Rock n roll Archives - Page 25 of 27

“It would have been nice”: The song John Lennon thought Paul McCartney needed sing

The entire rivalry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney is far more embellished than most people realise. Anyone could pick certain sound bites from interviews and claim that the two geniuses behind The Beatles hated each other’s guts by the time they called it quits, but if they didn’t acknowledge each other at all after […]

The power of desperation: Robert Plant hates his vocals on the first Led Zeppelin album

While we might love artists like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Black Sabbath, all of whom defined their own corners of rock and pop music, classical composers would despise them. This isn’t me pointing out the obvious and saying that maybe the palette of classical musicians from centuries will be different to Jimmy Page’s; however, […]

The controversial Queen song that Freddie Mercury described as “only a bloody record”

Behind the sheen of Queen’s lasting legacy is a band that endured controversy at every corner. If it wasn’t about how their music threatened to overthrow traditional rock, it was about sexuality or how Freddie Mercury single-handedly corrupted the youth of the time with his flamboyant irreverence. All of this seems absurd now, but back […]

The record Jimmy Page said captured Led Zeppelin’s best live moments

It goes without saying that 1972 was a mammoth year for British stadium rock. The three biggest bands on the planet were all at their creative and live peaks as The Rolling Stones fired off one last classic entry of the golden album run with Exile on Main St, and The Who were setting the […]

George Harrison’s single favourite guitarist of all time: “The world’s best”

Sometimes, the sum of a band’s parts are greater than the individual, but some group’s final output is so engrossing that it can become difficult to pick out the many different skills that go into creating it. For example, while Jimmy Page is seen as the de facto leader of Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones’ […]

How George Harrison prevented John Lennon from singing “Maharishi, what have you done?”

I love a good forbidden giggle. The kind when being told to stop only increases the amount you laugh and you end up fighting a physical battle with your own silly mind. While the stares of disappointment pointed at me, largely come from friends and family, John Lennon had the entire world patiently waiting for […]

The one drummer Jack Black says beats John Bonham: “Out of control”

Being a drummer is about way more than hitting things for a living. Despite every single rock and roll drummer commonly being labelled as ‘the dumb one’ in whatever group they’re in, there’s a lot more that goes into keeping time than playing a decent rhythm, and the most technical percussionists have reshaped what people […]

One of John Lennon’s best songs for The Beatles took him months to complete: “The same old bits every few weeks”

It’s easy to hope for your favourite musicians to be struck by creative lightning and suddenly deliver a masterpiece in music. It’s the stuff of legend, but legends appeal to the masses, and most listeners would rather a performer be inhabited by a higher power only to deliver a savant-like sonic structure in the space […]

“That’s better”: the album John Bonham almost lost a leg over

Whenever I watch a live show, there’s always one person I want to be: the drummer. One foot in their own world, and the other with their bandmates keeping time, they always look like the ones having the most fun. There’s a physicality to it that I envy, something that embodies the primal spirit of […]

The “lost” chord that The Beatles travelled around Liverpool trying to learn: “The missing part”

None of The Beatles ever claimed to be the best musicians in the world when they first got together. Half of the time, their music was being played for a laugh more than anything else, and getting the right chord to a song could have simply been a case of John Lennon and Paul McCartney […]