ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 26, 2001 By Steve Newton When Yes guitarist Steve Howe calls the Straight office from Reno, Nevada, it’s not to brag about how well he’s been doing at the blackjack tables. Although he and his bandmates—vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, and drummer Alan White—have been holed up … Continue reading Yes guitarist Steve Howe says Chet Atkins was–and is–his number one
me ‘n Roy at the Town Pump, February 10, 1986 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FEB. 7, 1986 By Steve Newton Not many guitarists can say they were invited to join the Rolling Stones. Not many can say they turned the offer down either. But Roy Buchanan–quite possibly the best white blues guitarist in the world–can say … Continue reading Roy Buchanan on turning down the Rolling Stones, loving Van Halen, and being flattered by Jeff Beck
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 7, 1986 By Steve Newton Yessongs. Brain Salad Surgery. Selling England By the Pound. Do those album titles ring a bell? They should if you remember back to 1973. At that time, ‘progressive’ rock was big around the world and its foremost practitioners were British bands such as Yes, Emerson, Lake … Continue reading Marillion moves beyond cult status with Misplaced Childhood and “Kayleigh”
By Steve Newton Sad news for music fans today. Chris Squire, bassist for British prog-rock legends Yes, passed away in Phoenix, Arizona, last night. He had been suffering from a rare form of leukemia. He was 67. Squire had formed Yes with singer Jon Anderson in 1968, and it didn’t take long for the band … Continue reading Bass-guitar legend Chris Squire of Yes dead at 67
By Steve Newton Holy crap is Angus Young tiny! Hey, sorry about that outburst. It’s just that whenever I spy this backstage snap from 2001 I can’t help but think that I’m literally twice the size of him–width-wise, anyway. Me and my buddy Scotty Bad look like freakin’ WWF wrestlers compared to that legendary pipsqueak. … Continue reading Backstage at AC/DC with Angus Young, Scotty Bad, and my autographed copy of Powerage, Malcolm’s fave
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 21, 1987 By Steve Newton Fans of the Georgia Satellites who were expecting to see the hard-rocking Atlanta band open for David Bowie at the scheduled time of 7 pm last Saturday (August 15) were in for a rather nasty surprise. The Satellites’ gig was pushed ahead to 6:30 pm so … Continue reading David Bowie’s Glass Spider tour bites Georgia Satellites fans in Van
By Steve Newton Google “100 greatest guitarists” these days and what shows up at the top is a total joke. It’s the high ‘n’ mighty Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, from November 2001. And man does it suck. But what do you expect from the same bozos who oversee … Continue reading Rolling Stone made a monkey of itself with its bogus list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
By Steve Newton Finally got around to watching the 2014 documentary Super Duper Alice Cooper for the first time the other night, and it was awesome: except for the part where they refused to even mention the name “Michael Bruce”. For the uninitiated, Bruce was the rhythm guitarist for the Alice Cooper Band during its first … Continue reading Michael Bruce’s deletion from Super Duper Alice Cooper is a bloody travesty
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 15, 2016 By Steve Newton When Sonny Landreth connects his glass slide to the strings of his Strat, there’s always a good chance a blues-drenched tone will emerge—perhaps blended with zydeco strains befitting the guitarist’s home state of Louisiana. A blues freak since day one, Landreth composed a love letter to … Continue reading Sonny Landreth on first hearing Johnny Winter: “Holy shit, man, this is awesome!”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 2, 1984 By Steve Newton Sitting on a park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent Snot running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes Hey Aqualung Longtime fans of Jethro Tull will recall the above lyrics from the unsavoury tale of a corrupt degenerate named Aqualung. That tune, with … Continue reading Ian Anderson goes solo while keeping Jethro Tull intact
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 3, 1986 By Steve Newton Heavy metal veteran Ronnie James Dio played his own game of Dungeons & Dragons at the Pacific Coliseum last Saturday (December 28)–and 5,000 or so of his young fans came out winners. The show started when curtains surrounding the stage were pulled to reveal a 60-by-40-foot … Continue reading Dio brings medieval fantasy and better-than-Ozzy vocals to Vancouver, Yngwie just shows off
By Steve Newton I interviewed Rob Halford a couple of weeks ago in advance of Judas Priest’s upcoming shows at Hard Rock Casino Vancouver, and we had a pretty nice chat. We go way back, to that time he called me up to promote the Defenders of the Faith tour in ’84. At one point we … Continue reading Rob Halford loves what Iron Maiden does with three guitars, but he’s “content” with what Priest does with two
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 21, 1987 By Steve Newton Old rockers never die, they just play guitar for David Bowie. At least, that’s what Peter Frampton was doing at B.C. Place last Saturday. But Frampton and Bowie actually go back a long way–all the way back to the art school they used to attend in … Continue reading David Bowie’s Glass Spider tour helps Frampton come alive again
