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Fred Dellar doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t involved in music. As a teenager he saw Billie Holiday in a club date and caught Hoagy Carmichael, the Nicholas Brothers, Josh White, Lena Horne and other personal heroes on live dates. He became something of a youth club DJ, also embarking on series of lectures, usually involving popular music history. A jazz and R&B maniac, Fred ran a jazz club while in the RAF and promoted a concert by a 20 piece big band that warranted a front-page headline in Melody Maker. Employed in a factory machine shop for several years, he nevertheless ran a fanzine dedicated to Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Mark Murphy, Peggy Lee etc, attending Sinatra’s only UK recording sessions. During the late ‘60s he began writing in a part-time capacity, reviewing for Hi-Fi News and other magazines also providing an array of album sleeve notes, the first of which was for Dizzy Gillespie’s Jambo Caribe.
Redundancy from a warehouse job in 1972 found him applying for a job at NME, where he became a freelance and, during the next 24 years, contributed various reviews, features and columns, becoming known as Fred Fact, his page receiving its own number in the Factory catalogue. During this time too, he wrote for Smash Hits, Vox and Loaded, also briefly editing a country music magazine Up Country. Author or co-author of several books, including The NME Guide To Rock Cinema, Where Did You Go To My Lovely?, The Illustrated Country Music Encyclopedia, The Hip, Sinatra- His Life And Times, Sinatra- Night And Day, The Essential Guide To Rock Records etc. he has additionally contributed music and film crosswords to numerous publications.
Since 1996 he has mainly been employed at Mojo, a magazine he loves, fashioning the Time Machine, Enlightenment and Ask Fred pages. Meanwhile his tally of sleeve notes has reached epic proportions, spanning artists ranging from The 101 Strings through to Piano Red and Sugar Chile Robinson.
Fred’s greatest boast is that he still remembers the complete lyric to ‘When The War Breaks Out In Mexico (I’m Gonna Go To Montreal)’ a song he once warbled while part of a street skiffle group. Nobody has asked him to reprise it in recent times.
Fred Dellar's Rock's Backpages blog
List of articles in the library by artist
Chet Atkins: Mr Nashville
Obituary by Fred Dellar, Mojo, September 2001
John Barry : Eddi Fiegel: John Barry – A Sixties Theme; Geoff Leonard et al: John Barry – A Life In Music
Book Review by Fred Dellar, Mojo, January 1999
Beach Boys, The : Dennis Wilson
Obituary by Fred Dellar, NME, January 1984
Beach Boys, The : How to Buy The Beach Boys
Discography by Fred Dellar, Mojo, September 1997
Beach Boys, The : The Beach Boys: The Capitol Years (World Records)
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1981
Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell : Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell
Obituary by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1985
Tim Buckley: Mourning Glory
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, NME, April 1994
Buggles
Interview by Fred Dellar, Smash Hits, February 1980
Dave Cartwright: And Now, Half An Hour Of Masochism
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, January 1975
Johnny Cash : How To Buy Johnny Cash
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, October 1997
Chieftains, The : The Chieftains: How to record 4 albums in 18 years, and still sell out the Albert Hall
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1975
Ry Cooder : How to Buy Ry Cooder
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, August 1998
Decameron: On The Eve Of A New Album
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, July 1975
Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band: The Mountain
Review by Fred Dellar, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, May 1999
Joe Ely: The Venue, London
Live Review by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1980
Everly Brothers, The : Roger White: Walk Right Back – The Everly Brothers (Plexus Books)
Book Review by Fred Dellar, NME, December 1984
Aretha Franklin : How to Buy Aretha Franklin
Discography by Fred Dellar, Mojo, July 1997
Fungus: Dutch Folk Go Dutch
Profile by Fred Dellar, NME, December 1975
Fungus: Vlaardingen, Holland
Live Review by Fred Dellar, NME, September 1975
Gong: Magik Brother, Mystic Sister; Gong Est Mort – Vive Gong!
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, November 1977
Gong: Mysticism Before Noon
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, July 1974
Gryphon: Medieval Knight Jousts At Rock Press Knaves
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, August 1974
Merle Haggard: If I Could Only Fly (Anti-Inc)
Review and Interview by Fred Dellar, Mojo, December 2000
Billie Holiday : How to Buy Billie Holiday
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, November 1997
Jack The Lad
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1975
Bert Jansch : 'Bert Jansch? Not Still Going, Is He?'
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, October 1975
George Jones
Guide by Fred Dellar, Melody Maker, June 1999
Louis Jordan: Going For The Long Jump!
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, NME, August 1983
B.B. King : How to buy B.B. King
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, March 1998
Kinks, The : The Kinks
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, March 1997
Korgis, The : The Korgis: Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime
Interview by Fred Dellar, Smash Hits, July 1980
Leo Kottke
Report and Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, August 1975
Jerry Lee Lewis
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, May 2002
Julie London: Cry Me A Cult Figure
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, NME, March 1983
Marmalade: Sweet Sounds And Sticky Patches
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1982
Willie Nelson : How To Buy Willie Nelson
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, May 1997
Mike Oldfield : Tom Newman: The Man Who Taped the Tubular Bells
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, February 1975
Mike Oldfield : Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Mike Oldfield Finds Out That Success Has Its Problems
Interview by Fred Dellar, Smash Hits, January 1980
Alan Parsons: Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, July 1976
Tom Paxton
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, April 1975
P.F.M.: Cook
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, January 1975
Esther Phillips: Laissez-Faire in Bouffant Hair
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, October 1975
Pink Floyd : Alexandra Palace 1967: Syd Barrett Wasn’t Feeling At All Well...
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Mojo, April 1997
Mitch Ryder/The Detroit Wheels : Mitch Ryder: From The Detroit To The Top Ten
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1983
Ben Sidran: The Doctor Is In (Arista)
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, November 1977
Nina Simone : Gus Wildi's Bebopping Jazz Baby: Bethlehem Records
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, March 2009
Nina Simone : How To Buy Nina Simone
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, April 1998
Frank Sinatra - The Reprise Years
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, September 1975
Spud
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, November 1975
Steely Dan: A Dan for all Seasons
Discography by Fred Dellar, Vox, December 1990
Al Stewart: Of Simon, Seers And Ages Past
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, November 1973
Rod Stewart : How to Buy Rod Stewart
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, May 1998
Supertramp: Crime Of The Century (A&M)
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, October 1974
Tangerine Dream : Exclusiv interview mit Tangerine Dream
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, June 1974
James Taylor: J. T. (CBS)
Review by Fred Dellar, NME, August 1977
Mel Torme : Gus Wildi's Bebopping Jazz Baby: Bethlehem Records
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Rock's Backpages, March 2009
Twiggy: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Fred Dellar, NME, July 1976
Tom Waits: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Fred Dellar, NME, June 1976
Tom Waits: Would you say this man was attempting to convey an impression of sordid Bohemianism?
Interview by Fred Dellar, NME, June 1976
Walker Brothers, The : The Walker Brothers: Harmony and rivalry from the Walkers
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, The History of Rock, 1982
Who, The : How To Buy The Who
Guide by Fred Dellar, Mojo, January 1998
Hank Williams
Retrospective by Fred Dellar, Mojo, December 1998
Dennis Wilson List of genre pieces How to Buy Greenwich Village Folk
Obituary by Fred Dellar, NME, January 1984
Guide by Fred Dellar,
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