Vintage Rock – August-September 2026

Summary

Roy Orbison would have turned 90 this year, and Vintage Rock August-September 2026 marks it by going back to Wink, the small desert town he came from, and putting the question to Orbison guru and physician Marcel Riesco across a cover story that starts on page 16.

Beyond Orbison, the issue runs Karan Feder on the stagewear of Elvis Presley and the legacy of designer Bill Belew, a Classic Album study of This Is Fats Domino!, the 12-track collection powered by Blueberry Hill, and an Experience feature on Johnny Burnette's move from rockabilly to beat ballads. Jack Clement's years as a Sun engineer, Eden Kane's return, and Thee Headcoatees reuniting nearly 30 years after splitting fill out the features.

Regulars stay busy. News covers Elvis Week at Graceland, a new Rhythm Kings box set and 30 years of Viva Las Vegas, The Story Behind The Song unpicks Long Tall Sally for Little Richard, and Top 10 rewinds to 8 August 1962 with Pat Boone, Bernard Cribbins and Ray Charles. LP and singles reviews cover Joe Meek tapes and 1970s Cramps sessions.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.16 · ROY ORBISON
The magazine returns to Wink, the desert town where Orbison grew up, and tracks him from local hopeful to Sun Records signing in what would have been his 90th birthday year. Marcel Riesco, the physician and Orbison specialist, supplies the expert reading of those early recordings. The piece is about apprenticeship rather than the operatic hits everyone already owns. Start with the Sun-era sides before the Monument catalogue and the progression makes sense.

▸ Features

p.24 · CLASSIC ALBUM: THIS IS FATS DOMINO!
Fats Domino's third long-player collected 12 tracks, old and new, with Blueberry Hill as its commercial engine. The piece explains how an R&B pioneer's album was assembled in an era built around singles. It treats the running order as a decision rather than an accident. Play the album straight through once and the logic of that sequencing becomes obvious.

p.30 · ELVIS: DRESSED TO ROCK
Karan Feder, costume expert and author of a new book on Presley's stagewear, walks through the wardrobe from the early years to the jumpsuits, with designer Bill Belew's contribution at the centre. Feder treats the clothes as functional performance equipment, not fancy dress. The interview explains why particular cuts and fabrics suited what Elvis did on stage. Watch a late-period concert film afterwards and look at the tailoring first.

p.36 · SWINGING AWAY THE BLUES
The Jive Aces talk to Vintage Rock as a new album arrives this month, covering their influences, a royal inspiration and their rediscovery of Elvis's genius. As a working British jive band with decades of gigs behind them, they speak about repertoire from the bandstand up. It is a rare feature about people still playing this music for a living. Check their tour listings if the album appeals.

p.40 · EXPERIENCE: JOHNNY BURNETTE
Burnette's legacy splits between wildcat rockabilly and the smoother beat ballads that followed, and the feature charts that shift up to his early death. The piece is honest about how much the change cost him with rock and roll purists. It gives a route into a catalogue most listeners know only through covers. Sample one early Rock 'N' Roll Trio side against a later ballad and judge the trade for yourself.

p.48 · ICONS OF DOO-WOP: THE HARPTONES, THE CROWS AND THE CADILLACS
The doo-wop series continues with three groups who came out of the New York street-corner singing tradition and into the genre's history. Grouping them shows how quickly local vocal harmony became a recorded industry. The piece keeps each group's contribution distinct rather than blurring them into a movement. Listen to one signature side from each in order and the differences separate fast.

p.52 · COWBOY ROCK: JACK CLEMENT
Clement began as an engineer at Sun and went on to helm some of the greatest records rock produced, and the article concentrates on those early days. It is a producer's story told through studio decisions rather than hits. Anyone interested in how records got made, not just who sang them, gets the most from it. Read the credits on your Sun reissues afterwards and look for his name.

p.60 · EDEN KANE
Richard Sarstedt, better known as Eden Kane, discusses the early pop hits, tours with Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard, the rock revival years and the new single he released last year. The interview covers a career that kept restarting rather than one frozen in the early sixties. He is direct about the business that shaped those decisions. Track down last year's single to hear where the voice sits now.

p.64 · RICKY NELSON'S FINAL ENCORE
A new documentary revisits Nelson's last shows in Guntersville, Alabama, before the fatal flight, and the magazine goes behind it. The focus stays on the working band and the rooms they played rather than the crash headlines. It restores Nelson as a touring musician at the end of his career. Watch the documentary with this piece for the local context it supplies.

p.68 · TOP 20 ROCK'N'ROLL GUITAR SOLOS
The countdown runs from James Burton to Cliff Gallup, crediting the players who gave familiar sides their character. Each entry ties a specific solo to what it contributed, which makes it a listening guide rather than a ranking argument. Guitarists will find plenty to steal. Learn one solo from the list this week instead of reading the whole thing twice.

p.72 · THEE HEADCOATEES REUNITED
Almost 30 years after disbanding, the group are together again and recording, alongside companion band Thee Headcoats. The feature covers what brought them back and how the music has held up. It is the issue's one clear link between vintage rock and the garage underground. Look for the reunion dates if either band ever played your town.

▸ Regulars

p.6 · NEWS
The news pages lead with Elvis Week returning to Graceland, a new Rhythm Kings box set and 30 years of Viva Las Vegas, plus assorted reissue announcements. The section is written for people who buy tickets and box sets rather than for casual readers. Dates and release details are specific enough to act on. Scan it first and diarise anything you plan to attend.

p.46 · THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG
The column unpicks the mystery around who wrote Long Tall Sally, the R&B smash that became a Little Richard signature. Competing claims get laid out rather than resolved in a sentence. It is a short piece with real archival content. Read it before you next argue about songwriting credits from that era.

p.76 · TOP 10: 8 AUGUST 1962
The chart rewind for 8 August 1962 has Pat Boone singing Looney Tunes, Bernard Cribbins shifting a piano and Ray Charles breaking the UK. The juxtaposition shows exactly how odd British charts were that summer. It works as a snapshot of the market rock and roll had to survive. Build the ten-track playlist and you have the week as heard.

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Editor's Take

The Orbison cover story earns its place: Wink, Sun and Marcel Riesco's specialist reading give the 90th-birthday peg actual substance, and Karan Feder on Bill Belew's jumpsuits is the best-researched interview here. The doo-wop series and the Jack Clement piece show the magazine at its most useful, covering the engineers and vocal groups other titles skip. The weakness is balance. Presley appears in the news pages, a stagewear feature and reader competitions while sitting on a cover alongside Fats Domino and Little Richard, none of whom is the designated cover story, and the Orbison lead gets buried behind that busy front page. Top 20 Rock'n'Roll Guitar Solos is pleasant filler. Best for collectors of fifties American rock and roll who want reporting, not another Elvis retread.

Strengths
• Marcel Riesco's specialist input anchors the Orbison early-years reporting in Wink
• Karan Feder explains Bill Belew's jumpsuits as performance equipment, not memorabilia
• Doo-wop and Jack Clement features cover the vocal groups and engineers others ignore

Weaknesses
• Elvis content recurs across news, features and competitions while Orbison holds the actual lead
• Cover fronts Domino, Presley and Little Richard, obscuring the designated Orbison cover story

Verdict: Recommended — the Orbison and Belew features carry a double issue that leans too often on Elvis.