Classic Rock News

Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann is the latest artist to pay tribute to Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, who passed away April 18 at the age of 80.

In a post on Instagram, Kreutzmann writes of the “intertwined past” of the two bands, noting, “[W]e saw ourselves as fellows, part of a movement that was bigger than either band,” calling the Allman Brothers “the southern counterpart to the Grateful Dead.” 

“@dickeybettsofficial was a huge part of the Allman sound and his twin guitar leads with Duane were as influential to southern rock as just about any other single element,” he shares.

He then recalled playing with the Allmans in San Francisco one New Year’s Eve.

“Getting to play behind Betts was just one of those things where you know you are in the company of greatness and you’re just trying to live in that moment,” he concludes. “Well, that moment — and many others — will now live forever in my heart.” He signed the post, “So long, old friend.”

Kreutzmann’s Grateful Dead bandmate Mickey Hart also paid tribute to Dickey, sharing a Dead-inspired drawing of the rocker with the caption, “May the four winds blow Dickey safely home.”

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Crowded House’s Neil Finn joined Fleetwood Mac in 2018, along with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell, after the band fired Lindsey Buckingham. But Finn admits it wasn’t necessarily easy taking his place.

It seems that while Buckingham was gone, Stevie Nicks didn’t want much else to change.

In a new interview with MOJO, Finn describes Mick Fleetwood as “the heart and soul of the band,” but notes that Stevie is very much the leader of the group, “because Stevie wants it the way Stevie wants it and that’s the way it’ll be.”

And it seems she wanted it to sound just like Lindsey.

“She couldn’t bear to be in a band with Lindsey anymore, but she still wanted to do it exactly the way he would have,” Finn says. “She was really happy with the way it sounded between me and her, but she put a lot of pressure on Mike to be more like Lindsey.” 

He adds, “Sometimes Mike’s solos would go on and Stevie would get exhausted playing tambourine. She’d be, ‘F****** hell, Lindsey only did 12 bars!'” 

As for Lindsey, Finn says he’s never met him, but would like to have dinner with him one day.

“There’s a lot of ill-will, but I don’t think he bears any towards me and I do think he had prior appreciation of the music I’d made,” he says. “Hopefully, once he got over the massive disappointment, he’d have thought, ‘At least someone with something going for them is singing my songs.’”

Finn is getting ready to release a new album with Crowded House. Gravity Stairs, the band’s eighth studio album and the first since 2021’s Dreamers Are Waiting, comes out May 31. It is available for preorder now.

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Robert Plant has been named patron of Good Shepherd, an English charity that helps the homeless community. 

Plant has been a longtime supporter of the organization and last December invited reps from the group to appear at his local concert at The Halls to help raise awareness of their work. He later visited the charity to learn more about the services it provides. 

“It was good to visit the Good Shepherd and learn more about their work,” Plant shares. “Providing food and a range of other support is a key part of it but something that I think is so important is the focus on rebuilding confidence, self-esteem and spirit.” 

“The Good Shepherd is a small local charity, but we have a big impact in our community,” CEO Tom Hayden says. “Having Robert support our work in Wolverhampton and the Black Country is incredible for our organization, and we’re extremely grateful he has decided to come on board as a patron.”

Plant is helping to support the organization’s new trainee program, which will offer two paid trainee positions to people who have experienced homelessness.

“We cannot thank Robert enough for becoming a patron and underpinning these trainee roles, and we look forward to keeping him updated on how our program develops,” Hayden adds.

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Slash guests on a new song called “The End of Tomorrow” from film/TV/video game composer Bear McCreary.

The track, which lasts nearly 11 minutes, boasts a giant solo that would likely feel at home on a Guns N’ Roses album. It also features lead vocals by McCreary’s brother, Brendan McCreary.

“‘The End of Tomorrow’ is my homage to epic, operatic rock anthems I love, like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘November Rain,'” Bear says. “Slash brought his iconic sound to the song, and his solo at the song’s heart will melt your face!”

You can listen to “The End of Tomorrow” now via digital outlets. It’ll appear on Bear’s upcoming album, The Singularity, which also features guest spots from System of a Down‘s Serj Tankian and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.

The Singularity will be released digitally on May 3 and on physical formats May 10. Bear will play a concert in Los Angeles on May 12; Slash will be among the guest performers.

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A new photo book dedicated to Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan will be released later this year.

Portraits of Gillan, from Rufus Publications, is a coffee table book featuring rare and unseen photos of Gillan and covering his post-Deep Purple career from 1976 through his brief time with Black Sabbath in the ‘80s. The 240-page book, which comes in a black slipcase with a gold foil logo, features an 8,000 word essay from rock journalist and writer John Tucker, along with a fold out poster. 

The book will be released in two formats. The main edition, limited to 500 copies, costs around $70. There’s also an ultra-limited Black Leather and Metal edition, which is much larger and comes in an aluminum metal slipcase, with a screen-printed logo and a unique lenticular print. Only 50 of those will be available at a cost of about $430.

Both formats will be available for preorder on Wednesday, April 24, with books shipping at the end of June.

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David Byrne‘s has shared a cover of the Paramore song “Hard Times.”

The horn-laden rendition adds some extra Talking Heads energy to a song that was already greatly influenced by the “Once in a Lifetime” outfit. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.

Byrne’s “Hard Times” cover follows Paramore’s version of “Burning Down the House,” recorded for the upcoming tribute to the iconic Talking Heads concert film and live album, Stop Making Sense. Both covers will be included on a vinyl single releasing Saturday, April 20, for Record Store Day. Paramore is also the 2024 RSD ambassador.

“Hard Times” was the lead single off Paramore’s 2017 album, After Laughter. Byrne’s cover arrives exactly seven years after the original song was released.

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U2 is sharing the second installment in their recently launched digital series, U2 To Love and Only Love – Deep Dives and B-Sides.

The band plans to release 12 newly remastered collections throughout the year, made up of songs that until now were only available on vinyl, CD or cassette.

The latest collection is centered around the track “Staring at the Sun,” which has four remixes. They’ve also shared video of a 2001 live performance of the tune at Slane Castle in Dublin. The collection also includes a fifth song, a remastered version of “Your Blue Room” from the movie Beyond the Clouds, which was released by Passengers aka U2 and Brian Eno. 

To coincide with the launch, U2 has released a new limited edition “Staring at the Sun” T-shirt, which is only available to order for one week.

“Staring at the Sun” was the second single off U2’s 1997 album Pop. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both the Modern Rock and Adult Alternative charts.

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Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes has paid tribute to Allman Brothers Band co-founder Dickey Betts, who passed away April 18 at the age of 80.

“Such a huge loss. Not only for our musical family, but for the world of music in general,” Haynes, who joined the Allman Brothers in 1989, shares on Instagram. “Aside from being a huge, major influence on my music from before I picked up a guitar, Dickey was the one person I credit for everything amazing that happened in my career.”

Haynes writes of listening to Allman Brothers’ Live at Filmore East as he started playing guitar. “Listening as a kid I had no idea that one day our paths would cross and that he would become a mentor to me,” he shares, calling Dickey “a presence that loomed larger than life.”

Haynes was in Dickey’s band for over two years before joining the Allman Brothers, where he says he felt challenged by up his game.

“Dickey Betts and I created a lot of great music together and what I took from him was a major contribution in my life,” he shares. “It did not take long once I joined his band to realize, standing next to him with that beautiful tone, that I had a lot to work to do on both with my tone and with my style.”

He adds, “It was amazingly intimidating to stand there night after night realizing how far I had to go. He threw me in the lake and I had to learn to swim. I am forever grateful for that ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity.”

Also paying tribute is Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife and performing partner, Susan Tedeschi, who simply wrote, “One of the best to ever do it. Rest easy Dickey.”

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On This Day, April 19, 2012…

Levon Helm, best known as the drummer, singer and multi-instrumentalist for The Band, died at age 71 of throat cancer. 

As one of The Band’s three main vocalists, Helm was featured on many of their classic tracks, including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

Along with the other members of The Band, Helm was initially a member of The Hawks, the backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. After they split with Hawkins in 1963 over creative differences, they were known briefly as Levon & The Hawks. Bob Dylan then hired the group as his backing band, but Helm, discouraged by fans’ negative reaction to Dylan’s new “electric” music, left. He returned in 1967; The Band’s debut album, Music from Big Pink, came out in 1968.

Helm remained with the The Band through their farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. The performance was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the critically acclaimed documentary The Last Waltz.

In 1983, Helm and The Band reformed without guitarist Robbie Robertson and continued to tour and record.  After singer/pianist Richard Manuel died by suicide in 1986, The Band carried on with various other musicians until bassist/vocalist Rick Danko‘s death in 1999.

Helm continued to record and play live until his death, winning multiple Grammys for his solo albums.

In addition to music, Helm dabbled in acting and appeared in movies like Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Right Stuff, Feeling Minnesota and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

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Sheryl Crow was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year and she invited Peter Frampton, the first artist she ever saw in concert, to perform with her. The inductees for the hall’s Class of 2024 will be announced during the April 21 episode of American Idol, and this year Frampton is on the ballot, which Sheryl is very happy about.

“I’m very excited. You know, he definitely is somebody that is worthy of being in the Rock Hall. I mean, all the way back to Humble Pie [the band he was in from 1969 to 1971],” Sheryl tells ABC Audio. “And there’s so many people on the ballot this year I feel like should be in.”

“I mean, I grew up listening to Foreigner,” she says, naming another group that’s up for induction this year. “Whether you love them or you don’t love them, I mean, that was the sound — them, and Boston and Kansas, they were the soundtrack to my, you know, radio years as a kid.”

Sheryl also throws her support behind one of her contemporaries, plus two of the female artists who appear on the ballot this year: Cher and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

“Certainly Lenny Kravitz,” she says. “I mean, if you’re going to look up ‘rock star’ in the dictionary, you will see a picture of him in leather pants. So, a lot of great people on [the ballot]. And yes, Cher and Sinéad.” 

In addition to the artists Sheryl mentioned, this year’s potential inductees include Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sade, Oasis, A Tribe Called Quest, Jane’s Addiction, Kool & the Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, Ozzy Osbourne and Dave Matthews Band.

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