Classic Rock 93.9

A new biography on legendary artist Leon Russell is about to hit store shelves. Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History, written by author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz, will be released March 14 by Hachette Books.

The book, which has the support of the Russell estate, is described as “the definitive, never-before-told chronicle of one of the most important music makers of the 20th century,” calling Russell a “truly mythical figure in American music.” 

Russell, who passed away in 2016, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. He wrote such songs as “Delta Lady” and the Grammy Hall of Fame tune “A Song for You.” He had his own hits with songs like “Lady Blue” and “Tight Rope.” Over the years he collaborated with a huge list of artists, including Eric Clapton, Elton John, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bob Dylan.

The book can be preordered here.

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Screaming Trees bassist Van Conner has died at age 55.

The news was announced in a Facebook post by Conner’s brother and Screaming Trees guitarist Gary Lee Conner, which was also shared by the “Nearly Lost You” rockers. According to the post, Van died Tuesday night following “an extended illness.”

“It was pneumonia that got him in the end,” Gary writes of his brother. “He was one of the closest friends I ever had and I loved him immensely. I will miss him forever and ever and ever.”

Van and Gary were founding members of Screaming Trees alongside frontman Mark Lanegan. They played on each of their albums before the band broke up in 2000.

Van’s passing follows Lanegan’s passing last February at age 57.

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When Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she said she was going to have to record a rock album, and she’s lined up some huge names to help her with it.

During an appearance on The View, Dolly revealed that she’s already recorded songs for the record with a whole host of special guests, including Paul McCartney, John Fogerty, ex-Journey frontman Steve Perry and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

She also spilled the beans on some of the songs on the album, including Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” and the Rolling Stones‘ “Satisfaction.” She’s still hoping to recruit Mick Jagger to join her, noting, “I’m doing my best to try to get him on it.” Right now Brandi Carlile and Pink appear on Dolly’s version of the Stones classic.  

So far there’s no word on when Dolly’s album will be released, but she has hinted that it may be out this year.

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ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Gloria Estefan and Sade are among the artists chosen for the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.

Other artists making up the 2023 class include Teddy Riley; Snoop Dogg; Glen Ballard, who is best known for writing such hits as Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Alanis Morissette’s ”You Oughta Know”; and Liz Rose, whose work includes Taylor Swift tunes “You Belong With Me” and “All Too Well.” 

“The music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch … nothing, it all starts with the song and the songwriter,” SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers shares. “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2023 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

Artists who were nominated, but not chosen this year, include Bryan Adams, the members of R.E.M., Patti Smith, Steve Winwood, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers and Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Clem Burke and Chris Stein.

The 2023 class will be celebrated at the 52nd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala, taking place June 15 in New York City.

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Anthrax‘s tour with Black Label Society kicked off Tuesday in Idaho, but one member of the “Madhouse” metallers had a particularly tough time getting there.

In an Instagram post, bassist Frank Bello shares that his flight into Boise ahead of the show landed in a literal ditch.

“Ever have one of those flights to start a tour where on landing you feel a ‘thud,’ then you hear the brakes screech a bit, and when you finally stop moving the plane is a bit tilted down to the right side in the front?” Bello writes. “Well after keeping us in the plane for 3 hours after landing – we found out we were in a ditch.”

Understandably, Bello feels the incident was “not the best way to start a tour,” but nonetheless is looking forward to “good times ahead.”

Those good times ahead include the rest of Anthrax’s tour with Black Label, which runs into mid-February. The two bands previously toured together last summer.

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Randy Newman is once again postponing his United Kingdom and European tour. Last March Randy pushed the tour to 2023 in order to recover from surgery to repair a broken neck, but now he’s pushing the dates again in order to continue his recovery. 

“Unfortunately, due to ongoing recovery from his most recent surgery, Randy Newman is unable to safely travel or perform; therefore his European tour must be postponed,” read a post on social media. “His medical team is currently unable to determine when he will be ready, and they will continue to work on his healing and monitor his progress so he can return to doing what he loves: playing music for his fans.”

Randy’s An Evening with Randy Newman tour was initially supposed to kick off in Dublin, Ireland, in March 2022. The new dates were supposed to start next month.

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Former music exec Tony King is opening up about the crazy experiences he had working as head of A&R for The Beatles’ label, Apple Records, back in the day.

“It was so mad, Apple. The poor office boy had to do Ringo (Starr‘s) shopping every Friday,” King shares in a new interview with The Guardian. “There would be all these toilet rolls stacked in the lobby while they counted them out, making sure they’d got the right number for Ringo.”

Noting that the “mad side of it was lovely,” King went on to reveal, “We had an Apple darts team and we’d challenge different record companies. Keith Moon showed up wanting to play, but he was so drunk, the office boys had to hold him up so he could throw a dart.” 

King, whose new memoir, The Tastemaker, comes out January 31, was friends with plenty of artists over the years, including Elton John, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury and Charlie Watts. He feels there was a simple reason they liked him. “I suppose I was always very straightforward, a straight speaker,” King says. “I wasn’t an artist but I understood the artists, I was in their camp. I think I had an innate understanding of what artists needed, and I didn’t put up with bullsh**.”

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A new book dedicated to the late ELP keyboardist Keith Emerson has just been released. The book, Emerson: The Official Illustrated Story, features never-before-seen photos of the rocker from the private Emerson family archives, along with live performance photographs and more. 

The book also features new interviews with Keith’s friends and family sharing their favorite memories of him. There are also interviews with fellow artists, such as ex-ELP member Carl Palmer, Rick Wakeman, ex-Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and many others.

The book has been released in two versions, the Classic and the Signature, the latter of which is signed by author Chris Welch and Keith’s son Aaron Emerson. It features a CD of an unheard Emerson interview, an exclusive art print portrait of Keith and sheet music for a song called “Quatermass Boogie Woogie,” the first piece Emerson composed at just 12 years old.

Emerson died by suicide in March 2016. He was 71.

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Steve Vai has been reunited with one of his classic guitars that’s been missing for almost 40 years. In case you missed it, the guitar great shared on Facebook that he’s once again in possession of his Joe Despagni “Swiss Cheese” guitar that was stolen 36 1/2 years ago.

“I used ‘Swiss Cheese’ in the original ‘Yankee Rose’ video while I was with David Lee Roth, and stretched it out in rehearsals and was planning on touring with it,” he says, “but this guitar, along with 3 others, was stolen in Pasadena CA at Perkins Palace during rehearsals for the Eat Em and Smile tour.”

He adds that a man named Iván Gonzáles Acosta found the guitar in his grandparents’ home in Tijuana, Mexico, noting, “It seems the people that lived in his grandparents house before them purchased the guitar somewhere along the way and it was just stuck in the attic only to be discovered recently when they were reorganizing things.” After Acosta posted pictures of the guitar on social media, Vai associate Mike Mesker noticed it and arranged to have it returned to Vai, who met with Acosta.

“The condition of the guitar when I saw it was a shocker,” Vai says. “It’s as if it was put in the case and never played for 36 years. The colors are still vibrant and the neck is in great shape,” adding, “Receiving this guitar feels like an old friend has returned home after so many years to jam with me. I believe that we will make a wonderful Ham and Swiss sandwich together.”

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