Classic Rock News

The first trailer has been released for acclaimed indie-film director Todd Haynes‘ upcoming documentary about The Velvet Underground, the influential New York City-based band fronted by Lou Reed during the late 1960s and early ’70s.

The movie, simply titled The Velvet Underground, will premiere in theaters and on the Apple TV+ network on October 15.

The documentary features new interviews with surviving Velvet Underground members John Cale and Maureen Tucker, as well as with other people associated with the band and with late artist Andy Warhol, who managed and helped promote the group during its early years.

The film also includes previously unseen Velvet Underground performance footage, as well as clips of rare recordings and Warhol films.

The trailer features brief snippets of the Welsh-born Cale sharing his recollections of how filthy New York City seemed when he first arrived there, and discussing the band’s sonic explorations, and Tucker commenting about how the group began gaining a following but couldn’t get radio airplay.

The Velvet Underground, classic lineup of which featured Reed on lead vocals and guitar, Cale on bassist and viola, Tucker on drums and the late Sterling Morrison on lead guitar, came to fame as the house band at Warhol’s psychedelic multimedia show The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. The group’s songs explored dark themes such as drugs, kinky sex and domestic violence in the midst of the “Flower Power” era.  The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Meanwhile, a companion soundtrack album also is due out on October 15. The collection, which will be available as a two-CD set and in digital formats, will feature a mix of classic Velvet Underground tunes and rare recordings.

Here’s the track list:

Disc 1
“Venus in Furs” — The Velvet Underground
“The Wind” — The Diablos featuring Nolan Strong
“17 XII 63 NYC The Fire Is a Mirror” — The Theatre of Eternal Music
“Heroin” (Mono) — The Velvet Underground
“Road Runner” (Live) — Bo Diddley
“The Ostrich” — The Primitives
“I’m Waiting for the Man” —  — The Velvet Underground & Nico
“Chelsea Girls” — Nico
“Sunday Morning” — The Velvet Underground & Nico

Disc 2
“Sister Ray” (Live) — The Velvet Underground
“Pale Blue Eyes” — The Velvet Underground
“Foggy Notion” — The Velvet Underground
“After Hours” (Live) — The Velvet Underground
“Sweet Jane” — The Velvet Underground
“Ocean” — The Velvet Underground
“All Tomorrow’s Parties” — The Velvet Underground & Nico

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Ron Bushy, longtime drummer of the psychedelic band Iron Butterfly, who played on the band’s classic 1968 song “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” died Sunday morning at the age of 79.

A message on the band’s official Facebook page reports that Bushy “passed away peacefully, with his wife Nancy by his side…at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital. All three of his daughters were also with him.”

The note adds, “He was a real fighter…He will be deeply missed!”

Bushy joined Iron Butterfly in 1966 and, according to Rolling Stone, was the only member of the band to play on all six of its studio albums.

“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was the title track’s of Iron Butterfly’s second album, which was released in June 1968. The epic 17-minute song became the group’s signature tune and has become an enduring psychedelic-era anthem. An abbreviated version of the track peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album reached #4 on the Billboard 200, and has sold over four million copies in the U.S.

Bushy shared the story about the tune’s origins in a 2020 interview with Its Psychedelic Baby magazine, noting that it began as a slow country ballad written by Iron Butterfly singer/keyboardist Doug Ingle.

“I came home late one night and Doug had been drinking a whole gallon of Red Mountain wine… [He was] playing a slow ballad [he’d written] on his Vox keyboard,” Bushy recalled. “It was hard to understand him because he was so drunk…so I wrote it down on a napkin exactly how it sounded phonetically to me…’In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.'”

Bushy continued to play drums with various Iron Butterfly incarnations on and off through 2018, and made guest appearances with the band until his passing.

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Eric Clapton released a brand-new single on Friday titled “This Has Gotta Stop” that available now as a digital download and via streaming services.

The mid-tempo blues-rock shuffle finds Clapton apparently railing against his detractors, perhaps in response to the media backlash he’s received in recent months over his critical comments about AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and his support of Van Morrison’s protests over the U.K. government’s policies restricting live music because of the pandemic.

“This has gotta stop/ Enough is enough/ I can’t take this B.S. any longer,” Clapton sings. “It’s gone far enough/ You want to claim my soul/ You’ll have to come and break down this door.”

An animated music video for the new song has also premiered at Clapton’s official YouTube channel. The clip includes imagery that appears to illustrate people being controlled and brainwashed by the media and politicians.

The video features such scenes as a sinister giant man with strings running from his fingers to small common-looking people walking beneath him, a bunch of people mesmerized by their mobile devices as they traveling down a series of escalators, and people with televisions instead of heads.

The clip also includes scenes illustrating environmental issues that are our planet is facing, including forest fires, flooding and pollution.

“This Has Gotta Stop” was written by Clapton, and produced by his longtime studio collaborator Simon Climie. Eric handles lead vocals and guitar, and is joined on the track by drummer Sonny Emery, bassist Nathan East and backing singer Sharon White. Strings on the track were arranged and conducted by Nick Ingman, and the strings were led by violinist Perry Montague-Mason.

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The music world is mourning one of its greats. Lee “Scratch” Perry, hailed for breaking boundaries for reggae and dub music during the ’60s and ’70s, has died at age 85.

The Jamaica Observer confirmed Perry’s passing, saying he died of an unspecified illness at Noel Holmes Hospital in his native Jamaica.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, mourned the legend on Twitter, writing, “My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry.”

Perry, whose influential and innovative music style went beyond reggae and dub, is noted for altering a variety of music genres, such as hip hop and rock.  The singer also worked as a record producer and collaborated with acts such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, Beastie Boys, The Clash and many others.  His Black Ark studio also gained legendary status.

Perry was mourned by many in the music world, with Mike D of Beastie Boys writing, “We send the most love and respect we can to Lee Perry who passed today, to his family and loved ones and the many he influenced with his pioneering spirit and work. We are truly grateful to have been inspired by and collaborated with this true legend.”

Roots drummer Questlove also honored the late legend, writing, “Pure Innovation. Pure Imagination. This Man Was Plug Ins long before you studio cats today can simply press one button and instantly created sound chaos. Way before The Bomb Squad. The God Of Black Ark. the true Sound Journey. One of the most awe inspiring producer/engineers/visionaries.”

Living Colour tweeted Sunday, “We send love, light, respect, our condolences to the LEGENDARY Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and his family and fans worldwide! May his soul Rest In Peace!”

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Ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford has just released an archival album called For All the Money in the World that he recorded in 1986 with then-Greg Kihn Band bassist/songwriter Steve Wright, who died in 2017.

Clifford tells ABC Audio that the project came about when Wright, who grew up in the same town, El Cerrito, California, looked him up and suggested they write together.

“[I]t was very easy and very productive, so we kept doing that,” Clifford recalls. “And then we decided…we’ve got material and have a formula for having more material and it’d be nice to have a band to put it out there.”

Cosmo says they enlisted various Bay Area musicians for the sessions, many of whom also played with the Greg Kihn Band around that time, including guitarists Joe Satriani, Greg Douglass and Jimmy Lyon, and keyboardist Pat Mosca.

Rounding things out was a talented singer named Keith England whom, Clifford notes, had “a great rock ‘n’ roll voice.”

For All the Money in the World is an 11-track collection that offers a mix of catchy pop and rock songs.

Clifford says he loves the title track because it features a shuffle beat, noting, “Shuffles are just…fun. You can’t help but move to a shuffle.”

Cosmo also reveals that he sent the album to Steve Miller, who singled out the driving rock tune “She Told Me So” as his favorite.

Clifford says Miller told him, “[Y]ou guys ripped the roof off the barn with [that song].'”

According to Cosmo, Clifford/Wright “had the components of…something pretty special,” but the album was shelved when Wright’s lack of interest in playing clubs brought the project “to a close.”

Thirty-five years later, the album finally has been released.

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War has been celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and as part of the festivities, a new animated video looking at the stories behind some of the funk/rock/soul group’s biggest hits has debuted at the band’s official YouTube channel.

The “Behind the Hits” clip features commentary by founding singer/keyboardist Lonnie Jordan and producer/songwriter Jerry Goldstein, who helped put the band together with its original lead singer, Eric Burdon of The Animals.

The video briefly touches on the band’s formation and also looks at such classic songs as “Slippin’ into Darkness,” “The World Is a Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Don’t Let No One Get You Down,” “Low Riders” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” The clip also notes that War songs have been heard in a variety of movies and TV shows, including Cheech & Chong‘s Up in Smoke, Gone in 60 Seconds, Dazed and Confused, Lethal Weapon 4, Friday, The Simpsons, and Mayans M.C.

The “Behind the Hits” video arrives in advance of a new War compilation titled Greatest Hits 2.0 that’s scheduled to be released on October 29 as a two-CD set, a two-LP vinyl collection, digitally and via streaming services. The 24-track album is a career-spanning sequel to the band’s platinum-certified 1976 Greatest Hits retrospective. You can pre-order Greatest Hits 2.0 now.

War currently is on tour and has more than a dozen 2021 dates on its schedule. Visit War.com for more information.

Here’s the Greatest Hits 2.0 track list:

Disc 1
“Spill the Wine” — Eric Burdon & War
“Tobacco Road” — Eric Burdon & War
“All Day Music”
“Get Down”
“Slippin’ into Darkness”
“The World Is a Ghetto”
“The Cisco Kid”
“Gypsy Man”
“Me and Baby Brother”
“Why Can’t We Be Friends?”
“Don’t Let No One Get You Down”
“Heartbeat”

Disc 2
“Low Rider”
“So”
“Smile Happy”
“Summer”
“L.A. Sunshine”
“Galaxy”
“Youngblood (Livin’ in the Streets)”
“Good, Good Feelin'”
“Cinco de Mayo”
“You Got the Power”
“Outlaw”
“Peace Sign”

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Sixx:A.M. has announced a new best-of compilation, titled Hits.

The 20-track album is set to arrive October 22. In addition to some of the biggest tracks from throughout the trio’s career, Hits includes three new songs, as well as various alternate recordings.

One of the new tunes is titled “The First 21,” named after Nikki Sixx‘s upcoming memoir of the same name. The book, which finds the Mötley Crüe bassist recounting the first 21 years of his life, is due out October 19.

Here’s the Hits track list:

“Life Is Beautiful”
“This Is Gonna Hurt”
“Lies of the Beautiful People”
“Pray for Me”
“Rise”
“Stars”
“Maybe It’s Time”
“Skin”
“Belly of the Beast”
“Are You with Me Now”
“Girl with Golden Eyes”
“Accidents Can Happen”
“Gotta Get It Right”
“We Will Not Go Quietly”
“The First 21”
“Talk to Me (Radio Mix)”
“Penetrate”
“Waiting All My Life”
“Skin (Rock Mix)”
“Life Is Beautiful (Piano Vocal)”

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Are you ready to rumble? Well, Brian Setzer is! The Stray Cats frontman released his first new solo album in seven years, Gotta Have the Rumble, today on CD and digital formats.

The new collection features 11 original tunes written or co-written by Setzer. To coincide with the album’s arrival, Brian has debuted a third single from the project, the old-time country-flavored “Rockabilly Banjo,” along with a companion music video.

Setzer co-wrote the tune with Stephen “Dibbs” Preston, lead singer of the veteran rockabilly band The Rockats. The song, which combines country and rockabilly influences, features some impressive banjo picking by Brian, as well as the talents of lauded pedal-steel guitarist Paul Franklin.

The video, which you can watch on Setzer’s official YouTube channel, features a montage of vintage black-and-white footage of banjo players, including clips of legendary folk artist Pete Seeger.

Explaining how the song came together, Setzer notes, “Me and Dibbs were hanging around, and it was one of the few times ever that someone gives me a song that’s just the music and not the lyrics. And Dibbs said, ‘Hey, you play banjo, I love the way you play it.’ You know, banjo makes everybody smile and everybody’s after me to play more banjo.”

Setzer adds, “And Dibbs said, ‘Hey, I got a song, what do you think of this?’ and I thought ‘Wow! Let’s clean it up.’ So that’s the last track.”

“Rockabilly Banjo” follows Setzer’s two previous singles from Gotta Have the Rumble, “Checkered Flag” and “Smash Up on Highway One,” which also were released alongside companion videos.

A vinyl version of Gotta Have the Rumble is due out in the fall.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Checkered Flag”
“Smash Up on Highway One”
“Stack My Money”
“The Wrong Side of the Tracks”
“Drip Drop”
“The Cat with 9 Wives”
“Turn You On, Turn Me On”
“Rockabilly Riot”
“Off Your Rocker”
“One Bad Habit”
“Rockabilly Banjo”

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The latest episode of Queen‘s weekly YouTube video series Queen The Greatest premiered today, and it features profile a profile of the band’s memorable hit 1981 duet with David Bowie, “Under Pressure.”

The installment tells the story of how the track came together using interview footage with Bowie; Queen members Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor; and producer Reinhold Mack.

The episode begins by explaining how after Queen had purchased Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, the band was working on new music there in 1981 when engineer David Richards made an impromptu phone call to Bowie.

Bowie notes in an archival interview clip, “[Richards] knew that I was in town, and phoned me up and asked me if I’d…like to go down and see what was happening. So I went down and…suddenly you’re writing something together and it was totally spontaneous. It certainly wasn’t planned.”

Taylor remembers that the band and Bowie were drunk and jamming on “all sorts of old songs,” and then David said, “Look, hang on a minute, why don’t we write one of our own?”

A separate interview clips, Taylor, May and Mack recalled how Queen bassist John Deacon came up with the catchy bass riff that really got the track going.

Roger added that it was Bowie idea to put in various clicks and claps, and the track just grew from there.

“Under Pressure” was released in October of 1981 and became Queen’s second #1 hit in the U.K., after “Bohemian Rhapsody,” while peaking at #22 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100.

After Mercury’s death in 1991, Bowie famously teamed up with Eurythmics‘ Annie Lennox and Queen’s surviving members to perform “Under Pressure” at the historic 1992 tribute concert for Freddie at London’s Wembley Stadium.

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Over 30 years later, the inaudible bass on Metallica‘s 1988 album …And Justice for All remains one of the most puzzling studio decisions in metal history. Understandably, Jason Newsted was among those most confused.

Newsted joined Metallica in 1986 after the death of bassist Cliff Burton. Justice was the first ‘Tallica album that he played on, and was quite angry when his parts were turned down to near-silent levels on the final mix.

“I was f***ing livid!,” Newsted tells Metal Hammer. “Are you kidding me? I was ready [to go] for throats, man!”

“No, I was out of my head, because I really thought I did well,” he adds. “And I thought I played how I was supposed to play.”

Being Newsted was joining in place of a beloved member who’d just died, some have hypothesized that Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield purposely turned down his bass out of misplaced anger towards him. However, Ulrich has said the decision was not intentional, and that Newsted getting buried in the mix was a result of turning everything else up, and not specifically turning him down.

Newsted left Metallica in 2001 under somewhat acrimonious circumstances — as detailed in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster — but seems to be back on good terms with the band. Earlier this month, he starred in an unboxing video for Metallica’s upcoming Black Album 30th anniversary reissue, due out September 10.

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