Another week, another fistful of stories to discover via TeamRock+, the new way to read Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog magazines for less than £1 a week. (Registered members can read 3 stories from our magazines every 30 days or you sign up for a free 30 day trial.)
Here’s what you should read this week:
1) “Write something beautiful brother…” Phil Anselmo pays tribute to Dimebag
It’s difficult to choose just one part of Metal Hammer’s epic multi-faceted tribute issue to Dimebag Darrell on the 10th anniversary of this death. There’s Vinnie Paul on the brother he grew up with and lost, Rex Brown on his bandmate and friend, metal guitarists from Iommi to Zoltan Bathory on his talent and technique, and Zakk Wylde and Jerry Cantrell dishing up stories about his legendary appetite for a party. But if we HAD to choose one, it’d be Paul Brannigan’s interview with Phil Anselmo as he remembers joining Pantera, the friction between him and Dime, and the sorrow he feels now.
Stanley Clarke: Cut To The Bass
2) Stanley Clarke: he’s all about that bass, that bass, that bass And from one pioneering musician to another. If you needed an illustration of the breadth of TeamRock’s world, on the face of it you couldn’t get more extreme than the leap from Dimebag to Stanley Clarke, the bass player who pretty much invented jazz fusion with Return To Forever and has pushed the boundaries ever since. In reality it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine a world in which Dime had lived, maybe sobered up a little and jammed with Clarke on some fusion project with Mike Portnoy on drums. In this interview, Clarke outlines his musical philosophy: “The way I view so-called genres of music,” he says, “it’s pretty much all the same, just spoken in different languages. Y’know, bebop music has a certain language, created by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Blues – that’s a language. Southern Rock – another language. African music, another. For some reason, when I go into these different genres, the necessary information and the language comes to me. Sometimes I’ll mix it all up, mix it together. See, if you use the word ‘progressive’ properly, it’s about stretching boundaries…”
Foo Fighters: Multi-Taskers Of 2014
3) Dave Grohl: Rock’N’Roll Multi-Tasker Classic Rock’s interview with Dave Grohl is also about pushing boundaries, as the Foos man explains how recording their current album Sonic Highways in eight different cities – and making a BBC/HBO documentary series at the same time – took the band out of their comfort zone. As writer Rob Hughes comments, “In order to evolve, rock’n’roll must make exacting demands of itself”. And, as one of the few modern rock stars able to think as big as Jay-Z or Kanye, Grohl is up to the challenge: “I’m a high school drop out… and now I’m in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and I get to sit down and talk to the President,” he says. “I want everyone to imagine that the same opportunity is possible.”
The 10 Commandments of Horror Movie-Making – By Rob Zombie
**4) Rob Zombie’s 10 Commandments of Horror Movie Making ** “Thou Shalt Not Having a Happy Ending…” Horror director, shock rocker, industrial metaller and hellbilly deluxe Robert Bartleh Cummings reveals his top tips for making great horror movies, from music to casting, his points illustrated by recommendations of 10 classic horrors for you to watch, trailers and scenes.
Johnny Winter: Blues Icon Of 2014
5) How Leslie West Helped Johnny Winter Get Clean For their end-of-year issue, Classic Rock asked Leslie West to pay tribute to bluesman Johnny Winter who died this year. Instead, the Mountain man revealed how he’d been instrumental in getting Winters off of the methadone he’d been hooked on for years. A personal story with a universal message.
6) Were Sky the LEAST Rock’n’Roll Band Of All Time? Paul Lester’s brilliant profile of 70s prog-classical-jazz funk sensations Sky asks whether the band were prog or not and along the way offers a unique insight into the short career of a band of musos more interested in their chops than chopping out lines. “I was disappointed that Kevin wore jeans [at the Westminster Abbey gig],” says bassist Herbie Flowers. “I Wore a blue and orange jumper my mum knitted for me.”
Want more of this kind of thing? Then try our Massive Christmas offer! Worth £464! (UK-ONLY)
For more of this kind of thing, subscribe to Classic Rock for a year for ONLY £55 (that’s 13 issues of the magazine, worth £71.50) and you’ll also receive a gift pack containing: * 2 x tickets to your choice of Hammerfest, HRH united, HRH AOR, HRH Prog, Sci Fi Weekender or Ibiza Road Trip 6 (worth £260) * 1 x Annual TeamRock+ (worth £47.88) (www.teamrock.com) * 1 x Annual tastecard (worth £80) (www.tastecard.co.uk) Offer ends 24th December. Offer code: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/CRXMAS14W For non-UK residents we have savings for them too: save up to 25% on a one-year subscription with prices starting from £21.49 http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/music/classic-rock-magazine-subscription/
