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December 14, 2011

*** All the news that's fit to be tied ***

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Hubert Sumlin, Master of Blues Guitar, Dies at 80

By BILL FRISKICS-WARREN

Hubert Sumlin, the guitarist whose slashing solos and innovative ideas galvanized the blues of Howlin’ Wolf and inspired rock guitar players like Jimmy Page, Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton, died on Sunday in Wayne, N.J. He was 80.

His death was announced on his official Web site, hubertsumlinblues.com. No cause was specified.

Mr. Sumlin began appearing on Howlin’ Wolf’s recordings in 1953, first as a rhythm guitarist and then, beginning in 1955, on lead guitar. Mr. Sumlin’s eerie guitar counterpart to Howlin’ Wolf’s unearthly moaning on the 1956 hit “Smokestack Lightnin’ ” has lately been featured in a television commercial for Viagra. He also played lead on “Back Door Man,” “Spoonful” and “The Red Rooster,” all written and arranged by the Chicago blues trailblazer Willie Dixon.

“Dixon’s often astute novelty lyrics and shrewd arrangements were topped off by Sumlin’s imaginative, angular, taut attack, frequent glisses, maniacally wide vibrato and percussive chords, all drawn with an exaggerated brush,” the producer Dick Shurman observed of Mr. Sumlin’s relentlessly inventive playing in his liner notes to a 1991 boxed set of Howlin’ Wolf’s work for Chess Records.

“Back Door Man,” “Spoonful” and “The Red Rooster” were later made even more famous in versions released, respectively, by the Doors, Cream and the Rolling Stones. All three originally appeared on Howlin’ Wolf’s 1962 LP “Howlin’ Wolf,” which the critic Greil Marcus called “the finest of all Chicago blues albums,” largely because of Mr. Sumlin’s contribution.

Though at times tempestuous, Mr. Sumlin’s partnership with Howlin’ Wolf lasted until the singer’s death in 1976. Mr. Sumlin’s intuitive, empathetic accompaniment typically spurred his mentor to unpredictable and frenzied heights.

Speaking of their collaborations in a 1989 interview with Living Blues magazine, Mr. Sumlin said: “Hubert was Wolf, Wolf was Hubert. I got to where I knew what he wanted before he asked for it, because I could feel the man.”

Hubert Charles Sumlin was born on Nov. 16, 1931, in Greenwood, Miss. Raised in Hughes, Ark., he received his first guitar at 6 and, as a child, aspired to be a jazz guitarist. He met Howlin’ Wolf while still a teenager, when Mr. Sumlin was performing in and around West Helena, Ark., with the blues harmonica player James Cotton, and first recorded with him, under the supervision of Sam Phillips, at Sun Studios in 1953.

He moved to Chicago the next year at the invitation of Howlin’ Wolf, in whose band he was a driving force, apart from a six-month stint with Muddy Waters, for the next two decades. Mr. Sumlin and several of the other musicians in that band continued to perform as the Wolf Pack after the leader’s death.

Mr. Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008. Rolling Stone magazine recently included him on a list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

Mr. Sumlin is survived by his wife, Evelyn; a son, Charles; three daughters, Brenda Sumlin, Berdelle Smith Sumlin and Louise Smith Sumlin; and two sisters, Maggie Watkins and Irene Sumlin. Another son, Eddie, died.

As understated a singer as his mentor was an exuberant one, Mr. Sumlin also made more than a dozen albums under his own name; the first was recorded in Europe in 1964, and the last, “Treblemaker,” was released in 2007. His 2004 collection, “About Them Shoes,” featured guest appearances from musical admirers including Mr. Clapton, Keith Richards, David Johansen and Levon Helm.

Another admirer was reportedly Jimi Hendrix, who was said to have been influenced by Mr. Sumlin’s use of distortion on recordings from the late ’50s. The musician with whom Mr. Sumlin will always be most closely associated, however, was Howlin’ Wolf, with whom he had a combative but productive relationship.

“We were like father and son, although we had some tremendous fights,” Mr. Sumlin said of the bonds between the two men in a 1994 interview with Guitar World magazine. “He knocked my teeth out, and I knocked his out. None of it mattered; we always got right back together.”

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Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Will Pay Hubert Sumlin's Funeral Expenses
Howlin' Wolf guitarist was a huge inspiration for the Stones

The funeral for Chicago blues great Hubert Sumlin, the longtime guitar player for Howlin' Wolf who died Sunday at age 80, will be paid for by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Sumlin's partner, Toni Ann, posted the news online. "God bless the Rolling Stones," she wrote.

The Stones have long acknowledged their debt to Sumlin, who was ranked at number 43 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists list.

Richards played on Sumlin's 2006 album, About Them Shoes. "Hubert was an incisive yet delicate blues player," Jagger said today, "a wonderful foil for Howlin' Wolf's growling vocal style . . . He was an inspiration to us all."

Sumlin will be buried in a private service in Homewood, Ill., on December 13th. A public viewing will be held on December 11th and a religious service occurs the following day at the Festa Memorial Funeral Home in Totowa, N.J.

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Dobie Gray, Singer Known for ‘Drift Away,’ Dies

By PAUL VITELLO

Dobie Gray, a versatile singer and songwriter who had a handful of hits in various pop genres but who was probably best known for his enduring 1973 soul anthem, “Drift Away,” a wistful paean to all songwriters and their songs, died on Tuesday in Nashville. He was believed to be 71.

The cause was complications of cancer surgery, said his friend and fellow songwriter George Reneau.

Mr. Gray, who sang and wrote songs in a range of styles including rhythm-and-blues, country, disco and gospel, had his first Top 20 hit in 1965 with “The ‘In’ Crowd,” an upbeat hymn to hipness that captured the social restlessness of the time. Written by Billy Page and based on an idea suggested by Mr. Gray, the song struck a special chord in the music industry and was performed by many others, including the Ramsey Lewis Trio (whose 1965 instrumental version was an even bigger hit than Mr. Gray’s), Petula Clark, the Mamas and the Papas, Lawrence Welk and the Chipmunks.

Management problems left Mr. Gray without much to show for his early success, he told Billboard in 1974. He said he received no royalties for “The ‘In’ Crowd.” With his recording career stalled, he spent two years in the cast of the Los Angeles production of “Hair” in the late 1960s.

“Drift Away” was recorded in 1973 after Mr. Gray, attempting a comeback, secured a contract with MCA Records. He was teamed with the songwriter and producer Mentor Williams (the brother of Paul Williams), who had produced it for another artist with no success.

Mr. Gray’s strong, raspy tenor, schooled by years of gospel choir duty as a child in the Texas Baptist church where his grandfather was minister, gave Mr. Williams’s song the soulful treatment it apparently needed, sending it to No. 5 on the Billboard charts that year and carving a permanent place for it in later years on oldies radio.

While recording “Drift Away,” he felt a lot of pressure, Mr. Gray said in a 1988 interview with The Tennessean of Nashville. It had been a long time since his last hit and it seemed as if his career was in the balance. “I was pulling my hair out,” he said.

Mr. Gray’s early life is not well documented. Different sources give the year of his birth as 1940, 1942 or 1943, though all agree on the date of Sept. 26. His given name has been reported as Leonard Victor Ainsworth and Lawrence Darrow Brown. By all accounts he was born into a sharecropper family outside Houston, in Brookshire or Simonton, Tex.

Mr. Reneau said that as far as he knew Mr. Gray, who never married, was 71, and that his survivors included a sister and a brother. No immediate family member could be reached. In interviews, Mr. Gray credited his Baptist minister grandfather with sparking his interest in singing.

Mr. Gray left Texas in the early 1960s for Los Angeles, where he worked with Sonny Bono, then an executive with Specialty Records. He made several records under the names Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis and Larry Dennis. He adopted the name Dobie Gray sometime before he recorded his first hit, “Look at Me,” in 1963.

After his career was revived by “Drift Away,” Mr. Gray used his fame to help support political causes. He campaigned for Jimmy Carter in his 1976 presidential race, and although he toured in Europe and Australia, he agreed to perform in South Africa only after winning a government dispensation allowing him to play before integrated audiences, according to his Web site.

Mr. Gray left Los Angeles for Nashville in 1978 and began writing and performing country music there. His singing career never took off in Nashville, but he became a prolific writer of songs for other artists, including John Conlee (“Got My Heart Set on You”), Ray Charles (“Over and Over, Again”), Julio Iglesias (“If I Ever Needed You”) and George Jones (“Come Home to Me”).

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Howard Tate, Soul Singer Who Made Comeback, Dies at 72

TRENTON (AP) — Howard Tate, a soul singer who got a second chance at a career three decades after being derailed by disputes with industry executives, personal tragedy and drug addiction, died on Friday at his apartment in Burlington, N.J. He was 72.

His death was confirmed by a spokesman for the Burlington County medical examiner. No specific cause was given.

Born in 1939 in Macon, Ga., and reared in Philadelphia, Mr. Tate had three Top 20 rhythm-and-blues hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including “Get It While You Can,” written by his longtime producer Jerry Ragovoy (who died this year) and later recorded by Janis Joplin. He toured with Aretha Franklin as her recording of “Respect” climbed the charts in 1967.

But he eventually walked away from his career, disillusioned that he was not receiving the royalties he thought he deserved, and he became an insurance salesman in suburban Philadelphia.

“I got rid of my own records, and I didn’t listen to other people’s records because I didn’t want to flash back,” he told The Associated Press in 2003.

Then, he later recalled, tragedy struck. A daughter died in a fire. His marriage fell apart. He began drinking heavily, then became addicted to crack and ended up homeless in Camden, N.J. Mr. Ragovoy and others thought he had died.

By the mid-1990s Mr. Tate had overcome his addictions and become a minister. He returned to the recording studio in 2003 to make the album “Rediscovered,” with Mr. Ragovoy once again producing and doing most of the writing.

“Rediscovered” was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary blues record. Over the next five years Mr. Tate toured and released four more CDs.

Mr. Tate said he believed it was “a call from God” that brought him back to an industry he had “hated and despised so bad.”

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Barbara Orbison, Widow of Singer Roy Orbison, Dies at 61

Barbara Orbison, widow of the rock singer Roy Orbison, who managed his career in the 1980s and worked to keep his legacy alive, died in Los Angeles on Tuesday. She was 61.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, said a family spokeswoman, Sarah McMullen. Ms. Orbison died on the 23rd anniversary of her husband’s death.

With her son Roy Jr., Ms. Orbison co-produced a four-CD box set of her husband’s 107 recordings, “Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock and Roll,” which was released in 2008.

In 2010 her Nashville music publishing company, Still Working Music, earned Country Song of the Year honors for Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” from BMI, a music industry group.

Barbara Anne Marie Wellhöner Jakobs was born in Bielefeld, Germany, in 1951, and was just 17 when she met Mr. Orbison, then 32, in a British nightclub in 1968.

Besides her son Roy, Ms. Orbison is survived by two other sons, Wesley and Alexander.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

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Bob Burnett, 71, Performer in the Original Highwaymen, Dies

Mr. Burnett, known for his smooth tenor, was one of the founding members of the folk-revival group the Highwaymen.

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Philip Burrell, Influential Jamaican Record Producer, Dies at 57

Mr. Burrell was one of the most prolific Jamaican record producers of the last 20 years, but his most important achievement was upholding the music’s great sonic and spiritual traditions.

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British Blues-Rock Pioneer Keef Hartley, R.I.P.

http://blues.about.com/b/2011/12/02/british-blues-rock-pioneer-keef-hartley-r-i-p.htm

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Louise Harrison To Discuss The Early Years of The Beatles
and The Beatles With Tony Sheridan:
First Recordings: 50th Anniversary Edition

2-CD Set This Week on CBS Early Show, NPR’s The Takeaway,
VH1 Classic Rock Nights with Eddie Webb, SiriusXM, And More

New York, NY (November 28, 2011) --- Louise Harrison will travel to New York this week to promote the recent release of THE BEATLES WITH TONY SHERIDAN: FIRST RECORDINGS: 50thAnniversary Edition and share her memories of The Beatles and her brother, George. An integral part of the band’s breakthrough in America, where she had been living when the group released their first single, Louise is credited with working tirelessly to get their song played on American radio for the first time. Her interviews in New York with media outlets including the CBS Early Show, NPR program The Takeaway, VH1’s Classic Rock Nights with Eddie Webb, SiriusXM, The Fox Business Channel, Better TV, and many more will coincide with the 10th anniversary of George Harrison’s death.

As one of the earliest supporters of The Beatles, it is fitting that Louise Harrison speak about their first recordings, captured in the new double-disc collection. Released by Time Life on November 8th,THE BEATLES WITH TONY SHERIDAN: FIRST RECORDINGS: 50th Anniversary Edition is a remarkable story, told through music, mementos and words, of a band on the cusp of changing music and pop culture forever. The collection is a fascinating and comprehensive view of one of the most important yet overlooked moments in Beatles history.

Entertainment Weekly noted that the set “hints at the greatness to come” while calling Harrison’s “Cry For a Shadow” one of its best tracks. Along with the songs, the box set includes a deluxe booklet which presents an in-depth look into the beginnings of one of the greatest and most influential groups in pop music history. The historical text by Beatles scholar Hans Olaf Gottfridsson is brought to life with rare and candid photos by Astrid Kirchherr, copies of contracts, and personal biographies handwritten by each member in 1961. The earliest days of The Beatles have never been revisited in such detail.

The set includes every recording they made for German producer Bert Kaempfert and Polydor in 1961 and 1962 and feature Tony Sheridan on lead vocals, a decision made by Kaempfert. However, John Lennon sings lead vocals on “Ain’t She Sweet,” and George Harrison plays an instrumental, “Cry For A Shadow.” Multiple versions have been released throughout the past several decades – some in mono, some in stereo – each with distinctly different sounds. Most notably, the US versions of these tracks were overdubbed with another guitar player and drummer in an attempt to mirror the edgier sound the group had evolved into, unbeknownst to American fans at the time of their release in 1964. All versions of every track, including mono and stereo mixes, are included in the double disc set, remarkable in their difference but all bearing the same unmistakable sound of a wholly new kind of band.

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Thanks to Dave Basner for these news stories.....

METALLICA RELEASE EP
Metallica is releasing four previously unreleased tracks from their Death Magnetic sessions this week. The Beyond Magnetic EP will be released through iTunes for fans to download now. The track list includes “Hate Train,” “Just a Bullet Away,” “Hell and Back” and “Rebel of Babylon.” The band celebrated their 30th anniversary this week by playing four nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Guests who joined them onstage included original members Jason Newsted, Dave Mustaine as well as Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath.

RIP DICK SIMS
Dick Sims, a keyboardist who played in Eric Clapton’s band for almost a decade, passed away on December 8th after battling cancer at the age of 60. According to Rolling Stone, Sims along with drummer Jamie Oldaker and bassist Carl Radle, backed Clapton on his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard. The band stayed on as Clapton's backers for nine years, recording on several albums, including the classicSlowhand. Clapton dedicated his December 10th show in Tokyo to his late friend.
• TIDBIT: Sims also played on Bob Seger's album Back in '72 with Oldaker, went on to play with J.J. Cale, Peter Tosh and Vince Gill.

CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY TO MAKE JIMMY PAGE A KNIGHT
A member of the British Parliament has started a campaign to make Jimmy Page a knight. According to NME, the politician, Louise Mensch, wrote on her Twitter page that she proposed the idea to get the Led Zeppelin rocker knighthood explaining, “Clearly there is nobody more worthy of knighthood and I am glad to say I have gathered support from every major record label in the U-K.” Mensch is no stranger to the rock world – her husband, Peter Mensch, manages Metallica, Muse and other bands.
• TIDBIT: Peter Mensch previously managed Page but Louise says the knighthood plans have nothing to do with that.
• TIDBIT: Page was previously honored by the U-K in 2005, when he was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire).

MICK JAGGER AND KEITH RICHARDS HONOR HUBERT SUMLIN
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have both released statements paying tribute to the late blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who passed away at age 80 over the weekend. The two paid their respects to Sumlin, whose career spanned more than 40 years, including nearly two decades playing guitar with the singer Howlin' Wolf and a stint with Muddy Waters. According theNME.com, Richards, who is featured on Sumlin's 2004 solo LP About Them Shoes, said: "With sorrow I received the news of Hubert's passing. He put up a long hard fight. To me he was an uncle and a teacher, and all the guitar players must feel the same as myself. Warm, humours and always encouraging, he was a gentleman of the first order. Miss him, yes, but we have his records. All my condolences to his family.” Jagger released the following statement: "Hubert was an incisive yet delicate blues player. He had a really distinctive and original tone, and was a wonderful foil for Howlin' Wolf's growling vocal style. On a song like 'Going Down Slow' he could produce heart rending emotion, and on a piece like 'Wang Dang Doodle', an almost playful femininity. He was an inspiration to us all." Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2008 and was also included in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.

CHARLIE WATTS OPENS UP ABOUT HEROIN USE
The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts has admitted he was lucky not to become addicted to heroin during the 1970s. The drummer told BBC 6 Music that he was dabbling with the drug while the band was recording “Some Girls.” He said he fell asleep on the floor and Keith Richards woke him up and told him, “You should do this when you’re older.” Watts said he just stopped taking drugs after that incident. Meanwhile Keith rambled on with his debaucheries life that is well documented in his biography Life. NME is reporting that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will meet this month to discuss the band’s 50th anniversary plans. The Rolling Stones played their first gig in London on July 12, 1962.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO DELIVER KEYNOTE SPEECH FOR SXSW
Bruce Springsteen will be the keynote speaker at the annual South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. The event will be held on March 15th at the Austin Convention Center. Past keynote speakers include Neil Young, Robert Plant, Smokey Robinson and Johnny Cash. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will kick off a tour on May 13th in Seville, Spain. No U-S dates have been announced yet.

ROLLING STONE RELEASES BEATLES iPAD APP
The editors of Rolling Stone have released a Beatles App called Beatles Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide. The app takes you on a journey deep inside the Beatles catalog from Please Please Me to Let It Be and explains the inside story behind each album, allows fans to listen to audio samples of every song and view iconic photographs of the band. The app is available now at the iTunes store for $9.99.

JIMI HENDRIX PARK TO OPEN IN SEATTLE NEXT YEAR
According to Rolling Stone, A new park celebrating the life and music of Jimi Hendrix is set to open in the guitarist's hometown of Seattle next year. Jimi Hendrix Park was revealed last week at a public meeting at the Northwest African American Museum and will open in 2012 to celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday. The 2.5-acre park will include stepping stones featuring his lyrics, rain drums, a butterfly garden, a performance area, a sound garden and more. The park is being funded by donations from Jimi's sister, Janie Hendrix, as well as money from the Parks and Green Spaces Opportunity Fund and the Neighborhood Matching Fund Award in Seattle.

WILLIE NELSON’S LONG-TIME BASS PLAYER PASSES AWAY
Dan "Bee" Spears, who played bass on the road with Willie Nelson for more than 40 years and appeared on many of his classic albums, died unexpectedly late Thursday. Austin, Texas T-V station KXAN reported that Spears slipped and fell after stepping out of his motor home in Nashville Thursday night. He was found dead, due to exposure. He was 62.
• STATEMENT: A statement on Nelson’s web site reads: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Family member Dan 'Bee' Spears, long time friend and bassist for Willie Nelson and Family. We are still in shock and gathering details as the day continues. He apparently died of accidental exposure at his property near Nashville, Tenn."
• TIDBITS: Spears played on key Nelson albums including The Troublemaker, Shotgun Willie, and Phases and Stages, The Red Headed Stranger and Stardust.
• TIDBIT: Willie Nelson is set to perform on December 30th and 31st in Austin, Texas.

ABBEY ROAD TURNS 80!
The legendary Abbey Road Studios is celebrating its 80th anniversary soon. Classic Rock Magazine invites fans to enter a competition to win three goodie bags filled with special Abbey Road memorabilia. To enter the competition, head to:https://www.futurecompetitions.com/abbeyroadcomp/Default.asp.
• TIDBIT: Abbey Road Studios is located at 3 Abbey Road, St John’s Wood, City of Westminster in London, England.
• TIDBITS: The Beatles use the studio to record albums like Please Please Me, With The Beatles, Rubber Soul, Revolver,Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and - of course - Abbey Road. Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here at the legendary studio.

THE FLAMING LIPS TEAM UP WITH YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND
According to NME.com, The Flaming Lips have teamed up with the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band to record a version of “Atlas Eets Christmas.” Fans can hear their version of the song now at AtlasEetsChristmas.com. The bands will play together again at the Lips’ New Year’s Freak Out No. 5 in Oklahoma City on December 31st and Ono is expected to perform “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” at midnight.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS TO PLAY THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTVAL! Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will play the legendary Isle of Wight Festival this summer. It marks the first time the band will perform at the famed U-K festival. According to Billboard, it has been 20 years since Petty has played a major show overseas. The Isle of Wight Festival will take place from June 22nd to 24th and will also boasts a headlining set from Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will take the stage at the festival on June 22nd.
• STATEMENT: Isle of Wright Festival promoter John Giddings said: "It has taken years to achieve, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait -- they are one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time."

BUTCH TRUCKS ON TECHNOLOGY
Technology is always changing and taking new shapes. When it advances, musicians are able to make use of it. For Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, FM radio was the technology that helped them. However he told us if the band came out in today’s technologically advanced world, they’d probably never make it. Nonetheless, Butch can definitely go with the flow of technology. He recently created Moogis.com, a website that offers high-definition streaming of live and archived shows.

QUEEN DOCUMENTARY COMING OUT
This year marks Queen’s 40th anniversary, so what better time to learn about the band’s history in a new documentary? Soon, you can thanks to the new documentary, Queen: Days of Our Lives. The film, which describes the iconic group’s journey, began as a two-part documentary that aired on the BBC earlier this year. It has since been edited into a movie that will be out on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 10th. The discs include previously unseen archive footage, including Queen’s first-ever TV performance. Learn more atQueenOnline.com.
• TIDBIT: The discs also boast seven new videos along with tons of other bonus material.

THE POLICE WON’T REUNITE AGAIN
Back in 2008, following their reunion tour, The Police announced that they were calling it quits, and it seems like that’s how it is going to stay. Sting told Billboard that he can’t imagine the trio getting back together, explaining, “I’m not sure there would be a reason to open it again except for nostalgic reasons, and I think we did that” in 2007 and 2008. He added, “I thought we did it very successfully… Everybody was happy to see us. So you know say, ‘Okay, let’s close this book.” Read more at Billboard.com.
• TIDBIT: Sting recently released his 25 Years box set, which includes tons of his solo material.

FORMER CLASH BASSIST ARRESTED AND JAILED
It turns out that last June, former Clash bassist Paul Simonon was arrested and jailed for two weeks. The rocker was apparently part of a Greenpeace operation that stormed an oil rig to demonstrate against it, calling on the company that owns it to reveal its contingency plans in the event of an oil spill. Paul approached the environmental activists about joining the mission and was allowed to so long as he went undercover. He took on an assumed name and was an assistant cook on the ship.
• TIDBIT: A member of the ship’s crew called Paul a “quiet, humble and funny guy” who made “excellent vegetarian food.”

STEWART SAYS IF EURYTHMICS WILL EVER GET BACK TOGETHER
In 2005, The Eurythmics got together to promote the release of their Ultimate Collection album, but since then, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart have been pursuing their solo careers and working on other projects. A couple years back, Annie went so far as to say that The Eurythmics probably won’t work together again. We asked Dave if he agreed with that.

(Cut #1) “Eh, we could do it. We’re both doing separate things and we’re very busy but we’ve created this huge catalog of songs and a huge history and, well you never say never. We meet each other all the time like for a meal or in London or we talk on the phone but we don’t tend to talk about Eurythmics stuff much. But if we do, it’s like, you don’t know how long you’re going to live and you don’t know how long, what, when, who or how. But if there was a moment where we decided, ‘Let’s play our songs with an orchestra at the Albert Hall for ten days on acoustic guitar and piano,’ that might be quite beautiful, you know?”

For now, you can pick up Dave’s latest solo album, The Blackbird Diaries, which is currently on shelves. Learn more about it at DaveStewart.com.
• TIDBIT: During The Eurythmics’ 25 year career, they released nine studio albums. The last was 1999’s Peace.

ALLMAN BROTHERS GET OWN LABEL, WILL RELEASE ARCHIVED MATERIAL
The Allman Brothers band have created their own label, and that’s good news for fans because it means the group can release archived material without, as singer Gregg Allman says in a press release, “any interference from non-musicians.” The first material coming out includes S.U.N.Y at Stonybrook, NY, a 1971 gig that includes the only soundboard recording of “Blue Sky” featuring late members Duane Allman and Berry Oakley. Also due out are the out-of-print 2003 studio album Hittin’ the Note, a reissue of 2003’s Live at the Beacon Theatre DVD and the 2004 album One Way Out. It’s all hitting shelves on December 6th.
• TIDBIT: Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band at number 52 on their 2004 list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

HALL PLAYS NEW SONGS ON LATEST DARYL’S HOUSE EPISODE
The latest episode Daryl Hall’s web show, Live from Daryl’s House, is now available and on it, the singer discusses his latest solo album, Laughing Down Crying. Daryl told us that with each album, he gets more and more mature, and it culminates in this recent effort.

(Cut #6) “I think that as you mature and get older, ah, not older, go along in life, you start coalescing your personality. I think that happens to everybody and even more so with artists. You start being more you, you know, and I think that’s really what’s happening. I feel very close to… you know, what you’re hearing is what I’m seriously all about and what I’ve become, really. And it’s a much more focused concept than I think any album I’ve ever made.”

Check out Daryl performing five songs from his new record on the latest episode of Live from Daryl’s House at LFDH.com.
• TIDBIT: Hall is considering taking Live from Daryl’s House on the road as a tour.

QUEEN COLLABORATION WITH MICHAEL JACKSON OUT SOON
Back in the early ‘80s, Queen teamed up with Michael Jackson to record some music and those tracks are finally coming out. According to England’s The Sun, the demos were recorded at Michael’s house in 1983 while Queen was touring in America. Jackson’s estate has given the release their blessing and it is due out next year. However, it isn’t getting released for financial reasons. Guitarist Brian May explained, “I don’t work on things with the aim to make money or for promotional reasons. I work on things with the view to let’s see how it goes.” Stay up to date at QueenOnline.com.
• TIDBIT: Brian also stated about the release, “When it is something we feel is worthwhile then it’s nice if we could get it out there.”

SABBATH TO MAKE BIG BUCKS WITH TOUR
Black Sabbath announced their plans to reunite for a new album and a tour, and after learning about how much the band will earn from it all, it seems like it was probably an easy decision to make. According to People.co.uk, the group is set to earn 160-million dollars from the trek alone – that’s 40-mil per member. Meanwhile, they also said they have already written seven or eight new songs for their next record, which is due out in the fall before they kick off their tour.
• TIDBIT: Bassist Geezer Butler said of the new music that it is “back to the old Sabbath style and sound,” adding, “The stuff that Tony’s [Iommi] been playing is absolutely brilliant.”
• TIDBIT: On June 10th, the band is set to perform at England’s Download Festival.

JAMES TAYLOR IS “BOB CRATCHIT”
James Taylor is making his acting debut next month in Massachusetts. He’ll play “Bob Cratchit” in the Berkshire Theatre Company’s production of A Christmas Carol. And he’s not the only Taylor in the play. The singer’s wife, Kim, will play – who else – “Mrs. Cratchit.” Their twin songs, Rufus and Henry, are also in the cast. Learn more at BerkshireTheatre.com.
• TIDBIT: Kim told the local paper that her husband thought long and hard about taking on the role “because it delays finishing his new album.”

ROBIN GIBB SELLING MIAMI MANSION
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees is selling his Miami mansion for 4.2-million dollars. According to Radar Online, the nine-thousand square-foot South Miami Spanish-style estate features eight-bedrooms and seven-bathrooms. The 61-year-old rocker and his wife paid the same price for the house when they bought it in 2008. See photos at RadarOnline.com.
• TIDBIT: Robin has been suffering from stomach disease and in recent weeks has looked somewhat gaunt.

ROBERT PLANT TALKS ABOUT HIS HAIR
Robert Plant might be known as the legendary Led Zeppelin singer, but he’s also known for his luscious hair, and it’s those golden, curly locks the rocker spoke to GQ about. When asked how he’s managed to keep his hair like he has, Plant responded, “Well I don’t know. We could be quite serious about it. I just have been very lucky. My mother was a gypsy, and she had a lot of dark blood in her, and her hair was very, very thick – she couldn’t even get a brush through it. So I have been very fortunate.” Robert added that every time he goes to cut off his hair, “hairdressers refuse to do it.” Read more at GQ.com.
• TIDBIT: Plant also said that he’s playing a lot of acoustic guitar now, saying it is “something I didn’t dare do in the ‘70s. I couldn’t look at a guitar without blanching because I was with one of the most spectacular guitar players of the late 20th century.”

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS SAY FANS ACCEPTED THEM
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis tells the Daily Record that their fans have adapted to them over the years. When asked if they’ve tailored their music for the mainstream, the singer says, “I think the audience became suitable to us over the years. We never made a decision to become more suitable, the audience slowly accepted us for who we are. At the start, we were crass and brash and unpalatable for the masses.” Red Hot Chili Pepper’s new album, I’m With You, is out now.

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SENDING OUT A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM LAST MONTH TO MICHAEL CARABELLO - November 18th

ORIGINAL SANTANA ALUMNI
The only conga player in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Carabello

with Country Joe and Paul Kantner in North Beach

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CATCHIN' UP WITH THE FAMILY STONE......Greg Errico & Co.

http://www.thevine.com.au/music/interviews/the-family-stone-_-interview20111102.aspx

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KING OF COOL: THE BEST OF THE DEAN MARTIN VARIETY SHOW TO BE RELEASED BY TIME LIFE DECEMBER 6, 2011

NEW 6-DVD SET A FOLLOW-UP TO THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED AND BEST-SELLING “BEST OF DEAN MARTIN” DVD SET

OVER FOURTEEN HOURS OF DEAN & GUESTS, INCLUDING CLASSIC COMEDY FROM RED BUTTONS, MICKEY ROONEY, LUCILE BALL, SID CAESAR, ROWAN & MARTIN, JACKIE MASON, BILL COSBY, BOB NEWHART, AND MANY OTHERS

COLLECTION ALSO FEATURES 128 MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY ELLA FITZGERALD, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, JOHNNY MATHIS, LIBERACE, HERB ALBERT AND MANY OTHERS


Los Angeles, CA (November 14, 2011) – NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products and TIME-LIFE has announced the release of a new 6-DVD collection featuring The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show to be released December 6th. THE KING OF COOL: The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show sets capture material never before released from some of the shows greatest episodes during its nine-year run on television from 1965 to 1974. Hosted by Dean Martin, the acclaimed variety and comedy show was one of the highest-rated in television history, garnering 12 Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award (Dean Martin “Best Actor in a Comedy Television Series” 1967), frequented by hundreds of guests from across the world of entertainment including legendary actors and actresses from the stage and screen, pop and jazz singers, dancers and comedians.

KING OF COOL boasts 18 classic episodes of The Dean Martin Variety Show, featuring Dean and an impressive array of guests. Among the mean comedians and actors featured are: a young Bill Cosby in a 1966 episode, fresh off the success of I Spy; Art Carney, who said of Dean, “he’s a lot like Jackie Gleason—bright and boozy;” veterans Red Buttons, Sid Caesar and Art Carney, who each appear in several classic sketches with Dean; Ruth Buzzi, who at the time was a star on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In; plus Mickey Rooney, George Kirby, Flip Wilson, Jonathan Winters, Dom DeLuise, Jackie Mason, plus many others.

Included among the 128 musical performances on KING OF COOL are many all-time classics, including: Ella Fitzgerald, singing “Hallelujah, I Love Him So;” Louis Armstrong performing a “Dixie” medley with Dean; Johnny Mathis singing a beautiful “In Love for the Very First Time;” plus additional performances from Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, the Supremes, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Engelbert Humperdinck and many others.

Also featured on KING OF COOL is Dean’s daughter Deana Martin, who was a regular performer on her dad’s show. Deana is featured in two episodes on KING OF COOL: On a December, 1966 episode, she sings a duet of “Side by Side” with her dad; and Deana also appears in a memorable episode from 1971 featuring the offspring of Dean, Frank Sinatra, Lucile Ball and Ronald Reagan. Remembering her appearances on The Variety Show, Deana said, “Those are some of the warmest memories for me—appearing on a TV show with my dad! It’s great that these episodes are finally available on DVD.”

The Dean Martin Show ran for nine seasons, airing on NBC from 1965 to 1974. Hosted by legendary entertainer Dean Martin, the unique variety and comedy show was a television pioneer. There were no rehearsals, no re-takes, and Martin simply just wasn’t a host behind a desk and a microphone – he took part in virtually all the segments. Whether talking and singing with guests or performing a comedy sketch, Martin put every guest at ease and was able to coax even the most serious actors (such as Orson Welles and Jimmy Stewart) to indulge in their comedic and musical sides. Guests had a great time, word got out, and after the initial success of the show EVERYONE wanted in on the act. A 6 DVD collection was released earlier this year, featuring 20 episodes of the iconic show. The new set boasts 18 different episodes, including those which Deana Martin appears in.

A famed star of the silver screen, television icon, Grammy® Award-winning singing sensation and member of the renowned “Rat Pack,” Dean Martin’s show business legacy is legendary. His musical career features such classics as “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head,” “That’s Amore,” “Mambo Italiano,” “Everybody Loves Somebody,” “Sway,” “Volare,” and more, releasing dozens of album recordings over his lifetime. Starring in dozens of well-known movies including Ocean’s Eleven, Rio Bravo, The Caddy, and Who Was That Lady?,for which Martin received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, coupled with a highly popular television career, Dean Martin certainly earned his nickname as the “King of Cool.”

Visit the official Dean Martin website: www.DeanMartin.com

Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DeanMartin

Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DinosPlace

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From Tangerine Man...

Cliff Richard Banned By UK Radio Station

Despite racking up 7 UK number one singles and 34 UK top ten hits in the 1960′s, Sir Cliff Richard, who’s sold around 250 million records worldwide during a career spanning over fifty years, has been banned from the playlist of a new radio station dedicated to that era, before it’s even been launched.
In a decision which is sure to infuriate Sir Cliff’s legion of loyal fans, Absolute Radio 60′s, sister station of national broadcaster Absolute Radio, has defiantly said it will not feature any of the 71 year olds 40 plus tracks from the 60′s on its new service, a week before the unveiling of another new one, Absolute Radio 70s.
But of course it’s not the first time a radio station has refused to play his music. In the late 90′s, many banned his charity track ‘The Millennium Prayer,’ which actually went on to earn Sir Cliff his fourteenth number one and third highest selling single of his career, following a backlash by furious fans angry about the blackout.
But Absolute Radio 60′s DJ Pete Mitchell claims Sir Cliff is ‘not cool enough,’ to make the playlist, adding ‘Yes, he enjoyed chart success, but his songs don’t fit the ‘cool sound’ of The Swinging Sixties we’re trying to create on our new station. We believe timeless acts of the decade that remain relevant today, are The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors and The Who, not Sir Cliff.’
Absolute Radio 60s is asking the public to vote for the first song to be played on the station by going to www.absoluteradio60s.co.uk
Absolute Radio 60s and Absolute Radio 70s are in good company, the team at Absolute radio are already spoiling the nation with Absolute 80s, Absolute Radio 90s and Absolute Radio 00s, who do exactly what they say on the tin, alongside Absolute Radio ‘ host to The Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show, Frank Skinner, Geoff Lloyd and Dave Gorman, Absolute Classic Rock & Absolute Radio extra ‘ the home of official Premier League Rock n Roll Football commentary hosted by Arsenal legend Ian Wright.

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Thanks to Cary Baker for these great releases to follow......

REAL GONE MUSIC’S JANUARY 2012 REISSUES FEATURE
GLEN CAMPBELL LIVE, MAGGIE & TERRE ROCHE, BILL MEDLEY, JODY MILLER, THE TYMES, MAYNARD FERGUSON, AND MORE GRATEFUL DEAD DICKS PICKS

Glen Campbell’s 1975 Live in Japan was never released in the U.S., while Bill Medley twofer chronicles his late ’60s post-Righteous Brothers solo career

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A never-before-released Glen Campbell live album, Bill Medley’s post-Righteous Brothers solo albums for MGM, a 1975 album by Maggie & Terre Roche of the Roches, a retrospective of country singer Jody Miller’s Epic Records years and two new Dick’s Picks volumes from the Grateful Dead headline the January 2012 lineup for Real Gone Music <http://www.realgonemusic.com>, the new indie label helmed by reissue veterans Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana. The January rollout will also feature, as part of the label’s ongoing partnership with ABKCO Music & Records, Inc., The Tymes’ So Much in Love and the complete Cameo recordings of jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.

The multi-talented Glen Campbell, who has enjoyed a 50-year career as singer, guitarist and television personality, is the recent recipient of much warm sentiment as he released his final album and embarked on his final tour. Campbell’s 1975 Live in Japan was originally issued only across the Pacific. The album will receive its worldwide CD release on January 24, 2011. Glen is at the peak of his powers here, pulling favorites from his vaunted songbook while displaying his usual unerring taste in covers (Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe,” Paul Anka’s “My Way”). The album was released in a gorgeous gatefold package that Real Gone has faithfully reproduced along with other graphic elements. It’s a timely tribute to one of the great American music entertainers.

Also on January 24, Real Gone will release reissues from Bill Medley and Maggie & Terre Roche and a Jody Miller compilation. Bill Medley recorded two late ’60s albums for MGM Records — Bill Medley 100% and Soft & Soulful — after his split from fellow Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield. Fans of the Righteous Brothers’ blue-eyed soul will find plenty to like as the two albums feature the act’s signature marriage of pop and R&B with the studio chops you’d expect from an artist who learned from Phil Spector (and himself produced some of the Righteous Brothers’ biggest hits).

Seductive Reasoning, the 1975 Columbia Records album by sisters Maggie and Terre Roche of the Roches and the first release from the Roche family, features the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and, on one track, production and backing vocals from Paul Simon — to whose There Goes Rhymin’ Simon the sisters had recently contributed backing vocals. This 36-year-old hybrid of folk, country and pop sounds like it could have been made yesterday, with its stream-of-consciousness urban streetscapes and post-feminist attitudes toward love and sex, all leavened by a sweet vulnerability. Maggie Roche contributes notes and photos from her private archive.

With The Complete Epic Hits, Real Gone takes a long-overdue look at pioneering country-pop crossover artist Jody Miller, whose 1965 “Queen of the House” was the answer song to Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.” In 1970, she switched from Capitol to Epic Records and under of guidance of countrypolitan production guru Billy Sherrill notched a string of chart hits throughout the decade — all 25 of which appear in this 69-minute collection. Featured are Top 10 hits “He’s So Fine,” “There’s a Party Goin’ On,” “Darlin’ You Can Always Come Back Home” and “Good News.” Again, Jody contributes photos from her private archive.

The Grateful Dead’s Dick’s Picks series, curated by the band’s fabled archivist Dick Latvala, continues to chronicle the band’s long strange trip with Dick’s Picks Vol. 33 — Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland, CA 10/9 & 10/10/76 and Dick’s Picks Vol. 32 — Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI 8/7/82 — both due out January 24, 2012. The former finds the Dead back on the road following an 18-month touring hiatus and back to full two-drummer strength opening for the Who as part of Bill Graham’s historic Day on the Green concerts. The latter finds them at Alpine Valley —equidistant between Chicago and Milwaukee — performing bluesman Jesse Fuller’s “Beat It On Down the Line” and the Memphis Jug Band’s “On the Road Again,” both part of the pre-Dead repertoire of the Warlocks in the mid-’60s. These are two of the most sought-after volumes in the series.

Finally, the Real Gone/ABKCO releases feature two famous artists from the hallowed Cameo-Parkway label vaults. The first, The Tymes, were among the label’s big stars, notching such hits as “So Much in Love” and “Wonderful! Wonderful!.” Both of these are part of Real Gone/ABKCO’s first-time-on-CD release of the group’s first album. Also included is “Roscoe James McLain,” the rare non-LP B-side of the “So Much in Love” single as well as “Surf City” from the multi-artist Parkway album Everybody’s Goin’ Surfin’. The second, Maynard Ferguson, needs little introduction as he was one of the most celebrated trumpeters in jazz. This release, sourced from a series of jazz albums that Cameo released in 1963 and 1964, is comprised of Ferguson's two 1963 albums for the label. The first, New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson now also includes “The Song Is You,” a never-before-released gem from the session that was discovered while researching tapes for this album. The track makes its debut on this release. Come Blow Your Horn was Ferguson’s second album for Cameo; both albums represent his complete recordings for the label, documenting a long-overlooked chapter in Ferguson’s career that came between better-known stints with Roulette and Mainstream. These recordings make their CD debut and street on January 31.

About Real Gone Music
Real Gone Music, formed and helmed by industry vets Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana, aims to establish itself as the most eclectic and prolific catalog and reissue label in the country. The label has announced distribution through by Razor & Tie.

Anderson and Castellana each started businesses in 1993 — Collectors’ Choice Music and Hep Cat Records & Distribution, respectively — that became two of the most important outlets for buyers and sellers of vintage music recordings. Now, 18 years later, they have joined forces to launch Real Gone Music, a reissue label dedicated to serving both the collector community and the casual music fan with a robust release schedule combining big-name artists with esoteric cult favorites. Real Gone Music is a music company dedicated to combing the vaults for sounds that aren’t just gone — they’re REAL gone.

January 24, 2012
Maggie & Terre Roche: Seductive Reasoning
Bill Medley: 100%/Soft and Soulful
Glen Campbell: Live in Japan
Jody Miller: Complete Epic Hits
Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks Vol. 32 (2-CD)
Grateful Dead: Dick's Picks Vol. 33 (4-CD)

January 31, 2012
Maynard Ferguson: The New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson/Come Blow Your Horn—the Complete Cameo Recordings
The Tymes: So Much in Love (plus Bonus Tracks)

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CONCORD MUSIC GROUP APPLIES STATE-OF-THE-ART 21st-CENTURY TECHNOLOGY TO EARLY 1960s RECORDINGS FOR REISSUE OF ‘THE CONCERT SINATRA’

ORIGINAL MASTERS REMASTERED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 50 YEARS

Remixed recording recaptures Sinatra’s timeless voice in a set of classic Broadway tunes arranged by Nelson Riddle.

Release date: January 17, 2012
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Concord Records has seamlessly taken existing multi-channel recordings from the early 1960s and applied state-of-the-art, 21st-century digital technology for the reissue of The Concert Sinatra, one of the most technically ambitious and musically innovative recordings of Frank Sinatra’s career. Under license from Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE), the album is set for release on January 17, 2012.

This reissue represents a perfect marriage of technological and artistic innovation by harnessing the combined brilliance of Sinatra’s timeless voice, Nelson Riddle’s legendary arrangements, and some of the finest songs to emerge from the Broadway tradition. It all comes together via a recording process that was well ahead of its time in the 1960s, and has been further enhanced by modern-day digital remastering technology.

When The Concert Sinatra was recorded in February 1963, multi-track master tape machines were not yet a reality in the recording studio. In order to facilitate the sound mixing advantage of multiple channels of audio, The Concert Sinatra was recorded on a motion picture scoring stage with the use of multiple synchronized recording machines that employed 35mm magnetic film. This master recording has not been used in any re-release of The Concert Sinatra since the original sound mix was prepared nearly 50 years ago.

Producers located the original film canisters where the masters had been stored for nearly a half-century. Despite considerable degradation over time, a team of engineering experts, led by Frank Sinatra, Jr., used contemporary digital recording technology delivered a completely new sound mix for the 2012 re-release.

“What is the difference between performing a show ballad on the Broadway stage and performing it in a concert auditorium? Considerable. No better illustration could be found than this album,” according to the late Raymond V. Pepe, president of the Institute of High Fidelity who wrote a side note to the 1963 release ofThe Concert Sinatra. “The voice of Frank Sinatra, the arrangements of Nelson Riddle, the selection of material — all these we think we know. Even the combination of these elements contains no surprises. Or so we think. And then we listen and we hear a new Sinatra, set to some of the purest arrangements we have ever heard. And suddenly several well-known songs become not so well known at all.”

Frank Sinatra Jr., an accomplished singer and songwriter in his own right — and the conductor and musical director for his father in the later years of his career — contributes new liner notes and a personal perspective to the reissue of The Concert Sinatra. “If you have had this magnificent album in the past,” writes the younger Sinatra, “and compare the orchestral content of previous releases to this new rendering, you will undoubtedly notice the amount of music, originally recorded on the master film that was never present before. Listening to other parts of Nelson Riddle’s classic orchestrations, never before heard on record, was indeed an experience for me.”

TRACK LIST
I Have Dreamed
MY Heart Stood Still
Lost in the Stars
Ol’ Man River
You’ll Never Walk Alone
Bewitched
This Nearly Was Mine
Soliloquy

BONUS TRACKS (not on original LP):
California
America, The Beautiful

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MITCH RYDER TO RELEASE
HIS FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 30 YEARS,
THE PROMISE

Produced by fellow Detroit native Don Was,
Ryder returns to his Motor City rock and soul roots.

DETROIT, Mich. — Before Jack White, Ted Nugent, Bob Seger or Iggy Pop, Detroit’s number one rock export was Mitch Ryder. Fronting the Detroit Wheels, Ryder spun out a string of rock ’n’ soul hits — “Jenny Take a Ride,” “Devil With a Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly” and “Sock It to Me, Baby” — in the mid-’60s that landed in the charts alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Ryder’s new album, The Promise (his first U.S. release in nearly 30 years), due out February 13, 2012 on his own Michigan Broadcasting Corporation label, finds him in prime form. The disc’s dozen tracks feature eleven full-bodied originals plus a live cover for the Motown classic “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” Ryder teamed up with acclaimed producer Don Was (a fellow Detroit native) to create a record that’s full of soul yet grounded in rock: music that acknowledges the past while looking forward. Ryder says he writes all of his songs from personal experiences. “When I am in the writing mode, I don’t listen to other music. I just shut down and draw on what my mind and my soul tell me to do.”

The Promise starts off capturing a particularly personal moment with “Thank You Mama.” This Motown-esque rocker serves as a eulogy to his parents. Ryder wasn’t able to attend either his mother or father’s funerals for various reasons (including a promoter who threatened to sue him if he went to this dad’s funeral) and he wrote this song, he reveals, “because I needed to get it out of my system. I never got to tell them thank you.”

The title track is a deeply soulful number — both through the music and the message. Combining a slow-burning rhythm with incendiary social commentary, this powerful ballad offers an unflinching portrait of a working-class American who is struggling to make ends meet yet holding on to “the promise” of a better tomorrow, when “my child will have doctors and my child will have good schools.” The song’s gritty quality, with its rock-edged funkiness, also fuels tunes like “One Hair,” “The Way We Were” and “Junky Love.”

However, it’s not a Mitch Ryder album without some party music too. The Latin-flavored “Let’s Keep Dancing” shakes up the disc’s tempo with a tango. Similarly, the piano-based ballad “Crazy Beautiful” gives Ryder an opportunity to show his vocal range extends beyond that of a belter. This song also provided him a chance to perform with one of his heroes, keyboardist Patrick Leonard. Leonard led the ’90s band Toy Matinee, whose sole album, Ryder says, stands as “one of the best pieces of American music I’ve ever heard.” When Was said that Leonard was working in the same studio where they were recording, Ryder went over to meet him. “I was brought to tears during the conversation,” Ryder admits. “That’s how powerful an impact he had on me.”

Ryder was also thrilled to have Was onboard. The two met when the famed producer worked in the studio where Ryder was making his 1980 release Naked But Not Dead. Although they’ve worked together over the years (“Brokenhearted” comes from one of Was’ annual “Concert of Colors” in Detroit), this was the first time they collaborated on an entire album. Ryder reveals that Was didn’t ask to see his lyrics before recording the songs and told Ryder that the only other artist similarly treated was Bob Dylan, which Ryder found a high compliment. Ryder also raved how Was was “able to bring the real exact sound of my voice as it exists today without using any gimmicks.”

Recording in Los Angeles’ historic Henson Studios (formerly A&M Records and originally Charles Chaplin’s studios), Was used his team of talented players (keyboardist Jamie Mahuberac, bassist Reggie McBride, guitarist Randy Jacobs and drummer James Gadsen) to give Ryder all that needed — whether it was an explosive guitar solo or a soulful groove. Ryder re-did one of his older songs, “My Heart Belongs To Me,” because he realized correctly that this band could give it the proper Stax sound that he wanted.

Born William Levise Jr., Ryder grew up in working class Detroit and started working as a singer while still a teen. He performed in a black soul club and fronted the Peps, a black vocal trio. As Billy Lee, he led a popular local band, the Rivieras. After Four Seasons producer Bob Crewe was blown away by one of their live performances, the group re-located to New York; however, they had to change their name due to the Rivieras of “California Sun” fame. Ryder, as the story goes, found his new stage name while flipping through the Manhattan phonebook — and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels were born.

With Crewe at the helm, Ryder and the Wheels quickly developed a potent music style that infused R&B with high-octane rock ’n’ roll. Their biggest success came with the “Devil with a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” medley, which hit #4 on the charts and was famously re-done by Bruce Springsteen. Ryder says the band’s magic came from wanting “our records to sound live,” adding that “listeners responded to the energy.”

However, the success came with a price. Although they wrote their own material before, that changed when Crewe took control of the band. Ryder states, “We were told in no uncertain terms that we would be doing songs that Mr. Crewe presented to us and all he was doing when he wasn’t writing originals was throwing us covers. It was screwed up.”

By 1967, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels had splintered. Ryder later went to Memphis to do an album with Booker T. and the MGs before returning home to front a band called Detroit. Their one release included such a powerful rendition of Lou Reed’s “Rock N’ Roll” that Reed nabbed guitarist Steve Hunter for his own band.

While The Promise is Ryder’s first American-released record since his 1983 John Mellencamp–produced Never Kick a Sleeping Dog, he has been a busy musician over the years. He has a very devoted European following, especially in Germany, where a 1978 TV performance catapulted him to stardom. He has released over a dozen CDs in Germany and regularly puts on 2½ hour concerts. “I don’t have to do any of my American hits. They don’t care,” Ryder states. “It really makes me happy to have that alternative career.”

The Promise is just one of Ryder’s several current projects. His just published memoir, Devils & Blue Dresses: My Wild Ride as a Rock and Roll Legend chronicles his colorful career — and how he suffered through addiction, bankruptcy and more — and survived to talk about it all. In addition to the new book and album, Ryder is working on stage musical that he describes as “intensely emotional” and like “a Russian novel.”

An energetic 66-year-old, Ryder doesn’t think “time is an issue that should be treated so seriously.” He just strives to be productive and continue to grow as an artist. “I don’t feel old,” he proclaims, “I feel great about what I am trying to accomplish.”


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ROUNDER TO RELEASE
TONY RICE’S THE BILL MONROE COLLECTION
ON JANUARY 31, 2012

Album contains 15 years of influential bluegrass guitarist Rice’s interpretations of songs by “The Father of Bluegrass Music.”

BURLINGTON, Mass. — Over the past year’s Bill Monroe Centennial there have been numerous anthologies of various artists doing their versions of his music, restating the enormity of Bill Monroe’s legacy on the entire field of bluegrass music. Tony Rice’s The Bill Monroe Collection, due out on Rounder Records (division of Concord Music Group) on January 31, 2012, may have a somewhat different impact, in part because it is a collection by one artist only, recorded over a period of some 15 years. The material, consisting of major songs and instrumentals by Monroe, was recorded in a variety of band configurations over these years, allowing guitarist Rice to make his own unmistakable mark on bluegrass music.

Though Tony Rice grew up exposed to a fairly broad range of music, as did Monroe himself, he primarily ”grew up” in bluegrass. Unlike the mentoring that happens to young bluegrass virtuoso instrumentalists of today, Rice’s early influences were arguably deeper, as there were fewer of them.

Over the course of his career, the Virginia native has played alongside J.D. Crowe & the New South, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Norman Blake, the Tony Rice Unit and the Bluegrass Album Band. In 1983, he received a Grammy Award for “Best Country Instrumental Performance” as part of the New South band. He has received several International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards.

Rice’s childhood, although far away from the bluegrass heartland of the South, was spent listening to live bluegrass music in Southern California, where his family had moved when he was young. There his father introduced him to the sounds of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Today, decades after that introduction, Rice is acknowledged as one of bluegrass music’s major popularizers and the most revolutionary guitar player the genre has ever heard. Ricky Skaggs is quoted in Caroline Wright and Tim Stafford’s full-length biography of him, “This guy is the best singer I’ve ever heard. And Alison Krauss says in the same book, “(Rice’s) singing and the playing are so shockingly beautiful.”

Rice has become the Gold Standard of bluegrass guitar. His voice was equally the perfect vehicle, almost spookily so, for his personal interpretations of the great songwriters from Bill Monroe to Jimmy Martin and Gordon Lightfoot. Rice captures something very unique yet achingly pure and equally true, cutting straight to the heart of any of these songs— the Monroe collection is the singular demonstration.

Rice says it all: ”I see Bill Monroe in the same light as Miles Davis, absolutely the best . . . as pure as it gets.”

Track List:

1. I’m On My Way Back To The Old Home
2. When You Are Lonely
3. Jerusalem Ridge
4. Muleskinner Blues
5. Sittin’ Alone In The Moonlight
6. Stoney Lonesome
7. Molly And Tenbrooks
8. River Of Death
9. Gold Rush
10. On And On
11. I Believe in You Darling
12. Cheyenne
13. Little Cabin Home On The Hill
14. You’re Drifting Away

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NEW ORLEANS SPIRIT CAPTURED ON THE
MEET ME AT MARDI GRAS COMPILATION,
DUE OUT JANUARY 10, 2012 ON ROUNDER RECORDS

Album, just in time for February festivities, features Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Professor Longhair, the Wild Magnolias, Larry Williams, Joe Liggins, Marcia Ball, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys and more

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — There’s a chill in the air, and the sounds of the season are everywhere. Christmas, you ask? No, you’re in New Orleans, and it’s Carnival time — Meet Me at Mardi Gras. From every radio, bandstand, bar and coffee shop, the songs associated with Mardi Gras (especially perennial favorites such as Al Johnson’s “Carnival Time” and the ReBirth Brass Band anthem “Do Whatcha Wanna”) announce the month of parades and balls that will culminate with the nation’s biggest citywide party.

The 12-song set Meet Me at Mardi Gras, to be released on January 10, 2012, presents many of the best Mardi Gras songs on Rounder Records (a division of Concord Music Group), which, for decades, has been the pre-eminent label recording the music of New Orleans.

Also included are two classic songs from the Specialty catalog (Rounder’s sister label in the Concord Music Group). The album was compiled by Rounder’s Grammy-winning VP of A&R,Scott Billington.

Meet Me at Mardi Gras will serve as a suitable soundtrack for any Mardi Gras party. The Soul Rebels strike a funky note with “Say Na Hey,” a brand new song written by Leo Nocentelli, the guitarist for the crucial New Orleans funk band The Meters. In contrast, several of these songs reach back more than 50 years. Pianist Joe Liggins was not from New Orleans, but his “Goin’ Back to New Orleans” has become a standard, covered by both Dr. John and Deacon John. Larry Williams’s “Jockamo a.k.a. Iko-Iko” is a rocking version of the traditional Mardi Gras Indian chant.

Speaking of which, Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias (these tribes are African Americans who mask as outrageously plumed “Indians” on Mardi Gras and on Saint Joseph’s Day) takes the lead vocal on Professor Longhair’s timeless “Tipitina.” The Professor himself is featured on a 1960s version of his anthem “Go to the Mardi Gras” with its signature New Orleans parade beat.

While Cajun music originates in the French-speaking parishes south and west of New Orleans, you’ll often hear it in the Crescent City. “Mardi Gras Mambo,” originally recorded by Art Neville’s early band, The Hawkettes, is performed here by Cajun rocker Zachary Richard, while Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys play the minor-key “La Danse de Mardi Gras,” which you’ll hear at every Cajun dance at this time of year, for Cajuns have their own Mardi Gras.

For reasons not entirely known (but probably not difficult to decipher!), Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham’s “Meet Me With Your Back Drawers On” has become a New Orleans standard, especially as performed by vocalist Chuck Carbo, a veteran of the vocal group The Spiders. Rounding out this set are pianist/singer Marcia Ball, with her song based on a Zulu character — the Big Shot with his bowler hat and big cigar — and the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, who offer a funky twist on the melody of “Li’l Liza Jane,” long a brass band staple.

In the week before Mardi Gras, the evening parades are family affairs, filled with the aroma of barbeque and the sound of laughter. Chair-topped stepladders are set up along the streets as perches for children to be better positioned to catch the beads thrown from each float. Spectators shout out to kids and cousins in the high-stepping high school marching bands. And you can bet that the music on this album will be emanating from someone’s front porch, beckoning all to the party.

Track list:

1. The Soul Rebels — “Say Na Hey”
2. Joe Liggins & the Honeydrippers — “Goin’ Back to New Orleans”
3. Zachary Richard — “Mardi Gras Mambo”
4. New Orleans Nightcrawlers — “Funky Liza”
5. Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys — “La Danse de Mardi Gras”
6. Larry Williams — “Jockamo a.k.a. Iko-Iko”
7. Al Johnson — “Carnival Time”
8. Marcia Ball — “Big Shot”
9. Professor Longhair “Go to the Mardi Gras”
10. ReBirth Brass Band — “Do Whatcha Wanna, Part 3”
11. Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias — “Tipitina” –
12. Chuck Carbo — “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On”

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MARTIN SEXTON’S ‘FALL LIKE RAIN’ TO BE
RELEASED JANUARY 24, 2012

TITLE TRACK SINGLE RELEASES DECEMBER 6, 2011

Singer-songwriter headlines U.S. tour Jan.-Feb. 2012,
following December Northeast dates
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Fall Like Rain, Martin Sexton’s brand-new EP, finds this artist again asking relevant questions and challenging the status quo. Entertaining us all the while, he continues to call for unity in “One Voice Together” and adds: “In a world of warfare, peace is bad for business . . .” A timely cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” reminds us it’s time to “stop, hey, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down.” On this record, the artist subtly and seamlessly blends infectious tunes with a powerful message.

His “soul-marinated voice” (Rolling Stone) shimmers on the soaring falsetto on the title track: “I wanna feel, I wanna fall like rain, without the shelter, so I can see which way the wind is blowin’ today.”

Why an EP? Sexton says, “These songs are relevant today and I didn’t want to wait to release a full-length album. And in a down economy, we’re getting new music to people for the price of a soy latte.”

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., and the tenth of 12 children, Martin Sexton grew up in the ’80s. Uninterested in the music of the day, he fueled his dreams with the timeless sounds of classic rock ’n’ roll. As he discovered the dusty old vinyl left in the basement by one his big brothers, his musical fire was lit. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build a following singing on the streets of Harvard Square, gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In the Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case.

From 1996 to 2002 Sexton released Black Sheep, The American, Wonder Bar and Live Wide Open. The activity and worldwide touring behind these records laid the foundation for the career he enjoys today with an uncommonly loyal fan base; he sells out venues from New York’s Nokia Theatre to L.A.’s House of Blues, and tours regularly across Canada and Europe.

Happily and fiercely independent, Martin Sexton launched his own label, KTR, in 2002. Since then he has infiltrated many musical worlds, performing at concerts ranging from pop (collaborating with John Mayer) to the Jam scene to classic rock (collaborating with Peter Frampton); from the Newport Folk Fest to Bonnaroo to New Orleans Jazz Fest to a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Regardless of his reputation as a musician’s musician, Sexton can’t keep Hollywood away. His songs can be heard in many feature films and television including NBC’s Scrubs,Parenthood and Showtime’s hit series Brotherhood.

Stage, film and television aside, when Sexton isn’t touring he often mixes entertainment with his sense of social responsibility, performing at benefits for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camp, the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Japan earthquake/tsunami relief (The John Lennon Tribute), and Hurricane Irene relief efforts in Vermont, to name some.

In 2007 Sexton began his most successful years to date with the release of his studio offering Seeds. The album debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and the Los Angeles Times said, “Call him a soul shouter, a road poet, a folkie or a rocker and you wouldn’t be wrong.”

The live CD/DVD set Solo, which includes a DVD of his performance at Denver’s Mile High Festival, followed in 2008.

In 2010 the album Sugarcoating found this one-of-a-kind-troubadour doing what he does best: locating larger truths. After hearing it, NBC anchor Brian Williams sought Martin out to sit down for an interview backstage at New York’s Beacon Theatre. It’s now featured on MSNBC’s BriTunes.

The accolades continue. Billboard called Sexton’s version of “Working Class Hero” for the Lennon tribute/benefit in 2010 “chill-inspiring.” Released this November as part of The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute album, the track is available on iTunes.

The New York Times noted that this artist “jumps beyond standard fare on the strength of his voice, a blue-eyed soul man’s supple instrument,” adding, “his unpretentious heartiness helps him focus on every soul singer’s goal: to amplify the sound of the ordinary heart.”

Billboard called Sexton “The real thing, people, a star with potential to permanently affect the musical landscape and keep us entertained for years to come.”

http://www.martinsexton.com/tour/

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Thanks to Bob Merlis

OLD SCHOOL BLUE BLUES OUT NOW FROM BILLY COX

The Blues ain’t perfect; the Blues is life. – Billy Cox

In 2009 Billy Cox was inducted into The Musicians Hall Of Fame; in 2010 he was honored with Experience Music Project’s Founders Award and earlier this year he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall Of Fame. With the honors and accolades pouring in, thick and fast, it would be understandable if he were to rest on his laurels. But that’s just not the Billy Cox way. He’s been a music man in motion for more than 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down. His latest album release, Old School Blue Blues, is a testament to his inexhaustible energy fervor and drive. To borrow from the album’s first -- and last -- track, he keeps “Rockin’ And Rollin’ On.” The album is something of a plea for a return to authenticity in music, both in terms of message and in the process by which it was created.

Of course, Billy is best known as the musician who worked with Jimi Hendrix before the Jimi Hendrix Experience was conceived, after the Jimi Hendrix Experience disbanded as part of the Band of Gypsys and, thereafter, as part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience when it coalesced again for the last time. Billy might have been involved without interruption in light of the fact that Jimi had asked him to go with him to England after he was “discovered” by Chas Chandler in New York. Billy simply wasn’t able to afford the fare to New York to meet up with Jimi. When Jimi reached out to him again before The Band of Gypsys was formed, Billy’s financial circumstance had dramatically improved. Though he had become more established and had his own office on Nashville’s music row, he dropped everything when Jimi asked him, yet again, to join him.

Of course, the blues roots that underpin Jimi’s music and have always been part of Billy’s are still the fundament of the music heard on Old School Blue Blues. The title song says it all as Billy notes, “It’s about real feel. The blues that we grew up with is a part of the fabric of our lives. This is a song about a people and the lives they lived on a day to day basis.” Billy’s dedication to integrity of expression, coupled with his ability to convey real human emotion through music, is what keeps him going after so many of his compatriots, colleagues and collaborators have fallen by the wayside.

Released on Billy’s Gypsy Sun imprint and available through CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes, bassistbillycox.com and jimihendrix.com, the new album follows 2009’s Last Gypsy Standing and the title song of that set is reprised on the new one, albeit with a fresh new mix. “I wanted to reiterate what it was all about,” says Cox who continues to live and work in Nashville. It was in “Music City” that he and Hendrix found themselves encountering the top attractions of the ‘chitlin’ circuit’ back in the early 1960s. While it’s logical to associate Nashville with country music, a confluence of historically African-American colleges and universities (Fisk, Tennessee State, Meharry Medical, etc.) attracted big name stars to perform in the market. As part of the house band at The New Era Club, Billy found himself backing a who’s who of blues/soul/R&B including Nappy Brown, Charles Brown, Wilson Pickett, Mitty Collier, Johnnie Taylor and Little Johnny Taylor, Joe Henderson and many more. Then there was that magical night at Club Baron when Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson showed up after an arena concert gig and jammed with the guys. Yes, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox shared the same stage. It was a special time even though there were some low points, like when Billy’s pet monkey relieved itself on Bobby Blue Bland while Bobby was having his hair styled at a Nashville salon. Those were the days!
That old school feeling is imprinted in Billy’s DNA and it’s reflected in all of the tracks on Old School Blue Blues. Billy explains that ‘old school feel’ is engendered by skilled musicianship, the intimate relationship between musician and his instrument and lyrics that deal with reality and true emotional expression. Not to cast aspersions, and Billy would be the last to do so, but the album is in sharp contrast to most of the automated contemporary drivel that passes itself off as music. It’s what’s real versus the artificial. There is a difference.

All of the songs on the album are originals, written by Billy and his wife and life partner Brenda Carnell. The songs are personal, of course, but all within the blues/rock/R&B tradition. Billy notes “We have ‘Rockin' and Rolling On’ at the beginning. It lets everyone know that I am still a hard rocking m***** *****r. I keep saying it; that’s all Jimi Hendrix played. It was nothing but loud blues. And besides, I have always been ahead of my time. I am the one who discovered Jimi Hendrix. Music has lost its way; we need to get back to the fundamentals so that music can move forward again.” The song is, in a way, Billy’s rallying call and mission statement and tells the story of his perseverance. The whole album is, to borrow from the past, a true ‘experience’ and reflects a lifetime of a man.

Another standout is “I’mma Pilgrim” and, yes, the “southern spelling” is intentional. It’s a “juke the juke” kind of song based on a bass pattern that Billy had whipped up.
The album was recorded in just one month with backing very much in keeping with Billy’s basic blues/rock ethos: guitars, drums, a bit of keyboard and, of course, that rock-solid bass. Most of the songs were nailed in just a few takes. Synthesizers? Auto-tune? C’mon, this is Billy Cox, a musician’s musician if ever there was one.

By the way, the Fender Precision bass that Billy played on most of the album’s tracks and that’s seen in the packaging art is the very same one used for session work, including with Jimi, since 1963. That’s Billy – stay with what works for you. That’s the real Old School Blue Blues.

Tracklisting
1. Rock' and Rollin' On
2. Old School Blue Blues
3 I'mma Pilgrim
4. Woke Up With That
5. You Can't Tell
6. The Last Gypsy Standing
7. A Day Late and A Dollar Short
8. A special Kind of Woman
9. Train Stops Here
10. Mamacita
11. The Magic of Dance
12 Rock' and Rollin' On / Part II

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Richard J Young
From a friend of mine, John Farris, who has offices in Liverpool (thus he could attend this show in London), and who is a lifelong rock and roller, providing chronicles of notable concerts that he attends.
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London 12 Nov 11

Just returned from the West End show “The Million Dollar Quartet” featuring the tale of the once in a lifetime meeting and jam session of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. This actually happened on Dec 2, 1956 after Elvis had left Sun Records and Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins were about to. Jerry Lee had not had his first hit. They gathered at the studio where it all began and met with the legendary Sam Phillips – the man who had recognized their respective talents and given them their start – to have what would be a final jam session.

The show covered a lot of musical ground while reliving the first awkward moments of each of their careers. Elvis had just completed one of the biggest years in show business anyone had ever had. Carl had been in a car wreck that stunted his career and allowed Elvis to record and claim his smash song “Blue Suede Shoes”. Johnny had come out of the Air Force and written and recorded “Folsom Prison” and “I Walk the Line”.

Before there was a John, Paul, George and Ringo - before the music of Sweeney’s with Jimi, Cream and Credence had shaken walls - before psychedelic Airplane, Janis and Dead trips, there were these guys.

The roots of what was to become the most significant musical phenomenon in modern history – rock ‘n roll – was on display in this presentation with terrific musicians playing their instruments and signing (not just actors lip syncing) and ultimately taking the roof off of this old London theatre. Scorching versions of Hound Dog, Great Balls of Fire, Honey Don’t, Ghost Riders, Party, and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On were saved for the end of the show (which was filled by the great songs these guys had laid down in the mid-fifties) and had the audience on their feet rushing the stage and shaking it up like teenagers.

I can highly recommend this show if you get to the big cities where this is playing or if a New York or London cast comes to your town. Run – don’t walk – to get there and relive what it was all about.

Your faithful musical reporter and solar powered pirate radio station,

Kjuan

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From Kevin Walsh

Laura Kennedy (Bush Tetras) RIP

http://theworldsamess.blogspot.com/2011/11/laura-kennedy-bush-tetras-rip.html

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MALT SHOP MEMORIES CRUISE 2012 RETURNS BIGGER AND BETTER

Features ‘50s and ‘60s Icons and Returning Malt Shop Cruise Alumni Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell, Joined on the 2012 Cruise by Dion, Ronnie Spector,
Darlene Love, And Many, Many More

New Seven-Day Trip Aboard Holland America’s Luxurious m/s Eurodam

“Rock and Roll on the High Seas” Sails October 27 through November 3, 2012
From Fort Lauderdale to Turks & Caicos, San Juan, St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay

Fort Lauderdale, FL (November 16, 2011) --- After the extraordinary success of the first two Malt Shop Memories Cruises, the next annual Malt Shop Memories Cruise will expand to a seven-day trip with more ports of call and additional performances by an incredible array of stars from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Departing on October 27th (through November 3rd) from Fort Lauderdale, FL, the cruise will set sail on Holland America’s luxurious m/s Eurodam for Turks & Caicos, San Juan, St. Thomas and the private island of Half Moon Cay.

As a full ship charter, the Eurodam will be transformed into a floating ‘50s and ‘60s entertainment complex, treating passengers to concerts and special events such as sock hops, hula hoop contests, prom night, beach parties, and, of course, interaction with their favorite singers and much more.

Inspired by Time Life’s popular Malt Shop Memories CD series, the voyage will be highlighted by performances by some of the biggest artists of the era, including Dion (who will be making a special appearance in concert on the cruise), Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love, The Original Drifters, The Duprees, Sonny Turner (former lead singer of the Platters), Carl Gardner’s Coasters, Kenny Vance and the Planotones, The Chiffons, The Tymes, The Marvelettes, Al “Lil Fats” Jackson, John Kuse and the Excellents, The Dedications, The Encounters, The Acchords, Gino Monopoli/Dwight Icenhower and, returning as the cruise host, the wildly popular oldies DJ Jerry “The Geator with the Heater” Blavat.

“You’ll see some of the best entertainment from that wonderful era,” says Bobby Rydell. “Mix and mingle with all of us and bring back those great memories while making fabulous new ones.”

In addition to the incredible line-up of concerts, The Malt Shop Memories cruise will offer non-stop events, parties, and ‘50s and ‘60s-themed activities throughout the ship and the entire length of the cruise. Grab your blanket for the beach party, kick off your shoes for the sock hop, dress in your finest for Prom Night and get ready to meet the performers in person during specially designed meet and greets. In celebration of the memory of the King of Rock ‘n Roll, Elvis Presley, the Malt Shop Memories Cruise will host the richest Elvis Tribute Artist Contest in the World. The event will feature some of the most well-known and talented tribute artists in the world competing for a cash prize of $5,000.

Notes the Executive Producer of Time Life’s Malt Shop Memories CD collection, Alan Rubens, “They say you can’t live in the past—but it sure is fun visiting for a few days!”

“Our staff had so much fun on the 2011 Malt Shop Memories Cruise!”, offers Michael Lazaroff of Entertainment Cruise Productions. “It was a joy meeting the guests, engaging the artists and bringing Malt Shop Memories to life. By moving the cruise to 7 days and to Holland America, the cruise now becomes a ‘home game’ for us and we promise that it will run like clockwork and the upgrades in rooms, service, food and amenities will only add to the fantastic musical experience.”

The Malt Shop Memories Cruise was developed in association with Entertainment Cruise Productions, LLC. Tickets for the cruise are available now. Visit www.MaltShopCruise.com or call (877) 700-6258 (MALT). Cabin prices start at $1550 per person including all meals, entertainment and onboard activities.

The Time Life Malt Shop Memories CD collection, featuring a 10-CD box set, a 4-CD set and a holiday disc, has sold nearly 4 million CDs and remains one of Time Life’s most popular sellers.

For further information, go to: www.MaltShopCruise.com

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Rock Radio Pioneer Jim Ladd to Join SiriusXM

Ladd to host exclusive daily free-form rock show

NEW YORK–December 2, 2011– Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that rock radio pioneer Jim Ladd will host a daily free-form music show on Deep Tracks, channel 27.

For the first time ever, Ladd’s daily show will be broadcast to a national audience and will be heard exclusively on SiriusXM. The live show will air nightly starting in January 2012.

Ladd will continue to personally select all the music heard on his show, as he has done from the start of his legendary career on FM radio. He will also conduct regular interviews with classic rock legends that he has developed personal relationships with during his 40+ years as one of North America’s most beloved rock radio personalities.

“I am thrilled to bring the Jim Ladd free-form rock radio show to SiriusXM. By joining SiriusXM, I will be bringing my “free-form” show nationwide,” said Jim Ladd. “Traditional FM radio has turned its back on the very thing that made rock radio the magical experience it was intended to be. SiriusXM is kicking down the doors of the stagnant, preprogrammed fodder that passes for radio today by encouraging me to do my free-form show so we can all share this experience live as it happens.”

“I will be playing everything I want, from Pink Floyd to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, from The Doors to Moby Grape, freely and with no play lists. As I have always done throughout my career, I will be choosing all my own music, creating thematic sets, inviting the biggest rock stars in the world, many of whom I am proud to call my friends, to join me in the studio, and commenting on the world around us by using the most compelling music of our time. I’ll also be taking phone calls from listeners all across America and instantly communicating with my audience through social media networks to help spread the word that true free-form rock radio is back and more powerful than ever.”

“Jim Ladd is a classic rock radio icon who turned curating a list of songs into an art form. We are proud and excited to welcome his free-form style to SiriusXM,” saidScott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM.

Deep Tracks features deep cuts from classic rock. Listeners will hear artists like Bob Dylan, Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, Beatles (and solo work by John, Paul, George and Ringo), Rolling Stones, The Who, Steely Dan, Kinks and Steve Miller Band.
For more information on SiriusXM, please visit www.siriusxm.com

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White Album Ensemble december shows announced-

For their 8th annual holiday show run of Beatles music at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, Ca the White Album Ensemble turned to their thousands of fans on email lists to "pick your favorite Beatles albums for the next WAE Rio shows", and the winners were…

The White Album (1968's "The Beatles", a double LP) for December 29th, (new year's eve's eve's eve); '66's "Revolver", opening for '67's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on December 30th, (new year's eve's eve). There will be guests like the Barry Phillips String Quartet ( Barry performed with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Ravi Shankar and Eric Clapton on the "Concert for George ( Harrison)", the Mind Over Matter Horns, the 'Honey Pies" ( Alysha Antonino and Grammy nominee Tammi Brown), and more. There will be the traditional raffle benefiting Guitars, not Guns; and the Musicscool scholarship fund ( home of James Durbin, first scholarship recipient) featuring a lovely Epiphone Les Paul, valued at $768.00 thanks to Epiphone Guitars!

The WAE welcomes new member Omar Spence singing the Lennon songs, son of the late Alexander "Skip" Spence, founding member of Jefferson Airplane, and Moby Grape. Many more special guests and surprises!

Richard Bryant (Vocals, and Percussion)
Stephen Krilanovich (Guitar, Keyboard and Vocals)
Ken Kraft (Guitar and Vocals)
Dale Ockerman (Keyboards, Trumpet, electric Sitar, Vocals)
Tiran Porter (Bass, Vocals)
Omar Spence ( Vocals, Guitar)
Trey Sabatelli (Drums)

www.whitealbumlive.com, www.facebook.com/ whitealbumensemble for info
www.riotheatre.com for tickets- most shows do sell out in advance-

“The Beatles are long gone, so we’ll never get to see them play. Enter Beatles cover band The White Album Ensemble. The band has sold out many a performance of their White Album Live show, and now they’re taking on Rubber Soul and Revolver for their next round of concerts. As cover bands go, this one ain’t too shabby – it boasts cellist Barry Phillips, who played 2002’s Concert for George where he accompanied Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton.”— Vh1.com

“This wonderful local group is the next best thing to hearing the Beatles perform these albums live (which they never did…)”— UCSC music professor Fred Lieberman

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>>> INSERT JOKE HERE <<<

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*** PUNMASTER'S TRIVIA CORNER ***

The trivia question from the last MusicWire was:

"I Am The Walrus" and "Mrs. Robinson"

The connection is?

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ANSWER: Goo goo g'joob ---- Coo coo ca choo

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the champions are... (in order of appearance)

PLEASE SEE BELOW!!!

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===I hope there's more of a connection than
goo goo g'joob and coo coo ca-choo.

Smokehouse Porky Bone

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"goo, goo g'joob" (Beatles)

"coo, coo c'choo" Simon & Garfunkel).

William McCoy

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Coo Coo Ca Choo

Phil Goldman

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Goo goo g'joob!

-Tim Bernett

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COO-COO-CA-CHOO (there are many different spelling interpretations, but the sound remains the same).

--Kenny Weissberg

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Pretty easy unless I’m missing something.

A variation of the phrase from “I Am the Walrus”, “coo coo ca job” kicks off the 5th verse in “Mrs. Robinson”:

“Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know.”

Stan Denski
Indianapolis

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coo coo cachoo and goo goo gajoob
(spelling questionable)

Meg Andrietsch, Wisconsin Democrat

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...kook-kook-a-too...
...sez salmon Dave...

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The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus'" ended the chorus with the gibberish words "goob goob ga joob".
Simon and Garfinkles' "Mrs, Robinson" 's chorus BEGAN with "Coo, coo, ca-choo, mrs Robinson" I assumed they were accurate in their "tribute" .
It did go on to say "Jesus loves you more than you will know", which could relate to John Lennon's (writer/ singer- "Walrus") misunderstood but infamous quote- "we are more popular than Jesus". But I doubt you'd go there with the Pope forgiving John, and all.
Which led me into a pointless argument with my Beatles band, the White Album Ensemble, when we were rehearsing for our "Sgt Pepper's Magical Mystery Tour" concert series, where we recreated the records "live" with strings, horns, dilrhubas, tabla, etc., we were working on vocals for "Walrus" , i sang 'Koo Koo Ka Choo", and was told, no, its 'Goob goob ga joob, dont you know that?". and sure enough, there it was in the Beatles score book. Perhaps the mispronunciation and spelling got mentally mangled unintentionally, in a pro drug/ pre internet age when you couldnt google the lyrics.
Of far more interest should be why the "Eggman", and "Eggmen" were mentioned in every chorus in "Walrus", and what event that referred to! You dont have to play it backwards, and the subject is still alive.
( Hint- " dont let me be misunderstood")
Another trivia contest, no doubt!
Shameless plug-
In the meantime, we will be performing "Revolver" and "Sgt Peppers", to which we include 'I Am The Walrus" again- New Years Eve's Eve, december 30th, at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, California- with a string quartet led by Barry Philips, who's performed with Ravi Shankar, Sir Paul, Ringo and Clapton on "The Concert For George", the MindOverMatterHorns, and other aural delights.www.whitealbumlive.com

Cheers
Dale Ockerman

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CONNECTION: LYRIC SIMILARITY

"I am the Walrus/ Goo Goo Goo Joob" or something like that...

"Coo Coo Coo Shoo/ Mrs. Robinson..." or (again) something similar...

Maybe S&G's lyric (Simon's, actually) is identical to Lennon's; doesn't sound like it, though. The Walrusesque line in Mrs. Robinson follows the verse about "hide it in the pantry with your cupcakes", and even as a 14-year-old I knew what herbaceous substance she was hiding, so my interpretation was that the Walrus quote gave the S&G song a bit of psychedelic authenticity. Of course, I could be completely wrong about all this, but the two songs definitely share that particular line of gibberish.

Pete Tomlinson

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Goo goo ka joob (or whatever)

Todd Everett

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Dave, Goo goo g'joob ( not "Coo coo ca choo")??_Terry Hansen

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"I Am The Walrus" and "Mrs. Robinson"
The connection is: BOTH HAVE "GOO GOO G'JOOB" IN THE LYRICS.

Gene Tourangeau

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Trivia answer

the lyrics:

"Coo coo ca choo"

and

"Goo goo ga joob"

Ben "Junta" Hunter

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Both songs have Goo Goo Ga Joob in them.

Sincerely,
Chuck Shaw

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"I Am The Walrus" and "Mrs. Robinson"

Ans: "coo coo ca choo"

Hammond Guthrie

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trivia answer…

Simon's "Mrs. Robinson" quotes from "I Am the Walrus"—"Goo-goo-ga-joob Mrs. Robinson…"

Blair Jackson

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The line Coo Coo Cachoo

And Ben Friedman from the Postermat was the Eggman ~!

Your Pal,

J.C. Flyer

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Koo-Koo Ka-Chew!

Bob Sarles/Ravin' Films

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Dear Punmaster,
Is the answer "coo coo ca-choo"?
Thanks,

Randy Hutton

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Steve McConnell says: Coo-coo-ca-choo!
(Too easy!)

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Both have
Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo
Keep up your informative
'Labor Of Love,' Big Dave.

Judy Shapiro
Marin County

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These two songs share the same rancid, yet putrid, lyric - namely Coo Coo Ca-Choo! (your spelling may vary...) And I know what it means! hahhahahhhahha.....

Rich Stefanik

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"I Am The Walrus" and "Mrs. Robinson"

The connection is?

A: nonsense syllables that sound the same:

“coo-coo ca-choo” and “goo goo g’joob”

Peace, Stevo

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David:
Coo coo kachoo. I have no idea about the spelling.
Does it all really matter?

Bruce Campbell

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Coo Coo Ca Joo? Or somethin' like that ...

Kevin Halpin

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Sir Pun Sir,

Would it be the nonsensical gibberish of
Goo goo goo joob and Coo coo ca choo?

Rich Hughes-
San Francisco

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goo goo g'joob , Mr. Punmaster

Randy Remote

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"I Am The Walrus" and "Mrs. Robinson"

The connection is, koo koo ka Ju !

jay corman

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*** TODAY'S EASY BAKE TRIVIA QUESTION ***

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Go Away Don't Bother Me
She Said Yeah
Honey Bun
Paris Eyes
Angel of Darkness
Open Up Your Door
Lost My Baby
Brandy
Red Hill Mining Town
All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

What's the connection with these songs?

INCLUDE YOUR NAME WITH YOUR ANSWER OR YOU MAY SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS!

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If you want to be listed...INCLUDE YOUR NAME!

Give it your best shot...you may not get a yes/no response until the next Wire is published.

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The answer will appear in the next MusicWire...

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THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY - DECEMBER 14

In 1963…In the U-K, The Beatles’ "I Want to Hold Your Hand" went to number one, where it stayed for five weeks. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” knocked off The Beatles’ previous single "She Loves You." It was the first time in Britain that a band had replaced itself at number one.

In 1967…Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones collapsed and was admitted to a London hospital. He later discharged himself.

In 1968…Tommy James and The Shondells released the single "Crimson & Clover."

In 1969…John Lennon and Yoko Ono continued to proclaim the innocence of James Hanratty, one of the last people executed in Britain for murder. The couple turned up at London's Hyde Park covered with a giant white bag to listen as Hanratty's father addressed the crowd. Hanratty and the Lennons later presented a petition to the prime minister.

In 1972…Alexander's department store in New York stayed open late so Alice Cooper could do his Christmas shopping.

In 1972…The Ringo Starr-directed film about T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan, Born to Boogie, debuted in London. The film also featured an appearance by Elton John.

In 1977…Saturday Night Fever premiered in New York City.

In 1980…Yoko Ono called for a ten-minute silent vigil around the world for John Lennon, her husband, who was shot to death six days earlier. Over 100-thousand people went to Central Park in New York to honor her request.

In 1985…James Taylor married actress Kathryn Walker.

In 1986…Elton John performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia. A live recording of "Candle in the Wind" from the performance went to number six in 1987.

In 1991…Michael Jackson's Dangerous debuted at the top of the Billboard album chart.

In 1995…Classified documents from the White House were released that revealed the FBI had spied on John Lennon and his anti-war activities during the early '70s in a possible attempt to have Lennon deported.

In 1995…The television special Frank Sinatra: 80 Years My Way aired on ABC.

In 1999…Paul McCartney played a show at the Cavern in Liverpool. It was the first time that McCartney had played at the club since 1963.

In 2005…61-year-old Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his work with Brazilian street children

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VIDEO CLIPS OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Mike Hart

Phyllis Diller - [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns7I2HdkLTs

Roger McGuinn & The Chad Mitchell Trio-1963

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj_Qpl0X9fA

Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEBBGSgO16M

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You Can Quote Me On That...

I've been through more cold turkeys than there are freezers." - Keith Richards

"Mick needs to know what he's going to do tomorrow. Me, I'm just happy to wake up and see who's hanging around. Mick's rock, I'm roll." -Keith Richards

"I don't know anything about music, In my line you don't have to." - Elvis Presley

"I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob." - Bo Diddley

"The only Maybelline I knew was the name of a cow." - Chuck Berry

"A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B." - Fats Domino

"It's not the size of the ship; it's the size of the waves." - Little Richard

"Hippies? Why, I'm the original." - Jerry Lee Lewis

"The older I get, the harder to get around....gravity's got me down." - Barry Goldberg

“I'm one of those regular weird people.” - Janis Joplin

"There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another." - Frank Zappa

"I've always felt that blues, rock 'n' roll and country are just about a beat apart." - Waylon Jennings

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." - Jimi Hendrix

"Rock is so much fun. That's what it's all about -- filling up the chest cavities and empty kneecaps and elbows." - Jimi Hendrix

"I taught them everything they know, but not everything I know." - James Brown

"David Gross (Punmaster's MusicWire) is the Arianna Huffington of music news!" - Barry "The Fish" Melton

"The older you get, the better you were!" - Leslie West

"It's much too late to do anything about rock & roll now ..." - Jerry Garcia

"Albert King wasn't my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in Blues" - B.B. King

"More bass." - Jerry Wexler

"I'm as country as a dozen eggs." - Elvin Bishop

"I liked the first sixties better...." - Al Kooper

"I still have all my vinyl. You can’t roll a joint on an iPod.” - Shelby Lynne

"I think I just killed somebody." - Phil Spector

"The problem with history is, the folks who were there ain't talking. And the ones who weren't there, you can't shut 'em up." - Tom Waits

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson

"I want my more money & I want my more fame" - Chubby Checker

"When you don't know where you're going, you have to stick together just in case someone gets there." - Ken Kesey

"I smash guitars because I like them." - Pete Townshend

"It's a good thing I had a bag of marijuana instead of a bag of spinach. I'd be dead by now." - Willie Nelson

"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk in order to provide articles for people who can't read." - Frank Zappa

"You can learn something, both good or bad, watching any guitar player. You learn what to do or what not to do. Over the years I've learned things from Carlos, Mike Bloomfield, Clapton, George, Garcia, Knopfler and let's not forget Robbie Robertson." - Bob Dylan, 2002

"There 'is' a difference between rock and rock and roll; beware of inferior imitations (avoid contact with any musician who doesn't know how to play Chuck Berry music)." - Cub Koda

"This heah is Rufus Thomas....I'm young and loose and full of juice. I got the goose, so what's the use." - Rufus Thomas

"Mike Love, not war." - Scott Mathews

"I have outlived my dick" - Willie Nelson (2008)

"Anybody with a trade can work as long as they want. A welder, a carpenter, an electrician. They don't necessarily need to retire...Every man should learn a trade. It's different than a job. My music wasn't made to take me from one place to another so I can retire early." -Bob Dylan

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