Classic Rock News

On This Day, Aug. 27, 1967 …

The Beatles manager Brian Epstein died at the age of 32.

Epstein died from a drug overdose and was found by his butler in his London home, although his staff removed any drug paraphernalia from the house before calling the police. His death was officially ruled an accident. None of The Beatles attended Epstein’s funeral in order to avoid any unnecessary media attention.

Epstein, known as The Fifth Beatle, managed the band from 1962 to his death. He met them in December 1961 when they performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool and was the one who was tasked with firing original drummer Pete Best, who was later replaced by Ringo Starr.

Epstein managed other artists during his career, including Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cila Black and The Moody Blues.

A movie about Epstein, Midas Man, recently premiered at the 2024 Toronto Jewish Film Festival. It stars Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Epstein, with a cast that also includes Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Jay Leno and Eddie Izzard.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Patti Smith is one of several famous New Yorkers fighting to save a public garden in Manhattan, and it’s a location that’s very important to the rock legend.

The Elizabeth Street Gardens in Little Italy is set to be demolished, but artists like Smith, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese have sent a letter to Mayor Eric Adams to try to stop it.

In an interview with The New York Post, Patti shares that the garden has served as a safe space for her creativity.

“I’ve written poems there. I like to sit and think. It’s a good place just to think and contemplate,” Smith tells the paper. “I’m working on a book. It’s a work in progress and when I was in the garden I was writing about my mother.” 

Patti, who’s written such books as Just Kids and M Train, has also performed at the garden, noting that “it’s not like (a) raucous atmosphere — it’s a very light-hearted, benevolent atmosphere where people are listening.”

She adds, “It’s inspiring. But it’s also calming. Sometimes I might want to go to the garden not to work, but to exist — just to feel blessed by my surroundings.”

“I’ve lived in the city off and on for over half a century, and these type of areas are fast diminishing,” Patti says. “And they’re worth fighting for.”

The Elizabeth Street Garden was built in the early ’90s by developer Allan Reiver. According to the paper, the demolition is expected to “begin in a matter of weeks” and is being done to make room for affordable housing.

In the letter to Adams, Smith described the garden as “an oasis of green space within our city,” adding it “truly stands as a work of art.”

“Affordable housing and green spaces are both essential assets and should not be pinned against each other,” she added.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The battle between Joey Ramone’s brother Mitchel Hyman (better known as Mickey Leigh) and Johnny Ramone’s widow Linda Cummings-Ramone continues, with the latest court documents filed by Mickey.

In documents filed in New York Friday, Mickey’s lawyers argue Linda’s violating federal trademark law by using the Ramones name, since Johnny’s real last name wasn’t Ramone.

The suit describes Linda as a “former Ramones groupie” who “has had an insatiable personal desire to shine a spotlight on herself,” adding she’s been “riding on the coattails of the Ramones.”

The suit calls out her use of the Ramones name, especially since it wasn’t any of the band members’ real last names, noting, “’Linda Ramone’ never existed while her husband, John Cummings (p/k/a Johnny Ramone) was alive.”

“Ms. Cummings-Ramone has made and continues to make blatant attempts to exploit and personally capitalize on and benefit from the name, goodwill and legacy of the Ramones — that is, to try to push the false narrative that she is the heiress to … the Ramones’ legacy,” the document reads. “She most certainly is not. She is nothing more than a blatant self-promoter and an infringer.”

Mickey is suing Linda for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition.

Linda was the first to file a lawsuit in the battle between the pair. In January, she sued Mickey over a variety of issues, including what she called an “unapproved and unauthorized Ramones-based biopic” based on Mickey’s memoir, I Slept with Joey Ramone, referring to Netflix’s planned movie starring Pete Davidson as Joey.

Mickey responded by saying the claims were “baseless,” since she had agreed to the movie in March 2006, adding it was “not a ‘Ramones biopic’ but rather one based on a family memoir.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Earlier this year, Eminem sampled Steve Miller Band’s ’80s classic “Abracadabra” for his track “Houdini,” and Miller says he’s amazed at how fast the song became a huge hit.

In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Miller says the release of the tune gave him “a lesson about what social media has done to the record business.”

“When I put out ‘Abracadabra’ in 1982, it became the #1 record in the world and that took about 12 months,” he says. “With Eminem, two days after we signed our agreement, he released ‘Houdini’ at 12:01 a.m. on a Friday. Within 30 minutes, 60,000 people had watched the video on YouTube. By 10 a.m. it was 3 million. Nearly 50 million people streamed it, worldwide, in just the first week.”

He adds, “I’d never seen anything like that. It was crazy, just instantly. So, that was a real lesson.” 

Miller describes Em as “very cool” and says of the collab, “It feels good that a whole other group of people are listening to my music (through Eminem) and digging it.”

Miller is currently the special guest on the Journey/Def Leppard Summer Stadium tour. The tour hits San Francisco on Wednesday.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

During the first U.S. leg of their M72 tour in 2023, Metallica uploaded a video of fans being offered free passes to the exclusive Snake Pit section of the crowd, only to turn them down without realizing what they were saying no to. A year later, it appears people haven’t learned their lesson.

In a sequel video filmed during their current U.S. leg, a Metallica employee walks around the venue trying to give away Snake Pit wristbands, which give fans access to the part of the crowd right next to the stage. Some people skeptically accepted, while others just flat out ignored the offer. A number of fans, though, recognized the Snake Pit passes immediately and took them with great excitement.

“Just a reminder that if someone approaches you with Snake Pit passes… take them!” Metallica says.

Metallica’s tour continues Friday in Seattle.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour is set to launch a solo tour this fall in support of his upcoming solo album, Luck and Strange, and it seems he’s changed his mind about whether he plans to play any Pink Floyd songs on the trek.

Gilmour previously suggested in an interview he didn’t want to “revisit the Pink Floyd of the ’70s” on the tour, but it sounds like that’s no longer the case. 

“One has to wake up to reality once in a while,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I think I will be doing one or two things from that time, but it just seems so long ago.”

He adds, “I know people love them, and I love playing them. I’ll be doing ‘Wish You Were Here,’ of course I will. And some of the things that started with me anyway.” 

Gilmour also noted it’s “quite likely” the set will include “Comfortably Numb,” but probably not “Money” “if that’s your reason for coming.”

Gilmour also seems to be backtracking on previous comments he made suggesting Luck and Strange was the best album he’s made since Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic The Dark Side of The Moon.

“It’s a flip statement, really,” he says. “I mean, it’s not like Dark Side the Moon is even my favorite album. I think I prefer Wish You Were Here.”

He adds, “Anyway, it feels to me like it’s the best thing I’ve done in more or less my living memory, because some of those things feel like they were someone else, back in those eons ago.”

Gilmour will release Luck and Strange on Sept. 6. He’ll launch his solo tour on Sept. 27 in Rome, Italy, with U.S. dates kicking off Oct. 25 in Los Angeles. A complete list of dates can be found at davidgilmour.com.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Looks like Tom Petty fans have something to look forward to.

The late rocker’s official Instagram account just teased that they have some big news to share and folks will be finding out soon.

“We’ve been working on something really special for a long time for the core Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers fans,” the post reveals. “We’ve dropped a few clues along the way, but we think you’ll be delighted at what’s to come this fall.” 

The Petty website also launched a countdown to the announcement, which appears to be coming on Friday. 

Petty passed away in 2017 at the age of 66. An all-country Petty tribute album, Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, was released earlier this year.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, Aug. 26, 1970 …

Electric Lady Studios, a recording studio commissioned by Jimi Hendrix, opened in New York’s Greenwich Village. It was the first commercial studio owned by an artist.

Planning for the studio began in 1968. It was constructed specifically for Hendrix, who died just three weeks after its opening. 

The studio went on to be a go-to spot for musicians, with artists such as John Lennon, David Bowie, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and more recording there.

A new documentary about the studio, Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, opened in August in New York City.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Bruce Springsteen is turning 75 in September, and he wants fans to know that he has no plans to slow down.

During his show in Philadelphia Friday night, The Boss addressed any suggestion he and the E Street Band may be considering retiring.

Fan-shot footage posted to social media shows Bruce telling the crowd, “We’ve been around for 50 f****** years, and we ain’t quitting! … We ain’t doing no farewell tour bulls***! Jesus Christ! No farewell tour for The E Street Band!”

He also added, “Farewell to what? Thousands of people screaming your name. Yeah I want to quit that.”

As for the Philly concert, the second of two shows at Citizens Bank Park, Bruce treated fans to “My Love Will Not Let You Down” and “Waitin’ On A Sunny Day,” which marked the first time he performed both songs in the U.S. since 2016, as well as plenty of classics, like “Born To Run,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Thunder Road,” “Glory Days” and more.

Bruce and the E Street Band launched the latest North American leg of their tour in early August. They are set to play Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Legendary rock band the Grateful Dead will be the subject of a new Stanford Continuing Studies course this fall.

Did It Matter? Does It Now? The Music and Culture of the Grateful Dead is an eight-week course that kicks off Oct. 3, taught by David Gans, producer and host of the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour.

The course will feature a variety of Dead-related guest speakers, including David Lemieux, Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager; Dennis McNally, former Grateful Dead publicist and author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead; and Jesse Jarnow, producer/host of The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast. 

According to the description, the course “will feature a collection of stories and conversations with scholars and historians, each offering facts and personal perspectives illuminating every aspect of the Grateful Dead culture.”

It will use music from live and studio recordings “to learn what makes the Dead’s music-making unique and explore the broad musical universe the band created in its 30-year history.” The course will also explore the band’s impact on society, art, literature, social change and more.

The description notes, “By the end of the course, students will have a well-rounded appreciation for the roots, struggles, and milestones that shaped the Grateful Dead’s trajectory, an understanding of their profound impact on music and culture, and insight into a legacy that still resonates deeply today.”

Registration for the course is now open.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.