Classic Rock News

After being off the road since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Palmer and his current band ELP Legacy launches a new U.S. tour tonight in Warrendale, Pennsylvania.

The trek, which currently features 14 dates on the East Coast and Midwest, is mapped out through a November 21 concert in Wayne, New Jersey. More shows will be added to the schedule soon.

The tour will feature Palmer’s ELP Legacy marking the 50th anniversary of Carl’s old band, the legendary prog-rock trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

“Finally! The band and I are very eager to get back on stages in America, and around the rest of world, where possible,” says Palmer in a statement. “The show will have some material we have not played in years, as well as ELP’s best loved material. Visually, we will include footage in the show that reflects the highlights of ELP’s career.”

ELP Legacy is a power trio that also features guitarist/singer Paul Bielatowicz and bassist/Chapman stick player Simon Fitzpatrick.

Palmer is the sole surviving member of ELP, as keyboardist Keith Emerson and singer/bassist Greg Lake both died in 2016.

Meanwhile, Carl notes that the ELP Legacy tour marks the launch of a three-year series of events and releases celebrating the music and history of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Future plans include a limited-edition biography about the group, a new Palmer art collection focusing on ELP’s five main studio albums, a documentary, a film based on the band’s classic song “Karn Evil 9,” and a special trek that will feature Carl performing alongside archival footage of his late band mates.

Visit CarlPalmer.com to check out ELP Legacy’s full list of upcoming tour dates.

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U2 has premiered a new single called “Your Song Saved My Life.”

The characteristically uplifting tune was recorded for the upcoming animated film Sing 2, in which Bono voices a rock-star lion character named Clay Calloway. The movie hits theaters this Christmas.

You can listen to “Your Song Saved My Life,” which U2 previously teased via their newly launched TikTok profile, now via digital outlets. It’s U2’s first new, original song in two years, though Bono and The Edge just contributed to a track with DJ and producer Martin Garrix called “We Are the People” earlier this year.

U2’s most recent album is 2017’s Songs of Experience.

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A new mini-documentary about the creation of the limited “333 Edition” vinyl version of Paul McCartney‘s latest solo album, 2020’s McCartney III, has premiered at the Third Man Records label’s official YouTube channel.

To created the limited-edition LP, Third Man Records — the label co-founded by White Stripes frontman Jack White — melted down crushed-up copies of the former Beatles legend’s 1970 debut album, McCartney, and his 1980 studio effort, McCartney II. As its name suggests, only 333 copies of the McCartney III “333 Edition” LP were produced.

The five-minute video features black-and-white clips of Sir Paul working on McCartney III combined with footage of the vinyl LPs being created, as well as interviews with Third Man co-founder Ben Swank and respected Rolling Stone journalist Rob Sheffield.

Sheffield discusses how McCartney recorded the new album during the COVID-19 lockdown and envisioned it as the third installment of a trilogy, along with McCartney and McCartney II. As previously reported, Paul wrote, recorded and produced all three albums almost entirely by himself.

Explaining the idea behind the creation of the limited McCartney III LP, Swank notes, “When I started discussing this with Paul’s manager, he said, ‘Let’s destroy the old to make the new.'”

Near the end of the video, Swank says, “I hope that the philosophical idea of something new growing out of something old, a metaphorical rebirth, as well as a physical rebirth for this vinyl, I hope that comes through to people. Maybe you can’t hear it, but it’s there.”

In addition to the “333 Edition” of McCartney III, Third Man created a “3333 Edition” pressed on yellow-and-black splatter vinyl that was released released exclusively to independent record stores, limited to 3,333 copies worldwide.

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Courtney Love is applauding the way the Nirvana song “Rape Me” was used in last weekend’s episode of the HBO drama series Succession.

In a message posted in her Instagram Story and on her Twitter feed, Love writes that she’s “never been so proud of approving” the licensing of one of her late husband Kurt Cobain‘s songs, and includes a clip from the episode that features a snippet of the song.

“This cue in [Succession] is as if they truly understood KC, what he was screaming his heart out…without specifics…about,” Love says. “I’m sure wherever he is he’s proud of this.”

Other recent Nirvana syncs include “Something in the Way” for The Batman trailer, and “Come as You Are” in Captain Marvel. Additionally, an orchestral version of “Heart-Shaped Box” was featured in an episode of Westworld.

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The Beatles‘ Let It Be will be among the albums profiled during the second season of the Amazon Original weekly podcast Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, which premieres at Amazon Music on November 16.

As its name suggest, the episodic podcast delves into records that were chosen for Rolling Stone magazine’s latest list of the 500 greatest albums. Each episode takes a behind-the-scenes look at how one specific album on the list was made, featuring interviews with people associated with the record, and sometimes including the artists themselves.

The Let It Be episode will kick off season two of the podcast. Interviews with surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are featured in the presentation, discussing details about how the band’s final studio album came together, and the whether the common perception that the band members were angry with each other throughout the project is accurate.

Also appearing in the podcast are Giles Martin, son of late Beatles producer George Martin, and filmmaker Peter Jackson, director of Get Back: The Beatles, the upcoming Disney+ docuseries focusing on the Let It Be sessions.

Other upcoming episodes of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast include shows focusing on Britney Spears‘ Blackout, jazz artist Alice Coltrane‘s Journey in Satchidananda, Dolly Parton‘s Coat of Many Colors, and Weezer‘s self-titled 1989 studio effort, a.k.a. The Blue Album.

Season two of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast will be available exclusively at Amazon Music and Wondery+.

You can check out a trailer for the new season, and episodes from the podcast’s first season, at Amazon.com.

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Whitesnake recently released the latest installment of its deluxe reissue campaign, a four-CD/DVD set focusing on the band’s 1997 studio album, Restless Heart.

The Restless Heart: Super Deluxe Edition features newly remixed and remastered versions of the album, various unreleased demos and studio outtakes, and a DVD containing official music videos, fan videos, and a short making-of documentary.

Frontman David Coverdale tells ABC Audio that the new collection is “packed solid” with quality, like an “amazing box of chocolates.”

He’s “doubly excited” about the deluxe package’s arrival because the album wasn’t even released initially in the U.S.

Coverdale says he wasn’t happy with the album’s original mix, so the remix was beefed up with added tracks from current Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian.

“They brought in this early Whitesnake vibe,” Coverdale notes. “[And Derek is] almost like the son of [late Deep Purple/Whitesnake keyboardist] Jon Lord, bringing this element…of scorching Hammond organ.”

The new mix also features a different running order than the original Restless Heart, and David explains that’s because he put “a lot more thought [and] a lot more care” into the updated version. He adds, “These things I’m looking upon as my legacy as an artist.”

Restless Heart was a particularly diverse collection of tunes for a Whitesnake album, which Coversale says was because the project originally was intended to be his third studio album.

Besides hard rockers and power ballads, the album included two power blues songs and a cover of the 1966 R&B hit “Stay with Me.”

Meanwhile, another interesting element of the Super Deluxe set is an “Evolutions” disc, which features tracks that show how each song evolved from demos to the studio version.

Visit Whitesnake.com for full details about the reissue.

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Arizona’s baseball-themed Innings Festival is coming to the East Coast next year.

The inaugural Innings Festival Florida will take place March 19-20 in Tampa, and Green Day will headline the bill on the first day. The lineup also includes Goo Goo Dolls, second-day headliners The Lumineers, Incubus, 311, Jimmy Eat World, O.A.R., Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Skip Marley, X-Files star and singer David Duchovny, among others.

As with the Arizona fest, Innings Florida coincides with the MLB spring training season, and will feature guest appearances by baseball greats including Ozzie Smith, Gary Sheffield, John Kruk, Lou Piniella, Bucky Dent, Andruw Jones and Tino Martinez.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 5, at 10 a.m. ET. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit InningsFestival.com/Florida.

If you still prefer your baseball music festival with a side of dry heat instead of humidity, Innings Arizona takes place next year on February 26 and 27 in Tempe. The lineup includes headliners Foo Fighters and Tame Impala, as well as Fitz and the Tantrums, St. Vincent, My Morning Jacket, Dashboard Confessional and others.

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Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich and Ozzy Osbourne are among the many members of the metal community paying tribute to beloved English rock journalist Malcolm Dome, who passed away recently at age 66.

Dome, who wrote for publications including Kerrang! and Classic Rock magazine, is credited with the first use of the term “thrash metal,” which came to describe the sound of metal giants including Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.

“Extremely sad to hear of Malcolm Dome’s passing,” Ulrich tweeted. “Not only was he an incredible talent who helped guide my relationship with heavy music, but he was also a great person. Today, I’m thinking of the fun, memorable times we spent together back in the day.”

Osbourne wrote, “Words cannot express how sorry I feel to hear about the passing of Malcolm Dome. Rest In Peace. God Bless.”

Here are a few other tributes to Dome:

Iron Maiden: “We are all very much saddened and shocked to hear about the passing of our friend Malcolm Dome. He was fearless, intrepid, passionate and forthright as a journalist and latterly a broadcaster and we respected him immensely.”

Mötley Crüe: “Sad to hear about the passing of Malcolm Dome. He was such an important figure for all things rock and metal and championed so many bands over the years. RIP Malcolm.”

Tony Iommi: “Malcolm was a lovely guy, he interviewed me many times and was always positive about the music. He was one of the first journalists to totally get metal. We even worked together last year when he helped me sort out my Wikipedia entry. Sadly missed.”

Geezer Butler: “So sad to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome, one of rock and metal’s great journalists. It was always a pleasure giving interviews and generally having a chat. RIP Malcolm, you will be missed.”

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Paul McCartney‘s new book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, was released today.

As previously reported, the two-volume book profiles 154 songs McCartney wrote throughout his career, and features his commentary about each tune, as well as handwritten lyric sheets, rare personal photos, drawings and rough drafts of songs.

To celebrate The Lyrics‘ publication, Sir Paul has answered several fan-submitted questions about his songwriting as part of a new installment of his website’s “You Gave Me the Answer” feature.

One fan asked if, while putting the book together, “lyrics or memories…came back to you and reminded you of a time you’d forgotten,” to which McCartney responded that reviewing some of his tunes wound up being like visiting a psychiatrist for him.

“[R]evisiting the first song I ever wrote ‘I Lost My Little Girl’…kind of turned into a therapy session, because I thought I was happily writing a little pop song when I was fourteen,” he noted, “but if you look at the timing of it I had just lost my mother.” Paul added that it made him realize he may have subliminally written the tune about his mom.

He also pointed out that “Yesterday” may have been partly inspired by losing his mother. McCartney said thinking about the writing of other songs brought back “surprising memories,” such as hitchhiking trips he took with John Lennon and George Harrison.

Asked if he had rules or a formula for writing a song, McCartney said definitely not. “[I]t’s not like building a car or fixing a television, it’s something that is very different each time you do it,” he noted. “In fact, you don’t want to learn a set of rules because that’s what keeps it interesting!”

Check out the full Q&A at PaulMcCartney.com.

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Midas Man, an upcoming biopic about late Beatles manager Brian Epstein, will continue production although its director, Jonas Akerlund, apparently will be dropping off the project, Variety reports.

According to Variety, sources have revealed that Akerlund currently is “taking a break” from filming and likely will not return.

The movie began shooting two weeks ago in Liverpool, U.K., but the production was put on hold this week. A source close to the production confirmed to Variety that the shoot may start up again as soon as next week, and if Akerlund doesn’t return, a new director will be announced soon.

“The director of Midas Man Jonas Akerlund is taking a break from the film,” says StudioPOW co-founder Perry Trevers, whose company is co-producing the movie. “Until some matters become clearer we are not able to add any further comment to this statement. In the meantime we can confirm that filming of Midas Man will continue in London in November before breaking for Christmas. Filming will restart in early January in Los Angeles.”

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, whose credits include The Queen’s Gambit and Wolf Hall, has been cast as Epstein in the film, while Outlander actress Rosie Day is portraying pop star Cilla Black.

Akerlund’s credits include directing videos for Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and many others. He won Grammys for McCartney’s Live Kisses film, as well as for Madonna’s The Confessions Tour concert video and “Ray of Light” music video.

Epstein discovered The Beatles in 1961 and officially became their manager the following year, helping to guide the group to superstardom. He also managed such other Liverpool acts as Black and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Brian died in 1967 of an apparent accidental sleeping-pill overdose. He was 32.

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