Classic Rock News

Talking Heads is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the concerts that were filmed for their classic movie, Stop Making Sense — with a deluxe edition of the soundtrack featuring previously unreleased content. 

Dropping August 18, the deluxe edition will feature the entire concert for the very first time, including two tracks that didn’t make the original album: “Cities” and “Big Business / I Zimbra.” The live version of “Cities,” which up until now was only included on the VHS/DVD of the movie, is out now.

Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition) is being released as a limited edition two-LP set as well as digitally, and there will also be a Dolby Atmos mix. The vinyl will come with a 28-page booklet with liner notes from all four band members and a series of previously unpublished photos. 

“We had done a live album before this, but coupled with the film, and with the improved mixes and sound quality, this record reached a whole new audience,” frontman David Byrne writes in the liner notes. “As often happens, the songs got an added energy when we performed them live and were inspired by having an audience. In many ways, these versions are more exciting than the studio recordings, so maybe that’s why a lot of folks discovered us via this record.”

Stop Making Sense (Deluxe Edition) is available for preorder now.

This isn’t the only way the film is being celebrated. A24 plans to release a newly restored 4K version of the movie to theaters later this year.

Directed by Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense is considered by many to be the greatest concert film of all time. In 2021, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

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A concert movie featuring the final performance of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s late guitarist and founding member Gary Rossington is set to hit theaters on Saturday, July 8, and Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant is excited fans are going to be able to see Gary in his element. 

After undergoing heart surgery in 2021, Rossington was no longer touring with the band, but he did get to rejoin them for the concert featured in the movie, Skynyrd’s 50th anniversary show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in November 2022. It turned out to be his final performance.

“I know if he was here to talk to me, he’d be, ‘That’s the way for me to go out,’” Johnny tells ABC Audio. “And I can’t wait for people to see it.”

Gary passed away in March, and Johnny says in addition to his family and the band, the legacy Gary leaves behind is “of course the music.”

He explains, “Gary told me one time, he goes, ‘Hey, man, I don’t do nothing but play guitar and write songs … so, the good Lord gave that to me and I’m so proud that I’ve been able to make some sort of, you know, impact on the music business and impact on the fans.’” 

The 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd: An Exclusive Concert Film Experience will have a weeklong run in movie theaters, drive-ins and outdoor venues from July 8 to 14. Tickets are on sale now.

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Kurt Cobain may have broken another auction record.

According to Guitar World, a guitar pick belonging to the late Nirvana frontman was sold for $14,678, reportedly the highest winning bid for a pick sold at auction.

Notably, the pick not only belonged to Cobain, but was also signed by him as “Kurdt Kobain.” It features a drawing he made depicting the Dunlop Tortex tortoise logo. According to the seller, the pick is believed to have been used by Cobain during the recording sessions for Nirvana’s 1991 landmark album, Nevermind.

“It feels surreal to own this piece of music history,” auction winner Shaun Ertischek tells Guitar World. “I haven’t seen anything like it before and it is truly one-of-a-kind. Kurt was obviously an incredible singer, songwriter and guitarist. It is beyond rare and special to have something played by his hand and subsequently signed.”

Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he famously played during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged special, set the record for most expensive guitar sold at auction when it went for $6 million in 2020.

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Gov’t Mule has a busy touring schedule ahead of them this year, but frontman Warren Haynes is finding time to fit in a solo show.

The rocker just announced he’ll be playing The Clubhouse in East Hampton, New York, on August 25, which he’s billing as his only solo show of 2023.

“Solo shows are special to me, and I believe to the fans as well, because it allows me to explore my catalog in different and unique ways. I try to play at least a few each year,” he shares on Instagram. “With all my other touring for the remainder of the year, I’m only able to do this one solo show in East Hampton, NY at The Clubhouse on August 25th. Since this will be my only solo show for 2023, I’m going to make it count!”

Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, July 7, at 12 p.m. ET at murmrr.com. 

As for Gov’t Mule, they kick off their Dark Side of the Mule tour on July 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The trek will feature the band playing a set of their own music, along with a tribute to Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.

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Ringo Starr says The Beatles were very amused at the big “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory of the late ’60s, which suggested Paul McCartney had died and was replaced by a lookalike.

“We only ever had one that stuck. That was ‘Paul is dead.’ And there were some songs people pointed out as being ‘secret,'” Ringo, who turns 83 on July 7, tells Vulture when asked to pick his favorite Beatles conspiracy theory. He explains that the whole “secret song” thing was just them being “silly.”  

“John (Lennon), by accident, learned how to play a tape backwards, and we put that to full use. So we’d just do something silly at the end of a track and it’d be all over the newspapers and on the radio,” he explains. “They’re actually singing, ‘Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ It just made us all laugh.”

He notes, “All of those interesting things we said were not that interesting. We had a great laugh about that. Look at what they’re saying now.”

In the same piece, Ringo reveals that the band’s first song, “Love Me Do,” is the track he’d consider his “career-defining song,” even though session musician Andy White is featured on the album, while Ringo’s on the single.

“We were on vinyl. We made a record,” he says. “We were just blessed that George Martin took a chance on us because many record labels sent us down.” He adds that when they heard it on the radio “it was a really big moment. It was magic because we were on this piece of vinyl all to ourselves.”

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Foreigner is ready to kick off their farewell to the road. To mark the occasion, the band has released a brand new companion album.

Farewell – The Very Best Of Foreigner features 11 of the band’s biggest hits, including such classics as “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “I Want To Know What Love Is” and more. 

Farewell – The Very Best Of Foreigner, produced by Mick Jones with Jeff Pilson, is being released as a limited edition gold vinyl with only 5,000 numbered copies available. They’ll be sold at tour stops and independent retailers.

Foreigner’s Historic Farewell Tour kicks off Thursday, July 7, in Alpharetta, Georgia, with dates confirmed through November. A complete list of shows can be found at foreigneronline.com.

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Paul McCartney’s comprehensive book about his music is finally getting a paperback.

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present will get a one-volume, paperback release on November 7. The new edition will include McCartney’s musings on seven songs left out of the original release: “Bluebird,” “Day Tripper,” “English Tea,” “Every Night,” “Hello, Goodbye,” “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Step Inside Love.”

First released in 2021, The Lyrics went to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and earned the Book of the Year honor from Barnes & Noble. It has McCartney chronicling his musical history and the inspirations behind his songs, with tracks arranged alphabetically instead of chronologically. It also includes never-before-seen material from McCartney’s personal archive, including photographs, drafts and more.

“The one thing I’ve always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs. I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks,” McCartney said at the time of The Lyrics’ release. “What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life”

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A new Black Sabbath box set has been announced.

The collection, dubbed Hand of Doom, includes each of the metal pioneers’ first eight albums — from 1970’s Black Sabbath to 1978’s Never Say Die! — on vinyl picture discs, capturing the first and most prolific period of the band’s classic lineup: frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward.

Hand of Doom will be released August 18 and will be limited to just 4,000 copies.

In other Sabbath related news, Iommi has received a replica of the fossil that was named after him. The 469 million-year-old Drepanoistodus iommii was discovered in 2021.

According to the U.K.’s Westside BID, Iommi was presented with the fossil replica by paleontologist Mats Eriksson and sculptor Esben Horn.

“Great to meet Mats and Esben today and receive an amazing replica of the Iommi fossil!” Iommi says.

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Music and movie fans are getting their first look at the upcoming Bob Marley biopic, Bob Marley: One Love.

Paramount has just released the trailer for the film, which stars British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who landed the role as Marley after a global talent search. It also stars Captain Marvel actress Lashana Lynch as Marley’s wife, Rita. 

The trailer features clips of Marley performing and living his life in Jamaica with his family, and even includes footage of the assassination attempt on his life. It also features the Marley quote, “One love, one heart, one destiny.” 

Bob Marley: One Love is set to hit theaters January 12, 2024.

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Nikki Sixx got a personalized letter from Dolly Parton following the release of their collaborative single, “Bygones.”

“Well … I guess you’ve heard, we’ve got us a hit record!” the country icon wrote the Mötley Crüe bassist. “We’re #1 from what I hear on ‘Bygones’!”

“You did a fantastic job on that,” Parton continued. “Thank you for joining us, you made it a lot of what it is. I appreciate you. Rock on!”

Sixx shared a photo of the message in a Facebook post alongside the caption, “Gonna have to frame this one.”

“Bygones,” which also features Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford and new Crüe guitarist John 5, premiered in June. It’ll appear on Parton’s upcoming rock album, Rockstar, due out November 17.

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