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Lynyrd Skynyrd is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and they are marking the milestone with a brand new box set. 

The Southern rockers will drop FYFTY on October 13, a four-CD/digital set featuring 50 tracks spanning all eras of the band. It will include such classics songs as “Simple Man,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Gimme Three Steps,” as well as more current tracks like “Last Of A Dyin’ Breed” and “Last Of The Street Survivors.”

The set also features several live tracks taken from the band’s 1987 tribute tour. One of those songs is a previously unreleased live recording of the classic “Free Bird.” There’s also a previously unreleased live recording of “Gimme Three Steps” from the band’s November 2022 concert, which was the last with their late guitarist Gary Rossington, who passed away in March. 

Along with all the music, FYFTY will feature a 40-page booklet with opening notes written by director Cameron Crowe and liner notes from Detroit rock journalist Gary Graff. 

FYFTY is available for preorder now.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is currently on their Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour with ZZ Top. The tour hits Greenwood Village, Colorado, on Monday, August 7. A complete list of tour dates can be found at lynyrdskynyrd.com.

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On This Day, August 1, 1942…

Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia was born in San Francisco, California.

Co-founder of the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, Garcia was the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist for the group, and for many he was their de facto leader.

The Grateful Dead came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s, and went on to be one of the most beloved rock bands, especially among fans who would follow them across the country.

The Dead only had one Top 40 single throughout their career, 1987’s “Touch of Grey,” but their touring success was immeasurable, and they were one of the highest-grossing touring acts for decades. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Garcia struggled with diabetes later in life, and also struggled with addiction. He passed away from a heart attack on August 9, 1955, at the age of 53.

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August 1 brings us another full moon, which brings us another Peter Gabriel single. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just dropped the new track “Olive Tree” from his upcoming album i/o, which so far does not have a release date.

“In some ways I do think we are part of everything and we probably have means to connect and communicate with everything that we often shut off,” Gabriel says of the song’s themes of connection. “We only want to see and listen to the things that seem important and relevant to us and shut out the noise of everything else when, probably, hidden in that noise there are all sorts of things that can help us realize our place in this future world.” 

As he’s done with all the other songs he’s released from i/o, Gabriel plans to release several different remixes of the song. The first one released is Mark ‘Spike’ Stent‘s Bright-Side Mix, which will be followed later this month by the Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

Next up, Gabriel will be bringing his i/o tour to North America starting September 8 in Quebec City, Canada. It hits the U.S. on September 14 in Boston. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

 

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Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott is revealing some of the records that helped shape him into the rock star he is today. In an interview with Classic Rock, the singer reveals “the 10 records that changed my life,” with a list that includes Mott The Hoople, Queen, David Bowie and Rod Stewart. 

Elliott, a former frontman of a Mott The Hoople cover band, includes two of their albums on the list: 1971’s Wildlife and 1973’s Mott. He notes the latter “showed Ian Hunter’s amazing songwriting process: he was always a great songwriter, but it really came to the fore on that record.”

Also on the list is Bowie’s 1972 classic, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which he calls “a brilliant, stunning record.” Stewart’s 1971 album, Every Picture Tells A Story, also made the list. Elliott says it was the first record he ever purchased, noting it was “a 40-minute journey of all sorts of emotions.”

Queen’s 1974 album, Sheer Heart Attack, also makes the list. He says that from that album, “you could tell they were rock band, but you could also tell they were much more than a rock band.”

The other albums on Elliott’s list: Jethro Tull’s 1971 release, Aqualung; Montrose’s 1973 self-titled release; Ian Hunter’s 1975 self-titled album; Mick Ronson’s 1975 album, Play Don’t Worry; and UFO’s Obsession, released in 1978.

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Van Morrison has started his own label in order to put out material from his archives. The singer announced the launch of Orangefield Records, which will be dedicated to releasing his music from ’70s through the 2000s.

The first release will be Beyond Words: Instrumental, dropping August 18, a compilation of 17 previously unreleased instrumental tracks. According to a post on Van’s website, the album will take “listeners on a mesmerizing journey into one of the world’s most admired archives.”

But this doesn’t mean Morrison won’t be releasing new music somewhere down the road. The announcement points out that any new material from Morrison will be released through major labels.

Beyond Words: Instrumental is available for preorder now. 

Here is the track list for Beyond Words: Instrumental:

“Beyond Words”
“Jammin’ With Eddie”
“Driving On A Country Road”
“Breadwinner”
“Cool For Cats”
“Parisian Walkabout”
“So Complicated”
“Kerry Dancing”
“All Saints Beneficial”
“Celtic Voices”
“Mountains, Fields, Rivers & Streams”
“The Street”
“Far North”
“Time To Get Ready”
“Song Of Home”
“12 Bar Celtic”
“Greenwood Tree”

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Paul McCartney has confirmed the rumors — he’s going on tour again.

The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer just announced dates for a new leg of his Got Back tour, which will hit Australia, the first time he’s toured there since 2017.

The new dates kick off October 18 in Adelaide, with shows in Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane before wrapping November 4 in Gold Coast.

Presale tickets go on sale Wednesday, August 9, with the general sale set for Friday, August 11. A complete list of dates can be found at paulmccartney.com.

McCartney’s Got Back tour launched in April 2022. It consisted of stadium shows in North America, as well as a headlining spot at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon is chiming in on the recent trend of concertgoers throwing things at musicians onstage, and he says he’s definitely been on the receiving end over the years. 

“I’ve been hit with a billiard ball,” he tells Metro UK. “That wasn’t very pleasant – for the ball.”

Lydon says there will “always be that jealous little fart” in the audience who feels the need to chuck something at the stage, and he believes social media and “incredible stupidity” have made it worse in recent years.

He warns fans to “be sensible,” noting, “You can seriously hurt someone here. And the cowardice of hiding in a crowd if there are ill-intentions on your mind makes you the lowest form of life.”

Lydon has been hit with more than just a billiard ball. He says he was once hit in the face with a stiletto, which caused him “blinding pain.” But he actually didn’t feel any ill will toward the girl who threw it, because she instantly started crying out that she didn’t mean it. 

He notes, “The poor thing, I felt immediately sorry for her because her look of shock, and the worst thing is she was meaning all the best.” He added, “God bless her! If she’s sat there and reads this I hope she’s able to giggle at it.”

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August 3 marks 36 years since Def Leppard released their fourth studio album, Hysteria, which went on to become their first Billboard 200 #1. Ahead of the anniversary, guitarist Phil Collen is breaking down the album for fans in a new video posted to social media.

“When we went in to record Hysteria (producer) Mutt (Lange) said let’s do a rock version of Thriller where you have like seven singles,” Collen says in the clip, referring to Michael Jackson’s classic album. “Create a genre of our own.”

Collen then goes to discuss several of the songs on the album, including hits like “Armageddon It,” their only #1 song “Love Bites” and “Animal,” which Collen says took “three years to write, or to get right.”

He also talks about “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” which became their signature tune. Collen says the song almost didn’t make the album as it was recorded after they already finished the record. They were also late handing it in and were “four and a half million dollars in debt.”

Frontman Joe Elliott was playing something on guitar in the studio, which caught Lange’s ear, and he pushed them to record it despite the album being late. He insisted, “this song is going to be really important.”

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James Taylor made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, which took place July 28-30 in Newport, Rhode Island.

According to Jambase, Taylor was a last minute replacement on Friday, July 28, for singer Noah Kahan, who had to cancel his set due to vocal issues. Taylor was apparently vacationing nearby and arrived for his performance by boat less than an hour before going on.

He delivered a stellar set which featured such iconic Taylor songs as “Sweet Baby James,” “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Something In The Way She Moves” and more.

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Paul McCartney appears to be teasing some big news on his social media accounts. 

The Beatle shared a tease on social media suggesting fans sign up for his mailing list “for news coming soon.” He captioned the post, “Got to get you into my life” along with a guitar emoji.

Although there’s no clear message as to what he’s teasing, Billboard suggests it’s likely a new world tour, noting that Australian concert promoter Frontier Touring, which produced McCartney’s 2017 tour of Australia and New Zealand, reposted the tease.

McCartney last hit the road in 2022 on the Got Back tour, which included shows in North America and a headlining spot at U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

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