Vintage Rock

VINTAGE ROCK celebrates a time when music changed the world - 45s, youth culture and the odd thrusting pelvis. Vintage Rock chronicles all the stellar artists and music, the enduring legacy of those early pioneers - and why it’s still the best way to live. Spanning the dawn of the 50s to early Beatles (pre Eastern mysticism!), Vintage Rock covers a time of Mods and Rockers, crinoline skirts and blue jeans, rock star movies and screaming-girl concerts. This special magazine rejoices in the music and verve of Elvis, The Shadows, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and a host more, and speaks to a contemporary audience that relishes the vitality and flair of the era.

Vintage Rock

Welcome

Chuck’s story set to rock the small screen

BEACH BOYS EMBRACE THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Elliot James Reay • From busking in Bury to captivating millions online, the 23-year-old singer has channelled the sounds of his idols to emerge as one to watch in 2025

Smokey gets in your eyes

PERKINS BIOGRAPHY GOES DEEP ON ROCKIN’ LEGEND

Kid James • At the age of only 21, James Schembri has already been on the Australian rockabilly scene for six years. With new recordings appearing soon, could 2025 see Kid James establish himself worldwide?

Kinks man celebrates Cochran and Berry

EVENTS

Alan Power & The Aftershocks • Taking off like a rocket, the Irish fourpiece are one of the fastest rising bands on the circuit. Their frontman tells us about crooning, his unreleased album – and turning stage fright into electricity.

THE BLACK LEATHER REBEL • A complex character and turbulent trailblazer, Gene Vincent was an original rock’n’roll renegade. Vintage Rock meets with the legend’s daughter Melody Craddock, Matchbox’s Graham Fenton, Deke Dickerson and tribute artist Little Dave, to celebrate what would have been the 90th birthday of the nonconformist Wild Cat who was a rockabilly rebel to the Screaming End.

TRAGEDY STRIKES

SAY GRANDMAMA

IF THE BLUE CAP FITS

Cavan Grogan THE REAL DEAL ROCKER • The contribution that the late frontman of Crazy Cavan ‘N’ The Rhythm Rockers made to the rockin’ scene is immense. With the five-year anniversary of his passing upon us, his nearest and dearest offer a salute.

DON’T STOP THE ROCK

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Classic Album HOWLIN’ WOLF MOANIN’ IN THE MOONLIGHT • A compilation of sensational tracks released on Chess between 1951 and 1959, rather than a studio album, this collection of authentically gritty blues shows why Chester Arthur Burnett was so beloved of the British beat bands in the 1960s

HOWLIN’ WOLF MOANIN’ IN THE MOONLIGHT • 1959 – CHESS RECORDS

CHOPPY WATERS

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR I Fought The Law MUSTANG RECORDS (1965) • How a genial, law-abiding, Texas youth dashed off a juvenile delinquent ditty that went on to become an anthem of rock’n’roll and punk rebellion

GOING BACK TO HIS ROOTS • With the help of John Lennon’s ex-girlfriend May Pang and Beatles biographer Ray Connolly, we delve into the star’s 1975 album of rock’n’roll covers. It’s a tale of a crazed producer, drunken sessions, guns, stolen tapes and lawsuits…

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN…

BOOTLEG BEATLE

Experience: CARL PERKINS • When Carl Perkins toured the UK with Chuck Berry in 1964, fans unravelled a banner proclaiming him ‘The King of Rock’. Sixty years on, he’s seen as one of the music’s founding fathers…

KEY SONGS • Perkins’ most creative years, though largely confined to the 1950s, yielded several rockabilly perennials

KEY ALBUMS • Carl Perkins’ album legacy was not the greatest, but at least one proved highly consequential

THE PERKINS SOUND • Amongst the most natural of the early generation of...