Latest articles by Bill DeMain
The 50 best rock albums of 2023
The past 12 months may go down in history as a period of tumult and turmoil, but on the positive side, rock'n'roll is very much alive and well – as the best 50 albums of 2023 reflect
"It was put together, as distinct from someone literally sitting down and writing a song": Fleetwood Mac and The Chain, the song assembled from spare parts
How a song forged from disparate scraps came to represent the decade-spanning resilience and staying power of Fleetwood Mac
"I wanted to write something that would take over We Shall Overcome": How John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote the peace anthem that's still trying to change the world
The best-known anti-war song of the 20th century: Recorded by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and an enthusiastic crowd of students, Hare Krishna devotees and celebrity friends
"I'm sure I was appreciated, but it wasn’t hero worship or anything like that": Christine McVie, the calm eye of the Fleetwood Mac storm
Christine McVie brought elegance and soul to Fleetwood Mac through her voice, keyboard playing and some of rock’s most enduring hits
"George Harrison had set fire to an ashtray and was running around the studio with it above his head": the chaotic creation of The Beatles' wildest song
Rock’s most epic battle was always The Beatles versus the Rolling Stones, yet Helter Skelter was inspired by an imagined square-off with The Who
"It's becoming something bigger than yourself, where what you're wearing is just as important as what you're playing:" How Greta Van Fleet are dressing for success
Greta Van Fleet’s wardrobe has developed into an explosion of colour and chest-exposing rock-star chic
Greta Van Fleet interview: "Then one of the biker gangs said 'Hey, come to our place out in the woods, guys, and play for us'"
Greta Van Fleet have emerged from the darkness and uncertainty of the last few years with Starcatcher, a retro-fuelled blast of cosmic light and love that feels like it’s one for the ages
"It was if Merlin himself could not have concocted a spell more perfect": how Stevie Nicks turned to mythology to conjure up Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon
A chance encounter with a fantasy novel inspired Stevie Nicks' witchy hit and helped to resurrect Fleetwood Mac
The 50 greatest Guns N’ Roses songs ever, and the stories behind them
Guns N' Roses changed the shape of rock'n'roll when they emerged in the mid-eighties. Here's a half-century of their very best, and the stories behind them.
A beginner’s guide to country rock in five essential albums
Five must-hear albums that answer the burning question: what is country rock?
The Todd Rundgren albums you should definitely own
Songwriter, producer, singer, multi-instrumentalist… Todd Rundgren's is a diverse and distinguished catalogue from a restless and progressive artist
A beginner’s guide to Southern Rock in 5 albums
Southern Rock is inextricably tied to the land and character of the American South - and here are five albums that tell its tale
The Peter Frampton albums you should definitely own
Much-loved singer-guitarist Peter Frampton has delivered more that 50 years' worth of compelling songcraft and searing guitar playing - and these are his best albums
George Harrison's My Sweet Lord: the love song to a higher power that spurred a $1.6m lawsuit
"I anticipated that a lot of people might get weird about it" - George Harrison on My Sweet Lord, his love song to The Creator
The epic story of Purple Rain, the album that turned Prince into a global superstar
How Prince learned to play nice with others, how he learned to rock, and how he made Purple Rain, his world-beating sixth album
How the paisley underground and a fairy tale inspired Jellyfish's classic single The King Is Half-Undressed
"We didn’t really care about scenes: For us, it always came down to the song” - Jellyfish's Roger Manning Jr
From tragedy to triumph: The Allman Brothers and the making of Eat A Peach
After guitarist Duane Allman’s tragic death, the Allman Brothers Band pulled together and recorded the landmark double album Eat A Peach
The story behind Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
Inspired by a single line from a gospel song, Paul Simon's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water has been covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin
John Lennon screamed and he screamed, and he learned to feel his fear and pain
"I am myself and I know why" - How John Lennon used primal therapy to create the Plastic Ono Band album
How Joni Mitchell watched Woodstock on TV then wrote the song that captured its magic
Originally a b-side, Joni Mitchell's generational classic Woodstock found its biggest audience with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: the improbable story of a 17-minute one-hit-wonder
Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida started life as a 90-second country ballad, but turned into a psychedelic and cultural landmark
Long Train Runnin': the Doobie Brothers' jam that became a dancefloor classic
The Doobie Brothers' Long Train Runnin' was an instrumental showcase for "half-hour solos" before their producer saw its hit potential
Hi Ho Silver Lining got Jeff Beck into the charts: he never forgave it
Jeff Beck's first single was his biggest hit, but he would go on to describe it as "a pink toilet seat" hanging around his neck
