Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on May 4th, 2014

Eric Clapton is planning a star-studded tribute album to his late friend, singer/songwriter J.J. Cale who wrote two of Clapton's biggest hits ("After Midnight" and "Cocaine") as well as for being a pioneer of the "Tulsa Sound." Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze, An Appreciation of JJ Cale will drop July 29 via Clapton's Brushbranch Records and feature reinterpretations of 16 Cale tracks, performed by Clapton and such guest musicians as Tom Petty, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Mark Knopfler and more. In July 2013, Cale died of a heart attack in San Diego at the age of 74, seven years after the pair first collaborated on record with Road to Escondido. Clapton called it "the realization of what may have been my last ambition, to work with the man whose music has inspired me for as long as I can remember." In other Clapton-related news, Slowhand's former Cream bandmate, drummer Ginger Baker, will release his first new album in 16 years, titled Why?, on June 24. The title track is a plodding, swinging jazz number, like many on the record, and features song breaks in which voices ask, "Why?" But when asked about the impetus behind the question, Baker responds, "Why do so many disasters follow me through my life?" and no more. Asked why it took so long to record a new record, Baker said, "tempus fugit" (Latin for "time flies"). - Billboard/Rolling Stone, 4/30/14.

Robert Plant has signed a new worldwide record deal with Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records, who will release his tenth solo LP on a date to be announced soon. The label says the Led Zeppelin alum's new LP will feature his roots and psychedelic-inspired backing band, The Sensational Space Shifters. Plant and the Space Shifters are spending this summer on tour, with dates in Europe that include festival stops at Pinkpop, Glastonbury and Montreux. Their live shows have been "getting the Led out" with re-imagined versions of familiar Led Zepp songs along with Plant's own solo material. Plant's new album will be the followup to his 2010 set, Band of Joy, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Plant has charted 13 solo albums on the album chart, including seven top 10 efforts. Of those, his highest charting release was his Grammy Award-winning "Raising Sand," with Alison Krauss. It peaked at No. 2 on the chart and spent 72 weeks on the list " his longest-charting effort. It has sold 1.6 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Meanwhile, a trailer for the forthcoming reissue of Led Zeppelin's second album has been released. A new song, "La La," ill appear on the second disc of Led Zeppelin II and the album's companion audio will also include alternate mixes of five songs from the album plus backing tracks to "Thank You" and "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)." On June 2 the deluxe editions of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III will all be released. Led Zeppelin III will also feature a bonus audio disc with such rare tracks as "Jennings Farm Blues," "Bathroom Sound" and "Keys To The Highway/Trouble In Mind," which have only appeared on bootlegs until now. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 5/2/14.

Paul McCartney's current tour might be named "Out There," but he was really "up there" on Apr. 28 when he played Quito, Ecuador, which sits at 9,350 feet above sea level. The show at the city's Estadio de Liga venue was the Beatles legend's first concert ever in Ecuador, and to mark his visit local authorities teamed up with the country's Beatles fan club to greet Sir Paul by creating a giant logo for his latest album, NEW, on the Pichincha Mountain, a local landmark, where it is visible throughout the entire city. Macca's three-hour concert included a special rendition of "All You Need Is Love" on the piano, a song currently being used in a global tourism advert for Ecuador. McCartney is currently on the South American leg of his Out There tour, having previously performed in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. He will next visit Europe and then North America, then return to Japan and also make his debut in Korea in June. As previously reported, he is also set to play the final concert ever at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on Aug. 14. - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/2/14.

Forty years after their third studio album Santana III, the original members of Santana are reuniting to record a followup to be called Santana IV. "We're doing Santana IV 'cause we stopped at III, legendary guitarist Carlos Santana told Billboard. "We went into the studio [and] we [did] some vocals. We are going to record some more. To be in the same studio as Greg Rolie, Michael Shrieve and Michael Carabello...it's really incredible to make that circle complete," he added. Carlos is also prepping his latest solo album, Corazón, which is due May 6. "The goal was to make a Supernatural type of CD, with special, soulful guests [and] with that kind of vibration of el barrio| I love that we resonate with the street. If you have street credibility then it's really happening," he says. He added Corazón, will be a celebration of Latin heritage and its musical influence, with guests as Miguel, Gloria Estefan, Juanes and more. - Billboard, 5/2/14.

Paul Simon and his wife, the singer Edie Brickell, appeared in court in Norwalk, Conn., on Apr. 28 following their arrest two days earlier on disorderly conduct charges after officers investigated a 911 call made by Simon at their residence. The police report indicates that Brickell, 48, and Simon, 72, became physical with each other during an argument inside a cottage on their New Canaan property that houses a recording studio. Brickell told officers she confronted her husband after he did something to "break her heart," according to police, but she did not provide any details. She told police he shoved her during the argument, and she slapped him. The report indicates Simon called 911 and then hung up, prompting the police response. Simon suffered a superficial cut to his ear, and Brickell, who smelled of alcohol, had a bruise on her wrist, according to the police report. The couple were allowed to remain on the property, but Simon agreed to spend the night in a second home in Manhattan, police said. Both said in court they did not consider the other a threat, and no protective order was issued. "Both of us are fine together," Simon told Superior Court Judge William Wenzel. "We had an argument and it's atypical of us and neither one of us has any fear or any reason to feel threatened." Simon and Brickell are due back in court on May 16. Two days after appearing in court, the pair released a new musical collaboration, "Like to Get to Know You," which is described as a sweet three-minute acoustic duet. It opens with sentiments of estrangements and then longingly noticing other couples getting along, before returning to a tender chorus: "I wouldn't trade places with anyone, none of them. Cause I'd like to get to know you again." - New Musical Express/Billboard, 5/1/14.

The handwritten notes for of the most famous rock songs of all time, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," is to be auctioned by Sotheby's this summer. The auctioneer is offering a working draft about the 1965 song about a debutante who becomes a loner when she's cast from upper-class social circles for an estimated $1-2 million. The draft is written in pencil by a 24-year-old Dylan on four sheets of hotel letterhead stationery with revisions, additions, notes and doodles: a hat, a bird, an animal with antlers. The stationery comes from the Roger Smith hotel in Washington, D.C. "How does it feel To be on your own" it says in his handwriting. "No direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone." Scrawls seem to reflect the artist's experimentation with rhymes. The name "Al Capone" is scrawled in the margin, with a line leading to the lyrics "Like a complete unknown." Another note says: "...dry vermouth, you'll tell the truth..." Sotheby's says it is "the only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem." The auction is June 24 as part of Sotheby's rock and pop music sale. In related news, Mick Jagger sang a rendition of Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" at a celebrity-filled memorial service on May 2 for his longtime companion, fashion designer L'Wren Scott, who committed suicide in March. The service, held at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, was followed by a reception. Others attending included actresses Julianne Moore, Meg Ryan, Renee Zellweger, and Ellen Barkin as well as film director Martin Scorsese. Fans lined against barricades to take photos. A small private funeral was held for Scott in Los Angeles in March. - AP, 5/2/14.

The new Carole King stage production "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical" has received seven Tony Awards nominations, including Best Musical and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Jessie Mueller. It was also recognized for its book and actors in featured roles. The multiple Carole King nominations come just months after the influential singer-songwriter was honored as MusiCare's 2013 Person of the Year. Several famous faces, including Lady Gaga, Steven Tyler, Pink and more paid tribute to her at an event in Los Angeles in January. "It is my absolute privilege to be honoring such an incredible woman, a true musical genius named Carole King," Gaga said, referencing King's "You've Got a Friend." "[I used to] crank this song so high - and I really believed so much, Carole, that you were my friend. Thank you so much for the way you sing right to us." The American Theatre Wing's 68th Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards will be broadcast live on CBS at 8 p.m. on June 8, with Hugh Jackman hosting. - Rolling Stone, 4/29/14.

Handsome and debonair actor Efrem Zimablist Jr., best known for playing a brilliant G-man in the 1964-74 TV series The F.B.I., died at his Southern California ranch on May 2. He was 95. Mr. Zimablist was a prolific actor who also appeared in numerous films and stage productions, and also appeared as a wisecracking private investigator who was a co-partner in a swinging Hollywood detective agency in the series 77 Sunset Strip. At the end of each The F.B.I. episode, after Mr. Zimbalist and his fellow G-men had captured that week's mobsters, subversives, bank robbers or spies, the series would post real photos from the FBI's most-wanted list. Some of them led to arrests, which helped give the show the complete seal of approval of the agency's real-life director, J. Edgar Hoover. He was also cast in several feature films, including Too Much Too Soon, Home Before Dark, The Crowded Sky, The Chapman Report and Wait Until Dark. In the latter, he played the husband of Audrey Hepburn, a blind woman terrorized by thugs in a truly frightening film. "We are heartbroken to announce the passing into peace of our beloved father, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., today at his Solvang ranch," the actor's daughter Stephanie Zimbalist and son Efrem Zimbalist III said in a statement. "He actively enjoyed his life to the last day, showering love on his extended family, playing golf and visiting with close friends." Mr. Zimbalist was preceded in death by his second wife and by his daughter Nancy. In related news, actor Bob Hoskins, who appeared in the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Hook, Brazil and Nixon, has died after being hospitalized with a bout of pneumonia. He was 71. The British-born actor first caught critics' attentions in the 1980 gangster movie The Long Good Friday, and in 1982, he had bit parts in the Pink Floyd movie Pink Floyd - The Wall. His other acting credits include Mermaids, Super Mario Bros., Spice World, Maid in Manhattan and Mrs. Henderson Presents. In 2012, he announced that he was retiring from acting upon learning he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. - AP/Rolling Stone, 5/3/14.