Grace under pressure

WE WERE THE first band of our generation that started to grow up,” Billy Corgan says, reflecting on the making of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 grand opus, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. “The b

THERE ARE VARYING degrees of guitar hero, but Carlos Santana is a name you’d expect to find near the top of any list. Like Jimi Hendrix, Brian May or Slash, Santana has transcended guitar music and pe

Strawbs co-founder Dave Cousins died in July following a long illness. The singer, songwriter and guitarist enjoyed an active musical career spanning more than six decades and has been name-checked by many musicians as a key influence and inspiration. We reflect on his rich legacy and reveal plans for a number of posthumous releases, including the long-awaited new Strawbs album.

Strawbs lodestar and constant Dave Cousins left us on July 13.

Rather gear collection of punky outsider artists’ BBC work recorded between 1978 and 1980.

1975 was JONI MITCHELL ’ s roller-coaster year: 12 months of romance and heartbreak, adventure and retreat, cocaine and Rolling Thunder. And in the middle of it, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns , her doubling-down on jazz rhythms, exotic melodies and songwriting-as-literature, with (for now, at least) a simpatico crew in tow. “It was just a good vibe,” they tell GRAYSON HAVER CURRIN . “And Joni was at the centre of it, at the peak of her powers.”