ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 11, 1983 By Steve Newton Eddie Van Halen calls him “fantastic”. Gary Moore says “he’s frightening. He’s definitely dangerous and getting better all the time.” Carlos Santana gives him “more credit than anyone for just pure expression in soloing.” Journey’s Neil Schon says: “If you play guitar and ever think you’re … Continue reading Guitar phenom Allan Holdsworth says he’s not impressed by flash
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 28, 2005 By Steve Newton Most rock bands from the ’70s aren’t making waves on the sales charts these days, but not every musician who thrived 30 years ago has been barred from Billboard in recent years. Edgar Winter had the chorus from his 1971 song “Dying to Live” used in … Continue reading Edgar Winter strives to break down senseless musical barriers
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 25, 2007 By Steve Newton When I hook up with former Drive-By Truckers guitarist-vocalist Jason Isbell on his cellphone, he and his backing band are trying to escape from Manhattan, searching for the Holland Tunnel en route to a gig at Pennsylvania State College. A casual query about the type of … Continue reading Jason Isbell splits from Drive-By Truckers and hits the road in a Ford Econoline E-350
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 10, 2007 By Steve Newton When I call Black Stone Cherry drummer John Fred Young’s cellphone, he’s at a gas station in his hometown of Edmonton, a small town in south-central Kentucky. When the phone rings, John Fred is busy purchasing some bottled water, so his dad, Richard, picks up. That’s … Continue reading Black Stone Cherry updates the glorious noise of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and AC/DC on debut album
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 27, 2008 By Steve Newton In their recent autobiographies, famed British rockers Ronnie Wood and Eric Clapton hazily recall how one of their main pastimes while on tour—apart from getting wasted and rattling groupies—was cruising pawnshops and secondhand stores for cool guitars. When blues-rock virtuoso Joe Bonamassa calls from a tour … Continue reading Joe Bonamassa has 200 guitars, says he’s “okay for guitars”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 28, 1983 By Steve Newton The day before their October 11 concert at the Pacific Coliseum I journeyed downtown to the posh Four Seasons Hotel to meet with three of the five members of AC/DC–the loudest, raunchiest, and most popular heavy-metal band in the world. Now I wasn’t too sure just … Continue reading Sipping tea with AC/DC’s Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson before the launch of the Flick of the Switch world tour
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 26, 2008 By Steve Newton That Lux Interior sure knows a hit when he hears one. Back in the late ’70s, when the B-52s first journeyed from their native Athens, Georgia, to make the scene at underground Manhattan clubs like Max’s Kansas City and CBGB, the outrageous Cramps frontman heard them … Continue reading B-52s guitarist Keith Strickland recalls the Cramps’ Lux Interior loving “Rock Lobster”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 25, 2004 By Steve Newton Unless you’re an avid follower of guitar players–and slide-guitar specialists, in particular–you may not have heard of Sonny Landreth. According to Eric Clapton, he is “probably the most underestimated musician on the planet”. But that didn’t stop Landreth from earning a Grammy nomination for his 2003 … Continue reading Sonny Landreth hoped some of Albert King’s cosmic dust would rub off on him
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 25, 2005 By Steve Newton Looking back, 1973 was a wicked fuckin’ year for American guitar-rock albums. It saw the release of Alice Cooper‘s Billion Dollar Babies, Blue Oyster Cult‘s Tyranny and Mutation, Johnny Winter‘s Still Alive and Well, and the debuts by Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Montrose, and the New York Dolls. … Continue reading The New York Dolls’ David Johansen says that the Harlots of 42nd Street were his favourite band
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON OCT. 12, 2011 By Steve Newton When it comes to politically motivated rockers, you won’t find many more motivated than Tom Morello. Whether blasting out the intense guitar work that propels Rage Against the Machine’s anticorporate rap-metal agenda or taking on the Woody Guthrie–inspired folk-balladeer persona of his solo project, the Nightwatchman, … Continue reading Activist-rocker Tom Morello says that the people who run this world don’t deserve to
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 7, 2007 By Steve Newton It’s somewhat ironic that Black Sabbath‘s 1978 album was titled Never Say Die, because that disc actually signaled the end of the group’s original lineup. After eight albums with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, the metal pioneers gave him the boot, replacing him with Ronnie James Dio. … Continue reading Tony Iommi on Heaven and Hell and how Frank Zappa always loved his “Supernaut” riff
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 1, 1983 By Steve Newton Three of Britain’s heaviest heavy-metal bands–Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Fastway–played the Pacific Coliseum last Wednesday in a full night’s worth of brutal, gnashing raunch and roll. I spoke to Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson over the phone from Los Angeles prior to the show and asked … Continue reading Bruce Dickinson on Martin Birch, the exit of Clive Burr, and the lobotomization of Eddie on Iron Maiden’s new album Piece of Mind
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MARCH 28, 2007 By Steve Newton A few days before attending last Friday’s (March 23) Eric Clapton/Robert Cray show, I came across a timely TV broadcast of Taylor Hackford’s 1986 concert documentary, Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll. Both Clapton and Cray are featured in it, the former performing the … Continue reading Eric Clapton gets shown up by Doyle Bramhall II in Vancouver
