Classic Rock News

The new archival Rolling Stones concert film and album Licked Live in NYC, which captures a January 2003 show that the British rock legends played at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, got its release Friday.

The release, which boasts restored video and remastered audio, is available in several formats and configurations, including a DVD/two-CD set, a standard-definition Blu-ray/two-CD set, and a standalone two-CD package and a three-LP white-vinyl set.

The Madison Square Garden performance took place during the band’s 40th anniversary Licks World Tour, and featured The Stones playing a deep set that included classics and gems from throughout their long career. Sheryl Crow joined the band for a rendition of “Honky Tonk Women.”

The film of the concert originally premiered in 2003 as an HBO special and was featured on the multiple-disc Four Flicks DVD set that was issued that same year.

The Licked Live in NYC DVD and Blu-ray include four previously unreleased songs from the Madison Square Garden show, as well as three bonus performances from a concert in Amsterdam that The Stones played during the Licks trek, plus footage from the group’s tour rehearsals in Toronto.

The CDs and LPs also feature the four unreleased tunes from the MSG concert.

Meanwhile, the SD Blu-ray features a 51-minute documentary titled Tip of the Tongue that offers a look at the conception and preparation of the Licks tour, which saw The Rolling Stones playing at three different-sized venues in each metropolitan area they visited.

Here’s the release’s track list:

Intro
“Street Fighting Man”
“Start Me Up”*
“If You Can’t Rock Me”
“Don’t Stop”
“Monkey Man”
“Angie”
“Let It Bleed”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Tumbling Dice”*
“Thru and Thru”
“Happy”
“Gimme Shelter”*
“You Got Me Rocking”
“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”
“Honky Tonk Women” — with Sheryl Crow
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)”
“When the Whip Comes Down”
“Brown Sugar”
“Sympathy for the Devil”*
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

Bonus Content (DVD and SD Blu-ray only)
Live in Amsterdam
“Star Star”
“I Just Want to Make Love to You”
“Street Fighting Man”

Rehearsals
“Well Well”
“Extreme Western Grip”

SD Blu-ray only
—Tip of the Tongue documentary
—Tip of the Tongue – Boston backstage

* = previously unreleased.

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The deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of Elton John‘s fourth studio album, Madman Across the Water, released in late 1971, hit stores Friday.

The collection is available now as a super deluxe box set featuring three CDs and a Blu-ray disc, a four-LP colored-vinyl package, a two-CD set and digitally.

The album, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, yielded two singles — “Levon” and “Tiny Dancer.” Levon was the bigger chart hit, reaching #24 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Tiny Dancer” just missed the top 40, stalling at #41 in the tally.

However, “Tiny Dancer” has gone on to become one of Elton’s most popular and recognized songs.

Madman Across the Water also includes as the fan-favorite title track and “Indian Sunset,” which was later sampled on the Eminem-produced Tupac Shakur track “Ghetto Gospel.” That song topped the British charts for three weeks in 2005.

Madman was also Elton’s first album to feature contributions from every member of his backing band’s classic lineup — guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson, bassist Dee Murray and percussionist Ray Cooper — while Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman played organ on three songs.

Among the goodies on the super deluxe version are demos, rarities, single edits, a live radio recording, two British TV performances and a 104-page book that offers photos, artwork, interviews and memorabilia.

To promote the expanded reissue, an animated lyric video for a previously unheard piano demo of “Tiny Dancer,” which is among the collection’s bonus tracks, has been posted at Elton’s official YouTube channel.

Here’s the track listing for the Madman Across the Water super deluxe version:

CD 1
“Tiny Dancer” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Levon” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Razor Face” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Madman Across the Water” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Indian Sunset (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Holiday Inn” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Rotten Peaches” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“All the Nasties” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Goodbye” (2016 Bob Ludwig Remaster)
“Indian Sunset” (Live Radio Broadcast)
“Madman Across the Water” (Original Version, featuring Mick Ronson)
“Rock Me When He’s Gone”
“Levon” (Mono Single Version)
“Razor Face” (Extended Version)

CD 2
“Madman Across the Water” (1970 Piano Demo)
“Tiny Dancer” (Piano Demo)
“Levon” (Piano Demo)
“Razor Face” (Piano Demo)
“Madman Across the Water” (1971 Piano Demo)
“Indian Sunset” (Piano Demo)
“Holiday Inn” (Piano Demo)
“Rotten Peaches” (Piano Demo)
“All the Nasties” (Piano Demo)
“Goodbye” (Piano Demo)
“Rock Me When He’s Gone” (Piano Demo)
“Rock Me When He’s Gone” (Full Version)

CD 3: BBC Sounds for Saturday performance (Taped November 11, 1971/aired April 29, 1972)
“Tiny Dancer”
“Rotten Peaches”
“Razor Face”
“Holiday Inn”
“Indian Sunset”
“Levon”
“Madman Across the Water”
“Goodbye”

Blu-ray: Audio
Greg Penny 5.1 mix of “Madman Across the Water” (Original Version, featuring Mick Ronson)
Greg Penny 5.1 mix of “Madman Across the Water”

Blu-ray: Audiovisual
Sounds for Saturday (Taped November 11, 1971/aired April 29, 1972)
Old Grey Whistle Test (Aired December 7, 1971)

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Green Day will be presented with the Icon Award by the British publication Kerrang! at the 2022 Kerrang! Awards.

In a statement, Kerrang! editor Luke Morton says the prize recognizes Green Day’s “longevity and legacy as one of the greatest and most important acts in the history of rock and alternative music, who still captivate and electrify millions of fans all over the world with the power of punk rock.”

Previous Kerrang! Icon winners include Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page, Blink-182 and the Ramones.

The 2022 Kerrang! Awards take place June 23.

Green Day, meanwhile, just launched a European tour. They’ll reunite with Fall Out Boy and Weezer later this month to launch the European leg of the Hella Mega Tour, which kicked off in the U.S. last summer.

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The Rolling Stones brought their SIXTY tour to Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium on Thursday, marking the first time the band played in the English city since 1971.

For their fifth song of the concert, The Rolling Stones appropriately played “I Wanna Be Your Man,” a tune written by two of Liverpool’s favorite sons — The Beatles‘ John Lennon and Paul McCartney — that also happened to be one of The Stones’ first singles.

Rolling Stone magazine reports that Mick Jagger introduced the tune during the Liverpool show by telling the crowd, “We had decided to rehearse a special version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ [the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit adopted by Liverpool’s soccer team], but we decided instead to do a cover song written by other local lads, so we’ll do this especially for you.” RollingStone.com shared fan-shot footage of the performance.

Lennon and McCartney had given “I Wanna Be Your Man” to The Stones in 1963, and in November of that year it became the band’s second single and first top-20 hit in the U.K., reaching #12 on the chart. Later that same month, The Beatles released their own version of the tune, with drummer Ringo Starr on lead vocals, on their U.K. album With The Beatles.

The last time The Rolling Stones performed “I Wanna Be Your Man” in concert was in 2012, when they dusted the song off for three shows during their 50th anniversary tour.

You can check out the full set list of The Stones’ Liverpool concert at the band’s social media pages. The show was the fifth performance of the group’s 60th anniversary trek, which kicked off June 1 in Madrid. The European outing continues Monday, June 13, in Amsterdam and runs through a July 31 concert in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Bidding on Ringo Starr‘s first-ever collection of NFTs closes this Monday, June 13, at 11 a.m. PT.

The “Ringo Starr NFT Collection — The Creative Mind of a Beatle” includes five unique NFTs, each featuring an animated version of a painting created by the legendary drummer, and most soundtracked by a custom-made drum track played by Starr.

Those who purchase an NFT also will receive a 25-by-25-inch canvas print of the artwork signed by Ringo, and will be given access to a virtual gallery of Starr’s digital art called “RingoLand.”

The paintings that serve as the basis for the NFTs include self portraits and colorful spin art.

During a recent press event in Rama, Canada, promoting the launch of Ringo’s current tour with his All Starr Band, Starr talked about the virtual gallery created to display his digital art in conjunction with the NFT auction.

“It was just a great idea,” Ringo said. “And, you know, it’s not even there. It’s a fantasy just on your computer. And [an avatar of me is] walking around looking at my paintings, and you can do the same.”

A total of 20 NFT packages — four of each of the five pieces — will be auctioned as part of the sale, which is being hosted by Julien’s Auctions. Bids can be placed at JuliensLive.com. You also can check out videos of Ringo’s animated artwork at that website and on YouTube.

A portion of the proceeds raised by the auction will benefit Ringo’s Lotus Foundation, which funds and supports charitable projects that focus on various social welfare causes.

Ringo and his All Starr Band’s tour continues tonight in Red Bank, New Jersey. Since Tuesday, Edgar Winter has been sitting out the shows after testing positive for COVID-19.

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Grateful Dead spinoff group Dead & Company will make available livestreams of all 20 shows on their 2022 U.S. summer tour at the nugs.net concert-streaming service.

The trek kicks off this Saturday, June 11, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and runs through a July 15-16 stand at Citi Field in New York City. The tour also features several other two-show engagements — on June 13-14 in Mountain View, California; June 17-18 in Boulder, Colorado; and June 24-25 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Streams of the concerts will be available in HD and 4K formats, priced at $29.99 and $44.99, respectively, per show. Those who subscribe to nugs.net will get a 15% discount on single-show purchases. Also available is the Summer 2022 Unlimited Devotion Pass, which gives fans access to livestreams of all 20 concerts. The shows can be watched live or on demand and will be available for replay viewing for 48 hours.

The livestreams can be watched on Apple and Android devices, or desktop browsers, and viewers will be able to interact with each other in nugs.net’s metaverse venue.

As previously reported, during the new trek Dead & Company will continue its sustainability partnership with the nonprofit organization REVERB. The band has committed to a comprehensive carbon offset program while also encouraging fans to take action to help the environment via the organization’s Music Climate Revolution campaign.

The summer outing will mark the band’s seventh tour since the its 2015 formation. The group’s lineup features Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, as well as singer/guitarist John Mayer, ex-Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.

For more info on the tour and the livestreams, visit DeadandCompany.com and nugs.net.

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Ozzy Osbourne is set to undergo a “very major operation” on Monday, June 13.

The Black Sabbath frontman’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, shared the news this week during an episode of her U.K. talk show The Talk.

“It’s really gonna determine the rest of his life,” Sharon said of the procedure.

Sharon did not speak on the nature of the operation, but Ozzy, 73, told Classic Rock magazine in an interview published in May that he was “waiting on some more surgery” on his neck. Ozzy suffered a fall in 2019, which aggravated injuries he sustained in a 2003 ATV accident.

Beyond that, Ozzy has been battling a number of health issues over the past few years. Prior to the 2019 fall, he’d been hospitalized with a bad case of pneumonia, and in early 2020, he revealed he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In April of this year, Ozzy tested positive for COVID-19.

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Once again, Porno for Pyros is subbing in for Jane’s Addiction at a festival.

The Pyros have joined the bill for Lollapalooza 2022, while Jane’s is no longer listed on the lineup.

Both the Pyros and Jane’s are, of course, fronted by Perry Farrell, who also founded Lollapalooza. Farrell confirmed the news by retweeting a PfP post reading, “The news is true. See you soon @lollapalooza.”

The Pyros previously reunited last month to play their first show in 26 years at the Welcome to Rockville festival in place of Jane’s, who dropped out due to guitarist Dave Navarro contending with a “long bout” of COVID-19. As for why Jane’s isn’t playing Lolla, no reason was announced.

Lollapalooza 2022 takes place July 28-31 in Chicago. The bill also includes Green Day, Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly and Måneskin.

Porno for Pyros will also be playing a Lollapalooza aftershow, as well as a headlining date in Los Angeles.

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Founding Toto keyboardist/singer David Paich will release his debut solo EP, Forgotten Toys, on August 19.

In advance of the record, Paich has released one of the tracks, the soaring, enigmatic “Spirit of the Moonrise,” as a digital single. He’s also debuted a lyric video for the song at Toto’s YouTube channel.

Forgotten Toys, which can be preordered now, features seven tracks co-produced by Paich and Toto frontman Joseph Williams. It features contributions from various well-known artists, including Williams, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Brian Eno, Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone, Ray Parker Jr. and Rolling Stones touring drummer Steve Jordan.

Paich co-wrote “Spirit of the Moonrise” with Williams, who also contributes backing vocals to the track, along with McDonald. The song also features lead guitar from Lukather.

“This is a recurring dream about a distraught girl, riding neath the moonlight,” Paich says about the tune. “It has perplexed me over many a night.”

Forgotten Toys came together when Paich — who has written or co-written many of Toto’s biggest hits — decided to flesh out various songs ideas he’d held onto for many years.

“It seemed like it was time to put something together,” Paich says. “Some of these really are forgotten toys. It had been a while since I’ve been in my studio and I found myself listening to these little pieces continuously. I kept rediscovering them, hoping to fit the tracks together like a musical puzzle.”

Paich, who recently retired from full-time touring, still joins Toto at select shows. He tells ABC Audio that he’ll play at least one concert with the group during its upcoming European summer trek, which kicks off July 11 in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Here’s the full track list of Forgotten Toys:

“Forward”
“willibelongtoyou”
“Spirit of the Moonrise”
“First Time”
“Queen Charade”
“All the Tears That Shine”
“Lucy”

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Rod Stewart was one of the performers at the Platinum Party at the Palace, the star-studded concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee over the weekend. Rod was criticized for his performance of the Neil Diamond hit “Sweet Caroline” at the event, with some saying he sounded off-key. Now his wife, Penny Lancaster, is defending him, saying the rock legend was just recovering from COVID.

Appearing on the British TV show Loose Women Thursday, Penny explained that the BBC insisted that Rod sing “Sweet Caroline” — a British soccer anthem — by telling him it was the queen’s favorite. “So he didn’t have much of a choice there,” Penny noted. 

Rod said as much during the show, literally telling the crowd, “The BBC made me sing it, join in and make it comfortable for me.”

But in addition to Rod singing a song he wasn’t comfortable with, Penny said there were other extenuating circumstances.

“It was very, very touch and go and he was so nervous leading up to it,” she said. “He [had performed for] three weeks in Vegas and caught COVID just after the last show. He came home and was past the 10-day period of being contagious but he lost his voice. So the sound check on the Wednesday — he went along and wore a mask but had no voice.”

She added, “So he went for another rehearsal on the Friday … he wasn’t quite on, but he didn’t want to disappoint anybody. It wasn’t the Rod Stewart show; it was for the nation and for everybody to come together for the queen and he wanted to please the people, so that was the song.”

On Rod’s Instagram, he only posted the other song he performed: his hit “Baby Jane.”

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