Articles by: Max Bell

Louder Together we're Louder

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 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

For a year Tommy James was bigger than The Beatles. Then the mafia ruined everything

By Max Bell published 23 March 22

With hits like Mony Mony and Crimson And Clover, Tommy James should have had the time of his life. Instead, he found himself robbed and threatened by the Mafia

How Paul McCartney excised the ghost of The Beatles and took flight with Wings

By Max Bell last updated 9 February 22

Paul McCartney tells the story of the rise of Wings, from humble beginnings to the monster Wings Over America tour

Blind Faith larking about during a photo shoot

Blind Faith: Steve Winwood on the problems of life in a supergroup

By Max Bell published 5 January 22

Vocalist and keyboard player Steve Winwood looks back at Blind Faith, one of the first supergroups

The Steve Miller albums you should definitely own

By Max Bell published 8 December 21

From music business outsider to superstar Space Cowboy, these are the Steve Miller Band's best albums

Button badges of albums released in 1969

The 40 best albums of 1969, the year rock got real

By Max Bell, Ian Fortnam, Hugh Fielder, Sid Smith, Tommy Udo, Scott Rowley last updated 3 December 21

1969 heralded the end of the 60s and the birth of real rock. Here we look at some of the gilt-edged albums from a pivotal year in rock history

Neil Young: Carnegie Hall 1970 cover art

Neil Young at Carnegie Hall: acoustic perfection and a rapturous audience make for magnificence

By Max Bell published 1 October 21

The first in Neil Young's Young's bootleg series was brilliantly recorded just after the Goldrush at the Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1970

The Grateful Dead: a guide to their best albums

By Max Bell published 17 August 21

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

The 20 best songs by The Doors

By Max Bell published 2 August 21

Over the course of just five years, The Doors changed the course of rock forever. These are their 20 best songs

Pink Floyd repackage the past once more on Live At Knebworth 1990

By Max Bell last updated 20 September 22

Wish you’d been there? Pink Floyd's Live At Knebworth 1990 is super slick but lacks mystery

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