Classic Rock 93.9

Just a reminder that titles from The Rolling Stones, The Doors, U2 and Stevie Nicks are among the hundreds of limited-edition vinyl discs available at independent record shops this Saturday, April 23 for the 2022 edition of Record Store Day.

The Rolling Stones’ Record Store Day offering is a 50th anniversary reissue of their classic 1972 two-LP compilation More Hot Rocks, pressed on 180-gram glow-in-the-dark vinyl.

The Doors are putting out a four-LP collection culled from last year’s deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of L.A. Woman that features of over two-and-a-half hours of outtakes that appeared as bonus content on the 2021 release.

U2’s offering is a vinyl single that features two versions each of the rarities “A Celebration” and “Trash, Trampoline and The Party Girl,” including a previously unreleased studio outtake of “A Celebration.”

Nicks’ release is a double-LP version of her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, featuring an LP of outtakes, B-sides and demos.

This year’s Record Store Day also includes releases from Alice in Chains, Allman Brothers Band, Asia, Bad Company, Blondie, David Bowie, Chicago, Alice Cooper, The Kinks‘ Dave Davies, Def Leppard, Foo Fighters, The Grateful Dead, Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Elton John, Judas Priest, Jorma Kaukonen, Joni Mitchell, Motorhead, Night Ranger, Iggy Pop, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lou Reed, Santana, Patti Smith, and Pete Townshend.

Meanwhile, Record Store Day organizers have set aside June 18 as a “safety net” drop date for planned releases that couldn’t make it to stores by April 23 due to issues including manufacturing or shipping delays.

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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Cynthia Albritton, who as Cynthia Plaster Caster became famous for immortalizing the genitalia of male musicians in plaster, has died, Variety reports. She was 74.

Albritton started her career in Chicago in 1968, thanks to a plaster casting assignment from her college art teacher. She came up with the idea of casting the male member, and her first celebrity “subject” was Jimi Hendrix.  After meeting Frank Zappa, he became her patron and moved her to LA, where she found plenty of other willing subjects.

Among her dozens of subjects: Jimi Hendrix Experience bass player Noel Redding, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, The Rascals’ Eddie Brigati, The Lovin’ Spoonful‘s Zal Yanovsky, Beach Boys drummer and Rutles member Ricky Fataar, Foghat‘s Tony Stevens, Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys, Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks, and Television guitarist Richard Lloyd.

In 2000, Albritton expanded her repertoire by casting the breasts of female musicians, including Suzi Gardner of L7 and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

As Variety reports, Zappa and Albritton decided in 1971 that the casts should be kept somewhere safe for a future exhibition, and gave them to Zappa’s business partner, Herb Cohen. In 1993, Albritton had to initiate legal proceedings to get back the casts she’d given Cohen for safekeeping. All but three of the 25 were returned.

Albritton has either inspired or been mentioned in several songs, including KISS’ “Plaster Caster” and Jim Croce‘s “Five Short Minutes.” A recording of a telephone conversation between her and famed groupie Pamela Des Barres appears on Permanent Damage, the first and only album by the all-girl group The GTOs, which was produced by Zappa.  She was also the subject of the documentary titled Plaster Caster.

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Ozzy Osbourne says he spoke with Lemmy on the day of the iconic Motörhead frontman’s death.

“I was talking to Lemmy on the morning that he died, but I couldn’t understand what he was talking about,” Ozzy tells Classic Rock magazine. “I wanted to talk to someone else who was there, but they kept giving the phone to Lemmy.”

In addition to being longtime friends, Ozzy and Lemmy collaborated on several occasions, including for Osbourne’s 1991 album, No More Tears, which features several songs co-written by the “Ace of Spades” rocker.

“He was a good man, Lemmy was,” Ozzy says. “All the guys from Motörhead have gone now, from the original band. It’s hard to lose anyone you love.”

Lemmy died December 2015 at age 70. Last year, Ozzy released a new version of the song “Hellraiser,” featuring vocals from both him and Lemmy.

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The Who launches its The Who Hits Back! tour tonight in Hollywood, Florida, which sees the British rock legends returning to the road for the first time since wrapping up their Moving On! trek in October 2019.

As previously announced, the band’s 2022 North American tour features two legs, with the first wrapping up May 28 in Bethel, New York, and the second running from an October 2 concert in Toronto through a November 4-5 engagement in Las Vegas.

Notable stops on the outing’s first leg include an April 30 headlining performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and a May 15 show at Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium. The latter gig will mark the first time in 43 years that the band will play Cincinnati, the site of the tragic 1979 incident in which 11 people were killed at Riverfront Coliseum when fans rushed the doors of the venue ahead of a Who show there.

Meanwhile, just in time for the start of the tour, The Who have announced the lineup of artists that will be opening for them at most shows. The support acts for the first leg include singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson, soul singer Amythyst Kiah, Texas roots rockers Los Lonely Boys, veteran singer/songwriter Willie Nile, and contemporary British rock band The Wild Things.

Opening for The Who during the second leg are ex-Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell and his current band The Dirty Knobs, and, again, The Wild Things, who will perform at the two-show finale in Las Vegas.

Like the Moving On! tour, the new trek will feature The Who accompanied by an orchestra at all shows.

Visit TheWho.com to check out the band’s full tour schedule and which support act will be performing at each concert.

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The first two episodes of the new reality music competition show No Cover have premiered online.

No Cover, which was first announced in 2020, finds a panel of judges — including Alice Cooper, Bush‘s Gavin Rossdale and Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale — searching to discover the next best unsigned bands.

Each week, the competing artists perform for the judges live at the iconic Troubadour club near Los Angeles. Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens co-hosts the show. The other judges are alt-pop singer/songwriter Bishop Briggs and prog-metal guitarist Tosin Abasi.

As opposed to shows like American Idol or The Voice, the No Cover contestants only perform original material, hence the show’s title.

The winner of No Cover will earn a recording contract with Sumerian Records, and a slot at a festival produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, the company behind the Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville and Louder than Life festivals. The victorious act also will get signed to a management and booking agency, and will receive a whole lot of gear.

You can watch the first two No Cover episodes streaming now via the Sumerian Records YouTube channel.

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A collection of rare recordings by 10cc co-founders Kevin Godley and Lol Creme from the late 1960s will be released on June 10.

Frabjous Days — The Secret World of Godley & Creme 1967-1969 includes tracks that the duo made under the name Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon for a planned 1969 album for British music impresario Georgio Gomelsky‘s Marmalade label that was never released.

The compilation also features a 1969 solo track that Godley and Creme’s future 10cc band mate Graham Gouldman recorded for Marmalade called “The Late Mr. Late,” and two unreleased songs written by Gouldman that the duo recorded in 1969 — “Hot Sun” and “Virgin Soldiers.”

Other tracks on the album include two songs from a January 1968 single that Godley and Crème released under the moniker The Yellow Bellow Room Boom, and two unreleased tracks from a June 1968 acetate recording.

Frabjous Days comes packaged with a 28-page booklet featuring a new essay, as well as rare photos and memorabilia.

“These songs sound like they were written and recorded before we were born…and in a sense they were,” Godley says. “It’s the sound of two young art students messing around at weekends, stringing chords and words together for the sheer, explosive buzz of hearing what happens. There’s a thrill in not knowing what you’re doing but aiming high anyway and that, I believe, is exactly what’s going on in these recordings.”

You can pre-order Frabjous Days at CherryRed.co.uk.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

The Marmalade Sessions 1969
1. “I’m Beside Myself” (album version)*
2. “Chaplin House”*
3. “Cowboys and Indians”*
4. “It’s the Best Seaside in the World”*
5. “Fly Away” (Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon LP version)*
6. “Take Me Back”*
7. “Today”*
8. “Hot Sun”*
9. “Virgin Soldiers”*
10. “The Late Mr. Late” — Graham Gouldman
11. “To Fly Away” (Marmalade sampler LP version)
12. “I’m Beside Myself” (single version)
13. “Animal Song”

Bonus tracks (recorded 1967-1969)
14. “Seeing Things Green”
15. “Easy Life”
16. “One and One Make Love”*
17. “Over and Above My Head”*
18. “Hello Blinkers”
19. “Goodnight Blinkers”

1-7: Unreleased Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon album, recorded circa September 1969
8-9: Unreleased acetate of Graham Gouldman songs performed by Godley and Creme, recorded circa July 1969
10-11: From label sampler Marmalade – 100% Proof, released June 1969
12-13: Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon single, released September 1969
14-15: The Yellow Bellow Room Boom single, released January 1968
16-17: Unreleased acetate, recorded circa July 1968
18-19: Promo vinyl pressing for Blinkers nightclub, circa late 1969

* = previously unreleased.

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The latest trend among country music superstars is opening their own bar, restaurant or music venue in downtown Nashville. Now it seems as though Jon Bon Jovi may want a piece of the action.

The Nashville Business Journal shared reports this week that Jon might be attaching his name to a new venue at the prime downtown location of 405 Broadway. That site is currently a vacant lot situated between a famous honky tonk and an upscale restaurant, on the same block as iconic Nashville locations like Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

The Business Journal cites multiple unnamed reports linking Jon to the new development. Though his involvement hasn’t been confirmed, the Nashville Post reports that work is underway at the site, with a “celebrity partner” in the mix.

Nashville-based investment group Big Plan Holdings owns the property, and founder and CEO Josh Joseph has hinted that he’ll soon reveal the star who’s partnered in the project.

Though Bon Jovi isn’t country, the band has had a country hit: In 2006, they put out a duet version of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with country star Jennifer Nettles, which hit number one on the country charts. It won Bon Jovi their only Grammy, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.  Bon Jovi re-teamed with Jennifer in 2020 for a duet version of “Do What You Can.”

Bon Jovi also recorded songs with country acts Big & Rich and LeAnn Rimes on the band’s 2007 album Lost Highway.

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Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay, a co-founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, will release a new studio album called In the Country on July 8 that features his interpretations of country hits.

Among the tunes featured on the 12-track collection are renditions of such country chart-toppers as Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You,” Garth Brooks‘ “The River,” Alabama‘s “I’m in a Hurry and I Don’t Know Why,” and Lee Ann Womack‘s “I Hope You Dance, as well as notable crossover hits like John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis.”

In the Country‘s lead track, “Somebody Like You,” has been released as the album’s first single, and is available now via digital formats. A music video for the tune featuring Furay performing the song has debuted on his official YouTube channel.

The album includes guest contributions from Vince Gill, John Berry, ex-Chicago singer/bassist Jason Scheff, and longtime Eagles bassist/former Poco member Timothy B. Schmit.

The digital version of In the Country features two bonus tracks — renditions of the 1969 Furay-penned Poco tune “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” and George Strait‘s 1992 chart-topper “I Cross My Heart.” You can pre-order the album starting Friday.

Meanwhile, a special exclusive vinyl version of In the Country will be released on June 18 as part of the 2022 Record Store Day event.

“I believe that there is always a reason for everything,” says Furay, reflecting on his country collection. “And I believe that the timing for this record is going to be so refreshing for so many people who have struggled so much with what we’ve gone through that it’s going to be a breath of fresh air for everybody.”

Here’s In the Country‘s full track list:

“Somebody Like You”
“I Hope You Dance”
“Take Me Home, Country Roads”
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful”
“Your Love Amazes Me”
“I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)”
“Lonesome Town”
“Walking in Memphis”
“I’m Already There”
“The River”
“In This Life”
“Chalk”

Digital Bonus Tracks:
“I Cross My Heart”
“Pickin’ Up the Pieces”

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Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett is moderating a panel at the upcoming Midsummer Scream horror convention.

Dubbed “The Original Monster Kids,” the event will find Hammett speaking with the children and grandchildren of various classic horror acting legends including Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. and Sr.

Hammett, of course, is a horror aficionado himself, and is known for his impressive collection of classic horror memorabilia.

Midsummer Scream takes place July 29-31 in Long Beach, California. Hammett’s panel will be held July 30. For more info, visit MidsummerScream.org.

In related news, Hammett has shared a preview of the video for his song “High Plains Drifter,” which will appear on his upcoming debut solo EP, Portals. The full clip premieres this Friday, April 22.

Portals, which consists of four original instrumental pieces, will be released April 23 as part of Record Store Day.

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George Harrison‘s widow, Olivia Harrison, will publish an illustrated book of poetry called Came the Lightening on June 21, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Beatles guitarist’s death.

The book features 20 poems written by Olivia and dedicated to her late husband. The collection finds Olivia musing on her life with George and the emotional bond they shared, as well as reflecting on the loss of her husband and on the passing years.

Came the Lightening features an introduction by legendary director Martin Scorsese, who describes the book as “a work of poetic autobiography.”

To accompany the poems, Olivia has chosen a selection of photos and mementos, including pics of her with George. Among the images are previously unseen photos taken photographers including Henry Grossman, Sue Flood, Marcus Tomlinson and Paul McCartney‘s daughter, Mary. The book also features a drawing by artist and musician Klaus Voormann, a longtime friend of and collaborator with the members of The Beatles.

“I hope you enjoy these personal stories, recollections and reflections,” Olivia says in a statement. You also can check out a short video trailer for the book on YouTube featuring a voiceover from Olivia, who comments about putting out a collection of 20 poems 20 years after George’s passing, “I didn’t plan it that way, it just sort of happened.”

You can pre-order Came the Lightening now. Limited-edition signed copies are available at GenesisPublications.com. Visit OliviaHarrison.com for more info.

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