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Classic Rock
May 2021
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Other Articles in this Issue


WELCOME
WELCOME
Where would rock’n’roll be without guitarists, eh? Answer:
This month’s contributors
PAUL HENDERSON Paul has been CR’s production editor
Regulars
Rock Rules The Top 20 Again
Guitar music back with a bang in a new renaissance
RIP
Thank you and good night
Mick Fleetwood Plans Farewell Mac Tour
Drummer says the band “owe it to the fans”
Download 2021 Cancelled
But Iron Maiden re-booked for the 2022 event!
NEWS
Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler has confirmed the
The Offspring
Dexter and Noodles on opioids, sex droughts and growing old disgracefully
Levara
Fusing rock-star genes with synth-rock jams, this LA trio have come for our stadiums
BURIED TREASURE
Riches from the rock underground
NEWS
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed
Chris Holmes
The former W.A.S.P guitarist on Blackie Lawless, his new documentary, giving up booze, and that interview
MY FIRST LOVE Deep Purple
MADE IN JAPAN
NEWS
Pete Townshend has used lockdown to write lyrics
Dropkick Murphys
Ken Casey on sobriety, stolen puddings, and the resurrected art of smashing TVs with sledgehammers
Jacob Bryant
Meet the North Georgia country rocker with a troubled past and a bright future
Michael Schenker
The influential guitarist on immortality, alcoholism and why he’ll never make peace with elder brother Scorpion Rudolf
The Dust Coda
They all like AC/DC, they’re not always on 11, they spent lockdown getting a record deal, they’ve played some unusual gigs…
THE HARD STUFF the ultimate ROCK REVIEWS section
☆ ANDREW STUART/PRESS ★★★★★★★★★★ A CLASSIC ★★★★★★★★★ ☆ EXCELLENT
THE HARD STUFF ALBUMS
Joel Hoekstra’s 13: some mouthwatering moments. GRETA VAN
BEST OF THE REST
Other new releases out this month
THE HARD STUFF REISSUES
□ L7 Wargasm: The Slash Years (1992-1997) CHERRY RED
THE HARD STUFF STUFF BOOKS & DVDs
GETTY All Or Nothing: The Authorised Story Of
Tour Dates
KEVIN NIXON
LIVE!
Todd Rundgren Clearly Human virtual tour, Nashville, USA
The Soundtrack Of My Life
Glam-rock icon  Suzi Quatro on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to her
Features
100 MOST INFLUENTIAL GUITARA HEROES
A few months ago, our sister mag Total
ROBERT SMITH
All spidery substance and no “empty flash”, The Cure frontman makes the guitar sound like no one else
Les Paul
Jimmy Page: “I was just dazzled by the
Luther Perkins
Hugely influential Mississippian Luther Perkins (1928-1968) played a
Pete Townshend
With all the arm-wheeling and his relative lack
Frank Zappa
Being so lauded as a composer and arranger
Steve Lukather
Appearing on Jacko’s Thriller and countless other mainstream
ELYSE STEINMAN
A founder member of southernflavoured boogie band Raging
LARRY LALONDE
LARRY LALONDE: SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY x2 Joe Satriani’s other students
MARC RIBOT
Meet the daring sonic chameleon (and a guitarist for Tom Waits, The Black Keys and others) whose playing has taken in rock, free jazz, classical, hardcore punk, Cuban music and more
SYLVAIN SYLVAIN
He had the look, the attitude, the talent, the desire. Had heroin not intervened, he reckoned his band the New York Dolls, not the Stones, could have been the Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band In The World
KURT COBAIN
He’s widely celebrated as a songwriter, but the Nirvana mastermind also changed everything for a new generation of guitar players
Kurt Cobain And Me
Brothers Osborne guitarist John Osborne on his first
SISTER ROSETTA THARPE
Whichever way you slice it, Sister Rosetta Tharpe
DEVIN TOWNSEND
DEVIN TOWNSEND: ERICH SAIDE/PRESS; GETTY x2 Having got
Steve Hillage
The former Gong guitarist/hippie-in-chief seems to have flown
Jimi Hendrix
Brian May: “It was a bit of a
Andy Summers
The Police’s musical identity owes much to Summers’s
Jeff Beck
Jennifer Batten: “He’ll listen to stuff that’s really
James Williamson
It was hard to compete with the charisma
MICK GREEN
Wilko Johnson on the first time he heard The Pirates’ chief six-stringer
TOSIN ABASI
Anyone who thinks there’s nothing new left to be done on guitar, watch this space
Ritchie Blackmore
Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth): “His crowning achievement was in
Mick Taylor
The Bluesbreakers graduate brought a slide master’s touch
Brian May
Recently voted The Greatest Guitarist Of All Time
Dave Navarro
Largely seen as John Frusciante;s replacement in the
Kim Thayil
An architect of the ‘Seattle Sound’, the Soundgarden
Joe Perry
Aerosmith just wouldn’t have the swagger without Joe
STEVE ROTHERY
Marillion’s longest-standing guitarist regularly features in our sister
NITA STRAUSS
A technician from the start – she cites
JONI MITCHELL
She’s best known as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation, but her mostly open-tunings one-of-a-kind guitar playing occupies a field of its own
David Crosby On Joni Mitchell
“I think she is the best writer of
TODD RUNDGREN
From using a guitar to simulate motorbikes on Bat Out Of Hell, and the sound of strangled chickens on A Wizard, A True Star, we revisit the case for the singer, songwriter, producer’s guitar genius
RICK NIELSEN
Behind the oddball exterior and the daft guitars is someone who could show guitar heroes a thing or
Slash
Through his illustrious career with GN’R through his
Albert Collins
The Master Of The Telecaster’s highly influential funky
Jimmy Page
Myles Kennedy: “I was definitely a Page man.
Adrian Smith
Surely the best guitarist is the one in
Albert Lee
Eric Clapton has called Albert Lee “the greatest
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
“Nothing is more beautiful tha a guitar,” Chopin once
THURSTON MOORE & KIM GORDON
They may have been the Led Zeppelin of
GARY CLARK JR
He might be a relatively new kid on the blues block, but his Grammy-winning combination of guitar playing, music and lyrics has fast-tracked him to its top table. 
GLENN TIPTON
As half of Judas Priest’s twin-guitar firepower he’s one of the architects of heavy metal
Albert King
This revered, hugely influential Mississippi bluesman flipped his
Allan Holdsworth
Straddling the worlds of jazz, prog, fusion and
Steve Howe
The Yes guitarist’s erudite, progressive ethos traverses many
Keith Richards
Driving the Rolling Stones for almost six decades,
Eric Gales
Fiery, instinctive and evocative of Hendrix, the Memphis
FREDDIE KING
While his name is spoken in respectful tones
MYLES KENNEDY & MARK TREMONTI
If it’s a revelation for you to find
TERRY KATH
If Hendrix said the Chicago guitarist was the best, who are we to argue?
Bert Jansch
Want an appreciation of Bert Jansch? Ask Jimmy
Peter Frampton
You don’t get to be a touring guitarist
Dimebag Darrell
Mark Tremonti: “He’s had a huge influence on
Phil Manzanera
Enormously influential as Roxy Music’s guitarist, Manzanera has
Kirk Hammett
The Metallica legend has a style and sound
Eric Clapton
Jason Isbell: “I was a huge Clapton fan.
GUTHRIE GOVAN
Coming of age as the fastest gun in
MEMPHIS MINNIE
One of the first blues artists to experiment
NANCY WILSON
It’s a true but sorry state of affairs to say that there are still relatively few high-profile female guitarists. The Heart guitarist is one of those, helping to inspire others to fight for their right
LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
His guitar playing and songwriting (“Lindsey’s work with Fleetwood Mac is faultless,” says Mick Fleetwood) helped take Mac from almost washed up to world domination
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Nobody – nobody! – rocks a Fender Telecaster
RANDY RHOADS
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY x3 Technically gifted, with a scholarly
Chris Stein
With Debbie Harry at the mic, Blondie’s guitarist
Jack White
He re-envisioned the blues - and the way
Billy Gibbons
No technical showboater, the ZZ Top gun is
Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Kramer: “He was an absolute genius. The
B.B. King
He lived to the age of 89, inspiring
Poison Ivy
Inspired by Bo Diddley guitarist The Duchess, The
ELMORE JAMES
Jimmy Page said James’s slide tone “knocked you flat”. He was far from being the only one floored by it. 
STEVE CROPPER
At the very least, if you’ve ever heard anything on the Stax Records label, then you’ve heard his masterful guitar playing, and he might well have also written it and produced it
STEVE MORSE
The Deep Purple guitarist scores guitar-mag polls, but is often overlooked by the mainstream
Peter Green
Peter Green was thrust into a competitive scene
Page Hamilton
Best known as the guitarist in alt.metallers Helmet,
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Gone far too soon, the shovel-handed Texan’s exhilarating
Peter Banks
Yes’s original guitarist never really fulfilled his potential
Duane Allman
He died at just 24, in a motorcycle
Joe Satriani
Satriani is the former guitar teacher (to Vai
BONNIE RAITT
Ina 50-year career, singer-songwriter and demon bottleneck guitar
ROBERT FRIPP
GETTY x3 In late 1968, with the British
RORY GALLAGHER
Forget the money, forget the fame, forget the acclaim, He was in it for just one thing – the music. And when this Irish wizard played it, he was one of the greatest
HANK MARVIN
Brian May on the profound influence the underrated Shadows leader and prototype guitar hero
Alex Lifeson
Lauded as an inspiration by artists from Paul
Chuck Berry
An often controversial character, but an irrefutable pioneer
Danny Gatton
Joe Bonamassa: “Eightyeight, nine, this was the height
Mike Oldfield
The Moonlight Shadow solo remains astonishing, but for
Carlos Santana
A true innovator, a fiery fuser of rock,
Stephen Stills
Hugely underrated, Stills is so much more than
DEREK TRUCKS
Listening to Derek Trucks, whether he’s in full-bore
SCOTTY MOORE
While releasing a solo album titled The Guitar
MICK RONSON
While all around him sang his praises, he was a reluctant rock star, the quiet genius who just wanted to play music the way it was meant to be played
GARY MOORE
A gifted guitarist who could turn his hand to any style of music, “he just happened to come along after all the guitar heroes, so he never really got the acclaim,” says Bernie Marsden
GEORGE HARRISON
Overlooked in The Beatles’ early days, he has since been reappraised as one of the great stylists
Clem Clempson
A much-travelled guitarist (Colosseum, Humble Pie, Jack Bruce,
Jeff Buckley
The multi-octave vocal swoop overshadows all. But Buckley
Joanne Shaw Taylor
A superb player with as much of a
Angus and Malcolm Young
Individually they’re masters. Together they were a fourarmed
Clarence White
A country-rock pioneer, the former Byrds guitarist’s key
David Gilmour
Grant Nicholas (Feeder): “You probably wouldn’t think of
MICK JONES
Acosmopolitan ear and an open mind saw lead
PRINCE
He could do it all. His musical world
TONY IOMMI
He’s the Iron Man – in more ways than one. In terms of influence, the Black Sabbath guitarist is full of it. We talk to the man who wrote the heavy metal guitar rule book
IT’S A SIX-STRING THING
All this talk of guitarists got you hankering for some hot six-string action? We’ve teamed up with the good people at Mascot Records to bring you this exclusive compilation of some of the very best
THE ONLY WAY IS UP
Had you blinked in 2019 you might have missed Greta Van Fleet on their flight to the stratosphere. With a new album about to turbo-charge the engines, they’re getting even closer
AND FOR OUR NEXT TRICK...
The Illinois Anglophiles “didn’t plan for any of this to happen” but, deep into their fifth decade of existence, Cheap Trick are enjoying a late-career surge of creativity
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU…
Shedding band members but swaggering on, The Treatment are betting on their fortunes taking an upturn with fifth album Waiting For Good Luck. All this while telling tales of liquor, vampires, serial killers and getting pranked by Alice Cooper
IF YOU WANT BLOOD
Hard-hitting British turbo-duo Royal Blood return with a new album – their most danceable, most feelgood album yet – and, more importantly in the long term, one member’s new sobriety
LET IT BEE
While the return of American band Touch will be a delight for AOR fans, it’s also likely to see the return of people re-telling a 40-year-old story that the band wish would just fly away
BEST OF THE REST
Other new releases out this month
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