Cropper on Cropper

Back in 2015, the Stax legend chatted to Uncut about six of his finest recorded moments

WHERE THE LIGHT GETS IN

BILL CALLAHAN has spent the past 30 years chronicling the human condition in his own droll, contemplative way. But as new album My Days Of 58 explores profound loss and a recent brush with mortality, is the elusive singer-songwriter finally ready to come clean? “The way to live is to be excited about being alive every second,” he tells Sam Sodomsky

TAKE IT EAZY

Join us in the Ninth Ward – the vibrant New Orleans enclave that is home to the city’s thriving downtown mid-fidelity scene. There, among a colourful cast of bohemian scenesters, we find Alex Pianovich and his superlative country-blues band, GREAZY ALICE . “I try to do things a little slower and a little less,” he tells Kevin EG Perry. “Except sometimes, you’ve just got to freak out and get a little wild.”

GREAZED LIGHTNING

Alex Pianovich on four key influences

HIRED GUN

Five recent New Orleans records featuring Alex Pianovich as a session musician

FALLEN ANGEL

From hustling opening slots at Gerde’s Folk City to becoming one of music’s most revered voices, EMMYLOU HARRIS has spent more than five decades chasing songs wherever they lead. Now, as she prepares for a Farewell Tour of the UK and Europe, she reflects on Gram, Townes and Levon, and her path from peerless interpreter to quietly gilded songwriter. “The position I play is left field,” she tells Alastair McKay. “I’ve always been more comfortable there.”

SIMIAN SCENE

A buyers’ guide to The Monkees

“NO FLIM-FLAM – IT’S PERFECT”

The Smiths’ MIKE JOYCE on Mani’s pivotal role in the Roses

“IT HAD A REAL LIGHTNESS”

LIAM GALLAGHER on first hearing the Roses

“AMATEURS! AMATEURS!”

Presenter TRACEY MacLEOD recalls The Stone Roses’

THE TAO OF MANI

I N Uncut Take 121 (June 2007), we

SCREEN

A fading director casts around for reconciliation; the Bard, bereaved and reimagined; a grieving tutor turns falconer…

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Crossword

Win £50 of Rough Trade vouchers!

FEBRUARY 2026 TAKE 348

“I can feel the earth begin to move/I

Faithfull forever

Inside the ingenious new Marianne Faithfull film, Broken English

A Quick One

Come all you rambling boys of pleasure, and

This must be the place!

Welcome to Byrne’s Night, the riotous Talking Heads tribute show that hasn’t stopped making sense

“His playing was the glue”

STEVE CROPPER | 1941–2025

Where are we now?

On the 10th anniversary of David Bowie ’s death, we asked his biographers what they think he’d be doing if he were still around today

Lucy Gooch

Folk singer achieves lift-off amid lush, ambient soundscapes

Uncut Playlist

On the stereo this month

Bon Temps Rouler

A 15-track gumbo of the freshest cuts from New Orleans

WILLY VLAUTIN

The Delines and Richmond Fontaine skipper talks writing, Reno, horse racing and “Tom Waits romanticism”

LUCINDA WILLIAMS

World’s Gone Wrong HIGHWAY 20/THIRTY TIGERS

LU’S (OTHER) JUKEBOX

Three highlights of the Williams back catalogue

Q & A

Lucinda Williams: “I consider myself an activist”

TYLER BALLGAME

For The First Time, Again ROUGH TRADE

BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND

Laughter In Summer TRANSGRESSIVE

BUZZCOCKS

Attitude Adjustment CHERRY RED

BARRY WALKER JR

Paleo Sol THRILL JOCKEY

MOMOKO GILL

Momoko STRUT

THE STYLE COUNCIL

Café Bleu Special Edition UNIVERSAL

THE MODERN WORLD

Delving into the Council chambers: three previously unheard highlights

Q & A

The Style Council: “There was a definite sense of freedom”

MICHAEL MOORCOCK & THE DEEP FIX

The New Worlds Fair (50th Anniversary Edition) THINK LIKE A KEY

MILES DAVIS

Moments of magic from turbulent times.

Juliana Hatfield

Boston college-rock queen reflects on her 40-year journey from Blake Baby to indie royalty

AMERICANA WOMAN

The very best of Emmylou Harris

COUNTRY COUSINS

Some notable collaborations

“Teenage Kicks”

Straight outta Derry: a perfect adolescent anthem, written quickly and adored by John Peel, paved the way for a string of classic pop songs

HEY! HEY!

Sixty years after THE MONKEES crashed onto television screens and conquered the charts, MICKY DOLENZ , last survivor of the Prefab Four, explores the strange blurring of fantasy and reality between their television show and their music. “Before The Monkees,” he tells Peter Watts, “the only time you saw long-haired weirdos on TV was when they were being arrested.”

WHAT THE WORLD WAS WAITING FOR

Four decades on, THE STONE ROSES ’ era-defining impact still reverberates. Following the tragic death of their talismanic bass player Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, their heady fusion of chiming ’60s guitars and acid house groove feels more potent than ever. Drawing on new interviews with those closest to the story, we return to that golden moment in the late ’80s when anything seemed within their reach. “We achieved the totally fucking extraordinary – we redefined the sound of British guitar music,” discovers Rob Hughes

ROBERT PLANT & SAVING GRACE WITH SUZI DIAN

Royal Festival Hall, London, December 11

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

OVO Wembley Arena, London, November 25

BOWIE: THE FINAL ACT

Illuminating film that zigzags through Bowie’s career to bring new insights to his artistic life.

BOOKS

A S many losers have noted, history is

Music to the ears

Premium bluetooth speakers MERIDIAN ELLIPSE £1,900 I

Not Fade Away

Fondly remembered this month

UNCUT

Kelsey Media, The Granary Downs Court, Yalding Hill,

Bruce Foxton

The Jam’s bassman reveals his most affecting sounds: “I just enjoyed the sheer rawness of it”