Hugh Fielder

Hugh Fielder

Hugh Fielder has been writing about music for 47 years. Actually 58 if you include the essay he wrote about the Rolling Stones in exchange for taking time off school to see them at the Ipswich Gaumont in 1964. He was news editor of Sounds magazine from 1975 to 1992 and editor of Tower Records Top magazine from 1992 to 2001. Since then he has been freelance. He has interviewed the great, the good and the not so good and written books about some of them. His favourite possession is a piece of columnar basalt he brought back from Iceland.

Articles by: Hugh Fielder

Allman Brothers Band: Final Concert 10-28-14 cover art

"Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks effortlessly recreate Duane Allman and Dickey Betts' searing guitar lines": The Allman Brothers Band's final show, officially preserved for all time

By Hugh Fielder published

The Allmans' big finish, recorded live at the Beacon Theater, New York

Von Hertzen Brothers: In Murmuration cover art

"Tidal waves of sound and immaculate vocal harmonies": Von Hertzen Brothers rise above the gloom on In Murmuration

By Hugh Fielder published

The Von Hertzen Brothers are back from the brink

Cats in Space - Time Machine cover art

"They create a mash-up that conveys the spirit of the 70s without ever getting too specific": Cats In Space wear their classic rock influences as a badge of honour on Time Machine

By Hugh Fielder published

Let’s do the timewarp again

Mr Big: The Big Finish cover art

Mr Big finish big on live album The Big Finish

By Hugh Fielder published

Forever big in Japan

Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan: In Session cover art

"An illuminating opportunity to get up close with two blues maestros": Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan trade licks and stories on the deluxe edition of In Session

By Hugh Fielder published

Eavesdropping the blues as two greats join forces for 1983 TV special

Mick Fleetwood and Jake Shimabukuro: Blues Experience cover art

Mick Fleetwood and Jake Shimabukuro share a broad definition of the blues on collaborative album

By Hugh Fielder published

Ukulele blues from Fleetwood Mac founder and Hawaiin YouTube sensation

Alan Parsons Project: Pyramid Super Deluxe Edition cover art

"Meticulously unravelling the album's complexities": The Alan Parsons Project's Pyramid, decompiled and recompiled

By Hugh Fielder published

Taking the pyramid to pieces

Cat Stevens circa 1970

A beginner's guide to Cat Stevens in six essential albums

By Hugh Fielder published

Despite a string of hits including Matthew & Son, I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun and Wild World, Cat Stevens was always a reluctant star. These are his best albums

Genesis posing for a photograph in 1975

“Some albums are a natural birth. This one was definitely a breech birth. It came out kicking and screaming”: the turbulent story of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the album that tore Genesis in two

By Hugh Fielder published

Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is one of the great 70s concept albums – and the album that saw Peter Gabriel bid farewell to the band

Jethro Tull in 1971

"We were always looking out for a producer, but the trouble was that most of them took a lot of drugs": Ian Anderson on the recording of Aqualung, and why it really isn't a concept album

By Hugh Fielder last updated

Aqualung is regarded by most as the classic, definitive Jethro Tull album, but Ian Anderson is reluctant to admit it's his favourite

Focus 12 cover art

"It's difficult to tell which one of the tracks on this album was improvised spontaneously": Focus veer from grandiose to sombre on expansive 12th album

By Hugh Fielder published

Old Dutch masters Focus return

Jethro Tull: Bursting Out (Inflated Edition) packshot

"As slick as Jethro Tull got": The Inflated Edition of Jethro Tull's Bursting Out finds Ian Anderson & Co. finds them in fine form

By Hugh Fielder published

Jethro Tull's 1978 live double album, newly pumped up

Robin Trower: Bridge Of Sighs (50th Anniversary) cover art

"Sure, Trower sounded like Hendrix, but he certainly didn't play like him": Robin Trower's classic Bridge Of Sighs gets a lavish 50th birthday makeover

By Hugh Fielder published

British guitar hero Robin Trower’s finest hour, expanded

Billy Morrison: The Morrison Project cover art

Ozzy Osbourne, Cory Taylor, Billy Idol, Linda Perry and more fill the guest list as Billy Morrison bangs out the punk and electro rockers on The Morrison Project

By Hugh Fielder published

Billy Morrison gets his mates in

Ten Years After: A Space In Time cover art

"Ten Years After are still partying like it's 1967 even though it's 1971": Ten Years After discover a glitch in the blues rock matrix on A Space In Time

By Classic Rock Magazine published

The first standalone album on the Chrysalis label, A Space In Time contained Ten Years After's only transatlantic hit, I’d Love To Change The World

Jeff Beck studio portrait holding guitar

The Jeff Beck albums you should definitely own

By Hugh Fielder published

One of the greatest blues-rock/fusion guitarists ever, Jeff Beck's solo career spanned six decades. These are his best albums

Kris Barras Band - Halo Effect cover art

Getting harder and heavier with each album, Devon’s Kris Barras Band come flying out of the blocks on Halo Effect

By Hugh Fielder published

Riff monster Kris Barras plays it heavy but clever on album number five, Halo Effect

Big Big Train: The Likes Of Us cover art

"A beguiling mixture of 70s Genesis and English classical music": Big Big Train plot a familiar course on 16th album The Likes of Us

By Hugh Fielder published

An Anglo-Italian job as English proggers Big Big Train release their first album with new frontman Alberto Bravin

Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan singing onstage in 1971 with an inset of promoter Claude Nobs

“They said, ‘We did a little thing for you, but we don’t know if it will make the album. I said, ‘You’re crazy – this is the single!’” the epic life of ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs, the man who inspired Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water

By Hugh Fielder published

Claude Nobs was the man who co-founded the Montreux Jazz Festival – and crossed paths with Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and Deep Purple

Huey Lewis And The News in 1985

“People think we’re a pop band. But we never have been. We just had some huge success that hurt us a little”: how Huey Lewis & The News became America’s favourite good time rock’n’roll band

By Hugh Fielder published

Huey Lewis & The News were the ultimate bar-room rockers made good – all it took was a little nudge from Mutt Lange and Michael J Fox

The Jimi Hendrix Experience on the Lulu Show

"In our haste, the lump of hash got away and slipped down the sink drainpipe. Panic!": What happened when Jimi Hendrix created havoc and got banned by The BBC

By Hugh Fielder published

The producers of BBC1's Happening For Lulu wanted Jimi Hendrix to play Hey Joe. Instead, viewers were treated to a tribute to Cream and controlled chaos

Procol Harum circa 1967

The Procol Harum albums you should definitely own

By Hugh Fielder published

Procol Harum might still be best known for 60s mega-hit A Whiter Shade Of Pale, but there was much more to Gary Brooker and co. than that

Jefferson Starship in September 1978

“Grace was three sheets to the wind, so Marty sang to her while holding her in an arm-lock so she couldn’t get away”: the epic, drunken and very crazy story of Jefferson Starship

By Hugh Fielder published

Jefferson Starship rose from the ashes of San Francisco’s late 60s hippie movement, but they swapped peace and love for booze, bickering and chaos

AC/DC in 1983 with (inset) Roxy Music's Paul Thompson

"I've always regarded myself as a rock drummer. I mean, John Bonham is my number one hero": What happened when Roxy Music drummer Paul Thompson auditioned for AC/DC

By Hugh Fielder published

AC/DC's Journey through the 1980s could have been very different if Brian Johnson had had his way

Jethro Tull - Warchild II album art

The long wait is over: Jethro Tull's Warchild II is finally available on vinyl

By Hugh Fielder published

Ian Anderson had an album’s worth of material left over from War Child and he splattered them across various compilations. Now they're collected on vinyl for the first time