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May 07, 2008

DAVID GILMOUR TO RELEASE "LIVE IN GDANSK"

David_gilmour_liveingdansklarge David Gilmour and Columbia Records have announced the release of "Live In Gdańsk" in September 2008. 

Recorded in Gdańsk, Poland during the closing concert of David's 2006 summer tour, which took place in front of an audience of 50,000 at the shipyards, at the request of the Gdansk Foundation,. The concert marked the only performance of the tour material with an orchestra - the 40-member string section of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner, who was also responsible for the orchestral arrangements for "On An Island," David's last album, which went multi-platinum around the world. 

The creation of the Solidarity movement, (born after Lech Walesa's sacking from the Gdansk shipyards), led directly to the dismantling of the Soviet Union's stranglehold on the former Eastern Bloc, and to the reunification of Germany.

More here at David's official site.

 

                  

 

May 05, 2008

NINE INCH NAILS NEW ALBUM - FREE DOWNLOAD

Nin1 Go here. 

May 03, 2008

TINA TURNER TO TOUR

Tina1 Confirming rumors that have been going around for a couple of months now, Tina Turner has announced that she will undertake her first tour in eight years, beginning Oct. 1 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. The arena tour will include about 40 shows in North America, and then will be followed by Europe and other international dates.  The announcement was made at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show.  The show will air on May 8. Tickets will go on sale on May 12.

Turner has noted that she is going back on the road at the suggestion of neighbor Sophia Loren, who thought Tina was spending far too much time hanging around the house.   

April 30, 2008

WHERE'S MY PIG?

Pig The famous Pink Floyd flying pig took an unexpected and ultimately fatal journey, after slipping its moorings at the recent Coachella Festival, during the closing performance by Rogers Waters.  The pig soared into the air as Mr. Waters sang "Pigs On The Wing," and was not seen again until it was found scattered across two driveways in La Quinta, CA.  The pig was decorated with political slogans, supporting Democratic candidate Barack Obama.  The pig's final landing left it in tatters, not unlike Mr. Obama's political career at present.

The festival had offered $10,000 and four life-time passes as a reward for the return of the pig, and two families will share the passes and the money.

More here from the BBC.   

April 24, 2008

BOB DYLAN AWARDED A PULITZER

Dylan_bob_04l Bob Dylan was awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize on Monday, April 7. He is the first rock artist to be so honored. The singer/songwriter, musician, author, and poet, was recognized for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

 Dylan has sold more than 90 million albums and performed thousands of shows around the world in a career spanning five decades.  He won a Golden Globe and Academy Award in 2001 for “Things Have Changed" from the movie Wonder Boys, and 10 Grammy awards, including Album of the Year in 1998 for Time Out Of Mind. 

The soundtrack to I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' unconventional movie about Dylan, will be released on DVD on May 6.  The two-disc, 34 song collection includes cover versions of songs from the film  by celebrated contemporary musicians including Eddie Vedder, Sonic Youth,  Sufjan Stevens, John Doe and Willie Nelson, among others.  It also includes the original Dylan recording of the title song, an outtake from a 1967 session, often bootlegged, but until now unavailable on any commercially-released Dylan recording.

April 14, 2008

LINDA MCCARTNEY PHOTO EXHIBITION TO OPEN IN LONDON

Macca600 A comprehensive exhibition of the photographic works of Linda McCartney, presented by Sir Paul McCartney, will open on April 24 at the James Hayman Gallery in London.

During the last three years, while going through the acrimonious divorce from second wife Heather Mills, Paul devoted his time to reviewing Linda's extensive archives, preparing for the exhibition, which he says is long overdue.  See the exhibition here, from Yahoo.

More here from the Telegraph.

April 03, 2008

SHINE A LIGHT

Martymick_2 The Rolling Stones documentary, directed by Marty Scorsese, will be officially released on April 4.  A great deal more information right here.

March 29, 2008

QUEEN SET FOR TOUR AND NEW ALBUM

Rodgersmay372 Featuring Paul Rodgers as their continuing front man, Queen has announced they will undertake an extensive tour this year (excluding dates in the US), plus release a new album on September 1, entitled The Cosmos Rocks.  Tickets will go on sale on April 2 at the band's official site. Queen on line. More info and tour dates here.

March 10, 2008

VAN HALEN POSTPONES TOUR

Eddievanhalen Van Halen has canceled several upcoming dates, so that Eddie Van Halen can consult doctors regarding a medical condition.  The cancellations allow Eddie begin and then implement a course of treatment, and the tour will re-start on April 19.  Eddie has battled cancer and substance abuse in the past.  More here from Billboard.

March 05, 2008

HARD ROCK PARK SET TO OPEN IN MAY

Ledzeppelinxlarge Hard Rock Park, a 55 acre theme park located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and dedicated to the celebration of classic rock, will open to the public on or about May 9, 2008.  The park cost $400 million to build and features 50 different rides and attractions and crowd capacity is 300,000. 

The Eagles and The Moody Blues are set for the first live concerts, on June 2 and June 3 respectively.  Tickets go on sale on March 17.

More information here at the Hard Rock Park official site.

The photo is the Led Zeppelin roller coaster ride.

February 28, 2008

BUDDY MILES PASSES

Buddymiles From the L.A. Times today.  I added a YouTube clip at the end of the story, Buddy performing Them Changes for a TV show hosted by Hugh Hefner in 1971.  Great stuff.

"Buddy Miles, the rock and R&B drummer, singer and songwriter whose eclectic career included stints playing with Jimi Hendrix and as the lead voice of the California Raisins, the animated clay figures that became an advertising phenomenon in the late 1980s, has died. He was 60.

Miles died Tuesday  of congestive heart failure at his home in Austin, Texas, according to an announcement on his website.

A massive man with a distinctive, sculpted afro, Miles hit his peak of popularity when he joined Hendrix and bassist Billy Cox to form Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, which the New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll called "the first black rock group." Miles had played with Hendrix on the guitarist's influential "Electric Ladyland" album released in 1968.

The Band of Gypsys made just one album, a live set recorded on New Year's Eve in 1969-70, and two of Miles' songs, "Them Changes" and "We Got to Live Together," were included on the album. He gave the recording a memorable drum riff on one of Hendrix's signature songs, "Machine Gun."

But, according to Miles, the Band of Gypsys association was brief and stormy. He told The Times in 1988 that Hendrix's management, not the guitarist himself, fired him within a month of the concert. He thought Hendrix's managers were leery of continuing with an all-black group.

"It had to be a racial thing," Miles told The Times. "I think it had to scare them because of the political aspect at the time."

Miles was born Sept. 5, 1947, in Omaha. He developed an interest in drums at an early age and by 12 was playing in his father's jazz combo. Within a couple of years he was in demand as a session player and a sideman, working with top-name R&B groups, including Ruby and the Romantics and the Delfonics. According to the Rolling Stone encyclopedia, he played on the session that produced the Jaynetts' 1963 hit "Sally Go Round the Roses."

While playing with Wilson Pickett in 1967, he was approached by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, who asked him to join the blues, rock and soul group Electric Flag. Miles played on three of the band's albums before forming his own group, the Buddy Miles Express, in 1968. Next came his association with Hendrix.

Over the years, Miles recorded two albums with Carlos Santana, one of which went platinum, and worked with other leading music figures, including Muddy Waters and John McLaughlin. He re-formed the Buddy Miles Express in the mid-1970s and had a hit with his song "Them Changes."

By the late 1970s, however, Miles' career came to a halt over convictions for grand theft and auto theft. He served time in the California Institution for Men at Chino and at San Quentin State Prison. He was incarcerated until 1985 and formed bands at both prisons.

After he was released, he sang with Santana's group and got the raisin gig while working on an album with the guitarist. The popular television commercials for the California Raisin Advisory Board featured a quartet of singing and dancing Claymation figures with Miles, as Buddy Raisin, doing the lead singing covering Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

The commercial's popularity spawned a million-selling offshoot album of remakes of rock and soul oldies, "The California Raisins Sing the Hit Songs."

Them Changes - The Buddy Miles Express - March 1971