Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on September 30th, 2020

Country-pop singer/songwriter Mac Davis, who penned hits for the likes of Elvis Presley and as a solo artist topped the Billboard chart in 1972 with "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me", died during heart surgery on Sept. 29, according to his manager Jim Morey. He was 78. "It's with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Mac Davis. He was surrounded by the love of his life and wife of 38 years, Lise, and his sons Scott, Noah and Cody. Mac has been my client for over 40 years, and more importantly.. my best friend," Morey posted on Facebook on Sept. 30. Born Jan. 21, 1942 in Lubbock, Tex., Davis was presented with his first guitar by his father at age nine, and after attending Emory University and working in Atlanta's probation department, formed his first rock band. In the early 1960s, Davis became Vee Jay Records' Southern reginal sales manager, later employed by Liberty Records in Hollywood to work in its music publishing division. There he sold several of the tunes he'd written to Elvis ("In the Ghetto," "Memories," "Don't Cry, Daddy"), O.C. Smith ("Friend, Lover, Wife"), Bobby Goldsboro ("Watching Scotty Grow"), and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition ("Something's Burning"). His composition "I Believe In Music," which he recorded in 1972, has sold millions of copies in cover versions by over 50 artists, and that same year "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" became his biggest hit, followed by "Rock and Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)" (#15, 1975), "One Hell of a Woman" (#11, 1974), and "Stop and Smell the Roses" (#9, 1974). In Dec. 1974, Davis began hosting his own TV variety progam, The Mac Davis Show, but further single releases ("Burnin' Thing," "Forever Lovers," "It's Hard to Be Humble" and "Texas in My Rear View Mirror") were less successful. In 1979, Davis made his film debut in the football-themed movie North Dallas Forty, starring Nick Nolte, and later appeared in the romantic comedy Cheaper to Keep Her. Davis then performed in Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel in the early '80s, and in the second half of the decade put recording on hold as he became a fixture on TV talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Davis later starred in movies including Angel's Dance, The Wendell Baker Story and Deck the Halls, and several TV series -- including a stint on the sitcom Rodney between 2004 and 2006. He also starred in the titular role of American humorist Will Rogers in the Broadway production of "The Will Rogers Follies." Tributes to Davis have flooded in for the prolific songwriter and entertainer, including tweets from Kenny Chesney, Richard Marx and Dolly Parton, who Davis worked with, and remembered him as having "a giant heart." - Music-News.com/Rolling Stone, 9/30/20.

On Sept. 23 Elton John announced the rescheduled dates for his North American "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" which had been postponed earlier in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kicking off on Jan. 19, 2022, in New Orleans, John will play two nights in Houston (1/21, 22), two nights in Dallas (1/25, 26), also making stops in Chicago (2/4, 5), Toronto (2/14, 15), and New York (2/22, 23), before wrapping the 43-date trek in Miami on Apr. 28. Posting on social media, Elton said he'd been "enjoying my time at home with the family while the world navigates its way through the COVID pandemic" and that "while the scientists are making great progress, we are making big plans for a return to touring that will allow us to ensure the health and safety of everyone." John also encouraged fans "Don't worry about me... I'm using my downtime to keep myself fighting fit and healthier than ever. I'm raring to go! As always, thank you so much for your loyal support." John previously announced he'd be launching a European tour in the fall of 2021, in Berlin on Sept. 1. - Billboard, 9/23/20...... After an attorney representing The Doobie Brothers wrote a humorous letter to comedian/actor Bill Murray's golf company requesting for damages for an alleged breach of copyright for using the 1972 Doobies hit "Listen to the Music" in a TV ad for a new shirt without their permission, Murray's company William Murray Golf has responded with a glib letter of its own. The letter from the Doobies' attorney Peter T. Paterno gained attention both for its claims and the humorous style in which it was written. "The Doobie Brothers perform and recorded the song Listen to the Music, which Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers wrote," Paterno wrote. "It's a fine song. I know you agree because you keep using it in ads for your Zero Hucks Given golf shirts. However, given that you haven't paid to use it, maybe you should change the name to "Zero Bucks Given." Now, Murray's lawyer has responded in kind with their own glib letter. Alexander Yoffe of the Yoffe & Cooper law firm began by complimenting Paterno on "finding levity in the law at a time when the world and this country certainly could use a laugh." He continued to confirm that both those working at the law firm and at William Murray Golf were fans of the Doobie Brothers, noting that was why "we appreciate your firm's choice of 'Takin' It To The Streets', rather than to the courts, which are already overburdened "Minute By Minute" with real problems." Yoffe ended his letter by offering to send William Murray Golf shirts to the band -- a gesture he hoped would "win each of you over as new fans of the brand... At least that's "what this fool believes." - New Musical Express, 9/26/20...... Appearing on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Sept. 27, Sting revealed that he's planning on releasing a new duets album, possibly in time for the Christmas season. "Over the years, I've recorded many, many duets with some amazing people -- Herbie Hancock, Eric Clapton -- so we just put them all together and said, 'You know, we should put this out'," he told Fallon in the interview, which has been posted on YouTube. "They sound pretty good, so it's gonna be a Christmas surprise," he added. Also during the show, Sting performed "Mama," his recent collaborative single with Brooklyn rapper Gashi, which can also be viewed on YouTube. Sting noted he agreed to guest on the song, "but we haven't actually met as yet." Meanwhile, the former Police frontman was honored for his environmental activism by Prince Albert II of Monaco at a star-studded gala event on Sept. 24. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's 4th annual Monte-Carlo Gala for Planetary Health was also attended by such stars as Johnny Depp, Helen Mirren, Kate Beckinsale and Sienna Miller. "Our health depends on the health of the environment in which we live," Prince Albert II told the audience before honoring Sting with the award. "That is why more than ever before we need to continue our efforts and actions to protect our planet for future generations," he added. - NME/Music-News.com, 9/27/20...... Pink Floyd announced on Sept. 27 that they'll be releasing a remastered deluxe edition of their 1988 live album and concert film, Delicate Sound of Thunder. The restored film and soundtrack was made available in 2019 only as part of the band's The Later Years box set but has now been made available separately across all major physical formats, each to feature new bonus material. Dropping on Nov. 30, the reissue of the film has been restored and reworked from the original 35mm film and into 5:1 surround sound and will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD. The live album will be available in sets of two CDs, three LPs, vinyls or four-disc set, all with bonus tracks. Delicate Sound of Thunder supported the group's Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour in 1987 and marked the end of a significant period for Pink Floyd, after guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason had won a legal battle to the band's name after a fight with Roger Waters who'd departed some years prior. Rick Wright had also returned following his sacking after the making of The Wall, and they penned A Momentary Lapse of Reason, which propelled them to chart success and solidified their reputation as an arena act. Meanwhile, Pink Floyd will release The Wall... And What Came Next, a documentary uncovering how The Wall emerged, the hidden stories surrounding its preparation, recording, delayed release and reception, on Nov. 6. - NME, 9/27/20...... Fleetwood Mac founding drummer Mick Fleetwood has shared a new version of the Fleetwood Mac song "These Strange Times." Released as part of his Da*da*ism project, the re-worked version was re-recorded by Fleetwood and includes the addition of a sample from "Albatross" from Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac. The new version also comes with a new, eight-minute long video which has been shared on YouTube and explores a range of contemporary issues including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, poverty and racial inequality. In a statement about the new release, Fleetwood said the new single and it's accompanying artwork were inspired by a painting from the 18th century, and that "it's about how you read things, which is very important today." "Everyone needs to be carefully paying attention to the information coming our way. There is subtext to everything and we need to be aware of that. When I first encountered the painting that inspired the photoshoot, it was a soul-searching exercise that I was driven to do but I didn't know when would be the time to release it. Now I know why: the when is now." - NME, 9/27/20...... In an interview with the new edition of MOJO magazine, The Kinks frontman Ray Davies said he never wanted to release the classic Kinks song "Waterloo Sunset" as a single in May 1967 and went on to feature on their album Something Else later that year. Davies now says that he had originally wanted to keep the song private. "I got my family together -- my sister was over from Australia and there was Jackie my niece and a couple of my nephews -- and I played them the acetate of it about 20 times. I said, 'That's for us and I don't want it to come out'. It was so important to me I didn't want it to come out. Shows I'm not a very good businessman. I just wanted it to be ours," Davis told the magazine. He added that he didn't begrudge the track being released, but was "pleased that people connected to it in the right way." "And regardless of the nationality thing, it's two young lovers looking at the sunset seeing their future," Davis added. Elsewhere in the interview, the 76-year-old Sir Davies also revealed that he was almost killed by a World War II bomb when he was just two days old. "When I was two days old -- [my older sister Gwen] would have been about five or six -- she suddenly decided to pick me up and take me out of the kitchen where my cot was. And she heard a V-2 bomb come over. The V-2 landed just up the road from Fortis Green and all the glass in the kitchen, where I'd been lying, was shattered all over the room and I would have been killed. Talk about being intuitive..." Davies, who was knighted in 2017 for his services to the arts, admitted that the one good thing to come out of Hilter's attempt to destroy London was that he "unwittingly gave us kids somewhere to play" on the bomb sites. "No. It must have been one of the last V-2s because I was born in 1944. Hitler's last attempt to destroy London," he said. - NME/Music-News.com, 9/26/20...... In a new interview with the London Sunday Times, Queen guitarist Brian May opened up about his ongoing recovery from a heart attack he suffered earlier in 2020. In May, May told fans that he had been "very near death" when he was hospitalised after doctors discovered that three arteries in his heart "were congested and in danger of blocking the supply of blood to his heart." Now May says his recovery still feels like "a long climb back." "I've had complications due to the drugs I'm on, one of which was a stomach explosion that nearly killed me. The heart attack was a symbol of an arterial disease, but I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't have high cholesterol and I was exercising through the tour, so why did it happen? At least I now have a heart that is working far better than it was." Queen had been planning to head out on a huge UK and European tour in the summer of 2020, but it has been rescheduled to 2021 due to coronavirus. - NME, 9/26/20...... In a new interview with Radio.com, Ozzy Osbourne revealed that he's started working on a new album that will be the follow-up to his Ordinary Man LP which was released in Feb. 2020. "I'm doing another record right now. I just started to work with Andrew [Watt] again. It's what gets me up in the morning, and it's what I'm here to do," Ozzy says. He continued: "It saved my life, doing that last album. [It's better than] sitting on my ass all day waiting for the f---ing pandemic to be over. And then you go, 'Oh, yeah, I am a rock and roller. I'd better do an album.' You've got all the f---ing time in the world to make the best album possible," he added. - NME, 9/26/20...... A new Bee Gees documentary titled How Can You Mend a Broken Heart after the Aussie hitmaking trio's No. 1 1971 hit has been acquired by HBO which plans to premiere it later in 2020 and then make it available for streaming on its HBO Max subchannel. The film, which was set to premiere at the 2020 Telluride Film Festival, is directed by Frank Marshall and is described by him as "an intimate look at the three brothers, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, who made up the legendary 1970s pop group." "Like so many people, I've loved the Bee Gees' music all my life," Marshall told Deadline.com. "But discovering their uncanny creative instincts and the treasure trove of music, their humour, and loyalty was a great two-year journey. We are very happy and proud to be with HBO, and it has been an honor to work on this project," he adds. Meanwhile, a narrative biopic based on the life and career of the Bee Gees is also in the works, courtesy of Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King and screenwriter Anthony McCarten. - NME, 9/25/20...... Bruce Springsteen has shared a powerful new song called "Ghosts" that will be featured on his upcoming studio album Letter to You. "'Ghosts' is about the beauty and joy of being in a band and the pain of losing one another to illness and time," Springsteen said of the new song that mourns lost loved ones, adding that it "tries to speak to the spirit of the music itself, something none of us owns but can only discover and share together. In the E Street Band it resides in our collective soul, powered by the heart." A lyric video for "Ghosts" has been shared on YouTube. Letter to You, which hits stores on Oct. 23, will be the first Springsteen album to feature his legendary E Street Band since 2014's High Hopes. Springsteen recently told Rolling Stone magazine that he has "a lot of really good music left" that he plans on releasing, including multiple full-length "lost albums." - NME, 9/24/20...... Van Morrison has announced he'll be donating all the profits from three new tracks he recently recorded protesting lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic to musicians who are struggling during the crisis. Earlier in September, Morrison revealed he is releasing the three protest songs which accuse U.K. officials of "taking our freedom" -- a gesture that drew criticism from officials in his native Northern Ireland. The "Brown Eyed Girl singer" has slammed safety measures designed to stop the spread of the virus, which have been put in place by governments across the world, due to the subsequent effects on the live music industry. The musician's views on COVID-19 have sparked controversy beyond his homeland, with Country music star Jason Isbell criticizing him for endangering others with his anti-lockdown stance. - WENN/Canoe.com, 9/23/20.