clips from Ira Robbins' 2001 audio interview with the White Stripes prompt a general chinwag about Jack, Meg, blues etc., after which Mark zips through the most notable of the interviews & reviews he's just added to the RBP library, including pieces about the Kingston Trio, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Canned Heat and Teddy Pendergrass. Barney then rounds things off by flagging up pieces on Marc Bolan, the Prodigy, Tony Hatch, Jack Good and the Descendents.

Many thanks to special guest Devon Powers; visit her website at devonpowers.com and find Writing the Record in all good bookshops.

The Rock's Backpages podcast is proud to be part of the Pantheon podcast network.

Pieces discussed: The Village Voice and the Birth of Rock Criticism, PJ Harvey, Is Music Journalism Dead?, Red Hot Chili Peppers audio, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Rick Rubin, The White Stripes audio, Taylor Hawkins audio, Foo Fighters, Crawdaddy, The Mighty Diamonds, Alexis Korner, Paul Revere, Disco, Teddy Pendergrass, Little Richard, Steve Paul, Canned Heat, Curtis Mayfield, Oasis, Marc Bolan audio, The Prodigy, Tony Hatch, Jack Good and the Descendents.

In this episode we invite SST legend Joe Carducci to join us — all the way from Las Vegas — and talk about his life and career in music from the mid-'70s to the present day. 

We hear about Joe's childhood in Illinois, his move to L.A. in 1976 and his first pieces for Eurock and anarchist rag The Match! From there we learn about his forming record distributor Systematic in Portland; his working with Rough Trade US in Berkeley; and his helming of Black Flag's SST label from 1981 to 1986. Following his reminiscences of SST producer Spot and photographer Naomi Peterson, we hear clips from a 1994 audio interview with Henry Rollins — including the former Black Flag frontman's thoughts on his old band and its influence on the recently-deceased Kurt Cobain. Joe also discusses his controversial 1990 book Rock & the Pop Narcotic, as well as the legendary Sing Out!/Circus/Rolling Stone writer Paul Nelson and the vital importance of his Little Sandy Review fanzine (1959-1967).

After paying our respects to Timmy ('Why Can't We Live Together') Thomas and NME/Daily Mirror journalist Gavin Martin, we hear from Mark about pieces on Country Joe & the Fish, Bette Midler and the Sex Pistols' famous Screen On The Green gig; from Jasper about Chicago's Tortoise and French pop; and from Barney about Little Feat's Lowell George, Texan "artlaw" Boyd Elder and Canadian rock'n'roller Jack Scott.

Finally we hear a third clip from the Rollins audio, in which Henry harks back to his teenage infatuation with Ted Nugent.

Many thanks to special guest Joe Carducci; find his blog at newvulgate.blogspot.com and his books, including Rock & the Pop Narcotic, in all good bookshops.

Pieces discussed: Meat Puppets, The Descendents, Black Flag/SST, Henry Rollins audio, Paul Nelson, Timmy Thomas, Gavin Martin, Stiff Little Fingers, Bette Midler, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Country Joe & the Fish, Sex Pistols/Slits, Tortoise, French pop, Lowell George, Boyd Elder and Jack Scott.

In this episode we welcome the legendary — and highly amusing — David Dalton to join us all the way from his rural retreat in upstate New York.

We start by comparing our shocked reactions to Vladimir Putin's horrific invasion of Ukraine before asking David how he moved to America from England in 1961. He tells us about his mid-'60s adventures as a photographer of British Invasion acts like the Animals — with assistance from a pre-Beatle Linda McCartney — and then about his mid-stream switch to profiles of James Brown and Janis Joplin for Jann Wenner's nascent Rolling Stone.

We revisit the award-winning 1970 Stone piece David co-wrote about Charles Manson and the Family, hearing along the way about Manson's connections with the Beach Boys. This leads almost seamlessly into clips from the late Andy Gill's 1988 audio interview with Dr. Eugene Landy, the shrink who "saved" Brian Wilson only to abuse his professional trust by inveigling his way into the singer's music and business affairs.

We then return to the horrors of Manson when we ask David about the influence of Beatles tracks on the man who orchestrated the Tate-LaBianca killings. Our guest reminisces about working with Rolling Stone colleague Jonathan Cott on Get Back, the only book the Beatles ever commissioned, and we discuss with him the Fab Four's unhappy last days in the context of Peter Jackson's recent documentary of the same name.

After David brings his American story full circle with memories of hanging out with Andy Warhol in 1961, Mark talks us through newly-added library pieces on Muddy Waters (1958), Brian Epstein (1963), the Who (1967) and Jerome "Doc" Pomus (1982), while Barney quotes from a review of a 1990 book about Eastern Bloc rock and Jasper mentions 2012 pieces about Kendrick Lamar and Green Day's American Idiot musical...

Many thanks to special guest David Dalton; find his excellent biographies at any good bookshop and read his writing on RBP.

Pieces discussed: David Dalton, Charles Manson, Eugene Landy audio, The Beatles, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, The Who, Brian Epstein, Johnny Mercer, "Doc" Pomus, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day musical, Rock around the Bloc.

In this episode we invite the great Peter Guralnick — Zooming in from his native Massachusetts — to discuss his "adventures in music and writing"… to quote the subtitle of his wonderful 2020 collection Looking to Get Lost.

Peter takes his hosts back to his discovery of Delta blues giants Skip James and Robert Johnson in the early '60s — and to the first pieces he wrote for Paul Williams' Crawdaddy! in 1966. He explains his approach to the masterful profiles he collected in Feel Like Going Home and Lost Highway, and the friendships with Charlie Rich and Bobby "Blue" Bland that resulted from them. Conversation leads from Howlin' Wolf to Solomon Burke and southern soul, and from there to the use of Val Wilmer's remarkable photos in Peter's books.

Talk of Memphis and Muscle Shoals prompts Mark to introduce the first of three clips from Barney's 1985 audio interview with Atlantic Records legend Jerry Wexler. Peter reminisces about his relationship with "Wex" (and with Ray Charles), then follows up with riveting recall of Joe Tex and Jerry Lee Lewis. Pieces by Memphis writer Andria Lisle — one of many Guralnick disciples — brings us on to discussion of Bobby Bland and the late Hi Rhythm section drummer Howard Grimes. We also remember the brilliant Betty Davis and Syl ('Is It Because I'm Black?') Johnson.

Finally, Mark quotes from newly-added library pieces about John Lee Hooker, Nik Venet, the Nazz and Simon Napier-Bell, while Jasper notes articles about Norah Jones and Robert Glasper. Bringing things full circle, Barney quotes from Peter's friend Bill Millar's tribute to recently-deceased soul specialist Bob Fisher.

Many thanks to special guest Peter Guralnick. Looking to Get Lost is published by Little, Brown, and you can visit his website at peterguralnick.com.

Peter Guralnick interviewed by Bob Ruggiero and by Maud Barthomier, Sweet Soul Music, Jerry Wexler audio, Andria Lisle on Memphis, Mick Hucknall meets Bobby "Blue" Bland, Hi Rhythm, Betty Davis, Syl Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Nik Venet, The Nazz, CBGBs, Hoagy Carmichael, Simon Napier-Bell, 'River Deep, Mountain High', Stephanie Mills, Norah Jones, Robert Glasper and Bob Fisher.

In this episode we welcome the excellent Kate Mossman to our state-of-the-art recording suite and ask her about her writing career and musical passions. She talks about working with Mark Ellen at The Word and about her current employer the New Statesman, and Jasper quotes from a recent Statesman piece she wrote about her secret passion for jazz fusion.

Kate's interview with "mean old daddy" Cary Raditz affords her the chance to talk about her beloved Joni Mitchell and the classic Blue song Raditz inspired. Joni's request to follow Neil Young's lead and have Blue and other albums removed from Spotify prompts discussion of the streaming platform's headaches in the wake of Joe Rogan's COVID disinformation.

Another of Kate's Statesman pieces, about Lou Reed, gives her and co-hosts Mark & Barney the perfect excuse to riff on Reed's notoriously sadistic treatment of British interviewers — and the cue for Mark to talk about Martin Aston's 1989 audio interview with the ex-Velvets man. From there we turn to Lou's fellow contrarian Morrissey and the "severed alliance" between him and former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr. With the latter releasing a new album this month, Kate and the RBP crew reflect on the very different personalities (and values) of the two Mancunians.

After noting the passing of folk matriarch Norma Waterson, Mark references recently-added library pieces about Sam Cooke, Todd Rundgren and the late Janice Long. Jasper then finishes things off with observations on pieces about Glass Animals and Adele.

Many thanks to special guest Kate Mossman; find her writing in the New Statesman and on RBP.

Pieces discussed: Jazz fusion, Carey Raditz, Lou Reed, Lou Reed audio, Johnny Marr, the Smiths, Morrissey, Norma Waterson, Sam Cooke, Scott Walker, Steve Paul, Nona Hendryx, Vicki Wickham, Black Sabbath, Todd Rundgren, Janice Long, Laura Barton's heckler's guide, Glass Animals and Adele.

In this episode, Barney, Mark & Jasper invite counterculture chronicler and "father of country punk" Michael Simmons to join them in RBP's virtual cupboard… all the way from his Culver City lair in small-hours Southern California.

Michael talks very entertainingly about his dad Matty's '60s "hippie mag" Cheetah and about National Lampoon, the satirical '70s institution that succeeded it. Yarns about John Belushi and chums lead into Simmons Jr.'s unlikely but lifelong love of country music; his New York band Slewfoot; depping for George Jones at the Bottom Line; and his late '70s stint as one of Kinky Friedman's self-styled "Texas Jewboys".

We also hear about our guest's parallel writing career and his move to Los Angeles, from whence he has long contributed to such outlets as the L.A. Weekly and (from the mid-noughties on) MOJO. He reminisces about his teenage Greenwich Village obsession with Bob Dylan, and talks about the liner notes he's penned for three of Bob's Bootleg Series box sets.

Mention of a Van Dyke Parks piece Michael wrote in 2013 takes us into clips from John Tobler's long 1973 audio interview with that eccentric L.A. genius & Beach Boys/Randy Newman acolyte. At the end of the episode you will hear amusing banter between Van Dyke and a passing Lowell George (who'd just been interviewed next door by Pete "Family Trees" Frame).

After paying our respects to departed heroes Ronnie Spector and Michael Lang, Mark & Jasper take us out with quotes from their favourite new additions to the RBP library. Mark mentions the late Maureen Cleave's 1965 interview with Nina Simone, Lon Goddard's 1970 encounter with Joni Mitchell & Ed Jones' 1975 review of Motörhead at the Roundhouse, while Jasper cites a Simon Reynolds special on "digital maximalism" and Mark Sinker's reflections on COVID and rock nostalgia.

Please note that this episode was recorded before news of Meat Loaf's death reached us.

Many thanks to special guest Michael Simmons; find his writing on RBP as well as in the Huffington Post and LA Weekly. Follow him on Twitter @the1stmunz.

Pieces discussed: I was a Texas Jewboy, Bob Dylan turns 70, Van Dyke Parks keeps on cyclin', Van Dyke Parks audio, Nina Simone, Linda Ronstadt, Mick Jagger, The Band, Joni Mitchell, Motörhead, Fleetwood Mac, Maximal Nation, Covid & pop culture nostalgia and Ronnie Spector.