SEVENTY YEARS AGO NEXT MONTH, HEARTBREAK HOTEL WAS THE SONG THAT MADE ELVIS PRESLEY A STAR AND LIT A SPARK IN A GENERATION OF FUTURE HEROES. BUT ITS STRANGELY GLOOMY CONTENT FLAGGED A TRAGIC BACK STORY, WHILE ELVIS'S RECORDING DISMAYED THE LABEL THAT HAD RISKED BIG MONEY TO SIGN HIM. JIM IRVIN GETS A ROOM.

Black And Blue UMC/POLYDOR

This month…

Fifty years on from their first successes, Roger McGuinn, the 12-string architect of THE BYRDS , tells Uncut about their exceptional first 18 months – and his relationship with Gene Clark. As the young group make their jet-powered escape from the folk think tank, we hear about making the scene on the Strip, outraging Iowa and a muted response in the United Kingdom. But ultimately how “Eight Miles High” became the spectacular conclusion of the band’s first era. “I almost left The Byrds entirely to go and be in this space band With Dino Valente,” McGuinn tells John Robinson

DENNIS WILSON was The Beach Boys' drummer, pin-up, alcoholic and chaos agent. He may also have been the group's other genius. In this extract from his new book on the band, PETER DOGGETT explores Wilson's tragic decline, and the extraordinary miracle it contained: Pacific Ocean Blue.

Mike Patton and the Avett Brothers join forces to create a work of immense beauty.