Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on December 3rd, 2017

After years of development, Neil Young introduced his new Neil Young Archives project on Dec. 1. The sprawling website allows visitors to stream for free (provided you give an email address) everything Young has recorded as a soloist and bandleader, as well as with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and includes listings regarding Young-related films and books, as well as unreleased albums and recordings such as Chrome Dreams, Homegrown, and Freedom Live. With a kitschy interface designed to look like a combination of an old stereo and a filing cabinet, the site (under ideal conditions) will allow you to stream in high quality audio provided by Young's proprietary Xstream streaming plugin. A good way to start: go to the "Timeline" section and scroll through the 50-year-plus run of Young's career, and click around the albums linked there. Young has also promised updates will be featured in the "NYA News" section of the site. Meanwhile, Young has also released his latest album, The Visitor, backed by the band Promise of the Real. - Billboard, 12/1/17...... The Moody Blues are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their seminal symphonic-rock LP Days of Future Passed with a live TV special they've taped for PBS, and are planning a Days of Future Passed North American tour to begin in Jan. 2018. "A couple of years ago, I was thinking how best to celebrate the 50th anniversary, when I was fortunate enough to meet an arranger and conductor named Elliott Davis from Toronto's World Festival Orchestra," Moody Blues founder Justin Hayward says, noting that original arranger Peter Knight had passed away in 1985. Hayward said he was seeking a classical conductor to help recreate the sound of the 1967 album, which blended orchestral arrangements with psychedelic rock sounds to create one of the first concept rock albums of the 1960s. "I could suddenly see a way where we could make it possible," Hayward explains. "I found someone capable of recreating those parts on stage because in the past, it was very frustrating trying to recreate the album live. We had one group with a sound in the studio and another group that created the live sound on stage. We could never get the two to gel and sound the same. And it's only in the last few years that that's been possible." The Decca Records-produced album, originally released in 1968 and peaking at No. 3, enjoyed a resurgence in 1972 after its track "Nights in White Satin" was released as a single and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The album introduced a new generation of music fans to the power of stereophonic mixing and mastering. The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed Live is now airing on PBS as part of WNET Thirteen and New York Public Media's Great Performances series, and the concert can be streamed on the PBS website. The performance was taped July 7 at Toronto's Sony Centre with the band performing the entire LP live with narration from English actor Jeremy Irons. The Moodies will kick off their 2018 tour on Jan. 10 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla., also hitting Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma before four shows at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Jan. 26, 27, 30 and 31. The classic rockers have also been nominated for induction into the class of 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a first for the band. - Billboard, 11/30/17...... The late David Cassidy has bowed on Billboard's Social 50 Chart after the former The Partridge Family teen idol died of liver failure on Nov. 21 at age 67. Cassidy entered the chart after his Wikipedia page tallied 814,000 clicks in the week ending Nov. 23, a boost of 14,191%. The Social 50 is powered by data tracked by music analytics company Next Big Sound and ranks the most popular artists on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Wikipedia and Tumblr. Meanwhile, Cassidy's Partridge Family co-star Danny Bonaduce has reacted to the death of Cassidy, saying the singer was "robbed" in his career: "He wanted to go on tour and be a real rock 'n' roll star. But the road he chose to go down after the show, it didn't go as far." Bonaduce added that he and Cassidy didn't become close friends until the 1990s, when Bonaduce was on the cover of the tabloids for alcohol and substance abuse. Bonaduce said after Cassidy invited him to go on tour with him and participated in interviews with local radio stations, "They offered me more money than I'd ever seen in my life: $75,000 a year... David told me the tour would give me a career, and it did." - Billboard, 11/30/17...... In related news, AC/DC has surged on the Billboard Rock Charts after the death of band co-founder Malcolm Young on Nov. 18 at age 64. AC/DC landed six entries on the Hot Rock Songs survey, with their song "Thunderstruck" bowing at No. 6 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. AC/DC's five other titles on Hot Rock Songs for the week ending Nov. 23 include "Back in Black," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Highway to Hell," "T.N.T." and"Hells Bells." - Billboard, 11/29/17...... After '80s metal band Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider slammed the trend of "non-metal fans wearing vintage metal T's" on Twitter in October, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has a different point of view: "I'm honored that they do," Iommi says. "The more the merrier." Snider caused a stir on Twitter when he vented, "It's not just the wearing of our metal T's, it's their cherry picking of our style #skulls #metalhorns. These are OUR symbols; OUR image." Slayer guitarist Gary Holt went so far as to accuse pop sensation Beyoncé of "appropriation" for using his band's logo for "Slayonc" merchandise without permission on her Formation World Tour. Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Kanye West are just a few of the additional contemporary acts who in recent years have mined metal symbols and logos for merchandise. But Rob Halford of Judas Priest is in Iommi's corner: "That is the epitome of popularity, when you get a Kardashian wearing a metal shirt ... suddenly metal is on the front page of every newspaper and social platform." - Billboard, 12/1/17...... TV journalist Geraldo Rivera has apologized to Bette Midler over an incident that took place in the 1970s where Midler says he groped her at her own house. After Rivera defended the beleaguered Today show host Matt Lauer on social media and then took back the remarks, on Nov. 30 Midler shared a video from a 1991 interview with Barbara Walters where she recalled her disturbing encounter with Rivera. "Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this," Midler posted with the clip. In the video, she detailed an incident where Rivera and his producer pushed her into her bathroom, broke two of the recreational drug poppers and pushed them under her nose and, she said, "proceeded to grope me." In two tweets Rivera also said that he regrets the "distasteful" and "disrespectful" tone of his 1991 memoir, Exposing Myself, wherein he describes the encounter: "We were in the bathroom, preparing for the interview, and at some point, I put my hands on her breasts." Rivera tweeted that "I'm embarrassed & profoundly sorry to those mentioned -- I have & again apologize to anyone offended." - Billboard, 12/1/17...... The long-awaited biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury has been put on hold after its director, Brian Singer, failed to return to the set after the Thanksgiving holiday. Although a rep for Singer said the director's absence was due to "a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family," it has been reported that Singer has previously clased with the cast and crew and has failed to turn up to the set once before. Singer, who is best known for directing the X Men franchise, chose actor Rami Malek to portray Mercury after Sacha Baron Cohen pulled out of the project in the summer of 2013, reportedly because he and Queen, who have script and director approval, were unable to agree on the type of movie they wanted to make. - New Musical Express, 12/2/17...... Two new documentaries of interest to '70s music fans will premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah: a Joan Jett biopic called Bad Reputation from director Kevin Kerslake, and Studio 54, a doc on the famed New York nightlife mecca. The Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 18 through Jan. 28. - Billboard, 11/30/17...... Bruce Springsteen has been spotted at the Freds Madison Avenue restaurant atop Barneys New York sipping wine now that he's spending a lot of time on Broadway for his new hit "Springsteen on Broadway" production. "He's friendly to fans," a source told the New York Post's Page Six. "He's nice to everyone." Springsteen has been seen sitting alone at the bar and enjoying a glass of wine with his lunch around 3 p.m. most days. Although he doesn't visit the restaurant every day, he reportedly "goes often." - PageSix.com, 11/29/17...... A fundraising campaign to build a music school honoring record producer Quincy Jones and to be located in a country of Jones' choosing has been started by the In a Perfect World (IAPW) organization. "We can reach children alone, but we can do so much more together. Just $30 sends a kid to school in Los Angeles with a backpack full of school supplies. And $22 sends a kid to school in a developing country for one year. How easy is that?," says IAPW founder Manuela Testolini. Jones was honored by IAPW at a gala at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles on Nov. 12. To donate, visit iapw.org/donate or facebook.com/inaperfectworldfdn or text "Give" to (310) 620-1515. - Billboard, 11/28/17...... Beach Boys member Al Jardine will launch a "Postcard From California - From the Very First Song" tour on Jan. 23-24 at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, Minn. The name comes from Jardine's debut solo album, 2010's A Postcard From California. Featuring his son Matt Jardine, the tour will feature Al telling stories about the Beach Boys' music and singing, as well as Matt singing and playing alongside his dad. The tour will also hit the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 23 and 24, and then visit he Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Ariz., on Jan. 29 and 30. "Al's voice is still so incredibly strong, so this show will highlight that," says the show's producer, Keith Putney. "With Matt Jardine on board, the harmonies will shine as well." - Billboard, 11/28/17...... Britain's Channel 4 has commissioned a film documenting the most important moments of the final year of rock icon Prince, from his secret performance at the White House during the Barack Obama era, to his final tour, Piano & a Microphone. The new project will feature interviews with Prince's friends, including political commentator Van Jones, singer Eryn Allen Kane, and his former girlfriend Andy. Also, it will include such musicians as Cee Lo Green and George Clinton. It will be directed by Adrian Sibley, who worked on The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill. In related news, Prince's estate has just release dfirst official merchandise since his death. The "Hit N Run" merchandise line -- named after his surprise album releases -- includes t-shirts themed after iconic Prince albums such as Purple Rain, 1999, Parade and Controversy, as well as a hoodie and purple hat. - New Musical Express, 12/1/17...... For the 29th annual World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, Elton John is continuing his commitment to raising awareness and funds for the global HIV/AIDS epidemic with the help of mobile messaging app Kwippit and 25 famous friends. Each day during December, a custom-made digital heart -- similar to an emoji -- will be released to subscribers of Kwippit's Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) channel to share on social media and text messages. One hundred percent of the proceeds from downloads ($.99 annual membership) directly benefits the non-profit's grant-making programs that focus on raising awareness, sharing preventative information, and offering medical care and treatment to all people living with HIV. "I am so grateful to all of the EJAF friends participating in this Kwippit project for sharing their creativity with us, supporting our work, remaining steadfast to the cause, and believing in our ideals," Sir Elton said in a statement. - Billboard, 12/1/17...... Beloved comedic actor Jim Nabors, best known for starring on The Andy Griffith Show and later in his own spin-off series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., died at his home in Hawaii on Nov. 30. He was 87. A native of Alabama, Mr. Nabors also recorded more than two dozen albums with a rich, operatic baritone voice that surprised those who were used to hearing him exclaim "Gawwwleee!" with a Southern twang on television. For many years, Mr. Nabors also sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" during the opening ceremonies for the Indianapolis 500. Born James Thurston Nabors on June 12, 1930, in Sylacauga, Ala., Mr. Nabors sang in high school and acted in fraternity productions at the University of Alabama. After graduating with a degree in business administration, he moved to New York and worked as a typist and answered phones at the United Nations. In the early 1960s, Mr. Nabors was a regular performer at The Horn, a cabaret theater on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica that showcased new talent, when he was spotted by Andy Griffith, who thought Nabors would be perfect to play a new character on his CBS sitcom. That would be Gomer, a dim-witted, affable mechanic at Wally's filling station in Mayberry and a cousin of Goober (George Lindsey). Mr. Nabors was signed for just one episode, which aired midway through The Andy Griffith Show's third season in December 1962, but Gomer proved popular, and Mr. Nabors went on to appear in 23 installments of the series. Mr. Nabors' run on The Andy Griffith Show culminated with the fourth-season finale in which Gomer joins the U.S. Marines. With Pvt. Pyle being hounded by tough but caring drill sergeant Vince Carter (Frank Sutton), Gomer Pyle, USMC aired for five years (1964-69) on CBS and was a great success in the ratings -- always in the top 10 and No. 2 in its final season -- before the actor decided to pursue other activities, which included hosting his own variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour. It lasted two seasons and featured some of his Gomer Pyle co-stars. Mr. Nabors also had roles in such movies as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Stroker Ace (1983) and Cannonball Run II (1984). Mr. Nabors, who underwent a liver transplant in 1994, starred regularly at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome in The Jim Nabors Polynesian Extravaganza, which in the 1980s was one of the state's top showbiz attractions. He lived in Hawaii for more than 30 years and had homes in Honolulu and Maui, where he had a macadamia nut farm. In Jan. 2013, Mr. Nabors exchanged wedding vows with Stan Cadwallader, his partner of almost four decades, before a judge in a Seattle hotel room. Mr. Nabors met Cadwallader, a former firefighter in Honolulu, in 1975. "In Mayberry, there was no illness. There was no war. There was no violence. There was no graffiti. We all had a good time, and we laughed a lot," he said in a 2000 interview. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/30/17.

AC/DC co-founding guitarist Malcolm Young was laid to rest in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 28 in a private ceremony attended by family, including his younger brother and sole original remaining AC/DC member Angus Young, and former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd. Malcolm, 64, who died on Nov. 18 after a three-year battle with dementia, was also mourned by Australian concert promoter Michael Chugg and Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes during the service at St. Mary's Cathedral. Hundreds of fans lined the streets outside the cathedral, where eulogies were read by a family member and David Albert, a rep from AC/DC's longtime catalog management company. Following the service, the funeral procession left the church as the traditional Australian ballad "Waltzing Matilda" was played by a pipe band. - Billboard, 11/28/17...... The Bruce Springsteen Broadway show "Springsteen on Broadway" has had its run extended through June 30. The show, which opened at The Walter Kerr Theater on Oct. 12, was extended from the originally announced end date of November to Feb. 28 before it had even begun. The New York Post reported shortly after the shows started that viewers were reduced to tears watching Springsteen perform. In other Springsteen-related news, The Boss' childhood home at 39 Institute St. in Freehold, N.J., has been put up for auction, with a starting bid of $269,900. The duplex, where the rock icon lived between the ages of 6 and 19, is featured on the front cover of his 2016 autobiography Born to Run and is the location where he saw the first television appearance by Elvis Presley when he was just 7, famously inspiring him to become a musician. The modest 736-square-foot house was built in 1905 and is listed on the real estate website Zillow.com. - Stereogum.com/New Musical Express, 11/27/17...... The family of late Steely Dan member Walter Becker has responded to a lawsuit recently filed by Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, whose lawyers claim that Becker's widow had demanded 50% ownership of Steely Dan, which violated an agreement that both Becker and Fagen had signed in 1972. In that agreement, they said that, if a member of the group quit or died, the remaining members would buy back all the shares of that member's stock of the band. Becker and Fagen were the last two remaining owners, which would then in turn make Fagen the last stockholder. Becker's estate lawyers are contending that agen's suit is "riddled with half-truths and omissions," and make a shocking claim that Fagen sent a demand letter to Becker's estate on the same day that Becker died (Sept. 3). "Since Walter's passing, we have endeavored to achieve a compromise with Mr. Fagen," the statement reads. "Mr. Fagen's third and current lawyer did not even attempt to contact us prior to filing a lawsuit. While we regret Mr. Fagen's latest actions, we will vigorously defend against his unwarranted and frivolous case," it continues. - Stereogum.com, 11/27/17...... Eric Clapton announced on Nov. 27 that he'll be returning to the UK's Hyde Park for a huge British Summer Time Festival gig in the summer of 2018. Slowhand will take the Great Oak stage on July 8, his first concert at the venue since 2008. "I have happy memories of performing in Hyde Park in the past," Clapton said in a statement. "I'm really looking forward to playing there again -- the whole atmosphere is very special." Opening for the 72-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will be his former Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood along with Carlos Santana and Gary Clark, Jr.. Clapton becomes the fourth confirmed headliner at British Summertime, which launched in 2013, joining an already announced line up of Roger Waters, Michael Buble and Bruno Mars. - New Musical Express, 11/27/17...... Three recently discovered microbe species that live in guts of termites have been named after the Canadian power trio Rush after scientists at the University Of British Columbia discovered the three new species. The microbes will be forever known as "P. leei," "P. lifesoni," and "P. pearti" after Rush's Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart ."A Spanish postdoc, Javier del Campo, asked me to recommend some good Canadian music, and I suggested he listen to Rush," University Of British Columbia microbiologist Patrick Keeling explained in a statement. Earlier in 2017, Rush also had a set of capybara triplets (a S. American mammal that resembles a giant guinea pig) named after them. - Stereogum.com, 11/28/17...... Some fans who attended a recent Robert Plant concert at Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, UK are complaining of overcrowding that caused a "small number" of them to faint due to the heat inside the venue. "In the first 20 minutes I saw six or seven people being carried out of the hall after collapsing," audience member Scott Campbell said. "I go to a lot of concerts but I had never seen anything like it." Plant, who was born in nearby West Bromwich, played at the venue, which has a capacity of 3000, on Nov. 20. Campbell said that he tried and failed to get inside the venue's main hall, and ended up leaving the gig to go home. A spokesman for the City of Wolverhampton Council issued a statement saying, "While the Civic Hall meets the required health and safety standards, it is an 80-year-old building and improvements to the ventilation and heating system are part of the planned refurbishment scheme." - NME, 11/23/17...... Arlo Guthrie played his annual Thanksgiving concert at the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York on Nov. 25. Guthrie has played a total of 54 performances at Carnegie -- often with fellow good friend Pete Seeger -- and says he was "literally shaking" the first few times he played the historic venue. "I knew the history of that stage and it scared me. It took a few years to be able to breathe and sing at the same time. Now it feels like going home. We've done it so often and so many times that it's very enjoyable and something I look forward to doing every year," he said. Guthrie is currently in the midst of his Re:Generation Tour, which includes his son Abe Guthrie and daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie. "I've seen my kids mature as performers, which I love," Guthrie says. "Abe and Sara Lee in particular have become really good up there, which I love. And when we all get together it's family. It's fun. We don't have any divas in this family, so it makes it easy," he added. Guthrie says he's working on "nothing in particular" in regards to new music. "We've got so much in the catalog at this point, there's not enough time to do them," he notes. And while the current turbulent times may seem to call for new Guthrie songs, he says he feels the old ones will actually suffice. "We've already got some good songs about this stuff. This is obviously not the sunny day that we had imagined might be here at this point. It looks awful cold and cloudy... Despite everything I think the world is evolving, and the destiny I see is a lot brighter than what other people see sometimes. I don't know if I'll still be around when we finally get there, but I'm confident we will get there." - Billboard, 11/24/17...... Diaries written by John Lennon are among 100 items belonging to the late Beatle that were stolen from his widow Yoko Ono in 2006 and recently recovered by police in Berlin, Germany. Lennon's diaries are currently on display at Berlin police headquarters -- along with two pairs of his iconic round specs, a tape recording of a Beatles concert, sheet music and a cigarette case. The collection of items were stolen from Ono in 2006, and German media have reported that Ono has identified the goods from photos she was shown at the German consulate in New York. German police have arrested a 58-year-old man, while a second suspect -- who used to work for Ono -- is currently "unattainable," according to Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin prosecutor's office. - New Musical Express, 11/22/17...... Former Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert is claiming director Oliver Stone once sexually harassed her during an audition for Stone's 1991 The Doors biopic of the same name. On Nov. 20, Gilbert told Andy Cohen harassed her as "revenge" for embarrassing him in a social situation. "He wrote this special scene that he wanted me to do for him physically in the casting room, and it was humiliating and horrid," Gilbert said. "He got me back and it hurt." Stone responded to the accusation the following day, saying all actors who auditioned were told the experience would be extreme. "It was made clear from the outset that our film was going to be a raunchy, no-holds-barred rock 'n' roll movie," Stone said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "Anyone auditioning was told the scenes would be rehearsed and performed from a script, with my casting director, Risa Bramon Garcia, present throughout the process to ensure a safe environment for all actors who auditioned," he added. - Billboard, 11/21/17...... Even superfans of Pink Floyd will learn something new with author Jean-Michel Guesdon's new book Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. The book details the origins of nearly 200 songs, features almost 500 photos, and reveals behind-the-scenes stories. - Entertainment Weekly, 11/25/17...... It's tough for Rock and Roll Hall of Famers like Cheap Trick to do wrong, and they deck their first ever Christmas LP, Christmas, Christmas, with plenty of personality. Part of the appeal is their unique slate of songs: They've got three originals ("Merry Christmas Darlings" is the best) along with covers of holiday deep cuts by Harry Nilsson and glam rockers Wizzard. The energy's so high, you'll want to save this one for after the eggnog and rum. - Entertainment Weekly, 11/25/17...... A documentary about the life and work of Mister Rogers host Fred Rogers has been given a June 8, 2018, release date after Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to the movie, called Won't You Be My Neighbor? Directed by Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom), the film is described as an "intimate portrait of Rogers, a creative genius who inspired generations of children with compassion and limitless imagination." Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of the longest running series on PBS wrapped production in 2000 after 31 seasons, but PBS continuously ran reruns of the series through Aug. 2008. Fred Rogers died in 2003 at age 74 from stomach cancer. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/27/17...... American soul singer Wayne Cochran, known for his outlandish outfits and white pompadour hairstyle and sometimes referred to as "The White Knight of Soul," died in Miramar, Florida, on Nov. 21 at age 78. The blue-eyed crooner was best known for his signature song "Last Kiss," which he performed with the C.C. Riders. Launching his career in the 1950s, Cochran blended rockabilly and country sounds and by 21 penned the song that would become his lasting legacy: "Last Kiss." He released the tragic story song about a doomed love affair, a car crash and a final wish from a dying lover in 1961, but it was a pair of covers, by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers in 1964 and Pearl Jam in 1998, that made the track famous years later. Cochran recorded his final album, Cochran, for Epic Records in 1972, then toured and made television appearances. He retired from music to become an evangelist minister in Miami, Fla. - Billboard, 11/27/17.