Motor City Rocker Bob Seger is test driving some new songs with audiences on his recently resumed tour.  A 24 song 2+ hour set in Toledo, Ohio Wednesday (2/27) included songs Seger told the crowd '...will be on the new album, if I ever get it done.'  Appropriately, first up was a John Hiatt song, Detroit Made. He also included an original song that reflects on his career titled All The Roads and California Stars, a Woody Guthrie tune. New Silver Bullet Band member Rob McNelley got an enthusiastic welcome from the Huntington Center crowd, thanks to rippingly good guitar work throught the set, which featured plenty of Seger classics.
TheOaklandPress.com

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Members of Styx have initiated legal action under a corporation that represents its interests against A&M Records, the label that the group was on for decades.  According to TMZ, the lawsuit contends that A&M withheld substantial payments due the group on revenue from the sale of digital downloads of songs and ringtones.  The language of the suit suggests intent to defraud rather than just an oversight, calling the action of the label a, 'phony business model' concocted to '...avoid its royalty obligations.'  The group maintains it has been short changed to the tune of between two and five dollars for every one dollar it has been paid by the label. If true, it adds up to plenty of Pieces of Eight.
TMZ.com

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Looking back at the lineup at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, it is easily forgotten that several of the acts that would soon achieve super star status were, on that August weekend, relative newbies.  There was an east coast buzz about the amazing California guitarist fronting the band playing under his last name. Carlos Santana and Gregg Rolie performed together in the Santana Blues Band form 1966-68. The group made it's debut as just Santana in June of '68 at the Fillmore West, but its debut album was still days shy of being released when the band hit the Woodstock stage.  The riveting set it delivered from that stage on August 15 created an instant sensation.  The masterful guitar work of Carlos and driving percussion anchored by Michael Shrieve, who just over a month out of his teens, proved to be a highlight of the event and helped make both the Santana debut album and the Woodstock Soundtrack release huge sellers.  The band would achieve bigger success the following year with the release of Abraxas, a #1 album, and the addition of an even younger member, a hot teenage guitarist named Neal Schon.
Plans recently emerged that will bring almost all of the primary players in the original Santana back together.  Carlos has confirmed the report initiated by comments by Schon, saying 'As well as Neal, we have the two Mikes (Carabello & Shrieve). I'm pretty sure Greg (Rolie)'s going to do it.'  Original bass player David Brown passed away in 2000 and there was no mention of percussionist Jose 'Chepito' Areas.  As for what to expect on the album the guitarist hopes to put out next year, Carlos says, 'It will be like Santana IV because we stopped at Santana III.' We say, Bring it on!
VintageVinylNews.com  MStarz.com

MORE SANTANA INSIGHTS

He was affectionately known as 'Dangerous' Dan, but those who got to know the affable Dan Toler will recall the guitarist as a down-to-earth, approachable man who loved making music and making people happy.  Dan and his late brother Frankie, who passed away two years ago after undergoing a liver transplant, joined the Allman Brothers Band via Great Southern, the side project ABB guitarist Dickey Betts developed.  The pair also spent a good deal of time over the years in the Gregg Allman Band and worked on their own as the Toler Bros. in the 1990's.  One of Dan's last performances was from his wheel chair during a benefit arranged by Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida neighboring musicians to help offset costs of his care, a two day event that featured live sets and jams from Betts & Great Southern, Warren Haynes and Bonnie Bramlett.  Bonnie credited her friend as someone who, '...really showed people how to live, and how to die. He really made you check yourself. What a great man and a great musician.'  Chaz Trippy, percussionist in Gregg's solo band, noted Toler's '...ability to make people laugh and feel good and happy was amazing.  That smile of his was just a force of life and, God, how he loved playing that guitar.'
TicketSarasota.com

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The long running Rock theme cruise franchise tied in with Lynyrd Skynyrd takes to sea for the seventh time when the Norwegian Pearl sails out of Miami on October 20 for a four day excursion that makes stops in Key West and Great Stirrup Cay - and Rocks around the clock with stages throughout the ship. Headlining, of course, will be the Southern Rock institution the cruise is named for. Joing Skynyrd will be Black Stone Cherry, Drake White & the X Brothers, Blackberry Smoke, Heather Luttrell and other acts to be announced soon.  Between concert sets, the floating concert venue offers plenty to do, including bowling, a rock climbing wall, basketball courts, a casino, specialty restaurants and 24 hour in-cabin dining.
SimplemanCruise.com

MORE LYNYRD SKYNYRD INSIGHTS

Bill Wyman said he was '...a bit disappointed' that he was only invited to rejoin his former band mates on two songs when the Rolling Stones staged their two 50th anniversary concerts in London.  Speaking with The Times of London, the original Stones bass player said he assumed the invitation from Keith Richards to participate meant he'd be '...quite heavily involved' if he decided to accept it. Instead, he was only brought on as the band performed Honky Tonk Women and It's Only Rock 'N Roll.  The idea of making a trans-Atlantic trip to spend just a few minutes on stage with the band during its US dates had so little appeal to Wyman that he opted out of appearing during the New Jersey and Brooklyn dates the Stones did.
NME.com  411mania.com

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The little house in Long branch, NJ Bruce Springsteen shacked up in while writing songs for Born To Run has returned to the market at a hefty mark-up.  The two bedroom, one bath bungalow sold for around $280k three years ago has a price tag of of $349,900 this time around.  A trio of owners bought the modest house in 2009 (story). One is getting married and wants out. The other two may be willing to accept an offer for the groom-to-be's share.  The hiked price is said to reflect upgrades that have been made to the home. If that's the case, its value may actually have decreased to someone considering buying it or buying in because it is a live-in piece of Rock history.
NJ.com

MORE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN INSIGHTS

Ali Hewson, the wife of U2 front man Bono, was reportedly injured while vacationing in Costa Rica.  Hewson was apparently astride an ATV on a beach when something went wrong and she suffered broken ribs and abrasions in the accident.  She was airlifted to a San Jose, CR hospital for treatment.
DigitalSpy.com

MORE U2 INSIGHTS

The Allman Brothers Band's Peach Music Festival returns to Montage Mountain outside Scranton, PA for a run from August 15 - 18. The ABB will headline the event on Friday and Saturday nights, and be joined by Bob Weir's current lineup of Ratdog on Sunday.  The closing day opens with an acoustic set from Weir being billed as Brunch With Bobby. Other acts included in the festival's opening round announcement include the Black Crowes, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Jaimoe's (of the Allman Brothers Band) Jasssz Band, Rusted Root, the Dirty Dozen Jazz Band, Railroad Earth and Galactic.
ThePeachMusicFestival.com

MORE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND INSIGHTS

David Bowie was always on the cutting edge - both musically and technologically and, even after a long layoff, he appears ready to to harness the latest tech tricks to generate interest in his comeback album.  A cover teasing the release of The Next Day is essentially his Heroes cover art from 1977 with the title marked over and a large white square over the real estate the singer's face belongs in.  Now, fans willing to go to a special web page created to promote the release site and grant it permission to 'connect using facebook' can insert any photo they have uploaded to their account in that space.  The Next Day gets its official release on March 12.
TheNextDay.DavidBowie.com

 

Horror stories about the recent Carnival Cruise ship misadventure may have convinced planners of  the Alice Cooper Ship of Fears concert and cruise that the already slow pace of sales for tickets for the Halloween season excursion would only get slower.  The cruise web site posted notice that the five day 2013 trip scheduled to set sail from Miami to the Bahamas on October 28 is being canceled due to the event failing to '...receive the consumer demand to continue.'  In addition to a performance by Cooper and his band, cruise planners had arranged screenings and Q&A sessions with the directors of several horror flicks.
NoiseCreep.com

MORE ALICE COOPER INSIGHTS

The Manchester, Tennessee mega festival known as Bonnaroo has released a list of more than 125 acts for its 2013 lineup, headlined by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney and Mumford & Sons.  Also onboard for the June weekend are Gov' t Mule, Billy Idol, a handful of acts we're vaguely familiar with and dozens we've never heard of.
 

During an Australian television interview, Robert Plant seemed to leave the door at least ajar for fans hoping for another chance to see Led Zeppelin in concert.  Speaking on the Down Under version of 60 Minutes, the Mighty Zep lead singer hinted that he might be open to a concert or tour next year because '...I've got nothing to do in 2014' and said 'You need to speak with the Capricorns' (Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) about the prospects for the band returning to the stage.  Plant's hand-off to his guitarist and bass player carries no weight if, as in the past, they ultimately end up having to defer to him on the question of whether to perform together as Led Zeppelin, something he alone has steadfastly resisted since 2007.
HenneMusic.com

MORE LED ZEPPELIN INSIGHTS

Mick Fleetwood appears to have been unsuccessful in talking Christine McVie into rejoining her former band for its upcoming tour, but she did join the Fleetwood Mac drummer and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler for a live performance of Don't Stop at the Maui (Hawaii) Arts & Cultural Center Thursday (2/13). Fleetwood told The Telegraph he's had to promise to stop pestering McVie about rejoining the group she last performed with in 1998.
Telegraph.co.uk MauiNews.com
 

MORE FLEETWOOD MAC INSIGHTS

Die Hard and Harder star Bruce Willis now has an apartment to die for - and he reportedly picked it up for almost $700k below the original asking price. Formerly the New York residence of U2 bass player Adam Clayton, the posh Central Park West pad is in the El Dorado, a building that Bono and Alec Baldwin have or had apartments.  The $8 million Willis is said to have paid gets him a 3 bedroom, 4 bath layout with a gourmet kitchen and spectacular Central park views.
RealEstate.aol.com

 

Lynyrd Skynyrd has canceled weekend concerts in Biloxi,  MS because guitarist Gary Rossington has reportedly been admitted to a Wyoming hospital for treatment of an abdominal infection.  The band issued a statement reading, 'Regrettably our shows February 15 and 16 have been canceled.  We are awaiting further tests and treatment - once we receive information on Gary's status we will release additional information.'
HenneMusic.com

MORE LYNYRD SKYNYRD INSIGHTS

Ron Wood says he will '...twist arms' of the other members of the Stones to get them to agree on headlining the final day of the Glastonbury festival.  Speaking with The Independent, the guitarist said that convincing his band mates to agree to the gig is at the top of his agenda when the group convenes early in March to finalize 22013 tour plans.  Just back from his honeymoon after a London hotel penthouse wedding to Sally Humphreys (story), Wood says that now that his band has done some rehearsing and played well received dates in London, New Jersey and Brooklyn, he is confident the band is ready to '....get it cracking this summer!'

The BBC recently announced plans to stream live from all four stages during the sold-out late June event.
Independent.co.uk

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A 1999 concert filmed in Hi-Def at the Pine Knob Amphitheatre in Detroit on July 17, 1999 is getting reissued March 26 with 5:1 surround sound and bonus footage from his Frampton Comes Alive! 35th anniversary tour.  Live In Detroit features 17 tracks, including versions of several songs on his monumentally successful double live release of 1976 and I Don't Need No Doctor, a fan favorite from Frampton's days with Humble Pie.  The Eagle Rock Entertainment release of the concert will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray.
 

Guitarist Joe Bonamassa did a short acoustic tour in Europe last summer. Now comes word that a CD and DVD of his July 2012 unplugged concert at the Vienna Opera House will get released in the UK in both CD and DVD formats.  Bonamassa was joined on stage that night by Irish fiddle player Gerry O'Connor and was also accompanied by musicians playing a range of instruments not at all associated with the blistering electric sets Bonamassa fans usually hear at his concerts.  The show did feature titles from his electric set lists, including Driving Towards The Daylight, Sloe Gin and Around The Bend.  Whether US fans will be able to pick up a domestic release isn't yet known.
Music-News.com

Be nice to drop by Eric Clapton's London home and have him do some picking and hear him recount stories about the first time he heard Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix.  We can, virtually.  EC recently sat in his den with one of the limited edition Eric Clapton signature Fender guitars for a short promotional feature.

 

The Black Keys scored a trifecta, with El Camino collecting the top honor for Best Rock Album and the album's Lonely Boy winning Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 55th Grammy Awards ceremony in LA Sunday (2/10). The Akron, Ohio band that just a few years ago was barnstorming the country in a van playing any dive that would have them, performed the song on music's biggest stage accompanied by Dr. John on piano and members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  Black Keys lead singer Dan Auerbach had an especially sweet night. In addition to the big night his group had, he picked up the Producer of the Year award for his studio work on albums that included Dr. John's Locked Down.
Late in the evening, Elton John, Mavis Staples, Zac Brown, Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes and a host of others performed The Weight in tribute to Levon Helm.

Bruce Springsteen never appears very comfortable without a microphone or guitar in his hand and his band behind him.  But The Boss was willing to squirm and blush a bit in order to appease those that wanted to honor him both for his artistic accomplishments and the considerable amount of time, effort and his own money he puts into causes he believes in.  A measure of the charitable donations Springsteen makes toward organizations he also urges fans to support is the fact that, despite massive earnings from royalties and concert tour, you won't find Bruce listed in the top tier of the wealthiest Rockers.
Springsteen, his wife and band mate Patti Scialfa and Bruce's mother were all on hand Friday (2/8) when he received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.  So were several high profile friends, including Bonnie Raitt and Jon Stewart. Before the ceremony got underway, the honoree signed a guitar being autographed to support the organization's charity work, promising the high bidder a dish of his mom's lasagna, a guitar lesson and a ride in the sidecar of his Harley.  The signed axe brought a top bid of $250k.

Telegraph.co.uk



 

In November of 1973, the Who famously solicited a drummer from the audience to take over after Keith Moon passed out on stage.  Tuesday (2/5) in San Diego, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey had just enough lead time to slot a replacement they could have total confidence in after Zak Starkey let them know he was too ill to perform.  Scott Devours, who drummed behind Daltrey during his solo tour of Tommy performances, was close enough to get to the Valley View Casino Center in time for the gig.  How did he do performing songs from the 1973 follow-up to Tommy? Roger posted on the band's web site, 'Quadrophenia's not an easy piece.  To do what Scott did took real guts.' The site reported that he '...was magnificent', and performed '...to the delight of everyone - onstage and off'.
Gibson.com

MORE WHO INSIGHTS

The Grammy roll-call of musicians that passed away during 2012 during annual awards ceremony (Sunday, 2/10 CBS) will include a musical salute to Levon Helm. T Bone Burnett, Brittany Howard from the Alabama Shakes, Mavis Staples and Zac Brown will perfrom the Band classic The Weight in honor of the drummer, who died of cancer last year.  Mumford & Sons will also team up with Elton John in tribute to Helm during the program.
Love For Levon, the tribute concert for Helm that was staged last fall in New Jersey, will be aired on AXS TV Feb. 17 and by PBS stations during pledge campaigns. The release feature 2 hours of footage from the concert that included Warren Haynes, Gregg Allman, Joe Walsh, Roger Waters, Jacob Dylan, John Hiatt, David Bromberg, Grace Potter, Robert Randolp[h and My Morning Jacket.  An additional 2 hours of additional video content abourt Levon and his Midnight Ramble performance studio will also be included in the package.
GlideMagazine.com


 

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Well-heeled Jimmy Buffett fans willing to part with a chunk of change can pool their resources and charter the singer's personal slice of ocean going paradise.  Buffett's triple deck 124' yacht sports 5 staterooms, comes with a crew of 6, a 30' tag-along boat for shore excursions, diving and fishing, surfboards, a paddle boat, satellite TV, an entertainment distribution system that draws from a stockpile of 400 movies, oh, and is priced accordingly.  Your seven day excursion out of St. Barts in the winter and the Bahamas in the summer will set you back $65k (NOT including unspecified expenses).
PRWeb.com

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2013 is shaping up to be a big year for the Eagles.  In addition the full-fledged tour the band is preparing for, both Joe Walsh and Don Henley will things of their own on the side burners.  Walsh, who released his first solo record in nearly two decades last year, plans on doing solo dates and reuniting with his pre-Eagles band the James Gang for some gigs and possibly to record some new material.  Henley is wrapping up a long-term solo project he has been working on with help from Stan Lynch of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.  Named for the Texas county the drummer grew up in, Cass County will draw its titles from 18 songs that Henley and Lynch have worked on, according to an interview Henley recently did with WMGK-FM in Philadelphia.  he also revealed that he is working on an autobiography in which he hopes to, '...tell the truth and not get too salacious, or prurient or tacky'.
Radioio.com

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Whether the final product will be viewed as a portrayal or betrayal by Phil Spector will be interesting to watch. One thing is probably a lock; watching Al Pacino in the role of the idiosyncratic genius/tyrant that produced a lot of the biggest hits and acts of the 1960's should be riveting. The man behind the 'Wall of Sound' is behind bars serving a 19-Life sentence after being convicted in the shooting death of an actress at his Los Angeles area home in 2003.
Playing a character with Spector's rampant ego and quirky hot headed behavior should be right in Pacino's wheel house and HBO Films has hit home runs on past projects like this.

 

Originally expected out before the end of 2012, John Fogerty's album featuring collaborations with a number of musicians on Creedence Clearwater Revival classics finally has a firm release date.  May 28 is the when Wrote A Song For Everyone arrives, giving CCR fans a chance to hear revamped versions of Fortunate Son (Foo Fighters), Born On The Bayou (Kid Rock), Someday Never Comes (Bob Seger), Bad Moon Rising (Zac Brown Band), Proud Mary (Jennifer Hudson & Allen Toussaint with the Rebirth Brass Band, Almost Saturday Night (Keith Urban), Someday Never Comes (Dawes) and several others.
RollingStone.com

MORE JOHN FOGERTY INSIGHTS

The house Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was living in at the time of his death remains on the market several months after being listed for sale. The large, storybook looking cottage in Hartfield, UK has stirred interest but no offers close enough to the $3 million asking price to get a deal done. Jones had been booted from the band shortly before drowning in the pool behind the house on July 2, 1969.  One reason prospective buyers may be leery is that the history of the house makes it something of a magnet for uninvited visitors.  Not only was Cotchford Farms where Jones was last alive,  it was also where previous owner author AA Milne wrote Winnie The Pooh.
TheArgus.co.uk

MORE BRIAN JONES INSIGHTS

Steven Tyler bough a lavish vacation home on Maui not long ago.  Now, the Hawaiian legislature is considering enacting a law named for the Aerosmith front man that would offer him and other celebrities that live or vacation on the island some privacy from prying papparzzi with long-range cameras.  The Steven Tyler Act was introduced by Senator Kalani English after images of Tyler in his bedroom taken from a distance using a very high power lens went public.  It has the backing of nearly 20 members of the legislature.
KITVtv

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Those unable to cop tickets to the 2013 Glastonbury Festival will have the option of virtual attendance through comprehensive coverage plans announced by the BBC.  Using cutting edge digital equipment, the Brit broadcaster plans to offer live stream feeds from all four main stages throughout the event.  The first round of tickets made available long before a single act for 2013 had been announced sold out in record time last year.  A limited number of additional tickets that were held back will be made available during the month before the June 26-30 event. Recent speculation that the Rolling Stones will close the festival brought neither confirmation or denial from Mick Jagger.
NME.com