ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 6, 2000 By Steve Newton Jim Heath, aka the Reverend Horton Heat, has had some pretty impressive folks produce his records over the years. Back in ’93, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers put his stamp on The Full Custom Gospel of the Reverend Horton Heat, then a … Continue reading The Reverend Horton Heat confesses that he used to drink a lot of Jack Daniel’s
By Steve Newton I’ve long held the opinion that AC/DC’s Powerage is their best album. Keith Richards agrees, and he knows a thing or two about rockin’. And more importantly, Malcolm Young himself has named Powerage as Number One. When I met Young backstage after an AC/DC show in Vancouver back in 2001 I mentioned that … Continue reading Eddie Van Halen’s favourite AC/DC album was Powerage
Geez, even Jimi knew Johnny ruled. By Steve Newton Back in September of 2010 Gibson.com posted what it felt were the 50 greatest guitar solos of all time, and boy did they ever blow it. Most conspicuous by his absence is Texas blues-rock legend Johnny Winter. I for one am getting sick and tired of … Continue reading Gibson picked the top 50 guitar solos of all time, and boy did they ever blow it
By Steve Newton Vancouver has been all abuzz lately after the Rolling Stones announced that the only Canadian date on its 2024 North American tour will be a show at the city’s downtown stadium, BC Place, on July 5. Even local politicians got in on the act, with Mayor Ken Sim recording a welcoming message … Continue reading The 10 best rock concerts I ever saw at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium
jeff vinnick photo By Steve Newton When the Vancouver Canucks moved their home rink from East Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum to downtown’s GM Place in 1995, “the Garage” became the main place to see arena-rock shows in the city–at least until the name was changed to Rogers Arena in 2010. During that 15-year period I saw … Continue reading The 15 best rock concerts I ever saw at Vancouver’s GM Place
By Steve Newton I’m a little show on the uptake sometimes. For example, just yesterday I was typing up my old interview from 1987 with Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites, giving the article new life on the internet after being trapped on yellowing newspaper and stashed in a banker’s box for decades. In the … Continue reading 36 years later I finally got turned on to the rockin’ glory of Warren Zevon’s “Even a Dog Can Shake Hands”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 14, 1987 By Steve Newton The last time the Georgia Satellites were in Vancouver they opened for Bob Seger at BC Place. That was an understandable pairing, since both acts are known to boogie till the cows come home. This time around the Satellites will be on the same bill as … Continue reading The Georgia Satellites’ Rick Richards on opening for Bowie, playing with Zevon, and lamenting Atlanta’s music scene
By Steve Newton Blues icon Buddy Guy–who I’ve been lucky enough to have interviewed five times–delivered a tasty treat to the world’s guitar freaks today. In advance of the June 15 release of his new album, The Blues Is Alive and Well, the 81-year-old picker released a song called “Cognac” that sees him trading wild licks … Continue reading Buddy Guy soars to guitar heaven with a little help from Jeff Beck and Keith Richards
By Steve Newton Back in June of 1988 Tesla frontman Jeff Keith called me up from his home in Sacramento in advance of his band’s Canadian tour with Def Leppard. Early in the interview I asked Keith what the group had been up to since releasing its debut album, Mechanical Resonance, a year and a … Continue reading That time Jeff Keith called me up and told me what Tesla had been up to since releasing its debut album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 23, 1988 By Steve Newton Whether you’re a new-age hemp addict, old-fashioned hippie, or charter member of the John Birch Society, you’ve probably heard of Cheech & Chong, counter-culture heroes to millions of adolescents. In the ’70s, Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong turned out comedy albums like Big Bambu and … Continue reading Tommy Chong goes Cheech-less, reunites with Bobby Taylor to form the Far Out Man Band
By Steve Newton Back on February 24, 1997, I interviewed guitarist Chad Taylor before his band, Live, played a sold-out show at a Vancouver nightclub called the Rage. That was nine days after the release of the band’s fourth album, Secret Samadhi, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over … Continue reading That time Live’s Chad Taylor told me that the beauty of music is that it’s not held back by anything
By Steve Newton I interviewed Precious Metal vocalist Leslie Knauer in March of 1991, when the L.A. based glam-metal band was touring behind its third and final album. That self-titled release featured a remake of Jean Knight’s 1971 hit “Mr. Big Stuff”, and the group had shot a video for it featuring former (and possibly, … Continue reading That time Leslie Knauer of Precious Metal told me how Donald Trump screwed her band over
By Steve Newton I interviewed Blitzspeer singer-guitarist Phil Caivano in March of 1991, when the New York City metal band was touring behind its debut album, which was actually a live EP. The quartet would break up two years later after releasing the studio album Saves, and Caivano would go on to join Monster Magnet, … Continue reading That time Phil Caivano of Blitzspeer told me that L.A.’s metal scene sucked compared to New York’s
