Kent:
They have revealed the line-up for next year’s Happy Together Tour, and if my memory is correct, this is the first time Little Anthony has joined the Summer fun!
Tom Cuddy
This definitely WOULD be the first time Little Anthony’s been onboard. Interesting!
(For years now I have been suggesting Lou Christie – but I think one MAJOR consideration here is that you have to be signed to Paradise Artists to get a crack at it.) But can you imagine how cool it would be to hear Lou Christie take the stage and sing half a dozen of his biggest hits!!! (kk)
The world is still reeling from the sudden and unexpected death of Christine McVie last week. In addition to the expected comments from her former bandmates, it was nice to see former President Bill Clinton chime in with:
In June of 1991, when I was still Governor of Arkansas, I flew to Los Angeles for an event. The young man who was driving me to my speech, Shawn Landres, asked me if I was going to run for President the next year. I told him I hadn’t made a decision yet. He told me, “Well, I think you should run, and when you do, this should be your campaign song.” Then he popped a Fleetwood Mac tape into the tape deck and played “Don’t Stop.” I’d loved that song and Fleetwood Mac for years, and as soon as Shawn suggested it, I knew it was a brilliant idea. Once I got in the race, some of my staff tried to get me to go with a more current song, but I held out and hoped I’d get permission to use it.
“Don’t Stop” was the perfect choice because politics at its best is about people and making the future better for them. Life requires all of us to live in the present and for the future. We can’t unlive or completely forget the past. And the memories of our victories and defeats, our mistakes and moments of pride, can make us wiser for what happens next. But if every day is consumed by the past, it’s another day lost in a quickly passing life.
When I was a student at Georgetown, my professor of Western Civilization, Carroll Quigley, taught me about the idea of “future preference.” He said that America became the greatest nation in history because our people had always embraced two important ideas: that tomorrow can be better than today, and that every one of us has a personal, moral obligation to make it so. I quoted him often throughout my 1992 campaign and both my terms in office, and “Don’t Stop” captured the sentiment perfectly, with both its lyrics and its upbeat, simple melody.
Everyone knows Christine McVie was a great songwriter, but it turns out she was a pretty good political philosopher, too. I’ll always be grateful to her – and to Mick, Stevie, John, and Lindsey – for being so generous in letting me use the song, for reuniting to play at my Inaugural, for giving me a lifetime of great music and memories, and, of course, for that roadmap to the future.
Bill Clinton
(Then he muttered something under his breath about “not having sex with that woman” … but the overall sentiment was very sweet.)
Clinton built his 1992 presidential campaign around the Fleetwood Mac hit “Don’t Stop.” In fact, the band even reunited to perform it at his inaugural ball!
From the band’s official statement:
“She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed.”
“A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away. I didn’t even know she was ill until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London; I wanted to get to London – but we were told to wait. So, since Saturday, one song has been swirling around in my head, over and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her, and so, I’m singing it to her now. “I always knew I would need these words one day. It’s all I can do now …”
[The song that Nicks is referring to is Ladies Haim’s 2019 composition, “Hallelujah”
She quoted the following lyrics:
I had a best
friend
But she has come to pass
One I wish I could see now
You always remind me
That memories will last
These arms reach out
You were there to protect me like a shield
Long hair running with me
Through the field … Everywhere
You’ve been with me all along
Why me?
How’d I get this hallelujah
Why me?
How’d I get this hallelujah
Why me?
How’d I get this hallelujah]
“See you on the other side.
“My love. Don’t forget me.
Always,
Stevie”
And this from Mick Fleetwood …
“This is a day where my dear sweet Friend Christine
McVie has taken to flight ... and left us earthbound folks to listen with bated
breath to the sounds of that “song bird”… reminding one and all that love is
all around us to reach for and touch in this precious life that is gifted to
us.
Part of my heart has flown away today ... I will miss everything about you, Christine
McVie. Memories abound ... they fly to
me.”
Mick Fleetwood
Lindsay Buckingham published a hand-written note that read:
“Christine McVie’s sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking. Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister. For over four decades, we helped each other create a beautiful body of work and a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today. I feel very lucky to have known her. Though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will live on through that body of work and that legacy.”
Lindsay Buckingham
I have to say that I was a bit surprised to never see a comment from her former husband John McVie, who brought Christine into the band in 1970. Seems kinda odd to me. (kk)
More on The Mac from Harvey The K …
In the June 12, 1976, issue of the now defunct Melody Maker, the UK music weekly, I interviewed Fleetwood Mac co-founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie for a feature story. I also attended several recording sessions when the band was cutting Rumours in West Hollywood at Larrabee studios.
Since their inception, Fleetwood Mac in several incarnations was always popular in the Southern California market on influential FM radio stations. They played at the Whisky A Go Go in 1970 and ‘71, and served as a support act for headliners on arena and stadium shows the first half of the seventies.
Fleetwood Mac: Bounces Back, June 12, 1976 Melody Maker
THE LAST YEAR has brought Fleetwood Mac a platinum LP – Fleetwood Mac – their eighth album for Reprise Records, from which two top ten singles, “Over My Head” and “Rhiannon,” have been culled.
Last week, months after its release, Fleetwood Mac was still lodged at number five in the American chart. Fleetwood Mac exemplify the notion that if you stick around and work hard enough, success is bound to happen.
Initially a by-product of the John Mayall School of Blues, circa '67, personnel changes, coupled with the growing sophistication of seventies audiences, has shifted the emphasis of their music from a British Rock pose to a "soft" song style reflecting the languid life of Southern California, where they now reside.
Enter tall and lanky drummer Mick Fleetwood. Sixteen months ago, when Bob Welch, after a four-year stint with the Mac, was leaving to form another group (later to be called Paris) Fleetwood ran into a guy at a supermarket.
"He told me about a studio, Sound City in Van Nuys,” recalls Fleetwood in an interview. “I went out there, since I was looking for a studio to do our next album, and they played me a tape of Stevie Nicks (female vocalist) and Lindsey Buckingham (guitars, vocals) which they had done a couple of years ago.
"At the time, I made a mental note about them, and soon after made a phone call to them asking if they wanted to join."
The two recruits brought new influences and stylistic direction, Buckingham contributing a harder rock sound, and Nicks providing a second female voice which allowed greater scope for harmonies.
"They called up and said, 'Do you want to do an album together?" remembers Stevie Nicks, then working as a waitress at Clementine's, a Beverly Hills singles joint. "Lindsey and I said, 'Are you kidding?' and joined." Buckingham was then punching the clock in the advertising world after the flop of their joint debut Polydor album, Buckingham-Nicks.
One of the reasons for Fleetwood Mac's current success is that they've always been a working group, but they had to make huge efforts to re-establish themselves after the “fake” Fleetwood Mac episode.
The band's former manager Clifford Davis, put an ersatz Fleetwood Mac band on the road and lined up a series of appearances. But, after much dispute, the real Fleetwood Mac, i.e. the one containing original members, won an injunction prohibiting the ex-manager from using the group's name. The suits and countersuits are still pending.
"We had to keep working and touring to establish our credibility. Musically, the band on record and live has always been fairly effective," says bassist John McVie.
"There's more room to stretch out, and it's more fun to play now. There's only so many ways you can play 12-bar blues, but I never felt restricted, and there's never been a conscious change in musical direction. The last album was more melodic, though, and we were able to bounce off harmony structures and ideas."
“Over My Head” was a monster hit in America. "We would never have picked 'Over My Head' as a single," Christine McVie said recently. But the radio stations did, and “Rhiannon,” the next 45, cemented a relationship with the important AM audience that Fleetwood Mac has been seeking in the States for years.
"People come up to me every place we play and tell me what an effect “Rhiannon” has had on their lives; as if it has some spiritual power over them," offers Nicks, whose tune about a Welsh witch, written two years earlier, is never off United States radio. Onstage, she is a focal point, and enlivens Mac's past low-profile performances.
"The success of the last album went beyond my wildest expectations," admits Fleetwood. "I mean, we were confident that we had made a dynamite recording … and felt a hell of a lot of new energy and dimension from Stevie and Lindsey.
"We concentrated on the US. In the States, our albums pretty much sold in the 200-250,000 range. We were always appreciated and we never lost anyone. The cult kept growing. Wide scale acceptance has always been around the corner. We started here at the club level and worked all the way up through small halls, second and third billings, headline status, and some outdoor things."
"We've always kept a low profile and away from hype," explains McVie. "That's the way we are as people. That was the only conscious thought about the band. We never wanted to be viewed or reported as the biggest thing since sliced bread.
"Me, Chris (McVie) and Mick have been working for a long time. We've eaten every day and had money for smokes. I'm proud we pushed ahead. The success now makes some justification for the effort of the past."
But there's an incredible dichotomy between their status in America and in England.
"What happened," suggests Fleetwood "is that the band was really a big band in England when Peter (Green) was in the band. We had hits, and everybody in the group was nurtured, and the people became possessive over the players.
"We started working less over there and more over here, even when Peter was in the group. People lost a grip on something that had been very intense. We started getting a following over here, and the band has been evolving since. Hopefully, towards the end of the year, if we do a European/English tour, they'll get a taste of the band, and I think they'll really like it."
McVie: "We moved here two and a half years ago. We moved after spending nine months in a lawyer's office, going through all the legal trips, Obviously, Los Angeles was the place to go. The record company was here, and communication is easier in America. We had to get out of England 'cause we were going crazy. We were driving up to London every day and spending all our time in an office."
"I think one day John and I will write a book on what's gone down," grins Fleetwood. "The only problem is that no one will believe us," shrugs McVie.
"John and I have been through some unbelievable moral/mental decisions," says Fleetwood. "But we never wanted to kick it. Perseverance and work kept Fleetwood Mac together and a lot of people before us gave up, sayin' this isn't worth it."
"We did interviews with Newsweek and People magazine recently," smiles McVie. "It's funny being on the same page next to a big article on Jimmy Carter. We're reaching audiences that never heard of Fleetwood Mac, and it's good to have finally gotten away from questions like, 'Whatever happened to Peter Green or Jeremy Spencer?' If Mick and I write the book, most people would think it was a science fiction story."
"People tell me all the time they hear our songs and old LPs on the radio. It's a buzz and a beautiful feeling to be discovered and rediscovered," says the likeable Fleetwood.
Indeed, the very tentative title for the next album is Yesterday's Gone, also the title of one of the songs.
"This album reflects every trip and breakup," says Fleetwood. "It isn't a concept thing, but when we sat down listening to what we had, we realized every track was written about someone in the band. Introspective and interesting, kind of like a soap opera. The album will show sides of people in this group that were never exposed before."
"What I'd like to do with Fleetwood Mac," McVie
interjects, "is to work out a three-hour history of the
group with an intermission which will cover material
from all of our career."
Harvey Kubernik
Hi Kent,
Just thought you and your readers would enjoy a couple of my favorite photos of Joel and Fran Whitburn.
Paul Haney
Record Research
Kent,
I just can't stop listening to this perfectly performed track. I recognize some of my friends' fathers playing on it - and the production is just right - but Brenda's voice is just so powerful on this. It might be the best vocal performance from her I've ever heard. It kinda reminds me of Lesley Gore's underappreciated "You've Come Back."
David Lewis
This was a new discovery for me, too … so thanks again, Brad, for introducing all of us to this great track. (And I think you already know how highly I rank Lesley’s track “You’ve Come Back!!!”)
Sharing it again for anyone out there who may not be familiar. (I never really noticed how much she sounds like Lulu on this track … or rather how much Lulu came to sound like Lesley Gore!) kk
We lost another great and inspiring athlete this past week when Gaylord Perry passed away at the age of 84.
There are few major league teams that Perry DIDN’T play for … but he made his mark in every city he graced during his 22 year career. (He actually only played for eight, including spending his first ten major league seasons with The San Francisco Giants.)
One of my favorite photos of Perry was of him in his multi-team jersey, listing all of the major league teams he played for.
When it came to pitching style, Perry was always good for “putting a little something extra” on the ball … and wound up with five 20-game winning seasons. He was inducted into The Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1991.
He was also the first pitcher in history to win the Cy Young Award in BOTH leagues, first for the Cleveland Indians in 1972 and then again for the San Diego Padres in 1978.
Despite his notoriety as being one of the game’s best spitball pitchers … he even titled his autobiography “Me And The Spitter”!!! … he was actually only ejected from a game one time – and that wasn’t until 1982! (He clearly had his art down to a science!) (kk)
Kent,
In the mid to late sixties for about some 2-3 years, 1966-1968, DJ Ronnie Kaye who worked for WKY-AM 930 had a weekly dance show on Channel 4 called THE SCENE. It was an hour long with the kids dancing to the hits of the day, similar to American Bandstand. His theme song for the show was the DC Five's AT THE SCENE.
Larry
Definitely a Forgotten Hit … but I always loved it. (A bit reminiscent of Paul Revere and the Raiders’ hit “Just Like Me,” I thought … and perhaps a bit inspired by their earlier hit remake of “I Like It Like That.” Still, it’s NOT one you’re likely to hear anywhere anymore these days ... and that’s a shame because it totally exemplifies the Dave Clark Five sound. (It also has one of my very favorite DC5 B-Sides, “I Miss You,” which I’ve always felt could have been a hit single on its own. “At The Scene” peaked at #12 in Record World (and #18 in Billboard) – and we’ve got BOTH sides of this record to share with you today! (kk)
A couple of interesting pieces from Tom Cuddy …
Anne Murray Interview: The Legendary Singer Reflects On Her Life And Career
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/anne-murray-interview/
Now this is something I will DEFINITELY want to check out! (Heck, we watched the Helen Reddy biopic ... FOR SURE we're going to want to see this documentary when it comes out here Stateside!) kk
What’s
Your Name/Who’s Your Daddy? A Chat With The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2022/12/02/whats-your-namewhos-your-daddy-a-chat-with-the-zombies-colin-blunstone/
Hmm ... maybe for my half-birthday (!!!)
A brand new 3-CD /BluRay box set of The Alan Parsons Project's "A Turn Of A Friendly Card!"
ROLLING STONES ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF THE DEFINITIVE LIVE BEST OF, ‘GRRR LIVE!’
 |
ALBUM TO FEATURE THE BAND’S HITS FROM THEIR 60 YEAR CAREER, REMIXED AND RE-EDITED RECORDED LIVE ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY FEATURES GUESTS INCLUDING THE BLACK KEYS, GARY CLARK JR, LADY GAGA, JOHN MAYER, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & MICK TAYLOR TRAILER LINK HERE |
|
The Rolling Stones have announced the release of GRRR Live!, THE definitive live hits album from the band’s career. Released on February 10 via Mercury Studios, the album will be available in various formats; 3LP black, 3LP coloured white (Indies exclusive) 3LP red (d2c exclusive), 2CD, DVD + 2CD, BluRay+ 2CD. The Blu-ray and digital versions will include Dolby Atmos. The best live band in the world deserve the ultimate live greatest hits album and GRRR Live! is it, The Stones at their best! The album is available to pre-order here and features some of the greatest songs of all time including It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It), Honky Tonk Women, Start Me Up, Gimme Shelter, Sympathy For The Devil and (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The Rolling Stones celebrated their golden anniversary in 2012 & 2013 by embarking on the 50 & Counting Tour, a 30-show itinerary for North America and Europe. On December 15, 2012, the band took the stage at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center for the final of four shows in the New York area. Featuring guest appearances by The Black Keys (Who Do You Love?), Gary Clark Jr & John Mayer (Going Down), Lady Gaga (Gimme Shelter), Mick Taylor (Midnight Rambler) and hometown hero Bruce Springsteen (Tumbling Dice), the concert proved to be one of the most memorable shows in the band’s history. Since its original airing on pay-per-view in 2012, this show has not been available to fans until now. The concert has been re-edited and the audio has been remixed. Three songs from the December 13 show (also in Newark) will be available as bonus features on the DVD and Blu-ray: Respectable (with John Mayer), Around And Around, and Gimme Shelter. |
|
GRR Live! Track Listing: CD1 CD2 THE ROLLING STONES’ GRRR LIVE! WILL BE RELEASED ON MULTIPLE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL FORMATS BY MERCURY STUDIOS ON FEBRUARY 10, 2023. PRE-ORDER HERE |
|
|
http://www.facebook.com/therollingstones www.instagram.com/therollingstones www.youtube.com/therollingstones
A smiler from Chuck Buell … More Kotal and Buell Misadventures! One Winter's Day 2022 Somewhere in Illinois ~~~
|
CB ( which stands for "Comfort-station Boy!" )
And one from Mike Wolstein …
Ozzy Osbourne turned 74 yesterday! (b. 12-3-48)
