THE LAST WORD: Crawdaddy, generally recognized as...

THE LAST WORD: Crawdaddy, generally recognized as the first magazine to feature pop music criticism, is back in business after a 14-year layoff. Paul Williams, who started the publication as a mimeographed sheet in 1966 when he was just 17, has revived the name for a newsletter in which he assesses new album releases, leading off with an essay about R.E.M.’s “Automatic for the People.”

How does Williams feel about the current rock journals?

“I blush to admit that I find Rolling Stone informative,” he tells Pop Eye. “I hate the advertisements, but I still find out about new music in it. . . . I haven’t read Spin much. My 20-year-old son subscribes to it and isn’t terribly happy with it. It tried too hard to be cool, and that gets in the way.

“What I do like is ICE (International CD Exchange newsletter). That has a tremendous amount of information in it and it’s about what I want to know--what’s coming out and the stories behind the albums. It’s not music criticism, but it’s helpful. And I like (English magazine) Q, both the profiles and reviews.”

Williams will publish Crawdaddy in quarterly issues, available by mail only (write to Box 611, Glen Ellen, Calif. 95442; cost is $4 an issue, or $12 for four). Williams has also written a new book, “Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Hundred Best Singles,” a chronological look at his top picks, starting with Robert Johnson’s pre-rock “Terraplane Blues” and ending with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”