Ringo Starr on ‘Let It Be’: “There was no real joy in it”

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Beatles documentary Let it Be is now streaming on Disney+, and in a new interview, Ringo Starr admits he wasn’t really a fan of the film when it first came out.

“I was always moaning about the original film, because there was no real joy in it,” he tells The Daily Beast.

The film follows The Beatles as they record what would wind up being their final album, Let It Be; they broke up one month before the film’s release. In one scene, Paul McCartney and George Harrison are caught having an argument, which Ringo describes as “this litter downer incident.”

“But that’s just how it was; four guys in a room, you know?” he says. “You’re bound to have a few ups and downs.”

Thanks to Peter Jackson’s 2021 Disney+ docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back, fans have a bit more context as to what happened during the filming of the doc, and Ringo thinks that makes Let It Be a better experience this time around.

“Now it’s got a start, a middle, and a finish. The start is very slow, and then we get into creating, and then we’re at it and then we’re out,” he says. “I love it. But I’m in it, of course, so six hours is never long enough.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Report: ‘Succession’s’ Jeremy Strong in talks to play Springsteen manager Jon Landau in ‘Nebraska’ film

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Succession star Jeremy Strong may have found his next role. Variety reports that the Emmy winner is in talks to join the cast of the Bruce Springsteen movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, where he’ll play The Boss’ manager, Jon Landau.

Deliver Me From Nowhere follows Springsteen’s efforts to make the 1982 solo album Nebraska. It is based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

In early April, it was confirmed that The Bear star Jeremy Allen White was in talks to play Springsteen in the picture, which will be written and directed by Scott Cooper, with Springsteen and Landau both involved in the project. The film is being produced by 20th Century Studios and Disney.

Nebraska, released on September 30, 1982, featured 10 acoustic songs that Springsteen originally recorded as demos on a four-track recorder. Springsteen had planned to rerecord the songs with the E Street Band but instead opted to release it as a solo acoustic record. It featured such songs as “Atlantic City,” “Johnny 99” and “State Trooper.”

Robert Plant, Peter Frampton & more oppose AI-generated recordings of late singer Steve Marriott’s vocals

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Robert Plant, Peter Frampton, David Gilmour and Bryan Adams are just a few of the A-list musicians supporting the family of the late British singer Steve Marriott, who’s opposing the release of recordings featuring AI-generated versions of his voice, Variety reports.

Marriott, who fronted Humble Pie and Small Faces, the latter of which earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, died in 1991 at 44. His family says his third wife, Toni Poulton, who he married in 1989, has authorized AI-generated recordings to be used on a new album, although Marriott’s four children are against it.

“The Marriott Estate is due to release an AI solo album of old and new songs of my father, Steve,” Mollie Marriott says in a statement, noting the rocker’s family has nothing to do with the estate. Mollie’s statement insists such recordings “would be a stain on my father’s name.”

“Someone who was known as one of the greatest vocalists of our generation, with such a live and raw vocal, it would absolutely break his heart if he were alive to know this,” the statement reads. “This is only for money, not art nor appreciation.”

In addition to Plant, Adams and Gilmour, Frampton is joined by his Humble Pie bandmate Jerry Shirley in supporting the Marriott family, with Small Faces’ Kenney Jones also on board, along with Glenn Hughes, Paul Weller, Paul Rodgers and Gary Kemp.

Chris France, managing director of Marriott’s estate, told Variety there are currently “no confirmed plans to use Steve Marriott’s voice on AI recordings,” but there could be in the future, adding, “I am afraid that [Mollie Marriott’s] opinions are of no consequence to me or his estate.”

Richie Sambora is open to a Bon Jovi reunion: “The fans will just love it”

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Most Bon Jovi fans are still hoping to see guitarist Richie Sambora back onstage with the band some day, and it appears he hasn’t ruled it out.

Sambora, who departed the group in 2013, reveals in a new interview with The Allison Hagendorf Show that he’s definitely open to performing with his former bandmates again.

“If he gets [his voice] back, I’ll go play. I got songs,” Sambora said, referring to frontman Jon Bon Jovi, who is still recovering from vocal cord surgery he had in 2022. “I swear to God. It’s the honest-to-God truth … I told everybody that I would without a doubt go back. The world needs it.”

And there’s one main reason why Sambora would be open to the reunion: the fans.

“The fans will just love it,” he says. “It’s not finance, it has nothing to do with that. The world could use it.”

But it sounds like Richie isn’t 100 percent convinced Jon can recover enough to sing like he used to.

“It’s an iffy thing at best,” he says. “I don’t know if there’s anybody that has ever had that be successful. I’m not really sure about that.”

But while fans wait for that reunion to possibly happen, there’s plenty of music for them to enjoy. Sambora recently released two new solo singles, “I Pray” and “Livin’ Alone,” with two more on the way: “Songs That Wrote My Life,” coming May 10, and “Believe (In Miracles),” coming May 17. Plus, Bon Jovi is dropping a new album, Forever, on June 7.

Lindsey Buckingham’s solo career the subject of new box set

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The early solo career of former Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham is being explored in a new box set, 20th Century Lindsey.

The set will feature Buckingham’s first three solo albums: 1981’s Law and Order, 1984’s Go Insane and 1992’s Out of the Cradle. There will also be a bonus album, 20th Century Rarities, with eight nonalbum tracks, including two songs that appeared on movie soundtracks, “Time Bomb Town,” from 1985’s Back to the Future, and the Stevie Nicks duet “Twisted,” from 1996’s Twister.

Another track from Rarities, “Slow Dancing (Extended Version),” has just been released to digital outlets. The track was originally released in 1984 as a 12-inch single in Europe and is now making its digital debut.

20th Century Lindsey is set to drop June 14 digitally and as a four-LP set, with a four-CD set coming in August. It is available for preorder now.

Jon Anderson announces new album with The Band Geeks

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Yes‘ Jon Anderson is set to release a new album with the cover group The Band Geeks, who have been backing him on tour.

True is set to drop August 23, featuring nine new songs. A press release says the new album “harkens back to Yes’ classic 70s sounds as well as to their latter day success with the album 90125,” the album that featured the #1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

Fans will get their first preview of the record with the single “Shine On,” which is expected out in mid-June.

True will be the first new album from Anderson since 2019’s 1000 Hands: Chapter One and his first with The Band Geeks, who he’s been touring with since 2023.

In the meantime, Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks are set to kick off a new tour on May 30 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer booked as special guest on select dates. A complete schedule can be found at jonanderson.com.

Steve Albini, ’In Utero’ engineer & punk rock vet, dead at 61

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Steve Albini, the prolific punk rock musician and audio engineer who worked on albums including Nirvana‘s In Utero, has died at age 61.

In a statement to ABC Audio on Wednesday, May 8, Albini’s Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio confirmed that he passed away the night of Tuesday, May 7, of a heart attack.

Known for his strict adherence to the punk rock ethos, Albini opposed taking royalties on albums he engineered, a term he preferred to “producing.”

Albini’s music career began in 1981 with the punk band Big Black. Later in the ’80s, he began engineering albums for other artists, including Pixies‘ 1988 debut Surfer Rosa.

Kurt Cobain, who was a big Pixies fan, wanted Albini to work on Nirvana’s follow-up to their 1991 smash, Nevermind. The result was 1993’s In Utero, which took Nirvana’s sound in a harsher, more dissonant direction.

Albini also engineered albums including The Breeders‘ Pod, PJ Harvey‘s Rid of Me and Bush‘s Razorblade Suitcase. Additionally, he fronted the band Shellac, which is set to release a new album, To All Trains, on May 17.

Outside of music, Albini was an avid poker player and won multiple World Series of Poker bracelets.

Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs announce new album, ‘Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits’

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is set to release a new album with his band The Dirty Knobs.

Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, due out June 14, features 11 new songs, with guest appearances by Graham Nash, Lucinda Williams, Chris Stapleton and Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate Benmont Tench.

Fans are getting their first taste of the record with the new single “Dare To Dream,” featuring a guest appearance by Nash.

“‘Dare To Dream’ is a song about longing for hope,” Campbell shares. “Lord knows we need more hope in this wicked world these days. Having Graham Nash sing on it was a dream come true for me.”

You can listen to “Dare To Dream” now via digital outlets and watch the video on YouTube.

Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits is the third record from Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, following 2020’s Wreckless Abandon and 2022’s External Combustion. It is available for preorder now.

Here is the track list for Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits:

“The Greatest”
“Angel Of Mercy”
“Dare To Dream” (feat. Graham Nash)
“Hands Are Tied”
“Hell Or High Water” (feat. Lucinda Williams)
“So Alive”
“Shake These Blues”
“Innocent Man”
“Don’t Wait Up” (feat. Chris Stapleton & Benmont Tench)
“My Old Friends”
“Amanda Lynn”

The Wallflowers announce full-album ‘Bringing Down the Horse’ concert

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

The Wallflowers have announced a concert featuring a full-album performance of 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse.

The show will take place October 2 in Los Angeles. Along with Bringing Down the Horse, The Wallflowers will cover the 1982 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album Long After Dark in its entirety.

For ticket info, visit WallflowersMusic.com.

Bringing Down the Horse was the second Wallflowers album and spawned the hit “One Headlight,” as well as the singles “6th Avenue Heartache,” “The Difference” and “Three Marlenas.”

The Wallflowers’ latest album is 2021’s Exit Wounds, which marked the group’s first full-length release in nine years.

On This Day, May 8, 1970: The Beatles released their final album, ‘Let It Be’

May 8, 2024 by Classic Rock 93.9

On This Day, May 8, 1970 …

One month after they broke up, The Beatles released their 12th and final studio album, Let It Be.

Although released after the split, Let It Be was actually recorded before their previous album Abbey Road, which was released in September 1969.

Let It Be spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Album chart, thanks to future Beatles classics like the title track, “Get Back,” “The Long and Winding Road” and “Across The Universe.”

A documentary about the making of the album, also called Let It Be, was released to coincide with the album. It featured footage of their infamous concert on the roof of Apple Records, which was their last live performance together.

A restored version of the film is now streaming on Disney +, the first time it’s been available in over 50 years.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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