Brian Wilson has approached George Martin on a collaboration to remix and reorchestrate some of the Beach Boys songs ala the Beatles Love album. Martin, 81, had stated that Love would be his last project, but he's known to be an admirer of Wilson and may still have one last production left in him.
R B singer Jill Scott released her third album,
, on Tuesday and it includes a few tracks with vintage vinyl artists. The Isley Brothers join Scott for Said Enough, Sergio Mendes (and Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas) are on Let Me, and Al Jarreau and George Benson collaborate on God Bless the Child.
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams, Jr. will be on the road together starting in April on the Rowdy Frynds tour. 38 Special will be opening the first ten shows while newcomer Chris Janson takes the second ten. The itinerary so far:
- 4/11 - VBCC Arena - Huntsville, AL
- 4/13 - St.
Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL
- 4/20 - Conseco Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN
- 4/21 - Civic Center, Peoria, IL
- 4/27 - First Mariner Center - Baltimore, MD
- 4/28 - RBC Center - Raleigh, NC
- 5/4 - Gaylord Entertainment Center - Nashville, TN
- 5/5 - Civic Center - Charleston, WV
- 5/11 - Nutter Center - Dayton, OH
- 5/12 - Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI
- 5/18 - Gateway Arena - Sioux City, IA
- 5/19 - Target Center - Minneapolis, MN
- 5/25 - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA
- 5/26 - Wharf Amphitheater - Orange Beach, FL
- 6/1 - Gwinnett Center - Atlanta, GA
- 6/2 - Bi-Lo Center - Greenville, SC
- 6/8 - Bryce Jordan Center - University Park, PA
- 6/9 - Times Union Center - Albany, NY
- 6/15 - Freedom Hall - Louisville, KY
- 6/16 - Family Arena - St. Charles, MO
Eric Clapton threatened to walk out on a concert at New Zealand's Mission Estate Winery when he found out that a wine had been bottled under his name.
Clapton, a recovering alcoholic, performed only after the wine was withdrawn from sale.
Fans of classic country music should know that the Cracker Barrel chain of restaurants has a series of CDs highlighting performances from the Grand Old Opry. There are currently five albums in the series assembled from tapes made at the Ryman Auditorium during the 1960's.
Artists include Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and many more.
Uriah Heap has announced that they have parted ways with longtime drummer Lee Kerslake due to health problems. Kerslake had played with the band for thirty-five years.
The band recently signed a new recording deal with Sanctuary records and are starting to record their first new album in ten years. It is expected in September, when the group will start an eighteen-month world tour.
Donny Osmond has signed on to host a new ABC reality show, The Great American Dream Vote.
Eight contestants vie to be granted their dream with the studio audience pairing the group down to two over a number of rounds and an audience vote determining who wins the prize. Osmond previously hosted the game show Pyramid.
Fat Possum records has announced that they will be reissuing six albums by the late Townes Van Zandt on May 1.
Included will be Van Zandt's first four albums (For the Sake of a Song (1968), Our Mother the Mountain (1969), Townes Van Zandt (1970) and Delta Momma Blues (1971)) along with Flyin Shoes (1978) and Texas Rain (2001).
Chris Difford, singer and songwriter for Squeeze, is doing a short tour of the U.S.
in support of his second solo album South East Side Story. The album features ten Squeeze songs reworked with to a country sound with pedal steel, banjo and other instruments.
Difford has been busy since Squeeze.
He's written with Elton John and Bryan Ferry and has had his music recorded by Lisa Stansfield, Kevin Rowland, Jewels Holland, Paul Carrack and others.
ROCKGRL Magazine is bestowing its ROCKGRL Women of Valor Award on the 70's group Fanny. The all-female hard rock group recorded five albums between 1970 and 1974 and had one minor chart hit with Butter Boy.
On April 20, the original members will be presented with the award at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. A video tribute is being assembled from the women's archives and they will perform together for the first time in many years.
Trivia time.
Katie Lee Joel, the host of Bravo TV's high rated Top Chef, is the wife of Billy Joel and Joel's new single was written as an anniversary present for her. Of course, Uptown Girl was written for a different wife, so..
.
..
.and as long as we're playing the who is related to who game (or is that whom?), Jim Moret's (Inside Edition) father is singer/actor James Darren (Goodbye Cruel World, Gidget).
Notable Links:
Art Rupe, Specialty Records and Concord's new Specialty Profiles imprint from .
Mary Sperling, better known as Dee Dee of Dick and Dee Dee (The Mountain's High), talks about her new book Vinyl Highway at the .
Bobby Vee on the events of February 3, 1959 and his current work from Iowa's .
A college course on the music of Jimi Hendrix from the .
Al Kooper from New York's .
An excerpt from the book Something in the Air: Radio, Rock and the Revolution that Shaped a Generation by Marc Fisher from .
An interview with Marshall Chapman from Chattanooga's .
News RSS