Classic Rock News

May Pang, the woman who had an 18-month relationship with The Beatles‘ John Lennon in the ’70s, is telling her story in the new documentary The Lost Weekend: A Love Story. But she says it took a while for her to be ready to share it on the big screen.

She tells ABC Audio that while she previously released a book about their romance, putting it on the big screen is much different.

“We’re in an age right now that people rather see something than read it,” she says. “And I think it makes a bigger impact on my story.”

May was working as Lennon and Yoko Ono’s personal assistant when the couple decided to separate in 1973; Yoko told Pang she wanted her to date her husband. The movie covers their happy time together in Los Angeles and New York; it also touches on how Pang helped Lennon rebuild his fractured relationship with his son Julian, as well as his musical friends.

When their relationship ended, it was often referred to as The Lost Weekend, but Pang hopes the movie shows folks that what they had was real.

“There was a lot of good that came out of that for both him and, you know, myself,” she says.

And Pang says she has few regrets about their time together, which she claims didn’t actually end when John finally returned to Yoko.

“I knew that he wasn’t completely 100% happy because he was one of those type of people, once you are over, it’s over,” she says. “But it wasn’t when it came to me.”  

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story comes to VOD and Blu-ray on Friday, October 13.

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Music fans are getting their first look at a new documentary centered around the relationship between The Rolling Stones and founding member Brian Jones, who was fired from the band in 1969 due to alcohol and drug problems. He died less than a month later.

A new trailer has just been released for The Stones and Brian Jones, directed by Kurt & Courtney director Nick Broomfield. The movie will hit theaters on November 7, before being released digitally on November 17.

The trailer features archival footage, some of which has never been seen before. According to the description, the film “explores the creative musical genius of Jones” and “uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.”

One thing you won’t see in the film is a new interview from Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. Broomfield tells Rolling Stone mag he didn’t approach them because “they’re extremely controlling.”

“One of the reasons there are no films about this period is because no one’s ever been able to make one. So, we just made this film and showed it to people afterward,” he says. “(Former Stones bassist) Bill Wyman came onboard, which was great because he was the guy who was the diarist and note-keeper of the Stones. He has all these diaries in his study — every day he kept a notebook of what happened.”

He says Wyman was amazed after watching the documentary, noting, “I think when you can surprise the Stones’ own archivist, you’re doing OK.”

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The music of the late Warren Zevon is being celebrated with a new live album from Shooter Jennings and his Werewolves of Los Angeles band.

Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles Do Zevon is a recording of their 2023 Rebels & Renegades Music Festival performance in Monterey, California. It features live performances of such Zevon tunes as “Werewolves of London,” “Keep Me In Your Heart” and more; their performance of “Excitable Boy” is out now.

Jennings and his band will soon celebrate Zevon onstage again. On November 1, they’ll play New York’s Brooklyn Made, which Shooter shares is a response to Zevon not making it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, even though he was nominated.

“When Zevon was picked to be potentially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year we, along with millions of Zevon fans, were hoping that he would finally get his due in the halls of Rock & Roll History,” Shooter says. “Unfortunately, Zevon didn’t make it in this year and won’t be honored on November 4, 2023, in New York City at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.”

He adds, “We decided that even though Warren wasn’t going into the Hall of Fame, we could take a special trip up to New York City that weekend and do our own celebration of Warren’s bad-a** music.” 

Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles Do Zevon will be released November 3. It is available for preorder now.

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Sting is currently touring North America, and he’ll head to Europe for a string of dates that run through December. But he has no plans to slow down in the new year: He’s just announced two concerts for March.

Sting will perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra on March 8 and March 9 in the City of Brotherly Love. Unusually, each show will begin at 5 p.m. It’ll be the second time Sting’s done this: He first performed with the orchestra in 2010 at the Philadelphia Academy of Music’s 153rd anniversary concert.

Sting is an old hand at playing his songs with an orchestra. In 2010, he teamed up with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to record Symphonicities, an album of orchestral versions of his hits. That was followed by a world tour with the orchestra and a live album.

A presale for the March dates will start October 11 at 10 a.m. ET for members of the Sting.com fan club and orchestra members. The general onsale is Monday, October 16, at 10 a.m. ET.

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Illness has forced Steely Dan to drop off several dates of the Eagles’ The Long Goodbye Tour.

The Indianapolis Star reported that Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen had been hospitalized, although ABC Audio has learned Donald is not hospitalized and expects to be back on the road soon.

Michael Leonhart, who is currently on tour with Steely Dan, posted on Instagram, “All is fine. Just a little illness. We’ll be back on stage soon.”

Steely Dan has actually been off the Eagles bill since Friday, October 6, when Sheryl Crow filled in for them in Denver. The Steve Miller Band then took over for the Indianapolis shows on October 9 and 10 and will again fill in October 13 in Detroit and October 17 in Cleveland. Current Eagles member Vince Gill and the Nashville Band will open the October 15 show in Pittsburgh.

Once those shows are over, Eagles aren’t back onstage until November 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. A complete list of tour dates can be found at eagles.com.

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While The Rolling Stones certainly don’t seem like they’re about to slow down anytime soon, the band members are getting older. For Keith Richards, all the guitar playing over the years has apparently taken a toll on his hands.

In a new interview with BBC, Richards discusses how he deals with arthritis in his hands and reveals it has affected his playing.

“Funnily enough, I’ve no doubt it has, but I don’t have any pain, it’s a sort of benign version,” he says. “I think if I’ve slowed down a little bit it’s probably due more to age.” 

He adds, “And also, I found that interesting, when I’m like, ‘I can’t quite do that anymore,’ the guitar will show me there’s another way of doing it. Some finger will go one space different and a whole new door opens. And so you’re always learning. You never finish school, man.” 

The Stones are about to release their new album, Hackney Diamonds, on October 20, and it sounds like fans may soon be seeing Keith play guitar on the road again. He says the band plans to tour next year “if everybody is still standing.”

“We’re all in good fettle. We’re not looking at each other and saying, ‘time’s up,’” he shares.  

As for whether he sees a time when they will hang it up, he jokes, “My answer is I’m not Nostradamus.” He adds, “Of course it’s going to end some time, but there’s no particular rush. We’re having great fun doing this.”

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On This Day, October 10, 2013…

Beatle Paul McCartney surprised fans in New York City with an impromptu free concert in Times Square, announcing the show on social media about one hour before it occurred. 

The rocker was promoting his 16th studio album New and treated fans to four songs off the record: “Save Us,” “Everybody Out There,” “Queenie Eye” and the title track.

Fans who could not make it to the Big Apple were able to enjoy the concert at home thanks to a Times Square webcam.

New, which was McCartney’s first album of new material in six years, was released one day later on October 11.

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Bryan Adams is returning to London’s Royal Albert Hall next year with a trio of special shows.

The three-night stand will have Adams playing a full album each night, plus other songs. It kicks off May 13 with Adams playing his 1996 album, 18 ‘Til I Die, followed on May 14 by a show celebrating the 40th anniversary of his 1984 hit, Reckless, and wrapping May 15 with his 2022 release, So Happy It Hurts.

Tickets for all three shows go on sale Friday, October 13, at 9 a.m. local time.

This isn’t the first time Adams has played full albums at Royal Albert Hall. In fact, he’s releasing a new box set of his 2022 three-night stand, where he played 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife, 1987’s Into the Fire and 1991’s Waking Up the Neighbors. It’s due out December 8 and available for preorder now.

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As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebration of Pink Floyd‘s classic album The Dark Side of the Moon, the band is releasing a new 30-minute documentary, Eclipse, giving fans a look at the special Dark Side event they held in Australia that coincided with a rare solar eclipse.

The once-in-a-lifetime event took place at a secluded beach at Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Marine Park in Exmouth, Western Australia, on April 20. A handful of fans won a trip to the beach, where they listened to Dark Side in full — timed so that the closing line, “but the sun is eclipsed by the moon,” would play at the exact moment of the eclipse.

Fans will be able to check out the documentary on Pink Floyd’s YouTube channel starting Friday, October 13, as part of Pink Floyd Fridays. A preview clip is available now on YouTube.

And the band hopes fans will continue the celebration with the upcoming annular solar eclipse, which will be visible in America on October 14. They are urging fans to listen to The Dark Side of the Moon while it’s happening, then share video and photos of the experience to social media using #pfeclipse. Pink Floyd will then share some of those posts on their social media accounts. 

Pink Floyd kicked off the 50th anniversary celebration of The Dark Side of the Moon earlier this year with the release of a new box set, featuring a remaster of the classic album and a whole host of extras. A stand-alone version of the newly remastered album will be released on CD, LP and Blu-ray on October 13.

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Monday, October 9, would have been the late John Lennon’s 83rd birthday, and in honor of the occasion a new deluxe and expanded version of Imagine (The Ultimate Collection) has just been released to stream and download.

The new release features the entire collection on Hi-Res Stereo and Spatial Audio/Dolby Atmos, with each of the five sets of songs – Ultimate, Elements, Evolution, Raw Studio and Out-Takes – released as separate albums instead of one long playlist.

Imagine: The Ultimate Collection was originally released in October 2018. It featured four CDs and two Blu-ray discs and included previously unheard demos, rare studio outtakes and more.

And that’s not the only way Lennon was remembered on his birthday. His former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney marked the occasion on social media, sharing a photo of himself onstage, with Lennon’s image projected behind him, writing, “Celebrating the birthday of my wonderful friend and collaborator, @johnlennon.”

The late George Harrison’s estate also remembered Lennon, sharing a short video featuring pictures of both Harrison and Lennon, along with some drawings, captioning the clip, “Remembering John on his Birthday.”

And Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, marked both John and their son Sean Lennon’s birthday on social media, sharing a photo of them together with the caption, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN! i ii iii i love you.”

Lennon’s birthday is also being remembered with the new video “Dear John” from singer Sepp Osley. The track features Peter Frampton on guitar and British singer Mollie Marriott, with the video featuring cameos from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Matt Sorum, Geddy Lee, actor Martin Freeman, comedian Matt Lucas and more.

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