Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on May 7th, 2019

Neil Young announced a new book about audio quality he co-authored with his Neil Young Archives CEO Phil Baker on his official website on May 3. Titled To Feel the Music: A Songwriter's Mission to Save High-Quality Audio, the book is Young's attempt to, according to him, tell "the story of my efforts to improve the quality of audio that you hear." "It takes you through how the sound was and is compromised by the tech and record companies, and instead of improving over time like other technologies, it has become worse," Young continues. "Our book also tells the business and development story behind Pono, and then, when people wanted the convenience of streaming, how we developed Xstream high resolution streaming, the highest quality streaming in the world, as you hear it at NYA. The issue of improving audio quality has been one of the most important things we've been doing for decades, and something I focus on every day. We spent a year writing this and I think you'll find it interesting and informative." To Feel the Music is scheduled to drop on Sept. 9. Young launched a new subscription service and app in Dec. 2018 that brought together material from across his entire career. The Neil Young Archives (NYA), originally launched in 2017, includes Young's complete back catalogue of audio and visual content. - New Musical Express, 5/4/19...... In more Neil Young news, the singer/songwriter is among a slew of Canadian musicians including Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang and members of Arcade Fire who have signed the "Pact for a Green New Deal," asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal federal government to devise "an ambitious policy platform that re-tools our economy to respond to the multiple crises we are faced with today," including global climate change, decent jobs, tackling hate crimes and racism, and fulfilling outstanding promises to Indigenous peoples. "A bold and far reaching plan to cut emissions in half in 11 years in line with Indigenous knowledge and climate science, create more than a million good jobs you can support a family with, and build inclusive communities in the process," the petition states. "We need a Green New Deal -- for everyone. And we need everyone to be a part of building it." Open to the public, the petition was created by "a coalition of workers, artists, Indigenous leaders, scientists, youth, and people directly impacted by climate catastrophe." - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In related news, Queen's Brian May is calling for another concert on the epic scale of the 1985 Live Aid event will take place to tackle climate change. "It probably would take the younger generation to take that bull by the horns," May told the UK paper Daily Mirror on May 7. "We'd help in any way we can but I think that's what it would require." May and Queen played an integral role at the original Live Aid, playing what was arguably the most famous gig of their entire career, but May admits another in a long string of benefit concerts might not have the desired effect. "People have seen so many concerts since Live Aid purporting to be solving the problems of the world so it's not quite as easy as it seems," May noted. - NME, 5/7/19...... Cher performed her big hits "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" along with ABBA's "Waterloo" at the "2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art" on May 6 in New York City. Showing off blue hair and a skin-tight glittery body suit, Cher shone on a high-camp night first with "If I Could Turn Back Time," and later transformed herself with an outfit change, appearing on stage with blonde locks, a black puffer jacket over a pink slip and jeans for a performance of "Believe" and "Waterloo." Among the attendees were Kayne West and various members of the Kardashian clan, Travis Scott and Corey Gamble. - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Sun, Elton John laments about being "too old" to have more children because he and husband David Furnish already have too much on their hands. John, 72, is already father to two sons, Zachary, eight, and Elijah, six, and gushed that being a parent is "fantastic" though, even if he never expected his lifte to take this turn of events. "Ten years ago if you'd have told me that, I'd have said you're crazy," Elton said. John, who is currently on his goodbye "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, explained that as a dad he has "other things to do" with his time than taking on more parenting responsibilties, as he prepares to close the door on his touring career. He adds that he feels like now is the right time to stop performing after almost 50 years on and off the road, and his main focus will be raising his two sons, who he revealed are "girl mad," after the tour finishes. Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes featurette of the upcoming Elton biopic Rocketman was released on May 6. In the film, fans get a look at how the superstar's wardrobe was treated for the film. Actor Taron Egerton, who plays John in the new film, said settling into the star's iconic clothing was one of the most fun parts of filming. "I have found the process of inhabiting Elton John and his wardrobe incredibly liberating," he said. The clip also introduces Julian Day, the film's costume designer, who says "What we talked about was using the basis of Elton's clothes to create our own look for him." Rocketman premiered in the UK on May 2 and will hit US theaters on May 31. TheDailyMail.co.uk/Billboard, 5/3/19...... A George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award that was to be presented to Don McLean by the Student Alumni Association of University of California, Los Angeles, has been rescinded after the association learned that McLean was involved in a domestic violence assault incident in 2016. McLean, 73, pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault against his then wife Patrisha McLean, and the case was dismissed after he met the terms of a plea agreement. The couple are now divorced. A spokesman for McLean called it "disrespectful" for an award to be rescinded over failure to conduct due diligence on a widely reported incident. Past recipients of the award include Julie Andrews, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. - AP, 5/7/19...... Woodstock 50 organizer Michael Lang has announced he plans on raising $30 million by May 10 in a last ditch attempt to save his floundering Woodstock 50th anniversary concert, set for Aug. 16-18 at Watkins Glen International speedway, 150 miles east of the original 1969 Woodstock festival site. Lang estimates that he will need $30 million to stage the three-day concert, in addition to the $30 million Japanese firm Dentsu already spent on headliners for the festival including Jay-Z, Dead & Company, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Miley Cyrus and Chance the Rapper. Officials with Dentsu previously said that their announcement on Apr. 28 to withdraw from Woodstock 50 meant the anniversary festival would be canceled, but Lang disagreed and said he would continue to produce the festival without Dentsu or producer Rick Farman from Superfly, which issued a statement on May 1 saying New York City-based promoter "will no longer be participating" in Woodstock 50. It is unclear if Lang will be able to raise the $30 million he needs, with promoters Live Nation and AEG already passing on offers to invest in the event, or if the artists announced to perform at the festival are still obligated to perform. - Billboard, 5/6/19...... The final two days of the 8-day 2019 New Orleans Jazz Fest were closed out in style with headlining sets from Diana Ross on May 4 and Chaka Khan on May 5. On May 4, Ross hit the stage with, appropriately, a gangbusters rendition of "I'm Coming Out" as her first song. She followed that with "More Today Than Yesterday" and her first words to the crowd: "If you know these songs, you gotta join in and sing with me, okay?" "This is my Diamond Jubilee!" Ross later told the crowd. "So if I'm 75, you can do it too, come on!" Ross finished her performance with such nuggets as "Love Hangover," "Ease on Down the Road" from The Wiz, and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." She went beyond her time with an encore of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and reprised the song for a second encore. Ross also made headlines as she traveled home after the festival, blaming the Transportation Security Administration for an "over the top!!" screening at the New Orleans airport that "made her want to cry." The Motown legend posted on Twitter that she felt "violated" by an airport screener who touched her between her legs. "On one hand I'm treated like royalty in New Orleans and at the airport I was treated like shit," she wrote. The TSA responded in a statement: "TSA is aware of concerns presented by Diana Ross about her screening experience at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport this morning. Initial review of CCTV indicates that the officers involved with Ms. Ross's screening correctly followed all protocols, however, TSA leadership will continue to investigate the matter further. We encourage Ms. Ross to reach out to TSA so we can work with her directly to address her concerns." The following afternoon, Chaka Khan played the crowd-pleasing funk she's known for playing to an absolutely packed and scorching Congo Square Stage. Khan opened with "This Is My Night," with its bright synth horns, and "Do You Love What You Feel" and "Tell Me Something Good," two more Rufus jams. She followed them with "What Cha' Gonna Do For Me?" a "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" for the '80s, with her soaring vocal runs on the outro. She then performed a medley of Rufus songs, including "Stay" and "Sweet Thang." Attendance estimates for 2019 NOJF are expected to surpass the 2018 festival, which drew upwards of 60,000 or so attendees daily. - Billboard/AP, 5/6/19...... Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was a surprise guest at the fifth annual "Ride For Ronnie" Ronnie James Dio charity event in Encino, Calif., on May 5. Grohl was part of a special live band who covered Motörhead and Thin Lizzy during the charity show. Grohl played drums during the gig in a band which was comprised of the Black Star Riders' Ricky Warwick and Robbie Crane, as well as the former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson. Together, the quartet performed covers of Motörhead's "Bomber" and Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak." "I am here on this beautiful day in Encino [because] everybody loves Ronnie James Dio," Grohl told those who attended the event. "He was my neighbor actually; we lived down the street from each other. "I encourage everybody to come out and support the cause, because it's a beautiful day with a bunch of beautiful people and we hope to see you next year." - New Musical Express, 5/7/19...... Bruce Springsteen showed up at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood at the opening night of the Netflix FYSEE "Springsteen On Broadway" event on May 5 to, by his own admission complete strangers for their vote." During the event, which promoted The Boss's Broadway special before Emmy voters, Springsteen and director Martin Scorsese discussed the film of "Springsteen on Broadway" in an often humorous and personal chat. Springsteen and Scorsese first met in 1975 when the legendary director and Robert DeNiro went to a Springsteen concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles. But it was about 30 minutes into the 40-minute talk that Springsteen said what any Bruce fan wanted to hear: "There will be another tour with the E Street Band. "I've spent about seven years not writing anything for the band. I couldn't write anything for the band," confessed Springsteen, whose new solo album, Western Stars, drops June 14. "And then about a month or so ago, I wrote almost an album's worth of material for the band and it came out of just I mean I know where it came from, but at the same time, it just came out of almost nowhere. I had almost two weeks of those daily visitations and it was so nice. It makes you so happy. You go, 'Fine, I'm not f---ed.' There'll be another tour." The news brought a cheer from the 200-person audience, who were also treated to a two-song acoustic performance of "Dancing In the Dark" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" by Springsteen. Meanwhile, the previous evening Springsteen made a surprise appearance with E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt at Van Zandt's Disciples of Soul show at Beverly Hills' Saban Theater. Springsteen joined Steven Van Zandt's band -- which was celebrating the May 3 release of their new album Summer of Sorcery -- for renditions of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Sun City" and "I Don't Want to Go Home." - Billboard, 5/6/19...... The new Beatles tribute film Yesterday from director Danny Boyle premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on May 4. Right before Boyle unveiled his new film, he shared a quick anecdote about filming inside the Mersey Tunnel in the Fab Four's native Liverpool. A local construction worker stopped him, he said, and gave him a stern warning about the project: "Don't f---k it Up." From all indications, he didn't. Oscar-winning Boyle and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love, Actually) have crafted a crowd-pleaser that aims to delight, and when the musical rom-com fantasy is released to the masses on June 28, it will certainly be anointed as the "feel-good picture of the summer." In Yesterday, Boyle allows fans to re-experience the Beatles' songs as if they're brand-new. After a freak 12-second global blackout and a bus accident that landed main character Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) in the hospital and wrecked his guitar, he's gifted a new instrument by his friends once he's on the mend. Turns out Jack is the only human on Earth to have heard of the Beatles or their unparalleled repertoire following that unexpected, dimension-shifting blink. When Jack straps on an electric guitar and performs a sizzling rendition of "Help!" the feeling is exhilarating. As his popularity grows into "Hard Day's Night"-levels, there's a sense that sooner rather than later someone will and should figure out that "The Long and Winding Road" is not an original and Jack must face a serious reckoning. - Billboard, 5/5/19...... A federal judge in Mississippi has dismissed most of a lawsuit in which rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis alleged a daughter had stolen money from him. U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers ruled on Apr. 25 that most claims were barred by a three-year statute of limitations. Judge Biggers left alive only claims by Lewis' son and current wife that they were defamed by online comments from the daughter's husband. The lawsuit is another fracture in the often difficult personal life of the 83-year-old pianist and singer known as "The Killer." The Louisiana native and survivor from the dawn of rock now lives in Nesbit, Miss. Lewis suffered a stroke in February and canceled upcoming performances. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... A former accountant for Deep Purple has been sentenced to six years and four months in a UK prison for stealing £2.2million from the band. Dipak Rao was sentenced on Apr. 30 after it was revealed that he transferred large sums of money from the accounts of Deep Purple Overseas Ltd and HEC Enterprises Ltd -- both of which he was a director of -- into his own account. Rao then invested the cash into a number of money-making schemes that all turned out to be scams, resulting in Rao losing the money. Discovering Rao's wrongdoings in 2014, he was sued by the surviving founding members of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice) and the estates of the late Jon Lord and their former manager Tony Edwards in early 2017. Edwards' children were said to have become suspicious when they inherited some of the band's business following their father's death in 2010. "The stress that we have been under during this time is immeasurable," said a statement from Tony Edwards' daughter, read out in court. "He has devastated the legacy that my father spent his life building. This devastation was brought about by a man that we had known for years and trusted." Pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position and transferring criminal property, Rao is due to serve at least half of his prison sentence and has been disqualified from being the director of any business until 2028. - New Musical Express, 5/2/19...... Stevie Wonder was among the family and friends of recently deceased director John Singleton at his Los Angeles funeral on May 6. The private service was held at Angelus Funeral Home in South Los Angeles, the neighborhood formerly known as South Central, where Singleton spent part of his childhood and where his career-defining film, Boyz N the Hood, was set. Also paying their respects were Rep. Maxine Waters, Ice Cube, Ludacris and actors Ving Rhames and Taraji P. Henson. The service came a week after Singleton s family announced that he had died at age 51, days after he suffered a stroke. - AP, 5/7/19...... Songs by Frank Sinatra, Ed Sheeran, Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf and Robbie Williams are the most popular songs played at funerals in the UK, according to a new poll by Co-op Funeralcare. Sinatra's "My Way"' topped the latest chart drawn up by the UK's biggest chain of funeral directors, but for the first time since the biennial exercise began in 2002 not a single traditional hymn made it into the top ten. "Supermarket Flowers" -- Sheeran's tribute to his late grandmother, written from the perspective of his mother -- has entered the roundup at No. 6. Other popular choices included Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell," while "Angels" by Robbie Williams is the most requested pop tune, said the Co-op. "What people want more than anything at a funeral is a combination of the personal and the familiar," Rev. Dr. Jeremy Brooks, a member of a Church of England focus group working on funerals, told The Guardian. "Contemporary lyrics, classical music and songs that have been the soundtrack of our lives are all valuable in helping people remember and grieve. For a family to be able to choose particular songs for a funeral led by a church minister -- whether the music is expressly religious or not -- is an important part of any service," he added. - NME, 5/3/19...... Stephen I. Diener, a music and entertainment executive who served as president of ABC Records in the late '70s where he worked with such artists as Steely Dan, Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett and the Commodores, died on Apr. 30 at his home in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 80. After graduating from Tulane University, Mr. Diener began his professional career in New York at the firms Young & Rubicam and Revlon. Pursuing a love for the arts and entertainment, he entered the music industry and held various executive positions at CBS Records International before departing to Paris to head CBS Records France. Mr. Diener then moved to Los Angeles where he was named president of ABC Records in 1977. In the early '80s, Mr. Diener relocated to Miami and returned to CBS International, where he helmed the marketing operations of the European and Latin American divisions. Later, as a pioneer in the home video business, he was named president of 20th Century Fox Video. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the iconic Star Wars character Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy, Episode 3 of the prequels and the new trilogy, died on Apr. 30 in his North Texas home with his family by his side. He was 74. The 7-foot-2-inch tall Mayhew was plucked from obscurity in 1976, when he was working as an orderly at London's King's College Hospital. Producer Charles H. Schneer cast him as a minotaur in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger after seeing a photograph of Mayhew in an article about a man with large feet. That lead to Mayhew being cast as Chewbacca in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, and the rest is history. "He put his heart and soul into Chewbacca and it showed in every frame of the films, from his knock kneed running, firing his bowcaster from the hip, his bright blue eyes, down to each subtle movement of his head and mouth," his family said in a statement. Mayhew was a mainstay at Star Wars conventions around the world, including the bi-annual "Star Wars Celebration," and he was heavily involved in the Make-A-Wish foundation, Wounded Warriors and the Star Wars organization the 501st Legion, a fan collective that creates authentic props and costumes. He also established The Peter Mayhew Foundation, which supported individuals and families in crisis situations, providing "food and supplies for children of Venezuela during their recent road to freedom." - DailyMail.co.uk, 5/2/19.

Neil Young announced on Apr. 28 that he'll drop a previously unreleased live album recorded with his then backing band the Stray Gators in 1973 on June 7. Called Tuscaloosa, the live album originally recorded on Feb. 5, 1973 at the University of Alabama features songs from such classic Young albums as Harvest and Time Fades Away. With a total of 11 tracks, Tuscaloosa is shorter than the original performance because the show tape didn't capture the whole thing, according to Young's engineer, John Hanlon, who says "The Loner" wasn't included because "it was out of tune" and "On The Way Home" is absent simply as it appears on too many other live albums. Young defended the decision to leave out those two songs on his Neil Young Archives website: "I still make those decisions because I am here on the planet. However, those two versions will be available in the archives for members to hear. I have no plans to release everything I have ever recorded. Some of it is just not good enough." - NME, 4/28/19...... Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's "Bladerunner" guitar, which he famously played in the "Walk This Way" video with Run-D.M.C., is part of the new "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll" exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "I was really honored to think a guitar I played would have enough gravitas to make it into the Met," Perry told Billboard during a break at Aerosmith's current "Deuces Are Wild" residency at Las Vegas' Park MGM. "There's a thousand great guitar players out there who have contributed to the last 50, 70 years of rock n' roll. To be asked to have even one guitar in that display is a real honor. The guitar I picked -- I'm sure there are plenty of Les Pauls and Stratocasters and those guitars that have played a big part in my career in the studio and on the stage -- but that guitar was in a video that was pretty pivotal," Perry added. Perry says his Bladerunner has "a little different sound than what I usually like, but it's got a good neck on it, it's a well-built guitar." "I actually went online and I couldn't find one," he noted. " don't know how many they made; the guy who gave it to me from the Guild said it was a prototype. I had another one duplicated from a guitar-maker friend of mine, so I have two, just in case something happens to the original. They're very rare, I don't know how many they made actually." Aerosmith began their Las Vegas residency on Apr. 6, with many of the scheduled 18 shows already sold out. Beginning Aug. 8, they'll play 9 shows at the The Theater at MGM Grand Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland. - Billboard, 4/30/19...... On Apr. 29 Ozzy Osbourne released a list of rescheduled dates for his "No More Tours 2" tour, which the heavy metal had been forced to postpone after being laid up with a variety of health issues for much of the new year. Ozzy will kick off the European leg of his 19-city tour in his native country on Jan. 31 with a show at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. He'll also be visiting Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle, London, Glasgow and and Birmingham in the next two weeks, before playing several cities on the continent through a Mar. 16 gig in Zurich. Osbourne also rescheduled 27 North American dates, which starts with a show in Atlanta on May 27 and runs through a July 31 concert in Las Vegas. "I'm really looking forward to getting back to Europe for these shows," Osbourne said in a statement. "Thank you to all the fans for sticking with me and waiting for the new dates to be announced. I can't wait to see you all next year." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... Meanwhile, Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne and Gene Simmons of KISS are among the names speaking out against a suggested boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. Set for Tel Aviv in May with headliner Madonna confirmed to perform, the annual competition has sparked much controversy due to its location. Earlier in 2019, Peter Gabriel, Vivienne Westwood and Wolf Alice were among the signatories of an open letter calling for the BBC to boycott the contest in solidarity with Palestine -- arguing that taking part would be "a dubious honour" for "any artist of conscience." Now, Simmons, Osbourne and over 100 other public figures have signed a letter arguing against a boycott, claiming that it would only work against the show's "spirit of togetherness" and ultimately "subverting the spirit of the contest and turning it from a tool of unity into a weapon of division." Meanwhile, the BBC is denying that Eurovision had any political associations. "The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBC's participation for political reasons," the UK broadcaster said. "Because of this, we will be taking part in this year's event. The host country is determined by the rules of the competition, not the BBC." The first run of semi-finals for Eurovision 2019 begin on May 14, before the final takes place on May 18. - New Musical Express, 4/30/19...... Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung is working on his first solo album since his 2009 effort One Hundred Years From Now, despite his feeling that the current music business "is as crass and as unrewarding as it has ever been." "It's a lot of work, and there's no radio to play it... I couldn't see any reason to do it," DeYoung recently told Billboard. DeYoung has written eight new songs with his neighbor in Chicago and former Survivor/Ides of March principal Jim Peterik for the new album, and one of the songs, the proggy and soul-searching "Proof of Heaven," is out now, with a video, and will appear on solo albums by both men. DeYoung is currently touring his "The Grand Illusion 40th Anniversary Album Tour" as well as his "The Music of Styx" shows, and acknowledges it is interfering with his as-yet-untitled solo album's completion. "I just tell people the party's going on... it's gonna go on just as long as they want to come and see it," he says. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... As the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival continues in the Crescent City, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt brought down the house on Day 4 on Apr. 28 at the Fair Grounds Race Course. "This is the greatest festival in the world for artists of all stripes," Bonnie Raitt told the crowd as she performed on the Acura Stage at 3:40 p.m., adding that the NOJF was "an endangered species." Raitt had kind words for singer/songwriter John Prine, who she noted was "having a helluva year," by way of introducing "Angel From Montgomery," which Prine penned but she popularized. She remarked on the 30th anniversary of her classic Nick of Time LP before playing "Something to Talk About." After performing a funked-up version of that album's "Love Letter" that she dedicated to "all the New Orleans funk greats," Raitt wound down her set with the maudlin "I Can't Make You Love Me." At 5:35 p.m., Van Morrison took the stage, starting out his set with Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go" (as in, "down to New Orleans," in an offering to locals) with a vocal effects mic as well as Waters' "Got My Mojo Working." The Celtic crooner also treated fans to a beloved romantic ballad of his from his 1989 Avalon Sunset album, "Have I Told You Lately," with Morrison on sax, soloing alongside his bandmates. Later on in his set, Morrison performed the light-as-air "Moondance," and ended his set with a trio of killers: "Wild Night," "Real Real Gone" and, of course, "Brown Eyed Girl." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... The Rolling Stones announced on Apr. 30 that they'll reissue their classic 1968 The Rock and Roll Circus film on June 7 in the US and June 28 in the UK. Originally conceived as a BBC-TV special, The Rock and Roll Circus was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg (the Beatles' Let It Be) and recorded in front of a live audience in London in 1968. It also featured performances from The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, as well as "supergroup" The Dirty Mac - consisting of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and John Lennon. Unheard tracks by the collective will be available on the new release for the first time ever. The film has received a 4K Dolby Vision restoration for Blu-ray and DVD, with the soundtrack also remixed and expanded to 28 songs and set to be released on double CD and triple vinyl sets. A Limited Deluxe Edition will include the film on Blu-Ray ray and DVD, plus the 2-CD expanded soundtrack, and a 44-page booklet with custom foldout gatefold design. Meanwhile in other band news, Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has shared an update on Mick Jagger's health after the singer underwent surgery: "Sally [Humphreys, Wood's wife] and I went on a break to the Caribbean with Keith [Richards] and Patti [Hansen], and we sent him videos of us playing and singing 'get well' songs on the guitar," Wood said. "[Jagger] was amused and impressed!" Wood added. "He is doing really well. I spoke to him yesterday and he's feeling great." - New Musical Express, 4/30/19...... Concert promoter Michael Lang, the co-organizer of the beleaguered 50th anniversary Woodstock festival set for Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Aug. 16-18, is vowing to keep his celebration of the iconic 1969 festival alive after its primary funding partner Dentsu Aegis Network withdrew its financial commitment and announced the "cancellation" of Woodstock 50 over concerns about the capacity of the festival, site readiness, and permitting issues. Lang, who co-founded the original Woodstock festival, has hired well-known New York trial lawyer Marc E. Kasowitz, who has represented Pres. Donald Trump in the past, in an effort to calm the storm surrounding Woodstock 50's immediate future. Kasowitz issued an industry-wide statement on Apr. 30 which declared that Dentsu did not have the right to cancel the festival, and instructed "all stakeholders, including the entertainers" to proceed as planned, even though representatives from two major talent agencies with headliners booked for the event said Dentsu's decision to pull out of the event "voids their contract and releases them from playing the festival." Speaking to the New York Times, Michael Lang said that he and the other organizers of Woodstock 50 are currently "in talks with investors who are anxious to come in" and save the festival. "We have a short window to put this back together. That's obvious," Lang added. "We feel it's enough time, and there is enough interest, that we think we will accomplish it." In a separate statement issued by Lang a few days earlier, he cited the memory of the chaotic staging of the original 1969 festival as inspiration for how Woodstock 50 could get back on track. "It's deja vu all over again... it seems in a way that history is repeating itself," he wrote. "In July of 1969 we lost our site in Walkill and with only a month to go, we managed to move to Bethel. Woodstock was going to happen no matter what!" More than 80 artists, including John Fogerty, Miley Cyrus, Santana, Imagine Dragons, Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, the Black Keys and Chance the Rapper, are expected to perform on three main stages at Watkins Glen International racetrack in the Finger Lakes for Woodstock 50. The original Woodstock was held on a farm in Bethel, New York, that is now run as an attraction by The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. That venue has its own anniversary event Aug. 16-18 with performances by Fogerty, Santana and Ringo Starr. - New Musical Express/AP, 5/2/19...... The Sound of My Voice, a new Linda Ronstadt documentary that traces the singer's rise in Los Angeles clubs to opening for Neil Young and eventually packing many of those arenas herself in the years that followed, made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Apr. 26. Such Ronstadt collaborators as David Geffen, Ry Cooder, J.D. Souther, Don Henley and Cameron Crowe all weigh in with their recollections, but present-day Linda, who retired from music in 2011 just before being diagnosed with Parkinson's, only plays a minor role in the film, appearing briefly at the beginning and end of the picture and in voiceovers. The bulk of the narration is stitched together from more than 50 years' worth of interviews, a triumph of both research and clever storytelling. Sheryl Crow was on hand to close the premiere with a short set of Ronstadt nuggets, including "When Will I Be Loved," "Tumbling Dice" and "You're No Good" -- before introducing her own "My Favorite Mistake" and gushing about Ronstadt's influence on her own career. The Sound of My Voice is based on Ronstadt's 2013 autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, and comes from filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... A Los Angeles man who claims he was the victim of a gay hate crime perpetrated by Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal's son Redmond O'Neal is suing O'Neal for over $100 million in damages. Ken Fox claims he was walking down the street while singing opera on May 2, 2018. Fox says he passed by O'Neal, who then looked at him and said, "What are you looking at, f----t?" Before he could react, Fox claims O'Neal then struck him in the head with a bottle (or another hard object), breaking his nose. Fox says he then fell to the ground and O'Neal began punching him as he hurled more expletives. O'Neal eventually fled the scene and ended up getting arrested several days later after he allegedly committed several other crimes. He was eventually charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, brandishing a knife and battery. Fox has now filed a statement of damages with the court, saying he is going after O'Neal for $15 million for pain and suffering and another $15 million for emotional distress. After the addition of medical expenses, past and future lost earnings, attorneys fees and punitive damages, it adds up to over $100 million in damages. O'Neal is still behind bars awaiting trial on a slew of charges stemming from his latest crime spree. - TheBlast.com, 4/30/19...... Detroit rock concert promoter Russ Gibb, who promoted hundreds of concerts by the likes of The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa as well as being responsible for the infamous "Paul (McCartney) Is Dead" rumors that began in 1969, died on Apr. 30 in Garden City, Mich., after years of declining health. He was 87. First working as a teacher, Mr. Gibb moved into music by working part-time at WKNR in Dearborn, Mich., and DJing at local sock hops -- where he "made more money in one night than in about three weeks of teaching." He was already operating the Grande when he made international news via the "Paul is Dead" rumor. It began on Oct. 12, 1969, during his radio shift at Detroit's WKNR when Gibb took a call from a listener claiming that the Beatles bassist had died in 1966 and been replaced by a cosmetically altered look-alike. The caller encouraged Gibb to play the group's "Revolution 9" backwards, with its purported message of "turn me on dead man," setting off a firestorm of speculation that spread around the world. "The whole thing just exploded," Gibb recalled. "The phones were ringing off the hook. People were calling with their own clues. It was non-stop." Gibb laughed as he remembered the station's owner telling him, "Whatever you're doing, just keep doing it." He even called Eric Clapton, a friend in England, to ask if he knew anything about it. "He told me, 'Come to think of it, I haven't seen Paul for awhile...' "It was really a phenomenon. For a while, it seemed like it might really be true." McCartney called the rumor "bloody stupid" when Life magazine reporters found him in Scotland shortly after, but in 2009 he told David Letterman that, "I just laughed it off but it was a little strange because people did start looking at me like...'Is it him or a very good double?'" Mr. Gibb also owned the Grande Ballroom in Detroit -- one of the key theaters on the early U.S. rock n' roll circuit during the late '60s and early '70s -- and made it one of the country's premier rock venues during its six-year run. The Grande was defined by extravagant light shows -- including the first strobe light in the U.S., Gibb claimed -- and psychedelic poster art as well as often mixed-genre bills. Roger Daltrey of The Who -- which gave the rock opera "Tommy" its U.S. premiere on May 9, 1969 at the Grande -- noted that the venue "was one of THOSE places, the ones you had to play when you came to America. If you played there it was a sign that you were important." Mr. Gibb closed the Grande during 1972, after a six-year run, over financial concerts and when national acts "started using their own (opening) bands and Detroit bands were being squeezed out." He went on to his career as an educator and, until 2016, maintained an active website that included an outspoken blog called At Random. Tributes to Mr. Gibb were posted by Wayne Kramer of the Detroit band The MC5 ("he was one of a kind") and Alice Cooper ("when nobody else would book us, Uncle Russ would"). - Billboard, 5/1/19...... Former The Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick says she is not happy with an anti-vaccination group that has been using a clip of herself and other Brady Bunch actors to downplay the seriousness of measles, which is currently having its largest outbreak in the US since the disease was declared eliminated in nationwide 2000. The "anti-vaxer" group is referencing an episode of The Brady Bunch from 1969 in which McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the iconic sitcom, catches measles along with her other siblings. In it Marcia says, "If you have to get sick, you sure can't beat the measles." "I think it's really wrong when people use people's images today to promote whatever they want to promote and the person's image they're using, they haven't asked or they have no idea where they stand on the issue," McCormick told NPR. She also added that her own daughter was vaccinated. "Having the measles was not a fun thing," McCormick recalled of when she contracted measles as a child. "I remember it spread through my family," she added. Most cases in the United States have emerged in communities with low rates of vaccination against the virus, according to public health officials. Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes or if someone comes into direct contact with them or shares germs by touching the same objects or surfaces. Measles symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and a rash of red spots. - CNN, 4/29/19...... Rock vocalist Phil McCormack, who took over as lead singer of the Southern Rock act Molly Hatchet in 1992, died on Apr. 29 of as yet undisclosed causes at age 58. McCormack -- who previously performed in The Roadducks and Savoy Brown -- joined the Southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1971 in 1995, taking over for longtime singer Danny Joe Brown, who passed away in 2005. With his gritty, soulful voice, McCormack became the band's official full-time lead singer in 1995 and fronted the group until his death, appearing on seven albums, including 1996's Devil's Canyon, 2000's Kingdom of XII and 2012's covers album Regrinding the Axes. "Wherever he performed he gave his all," McCormick's family posted on Apr. 29. "Phil loved his audiences and they loved him." - Billboard, 4/29/19.