Mike Barnes

Mike Barnes

Mike Barnes is the author of Captain Beefheart - The Biography (Omnibus Press, 2011) and A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 1970s (2020). He was a regular contributor to Select magazine and his work regularly appears in Prog, Mojo and Wire. He also plays the drums.

Articles by: Mike Barnes

Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman

“We didn’t want to be extras, we didn’t want to be bit men… If you haven’t got an ego, you shouldn’t be doing this”: Rick Wakeman on the Keith Emerson collaboration that never happened

By Mike Barnes published

The “brothers in keyboards” had plans for a show together, a tour with Jon Lord and perhaps even an album before tragedy made it all impossible

Robert Fripp and Toyah

“Whenever King Crimson is in active mode there is nothing else I can do with my life… to be able to focus on being more of a guitarist is the right place for me”: Robert Fripp’s new lease of life

By Mike Barnes published

Now Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch has moved from the kitchen to the stage, he enjoys ”giving a heavy kicking to received opinion”

Yes - Yessingles

“There’s some good music, of course, but most of it was reshaped for expediency rather than for aesthetic reasons”: Yes compilation Yessingles

By Mike Barnes published

Selection was made to fit on an LP, but as the band have released 41 singles so far, it’s only part of the story

Roger Waters - Dark Side of the Moon Redux

Roger Waters’ Dark Side Of The Moon Redux: “Audacious, affecting, annoying, dull in places… certainly worth investigating”

By Mike Barnes published

Unnecessary? Maybe. But this stark reimagining of the biggest prog album ever possibly works better than it should

Andy Latimer

“Some people would like us to be doing the Son Of Snow Goose until we drop… people just don’t want you to change, but change is inevitable”: Andy Latimer’s unreleased Camel music

By Mike Barnes published

Veteran band leader on having “reams and reams of material and some of it may be good”

Barclay James Harvest

“Marrying a rock band to an orchestra was seat-of-the-pants stuff… even if we had to have extra rehearsals because they weren’t playing it right, they charged us”: Barclay James Harvest’s early days

By Mike Barnes published

From getting a Mellotron at a knock-down price to spending years on the road to recoup recording costs, John Lees looks back before his band stops touring

John Greaves in a green shirt pointing his finger

“Mike Oldfield engineered the first track Henry Cow recorded, because Tom Newman had been celebrating the end of Tubular Bells and was brainless drunk under the console”: Bassist John Greaves’ life in prog

By Mike Barnes published

After starting out in his dad’s dance band, the Welshman encountered Henry Cow at university, knew he had to be part of it - and he’s never looked back

King Crimson's Robert Fripp dressed in a white shirt, colourful tie, dark waistcoat and trousers, with one arm outstretched mid-dance. He's photographed backstage in a small white dressing room with his guitar on a table to the left of the photo and a carrier bag of food to the right of the image

Nice moves, Robert! Watch Fripp and Toyah's backstage dance-off

By Natasha Scharf published

Robert Fripp's a 21st-century dancing man in new footage shared ahead of his autumn live dates with Toyah

Renaissance

"Musically Scheherazade And Other Stories is the one.” Annie Haslam on Renaissance's 1975 masterpiece

By Mike Barnes published

The inside story of Renaissance's 1975 classic album Scheherazade And Other Stories

Jon Anderson

"The only way forward is to get rid of corruption, greed and suffering!" Jon Anderson on 1000 Hands: Chapter One!

By Mike Barnes published

Jon Anderson discusses the genesis of his 2019 solo album, 1000 Hands: Chapter One, which was nearly 30 years in the making

Fairport Convention

The story of Fairport Convention's Full House

By Mike Barnes last updated

The Fairports recall the making of 1970's Full House, the band's first album without founding member Ashley Hutchings and with new boy Dave Pegg

Caravan

"It was the way to go in the early days, doing longer and longer tracks. To revisit that is a good experience." The story of Caravan's It's None Of Your Business

By Mike Barnes published

In 2021 a refreshed and reinvigorated Caravan released their finest album for years. This is the story...

Colosseum Live In London

By Mike Barnes last updated

Not yet rated

Colosseum's live finale goes out on a high.

Jade Warrior

Jade Warrior - Reissues: "these albums remain an idiosyncratic delight..."

By Mike Barnes published

Not yet rated

Two of a unique kind from one of prog’s most brilliant oddities.

Family

"Family definitely ran out of steam". Roger Chapman in The Prog Interview

By Mike Barnes published

The Family singer and solo artist in his own right, Roger Chapman reflects on a 50-year career

Faust

Faust - Faust 1971-74: "the golden age of krautrock"...

By Mike Barnes published

Not yet rated

Eight-CD set covering the golden age of krautrock’s most inventive group.

Al Stewart

Al Stewart: The Prog Interview

By Mike Barnes last updated

The folk progger reflects on a career that started with guitar lessons from Robert Fripp and has seen him work with the likes of Rick Wakeman, Alan Parsons and more...

Roger Chapman/Life In The Pond artwork

Roger Chapman - Life In The Pond review

By Mike Barnes published

Not yet rated

Roger Chapman is reunited with old Family chum Poli Palmer on his new solo album

Mike Oldfield

How Mike Oldfield made Crises and ended up with a Top Five hit single!

By Mike Barnes published

Mike Oldfield's eighth studio album, 1983's Crises, saw him riding a wave of new popularity in the 80s

John Greaves in a green shirt pointing his finger

From Tubular Bells to Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom: Henry Cow's John Greaves comes clean

By Mike Barnes last updated

He's played with Henry Cow, National Health and Mike Oldfield, but what makes John Greaves tick? We catch up with the musician to explore his incredible career so far and find out more about his solo albums

montage of prog books

12 of the best books about prog for you to read

By Grant Moon, Sid Smith, David West, Mike Barnes, Natasha Scharf, Rachel Mann, Joe Banks, Chris Roberts last updated

Want to catch up on some reading? Here are 12 of the best books about progressive music

ELP

The story of Emerson Lake & Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery

By Mike Barnes published

How prog supergroup Emerson Lake & Palmer's created their epic 1973 album Brain Salad Surgery

Nick D'Virgilio

Nick D'Virgilio - Invisible Review

By Mike Barnes published

Not yet rated

Big Big Train man serves up an unusual kind of “drummer record”.

group shot of the most obscure albums in prog

20 of the most obscure prog albums

By Mike Barnes, Mark Blake, Daryl Easlea, Jerry Ewing, Rob Hughes, Kris Needs, Sid Smith last updated

Prog picks 20 of the most obscure prog albums that you might have nestled at the back of your collection. Some that could even unearth you a small fortune

a portrait of Simon Jeffes sat on a chair

How prog are Penguin Cafe Orchestra?

By Mike Barnes published

The musical collective praised randomness, caught the attention of Brian Eno and were self-described as “modern semi-acoustic chamber music”, amongst other things. But just how prog were they?