Search Results

Spirit, Randy California: California Dreaming: The Wild and Tragic Story of Spirit

Retrospective by Max Bell, Classic Rock, 18 June 2014

Led by mercurial guitarist Randy California, Spirit were buddies of Jimi Hendrix and praised by Led Zeppelin. But their promise would collapse in blur of ...

Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd: The Cracked Ballad of Syd Barrett

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 April 1974

The summer of '67 went up like a psychedelic mushroom-cloud – and some of the fall-out's still coming down. Brian Jones was casually snuffed out, ...

Mahogany Rush: And This Little Piggy Took Too Much Acid

Interview by Geoff Barton, Sounds, 25 June 1977

If we tell you that Frank Marino of Mahogany Rush took 1500 trips in a month, you won't be surprised that the tale he tells ...

Aerosmith: Sex'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll!

Memoir by Pete Makowski, Kerrang!, 6 April 1994

Up until the early '80s, Aerosmith indulged in every rock 'n'roll excess! "It's a miracle they survived!" says Dr. Pete Makowski, who met Steven Tyler ...

Amy Winehouse: A Rock Star Dead Again at 27

Comment by Wayne Robins, Rock's Backpages, 23 July 2011

THE OTHER DAY I was listening to Amy Winehouse sing "You Know I'm No Good" on WFUV, and thought about how authentic she sounded. Not ...

Jefferson Airplane: High Priestess: Grace Slick and ‘White Rabbit’

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Paytress, The Guardian, 15 November 2002

White Rabbit has just come out top in a poll to find the finest drug song ever. Mark Paytress discovers that its writer/singer Grace Slick ...

Beatles, The, Cilla Black: Brian Epstein's Death Is Ruled Accidental Overdose

Report by Tony Barrow, KRLA Beat, 7 October 1967

THE NEWS OF Brian Epstein's tragic death led to an immediate storm of speculation about the future of his artists and his various pop empires ...

Drug Culture As Pop Culture

Overview by David Toop, Mixmag, June 1992

WHEN PHUTURE'S 'Acid Tracks' hit the decks in 1987, the title of this minimalist techno-homage to the Roland TR-303 blinded most of us to the ...

Sid Vicious, Sex Pistols, The: Sid and Nancy

Comment by uncredited writer, New York Rocker, November 1978

WHAT MORE can we add to the pathetic, sordid tale of Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious? ...

Ginger Baker: "I came off heroin something like 29 times"

Profile and Interview by Edward Helmore, The Observer, 5 January 2013

Former Cream drummer Ginger Baker talks about his battle with heroin, how he was the original Rolling Stones drummer and being the subject of new ...

Rolling Stones, The: The Gimme Shelter You Didn't See

Review by Michael Azerrad, Rock's Backpages, 24 November 2009

GIMME SHELTER is generally considered one of the best rock documentaries ever made, perhaps one of the best documentaries on any topic. ...

Stairway To Hell

Essay by Nick Kent, The Guardian, 19 April 2004

THEY ASKED ME to write this piece about "self-destruction and its place in rock" and that immediately set me to thinking: what do they mean ...

Hours, The: The Hours: Back From The Brink

Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 12 January 2007

The Hours have been through drugs, death and abandonment. But adversity has turned them into Britain's most powerful new band. Dave Simpson caught up with ...

The Rolling Stones: King Hash Is Sure To Come

Report and Interview by Sheila Weller, Rolling Stone, 14 May 1970

TANGIER – He shakes another pebble oul of the foot-long, coral-and silver-encrusted stash pouch, pokes an amber-ringed forefinger under the schlockedelic fake-silk ascot he has ...

Drugs: Out Of Our Heads

Overview by Mat Snow, NME, 27 September 1986

AFTER TWO false starts due to bad weather, the wide-eyed and jittery paratroopers swallowed their third load of benzedrines in three nights and flew off ...

Eric Clapton: Give Me Strength

Interview by Steve Turner, Sounds, 19 February 1977

Meg and George Patterson's cure for heroin addiction ...

What's Your Tipple?

Guide by Tom Hibbert, Q, September 1992

Music and drugs have always been promiscuously compatible bedfellows. How many of the great albums would exist had their creators not been "shedded" at the ...

Pretenders, The: The Pretenders: Leather Wears Better Than Dreams

Profile and Interview by Lesley White, The Face, February 1984

In the last two turbulent years, Chrissie Hynde has had a baby by the man who once personified for her the rock and roll myth, ...

Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, The: I Was A Pop Star's Arse-wiper!

Report by Martin Aston, Q, January 2000

For as long as there have been rock stars, there have been rock star "support systems", from the Memphis Mafia to "Spanish" Tony Sanchez to ...

The Needle And The Damage Done

Report by Jim Sullivan, Boston Globe, 10 August 1996

"I've seen the needle and the damage done / A little part of it in everyone / But every junkie's like a setting sun" — ...