Henry Yates

England

Journalist and Copywriter at Freelance

Journalist, copywriter, PR & broadcaster on BBC News & Times Radio. Written for NME, Guardian, Telegraph, Classic Rock, Guitarist, Guitar World, Odeon, Queen

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Articles

“That’s one of the first things Phil said to me, ‘You’re in, but we gotta change that guitar’”: Scott Gorham may have passed his Thin Lizzy audition - but his budget Les Paul copy certainly didn’t | Guitar World

2 weeks ago | guitarworld.com | Phil Weller |Henry Yates

Scott Gorham had stiff competition in his bid to partner Brian Robertson in a new-look Thin Lizzy. Indeed, before the electric guitar hero had earned his spot, 24 auditionees had tried out for the spot. However, while Gorham may have made a lasting impression on the band during his own audition, his budget Les Paul copy certainly didn’t – and he was swiftly instructed to replace it after getting the nod. In 1974, Thin Lizzy were looking to establish a steady line-up after a period of upheaval.
“He says, ‘Isn’t this a great guitar? I bought it off some guy on the street for 350 bucks’”: How Lita Ford reacted when she came face-to-face with her stolen B.C. Rich Mockingbird - and the only amp she ever returned | Guitar World

3 weeks ago | guitarworld.com | David Mead |Henry Yates

This month on Bought & Sold, it is the turn of a bona-fide rock legend to share her story in gear, as Lita Ford checks in to talk all things guitars, from her first serious instrument to her go-to rig. If you find yourself nervous in the company of B.C. Rich’s weaponized metal guitars. Maybe sit this one out. Here Ford explains why the company’s Neal Moser is the best in the business, why she has no fretboard inlays, and why she doesn’t go shopping for guitars anymore.
“I had 30 days left on my visa or they’re gonna throw me out of the country. I didn’t know they’d already auditioned 24 guitarists”: Scott Gorham recalls his nerve-racking Thin Lizzy audition - and his first impressions of Brian Robertson | Guitar World

4 weeks ago | guitarworld.com | Janelle Borg |Henry Yates

Thin Lizzy's rotating roster of electric guitar players has included big-name players like Eric Bell, John Sykes, and, of course, Gary Moore. However, some of the band's biggest hits – and its signature sound – came by way of the dynamic duo of Scott Gorham (the longest-serving member of the band) and Brian Robertson, who both joined Thin Lizzy in 1974 and helped pioneer what many call the “twin guitar attack”.
“I was auditioning guitar players. One guy comes in with that turquoise guitar. I looked at it and I thought, ‘That’s my guitar’”: Lita Ford had her prized B.C. Rich Mockingbird stolen - but crossed paths with it in the most bizarre circumstances | Guitar

1 month ago | guitarworld.com | Janelle Borg |Henry Yates |David Mead

After lying about her age to get a job at a medical facility in Long Beach to save up some money, Lita Ford cemented her future when she bought her first serious electric guitar at the age of 14 – a chocolate-finished Gibson SG that accompanied her through the rollercoaster ride that was The Runaways.
“I was really broke. The only way I could get to New York to try out for Talking Heads was to take a family who were moving there in the band van”: Jerry Harrison on making Talking Heads’ 1977 debut and rejecting blues-rock to shape the CBGB guitar sound

2 months ago | guitarworld.com | Henry Yates

Take a late-night walk down the street known as Bowery in New York City, stop outside the John Varvatos fashion boutique at 315, and with a little imagination, you can still hear it. The subterranean clatter of drums, the furious pelt of cheap guitars and, every few minutes, another rabble-rousing count-in (“1-2-3-4!”).
“I was really broke. The only way I could get to New York to try out for Talking Heads was to take a family who were moving there in the band van”: Jerry Harrison on making Talking Heads’ 1977 debut and rejecting blues-rock to shape the CBGB guitar sound

2 months ago | flipboard.com | Henry Yates

“We hadn’t really rehearsed. As we were walking to the stage, he said, ‘Hang on, boys!’ And he went in the corner and vomited”: Assembled on 24 hours' notice, this John Lennon-led, motley crew supergroup marked the beginning of the end of the Beatles“‘You’ll have to explain this a little to me. I have no idea what the Plastic Ono Band is. Is that Yoko’s band? Do we have to go naked onstage or …
“He didn’t sound like any other previous Whitesnake guitarist. His thumbprint is an indelible part of that record”: Remembering John Sykes, the journeyman virtuoso who made his mark on both Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake

2 months ago | guitarworld.com | Henry Yates

John Sykes belonged to that exclusive club of musicians – a golden circle whose members also include David Crosby, Ronnie Wood and Dave Grohl – notable for their vital roles in not one but two major bands. Unlike those galacticos, there’s a case that the former Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy guitarist, who died in December aged 65 after battling cancer, never became as famous as his talent deserved (‘underrated’ being the key word in the tributes paid).
‘I wrote it while bored on a health farm’: how Mike and the Mechanics made All I Need Is a Miracle

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Henry Yates

Christopher Neil, producer/writerI was a pop producer working with the likes of Sheena Easton and Dollar. Mike Rutherford was a prog rock musician with Genesis. But the band’s publishing company thought the two of us – the yin and yang – would do well together. And they were right. We hit it off immediately. Mike likes to have a cassette rolling all the time and put everything down there: not fully formed ideas, just little sketches, odds and sods.
An introduction to John Lee Hooker in nine essential albums

2 months ago | loudersound.com | Henry Yates

Of all the postwar blues giants, John Lee Hooker was the rock star. The bluesman’s rebel streak was already in evidence when – aged just 14 – he ran away from the Mississippi farm of his childhood and a minister father who “thought the guitar was the Devil’s work”. Yet Hooker’s true rebellion was his blood-oath to play the blues his way. Defying genre dogma and mangling song structure, his hypnotic riffs and acetate-ancient voice won him fanboys from Keith Richards to Carlos Santana.
“I told Jimmy Page: ‘Come on! People want to see Zeppelin back together!’ I won’t say I was responsible, but after that they did play that reunion gig”: Mick Fleetwood’s wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger and more

2 months ago | loudersound.com | Henry Yates

No wonder Mick Fleetwood has the best stories – he has the best view. For more than 40 years, the towering drummer has looked down on rock’n’roll landscape from his lofty perch on the Fleetwood Mac drum stool, observing the great, the good, the drunk and the doomed – and frequently hopped off to partake in the festivities. Like many of his vintage, Fleetwood has weathered the personal storms of bankruptcy, divorce and cocaine addiction, but he emerged with his memory and sense of humour intact.

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