Classic Rock News

On This Day, August 31, 1945 …

George Ivan Morrison aka the legendary singer Van Morrison was born in Belfast, Ireland.

Morrison started his career in the mid-1960s as leader of the band Them, which broke up in 1966. He went on to have a hugely successful solo career: He released his debut solo album, Blowin’ Your Mind, in 1967, featuring the track “Brown Eyed Girl,” which was a top 10 hit and went on to become his signature tune.

In 1968 Morrison released the critically acclaimed album Astral Weeks, which some consider the best album of all time. That was followed by Moondance, which was his first million-selling record, with the title track and “Into The Mystic” becoming Morrison classics.

Morrison has released over 40 albums and continues to tour to this day. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also made a knight in 2016.

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Thanks to two full moons in August, Peter Gabriel has released his second new single this month. The latest is “Love Can Heal,” the ninth track he’s released from his upcoming album, i/o, which still doesn’t have a release date.  

Gabriel describes the track as “a dreamy, experiential piece with some abstract imagery,” adding it’s “a carpet of sound, a tapestry where things are woven together, but not necessarily supposed to stick out, but just form part of a whole.”  

Gabriel shares, “I think the song fits right in to the themes of the album in the sense that i/o is about feeling and being connected to everything and in a way, the next evolution of being connected to things is a feeling of love for everything.” 

As he’s done with all the other songs he’s released from i/o, Gabriel plans to release several different remixes. The first release is Mark “Spike” Stent‘s Bright-Side Mix, which will be followed in mid-September by the Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix).

Gabriel is due to kick off the North American leg of his i/o tour on September 8 in Quebec, Canada. It hits the U.S. on September 14 in Boston. A complete list of dates can be found at petergabriel.com.

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Another album from The Rolling Stones is celebrating a huge milestone. August 31 marks the 50th anniversary of the band’s album Goats Head Soup, which was the follow-up to their iconic Exile on Main St.

Although it was released to mixed reviews, Goats Head Soup hit #1 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, spending four weeks in the top spot. It also went to #1 in the U.K. and several other countries.

The Stones lineup on the album included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and guitarist Mick Taylor. It also featured appearances by keyboardists Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston and Ian “Stu” Stewart, as well as sax player Bobby Keys.

The most well-known song on the album is the classic “Angie,” which went to #1. Over the years there have been rumors about who inspired the tune, including David Bowie‘s wife Angela and Richards’ daughter Dandelion Angela, but Richards said in his memoir, Life, he chose the name at random. 

In 2020, The Rolling Stones revisited Goats Head Soup with the release of a super deluxe box set that included a variety of goodies for fans: a remastered version of the original, remixed by Giles Martin; 10 bonus tracks made up of alternate versions; outtakes; and three previously unheard tracks. One of those unheard tracks was “Scarlet,” which featured Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.

The set also included a 15-track live album, The Brussels Affair, recorded during the band’s 1973 tour in support of the record.

Thanks to the reissue, Goats Head Soup returned to the U.K. chart at #1, 47 years after it first hit the top spot. By doing so, The Stones became the first band in U.K. chart history to land a #1 album across six different decades.

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John Mellencamp is off the market. During an appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revealed he’s been dating a 57-year-old woman for the past seven months.

While Maher tried to get Mellencamp to identify his lady friend, he’d only say, “She’s a beautiful 57-year-old woman who just walked into my apartment in New York unexpectedly.”

He added, “She was with a couple of friends. She walked in. She didn’t know I was going to be there. I didn’t know she was there. We met each other.” 

He also said that she “has a really high threshold for tolerance” and that she’s “never even got angry at me” in their time together.

And things must be going well because Mellencamp says she hasn’t left his side in seven months.

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Talking Heads broke up rather acrimoniously back in 1991, but keyboardist Jerry Harrison says the upcoming 40th anniversary rerelease of their iconic concert film Stop Making Sense has healed some old wounds.

During an appearance on Consequence’s Kyle Meredith With … podcast, Harrison says when they were approached by distributor A24 about rereleasing the film, it forced them to “work together to make a decision” about whether it was a good fit.

“Then A24 is going like: ‘Here’s the offer — we’re going to get really behind this, if you help us.’ And so it was like, ‘Obviously, we need to work together to make this a success,’” he says.

All four original members — Harrison, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz — are set to reunite for a Q&A about the film at the Toronto Film Festival on September 11.

“I think it’s been a somewhat of a healing experience for everybody,” Harrison shares. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, we actually can work together and do this.’ And this is something we’re all proud of.” He adds, “It’s not like the feelings that made people say various things are totally gone or anything like that, but it’s sort of like they’ve been voiced, do you need to voice things like that over and over again? I mean, I made my point.”

Harrison also says thanks to his success on Broadway, Byrne has gained a “new confidence” that has actually helped his relationship with his former bandmates. He notes, “It also [helped him] let bygones be bygones, because why waste our time on these petty complaints from the past? I don’t need to prove anything, because now, I have proven it.” 

A24 will release the newly restored Stop Making Sense nationally on September 23.

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Neil Young is set to play two shows in September to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the West Hollywood venue The Roxy, and he’ll be backed by his band Crazy Horse. But one longtime member of Crazy Horse won’t be able to make it, and Young has just revealed his replacement.

Crazy Horse guitarist Nils Lofgren will have to sit out the two shows because he’ll be busy on the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band stadium tour. Instead, Neil announced that Willie Nelson‘s son Micah Nelson will be filling in.

According jambands.com, Neil shared the news on his Neil Young Archives site in response to a letter from a fan. The fan wrote to Neil, “Just letting you know if you need a rhythm guitar player I know all the songs,” to which Neil simply replied, “Thanks, Michah’s got it.”

Young and Crazy Horse will headline The Roxy in Los Angeles on September 20 and 21, almost 50 years to the day Young first performed for the venue’s opening. Both shows will benefit The Painted Turtle, a camp for children with serious medical conditions, and The Bridge School, which educates children with severe speech and physical impairments.

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Bruce Springsteen has rescheduled the two Philadelphia shows he postponed earlier this month — and fans are going to have to wait a whole year to see The Boss.

The concerts at Citizens Bank Park will now take place August 21 and 23, 2024. They were originally supposed to happen August 16 and 18, 2023, but were postponed because Springsteen had “taken ill.”

Fans who want to go to the new dates simply have to hold on to their tickets. Those who can’t make it, or simply don’t want to wait that long, have 30 days starting August 30 to request a refund through Phillies.com/Springsteen. Refunds for tickets purchased through a secondary site must go through that site.

While a yearlong wait is certainly a bummer, some fans may be happy by the announcement since it suggests Springsteen will be touring in 2024.

Next up, Springsteen comes home to the Garden State, with a three-night stand at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, August 30, September 1 and September 3. A complete list of dates can be found at brucespringsteen.net.

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U2 is getting ready to launch their Las Vegas residency, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere, and now they’re giving fans who will be coming to the show something else to look forward to.

The band just announced a new immersive pop-up, Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience, opening September 28 at the Venetian Resort, the only hotel with direct access to the residency’s venue, The Sphere. It will be a two-floor exhibit featuring more than 12,000 square feet of interactive experiences, all developed with the input of the band’s creative director, Gavin Friday.

The exhibit will take fans behind the scenes of the album Achtung Baby, which inspired Zoo Station. There will also be a Zoo TV Cinema curated by The Edge, with five film screenings daily of rare U2 concert footage, as well as original content. Plus, fans can enjoy an Anton Corbijn Gallery, featuring photos from his five decades working with the band; a U2 pop-up shop, featuring limited-edition merch; an Ultra Violet lounge, with more chances to enjoy music and shopping; and a Fly Bar, where fans can relax and enjoy a cocktail. 

Admission to Zoo Station is free and open to the public, although tickets will be needed for the Zoo Cinema. A schedule and ticket information will be available soon. The exhibit will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere at The Venetian will kick off September 29, with the band playing 25 shows that run through December 16. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.

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If you’re a Metallica fan who’s always wanted to be in the Snake Pit for a show, then this new video may have you yelling at your screen.

In an Instagram post, the metal legends have shared footage of someone from their team walking around the stadium during a recent show offering fans free tickets to the Snake Pit, an exclusive section right next to the stage. However, their mission proved slightly more difficult than expected, as many fans walked right by without realizing what they were saying no to.

“Didn’t think we needed to say this, but if someone approaches you with Snake Pit passes … take them!” Metallica writes in the caption.

Some of the fans did indeed take that advice, though they often took a lot of convincing that the tickets were actually legit. Prepare to hear the phrase “No way!” a lot.

Metallica’s current M72 tour, which supports their new album, 72 Seasons, kicked off in the U.S. earlier in August. It continues Friday, September 1, in Phoenix.

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Pink Floyd is continuing the 50th anniversary celebration of their iconic album The Dark Side of the Moon with the October 13 release of a standalone remastered version of the album on vinyl, CD and Blu-ray.

The remastered version was previously only available as part of The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary box set, which was released in March. The new Blu-ray version features the album in Dolby Atmos, with 5.1 Surround mix and includes commemorative postcards, stickers and a 24-page booklet.

The remastered The Dark Side of the Moon is available for preorder now. 

And the anniversary celebration will continue. The band is still holding a contest in which they’re asking fans to create animated music videos for any of the songs on the album. Entries are due by November 30 and animators can enter up to 10 videos, although only one per song. The winner will be selected by a panel of experts, which includes Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason. PinkFloyd.com has more info.

Plus, Roger Waters is set to release his new take on the album, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, on October 6.

Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon on March 1, 1973. It has gone on to be the band’s most commercially successful album, having been certified 15-times Platinum. In 2012 it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

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