Classic Rock 93.9

Peter Frampton will launch his Positively Thankful tour in September, and he tells ABC Audio the inspiration for the tour’s name came from all the love he received after he was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. 

“After seeing the outpouring of support from the fans … I was just totally honored and thrilled that so many people voted and kept voting,” he shares. “We were talking and I said, ‘Well, it needs to be something positive and thankful.’” His manager suggested naming the tour just that.

But a little over four years ago it didn’t look like we’d ever be seeing Frampton onstage again. In 2019 he announced his farewell tour after being diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, which made it difficult for him to play guitar.

He says he decided to stop touring because he “didn’t feel that I was going to be at the top of my game much longer, and I didn’t want to go out there and not feel I’m doing well.”

But lucky for fans, he changed his mind. 

“Yes, my hands are slightly affected, but I’m adapting and I’m enjoying playing still,” he says. “So there might be a few less notes, but there’s a hell of a lot of meaning behind each note now.” 

Frampton’s Positively Thankful tour kicks off Sept. 8 in North Charleston, South Carolina. A complete list of dates can be found at frampton.com.

And all that fan support paid off, as Frampton will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The ceremony will stream live on Disney+, followed by a special airing on ABC at a later date.

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Two real estate properties that served as the site of a number of legendary musical moments over the years are on the market.

First up is Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado. It was purchased and turned into a high-end residential recording studio in 1972 by producer James Guerico. It’s most associated with Elton John‘s 1974 album, Caribou — named after it — but his albums Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies were also recorded there.

Other artists whose albums were recorded at Caribou Ranch include Steely Dan, Chicago, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Rick Derringer, Joe Walsh, Jeff Beck, Stephen Stills, Peter Frampton, Rod Stewart and Billy Joel. The studio burned down in 1985, but the ranch and outbuildings where artists stayed still exist.

The 1,700-acre property is currently for sale for the low, low price of $48,500,000. Visit HallHall.com for the full details.

Billy Joel recorded 1976’s Turnstiles album at Caribou. And the house where Billy lived when he wrote the songs for the record — including “New York State of Mind” and “Summer, Highland Falls” — is also up for sale. 

Billy rented the historic home in Highland Falls, New York, in the winter of 1976, after he returned to his home state after three years in LA. He has said that he got the idea for “New York State of Mind” while “taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line” to the house. 

According to the New York Post, when Billy moved in he had his piano hoisted up through a window into a bedroom on the second floor. The current owners, who turned the home into a bed & breakfast, have dubbed it “the Billy Joel Room.” It can be yours for just $1.995 million.

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Debbie Harry: Singer, songwriter, actress and now fashion designer.

The iconic frontwoman of Blondie has teamed with the clothing brand Wildfang to launch a six-piece capsule collection. The pieces were inspired by some of Debbie’s own looks and are described as “a true representation of her personal style.” That comes through in the extensive use of metal hardware and holes in the sweatshirt cuffs that you can put your thumbs through. One of the items is a graphic tee with a vintage photo of the singer, which she personally chose.

The collection also includes a cropped button-up with grommets on the collar, a long-sleeved button-up with a removable silver chain and grommets on the collar, a slim cropped pant with grommets on the waistband, and a double-breasted blazer with a removable chain that attaches at the collar and the pocket.

Speaking to Paper magazine, Harry says, “I love metal. I guess it comes from starting out with safety pins. Safety pins really worked some magic for us back in the day. In fact, I feel naked if I’m not wearing a safety pin. I have to have one for good measure. It’s just sort of the rock and roll thing … the grommets and leather and chains and that kind of jewelry.”

She adds, “I am not a designer. What am I? I am good at combining unlikely elements, and it’s always been fun.”

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AC/DC has announced the third and final installment of their gold vinyl release series celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.

The upcoming set is expected to ship Sept. 25. It includes 1983’s Flip of the Switch, 1985’s Fly on the Wall, 1988’s Blow Up Your Video, 2008’s Black Ice, 2012’s Live at River Plate and AC/DC’s latest album, 2020’s Power Up.

Each piece, available for preorder now, will come with a 12-by-12 album-specific print and AC/DC 50 artwork.

The gold vinyl series first launched in March, and the second collection dropped in June.

AC/DC has been spending the summer touring Europe, marking their first extended live run since 2016.

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Green Day is teasing a 20th anniversary reissue of their 2004 album, American Idiot.

In an Instagram post Thursday, the trio writes, “Can you hear the sound of hysteria?” — a reference to a lyric from the title track.

“More info on the American Idiot 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition coming tomorrow,” they add.

American Idiot will officially turn 20 on Sept. 21. Arriving during a relative decline in their popularity, American Idiot reinvigorated Green Day’s career, earning six-time Platinum certification from the RIAA and spawning hits in the title track, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday” and “Wake Me up When September Ends.”

Green Day’s also been celebrating American Idiot‘s upcoming milestone by playing the album in full on their current tour. They’re also playing 1994’s Dookie in its entirety in honor of its 30th anniversary.

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Nothing says Southern rock like bourbon, which is probably why the Allman Brothers Band has teamed up with the Three Chord Bourbon brand to release a signature blend.

The new booze is available for preorder. According to Three Chord Bourbon’s website, it’s an attempt to honor the band’s iconic album Eat a Peach. As such, it’s a blend of straight bourbon whiskey finished with toasted peach wood. The taste is described as “smooth and sweet, with added complexity from toasted peach wood,” while the finish is “long and balanced, with notes of sweetness, spice, and caramel.”

The idea for the bourbon started in 2022, and we’re told that the blend, the label design and the idea for the peach wood were all developed with the band. In a statement, ABB’s Jaimoe said, “If you like whiskey, you will dig our collaboration with Three Chord Bourbon. It’s a celebration of our legacy. Far out man. The Road Goes on Forever.”

The bourbon will be available at select retailers later this year. Three Chord Bourbon, by the way, was founded by Neil Giraldo, the musical partner and husband of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pat Benatar.

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The ongoing archival series of Joni Mitchell albums continues with Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980), due out Oct. 4.

Available as a six-CD, a four-LP or a digital version, the package includes a book with never-before-seen photos and liner notes that include a discussion between Mitchell and filmmaker Cameron Crowe about this five-year period of her career.

You can hear a track from the collection — a live version of “Coyote” from her 1976 album, Hejira, recorded in Montreal in 1975 — now.

The package features early recordings and alternate takes from Joni’s albums Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus, plus the 1980 live album Shadows and Light. The first three albums are experimental, jazz-influenced works featuring top jazz and jazz fusion players, including bassist Jaco Pastorius, guitarists Larry Carlton and John McLaughlin, drummer John Guerin, bassist Stanley Clarke, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and jazz icon Charles Mingus.

Among the many live tracks in the collection are songs Mitchell performed during Bob Dylan‘s Rolling Thunder Revue, a legendary tour that ran from 1975 to 1976 and also included Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn, among others. Other live cuts come from her appearances at the Bread & Roses festival in 1978, a 1979 Anti-Nuclear Rally in Washington, D.C., and Joni’s 1979 tour.

The tracks include live versions of some of Joni’s most popular songs, including “A Case of You,” “Help Me,” “Free Man In Paris,” “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Raised on Robbery” and “The Last Time I Saw Richard.”

Visit Mitchell’s official online store to see the full track listing.

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On This Day, Aug. 8, 1987 …

U2 found themselves atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” the second single off their first #1 album, The Joshua Tree. The track spent two weeks in the #1 position.

The Irish rockers had previously topped the chart with the album’s first single, “With Or Without You,” which spent three weeks at #1. 

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” went on to become one of the band’s most iconic tracks and was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1988: Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It has also landed on several best-of lists, including Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In other U2 facts … Aug. 8 also happens to be U2 guitarist The Edge’s birthday. Born David Howell Evans, the rocker turns 63 this year.

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Tommy Lee insists that Ozzy Osbourne really did snort a line of ants.

The notorious metal tale was said to have taken place in the ’80s while the Prince of Darkness was on tour with Mötley Crüe and was immortalized in the film The Dirt. In a 2023 episode of The Osbournes Podcast, Ozzy himself claimed that the story was true, while Sharon Osbourne remained skeptical. 

Speaking on the This Past Weekend podcast, Lee says the ant snorting did indeed happen while the bands were sharing a hotel on the road.

“At that time it was just kind of a thing everybody was into, like, out-rock star and out-grossing somebody out,” Lee says.

Lee says after seeing Ozzy treat insects like a line of cocaine, Nikki Sixx tried to up the ante by urinating on the deck of the hotel pool.

“Nikki goes to pee on the ground and Nikki’s gonna lick up his own p*** to, like, out-do Ozzy,” Lee says. “Before Nikki could do it, Ozzy f****** beats him to it and licks up his p***.”

“We’re like, ‘Alright Ozzy, you win!'” he laughs.

For what it’s worth, Ozzy’s guitarist at the time, Jake E. Lee, denies the ants part of the story, but says the urine part was true. 

While that whole thing made The Dirt, Lee says that what happened next wasn’t included the film, which involves going #2 instead of #1. We’ll let you hear that for yourself.

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Bruce Springsteen was a surprise guest at Zach Bryan‘s Aug. 7 show at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field.

As captured in fan-shot video, the Boss joined Bryan for a rendition of his song “Atlantic City,” from his 1982 album Nebraska, as well as for their duet “Sandpaper,” from Bryan’s current album The Great American Bar Scene. 

The Lumineers were also special guests at the show, joining Bryan for the song “Spotless.”  Springsteen and The Lumineers returned for Bryan’s closing number, “Revival.”

This was Springsteen’s second guest appearance at a Zach Bryan concert: Back in March, Bruce joined the “Pink Skies” singer for “Sandpaper” — then unreleased — at a show in Brooklyn.

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