Posted by Administrator on January 29th, 2015
A source close to Paul McCartney says rumours that the former Beatle will be co-producing Kayne West's new album are "not true" after a second collaboration between Sir Paul and West, "FourFiveSeconds," was unveiled over the fourth weekend of January. Numerous reports that McCartney will work on West's Yeezus follow-up emerged on social media, citing comments made by West's longtime friend and barber Ibn Jasper on Instagram. McCartney also contributed backing vocals to a previously released collaboration with West, "Only One." In other McCartney news, Paul's ex-wife Heather Mills tells Britain's Event magazine in a new interview that her divorce from the rock legend was "a more traumatic experience than losing her leg in a motorcycle accident." The British model-turning-professional skier was married to McCartney for four years before their acrimonious split in 2006 and they subsequently faced off against each other in a bitter and highly-publicized divorce trial. Mills was awarded a $38.9 million settlement in 2008, and now seven years later, says she is still struggling to bounce back from the divorce drama. "It's very hard to be married to a Beatle. (McCartney's first wife) Linda had it tough, Yoko (Ono) had it tough and what happened to me after the divorce... losing my leg was easier to cope with... I felt I lost everything. I spent my whole life raising money for charities and I was asked to leave every charity because I became poison... Everything I had been was taken away." Mills, who has an 11-year-old daughter named Beatrice with Paul, says the experience has turned her against marriage in the future. "Never, never, never... I'm single, I want to have fun but I don't want to be married. It's one thing I'm absolutely sure about." She lost her left leg below the knee in a motorcycle crash in 1993. - NME/WENN.com, 1/26/15...... 
Two of the '70s most famous singer/songwriters, James Taylor and Paul Simon, paid tribute to late jazz great Michael Brecker on Jan. 20 in New York City with performances and kind words at a cancer benefit for their friend who died in 2007. Taylor, who Brecker's widow said had the flu, performed "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" -- the first song he played with the jazz saxophonist -- while Simon performed "Still Crazy After All These Years" and "The Boxer," songs he said he "closely associates" with Brecker. "I miss him all the time," Taylor said after the performance. "Michael saved my life and probably a lot of other people. He led me to freedom, really from addiction, and showed a number of us the way." Taylor joined forces with Simon, Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin to close the 90-minute show with "Shower the People." Brecker, who died of a form of bone marrow cancer at age 57, won more than a dozen Grammy Awards and played with a number of iconic artists, including Simon, Taylor, Elton John and Joni Mitchell. - AP, 1/21/15...... Jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, who last toured together 37 years ago when Pres. Jimmy Carter was in the White House, have announced a 19-city world tour of duo piano concerts that will launch in Seattle on Mar. 14. Corea and Hancock, who both were members of Miles Davis' bands of the 1960s and contributed to his groundbreaking jazz-fusion albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, will also hit such cities as Vancouver, Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago before wrapping the North American leg in Carmel, Indiana, on Apr. 18. After a break, the duo will perform in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. - AP, 1/23/15...... 
The Beach Boys' founder and principal creative force Brian Wilson, whose spectacularly imaginitive songwriting evoked the joys of hot-rodding, sunshine, and the bronzed, bikinied lifestyle of Southern California, died on June 11, his family announced on social media. He was 82 and no cause of death was given. "We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away," wrote his children on 
The album and Mr. Wilson had a profound impact on musicians of the era and beyond, with the Beatles acknowledging its complexity helped inspire their similarly ambitious 1967 masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Yet as such albums as Shut Down, Volume 2, All Summer Long, The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) -- all released between March 1964 and July 1965 -- represented an exponential leap for Mr. Wilson as composer, arranger and producer, Brian led what was often an unhappy and unsettled life, and suffered a breakdown in the late 1960s that drastically curtailed his life and later work. For most of the following decade, Mr. Wilson was a near-complete recluse. He contributed one or two songs to Beach Boys recordings, which still came out on occasion but sold miserably (as did Pet Sounds, which sold relatively poorly when it came out). The group was often dismissed as hopelessly old-fashioned during the "psychedelic" late 1960s and early 1970s -- despite releasing such acclaimed albums as 
An album, 
In 2010, Brian made a recording of his favorite George Gershwin songs and, in 2021, he released At My Piano, a selection of his songs played simply, lovingly and somewhat anxiously by their composer. Mr. Wilson's final ever live performance took place on July 26, 2022, at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., the final date of his 2022 US summer co-headline tour with Chicago. The 20-track set took in many of his most classic songs, from "I Get Around"' and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" to "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations." He was joined on stage by fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine, as well as Blondie Chaplin, his sometime songwriting partner who was also in the band from 1972-73. Footage from the final gig can be viewed on 
Sly Stone, the groundbreaking funk and psych-rock pioneer who led the iconic Sly and the Family Stone group in the 1960s into the early 1980s, died on June 9 from "a prolonged battle with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] and other underlying health issues," according to his family. He was 82. Beginning with "Dance To The Music" in 1968, which peaked at No. 8 on the chart, Sly and the Family Stone racked up 17 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including five top 10s and three number ones: "Everyday People," which reigned for four weeks in 1968-1969; 
Among Sly and the Family Stone's greatest triumphs was their 1969 appearance at Woodstock, where they performed in the midst of a 3:30 a.m. downpour, roused a mud-caked crowd of 500,000, and brought the house down with a captivating performance that has since become a highlight of Michael Wadleigh's 
In other Fab Four news, Paul McCartney has written a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron in support of a "Meat-Free Mondays" campaign in the UK, as Cameron prepares to attend the Paris Climate Change Conference which begins on Nov. 30. McCartney, along with his wife and the rest of his family, are encouraging the implementation of Meat Free Mondays at schools, universities and government buildings, as well as involving restaurants and private businesses. The McCartneys contend that developed countries can reduce their carbon footprint by 2% overnight if everyone cuts out meat consumption one day a week, as well as talking about health benefits. "If you heard that meat production was one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, what would you do? Would you just ignore that fact, or would you want to do something and want to find a solution?," Sir Paul asks in a video he released that accompanies his letter. Meanwhile, artists including David Bowie, Björk, Robert Plant, David Gilmour, Radiohead, Iggy Pop and Coldplay have written an open letter to negotiators attending the Paris climate summit to secure a "ambitious" deal to "come together and intensify our efforts" against climate change. In a petition which accompanies the letter, the musicians call the summit an "historic opportunity... to give us confidence in a sustainable future, to share our ambition, and recognize our capacity to strengthen your leadership." - NME, 11/27/15...... As Bruce Springsteen prepares for a deluxe reissue of his 1980 double LP The River on Dec. 4, cable TV's HBO channel premiered a documentary included in the set, The Ties That Bind about The River, on Nov. 27. Directed by Thom Zimny, the 60-minute film features interviews with the Boss and acoustic versions of tracks like "The River" and "Two Hearts." The lavish 
Seventies artists James Taylor and Barbra Streisand were among 17 Americans honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the USA's highest civilian award, at The White House on Nov. 24. "Off the stage, [Streisand has] been a passionate advocate for issues like heart disease and women's equality," Pres. Barack Obama said in his opening statement. "I'm getting all verklempt just thinking about it," the president joked in Yiddish, referencing the SNL skit "Coffee Talk." "You always feel like he's singing only to you," Pres. Obama said about Taylor. "That's why he's become one of the driving forces of the singer-songwriter movement." The president also recognized director Steven Spielberg, composer Stephen Sondheim, violinist Itzhak Perlman and baseball legends Willie Mays and Yogi Berra, among others. "Today we celebrate some extraordinary people: innovators, artists and leaders who contribute to America's strength as a nation," he told reporters before handing out the medals. - WENN.com, 11/24/15...... Speaking of James Taylor, the "Fire and Rain" singer performed "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Nov. 23. Taylor sang as the French flag appeared in the background. - Billboard, 11/24/15...... Carly Simon appeared on CBS's The Late Show on Nov. 24 for a duet with host Stephen Colbert of what she admitted was her favorite song, Inez and Charlie Foxx's hit "Mockingbird," which she and former husband James Taylor famously covered in 1973. The pair deliverd a surprisingly good off-the-cuff rendition as Simon sang lead and Colbert harmonized on the Taylor parts. Later in the show, Simon performed "I Can't Thank You Enough" with her son Ben Taylor, a track from her new album 
Former Commodores singer/songwriter Lionel Richie has announced details of a UK arena tour that will take place in 2016. Richie will play three dates in total beginning at the Manchester Arena on June 28, then follow with two nights at London's O2 Arena on July 2 and 3. This summer, the "Dancing on the Ceiling" singer boosted his popularity in England by performing before over 100,000 people at the Glastonbury music festival." I can't wait to return to the UK to see my fans," said Richie. "It's always been a really special place for me and this year in particular the UK has been incredible to me." - NME, 11/26/15...... In a new interview on Nov. 24, Jimmy Page reaffirmed that he will be starting work on his first solo album in nearly 30 years in 2016. "Next year I'm just going to working on the guitar. It's time for me to go out there and do a solo album. My last solo album was 1988. I haven't really milked the situation. It's time to do another one. I'm known for playing many styles of guitar, and I need to revisit all the different styles I can play," he said. Page added that he's "not thinking about singers, I'm thinking of an instrumental thing." "I want to work with my strengths rather than my weaknesses. I want to work with myself, I want to get myself up and running and once I'm ready, I'll think about whether I need someone to sing on the music," he explained. His last proper solo effort, 1988's Outrider, featured several guest singers performing over his songs, including his former bandmate, Robert Plant. He has also released collaborative albums with Whitesnake singer David Coverdale and Plant. - Billboard, 11/24/15...... The Fox TV network has released the first promo for its upcoming live televised musical based on the hit 1978 movie Grease. Set for Jan. 31 from 7:00-10:00 p.m., Grease: Live will star Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko and Julianne Hough as Sandy, and features a new version of the Barry Gibb's 
Trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, who helped Sly and the Family Stone craft its own unique sound of funk and soul in the late '60s and early '70s, passed away on Nov. 23 after a battle with cancer. She was 69. Robinson, who was also a co-founder of Sly Stone's band, was one of the first female black trumpeters to gain notoriety in a major recording act, and was the first female trumpet player and the first African-American trumpet player inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Stone and the other bandmembers, in 1993. Robinson first hooked up with Sly in 1966 in an early incarnation of the band, Sly and the Stoners, and stayed on board as Stone crafted the pop/rock/R&B synthesis that became the Family Stone. After the Family Stone disbanded in 1975, Robinson went on to lend her talents and perform with other great stage acts such as George Clinton and Prince until cancer diagnosis was announced in October on her Facebook page. Robinson also announced that she was establishing the Cynthia Robinson Cancer Care Fund, which is remaining active "in her memory," according to her Facebook page. The Sacramento-born musician is survived by her two daughters, Laura Marie and Sylvyette Phunne. - Billboard, 11/24/15.
A glowing review by entertainer James Wright about Patti LaBelle's signature brand of sweet potato pies has racked up about 10 million YouTube views since it was posted on Nov. 11, causing retail giant Walmart to announced they were selling LaBelle's pies at the "rate of one per second during the 72 hour period from Thursday through Saturday." Demand is such it also appears many are buying the pies from Walmart and reselling them on eBay and Craigslist for much more than the $3.50 price tag. But the 
Jimmy Page joined such musicians as his pal Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Duff McKagan formerly of Guns N' Roses, and Alice In Chains singer William Duvell for a rendition of the classic Led Zeppelin track "Rock and Roll" during a Led Zepp tribute concert at Seattle's Experience Music Project Museum on Nov. 19. It was part of a benefit show of Zeppelin covers performed by a host of musicians that also included Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and ex-Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Page also picked up the Experience Music Project Founders Award at the ceremony which also saw the likes of "Immigrant Song," "Communication Breakdown" and "Dazed And Confused" performed. Earlier in 2015, Page said he planned on pursuing a "new project" outside his classic former band after completing the reissues of Led Zeppelin's final three albums, which he accomplished this year. - NME, 11/20/15...... Frank Zappa's son Dweezil Zappa is set to release 
As Fleetwood Mac prepares to release a 
The movie industry website TheTrackingBoard is reporting that the long-delayed biopic about legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury will start shooting in the summer of 2016, pending a full rewrite from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten (Theory of Everything). The project had been thought to have been shelved after Sacha Baron-Cohen left the project in 2013, citing "creative differences." The rumored successor to play Mercury is Ben Whishaw, who also appears in the new James Bond flick, Spectre. The roles of Roger Taylor and Mary Austin have also reportedly been filled with Johnny Flynn and Gemma Arterton, respectively. - Billboard, 11/19/15...... More juicy tidbits from Carly Simon's promotional tour for her new top-selling book 
In somewhat of an upset, the hit 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody beat out the latest Lady Gaga-starred remake of A Star Is Born for "Best Picture - Drama" at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 6 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Bohemian Rhapsody actor Rami Malek also won Best Actor for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury, and during his acceptance speech Malek tipped his hat to the original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, who were in the audience, for "ensuring authenticity and inclusivity exist in music and in the world and all of us" before honoring Mercury with "Thank you to Freddie Mercury. I love you, you beautiful man, this is because of you, gorgeous." Backstage, Brian May praised Malek and the others involved in the film, saying "We found the right people at the right time, or we wouldn't be standing here." Bohemian Rhapsody's big night at the Golden Globes was just the latest achievement for the movie, which has already grossed nearly $200 million in the U.S. alone, becoming the highest-grossing musical biopic film ever released, and also spawned a hit soundtrack, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Meanwhile, the upcoming 
70s teen idol Donny Osmond has released a whopping 61 total albums during his nearly 50 years in show business -- either as a solo artist, with sister Marie Osmond, or as a member of The Osmonds -- and on Jan. 6 he shared a "little secret" as he put it with his fans on Twitter. "I've officially started working on my 62nd album! -- I'll keep you posted throughout the year as I continue creating it, but I have a feeling you're going to love it," he tweeted along with an illustration of himself wailing on a keytar. Osmond says the LP will be a compilation of notable covers, including his take on Michael Jackson's "Ben" and the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road." - Billboard, 1/6/19...... Neil Young shared a tribute to his late ex-wife Pegi Young, who passed away on New Year's Day after a yearlong battle with cancer, on Jan. 5. The post, titled "Such A Woman: Pegi Young 1952-2019," includes lyrics from Young's song "Such A Woman," inspired by Pegi, with lines like "our love will live until the end of all time." Neil and Pegi Young were married for 36 years prior to their divorce in 2014, and they have two children, Ben and Amber. In 1986, they started the Bridge School non-profit to help children with severe physical and speech impairments, inspired by their own experiences trying to find schools for their son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy. Pegi's own music career began in 1994 -- at the nationally televised Academy Awards ceremony, singing backup for Neil Young on his Oscar-nominated song "Philadelphia." She eventually became a regular backup singer on his tours and sang and played occasional acoustic guitar on some of his albums, including Greendale, Prairie Wind, Chrome Dreams II and more. She also took photographs for Neil's Silver & Gold and for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 1999 comeback album Looking Forward. Graham Nash, a longtime friend and musical partner of Neil Young, said "Pegi was a very strong woman in many ways, certainly a lady to be admired." She passed away "surrounded by friends and family in California," according to an official statement, and memorial plans are pending. - Billboard, 1/6/19...... Cher has chimed in on a new viral video by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez which shows the newly elected Democratic congresswoman dancing on a roof during her student days at Boston University. "Know The Feeling @AOC SOMETIMES---JUST GOTTA DANCE, Good Thing You Can, Sponsor a Bill, Put On, & Kick Ass At The Same Time," Cher tweeted on Jan. 5. Ocasio-Cortez's video became a meme in record time, as different songs were paired with the visual continued to pick up steam. Ocasio-Cortez was understandably pleased to see Cher's tweet, posting "The Queen has spoken!" soon afterward. - Billboard, 1/5/19...... 
Bob Seger, who has said he may be retiring from the road in 2019, told fans at his Jan. 3 farewell concert at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Mich., that "in 2020 I'll be available for weddings...Keep me in mind." The quip has been the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's parting line since his "Final Tour" with his Silver Bullet Band began in November. Seger said goodbye with high-octane, 22-song two-hour show that included a few surprises. "Since I'm retiring soon I figured we better roll out some of the ones we've never played," said Seger who's also been opening some shows with his chart-topping Beverly Hills Cop II hit "Shakedown." "I'm pulling 'em out. Now's the time." He accompanied some of the songs with video screen montages of vintage images and lingered a bit longer on stories about "Like a Rock," "Her Strut" and "Turn the Page." He dedicated "We've Got Tonight" to his late mother, explaining that it's her "favorite song I ever wrote," while a cover Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" was a homage to the late Eagles' founder Glenn Frey, a close friend, and "some other people that we lost along the way," with photos of Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Prince, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Gregg Allman and Chuck Berry scrolling on the screen during the performance. He wrapped with his familiar encore set of "Against the Wind," "Hollywood Nights," "Night Moves" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." Seger's Final Tour is currently booked through May 2, but there's talk of more dates into the summer. - Billboard, 1/4/19...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason recalled Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett's mental breakdown in 1968 owing to acid-induced schizophrenia. Mason described how the band were "young and immature" with regard to "coming to grips" with Barrett's mental health issues. "So many songs were written by Syd in such a short time period. It was less than two years from out first public show in October of 1967," Mason said. "At that time we had only two or three original songs. And just about a year later, it was already sort of burning out," he added. Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes in 2006, aged 60. - Rolling Stone/NME, 1/3/19...... 
Olivia Newton-John reassured fans in a new video shared on Jan. 2 that recent rumors of her having only weeks to live "have been greatly exaggerated." Newton-John, 70, had announced in September that she is battling cancer for the third time after doctors discovered a tumor at the base of her spine, but in her video the healthy looking singer wished everyone a happy new year and said "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, to quote a very famous quote." "I'm doing great. I want to wish all of you the happiest, healthiest 2019 possible," she continues. "Thank you all for your wonderful love and support for me and my Olivia Newton John Wellness Center in Melbourne, Australia." Several Australian media outlets had picked up a Radar Online story claiming that a "ravaged" Newton-John was "clinging to life," and that her "bodily functions appear to be shutting down." The story also cited several doctors, none of whom have treated Newton-John personally, who insisted on the seriousness of her condition. "She almost certainly is going to die!" exclaimed one in what reads a lot like glee. A rep for Newton-John called the report "crap." - Billboard/Jezebel.com, 1/2/19...... Oscar-winning English actor Gary Oldman has confirmed he will be providing narration on a forthcoming app based on the David Bowie "Is" exhibition. The exhibition -- which explored "the broad range of the late artist's collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art, and film" -- shut permanently back in July, five years after it debuted at the V&A in London (where it became the renowned institution's most-visited touring exhibition). Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh curated the exhibition, which drew over 2 million visitors across 12 cities. Bowie and Oldman enjoyed a close and enduring friendship in the years preceding Bowie's death in 2016, with Oldman appearing in Bowie's controversial video for "The Next Day." The Augmented Reality (AR) app will be available in iOS and Android, and will grant fans access to the show's hundreds of costumes, videos, handwritten lyrics, original works of art and much more. Dozens of items not featured in the original exhibition will also be included, including some entirely new and exclusive to the AR version of the app. It will arrive on Jan. 8 at a cost of £7.99. - New Musical Express, 1/3/19...... Dean Ford, the former frontman with the Scottish guitar-pop band Marmalade, has died at age 72. Ford, whose real name was Thomas McAleese, grew up in Airdrie and formed his first band, the Tonebeats, aged 13 before joining local band the Cravats aged 16. He went on to front Dean Ford and the Gaylords, who became established in the nascent "swinging London" scene of the mid-60s, before changing their name to Marmalade. The band became the first Scottish group to top the UK singles chart, with their cover of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" in December 1968. They had another seven UK Top 10 hits, including "Reflections of My Life," co-written by Ford, which also reached the US Top 10 and sold over 2 million copies worldwide. The band toured with the Who and Ford once duetted with country star Bobbie Gentry. Ford went solo after Marmalade split and released an unsuccessful album in 1975. Eventually he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a limousine driver to stars including Michael Jackson, Tom Waits, Susan Sarandon and Bob Dylan, as well as delivering pizza and flowers. He also developed an alcohol problem before going sober in 1986. "The only thing that spoiled my life was alcohol," he said in a 2015 interview. "I spent a lot of money on alcohol. And drinking took me away from what I should be doing." - 1/2/19...... 
Keyboardist Daryl Dragon, best known as the hat-wearing "Captain" in the '70s pop group The Captain and Tennille, died due to renal failure in Prescott, Ariz. on Jan. 2. He was 76. A classically trained pianist, L.A.-born Dragon played keyboard for the Beach Boys from 1967-1972, where he was given the nickname "Captain" by lead singer Mike Love due to Dragon's penchant for wearing a captain's hat onstage. In 1971, Dragon met his future wife, Toni Tennille, when she hired him to play piano for a musical called "Mother Earth. "Shortly thereafter, Dragon suggested that Tennille join the Beach Boys on their next tour as an acoustic pianist. While on the tour, Dragon and Tennille soon began a romantic and musical relationship, performing in smaller venues together when not on tour with the Beach Boys. Going by the stage name the Captain and Tennille, the duo quickly formed a following. On the strength of the song "The Way I Want to Touch You," the team scored a record deal with A&M Records in 1974. Their song 
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y., announced on Dec. 27 that it is planning a golden 50th anniversary Woodstock festival in 2019. Set for Aug. 16-18 at the concert venue built on the original Woodstock site, the Center says the festival will feature "live performances from prominent and emerging artists spanning multiple genres and decades, and TED-style talks from leading futurists and retro-tech experts." "Festival goers will also be able to visit the Museum at Bethel Woods, which tells the story of the 1960s through immersive media, interactive engagements, and artifacts from the 1969 festival, as well as experience the special 2019 exhibit We Are Golden: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival and Aspirations for an Aquarian Future," the statement continues. The original Woodstock, on Aug. 15-18, 1969, took place on a diary farm in the Catskill Mountains north of New York City. It quickly grew from a ticketed event to a massive free-for-all that drew more than 400,000 to a muddy 600-acre diary farm for one of the most iconic rock events of all time, featuring sets from Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, The Band, Joe Cocker and Santana, among others. At least three Woodstock tributes have been held since: a 25th anniversary concert in Saugerties, New York, in 1994, with performances from Cocker, Sheryl Crow, Aerosmith, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Bob Dylan; a Woodstock '99 concert in Rome, N.Y., which drew 400,000 people to a former Air Force base for a chaotic three-day gatherng marred by excessively hot weather, fan rioting and reports of sexual assault; and a smaller event on the site of the original Woodstock in 2009, with sets from a number of the original show's performers, including Country Joe McDonald, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Jefferson Starship, Mounatin and the Levon Helm Band. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a concert venue built on the original Woodstock site in the town of Bethel in Sullivan County, a rural area 85 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of New York City. A newspaper in nearby Middletown has reported that many motels, bed-and-breakfasts and AirBnB rentals in Sullivan County have been sold out for some time. Officials in Sullivan County recently said they plan to install 36 fiberglass dove statues to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary in a nod to the original event's iconic logo. Original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang has said he has "definite plans" to put on his own 50th anniversary Woodstock celebration, though it won't be on the site of the original and no further details have been released. - Billboard, 12/28/18...... Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan, and Monty Python icon Michael Palin are among the leading personalities from the world of entertainment who have been recognised in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year honours list. Mason will be receiving a CBE for his services to music. Mason, who founded Pink Floyd in 1965, is the only member to feature on every one of their albums. Palin meanwhile bagged a Knighthood for his diplomatic service to travel, culture and geography. Commenting on his time with the Monty Python troupe, Palin said: "Discovering there were five other people who had the same sort of sense of humour as myself and we all appreciated each other's work and that the work that we did, both on television and film, is still being replayed and still being appreciated, that's quite something, really, after 50 years. It will be 50 years since Python started, next year. That's something that hit a high spot that will last forever, so I'm very grateful to all the other Pythons and I am very proud of Python." - NME, 12/29/18...... 
Legislators in Washington state have voted unanimously to rename the Renton Highlands Post Office in the Seattle suburb of Renton "The James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix Post Office." The post office is located less than a mile from the Jimi Hendrix Memorial in Greenwood Memorial Park cemetery, where Seatlle native Hendrix is buried. "I am honored to join in paying tribute to rock and roll icon and Seattle native Jimi Hendrix with the renaming of the Renton Highlands Post Office as the James Marshall 'Jimi' Hendrix Post Office Building," Rep. Adam Smith, who sponsored the bill to rename the post office, said in a statement. "This designation will further celebrate Hendrix's deep connection to the Puget Sound region and help ensure that his creative legacy will be remembered by our community and inspire future generations." In 2018, a deluxe 
A documentary showcasing the life and legacy of iconic funk musician Sly Stone and his band Sly and the Family Stone has been announced for 2019. Directed by Brady Spensor, the film will also delve into Stone's money troubles and the U.S. Music Modernization Act that ultimately saved him from financial turmoil. In 2015, Stone won a lawsuit against his former manager Gerald Goldstein and lawyer Glenn Stone after Sly alleged that they had diverted money away from him to them for 11 years from 1989 to 2000. The jury ended up awarding £1.6 million ($2.5 million) in damages to the singer against Even St Productions, the company with with which they made him sign an employment and shareholder agreement, as well as £1.6 million ($2.45 million) against Goldstein and £32,932 ($50,000) against Stone. In 2011 Stone entered rehab to seek treatment for drug addiction after revealing that he had been living out of a van in the LA neigborhood of Crenshaw. It was then that he opened the case against Goldstein, suing him for $50 million. Brady Spensor says he conducted several interviews with the reclusive artist for the documentary in what's described as a decade-long process. "It took months before Sly even remembered my name," Spensor told Deadline.com. "But soon after, I would get called at all hours, day or night. When Sly finally collected his royalties after years of being financially strapped and homeless, it warmed my heart." No official release date for the documentary has been set but it's scheduled to drop sometime in 2019. - New Musical Express, 12/29/18...... The Osmond Family member Jimmy Osmond was treated for a stroke on Dec. 27 following his performance as Captain Hook in the Peter Pan pantomime at the U.K's Birmingham Hippodrome. "On the evening of Thursday 27 December, after pushing through the evening's performance of Peter Pan at Birmingham Hippodrome, Jimmy Osmond was driven straight to hospital and diagnosed with a stroke," his spokesperson told the BBC. "He is grateful for all the well wishes and will be taking time out in the new year." Speaking of his role in the panto in November, Osmond told a local paper: "For me, I kind of took to panto well. I'm from this vaudevillian background. I grew up doing TV variety shows. I started as a three-year-old kid on the Andy Williams TV show and worked with Bob Hope and Andy Williams and all of those great people. And then when I came over here as a kid, it made me feel British because I would watch pantomimes. I never thought I'd be so lucky as to be in them. I think my background helps me because in variety TV you have to learn how to do the jokes and communicate with an audience. I was always a performer." - NME, 1/1/19...... 
Ray Sawyer, a former member of Dr Hook & The Medicine Show, died peacefully in his sleep on Jan. 1, his wife Linda Sawyer posted on social media. He was 81. Mr. Sawyer, known for wearing an eye-patch after losing his eye in a car crash, found fame in the 1970s with Dr Hook, which charted such hits as