Legs McNeil

LEGS MCNEIL is co-author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, and is the coauthor (with Jen Osborne) of The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry. He was the former Resident Punk at Punk magazine, and a senior editor at Spin.

‘SHELLAC IN HIS VEINS’: AN INTERVIEW WITH SEYMOUR STEIN

Legs McNeilJanuary 9, 2019

As the co-founder (with Richard Gottehrer) of Sire Records in 1966, Seymour Stein reshaped the direction of popular music with his signing and tireless support ...

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Norman Mailer and Legs McNeil. Photo by Victor Bockris.

NORMAN MAILER MEETS THE RESIDENT PUNK, 1979

Legs McNeilNovember 16, 2018

The great novelist had just published The Executioner’s Song—which would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize—when he sat down with Legs McNeil two days after they h...

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STERLING SPEAKS! STERLING MORRISON’S LAST INTERVIEW WITH LEGS MCNEIL, 1995

Legs McNeilOctober 11, 2018

Sterling Morrison (1942-1995) was the guitarist for the Velvet Underground, appearing on all four studio albums that the band made. He left the band in 1971 and...

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POP CULTURE: LEGS McNEIL’S NEVER TOLD STORIES OF PEPSI-COLA

Benito VilaAugust 15, 2018

Legs McNeil was hired to write a centennial history of the soda pop company; it was never published but some amazing stories were gathered before it disappeared...

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BACKSTAGE AT CAFE NINE: A PLAY IN ONE ACT, STARRING ROBERT GORDON

Legs McNeilJuly 25, 2018

Legs McNeil interviews Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding at Cafe Nine just before they play a sold-out show. Robert talks about turning down Bob Dylan's songs an...

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TIME TRAVEL! WITH LEGS McNEIL AND THE ROCK & ROLL EXPLORER GUIDE TO NYC

Legs McNeilJuly 3, 2018

"I know, I know; you were born too late, but here’s a secret passage way to the past... If you operate this book correctly, it will transport you back to those ...

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EXPLORING ROCK & ROLL HISTORY IN NEW YORK CITY

Legs McNeilMay 30, 2018

Mike Katz and Crispin Kott comb the boroughs for any and all hints of rock & roll's roots and put it all inside one handy-dandy guidebook; the Rock and...

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DEE DEE RAMONE – PORTRAIT OF A PUNK!

Legs McNeilDecember 6, 2017

In 1989, just after he left the Ramones, Dee Dee Ramone called his old friend Legs McNeil and went off for 10 hours. In these excerpts Dee Dee talks about his c...

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AND NOW A FEW MINUTES WITH ROCK & ROLL FRED! (OUR FAVORITE POSTMASTER)

Legs McNeilNovember 28, 2017

Fred on meeting AC/DC! ...

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LEGS MCNEIL DISCUSSES HIS & GILLIAN MCCAIN’S NEW BOOK ABOUT CHARLES MANSON AND THE 60’S

PKM EditorNovember 27, 2017

Legs McNeil talks to Billboard about the book he and Gillian McCain have been working on for 20 years - documenting the late ‘60s California music scene an...

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MOE TUCKER: ON THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Legs McNeilNovember 21, 2017

Maureen Tucker had a front row seat to punk rock history being conceived before her very eyes. An average high school girl from Levittown, Long Island, her life...

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RAY DAVIES NEVER WANTED TO BE A SINGER

Legs McNeilNovember 7, 2017

Former head Kink waxes eloquent about his mom and dad, Village Green Preservation Society, the Beatles, Keith Richards, “Madame” Jagger, Rod Stewart and the Que...

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I GET AROUND – WHEN GLEN CAMPBELL REPLACED BRIAN WILSON IN THE BEACH BOYS!

Legs McNeilOctober 12, 2017

An Oral History by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain Brian Wilson: The Beatles' invasion shook me up an awfully lot. They eclipsed a lot of what we'd worked for...

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MODERN LOVERS BASSIST ERNIE BROOKS ON RECORDING THEIR CLASSIC ALBUM

Legs McNeilOctober 10, 2017

Ernie Brooks, bassist and founding member of The Modern Lovers, talks to Legs McNeil about the origins of the band, recording their classic (and only!) album, a...

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From its waterfront perch in Sausalito, the Trident’s clientele could see the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge. The club/restaurant was “a trippy space ship” whose passengers just happened to be a Who’s Who of rock & roll (the Stones, Quicksilver, Crosby, Garcia, Lesh, Sam Andrew, Peter Stampfel) and Hollywood (Clint Eastwood, Warren Beatty, Sterling Hayden) and elsewhere (Alan Watts, Sonny Barger, Bill Cosby), not to mention Robin Williams was one of the busboys and the tequila sunrise was invented at the bar. The Fifties became the Sixties at the club, then the Sixties became the Seventies…Benito Vila takes us back, through the words of those who were there. Read more!

Quentin Chip on OUT TO SEA WITH THE OUTLAW COUNTRY CRUISEQuite a line-up I must admit. I've met Lee Perry , Kinky and Kris Kristofferson unfortunately not on the same boat but on separate occasions. All highly intelligent geezers who would be incongruous in the tawdry world of rock 'n' roll but have successfully carved a niche for themselves in
Jan Collins on CHIP TAYLOR: THE HAPPY GAMBLERInteresting he skipped over the Carrie portion of his return to music.....
Dave Brock on THE PUZZLING CASE OF PATTI SMITH: GROUNDBREAKER, ‘GODMOTHER OF PUNK’ AND YOUR MOM’S FAVORITE AUTHORNitpicky, I know, but "Kids Are People Too" was a Sunday morning show, not Saturday. My former uncle (aunt's ex-husband) worked on the show. I got to meet KISS and Patti (amongst many others) and even Gene Simmons was nicer than Patti. She was really nasty to me, my sister,

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OUT TO SEA WITH THE OUTLAW COUNTRY CRUISE

CHIP TAYLOR: THE HAPPY GAMBLER

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW #1: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO

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TAQUILA MOCKINGBIRD: KEEPING PUNK HISTORY ALIVE IN L.A.

CAROL KAYE: THE BOSS OF THE BASS GUITAR

MARSHALL CRENSHAW IS HAVING ANOTHER FIELD DAY