Classic Rock 93.9

Chas Newby, who played bass for The Beatles several times in their early days, has died at age 81.

The Facebook page for The Cavern Club Liverpool, where The Beatles got their start, posted a message reading, “It’s with great sadness to hear about the passing of Chas Newby. Chas stepped in for The Beatles for a few dates when Stuart Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg…interestingly, he was also the first left-handed bass guitarist in The Beatles.”

In case you’re not up on your Beatles minutiae, when the band first started, it was John Lennon‘s art-school friend Stu Sutcliffe who played the bass; Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison all played guitar. Paying tribute to Newby, noted Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn explained on Twitter that the late bass player “deputized for Stuart on a few dates when the Beatles returned from Hamburg the first time, end-1960” and called him “a charming man, always a pleasure to meet.”

According to The Mirror, John wanted Newby to go on a tour with them to West Germany, but Newby decided to go back to school instead. Sutcliffe officially left the band in 1961, and since neither John nor George wanted to play the bass, Paul — who is, of course, also left-handed — took over the instrument, becoming the group’s second left-handed bass player.

Meanwhile, Newby became a math teacher.

Roag Best, brother of original Beatles drummer Pete Best, wrote on Facebook, “Both Pete and I and the whole Best family absolutely devastated to hear the very sad news with regards to one of the families closest friends Chas Newby passing last night.”

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Michael Gudinski may not have been a household name, but he was a major player in the music business. That’s why the likes of Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Ed Sheeran, among others, are happy to talk about him in a new documentary charting his career.

Gudinksi, who died unexpectedly in March 2021, was the head of the Mushroom Group, which encompasses all aspects of the music and entertainment industry in Australia. Chief among those ventures is Frontier Touring, the third largest concert promoter in the world. Through Frontier, Gudinski had a huge impact on the world’s biggest stars’ careers, bringing them Down Under for what were often record-breaking tours.

In the trailer for Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story, Sting describes the late promoter as having “the energy of a rock drummer.” Grohl says, “I imagine being a rock promoter as the biggest f****** nightmare. There has to be a reason why he did it.” Springsteen laughs, “He came on strong!”

Other artists who appear in the documentary include Vance Joy, Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue and Shirley Manson of Garbage.  

According to The Music Network, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival August 10, before opening in theaters in Australia on August 31. There’s no word on a U.S. theatrical or streaming release yet.

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These days a lot of streaming platforms offer games, both free and paid, in addition to movies and TV shows. And as of May 23, you can play a Jimi Hendrix-themed game on one of those platforms.

Play.Works The Jimi Hendrix Experience is a slots game that is now available on Roku and will soon be rolled out to other pay TV platforms. It’s the first time that Hendrix’s music has been incorporated onto a connected TV, or CTV, platform. As you level up on the game, you can see unreleased photos and hear music from across Hendrix’s catalog.

Later this year, Play.Works will launch a Jimi Hendrix trivia video game. Both the games are part of a partnership between Play.Works, Experience Hendrix LLC and Authentic Hendrix LLC, the official representatives of Jimi’s estate.

Experience Hendrix President and CEO Janie Hendrix explains, “It’s a step toward the future. We recently celebrated what would have been Jimi’s 80th birthday, and he continues to appeal to people of all ages and walks of life. The Play.Works game and video trivia are an excellent way to reintroduce his magic and music to a whole new generation.”

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Aerosmith‘s recorded their share of legendary albums that are packed with classic tracks, but unlike many of their peers, the band never really did one of those tours where they played one of their famous albums in its entirety. The reason? According to guitarist Joe Perry, it was just too boring.

Speaking to Kerrang, Perry says, “The closest we ever got to that was doing a version of Toys [In The Attic] front-to-back, but after we tried it a couple of times live, we realized that to maintain the energy of the show, we’d have to drop a couple of songs out. It wasn’t exciting enough, for me.”

“There are other songs that people would rather get to hear than being able to say they saw that album played in full,” he adds. “Any time you perform, you’ve got to treat it as the one time you get to play in front of that audience. You don’t know when you’re going to be back.”

And considering that Aerosmith’s upcoming Peace Out tour is billed as their farewell trek, it seems unlikely the band will ever attempt that again.

Perry also tells Kerrang that, having been rocking for 50 years, he feels the ultimate era of rock music was — big surprise — the ’60s and ’70s.

“You lived and died by how you played onstage. You could go out there and have a great single that was on top of the charts, but if you couldn’t deliver a great show live, you’d be gone, because there were all these other bands that could,” Perry say.

“It was about having your feet on the ground, standing in front of the fans, delivering.”

Aerosmith’s Peace Out tour kicks off September 2 in Philadelphia.

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A who’s who of guitar rock royalty gathered at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday night for the first of two concerts honoring the late Jeff Beck, who died in January at age 78.

As Best Classic Bands reports, the show began with Beck’s guitar spotlighted onstage, literally on a pedestal. It continued with performances of songs from throughout Beck’s career, delivered by famous pals like Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons and Johnny Depp. The actor toured with Beck during his final tour in 2022 and was reportedly at his bedside when he passed away.

The show began with performances of songs by Beck’s former group The Yardbirds, with former Yardbird Clapton singing lead on “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul.” 

Later, Clapton, Derek Trucks and Wood performed Beck’s 1966 classic “Beck’s Bolero,” and Gibbons performed “Rough Boy,” the ZZ Top hit that the band and Beck would often collaborate on while touring together.

Other featured songs included 1977’s “Freeway Jam” and “You Know You Know,” a 1971 song by jazz-fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra that Beck often performed with. Mahavishnu Orchestra’s John McLaughlin, 81, was on hand to play it.

Rod sang his 1984 hit “Infatuation,” which originally featured Beck on guitar, with Clapton and Wood, as well as the hit 1985 Rod and Beck version of “People Get Ready,” for which Rod, Clapton and Wood were joined by Gary Clark Jr.

According to Guitar World, the night ended with an all-star, eight-minute version of the Freddie King blues classic “Goin’ Down,” which Beck recorded in 1972. It was sung by Clapton and performed by nearly 20 guitar players.

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Stevie Nicks is crediting Taylor Swift with helping her mourn the death of her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie.

During a show in Atlanta Monday night, Stevie thanked Taylor for writing the song “You’re On Your Own, Kid” off her album Midnights. She said the lyrics capture how she’s been feeling since her friend passed.

“Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing this thing for me, and that is writing a song called ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid.’ That is the sadness of how I feel,” she told the crowd, as seen in fan-captured video.

She went on to describe her friendship with Christine, saying that no matter how far apart they were or how much time had passed, they could always pick up where they left off. “It was like never a minute had passed, never an argument in our entire 47 years,” she said.

“So, when it was the two of us, the two of us were on our own, kids, we always were,” she continued. “And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. So, you help me to do that. Thank you.”

After Christine passed at age 79 last November, Stevie paid tribute to her friend using lyrics from the song “Hallelujah” by Taylor’s pals HAIM.

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The toy company Super7 has announced new action figures of the late Ronnie James Dio and the band Dio‘s Murray devil mascot.

The two figures stand 3.75 inches tall and cost $20 each.

Murray first appeared on the iconic cover of Dio’s 1983 debut album, Holy Diver, which features the demonic creature wielding a chain while a frantic priest tries to swim away. The Murray action figure does include an accessory chain, though a priest is not included.

You can order yours now via Super7.com.

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Lenny Kravitz is among the artists playing Global Citizen’s upcoming Power Our Planet: Live in Paris concert, taking place in the French capital on June 22.

According to a press release, the event aims to “drive commitments from world leaders and the private sector to confront the climate crisis head on.” The lineup also includes Billie EIlish and her brother/musical collaborator FINNEAS, award-winning R&B artists H.E.R. and Jon Batiste and singer/songwriter Ben Harper.

“The next generation are inheriting a planet that’s being devastated by climate change,” Kravitz says in a statement. “We have the power to change things with our voices and our actions. Join me on June 22, from wherever you are, and act today to save tomorrow.”

You can enter to win tickets to the free show by signing up for Global Citizen and taking action to address climate change. The concert will also stream live across various platforms.

For more info, visit GlobalCitizen.org.

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On This Day, May 23, 1978 …

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kicked off their Darkness tour at Shea’s in Buffalo, New York.

The tour, in support of Springsteen’s fourth studio album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, included a three-night stand at the Palladium in New York City. It wrapped on New Year’s Day 1979 in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The opening night set list included the live debuts of future Springsteen classics like “Badlands,” “Prove It All Night,” “Racing in the Street,” “The Promised Land,” “Candy’s Room” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”

The set also included favorites like “Thunder Road,” “Rosalita,” “Born To Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.”

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The Beach Boys will be performing at The Hollywood Bowl on July 2, 3 and 4, and they’ll be bringing some pals with them.

John Stamos will join the iconic group for the shows, which are part of the Hollywood Bowl’s Fireworks Spectacular. The July 4th show will also feature Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath.  Both Stamos and McGrath played with the Beach Boys last summer at LA’s Greek Theater.

Stamos, of course, has a longstanding history with the Beach Boys: He first played with them on July 4, 1985 in Philadelphia. He also appeared in some of their videos, including the one for their #1 single “Kokomo,” and directed their video for “Hot Fun in the Summertime.”

McGrath has also appeared as a guest with the group, most recently on the Beach Boys Good Vibrations Cruise this past March.

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