Classic Rock News

Neil Young‘s latest studio album with his frequent backing band Crazy Horse, Barn, gets released this Friday, and Young sat down recently with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to chat about the project, which was recorded quickly this past June in a restored barn that Young owns in the Colorado Rockies.

During the interview, which was conducted at producer Rick Rubin‘s Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California, Young explains why he feels Barn is one of his best albums.

“I’m very thankful for having made it,” he declares. “And I think it was a gift and everything in it works [for me], and it’s not often that happens…Everything felt right. So I feel great about it.”

Young says he contacted Crazy Horse’s members 10 months in advance and timed the Barn sessions to happen during the full moon.

“[W]hen we got set up, we started to play and then [the moon] got bigger and bigger and bigger until we recorded everything,” Neil recalls. “So that was cool. It was really cool.”

Regarding the actual  barn, Young notes that it dates back to the 1870s, “and it was falling down and going back into the ground…So we took it and got a real master barn builder…and we rebuilt. Made it just like it was in the old drawings of it and old photographs.”

As previously reported, a film capturing the making of Barn, directed by Young’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah, will be included on a Blu-ray packaged with the deluxe version of the album, and also released as a standalone Blu-ray.

The documentary will get its theatrical premiere tonight at theaters in New York City, Chicago and Santa Monica, California. Visit NeilYoungArchives.com for more details.

Watch Young’s full interview with Lowe at Apple Music’s YouTube channel.

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The first-ever authorized documentary devoted to the life of late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia is going into production and will be directed by filmmaker and longtime Garcia collaborator Justin Kreutzmann, son of founding Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann.

Garcia’s daughter Trixie is serving as an executive producer of the film on behalf of the Jerry Garcia Family LLC company, and the project will be given full access to Jerry’s personal archives. The movie will seek to tell the definitive story of Garcia’s life, looking at Jerry’s endeavors as a father, husband, musician, artist and friend.

The documentary will feature previously unheard interviews with Jerry and various people who were close to him, as well as never-before-seen footage Justin shot of Garcia throughout the years. The movie also will profile how Garcia inspired a movement of peace-minded followers and had an enduring impact on American culture.

The film is being produced by RadicalMedia, whose previous projects include the award-winning and critically acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.

“When people ask what I miss most about him not being around, I think it’s just missing Jerry, the person. People like him don’t come around very often,” Justin says in a statement. “It’s my dream to capture the feeling you got when you hung out with Jerry and listened to him play music. A lot of people have told the world what they thought of Jerry but I want to show what Jerry thought of the world.”

Adds Trixie, “Who better to illuminate the musical journey of Jerry Garcia than someone who grew up right in the middle of the Grateful Dead scene? Jerry loved Justin like one of his own and so do we.”

Garcia died of a heart attack in August 1995. He was 53.

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Founding Survivor member and The Ides of March frontman Jim Peterik has reached a multi-million dollar deal with Primary Wave Music, which has acquired a majority stake in the royalties of his music publishing catalog and rights to many of his compositions.

Among the many songs Peterik has co-written are the Survivor hits “Eye of the Tiger,” “The Search Is Over,” “Burning Heart,” “High on You” and “I Can’t Hold Back,” and he also penned the Ides of March classic “Vehicle.”

In addition, Jim has co-written hits and memorable tunes for a variety of other artists, including 38 Special‘s “Hold On Loosely,” “Caught Up in You” and “Rockin’ into the Night,” Sammy Hagar‘s “Heavy Metal” and The Beach Boys‘ “That’s Why God Made the Radio.”

In conjunction with the deal with Primary Wave, the company will help Peterik with marketing, branding and licensing of his music.

Peterik joins a growing list of well-known artists whose publishing or music catalogues have been at least partly acquired by Primary Wave, among them Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, late Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, Prince and many more.

“I’m thrilled to be with a company who is as passionate about music as I am,” says Peterik, adding, “It seems that many of my musical heroes feel the same way! I’m looking forward to great days ahead creating new music and finding new homes for the many songs in my catalogue!”

Peterik continues to front The Ides of March, whose latest album, Play On, was released in 2019. He also co-wrote many songs for ex-Styx singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung‘s two recent solo albums — 2020’s 26 East, Volume 1 and 2021’s 26 East, Volume 2.

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Jethro Tull has premiered a music video for a second advance track from its forthcoming studio album, The Zealot Gene, an English folk-flavored tune titled “Sad City Sisters.”

The clip, which was directed by Iranian filmmaker Sam Chegini, can be viewed at the band’s official YouTube channel. The video shows a female puppet that gets jostled and soiled as it gets passed along from hand to hand through various scenes and backdrops.

Explaining the inspiration for the song, Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson says, “‘Sad City Sisters’ throws up memories of a Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales when I was on my way home from our concert…some years ago. It could equally well have been any town in the UK, I suppose, or even most cities of the Western World. What possesses hell-bent and vulnerable young people to slip so easily into that tragic loss of dignity and end up sprawling drunk in a wet and windy street at midnight?”

“Sad City Sisters” is available now as a digital download and via steaming services. Its release was preceded by “Shoshana Sleeping,” which also was accompanied by a music video.

As previously reported, The Zealot Gene will be released on January 28, 2022. The 12-track collection is the first new studio album from the veteran prog-rockers in more than 18 years. Jethro Tull began work on The Zealot Gene in 2017, and the album includes a number of songs that incorporate Biblical imagery while examining religious themes.

The Zealot Gene, which can be pre-ordered now, will be released in multiple formats and configurations, including a CD digipak, a two-LP/CD set, a limited-edition two-CD/Blu-ray artbook, and a limited-edition deluxe three-LP/two-CD/Blu-ray artbook.

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While many artists returned to the road in 2021, others decided to hold off until 2022. Now, Gametime, the app that specializes in last-minute tickets, has released its list of the most in-demand concerts for next year, and based on ticket sales, Elton John‘s rescheduled farewell tour is at #2 on the tally.

Elton was originally set to resume the Europe and U.K. legs of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour this year, but in September, he announced that he was moving those dates to 2023 because he had to have a hip operation. The next opportunity that fans will have to see Elton is January 19, 2022, when his North American tour — postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19 — begins in New Orleans.

Also on Gametime’s list are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are listed at #9 on the ranking. The veteran rockers plan to embark on a global tour starting in June, with a North American leg set to begin on July 23 in Denver. The trek will mark the group’s first full live outing since guitarist John Frusciante rejoined in late 2019.

Number one on the list is Latin superstar Bad Bunny, while other artists in the top 10 include Dead & Company collaborator John Mayer at #6. Mayer, who toured this year with Dead & Company, will launch his solo Sob Rock trek in February.

Here’s the app’s full list of the top-10 in-demand concerts for 2022:

1. Bad Bunny
2. Elton John tour
3. Billie Eilish
4. The Weeknd stadium tour
5. Justin Bieber
6. John Mayer
7. Dua Lipa
8. Tyler The Creator
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Tool

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Longtime David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson is organizing a second annual star-studded virtual concert event celebrating the late rock legend on the January 8 anniversary of his birth.

The 2022 edition of the event, dubbed “Mike Garson’s A Bowie Celebration,” will take place on what would have been David’s 75th birthday, and will feature performances by Def Leppard, Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, WALK THE MOON, and actors Gary Oldman and Evan Rachel Wood, among others.

In addition, Ricky Gervais will make a special appearance during the show, part of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Children charity.

Garson will lead a house band featuring musicians who toured and/or recorded with Bowie, including guitarists Earl Slick, Charlie Sexton and Gerry Leonard; drummers Alan Childs and Omar Hakim; sax players Steve Elson and Stan Harrison; and bassist Carmine Rojas.

Other guest singers will include longtime Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey and Rolling Stones backing vocalist Bernard Fowler.

The event will be dedicated to legendary late photographer Mick Rock, and also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson fantasy film, Labyrinth, which starred Bowie as the Goblin King and featured five songs he wrote.

Tickets and ticket bundles for the event are available now at RollingLiveStudios.com/Bowie. Among the special extras included in some of the bundles are a Q&A with band members and an personal piano track recorded by Garson.

The presentation will begin at 9 p.m. ET on January 8 and will be available for 24 hours.

“It’s an honor to be able to continue to share David Bowie’s music with the world,” says Garson in a statement. “I’m excited for everyone to be able to experience this very special show.”

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The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, along with members of the band’s touring lineup, took part in an intimate tribute show to late drummer Charlie Watts at famed London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s on Monday, NME reports.

The show was emceed by former Squeeze keyboardist and TV host Jools Holland, who also led the show’s house band, which featured the surviving members of Watts’ side group, The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie — upright bassist Dave Green, and piano players Ben Waters and Axel Zwingenberger.

Jagger, Richards and Wood all hit the stage during a jam session at the end of the concert that featured performances of the R&B standards “Shame Shame Shame” and “Down the Road Apiece.”

Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman was in attendance at the event, as were members of Charlie’s family.

Current Stones touring sax player Tim Ries and backing vocalist Bernard Fowler also performed, as did Lisa Fischer, who was a backing singer for the group’ for 26 years. Ries played an original tribute song called “Blues for Charlie,” while Fischer sang the blues standard “Trouble in Mind” and then was joined by Fowler for a rendition of the gospel tune “Up Above My Head.”

Watts died on August 24 at the age of 80. Prior to his passing, Charlie had chosen respected session drummer Steve Jordan to fill in for him on The Rolling Stones’ 2021 U.S. tour. The band dedicated the trek to Watts and played a video montage honoring him at the start of each show. The outing wrapped up with a November 23 concert in Hollywood, Florida.

Next year marks The Rolling Stones’ 60th anniversary, but it’s not known yet if the band plans to continue touring.

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An expanded version Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone‘s 1971 debut solo album, One Year, was released last month in honor.

The 50th anniversary reissue, which is available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl set, digitally and via streaming, features a newly mastered version of the original 10-track album, plus a 14-song collection of bonus recordings dubbed That Same Year.

Blunstone recorded One Year after The Zombies’ breakup, with his former band mates Rod Argent and Chris White co-producing the album and contributing three songs they co-wrote to the project.

“[I]t was a little bit like a Zombies reunion, really,” Colin tells ABC Audio, while noting that the members of Rod’s then-new band Argent were brought in to play on some of the initial tracks. As the sessions proceeded, a young classical British composer named Chris Gunning was tapped to create string arrangements for most of the songs.

While One Year had little success in the U.S., the album yielded a top-20 U.K. hit with Blunstone’s cover of the Denny Laine-penned “Say You Don’t Mind,” which Colin says was “a great song.”

The 14 bonus tracks have an interesting back story. Blunstone says White’s sons, while looking through their father’s archives recently, discovered some reel-to-reel tapes with demos Colin had written and recorded around the time of the One Year sessions but had completely forgotten about.

Studio versions of three of the demos appear on One Year, while Colin recorded another for his second solo album, 1972’s Ennismore, but most of tunes had never been released in any form.

“Hopefully, it will be illuminating to people to just see what I was doing in the way of songwriting at that time,” Blunstone says of the demos.

Here’s the One Year track list:

“She Loves The Way They Love Her”
“Misty Roses”
“Smokey Day”
“Caroline Goodbye”
“Though You Are Far Away”
“Mary Won’t You Warm My Bed”
“Her Song”
“I Can’t Live Without You”
“Let Me Come Closer to You”
“Say You Don’t Mind”

And here’s the That Same Year track list:

“Are You Ready”
“I’ve Always Had You”
“Sing Your Own Song”
“Caroline Goodbye”
“I’d Like to Get to Know You Better”
“Though You Are Far Away”
“Too Much Too Soon Last Night”
“I Wonder If You Know What You’ve Begun”
“I Won’t Let You Down”
“You Gave Me a Reason”
“I’m Coming Home”
“I Really Do Love You”
“Let Me Come Closer”
“You Really Were a Surprise”

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A new edition of Cat Stevens‘ soundtrack to the 1971 cult classic Harold and Maude, in conjunction with the film’s 50th anniversary, will be released on February 11, 2022, on CD, digitally and as a 180-gram vinyl LP.

Harold and Maude tells the story of a suicide-obsessed teenager who learns to embrace life while falling in love with an eccentric, free-spirited 79-year-old woman. The darkly comedic film was directed by Hal Ashby, and starred Bud Cort as Harold and Ruth Gordon as Maude.

The movie’s soundtrack featured seven previously released songs by Stevens that first appeared on his then-recent studio albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman, and two new tunes Cat wrote specifically for the flick — “Don’t Be Shy” and “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out.”

A soundtrack album was not released in conjunction with the film because Stevens, who is now known as Yusuf Islam, says he was worried at the time that it would be perceived as a greatest hits collection, and he felt that it was too early in his career to issue one.

The original version of the Harold and Maude soundtrack album was released in limited quantities in 2007 on Cameron Crowe‘s independent label, Vinyl Films, but that soon went out of print.

The new version features the nine Stevens songs that appeared in the film, coupled for the first time with dialogue segments from the movie.

The audio for the soundtrack has been remastered at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios. The album will boast enhanced packaging that includes liner notes, song lyrics, movie dialogue transcriptions and photos from the film.

You can pre-order the Harold and Maude soundtrack now.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

Side 1
“Don’t Be Shy”
“Dialogue 1 (I Go to Funerals)”
“On the Road to Find Out”
“I Wish, I Wish”
“Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 in B”
“Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)”
“Marching Band”/”Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)”
“Miles from Nowhere”
“Tea for the Tillerman”

Side 2
“I Think I See the Light”
“Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)”
“Where Do the Children Play?”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” (Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort vocal)
“Strauss’ Blue Danube”
“Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”
“Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude)”
“Trouble”
“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” (ending)

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Foo Fighters‘ cover of “Run Rudolph Run” is now available for everyone to enjoy.

Dave Grohl and company first put their spin on the Chuck Berry seasonal classic last December during a performance on Amazon Music’s Holiday Plays virtual concert series. A year later, the track has officially been released on all digital and streaming platforms.

The Foos kicked off the holiday season last week with the second season of Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin‘s Hanukkah Sessions series, featuring covers of eight Jewish artists for each night of the holiday. Among the artists Grohl and Kurstin tackled this year include Lisa Loeb, the Ramones, Barry Manilow, Van Halen, Amy Winehouse, The Clash and KISS.

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