A Boy Named Shel …
Hi, Kent ...
Had to send this. Shel graduated from my alma mater 19 years before I
did. Lotsa famous folks came from RHS.
Mike
Now that’s pretty cool!!! I had to dig out Shel’s original version of this ‘60’s classic, too! (kk)
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who have been lending their talents to reimagining some great pop tunes over the past few years (Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, The Carpenters, others) have their own brand new album coming out October 28th.
It’s a tribute to Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” in honor of the LP’s 50th anniversary. They’ll perform Oldfield’s album in its entirety along with a few other songs of his for good measure.
And, speaking of new album releases, Bruce Springsteen is set to drop an album of covers of some of his R&B favorites. This one will become available in November (on 11/11.)
Titled “Only The Strong Survive” (named after the featured Jerry Butler tune from 1969), this one has been a dream project of Springsteen for quite some time – and he covers a number of familiar tunes (“Someday We’ll Be Together,” “Turn Back The Hands Of Time,” “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” “I Wish It Would Rain” and “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted”) as well as the obscure (“I Forgot To Be Your Lover” by William Bell and “Soul Days,” a Dobie Gray track, both of which feature Sam Moore, formerly of Sam and Dave, singing along with The Boss on a couple of tracks, perhaps as a means of providing some authenticity to the project. (Early reports say the LP it’s quite good … but fans seem a bit disappointed that Bruce didn’t include The Soul Survivors’ hit “Expressway To Your Heart,” a song he has performed in concert numerous times.)
Bruce and the E Street Band take off on an international tour beginning in February of next year. (kk)
More here:
But the big story this past week has been about the new Beach Boys Deluxe 6-CD release showcasing their “Carl and the Passions” and “Holland” LP’s.
The set boasts TONS of bonus material, an entire live concert from this era, remixed versions of their two albums and more.
Unfortunately, huge Beach Boys collector that I am, I’m having a hard time getting too excited about this one because I have always found these two LPs to be among their weakest. (I can barely make it thru the original track list for each … there’s just no way I want to listen to 100 “new” versions that were never deemed good enough for release in the first place!) So I’m going to take a pass on this one. (kk)
Still, in The Beach Boys Universe, this is a very big deal … as Capitol / Brother continues to celebrate their 60th Anniversary.
You can read LOTS more about it here …
John Mellencamp has announced a massive 76 date tour that’ll kick off in February. Looks like there’ll be a whole lot of Midwest appearances on this one.
(The list’s too long to run here … but you can check it out here:)
https://bestclassicbands.com/john-mellencamp-2023-tour-9-29-22/
Phil Collins and Genesis have sold their song rights for $300 million. (Songs written by Peter Gabriel are NOT part of this sale.) How lucrative is their catalog? One report states that Collins alone was earning upwards of $6 million per year in royalties.
This is just the latest in a long series of artists cashing in on their catalog of work. As many of these artists get older, this has proven to be a great way to take care of their families for generations to come.
Meanwhile, Phil Collins’ son Nic will be joining the Mike + the Mechanics tour. (Nic took over the drumming duties on Genesis’ farewell tour this past year when it became to painful for Dad to pound the skins. Phil actually performed a number of shows sitting in a chair due to excruciating back pain. VERY cool that Mike Rutherford’s Genesis side project now has some “family ties.” (kk)
