Max Bell

Booze, barbiturates, suicide and overdoses – the twisted tale of America's first great boogie-rock band

Beach Boys drummer and singer Dennis Wilson made a cult classic with 1977’s Pacific Ocean Blue – a few years later he was dead

From Cream to Blind Faith and beyond, this is how Ginger Baker revolutionised music

Mick Fleetwood was a member of Fleetwood Mac from the start – and lived to tell the tale

The late, great Marianne Faithfull had a life like no other

The Doors were stars but their Sunset Strip peers Love deserved to be equally famous

Late guitar innovator Jeff Beck lived rock'n'roll history - but was much more interested in the future

The story behind Tom Petty’s classic 1979 album Damn The Torpedoes and its follow-up Hard Promises

Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells A Story arrived by accident, was rescued by some last-minute songs, a fat slice of luck and a dozen hard-drinking hombres – and helped launch Rod Stewart’s solo career

When Rory Gallagher passed away it was widely reported that his former drummer, Rod de'Ath, had died years earlier. Only thing was, he hadn't

In 1978, The Grateful Dead and their entourage landed in Egypt for three gigs at the Pyramids of Giza. This is what happened

Joe Cocker was the unlikely Sheffield superstar loved by The Beatles – but drink, drugs and debauchery almost sent him over the edge

"My last memory was of Bonham’s hairy backside disappearing, illuminated by a spotlight"

There was a time when all rock and pop roads led to London; you couldn't move without tripping over an icon or a star. Those days are long gone

Country, rock’n’roll, a whole lot of attitude – Jason And The Scorchers were destined to be huge, but they were their own worst enemies

Late New Orleans legend Dr John on that time he drank a case of Blue Nun with Frankie Miller, and other stories

Rock's grumpy old man Steve Miller on fame, the Grateful Dead, and why kids should think twice about becoming rock stars

Growing tired of the tensions in CSN&Y, Stephen Stills moved to the UK to record his debut album, with a little help from Jimi, Ringo and Eric

With hits like Mony Mony and Crimson And Clover, Tommy James should have had the time of his life. Instead, he found himself robbed and threatened by the Mafia

Eric Clapton loved him and Mark Knopfler borrowed his style, but singer and guitarist JJ Cale never had the success to match his massive influence

The unlikely story of psychedelic pioneer and folk swing vaudevillian Dan Hicks

"We were like four students living on top of one another, surrounded by filthy crockery and unmade beds" - Steve Winwood on Traffic's early experiments with communal living

The Doors' Robby Krieger reveals how he came to write Love Her Madly, how Jim Morrison loved it, and how their producer didn't

With a classic funk-rock sound, the rise of rock'n'roll cowboys the James Gang looked unstoppable, inspired by a real kick-ass guitarist who would both make and break the band

From boozy beat poet to avant garde conductor of the 'Junkyard Orchestra', a guide to Tom Waits' best albums and the work of a musical maverick