Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on Nov. 28th, 2015

Early copies of the Beatles' "White Album" that were stamped with their own serial numbers on the cover have become highly sought after collectors items, and in 2008 copy with No. 0000005 stamped on it sold at an auction for a little less than $30,000. Now Ringo Starr has announced the first ever copy of the album will be sold in a Julien's auction on Dec. 3-5 that will benefit the Lotus Foundation, which was founded by Starr and his wife, Barbara Bach. The four Beatles were presented with the first four copies, and No. 0000001 was rumoured to have been given to John Lennon who, according to Paul McCartney, "shouted the loudest" for it when the band decided to have the copies numbered. Julien's Auctions, which is based in Beverly Hills, estimates the LP will sell for up to $60,000. - New Musical Express, 11/24/15...... In other Fab Four news, Paul McCartney has written a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron in support of a "Meat-Free Mondays" campaign in the UK, as Cameron prepares to attend the Paris Climate Change Conference which begins on Nov. 30. McCartney, along with his wife and the rest of his family, are encouraging the implementation of Meat Free Mondays at schools, universities and government buildings, as well as involving restaurants and private businesses. The McCartneys contend that developed countries can reduce their carbon footprint by 2% overnight if everyone cuts out meat consumption one day a week, as well as talking about health benefits. "If you heard that meat production was one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, what would you do? Would you just ignore that fact, or would you want to do something and want to find a solution?," Sir Paul asks in a video he released that accompanies his letter. Meanwhile, artists including David Bowie, Björk, Robert Plant, David Gilmour, Radiohead, Iggy Pop and Coldplay have written an open letter to negotiators attending the Paris climate summit to secure a "ambitious" deal to "come together and intensify our efforts" against climate change. In a petition which accompanies the letter, the musicians call the summit an "historic opportunity... to give us confidence in a sustainable future, to share our ambition, and recognize our capacity to strengthen your leadership." - NME, 11/27/15...... As Bruce Springsteen prepares for a deluxe reissue of his 1980 double LP The River on Dec. 4, cable TV's HBO channel premiered a documentary included in the set, The Ties That Bind about The River, on Nov. 27. Directed by Thom Zimny, the 60-minute film features interviews with the Boss and acoustic versions of tracks like "The River" and "Two Hearts." The lavish The Ties That Bind: The River Collection boxset also includes the original album and features outtakes and demos from The River sessions recorded between 1979 and 1980. Dubbed The River: Single Album, it includes 10 previously unreleased tracks he recorded in 1979 as a follow up to 1978's Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The Ties That Bind follows a similar box-set treatment for Darkness in 2010. - New Musical Express, 11/24/15................................ Seventies artists James Taylor and Barbra Streisand were among 17 Americans honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the USA's highest civilian award, at The White House on Nov. 24. "Off the stage, [Streisand has] been a passionate advocate for issues like heart disease and women's equality," Pres. Barack Obama said in his opening statement. "I'm getting all verklempt just thinking about it," the president joked in Yiddish, referencing the SNL skit "Coffee Talk." "You always feel like he's singing only to you," Pres. Obama said about Taylor. "That's why he's become one of the driving forces of the singer-songwriter movement." The president also recognized director Steven Spielberg, composer Stephen Sondheim, violinist Itzhak Perlman and baseball legends Willie Mays and Yogi Berra, among others. "Today we celebrate some extraordinary people: innovators, artists and leaders who contribute to America's strength as a nation," he told reporters before handing out the medals. - WENN.com, 11/24/15...... Speaking of James Taylor, the "Fire and Rain" singer performed "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Nov. 23. Taylor sang as the French flag appeared in the background. - Billboard, 11/24/15...... Carly Simon appeared on CBS's The Late Show on Nov. 24 for a duet with host Stephen Colbert of what she admitted was her favorite song, Inez and Charlie Foxx's hit "Mockingbird," which she and former husband James Taylor famously covered in 1973. The pair deliverd a surprisingly good off-the-cuff rendition as Simon sang lead and Colbert harmonized on the Taylor parts. Later in the show, Simon performed "I Can't Thank You Enough" with her son Ben Taylor, a track from her new album Songs From The Trees (A Musical Memoir), which has just been released along with her accompanying memoir, Boys in the Trees. - Billboard, 11/25/15...... Former Commodores singer/songwriter Lionel Richie has announced details of a UK arena tour that will take place in 2016. Richie will play three dates in total beginning at the Manchester Arena on June 28, then follow with two nights at London's O2 Arena on July 2 and 3. This summer, the "Dancing on the Ceiling" singer boosted his popularity in England by performing before over 100,000 people at the Glastonbury music festival." I can't wait to return to the UK to see my fans," said Richie. "It's always been a really special place for me and this year in particular the UK has been incredible to me." - NME, 11/26/15...... In a new interview on Nov. 24, Jimmy Page reaffirmed that he will be starting work on his first solo album in nearly 30 years in 2016. "Next year I'm just going to working on the guitar. It's time for me to go out there and do a solo album. My last solo album was 1988. I haven't really milked the situation. It's time to do another one. I'm known for playing many styles of guitar, and I need to revisit all the different styles I can play," he said. Page added that he's "not thinking about singers, I'm thinking of an instrumental thing." "I want to work with my strengths rather than my weaknesses. I want to work with myself, I want to get myself up and running and once I'm ready, I'll think about whether I need someone to sing on the music," he explained. His last proper solo effort, 1988's Outrider, featured several guest singers performing over his songs, including his former bandmate, Robert Plant. He has also released collaborative albums with Whitesnake singer David Coverdale and Plant. - Billboard, 11/24/15...... The Fox TV network has released the first promo for its upcoming live televised musical based on the hit 1978 movie Grease. Set for Jan. 31 from 7:00-10:00 p.m., Grease: Live will star Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko and Julianne Hough as Sandy, and features a new version of the Barry Gibb's "Grease (Is the Word)" that was featured in the opening title sequence of the 1978 film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/24/15...... In related news, a musical inspired by the legendary Motown studio in Detroit will be returning to Broadway next summer. "Motown the Musical" will return to New York starting July 2016 for an 18-week stand, before touring earlier in the year in several southern states, as well as Ohio and Wisconsin. It also plays the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End in February. In a press conference on Nov. 23, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy said that the musical that tells the story of how the record label rose and fell and then rose again has been "tweaked" on the road and "gotten tighter and tighter." The show first began performances in March 2013 at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre and closed this January after over 700 performances, routinely breaking $1 million a week at the box office. - AP, 11/24/15...... Trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, who helped Sly and the Family Stone craft its own unique sound of funk and soul in the late '60s and early '70s, passed away on Nov. 23 after a battle with cancer. She was 69. Robinson, who was also a co-founder of Sly Stone's band, was one of the first female black trumpeters to gain notoriety in a major recording act, and was the first female trumpet player and the first African-American trumpet player inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Stone and the other bandmembers, in 1993. Robinson first hooked up with Sly in 1966 in an early incarnation of the band, Sly and the Stoners, and stayed on board as Stone crafted the pop/rock/R&B synthesis that became the Family Stone. After the Family Stone disbanded in 1975, Robinson went on to lend her talents and perform with other great stage acts such as George Clinton and Prince until cancer diagnosis was announced in October on her Facebook page. Robinson also announced that she was establishing the Cynthia Robinson Cancer Care Fund, which is remaining active "in her memory," according to her Facebook page. The Sacramento-born musician is survived by her two daughters, Laura Marie and Sylvyette Phunne. - Billboard, 11/24/15.

The Recording Academy announced on Nov. 19 that it will be inducting 26 recordings into its Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016, including Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, Bob Dylan and The Band's The Basement Tapes, the Grateful Dead's 1970 classic American Beauty, and Roberta Flack's First Take. Singles making the cut include Blondie's "Heart of Glass," Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Love Rock N' Roll," The Zombies' "She's Not There," Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," and Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville." "These works have influenced and inspired music fans for generations and we are proud to induct them into our catalogue of distinguished recordings," said NARAS president Neil Portnow in a statement. In order to be eligible for induction, recordings must be at least 25 years old and are chosen for their "historical and cultural significance." - New Musical Express, 11/19/15...... A glowing review by entertainer James Wright about Patti LaBelle's signature brand of sweet potato pies has racked up about 10 million YouTube views since it was posted on Nov. 11, causing retail giant Walmart to announced they were selling LaBelle's pies at the "rate of one per second during the 72 hour period from Thursday through Saturday." Demand is such it also appears many are buying the pies from Walmart and reselling them on eBay and Craigslist for much more than the $3.50 price tag. But the "Lady Marmalade" singer isn't too quick to give credit directly to Wright for helping her pies reach a wide new audience. "I was selling out before the guy did his wonderful video," LaBelle told TMZ.com when approached about Wright's video. The video testimonial has also reportedly inspired at least one online amateur guitarist to write a musical accompianiment. - Billboard, 11/20/15...... In other viral net news, a tweet from Aaron Carter went viral on Nov. 22 after the rising young pop star claimed that Michael Jackson "passed down the torch" to him before the King of Pop passed away in 2009. In his series of seemingly unprompted tweets, Carter also said that he and Jackson were "connected" because they were "the only ones of [their] kind." Carter has since deleted his original tweet, which read "Remember one very important thing...Michael passed down the torch to me...I never had to ask for him to do that," but continues to defend his point vehemently in a series of tweets that are still live. In a longer statement, Carter spoke directly to the people making off-color jokes in response, saying, "Passing down the torch was exactly what he did, and being there for people and loving one another." - Billboard, 11/23/15...... Veteran heavy metal frontman Lemmy Kilmister of the band Motörhead has spoken out about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, and said he and his band would have played the same Bataclan venue where dozens of innocent music fans were slaughtered "the next day" after the attack as an act of defiance. "Those people are so dumb. What for? Do you think it's gonna be a heroic thing to kill innocent people? Assholes. Cowards," Kilmister told a German rock outlet. "I would have gone on the day after," he continued. "If they [the terrorists] stop you, then they win. And they're not going to beat me. I mean, I do what I'm supposed to do. If the police cancel [the show for us], I can't do [anything] about that. But we didn't cancel it." - NME, 11/23/15...... Jimmy Page joined such musicians as his pal Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Duff McKagan formerly of Guns N' Roses, and Alice In Chains singer William Duvell for a rendition of the classic Led Zeppelin track "Rock and Roll" during a Led Zepp tribute concert at Seattle's Experience Music Project Museum on Nov. 19. It was part of a benefit show of Zeppelin covers performed by a host of musicians that also included Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and ex-Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Page also picked up the Experience Music Project Founders Award at the ceremony which also saw the likes of "Immigrant Song," "Communication Breakdown" and "Dazed And Confused" performed. Earlier in 2015, Page said he planned on pursuing a "new project" outside his classic former band after completing the reissues of Led Zeppelin's final three albums, which he accomplished this year. - NME, 11/20/15...... Frank Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa is set to release Via Zammata, his first new solo album in nearly a decade, on Nov. 27. "This record is a chance to take what I've learned over the past decade of learning my dad's music and playing it live and applying some of those elements to my own music -- but I didn't want to do it in a way that made the music seem like just a derivative of my dad's music," Zappa says. "I wanted to simplify a lot of the music and just make a collection of songs that seemed like they would be fun to listen to. I wanted to make each song have its own sonic fingerprint, a different production or sonic landscape for each song, so it kind of goes into different musical genres -- sometimes all together," he adds. The LP also features a track called "Dragon Master," which Zappa wrote from a set of fantastical lyrics his late dad gave to him. Zappa is planning a short solo tour early in 2016 behind the new set, and he'll also be part of the Experience Hendrix Tour kicking off in late Feb. 2016. "It's going to be a '50 Years of Frank' kind of thing... It's really insane to think about his first record coming out 50 years ago, so I want it to be something special," Dweezil says. - Billboard, 11/20/15...... '70s artists the Grateful Dead and Bob Seger were among the honorees at the 12th Annual Billboard Touring Awards on Nov. 19 at NYC's Roosevelt Hotel. The GD took the Top Boxscore Award for their "Fare Thee Well" shows at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3-5, while Seger was named the 2015 Legend of Live recipient for his significant impact on the touring industry. The Detroit rocker was clearly touched when he received the award, and used it as an opportunity to thank promoters and others that he said he otherwise never gets the chance to acknowledge. "This is a wonderful chance to say thank you to people," he said. - Billboard, 11/20/15...... As Fleetwood Mac prepares to release a deluxe reissue of its risk-taking 1979 classic double-LP Tusk on Dec. 4, guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham says "the conventional wisdom was, 'You blew it'" when its sales fell far short of its predecessor, 1977's Rumours. "A lot of people were pissed off at me for that," he recalled with a laugh. But Buckingham said he had a good reason for not doing a "Rumours 2." "We really were poised to make Rumours 2, and that could've been the beginning of kind of painting yourself into a corner in terms of living up to the labels that were being placed on you as a band," he said. "You know, there have been several occasions during the course of Fleetwood Mac over the years where we've had to undermine whatever the business axioms might be to sort of keep aspiring as an artist in the long term, and the Tusk album was one of those times," he added. - Billboard, 11/19/15...... James Taylor appeared on Stephen Colbert late night CBS talk show on Nov. 18, and Colbert joined in with Taylor for a completely serious duet with Taylor's classic "You Can Close Your Eyes." "Something that I never anticipated when I started doing this kind of thing, is that I might be able to do the thing I'm about to do -- sing a song with James Taylor," Colbert said before singing. Clearly thrilled, he took the lead on the song (an audience request) as Taylor added harmonies and accompanied on guitar. - Billboard, 11/19/15...... In related news, Jeff Lynne's ELO performed on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show the same evening, with Lynne performing his new track "When I Was a Boy" as well as the ELO classic "Mr. Blue Sky." "When I Was a Boy" is included on Jeff Lynne's ELO's just released album, Alone in the Universe. - New Musical Express, 11/19/15...... Veteran acting couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are planning on finally getting married after being a couple for 30 years, according to the U.K. tabloid The Daily Express. The Hollywood stars, who met in 1983, will reportedly exchange vows in a ceremony at their ranch near Aspen, Col. in the New Year. "It's going to be cowboy hats, horses and rock 'n' roll," a friend of the couple said. "All their relatives are thrilled that they have at last decided to tie the knot." Hawn, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday, has previously said, "Kurt and I are deeply in love, so why risk ruining something wonderful by getting hitched?" A representative for the couple has yet to comment on the wedding report. - WENN.com, 11/23/15...... The movie industry website TheTrackingBoard is reporting that the long-delayed biopic about legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will start shooting in the summer of 2016, pending a full rewrite from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten (Theory of Everything). The project had been thought to have been shelved after Sacha Baron-Cohen left the project in 2013, citing "creative differences." The rumored successor to play Mercury is Ben Whishaw, who also appears in the new James Bond flick, Spectre. The roles of Roger Taylor and Mary Austin have also reportedly been filled with Johnny Flynn and Gemma Arterton, respectively. - Billboard, 11/19/15...... More juicy tidbits from Carly Simon's promotional tour for her new top-selling book Boys in the Trees are leaking out, including a new People interview in which Carly revealed she had sexual encounters at the age of 7. The singer said she got involved with a family friend when she was just a 7-year-old kid. At the time, the boy was a teenager, and she believes her mother found out about the secret because the boy was banned from the house for one summer. "It was heinous," she said. "It changed my view about sex for a long time." Simon also revealed recently that one of the verses in her classic hit "You're So Vain" was about one of her former boyfriends, Warren Beatty. - HuffingtonPost.com, 11/19/15...... Jim Perry, a top TV game-show host in the 1970s and '80s who moderated such programs as Card Sharks and Sale of the Century, died in Oregon on Nov. 20 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 82. In 1978, the dapper Mr. Perry started as host of Card Sharks, beginning his long-standing relationship with NBC. He hosted a version of the game show and the two pilots that preceded it from April 24, 1978, until Oct. 23, 1981. NBC then named Perry as the host of a revamped edition of Sale of the Century in 1982. That show aired for six years and spun off into a nightly syndicated version, which saw Perry doing double-duty as the host of both shows. Survivors include his wife of 56 years, June, a former model; their children Sean and Erin; and three grandchildren. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/20/15.