Classic Rock 93.9

Are you a fan of the Grateful Dead who’d love to learn more about your favorite band? Well, Stanford University is here to help with that.

The college is offering a course on the Rock & Roll Famers. Psychedelia and Groove: The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead, taught by musician, author and radio producer David Gans, is a six-week online course that begins January 22.

According to Stanford’s website, the course “invites students to delve into the phenomenon that is the Grateful Dead through a captivating exploration of the band’s history, music, and cultural impact.” It promises to delve into the band’s evolution, formation in San Francisco, approach to touring, music catalog and “cultural impact on society.”

It will also feature guest speaker Steve Silberman, co-author of Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads and regular contributor to the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.

The description notes, “By the end of the course, students will have a well-rounded appreciation for the roots, struggles, and milestones that shaped the Grateful Dead’s trajectory, an understanding of its profound impact on music and culture, and insight into a legacy that still resonates deeply today.”

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Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry has given fans an update regarding the rescheduling plans for their final tour, the Peace Out tour.

Aerosmith kicked off the tour on September 2 in Philadelphia, but after playing only a handful of dates, the tour was postponed when frontman Steven Tyler fractured his larynx.

The tour was supposed to include a hometown show on New Year’s Eve at Boston’s TD Garden; in an interview with the Boston Globe, Perry says they’re “bummed” they have to miss it, then shared a tidbit about their future plans.

“But with any luck we will be back out late summer and fall of 24,” he said. “And there’s always next New Year’s Eve! Stay tuned for that.”

Perry also promised fans they’ll be getting some new releases from the band’s archives in 2024, noting, “We have a ton of unreleased material coming out over the next year and a half with remixes and alternate takes.” 

Perry also commented on the band’s recent milestone: their song “Dream On” passing 1 billion streams on Spotify.

“That knocked us back on our heels, I’ll tell ya. I talked to Steven who was freaking out about writing that riff four years before he even joined the band,” he says. “And all I could think about was taking my first guitar — a Sears $12 acoustic — out of the box when I was 11 or so.”

He adds, “And now over a billion fans hear my guitar at the beginning of the song. Who would have thought that?”

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Metallica has shared official live video from their performance at the 2023 Soundstorm Festival, which marked the metal legends’ first-ever show in Saudi Arabia.

The clip captures a performance of the Black Album single “The Unforgiven.” You can watch it streaming now on YouTube.

The Saudi Arabia concert, which took place December 14, capped an eventful year for Metallica, which included the release of a new album, 72 Seasons, and the launch of the world M72 tour. In the latest episode of The Metallica Report podcast, frontman James Hetfield shares his goals for 2024.

“I’m really just continuing to try and improve myself, get better, have a better attitude about life, about other people’s lives, and just try to bring as much joy to people as possible,” Hetfield says.

The M72 tour picks up again in May.

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On This Day, December 28, 1968 …

The Beatles landed another #1 album with their self-titled ninth studio release, more commonly referred to as The White Album, due to its plain white jacket cover with just the band’s name embossed on it. It spent nine weeks on top of the chart. 

The album featured 30 songs, including such future Beatles classics as “Helter Skelter,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Blackbird.” 

Tensions were high during the recording of the album, especially since John Lennon began bringing his new girlfriend, Yoko Ono, into the studio. Things got so bad that Ringo Starr reportedly left the group for two weeks.

The White Album also topped the charts in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Sweden and more. It has since been certified 24-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it The Beatles’ most certified album.

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The Hemsworths are not only a family of actors, but also a family of Green Day fans.

Thor star Chris has shared a video on Instagram capturing him and his brothers Liam and Luke covering the punk trio’s classic tune “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” over the holidays. Well, “cover” may be a loose term, as the video shows Chris whacking at the drums off-beat while Liam plays an acoustic guitar and sings with Luke.

“Christmas album just dropped, thanks for the inspiration @greenday,” the post’s caption reads.

You may recall that Chris previously covered Nine Inch Nails‘ “Hurt” — he performed the song in the style of Johnny Cash‘s version while on The Tonight Show in 2019.

Green Day, meanwhile, is gearing up to release a new album, Saviors, on January 19. Before that, they’ll say goodbye — or, perhaps, good riddance — to 2023 with a performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, airing December 31 on ABC.

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Cher is taking legal steps to help her son Elijah Blue Allman, 47, who struggles with substance abuse: She’s filed for a conservatorship of him.

In legal documents obtained by ABC News, Cher states that she wants to be the sole conservator of Elijah’s estate because he is “substantially unable to manage his financial resources.” According to the documents, Elijah, the son of Cher’s late ex-husband Gregg Allman, is due to receive money from a trust before the end of 2023.  However, because he’s currently suffering from “severe mental health and substance abuse issues,” Cher believes that “any money [he] receives will be “immediately spent on drugs … putting [his] life at risk.”

What’s more, the documents claim that Elijah’s wife, from whom he is allegedly estranged, shouldn’t be the conservator because she is “not supportive of Elijah’s recovery” and “actively works to keep Elijah from getting clean and sober or receiving mental health treatment that he desperately needs.”

The documents state that Cher has “worked tirelessly” to get Elijah “the help he needs,” and that two of his siblings have nominated her to act as conservator.  It’s not clear which siblings she’s referring to, but the document lists three of Gregg Allman’s five children — including Devon Allman, lead singer of The Allman Betts Band — and Cher’s son Chaz Bono, from her marriage to the late Sonny Bono.

A hearing for a temporary order of conservatorship is set for January 5.  A hearing that will decide whether to make the order permanent is set for March 6.

In October, Cher dismissed as “not true” a claim by Elijah’s wife that the singer, in an intervention attempt, had hired men to “kidnap” Elijah from New York City hotel room.

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New music from The Beatles is probably not what fans expected this year, but that’s exactly what they got.

– Word of a new Beatles song first surfaced in June. During an interview about his new photo exhibit, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, Paul McCartney revealed “the last Beatles record” was going to be released, explaining they used artificial intelligence to extricate John Lennon’s voice from an old demo in order to complete it.

– After some folks interpreted that as artificial intelligence being used to create Lennon’s voice, McCartney clarified his statement, noting “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”

 – In October, McCartney and Ringo Starr finally revealed the tune, “Now and Then,” would be dropping November 2.

– The song featured vocals Lennon recorded on a demo in the late ’70s, which his wife, Yoko Ono, gave to McCartney, Starr and George Harrison in 1994. They used that demo to create “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” which appeared on The Beatles Anthology project in the mid-’90s, but they were unable to complete “Now and Then.”

 – In 2021, Peter Jackson, director of The Beatles: Get Back, used new technology to isolate Lennon’s “Now and Then” instruments and vocals. Paul and Ringo completed the song in 2022, using guitar parts Harrison recorded in 1995.

– They released a short film about the making of the song, along with a music video featuring clips that blended archival and current footage to make it feel like the whole band was playing together, and with younger versions of themselves. 

– The song was an instant hit with Beatles fans, debuting at #1 on the U.K. charts and setting a record for the longest gap between number ones: 54 years. The last time The Beatles were on top of the charts in their homeland was in 1969 with the single “The Ballad of John & Yoko.”

– In the U.S., the song debuted at #7, extending The Beatles’ record for the most Hot 100 top 10 songs among groups, now with 35. They also nabbed the record for longest break between top 10 songs for any act with sole billing, at 27 years, 10 months and two weeks.

– As part of the “Now and Then” release, The Beatles also released 2023 Edition packages of two compilations, 1962-1966 (The Red Album) and 1967-1970 (The Blue Album), both mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos.

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Duff McKagan will be kicking off the new year with a trip to late night TV.

The Guns N’ Roses bassist is set to appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, January 9. 

“January is looking to be a pretty busy month for me, and more on that at a later date,” McKagan shares in a Facebook post. “We’ll see ya on Kimmel on January 9th for those of you who get the show.”

McKagan’s 2023 included releasing a new solo album, Lighthouse, in between touring with GN’R. The “Welcome to the Jungle” outfit also put out two new songs this year, “The General” and “Perhaps.”

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Paul McCartney is looking back at his year and sharing the photographic highlights with fans. 

“From an unprecedented exhibition of his Beatles-era photographs to a jet-setting tour that saw Paul play in Australia, Mexico and Brazil; a part-masterclass, part-memoir podcast; and, of course, a new Beatles song. 2023 has been a year to remember!” reads a post on his website, along with 22 photos from the past year. 

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s photo diary includes a picture of him sharing a meal with Ringo Starr to celebrate his daughter Mary‘s vegetarian cookbook, posing with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl at the opening of McCartney’s photo exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery and sitting down with Stanley Tucci for a livestream event. 

There’s also a photo of McCartney onstage during his Got Back Tour in Australia, a holiday photo with wife Nancy Shevell, a classic Wings pic celebrating the 50th anniversary of their album Red Rose Speedway and more.

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Elton John started his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in September 2018 — a lifetime ago, it feels like — but it didn’t come to an end until July 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The final show of the final leg of Elton’s tour, which also included his first headlining set at England’s Glastonbury Festival, featured a special appearance via video from Coldplay, who were playing in another Swedish city that night. Singer Chris Martin thanked Elton for all he’s done for the fight against AIDS and LGBTQ rights, and for “fashion and eyewear … sexiness and love.”

After the show, Elton released a statement saying, “I’m trying to process it, and I don’t think it will sink in for a while yet that I’m finally finished touring.”

While he may be finished touring, Elton isn’t done with music, or with creating. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November, Elton told the crowd that he and his musical partner Bernie Taupin had just completed a new album. So far, there’s no word on a release date.

In 2023, Elton also guest-starred on The Rolling Stones‘ album Hackney Diamonds and Dolly Parton‘s album Rockstar, and co-wrote a new book called Watford Forever about his experiences as the owner of England’s Watford FC soccer team.

What’s more, it was announced that Elton’s latest stage musical, Tammy Faye, will come to Broadway for the 2024 season.

And in January, Sir Elton may finally become an EGOT winner. In July, he scored an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Variety Special, Live, for his Disney+ concert film, Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. If he wins, he’ll join that rare group of entertainers who’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar. He’s won five Grammys, two Oscars and one Tony over the course of his career.

Also ahead for Elton: London’s Victoria & Albert Museum will stage an exhibit called Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection, opening May 18. In addition, he’ll film a cameo for the upcoming sequel to the legendary 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, along with Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks.

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