Classic Rock 93.9

On October 5, 1973 — 50 years ago — Elton John released Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Featuring future classics “Candle in the Wind,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Bennie and the Jets” and the title track, it would become Elton’s bestselling studio album to date — even though he was a bit baffled by his success.

“It took off in a way that none of us expected,” Elton wrote in his autobiography, Me!. “It’s quite a dark record in a lot of ways. Songs about sadness and disillusion, songs about alcoholics and prostitutes and murderers, a song about a 16-year-old lesbian who ends up dead in a subway. But it just kept selling and selling and selling, until I couldn’t work out who was buying it.”

While several critics have suggested over the years that the 17-track album would’ve worked better as a single LP, Elton’s musical partner Bernie Taupin, who co-wrote all the songs, disagrees.

“I think it’s a terrific record. I mean, I know people revere it,” Taupin tells ABC Audio. “I’m not sure that I think it could be a better single album. I think it’s one of the cases of an album where there’s not really a lot of filler on it.”  

“When you go in to make a record, you don’t go in and say, ‘Well, we’re going to make a double album,'” he says. “The fact was … we just wrote a lot of songs, and they all happened to be really good songs, so it just ended up being a really good double album.” 

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road debuted at #17 on the Billboard chart, but rose to #1 a month later and stayed there for eight weeks. It’s since gone on to sell 20 million copies.

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Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin will release his new album, Rio, on October 6. It will be his first solo album of vocal material in 34 years — so, what took him so long? 

Rabin tells ABC Audio that procrastination was partly to blame, but he’s also been pretty busy over the past three decades. In addition to touring with Yes until 1994, Rabin has had a successful career writing film scores for the likes of Jerry Bruckheimer and others.

“You know, 34 years later and 50 films later and I was like, ‘S*** I think I need to do an album,’” he shares.

But Rabin believes the delay worked in his favor. “I was exploding to do an album and I think it’s very fresh,” he says, noting he had a lot of energy making the record: “I was bursting to go.” 

And once he got himself back in the studio, he put all his other projects on the back burner and made sure to stay focused.  

“There were certain ideas that I’d had for years and years and there were other ideas which were, you know, just percolating,” he says. “But as far as getting in and doing the album, I literally said to myself and others, ‘I’m not doing anything else, no film, no anything until my record is done.’” 

Now Rabin is ready to share Rio, which features 11 tracks, including the already released songs “Big Mistakes,” “Push” and “Oklahoma.”

Rio, which is named after Rabin’s granddaughter, is available for preorder now.

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Bob Dylan has added even more dates to the North American leg of his Rough & Rowdy Ways tour.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer added seven more shows to the trek, starting with a two-night stand, November 24 and 25, in Baltimore, Maryland. The new dates include stops in Richmond and Roanoke, Virginia; Huntington, West Virginia; and Richmond, Kentucky. The tour wraps December 3 in Evansville, Indiana.

The latest leg of Dylan’s Rough & Rowdy Ways tour kicked off with a two-night stand, October 1 and 2, in Kansas City, Missouri. His next show is happening October 4 in St. Louis, Missouri. A complete list of dates can be found at bobdylan.com.

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Joe Perry was more than impressed the first time he heard Van Halen. In fact, in an interview with Guitar World, the Aerosmith guitarist reveals how hearing Van Halen for the first time contributed to his realization he needed a break from his band.

Perry left Aerosmith midway through the recording of their 1979 album Night in the Ruts because he was dealing with personal issues and needed to focus on himself. But, he says, “I also felt we needed to be more open to new ideas.”

“We were rolling into the ’80s, and I still remember hearing the first Van Halen record and f****** loving it,” Perry shares. “Eddie’s guitar playing was just so incredible; he turned guitar on its f****** ear and was doing stuff that I’d never heard before. I knew it was time for a break because new ideas were needed.”

He adds, “But we also needed to re-adjust our sights and learn to get along again. I remember saying, ‘We’re not ready for the ’80s.’ I don’t know why I said that; it was just a vibe or a feeling I had.”

Night in the Ruts was eventually released and Perry was still on it, despite his leaving. And he even has some good things to say about the album.

Perry says, “That record was a nightmare. But I have to say, it features some of the best playing Aerosmith has ever done in the studio.”

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Elton John doesn’t really wear makeup, but that didn’t stop beauty guru Charlotte Tilbury from tapping him to star in the new holiday campaign for her eponymous cosmetics brand.

“Elton’s always been a huge inspiration to me my entire life,” Tilbury tells People about including longtime friend Elton in the campaign. “He’s a musical genius, a true creative, a renaissance man and a national treasure. He’s loved by all generations.”

As part of the campaign, which is soundtracked to Elton’s classic holiday hit “Step Into Christmas,” Tilbury and her brand are donating to Elton’s AIDS Foundation Rocket Fund, which is working to raise $125 million to end the disease.

“I had so much fun stepping into beauty magic and working with Charlotte and her muses to bring this fabulous campaign to life,” Elton says in a statement. He adds, “This campaign is certainly going to bring the sparkle, joy and glamour this holiday season, all while supporting my Foundation’s life-saving work.”  

Part of the fundraising will be done through Tilbury’s new Rocket Collection of makeup, which includes a number of lipsticks and a makeup bag.

In addition to Elton, the campaign also features Kate Moss and Emmy-nominated Pose star Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, among others.

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The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is set to pay tribute to his late bandmate Tom Petty with a special concert later this month.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since we lost our friend and leader. I miss him dearly, as I know you all do,” Campbell writes on Instagram. “I find comfort and catharsis playing songs we wrote and recorded together on stage, and I thank you all for allowing me that opportunity.” 

He then reveals that his and The Dirty Knobs‘ October 20 concert at LA’s The Bellwether will feature their music and an additional set of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers tunes. He notes that since October 20 would have been Petty’s 73rd birthday, “we want to do something special.”

Steve Ferrone, who was also a member of The Heartbreakers, is currently playing drums for The Dirty Knobs and will be behind the drum kit for the October 20 show.

“I hope you’ll join us for what will no doubt be a spiritual and celebratory evening,” Campbell adds. 

Tickets for the show are on sale now.

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Yes’ 1971 hit The Yes Album will be reissued next month as an expanded box set.

The Yes Album (Super Deluxe Edition), dropping November 24, will contain four CDs, a Blu-ray and an LP. It will feature a newly remastered version of the album on both CD and LP, expanded to include rarities, instrumentals and early takes. It will also feature new mixes, including a Dolby Atmos mix.

In addition, there will be two previously unreleased concerts from 1971, recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden, and New Haven, Connecticut, with live performances of tracks like “Yours Is No Disgrace,” “Perpetual Change,”  “Astral Traveller,” “Everydays” and more.

“The Yes Album represents to me the invention of 70’s Yes. This was aided by leaving outside material off the record and heavily investing in the influences we brought together, particularly the arrangement skills and utilizing the available best technology,” Yes guitarist Steve Howe shares. “Our adventurism shows in the originality of the music and lyrics, as none of us had done anything quite like this before.”

The Yes Album (Super Deluxe Edition) will also be released digitally and on streaming platforms. You can listen to the first track from the set, an early version of “I’ve Seen All Good People,” now via digital outlets and YouTube.

Released February 1971, The Yes Album was the third studio album from the band. It was their first to feature Howe and their last with keyboardist Tony Kaye, who later returned for 1983’s 90125. It was a huge commercial success for Yes and went Platinum by the RIAA.

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Eagles are bringing The Long Goodbye tour to the West Coast.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers just announced dates for what they’re calling “The California Concerts,” happening January 5 and 6 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Both shows feature special guests Steely Dan.

The concerts coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the band’s January 2014 shows that reopened the Forum after a $100 million renovation. 

A ticket presale kicks off Wednesday, October 11, at 10 a.m. PT, followed by a general onsale starting Friday, October 13, at 10 a.m. PT. Eagles are also offering curated travel packages that include tickets and hotel accommodations. Those go on sale starting October 13 at 10 a.m. PT.

Next up, Eagles bring The Long Goodbye tour to Denver, Colorado, on Thursday, October 5. A complete list of dates can be found at eagles.com.

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On This Day, October 4, 1970…

Legendary blues-rock singer Janis Joplin was found dead in her room at the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles. She was only 27. She passed away from a heroin overdose.

Joplin had gained fame as one of the most electrifying performers of her era, thanks to appearances at the Monterey Pop Festival as lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist at Woodstock. 

She died during the recording of her second solo album, Pearl, which was released after her death and spent nine weeks at #1. It included a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” which became her only #1 hit. 

Other well-known Joplin tunes include covers of “Piece of My Heart” and “Cry Baby” as well as her original tune “Mercedes Benz,” which was her final recording.

Joplin was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

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Steve Miller was the surprise guest at John Mayer’s solo show at New York’s Madison Square Garden Tuesday, October 3. 

Fan-shot video posted to YouTube shows a seated Miller and Mayer performing Miller’s classic tune “The Joker” to a very enthusiastic audience. 

Miller, who turns 80 on October 5, is currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Joker album. In September, he released the box set J50: The Evolution of The Joker, which featured not only the original album but 27 previously unreleased recordings.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be hitting the road with the Steve Miller Band later this month, starting with a concert in Tucson, Arizona, on October 25. A complete list of dates can be found at stevemillerband.com.

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