Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 30th, 2021

Dusty Hill, ZZ Top's bassist for more than 50 years, died on July 28 according to a statement on from the band on Instagram. He was 72. In the statement, Hill's bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard said that "We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the 'Top'. We will forever be connected to that 'Blues Shuffle in C'. You will be missed greatly, amigo." Earlier in July, Gibbons and Beard played their first performances without Hill in more than 50 years, stating that the bassist had been forced to seek medical attention "to address a hip issue," according to a statement on Facebook, although his ailment was apparently more serious than they let on. "Per Dusty's request the show must go on!," the statement continued, and the band's longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis, filled in. Hill's cause of death has not yet been determined, and it is unclear if it is related to the hip injury. Born in Joseph Hill in Dallas in 1949, Dusty played cello in high school, which made for an easy transition to electric bass. He, his guitarist brother Rocky and future fellow ZZ Top bandmate Beard, a drummer, played in local bands such as the Warlocks, the Cellar Dwellers and American Blues, working the same Texas touring circuits as ace guitarist Billy Gibbons' band, the Moving Sidewalks. The brothers parted company in 1968 over musical differences, and Hill and Beard moved to Houston, where they eventually united with Gibbons in ZZ Top. Gibbons had formed the band in 1969 and recorded a one-off independent single produced by manager Bill Ham, who would remain with them for decades. The act's original bassist introduced the guitarist to Beard; Hill would join Gibbons and Beard for a gig in Beaumont, Tex., on Feb. 10, 1970. The lineup remained the same for more than five decades: They celebrated their 50th anniversary at a San Antonio concert in February 2020. Launched on London Records in 1971, the Houston-bred threesome secured its first major hit with the No. 8 LP Tres Hombres in 1973; the set included the raunchy single "La Grange," a homage to the notorious bordello The Chicken Ranch in the like-named Texas city. Another top 10 album, Fandango!, followed in 1975, powered by the FM-staple single "Tush." Half of that album was recorded live in New Orleans, and captured the band's powerful blues-rock groove. By the end of the '70s, the band's potent brand of gutsy, no-frills blues 'n' boogie had made it one of America's top concert attractions, and its elaborate 1976 Worldwide Texas Tour featured actual livestock on stage. ZZ Top moved from London Records to Warner Bros. in 1979 for Deguello, which sold 1 million copies. ZZ Top then moved to another level of popularity with 1983's Eliminator, which achieved "diamond" status (10 million records sold) and found Gibbons and his band mates experimenting with new technologies -- guitar loops, manipulated vocals and synthesized bass and drums -- that refreshed their sound. In the wake of the follow-up, Recycler, the band was cast as themselves in director Bob Zemeckis' 1990 movie Back to the Future III. In 1994, ZZ Top exited Warner Bros. for a highly publicized $35 million pact with RCA Records, and released a platinum-selling album Antenna, which was followed by XXX (1999), Mescolero (2003) and La Futura (2012). ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the group charted a total of seven albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Those paying tributes to Hill on social media include John Fogerty, who noted "the show we did together just last week would be his last... So heartbreaking," Ozzy Osbourne ("My thoughts go out to @BillyfGibbons and Frank Beard and all the #ZZTop fans around the world"), Paul Stanley ("What an icon. @ZZTop's bassist forever. So unique." and Bootsy Collins ("Danggit! We lost another loving Giant legend of the Rock & Roll Empire, Mr. Dusty Hill."). The contemporary rock band Foo Fighters also included a ZZ Top medley in their July 28 concert at Madison Square Garden in tribute to Hill. Billy Gibbons has reportedly said that ZZ Top will go on in a July 29 interview with SiriusXM radio host Eddie Trunk. "As Dusty said upon his departure, 'Let the show go on!' And... with respect, we'll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes," he was quoted as saying. The band's U.S. tour is currently scheduled to run through the end of the year, with the final show set for Dec. 12 in Midland, Tex. - Variety.com/Billboard, 7/28/21.

Queen's Brian May has shared a new reworked version of his 1992 single "Too Much Love Will Kill You" on YouTube. The track originally appeared on May's debut solo album Back To The Light, which is being reissued on Aug. 6, and May calls it "in a way, the most important song I ever wrote." "'Too Much Love Will Kill You' is a big, long story and the version that you hear on Back to the Light is the original," May explained in a statement. "It has the original keyboard that I played when we were writing the song. Me and Frank Musker, and his lady friend at the time, were in a room and it was like a therapy session for me. I was just pouring out all these words because I felt like I was trapped. I was in a place that I could never, ever get out of. All I could do is write about it. This is the only song I wrote in that probably nine months or a year period." A number of bonus tracks will also be released on a second disc of the reissue titled Out of the Light. - New Musical Express, 7/30/21...... Bruce Springsteen has "respectfully declined" to allow his name to be used for a New Jersey rest stop in his honor. The state has announced plans to honor a number of its famous native sons, including Jon Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Toni Morrison, James Gandofini and Toni Morrison, along the Garden State Parkway as part of Gov. Phil Murphy's plan to expand the New Jersey Hall Of Fame. Springsteen, however, is reported to have declined the proposal according to a statement by NJHOF spokeswoman Natasha Alagarasan. "Bruce Springsteen respectfully declined to have a service area named after him," she said in a statement. The rest stops will also feature a display curated by the New Jersey Hall Of Fame, including exhibits, artefacts and a video monitor that screens vignettes on the inductees as well as posters designed by New Jersey architect Michael Grave. - NME, 7/29/21...... In other Springsteen-related news, a mega-concert in Central Park co-headlined by Springsteen, Paul Simon, Journey, Jennifer Hudson, The Killers and LL Cool J will go ahead as planned on Aug. 21 despite new concern over the Covid-19 Delta variant. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joined music industry legend Clive Davis, who is co-producing the concert, for a press conference on July 27, unveiling details of what de Blasio promised will be a "historic," "blockbuster" event. Officially titled "We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert," the event is set for Aug. 21 at 5 p.m., and the concert will be broadcast live globally on CNN with 80% of tickets free. While de Blasio initially proposed having vaccinated and unvaccinated sections, he said that attendees will be required to present proof of vaccination. "New York City is back. You can see it, you can feel it, and it's time to celebrate on the Great Lawn," de Blasio said. His office has been rolling out media campaigns to encourage vaccination among residents who are reluctant to get the shot, and the mayor continued to urge New Yorkers to get vaccinated at the press conference, calling the vaccine "the number-one savior." "If you want to go to this concert," he said, "get vaccinated." - Billboard, 7/27/21..... Elton John has debunked recent claims concerning HIV and AIDS made by rapper DaBaby after DaBaby launched into a headline-making homophobic tirade about the disease during his set at Rolling Loud Miami. During his set, DaBaby shouted to his fans, "If you didn t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up! Ladies, if your p---y smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up! Fellas, if you ain t sucking d--- in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up!" In the caption of his July 28 Instagram post, Elton laid out a series of important facts, including that HIV has affected more than 70 million people globally, and that gay Black men in America have a 50% chance of contracting the virus in their lifetime due largely to "stigma and shame around HIV and homosexuality." Perhaps in the most poignant critique of DaBaby's comments, John also stressed the importance of understanding how HIV treatment has evolved to the point of being able to effectively bring a person's viral load to undetectable levels, meaning the virus can no longer be transmitted to others. "You can live a long and healthy life with HIV," John wrote. "Treatment is so advanced that with one pill a day, HIV can become undetectable in your body so you can t pass it onto other people. DaBaby walked back his comments about HIV and AIDS on July 27, though firmly held his ground on the remainder of his comments. "Anybody who done ever been effected by AIDS/HIV, y'all got the right to be upset, what I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies. But the LGBT community... I ain't trippin on y'all, do you. Y'all business is y'all business," he wrote. - Billboard, 7/28/21...... Stevie Nicks has reflected on the 40th anniversary of her hit 1981 solo debut Bella Donna in a lengthy message on Twitter, noting the album "did not break up Fleetwood Mac." In the July 27 post, Nicks revealed the album's title track "was written about my boyfriend's mother who was involved with a man in Chile during the coup that happened there in 1973." "The man she loved was banished to France. Banished -- or imprisoned, that was the choice. The love story never really ended, but she never saw him again. I was so touched by this story of lost love that I wrote 'Bella Donna'," she added. Nicks revealed that the moment she finished the song was the moment she knew she had the basis for her first solo record, which she believed in "from the bottom of my heart." The story of her boyfriend's mother changed the way she looked at love, a concept she would explore later throughout her first album. "It defined how I would feel about love forever," she said of "Bella Donna." "It broke my heart and gave me the strength to fight for it." She added that "Bella Donna" "opened the doors" for her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, as well as other female artists, "the thing I am most proud of." Nicks was inducted into the Rock Hall as a solo artist in Mar. 2019, and 1998 with Fleetwood Mac. - Billboard, 7/28/21...... In other Fleetwood Mac-related news, former band member Lindsey Buckingham said he thinks his firing from Fleetwood Mac in 2018 "has harmed the band's legacy" during a new interview on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast which became available on July 29. Buckingham, who was replaced by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell and Crowded House's Neil Finn, told host Marc Maron that he'd asked the band for "an extra three months" to put out a solo album and take it on tour in the US before resuming his duties with FM. "There was certainly one person who did not want to bestow that on me," Buckingham said, before confirming that the individual in question was Stevie Nicks. "To be fair, everyone was anxious to get on the road but we've all made time for each other's [side-projects]. I've been in the band for 43 years for God's sake... Jesus! That sort of led to other things that kind of built up around that. And then it just got to the point where someone [Nicks] just didn't want to work with me anymore. And other people [in the group] were perhaps not feeling empowered enough to stand up for me when possibly they should have or could have." Buckingham continued: "I'm not saying that I can't be hard to get along with sometimes, but if you put it in a larger context of all the things that Fleetwood Mac has been through and what we've risen above in order to keep our eye on the larger picture and in order to fulfil our destiny over and over again... What was most disappointing about it to me was not, 'Oh, I'm not gonna get to do this tour'. What it was [is] again, we spent 43 years building this legacy which was about rising above things -- it stood for more than the music. And by allowing this to happen through some levels of weakness -- my own weakness included -- I think we did some harm to that legacy. And that's a shame." Buckingham went on to say that he has not been in contact with Nicks since his departure, apart from when she sent him a letter following his heart attack in 2019. - NME, 7/29/21...... The Grateful Dead has teamed up with iconic clothing manufacture Levi's to unveil a new capsule collection of t-shirts, denim jackets, sweatshirts and more -- all complete with hints of tie dye, iconic Grateful Dead graphics and tour dates. "Tune in, turn on, rock out. Our collab with the Grateful Dead features iconic graphics, special denim pieces, customizations -- and an immortal concert tee," the company posted on Twitter. "We wanted to do something that felt authentically rooted in the Grateful Dead's incredibly rich and unique history, so we dug deep into some of their more nuanced graphics and storytelling," Levi's exec Karyn Hillman said in a statement. "It's a deep dive into Grateful Dead's storied narrative and devoted fan base, only remixed through a contemporary lens," she added. The Levi's GD line is the latest in a string of officially licensed GD items recently made available online, including an officially licensed "Terrapin Station bobblehead" currently available on Amazon.com. - Billboard, 7/27/21...... The CNN-produced Linda Ronstadt documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice has been nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary category. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the documentary looks at the singer's career peaks in the '70s and '80s, and the grace that she has shown in dealing with the degenerative condition (progressive supranuclear palsy) that has stilled her remarkable singing voice. The film also brought Ronstadt her 11th competitive Grammy win in Mar. 2021 (she also received a lifetime achievement award in 2016). The other nominees in the Emmy category include the Miles Davis PBS documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, along with docs on Harry Belafonte and Walter Mercado broadcast on Peacock and Netflix, respectively. The Emmy awards will be presented in two ceremonies in late September. - Billboard, 7/27/21...... Joni Mitchell is set to release the recordings of two sets at a Canadian coffee shop that were recorded by none other than Jimi Hendrix. Mitchell's performances at Ottawa's Le Hibou Coffee House were captured by Hendrix in March 1968 during a two week residency by Mitchell ahead of the release of her debut album, Song To A Seagull. Hendrix had performed at the nearby Capitol Theatre earlier that evening, and even noted plans to record her performance in his diary. "Talked with Joni Mitchell on the phone. I think I'll record her tonight with my excellent tape recorder (knock on wood)... hmmm... can't find any wood... everything's plastic," he wrote. The recording, which will feature on Mitchell's upcoming collection Joni Mitchell Archives - Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), was captured while Hendrix sat on the floor at the front of the stage. Recalling the performance in the new collection's sleeve notes, Mitchell said: "They came and told me, 'Jimi Hendrix is here, and he's at the front door.' I went to meet him. He had a large box. He said to me, 'My name is Jimi Hendrix. I'm on the same label as you. Reprise Records.' We were both signed about the same time. He said, 'I'd like to record your show. Do you mind?' I said, 'no, not at all.' There was a large reel-to-reel tape recorder in the box. The stage was only about a foot off the ground. He knelt at edge of the stage, with a microphone, at my feet. All during the show, he kept twisting knobs. He was engineering it, I don't know what he was controlling, volume? He was watching the needles or something, messing with knobs. He beautifully recorded this tape. Of course I played part of the show to him. He was right below me." Hendrix's tape was stolen a few days later and presumed to be lost, but it recently resurfaced in a private collection donated to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and returned to Mitchell. Mitchell's performance of one of the songs from the set, "The Dawntreader," has been shared on YouTube. - NME, 7/29/21...... The life and career of country/pop legend Willie Nelson will be the focus of the multi-part docuseries Willie Nelson and Family from Blackbird Presents and Sight Unseen, it was announced on July 27. Nelson, 88, will participate in the docuseries, as will many of his family and friends. With the aim of making the "definitive docuseries" of the entertainer's career, the project's filmmakers will also benefit from access to Nelson's archives from his seven decades in music. Filmmakers Thom Zimny (Springsteen on Broadway, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash) and Oren Moverman (The Messenger) will co-direct the docuseries, with production already underway in Austin, Los Angeles, Maui, Nashville, and New York. Sight Unseen, Moverman's production company, serves as producing and financing partner. - Billboard, 7/27/21...... Blondie have announced a new NFT collaboration with Hackatao to celebrate the 93rd birthday of legendary pop artist Andy Warhol. The "crypto art series," dubbed "Hack The Borders," will be be released through digital art online auction platform Nifty Gateway in August. The artwork is based upon Warhol's first ever digital portrait of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, shot in 1985 and currently available for viewing on Twitter. The one-of-a-kind artwork, which Blondie have called "a present day manifestation of the punk rock movement," will land on Aug. 6 via Nifty Gateway, to celebrate what would've been Warhol's 93rd birthday. - NME, 7/28/21...... Whitesnake and Foreigner have announced a co-headlining UK and Ireland tour with special guests Europe next year to kick off on May 10, 2022 in Dublin. "I pray every day we can all make this happen and once again, share unforgettable evenings together and celebrate the amazing journey we have been on for almost 50 years!" said Whitesnake's David Coverdale in a statement. Mick Jones of Foreigner added: "We can't wait to kick off the summer in the UK and Ireland with a massive tour alongside our friends Whitesnake and Europe. We're looking forward to playing all our biggest hits for our fans, and rocking across the country." The tour will also visit Glasgow (5/12/22), Newcastle Upon Tyne (5/14/22), London (5/16/22), Manchester (5/18/22), Nottingham (5/20/22), Birmingham (5/22/22) and Cardiff (5/25/22). - NME, 7/27/21...... Bob Marley's widow Rita Marley has announced a new scholarship to be awarded to three Jamaican women each year, aiming to empower "women from the lower socio-economic stratum of Jamaica's society." In a statement given to Billboard, Sharon Marley, Rita's daughter and ex-member of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, said, "Providing scholarships for young women needing assistance to complete their educational goals -- thus maintaining and bringing high standards to their communities -- is a big part of Dr. Rita Marley's vision." In addition to the scholarship announcement, Rita Marley celebrated her 75th birthday on July 24 with a livestream tribute concert on her official YouTube channel. - NME, 7/26/21...... John Hutchinson, an early collaborator of David Bowie's who played guitar on an early demo of Bowie's iconic track "Space Oddity," passed away in a UK hospital on July 24 following a long period of illness. "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of John Hutchinson who passed in hospital yesterday after a long illness," a post on the official David Bowie Twitter page reads. Hutchinson was described as "a semi-retiered and little-known jazz guitarist and a veteran of three important David Bowie bands for seven years between 1966 and 1973." Perhaps Hutchinson's most notable contribution to Bowie's legacy is his involvement in the creation of "Space Oddity," playing guitar on multiple early versions. In February of 1969, Bowie and Hutchinson recorded the earliest version of "Space Oddity," with Hutchinson playing guitar and Bowie playing the Stylophone. The official studio version of "Space Oddity," which appears on Bowie's self-titled 1969 album, does not include Hutchinson. However, the demo later featured on both a 2009 reissue of the album, along with a 73 single collection titled the Clareville Grove Demos in 2019. It can also be heard on YouTube. In 1973, Bowie asked Hutchinson to join the Spiders from Mars as a touring member, performing 12-string guitar on Bowie's Aladdin Sane tours in the US, UK and Japan. - NME, 7/27/21...... Tom Jones has announced a new set of UK tour dates in 2021 in support of his recent UK chart-topping album Surrounded By Time. Sir Tom is now set to tour in the UK in December, launching on Dec. 5 in Glasgow, then hitting Manchester (12/6), Birmingham (12/8) and London (12/9). "We're delighted to have Tom Jones, one of the UK's most seminal artists, join the roster of our "Welcome Back Show" series, and we can't wait for what promises to be a special evening," Marc Saunders, Programming Manager at London's The O2, said in a statement. - NME, 7/26/21...... In an Instagram post on July 25, Lynyrd Skynyrd said its co-founding guitarist Gary Rossington is expected to make a full recovery following an emergency heart surgery earlier in July. Rossington, who is 69 and the band's sole surviving original member, is currently at "home resting and recovering with his family" and wants fans to know that he "expects a full recovery," the group wrote on July 23 on Facebook. Earlier in the week, Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant told the crowd at Minnesota's Twin Cities Summer Jam that Rossington had to undergo an "emergency stent put in his heart." He also noted that guitarist Damon Johnson would fill in for Rossington while he recovers from surgery. "After this past year, the country being shut down and everything we have all been thru, The Rossington's encouraged the band to go perform in his absence," Skynyrd continued on Facebook. "Music is a powerful healer! We all felt playing the shows and bringing the music to y'all was a better option than cancelling the performances." Lynyrd Skynyrd currently has tour dates scheduled through late November. This isn't the first time Rossington -- who formed Lynyrd Skynyrd with Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns in 1964 -- has experienced heart problems. The guitarist suffered a heart attack in Oct. 2015 and had to undergo emergency heart surgery the following year. The band was also forced to postpone shows in 2019 while he had a heart valve repaired. - Billboard, 7/25/21...... Clarence "Mac" McDonald, a keyboardist, producer, songwriter and arranger who collaborated with the likes of Ray Charles, Bill Withers, James Taylor and Cheech & Chong, died on July 21 in Las Vegas after a long battle with cancer. He was 76. In the 1960s, The L.A.-born McDonald served as the musical director and pianist for The Vocals -- an opening act for Ray Charles that was a forerunner of The 5th Dimension -- and later played keyboards on "Moving on Up", the theme song to the 1975-85 CBS sitcom The Jeffersons that was performed by actress Ja'Net DuBois and a gospel choir. He made songwriting contributions to Deniece Williams' 1976 debut album This Is Niecy, and played on songs including James Taylor's 1975 classic "How Sweet It Is" and Ray Charles and Gladys Knight's "Heaven Help Us All," from Charles' final album, 2004's Genius Loves Company. He was also the only musician heard on Cheech & Chong's seminal 1972 comedy album Big Bambu. McDonald went on to work with such other acclaimed artists as The Temptations, Carole King, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Hall & Oates, Nancy Wilson and Tina Turner during his 50-plus-year career. Survivors include his wife, Susan. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/27/21...... Ron Popeil, an inventor and the face of infomercials for "as-seen-on-TV" products like Showtime Rotisserie and Pocket Fisherman, died on July 27 surrounded by family after undergoing a medical emergency at Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was 86. Mr. Popeil was best known for the "Set it and forget it" catchphrase used to sell Showtime Rotisserie in late-night infomercials. Long before air fryers became the kitchen appliance du jour, the countertop rotisserie appliance took the home cooking world by storm, having sold over $1 billion worth, according to TMZ.com. The mogul is also credited with coining the oft-used infomercial phrase, "But wait, there's more!" Following in the footsteps of his father, Ronco president Samuel "S.J." Popeil who invented the Chop-o-Matic and Veg-o-Matic, Mr. Popeil went on to create products himself including the Mr. Microphone (the first Karaoke machine), the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, the Buttoneer, the Smokeless Ashtray, Popeil's Electric Food Dehydrator, the Inside-the-Egg Scrambler, GLH-9 (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) Hair in a Can Spray, the Rhinestone Stud Setter (Later called the Bedazzler), the Cap Snaffler, the Popeil Automatic Pasta Maker and the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator. His products can be seen in the Smithsonian Museum today. Perhaps due to the catchiness of his infomercials, Popeil was a hot figure himself, having been portrayed by Dan Aykroyd on a 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live. The SNL skit, which can be viewed on YouTube, saw Aykroyd poking fun of the infomercial style with a fictional "Bat-O-Matic" product. A celebrity in his own right, Mr. Popeil also made appearances on the likes of The X-Files, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Old School and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. - The New York Post, 7/28/21.