The director of a new film profiling Ginger Baker is interviewed in the new issue of Uncut (dated January 2013, and out now), explaining why the Cream drummer broke his nose during filming… As a companion piece, this week's archive feature finds Baker's former bandmate, Eric Clapton, providing a painfully frank account of his days in Cream – psychedelic drugs, 24-hour confrontations and their love of Pet Sounds included. From Uncut's May 2004 issue (Take 84). Interview: Nigel Williamson
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In celebration of Neil Young’s triple appearance in our review of 2012 (Americana and Psychedelic Pill in our top 50 albums and Waging Heavy Peace in our top 20 books of the year), here’s a look back at an unusually revealing interview with Neil Young (from our September 2007 issue, Take 127) – taking in car graveyards, his mother’s ashes and the truth about Archives and Chrome Dreams… “The Great Spirit has been good to me,” he says. Words: Jaan Uhelszki
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The reunited Beach Boys' new concert DVD is reviewed in the latest issue of Uncut (dated January 2013, out now) – so it seemed like a good time to revisit this fascinating piece from our October 2006 issue (Take 113). We were talking to Wilson, primarily, to discuss the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds, reissued in deluxe format that month. But Wilson agreed to revisit five other pivotal Beach Boys albums, too. “If you’re a young guy or girl going out and buying Pet Sounds for the first time, you’re gonna be knocked out when you hear it, right?” Words: Rob Hughes
The Black Keys shed light on the making of their greatest albums in the new issue of Uncut, out on Friday (November 23).
The duo, who are set to play two dates at London’s O2 Arena in December, explain how they moved from recording on four-track in drummer Patrick Carney’s basement for their first few albums to holing up in more luxurious studios with producer Danger Mouse on last year’s El Camino.
The deluxe reissue of The Jam’s final album, The Gift, is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut (December 2012, Take 187) – so for this week’s archive feature, we’ve stepped back to Uncut’s December 2008 (Take 139) issue, to spend a year by Paul Weller’s side, as he celebrates his 50th birthday. We are invited into the Guv’nor’s inner sanctum, to his star-studded birthday party, and into dressing rooms across Britain and America. And we learn that, like any good mod, Weller remains “more interested in the future than the past”. Words: Paul Moody
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Manic Street Preachers have confirmed they have started work on a new album.
The Welsh trio, who left their future plans uncertain after a greatest hits show at London's O2 Arena last year, are currently working on their 11th studio album according to frontman James Dean Bradfield.
He told Bang Showbiz: "I'm trying to find a good word for the next record. I'm not going to say esoteric because no-one wants to hear that word, it's not even eclectic."
The Stones’ new compilation, GRRR!, is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut (December 2012, Take 187), out now, so for this week’s archive feature we head back to Uncut’s April 2008 issue (Take 131). Mick Jagger is micro-managing the release of their new, Scorsese-directed concert movie, Shine A Light. Keith Richards is lounging on a Caribbean beach with his dogs. They both find time, however, to tell Uncut about pet hygiene, “fucking crap” modern music and having rebellion thrust upon them. Words: Andrew Mueller
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