TUESDAY THIS AND THAT:
Many more of your comments (spilling over from Sunday and, as you'll see, the past week or two!!!)
We’ve been telling about the new deluxe Rascals box set that covers their entire Atlantic Records recording career.
Here is a more in-depth look and review of this material …
https://theseconddisc.com/2024/06/06/the-rascals-complete-atlantic-studio-recordings-now-sounds/
Clicking on the Amazon link, it shows that only USED copies are currently available! Did this thing REALLY sell out that fast?!?!
I already have the original collection that Rhino put out several years ago, which covers virtually the exact same material …
But this new box packaging is just SO beautiful, it’s hard to pass it up!
Harvey Kubernik fills us in, along with a few words
from each of the original participants …
https://bestclassicbands.com/rascals-interviews-harvey-kubernik-5-30-24/
Michelle Phillips turned 80 years old this past week.
(Note: This photo was taken a few years ago - kk)
The last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas, Michelle may have contributed the least vocally to the band (although her reading of the old Shirelles’ classic “Dedicated To The One I Love” is one of my all-time favorite recordings EVER), she certainly was the most striking member of the group … beautiful and the picture of hippie fashion.
Happy Birthday, Mama Michelle! (kk)
Once again, I find that Ultimate Classic Rock has come up with a fascinating topic for discussion … but, as usual, I find myself disagreeing with the majority of their choices.
Still, it makes for a fun and enlightening read …
So why don’t YOU have a gander … and see how many YOU agree with!!! (kk)
Eminem samples Steve Miller’s “Abracadabra” on his new “The Death Of Slim Shady” LP. (Actually, it runs throughout nearly the entire song!)
Em is apparently putting the character who helped launch his career to rest once and for all. (We’ll see!) Anyway, the new track is called “Houdini” and you can see it / hear it on YouTube right now ...
Or just watch it below!
And apparently Steve Miller couldn’t be happier about it!!!
Hey EM,
There is a long chain of stories, poetry, lyrics, and musical roots that have
crossed cultures and generations inspiring the whole world for hundreds of
years and in all those lines of thought, music, and rhythm there are special
artists who take it all in and create new original ideas from their own
feelings and experiences. You are one of those timeless originators building
something new on a long musical legacy of original artists.
For me it’s Les Paul, T-Bone Walker, Bill Doggett, Johnny Guitar Watson,
Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Willy Dixon, Leiber &
Stoller, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane & Miles Davis. I have always
tried to credit, honor, and respect the major influencers in my life and to
always credit, honor royalties and share knowledge of their work through my own
work. I didn’t know it would be this way when I was a kid trying to make a
living playing music and making records, I only knew I had to respect the art
that came before me and fight for it too among all the crooks, thieves, and
imposters.
There aren’t many artists who take the time or make the effort to stand up for
themselves and credit and respect their influencers at the same
time. Marshall Mathers you are an exception and on my short list of
people who respect the art. To be included in your process feels good while I’m
still singing and playing the music I love. I’m Honored.
Thank you,
Steve Miller
I should think he would be happy …
Sales and downloads of Miller’s catalog have skyrocketed since Eminem sampled “Abracadabra” on his new CD … and Marshall Mathers’ catalog sales aren’t too doing badly either, now that he appears to be putting his alter-ego Slim Shady to rest! (kk)
Lots of talk about Michael McDonald’s new book …
But Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish, who scored Top 20 Billboard Hits between 1995 and 1998) has got one, too …
Billboard Magazine finally pays tribute to Elvis Presley’s ENTIRE career this week, looking at his 32 Top 100 Hits from BEFORE The Hot 100 was founded in August of 1958. These account for Elvis’ first eleven #1 Hits … and, for the first time since they adopted their stance of “Nothing matters before we launched The Hot 100 Pop Singles List,” they’re actually compiled side-by-side between all of the ranking charts in existence at the time. (I’m not sure Jukebox Plays and Disc Jockey Plays should rank quite as equally as actual sales and airplay charts but hey, it’s a start!)
So, looking back in time, here are Elvis Presley’s Top 37 Biggest Top Ten Hits of All Time …
(by the way, Joel Whitburn’s book ranks Elvis with 38 Top Ten Hits … but that’s because Billboard lists “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” as the same record, even though BOTH sides of that record topped the chart under its own title.)
Still … it’s progress!!! (kk)
June 2nd marked what would have been Charlie Watts’ 83rd birthday.
Harvey Kubernik remembers …
Dave Hogan: Photo Credit
KUBERNIK: CHARLES ROBERT WATTS-AN APPRECIATION
Charlie was a friend of mine since the early nineties. We never talked about the Rolling Stones. Just jazz.
In my 2014 book "Turn Up The Radio! Pop, Rock, and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972" published by Santa Monica Press, I asked Charlie about a Stones' 1964 recording session at RCA.
"While we were recording in Hollywood, I went to Shelley's Manne-Hole twice - once to see Charles Lloyd, Albert Stinson [with Gabor Szabo and Pete LaRoca], and the Bill Evans Trio with Paul Motian on drums [and Chuck Israels]. I saw Shelley at his club."
Charlie was always thankful I introduced him to drummer Stan Levey, who he saw in 1960 with Stan Kenton at Wembley. Earlier this century we had lunch at the Levey house in Sherman Oaks and Charlie arrived in a cab from The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, wearing perfectly pressed blue jeans, to join Jim Keltner and I.
He relished the Chico Hamilton autograph I personally got for him, and was delighted by the gift I gave him of a Shelley Manne coffee table limited edition book. I fondly recall how Charlie described the thin drum sticks that Shelley used on the bandstand and in the studio. I was a Ludwig 7a wood tip guy.
Charlie supplied a testimonial quote for the back cover for a Buddy Collette album I produced and invited myself, brother Kenneth and Buddy to his big band concert at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood.
Jim Keltner and I later connected Charlie with met drummer Freddie Gruber. Lots of marvelous Buddy Rich and Max Roach tales.
On one Stones' tour this century, we had a pre-show chat with the legendary drummer Earl Palmer. He had finally met Earl years earlier at The Palace in Hollywood. In the sixties, Charlie visited a Phil Spector recording session at Gold Star Studio in Hollywood, invited by arranger/keyboardist Jack Nitzsche. He loved the Crystals' record "Da Doo Ron Ron." Earl or Hal Blaine played drums on the track.
On occasion, he referenced his drum set up at Olympic Studio in Barnes, London, and Sunset Sound and Ocean Way in Hollywood. During 1997, he invited me to a slew of recording sessions at Ocean Way by the Stones during their "Bridges to Babylon" studio bookings.
There is one memorable Charlie Watts sighting at The Jazz Bakery venue in Culver City when he went to see Elvin Jones. Charlie, in a dashing custom-made suit, was greeted and embraced after the show by the drummer drenched in stage sweat. Witnesses knew Charlie wasn't concerned at all about going to the dry cleaner the next morning.
In 2016, Charlie and Jim Keltner invited me to a Rolling Stones' rehearsal in North Hollywood. I carried some cymbals into the room with Jim's lead tech and cartage man that were put on Charlie's kit. He handed me a tambourine from one cymbal stand that I briefly shook for 20 seconds as the band jammed.
Ronnie Wood saw it and said, "Hey. You're big time. At our rehearsal. It's your dream gig? Right?" And I replied, "Yes. But it is not lost on me and just as important is that you were the bass player on Jeff Beck's "Truth" LP." That blew him away. Keith Richard heard our exchange and laughed out loud. Ronnie hugged me. Then they both handed me their guitar picks.
Charlie smiled ...
A couple of years ago, I saw Charlie at Don Randi's Baked Potato Club in Studio City. It was an event honoring Hal Blaine on his 90th birthday party. Charlie contributed some autographed drum sticks to a charity auction being held in the room.
Over the last few decades, my brother and I would send and give Charlie rare jazz videos. He really dug them. In my last conversation with him, after he visited the Motown Museum in Detroit, Charlie indicated he was building a collection of rare drum items.
May his beat go on and on...
HK
Harvey Kubernik also reminds us that last week marked the 55th anniversary of the first Crosby, Stills and Nash album!
Crosby, Stills, Nash: 55 Years On
By Harvey Kubernik © Copyright 2024
On April 27, 1966, after a Hollies’ press party event was held at Imperial Records in Hollywood, GO! Magazine weekly music columnist Rodney Bingenheimer invited Graham Nash to attend a nearby Mamas and Papas recording session of “Dancing Bear” at Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard.
Graham then met and talked at length with group member Cass Elliot.
“I only went with Rodney to see Michelle (Phillips). But Michelle, Denny (Doherty) and John (Phillips) were doing an overdub in the studio, and Cass was outside the studio. So I started talking to Cass.
“You know the truth is there’s a part of me that really believes none of this would have happened without Rodney. Incredible music has been made from that moment.
During the afternoon of April 28, 1966, matchmaker Cass picked up Graham at the Knickerbocker Hotel and introduced him to David Crosby at her house in Laurel Canyon. Crosby subsequently connected Nash to Stephen Stills, and Crosby, Stills and Nash was formed.
“We were staying in Hollywood at the Knickerbocker and she picked me up around noon in her convertible Porsche. I said, ‘Where we going?’ ‘We’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t worry’ … and drove me up to Laurel Canyon and I met Crosby. And once again, my life has never been the same.
“It not lost on me that you can be in the Laurel Canyon from Hollywood in five minutes. Not like in England where it’s 90 minutes, that’s to get to the nearest bus stop. So, I was in heaven. I was free. My first wife and I were getting divorced. I had already separated from Rose. I was a free man. And I must tell you that I took to the Laurel Canyon scene like a duck to water. It was just amazing to me that these people would be living in this kind of very rural area.
“I just felt so free. And more importantly, I felt appreciated. And that goes a long way with me. If you know what it is I can do and you appreciate that, I feel a lot better about things. And it seemed to be the Hollies’ reputation in the Laurel Canyon scene was a big one.
“I felt fantastic. I know that because of the British invasion
and what British music was doing to the American scene, and how admired British
groups were by American groups, I felt pretty confident in myself. You know, I
happen to believe, and this is not ego talking, I’m pretty good at what I
do.”
I wanted to know what it’s like for Graham to revisit and still sing his songs
and CSN&Y selections from 1969-1971 and why are they are still relevant
today?
“It’s the same thing, kid. If I can sing you a song with my guitar and piano and knock you on your ass it’s a great song,” summarized Graham. “And it doesn’t matter how many people you are playing it for. The essence of the song and what the song says still lives to this day.”
On August 18, 1969, CSNY played the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, only their third live show together.
“Woodstock … The rain, and the mud, and the getting together of a half a million people that thought the same way that we did,” remembered Nash in a 2007 interview published in MOJO.
“Hanging out backstage in John Sebastian’s tent after landing in the helicopter that had a couple of problems. Getting into the tent and of course John [Sebastian] breaking out his best stash. And then realizing that nobody there has ever seen our band. And this is the Grateful Dead, The Band, Ritchie Havens, John Sebastian, Santana. None of them had ever seen us. They loved the record and they were all going, ‘Well, you know, fuckin’ show us.’ ‘Shit or get off.’”
Neil Young performed songs like “Mr. Soul” and “On the Way Home” for the massed gathering, but he was not to be glimpsed in the Michael Wadleigh-directed Woodstock film documentary which was screened theatrically in 1970. Having felt distracted by the omnipresent cameras and only wanting to play for the throng, Young didn’t sign the artist release form for movie exhibition.
Although Neil declined to be in Woodstock, his song “Sea of Madness” was included on the very lucrative soundtrack album — the product that changed the retail record and youth culture business forever.
Strangely, though, the version that was chosen for the package was actually taped at a CSNY Fillmore East show a month after the festival.
“I could never figure out why Neil didn’t want to be a part of the Woodstock film,” mused Nash.
I wanted to know about “Sea of Madness” and the inclusion of it in CSN&Y’s 1969-1970 repertoire.
“(Neil’s) ‘Sea of Madness’ organ kicked into the band. And all of that was pretty spontaneous. And none of this was calculated. And that’s one of the things that have been so fascinating about this band is that there is very little planned.
“The song is planned,” he reinforced, “the way we’re gonna do it is up for grabs, and the way it’s gonna get played is up for grabs. But we’ve always been smart enough to realize that in that search in that scent of discovery of what it is about what we’re about to do we don’t bring too much to the equation. We have a song, we know we can play it, we know how it’s going to basically go and the rest is up for grabs. And that’s been one of the great musical things about CS&N and CSN&Y.”
Nash talked about CS&N’s epic debut LP and his first encounter with Neil Young.
“There were no formal rehearsals before we went into the studio. Our rehearsals consisted of private going through the tune, and then saying, ‘Let’s go to (Peter) Fonda’s house! Let’s go to Paul Rothchild’s house! Let’s go to Alan Pariser’s house! Let’s go and sing them this shit!’ Eventually we could sing that entire album on a couple of acoustic guitars and blow people’s minds.
“When I first went in to Wally Heider’s studio on Cahuenga in Hollywood to record with engineer Bill Halverson, I thought it was small and it was funky. I never met Bill Halverson. We got in Crosby’s Volkswagen van and drove up to the studio and brought our guitars and amps out and started to make the records.
“We knew that we had fabulous songs. I would never play anybody a song if I didn’t feel two things: One that it got past me. And two and I would hope that it would be interesting for you to hear. So, I have those two criteria whenever I’m writing. First of all, it has to get past me. I have to figure out whether the song has to resonate, has a reason for existing, and after that, do I want to put this on to somebody else? And if the answer to those two questions is yes, then you’ll get to hear the song. Cass sings on ‘Pre-Road Dawns.’ We found a spot for her to join on us a vocal.
“This album kind of made itself. We had the songs. We had the energy. We were happy as fuck. All of us, Stephen was going out with Judy (Collins). I was with Joni (Mitchell), and David was with Christine. (Hinton). How better could life be? And Crosby had a lot to do with the best herb,” laughed Nash.
“When we finished the album we realized that we would have to go out and play live,” ventured Nash. “We knew it was going to be a hit when we walked out of the studio and gave the two-track to Ahmet Ertegun. And I have a photograph of David and Stephen outside the studio with Ahmet at that very moment. We knew it was going to be a smash. We just knew. Ahmet got it immediately.
“He listened to that music and said, ‘Ah fuck … I want it.’ So they worked it out between [David] Geffen and Ahmet. I was on Epic, Columbia wanted Poco, and there was a trade and we all ended up with Ahmet, for which we were incredibly glad.
“But we realized we would have to go out and play live. OK. So, we’re talking about this. And, Stephen says, ‘Man, I really need to spark off somebody. You and David are pretty good rhythm guitar players but man, I wish we had another … Somebody, maybe an organ player that I can jam with and solo.
“We talked with Stevie Winwood. We talked with Van Dyke Parks. We needed somebody just to keep Stephen on his game and competitive and on fire. And I think basically that Stephen and Ahmet came up with the idea of or maybe it was Ahmet to Stephen, was getting Neil on board.
“I was the only one reluctant to bring Neil into the band. And the reason was that we had spent the last few months making this incredible record and developing this beautiful harmonic sound, right. But Neil wanted to be more than a musician for the road show. I can’t commit this. I know who Neil is.
“One of my favorite songs is ‘Expecting To Fly’ from Buffalo Springfield Again that he did with Jack Nitzsche. Listen to it. So I knew who Neil was and I loved this fucking song. I was a big fan of the Buffalo Springfield. How could you not? I listened to Buffalo Springfield. ‘On The Way Home.’ That’s a great one. ‘For What It’s Worth.’
“But I said ‘I can’t commit to this until I meet Neil. I gotta sit down with this cat. I wanna know who he is. I wanna know if I can go on the road with him. I wanna know if I want him to be a part of my life.’ And, that made sense to them.
“So, at a coffee shop on Bleeker Street in New York I went and had breakfast with Neil. After that breakfast I would have made him the President of Canada. He was incredibly funny. He had an incredibly dry sense of humor. He always had a bunch of songs that I loved, ‘Expecting To Fly’ being the primary example. And at the end of that breakfast and walked down to the Village Gate where we were rehearsing and I said, ‘OK.’
“It was obvious that this man was as serious as a heart attack about his music. It was obvious by hanging out with him that he was destined for great things. And it was obvious by hanging out with him that he could put a fire under Stephen that we needed. ‘Well, have you ever seen me and Stephen play together?’”
“We rehearsed for our first tour on the Warner Bros set of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They in Burbank,” Graham confided to me. “So, it was pretty obvious from the sounds I was listening and the way that Neil was affecting Stephen that this would be a really great thing. The music got better on stage. Because we were actually doing it, and I didn’t know where it was gonna go after they started playing.
“When we started touring we used to begin acoustic. We would start with ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ and blow their minds. What would happen is that the curtains would open and there would be a line of Martins, and the drums and the bass. And then we’d say, ‘We’d like to introduce you to our friend, Neil Young.’ And the place would go fuckin’ bananas, right.”
In the last week of August 1969, my brother Kenneth and I sat up front at L.A.'s Greek Theater. We’re teenagers but even we recognize that this particular concert has a gravity that distinguishes it from previous rock 'n' roll shows we’ve attended, where little was at stake beyond experiencing a dizzying euphoria. This night's music insisted on our undivided attention, that we sit up and listen, really listen.
A beguiling young singer/songwriter from Canada strolled onstage. Accompanying herself on guitar, Joni Mitchell's unerring command of mood, of tempo, of temperament, her reverence for the deeply personal as a means to explore the universal, showcases a talent of a higher order. The audience was now suitably primed. She was followed by the headliners, fresh off a tumultuous success at Max Yasgur's upstate New York farm - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
What Ken and I recall most clearly were, of course, those exquisite vocal harmonies; the finely-wrought arrangements, all those gleaming guitars - acoustic and electric - lined up like a phalanx of artillery ready to rumble; Neil, sitting at a Hammond B-3, smearing chords while "Sea of Madness" crackled like thunder.
In 2020 I asked Ken what he recalled about this gig. In 1967 we saw Buffalo Springfield at the nearby Hollywood Bowl venue.
“An ocean of ink has washed ashore over the years detailing CSN&Y’s sumptuous sound (early on), the prima donna antics (Persian carpets and private jets), the sordid behaviours (aka the ‘Frozen noses’) and the endless fits masquerading as artistic license.
“It’s an exhausting litany and yet there were moments of such incandescent beauty that the whole tawdry enterprise was not beyond redemption. Bootlegs from the earliest gigs in summer 1969 - the Greek Theater and the Fillmore East in New York – document that ineffable, pitch-perfect rapport between voices and guitars in shimmering balance that toiled like church bells.”
Photographer Heather Harris was also in attendance at the Greek Theatre engagement.
“I sat far back in the bleachers with a borrowed telephoto lens to take a photo of CSN and their pal Y (for a few tunes) at the Greek Theatre in 1969. Joni Mitchell was the opening act. I so liked Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds that this was a much anticipated show.
“The harmonies were luscious but I wished even then that the material around it was a little more edgy. A whole set of ‘4 + 20,’ ‘Ohio’ or ‘Guinnevere’ (whom I had met at the Beverly Glen place of Crosby and deejay B. Mitchell Reed through one of her friends. She was amazingly worldly with hair past her derriere. Crosby's life would have been entirely different and positive had she not died in a car accident shortly thereafter) tempered material would have been more to my liking than ‘Marrakesh Express,’ ‘Our House’ ‘Lady Of The Island’ and so on ....”
“We knew we had the magic. We’ve always known. We’ve always known our music speaks to people’s hearts. We’ve always known it’s been as real as possible. We’ve always known that we’ve taken incredible chances. We’ve always known that we do things that are not normal for a band.
“We’ve always known that we’ve been completely in control. Once you sell millions of pieces of fuckin’ plastic, you have control. I say in my autobiography that in the early days of recording with the Hollies we weren’t allowed to even touch the board. If I wanted more bass, I’d have to ask Ron Richards (producer) who then would have to ask Peter Bown (engineer) to bring up the bass. After we’d had hit records that all changed. Because they began to realize that these guys who were not wearing white lab coats really knew what they were doing.
“And we never lost the ability to do what we do. We always wanted to be winners and not victims. If you don’t have the ability to call up a studio and say, ‘I’m coming in next Thursday through next Thursday and this is the band,’ and getting all the tape and engineers together, and if you lose that ability, that is a dreadful thing. And we have never lost that ability.
“I mean, a great example is my song ‘Teach Your Children’ going up in the top twenty and Ahmet Ertegun telling me I was ‘going to have a number one hit.’ Then there’s the killing of four students (shot by National Guardsman) at Kent State (in Ohio). And we do Neil’s song ‘Ohio.’ And we think America killing its children is more important than us having another hit record. And so I told Ahmet to pull ‘Teach Your Children,’ and put ‘Ohio’ out. We decided on ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’ as the B-Side.”
From Clark Besch …
SO, how many of you LOVE Clint Eastwood's 60's westerns? They were a huge part of my growing up in Dodge City and I still love them all as well as those classic Ennio Morricone themes! My older brother loved them and played them while I sat and listened in his room to these amazing themes.
Below, the Danish National Orchestra has re-enacted the making of these amazing themes. It is so cool to see what made some of these sounds and how accurately they have done these. Just so great, I had to send them, as my older brother who first turned these on to me 50+ years ago did and sent to me this morning.
BTW, they have many more themes recorded too on youtube.
If you a big fan of Clint Eastwood's Westerns like I am, these are amazing live performances of three of the Themes –
First, "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enuOArEfqGo
Next, "For A Few Dollars More" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1NJwEi6nw
And, "A Fistfull Of Dollars" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4niv522mbtM&list=PLlkT9yA7CIV-vk2a3KXlmNiB3IOKzD_lu
Clark
A release date has been announced for “The McCartney Legacy, Volume Two.”
This is a massive and incredibly detailed account of all of Macca’s recording sessions, with Volume Two focusing on the years 1974 – 1980. (I preordered my copy immediately thru The Fest For Beatles Fans, who will send you an autographed copy by authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, when it is released on December 10th.)
Highly recommended if you’re into meticulously researched material. (kk)
Cyndi Lauper is making the rounds with a farewell tour and a new documentary.
As Tom Cuddy tells us,
At 70, Cyndi Lauper Has Nothing Left to Prove
From Timmy …
We’ve seen the old Coke and Pepsi pop stars commercials circulating for quite a while now …
But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen or heard these Dr. Pepper spots before …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR0gjW6M7Vg
Here is a great profile of Gloria Estefan who, apparently, does her own laundry from time to time!!! (lol)
Seriously, I’ve always loved her music … so it’s great to hear that she’s now receiving another illustrious award to place on her mantel shelf!
We here at Forgotten Hits Headquarters think this might be real ...
It's a Chuck Buell Reality-based "Artificial Observation."
He writes ...
Every time I see or type the acronym for “Artificial Intelligence,” it looks like AI!
Wait. I mean, “AI” looks like the NAME “AI!”
Jeesh! Do I now have to always type AI’s name in uppercase?
“AL!”
Meanwhile, attached is AI’s song. I mean, “AL’s” song not “AI’s!” AI can create its own!
The Song is “You Can Call Me AI - But Not AI!”
Wow, I’ve just totally confused myself . . . . .
CB ( which stands for “Carbon-copy Boy!” )
( If, indeed, I actually DID write this . . . . )
While it was definitely fun to watch that clip again (a true classic!), we here at Forgotten Hit have taken a stricter approach on the subject …
To quote an old favorite by Cheryl Lynn …
It’s GOT TO BE REAL!!! (kk)
After sneaking thru the back door, The MC5 are finally being inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (after multiple years of being on the ballot but never earning enough votes to get in the right way!)
To help celebrate, now comes the announcement of a new album … their first in 53 years!
Wayne Kramer, the band’s leader, passed away in February … but had been working on these new tracks at the time of his death. Original MC5 Drummer Dennis Thompson also appears on a couple of tracks, and we’re also treated to special guest appearances by Slash, Don Was and a few others. (Actually, the first “sneak peek” track “Boys Who Play With Matches” sounds pretty darn good!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl3NMXG_shI&t=135s
Titled “Heavy Lifting,” the new LP will be available in October, just before the band’s induction into the Rock Hall. (kk)
A special six CD Deluxe Edition of The Police’s “Synchronicity” album will be available in July. (Some of these Super Deluxe Box Sets are just so over the top … the new John Lennon “Mind Games” box comes at a staggering cost but features all kinds of new inventive mixes … hard to get TOO excited when John himself never had the chance to hear them or weigh in with his thoughts as to how they sounded.)
Still, the “Synchronicity” set makes for some BEAUTIFUL packaging …
Disc 1 – The Original
Album (Remastered)
The original 11-track CD tracklisting
Disc 2 – B-Sides / Bonus Tracks
Comprehensive collection of all the relevant contemporaneous B-sides and
singles bonus tracks.
Disc 3 – Unreleased (Part 1)
17 previously unreleased alternate takes, out-takes, instrumentals and demo
recordings.
Disc 4 – Unreleased (Part 2)
A further 19 previously unreleased alternate takes, out-takes, instrumentals
and demo recordings.
Disc 5 – Live (Part 1)
Disc 6 – Live (Part 2)
Features the 19-track live concert recording from the Oakland Coliseum,
California in September 1983.
6 CD set includes a 60-page, lavish hardback color book featuring new liner
notes and interviews, unseen visual material and archival memorabilia, rare and
unseen photos, printed inner wallets and four art print photographs, all housed
in a hardback slipcase. Limited Edition. (kk)
And it's a Rolling Stones / Father's Day Weekend at The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame
A great time to hear some music and peruse the Rock Hall's new Rolling Stones Exhibit. (More information via the link below) kk
Being out of town for a few days with limited access to a computer (my account was, in fact, actually SHUT DOWN for four straight days for reasons that are WAY beyond my comprehension as to why), it’ looks like I never got the chance to increase my final bid on an auction I had been watching quite closely
John Lennon’s famous 12-string Hootenanny Guitar, used in the film “Help!” to perform the song “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” sold at Julien’s Auction last week.
While I felt quite secure with my bid of $350 (I sensed some type of harmony with the auction being held by Julien and John’s son being NAMED Julian … I felt that perhaps some of John’s well-talked about Instant Karma was FINALLY ready to rub off on me.
And yes, I DID expect there to be a last minute flurry of bids trying to secure this landmark piece of Beatle memorabilia, and was prepared to fight the fight ahead of me if necessary to secure this premier piece for $600 if I had to.
But lo and behold, I’m locked out of my account … and I find out the next day that it actually sold for a staggering $2.9 MILLION DOLLARS!!!
(Truth be told, that’s more than I had with me between cash and credit cards … so I ultimately would have lost the battle anyway …
But sometimes it’s fun just to compete, right???)
That $2.9 million winning bid surpassed the previous Beatles memorabilia record of $2.4 million for John’s Gibson J-160E, which sold in 2015.
Oh well … at least I tried. (kk)
And the newly released video of John singing “You Are Here” is simply beautiful …
Boy, he sure sounds good on this track … always one of my favorites from the “Mind Games” LP …
And, while we're on the topic of Ex-Beatle news, Paul McCartney announced yesterday that his "Got Back Tour" will resume October 1st in Uruguay ...
Tuesday, October 1st – Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, URUGUAY
Saturday, October 5th – River Plate Stadium, Bueno Aires, ARGENTINA
Friday, October 11th – Estadio Monumental, Santiago, CHILE
Wednesday, October 23rd – Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, ARGENTINA
Sunday, October 27th – Estadio Nacional, Lima, PERU
More dates are expected to be annnounced shortly.
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
6/11/64 - Chicago police break up a Rolling Stones press conference on a traffic island in the middle of Michigan Avenue
Bill Wyman: We went to a traffic island in the centre of Michigan Avenue, where we proceeded to hold a press conference. This was one of Andrew’s brilliant publicity stunts and it worked like a dream.
A bunch of shrieking girls and many onlookers caused quite a stir, and traffic began piling up. Soon we were forced to move on by police. We did, however, achieve what we set out to do, and that was to hit the TV news and papers. We moved to the sidewalk just north of the bridge, where we did TV, radio, photos and interviews.
Afterward, The Stones went back to Chess Records to continue their first US sessions.
Also on 6/11, Manfred Mann record “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”
It will go to #1 all over the world later this year
