Classic Rock 93.9

Eric Clapton has released a new video for the track “The Call,” which had its premiere on a billboard in Times Square in New York.

Clapton does not appear in the clip, which has a camera panning across a desk with an old rotary phone, answering machine, vintage turntable and more. It also features drawings on napkins that begin to move to the music. 

This is the second video released for a track from Clapton’s latest album, Meanwhile. He previously released an animated clip for the album’s first single, “One Woman.”

Meanwhile, Clapton’s first album with new material since 2016’s I Still Do, is made up of six new songs and eight previously released tunes. It features guest appearances by the late Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Bradley Walker, Judith Hill, Daniel Santiago and Simon Climie.

The album was released digitally in October, with vinyl and CD editions being released Jan. 24. Both are available for preorder now.

Clapton recently announced he’ll be heading to Tokyo for a six-night residency at the Nippon Budokan, starting April 14. He’ll also return to London’s Royal Albert Hall for three shows that kick off May 21. A complete list of dates can be found at ericclapton.com.

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Paul McCartney is being honored by The Royal Mint with his very own coin.

McCartney’s coin, officially approved by The Beatles legend, will feature McCartney’s Magic Piano and will reference his career, with piano notes chosen by McCartney, the Wings logo and his Höfner Violin Bass guitar.

“This feels like a huge honor,” McCartney shared. “It’s not anything I would have ever expected to happen when I was a kid.”

This will be the first time McCartney has ever appeared on an official U.K. coin. To mark the occasion, The Royal Mint has gifted McCartney a special pick-shaped version using sustainable gold, inspired by his early use of pennies as guitar picks.

“Our coins recognize the greatest icons and events in British history, so it’s fitting that Paul McCartney’s remarkable music career is now celebrated on an official U.K. coin,” Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coin at The Royal Mint, said. “What makes this coin extra special is that Paul has been involved throughout the design process. The coin celebrates elements from throughout his solo career, and we hope fans will enjoy the layered references to songs, instruments, and bands.” 

The Paul McCartney coin comes in a variety of finishes, including gold, silver and silver with color. They’re available to order now, starting at about $20, with the most expensive being a limited-edition 1-ounce gold coin, which sells for about $3,800.

The news coincides with the launch of the European leg of McCartney’s Got Back tour, which kicked off Wednesday in Paris. He’s set to wrap the tour in London with two nights at the 02, Dec. 18 and Dec. 19.

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On This Day, Dec. 6, 1969 …

The Altamont Speedway Free Festival kicked off in the Bay Area of California, headlined by The Rolling Stones and featuring a lineup that included Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

The counterculture concert, attended by nearly 300,000 people, was marred by the presence of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club, which had been hired as security for the day. The group clashed with concertgoers, which led to the stabbing death of one of the attendees, 18-year-old Meredith Hunter, and three accidental deaths, as well as numerous injuries and property damage.

Footage from the concert was featured in the 1970 Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter.

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Sammy Hagar has joined the lineup for Metallica‘s 2024 Helping Hands benefit concert, taking place Dec. 13 in Los Angeles.

The Red Rocker will be joined by his Best of All Worlds lineup, which includes his former Van Halen bandmate Mike Anthony, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and drummer Kenny Aronoff.

Metallica has also announced that musical duo SistaStrings will be playing Helping Hands, as well.

The biannual Helping Hands benefits Metallica’s All Within My Hands charity foundation and features a rare acoustic performance from the metal legends. 

Previous openers and special guests include Greta Van Fleet, Cage the Elephant and St. Vincent.

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Timothée Chalamet and the cast of the Bob Dylan film A Complete Unknown do their own singing in the film, and now fans will be able to enjoy their performance long after they’ve left the movie theater.

A Complete Unknown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) will be released Dec. 25 to coincide with the film’s opening, and the first two singles have just been released: “Girl From The North Country,” sung by Chalamet as Dylan and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Dylan’s signature tune, “Like A Rolling Stone,” sung by Chalamet.

Both songs are available now via digital outlets.

“To me, there was only one way to make this film — to cast actors that are profoundly talented, ambitious (and brave enough!) to inhabit the whole of the artists they would portray,” the film’s director, James Mangold, shares. “And in order to inhabit that world those artists had to be able to sing the songs. We were never out to replace the power, beauty and majesty of what exists, but rather, to celebrate it.” 

In addition to the Dec. 25 digital release, a limited-edition vinyl version of the soundtrack will drop in late January. It is available for preorder how.

A Complete Unknown follows a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York from Minnesota and tracks his rise as a folk singer during the ’60s to the top of the charts, ending with his electric rock ‘n’ roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

The film also stars Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as a character named Sylvie Russo, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash and Nick Offerman as Alan Lomax.

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Grateful Dead, who’ll receive the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, have a long history of philanthropy, and in a new interview with Billboard they talk about their motivation for giving back to the public. 

“We’re part of a community, and so the better the community is doing, the better we’re doing,” Bobby Weir says of their mission to help, noting that the late Jerry Garcia “always used to say, ‘You get some, you give some back.’ It just makes sense.”

“We help people and give them stuff. It’s just a good way to live life,” Bill Kreutzmann adds. “I wish that more people in the world lived life that way, instead of wars and bombings.” 

The members of The Dead will also be celebrated for their philanthropy by the Recording Academy in February as the MusiCares Person of the Year.

“It all follows in that tradition of teaching the industry what it should know about,” Mickey Hart says. “That’s that Grateful Dead kind of style, where we just did it because we knew it was the right thing to do.”

He adds, “If we wanted to do this the rest of our lives was the idea, we have to do these things, because people support us — and we reciprocate.”

The band members also reiterated to Billboard their previous revelation that prior to Phil Lesh‘s October death they were making plans to reunite for their 60th anniversary in 2025, noting Lesh was excited about the possibility.

“(Phil) had a dream that he was going to get to play with us three one more time,” Kreutzmann notes. “And that didn’t happen — but that’s how it goes.”

The Kennedy Center Honors will air on CBS Dec. 22.

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Billy Joel has announced his first 2025 show with Rod Stewart. The two Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will headline Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium on July 5. 

A Citi presale for tickets begins Dec. 9 at 10 a.m., with tickets going on sale to the general public on Dec. 13 at 10 a.m.

Billy and Rod played their last show together in September in Cleveland. So far this is the only date they have booked for 2025, although Rod will head out on his own next year, with the U.S. leg of his One Last Time tour kicking off March 7 in Austin, Texas. 

Billy has several 2025 dates on the books, including a just-announced show with Stevie Nicks in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Aug. 8, as well as another in Detroit in March.

He’s also set to play five shows with Sting and has some solo dates on the books.

Billy’s next concert is a New Year’s Eve show at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York.

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Alice Cooper teamed with his daughter Calico Cooper and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash for “Freewheelin’,” a song that was featured on the album Solid Rock Revival, and now a new animated lyric video for the track has just been released.

Solid Rock Revival, which is nominated for a Grammy for Best Children’s Music, was released under the name Rock for Children, a rock collective that includes Alice, his daughter and others. The album features contributions by Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Run DMC‘s Daryl “DMC” McDaniels and more. 

Proceeds from the album benefit Alice’s Solid Rock Teen Centers, which provide free after-school training in areas such as music, dance, art, and more for teens ages 12-20. It has locations in Mesa, Phoenix and Goodyear, Arizona.

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Iggy Pop has shared the performance of his solo classic “The Passenger” recorded for his upcoming live album, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023.

As its title suggests, the set was recorded during the 2023 edition of the famed Swiss festival.

You can listen to the live “The Passenger” now via digital outlets, and watch the performance streaming now on YouTube.

Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 will be released Jan. 24.

Iggy’s most recent studio album is 2023’s Every Loser, which was produced by Andrew Watt and features contributions from Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction‘s Dave Navarro, blink-182‘s Travis Barker, Pearl Jam‘s Stone Gossard and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

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Elton John sits down with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts for a new interview airing Dec. 11, ahead of the Dec. 13 premiere of his new Disney+ documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late.

In a new preview of the sit-down, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer talks about whether or not it was difficult to watch some of the more challenging times in his life for the film.

“A bit. Because I hadn’t seen a lot of that footage,” Elton shares. “But what it did, it confirmed in myself that those were great songs … I played well and had a great band. The records were amazing. I tend to forget that because I don’t listen to the past of, my past anyway.”

Elton noted that watching the film made him reflect on how he made 13 albums in such a short time while touring and doing interviews, and he came to an interesting conclusion.

“There was no internet, there was no mobile phones and there were no paparazzi so we didn’t have distractions,” he said. “Artists today have so many different distractions. It’s a different ballgame.”

He added, “I’m so grateful that I grew up in that era.”

Speaking of Elton’s documentary, the rocker just shared a new clip from the film on Instagram, featuring John Lennon talking about their relationship. “Elton and I are very close,” Lennon says in the clip. The film also promises to feature never-before seen footage of Lennon joining Elton onstage after his Thanksgiving 1974 Madison Square Garden show.

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