Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 28th, 2014

Jimmy Buffett's new online streaming channel Margaritaville TV has netted about 10,000 viewers for each of its seven broadcasts since it began earlier in 2014. The feedback from that has been unbelievable," says Buffett, whose channel offers select Buffett concerts live. "There was one element of my inner circle that thought we'd be cannibalizing ourselves by going on television. But I played my instincts, and I haven't had one person say they'll watch it instead of going to the show...they do both," he says. "They watch the (online) shows and get charged up to go see it in person. And there are other people that can't get to a show that absolutely love the fact we're doing it. My friends in Bora Bora now can punch (the shows) up on the screen and watch it while they're having dinner. It makes it a Parrothead world now, not just a nation," Buffett adds. The singer/songwriter also predicts that other programming, including special events and archived shows that weren't presented live, will be part of Margaritaville's offerings, and it may also serve as a vehicle for releasing new music. Buffett's last album, Songs From St. Elsewhere, came out in August 2013, and he says that since then he's been "playing around with some new songs," including one called "We Need to Care a Little Less," which he says is "about over-thinking, over-reacting to everything." Writing, he adds, is "a natural process. I'm not stopping writing," but he isn't sure if a conventional album will be the result. "For me, an album has just been adding something; if you like this music you can add it to the collection," he explains. "I'm not out there trying to win hits or chase Grammys or shit like that. I'm just trying to stay in the game at our level, so we're looking to find the best system for the next batch of new music." In addition to his online TV venture, Buffett is also keeping busy with his new line of wine, Auter deRose, whose purpose, he cracks, is "to get women in our bigger bars to stop drinking white zinfandel and drink a better wine." - Billboard, 7/25/14.

Stevie Nicks has confirmed she will be releasing her new CD, 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault, on Oct. 7 via Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Dave Stewart, Waddy Wachtel and Nicks, the new album was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, and is the follow-up to Nicks' 2011 LP In Your Dreams. Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987," Nicks says. "One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story. They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken-hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories... the 24-karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you." A deluxe photobook CD album will be available for fans, which includes two bonus tracks plus 48 pages of exclusive photos from Nicks' personal collection. Fans can pre-order the new album beginning Aug. 5, and on that date Nicks will begin previewing snippets of 24 Karat Gold on her new official Instagram account, "stevienicksofficial." The multi-Grammy winning singer is scheduled to embark on a new tour with Fleetwood Mac, the On With the Show Tour, beginning Sept. 30 in Minneapolis with recently returned bandmate Christine McVie. "It's so exciting to have Christine back after so many years. We can't wait to get on the road together," stated Nicks. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/24/14.

Neil Young has launched a new Kickstarter.com campaign that is devoted to saving the rainforest, teaming up with the environmental group Rainforest Connection to help them raise much-needed funds. "[This] is a technology that's a connection between the rainforest and you," says Young. "This technology enables the forest to talk to the world. When the forest is threatened, the forest can speak and you can hear it." Young sent out a letter to supporters of his Pono Music campaign, which he also fully funded through Kickstarter, asking them to contribute, and he appears in a video on behalf of Rainforest Connection. "Neil's involvement makes perfect sense," says Topher White, the physicist and engineer beyond Rainforest Connection. "Throughout his life, he has always been a passionate crusader for indigenous rights, and in recent years, has worked tirelessly in combating climate change. These are both issues that we directly address with the Rainforest Connection technology." If Rainforest Connection reaches their fundraising goals, they will be able to help the Temb indigenous people of Brazil fight black market illegal logging operations. They also hope to place their system in trees all across Indonesia. The central idea behind Rainforest Connection is as simple as it is brilliant: Old cellphones are retrofitted with a solar-powered energy source and placed in trees around the rainforest. When they pick up the sound of chainsaws, animals in distress or gunshots, they alert authorities in real time. "Current detection systems rely on satellites which show rainforest destruction days or weeks too late," says a note on the group's Kickstarter page. "Our system provides the world's first real-time logging/poaching detection system. We can pinpoint deforestation activity the moment it begins, while simultaneously streaming the data openly and immediately to anyone around the world." In other Neil Young news, the singer-songwriter has announced the 2014 edition of the Farm Aid benefit concert will take place Sept. 13 in the Walnut Creek Amphitheatre in Raleigh, N.C. It features performances by Young, Farm Aid president and co-founder Willie Nelson, and fellow board members John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews. Local artists will also perform. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $45 million through the festival to help family farmers keep their land and publicize locally grown food. Tickets for the concert go on sale in August and prices range from $49 to $175. - Rolling Stone/AP, 7/28/14.

The new musical from former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and his recent collaborator Fatboy Slim is set to begin a U.K. run at London's Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre on Sept. 30. "Here Lies Love" is based on the pair's double album of the same name, which was released in 2010 and documents the life of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. The show recently opened its new commercial run at New York's Public Theater, after initially opening in April 2013. The 22-track double Here Lies Love featured a host of guest vocalists, including Florence And The Machine's Florence Welch, Santigold and Tori Amos. "The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person, what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves?" Byrne explained in an introduction to the 100-page book which came along with the record. Byrne is also a member of the newly formed Content Creators Coalition, a group of musicians, authors and other creators seeking better terms for online use of their works -- for some thoughts on the state of artists' rights. "I think that artists in general can be given more agency regarding what happens to their work," Byrne recently told Billboard. "I don't own my own old recordings, a similar situation to many artists, so I have no say whether they are licensed to YouTube, Spotify, Beats, Apple, you name it, and for what percentage and for how long. If that's where music consumption is going, much of it is completely out of my control. I do at least control the publishing (which not every artist does) so that gives me a foot in the door: other kinds of licensing -- films, TV, etc. -- are up to me." - Billboard, 7/25/14.

The children of famous pop crooner Bing Crosby made a rare public appearance together on July 23 to discuss the upcoming PBS American Masters episode, Bing Crosby Rediscovered, and reminisced about the time their dad made a surprise duet with David Bowie on Crosby's 1977 Christmas television special. Harry, Mary and Nathaniel Crosby, now all in their 50's, were on set when Bowie arrived to tape his appearance. The mash-up between the cardigan-clad singer known for "White Christmas" and the glam-rocker who was in his Ziggy Stardust phase required some last-minute reworking of "The Little Drummer Boy." The result was a new melody and lyrics called "Peace on Earth." The duet remains a holiday staple and a curiosity. Bowie was 30 and Crosby was 73 at the time. Crosby died of a heart attack a month after the taping in September 1977. The Crosbys said the experience left an indelible impression on them. "The doors opened and David walked in with his wife," Mary Crosby said. "They were both wearing full-length mink coats, they have matching full makeup and their hair was bright red. We were thinking, 'Oh my god.'" Nathaniel Crosby added, "It almost didn't happen. I think the producers told him to take the lipstick off and take the earring out. It was just incredible to see the contrast." "They sat at the piano and David was a little nervous," Mary Crosby recalled. "Dad realized David was this amazing musician, and David realized Dad was an amazing musician. You could see them both collectively relax and then magic was made." Bing Crosby Rediscovered will air Dec. 2 on PBS stations across the US. In other Bowie news, actress Susan Sarandon has revealed she used to date the famous rocker and calls her former lover "extraordinary." "He's worth idolising. He's extraordinary," Sarandon told The Daily Beast website. "That was a really interesting period. I wasn't supposed to have kids, and I'm the oldest of nine and had mothered all of them, so I wasn't ever in a mode to where I was looking to settle down and raise a family, so that definitely changes the gene pool you're dipping into. But Bowie's just a really interesting person, and so bright. He's a talent, and a painter, and he's great." Bowie recently confirmed that he is working on new music, saying it will be released "soon." - AP/New Musical Express, 7/23/14.

The final Cadillac purchased by Elvis Presley is among 72 items being auctioned in August at Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis during the annual celebration known as "Elvis Week." Among the items being auctioned, all from third-party collectors, are a 1976 Cadillac Seville that Graceland says is the last one Presley purchased for his personal use; Presley's signature on a library card; Presley's copy of the original script for his first movie, Love Me Tender; a 1969 Las Vegas show agreement; a 1975 Martin D-28 guitar; and a gemstone, diamond and gold lion mask pendant and chain worn by Presley when he met President Richard Nixon at the White House. More information about the auction is available at Graceland.com/auction. - AP...... Ozzy Osbourne will release a compilation of his greatest hits as a solo artist dubbed Memoirs of a Madman on Oct. 6 via Epic/Legacy Recordings. The album will feature 17 of the Osbourne's solo singles and be available in single CD format, a two-LP set and a two-LP picture disc set. There will also be an accompanying DVD with the release, featuring classic music videos, unreleased live performances and interviews. Osbourne is currently touring the world with Black Sabbath, with the band playing in London's Hyde Park in July as part of the British Summertime Festival. - New Musical Express...... Ted Nugent is firing back at those who called for his planned Aug. 4 concert at Idaho's Coueur D'Alene Casino to be canceled over his "racist views," saying his vehement support of the Second Amendment is behind the cancellation, not his alleged racism. "They literally have an army assigned to destroy Ted Nugent," Nugent told Radio.com. "To call me a racist is a clear act of desperation. Because everybody knows I'm not a racist! My [former] bass player Johnny Gunnel happens to be a black guy. My [former] bass player Marco Mendoza was born in Mexico! Are you kiddin' me? I pay tribute to Martin Luther King in my songs, I've always said my music is a direct result of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, and all the black musical heroes of my life." While the casino didn't cite any specific racist views, Nugent referred to President Obama as a "subhuman mongrel" earlier this year, later apologizing for the comments. - Billboard...... The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey and several of his UK pals are backing plans to launch an international model railway museum in Ashford, Kent. "We're trying to start a model railway museum down in Ashford, me and a few pals down in Kent," he told Radio 2's Chris Evans. "Britain forgets that we invented the railway and it conquered the world. The railway was the first thing to open up the world in a big way for trade. We invented it, and we should be proud of that. The model making side of it, it's enormous." Daltrey said he was a big miniature train hobbyist and that "I hate watching the TV because there's nothing on and I like listening to the radio... The great thing about model railways is you can be doing a bit of woodwork, a bit of painting, a bit of this, a bit of that, and having fun with your mates and you can listen to the radio." The Who recently announced details of their 50th anniversary tour and confirmed that they are starting to think about retirement. "This is the beginning of the long goodbye," Daltrey said. - New Musical Express...... Singer, songwriter and film composer Randy Newman has signed an administration agreement for North America with Downtown Music Publishing. Downtown's agreement covers Newman's catalog from 1977's Little Criminals forward, including such hit singles as "Short People" (Little Criminals), "The Blues" and "I Love L.A." (both from Trouble in Paradise), and "It's Money that Matters" (Land of Dreams). "The Randy Newman songbook transcends generations and inspired countless songwriters, artists and composers," said Downtown Music president Justin Kalifowitz. "We are truly honored to represent this timeless catalog and welcome such a beloved songwriter to the Downtown roster." Newman is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the winner of two Academy Awards, three Emmys, six Grammys, an Ivor Novello, and most recently, a PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award. - The Hollywood Reporter

Paul McCartney's continuing Archive reissue series will add two albums from his Wings days this fall. The group's 1975 LP Venus and Mars, and the following year's Wings at the Speed of Sound, will will be available on Sept. 23 as remastered deluxe 2-disc editions with a wealth of bonus material. One CD will contain the original album and a second with demos and unreleased tracks. A three-disc edition will also include a hardback book alongside unpublished photographs, new interviews with McCartney, track-by-track info and a bonus DVD containing footage from the time of each release. The albums will also be available as gatefold vinyl releases and as deluxe digital releases, in Mastered for iTunes and high-res formats. McCartney personally supervised the production of both reissues, the remastering for which was done at Abbey Road Studios by the same team that remastered the Beatles' discography. McCartney began his Archive collection in 2010 and has so far won two Grammy Awards for the releases, taking home Best Historical Album for Band on the Run in 2012 and Best Boxed for Special Edition Package for Wings Over America earlier in 2014. In other Beatles-related news, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono is among several musicians who have signed up as "virtual teachers" at an online girls school which is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. The School Of Doodle calls itself a "peer-to-peer, self-directed learning lab dedicated to activating girls imaginations through entertainment, education and community." Ono and such artists as Pussy Riot, Courtney Love and Kim Gordon have all contributed "doodles" to the project, which will be part of Kickstarter pledgders' reward packages. - Rolling Stone/New Musical Express, 7/28/14.

A Washington state musician who conned several investors out of $600,000 after claiming such classic rock icons as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and REM were involved in his project has been sentenced to jail. Singer-songwriter Kasey Anderson ran several schemes to fraud backers out of their money, including claiming that he was working on a compilation album that would raise money for the legal funds of the so-called "West Memphis Three," a trio of teenagers convicted of murder in 1994 but later released from prison. Anderson told potential investors the likes of Springsteen, Petty, REM and more were all involved with the record. He also conned people into funding his own album, falsifying paperwork that said it had already sold thousands of copies and earnt $1.4 million in royalties. The musician has now been sentenced to four years in prison by a court in Tacoma and ordered to pay back the money he stole. Anderson claims he suffers from mental illness and wrote a letter to the court explaining his actions. "I lied to myself and others, and believing those lies, I told myself consistently that whatever was going on with me I could fix it on my own. I convinced myself that it was normal," he allegedly wrote. - New Musical Express, 7/27/14.

The U.S. Library of Congress announced on July 22 that Billy Joel will be the 2014 recipient of its annual Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Calling the New York Piano Man "a storyteller of the highest order," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said on the bureau's website that the 65-year old performer will be awarded the prize in November in Washington, D.C., during a week that will also include a series of events, complete with an honoree's luncheon and musical performances. Joel, a six-time Grammy winner and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriter's Hall of Fame, issued a statement saying that George Gershwin, the award's namesake, "has been a personal inspiration to me throughout my career...And the Library's decision to include me among those songwriters who have been past recipients is a milestone for me." According to the Library of Congress' website, the Gershwin Prize "honors a living musical artists lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations." Joel's upcoming concerts include shows in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, then one concert each month in New York's Madison Square Garden from August to December. - Billboard, 7/22/14.

The legendary George Harrison is most often associated with the Beatles, but now an infestation of beetles has killed the George Harison Memorial Tree, which was planed in Los Angeles' Griffith Park in 2004 in tribute to the music icon. The pine tree was originally put in the park three years after Harrison's death in 2001 because the musician had spent his final days in L.A. and was an avid gardener. A small plaque at the base of the tree read, "In memory of a great humanitarian who touched the world as an artist, a musician and a gardener." The plaque also quotes Harrison himself: "For the forests to be green, each tree must be green." The tree reportedly had grown to more than 10 feet tall before the beetle infestation took over. Tom LaBonge, a member of the L.A. City Council, says the tree will be replanted soon. - Billboard, 7/21/14.

Multi-instrumentalist Edgar Winter, the brother of recently deceased Johnny Winter, announced on July 23 that he will pay tribute to his sibling on his upcoming 17-date tour, which gets underway on July 31 in Clarkston, Mich., and wraps on Aug. 24 in Snoqualmie, Wash. In a statement, the "Frankenstein" rocker expressed admiration for Johnny, who he describes as "my greatest musical hero," and remorse for his passing. "My wife, Monique, and I are shocked at the suddenness of Johnny's passing, especially since I was so looking forward with such joy and anticipation to seeing him again and playing together," Edgar posted on Facebook. "I know his body is departing this physical realm, but his presence, his music, and his spirit are undiminished, and alive as ever in my heart." Edgar says he is reprogramming his upcoming Rock 'n' Blues Fest tour to serve as a tribute to Johnny. On each date of the tour, the Edgar Winter Band, Vanilla Fudge, Rare Earth member Peter Rivera and Savoy Brown's Kim Simmonds intend to play songs that fans associate with Johnny. Rick Derringer, whose "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" Winter recorded with Derringer on his Johnny Winter And album in 1970, will appear as a special guest on the tour's final two nights. The final album by Johnny, who died at age 70 on July 16, will feature the Texas blues guitarist playing with the likes of Eric Clapton, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, among others. - Vintage Vinyl News/Rolling Stone, 7/23/14.

Tom Petty says his new album Hypnotic Eye will include songs what he perceives as "the unchecked greed of the one percent" and the Catholic Church sex scandals. "Very few people know how to handle power and once they just become completely immoral, they're dangerous people," Petty told Billboard. "That attitude is what, to me, wipes out the middle class." Petty also spoke about "Playing Dumb," a song he wrote a song about the victims of the Catholic clergy that will be included as a bonus track on the album's vinyl release. "If I was in a club, and I found out that there had been generations of people abusing children, and then that club was covering that up, I would quit the club. And I wouldn't give them any more money," he maintained. Hypnotic Eye, which is due for release on July 29, will be a return the sound of Petty's early work, according to longtime Petty guitarist and collaborator Mike Campbell, who also co-produced the new LP. "I knew I wanted to do a rock & roll record," Petty told Rolling Stone earlier in 2014. "We hadn't made a straight hard-rockin' record, from beginning to end, in a long time." Petty and his Heartbreakers will be hitting the road later this year for a North American tour. Every ticket purchased includes a copy of Hypnotic Eye. - Billboard, 7/21/14.

Appearing on NBC's Today show on July 18, Mick Jagger opened up about the March 2014 suicide of his longtime girlfriend L'Wren Scott. "I'm doing OK. It's difficult. Very hard year, but I got back into it by working on touring with the Stones in Europe and doing other things, including doing this great movie," said the Rolling Stones frontman, adding that he "appreciates the support I've received from friends and family." Jagger is promoting Universal's upcoming James Brown biopic Get on Up, which he is co-producing with Brian Grazer. Jagger was joined in the interview with Grazer, director Tate Taylor and the movie's stars, including Chadwick Boseman, Octavia Spencer and Dan Aykroyd. Jagger noted that Brown was a big influence on him, and explained that he particularly loved how "Soul Brother No. 1" interacted with the audience: "the way he charmed them, the way he told them what to do, the way he gave them his emotions and encouraged them to give back." Dan Aykroyd also praised Brown's skill as a businessman. "He understood all aspects, the full range of what it took to be a superstar and how to exploit it for his friends and himself and his family," he said. Brian Grazer revealed that Chadwick Boseman, who had a breakthrough role as Jackie Robinson in last year's 42, landed the role as Brown once they saw he could dance. "Our minds were blown," the veteran producer said. Get On Up gets its world premiere in Brown's hometown of Augusta, Ga., on July 24. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/19/14.

A Native American tribe called the Coeur d'Alene announced on July 21 that an Aug. 4 concert by Ted Nugent at its casino in the northwest Idaho city of Worley has been cancelled because of the rocker's "racist and hate-filled remarks." The tribe says it booked Nugent without realizing he espoused "racist attitudes and views," but didn't detail which of Nugent's specific views it opposes. Nugent, an outspoken advocate of conservative causes, in the past has referred to President Barack Obama as a "subhuman mongrel." He later apologized "for using the street fight terminology of subhuman mongrel," but maintained that Pres. Obama was a "liar" violating the Constitution. - AP, 7/21/14....... A hotel inspired by the life of Bob Dylan opened for business in June in the upstate New York village of Woodstock. The Hotel Dylan, located just a few miles from where the singer used to record on Route 28, is at the center of a new complex designed by owner Paul Covello and architects Cortney and Robert Novogratz. The hotel is described as having "bohemian sophistication," also featuring rooms named in tribute to musicians other than Dylan who are associated with the area and the Woodstock festival, including 'The Jimi,' 'The Roadies,' 'The Van' and 'The Hippie Chick'. Every room in the hotel has its own turntable and records. Plans for a gastropub are also in the pipeline, where Covello says there will be a music venue for "intimate, unplugged concerts." - No Depression/New Musical Express, 7/21/14.

Crooner Paul Anka has become the latest performer to cancel a concert in Israel due to the current hostilities in the Middle East. "Due to the current situation in the Middle East, Paul Anka and the local promoters will be postponing his upcoming concerts scheduled for July 24 and 26, 2014," a rep for Anka said in a statement, adding that Anka's camp is trying to find a solution to reschedule the dates. "We ask all current ticket holders to keep their tickets and await that announcement. Mr. Anka assures you that once the local situation is resolved, he will be there with the latest version of his fantastic performance." The concerts would have been Anka's third time to the holy land since his November 2009 inaugural visit. His popularity in Israel had local promoters announce last month a second concert to be added, both scheduled for July 24 and 26. While Neil Young & Crazy Horse and The Brian Jonestown Massacre canceled their shows in Israel, both originally supposed to take place in mid-July, Anka's announcement clarified his shows are postponed and will be rescheduled in the near future. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/18/14.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 19th, 2014

Actor James Garner, best known for his starring role on the popular TV series Maverick and The Rockford Files, passed away of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles on July 19. He was 86. A smooth-talking "man's man" who never took himself too seriously, Mr. Garner's genial charm, sly humor and handsome looks made him a Hollywood fixture for more than 50 years. Born James Baumgarner on Apr. 7, 1928, in Norman, Okla., Mr. Garner joined the merchant marines at 16 after dropping out of high school. Later in the Army, he was wounded in the Korean War and awarded the Purple Heart. After being discharged, he briefly attended the University of Oklahoma and worked a variety of odd jobs, including gas station attendant, traveling salesman, carpet layer, and model of swim trunks. Mr. Garner chanced upon acting when boyhood friend Paul Gregory, who became a producer, offered him a nonspeaking role in the 1954 Broadway production of "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial." Thanks to his tall, rugged frame, extreme good looks, and genial personality, Mr. Garner soon began landing small parts on TV and films, which led to his big break in 1957, a starring role in the popular TV series Maverick. In 1958, he scored a screen test and a $200/week contract with Warner Bros. after impressing studio execs with his bit parts on the TV series Cheyenne. Mr. Garner went on to act alongside Marlon Brando in Sayonara, which led him to a supporting role in Darby's Rangers. Other roles followed, including Up Periscope (1959), Cash McCall (1960), Boys' Night Out (1962), The Great Escape, The Thrill of It All, The Wheeler Dealers, Move Over Darling (all 1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964), and by the mid-Sixties he was one of Hollywood's top-salaried leading men. Other notable films include Grand Prix (1966), How Sweet It Is (1968), Marlowe and Support Your Local Sheriff (1969). Mr. Garner started his own production company, Maverick, and parlayed his earnings into profitable investments in oil and real estate. Although his film roles declined in the early '70s, he maintained his popularity with the TV series Nichols and the 1974-80 detective series The Rockford Files, for which he won an Emmy in 1977. Mr. Garner continued to work consistently throughout the years, acting in the likes of Space Cowboys with Clint Eastwood in 2000, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with Sandra Bullock in 2002, and in The Notebook in 2004, in which he played the older version Ryan Gosling. A three-time Golden Globe winner, he also was honored with the Screen Actor's Guild Life Achievement Award in 2005, and in 2001 published his memoir, The Garner Files. News of Mr. Garner's death prompted online tributes from several of his former co-stars and friends, including Willam Shatner, Donny Osmond, John Stamos and Reese Witherspoon, who posted she was "Very privileged to work with this incredibly talented actor early in my career. He will be loved and missed forever." - E! Online/The Film Encyclopedia, 7/20/14.

Johnny Winter, an icon of Texas blues and rock who rose to fame in the late 1960s and '70s for his energetic performances and Grammy-winning musical collaborations with childhood hero Muddy Waters, died in a hotel room in Zurich, Switzerland, on July 16 while on tour in Europe. He was 70. One of the most popular live acts of the early 1970s, Winter's signature fast blues guitar solos attracted a wide following and his career received a big boost early on when Rolling Stone magazine singled him out in December 1968 as one of the best blues guitarists on the Texas scene. This helped secure the 23-year-old a substantial recording contract from Columbia Records and gave him a wide following among college students and young blues fans. Instantly recognizable for his long white hair, Winter worked with some of the greatest bluesmen, producing several albums for Waters and recording with John Lee Hooker. He paid homage to Waters on "Tribute to Muddy," a song from his 1969 release The Progressive Blues Experiment. His first release for Columbia in June of the following year, Johnny Winter, rose to Number 24 and featured his younger brother Edgar Winter on keyboards. He quickly released a follow-up in October, Second Winter. Both records featured a mix of originals and covers of songs by Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Sonny Boy Williamson and more. Between those two albums' release, Winter played an hour-long noon set on the last day of Woodstock, and he also teamed up with his brother Edgar for their 1976 live album Together. In 1973, after a two-year break to recover from a heroin habit, he released Still Alive and Well, a Rick Derringer-produced album that featured bassist Randy Jo Hobbs and drummer Richard Hughes which rose to Number 22. In his lifetime, the bluesman issued nearly 20 studio LPs. His most recent album, Roots, came out in 2011 and featured guests ranging from Warren Haynes to Edgar on songs by the likes of Elmore James and Jimmy Reed. A four-disc retrospective box set, True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story, was released in Feb. 2014. Winter's final album, Step Back, which features appearances by Eric Clapton, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Aerosmith's Joe Perry, among others, is scheduled to come out on Sept. 2. Winter, along with his younger brother Edgar, turned heads both for their musicianship and stark-white hair, a result of the musicians' albinism. He had been on an extensive tour in 2014 that brought him to Europe, and his last performance came on July 12 at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, Austria. "His wife, family and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists," a representative for Winter said in a statement. "An official statement with more details shall be issued at the appropriate time." - AP/Rolling Stone, 7/17/14.

A photo of a Nebraska teenager snapped by his friend of him standing in front of Paul McCartney and billionaire businessman Warren Buffet as the two men sat casually on a bench in the background became a viral hit on July 14. Reports surfaced the previous evening that the ex-Beatle was in town, having dinner, dessert and walking around Omaha's Dundee neighborhood with Buffet, who is based in the city. Plenty of awe-struck citizens took photos of the unexpected duo, but a shot of Omaha resident Tom White giving a thumbs up while McCartney and Buffet sit relaxing on a bench became a viral celeb hit on Twitter. "Chillin with my homies" said White's tweet, which linked to a copy of the image on Instagram. Jacob Murray, who snapped the pic, White and another boy took a series of photos with the two men, and the image was later re-tweeted by McCartney's Twitter handle on July 14. "Just hanging out with friends," @PaulMcCartney wrote. McCartney was in Nebraska for is "Out There" world tour, and played Lincoln on July 14. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Macca said he will step out of the limelight eventually but "not today" and added he likes to mix up old and new material to keep everyone happy. "So we mix it up occasionally, but mainly we hope we're pleasing the various facets in the audience," he commented. McCartney recently re-released five of his classic Wings and solo albums as apps. New versions of McCartney, Ram, Band On the Run, Wings Over America, and McCartney II have been released via the Apple store as apps for the iPad. The apps, released through the Concord Music Group, include the original albums and a host of special features and extra material, including remastered audio tracks, interviews, photos, artwork and rehearsal footage and documentary videos. The apps cost $7.99, less than the price of the albums on iTunes, which go for $9.99 or $12.99 for the deluxe editions. In other Beatles-related news, Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard has signed on to direct and produce an authorized, as-yet-untitled documentary about the touring years of the Fab Four's career (approx. 1960-1966), a period in which the Beatles crossed the globe, sparked Beatlemania and released several classic albums. For it, he will interview surviving members McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as talk with John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison. "We are going to be able to take the Super 8 footage that we found, that was all shot silent. We'll not only be able to digitally repair a lot of that, but we've also been finding the original recordings," explains Howard. "We can now sync it up and create a concert experience so immersive and so engaging, I believe you're going to actually feel like you're somewhere in the Sixties, seeing what it was like to be there, feeling it and hearing it. And as a film director, that's a fantastic challenge." The documentary is scheduled for a tentative late-2015 release. - Billboard/Rolling Stone, 7/15/14.

After decades of litigation, some early Jimi Hendrix master recordings will go to Legacy Recordings, the catalog wing of Sony Music Entertainment. The deal was struck between Sony and Experience Hendrix LLC, the Hendrix family music company which owns and administers the Jimi Hendrix music rights. The recordings date from 1965-1967 and cover the two-year period when Hendrix was moonlighting as a session guitarist with New York-based R&B act Curtis Knight & The Squires. Having been introduced to Hendrix by Curtis Knight, in 1965 record producer and entrepreneur Ed Chalpin signed Jimi (then Jimmy") Hendrix and Curtis Knight & The Squires to a notorious three-year recording contract for the princely sum of $1.00 and a 1% royalty rate. Just before Hendrix went to England and became a global solo star, his manager, Chas Chandler, bought out every contract that his client had previously signed, with the exception of Hendrix's 1965 agreement with Chalpin's PPX International. It would prove a costly oversight and became the source of a long-running legal dispute which has now been settled, however terms were not disclosed. Hendrix's long-time sound engineer Eddie Kramer will oversee the reissues, which will be released by Legacy Recordings over the next three years. Meanwhile, a musician described by many as "the British Hendrix" is returning to the UK with a brand new studio album and a nationwide UK Tour in March 2015. Robin Trower, will play launch a 17-city tour beginning Mar. 26 in Lincoln, also visiting venues in Birmingham (3/28), Glasgow (4/4), York (4/8), Sheffield (4/9), London (4/11) and Exeter (4/15) before wrapping in Milton on Apr. 17. Trower will be touring behind his last album, 2013's critically acclaimed Roots and Branches, and tickets went on sale July 16 at ents24.com. - Billboard/Noble PR, 7/17/14.

David Bowie penned a statement in which he promised "more music soon" which was read on July 12 to guests at the 12 Bar in central London, for a low-key event to celebrate 50 years of Bowie's music and to raise funds for the Terrance Higgins Trust. "This city is even better than the one you were in last year, so remember to dance, dance, dance," the statement reads. "And then sit down for a minute, knit something, then get up and run all over the place. Do it. Love on ya. More music soon. David." It has been roughly 16 months since his 2013 album The Next Day rose toward the top of sales charts around the globe, an LP that was unexpectedly announced on his 66th birthday when he dropped a new single "Where Are We Now" and announced news of his first album since Reality ten years earlier. Recorded in secrecy, with long-time collaborator Tony Visconti assuming production duties, The Next Day arrived at No. 1 in 15 countries including the U.K. In the U.S., it opened at No. 2, his highest chart debut there. 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of "Liza Jane" -- Bowie's first single released as Davie Jones with the King Bees (he adopted the name Bowie to avoid confusion with The Monkees' British frontman Davy Jones). - Billboard, 7/17/14.

Cher, who ended the first leg of her Dressed to Kill Tour on July 11, is on track to have the most successful trek of 2014. Cher's tour has grossed a reported $54.9 million through the end of its first leg on July 11. A total of 610,812 attendees went to the 49 shows -- all of which were sell-outs. The show is on a break until Sept. 11, when the diva launches the second leg in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. The show will get some extra glitter from Emmy Award-winning fashion designer Bob Mackie, who will provide new costumes for Cher. Cher and Mackie have collaborated for decades, however he couldn't design outfits for the first leg of the new tour due to time constraints. The Dressed to Kill Tour is Cher's first tour since her lengthy Living Proof Farewell Tour, which played 325 shows around the globe from 2002 through 2005. Among the highlights in the current show are a campy vampiric take on her new album's song "Dressed to Kill," where she slinks around the stage before sinking her teeth into a dancer. Also crowd-pleasing is her medley of her three No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits from the 1970s: "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," "Dark Lady" and "Half-Breed." The show ends with Cher literally flying above the crowd, singing her top 20 Adult Contemporary chart hit, "I Hope You Find It." - Billboard, 7/15/14.

In a wide-ranging new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Eric Clapton admits he has trouble writing songs now; claims he is truly serious about retiring from the road; and confesses he doesn't listen to much new music. When asked "what has happened to your songwriting" (his recent album have been mostly covers), Clapton replied: "I'm just lazy. When I get to 'What am I going to do for that bit?' I stop and turn on the TV. I'm easily distracted. What I've done a lot is written songs, then forgotten them. I put them down as a voice memo, on my phone, then I lose the memo." Queried if he listens to rock much anymore, he said he didn't know what rock is now. "I'm not sure who's playing rock. Blake Mills [who has played with Conor Oberst and the Avett Brothers] is the last guitarist I heard that I thought was phenomenal. At Crossroads last year, I was playing with [jazz guitarist] Kurt Rosenwinkel, trying to keep up with him and wondering what I could steal." Asked if he'll do another Crossroad Festival benefit because "after each one, you swear that's it," the musician said: "No, I think this could be it. I don't want to work that hard, that much, anymore. The Breeze [his JJ Cale tribute LP] was a joy to do. I was planning to write and record another album for myself when JJ passed away. So that's the next thing I would do. Next year, I might do a couple of shows and say, 'Folks, that's it, I'm off.' Then I'll see what I make of that, whether I'm content to just go into the studio now and then and play at home for the family." And how often does he play at home? "Quite a lot. Maybe once a day or every two days, for a fair bit of time. I pick up an acoustic and try to work something out." "Do have new, original songs you haven't forgotten or lost?" "Yeah [laughs]. They're on my iPhone." - Rolling Stone, 7/17/14.

Rosalind Nyman, the mother of Billy Joel who inspired him to write "Rosalinda's Eyes," died in Long Island, N.Y., on July 13, a spokeswoman for the singer and songwriter announced on July 15. She was 92. "Rosalinda's Eyes," from Joel's 1978 album 52nd Street was a tribute to his mother, who raised him alone after divorcing his father, Howard Joel, in 1957. The lyrics include the words: "I've got music in my hands; The work is hard to find; But that don't get me down; Rosalinda understands." Rosalind Joel, born in Brooklyn to English immigrants, worked in a clerical capacity for various businesses near her home in Hicksville and supported a number of charities. She met her husband in 1942 at a City College musical production and married him three years later. Billy Joel was born in 1949. The couple later adopted Judy, the daughter of Rosalind's late sister Muriel. Billy Joel endowed the Rosalind Joel Scholarship for the Performing Arts at City College in 1986. - ABC News, 7/15/14.

Actor Don Cheadle's fascination with Miles Davis began as a child, when the jazz icon's 1959 album Porgy and Bess was a staple in his family's music collection. Now the House of Lies star will make his feature-film directorial debut with a partially crowdfunded biopic focusing on the Bitches Brew mastermind's brief hiatus from music and his rocky relationship with his first wife Francis Taylor. "I'm not interested in all the things that a traditional biopic does," says Cheadle, who learned how to play trumpet for the film. "I want to tell a hot story that's full of his music, that feels impressionistic in that it finds a way to incorporate all his musical styles, influences and ideas." - Entertainment Weekly, 7/18/14.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 13th, 2014

Tommy Ramone, the last surviving founding member of the groundbreaking punk band the Ramones, died after battling cancer on July 11. He was 65. Ramone reportedly died at a hospice facility in Ridgewood, Queens, and was suffering from cancer of the bile duct. Born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary in 1949, Ramone immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1957 to Forrest Hills, Queens. He co-founded the Ramones in 1974 with singer Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone) and bassist Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone). He recorded 1976's The Ramones, 1977's Leave Home and Rocket to Russia with the band, and also co-produced 1978's Road to Ruin, as well as the band's live double album It's Alive in 1979. Despite producing what are now considered to be classic anthems of the early punk rock years, including "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," the band never cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart (in fact," Blitzkrieg Bop" -- arguably their most famous song -- never hit the Hot 100 yet stands as their best-selling download). End Of The Century, a 1980 album recorded with legendary producer Phil Spector, was their best selling set, topping out at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 200. Tommy Ramone left the band in 1979 and worked as a producer, where he notched up credits on the Ramones' 1984 album Too Tough To Die and the Replacements' 1985 album Tim. Although strife within its ranks led the Ramones to officially disband in 1996, following a tour in support of Adios Amigos, the band's final studio album, its members had joined together to promote the posthumous release of 1999's Rhino anthology Hey Ho Let's Go. Tommy and the other Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. He is survived by longtime partner Claudia Tienan, brother Peter; sister-in-law Andrea Tienan; and nephews Eric and David. Posting on his Twitter account, Chris Stein of Blondie, a contemporary of the Ramones in the New York City punk scene, wrote: "He was a lovely gentle guy, super smart. The last of the original Ramones. RIP, Tommy." - The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard, 7/12/14.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse announced on July 13 that the band has canceled their July 17 concert in Israel at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park over the current security crisis in the region." It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we must cancel our one and only Israeli concert due to tensions which have rendered the event unsafe at this time," a spokesperson for Young said in the statement on the website of Young's label, Warner Bros. Records. "We'll miss the opportunity to play for our fans and look forward to playing in Israel and Palestine in peace." A spokesman for Israeli authorities added that the concert was canceled "in order not to put people in Gaza rocket range at unnecessary risk." Palestinian militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel since July 8. The statement on the Warner Bros. site added that Young "will be making donations to the Louise Tillie Alpert Youth Music Centre of Israel and Heartbeat, which according to Young are "two organizations that teach music to Palestinian and Israeli youth simultaneously by enabling them to play music together." Earlier in 2014, Young's manager Elliot Roberts and former Pink Floyd principal Roger Waters, a Palestinian sympathizer, both urged Young not perform in Israel. - Billboard, 7/13/14.

A new reality series featuring members of Michael Jackson's extended family is set to debut on the cable channel Reelz on November 18. The six-episode show will focus on Alejandra Jackson, the ex-wife of Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson, and her five children. After Michael's death five years ago, they left the Jackson family home in suburban Encino, Calif., a move that a preview clip from the show suggests wasn't their idea. Alejandra Jackson had two children with Randy Jackson -- Genevieve and Randy Jr. -- and then married Randy's brother Jermaine, having sons Jaafar and Jermajesty. Alejandra has raised Donte since he was 2 after he was adopted by Katherine and Joe Jackson. "It's a long story," Alejandra said about her love life. - AP, 7/9/14.

Luciana Giminez, the Brazilian ex-girlfriend of Mick Jagger, is calling on Brazilian soccer fans to stop bullying the Rolling Stones frontman after he was dubbed a bad luck charm for appearing to always support the losing team. Jagger was cheering Brazil from the stands of the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte on July 8, when the host nation suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany, which went on to win its fourth World Cup on July 13 with a tense 1-0 victory over Argentina in extra time. The Jagger critics also noted that the singer had previously voiced his support for Italy at a show in Rome in June when he claimed the team would advance from the group stage, only for them to lose to Uruguay and bow out of the competition. Further supporting their theory, Jagger also allegedly told fans in Lisbon that he was backing Portugal to advance to the knock-out round, but again, they failed to make it and now his triple bout of bad luck has prompted some soccer-mad devotees to dub the rocker "pe frio", which loosely translates as "the jinx." Posting on her Instagram account, Luciana Giminez wrote, "I would like to ask you guys who do this kind of bullying to think before you do it. Even though it only seems like a small thing, Mick is a person like us all, and he does not deserve to be treated this way by Brazilians." - WENN.com, 7/9/14.

A red Gibson SG electric guitar which Pete Townshend of the Who famously windmilled on stage during a Seventies concert in Cleveland, Oh., is currently up for sale on the auction site Lelands.com. According to the listing, the instrument was originally gifted to Cleveland disc jockey David Spero (later the personal manager of Townshend's rock pal Joe Walsh, who toured with the Who in the '70s); it includes both the original case and a letter of authenticity from Spero that explains how he acquired the item. Also on the online bidding block is a bundle of Who drummer Keith Moon percussion accessories: two Premier timbale drums with original heads, and a Paiste crash cymbal and a drum stool used during the recording of the Who's 1978 LP (and Moon's final album with the band) Who Are You. Moon's pieces were reportedly obtained from "respected rock dealer and Rolling Stones fanatic collector Matt Lee," who acquired them from Moon drum tech/Who road manager Bill Harrison; that listing also includes a letter of authenticity from Harrison. - Rolling Stone, 7/11/14.

AC/DC has reportedly completed work on their follow-up to 2008's Black Ice, an international smash that sold more than 5.3 million units in its first year of release. "The album is now finished. And the band members are apparently happy with the fruits of their labour... I'm very excited and we've got some great songs," frontman Brian Johnson told Classic Rock magazine. Johnson kept mum on the new LP's title, only saying "I wanted to call it 'Man Down' but its a bit negative and it was probably just straight from the heart. I like that." Johnson's potential title probably refers to the condition of the band's co-founding rhythm guitarist, Malcolm Young, who has recently been hospitalized with an illness that forced him to take a break from the band, and sparked the false rumor that AC/DC would call it quits. "We miss Malcolm obviously. He's a fighter," Johnson said. "He's in hospital but he's a fighter. We've got our fingers crossed that he'll get strong again." AC/DC was inducted into the Australian Record Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1988 and into the Rock And Rock Hall Of Fame in 2003. Earlier in 2014, Johnson hinted that AC/DC would play a 40-date tour to commemorate the group's 40th anniversary. Meanwhile in other heavy metal news, veteran rockers Judas Priest could nab what would be their first Top 10 album ever on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart in mid-July with the release of their new set Redeemer of Souls. Industry sources forecast the album could sell upwards of 30,000 copies in the week ending July 13. Redeemer of Souls, which was released on July 8, is the band's 17th studio effort, and first since 2008's Nostradamus. Despite having charted 17 albums on the Billboard Hot 200 since 1978, the group has yet to rack up a top 10 album. They topped out at No. 11 with Nostradamus. - Billboard, 7/10/14.

A 50th anniversary Beatles special called The Beatles: The Night That Changed America which was broadcast on CBS in February has scored six Emmy Awards nominations. The special, produced by CBS and AEG Ehrlich Ventures, is up for Outstanding Variety Special and in the categories of direction (Gregg Gelfand), music direction (Don Was), writing (Ken Ehrlich, David Wild), lighting design and sound mixing. In other Beatles-related news, Oscar-winning composer Ken Thorne, who earned a Grammy nomination for writing the incidental score to the 1965 Beatles film Help!, died on July 8 at age 90. Mr. Thorne also won an Oscar for scoring the 1966 musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and went on to receive an Emmy nomination for the 1995 CBS TV movie A Season Of Hope. Mr. Thorne, who was born in England and lived in West Hills, Calif., began playing piano at age five and was a professional musician by 15. His other credits include Superman II, Superman III and The Monkees' comedy Head. - Billboard, 7/10/14.

Posting on his official Facebook page on July 9, Dave Davies of the Kinks refuted a new BBC Radio 2 documentary that once again alleges the long-debunked myth that Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page played on the 1964 Kinks hit, "You Really Got Me." "BBC tells lies about Dave Davies and the Kinks in their new documentary," Davies wrote in an all-caps message on Facebook, urging fans to tweet the facts at the show's producer Kellie Redmond and host Danny Baker. "I, Dave Davies, invented the distorted guitar sound and played the solo on 'You Really Got Me' and Ray Davies played rhythm guitar. We never used ANY other guitarists on any Kinks hits," Davies added. Baker's documentary on London's famed Denmark Street -- known as the city's own Tin Pan Alley -- simply states that Page, a session musician at the time, played on the track, though other iterations of the legend have credited him for the song's distinct guitar tone and solo. The Kinks themselves, producer Shel Talmy and even Page have all denied the legend's validity over the years. In June, Dave and his brother Ray Davies said they were discussing the possibility of a Kinks reunion tour, though they both agreed that they would want to record a new album before hitting the road. - Rolling Stone, 7/10/14.

Charlie Haden, one of the most influential bass players of his generation, died on July 13 after a prolonged illness, according to his family and his record label, ECM. He was 76. Haden made essential recordings with Ornette Coleman's iconic free jazz quartet, trumpeter Don Cherry and drummer Billy Higgins, including albums The Shape of Jazz To Come and Change Of The Century. His solos on tunes like "Lonely Woman" and "Ramblin'" are still remembered, and he also played on the influential Coleman LP, This Is Our Music. In 1997, Haden released a Grammy-winning duet album with Pat Metheny, Beyond The Missouri Sky, and he released over twenty albums as a band leader and appeared on approximately 150 other recordings. - Billboard...... Teenie Hodges, a Memphis, Tennessee musician best known for his work as rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's popular soul hits of the '70s, has died at age 68. Two of his compositions "Take Me to the River" and "Love and Happiness," both co-written with Green, have been covered by numerous other international artists, including Talking Heads, Al Jarreau, Amazing Rhythm Aces, Canned Heat, Foghat, Levon Helm, Tom Jones, and others. He also co-wrote several other popular hits with songwriters like Isaac Hayes, Willie Mitchell, and Green, including "I Take What I Want," "Oh Me, Oh My," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Full of Fire." In March 2014, Hodges was taken to a Dallas hospital for pneumonia, following an appearance at Austin's South by Southwest music festival. He died there on June 22, 2014, from complications of emphysema. - Wikipedia.com...... John Seigenthaler, a veteran journalist and publisher who was also known as a strong defender of the First Amendment and civil rights, died on July 11 at his home in Nashville, Tenn. He was 86. In his wide-ranging career, Mr. Seigenthaler also served on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign, founded the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, edited and then published The Nashville Tennessean newspaper, and helped shaped the pioneering national newspaper USA Today. After he retired from The Tennessean in 1991, Mr. Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt, which aims to "create national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment issues." He was also the father of broadcast journalist John Seigenthaler Jr., who survives him along with his wife, the former Dolores Watson, a professional singer. - AP

NBC announced on July 8 that Stevie Nicks will be joining its hit talent show The Voice as an adviser to Adam Levine's team for the upcoming season, which premieres on Sept. 22. Filming is currently underway on the show's seventh season, and the 66-year-old Nicks has been working with Levine and his 12 team members as they assign songs and rehearse with the contestants in preparation for the show's battle rounds. Meanwhile, Nicks and Fleetwood Mac are preparing to kick off a 33-city tour starting Sept. 30 in Minneapolis, Minn. The fall tour will include Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and feature the return of McVie's ex-wife Christine McVie. - Billboard...... Aerosmith will launch a co-headlining summer tour with Slash of Guns N' Roses fame on July 10 in Wantagh, N.Y. Aerosmith has just wrapped an extended run in Europe, and guitarist Joe Perry says they will continue to showcase their 2012 album Music From Another Dimension!, an LP Perry says he doesn't feel has gotten its fair due. Perry will publish a memoir, Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith on Oct. 7, to be followed by a new solo album. Frontman Steven Tyler says hopes to finish his own solo album that he's been working on for the past few years. - Billboard...... Jackson Browne will be among the honorees of a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Americana Music Association Honors and Awards ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., in September. Browne, who has lent his voice to a number of social policy issues including clean energy, will receive the "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech Award. - Billboard

Paul McCartney returned to the stage in Albany, N.Y. on July 5 after a virus kept him from performing for two months. McCartney, 72, made no immediate reference to the virus that briefly hospitalized him in Japan. Dressed in black pants and a sky blue blazer, he kicked off the concert with a version of the Beatles "Eight Days a Week" and took his jacket off four songs in, joking it would be the evening's only wardrobe change. At one point, he interrupted his set to invite a Rochester, N.Y. couple onstage to supervise a marriage proposal. In May, McCartney canceled shows on his "Out There" tour of Japan and gigs in South Korea and the United States. He subsequently postponed a series of US shows in Lubbock, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville and Louisville, which have been rescheduled for October. He last played in Costa Rica on May 1. Meanwhile, the new single from McCartney's latest album New temporarily reached No. 1 on the Twitter "Trending 140" chart, then settled at No. 2 after it was outdone by a new track from Alt-J. "Early Days" reflects on the early relationship between McCartney and John Lennon while growing up in Liverpool. New was released in October 2013. - AP/Billboard, 7/8/14.

On July 7, Columbia Records formally announced that Pink Floyd will release their first new album in 20 years in October after David Gilmour's wife Polly Sampson casually tweeted that "the band has a new record in the works and it's coming out this fall... [it's] called The Endless River [and is] based on 1994 sessions... [it] is Rick Wright's swansong and very beautiful." Columbia's announcement confirmed Samspon's tweet, noting the new LP "is an album of mainly ambient and instrumental music based on the 1993/4 Division Bell sessions which feature David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright." The label added that the album will be produced by Gilmour alongside Phil Manzanera, Youth and recording engineer Andy Jackson. On July 1, the band celebrated The Division Bell's 20th anniversary by releasing a deluxe reissue of the album. Keyboardist Wright, a founding member of the band, died of cancer in 2008 at the age of 65. According to singer Durga McBroom-Hudson, who toured with Pink Floyd in the 1980s and 1990s, the band started recording the new project during the Division Bell sessions and it was originally titled "The Big Spliff." "It was originally to be a completely instrumental recording, but I came in last December and sang on a few tracks," McBroom-Hudson posted on her Facebook page. "David then expanded on my backing vocals and has done a lead on at least one of them. That's the song you see being worked on in the photo." She went on to emphasize that the new album will consist entirely of unreleased songs. David Gilmour currently has a solo album in the works, and there is no word on whether Roger Waters will have been included in the new project, but his last appearance on a Floyd record was in 1983 with The Final Cut. Waters reportedly has a new solo album in the works. - Rolling Stone/Billboard, 7/6/14.

On July 3, the director of the beleaguered Gregg Allman biopic Midnight Rider, along with two of the film's producers, were indicted by a Georgia grand jury on involuntary manslaughter charges following a fatal train crash on the film's set in that state in February, which led to the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones. Producer Jody Savin and executive producer Jay Sedrish are charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass and could face 10 years in prison, according to a statement from the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's office. Filming on Midnight Rider, which was being made by Uunclaimed Freight Productions, was suspended in the aftermath of the train tragedy, and actor William Hurt -- who was due to play Allman -- pulled out of the production. Seven other crew members were also injured in the incident, which is reported to have taken place while filming a dream sequence that involved a bed being placed on the railway tracks. - Billboard, 7/4/14.

In the July 3 episode of the popular game show Jeopardy! an entire category was devoted to Bruce Springsteen. The Springsteen-related themes included "Born in the U.S.A.," "Glory Days," "Cover Me," "The Ghost of Tom Joad," and "The 'E' Street Band," and one category dealt exclusively with the singer himself. While Springsteen has no live shows scheduled for the immediate future, on July 9 he will release Hunter of Invisible Game, a short film he co-directed with longtime collaborator Thom Zinny. He recently paused his vacation in Portugal to appear with the Rolling Stones for a rendition of "Tumbling Dice." - Rolling Stone, 7/4/14.

A reel of six previously unheard recordings by late '70s cult singer/songwriter Nick Drake will go up for auction on July 31 at London's Ted Owen & Company. A company representative described the rare recordings as "pristine master tapes" and is expecting them to fetch at least £250,000 ($428,000). According to a story in the New York Times, the songs were recorded in 1968, the year before the release of his debut album Five Leaves Left, the reel has been owned by Beverley Martyn, a folk singer who mentored Drake alongside her late husband John Martyn. In an interview with the UK paper The Independent, Martyn called the sound "full of fun," and said Drake's early guitar playing on the tape is "absolutely excellent." "The strings were great [on the formal albums], but this is just him, and it makes it more personal," she said. She went on to describe Drake as a "younger brother." While Drake, who died prematurely of an anti-depressant overdose in 1974 at the age of 26, never found fame in his short lifetime and his albums received little acclaim (he was dropped by Island Records for poor sales), decades after his death audiences rediscovered his poetic lyrical sensibilities and delicate arrangements on albums such as 1970's Bryter Later and 1972's Pink Moon. Martyn cites health issues as her reason for finally parting with the tapes, which has been in her possession all this time. "I don't want this tape to get lost or get into the wrong hands if anything happens to me," she said. "Someone else should be able to enjoy it." - Rolling Stone, 7/3/14.

Blondie have announced two UK shows this summer, at the Bristol O2 Academy on Aug. 19 and the Leicester O2 Academy on Aug. 20. The gigs will follow the release of the recent two-disc Blondie 4(0) Ever which is made up of a greatest hits album alongside the band's new LP Ghosts Of Download. It was their first release since 2011's Panic Of Girls. Blondie recently played UK dates in London and Sheffield at the end of June, and also co-headlined the legendary Glastonbury Festival. In February, the band was honoured at the NME Awards with Austin, Tex. They were named Godlike Genius at this year's event, which took place on Feb. 26, where they performed a career-spanning set. - New Musical Express, 7/5/14.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 3rd, 2014

The Who announced on June 30 they'll kick off a "Hits 50" anniversary tour of the UK on Nov. 26 in Dublin, Ireland. "It's an 'Amazing Journey' through their entire career from the days of the 'High Numbers' to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation, Live at Leeds up to the present day," reads the official announcement. "We cannot keep going on doing these month after month-long, extended tours," vocalist Roger Daltrey said in an interview with Billboard. "It's extremely hard, hard work," the 70-year-old Daltrey added. "When we take civilians, as I call them, on the road with us they usually last about 10 days and they're exhausted, just by the grind of it. So we have to be realistic. The band got better reviews on their last tour (2012-13's Quadrophenia & More) than we had for years. It was incredibly enjoyable. But it was incredibly exhausting, and we have to be realistic about our age." Guitarist Pete Townshend, who promised the trek will include hits, picks, mixes and misses" from the group's history, noted that he's also "under no illusions" about the Who's elder statesman status in rock: "We are what we are, and extremely good at it, but we're lucky to be alive and still touring. If I had enough hairs to split I would say that, for 13 years since 1964, the Who didn't really exist, so we are really only 37." And while Daltrey hints it may be the final Who tour, he says "it's not going to be the last things the Who will do." "We're going to be doing events. We're going to be doing shows. We've always been there for charity shows; when people are in trouble and need a band for a charity show, we can do it. That's not going to change. But it won't be those long, extended tours." The Who's Dublin date will be followed by shows in Belfast (11/28), Glasgow (11/30), Leeds (12/2), Nottingham (12/5), Birmingham (12/7), Newcastle (12/9), Liverpool (12/11), Manchester (12/13) and Cardiff (12/15), before wrapping in London's O2 Arena on Dec. 17. A North American tour is expected during 2015, and Townshend and Daltrey are reportedly working on new material, which could be finished and out even before this year's dates. - Billboard, 7/1/14.

After recently issuing a stamp honoring guitar god Jimi Hendrix, the United States Postal Service has unveiled details of a new stamp honoring Janis Joplin. According to the stamp news website Linns.com, the Joplin stamp will be released this August and will feature the iconic blues-rock singer smiling and wearing shades surrounded by a psychedelic background and lettering evoking the popular font of the 1960s. "Janis Joplin (1943-1970) was a groundbreaking singer whose powerful, bluesy voice propelled her to the pinnacle of rock stardom," a biographical description of the 16-stamp sheet says. "An icon of the 1960s, she was known for her uninhibited and soulful performances. Joplin is now recognized as one of the greatest rock singers of all time, as well as a pioneer who paved the way for other women in rock music." No information on the specific date in August and location of the stamp issue has been announced. Joplin, who was born in Port Arthur, Tex., and would have turned 71 this year, and Hendrix are the latest subjects to join the USPS's "Music Icons" series, which had previously honored Johnny Cash, Ray Charles and Tejano songstress Lydia Mendoza in 2012. The USPS has also revealed that it may issue stamps honoring such famous musicians as John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Bill Monroe, Sarah Vaughan and Tammy Wynette. A James Brown stamp and a re-release of the immensely popular 1993 Elvis Presley will be released in 2015. - Rolling Stone, 6/30/14.

As he plans to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in November to discuss Russia's oppressive policies toward gay people, Elton John told Britain's Sky News on June 30 that "Jesus Christ would approve of gay marriage." "If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him -- as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was -- saying this could not happen," said John. "He was all about love, compassion, forgiveness and trying to bring people together. That's what the church should be about." Discussing how organised religion had improved its attitudes to homosexuality, John said he saw "signs of hope" in the more tolerant views expressed by Pope Francis and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. But he said the Church of England's refusal to allow gay clergy to marry was "old and stupid." Elton added that he isn't sure if his meeting with Pres. Putin will do any good, "but unless you build a bridge, it's no good putting up a wall and saying 'I'm not talking to these people.' The only thing that gets solved is by talking to people." John and his partner David Furnish had a civil rights ceremony in 2005, and Elton has announced they may get married in 2015. "It'll be very quiet and off the cuff," he said. "We had our big shebang when we had our civil union," said John, who kicks off a mainland European tour in Spain on July 4. - New Musical Express, 6/30/14.

Ozzy Osbourne is currently at the center of a campaign to get him knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and the Black Sabbath singer says that he "can't imagine anything better" than receiving the honor. "I've heard about that. Getting knighted? I can't imagine anything better," the 65-year-old Osbourne told London's Time Out magazine. "And my wife [Sharon Osbourne] would become a Lady, which would be pretty cool. But I'm not gonna get upset if it doesn't happen. I never thought I'd get further than Aston [in Birmingham, England, where he was born]." Ozzy fan Helen Maidiotis, who created the The Knighthood of Ozz' campaign, argues a knighthood is "well deserved and long overdue" for Osbourne. Osbourne also revealed to the mag that he's shocked his career has managed to last almost half a century, admitting he believed it would only go on for a "couple of years" at best: "I don't [look back], but I guess I should a bit more. Because I know when I had my first successful album with Sabbath I thought, 'Oh this is great, this will last a couple of years. I'll just get drunk every night and have a few chicks in my room'. And here I am, 45 years down the road and I'm doing better than ever. I haven't always been on top of the world " there have been bad times as well " but you don't just give up at the first sign of choppy waters: you carry on rowing." In June, Osbourne said during a press conference that there is a possibility of a new Black Sabbath album, saying that the band "just wanna finish this tour and then we'll see." - New Musical Express, 6/29/14.

The Beatles' acclaimed 1964 movie A Hard Day's Night is returning to American theaters on the first weekend in July, starting July 4 and continuing throughout the summer. In June, a Criterion Collection version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray, featuring a new digital restoration of the film approved by director Richard Lester, audio commentary, several documentaries about the movie and "The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film," an Academy Award-nominated short directed by Lester and starring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. Conceived to capitalize on the Beatlemania sweeping the globe at the time, A Hard Day's Night offered a day-in-the-life view of the group at the time, culminating in a concert in London. Its madcap, fast-paced and dry-witted flavor made it a fresh kind of cinematic experience, cited as an influence on subsequent spy films, music videos and, three years later, The Monkees TV series. Premiering July 6, 1964 in London and Aug. 11 worldwide, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards -- Best Screenplay for Alun Owen and Best Score (Adaptation) for Beatles producer George Martin, while the accompanying album hit No. 1 in the U.S., U.K. and Australia and the title track won a Grammy Award for Best Performance By a Vocal Group. Ringo Starr tells Billboard that 50 years later, making the film remains a surreal experience for him. "It was a really exciting thing to do," Starr says. "We were making records and, wow, the records were taking off and then we're playing to bigger and bigger audiences and that's taking off, and now we're doing a movie. It was mad... but it was incredible." The theatrical return of A Hard Day's Night is only one part of a number of Beatles' 50th anniversary celebrations this year, which include honors at the Grammy Awards and a subsequent Record Academy CBS special saluting Starr, Paul McCartney and their late bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison. The Beatles in Mono, a 14-LP vinyl collection, will be released Sept. 8, with the individual albums also available separately. - Billboard, 7/3/14.

Two boxes of rare Bob Dylan acetates from around 1969-70 have been discovered in a New York City apartment building at 124 W. Houston St. in Greenwich Village that was once used by the rock 'n' roll legend. Jeff Gold, proprietor of Recordmecca and a longtime collector/dealer/historian, took to his website on July 1 to detail this once-in-a-lifetime find -- two boxes containing 149 acetates from Dylan's Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning albums, all produced by Bob Johnston between 1969-1970 for Columbia Records. Gold says he purchased the trove of unreleased mixes, recordings and sequences (some with Dylan-written notes on them) from the executor of the estate of the late owner of a NYC building being prepared for sale. While doing a final scan of the building, the man found boxes labeled "Old Records" in a closet in a semi-hidden loft above the bedroom. A source close to Dylan's camp says that, "While it's unknown how those actetates came to be in the hands of others, everything that is on them definitely also exists in original form on reel-to-reel tape and is securely held in the vaults. Most of that material in fact, was released on Another Self-Portrait last year." Gold says he has provided transfers of all the discovered music to Dylan's representatives. He has also made a few of the acetates, including an alternate version of Skyline, available for sale on recordmecca.com. - Billboard, 7/2/14.

Jeff Beck has been forced to cancel his European tour in order to receive "emergency medical attention." The legendary rock guitarist was scheduled to begin the second leg of his tour in Austria on June 27, but now says he has been advised by his doctors not to perform for the next six weeks. "It is with the greatest regret that Jeff Beck has been forced to cancel the forthcoming European dates of his worldwide tour, set to begin in Austria on 27 June," reads the statement on Beck's official website. "Following many months of international touring and after seeking emergency medical attention, Jeff will now undertake a short hospital procedure and his doctors have instructed a complete break from performance for a total of six weeks. Following the treatment, Jeff will fulfil his US tour commitments beginning in Missoula MT on 8 August. He sends his profound apologies to those fans who had bought tickets for the European concerts and very much looks forward to playing for his American audiences after he has completed his treatment." The musician will begin his month-long co-headlining US tour with ZZ Top in Missoula, Montana, on August 8, where the band will perform a collaboration at the end of each night's show. In related news, Neil Young and Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot suffered a mild stroke in late June and will not be able to perform with the band on their upcoming European tour. "Talbot's doctors expect him to make a full recovery," the group said in a statement. "They have advised Talbot to sit this tour out and recover his strength." Neil Young's longtime bassist Rick Rosas will play in his place. Talbot is a founding member of Crazy Horse and hasn't missed a single gig with the group since their formation in 1968. Young and Crazy Horse begin their European tour July 7th in Reykjavik, Iceland. They currently have no North American dates scheduled. - New Musical Express/Rolling Stone, 6/29/14.

Mick Jagger's son James Jagger is set to star in a new HBO drama series co-produced by his famous rocker dad and acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The as-yet-untitled series will focus on the New York music scene of the 1970s, showcasing the development of punk and disco through the eyes of fictional record company executive Richie. The cocaine-addicted exec will be played by Bobby Cannavale, who portrayed gangster Gyp Rosetti in the Scorsese-produced HBO series Boardwalk Empire. James Jagger will play the singer of fictional punk band Nasty Bits. Jagger attended the same high-school drama class in New York as Twilight actor Robert Pattinson. His previous acting roles include parts in Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and Howard Marks biopic Mr Nice. In other Stones-related news, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts have filmed a sketch mocking the Rolling Stones as part of Monty Python's press conference ahead of their "Monty Python Live (Mostly)" shows. The surviving members of Monty Python started their 10 shows at London's O2 on July 1. They announced at the press conference in central London that astrophysicists Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox will appear in filmed new sketches as part of the show. - New Musical Express, 6/30/14.

Former Mork & Mindy star Robin Williams, who has struggled with substance abuse since the early 1980s, has checked into rehab for continued sobriety. "After working back-to-back projects, Robin is simply taking the opportunity to fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment, of which he remains extremely proud," his representative said on July 1. Williams, 62, is currently at Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota in a program aimed at maintaining long-term sobriety, the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com first reported. He will remain there for several weeks. Williams admitted he once thought he could handle addiction on his own. "But you can't. That's the bottom line," he said. "You really think you can, then you realize, I need help, and that's the word ... It's hard admitting it, then once you've done that, it's real easy." Williams has been busy working on Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, due out later in 2014. - The Huffington Post, 7/1/14.

Innovative and versatile director Paul Mazursky, known for such films as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Harry & Tonto and An Unmarried Woman, died on July 1 of pulmonary cardiac arrest Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 84. A talented writer, actor and producer as well as director whose films showed the absurdity of modern life, Mr. Mazursky racked up five Oscar nominations, and also created memorable roles for the likes of Art Carney, Jill Clayburgh and Natalie Wood. Later in life, Mr. Mazursky acted in in such TV series as The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Once and Again. He and his writing partner Larry Tucker first triumphed in 1969 with the script for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a clever takeoff on the emerging sexual freedom of the late 1960s. Warner Bros. turned it down for fear of its racy subject, but Columbia scooped it up and accepted Mr. Mazursky's proviso that he would direct the film. Over the years, he was nominated four times for screenplay Oscars: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, 1974's Harry and Tonto, 1978's An Unmarried Woman and 1989's Enemies, A Love Story. As a co-producer, he also shared in the best picture nomination for An Unmarried Woman....... In related news, actor Bob Hastings, best known from the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy, died on June 30 in his Burbank, Calif., home after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. He was 89. Mr. Hastings won fans on McHale's Navy as Lt. Carpenter, a bumbling yes-man. Other memorable roles were on All in the Family and General Hospital. Later TV appearances included Ironside, The Dukes of Hazzard, Major Dad and Murder, She Wrote. His voiceover work continued as recently as the 2010 video game Mafia II...... Comedian and singer Steve Rossi, half of the comedy duo Allen & Rossi -- staples on The Ed Sullivan Show -- died in Las Vagas on June 22 after battling cancer. He was 82...... "Psychic to the Stars" Kenny Kingston, who boasted Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, Lucille Ball, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and John Wayne among his celebrity clients, passed away on June 30 after a long battle with a cardiovascular disease. He was 87. Mr. Kingston was the first psychic to appear on primetime television in the U.S., on programs such as The Flip Wilson Show, and he was a regular on variety shows hosted by Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and Steve Allen. He also penned five books on the spiritual world and was often approached by media outlets for insights from dead stars, like Monroe, who became one of his spirit companions from beyond the grave. - AP, 7/1/14.