Classic Rock 93.9

Just in time for the Fourth of July, Jesse Colin Young, former frontman of the folk-rock band The Youngbloods, has released a video of himself performing a stripped-down acoustic version of the classic patriotic anthem “America the Beautiful.”

The clip, which you can watch now at Young’s official YouTube channel, features the artist singing in front of the backdrop of beautiful natural landscapes from various locations around the U.S.

“Coming out of the pandemic we are able to see this country, our America, with fresh eyes,” says the 79-year-old singer/songwriter in a statement. “I have always loved this song, and wanted to share my version with you so we could revel together in the beauty of this place we call home.”

Last November, Young released his 22nd solo album, Highway Troubadour. The 11-track collection features new solo acoustic versions of songs from throughout Jesse’s 50-year-plus career, including renditions of the Youngbloods tunes “Darkness, Darkness” and “Sugar Babe,” plus the recent song “Cast a Stone” from his 2019 solo album, Dreamers.

Highway Troubadour was inspired by Young’s online video series “One Song at a Time,” which he launched during the COVID-19 lockdown. It features him playing various songs from his back catalog while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard has released a new song called “4th of July” with his band Painted Shield.

The track, which is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, is a meditation on “the moral injury experienced by many service members as they return home from conflicts abroad.”

“The lyrics to this song were inspired by the stories of friends of mine who have served in the military,” says vocalist Mason Jennings. “It touches on the recovery work needed to integrate back into civilian life after being in conflict.”

With “4th of July,” Painted Shield is also hoping to raise awareness for No One Left Behind, an initiative to protect Afghan interpreters from potential danger as the U.S. leaves Afghanistan.

A companion music video for the song has been posted on Painted Shield’s official YouTube channel. The clip includes footage of urban areas devastated by war.

Along with Gossard and Jennings, Painted Shield includes keyboardist/vocalist Brittany Davis and onetime Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain. The group released their self-titled debut album last fall.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sting‘s songs have appeared on so many movie soundtracks that he’s released several compilations of them.  But it turns out one particular song by Sting ended up inspiring one of the biggest movies of all time: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which marks its 30th anniversary on Saturday.

T2, released in 1991, features future human resistance leader John Connor as a teen, played by Edward Furlong, teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Model T-800 Terminator, who’s no longer the bad guy but has been sent back in time to save John from a more advanced T-1000 model.  That machine has been sent to kill Connor before he becomes the leader he’s destined to be, and who will avert a nuclear holocaust in 1997 — aka Judgment Day.

So what the heck does this have to do with Sting?  In a new article on The Ringer about the making of the film, director James Cameron reveals that he got the idea for the nuclear holocaust plot point while tripping and listening to a Sting song.

“I remember sitting there once, high on [Ecstasy], writing notes for Terminator, and I was struck by Sting’s song, that ‘I hope the Russians love their children too,'” Cameron says, referring to Sting’s 1985 single “Russians.” “And I thought, ‘You know what? The idea of a nuclear war is just so antithetical to life itself.’ That’s where the kid came from.”

“Russians,” from Sting’s first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, was about the rising tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the ’80s, and the growing threat of nuclear war.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a massive critical and commercial success, grossing $520 million worldwide and winning several Oscars.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nikki Sixx is officially 20 years sober.

The Mötley Crüe bassist marked the milestone in an Instagram post Friday morning.

“Some people will try an kick you in the nuts, steal your money, stab you in the back, guaranteed to let you down, sabotage yer life, not believe in you and gossip that you’ll never make a day without drugs or alcohol,” Sixx wrote in the post caption. “And do you know what you’re gonna do? YOU’RE GONNA STAY SOBER ONE DAY AT A TIME.”

“You are the miracle, the one that breaks the addiction chain, the one who is a living amens,” he continued. “The one who has altered your family history. You will live in gratitude for those that never thought you’d stay sober or make it out alive BECAUSE THEY MADE YOU STRONGER and you know how to forgive a**holes.”

Sixx concluded, “And when you see people who are still suffering/treading water or gasping for air, be sure to throw them a life vest. Because we give back now to those that are still afflicted and hope they too pass it on.”

Sixx previously detailed his struggle with drugs and addiction in his 2007 book The Heroin Diaries, which was accompanied by the Sixx:A.M. album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by —Nikki Sixx— (@nikkisixxpixx)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The sons of late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo have reunited in a new band.

Noah Weiland and Tye Trujillo, who used to play together in the band called Suspect208 alongside Slash‘s son, London Hudson, have now started a new band called Blu Weekend.

The group made their live debut over the weekend in Los Angeles, where they were interviewed by The Blairing Out with Eric Blair Show.

“[Blu Weekend is] something completely new and groundbreaking,” Weiland said.

Suspect208 released two songs in 2020 before announcing earlier this year that Weiland was no longer in the band due to alleged drug use. They continued on with a new vocalist before revealing in May that Suspect208 had broken up entirely.

Also in the interview, Trujillo said he was open to returning to play bass in Korn in place of Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, who announced in June that he’s taking time away from the band to deal with “personal issues.” Trujillo previously filled in for Fieldy during a 2017 South American tour, when he was only 12.

“If they’re interested, then I’m obviously more than down to go play with them,” Trujillo said.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Tenacious D is adding a bit more tenacity to The Beatles with a new charity single that has gotten a thumbs-up from Paul McCartney himself.

The comedy duo has released “You Never Give Me Your Money”/”The End,” an acoustic mashup of two tracks from the Fab Four’s Abbey Road medley. Being a Tenacious D performance, the cover also includes some extra four-letter words that pop up amid Jack Black‘s signature riffing vocal style.

Reacting to the cover, McCartney writes on his Facebook page, “This Tenacious D cover of our song is fantastic! It’s so imaginative and so well performed. What a great tribute to the original. Guys — I love it.”

Black and band mate Kyle Gass also have debuted an over-the-top mixed-media music video for their Beatles homage, which depicts the duo an a variety of surreal scenarios and locations, including on a mountain top, at Stonehenge, at Big Ben, in a forest, and in a jail cell. Gass dons a poorly fitting Beatles wig throughout most of the clip.

“Tenacious D are paying tribute to the greatest band in the world…not themselves…The Beatles!!!” the duo proclaims. “In the spirit of healing the world…please enjoy Tenacious D’s mashup of two classics from Abbey Road.”

You can download “You Never Give Me Your Money”/”The End,” now via digital outlets. The vinyl single version, which is available now for pre-order, will raise money for Doctors Without Borders.

Last fall, the D released a star-studded cover of the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp” to encourage voting.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jim Morrison, the iconic lead singer of The Doors, died 50 years ago this Saturday, July 3, 1971, at age 27.

Morrison died unexpectedly during an extended stay in Paris while on hiatus from The Doors. He was found dead by his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, in the bathtub of their rented apartment. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but the actual cause remains a mystery, since no autopsy was performed.

The late Doors frontman’s influence on music and popular culture has been immeasurable, thanks to his charismatic persona, his powerful vocal style, his exploration of dark themes and his talent for combining poetry with rock music.

Morrison had a fascination with pushing social boundaries that, unfortunately, coincided with a penchant for excess that included a serious alcohol dependency.

Doors drummer John Densmore recalls that he heard that Morrison had died while he was jamming with band mates Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger.

“[Jim] had been away for a few months and we wanted to make music and we were jamming on stuff, hoping he’d be back to help us,” Densmore tells ABC Audio. “And then, the manager came downstairs and said Jim had passed.”

John says that when Morrison was in Paris, he worried about the singer knowing his issues with alcohol.

“I was hoping he wasn’t drinking, but, you know, the Parisians have wine for breakfast,” Densmore notes. “[Paris] might not have been such a good place for him.”

As tragic as Morrison’s young death was, Densmore says he’s grateful for what he and the band created together.

“[I]t became bigger than its ingredients that came together in a garage in Venice [Beach, California,]” John notes. “And we gotta honor that muse and be thankful that something came in [that was] magic.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Foreigner‘s hit-packed fourth studio album, the aptly titled 4.

The album featured such enduring tunes as “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero,” which peaked at #2, #4 and #26, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.

Propelled by those hits and a fourth top-40 single, “Break It Up,” 4 became Foreigner’s only album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200, spending 10 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart from August 1981 to January 1982. 4 has sold over 6 million copies in the U.S.

Interestingly, “Waiting for a Girl Like You” set a Billboard record by spending 10 weeks at #2 on the Hot 100 tally without ever reaching the top. It was blocked from #1 by Olivia Newton-John‘s “Physical” and Hall & Oates‘ “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”

The title 4 also was a reference to the fact that Foreigner had become a quartet after the exit of founding multi-intrumentalist Ian McDonald and keyboardist Al Greenwood in 1980.

Founding guitarist and main songwriter Mick Jones co-produced the album with “Mutt” Lange, then famous for producing AC/DC‘s Back in Black and soon to become more famous for his work with Def Leppard.

4 was the first Foreigner album to make significant use of session musicians. Thomas Dolby, who had a big hit of his own in 1982 with “She Blinded Me with Science,” played synthesizers, while Motown sax legend Junior Walker contributed a memorable solo to “Urgent.”

Singer Lou Gramm told ABC Audio that while “Waiting for a Girl Like You” may be the tune that fans remember most from 4, he considers “Juke Box Hero” to be “the quintessential Foreigner song.”

Here’s 4‘s full track list:

“Night Life”
“Juke Box Hero”
“Break It Up”
“Waiting for a Girl Like You”
“Luanne”
“Urgent”
“I’m Gonna Win”
“Woman in Black”
“Girl on the Moon”
“Don’t Let Go”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A bevy of veteran rock artists are part of the lineup of CNN’s The Fourth in America special, which will air on the cable network on Independence Day from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET.

The Beach Boys, Chicago, Sammy Hagar & The Circle, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon and Bangles frontwoman Susanna Hoffs are among the many performers that appear on the show, which will also will feature live footage of fireworks displays in cities across the U.S.

The Beach Boys will be joined by their longtime honorary member, actor John Stamos.

Meanwhile, Hagar tells ABC Audio that his performance with The Circle was filmed during a series of recent concerts that he and the band played in Florida, which were some of their first shows since the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“Woo, it was awesome,” Sammy gushes about the gig. “[CNN] filmed a lot of our songs. And we were really having a good night…I felt so good about that night, ’cause the band was so up to play. It was about our fourth show, so we were getting our wings back, and the audiences [were] just nuts.”

Other artists who will perform on The Fourth in America include Kool & the Gang, Blues Traveler, Bebe Rexha, Billy Ray Cyrus, Black Eyed Peas, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood and many more.

The special will stream live on CNN.com, and also will be viewable on Apple and Android mobile devices via CNN apps for those with a login to a cable provider. The program also can be viewed on CNNgo.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Jerry Cantrell is teaming up with his old buddy Duff McKagan for a new video.

Earlier this week, photos leaked of the Alice in Chains vocalist/guitarist at a shoot with the Guns N’ Roses bassist. Cantrell then confirmed the news himself in an Instagram post.

“Here’s a couple better pics than the ones leaked yesterday,” Cantrell wrote, referring to the grainy quality of the unofficial images. “May be time to upgrade that phone? Just sayin.”

The photos features Cantrell on stage with McKagan, as well as The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and former Marilyn Manson drummer Gil Sharone.

Earlier this year, Cantrell announced that he had finished a new solo album, his first since 2002’s Degradation Trip.

Cantrell and McKagan, by the way, go way back, having both come from the Seattle music scene. They’ve collaborated numerous times, including on a joint cover of the song “A Satisfied Mind” released last fall to celebrate former President Jimmy Carter‘s 96th birthday.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Jerry Cantrell (@jerrycantrell)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.