Classic Rock News

As previously reported, Elton John and Ed Sheeran have reworked their holiday hit “Merry Christmas” into a new song called “Sausage Rolls for Everyone” — a charity collaboration with the British couple who call themselves LadBaby. Now, all four of them are starring in a new music video for the song, which has them dressing as sausage rolls, eating sausage rolls and singing about sausage rolls, all in an attempt to raise money for the hungry.

In the clip, the male half of LadBaby, Mark Hoyle, smuggles Elton and Ed into the recording studio dressed as giant sausage rolls. They start the song, with Ed playing a guitar decorated like a sausage roll. Mark, his wife and musical partner Roxanne and Ed are sporting Santa hats and Elton-style glasses, while we see Elton behind the mic chomping away on a sausage roll.

The whole project — the song and the video — raises money for The Trussell Trust, a charity that supports food banks throughout the U.K. and works to end hunger.

“Every pound for this song goes to helping the people along/Sausage rolls for everyone,” they sing. At the end, Elton says, “I haven’t had a sausage roll for years!”

Now, “Sausage Rolls for Everyone” will be directly competing with Ed and Elton’s original version of “Merry Christmas” for the coveted title of the U.K.’s Christmas Number One — the song that will be on top of the chart on Christmas.  The winner will be revealed December 24.

If the LadBaby track wins, they’ll be the first act ever to score four Christmas number ones in a row.  Their three previous songs were also charity singles with funny lyrics about sausage rolls, set to the music of pre-existing hits like “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”

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When Stevie Nicks canceled all of her scheduled 2021 performances a few months back over concerns about COVID-19, one of the shows was a headlining appearance at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival. Well, the Fleetwood Mac singer has now been announced as one of the headliners for next year’s edition of the Colorado fest, making it her first confirmed concert of 2022.

Nicks is one of three headliners announced for Jazz Aspen Snowmass’ 2022 Labor Day Experience, set for September 2-4 in Snowmass, Colorado.  The other two headliners are country star Chris Stapleton and R&B singer Leon Bridges.

Early bird three-day passes will go on sale starting Monday, December 20, at 10 a.m. MT. In addition to general admission passes, you can buy Deck Passes, which entitle you to complimentary grille food, as well as access to a private bar and restrooms.

The Labor Day Experience was reinstated last year following a COVID-19 pandemic-related cancellation in 2020. As of now, Jazz Aspen Snowmass plans to require attendees show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, or a negative test result taken within 72 hours.

Jazz Aspen Snowmass is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 that aims to “present and preserve jazz and related forms of music through world-class events, performances and education programs,” according to its website.

Meanwhile, Nicks is featured on a track called “Stolen Car” on Elton John‘s new collaborative album, The Lockdown Sessions, which debuted at #10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

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Legendary British Invasion band The Dave Clark Five‘s 1964 debut U.S. album Glad All Over was reissued today as a limited-edition white vinyl LP.

This marks the first time Glad All Over has been available on vinyl since 1964.

The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, and yielded three hit singles — the title track, “Bits and Pieces” and “Do You Love Me,” which peaked at #6, #4 and #11, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. The song “Glad All Over” also was a #1 hit in the U.K.

In 1965, the Glad All Over album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S.

The reissue was remastered at London’s Abbey Road Studios by band leader and drummer Dave Clark himself.

The Dave Clark Five went on to score six more top-10 hits during the 1960s — “Can’t You See That She’s Mine,” “Because,” “I Like It Like That, “Catch Us If You Can,” “You Got What It Takes” and the chart-topping “Over and Over. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Here’s the full Glad All Over track list:

Side A
“Glad All Over”
“All of the Time”
“Crying Over You”
“Stay”
“Chaquita”
“Do You Love Me”

Side B
“Bits and Pieces”
“I Know You”
“3406”
“Time”
“Who Do You Think You’re Talking To”

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Cinderella front man Tom Keifer‘s solo band is teaming up with two other glam-metal groups that also emerged during the 1980s — L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat — for a 2022 trek dubbed the Sonic Slam Tour.

The outing kicks off on June 1 in Liverpool, New York, and currently is mapped out through a July 16 performance at the Picktown Palooza event in Pickerington, Ohio, with more shows expected to be added in the coming weeks.

“#keiferband is amped for the ‘Sonic Slam’ 2022 tour with our friends L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat!” Tom declares. “Get ready for a 100% live, raucous, loud & slammin’ rock show. Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2022.”

Adds L.A. Guns frontman Tracii Guns, “I’m excited [my band] will be heading out on the road with Tom Keifer. We are really looking forward to touring again.”

Faster Pussycat singer Taime Downe also pipes in, saying, “Faster Pussycat has toured with Tom’s band and L.A. Guns before, but never all of us together. The shows were always amazing, and you can expect the same this summer. There’s going to be three decades of friendship and great music all under one roof.”

Before the Sonic Slam trek, the Tom Keifer Band will be headlining the M3 Rock Festival on May 7 in Columbia, Maryland. Visit TomKeifer.com to check out the group’s full schedule. The Keifer Band’s most recent album, Rise, was released in 2019.

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Eric Clapton is planning a little holiday gift for fans, announcing plans to release a new song called “Heart of a Child” next Friday…Christmas Eve.

The digital track can be pre-saved and pre-added now.

Interestingly, Clapton co-wrote the song with Robin Monotti, an Italian film producer and architect who identifies as a pro-vaccine-safety advocate, and who apparently espouses similar anti-lockdown views to Eric.

“Heart of a Child” was co-produced by Clapton and his longtime studio collaborator Simon Climie. Musicians joining Eric on the track include Sonny Emory on drums, Nathan East on bass, Dirk Powell on mandolin, Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins on guitar, Climie on keyboards and percussion, and Sharon White and Katie Kissoon on backing vocals.

Strings on the track were arranged and conducted by Nick Ingman, and the strings were led by violinist Everton Nelson. Ingman also arranged and conducted strings on Clapton’s recent single “This Has Gotta Stop.”

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Performances by Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham and a variety of other artists will be featured on the 2021 edition of Nordoff Robbins charity’s The Stars Come Out to Sing at Christmas concert special that will stream online for free this Sunday, December 19, at 2 p.m. ET.

The event will be hosted by Nile Rodgers of Chic, and also will feature performances by Rodgers and his band, Eurythmics member Dave Stewart, Tony Bennett, Shakira, Robbie Williams and many more.

Plant will be featured singing with his current band project Saving Grace, while Daltrey will team up with former Jam front man Paul Weller. Some of the performers also appeared on last year’s inaugural edition of The Stars Come Out to Sing at Christmas.

The 2021 presentation also will include footage of the Nordoff Robbins benefit holiday concert that took place Tuesday at St. Luke’s Church in London. The show was headlined by Rod Stewart, and featured a variety of other performers, as well as readings from actors Alice Eve and Clarke Peters.

The free program will be viewable at carols.nordoff-robbins.org.uk. Viewers are encouraged to make a donation to Nordoff Robbins, a U.K. music-therapy charity that focuses on helping people with physical disabilities and mental-health issues.

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Phil Chen, a Jamaican-born session bassist whose long list of credits include recordings with Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck and members of The Doors, died on Tuesday, December 14, after “a long battle with cancer” at age 75.

Chen’s passing was announced on his official Facebook page in a message that reads, “He spent his final days surrounded by family and close friends and cherished time with his grandchildren who always brightened his day. He will be missed greatly and his contagious passion for music and positive energy on and off the stage will be remembered always.”

Phil played on Beck’s acclaimed 1975 album Blow by Blow, and on three albums by Stewart during the late 1970s and 1980. He also was a member of Robby Krieger and John Densmore‘s post-Doors project The Butts Band, and later joined Krieger and Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek in some of their post-Doors groups.

Krieger recently told ABC Audio that he’d been working with Chen on a new reggae-flavored instrumental album featuring various cover tunes.

Regarding the project, Robby said, “[Phil’s] been down with mesothelioma lately, so we wanted to do something that would make him happy.”

Krieger posted a tribute message about Chen on his Facebook page that reads, “Aside from his extraordinary musical talent, Phil was an incredible human being who would do anything for a friend and always brought a smile to whatever situation he was in.”

Among the many other artists with whom Chen collaborated are Donovan, Pete Townshend, Jackson Browne, John Fogerty, Eurythmics and Queen‘s Roger Taylor.

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Metallica received a special honor in their hometown of San Francisco Thursday.

In honor of the metal legends’ upcoming 40th anniversary concerts at S.F.’s Chase Center, Mayor London Breed declared December 16, 2021, to be “Metallica Day.”

Metallica shared the news in a tweet featuring a photo of drummer Lars Ulrich and bassist Robert Trujillo receiving the proclamation from Mayor Breed. They also posted a photo of a letter sent to them by California Governor Gavin Newsom thanking Metallica for “their contributions to our Golden State and for representing the best California has to offer.”

“Thank you so much to Mayor @LondonBreed for hosting us this afternoon…and for the in[c]redible honor of this proclamation,” Metallica wrote. “Contributing to San Francisco in our small way means the world to us.”

Metallica’s 40th anniversary concerts take place December 17 and 19. You can watch them live streaming for free via Amazon Music, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and Amazon Prime Video.

Thank you so much to Mayor @LondonBreed for hosting us this afternoon @ChaseCenter and for the inredible honor of this proclamation. Contributing to San Francisco in our small way means the world to us. @sfgov @apeconcerts #Metallica40 pic.twitter.com/wMvgmZ1Ybm

— Metallica (@Metallica) December 16, 2021

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Toni Cornell honored her late father, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, with a performance on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday,

Toni performed her own version of her dad’s Grammy-nominated cover of the Prince-penned classic “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which appears on the his posthumous covers compilation, No One Sings Like You Anymore Vol. 1. The two Cornells previously recorded a duet version of the song, which Toni released in 2018, a year after Chris’ death.

The 17-year-old teased the performance earlier this week, writing on Instagram, “So excited to perform a special song in honor of my dad on @fallontonight.”

Toni has previously honored her father with a cover of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah” on ABC’s Good Morning America in 2017. She’s also performed his Temple of the Dog song, “Hunger Strike.”

 

 

 

 

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Today, December 17, marks the 50th anniversary of the U.K. release of David Bowie‘s fourth album, Hunky Dory, and two special releases are planned to celebrate the milestone.

First off, a new alternative mix is being made available as a streaming single today of the classic Hunky Dory track “Changes” created by Ken Scott, who co-produced the album with Bowie. The updated song was mixed using the original multi-track recordings.

“The new version of ‘Changes’ is a fresh look at David’s classic,” says Scott. “When listening to the original multi-track I discovered a few things that I had eliminated from the original mix and also a completely different sax solo at the end. It was those things that led me to try a new mix, trying for a slightly harder, more contemporary edge to it.”

The second release is a limited-edition 50th anniversary Hunky Dory vinyl picture disc that will be available on January 7, 2002, a day before the late Bowie would’ve celebrated his 75th birthday.  The picture disc, which you can pre-order now, will feature the 2015 vinyl remaster of Hunky Dory, as well as a poster of the original version of the album’s annotated back cover image.

Meanwhile, a new lyric video for “Changes” has premiered on David’s official YouTube channel. The clip features a variety of pics from the Hunky Dory cover photo shoot, including some previously unpublished images.

Hunky Dory, which was released December 4, 1971 in the U.S., initially had little commercial success in the U.K. and the States, despite featuring such enduring songs as “Changes,” “Life on Mars?” and “Oh! You Pretty Things.”

“Changes” eventually reached #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, while “Life on Mars?” became a #3 U.K. after it was reissued in ’73.

Here’s Hunky Dory‘s full track list:

Side One
“Changes”
“Oh! You Pretty Things”
“Eight Line Poem”
“Life on Mars?”
“Kooks”
“Quicksand”

Side Two
“Fill Your Heart”
“Andy Warhol”
“Song for Bob Dylan”
“Queen Bitch”
“The Bewlay Brothers”

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