Classic Rock 93.9

Dusty Hill, the long-bearded, longtime bassist for beloved Texas blues-rock trio ZZ Top, has died at age 72.

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons and drummer Frank Beard announced Hill’s passing with a message on the band’s official Facebook page.

“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the note reads. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top.’ We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.'”

Hill joined ZZ Top shortly after the group’s formation in 1969. Gibbons sang lead on most of the group’s songs, while Hill usually handled backing vocals, although he occasionally did take over as lead singer for select tunes, including the band’s classic 1975 hit, “Tush.”

Dusty co-wrote many of ZZ Top’s songs, including “Tush” and other enduring classics including “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’, “Got Me Under Pressure,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” and “Sleeping Bag.”

Hill was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.

The band’s plans for a major 50th anniversary tour in 2020 were sidetracked because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ZZ Top had recently started playing shows again, but the band announced last week that Hill had to return home to Texas “to address a hip issue,” and that the group’s longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis, was filling in for him.

These recent shows marked the first time since Hill had joined ZZ Top that they performed with out him.

ZZ Top’s most recent album, La Futura, was released in 2012, although Gibbons revealed in recent interviews that the band had been working on material for a new record.

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A second annual edition of Daze Between, a series of events celebrating the life and legacy of Jerry Garcia that’s scheduled on and around the late Grateful Dead frontman’s August 1 birthday, recently kicked off and is slated to run through August 10.

While last year’s inaugural Daze Between was a virtual celebration because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition is a hybrid of live and streaming events and activities.

In conjunction with Daze Between, a variety of Garcia tribute concerts by Melvin Seals & JGB, The Garcia Project, Dark Star Orchestra and others will be held at various venues between Thursday, July 29, and Monday, August 9. Among these is a special Daze Between show on August 8 in New Haven, Connecticut, featuring Warren Haynes, Grace Potter and more.

In addition, Major League Baseball will host a series of special “Jerry Day” games featuring special Garcia merch giveaways and taking place July 29 at Boston’s Fenway Park, August 2 at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, and August 10 at San Francisco’s Oracle Park.

Other events include livestreamed concert, an exhibition of Garcia’s digital art hosted by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and an online auction featuring a selection of Grateful Dead collectibles.

Daze Between was launched in partnership between Garcia’s family and the Grateful Dead’s Rex Foundation charity. Proceeds raised will benefit the foundation, which supports people involved with creative endeavors in the arts, sciences and education.

For details about the celebration, visit DazeBetween.com.

Garcia was born on August 1, 1942, and passed away on August 9, 1995, at age 53.

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Olivia Vedder is following in her father’s footsteps.

The teenage daughter of Eddie Vedder is making her musical debut with the song “My Father’s Daughter,” which was co-written by the Pearl Jam frontman. The track was recorded for the upcoming film Flag Day, which, fittingly, stars another father-daughter pair: Sean and Dylan Penn.

In Flag Day, which was also directed by the elder Penn, Sean stars as real-life counterfeiter John Vogel; Dylan plays his daughter, Jennifer.

You can hear a preview of “My Father’s Daughter” in the newly released Flag Day trailer, streaming now on YouTube. It’ll also be featured on the Flag Day soundtrack, due out August 20. The film premieres in select theaters that same day.

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Tuesday marked 40 years since the release of Stevie Nicks‘ solo debut album, 1981’s Bella Donna. Now the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has released an essay explaining how important the album is to her.

On her socials, Stevie writes that “Bella Donna was a dream…I did not want the record to sound anything like Fleetwood Mac. That would have defeated the dream.”  Instead, she explains, she wanted her and her two backup singers Lori and Sharon to sound like “the girl version of Crosby, Stills & Nash.”

According to Stevie, the inspiration for the album was a poem she wrote, inspired by her then-boyfriend’s mother, Maria Teresa Rojas.  As Stevie tells it, Rojas’ lover in Chile was “banished to France” after the Chilean coup of 1973.

“She never saw him again,” Stevie writes. “I was so touched by this story of lost love that I wrote Bella Donna. The moment the poem and then the song was finished, I knew I had the basis for my first solo record.”

Stevie goes on to say that Bella Donna “defined how I would feel about love forever,” adding, “I could not have been more proud of those songs, or the three months it took [us] to craft it. It did not break up Fleetwood Mac. If anything, it kept us together.”

And finally, Stevie notes that Bella Donna “opened the doors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, took my hand and invited me in for my own work…the thing I am most proud of. And all because of a tragic love affair that caused… an important and relevant song to be turned into a story that the world seemed to love.”

Bella Donna topped the Billboard 200 album chart and has since been RIAA-certified four-times Platinum on the strength of hits including “Edge of Seventeen,” “Leather and Lace,” and its highest-charting single, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” a duet with the late rock legend Tom Petty.

 

 

 

 

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Back in January, Steve Martin posted a photo of himself with Martin Short and Selena Gomez — his co-stars in the upcoming Hulu series Only Murders in the Building — and Sting was in the picture, too.  At the time, Martin wrote that it was a “special day” on set, but Hulu wouldn’t confirm that Sting was actually in the show. Well, now we know he is.

The full trailer for the series has dropped, and the former Police frontman makes an appearance as himself.  The show follows Martin, Gomez and Short as the three true-crime fanatics who decide to do a podcast about the murder of one of the residents of their New York City apartment building — and attempt to solve the crime in the process.

In the trailer, we learn that the police believe the murderer is one of the building residents, and we see Sting, who is seemingly one of those residents, opening the door to his palatial apartment.  “There’s a very strong chance the killer is musical superstar Sting,” declares Short.

“The guy from U2?” Gomez asks, prompting to Martin to wince at the young star’s appalling lack of knowledge about one-named singers of iconic ’80s bands.

Of course, in real life, Sting does own a palatial apartment in New York City, so the casting is somewhat believable.

Only Murders in the Building debuts August 30 on Hulu.

(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

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Pink Floyd‘s “Their Mortal Remains” exhibition, which debuted in London in 2017, originally was scheduled to make its U.S. debut on Tuesday, August 3, at Los Angeles’ new ?Vogue Multicultural Museum on Hollywood Boulevard, but the opening has now been delayed until September 3.

According to a message on the museum’s Facebook page, the delay in the attraction’s opening is “due to issues with global freight.”

As the note explains, “The many containers filled with Pink Floyd’s [artifacts], stage sets, and private collections were shipped from the UK with an extensive lead time but coming out of the pandemic, there are many delays in global freight. These containers have now safely arrived in LA.”

The message also points out that those who already had purchased tickets for August “will be notified via email about how to reschedule their dates at no additional cost.” Tickets can be purchased now at VMMLA.com. Visit PinkFloydExhibition.com for more info.

In addition, the L.A. “Their Mortal Remains” exhibition, which initially had been scheduled through November 28, now will run until January 9, 2022.

As previously reported, the exhibition, which is fully sanctioned by Pink Floyd’s surviving members, takes an in-depth look at the pioneering prog-rockers, delving into their innovative music and album designs, groundbreaking concert staging and much more.

The exhibit uses audiovisual presentations and hundreds of artifacts to trace Pink Floyd’s story from its mid-1960s beginnings in London’s underground psychedelic music scene, through its massive success during the 1970s and ’80s, to the band members’ recent endeavors.

Among the many pieces of memorabilia featured are instruments, handwritten lyrics, vintage posters, photos and clothing items. Also on display are set pieces depicting Pink Floyd’s surreal album covers, stage props, promo videos, and rare film clips and live performance footage.

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Peter Frampton, Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers and Guns N’ Roses‘ guitarist Slash are among the rockers sharing their support for Road Recovery, an organization that uses music to help teens battling addiction and other at-risk youth.

Each musician filmed a video testimonial speaking about Road Recovery’s mission and how music can help, especially during a particularly difficult time like the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Frampton’s clip, he notes, “Road Recovery’s creative staff and our amazing young people are in need of some encouragement to keep on keeping on,” and asks supporters to “film a short video of hope and inspiration to our dedicated staff of music professionals and the amazing youth in our…programs,” which then will be shared across the organization’s social media platforms.

In Rodgers’ video, the singer notes, “I’ve learned that you have to stay positive in your heart, body and soul, [and] steer clear of booze and drugs. You’re still OK to rock and roll.” He also recommends checking out the Qi Gong for Beginners series on YouTube. “It’s a moving meditation,” he says. “It’s very simple, but very profound.”

In Slash’s testimonial, the GN’R guitarist notes that he’s been hanging with and jaming with kids and adults in the Road Recovery programs for a while, and he finds it “really inspirational…to see how [they] get inspired by the arts are able to “turn [their lives] around.”

Other artists offering testimonials include Metallica‘s James Hetfield and Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello. You can watch all the videos now via the Road Recovery YouTube channel.

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The Rolling Stones‘ Keith Richards and Guns N’ Roses‘ Slash are featured in a new Chuck Berry documentary special that premieres on PBS tonight at 8 p.m. ET as part of the network’s In Their Own Words series.

The show looks at the life and music of the complex and multifaceted rock ‘n’ roll pioneer through archival interviews with Berry himself, as well as new conversations with his widow, son and grandson, and his musical associates and admirers.

Besides Richards and Slash, the program features interviews with Robert Cray, Hootie & the Blowfish‘s Darius Rucker, drummer/producer Steve Jordan and filmmaker Taylor Hackford. Hackford directed Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, the 1987 documentary focusing on Berry’s star-studded 60th birthday concerts held in St. Louis in 1986, for which Richards served as musical director.

In a preview clip of the episode that’s been posted on PBS.org, Richards recalls the hard time Berry, whom he famously considers his hero, gave him while they rehearsed for the birthday shows, noting that he felt he was up to the the task.

“‘I was made to do this job,’ [I thought.] That was one of my dreams, to be second guitar behind Chuck Berry,” Keith declares. “This movie gave me the possibility to do that. In the meantime, I’d been working with the biggest prima donna in the g**damn world. Any trick Chuck could pull, Mick [Jagger] has already done it.”

In another preview clip, Slash says of Berry, “He’ll always be considered the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

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The full lineup and more details have been unveiled for the star-studded concert that will take place in New York City at Central Park’s Great Lawn on August 21 that Big Apple Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed late last month.

The event, which will celebrate the city’s “rebirth” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dubbed “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert.” Among the stars joining the previously announced Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson on the bill are Journey, Carlos Santana, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Matchbox Twenty‘s Rob Thomas and many others.

With Santana and Thomas both performing, it could set the scene for a performance of their collaborative hit, “Smooth.”

Most of the tickets for the concert will be available for free, while Citi card members will be able to purchase presale VIP tickets beginning this Thursday, July 29, at 10 a.m. ET. In addition, Citi will give away 1,000 general admission tickets to card holders on a first-come, first-served basis starting Monday, August 2, at 10 a.m. ET.

Additional free tickets, as well as VIP tickets for purchase, will be released to the general public in batches daily from Monday, August 2, through Saturday, August 7, via NYC.gov/HomecomingWeek. Attendees must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Other celebs on the lineup include Earth, Wind & Fire, The Killers, Barry Manilow, LL Cool J, Jimmy Fallon, and Wyclef Jean.

The concert will begin at 5 p.m. ET and air live on CNN. The event was produced by New York City, music mogul Clive Davis and Live Nation.

“This is a celebration of our city, of every working family who faced incredible challenges last year and overcame,” says Mayor de Blasio. “This is a celebration for you.”

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Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks‘ first solo album, was released July 27, 1981, and was an immediate success. To mark the 40th anniversary of the start of Stevie’s solo career, here are Five Fascinating Facts about Bella Donna.

5. Stevie began working on Bella Donna in between sessions for Fleetwood Mac‘s 1979 album, Tusk. She started recording it in 1980, after the Tusk tour ended.

4. The only song on the album Stevie didn’t write was “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which was penned by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers frontman Tom Petty and guitarist Mike Campbell. Producer Jimmy Iovine, who worked with both acts, had the idea of having Stevie record it as a duet with Petty. The song’s video was the 25th video ever shown on MTV.

3. Nicks wrote Bella Donna‘s other duet, “Leather & Lace,” for an album by country star Waylon Jennings and his wife, Jessi Colter. When it didn’t make that album, Stevie recorded it with her ex-boyfriend, The Eagles‘ Don Henley.

2. Bella Donna includes Stevie’s signature song, “Edge of Seventeen,” which was inspired by Petty and his wife, as well as the deaths of both Stevie’s uncle and John Lennon. It was sampled by Destiny’s Child for their number-one hit “Bootylicious,” and interpolated by Miley Cyrus on her 2020 single “Midnight Sky.” Stevie appeared in the “Bootylicious” video, and allowed Miley to do an “Edge of Midnight” remix with a sample of her original song.

1. Bella Donna hit number one on the Billboard chart, spun off four top-40 singles, and has been certified for sales of 4 million copies. Its huge success has allowed Stevie to run a solo career parallel to her work with Fleetwood Mac for decades. Having previously been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998, Stevie went in again in 2019 as a solo artist, making her the first woman ever to be inducted twice.

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