Classic Rock 93.9

Van Morrison has been slowly adding some shows to his schedule, and he’s just announced two new dates in the U.S.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced a two-night stand at Bimbo’s 365 club in San Francisco, happening February 25 and 26.

Tickets for the two shows go on sale Friday, February 16, at 10 a.m. PT.

Morrison is on tour promoting his latest release, Accentuate The Positive, which has him covering some of his personal rock ‘n’ roll favorites.

In addition to shows in Ireland and the Netherlands, he’s also set to perform at the Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California, March 2 and 3 and at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California, February 28 and 29.

A complete list of dates can be found at vanmorrison.com.

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Def Leppard is getting ready to share a classic live concert with fans.

The band announced they will premiere their full 2022 Whisky a Go Go concert on their YouTube channel on Friday, February 16. The stream will begin at 10 a.m. PT and will be available for 24 hours.

The May 2022 concert saw the band play a rare club show, treating fans to such classic Def Leppard tracks as “Animal,” “Love Bites,” “Photograph,” “Rock of Ages,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and more.

Def Leppard is getting ready to hit the road again this summer. They’ll kick off a stadium tour with Journey July 6 in St. Louis, Missouri. The tour features special guests Steve Miller Band, Cheap Trick and Heart on select dates. A complete list of dates can be found at defleppard.com.

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Rod Stewart has released a new song and video from his upcoming album, Swing Fever, a collaboration with former Squeeze keyboard player Jools Holland.

The song is “Pennies from Heaven,” a standard first introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 movie of the same name. In the video, Rod, wearing sparkly shoes and a shiny blazer, sings the song with Holland’s big band, which includes another former member of Squeeze, drummer Gilson Lavis.

As they perform the upbeat tune, a couple comes out and dances the jive. Then Rod’s wife, Penny Lancaster, appears and begins dancing with the male dancer. The song ends with Rod’s arm around Penny, as confetti rains down and a banner reading “In Rod We Trust” is unfurled.

Swing Fever arrives February 23.

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Billy Joel is once again revisiting the albums from the first half of his career.

After releasing the box set The Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1. in 2021, Joel is now giving fans a chance to purchase those vinyl albums individually. They include 1971’s Cold Spring Harbor, 1974’s Streetlife Serenade, 1976’s Turnstiles, 1977’s The Stranger and 1978’s 52nd Street, plus his first live album, 1981’s Songs in the Attic.

He’s also releasing a previously unreleased concert, Live at the Great American Music Hall – 1975, which will be available for the first time outside the box set.

The double-LP features a June 1975 San Francisco concert from the Streetlife Serenade Tour, with performances of “New York State of Mind,” “Ballad of Billy The Kid,” “The Entertainer” and more.

The albums from The Vinyl Collection, Vol.1 will be released April 5 and are available for preorder now.

Joel followed up The Vinyl Collection, Vol.1 with the November 2023 release of The Vinyl Collection, Vol.2. It featured 1980’s Glass Houses, 1982’s The Nylon Curtain, 1983’s An Innocent Man, 1986’s The Bridge, 1989’s Storm Front and 1993’s The River of Dreams, along with the 2001 instrumental album Fantasies & Delusions and the three-LP live album Billy Joel – Live from Long Island.

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In October, Robert Plant performed the Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time in 16 years at a charity event in Oxfordshire, England, and it sounds like it was quite an experience for the rocker. 

“It was cathartic,” Plant tells Rolling Stone of the performance. “People go, ‘Oh, that’s good. He never was going to do that.’ But I didn’t really do it! I just blurted it out.” 

Explaining that the song was an important one for him during the time in his life with his Led Zeppelin bandmates Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham, Plant adds, “So on that night, it was what it was. It was a trial by fire, but I felt better at the end than at the beginning.”

Unfortunately, fans may never see him perform the tune again. When asked if he thinks it will be his last performance of the song, Plant replied, “Yeah, I think you’re probably right.”

“Who knows? Something could change somewhere,” he says. “Spirit and heart could come back in the soul.” But he notes, “It’s a long song. Who can remember all those words?”

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On This Day, February 14, 1987…

New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi scored their second #1 single when “Livin’ on a Prayer” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Released in October 1986, the track was the second hit single from their third album, Slippery When Wet. The first, “You Give Love a Bad Name,” hit #1 in November, 1986.

“Livin’ on a Prayer,” written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, was also the band’s first #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart.  

The video for the track, directed by Wayne Isham, played in heavy rotation on MTV, and in January of 2023 hit one billion views on YouTube.

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The Dandy Warhols have released a new song called “I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem” featuring Guns N’ Roses shredder Slash.

“The first time we heard it back in our studio we just stared at each other with our mouths open,” says frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor of the collaboration. “What [Slash] played on the track is amazing. I’ve never heard him play quite like that, but what is so fascinating to me is that it is clearly him playing. As recognizable as a familiar human voice.”

You can listen to “I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanied AI-generated video streaming on YouTube.

“I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem” will appear on the upcoming Dandy Warhols album Rockmaker, due out March 15. It also includes the song “Danzig with Myself,” featuring Pixies frontman Black Francis.

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Santana and Eric Burdon & The Animals are among the artists confirmed for the inaugural Fool in Love festival, happening August 31 in Hollywood Park, on the grounds adjacent to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The festival will be headlined by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, with Burdon’s former band War also on the bill, along with Nile Rodgers & Chic, Al Green, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick and others.

A ticket presale kicks off Friday, February 16, at 10 a.m. PT, with the general sale set for the same day at 2 p.m. PT. A complete lineup can be found at foolinlove.com.

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A new Jimi Hendrix graphic novel is coming this summer. 

Titan Comics is set to release Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze on July 30, written by Mellow Brown and DJ BenHaMeen, with artwork by Tom Mandrake.

The graphic novel is described as a “psychedelic space odyssey that captures the magic, hope and rebellion that Jimi’s legendary music is known for.” It will follow the guitar legend as he searches for a magical talisman that will help free a population starved of rock and roll by a controlling intergalactic force that’s out to silence music and enslave everyone. 

A Facebook post by Titan revealed some of the artwork for the graphic novel, including two covers with Jimi playing guitar. It notes the novel is “a pure rock and roll space opera featuring the legendary Jimi Hendrix as you’ve never seen him before.”

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A country album Brian Wilson started producing nearly five decades ago is finally set to see the light of day. 

According to Rolling Stone, Cows in the Pasture, which Wilson started in 1970 with Beach Boys‘ manager Fred Vail on vocals, is expected out sometime next year.  

Wilson and Vail worked on the record in April 1970 while the Beach Boys were recording their 16th studio album, Sunflower, but Wilson chose to abandon the project in the middle of recording.

“We never did any keeper vocals,” Vail tells the mag. “They were mostly just scratch vocals that we never completed. There were no background vocals and no harmonies. It was a lot instrumentation. And when Brian lost interest, I just moved on. It was kind of like, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ I didn’t figure anything would ever be done with them.”

Now, the album is finally being finished, thanks to producer Sam Parker and a series of yet-to-be revealed guest stars. It’s expected out in 2025, with a docuseries also in the works covering a now 79-year-old Vail’s life story and the completion of the album. Wilson is executive producing the new record and will also appear on it.  

“Fred always loved country music, and he was a big rodeo guy,” Wilson tells the mag. “He’s a hell of a guy, one hell of a promoter, and I’m glad his album is coming out.”

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