Classic Rock 93.9

We’re getting another look at the upcoming Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin.

A new trailer for the doc has just been released, featuring archival footage, clips of new interviews with band members Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant, and archival audio from their late drummer John Bonham. The clip is set to the Led Zeppelin classics “Good Times, Bad Times” and “Whole Lotta Love.”

“The first time we played together you could tell it was gonna be a good group,” Bonham says in the clip. “It was an electric atmosphere and that’d been what I’d been waiting for,” Plant adds.

Talking about producing the band’s first album, Page notes, “I wanted it to be something that they hadn’t heard before.” 

As for the band’s name, Jones reveals in the clip, “We were gonna be called Led Zeppelin and I thought, ‘That’s a terrible name,’ but I couldn’t come up with a better one so Led Zeppelin we were.”

Becoming Led Zeppelin first premiered as a work in progress at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights to the completed film in May. The movie, described as a “hybrid docu-concert film,” is the first officially sanctioned documentary about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group. 

Becoming Led Zeppelin is set to open exclusively in IMAX theaters on Feb. 7, with early access screenings in 18 markets starting Feb. 5. It will then hit theaters nationwide on Feb. 14.

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On This Day, Dec. 19, 2012 …

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason opened his wallet to save the London music store where he bought his first drum kit. The store, Foote’s, was about to go out of business, so Mason provided the funding it needed to continue.

“One of my great memories of being a young, budding drummer was going to the original [Foote’s] … and buying my very first kit for £7.50,” he told Britain’s ITV news.

Unfortunately, the store closed down in 2022 after more than 100 years in business.

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While Genesis has plenty of fans out there, it turns out their lead singer, Phil Collins, isn’t necessarily one of them.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is the subject of a new Drumeo documentary, Phil Collins: Drummer First, and in it he reveals how he really feels about the band that made him famous.

During the doc, Phil revisits the music he’s made with Genesis and on his own. Collins admits, “I’m not Genesis’ biggest fan, you know.”

“There’s stuff that I like, stuff I’m proud of – stuff that I’m less so,” he notes. “Sometimes it can be like people throwing bricks at you.”

As for how he felt about revisiting his musical career for the doc, he shares, “It’s been an interesting trip down a memory lane, some bits may be better than I thought, some bits aren’t as good as I thought.”

He adds, “I’ve been playing drums since I was 5, there’s gonna be dogs! There’s gonna be stuff you enjoy hearing back, and others not so.”

Specifically, Collins says he’s “not particularly fond of” the …And Then There Were Three period of Genesis, referring to the band’s 1978 album, particularly the song “Down and Out.”

He notes, “Haven’t heard it for ages but I mean it’s, uh, it’s a period piece.”

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Grateful Dead has announced details of the next release in their Dave’s Picks bootleg series.

Dave’s Picks Vol. 54, coming out May 1, will feature the band’s March 26, 1973, concert at the Baltimore Civic Center, which is one of the longest concerts the band played that year. The 31-song show stands out for its second-set jam, which included such songs as “He’s Gone,” “Truckin’,” “Weather Report Suite Prelude,” “Jam,” “Wharf Rat,” “Me And Bobby McGee,” “Eyes Of The World” and “Morning Dew.” 

It will be followed by a Vol. 54 bonus disc, featuring a March 31, 1973, concert in Buffalo, New York.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead and the 14th year of the Dave Pick’s series. Those who sign up for a subscription get four numbered, limited-edition releases throughout the year, along with the bonus disc.

The first release for 2025 will be an Oct. 27, 1976, concert at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.

Preorder for the subscription is open now at dead.net.

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Blondie’s Chris Stein has revealed some new information about the next Blondie record.

Back in November, Stein announced that the band had a new album in the works, sharing a black-and-white photo of Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry in the studio, along with the caption, “New Blondie album next year.”

Now he’s shared another photo of Harry in the studio, this time on the social media site BlueSky, and in this one she’s joined by producer John Congleton, suggesting he’s going to be producing the album.

The new album will be the first from Blondie since 2017’s Pollinator, which Congleton also produced. It featured songs written by the members of Blondie and outside collaborators like The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, Sia and Charli XCX.

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Violet Grohl, the eldest daughter of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, is working on her debut album, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Sources who’ve apparently heard the material tell THR that Violet is “very talented” and that her “vocals are tremendous.”

The report also says Violet is collaborating with producer Justin Raisen on the record. Raisen recently produced Kim Gordon‘s new solo album, The Collective.

Violet, 18, has sung backup live during Foo Fighters concerts and contributed vocals to the But Here We Are track “Show Me How.” She also memorably performed at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in 2022.

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Ed Norton stars as folk legend Pete Seeger in the new Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, and he realizes many people may not know how influential Seeger was to music.

In an interview with IndieWire, Norton says he hopes the film is “an opportunity to put a light on this period and how amazing these artists were and get reconnected to them,” and that’s particularly true for Seeger, who Norton doesn’t believe is as known as he should be.

As an example of that, Norton shares a story about the reaction Her director Spike Jonze had when he heard Norton was playing Seeger.

“He was like, ‘Wow, are you doing the music yourself?’ I said yes. And he goes, ‘Are you doing “Night Moves” and “Against the Wind” and “Old Time Rock & Roll”?’” Norton says. “I’m like, ‘Pete Seeger, not Bob Seger!’ And he was like, ‘Wait, who is Pete Seeger?’”

Seeger penned such songs as “If I Had A Hammer” and “Where Have All The Flowers Gone.” He was such an important figure in music that in 2006 Bruce Springsteen did a whole album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, dedicated to Seeger’s music. And Norton says he’s not surprised.

“Bruce, to me, he’s 100 percent, no question whatsoever, the Pete Seeger of our generation and our time,” Norton says. “He’s the guy who really actually took up the mantle.” 

He adds, “And I’d argue more than anyone, since Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen has been the troubadour of the working man and also an unapologetic deployer of music toward political progressive humanism. He’s a force. Bruce has long been one of the deacons in the Pete Seeger church.” 

A Complete Unknown opens Dec. 25.

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Bangles frontwoman Susanna Hoffs has teamed with Elvis Costello to release a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Connection” in celebration of Stones guitarist Keith Richards‘ 81st birthday on Wednesday.

“I did the Keith part,” Hoffs shares in a press release. “We both wanted to do the Keith part, but I won!”

She notes of the collaboration, “I had the great honor of singing with Elvis at a couple of his shows, and it was a lifelong dream to record a song together.”

“Connection,” from The Stones’ 1967 album Between the Buttons, was written mostly by Keith but is credited to him and Mick Jagger. Hoffs says it’s one of her favorite songs by the band.

“I love Keith—his smile, his swagger, his songwriting—the way he moves on stage, as if his guitar is a part of his body and together they meld with the music and the emotion of the song,” she shares.

“Connection” is available now via digital outlets.

And Susanna isn’t the only one marking Keith’s birthday; his bandmates all posted birthday wishes on social media. 

“Today we celebrate the one and only @officialkeef on his birthday!!” read a post on the band’s Instagram. “Happy Birthday Keith wishing you the best day.” Meanwhile, Jagger shared a throwback photo of the two of them, writing, “Happy birthday @officialkeef! Love Mick,” and Ronnie Wood shared a video of them playing guitar together with the message “Soul brother. Happy birthday Keith.”

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Elton John is offering up some Christmas cheer with the release of a new video for his classic holiday track “Step Into Christmas.”

The new video features model/actress Cara Delevingne as Elton and reimagines the behind-the-scenes action during the making of the original ’70s video as his team attempts to make the clip “Christmassy enough.”

Elton says the idea to work with Cara came after he saw her at Glastonbury last summer.

“She’s hilarious to spend time with; we both have quite a self-deprecating sense of humor,” Elton shares. “When someone suggested the idea of her playing me in a riff on the 1973 ‘Step Into Christmas’ video, I just thought it was the perfect opportunity. Thank God Cara thought the same because it came out great.”

Cara adds that being asked to play Elton “was a dream that I didn’t know I had until it happened,” noting, “Honestly, I wish I could pretend to be Elton every day. I hope that Elton may one day return the favor and agree to play me in my not-yet-developed, written, pitched, or funded biopic. Fingers crossed.”

Released in November 1973, “Step Into Christmas” hit #1 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart and has subsequently spent 44 weeks on the Billboard Holiday Airplay chart.

In other Elton news … “Never Too Late,” the song featured in his Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, has been nominated for a 2025 SCL Award, handed out by the Society of Composers & Lyricists. The song, written by Elton, Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin and producer Andrew Watt, is nominated in the Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production category.

Winners will be announced at the SCL’s sixth annual awards ceremony Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.

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The Beatles’ final song “Now and Then” is nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year and Ringo Starr is hoping they win.

“I’d love to win a Grammy,” Ringo tells Music Week. “That’s the business I’m in – and the track is good. The last track ever by the boys.” 

The song used vocals John Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, along with guitar the late George Harrison recorded in the mid-’90s, and new recordings from Paul McCartney and Ringo.

Ringo says it was McCartney who decided to revisit the track, using new AI technology to clean up Lennon and Harrison’s contributions, and says “he did a great job.”

“He put the strings on and the lead guitar that gave the track its emotion,” Ringo says. “It worked out really great and let’s hope for a Grammy. We’ll see; a lot of people are up for Grammys.”

But just because AI worked for them doesn’t mean Ringo is totally embracing it. 

“We’re all a bit afraid of it, because it can steal you,” he said. “Anyone who knows how to use it can steal you. If they just play any five of my songs into the computer, AI gets all of it and knows my every vocal move. They can have me sing anything and it will sound like me, because it’s taken from my personality.” 

“But the good side is the way we used it on ‘Now And Then.’ God knows where it’s going to go,” he added. “We’re all worrying about it, but nobody’s really stolen anything yet.”

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