In the mid-1960s, the emergence of the powerful Marshall amplifiers enabled musicians to turn up the volume – and effectively transformed pop music into rock.

The rock world has promised to "crank it up to 11" to mark the death of Jim Marshall, the "Father of Loud", whose groundbreaking amplifiers gave the gift of extreme volume to generations of guitar heroes.

Having gained overdue reward in the Champion Hurdle last month, one of the most respected veterans on the circuit has now been given the chance to complete his fulfilment in the John Smith's Grand National itself. If Noel Fehily happens to win on State Of Play at Aintree on Saturday week, however, it would be no less a triumph of patience for the owners and trainer of his mount.

You have to applaud the restlessness and drive of a talent such as JTE's. At its best (see Harlem River Blues), the results are a beguiling blend of demon-driven countryfied rock-gospel and Earle could easily have stuck in that groove/rut.

When Apple used her quirky 1234 in an ad, Feist's popularity soared. Now she's ready to go  deeper, she tells James McNair

When Apple used her quirky 1234 for an ad campaign, Feist's popularity soared. But now she’s ready to go a little deeper, she tells James McNair

When it comes to biting power, Tyrannosaurus rex was the undisputed king, a study has shown.

The bass guitarist Michael Davis was a member of the incendiary and influential Detroit band the MC5 between 1965 and 1972. Alongside their Detroit friends and contemporaries the Stooges and New York's Velvet Underground, the MC5 formed the holy trinity of late '60s groups who lit the long, slow, simmering fuse of punk rock and inspired the Ramones, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine and the White Stripes. The MC5 didn't just make hard-edged, highly-charged music; they were managed by the activist John Sinclair, aligned themselves with the Black Panthers and attracted the attention of the FBI. Kick Out The Jams, their seminal debut recorded live at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit in October 1968, and the title track, briefly made the album and single charts in the US when issued on Jac Holzman's Elektra the following year.

Suffolk-based rustic psych-rockers The Future Kings Of England offer on their fourth album the soundtrack for a creepy ghost story written in 1904 by M R James, in which a sceptical professor has his certainties rattled when he finds a Bronze Age whistle and with it summons up... who knows what?

Greil Marcus records that, in 2010,listening to the radio on a regular car journey around San Francisco revealed that The Doors got more airplay than anyone else of their era, and with a greater number of songs - though they weren't a Bay Area band. As Marcus tells it, this drove him to re-assess their work and to reconsider the grotesque fetish status the 1960s have acquired as the enviable Neverland of stalled possibility, used to render impotent all that comes after.

Few bands divide opinion like Jim Morrison's seminal Sixties outfit. As a commemorative DVD and album are released, two of our music critics offer opposing views

Number of incidents make police believe that a gang or copycat arsonists may be responsible

1. Power Ranger

£6.99, toysrus.co.uk

Unite in the fight against the Netherworld with the Power Rangers 10cm figure collection from Bandai. There are five to collect.