Classic Rock 93.9

There’s a ton of talk about Bob Dylan these days thanks to the biopic A Complete Unknown, but there’s another reason people should be celebrating the legendary performer.

Monday, Jan. 20, marks the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, which is often revered by critics as one of Dylan’s best albums.

Dylan began working on the record as he was experiencing turmoil in his marriage to wife Sara. And while he’s denied in interviews that the songs on the album were inspired by his personal relationship, his son with Sara, musician Jakob Dylan, has been quoted as saying, “When I’m listening to Blood On The Tracks, that’s about my parents.”

Dylan initially recorded songs for the album in New York City in September 1974, but before the release he decided to rerecord many of the tunes in Minneapolis. The final product wound up featuring five tracks from each session.

Upon its release, Blood on The Tracks became a huge commercial success for Dylan, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and at #4 in the U.K. It’s known for such classic Dylan tracks as “Tangled Up in Blue,” which was a top-40 hit, “Shelter From The Storm” and “Simple Twist of Fate.”

To this day Blood on the Tracks is one of Dylan’s bestselling records and has been certified double Platinum for selling over 2 million copies.

Although initial reviews were mixed, Blood on the Tracks is often included on critics’ lists of the best albums, including Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, where it ranked #9 in 2020. It was also included in the book 101 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2015, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

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The new film Midas Man, about The Beatles manager Brian Epstein, finally has a U.S. release date. The film will premiere Jan. 22 via Olyn, a direct-to-consumer distribution platform that allows fans to recommend and share the movie with others.

And now those who want to see the film have a chance to win a trip to the U.K. Anyone who preorders the film by Jan. 21 will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a Beatles-themed trip, which includes travel to London and Liverpool, hotel accommodations in both cities and visits to Beatles-related sites. And fans can earn more entries by referring the movie to others.

Midas Man stars The Queen’s Gambit’s Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Epstein, who became The Beatles’ manager in 1962 after discovering them in their hometown of Liverpool. He continued to work with the Fab Four until his death in 1967 and is often referred to as the “fifth Beatle.”

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Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton’s new band, Close Enemies, has some new music to share.

The group, which also consists of Chasen Hampton on vocals, Peter Stroud and Trace Foster on guitar, and Tony Brock on drums, just released their debut single, “Sound of a Train,” which is now available on digital outlets.

Close Enemies played their first show in Nashville in October and recently launched their first tour. They are due to play Daryl’s House in Pawling, New York, on Jan. 23.

Hamilton was free to join Close Enemies after Aerosmith canceled their Peace Out tour and retired from the road in early August, citing Steven Tyler’s continuing vocal problems. He fractured his larynx when the tour first launched in 2023.

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The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown has sparked renewed interest in the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s music.

According to Billboard, Luminate data shows that since the movie’s Dec. 25 release there’s been a huge jump in streams of Dylan’s catalog. In the days following the release, there were 11.6 million on-demand streams of Dylan’s songs, an increase from 8.1 million in the month prior. And in the first full week following the movie’s release, that number increased to 20.2 million streams.

And the interest doesn’t seem to be slowing down that much, with the catalog earning another 18.8 million streams the week of Jan. 3-9.

Among the songs receiving the most interest are “Like A Rolling Stone,” which saw a 232% increase in streaming in the week ending Jan. 2, followed by “Blowin’ in the Wind” with a 215% increase and “The Times They Are A Changin’” with a 174% increase.

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Scorpions have announced they’re postponing their Las Vegas residency, which was due to kick off in February.

According to a post on social media, the band has pushed the shows in order to give their drummer, Mikkey Dee, more time to recover after his recent hospitalization due to sepsis.

“We regret to inform you that due to Mikkey Dee’s ongoing recovery from his recent hospitalization, we have made the decision to postpone our Coming Home to Las Vegas Residency to August 2025,” the band shares. “The health and well-being of our brother is of the utmost importance. We wish Mikkey a full and speedy recovery and look forward to rocking with you all again soon!”

Scorpions – Coming Home to Las Vegas 60th Years of Scorpions at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino was supposed to kick off on Feb. 27, with five shows running until March 11. The shows will now run Aug.14-23. Tickets for original dates will be honored and refunds will be available to those who can’t make it.

Dee, who previously played drums in Motörhead, announced in January that he had been hospitalized for three weeks over the holidays due to sepsis. He said he had a lot of rehab and recovery ahead of him but had hoped to be ready for the Vegas residency.

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Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival and the Warped Tour have launched new merch in support of Los Angeles fire relief.

The Ohana shirt features the festival’s 2025 logo and will benefit World Central Kitchen, while the Warped tee and hoodie feature the cities of its 30th anniversary return and will raise funds for Unite the United.

Ohana is held in Southern California’s Dana Point. The 2025 dates have yet to be announced.

Warped Tour 2025, which ends the festival’s six-year hiatus, takes place June 14-15 in Washington, D.C., July 26-27 in Long Beach, California, and Nov. 15-16 in Orlando, Florida.

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The Doors are in the midst of a 60th anniversary celebration this year, and as part of it they are planning to dip into their archives and share some live recordings to digital services for the very first time.

They’ve just kicked things off with the release of Live at the Matrix 1967: The Original Masters, which are now available to stream and download. The performances were recorded between March 7 and March 11 at the small San Francisco club The Matrix, with the recordings taken from first generation 7-inch reels. The shows, recorded by the venue’s owners Peter Abram and Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin, had previously been a much sought-after bootleg.

Performances on the release include “Break On Through,” “The End” and a rare instrumental of “Summertime.”

And Live at the Matrix is just the first in a series of live albums being released for streaming and download. Upcoming releases include concerts from Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Vancouver, Bakersfield and Konserthuset, Stockholm.

The Doors’ 60th anniversary celebration began last year with the release of the six-LP box set The Doors 1967-1971. The six albums in the set will now be released individually on High Fidelity audiophile vinyl, starting Jan. 31 at TheDoors.com and Rhino.com.

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After the release of their 1979 album Breakfast in America, Supertramp hit the road in support of the record, and now fans are getting a chance to relieve that live experience.

Live in Paris ’79, a recording of the band’s December 1979 concerts at the Pavillon de Paris, will be released Feb. 28. Select performances from the shows previously appeared on a live album that was released in 1980, but the new release features a complete show, taken from recordings during their two concerts at the venue on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.

The album features Supertramp performing such classic hits as “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger,” “Take The Long Way Home,” “Give A Little Bit” and more.

“Looking back at that period, it really was the experience of a lifetime … the best of times,” drummer Bob Siebenberg shares. John Helliwell, who played sax, keyboards and more, adds, “Those Paris shows were a definite high point for us because you could feel the audience reaction. You can actually hear the volatility in the French crowd. They sound a little mad!”

Live in Paris ’79 will be released as a three-LP and two-CD set. Both formats are available for preorder now.

Breakfast in America went on to be the band’s bestselling record, hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and selling more than 4 million copies in the U.S.

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Neil Young has just debuted his first new song with his new band.

Billed as neil young and the chrome hearts, the track, “big change,” is described as “a song that looks square in the face of so many of the moving parts of where the world is turning today.”

According to John Hanlon, Young’s longtime mixing engineer, “big change” is an “in your face loud irreverent rock ‘n roll paint splatter on the canvas in the vein of a Jackson Pollack painting.”

Young first began working with chrome hearts last year, when they played several live shows together, including the 2024 edition of Farm Aid. The band consists of Micah Nelson on guitar and vocals, Spooner Oldham on Farfisa organ, Corey McCormick on bass and vocals and Anthony LoGerfo on drums.

“Big change” is available digitally via the NYA Download Store and all digital retailers.

And Young will be playing live with chrome hearts once again. They are already confirmed to play the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival in June.

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ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons is out with new music.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has just dropped the new tune “Livin’ It Up Down In Texas,” which got an early preview on the Paramount+ drama Landman, created by Tyler Sheridan, who also created Yellowstone.

The song was actually co-written by Gibbons and two of the series’ stars, Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Tommy Norris, and Mark Collie, who plays Sheriff Walt Joeberg. The series is set in the world of the oil fields of West Texas.

“It seemed really natural to team up with Billy Bob and Mark to write a song for Landman,” Gibbons shares. “‘Livin’ It Up Down In Texas’ isn’t, per se, autobiographical, but does encapsulate the oil-stained Lone Star lifestyle as seen each week in the series.”

“Livin’ It Up Down In Texas” is expected to appear on Gibbons’ next album, his first solo record since 2021’s Hardware. The tune is available now via digital outlets.

Gibbons and his band the BFGs are set to kick off a new tour with a three-night stand in Honolulu starting Friday. A complete list of dates can be found at billygibbons.com.

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