Kris Needs

Kris Needs

Kris Needs is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. Previously secretary of the Mott The Hoople fan club, he became editor of ZigZag in 1977 and has written biographies of stars including Primal Scream, Joe Strummer and Keith Richards. He's also written for MOJO, Record Collector, Classic Rock, Prog, Electronic Sound, Vive Le Rock and Shindig!

Articles by: Kris Needs

syd barrett

“You felt he understood innocence but couldn’t be innocent in the world, because you can’t… that’s where we wanted to be”: The real Syd Barrett, by the people who knew him

By Kris Needs published

The magic and mystery surrounding the architect of Pink Floyd endures – and a larger canvas emerges of a confident, multi-talented originator...

Motörhead: We Take No Prisoners: Singles 95-06 cover art

"A marketing masterstroke in a handsome box": Motörhead CD singles turned into delicious vinyl souvenirs on We Take No Prisoners: Singles 95-06

By Kris Needs published

That old wax magic works for a final lineup ‘best-of’ spread over eight 45rpm discs

Can circa 1976

"Some of the most mysterious but influential music ever made": The Can albums you should definitely listen to

By Kris Needs published

Can's classic releases sound only like themselves, yet the band's influence lives on. These are their best albums

King Crimson: Sheltering Skies (Live In Fréjus, August 27th, 1982) cover art

"A tightly convoluted blend of NY postpunk, art-rock and fusion": 80s' King Crimson shine brightly on Sheltering Skies

By Kris Needs published

Enter the post-prog maelstrom

Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hours: Friendlytown cover art

"Inspirational": Steve Cropper is a sublimely understated presence with The Midnight Hour on Friendlytown

By Kris Needs published

Stax legend Steve Cropper fires up the protest soul

Ten Years After: Woodstock 1969 cover art

"This sort of seat-of-the-pants indulgence would never fit the corporate cosiness of today’s major festivals": Ten Years After showcase the solos on Woodstock 1969

By Kris Needs published

Of its time and on vinyl, the six-song set that made Ten Years After US festival titans

The Only Ones

Seven songs that prove The Only Ones were much more than a one song band

By Kris Needs published

Famed for Another Girl, Another Planet but increasingly influential, there's much more to The Only Ones than "the greatest rock single ever recorded"

David Bowie: Rock ’N’ Roll Star cover art

"A suitably chaotic time capsule of a magical period now bathed in extraordinary poignancy": David Bowie's Ziggy era mined for gold on Rock 'N' Roll Star

By Kris Needs published

This mothership of David Bowie box sets covers Ziggy Stardust's conception, birth and lift-off

Mott The Hoople in 1970

"I'd had forty-four jobs. I knew this was my one and only shot": How Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople got their riot started

By Kris Needs published

Before they became 70s chart stars and (later) a beloved heritage act, Mott The Hoople were a wilder, more dangerous proposition – as their incendiary debut album proved

Little Feat: Sam’s Place cover art

"Effortless virtuosity": Little Feat's timeless sound on Sam's Place is oddly reassuring in these turbulent times

By Kris Needs published

Feats don't fail the blues as swamp rock veterans Little Feat tackle Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters on their first album in more than a decade

Cyril Davies onstage

Cyril Davies was a grumpy, balding panel beater who "drank bourbon like a fish": He also inspired a generation of rock musicians – and has been all but airbrushed out of history

By Kris Needs published

What do The Kinks, Stones and The Who all have in common? For one thing, a harmonica-playing bluesman nicknamed 'Squirrel'

Ian Hunter: Defiance Part 2: Fiction cover art

"He tackles wars, political turmoil, crime and weather, in another compelling affirmation of his irrepressible muse": Ian Hunter shows no sign of erosion on Defiance Part 2: Fiction

By Kris Needs published

A weightier second helping of Defiance from Ian Hunter in a star-studded, covid-era purple patch

The Clash pose outside a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles in 1982

Tension, ego, heroin: How The Clash's epic unreleased double album Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg all but finished them off

By Kris Needs published

Combat Rock would gave The Clash their biggest singles, but it was only part of a bigger, more ambitious mothership

Jimi Hendrix headshot

"One night we sat down and did the entire thing on a cassette set-up – it was magnificent!": How a set of unfinished, acid-fried songs about a mythical superhero could have been Jimi Hendrix’s last album

By Kris Needs published

Black Gold was an unfinished, autobiographical suite that may have provided the foundation for Jimi Hendrix's fifth studio album

The Ramones in 1977

"What a revelation! In-your-face, bare-boned, all Ramones, all the time, balls-to-the-wall": How Dee Dee Ramone's private teenage escape inspired a punk classic

By Kris Needs published

After moving to New York to escape an abusive father, pre-Dee Dee Ramone Doug Colvin wrote a song about the coastal escape he frequented

Radio Birdman group shot

"We had a real human skull. Its name was Govinda, and it used to sit on top of a mic stand at gigs, like a mascot" the story of Radio Birdman, the original Oz punks

By Kris Needs published

From Sydney via Detroit, Radio Birdman were Australia's anarchic answer to the Stooges and Blue Öyster Cult

Jimi Hendrix onstage

"He was the best guitarist I’d ever seen" - the night Jimi Hendrix met his destiny

By Kris Needs last updated

Jimi At 80 New York, July 5, 1966. Jimi Hendrix is playing Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village, and through the door comes the man who will turn him into a star

Steely Dan: Countdown To Ecstasy cover art

Countdown To Ecstasy: all hail Steely Dan's idiosyncratic visions of jazz-charged contemporary rock

By Kris Needs published

Steely Dan's initially overlooked sleeper Countdown To Ecstasy is back on wax

Genesis

Aylesbury Friars: the story of a venue

By Kris Needs published

The Buckinghamshire venue was instrumental in furthering the careers of David Bowie, Genesis, VdGG, King Crimson, Marillion and more

David Peel standing in a field making peace signs with his hands

The strange tale of David Peel, the dope-smoking hippy who became the King of Punk

By Kris Needs last updated

David Peel tooled around with John Lennon, was the first man to use the word "Motherf*cker" in a song title and directly influenced The Clash. This is his story

Eric Burdon & War: The Complete Vinyl Collection packshot

Eric Burdon & War: a barrier-breaking collaboration from a trail-blazing era

By Kris Needs published

This Record Store Day box set corrals Eric Burdon & War's three albums on multi-hued vinyl

Jimi Hendrix onstage

The story of the historic night Jimi Hendrix "killed god"

By Kris Needs published

Jimi at 80 It was Jimi Hendrix vs Eric Clapton, and there was only ever going to be one winner

Jimi Hendrix in 1966

The night Jimi Hendrix dropped acid for the first time and the girl who changed his life

By Kris Needs published

It's New York, it's 1966, and Jimi Hendrix's life is about to be turned around by Keith Richards' girlfriend

"It was all pretty wacky..." Jeff Lynne On The Move, The Idle Race and ELO

By Kris Needs last updated

Jeff Lynne reveals all about his early days in music: honing his craft with The Idle Race, joining Roy Wood in supergroup The Move, and experimenting with a certain classical rock project...

60s duo Nirvana black and white portrait

Rainbow Chasers: how 60s duo Nirvana caught Salvador Dalí's attention

By Kris Needs published

Here's the story of London-based baroque pop duo Nirvana who became unwitting prog trailblazers when, in 1967, they released one of the first concept albums, The Story Of Simon Simopath