Articles by: Max Bell

Max Bell worked for the NME during the golden 70s era before running up and down London’s Fleet Street for The Times and all the other hot-metal dailies. A long stint at the Standard and mags like The Face and GQ kept him honest. Later, Record Collector and Classic Rock called.

Articles by: Max Bell

The Grateful Dead albums you should definitely own

By Max Bell published 9 August 23

The Grateful Dead's best albums are a kaleidoscopic, loose-limbed, ever-adventurous alchemy of psychedelia, country, folk and blues

American singer-songwriter and musician Lowell George (1945 - 1979) of rock group Little Feat, 22nd April 1975

"He screwed up bad…" In the 70s, members of Little Feat grabbed our writer by the throat for asking about Lowell George. After his death, they were able to look back honestly

By Max Bell published 4 July 23

Little Feat look back on "the Orson Welles of rock", Lowell George

Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen cover art

Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Album Of The Week Club review

By Classic Rock Magazine published 20 June 23

The live album of Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's shambolic, chaotic, sex-fuelled, Mad Dogs & Englishmen rock’n’roll circus

“David was furious: 'I won’t have that kind of disloyalty!’" The real reason David Bowie ended Ziggy Stardust and sacked the Spiders From Mars

By Tom Poak published 18 June 23

50 years ago, David Bowie announced that he was playing his last ever show. It marked a split from the men who had revitalised his career – and it was all over money…

Robby Krieger's track-by-track guide to his favourite songs by The Doors

By Max Bell published 22 March 23

"Why would a young man like Jim think so much about death? Sure he was a poet. But my theory was that he always felt he had something wrong" - Robby Krieger

Van Morrison is in fine voice and generous mood as he pays loving homage to Skiffle

By Max Bell published 10 March 23

Skiffle may have ignited the British music scene more than 60 years ago, but it's never to late for Van Morrison to play a few old favourites

Buzz Aldrin on the moon looking at a Woodstock flag

In 1969 man landed on the moon: back on Earth, rock got rolling

By Max Bell published 12 February 23

1969 was the year people started buying albums rather than singles, the underground became mainstream, and the pop scene wilted as rock music came of age

Bob Dylan: Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 cover art

Volume 17 of the Bootleg series finds Bob Dylan in Miami and on excellent form

By Max Bell published 28 January 23

Bob Dylan's Fragments travels back to the 1990s and the Time Out Of Mind sessions with Daniel Lanois

All the young droogs: How David Bowie became David Bowie

By Max Bell published 10 January 23

For three years in the 70s David Bowie could do no wrong, and redefined the very concept of the rock star

The Doors' Paris Blues: Is that all there is? Really?

By Max Bell published 27 November 22

Released as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday event, Paris Blues features the last (apparently) unreleased studio recording by The Doors

Grateful Dead: Wembley Empire Pool 4/7/1972 packshot

The Grateful Dead thrive in a venue they never intended to play

By Max Bell published 27 November 22

A hefty Record Store Day hefty document from the Grateful Dead’s Europe ‘72 tour

Stevie Van Zandt: my stories of Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Miles Davis and more

By Max Bell published 6 October 22

Blues legend Freddie King pulled a gun on him. He’s a TV star with a radio show and a day job with Bruce Springsteen. He's Stevie Van Zandt

Grateful Dead: In And Out Of The Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81, ’82, ’83 cover art

The Grateful Dead's new box set costs a fortune, but at least the playing is stellar

By Max Bell published 29 September 22

Grateful Dead take Manhattan on 17-CD live collection In And Out Of The Garden: Madison Square Garden ’81, ’82, ’83

Dr John - Things Happen That Way cover art

Dr. John is in tip-top form on posthumous album Things Happen That Way

By Max Bell published 23 September 22

Dr John raves from the grave on star-studded album Things Happen That Way, completed after his death

Mad Dogs & Englishmen: The debauched tour that sent Joe Cocker over the edge

By Max Bell last updated 23 September 22

The Beatles queued up to give Joe Cocker their songs, but drink, drugs and wild times on the infamous Mad Dogs & Englishmen touring circus almost finished him off

Moonage Daydream – Music from the film cover art

David Bowie's Moonage Daydream soundtrack veers from the sublime to the ridiculously sublime

By Max Bell published 16 September 22

Sound and vision treasures from the soundtrack of David Bowie: Moonage Daydream – Music from the film

Food fights and fistfights: The story of Alvin Lee, the fastest guitar In the west

By Max Bell published 7 September 22

Ten Years After completed 27 American tours in seven years. For guitarist and frontman Alvin Lee it was a wild, wild ride, and it took its toll

How Poco invented a brand-new sound, only to have it stolen by the Eagles

By Max Bell published 31 August 22

While everyone else was getting laid at the Tropicana, "squeaky-clean" Poco created a country-rock template others were quick to borrow

The Mick Ronson albums you should definitely own

By Max Bell published 24 August 22

Guitarist Mick Ronson made David Bowie famous, was the sound of glam rock, played with Bob Dylan and revitalised the career of Lou Reed - and these are his best albums

Fired up by riots: how Steve Miller found himself at the heart of a musical revolution

By Max Bell published 17 August 22

Joker's Wild: Steve Miller's biggest hits may have been radio-friendly, but he was educated by blues and jazz legends and fired up by radicalism

Mickey Jupp: Not a wasted word nor a pointless chord from a total original

By Max Bell published 5 August 22

Great English rock’n’roller Mickey Jupp goes cross-country on Up Snakes, Down Ladders

The members of the Doors sitting around a small clay figurine

The Doors' albums you should definitely own

By Max Bell published 4 August 22

The Doors are more than just a band who produced some classic music - they are iconic, their best albums embraced by each new generation

How Randy Bachman lifted ideas from everywhere for the song that pays the bills

By Max Bell published 3 May 22

Inspired by his brother's stutter, Randy Bachman lifted ideas from Free and The Who and came up with Bachman-Turner Overdrive's rock-tastic classic You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Phil Lynott

The tantalising story of Baby Face, the supergroup that almost was

By Max Bell last updated 14 April 22

"Phil’s voice was staggering, wonderful. But he couldn’t play" - the story of the Thin Lizzy-Deep Purple supergroup that could have been

Hoodoo Gurus: Chariot Of The Gods cover art

Hoodoo Gurus return with a raucous scramble of garage guitars and kinky lyrics

By Max Bell published 25 March 22

Australian stoneage romeos Hoodoo Gurus are still rocking for Mars on comeback album Chariot Of The Gods

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