Classic Rock News

In addition to his own musical endeavors, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson spent years working with his close friend Martin Scorsese on many of the filmmaker’s biggest movies. November will see the publication of Insomnia, a book Robertson wrote prior to his death about their decadeslong creative partnership.

The book is a sequel of sorts to Robertson’s 2016 memoir, Testimony, which ended in 1976 as his group The Band gave their final performance, The Last Waltz, which was documented on film by Scorsese. After both of their marriages failed, Robertson and Scorsese became roommates in the ’70s. The resulting relationship became legendary, not only for its creativity, but for — as the book’s description puts it — its “excess.”

Robertson, whose songwriting was always deeply inspired by film, first collaborated with Scorsese on the music for 1980’s Raging Bull. He then worked variously on either selecting, supervising, composing or creating music for Scorsese films including The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Shutter Island, The Irishman, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gangs of New York and Casino. 

Robertson eventually received a posthumous Oscar nomination for best original score for Scorsese’s 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon, which was dedicated to his memory. 

Robertson’s final album, 2019’s Sinematic, featured two songs from The Irishman, including the Van Morrison duet “I Hear You Paint Houses.”

Insomnia will be released Nov. 11.

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The Marshall Tucker Band is set to kick off their All Our Friends Tour in May, but it will be without founding member and lead singer Doug Gray.

The band, best known for the song “Can’t You See,” just announced that Gray is “taking a hiatus” from the road due to health issues.

“Taking care of business as I always do,” Gray says. “Thanks and see you soon.”

Gray also wants fans to know that even though he won’t be performing, he’ll still be very involved with the tour.

“Everyone knows I’m not one to sit on my hands,” he shares. “I’ll be making sure all of the stars are aligned. Let’s rock!”

Gray is currently the only original member of The Marshall Tucker Band still with the group. Despite his absence, the band will press on with their tour, which kicks off May 9 in West Wendover, Nevada, with dates confirmed through Oct. 9 in Saratoga, California. They’ll be joined on several of those date by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and JJ Grey & Mofro.

A complete list of dates can be found at marshalltucker.com.

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On This Day, April 17, 1970…

Paul McCartney released his debut solo album, McCartney, which he recorded secretly, performing all the instruments himself, with some contributions from his wife Linda McCartney.

The album, which was released three days later in America, was recorded during a period of estrangement with The Beatles after John Lennon privately left the group.

Songs on McCartney included “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “The Lovely Linda,” and others.

The album went to #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K.

McCartney went on to release two more solo albums, McCartney II in 1980, and McCartney III in 2020.

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Bruce Springsteen has shared another preview of his upcoming box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums.

The Boss has released the song “Blind Spot,” off the set’s Streets of Philadelphia Sessions album, which features 10 tracks recorded around the time Springsteen wrote the Oscar-winning tune “Streets of Philadelphia.” For fans, the album has been known as Springsteen’s so-called “loops record.”

According to the press release, the album “found Springsteen exploring an interest in the rhythms of mid-1990s contemporary music, and particularly West Coast hip-hop.” Springsteen himself recorded most of the instruments on the record, although he had help from his 1992-1993 touring band along with wife Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell and Lisa Lowell.

“Blind Spot,” available now via digital outlets, is described as a song exploring “doubt and betrayal in relationships.”

“That was just the theme that I locked in on at that moment,” Springsteen shares. “I don’t really know why. Patti and I, we were having a great time in California. But sometimes if you lock into one song you like, then you follow that thread. I had ‘Blind Spot,’ and I followed that thread through the rest of the record.”

Tracks II: The Lost Albums, will be released June 27, and is available for preorder now. It features seven previously unheard Springsteen records — LA Garage Sessions ’83, Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, Faithless, Somewhere North of Nashville, Inyo, Twilight Hours, and Perfect World —  featuring 83 songs, all of which were originally recorded between 1983 and 2018. Of those songs, 82 have never been released before and 74 have never been heard before.

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Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run will celebrate its 50th anniversary in August, and to coincide with the milestone, a new book is set to delve into the iconic album.

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run, from music journalist Peter Ames Carlin, will give fans an in-depth look at the writing and recording of every song on the album.

According to the description, the book details “a tortuous process that betrayed the fault lines in Springsteen’s psyche and career, even as it revealed the depth of his vision and the power of his determination.” The description also says Carlin had “unprecedented access to Springsteen, his bandmates, and his longtime collaborators.”

Carlin is no stranger to Springsteen. He previously wrote a biography on The Boss, titled Bruce, which was released in 2012.

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run will be released Aug. 5 and is available for preorder now.

Released on Aug. 25, 1975, Born to Run was Springsteen’s third studio album and his first commercial success. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart, which at the time was Springsteen’s highest-charting record, and went on to be certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

The album contained several tunes that are now considered Springsteen classics, including the title track, “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Backstreets” and “Jungleland.”

In 2003, Born to Run was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

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The Who‘s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey have parted ways with their longtime touring drummer Zak Starkey, son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. He last played with them during their Teenage Cancer Trust shows in London in March.

“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” a rep for The Who told The Guardian. “They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”

Daltrey seemed to be upset with Starkey’s performance during the London shows, complaining on stage and pausing the final song to tell the audience, “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”

Starkey, who’s been touring with The Who since 1996, responded to the news of his job loss in a statement obtained by ABC Audio.

“I’m very proud of my near thirty years with The Who,” he said. “Filling the shoes of my Godfather, ‘uncle Keith’ has been the biggest honor and I remain their biggest fan.” “Uncle Keith” refers to the band’s late drummer Keith Moon. Starkey added that the band has “been like family to me.”

Starkey went on to explain he’d suffered from blood clots in his calf in January, but insisted he’s now “completely healed” and it didn’t affect his drumming.

“After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?” he continued. “29 years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.”

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While the song “Africa” was a huge hit for Toto, guitarist Steve Lukather reveals in a new interview that he has mixed feelings about the tune.

During an appearance on the Fail Better with David Duchovny podcast, Lukather shares that the tune has been both “a blessing and a curse” for the band.

“First off, it’s the least Toto song out of our whole bunch, but that’s the one everybody thinks that’s what we are,” he explained.

The song is heavy on keyboards and includes a kalimba, a South African instrument, which wasn’t typical of Toto’s other material. Lukather says the band felt it was a “catchy” tune that had “potential.”

“It was the last thing we cut, we thought it was a throwaway song,” he says. “We made the whole record without hearing the lyrics. And the last thing we did was put the lead vocal on. Everything else was done.”

Toto’s David Paich and Jeff Porcaro wrote the lyrics, with Lukather acknowledging the tune is “different lyrically” from anything else they’ve done.

“People try to think we’re serious about all this,” he says. He notes they took “poetic license” with the lyrics,  like singing about seeing Mount Kilimanjaro from the Serengeti, which isn’t possible. He adds, “We started laughing, going, ‘What does this mean, man? We’re from North Hollywood.’”

“But it’s become the golden carrot, you know, so you can’t argue with it,” Lukather says, adding that because of it younger audiences have found their catalog, “and then they find out these guys are actually a rock band.”

“Africa” was the second single off Toto’s 1982 album, Toto IV. It was the band’s only #1 single. In 2018 it was covered by Weezer and became the band’s first Hot 100 hit since 2009.

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Elton John has his Elton John AIDS Foundation and his musical partner Brandi Carlile has her Looking Out Foundation. Following their musical team up, their charity initiatives are now joining forces to fill a gap in funding for the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

The two charities will join their communities together with a goal of raising $1 million for Elton’s foundation’s Rocket Response Fund. The money will go to reopen clinics, restore access to medications and maintain prevention services in the wake of President Donald Trump‘s administration shutting down USAID. Since the ’80s, USAID has been one of the world’s largest funders of HIV/AIDS programs.

“Without prompt action, decades of progress in the global fight against HIV could be reversed, creating a global health crisis that we have both the power and the tools to prevent,” Elton says in a statement.

He adds, “I’m so fortunate that Brandi is not only a wonderful collaborator and artist, but a dear friend who shares my vision of a world where HIV care is prioritized and protected.”

“Elton’s activism and work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation was what led me to Elton before I even heard a note of his music,” Brandi adds. “It’s an incredible honor to launch this partnership and raise funds for the life-saving work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Rocket Response Fund at a time when support is needed the most.”

Visit LookingOutFoundation.org and EltonJohnAIDSFoundation.org to get more information and to donate.

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War is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their hit album Why Can’t We Be Friends? with a new deluxe release.

Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) will feature a remastered version of the 1975 album, along with two additional discs. One will feature bonus tracks, jam sessions and unedited mixes, while the third disc will feature a recording about the making of the album.

As a preview of the release, the band has shared a previously unreleased unedited mix of their hit “Low Rider,” which is now available via digital outlets.

Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) will be released digitally and as a three-CD set on June 6. It is available for preorder now. A three-LP vinyl set was already released exclusively for Record Store Day on April 12.

Released in June 1975, Why Can’t We Be Friends? was a huge hit for War, thanks to two singles: the title track and “Low Rider,” which were both top-10 hits for the band. The album peaked at #8 on the Billboard chart.

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Heart has announced a new set of summer tour dates.

The latest additions to the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ schedule kick off Aug. 8 in Quincy, Washington, with stops in San Diego, San Francisco, Kansas City, Des Moines and more, before wrapping Aug. 30 in Bethel, New York. Todd Rundgren is set to join them as special guest on select dates.

A presale for tickets starts Monday at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Thursday, April 24, at 10 a.m. local time.

Heart is set to wrap their Royal Flush tour at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Wednesday. They will then kick off a new tour, An Evening With Heart, on May 31 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. That tour will have the band performing two sets each night.

A complete list of dates can be found at heart-music.com.

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