Sunday, November 27, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on December 2nd, 2016



As the Stevie Nicks with opening act The Pretenders fall tour hit New York City's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 1, Nicks warned the crowd that tonight's show is "not gonna be the same show that you're used to seeing," and promised "magical gothic things from my gothic trunk of secrets and mysteries." Nicks then delivered a set of little-heard rarities like "Starshine," a reject from her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna that eventually ended up on 2014's 24 Karat Gold - Songs From the Vault and "Crying in the Night," a Buckingham-Nicks-era favorite that Nicks rarely played live before this tour. The highlight was "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," the dramatic power ballad whose recording reinvigorated Nicks' solo career earlier in this decade, and which she now calls "my favorite song I've ever written." Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, who gushed about Nicks during her band's set and said it was "like being on tour with Elizabeth Taylor," was even invited on stage to sing Tom Petty's part in Nicks' breakout solo hit, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." "I'm gonna marry her," Hynde quipped after the performance. "So don't get any ideas." Nicks encored with the Fleetwood Mac staples "Rhiannon" and "Landslide." - Billboard, 12/2/16...... On Nov. 28, Eric Clapton announced he'll play four shows in the US -- New York City's Madison Square Garden on Mar. 19 and Mar. 20 and The Forum in Los Angeles on Mar. 25 and Mar. 26 -- in 2017 that will be billed as "celebration of Clapton's 50 years in music." The dates seem to put hints of retirement to rest after the 71-year-old legendary guitarist revealed in June that nerve damage from his peripheral neuropathy has impacted on his ability to play guitar. Opening acts on the tour include Jimmie Vaughan and Guy Clark Jr., with former Joe Cocker sideman Chris Stainton among the musicians in Clapton's backing band. Tickets go on sale on Dec. 3. - New Musical Express, 11/28/16...... Neil DiamondShortly before participating in the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC on Nov. 30, Neil Diamond told reporters that he'll leave "no song unsung" when he kicks off a 50 Year Anniversary World Tour in 2017. "Especially stuff from The Monkees," said Diamond, who wrote several several songs for the iconic '60s pop band including the No. 1 smash "I'm a Believer." The first leg of the tour gets underway in Fresno, Calif., on Apr. 7, then travels to cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York, before wrapping in August. "We play all over the United States, North America, and then we will find other places to go," he said. Diamond promises to pull out all the stops on his tour, and that he still feels energized when performing for his fans. "They can expect me to give everything I possibly can. I will leave no stone unturned, and no song unsung," he said. - AP, 12/1/16...... KISS announced on Nov. 29 they'll be launching their KISSWORLD 2017 European arena tour on May 1 in Moscow. The glam-rock icons will also hit such cities as Helinksi, Stockholm, Oslo, Munich, Vienna, Frankfurt and Rotterdam before traveling to the UK for shows in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester before the 15-city tour wraps at London's O2 on May 31. - NME, 11/29/16...... Rod Stewart has joined the lineup of headliners for the UK's 2017 Isle of Wight Festival, which takes place from June 8-11 at Seaclose Park, Newport. Billed as his only UK festival appearance in 2017, Stewart will top the festival bill on the final night of the festival. "I have been very lucky to have played many of the world's finest venues and festivals -- but never played the legendary IOW Festival. I am so excited to put that right. June can't come round soon enough," Stewart said in a statement. The festival originally ran between 1968 and 1970 before being revived in 2002, and recent headliners include Queen + Adam Lambert and Fleetwood Mac. - NME, 11/28/16...... James Taylor has announced a summer tour of four baseball parks for 2017, culminating in a date at Fenway Park, home of his beloved Boston Red Sox. Taylor and his band will open the tour on July 14 at Nationals Park in Washington. It continues July 17 at Wrigley Field in Chicago; July 29 at AT&T Park in San Francisco; and Aug. 11 at Fenway. It will be the third consecutive year Taylor has played Fenway, the venue where the Boston-born Taylor debuted his video for "Angels of Fenway," his ode to the redemptive spirit of baseball and a song featured on his 2015 album Before This World. Bonnie Raitt will open for Taylor at each show. - AP, 11/29/16...... Rush announced on its Facebook page on Nov. 30 that the band is donating the $40,000 award it's getting from the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, in honor of the late Tragically Hip frontman Downie. "Many families have been affected either directly or indirectly by this terrible disease. Through Gord's courageous efforts this cause is now getting the attention it desperately deserves. As a fellow musician and friend it's our turn to help support his efforts to fight Brain Cancer now," the post reads. Earlier in December, Canadian Music Week announced that Rush were the 2017 recipients of the Slaight award, which will be handed out in April; the award comes with a $40,000 prize earmarked for the charity of the recipient's choice. - Billboard, 12/1/16...... Dolly PartonCountry music legend Dolly Parton has established a fund to help victims of the recent spate of wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, which is also home to her Dollywood theme park. Parton's My People Fund will provide $1,000 each month to families in Sevier County, Tenn., and in a new video the singer explained how she wanted to help get people "back on their feet" after the deadly natural disaster. "I've always believed charity begins at home and my home is some place special," she said. "That's why I've asked my Dollywood Companies -- including the Dollywood theme park, and DreamMore Resort; my dinner theater attractions including Dixie Stampede and Lumberjack Adventure; and my Dollywood Foundation -- to help me establish the My People Fund. We want to provide a hand up to those families who have lost everything in the fires." Parton's theme park was also threatened by the fires. More info can be found at dollywoodfoundation.org. - Billboard, 11/30/16...... Pres. Barack Obama welcomed four of the recipients of the 2016 Nobel Prize to the White House in Washington on Nov. 30, and noticeably absent was Nobel winner Bob Dylan. "Unfortunately, for those of you wondering, Bob Dylan will not be at the White House today, so everybody can relax," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during a press briefing. Earnest said Dylan didn't give a reason, but he noted that Dylan and the president had met previously and "the president enjoyed meeting him." In 2012, Pres. Obama presented the iconic rock star with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dylan was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature on Oct. 13 but won't be attending the prize ceremony, later announcing he may travel to Stockholm sometime in 2016 and give his Nobel Lecture then. - AP, 11/30/16...... A new court filing suggests that the late Prince's estate could be worth as much as $200 million, the first time a specific estimate has emerged publicly from court proceedings since the musician died from an overdose in April. Since Prince left no known will, the rock superstar's sister and five half-siblings are in line to inherit equal shares of the estate -- after taxes gobble up about half of it. Attorneys have avoided giving specific figures in public since then, but based on a court filing made public on Nov. 29, Bremer Trust puts the value of the estate at about $200 million, the AP has calculated. In 2016, Prince's estate took in $25 million and sold more albums than any other dead musician for a No. 5 spot on the list of top earning deceased celebrities. Prince's estate has until Jan. 21 to file federal and state estate tax returns. Meanwhile, a new Prince documentary entitled Prince: R U Listening? is reportedly in the works for a spring 2017 release. The film, directed by Find Your Groove's Michael Kirk, will chronicle Prince's rise to fame and will feature interviews with members of his band, as well as friends and admirers including Bono, Mick Jagger, Sheila E, Lenny Kravitz and Billy Idol. Prince's Minnesota estate-turned-museum, Paisley Park, is is also planning a "Celebration 2017" event in April, with guided tours of the late singer's home and performances from Prince's former bands. - AP, 11/30/16...... The Bee GeesThe Bee Gees announced on Dec. 29 that they've inked a long-term worldwide agreement with Capitol Records that will cover the legendary trio's entire catalog of recorded music -- all 22 studio albums -- plus various compilations, unreleased recordings and other projects. Several soundtracks are also part of the agreement, including the disco era-defining Saturday Night Fever. Capitol will begin working with Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), Barry Gibb and the estates of late members Robin and Maurice Gibb on numerous sales and marketing campaigns aimed at breathing new life into the brothers' catalog, which ranged from psychedelic pop to disco to soft rock. The group's most active years were spent on either Polydor or RSO, aside from a brief stint with Warner Bros. "The Bee Gees catalog is one of the most esteemed and important bodies of work in the history of recorded music, and we are brimming with ideas that will remind fans of its brilliance and further the band's legacy by introducing their music to new audiences," Capitol Music Group chairman and CEO Steve Barnett said. "All of us at the company are honored that The Bee Gees have chosen Capitol as their new home." - Billboard, 11/29/16...... Cher will be among the celebrities featured in This Climate, an upcoming documentary about the perils of climate change. The film, which also features Mark Ruffalo, Vivienne Westwood and Noam Chomsky, will be screened in festivals, events, and universities worldwide in early 2017 after November's United Nations Climate Change Conference and before the World Economic Forum in January, for optimal impact on global discussion. - Billboard, 11/30/16...... A new picture book inspired by John Lennon's 1971 world peace anthem "Imagine" is set for release on Sept. 21, 2017, the United Nations' International Day of Peace. Authorized by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, the book will be released in partnership with Amnesty International, which will receive some of the proceeds. ith illustrations by Jean Jullien, the book will feature Lennon's lyrics as it tells of a young pigeon's mission to advocate for peace. - AP, 11/29/16...... In other Beatles-related news, a rare copy of the Fab Four's "White Album" originally owned by Ringo Starr has topped a list of the world's most valuable vinyl records. The LP sold at auction in 2015 for £730,876. The list, compiled by LoveAntiques.com, also includes recordings by the formative Beatles band The Quarrymen ("That'll Be The Day/In Spite Of All The Danger" - £100,000) at No. 2 and the Beatles' "Love Me Do" (£80,500) at No. 3. - NME, 11/29/16...... The Recording Academy has announced it will be adding 25 new musical works to its Grammy Hall of Fame, including David Bowie' "Changes," the Jackson 5's "ABC," Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock," Arlo Guthrie's "The City of New Orleans," Merle Haggard's Okie From Muskogee and the Beach Boys' "I Get Around." The selected singles and album recordings are all at least 25 years old to meet requirements for selection, and with this year's additions there will be 1,038 recordings in the Grammy Hall of Fame. - Billboard, 11/28/16...... Neil YoungNeil Young has penned an open letter to Pres. Barack Obama urging an "end to the violence" against the protestors at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota and South Dakota. "Standing together in prayer to protect water displays a deeply rooted awareness of life's interconnected nature, and of the intrinsic value and import of traditional ways," Young posted on his Facebook page on Nov. 28. "This growing movement stems from love, it is the most human instinct to protect that which we love." Despite the hundreds of people standing in solidarity and peacefully protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Young wrote that protesters are met with "violent aggression" from law enforcement. "Standing while being hit with water cannons, mace, tear gas, rubber bullets. Standing without weapons and praying, the water protectors endure human rights abuses in sub freezing temperatures," Young writes. "Thus, it is the ugliness of corporate America, seen around the world." The rocker later called upon the president "to step in and end the violence against the peaceful water protectors at Standing Rock immediately" before discussing President-elect Donald Trump, who he described as a "surprise president [who] claims he does not believe in climate science nor the threats it presents and his actions and words reflect that claim in tangible and dangerous ways." Trump also owns stock in the company laying the pipeline, and has called for its completion. - Billboard, 11/29/16...... The former wife of Phil Collins has told the UK paper Daily Mail that she will sue the former Genesis member after he slammed her with alleged inaccuracies in his new autobiography, Not Dead Yet. Andrea Bertorelli, Collins' first wife, took issue with what her ex shared about their five-year marriage, which ended in divorce in 1980, and blasted him for failing to remember even the simplest of details, like where they actually tied the knot. "Even the most basic facts have become distorted," she said. "For a number of years... I have variously been portrayed as a homewrecker, a gold-digger and a bad mother (in the media). The recent publication of Phil's autobiography Not Dead Yet is the final straw." It's not clear how much compensation Bertorelli is seeking from her ex, who is yet to comment on the lawsuit news. The former couple shares two adult children -- son Simon, a musician, and actress Joely, who was Bertorelli's daughter from a previous relationship. Collins adopted Joely as his own during their marriage. - WENN.com, 12/2/16...... Tony Award-winning character actor Fritz Weaver, who played a German Jewish doctor slain by the Nazis in the 1978 mini-series Holocaust and an increasingly unstable Air Force colonel in the 1964 film Fail Safe, died on Nov. 26 at his home in Manhattan. He was 90. The Pittsburgh-born Mr. Weaver won a Tony in 1970 for his role in Robert Marasco's drama "Child's Play," and also appeared in such TV series as The Twilight Zone, Playhouse 90, Mission: Impossible, Magnum, P.I., Matlock, Gunsmoke, Falcon Crest and Murder, She Wrote. His screen credits included Marathon Man (1976), Demon Seed (1977), Creepshow (1982) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1999). - AP, 11/28/16...... Al BrodaxAl Brodax, the producer and co-writer of the Beatles' iconic animated 1968 film Yellow Submarine, died on Nov. 24 in Danbury, Conn. He was 90. In 1960, Mr. Brodax created and headed the television/motion picture division of King Features Syndicate, writing and producing more than 500 episodes of Popeye, Krazy Kat, Barney Google and The Beatles' cartoon series. In 1968, he was producer and co-writer of Yellow Submarine, winning more than 30 awards including the New York Film Critics Circle Award in 1969. Mr. Brodax went on to become the animation supervisor for ABC, producing the shows Make a Wish and Animals, Animals, Animals. In later years, he was a consultant for Marvel Comics. - The New York Times, 11/28/16...... Joe Esposito, a close personal friend and longtime aide of Elvis Presley, died on Nov. 23 of natural causes in Calabasas, Calif. He was 78. Esposito met Presley in 1959 while both were serving in the Army. After they completed their service, Esposito became Presley's assistant in professional matters, from keeping his calendar to functioning as road manager when the King was on tour. Esposito was one of two best men at Presley's 1967 wedding to Priscilla Wagner and a pallbearer at his funeral in 1977. After Presley's death, Esposito worked as a road manager for other artists, including the Bee Gees and Michael Jackson. His daughter, Cindy Bahr, said that her father was suffering from dementia at the time of his death. - AP, 11/29/16...... TV mogul Grant Tinker, the former chairman and CEO of NBC and former husband of Mary Tyler Moore, died on Nov. 29 at age 90. In 1969, Mr. Tinker and his then-wife Moore launched MTM Enterprises, which became an indie powerhouse that produced such hits as Moore's Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. In 1981, he left MTM to become chairman and CEO of then-last-place network NBC. With Brandon Tartikoff as his entertainment president, Mr. Tinker spearheaded a ratings turnaround, with the network rising from last to first place on the strength of a slew of hit new series, including The Cosby Show, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Cheers, Night Court and Hill Street Blues. He left NBC in 1986, following its acquisition by General Electric. - Deadline.com, 11/30/16.

Appearing at the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings NFL matchup in her hometown of Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, Aretha Franklin delivered a generous 4 minute and 35 seconds long rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" prior to the start of the game, which may have been as much a topic at Thanksgiving dinner as the game itself. Her lengthy version of the national anthem then went viral on social media, with one Twitter user joking that "there was enough time to cook a turkey, eat and do the dishes" during the performance. Others opined that the 74-year-old "Queen of Soul" had earned the right to sing the anthem for as long as she wanted. The CBS production team even got in on the fun during the game by including Franklin in a time of possession graphic: "Time of possession battle is crucial. pic.twitter.com/EZVC53fVeD" -- NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) November 24, 2016. - AP, 11/26/16...... In related news, James Taylor tweeted a Thanksgiving message to his fans stressing the importance of gratitude on Nov. 24. "Sometimes we suffer setbacks. And if these reversals of fortune are deeply important to us, the loss can be a source of real grief. Recovery takes time and we should allow ourselves time to grieve. But what eventually seems to help most is to take a regular moment to give thanks. To whom we give it is a big question but just go ahead on and do it. Gratitude is the way to an improved attitude, dude," Taylor wrote in the post. The 68-year-old singer/songwriter then gets a little spacey in the message, speculating about the possibility that other distant worlds in the cosmos might support life. "Scientists tell us that it is likely, even inevitable, that there are other worlds in the cosmos which, like our own, would support life. But they are so rare and far apart that it's a long shot we'll ever be in touch... To have been born in human form and consciousness aboard this unbelievably beneficent planet is an incredible stroke of luck. Dig it..." - AP, 11/24/16...... Billy JoelAfter Bruce Springsteen made headlines earlier in November for being rescued by a group of biker veterans when his own motorcycle broke down on Allaire State Park in New Jersey on Veterans Day, Billy Joel revealed onstage during a Nov. 26 concert at Madison Square Garden that the faulty bike ridden by the Boss was, in fact, built in his own 20th Century Cycles shop in Oyster Bay, N.Y. "So he takes the bike out on Veteran's Day and it breaks down. It's all over national news: Bruce's Bike Breaks Down," the Piano Man told the audience. "So I'm reading this and thinking, Oh s--t, I hope it wasn't the bike I built for him. I called him, 'Bruce, what bike was the bike that broke down?' 'It was the one you made for me,'" Joel continued. Joel then said he apologized to the 67-year-old New Jersey rocker, to which Bruce responded, "Oh no, it's cool, dude." Perhaps to make amends, Joel covered Springsteen's classic "Born to Run" later in the show. Joel, 67, owns a custom motorcycle shop, 20th Century Cycles, in Oyster Bay, N.Y., and Springsteen is one of his clients. - The NY Daily News, 11/27/16...... Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, the musician has taped an appearance on the venerable BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs that will air during the third week of December. On Desert Island Discs, host Kirsty Young is joined each week by a guest who is asked to "name eight recordings, a book and a luxury item that they would take with them on a desert island." Springsteen said of his track choices that "this is the music that electrified me -- they galvanised me into changing my life in some way." First broadcast in 1942, Desert Island Discs has welcomed the likes of Tom Hanks, Bill Gates and Michael Bubl earlier in 2016. - New Musical Express, 11/24/16...... Stevie Wonder has announced that John Legend and Lionel Richie have been confirmed to perform at his annual House Full of Toys benefit concert, which is set for L.A. Live's Microsoft Theater on Dec. 9. Wonder launched House Full of Toys in 1996 at former Hollywood venue House of Blues. In subsequent years, the concert has been staged at The Forum in L.A. as well as the Microsoft. Concert proceeds benefit the We Are You Foundation, which assists children and families in need. For ticket information (patrons are also asked to bring an unwrapped toy), visit axs.com. Additional performers at this year's event will be announced shortly. - Billboard, 11/23/16...... Elton JohnAfter Anthony Scaramucci, an advisor to President-Elect Donald Trump, made a surprise announcement that Elton John would be playing the president-elect's January inauguration on the BBC programme HARDtalk on Nov. 23, a rep for Sir Elton unequivocally denied the same day that John will be playing the Washington D.C. event. Scaramucci said that John's performance would demonstrate the president-elect's "commitment to gay rights," commemorating what he referred to as "the first American president in U.S. history that enters the White House with a pro-gay rights stance." It is worth noting however that Trump's running mate, Vice-President Elect Mike Pence, has been strongly criticized by the LGBT community for his anti-gay positions as governor of the state of Indiana. - Billboard, 11/23/16....... In an interview with the London Times, David Bowie's saxophonist Donny McCaslin claims that Bowie was planning to make more music at the time of his death in January at age 69, two days after the release of his album Blackstar, a record which many fans believed was his final farewell. "It certainly didn't seem that it (Blackstar) would be his last record," McCaslin said. "He was going to start writing new music -- or maybe he had started; it wasn't quite clear -- but he was in the process of planning a new recording with us. I don't think Blackstar was this goodbye thing," he added. McCaslin also said Bowie was considering appearing on stage for the first time in a decade. "Clearly there wasn't going to be a Blackstar tour but he was going to sit in with us at (New York jazz club) the Village Vanguard," McCaslin said. "It would just have been him turning up unannounced after rehearsing during the day." Earlier in 2016, McCaslin and his band released their own album, Beyond Now, inspired by and dedicated to their former collaborator. The LP includes original tracks by McCaslin and a number of covers of songs by the likes of Deadmau5, Mutemath, The Chainsmokers and Bowie. - New Musical Express, 11/25/16...... Prolific TV actor Ron Glass, a veteran of such series as Barney Miller, Stakeout, Bureaucrat, Ms. Cop, Vigilante and The New Odd Couple, died at his home in Los Angeles on Nov. 15. He was 71. It is not yet clear if the star had been ill prior to his death, but there is speculation that he was suffering from respiratory problems. The news of Glass's death shocked members of California's Buddhist community, of which he was a prominent figure. Sharing the news on Facebook, one friend wrote: "My Buddhist Brother and Friend, Ron Glass passed last night. I had called him 11/15/16 to find out how is doing since it's been a few months since I had see him last and his nurse said he was not up to talking. I called back on 11/16/16 and said to the nurse: 'let him know that I love him and really care'." The Indiana-born performer also appeared on such series as Friends, Star Trek: Voyager, CSI, Rugrats, Rhythm & Blues and Murder, She Wrote. - The Mirror UK, 11/16/16...... Fidel CastroFidel Castro, the controversial revolutionary leader and former head of state of Cuba, died on Nov. 25 at the age of 90, according to Cuban state television. One of the world's longest-serving political leaders, Fidel Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years after playing a central role in the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s. He cut a divisive figure during his lifetime, transforming Cuba into the Western Hemisphere's first communist country and becoming a thorn in the side of the United States during the Cold War. Hailed by supporters as a hero who fought for socialist ideals by standing up to the U.S. and the world's other political giants, Fidel Castro was seen by critics as a ruthless dictator guilty of subjecting his people to countless human rights abuses, devastating Cuba's economy and forcing more than a million Cubans to flee the island. Considered by many Cubans to be a national hero, Castro in February 1959 was sworn in as prime minister of the island nation, after his group of revolutionaries finally succeeded in forcing the increasingly ruthless dictator General Fulgencio Batista to flee the country, after many attempts. While the international community criticized Castro's government for its brutal campaign of retribution against Batista supporters, the Cuban people were firmly on Castro's side. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans would gather and cheer as he delivered long, rousing speeches -- some of them lasting hours about the revolution (his longest on record in Cuba was 7 hours and 10 minutes). During the Cold War, Castro's Cuba proved especially influential in the politics of the day, after he revealed his belief in socialism and declared his allegiance to the USSR early on in his rule. After Russian missiles, placed in Cuba with Castro's consent, were spotted by an American spy plane in October 1962, the Soviets and the Americans engaged in tense negotiations, the world spun closer to nuclear war than at any other time before or since. Fortunately, however, the USSR -- to Castro's fury -- finally agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba, and the crisis was averted. Castro fell ill in 2006 with an undisclosed disease, and handed the reins of power to his brother Ral Castro. He officially resigned in 2008, after 49 years as Cuba's head of state. Castro was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of developing nations in 2001, and also spoke up against global warming and other environmental issues and was lauded by some for his environmentalism and green policies. - Huffington Post, 11/26/16.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 25th, 2016



Florence HendersonBeloved TV and stage actress Florence Henderson, best known as the ever cheerful matriarch of the iconic '70s series The Brady Bunch, died unexpectedly of heart failure on Nov. 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 82. Born on Feb. 14, 1934 in Dale, Indiana, Ms. Henderson got her first big break on Broadway when she was just 18 after being cast in a lead role in the seminal musical "Oklahoma!" before moving on to productions of "The Sound of Music," "The King and I" and "South Pacific." But it was her role as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch, the innocent sitcom about a blended family, that made her a household name. The series, which aired from 1969 to 1974, returned to television in various forms again and again, including The Brady Bunch Hour in 1977, The Brady Girls Get Married in 1981 (a pilot to the short-lived Brady Brides series) and The Bradys in 1990. It was also seen endlessly in reruns. Ms. Henderson also joined the cast of the 1995 spoof The Brady Bunch Movie, playing Grandma Brady opposite Cheers star Shelley Long as Carol. Her 50+ year career in show business also included a stint as the first female guest host on The Tonight Show, and the release of a cookbook based on the cooking series Country Kitchen. Throughout her career, Ms. Henderson was also known for her philanthropy work, supporting causes including City of Hope and the House Ear Institute (she experienced sudden hearing loss in 1965, and underwent corrective surgery in both ears). In 2010, she competed on Dancing with Stars and was the fifth competitor to be voted off that season. She made a surprise appearance on the show this September, dressed up in character as Mrs. Brady, and was reportedly backstage when her fellow Brady Bunch actress Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady in the series, competed on Dancing With the Stars on Nov. 21. Ms. Henderson, who is survived by two daughters, two sons and five grandchildren, died surrounded by family and friends, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement on Nov. 24. "Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my heart forever. Love & hugs to her family. I'll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence," Maureen McCormick tweeted on Nov. 25. - USA Today/AP/Huffington Post, 11/25/16.

Pres. Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, to 21 groundbreaking musicians, actors, athletes, technological professionals, and others including '70s artists Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 22. Prior to the ceremony, the White House appraised Bruce Springsteen's contribution to the nation by describing him as "a singer, songwriter, and bandleader (who) more than five decades ago... bought a guitar and learned how to make it talk." "Since then," the statement continued, "the stories he has told, in lyrics and epic live concert performances, have helped shape American music and have challenged us to realize the American dream." Other honorees include actors Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks and Cicily Tyson, basketball greats Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Michael Jordon, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, comedian Ellen DeGeneres, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, broadcaster Vin Scully, and various scientists, educators and architects. Obama said the people receiving the medal all influenced him and his presidency in some way and "helped push America forward and inspired millions around the world." The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes especially meritorious contributions to the national interests of the United States, to its culture, or to other significant endeavors. - AP, 11/22/16...... Leonard Cohen"Hallelujah," perhaps the most well known song by late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Leonard Cohen, has debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the first time, at No. 59, following Cohen's death on Nov. 7. "Hallelujah" also entered Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart at No. 12 with 33,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Nielsen Music. It also drew 3.8 million U.S. streams in that period, a 279 percent increase. Cohen originally released the enduring anthem "Hallelujah" on his 1984 album Various Positions, and Jeff Buckley's 1994 cover of the song (itself inspired by a piano-led version by John Cale three years prior) and now considered by many to be the definitive take on the song, although it, too, wasn't a chart hit at the time and has yet to hit the Hot 100, although it has now appeared on the Digital Song Sales chart at No. 29. Cohen's most recent studio album, You Want It Darker, has also jumped from No. 48 to No. 7 on the Hot 200 albums chart, and his greatest hits album The Essential Leonard Cohen, has also debuted on the chart at No. 13 with 20,000 units and 11,000 albums sold. - Billboard, 11/21/16...... Released on Nov. 11, Pink Floyd's new massive 27-disc box set The Early Years 1965-1972 features unreleased outtakes and demos, TV appearances, seven hours of concert recordings, performances, interviews, over 20 unreleased songs, an updated version of their Zabriskie Point soundtrack and more. Fans have also discovered hidden tracks in the form of alternate mixes of the band's 1972 LP Meddle, inside the set's Blu-ray discs, although specialized software is needed in able to pull both the new stereo and 5.1 mixes of the album from the disc. The set charts the band's first seven years before their The Dark Side of the Moon commercial breakthrough, and also includes the song "Green Is The Colour," which was originally on their 1969 album Soundtrack From The Film More and recorded just after founding member Syd Barrett left the group. - NME, 11/19/16...... Sting was honored with an acheivement award during the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 20. The former Police frontman also performed a medley of his hits during the show, starting with his recent single "Can't Stop Thinking About You" from his new album 57th and 9th and running through his Police-era classics "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take." "American music lit the musical spark in my young mind," the 65-year-old Sting said while accepting his award. "This uniquely American experiment -- perhaps America's greatest and most influential export -- rock and roll." Sting has also notched his 11th solo Top 10 entry in the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart with 57th & 9th, at No. 9 with 28,000 units sold. Sting last hit the Hot 200 Top 10 with his 2010 album, Symphonicities. Meanwhile, Sting and Bruce Springsteen are slated to perform at the 2016 Rainforest Fund gala on Dec. 14 at New York's Carnegie Hall. - Billboard, 11/20/16...... Bruce SpringsteenSpeaking of Bruce Springsteen, the Boss has announced he'll be hitting the road for another round of book signings for his just released memoir, Born to Run. The New Jersey rocker will launch a one-week tour beginning Nov. 28 at Books-A-Million in Chicago for a book tour that will stretch through Ohio (Cincinatti, 11/29), continue to Denver (11/30) and Austin, Tex. (12/1), and wind down at 2nd & Charles in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Dec. 2. All books will be pre-signed, and fans will be able to snap a photo with the 67-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. Tickets for all shows went on sale on Nov. 22 on the artist's Facebook Events page. Meanwhile, Springsteen has weighed in on the "Hamilton" Broadway show controversy in which the cast of show took to the stage after their Nov. 18 curtain call to address Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who attended the show. "We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us," cast member Brandon Victor Dixon. Springsteen and his wife Pattie Scialfa posed for a selfie on Nov. 20 in front of the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City where "Hamilton" is being presented, with Scialfa writing "looking for VP elect Pence #freedomofspeech." E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt -- while not disagreeing with the statement -- took to Twitter the next day to say the cast chose an "inappropriate" time to make their stand, and instead was "bullying" the politician. "You don't single out an audience member and embarrass him from the stage. A terrible precedent to set," Van Zandt posted. - Billboard, 11/20/16...... A terse letter written by John Lennon to Paul and Linda McCartney shortly after the breakup of the Beatles sold at auction for nearly $30,000 during a sale on Nov. 17 conducted by Boston-based RR Auction. RR says the letter is believed to have been written in 1971 in response to criticism Lennon received from Linda McCartney about his decision to not publicly announce his departure from the band. Filled with profanity and sometimes rambling, the letter reads "Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles? I don't believe you're that insane -- Paul -- do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up!" - AP, 11/21/16...... Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature on Oct. 13 but won't be attending the prize ceremony, will likely travel to Stockholm next year and might give his Nobel Lecture then, the Nobel Prize's Swedish Academy announced on Nov. 18. Dylan likely will give a concert in the Swedish capital, offering "a perfect opportunity to deliver his lecture," according to the academy. Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the academy, told a Swedish radio station that the Nobel Foundation's rules for laureate lectures are "flexible." Dylan can deliver his as "a written speech, a spontaneous discourse, a film" or another format of his choosing, said Danius. Dylan, 75, has said he cannot attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony due to pre-existing commitments that, according to his Facebook page, are of a personal nature. Details about who will accept the award on Dylan's behalf are still unclear. - AP, 11/18/16...... Freddie MercuryQueen guitarist Brian May announced on his Facebook page that the mother of late Queen frontman, Jer Bulsara, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Nov. 13 at age 94. May called Mrs. Bulsera, who he says he had known for 50 years, "a warm and devoted mum to Freddie and, like Freddie, always had a strong twinkle in the eye." Bulsara and Mercury had a close relationship until his untimely death aged 45 from complications arising from AIDS. Speaking of her relationship with her "dear boy," she once told the UK paper The Telegraph: "I often told him I didn't like his clothes and dresses, and tried to get him to cut his hair, but he would explain it was something you have to do when you are in the pop world and gradually I learnt to accept it." Meanwhile, a new Freddie Mercury documentary, Who Wants to Live Forever, debuted on UK TV on the fourth weekend of November on Channel 5. The in-depth film explores Mercury's life from the summer of 1985 at the Live AID concert to the spring of 1987, when he was diagnosed with HIV. 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Mercury, who passed on Nov. 24, 1991. - New Musical Express, 11/19/16...... As the Rolling Stones prepare to release a new album of blues classics and deep cuts covers, Blue & Lonesone, on Dec. 2, frontman Mick Jagger says an album of new, original material that the band was originally working on when they veered off toward a blues album is still on the docket, but it could take a while. "I was working on it quite recently," Jagger told Billboard/ "We've got a long way to go, but I think it sounds really great and I'm looking forward to carrying on with that." Jagger says he hopes they might return to the new songs in 2017, and guitarist Ronnie Wood has also predicted they'll be back in the studio "next year." Keith Richards, however, was less definitive: "Well, man, you know, I'm not Nostradamus," he quipped. Blue & Lonesone will be the British rockers' first studio LP since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Meanwhile, Jagger reportedly left a huge tip for the staff at the upscale New York Chinese restaurant Philippe Chow when he and his entourage recently visited the eatery. According to TMZ.com, Jagger reportedly left a $500 tip for a $478 bill, as he and his friends ordered a hardy meal -- including lettuce wraps, tuna tartare, chicken satays and green prawns -- for starters. The party then moved onto an order of Mr. Cheng's Noodles and Peking duck, before finishing with Baked Alaska for dessert. Eyewitnesses say Jagger ate his meal quickly and was very polite to staff. - Billboard/WENN.com 11/17/16...... The Ford Motor Company and UAW-Ford have announced a $6 million investment towards a planned expansion of the Motown Museum in Detroit. "We are thrilled to play a role in the next chapter of a global music icon," said Joe Hinrichs, president, The Americas, Ford Motor Company. "The enhanced museum will not only upgrade the visitor experience, it also fits with our commitment to investing in the cultural heritage of Detroit and southeast Michigan." The Motown Museum is located in the Hitsville U.S.A. house where record company founder Berry Gordy launched his music empire in 1959. Scores of classic hits were created there before the label moved to California in 1972. Ford's donation is part of a $50 million upgrade that will create a new Ford-branded theater, space for interactive exhibits and a recording studio at the tourist attraction. - Billboard/AP, 11/18/16...... Smokey RobinsonIn related news, Motown icon Smokey Robinson was honored with the prestigious Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16. "Gershwin music was always on in our house. So for me to be even mentioned in the same breath as the Gershwins is just unbelievable," Robinson said. Robinson also performed a soul-stirring concert at the DAR Constitution Hall, which was packed with some of the U.S.'s most powerful politicians. The event was taped and will air on PBS stations across the US on Feb. 10. - Billboard, 11/17/16...... Country songwriter Mentor Williams, best known for penning Dobie Gray's 1973 No. 5 smash "Drift Away," passed away from undisclosed causes on Nov. 16. He was 70. The brother of singer/songwriter/actor and ASCAP President Paul Williams, Mentor was also known for co-writing such tunes as Randy Travis and George Jones' "A Few Ole Country Boys" in 1990, and Alabama's 1984 hit "When We Make Love." His best-known song by far, however, was Gray's "Drift Away," which has been covered by everyone from Waylon Jennings to Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Ray Charles and Roy Orbison -- as well as Uncle Kracker, who returned the song to the Billboard Top 10 in 2003 with his No. 9-peaking, Gray-assisted cover. Williams, a longtime resident of Taos, NM, also worked with, recorded and produced a number of other artists, including Paul McCartney, Kim Carnes and his brother Paul, and served as a staff writer at Almo-Irving in the 1960s. He was also a producer for the A&M, MCA and Columbia Records labels, and had a romantic relationship with country singer Lynn Anderson from the 1980s until her death in 2015. "Mentor was a proud and grateful member (of ASCAP). He will be so missed," Paul Williams tweeted on Nov. 16. - Billboard, 11/17/16...... Canadian guitarist/songwriter Doug Edwards, a former guitarist with the bands Skylark and Chilliwak who penned Skylark's mega-hit "Wildflower," has died at his home in Vancouver after a long illness. He was 71. Born in Edmonton in 1946, Edwards moved to Victoria at age 15 and took up guitar and electric bass. He then moved to Vancouver and, within 18 months or so, was touring with the Fifth Dimension as their guitarist, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and opening for Frank Sinatra. In 1970, Edwards teamed with Dave Richardson, a Saanich police officer, to write "Wildflower," which became a gold record in Canada, went to No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard chart, and was covered by more than 75 artists from crooner Johnny Mathis to rapper Drake. "'Wildflower' is one of the most performed songs in the history of Canadian popular music," notes the website of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. "Wildflower" has also been used to treat female military personnel suffering from PTSD and sexual assault, and has been used to help suicidal addicts recover. Edwards, a session musician for six decades who underwent triple bypass heart surgery on Feb. 1 and then went into cancer treatment, also recorded or performed with Ann Mortifee and Olivia Newton-John, and on TV shows with Tom Jones, Paul Anka and Wolfman Jack.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 17th, 2016



Recent Nobel Prize for Literature honoree Bob Dylan has informed the Nobel Prize's Swedish Academy that "he wishes he could receive the prize personally, but other commitments make it unfortunately impossible," and that he won't be making the trip to Stockhom to pick up the prize in person on Dec. 10. Dylan, 75, was awarded the prize on Oct. 13 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Details on who will accept the award on Dylan's behalf are expected to be announced soon. Dylan at first was silent after the Nobel announcement but eventually said getting the award left him "speechless." - AP, 11/16/16...... Friends and former bandmates of David Bowie have announced they'll throw an all-star concert in memory of Bowie on what would have been his 70th birthday, Jan. 8, 2016. Set for the UK's Brixton Academy, the event will feature music by 30 musicians from throughout Bowie's career. Bowie friend and actor Gary Oldman will host the show, and it will be the first of a series of gigs around the world that will "take place in cities that have a strong connection with David Bowie and his work." The London gig will feature musicians who played on Bowie's final albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, along with former collaborators Mike Garson, Earl Slick and Adrian Belew, among others. - New Musical Express, 11/14/16...... Joni MitchellAs Joni Mitchell continues to recover from a brain aneurysm that left her unconscious in her L.A. home in March 2015, the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter made another public appearance on Nov. 7, her 73rd birthday, to celebrate the occasion with friends. Wearing red for her special day, a photo of Mitchell was posted to her Twitter account on Nov. 16. Although her condition was listed as life-threatening at the time, Mitchell's attorney Rebecca J. Thyne said the artist "has physical therapy each day and is expected to make a full recovery." Mitchell has kept a low profile since but was snapped out with friends at the Catalina Bar and Grill in late August. - Billboard, 11/16/16...... The exact details of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen's death on Nov. 7 have emerged, with his manager Robert B. Kory issuing a statement saying Cohen's death was "sudden, unexpected and peaceful" as he died in his sleep after falling down in the middle of the night at his Los Angeles home. Kory's statement also said that Cohen died on Nov. 7 -- three days before his passing was made public. The "Hallelujah" singer, who was 82, had been in declining health for much of the year, though he revealed few details. Cohen, who is survived by two children and three grandchildren, was buried in Montreal in a small ceremony on Nov. 10, the same day his death was announced. A makeshift memorial to Cohen has appeared at New York City's famous Hotel Chelsea, which was immortalized by Cohen in his 1974 song "Chelsea Hotel #2," which he later revealed was about Janis Joplin. Fans have left flowers, handwritten notes and pictures outside the Chelsea in Cohen's memory. A memorial to Cohen in Los Angeles is being planned, according to his reps. - AP, 11/16/16...... In related news, Leon Russell's wife, Jan Bridges, released a statement on Nov. 13 stating the influential songwriter and performer died at his home in his sleep on Nov. 12. "We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this very, very difficult time," she wrote. While Bridges did not specify his cause of death, she said, "My husband passed in his sleep in our Nashville home. He was recovering from heart surgery in July and looked forward to getting back on the road in January. We appreciate everyone's love and support." Elton John, who collaborated with Russell on the 2010 album The Union, tweeted that Russell was "a mentor, inspiration and so kind to me... I loved him and always will." Others tweeting in honor of Russell include Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Charlie Daniels, Chaka Khan, Richard Marx, Whoopi Goldberg, Booker T. Jones an George Benson, whose cover of Russell's composition "This Masquerade" was a Top 10 hit in 1976. - Billboard, 11/13/16...... Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen and Diana Ross will be among 21 people to be recognized by Pres. Barack Obama with a Presidental Medal of Freedom at the White House on Nov. 22. America's highest civilian honor, the medal will also be awarded to Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Cicely Tyson, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill and Melinda Gates, Lorne Michaels and sports broadcaster Vin Scully. - AP, 11/16/16...... In other Bruce Springsteen news, a group of good Samaritan bikers rescued The Boss on his own motorcycle after the bike broke down as he was travelling through Allaire State Park in New Jersey on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Members of the Freehold, N.J. American Legion Post 54 Legion Riders -- who represented Post 54 at the Veterans Day Ceremony in Holmdel for Veterans Day -- noticed a lonely rider on the side of the road calling out for help. After they pulled over, they recognized it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, and gave him a ride to Mulligan's, a restaurant in Farmingdale, N.J., where the 67-year old rocker made a call for a pickup. After the guys went inside, sat down and had a few drinks, a grateful Springsteen threw in $100, told them to keep the change, posed for a few pictures and took their phone numbers, presumably for future rides, or a thank-you note with free concert tickets. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... Reacting to the surprise election of Donald Trump as the next president of the U.S., Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger told the Associated Press in a new interview that "Everyone outside the U.S. is kind of mystified... I'd say, that's the polite word." Also weighing in during the interview were Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood, who aid "There will be some changes made. Hopefully they're going to be good ones," Charlie Watts, who commented that "I don't think he's gonna be as radical as he was coming into it, so I think a lot of what he says is going to be tempered down. Because if it isn't, it's gonna be a hell of bloody ride for four years." Keith Richards, however, offered no opinion. "It's a blank spot to me, I'm telling you... I ain't going there," he said. The Stones are promoting their new exhibit that debuted at Industria in New York City on Nov. 12 after launching in London earlier in 2015. It includes colorful tour outfits, Jagger's lyric book, Keith Richards' 1963 diary, Watts' toy drum kit and various photographs, from posters to magazine covers. The group's first London apartment that the band mates shared in 1962, complete with dirty dishes, beer bottles and blues records placed throughout the flat, has also been recreated. The band is also preparing to release a new album of blues cover songs called Blue & Lonesome on Dec. 2.- Billboard, 11/15/16...... Two members of the '60s pop band The Turtles, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a.k.a. Flo & Eddie), have settled a royalty lawsuit with SiriusXM radio on the eve before the trial was scheduled to begin. Pre-1972 sound recordings aren't protected by federal copyright. So, until recently, the owners of the rights to the songs weren't being compensated for hits played on digital channels like SiriusXM Radio's "'60s on 6." Details of the settlement were not announced, and a motion for preliminary approval of the deal will be filed in the next three weeks. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/14/16...... Cable channel HBO has announced that a two-part, as-yet-untitled Elvis Presley documentary has just wrapped and will be debuting on their network at some future date. The three-hour doc from Sony Pictures Television will span from Presley's childhood through his final recording sessions at his Graceland Jungle Room studio in 1976. It is written by Alan Light and directed by Emmy/Grammy winner Thom Zimny, who has worked on multiple Bruce Springsteen documentary and video projects. The film is being produced with full participation of Presley's family estate and will include never-before-seen photos and footage. - Billboard, 11/14/16...... Joe PeryAerosmith has announced that it will launch what it is calling a "farewell" tour in Europe in the spring of 2017. The Hall of Famers, who recently completed a tour of South America, are calling the tour the Aero-Vederici Baby! Tour and will kick it off on May 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel and include 17 dates before wrapping up July 5 in Zurich, Switzerland. The tour includes headlining spots at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 8 and the U.K.'s Download Festival on June 11. Tickets go on sale Nov. 18, and the full itinerary is posted at the band's official web site. Aerosmith's members have been talking about a farewell tour for a year, and guitarist Joe Perry says "that's a little tough for me to wrap my head around." "I mean, we all know our age is creeping up on us, but, man, we've tried to follow the lead of the original blues guys and the early rockers and just keep playing 'til we drop, y'know?," he added. "We all have different feelings about it. I do have a feeling that there'll be a tour that we'll call the final tour -- but when will it end? That I can't say." No North American dates have been announced yet for next year. Aerosmith has announced no plans to release new music, but Perry says "Maybe once we start doing some shows again we'll get inspired and get everyone on the page to do that. We'll see." - Billboard, 11/14/16...... Veteran ska band The Specials have just played two shows in London in November, and have announced they'll play extra dates in Birmingham, Leeds and Hatfield in Hertfordshire in May 2017. In December 2015, The Specials' drummer John "Brad" Bradbury died at the age of 62. After joining the band in 1979, Bradbury had a top 10 hit with The Specials in 1984 -- "Free Nelson Mandela." The Coventry band then split, but reunited for a 2009 tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Bradbury had remained part of the group since then. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... A letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to Paul McCartney and wife Linda McCartney has been put up for auction to the highest bidder, with bidding expected to reach $20,000 (£16,000). The undated letter sees Lennon responding to prior correspondence from Linda which he says left him "wondering what middle aged cranky Beatle fan wrote it." Lennon writes in his letter: "I hope you realise what shit you and the rest of my 'kind and unselfish' friends laid on Yoko and me, since we've been together." Later in the letter, John goes on to say that doesn't "resent" his former Beatles bandmate but that he feels "sorry for him." He also wrongly predicts that the McCartneys' marriage would be over within two years. "It was likely written shortly before Lennon and Ono's departure for America," says RR Auction representative Robert Livingston. "The draft captures the intense rivalry between the two men in the months, and even years, surrounding the breakup of the Beatles." - New Musical Express, 11/14/16...... A gig by Kraftwerk in Buenos Aires that appeared to be a victim of the Argentinian capital's ban on electronic music events after six people died at the Time Warp festival will go ahead after all, the promoter announced on Nov. 14. Kraftwerk are scheduled to play at Buenos Aires' Luna Park Stadium on Nov. 23. Kraftwerk are also set to tour the UK in 2017. - NME, 11/14/16...... StingFormer The Police frontman Sting reopened the Bataclan venue in Paris on Nov. 12, a day shy of the anniversary of the Paris terror attacks that killed 90 music fans during an Eagles of Death Metal concert in 2015. "We've got two important things to do tonight," Sting said in French. "First, to remember and honor those who lost their lives in the attacks a year ago and to celebrate the life and the music of this historic venue." He then called for a minute of silence in their honor, and said "We shall not forget them, before launching into his 1988 song "Fragile," whose lyrics read: "Nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could." Sting then paid tribute to a list of musicians who have passed within the past year, including David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Lemmy Kilmister and Leonard Cohen. - Billboard, 11/12/16...... Actress Carrie Fisher, who co-starred in the iconic 1977 Star Wars film with Harrison Ford, has purportedly detailed that she had a three-month extramarital affair with Ford in her upcoming book, The Princess Diarist. Fisher reveals the two thespians were more than just friends while shooting Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope in 1976, when she first portrayed Princess Leia and Ford took on the role of Han Solo. An excerpt purportedly from the upcoming release began circulating online on Nov. 15, apparently suggesting Carrie, then 19, was left disappointed the first time she slept with her co-star. Fisher has since spoken out to dismiss the unfounded claims, telling People.com, "Any reports claiming I said Harrison was bad in bed are utterly false. Perhaps people should read the book before they write their stories." Fisher has also taken to Twitter to address the reports, insisting her book makes no mention of Harrison's lovemaking skills. "I would never talk about how someone was in any furniture - chair, bed, coffee table or otherwise," she joked. Fisher says she has no regrets about going public with her fling, even though it suggests Ford was unfaithful to his then-wife Mary Marquardt. Ford and his first wife MaryMarquardt filed for divorce in 1979. He went on to wed Melissa Mathison in 1983, and now he's married to actress Calista Flockhart. Fisther has only been married once - to singer Paul Simon from 1983 to 1984. Ford and Fisher both reprised their roles for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. - WENN.com, 11/16/16.

Leon_RussellLeon Russell, the longhaired and long bearded pianist/guitarist/songwriter/bandleader who moved from playing countless recording sessions to making hits on his own, died on Nov. 12 in Nashville, Tenn. He was 74. The death of Russell, who had suffered significant health difficulties over the past five years, was announced on his website, which said that he had died in his sleep but gave no specific cause. One of the first of the supersessionmen, Russell played on recordings from whole host of artists from Jerry Lee Lewis through to The Crystals, Herb Alpert, The Byrds, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Delaney & Bonnie and the Rolling Stones. Born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Oklahoma on Apr. 2, 1941, Russell grew up in Tulsa and studied classical piano from the age of three for 10 years, but then grew tired of the disciplines of formal music. At 14 he learned to play trumpet and put together his own band, lying about his age so that he could work in a Tulsa nightclub, where he played with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, which later evolved into The Band. Later, Jerry Lee Lewis took Russell's band on the road with him. In 1958 he moved to Los Angeles, and began to hustle gigs as a sideman on recording sessions -- something his instrumental versatility enabled him to do with relative ease. He met Ricky Nelson's guitarist James Burton, who taught him guitar, and worked in the studio with Dorsey Burnette, Glen Campbell, and others. Leon_RussellRussell worked on nearly all the Phil Spector hit productions -- from The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" to the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," as well as on isolated hits like The Byrds' "Mr. Tamborine Man," Herb Alpert's "A Taste of Honey" and Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly." After spending some time as an executive with a small record company named Viva, he quit the music business for two years in 1967 in order to build his own sophisticated home studio, and occasionally appeared with friends Delaney & Bonnie on the ABC TV dance show Shindig, and sometimes played sessions. In 1968, he and Marc Benno were signed by Mercury for the Smash label, and made the Asylum Choir album, which sold disappointingly. Russell then toured with Delaney & Bonnie, and teamed with English producer Denny Cordell to form Shelter Records, which signed J. J. Cale, and went to London where they laid down the tracks for Russell's debut solo album, Leon Russell. At the beginning of 1970, Russell put together the Mad Dogs and Englishmen all-star entourage to back Joe Cocker, who had cut Russell's composition "Delta Lady" at Russell's home studio, on Cocker's ambitious American tour. However as the film of the tour illustrates, the whole enterprise served to elevate Russell into the star attraction at the expense of Cocker. In August 1971, Russell was invited by George Harrison to be one of the many leading rock personalities to participate in the Concert for Bangla-Desh benefit show, which also featured Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. Leon_RussellRussell's considerable stature in the rock world was also fortified when he was invited to work with and produce Dylan, although the resulting tracks, which include "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece," were recorded when Dylan seemed to be creatively at a low ebb. Russell's solo career, however, continued apace, and throughout 1972 and 1973, he was enormously popular in the U.S. He developed a strong onstage personality with his long beard, wispy hair and beard, and familiar stove-pipe hat. His own albums usually employed superstar lineups, and were of variable quality, though after 1972's Carney and a 1973 triple live set recorded at California's Ontario Race Track both went gold, Russell's standing as a solo artist declined. Russell severed his associations with Shelter Records in 1976, and initiated a new label, Paradise Records, with his Wedding Album. The album celebrated his marriage to singer Mary McCreery, who had released a solo album on Shelter in 1973. In more recent years, Russell continued to record and tour, and in 2010 he collaborated with one of his old touring partners, Elton John, on an album called The Union. That same year, Russell underwent surgery for a brain fluid leak and was treated for heart failure. The following year, he was honored with the Award for Musical Excellence by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In July of this year, Russell suffered a heart attack, and was scheduled for further surgery, according to a news release from the historical society of Oklahoma, his home state. - 11/13/16.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 12th, 2016



'70s artists Stevie Wonder and Yoko Ono are among the many celebrities reacting to the largely unexpected election victory of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8. On Nov. 11, Yoko tweeted an audio clip after Trump's win -- a response that was utterly Ono, singing an emotive shriek of agony with anxious grunting and utter distress. "Dear Friends, I would like to share this message with you as my response to @realDonaldTrump." "That's an awesome quote," you can hear someone saying on the recording afterwards. In an interview with Philly.com published the day of the election, blind R&B legend Wonder asked a reporter: "If you had an emergency situation and needed to go to the hospital, and you had to get there right away, would you want me driving your car?" he asked, to which the reporter replied "no" -- before he added: "Because I'm not an experienced driver, right?" The "Superstition" singer continued his brilliant, hilarious put-down of Trump: "So my belief is that Hillary [Clinton] is an experienced person of the government, and she has spent 30 years with a commitment. Not to mention that her parents taught her in a kinder way, to have respect and love for all people. That's the person I want to govern, to be the leader of this nation. This is not a reality show. This is life in reality. So I'm with her because I believe in where we are, and where we are going to go. I have always believed that America is great. We're just going to make it greater." - New Musical Express/Billboard, 11/8/16...... Joe ElliottDef Leppard has premiered a video for their 2015 eponymous Def Leppard LP track "Let's Go," the opening number from their upcoming live album/DVD And There Will Be A Next Time -- Live From Detroit. The concert is from the English rockers' stop at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, and the set is scheduled to hit stores on Feb. 10. There Will Be A Next Time features the group's entire 17-song set, including its medley of "Hysteria" and the late David Bowie's "Heroes." The set also comes with official music videos for "Let's Go," "Dangerous" and "Man Enough," as well as a lyric video for "Let's Go." Def Leppard will launch a pre-order site on PledgeMusic.com on Nov. 15 to give fans early access to select tracks and exclusive merchandise. Frontman Joe Elliott & co. will launch a tour in April 2017 that will last much of the year. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... Fans of David Bowie are seeking funding for a new statue in tribute to the rock icon to be erected in the town of Aylesbury, north of London. In 1971, Bowie debuted songs from his Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust albums at the Friars Club in Aylesbury, and he also referenced the rea's Market Square in the opening lines of the Ziggy track "Five Years." A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to finance the bronze statue designed by sculptor Andrew Sinclair, with organizers seeking £100,000 for the project. Fans have so far donated £26,420 to the cause. The statue would be complemented with a working soundsystem that would play a Bowie song every hour throughout the day and evening. In other Bowie news, a sale of Bowie's art collection conducted by Sotheby's in London smashed expectations, with a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat selling for more than 7 million pounds ($8.8 million). The first part of the two-day Bowie sale on Nov. 10 netted 24.3 million pounds ($30.3 million), more than double its upper pre-sale estimate. The top lot, Basquiat's "Air Power," sold for 7.1 million pounds ($8.8 million). Another, untitled Basquiat sold for 2.4 million pounds ($2.96 million). Bowie played Andy Warhol in Basquiat, director Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic of the American artist. The sale, which includes 400 items in all, also includes pieces of furniture and design from Bowie's collection. - New Musical Express/AP, 11/8/16...... Phil Collins announced on Nov. 8 that he'll be one of the headliners at British Summer Time at Hyde Park in June 2017, part of his recently announced comeback solo tour. Collins had already announced a run of shows throughout Europe as part of his "Not Dead Yet" tour, and the Summer Time gig will be the biggest concert yet. "The reaction from the British public has been overwhelming," Collins said in a statement. "I can't wait to play Hyde Park and see everyone there. I will be playing all of the songs that people love." Collins' previously announced dates include five nights in London at Royal Albert Hall, two dates in Cologne, and two dates in Paris, all set for June 2017. - NME, 11/8/16...... Sting has announced he will headline a concert at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, which takes place on Dec. 2 at the Wynn hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Sting will perform both a classic hit from his catalog as well as a new song from his latest album 57th & 9th, which dropped on Nov. 11. Meanwhile, Sting is scheduled to reopen the Bataclan concert hall, the same Paris concert venue where the tragic terrorist attack took place in 2015, on Nov. 12. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney has taken part in the Mannequin Challenge craze, the latest viral sensation that follows the Ice Bucket Challenge and the Harlem Shake. In it, people film themselves holding poses and staying completely motionless -- like mannequins. There's usually music playing in the background and a lot of the videos so far have been soundtracked by hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles." Now McCartney has joined in with his own version, also soundtracked by Sremmurd's track. "Love those Black Beatles," read a caption accompanying Macca's Mannequin Challenge video on Nov. 10. In the clip, Sir Paul stands by his grand piano, one hand tickling the ivories and the other reached out, seemingly in mid-song rapture. As the camera pans around him, you can probably guess which line from Sremmurd's current Top 10 hit blares out: "Black Beatle, bitch/ Me and Paul McCartney related!" - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Over 190 black & white photos from Elton John's personal photo collection have gone on display in "The Radical Eye," an exhibition which has opened at London's Tate Modern gallery. The photos usually adorn John's 18,000 square foot apartment in Atlanta, one of his several homes. John, who began buying photographs after he became sober in 1990, says collecting photos is a "a much healthier addiction," and his collection of 8,000 images is one of the largest troves of 20th-century photography in private hands. The photos on display were taken between 1915 and 1950, and include two dozen photos by surrealist Man Ray, including ones that usually hang above John's bed. The exhibition opened on Nov. 10, and will run through May 7. - AP, 11/10/16...... John Fogerty played an impromptu set that included the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival numbers "Proud Mary" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" after he completed his keynote Q&A session at the Billboard Touring Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 10. Earlier, Fogerty told the gathering of music execs that he was "scared to death of being a one-hit-wonder" when CCR started out. "After a while I started worrying about what was gonna happen after "Susie Q," Fogerty said of the 1968 cover hit. "It was a novelty and I knew it. I started to get busy staying up late and writing songs. I started strumming on the Rickenbacker and 'Proud Mary' came out." Fogerty, 71, also quipped that he dilegently practices his guitar playing, "because Brad Paisley is still better than me." Previous keynote Q&A's for the global touring business conference, now in its 13th year, have included conversations with Roger Waters, Gene Simmons and Chris Cornell. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... The slew of fellow musicians and celebrity admirers reacting to the recent death of revered singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen included several '70s musicians, including Charlie Daniels, Paul Stanley, Bette Midler and Carole King. "Rest in peace Buddy, I learned a lot about music from you," Charlie Daniels tweeted on Nov. 11, while Paul Stanley posted "RIP Leonard Cohen. A poet, songwriter and rogue till the end. Hallelujah." Bette Midler tweeted "Leonard Cohen has died. Another magical voice stilled," while Carole King simply posted "R.I.P. Leonard Cohen." Cohen, whose "Hallelujah" was one of the most covered songs in modern music history," passed away on Nov. 7 at age 82. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Don HenleyIn a new interview with the Washington Post, Eagles co-founding member Don Henley has slammed the U.S. Copyright Office over the sudden replacement of Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante. In October, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced that Pallante would be removed from her position, a move that was met with dismay from many members of the music industry and creators' rights groups. "She was a champion of copyright and stood up for the creative community, which is one of the things that got her fired," Henley said of Pallante, before turning his attention to Hayden. "The Librarian wants free content, and the copyright office is there to protect creators of content. They are diametrically opposed ideologies... [Hayden] has a long track record of being an activist Librarian who is anti-copyright and a Librarian who worked at places funded by Google." In her position as Register, Pallante was seen as a generally fair and sympathetic figure when it came to expanding creators' rights, and advocated for updating many of the Copyright Office's tech-based policies. "There's a mindset that the digital giants have fostered that everything on the internet should be free," Henley told the Post. "When they say they want free and open access, that's code for, 'We want free content.'" Henley added that "you don't make any money from recording music anymore... The streaming services have wiped out that revenue stream." - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Kraftwerk could be forced to cancel a gig in Buenos Aires later in November due to a ban on electronic music events in the Argentinian city. In April, the city ruled to ban all electronic events after the deaths of six people at Time Warp festival. The local government said they would no longer approve permits for major electronic music festivals until a new law is introduced to prevent drug-related deaths at music events. The German electronic music pioneers had been scheduled to play Buenos Aires' Luna Park Stadium on Nov. 23. Kraftwerk have announced they'll tour the UK in 2017, and the band was also recently nominated for next year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. - NME, 11/10/16...... Actor Robert Redford has announced he will retire from acting once he completes the two movie projects he is working on. Redford, 80, made the announcement in an interview with his grandson Dylan Redford for the Walker Art Center, where he will appear at an event on Nov. 12. "Once they're done then I'm going to say, 'OK, that's goodbye to all that,' and then just focus on directing," he said. Redford has two acting projects in the pipeline including a love story for older people called Our Souls at Night with Jane Fonda and a lighter piece with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek called The Old Man and the Gun. Redford adds he will turn his attention to painting as a creative outlet. "It's just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching - that's sort of where my head is right now... So, I'm thinking of moving in that direction and not acting as much," he said. The veteran actor first directed in 1980 with Ordinary People, which won him a Best Director Oscar, and he is also the founder the Sundance Institute, which helps independent filmmakers and runs the annual Sundance Film Festival. - WENN.com, 11/11/16...... Robert VaughnActor Robert Vaughn, the debonair, Oscar-nominated actor whose many film roles were eclipsed by his hugely popular turn in the iconic '60s TV spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., died on Nov. 11 after a brief battle with acute leukemia, according to his manager, Matthew Sullivan. He was 83. Born Robert Francis Vaughn into a theatrical family Nov. 22, 1932, in New York City, Mr. Vaughn broke into show business "after a two month struggle" in 1956, and starred in his first movie, No Time to Be Young, in 1957 after he was discharged form the Army. He went on to appear in a number of movies and television shows, and earned an Oscar nomination in 1959 for his supporting role in The Young Philadelphians, in which he played a wounded war veteran accused of murder. He eventually landed a lead role as urbane superspy Napoleon Solo in NBC's The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which debuted in 1964. The show was an immediate hit, particularly with young people, and was part of an avalanche of secret agent shows (I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Secret Agent), spoofs (Get Smart), books (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) and even songs (Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man") inspired by the James Bond films. Mr. Vaughn's Napoleon Solo character was teamed with Scottish actor David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin, a soft-spoken, Russian-born agent, and the pair put aside Cold War differences for a greater good, worked together each week for the mysterious U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in combating the international crime syndicate THRUSH. After the show was canceled in early 1968 due to sagging ratings, Mr. Vaughn and McCallum reunited in 1983 for a TV movie, The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. in which the super spies were lured out of retirement to save the world once more. Mr. Vaughn, a liberal Democrat, was also drawn to politics in several of the roles he chose, portraying US presidents Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt in various screen and stage projects. Mr. Vaughn also remained active in movies in his later career, usually in character roles in such films as The Venetian Affair, The Bridge at Remagen, Julius Caesar (the 1970 British version starring Charlton Heston), The Towering Inferno, S.O.B., Superman III and Delta Force. Mr. Vaughn is survived by his wife, Linda Staab Vaughn, their son Cassidy and daughter Caitlin. - AP, 11/11/16.

Leonard CohenCanadian poet/novelist/singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, a highly influential recording artist whose literate, evocative material was covered by many artists including Judy Collins and Jeff Buckley, died at his home in Los Angeles on Nov. 7. He was 82. Born in Montreal on Sept. 21, 1934, to a middle class family with Judaic roots, Mr. Cohen began studying music and poetry at a young age, taking up the clarinet but later turning his attention to writing as he grew older. After attending McGill University, Mr. Cohen published his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, and his first novel, Beautiful Losers, in 1966, and began to set his poems to music. When Judy Collins recorded his song "Suzanne" that same year, his solo career began to take off, and Columbia Records signed him and released his debut album, The Songs of Leonard Cohen, the following year. Full of haunting compositions which were well suited to his lugubrious, flat vocals, The Songs of Leonard Cohen was well received, as was its follow-up, Songs From a Room, though it didn't have the impact of its predecessor. Mr. Cohen then embarked on a series of live appearances in the U.S. and Europe, and for his first European tour in 1970, he employed a backing group called The Army which included his future producer, Bob Johnston, who also produced Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel. A reserved, slightly academic figure who was reportedly dismayed by the adulation fostered by live appearances, Mr. Cohen lacked the necessary stimulus to be a rock star, and his singles did not chart in the U.S. His 1971 release, Songs of Love and Hate, was a typical sparse and haunting collection that ranks among the most emotionally intense of his 13 studio albums, and perfectly captured his dramatic blend of folk and pop. In the mid-'70s, Mr. Cohen became a practicing Buddhist and spent time between 1994-99 secluded at a monastery in Mount Baldy, Calif. Leonard CohenAfter the monastery years, Mr. Cohen's career was jump-started in 2001 when his backup singer Sharon Robinson released Ten New Songs, which was co-written by Mr. Cohen. In 2012, the masses finally began catching on with the release of his LP Old Ideas, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, and 2014's Popular Problems, which debuted at No. 15. Mr. Cohen began touring in earnest again in 2008, delivering generous, acclaimed shows that were chronicled on a series of concert albums and live videos. Mr. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 by Lou Reed, who lauded him as being mong the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters." Other honors include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, four Juno awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Acheivement Award in 2010. He was also awarded several literary prizes and honorary university degrees, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award, in 2011. HIs romantic relationships included Marianne C. Stang (the subject of "So Long, Marianne"), artist Suzanne Elrod -- with whom he had son Adam and daughter Lorca but never married -- French photographer Dominque Issermann, and actress Rebecca De Mornay. Mr. Cohen's death was announced by his son and current producer, Adam Cohen, on Facebook on Nov. 10, who stated "We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries" and that his father "passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records... He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor." A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. - Billboard, 11/10/16.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 7th, 2016



Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to perform at a final evening rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on Nov. 7. Springsteen will appear along with fellow New Jerseyan and Clinton supporter Jon Bon Jovi as well as Pres. Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, former president Bill Clinton, and the Clintons' daughter, Chelsea. Springsteen has previously performed at presidential rallies for Pres. Obama in 2008 and 2012, and Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Springsteen has also been a frequent critic of Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, stating "he will not win" at a recent question and answer session promoting his new book, Born to Run, at New York City's Town Hall. - Billboard, 11/6/16...... Ted NugentMeanwhile, Ted Nugent campaigned on behalf of Donald Trump in his home state of Michigan, at Sterling Heights' Freedom Hill Amphitheater, on Nov. 6. "I've got your blue state right here. Black and blue," the veteran rocker and advocate for conservative causes said as he grabbed his crotch. "Each and every one of you have only 24 hours to convince the numb nuts that you know, that you can't vote for criminals, you can't vote for liars, you can't vote for scam artists," he added. Nugent, 67, also dropped an array of profanities as he warmed up the crowd in the traditionally Democratic state of Michigan. Nugent then performed "Fred Bear" and "Never Stop Believing for the crowd, shortly before Donald Trump took the stage and said "Unbelievable what's going on" to his supporters. Nugent has supported Trump since the New York businessman and celebrity first announced his campaign in 2015, telling a radio host "I'm a big fan of Donald Trump because I believe in bold, aggressive, unapologetic truth -- period" in August 2015. - Billboard, 11/7/16...... Former Creedence Clearwater Revival principal John Fogerty has been announced as the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Billboard Touring Conference, which takes place Nov. 9-10 at the SLS Beverly Hills Hotel. "John Fogerty is one of the most important popular music artists to emerge in the last 50 years, writing and performing songs that are interwoven into the very fabric of popular culture," said Ray Waddell of Billboard, who will be conducting a Q&A with Fogerty. "For many of us, Mr. Fogerty's voice and guitar provide a truly transformative American experience. I am thrilled to welcome him to the Billboard Touring Conference and fully expect to be entertained, surprised, and inspired in a compelling session," he added. The Billboard Touring Conference & Awards is taking place in L.A. for the first time after 12 years in New York. - Billboard, 11/7/16...... Director Jim Jarmusch describes his new Iggy Pop and the Stooges documentary Gimme Danger as a "love letter" to the 69-year-old Pop and his band. "I call it an essay, a love letter. I call it a blatant celebration of The Stooges," Jarmusch says. " I love all Stooges songs. [1970's] Fun House as an entire record is probably the greatest rock'n'roll record ever made. The lyrics to 'Gimme Danger', the song, are incredibly beautiful, dark and fantastic." Gimme Danger, an Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures production, is currently screening in select theaters, and can be pre-ordered for streaming at Amazon.com. - Billboard, 11/4/16...... RushRush will be honored with Canada's Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award during the 2017 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards in Toronto on Apr. 20, 2017. Rush, comprised of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, issued a statement saying they were "so incredibly honored" for the decoration, which recognizes outstanding Canadian artists who've contributed to social activism and supported humanitarian causes. "The depth of Allan and Gary Slaight's generosity, consideration and benevolence has no measure," the statement said. "We will strive to carry forward their spirit of charity and goodwill." Gary Slaight of Slaight Communications noted the band's tireless campaigning for people in need. "In recent years, the group has raised money for food banks, Casey House, the Kidney Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, AIDS research; the list goes on," he said. On Nov. 3, a new documentary of Rush's R40 Tour, Time Stand Still, premiered at selected cinemas in Canada and the US. The film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 18. Rush is also preparing to reissue their classic 1976 album 2112 as a special 40th anniversary edition this Christmas. 2112 - 40th will include rare live and previously unreleased material as well as covers from Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, Alice in Chains, and others. A 2 CD/DVD edition will feature a newly remastered version of the album with the second disc featuring live outtakes, and the DVD will feature Rush's 1976 performance at the Capitol Theatre and a Q&A with Alex Lifeson. A 3 LP/2 CD/DVD "Super Deluxe" edition will also be available, with the first 1,000 preorders also featuring a limited edition 7-inch pressing of the album's first single, "The Twilight Zone." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 11/3/16...... Neil Young has previewed a new song called "Peace Trail" from his upcoming album of the same name. Originally set for a Dec. 2 release, Peace Trail has been pushed back for a Dec. 9 release. Meanwhile, Young has made his entire back catalogue available on the major streaming services again after removing them in the summer of 2015 because he was dissatisfied with the tracks' sound quality. "It's not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent" Young posted on Facebook at the time. "It's about sound quality. I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music." Young's albums were again made available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music on Nov. 4. - Billboard, 11/4/16...... PrinceUniversal Music Publishing announced on Nov. 2 that it had acquired exclusive worldwide publishing rights for Prince's entire song catalog -- released and unreleased. "UMPG will work closely with the artist's estate to develop new creative outlets for his music," the statement said. Before his death, Prince and his staff managed his publishing catalog, with Peermusic handling back-office administration, after an earlier UMPG contract ended in 2013. Negotiations for the licensing rights to much of the prolific Prince's overall catalog, as well as to four decades' worth of unreleased material, are ongoing, according to longtime Prince associate L. Londell McMillan. Earlier in 2016 Prince's longtime label Warner Bros. announced that it had secured the rights to the first posthumous releases since the artist's death on Apr. 21, which include a deluxe edition of Purple Rain containing a full album of unreleased material, out early in 2017. - Billboard, 11/2/16...... Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters has joined a growing network of UK artists, musicians, film makers, and others who are calling on Israel to withdraw their occupation of the West Bank. Waters has signed a petition requesting that the electronic duo Chemical Brothers cancel their upcoming performance in Tel Aviv on Nov. 12. More than 7,000 signatures were collected in petition against the performance, and so far the Chemical Brothers have made no plans to cancel. - Billboard, 11/2/16...... A new sign of giant red letters that proclaim "Long Live Rock" has just been unveiled in the plaza of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Oh. The sign will be formally dedicated on Nov. 10 as officials share details of a multimillion-dollar redesign expected to include the Hall of Fame and main exhibit spaces. Todd Mesek of the RRHOF says the sign adds another "iconic element" to the attraction, and visitors already have been spotted snapping photos with it. - AP, 11/5/16...... A David Bowie orchestral tribute that took place at the U.K.'s Glastonbury Festival earlier in 2016 has announced it will now embark on a short tour of the UK. The orchestra, conducted by Charles Hazlewood, performed composer Philip Glass' 1996 classical work "Heroes Symphony," based on Bowie's 1977 album "Heroes." The three performances will take place in Bristol (12/10), Nottingham (12/12) and Bexhill (12/14). Bowie was a fan of Philip Glass, citing him as an influence on his music. Meanwhile, the BBC recently announced a series of upcoming Bowie specials to mark the one year anniversary of his death, and a new "best of" compilation, Bowie Legacy, is due on Nov. 11. - New Musical Express, 11/3/16...... Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has hinted that Black Sabbath could be releasing new music after they wrap their "The End" farewell tour in early 2017. "As I said, I'll be doing some writing," Iommi told Ultimate Classic Rock magazine. "Maybe I'll be doing something with the guys, maybe in the studio, but no touring." Iommi added that he "loves the playing" but he "just can't travel anymore." Black Sabbath's final six gigs will take place in the UK in the winter of 2017, with the final two shows in their native Birmingham on Feb. 2 and 4. - NME, 11/4/16...... The alt rock band Foo Fighters, currently on hiatus, has announced it will reunite in 2017 to particpate in the ceremony honoring Tom Petty as MusiCares Person of the Year on Feb. 10, 2017. It will mark Foo Fighters' first performance since announcing their hiatus in Nov. 2015. The Foo Fighters will be joining previously announced artists Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Jeff Lynne and Randy Newman at the Petty tribute. - Billboard, 11/4/16...... Meat LoafAppearing at the Q magazine awards in London on Nov. 2 to receive an honor, Meat Loaf revealed to the UK Press Association that he had emergency back surgery in October and was still "in pain" following the operation. "I'm just ready to sit down because four weeks ago I had spinal fusion," said Meat Loaf, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday. "There was a cyst which was pinching nerves so I had emergency back surgery." Meat Loaf previously revealed that he was on a new diet and fitness regime following his collapse while performing at a concert in Edmonton, Alberta on June 16. The Bat Out of Hell singer previously collapsed on stage at a gig in London in 2003 and at a show in Pittsburgh during 2011.- NME, 11/3/16...... Bob Cranshaw, a veteran jazz bassist known for his hundreds of sessions with everyone from Tony Bennett to Oscar Peterson died on Nov. 2 after a battle with stage 4 cancer. He was 83. Born in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 10, 1932, Mr. Cranshaw began his career back in the 1950s and his signature light touch on the upright and electric bass could be heard on a galaxy of recordings from some of the jazz and pop world's most popular artists, including George Benson, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, Judy Collins and Buddy Rich. He also served as the session bassist for the iconic PBS children's programs Sesame Street and The Electric Company and played bass in the Saturday Night Live house band from 1975-80. According to the Jazz Foundation, Mr. Cranshaw played on a total of 3,000 recordings and also served as the musical director for The Dick Cavett Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The David Frost Show. - Billboard, 11/3/16.

At the 10th Annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit at Madison Square Garden's The Theater on Nov. 1, Bruce Springsteen performed four acoustic numbers and held an auction to help raise money for veterans. After an acoustic version of "Working on the Highway" from Born in the USA, Springsteen told his first of four dirty jokes of the night -- about an elderly couple making love in an alley up against a fence that's "now electrified." After two songs from his 2007 LP Magic, "I'll Work for Your Love" and "Long Walk Home," he wrapped with his 1984 smash "Dancing in the Dark." The Boss also auctioned off a ride to a Freehold, N.J. drive-in in his 1967 Cadillac, a signed guitar, and "his mother's famed lasanga," all for $280,000. A separate auction of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle ridden by Springsteen fetched $150,000. Presented by the Bob Woodruff Foundation and The New York Comedy Festival, the event raised an estimated $1,400,000 for veterans and also featured comic performances by Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K. and Jim Gaffigan. - Billboard, 11/1/16...... Apple Computer's new iPhone update for their iOS 10.2 comes with brand new emojis of David Bowie's iconic Aladdin Sane makeup, complete with lightning bolt, flamboyant hair and even a very "Ziggy Stardust"-esque jump suit. Acting as a template for various emotions, users will be able to make the Bowie emoji shrug his shoulders, cross his fingers and even face palm. In fitting Bowie androgynous style, the emoji comes in both male and female form. Users can get the latest iPhone update at www.apple.com. Meanwhile, a new Bowie "best of" compilation, Bowie Legacy, hits stores on Nov. 11. - New Musical Express, 11/2/16...... Gregg AllmanGregg Allman announced on Nov. 2 that he's ready to mount a full winter 2017 tour after recovering from "serious health issues," which he later revealed as a case of pneumonia, and forced him to cancel several concerts earlier in 2016. Kicking off with two nights in Savannah, Ga., to celebrate New Year's Eve on Dec. 30 and 31, the blues-rock legend will tour throughout January before wrapping with a four-night stand at the Grand Opera House in his hometown of Macon, Ga. Before that trek begins, Allman will omplete a 10-night residency at City Winery in New York, starting on Nov. 6. On the last weekend of October, Allman and his band tuned-up for the upcoming tour with a slot at the Laid Back Festival in Atlanta and an acoustic set at Red Rocks in Colorado. - Billboard, 11/2/16...... James Taylor performed his classic "Carolina on My Mind," among other songs, at a campaign event for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Nov. 2 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the Michael Hooker Fields. Taylor, who grew up in Chapel Hill, N.C., campaigned with Pres. Barack Obama at the "Gt Out the Early Vote" public event to encourage North Carolina voters to vote early at "one-stop" early voting locations. - Billboard, 11/1/16...... Appearing on comedian Marc Maron's podcast "WTF with Marc Maron on Oct. 31, former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters described the rise of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as "like Hitler's." "It was insidious in Germany in the '30s when National Socialism came, Waters said. "And National Trumpism feels a bit less insidious, but it's just as dangerous." Waters added the conditions of post-World War I Germany and the United States now are not so dissimilar. "You have to have a population that feels defeated, like the Germans did after the Treaty of Versailles," he said. "So what you have in the States now is everybody's standard of living is falling, like a freefall, and also where the freedoms that are enshrined in your Constitution and in the Bill of Rights are being slowly eroded and taken away from you." At a concert in Mexico City in September, Waters called Trump an offensive name in Spanish, and at the Desert Trip festival in October, he called Trump "arrogant, lying, racist, sexist." - Billboard, 11/1/16...... Bob Dylan has finally formally accepted his recent award of the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature. The Swedish Academy's permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said that Dylan himself contacted them and said "of course" he would accept the prize. Danius told Sweden's TT news agency that Dylan called her on Oct. 25 and they spoke for about 15 minutes. "The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless," Dylan reportedly told Danius, who posted news of the conversation on Oct. 28 on the academy's website. "I appreciate the honor so much," Dylan added. In an interview with the UK paper The Telegraph posted on Oct. 28, Dylan was quoted as saying he "absolutely" wants to attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony, "if it's at all possible." Dylan, 75, was awarded the prize on Oct. 13 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," and at first was silent after the announcement, prompting one member of the Swedish Academy to describe his silence as "impolite and arrogant." In 2000, Dylan collected the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, also in Stockholm, and in 2012, he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington, D.C., from Pres. Barack Obama. - AP, 10/29/16...... John LennonA man who bought a 45 rpm single of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band's single "Cold Turkey" for $10 as part of a sale of used items found in an attic has made quite a discovery -- a draft of a letter Lennon wrote to Queen Elizabeth II in 1969 protesting the UK's involvement in foreign wars. In the letter, Lennon states that he is returning his honorary MBE (Member of the British Empire) medal that all the Beatles received in 1965 "in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts." "Cold Turkey," released in December 1969, peaked at No. 14 on the U.K. charts, and No. 30 on the U.S. charts. Lennon signed the note, "John Lennon of Bag," playing on the term "bagism" he and Ono coined during their late-'60s peace campaign as a way to satirize prejudice and stereotyping. The letter is not, however, the actual letter that Lennon sent to the Queen. A memorabilia expert says the draft was never sent probably due to smudged ink. The buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, has yet to announce if he plans to sell the letter, which has an estimated value of £60,000 ($72,000). - Billboard/CNN, 10/28/16...... In other Beatles-related news, a new Lego toy set based on the Fab Four's iconic Yellow Submarine movie went on sale on Nov. 1. In October, Lego fans and Beatles fans alike were sent into a frenzy when the new 550-piece Lego pack, which comes complete with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, along with the submarine itself and a miniature of Jeremy Hillary Boob from the animated 1968 movie, was announced. "The creation of the Yellow Submarine model was really my way of showing my affection for The Beatles, as well as trying to pay a small tribute to The Beatles phenomenon," said its sponsor, singer-songwriter Kevin Szeto. - New Musical Express, 11/1/16...... Iggy Pop has revealed to Entertainment Weekly magazine that he's returned to the recording studio for the first time since he released his latest LP, Post Pop Depression, in March. "I've made five recordings since then," Pop says, apparently implying that all the tracks are collaborations with other artists. "But they were all recordings not where I'm about, 'Hey, I've got something to say!' No, it was just, people called me up and said, 'Do you want to do a vocal with me, about this, under this circumstance?' More like guesting." Pop, 69, hinted in June that he may never make another proper solo album. "Another album would be a big undertaking from an old git like me!," he told a UK talk show host. Pop is currently making the rounds promoting Gimme Danger, a documentary about his band the Stooges directed by Jim Jarmusch. - NME, 10/31/16...... A new Rolling Stones exhibit entitled "MICK, KEITH, CHARLIE & RONNIE: ART + OBJECTS" opened on Nov. 3 at HG Contemporary Gallery in New York City. Featuring rare memorabilia and art created by or inspired by the band the 200-piece collection, amassed by a private collector and longtime friend of the iconic band, offers an intimate glimpse into the Stones' creative process and lifestyle. "The Stones aren't just musicians. They're immortal. They are the definition of rock 'n' roll... I love how (this exhibit) ties in visual art, musical art and fashion art all in one space," says Contemporary Gallery founder and director Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim. Highlights include Mick Jagger's hand-written lyrics, a drawing co-created by Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, and an original hand-painted "Bigger Bang" tongue guitar by Ronnie Wood -- the band's most accomplished visual artist. - Billboard, 10/28/16...... Arnel PinedaJourney keyboardist-guitarist Jonathan Cain says if the band should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 after being nominated in October, he hopes the band's current vocalist, Arnel Pineda will be able to go in with them. "That's wrong, y'know?," Cain said about Pineda not being included on the list of Journey members getting a nod (original Journey drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who played on Journey's first four albums, was also not nominated). "There is no Journey without Arnel right now," Cain continued. "He certainly has learned his stripes. He's been with us longer than any lead singer has consecutively stayed in the band. He's given us 10 years straight, not running off or doing this, doing that, just being The Guy. So that's worth something." Controveries over past and present members of other bands, including Kiss, Deep Purple and Chicago, not being inducted have also plagued the RRHOF in recent years. Cain says that should Journey be inducted, he and his bandmates will lobby for Pineda to also be inducted, be he isn't sure how effective it can be. "We have no control of it; It's just the politics of it all," Cain notes. "What are you gonna do? You're just gonna accept what's given you in this situation. But I think it's a significant oversight, for sure, and maybe they'll reconsider when they think about it." As for former frontman Steve Perry, who was nominated but has been mum about reuniting with the band for a possible induction, Cain says he'd be welcome. "I can't really speak for him in that regard, but certainly the door's always been open for him to join us any time he wants," Cain says. - Billboard, 10/28/16...... In a new interview to mark Halloween, Ozzy Osbourne revealed he thinks Black Sabbath' eponymous 1970 track is "the scariest song ever written." "When we started gigging way back when, as soon as we started playing this song's opening chords, young girls in the audience would fucking freak out," Osbourne told New Musical Express. "They thought we were Satan's f---ing friends or something." Osbourne added that "that's when the whole Prince of Darkness shit started... When people get excited about Halloween coming around each year, all I think is 'well, we used to have Halloween every f---ing night." Ozzy added that while Black Sabbath is retiring after a final gig in February 2017, he has no plans to retire personally. "I'll be continuing my own musical thing. My wife is good at telling me partial information, but I know I'm not hanging my boots up for a while," he said. - NME, 10/29/16...... In an interview with the London Times, the Who's Roger Daltrey says he thinks that rock is "dead" and that "rappers are the only people saying things that matter." "Most pop is meaningless and forgettable" the 72-year-old singer said of the current musical climate. "You watch these [new pop stars] and you can't remember a bloody thing," he added. - NME, 10/28/16...... Former Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes announced on Nov. 1 that he's been forced to cancel his UK and European tour after co-headliner Living Colour booked a conflicting support slot on Alter Bridge's European tour. Hughes was planning on touring Europe in support of his upcoming solo album, Resonate. When word got to promoters that Living Colour were no longer planning to perform on the co-headline dates, they were forced to refund all tickets. "I am saddened and disappointed that I will not be able to perform for my UK and European fans as I had originally intended," Hughes says. "Unfortunately, an undermining manager got involved and in turn ruined what would have been an amazing tour. I can't wait to get back to the UK and Europe to bring the new songs of Resonate to my fans overseas," he added. All ticket holders of Hughes' UK and European tour will be offered refunds at the point of purchase and can call the venues for more information. - Noble PR, 11/1/16...... Freddie MercuryQueen will release On Air: The Complete BBC Sessions, a compilation of the band's six performances on BBC radio recorded between 1973 and 1977, on Nov. 4 in the UK and Nov. 11 in the US. The set includes the song "My Fairy King," which Queen first played on a 1973 John Peel live session for the BBC. "This was the first time we'd really seen Freddie [Mercury] working at his full capacity," Queen guitarist Brian May says. "He's virtually a self-taught pianist, and he was making vast strides at the time, although we didn't have a piano on stage at that point because it would have been impossible to fix up." Queen On Air is available as a 2-CD set and a 3-LP vinyl edition, plus a Deluxe 6-disc edition featuring a CD of live concert broadcasts and 3 CDs of radio interviews. - New Musical Express, 11/1/16...... John "Buck" Ormsby, the singer of the classic 1961 garage band hit "Louie Louie" by The Fabulous Wailers, died in Mexico on Oct. 29 following a fall while on a trip there. He was 75. "He was just getting ready to come home," said his longtime partner Pamela Ruznic from the couple's hometown of Tacoma, Wash. The Wailers had several members before bassist Ormsby arrived. But he, Robin Roberts and Kent Morrill formed the group that would in 1961 release their biggest hit, "Louie Louie," and become one of the premier American garage bands of the 1960s, appearing one time on American Bandstand. "Louie Louie" was originally recorded by R&B singer Richard Berry. Roberts came across the song while working in a Tacoma record shop in the late 1950s, and his band The Wailers gave it the distinctive arrangement it has had since, though a version by The Kingsmen is the most well-known. - 10/31/16...... Claude "Curly" Putnam, a prolific country music songwriter who penned some of the biggest songs in that genre's history, died at the age of 85 on Oct. 30 just outside Nashville, Tenn. Born on Nov. 20, 1930 in Princeton, Ala., Mr. Putnam scored his first major hit in 1965 with "Green, Green Grass of Home." Though originally a hit for Porter Wagoner, the song proved to be one of Mr. Putman's most lucrative copyrights, with recordings by Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, and Kenny Rogers. Mr. Putnam's other hits include "My Elusive Dreams" and the Tammy Wynette classic "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," which he co-wrote with Bobby Braddock. In 1980 Mr. Putnam's and Braddock's "He Stopped Loving Her Today" became a No. 1 country hit for George Jones, and is now regarded as the greatest country song in history. In addition to his talents as a tunesmith, Mr. Putman hit the country Top 30 in 1960 with "The Prison Song" and charted a pair of albums and singles for ABC in the 1960s. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976. - Billboard, 10/30/16.