ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 6, 1989 By Steve Newton Some bands grow old gracefully, mellowing with age, but not Aerosmith. On Pump, the follow-up to the band’s 1987 comeback album Permanent Vacation, the bad boys from Boston are as rude ‘n’ rowdy as ever. And nobody does it better. Pump kicks off … Continue reading Album review: Aerosmith, Pump (1989)
By Steve Newton By now you’ve no doubt heard the awful news: that Rush drummer-lyricist Neil Peart has died from brain cancer. The man who inspired a million drummers is now up there jammin’ with Allan Holdsworth and Jaco Pastorius or equally brilliant and pioneering players like that. So Rush is no more. There will … Continue reading That time I asked Alex Lifeson what he thought the attraction was to Rush for so many diehard fans
By Steve Newton Back in December of 1991 I wrote a lengthy article on Vancouver producer Bob Rock, best known for his work with Metallica, and one of the Big Three of Vancouver hard-rock producers (along with fellow Little Mountain Sound-men Bruce Fairbairn and Mike Fraser). While putting the story together I gave Fairbairn a … Continue reading That time I asked famed producer Bruce Fairbairn what he thought of famed producer Bob Rock
By Steve Newton Way back in December of 1983 I did an interview with Mike Rutherford, who at the time was the guitarist-bassist in Genesis, joined by singer-drummer Phil Collins and keyboardist Tony Banks. Two months earlier the band had released a self-titled album that was a huge success, spawning the hits “Mama”, “That’s All”, … Continue reading That time I asked Mike Rutherford about the biggest highlights of Genesis’ career
By Steve Newton Yesterday I went and dug up the old cassette with my first Buddy Guy interview on it, the one from 1991, because I wanted to digitize it for my Patreon page. Cool thing was, I noticed that the interview before it on the tape was the one I did the previous month … Continue reading That time Dickey Betts asked me to mention all the guys in the Allmans, including the “piece of dynamite”
By Steve Newton You may have heard that British musician Danny Kirwan passed away on Friday, at the age of 68. Don’t feel too bad if his name doesn’t sound familiar, but he was a member of Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. I didn’t know his work all that well myself, even though he … Continue reading Danny Kirwan’s death revives memories of cruising the Chilliwack strip listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Kiln House
By Steve Newton Way the funk back in 1985 I did my one and only interview with Doc Neeson, frontman for Angel City, who were known as the Angels in their native Australia. I thought Angel City were an awesome band. They put out an album called Face to Face that–with killer tracks like “Take … Continue reading That time I asked Doc Neeson if the Angels/Angel City were inspired by their longtime friends AC/DC
Back in August of ’87 I interviewed Peter Frampton, who at the time was playing guitar with David Bowie on the Glass Spider tour.
By Steve Newton Back in June of 1981 Blue Öyster Cult released it’s eight studio album, Fire of Unknown Origin, and I immediately snapped it up, just like I’d done with their previous nine discs (including the two live albums). I’d been absolutely crazy about B.O.C. ever since I’d bought Tyranny and Mutation because of … Continue reading God bless Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser’s guitar solo on Blue Öyster Cult’s “Burnin’ For You”
kevin statham photo ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 20, 1989 By Steve Newton Lynyrd Skynyrd once recorded an LP called Nuthin’ Fancy. Now I don’t know if British blues great John Mayall ever heard that album or not, but he sure seems to have taken the title to heart. At the Town Pump last weekend (January … Continue reading John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers bring the guitar-heavy Chicago Line to Vancouver’s Town Pump
By Steve Newton I wouldn’t say that the Allman Brothers were as great, back in 1994, as they were when Duane was in the band, but holy crap were they still a smokin’ hot band! A lot of that smoke was conjured up by Warren Haynes, who Dickey Betts brought with him when the band … Continue reading That time I asked Warren Haynes how long he thought the Allman Brothers might stay together
By Steve Newton In case you haven’t heard, my first book came out last month. It’s called Gord Downie, and it’s about a poetic Canadian guy who rocked his ass off for decades and won over his home country before bravely succumbing to brain cancer and winning over his home country even more. When the … Continue reading Back to the ‘Wack: Newt signs Gord Downie book in Chilliwack
By Steve Newton I did my one and only interview with Danny Gatton, “the world’s greatest unknown guitarist”, back in 1993, just before the release of his Cruisin’ Deuces album. Tragically, he took his own life the following year. A close friend said he thought Gatton had suffered from depression for over two decades. He … Continue reading That time I asked Telecaster master Danny Gatton if he liked playing slide with beer bottles
