Classic Rock News

Bob Dylan has won a lawsuit brought against him by the widow of Jacques Levy, who co-wrote seven songs on Dylan’s 1976 album Desire, seeking a portion of Bob’s lucrative catalog sale to Universal.

Billboard reports that a New York appeals court announced Tuesday that it had rejected a lawsuit Claudia Levy filed against Dylan, Universal Music Group and other parties last year alleging she was owed a $7.25 million stake in the $300 million catalog sale to Universal.

The court upheld a ruling by a trial judge in August 2021 that Jacques Levy had signed away his catalog rights to the songs long ago, noting that under a 1975 agreement, the compositions, “with all the copyrights, were to be Dylan’s ‘sole property.'”

The court added, “Nothing submitted by plaintiffs concerning music industry custom and practice supports a reading otherwise, or even suggests an ambiguity in the relevant contractual language.”

Among the songs Levy co-wrote with Dylan for Desire were the hit “Hurricane,” “Mozambique” and “Isis.”

Claudia Levy originally filed her lawsuit in January 2021, and after the trial judge rejected the case while characterizing Jacques’ 1975 deal with Dylan a work-for-hire-agreement. Claudia appealed the decision, claiming that her late husband was being written “out of Dylan’s history.”

This past January, Dylan described the attempted appeal of the lawsuit as an “opportunistic attempt” at an “unjustified windfall.”

According to Billboard, Levy can appeal the decision once more, in front of New York’s Court of Appeals, although the magazine notes that “such reversals are rare.”

Dylan attorney Orin Snyder tells Billboard, “Today’s decision puts the nail in the coffin of this opportunistic lawsuit. We are pleased the court has again rejected this sad attempt to profit off of Bob’s recent catalog sale.”

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Artists including Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Metallica have joined the Stand Up for Ukraine social media campaign.

As previously reported, the Global Citizen-organized initiative will feature musicians coming together on social media this Friday, April 8, to show support for Ukraine as it continues to fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Stand Up for Ukraine is designed to mobilize people across the globe to call on world leaders to commit billions of dollars to help refugees. It takes place ahead of a global humanitarian pledging summit taking place on April 9.

Among the other artists that have newly signed on to take part in the initiative are Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt, Third Eye Blind, Dave Matthews, Weezer, Carole King, Fall Out Boy, Julian Lennon, Hozier and Panic! at the Disco.

Previously announced participants include are Billy Joel, Elton John, Stevie Nicks, U2, Ozzy Osbourne, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Alanis Morissette and many more.

More than 12 million people need assistance due to the war in Ukraine, and more than 6.5 million have been displaced internally; in addition, more than 3.5 million have left the country for neighboring countries. Nearly two million are women and children. Since the conflict began, one child from Ukraine becomes a refugee every second.

For more info, visit GlobalCitizen.org.

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Paul McCartney‘s childhood home in Liverpool at 20 Forthlin Road will be opened to unsigned music artists for them to record and perform there as part of a new initiative launched by the U.K.’s National Trust organization, which focuses on heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As part of the campaign, dubbed “The Forthlin Sessions,” the National Trust will team up with Sir Paul’s younger brother, Mike McCartney, and U.K. journalist and broadcaster Pete Paphides to choose artists who will have the opportunity to record and/or perform at the historic residence and have those sessions publicized.

To find out how to apply for the chance to perform at the home, and other details about the initiative, visit NationalTrust.org.uk. Those who apply must be based in the U.K. and at least 18 years old.

The McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in 1955. A few years later, the residence became the site where Paul wrote and rehearsed many Beatles songs with John Lennon, including “Love Me Do,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I’ll Follow the Sun” and “When I’m 64.”

The initiative is being launched to mark a few Beatles-related milestones taking place in 2022, including Paul’s 80th birthday in June and the 60th anniversary of “Love Me Do” in October. The goal of “The Forthlin Sessions” is to help inspire creativity in young musicians and increase interest in McCartney’s childhood home as a tourist destination.

In conjunction with the launch of the talent search, a new poem titled “Ordinary House, An Ordinary Street,” which tells the story of the residence, has debuted as part of a short film available for viewing at NationalTrust.org.uk.

The clip features a number people associated with the house, including Mike McCartney and Quarry Men drummer Colin Hanton.

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Van Morrison has announced plans to release his 43rd studio album, What’s It Gonna Take?, which will arrive on May 13.

The 15-track collection is a follow-up to Morrison’s 2021 double album Latest Record Project, Vol. 1, and will be the eighth studio effort the 76-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has revealed in the past six years. What’s It Gonna Take? will be issued on CD, as a two-LP set pressed on either black vinyl or colored vinyl, as a digital download and via streaming services.

According to a press statement, the songs on the new album reflect Morrison’s “indefatigable drive to record and perform live in front of audiences.”

Morrison has released an advance track from the record titled “Pretending,” which is available now via digital formats. The introspective soul tune was recorded at several studios and music venues around the U.K.

Meanwhile, Van will launch a series of 2022 spring U.S. dates with an April 20-21 stand in Clearwater, Florida. Visit VanMorrison.com to check out his full tour schedule.

Here’s the full track list of What’s It Gonna Take?:

“Dangerous”
“What’s It Gonna Take?”
“Fighting Back Is the New Normal”
“Fodder for the Masses”
“Can’t Go On This Way”
“Sometimes It’s Just Blah Blah Blah”
“Money from America”
“Not Seeking Approval”
“Damage and Recovery”
“Nervous Breakdown”
“Absolutely Positively the Most”
“I Ain’t No Celebrity”
“Stage Name”
“Fear and Self-Loathing in Las Vegas”
“Pretending”

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Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley died April 5, 2002, 20 years ago today.

With his dark lyrics and unique voice — often joined in harmony with guitarist Jerry Cantrell — Staley helped make Alice in Chains one of the big four bands of the ’90s grunge era, alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

Alice released their first album, Facelift, in 1990, putting the band on the map with the single “Man in the Box” and its instantly recognizable opening riff. They followed that with 1992’s Dirt, which was certified quadruple-Platinum by the RIAA, and spawned singles including “Would?”, “Them Bones,” “Rooster” and “Down in a Hole.”

Dirt was followed by the EP Jar of Flies, which became the first EP to hit number one on the Billboard 200, and the 1996 album Alice in Chains.

In between his work with Alice, Staley formed the band Mad Season alongside Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready and other Seattle musicians. The group’s lone album, 1995’s Above, included the hit single “River of Deceit.”

Following the release of Alice in Chains, the band went on an unofficial hiatus, playing only a handful of shows in 1996, and reuniting briefly to record new songs for the 1999 compilation box set Music Bank.

In April of 2002, Staley was found dead of an overdose in his home at age 34. Officials determined that his date of death was April 5, eerily the same day that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain passed away in 1994.

Following Staley’s death, Alice continued to be inactive before reuniting in 2005 for a charity concert with multiple guest vocalists. In 2006, they announced William DuVall as AiC’s official new singer, who’s remained with the band since.

Alice has released three albums with DuVall, the most recent of which being 2019’s Rainier Fog.

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Allan Clarke, founding lead singer of The Hollies, turns 80 today, April 5.

Clarke co-founded the popular British Invasion band in 1962 with his childhood friend Graham Nash. The group scored several top-10 hits in the U.K. before enjoying their first top-40 success in the U.S in 1965 with “Look Through Any Window,” which reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1966, The Hollies’ single “Bus Stop” became the band’s first top-10 U.S. hit, peaking at #5 on the Hot 100.

Around this time, The Hollies began finding success with original songs co-written by Clarke, Nash and guitarist Tony Hicks, including “Stop Stop Stop,” “On a Carousel,” “Pay You Back with Interest” and “Carrie Anne,” which reached #7, #11, #28 and #9, respectively, on the Hot 100.

Nash left the group in 1968, but The Hollies continued their chart success during the next few years.

A cover of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” peaked at #7 in 1969, and in ’72, the band released its highest-charting U.S. single, “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress,” which was co-written by Clarke and ascended to #2 on the Hot 100.

The Hollies final top-10 hit in the U.S. was “The Air That I Breathe,” which peaked at #6 in 1974.

Nash reunited with The Hollies for the 1983 album What Goes Around…, which included a top-30 cover of The Supremes‘ “Stop! In the Name of Love.”

Clarke retired from the music business in 1999. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Hollies.

In 2019, Allan came out of retirement and released the solo album Resurgence. Last year, Nash revealed to ABC Audio that he and Clarke were working on a new collaborative album.

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Pistol, the upcoming FX series based on The Sex Pistols, now has a trailer.

The series, which debuts on May 31 on Hulu, was directed by Danny Boyle, the man who brought us Trainspotting, Yesterday and Slumdog Millionaire. “We’re gonna kick this country awake if it kills us,” says Toby Wallace as guitarist Steve Jones. Anson Boon, the actor portraying singer Johnny Rotten, declares, “The monarchy has stolen our future!”

We also hear Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren saying, “I don’t want musicians: I want saboteurs…assassins!” while his partner-in-crime, Vivienne Westwood, played by Talulah Riley, says, “I want to burn this city to the ground!”

In conjunction with the series’ release, Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings will be released on May 27 on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally.  The 20-track collection includes tracks from the band’s only album Never Mind the Bollocks, B-sides like “Satellite” and “I Wanna Be Me” and songs from The Great Rock & Roll Swindle soundtrack. You can pre-order the collection now.

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Every year, people complain about the stars who were either left off of or given short shrift during the “In Memoriam” segment of The Grammys, and Sunday night’s segment was no different: There were complaints that neither The Moody Blues’ Graeme Edge nor Slipknot‘s Joey Jordison were included. But now, we have some clarity about a part of last year’s “In Memoriam” segment that people complained about.

Eddie Van Halen, who died in October of 2020, was saluted in the 2021 Grammys “In Memoriam” segment with a clip of him playing his signature instrumental “Eruption” while his iconic “Frankenstein” guitar sat alone on the stage.  Many felt the Grammys could’ve done more to honor the guitarist who single-handedly changed rock music, but now it’s been revealed that it wasn’t up to them.

David Wild, a writer and producer of The Grammys, who was a friend of the late guitarist, tells The Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Show podcast that they went to the Van Halen family and offered a number of tribute ideas, including various artists performing Eddie’s songs, or Eddie’s son Wolfgang performing.

But according to Wild, “They said no one should perform…they didn’t want anyone, so we had to find video, and there is very little video of Van Halen.”  What’s more, Wild claims the family didn’t want a clip of a song with any of Van Halen’s vocalists singing on it: They only wanted Eddie.

Wild, who decided to put the “Frankenstein” guitar onstage, tells the podcast it was “frustrating” when the segment drew criticism, including from Wolfgang Van Halen, who wrote that he had declined to play “Eruption,” but complained, “I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of [four] full performances for others we had lost.”

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“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is going under the hammer.

Paul McCartney‘s original handwritten lyrics for The Beatles‘ Abbey Road track are up for auction on the Moments in Time website for the low, low price of $450,000.

According to TMZ, the lot includes three pages in all: One written by Paul and the others by Beatles road manager Mal Evans, who you probably saw in the Disney + Get Back documentary scribbling down lyrics as the Beatles wrote them. Contact MomentsInTime.com to bid.

TMZ reports that the last time the lyrics were sold was 2006, when they went for $192,000.

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A new Jimi Hendrix line of merchandise will have female fans yelling, “You got to be all mine!”  Yes, The Limited-Edition Jimi Hendrix Beauty Collection has arrived.

The new line is available at RockandRollBeauty.com and Ulta.com and includes a guitar-shaped “Voodoo Child” eyeshadow palette featuring colors like “Experience,” “Psychedelic” and “Groovy,” as well as “Purple Haze” and “Hey Baby” palettes. You can also buy a “Bold As Love” blush and highligher palette, as well as “Foxy Lady” matte lip duos.

Accessories include “Angel,” “Fire” and “Purple Haze” candles, “Purple Haze” makeup brushes, a “Foxy Lady” mirror and cosmetic bags, nail kits and more.

And if you prefer your makeup with an ’80s metal flair, Twisted Sister and Def Leppard makeup lines are apparently “coming soon.”

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