Classic Rock News

The efforts of some Van Halen fans to memorialize the late Eddie Van Halen in the band’s hometown of Pasadena, CA have succeeded.

Julie A. Gutierrez, assistant city manager of Pasadena, wrote in her weekly newsletter that a memorial plaque honoring the late guitarist has been approved for installation outside the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where Van Halen played some of their earliest gigs. 

She noted that since Eddie’s death, Pasadena has received several “requests and suggestions” to memorialize him via naming a street, alley or other monument in his honor.  The plaque has gotten the city’s official endorsement, Gutierrez explained, and money raised by Pasadena 4 Van Halen, a GoFundMe started by fans, will fund the effort.  The plaque should be ready for installation some time around October 6, the anniversary of Eddie’s passing.

Pasadena 4 Van Halen’s GoFundMe had an initial goal of $3,000, but has since raised nearly $7,000 as of Monday morning.  The group is continuing to campaign for a new park in Pasadena to be named in honor of the guitarist. Voting on the name of the park is underway now and continues through September 24.

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Lindsey Buckingham is continuing to snipe at Stevie Nicks via the media, even after Nicks issued a rare rebuttal of his version of the events that led to him being fired from Fleetwood Mac.

In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times, Buckingham claimed that Nicks demanded he be fired, and that Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie went along with it for financial reasons. Nicks in turn told the newspaper that Buckingham’s comments were “factually inaccurate.” But in a new interview with the Times of London, Buckingham is still blaming Nicks for his exit from the band.

“There were a number of years where I wasn’t over her,” says the guitarist. “It is possible that she has never been completely over me either.” 

He explains that he and Nicks have never “had time to heal or move on” from their breakup, adding, “We both had to compartmentalize our feelings. That is not a healthy thing to do because those little compartments can remain sealed up for years, until things start seeping out when you don’t realize.”

Buckingham also suggests that the fact that he’s a married dad and Stevie is single has something to do with it.

“It’s hard for me to know what her mentality is towards me, but I know what mine is to her because I’ve been married for 21 years and I have three children and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” he muses.

Buckingham further suggests that Stevie has “lost touch” with the creative part of herself.  And while Buckingham has been in touch with Fleetwood and McVie recently, his rejoining the band “would be down to Stevie having that epiphany herself,” he says.

“And hey, stranger things have happened,” he adds. “This is Fleetwood Mac. Anything is possible.”

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A new documentary focusing on the late Joe Cocker‘s famous 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour, as well as a star-studded 2015 Lockn’ Festival performance led by the Tedeschi Trucks Band that paid homage to the trek, will get its world premiere September 30 at the Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, New York.

The movie, titled Learning to Live Together: The Return of Mad Dogs & Englishmen, features archival footage of the original tour, scenes from the 2015 performance and interviews with musicians who participated in the trek, the tribute or both.

For the Lockn’ Festival performance, Derek Trucks, wife Susan Tedeschi and their band were joined by 12 of the original artists who were part of the Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour, including Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge and Claudia Lennear, as well as such guest performers as The Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and ex-Traffic member Dave Mason.

The film features commentary from acclaimed music journalist David Fricke, and conversations with Trucks, Tedeschi, Robinson, Coolidge and many others, including the last interview with Russell, who died in 2016.

Learning to Live Together will get its North American theatrical release on October 22.

You can check out a trailer for the new documentary at Tedeschi Trucks Band’s official YouTube channel. In the preview, Fricke notes that the Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour and its 1970 companion film “summarized what was possible, coming out of the ’60s — new community, new lessons in American soul, blues, R&B.”

Tedeschi and Trucks say of Learning to Live Together in a joint statement, “This film is a labor of love many years in the making, and we’re so proud to share the music and the stories of the men and women of Mad Dogs & Englishmen.”

For more info, visit MadDogsDoc.com.

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Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has donated a favorite classic car he owns to an auction to raise money for a charity affiliated with his hometown-area baseball team, the San Francisco Giants.

Perry’s silver 1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SL convertible is up for bid via Capital City Auto Auction, and the money raised by the sale will benefit the Giants Community Fund’s Junior Giants program.

The initiative provides free baseball and softball programs for over 20,000 children and teens in under-sourced communities. Junior Giants also works with local agencies, families and volunteers on various other community projects in the areas of education, health and violence prevention.

Perry’s car is painted silver with black leather interior. When he was in Journey, Steve used to drive the Mercedes to writing, recording and rehearsal sessions, and he has written many songs during his rides.

Along with the car, the top bidder will receive a custom-made red tuxedo jacket that Perry wore at many concert performances, and an autographed copy of his upcoming holiday album, The Season.

Proxy bidding for the vehicle is open now, and a live online auction will be held on Thursday, September 23, starting at 9 a.m. PT. As of Friday, the bidding stood at $27,050.

For more details, visit CapitalCityAutoAuction.com.

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When he’s not collaborating with seemingly every artist under the sun, Elton John is speaking out various topical issues, and one of them in particular really has him riled up.

Elton has been complaining for months that since “Brexit” — when the U.K. left the European Union — touring in Europe is now extremely difficult for British musicians, because they have to get special permits and visas, which are very costly.  Elton has taken part in hearings on the issue, but now, he’s decided to go straight to the top.

In the new episode of his Rocket Hour Apple Music show, Elton says he’s requested a meeting with British prime minister Boris Johnson, but admits, “I’ve yet to hear back from him.”

“I’m on the warpath to try to get this sorted out,” Elton declares. “What has happened is that it’s impossible for young artists financially to pay for visas, negotiate their way through all of the red tape that’s necessary for going to Europe. It’s financially impossible for them to do so.”

Recalling how important is was to him personally to get to perform in Germany at age 17, Elton says, “It’s so imperative for young artists to have that opportunity to do that. It makes them grow as songwriters, as artists, and as human beings. And it’s their right to be able to tour wherever they want to…so, at the moment they can’t, but we’re going to try and fix it.”

The legendary star continues, “I’m going to fight for this, and we’re going to continue to try and fight for this because it’s a desperate thing that’s holding young artists back,” adding, “It breaks my heart that these people are being held back by these ridiculous Brexit rules.”

The full episode will stream Saturday on Apple Music 1.

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NHC, which stands for Navarro Hawkins Cheney — the new group made up of Jane’s Addiction members Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins — will perform on the second weekend of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival, on October 2.  But now you can get a preview of what they’ll be playing.

The new trio has released two new songs: The rocking “Feed the Cruel” and the more melodic and mellow “Better Move On.” You can also see the band in action in a black-and-white performance clip for “Feed the Cruel,” now streaming on YouTube.

All three musicians have a long history together.  Hawkins and Chaney once played together in Alanis Morissette‘s backing band, and Chaney later joined Jane’s Addiction with Navarro. The three also played together under the name Ground Control this past January on the David Bowie tribute livestream A Bowie Celebration: Just for One Day! Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor joined them then on vocals.

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This year marks the 45th anniversary of the release of KISS‘ classic fourth studio album, Destroyer.  To commemorate the milestone, the costumed rock legends will reissue the record on November 19 in multiple configurations, including a Super Deluxe box set featuring four CDs, a Blu-ray audio disc, a bevy of collectible items, and a 68-page hardcover book.

The first CD features a remastered version of the original album. Disc two boasts demos that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons made of songs from the Destroyer era. The third CD includes various outtakes, alternate versions, single edits and more, most of which are previously unreleased. Disc four features an unreleased concert that KISS played at Paris’ L’Olympia theater in May 1976.

The Blu-ray offers up Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of Destroyer, created by lauded studio whiz Steven Wilson, plus two bonus tracks.

The box set’s memorabilia include a replica KISS Army newsletter, plus posters, photos, an iron-on, stickers, trading cards, flyers, a replica Destroyer tour program and more.

Released in March 1976, Destroyer peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200, and became KISS’ most successful studio album, selling over two million copies. It features “Beth,” the band’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.  The ballad, which was sung and co-written by drummer Peter Criss, peaked at #7. The album also includes the top-40 hit “Shout It Out Loud” and such other enduring songs as “Detroit Rock City,” “King of the Night Time World” and “God of Thunder.”

The Destroyer reissue, which you can pre-order now, also is available as a two-set set, as a double-LP package pressed on black or limited-edition colored vinyl, digitally, and via streaming.

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Ozzy Osbourne‘s birthday is December 3, but he’s the one giving fans a present.

On that day, Ozzy is releasing a 10-inch black vinyl single featuring three tracks: Ozzy’s song “Hellraiser;” a mash-up duet of Ozzy’s vocals amd those of the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, who co-wrote the song; and Motorhead’s own version of “Hellraiser.”

The duet version is also available on the digital 30th anniversary release of Ozzy’s No More Tears, which as previously reported is out today. The original version of “Hellraiser” appeared on No More Tears; Motörhead then recorded it and released it on their 1992 album, March ör Die.

Ozzy co-wrote four songs in all for No More Tears with Lemmy; in addition to “Hellraiser,” they include  “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Desire,” and “I Don’t Want to Change the World.”

You can pre-order the vinyl now.

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In August, it was announced that John Mellencamp would be serving as a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies this month, and now details have been revealed about the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s programming contributions to the network.

Mellencamp has curated two special nights of films that will be shown on TCM — airing tonight, September 17, and Friday, September 24. The heartland rocker will appear alongside TCM host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce the movies, which are some of his favorites.

For tonight, Mellencamp has chosen Tortilla Flat, Cool Hand Luke and The Misfits, and his picks for September 24 are The Fugitive Kind, On the Waterfront and East of Eden.

Back in July, the 69-year-old singer/songwriter lent his voice to a Turner Classic Movies interstitial segment called “From Hollywood to the Heartland” that looked at how small towns were portrayed in select vintage movies and featured him reflecting on his own experience growing in a small Indiana town.

Also, on August 27, Mellencamp’s new documentary The Good Samaritan Tour 2000 got its premiere on TCM’s YouTube channel, and you can still watch it on the website.

As previously reported, the film focuses on John’s 2000 trek of the same name, which featured a series of free, unannounced acoustic concerts held at public parks and on street corners in select major cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

The doc is narrated by Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, and includes special contributions from Nora Guthrie, daughter of late folk legend Woody Guthrie.

A companion live album also was released the same day.

Meanwhile, Mellencamp is working with Turner Classic Movies on various other projects, including sponsoring his next tour.

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There may have been No More Tears on Ozzy Osbourne‘s 1991 solo album of the same name, but, according to Zakk Wylde, there were plenty of “shenanigans.”

Speaking with ABC Audio, Wylde recalls having a “blast” recording the quadruple-platinum record, which turns 30 today.

“The whole thing, recording it and drinking and the whole shenanigans that went on making that record were just hilarious, man,” Wylde shares.

No More Tears marked Osbourne’s second solo studio effort featuring the future Black Label Society frontman on guitar, following 1988’s No Rest for the Wicked. For round two, Wylde remembers feeling much more “relaxed.”

“The first album was, like, [a] ‘let’s see what you got’ kinda thing,” Wylde explains.

Wylde also felt more comfortable to explore some of his own personal influences on No More Tears, bringing in some of the Southern-rock twang from artists like The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. You can definitely hear that in the intro for the single “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” which would become Ozzy’s biggest solo hit.

“Originally, me and Ozz had did it on a piano at my apartment at the time in North Hollywood,” Wylde says of “Mama.” “Ozz was over there, and then he had that melody…and he was singing that, and we ended up doing it on the piano. Then when we got in the studio is when I transposed it to guitar and put it on a 12-string.”

He adds, “When the album was done, when we listened to ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home,’ I was, like, ‘Man, this came out really good.'”

A 30th anniversary reissue of No More Tears is out today.

Wylde, meanwhile, is releasing a new Black Label Society album, Doom Crew Inc., on November 26.

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