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8/31/07

JOHN MELLENCAMP ANNOUNCES FALL TOUR

John Mellencamp is hard at work on a new album, but has found the time to schedule some tour dates this fall. The 14-date outing kicks off October 25th in Terre Haute, Indiana and winds down November 15th in St. Louis. Concertgoers will probably get to hear from new material at the upcoming shows, according to his Web site. Meanwhile, Mellencamp is holed up in his Bloomington, Indiana studio with producer T Bone Burnett working on songs for a new album.

• Mellencamp's as-yet untitled album will follows this year's Freedom's Road.
• He'll perform as part of the NFL kickoff on September 6th in Indianapolis, and will also play this year's Farm Aid September 9th at New York's Randall's Island.
• John Mellencamp tour dates (subject to change):
  October 26 - Terre Haute, IN - Hulman Center
  October 27 - Champaign, IL - Assembly Hall
  October 28 - Louisville, KY - Freedom Hall
  October 30 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
  November 1 - Ft. Wayne, IN - Memorial Coliseum
  November 2 - Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Centre
  November 3 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Field House
  November 6 - Madison, WI - Alliant Energy Center
  November 7 - Mankato, MN - Alltel Center
  November 9 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
  November 10 - Sioux City, Iowa - Tyson Events Center
  November 11 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
  November 14 - Rockford, IL - Metrocentre
  November 15 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center

GUITARIST SAYS NEW BLACK SABBATH ALBUM 'WOULD BE NICE'

Rumors of a Black Sabbath tour in 2008 have been flying every since singer Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon floated the idea earlier this year. But guitarist Tony Iommi said to Billboard.com that there's "nothing in stone." He also told us that he'd like to record a new album instead of just touring again: "I think we should have done an album a long time ago. I've been going on about it for a few years now, saying we should have done one. It would be nice to do one, but again, it's having the time to do it and how long is it gonna take and what's it gonna involve to make one, you know. We haven't written an album with Ozzy for a long time, so we'd have to see how long that would take and what it involves, you know."

• The last full-length studio album from the original Sabbath lineup was 1978's Never Say Die, although the band recorded two new songs for its 1998 live set, Reunion.
• Ozzy Osbourne played the final date of this summer's Ozzfest on Wednesday night (August 30th) and will hit the road again this fall with Rob Zombie.
• Iommi and Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler are doing a new round of Heaven And Hell dates with Sabbath's first post-Ozzy vocalist, Ronnie James Dio. The group just released a CD and DVD titled Live from Radio City Music Hall, which was recorded earlier this year.
• Both Iommi and Butler told Billboard.com that Heaven And Hell could also continue past its initial one-year campaign, also with a possible new album.

THE WHO TO RELEASE TWO DVDS THIS FALL

The Who has two new DVDs coming out on November 6th. The first -- called Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who -- premieres September 12th at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to Reuters, it tells the history of the band, featuring new interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, rare concert footage and artist profiles.

The second documentary, titled Amazing Journey: Six Quick Ones, highlights band members Townshend, Daltrey, bass player John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Also included is a segment capturing the 2003 recording of Real Good Looking Boy -- the Who's first new studio album in more than 20 years. There are also some extras, featuring footage from the Who's 2000 Royal Albert Hall concert in London with guest appearances by Bryan Adams and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

• The Who wrapped up a tour earlier this summer.

YES TO RELEASE 'LIVE AT MONTREUX 2003' DOUBLE CD SET

Progressive rock band Yes' 2003 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is captured live in the double-CD set, Yes Live At Montreux 2003, due in stores September 4th. The set features the band's most popular line-up of singer Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, and drummer Alan White, performing 18 songs from their 40-year history at the annual Swiss music fest.

Although the band recorded some of its classic albums in Montreux, this was their debut performance at the famous lakeside town. "Roundabout," an all-time fan favorite, is the set-closing song, described in a release as "sending thousands of already on-their-feet music fans into a dizzying rapture."

• A DVD of the concert was released in late 2006.

CLASSIC QUICKIES

• David Bowie will appear in two upcoming episodes of BBC's newest incarnation of Dr. Who, as an evil alien. The British singer's character attempts to abduct mystery writer Agatha Christie, according to Rolling Stone's Rock Daily blog.
• New October dates have been added to Bob Dylan's upcoming U.S. tour with Elvis Costello and Amos Lee, mostly in the Midwest. The dates include October 11th at the University of Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio on the 13th at the Schottenstein Center; Louisville, Kentucky's Freedom Hall on the 17th; Illinois' US Cellular Coliseum at Bloomington on the 20th; and the 26th at Omaha, Nebraska's Qwest Center. Presale tickets will be available through a password available from Dylan's website; starting September 4th.
• A new Meat Loaf documentary, called In Search of Paradise, made its premiere this week at the Montreal World Film Festival. RollingStone.com reports that the film provides a glimpse into Meat Loaf's life by chronicling the rehearsals and first leg of his Bat III worldwide tour.

FLASHBACK: BOB DYLAN PLAYS THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL

It was on this date 37 years ago (August 31st, 1969) that Bob Dylan made his first full-length concert appearance in three years at the Isle Of Wight Festival. Dylan's hour long set with the Band closed the three day festival, which also featured the Who, Richie Havens, the Moody Blues, Joe Cocker, and a solo set by the Band.

Dylan has gone on record as saying that when he found out about the Woodstock festival taking place near his Saugerties, New York home earlier that month, he snapped up the offer to play the Isle Of Wight Festival to get as far away from the Woodstock crowds that would be looking for him at home.

After very little rehearsal, Dylan and the Band took the stage in front of a crowd of an estimated 200,000 people -- including John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. In front of a battery of microphones, a bearded Dylan, clad in a white suit and playing a large Gibson hollow-bodied acoustic guitar, gave an hour-long, spirited performance of 16 songs, spanning his then eight-year career.

• Among the songs performed during Dylan and The Band's set were "She Belongs To Me," "I Threw It All Away," "Maggie's Farm," "It Ain't Me Babe," "Minstrel Boy," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Lay Lady Lay," "To Ramona," "Highway 61 Revisited," "Like A Rolling Stone," "Mighty Quinn," and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."
• The Band's drummer Levon Helm recalled the show to author Clinton Heylin for his Dylan biography, Behind The Shades: "I would've like to have gotten carried away. Bob had an extra list of songs with eight or ten different titles with question marks by them... But it seemed like the festival was three days old by then; and so, if everybody else is ready to go home, let's all go."
• Columbia Records recorded the shows on a portable 8-track machine, and four of the songs, "She Belongs To Me," "Minstrel Boy," "Like A Rolling Stone," and "The Mighty Quinn," were included on Dylan's 1970 Self Portrait album.

8/30/07

KEITH RICHARDS LASHES OUT AGAINST BAD CONCERT REVIEW IN SWEDEN

Keith Richards is demanding an apology from a Swedish newspaper for its negative review of the Rolling Stones' recent show in Gothenborg. The Associated Press reported that Richards responded to two Swedish papers that published scathing reviews of the Stones' August 3rd concert, with Expressen suggesting that Richards was "superdrunk" during the band's performance.

Richards published a rebuttal in the Stockholm paper Dagens Nyheter, writing, "This is a first! Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time I have to stand up for our fans all over Sweden to say that you owe them, and us, an apology."

Richards went on to write, "There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert and experienced a completely different show than the one you 'reviewed.' How dare you cheapen the experience for them -- and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren't at Ullevi and have only your 'review' to go on. Write the truth. It was a good show."

• Music writer Markus Larsson answered Richards in Dagens Nyheter's online edition, stating, "I am not going to apologize for my subjective opinion. It is Keith who should apologize. After all it costs around ($150) to see a rock star who can hardly handle the (guitar) riff to 'Brown Sugar' any more."
• Rod Stewart, a longtime fan and friend to the band, says that Richards and the Stones are still at the top of their game: "No one can come up with those riffs better, and no one has, as far as I'm concerned. He's the greatest. They're the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world. No one's ever gonna take that away from them. I mean, they might be looking a bit ancient now but, you know, it's what they do. They're the best at it, and good luck to 'em. No one can do it better."
• The Stones wrapped up their European tour last week in London. There are reports that the band will be back on the road as early as February for dates in India, Dubai and Bangkok, and then back in the States around April to promote the Martin Scorsese-directed concert film Shine A Light.

TED NUGENT TOLD TO SETTLE DOWN ON STAGE

Ted Nugent recently made headlines for bashing Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on stage. Now he's being asked to tone down his act a bit. Detroit Free Press reports that the rocker will have to take things down a notch for a show at the South Dakota State Fair on Sunday (September 2nd). Fair manager Susan Hayward contacted Nugent's reps to remind them that the event is a family-oriented, saying, "They were very courteous in responding immediately in assuring us that that's exactly what we would have."

The move comes just days after a video surfaced on YouTube featuring Nugent ranting at one of his concerts. He yelled, "Obama, he's a piece of s***, and I told him to suck on my machine gun. ... And then I was in New York. I said, 'Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset.'"

• Nugent's new album is called Love Grenade. He wraps up his tour in early September.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN SAYS HE'S EQUALLY COMFORTABLE AS A BANDLEADER OR A SOLO ACT

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are gearing up for several weeks of rehearsals prior to the opening night of the North American tour on October 2nd in New Haven, Connecticut.

Springsteen told backstreets.com that whether he hits the road with the E Street Band, his folk-based Seeger Sessions Band, or as a solo act, he's always completely in the moment artistically, explaining that, "For it to be really great, you've got to be 100 percent committed at that moment. So when you're in it, that's all there is. I think that's what it takes to be really good. So I'll just lose myself in whatever form I'm working in at any given moment... I'm very comfortable moving between all the different formats that I play in now."

He went on to describe the process that the E Street Band undertakes during their pre-tour rehearsals: "First of all, we start playing just to feel the machine again. You've gotta drive it a little bit before you push the envelope on it.... We may run through a few things we know, just to reacquaint ourselves with the sound and the power of the band. How it moves underneath you, and everything. That's sort of the first thing I do, I refit myself into that bucket seat... And that takes all of about 15 minutes."

• Steve Van Zandt says that the E Street Band has only gotten stronger as individual musicians throughout the years: "You know, everybody's better individually, and obviously older and wiser, and a bit more sophisticated about what we're doing. You know, it was always a family-oriented thing, you know? It really was like a band, you know, even though there was a leader of the band, but it was always a bit more band-oriented and family-oriented than a typical leader and a bunch of sidemen."
• On September 8th, a handful of tour dates will go on sale, including the tour's opening night on October 2nd in Hartford, Connecticut; October 5th in Philadelphia; October 21st in Chicago; and November 15th in Albany New York.

PHIL SPECTOR DEFENSE SEEKS EITHER GUILTY VERDICT OR NOT

Producer Phil Spector's lawyers have formally requested that Judge Larry Paul Fidler tell jurors in his trial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson that they have only two choices: guilty of murder or not guilty of murder. The motion will help Spector avoid being convicted for a lesser offense, like voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. "It is the prosecution's position that Mr. Spector was the shooter and that he therefore is guilty of an offense no less serious than that of second-degree murder," said the all-or-nothing defense motion. "It is the defense position that Mr. Spector did not fire the shot and thus is guilty of no crime whatsoever."

Testimony in the case ended Monday (August 27th) and final arguments are set for September 5th and 6th, though they will not include any comments from lead counsel Bruce Cutler, who left his position as chief of the defense team on Monday when Spector chose another member of his defense to do closing arguments.

• Prosecutors will have filed a response to the motion on Wednesday (August 29th).
• The defense contends that Clarkson shot herself in the mouth because she was despondent about her career.

ALL STAR ELTON JOHN CHARITY CONCERT SET FOR OCTOBER

An all-star concert tribute to Elton John will take place October 10th at New York City's Carnegie Hall, Billboard reports. Proceeds from the show will benefit Music For Youth Foundation, which provides music education to at-risk youth.

Among the performers paying tribute to Elton will be Roger McGuinn, Joss Stone, Shawn Colvin, Phish's Page McConnell, Phoebe Snow, Lloyd Cole, Brendan Benson, Aimee Mann, and others

The tribute is being produced by Michael Dorf, who has produced similar shows saluting Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Springsteen.

• Dorf spoke about the upcoming concert, saying, "Elton and Bernie (Taupin) have such a large catalog of hits, and the great number of musicians interested in performing this tribute is staggering. By show time, the lineup will include an amazing array of talent, from the very young to old, from an upcoming songwriter to a legend in their own right."
• There has been no announcement whether the concert will be televised.
• Out on DVD next month is Elton 60: Live At Madison Square Garden. The disc, which will be released on September 25th, will feature all 33 songs performed at his 60th birthday concert on March 25th in New York City.

NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN BOB DYLAN FOOTAGE SURFACES

The BBC has uncovered previously unseen Bob Dylan material from the 1960s, which will be screened in a new 80-minute documentary. According to Variety, the material will be shown in the upcoming Dylan film, called The Other Side of The Mirror -- Dylan at Newport, set to air on BBC 4 October 14th. According to movie's editor, "Almost half of these Dylan performances have never been seen before."

• Dylan and Elvis Costello kick off a tour this fall.
• Dylan is out supporting his upcoming career retrospective, simply called Dylan, which arrives October 1st. The collection will come in two versions -- a three-disc, 51-track deluxe edition, and an 18-song, single-disc edition.
• The soundtrack to the upcoming film about Dylan, I'm Not There, will arrive on October 30th, three weeks before the movie hits theaters on November 21st.

MOTLEY CRUE'S NIKKI SIXX TO SPEAK ON CAPITOL HILL ABOUT ADDICTION

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx will be a featured speaker at the 18th annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month luncheon scheduled for Thursday, September 6th on Capitol Hill. According to Blabbermouth.net, Sixx is the first rock musician ever invited to share his story of surviving addiction at such an event. Sixx was invited by the National Association of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) and will speak alongside Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Terry Cline and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Director H. Westley Clark M.D.

• Sixx will publish a memoir, titled The Heroin Diaries, on September 18th. The book is taken from actual journals Sixx kept in the late '80s while in the grip of a near-fatal heroin addiction.
• A soundtrack album, which Sixx recorded under the name Sixx: A.M., came out last week. It debuted on the Billboard album chart this week at Number 63, selling 11,000 copies.
• Twenty-five percent of Sixx's royalties from the book will go to Running Wild In The Night, a charity he established in conjunction with Covenant House to rescue homeless and runaway youth from the streets.
• Sixx will go on a publicity tour to sign copies of the book, beginning on September 18th at Borders in the Westwood district of Los Angeles.

FLASHBACK: JOHN LENNON PERFORMS FIRST FULL LENGTH SOLO CONCERT

It was 35 years ago today (August 30th) that John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed their only publicly announced, full-length concerts, at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The two shows, known as the One To One concerts, included an afternoon matinee and an evening performance, and benefited the Willowbrook House, with the proceeds from the concerts going to help establish new accommodations for the mentally handicapped inhabitants of the former Willowbrook institution in Long Island, New York.

The shows also included performances by Sha-Na-Na, Stevie Wonder, and Roberta Flack. John and Yoko closed both shows with a full concert set, featuring songs by each of them, backed by their then-band the Elephants Memory.

Lennon, decked out in iconic army fatigues and blue-tinted granny-glasses, played both guitar and electric piano. Yoko contributed some keyboard work as well. The set featured mostly material from John and Yoko's early '70s solo albums, as well as his material their joint album Some Time In New York City. The couple was introduced by Geraldo Rivera, who organized the benefit.

• The songs performed by John and Yoko: "Power To The People (intro)," "New York City," "It's So Hard," "Move On Fast (Yoko)," ""Woman Is The Nigger Of The World," "Sisters O' Sisters (Yoko)," "Well, Well, Well," "Born In A Prison (Yoko)," "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)," "Mother," "We're All Water (Yoko)," "Come Together," "Imagine," "Open Your Box (Yoko)," "Cold Turkey," "Don't Worry Kyoko (Yoko)," "Hound Dog," and "Give Peace A Chance."
• Roberta Flack had the unenviable task of opening for John and Yoko. Despite the constant crowd chants for Lennon, she enjoyed playing the two shows: "Everybody was happy because John was there. I heard rumors that, I don't know how true they were, that Yoko wasn't that happy to be there."
• Mark Lapidos, the founder of the Fest for Beatles Fans, previously known as Beatlefest, was at both the One To One concert, as well as George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh the previous year, and says that Harrison's show blew Lennon's out of the water: "The quality of music at Bangladesh was unmatched. The quality of the Elephants Memory Band backing John was fun, it was nice. (But) it wasn't the same."
• Joe Raiola, the senior editor of MAD magazine and the writer-director of the annual John Lennon tribute in New York City, caught one of the two shows and said that at the time nobody had any patience for Yoko's music: "That concert was a benefit for the Willowbrook school, and of course it was a John and Yoko show. And I'm being honest here, I don't know what Yoko would say, but people kind of sat through her stuff. They really didn't want to see her -- they wanted to see John. It was a package deal and they wanted to be a team. It really wasn't until Double Fantasy that they achieved that. If they toured with Double Fantasy, I think the response to Yoko would have been considerably different.”
• Raiola says that Lennon seemed comfortable onstage and even cracked a few jokes: "His humor came through, because he cracked several jokes. I remember that. I remember before 'Come Together' he said something like, and I'm paraphrasing, '(We'll) go back in the past just once, here's a song that I did when I was in the Rolling Stones.'"
• Yoko Ono says that the negative reviews that she and Lennon garnered after the show still leave a bad taste in her mouth: "Afterwards there was such a bad review, written by somebody whose band that he liked, or something was not invited -- we felt terrible about the reviews. And John said, 'Usually they don't really rip you when you did (sic) a charity show.' He felt very bad because -- especially bad because it wasn't with the Beatles and he wanted to sort of show the world that he can do it. So it was actually bad. It's a bad memory in that sense."
• Material from the two concerts has made its way out to the public over the years. Select performances from the show's evening performance were broadcast later that year on an ABC In Concert special, featuring highlights from all of the show's acts. A syndicated edition of the King Biscuit Flower Hour also included several of Lennon's songs from the evening concert.
• In February 1986, Ono released the posthumous album John Lennon Live In New York City, which featured all of Lennon's songs, mixing performances from both the afternoon and evening shows. A video version also included two of Ono's tracks.
• To promote the album, Ono released a clip of Lennon's afternoon performance of "Come Together," which received substantial airplay on MTV.
• 1998's John Lennon Anthology featured three songs from the evening show: "It's So Hard, "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World," and "Come Together," in which Lennon shouts during the chorus, "Stop the war!"
• Phil Spector supervised the original mix of the live tapes, but aside from the 1972 TV special and radio broadcast, none of his original mixes have been released.

CBGB FOUNDER HILLY KRISTAL DEAD AT 75

Hilly Kristal, founder of the legendary New York City rock club CBGB, died on Tuesday (August 28th) of complications from lung cancer. According to a press release, Kristal was 75 years old. Kristal founded the tiny downtown club in 1973 and ran it for 33 years until an extended battle over the lease finally shut it down in October 2006. Although initially started as a showplace for country, bluegrass and blues, CBGB arguably became the most famous and important venue in rock history. It was the center of a mid-Seventies musical explosion in which acts like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, Blondie and the Talking Heads paved the way for the modern punk and alternative rock scenes, and continued to be a launching pad for scores of popular and influential groups throughout its existence.

• A CBGB retail store remains open in New York City, with the club's famous T-shirt a popular item with musicians and fans all over the world.
• Kristal announced plans last year for a new version of CBGB to open in Las Vegas and possibly other locations. Those plans are still in the works.
• Kristal was born in Manhattan in 1932. He studied music from a young age and played in a variety of acts before managing jazz club the Village Vanguard and later opening CBGB. He is survived by his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, son, Mark Dana Kristal, and two grandchildren.
• Private and public memorial services are planned. Contributions in Kristal's name can be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Hilly Kristal Foundation for Musicians and Artists, located at 168 Second Avenue, PMB 207, New York, NY 10003.

8/29/07

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ANNOUNCES E STREET BAND TOUR, GIVE AWAY NEW SINGLE FOR FREE ON ITUNES

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will launch their first North American tour since 2004 on October 2nd in Hartford, Connecticut. In addition to announcing the tour yesterday (August 28th), Springsteen released his new single "Radio Nowhere" as a free download on iTunes. Springsteen's upcoming album, called Magic, will be released on October 2nd.

The band will play 16 North American cities though November 18th, and then kick off a European tour on November 25th in Madrid. The E Street Band's European leg will run through December 18th.

• Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 2007 tour dates (subject to change):
  October 2 - Hartford, CT - Hartford Civic Center Coliseum
  October 5 - Philadelphia, PA - The Wachovia Center
  October 9, 10 - East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena
  October 14 - Ottawa, ONT - Ottawa Civic Centre Arena
  October 15 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
  October 17, 18 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
  October 21 - Chicago, IL - United Center
  October 26 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
  October 28 - Los Angeles, CA - TBA
  November 2 - Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
  November 4 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
  November 5 - Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace Of Auburn Hills
  November 11 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
  November 14 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
  November 15 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
  November 18 - Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
  November 25 - Madrid, Spain - Palacio de los Deportes
  November 26 - Bilbao, Spain - Bilbao Exhibition Centre
  November 28 - Milan, Italy - DatchForum
  November 30 - Arnhem, Netherlands - Gelredome
  December 2 - Mannheim, Germany - SAP Arena
  December 4 - Oslo, Norway - Oslo Spektrum Arena
  December 8 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum
  December 10 - Stockholm-Globen, Sweden - Stockholm Globe Arena
  December 12 - Antwerp, Belgium - Sportpaleis Antwerpen
  December 13 - Cologne, Germany - Cologne Arena
  December 15 - Belfast, UK - Odyssey Arena
  December 17 - Paris, France - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
  December 19 - London, UK - O2 Arena

Springsteen spoke about the album to backstreets.com and said that he's looking forward to hearing the songs in the context of a live show, explaining that, "I wrote with a lot of melody, and with a lot of hooks, and there's a lot of band power behind the stuff that I wrote this time out. So I'm excited to hear that come straight off the band.... The band is the band, you know? It's the only place where I really do the thing that I suppose that I'm most known for, which is... it's a peak experience."

• Springsteen says that during the band's upcoming rehearsals he'll be trying to figure out how and where the new songs fit within the rest of his catalogue: "I think the initial thing you try to do is to find a place for a lot of your new work. I'm excited about that. We played a lot of The Rising on the (2002-2003) tour because, once again, it was stuff that just played really well live. We've got that again in spades on this record."
• When asked if he would ever bill an E Street Band road trek as a "farewell tour," Springsteen laughed and said, "Oh, I'll never do that, man -- you're only gonna know that when you don't see me no more... I envision the band carrying on for many, many, many more years. There ain't gonna be any farewell tour. That's the only thing I know for sure."
• Over his last two major tours with the E Street Band, Springsteen has dipped deep into his catalogue, performing a number of rarities and some songs that had never been performed live. He was asked why the song "The Price You Pay," a fan favorite from 1980's The River album, has yet to work its way back into a concert setlist since 1981: "It's become a thing just because I haven't played it. If I had played it, nobody would give much of a damn if they heard it or not! Just because it hasn't been played.... You know, my recollection is that it's been a while since we've played 'Crush On You.' And I'm not sure that one's going to be popping up in the set any time soon, either, you know?"
• Nils Lofgren says that the E Street Band seems to grow stronger with every tour: "The live performance is more special and means more -- I'm getting more out of it now than I ever did. There's an energy, and there's something that happens to the music -- you learn stuff, and you change stuff that you'd never do in rehearsals, you never do in the studio, and that's why, you know, we love to perform live, 'cause you can't get that hit anywhere else."

EAGLES' 'LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN' TO BE DOUBLE DISC

The long-awaited new Eagles studio album Long Road Out of Eden will be a two-disc set, Billboard reports. The album will be released on October 30th and sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores and at walmart.com in the U.S.

• The Eagles and the Dixie Chicks will open Los Angeles' new Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on October 18th, with further shows scheduled for the 20th, 21st, 24th, 26th and 27th. So far, those are the only dates the Eagles have booked for this year.
• Current members of the band are Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmidt. Longtime guitarist Don Felder was fired from the band in 2001.
• Billboard reports the track listing as follows:
  Disc one: "No More Walks in the Wood," "How Long," "Busy Being Fabulous," "What Do I Do With My Heart," "Guilty of the Crime," "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore," "Waiting in the Weeds," "No More Cloudy Days," "Fast Company," "Do Something," "You Are Not Alone."
  Disc two: "Long Road Out of Eden," "I Dreamed There Was No War,"
  "Somebody," "Frail Grasp on the Big Picture," "Last Good Time in Town,"
  "I Love To Watch a Woman Dance," "Business As Usual," "Center of the Universe," "It's Your World Now."

U2 MAKES PROGRESS ON NEW ALBUM

U2 is making progress on a new album, the follow-up to 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. According to producer Daniel Lanois, everything is going really well so far. Lanois, who was also behind the band's classic Joshua Tree album, told Rolling Stone that he and fellow producer Brian Eno are helping out with the writing process too. The whole gang recently had a series of writing sessions in Morocco and France, and are scheduled to link up again in November. He added, "The record's kind of making itself."

• Lanois has included some footage of the Morocco sessions in his upcoming documentary, Here Is What Is. That will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.
• Lanois also produced two other U2 releases: 1984's The Unforgettable Fire and 1991's Achtung, Baby.
• U2 will release a DVD of its Popmart tour on September 18th.

EARLY RINGO STARR ALBUMS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

Ringo Starr's four early solo albums for Apple Records have just become available for digital download through online music retailers. The albums, Sentimental Journey (1970), Beaucoups Of Blues (1970), Ringo (1973), and Goodnight Vienna (1974), have all been digitally remastered, with each album including the original artwork and expanded liner notes.

• Also out now on CD, as well as a digital download, is the new compilation Photograph: The Very Best Of Ringo Starr, which spans Ringo's entire career.
• Also now available are ringtones of such Starr hits as "Photograph," "It Don't Come Easy," "You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful And You're Mine)," "I'm The Greatest," "Only You (And You Alone)," and "Back Off Boogaloo."

ARTISTS SIGN ON FOR 'EXPERIENCE HENDRIX' TOUR

Several artists have signed on to help pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix with a five-concert outing this fall. Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepard are all on board for the Experience Hendrix tour, set to kick off October 16th in Washington, D.C. Also on the bill are Hubert Sumlin, Double Trouble's Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon, Indigenous and Memphis guitarist Eric Gales. The Hendrix Experience will feature bassist Billy Cox and drummer Mitch Mitchell -- the same rhythm section that played behind Hendrix at Woodstock.

• The first Experience Hendrix tour took place in 2004 and featured Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani and Paul Rodgers on some dates.
• Hendrix died on September 18, 1970.
• Experience Hendrix tour dates (subject to change):
  October 16 - Washington, D.C. - Constitution Hall
  October 17 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre
  October 18 - Hampton Beach, NH - Casino Ballroom
  October 19 - Atlantic City, NJ - Trump Casino
  October 20 - Waterbury, CT - Palace Theatre

BO DIDDLEY SUFFERS A HEART ATTACK

Bo Diddley suffered a heart attack during a routine medical checkup on Friday (August 24th). Diddley, 78, was undergoing a regularly scheduled visit when he complained of dizziness and nausea. Diddley was rushed to the emergency room at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida where he suffered the heart attack.

• Diddley had been recovering from a stroke he suffered in May after a concert in Iowa.
• He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is best known for his handmade square guitars and such 1950's hits as "Bo Diddley," which went on to inspire hundreds of songs with its rhythmic beat. Other Diddley classics include "Crackin' Up," "Mona," "Before You Accuse Me," "Bring It To Jerome," and "Who Do You Love?"

FLASHBACK: THE BEATLES PERFORM FINAL OFFICIAL CONCERT

It was 41 years ago today (August 29th, 1966), that the Beatles performed their last official concert in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. The tour, which had already hit Germany, Japan and the Philippines, was dogged by controversy -- protests greeted the group in Tokyo prior to their performance at the Budokan Arena, which until then had been reserved strictly for the martial arts. And in the Philippines, the group fled the country after being accused of snubbing the infamous President and First Lady Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, after they politely declined to attend an official state luncheon.

By the time the group landed in the U.S. to kick off the tour on August 12th, a furor was brewing over John Lennon's remarks about religion made months before in a British interview, which had been reprinted out of context a teen magazine, saying: "Christianity will go it will vanish and shrink... Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary... We're more popular than Jesus now." Lennon's statements, which were ignored in Britain, ignited protests, including record burnings all over the "bible belt" and southern U.S. states.

The Beatles held a press conference on August 11th in Chicago, the night before they were due to perform, with Lennon trying to explain exactly what he meant in the interview. In lieu of an actual apology this quelled the Beatle bonfires, but the controversy cast a shadow over the tour which proved to be lackluster, both in the Beatles' performances and ticket sales.

• Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman says that it was clear that by the summer of '66 "Beatlemania" was on the wane: "There were rumors at the time that the tour might be cancelled. And indeed a number of the shows including Shea Stadium were not sellouts, and that upper deck was pretty empty."

On August 29th, 1966 at 8:00 p.m. the Beatles took the stage on the second base line at Candlestick Park, and ran through their 33-minute show, performing 11 songs: Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music," "She's A Woman," "If I Needed Someone," "Day Tripper," "Baby's In Black," "I Feel Fine," "Yesterday," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Nowhere Man," "Paperback Writer," and Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" -- their first performance of the song in nearly a year.

Paul McCartney, knowing that the show was to be the Beatles' last, captured the show on a portable tape recorder, the tape from which has eventually made the rounds of bootleg collectors. Rather than end with "I'm Down," their usual set-closer for the tour, McCartney surprised the rest of the group by launching into their original set closer, Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally," as a nod to the music that originally inspired them.

Afterward, George Harrison broke into a few notes of "In My Life" from the group's 1965 Rubber Soul album. The group then turned their backs on the 25,000 screaming fans and posed for a camera set on an automatic timer, to symbolically cap off their performing career. They were then were whisked out of the stadium by armored van.

• Beatlefan's Al Sussman says that in hindsight it was obvious that the tour would be their last: "They knew. That's why they recorded the last show. Because it had gotten so awful... They were really looking toward it as the last tour anyway, but especially after the Christ thing they said, 'We're done.'"
• George Harrison talked about the final concert in The Beatles Anthology, saying that: "We'd done about 1,400 live shows and I certainly felt that was it. I was thinking 'This is going to be such a relief -- not having to go through that madness anymore'... It was a unanimous decision."
• Although the Beatles performed in public one more time, with keyboardist Billy Preston on January 30th, 1969 on the London rooftop of their Apple headquarters, during the finale of their Let It Be movie, the group's Candlestick Park performance was their last officially advertised and ticketed concert.

Upon returning to London on August 31st, 1966, the Beatles all went their separate ways, with John Lennon heading to Spain to star in the film How I Won The War, and George Harrison going to India to study the sitar. McCartney and Ringo Starr stayed based in London, with McCartney composing the score for the movie The Family Way and Starr tending to his growing family.

8/28/07

THE ROLLING STONES TO TOUR IN 2008

Only days after wrapping up their two year-long world tour, the Rolling Stones are already planning dates for next year, according to iorr.org. Although the Stones' 2008 shows are nowhere near ready to be announced, the band will reportedly play in India, Dubai and Bangkok as early as February, and make it back to the States in April for the opening of the Martin Scorsese-directed concert film, Shine A Light.

Prior to the Stones' world tour, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were asked why they keep planning these gigantic world tours: "(Keith Richards) Fun. (Mick Jagger) Yeah, you know, either we stay at home and become pillars of the community or we go out (laughter) and we tour, and we really couldn't find any communities that still needed pillars."

In other Stones news:

Ron Wood says that he played a part in supermodel Kate Moss dumping her troubled boyfriend, British rocker Pete Doherty.

Wood told Britain's The Mirror that, "Well, he wasn't exactly very good for her, was he? I was just encouraging her -- saying, 'Go on, girl. I'm glad you've got rid of him.' Someone had to do it."

• Upon splitting with Doherty, Moss briefly stayed with Wood and wife Jo.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO BEAT GRAMMY DEADLINE WITH VINYL ALBUM RELEASE

Bruce Springsteen is hoping to get his album in just under the wire for this year's Grammy nominations. Billboard reported that Springsteen's upcoming album with the E Street Band, called Magic, is expected to be released on vinyl on September 25th -- a week prior to the CD's October 2nd release date, which falls one day after this year's Grammy eligibility cut-off.

The vinyl version will be a single LP pressed on heavy, 180 gram vinyl, and housed in a gatefold package. The vinyl edition is available for pre-order via backstreets.com.

• The album's lead track and first single, titled "Radio Nowhere," hit radio stations this week.
• Springsteen says that he's always taken great efforts to not only entertain with his music, but to inform his audience as well: "I guess you would say that we've devised a language by which we assist ourselves (chuckle) and our audience in making sense of the world and their lives, and hopefully in finding both our and their place in the world. That's the job that my favorite movies, my favorite pieces of art, my favorite music always did for me, was that, in some fashion, the artist says, 'OK, take this, and go find your place out there.' It's a passing on of energy and of thought."
• An E Street Band tour announcement, including North American dates throughout October and November, is expected any day now.

PAUL McCARTNEY AND RENEE ZELLWEGER PHOTGRAPHED HANGING OUT AT TOM PETTY CONCERT

Paul McCartney is rumored to have been chatting up actress Renee Zellweger over the weekend. The New York Daily News ran a blurry photo of McCartney and Zellweger engaging in some intimate face time on Saturday (August 25th) at an exclusive Tom Petty concert at the Hampton Social in the East Hampton, Long Island.

McCartney made headlines a few weeks ago when he and Christie Brinkley were photographed talking and briefly dancing at James Taylor's concert at the same venue. According to the paper, Brinkley reportedly spotted McCartney and Zellweger chatting and threw "less-than-delighted glimpses in their direction."

• A source said that, "I don't believe there's anything between them. He was sitting with (Saturday Night Live's) Amy Poehler and her husband, and (Zellweger) was with two friends and left 15 minutes after he did."

PAT BENATAR HAPPY TO BE A PREDOMINANTLY LIVE MUSICIAN

Pat Benatar is out on the road this summer performing most of her greatest hits in concert. Benatar says that although she still loves to record, she's realistic about where the studio fits into her present day career: "What happens is that it goes full circle. I mean, you end up doing exactly what you started out doing (laughs), which is playing live, which for me is always the attraction. Making records is great and I understand the whole process of that and I like it. But you know, right now, people like us, in our age group and our genre, don't get played on the radio, so we make records basically for ourselves which is nice. Live performance is the way that it always has been, so that's the best part."

• Later this fall, Benatar plans to head into the studio to record an acoustic album featuring stripped down versions of her biggest hits.
• Among the songs Benatar says will be included in the collection will be unplugged takes of "Love Is A Battlefield," "Promises In The Dark" and "Hell Is For Children," among others.
• Pat Benatar performs tonight (Tuesday, August 28th) in New Orleans at the House Of Blues. She'll be on the road through the middle of October.

PHIL SPECTOR'S LEAD ATTORNEY QUITS DUE TO 'DIFFERENCE OF OPINION'

Phil Spector's lead attorney Bruce Cutler has left the case due to what he calls "a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy." The Associated Press reported that Cutler notified the court of his resignation on Monday (August 27th), stating that, "There's nothing I can do for Mr. Spector. I can no longer effectively represent him." Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler asked Spector if he thought that was accurate, and Spector agreed.

Cutler, who is best known for defending John Gotti, has been absent from the Spector trial for three weeks while he filmed a syndicated TV show called Jury Duty, in which he portrays a judge.

• Spector's defense attorney Roger Rosen has replaced Cutler as his head lawyer. Final arguments are set for September 5th.
• Spector is on trial for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson. He remains free on $1 million bail.

8/27/07

VAN HALEN KEEPS ADDING DATES TO REUNION TREK

Van Halen keeps adding dates to its upcoming fall tour, the first with original frontman David Lee Roth in 22 years. The latest additions to the schedule are an October 12th date in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre, a show on October 26th at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and a November 7th stop at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The trek now encompasses a total of 30 announced shows, with more likely to surface in the weeks ahead.

• The tour will begin on September 27th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Although Roth is back in the band, Van Halen will proceed without founding bassist Michael Anthony. His replacement is guitarist Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang. In a statement at his blog last week, Anthony wrote that he was "not invited" to do the tour, adding, "Wolfgang is a great kid, so don't judge him too harshly. I'm sure he'll do just fine!!"
• Anthony will instead hit the road with former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar, beginning on October 19th in Biloxi, Mississippi.

THE ROLLING STONES WRAP UP WORLD TOUR

The Rolling Stones wrapped up their two-year A Bigger Bang Tour last night (August 28th) at London's O2 Arena. Iorr.org reported that the 18-song show didn't deviate much from the band's usual setlist, with highlights including 1971's "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" from Sticky Fingers, 1978's "Respectable" from Some Girls, and 1983's "She Was Hot," from Undercover.

In other news, the trailer for the Stones' upcoming concert documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, called Shine A Light, is now available online via several sources. The trailer features Scorsese operating behind the scenes, trying to figure out ways to shoot the band, discussing the film on speakerphone with Mick Jagger, and asking the road crew what they'll be playing during the show.

• The clip for the film, which was filmed last year at New York City's Beacon Theatre, features footage of the Stones performing "Jumping Jack Flash," "Sympathy For The Devil," and "Brown Sugar," as well as performing with guest stars Buddy Guy on "Champagne And Reefer," Jack White on "Loving Cup," and Christina Aguilera on "Live With Me."
• Shine A Light was originally scheduled to open nationwide in late September , but has been postponed until April to allow time to promote the film. There's been no word as to whether a soundtrack album will be released.

UNOFFICIAL BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TOUR ITINERARY POSTED ONLINE

What appears to be the full itinerary of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's 2007 tour has been posted on the unofficial Springsteen website springsteentracker.com. Springsteen's upcoming dates, which are expected to be announced early this week, have been one of the worst kept secrets of the summer, with two of the dates -- both included on the newly posted itinerary -- having been briefly announced on ticketmaster.com and pollstar.com, before being removed without explanation.

The itinerary has Springsteen rehearsing at an undisclosed location from September 8th through the 21st, and then again from the 23rd through the 30th. It's possible that some of the second week's rehearsals will be open to the public as they have on previous tours.

The 23-date North American tour is expected to kick off on October 2nd in Hartford, Connecticut, and wrap up on November 19th in Boston. The itinerary, which only lists a handful of specific venues, leaves plenty of room for additional dates to be added.

• Among the cities Springsteen will reportedly hit are Ottawa; Toronto; New York City; Uniondale, New York; Chicago; Oakland, California; St. Paul, Minnesota; Cleveland; Detroit; Pittsburgh; and Albany, New York.
• The only cities reportedly booked for two-night stands are Philadelphia; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Chicago; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C. -- although Springsteen is expected to play four New York-area shows.
• After the North American dates, Springsteen will head out on 13-date European tour beginning on November 25th in Madrid, taking in such cities as Milan, Oslo, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Stockholm, Mannheim, Belfast, and Paris, before wrapping on December 19th in London.
• Although the lead single from Springsteen's upcoming album Magic, called "Radio Nowhere," isn't due to be released to radio until tomorrow (August 28th), the track has made its way onto several unofficial online download sites.
• Magic, which will be released on October 2nd, is Springsteen's first studio set with the E Street Band since 2002's The Rising.

Meanwhile:

Patti Scialfa, Springsteen's wife and a member of the E Street Band, has just released her third solo album, called Play It As It Lays. Scialfa took time out to address the rumors that circulated last year that her marriage with Springsteen was on the rocks: "First of all the rumors were completely, completely ridiculous. Which is disappointing, because if somebody had just Google'd some stuff they would have realized that half of the stuff that they had written... Even when they were like, my mother's name is Veronica in every article. My mother's name isn't Veronica. Everything was filled with just massive misinformation. And so the thing is, you're in the public so that happens."

• Rumors were widespread that their marriage was on the rocks due to Springsteen having an affair with a 9/11 widow.
• At the time Springsteen issued an statement denying any marital problems, saying, "... Due to the unfounded and ugly rumors... I felt they shouldn't pass without comment. Patti and I have been together for 18 years -- the best 18 years of my life. We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect, and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married."
• Springsteen and Scialfa have three teenage children, Evan, Jessica, and Sam.

NEIL YOUNG TOUR DATE LEAKS OUT

It looks like Neil Young plans to tour this fall behind his upcoming album, Chrome Dreams II. One concert date has already trickled out on Ticketmaster.com. It lists Neil Young and Crazy Horse playing the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon, on October 22nd, with tickets going on sale Saturday, September 8th. The outing would mark Young's first solo tour since 2004.

• Young will be out behind his new project, due out October 16th. The 10-song set is the sequel to a 30-year-old album that was never released. He recorded the new material with Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith.
• Young expects to release the first volume of his Archives boxed set series on February 18th.
• Young's latest album, Living With War, came out last year.

NEW WHO DVD GIVES BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT RECENT TOUR

A new Who DVD called Fragments has just been shipped out to platinum members of their fan club. The film combines live footage from the band's 2006 dates with an in-depth behind the scenes look at the Who on the road. There has been no official word that the DVD will be released commercially.

The movie features unprecedented access to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey's offstage life on the road, showing them traveling from gig to gig, meeting fans before the shows, and warming up prior to hitting the stage.

Among the Who classics included in the documentary are "I Can't Explain," "Who Are You," "Cry If You Want," "Relay," "Eminence Front," "Baba O'Riley," and "Won't Get Fooled Again," alongside newer material including "Mike Post Theme," "Black Widow's Eyes," and "Man In A Purple Dress."

• The film was directed by Justin Kreutzmann, who has been the primary cinematographer for Townshend and girlfriend Rachel Fuller's In The Attic webcasts over the past year. He is the son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann.
• Kreutzmann, a die-hard Who fan nearly his entire life, says that the band doesn't have the crazy backstage scene that you might expect: "Not on any kind of rock star level. It's pretty much bare bones. They just come in there to work. I mean, it's comfortable. It's bare bones. It's another town. A lot of towns, they didn't even stay in. We would just fly in, do the show and then fly back to say, New York, or L.A. A lot of those dressing rooms were used for an hour, an hour or two and that was it. They're just a working band. It was all about making it comfortable for the show and getting in and out and the focus was the show."
• Kreutzmann is currently editing footage from Townshend and Fuller's various Attic Jam concerts performed in small venues in New York, Chicago, Austin, and Los Angeles. Among the various guest performers at the shows were Lou Reed, Sean Lennon, Ben Harper, and Martha Wainwright.

ROB ZOMBIE CONFIRMS TOUR WITH OZZY OSBOURNE

Rob Zombie has confirmed that he will support Ozzy Osbourne on a fall tour, telling Los Angeles TV station KTLA on Thursday (August 23rd) that the trek will begin sometime in October and last through December. Ironically, Zombie's name was initially in the running as support for Black Sabbath offshoot Heaven And Hell on its fall dates. But Zombie told us that the Heaven And Hell shows were too close to the completion of work on his new remake of Halloween: "The Heaven And Hell thing was unfortunate, because I really wanted to do it. It was kind of one of those things that was talked about, but I was shooting the movie and I have a feeling that it got a little too talked about. And when I saw the actual dates of when the tour was taking place, I was like, there's no way I can do it. You know, I mean, I can't, like, wrap up this movie and then expect to be on tour like a week later. I'll be so exhausted, it'll just be horrible."

• Exact dates and venues for Zombie's tour with Osbourne have yet to be announced. Osbourne wraps up this summer's free Ozzfest on Thursday (August 30th) in West Palm Beach, Florida.
• Heaven And Hell begins its fall run on September 5th in Binghamton, New York.
• Zombie's version of Halloween, his third film as a screenwriter and director, comes out in theatres this Friday (August 31st).
• The rocker-turned-filmmaker's first-ever live album, entitled simply Zombie Live, is scheduled for release on October 23rd.

TED NUGENT SLAMS BARACK OBAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON ON STAGE

Guitarist Ted Nugent went on rampage at a recent concert, insulting and threatening the lives of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. According to TMZ.com, Nugent got on stage holding what he called "machine guns." He then screamed "Obama, he’s a piece of s***. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b****." He then screamed "freedom!" The video can be seen making the rounds on YouTube.

• Nugent is known for his conservative political views and pro-gun stance. Last January, he made headlines for wearing a Confederate flag shirt and insulting immigrants at Texas governor Rick Perry's inauguration event. He was also recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article, blaming "stoned, dirty, stinky hippies" for "rising rates of divorce, high school drop-outs, drug use, abortion, sexual diseases and crime, not to mention the exponential expansion of government and taxes."
• Nugent's new album is called Love Grenade. He wraps up his tour in early September.

PAUL McCARTNEY TO RELEASE THREE-DISC DVD RETROSPECTIVE

Paul McCartney will release a three-disc DVD on