The Rolling Stones played TWO shows in Chicago last week … and on Sunday, they were joined on stage by country singer Lainey Wilson, who performed their classic “Dead Flowers” with them.
The Stones also performed “Shattered” as the fan’s choice song of the night as well as the track “Before They Make Me Run” from their “Some Girls” album, the first time they’ve done that one on this tour.
Sunday’s set list included
“Start Me Up,” “Let's
Spend the Night Together,” “Rocks Off,” “Angry,” “Shattered,” “Dead Flowers,” “Whole
Wide World,” “Tumbling Dice,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Tell Me
Straight,” “Little T&A,” “Before They Make Me Run,” “Sympathy for the Devil,”
“Honky Tonk Women,” “Miss You,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It Black” and “Jumpin'
Jack Flash,” followed by the usual encores “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” and “(I
Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”
With five dates to go, the tour winds down on July 21st
in Ridgedale, Missouri. (kk)
A couple of news stories you’ve probably heard by now …
Michael J. Fox joined Coldplay on stage at Glastonbury last Saturday Night. Now confined to a wheelchair due to his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s Disease, Fox played guitar with the band.
Meanwhile, Pearl Jam was forced to cancel a series of shows in Europe due to on-going illnesses within the band. Their next show is scheduled for this Saturday in Barcelona, Spain … no word yet as to whether or not that show will go on as scheduled. (kk)
Don Henley has filed yet another lawsuit in an effort to get his handwritten lyrics back.
After the previous trial was thrown out of court due to negligence on Henley’s part, Don is now pushing for a jury trial, most likely in an effort to play upon the sympathies of jurors who have grown up listening to and loving his music for the past 50+ years.
The lyric sheets (over one hundred in all) were valued at over $700,000 in the previous trial – and Henley doesn’t want the folks who currently possess them to be pedaling these for profit. (The big dispute seems to be the circumstances under which Henley first gave “custody” of the lyric sheets to Edward Kosinski and Glenn Horowitz to use for reference while writing a book about Henley and The Eagles. Kosinski and Horowitz claim they were a “gift” … with no mention at the time of ever expecting them to be returned.
Here's how we covered this story back in March when the judge threw Henley’s case out of court:
‘60’s FLASHBACK:
In a completely unexpected move, the judge threw the Eagles’ lyrics case out of court on Wednesday (3/6) after prosecutors for Don Henley abruptly dropped the charges against the three men accused of stealing handwritten Eagles lyrics.
Henley reportedly failed to disclose thousands of pages of evidence on time and, by waiving his attorney-client privilege, thusly granted prosecutors access to over 6,000 pages of previously undisclosed materials, including emails between Henley, Eagles manager Irving Azoff and their legal team. Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes wrote in a letter to the court that the defense should have had an opportunity to cross-examine the prosecution about these materials.
Justice Curtis Farber had no choice …
"It is now clear that both witnesses and their lawyers, two of which also shielded themselves from thorough and complete cross-examination by relying on Mr. Henley’s invocation, used the privilege to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen. This is a basic confrontation violation.”
Henley had previously bought back some of his manuscripts but then decided that he wasn’t going to be extorted again. (Who knows … his best recourse right now may be to offer the three men on trial a fair purchase price that they can all live with. But it is FAR more likely that Henley will continue to pursue this matter in civil court instead.) kk
My guess is that before this is all said and done, Henley will have spent more on lawyers’ fees and court costs than he would have by simply negotiating a settlement fee and buying they lyric sheets back outright … but I DO totally understand his position on all of this …
I’m just thinking it’s probably already too late to handle this the right way. (kk)
Hi Kent -
I know that Burton Cummings is going to play at 4 Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan. Do you have the "lowdown" on how he is singing these days?
I know one time awhile back you saw him and said his voice was not to par and it was disappointing. Any info is appreciated as I know you are a big fan and if anyone would know it would be you!
As for me, it seems I am running to see friends in the hospital or rehab (this year, FOUR … yes FOUR!) But at least I am healthy for an old man of 73.
Always enjoy catching up on your website.
Thanks for all you do!!
Mike De Martino
Hey Mike! Haven’t heard from you in awhile so glad to hear you’re doing ok …
It really doesn’t get easy for ANY of us, does it??!
And that includes many of our musical heroes.
Honestly, I haven’t seen Burton perform in several years … after the Bachman/Cummings show was cancelled post-Covid, I haven’t even heard about him performing much … meanwhile, Randy’s got Bachman-Turner Overdrive up and running again and, from what I hear, sounding pretty good. (They’re opening for Heart on several dates but when we saw Heart a couple of months back, the opening act was Cheap Trick, who were SO loud as to be unenjoyable. Then Heart came out and blew us away.)
As to Burton’s voice, my comments were in response to the show he and Randy Bachman did for Canada’s Manitoba 150th Anniversary … but that, too, was a few years back already. (August of 2021) It was disappointing to hear him that night but every other time I’ve EVER seen or heard him perform, he’s been spot on … and is such an icon that it’s hard to imagine him not putting on a good show.
If you go see him at Four Winds Casino, please report back and let us know what YOU thought. Personally, I love the guy! (kk)
As we pass the halfway point of 2024, Best Classic Bands reminds us of some of the great artists we’ve lost so far this year …
Note: This is by no means a complete list …
We just abridged it to reflect the artists that pertain most to the era of music we cover here in Forgotten Hits …
John Barbata – drummer for The Turtles (and later, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Young and Jefferson Starship)
Dickey Betts – guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band
Eric Carmen – leader of The Raspberries as well as a very successful solo artist
Duane Eddy – guitarist and top instrumental artist from the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s
Henry Fambrough – The Spinners
Bill Hayes – singer and actor (“Ballad of Davy Crockett”)
Clarence “Frogman” Henry – “But I Do”
Frank Ifield – “I Remember You”
Doug Ingle – keyboardist for Iron Butterfly
Toby Keith – country singer
Wayne Kramer – lead guitarist for MC5
Steve Lawrence – pop singer, entertainer and actor
David Libert – The Happenings
Mike Pinder – The Moody Blues
Chan Romero – writer/singer known for “Hippy Hippy Shake”
Melanie (Safka) – “Brand New Key”
David Sanborn – jazz great
David Soul – Hutch of “Starsky and Hutch” who also had a #1 pop hit with “Don’t Give Up On Us”
Randy Sparks – The New Christy Minstrels
Richard Tandy – Electric Light Orchestra
Arthur Tavares - Tavares
Dennis Thompson – Drummer for MC5
Mary Weiss – The Shangri-Las
As well as:
Tony Bramwell – Beatles associate
Buzz Cason – songwriter (“Everlasting Love”)
Hank Cicalo – Producer/Engineer who worked with The Monkees and Carole King
Dabney Coleman – actor
Roger Corman – movie director
Louis Gossett, Jr - actor
Mark James – songwriter (“Suspicious Minds”)
Norman Jewison – filmmaker
Glynis Johns – actress (“Mary Poppins”)
Tom Kent – radio dj
Richard Lewis – comedian
Martin Mull – comedian/actor
Larry Page – British Manager/Producer (The Kinks, The Troggs)
Joyce Randolph – actress (“The Honeymooners”)
Chita Rivera – Broadway Actress
OJ Simpson – football great (and probable murderer of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson)
Donald Sutherland - actor
Jimmy Van Eaton – Drummer for Sun Records
Bill Walton – football great
Carl Weathers – actor (Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movie franchise)
Jerry West – basketball great
Melinda Wilson – wife of Brian Wilson
Speaking of which, here’s a great piece written by Ron Onesti (sent in by Tom Cuddy), talking about Rock And Roll Heaven …
Ron Onesti: We could use a piece of rock ’n’ roll heaven right now
Ringo Starr’s annual Peace And Love Birthday Celebration will take place again this Sunday, July 7th, in honor of The Beatles’ Drummer’s 84th Birthday.
It’s a worldwide celebration that you can take part in, too
And, if you happen to be in New York, you can join in with The Fest For Beatles Fans celebration …
Meet Up for Ringo's Birthday!
Sunday, July 7th
- Ringo's 84th birthday!
We will film a
message of Peace &
Love at NOON
sharp to send
to Ringo!!
Meet at 11AM on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum in a rally for Peace and Love!
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Hi Kent,
The Alan Parsons Project FINALLY played The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last night (June 30th) after cancelling two previously scheduled shows (one because of Covid and the other because Alan had spinal surgery.)
Although he charted eight Billboard Top 40 singles, I really only know his four biggest hits and was glad the group performed them all: “Eye In The Sky, “Time,” “Don’t Answer Me” and “Games People Play” (which was their last encore.)
The 7:30 pm show was over about 9:30 pm, with a short break after the first 45 minute set.
The show was sold out and the audience was enthusiastic.
Ed Salamon
Nashville. TN
Alan’s live shows are ALWAYS among our favorites … we’ve seen him several times now and it is always a spectacle to behold. (How they create all that musical magic live on stage is impressive enough … but doing it with essentially NONE of the original artists that performed on these tracks on the records pays high tribute indeed to the incredible musicians he surrounds himself with.)
We’ve been recommending this show now for year … glad you finally had the chance to take it all in. (kk)
Here is our review from the first time we ever saw him back in 2014 …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-alan-parsons-live-project-concert.html
I haven’t had the chance to watch this yet …
But Harvey Kubernik gives the new Stevie Van Zandt HBO documentary two huge thumbs up …
Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple-HBO Original Documentary
By Harvey Kubernik
I encourage FH readers to watch the HBO Original documentary STEVIE VAN ZANDT: DISCIPLE, directed by Bill Teck, which debuted June 22nd on HBO and is streaming on Max. It had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.
Stevie Van Zandt takes center stage in this feature documentary. Featuring a wealth of never-before-seen footage, the film traces Van Zandt’s career as a producer, musician, songwriter, activist, actor, and more, from the clubs of Asbury Park, N.J. to arenas and stadiums, to the Bada Bing Club and the Underground Garage.
From the HBO press release:
“A portrait of a
true renaissance man and passionate activist, STEVIE VAN ZANDT: DISCIPLE
chronicles the artist throughout his remarkable career while illuminating the
influential and enduring legacy he continues to have as a fervent champion of
rock ‘n’ roll and social justice.
“The documentary features exclusive interviews with many of Van Zandt’s
contemporaries, peers, collaborators, and friends, including Mike Stoller,
Bruce Springsteen, Darlene Love, David Chase, Vincent Pastore, Bill Wyman,
Peter Gabriel, Joan Jett, Ruben Blades, Richie Sambora, Eddie Vedder, Gary U.S.
Bonds, Southside Johnny (John Lyon), Paul McCartney, and Bono."
Film critic Richard Roeper in the June 21, 2024 issue of The Chicago Sun-Times hailed Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.
“In the comprehensive, entertaining and star-studded documentary Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, we’re also reminded of the myriad of other triumphs, setbacks and adventures in Stevie’s storied career, from co-founding Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes to his solo endeavors to a long and impressive record of political and social activism to being the program director for two channels on Sirius/XM. Disciple also benefits from a steady supply of archival photos and clips.
“It’s actually kind of remarkable how often someone had a still or movie camera at those early gigs in New Jersey, when Van Zandt and Springsteen were playing in a variety of different bands. The running time for the doc is a robust 2 hours and 27 minutes, but hey, the 73-year-old Van Zandt has lived too much life for it to be encapsulated in a zippy hour or so.”
CNN reviewer Brian Lowry on June 22, 2024 recommended it, too. “Sometimes documentaries get all they need from the subject, and in the case of Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, the who’s who of musical luminaries in his orbit don’t hurt either. Chronicling Steven Van Zandt’s colorful life as Bruce Springsteen’s frequent collaborator, The Sopranos’ weirdest mobster and an outspoken activist, Disciple plucks the right notes in a 2 1/2-hour marathon that’s still shorter than an average night’s work for the E Street Band.
“The HBO presentation begins with Van Zandt’s formative musical years in New Jersey, his bromance with Springsteen and the various characters and players that circled in and out of their respective endeavors. Once Van Zandt had achieved a measure of success as an artist, his political interests consumed him, advocating for the anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa and on behalf of imprisoned Native-American activist Leonard Peltier, among other causes. All those elements would be plenty entertaining on their own, frankly, but what really elevates Disciple is the dizzying list of bold-faced names that pop up seemingly at the drop of a guitar pick. The documentary bills Van Zandt as ‘New Jersey’s most famous consigliere to Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano,’ ut proceeds to show there’s much more to him than that. Like his trademark bandanas, Disciple wears its soul, and its love for the music these artists created, brightly displayed where all the world can see it.”
In 2024, touring again with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Steven has also found success and influence as the host and curator of the satellite radio station Underground Garage and other channels, director of a television drama series, Broadway producer, script writer, music education evangelist.
Launched by Van Zandt with the Founders Board of Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen, Teachrock.org has provided free, standards-aligned resources to help teachers, students, and families succeed for more than a decade. TeachRock improves students’ lives by bringing the sound, stories, and science of music to all classrooms. From the Beatles to Beyoncé, from kindergarten to AP History, in the classroom or remotely, TeachRock offers lesson plans all at no cost to teachers, students, and families, inspiring deeper learning and understanding through the power of music.
This year, Steven will appear in the documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which goes behind-the-scenes of the E Street Band's tour preparation process, premiering on Hulu and Disney+ this October.
Over the last 48 years I've conducted a number of interviews with Van Zandt, always about music and bands.
In 2014, Van Zandt sent me an email about the Doors for a book I was working on about them.
“I didn't like the Doors as a kid. I didn't get it. I was a total Anglophile on
top of being prejudiced against most things from the West Coast. Any
guitar player not from the Eric Clapton school was irrelevant, Mike Bloomfield
being the only exception, so I didn't appreciate Robbie Krieger's Ravi Shankar
influenced guitar style.
“Poetry was beyond me, the only exception being Bob Dylan, so Jim
Morrison's Rimbaud meets Dionysius routine went right over my head. John
Desmore's drum craft gently weaving the guitar and keys together was too subtle
in my world of Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, and BJ Wison. Ray Manzarek was
the exception, being obviously impressive with every keyboard player tested by
his ‘Light My Fire’ riff. But I wouldn't appreciate keyboardists playing with
one hand until much later (he played bass with the left).
“Nobody in my neighborhood took the band seriously. And while we're on the
subject, we let the Rascals get away it but we weren't so forgiving with the
Doors' weird ass no-bass-thing either. As it turned out, of course, I
couldn't have been more wrong. It's obvious to me now, they were fantastic.
They would be one of the defining bands of the Psychedelic Era.
“They were a brilliant combination of extremely cinematic Rock, Pop, and Art, that featured Existential philosophy, Beat Poet influenced lyrics, Eastern-style Indian scales, Western-style self-psychoanalysis, and Native American primal, ritual performance. Awesomely original, they were an unpredictable exciting visionary energy for a new world that never quite came to be.”
Van Zandt has always touted the Rascals. In 1965 he saw the band, then booked as the Young Rascals, at a skating rink in Keyport, New Jersey. He subsequently wrote, produced, and directed, with Marc Brickman, The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream, a narrative and music-driven show that reached Broadway in 2013.
“The Rascals music was unique. Not only in its greatness but through their hit singles it told the entire story of the sixties. The rock and soul of the band’s beginnings to the Brill Building, folk rock, the civil rights movement, jazz rock, the psychedelic era and Vietnam. All expressed in their fantastic records. Their place in history is also unique. The higher their success they were one of the first bands that demand there be black opening acts."
In his SiriusXM duties, programs Beatles’ recordings, hosted shows devoted to them, and spins their catalog on vinyl, in mono and streamed digitally.
“Revolver was extra notable by being the first album to have three George songs,” emailed Steven, “while we in America (as usual) lost three of the coolest tracks (‘I'm Only Sleeping,’ ‘And Your Bird Can Song,’ and ‘Dr. Robert’-the second coolest after ‘She Said She Said!’) as the American company continued to turn every two albums into three. Oh, and one more thing we should mention, they wouldn't decide to stop performing live until the next disastrous tour a few months later but they may have had a premonition at that point which undoubtedly opened their minds to even more adventurous artistic exploration.”
As for the 2009 Beatles Mono Box, Van Zandt added, “there was something physical as well as audio that the analog medium communicated that digital never will,” underlined Steve. “It doesn't really matter of course unless you’re listening to it on vinyl anyway and we know whatever they used will be a relief compared to the various, sometimes absurd, and usually terrible stereo versions.
“I had probably five lengthy conversations with [Apple Records’] Neil Aspinall over the last ten years of his life. In every one I begged him to put out the original configurations in the original mono. At first, he couldn’t quite understand why I was so passionate about it. By the third conversation he realized I was never going to stop bugging him about it and started seriously considering, not if, but when it could get done. He always had one distraction after the other, the Las Vegas thing [LOVE] took a lot of his time, but I'm sure he put it in motion before he left us. Anyway, I'm very very glad it got done.
“So now our masterpieces have been restored, and our leaders once again assume their proper place as our standard bearers. And peace returns to Pepperland.”
In 2023 I asked Steven about the first record he purchased.
‘“Tears On My Pillow’ was the first record I ever bought,” was his reply.
“My first concert was the Imperials at the Ocean Township Skating Rink. Anthony is one of the very best singers and has one of the most unique, instantly recognizable voices in all of Rock history. I tried to get him for my wedding, Little Richard was our preacher and Little Milton performed, but he was booked on a cruise.”
New news! Keith Hopwood has a book being released in a month in both the UK and America.
Shelley
While looking four our 2008 interview with Keith Hopwood, I stumbled across this …
Fun to read again after all these years! (kk)
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2010/07/and-now-sum-mohr-muzikal-edjumakayshun.html
I was looking up Bill Withers’ song “Lovely Day” on YouTube and this popped up.
Have you seen this before?
There are only a couple of comments but the first one made me laugh.
I'm Sorry I Shit On The Dancefloor [Live At The Bingo Club] (rare 1960's soul vinyl)
Stacee
I hate when that happens! (kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
7/2/64 – US President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law
Also on 7/2, baseball superstar Jose Canseco is born
