Classic Rock News

Paul McCartney will celebrate the publication of his upcoming book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, by taking part in a special Q&A event on November 5 in London at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.

Tickets to attend the event, dubbed The Lyrics: Paul McCartney in Conversation, will go on sale to the general public on Friday, September 17, at 5 p.m. ET/10 a.m. local time and to Southbank Centre members starting Thursday, September 16, at 5 p.m. ET.

The event also will be livestreamed via Dice.fm, and tickets for the stream can be purchased for $14 beginning this Friday, September 17, at 5 p.m. ET. The stream will be available on demand for seven days after the event.

During the event, the former Beatles legend will discuss the book while sharing stories about his life, songs and creative process with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet Paul Muldoon, who edited it.

As previously reported, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present will be released on November 2 and can be pre-ordered now. The book offers a self-portrait of McCartney while profiling 154 songs he’s written throughout his long career.

The two-volume work also will feature handwritten lyric sheets, as well as rare personal photos, drawings and rough drafts of songs. Sir Paul has penned commentary about each tune to give fans a look inside his creative process.

The songs featured in the book appear alphabetically, spanning from “All My Loving” though “Your Mother Should Know.” Also included are recently discovered lyrics to an unrecorded Beatles song, titled “Tell Me Who He Is.”

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Dave Grohl appears on the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone, revealing a number of interesting tidbits about the Foo Fighters frontman’s past, present and future.

For one, Grohl shares that he’s playing drums on an upcoming Miley Cyrus song.

“I was going to [producer] Greg Kurstin‘s studio to deliver him a snare drum for his kid,” Grohl recalls. “He’s like, ‘Do you have five minutes? I’m trying to program drums on this new Miley Cyrus song, but I suck. Can you just, like, do a couple takes?’ So I think I’m on a new Miley Cyrus record!”

An appearance on a Miley tune would mark his second collaboration with a major pop star of late — he also drummed on a song off Halsey‘s new album, which was produced by Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Nirvana and Kurt Cobain pop up throughout the interview, given the upcoming 30th anniversary of Nevermind. Speaking about Cobain, Grohl explains how his late band mate inspired the 2011 Foos song “Walk.”

“It kind of comes from the day after Kurt died,” Grohl says. “Waking up that morning and realizing, ‘Oh, s***, he’s not here anymore. I am. Like, I get to wake up and he doesn’t’…That was a big revelation to me.”

As for Foo Fighters, Rolling Stone reports that they have “vague ideas” about the direction of their next record to follow this year’s Medicine at Midnight, though nothing’s been written yet.

“Every album that we’ve made is a response to the one we made before,” Grohl says. “So now there are whispers of making an insane prog-rock record.”

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Rolling Stone has published a brand-new list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time — it’s first since 2004 — and among the top-ranked tunes are classic recordings by rock artists including Bob Dylan, Nirvana, The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac.

Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” which topped the 2004 tally, is #4 on the new list, followed at #5 by Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The other rock songs in the top 10 are The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” at #7 and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” at #9.

Also ranked high on the list are The Beach Boys‘ “God Only Knows” at #11, The Rolling Stones‘ “Gimme Shelter” at #13, The Kinks‘ “Waterloo Sunset” at #14, The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at #15, Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at #17, John Lennon‘s “Imagine” at #19, David Bowie‘s “Heroes” at #23, and the Fab Four’s “A Day in the Life” at #24.

Topping Rolling Stone‘s new list of all-time greatest songs is Aretha Franklin‘s classic 1967 version of Otis Redding‘s “Respect,” moving up from #5 on the 2004 tally.

Rolling Stone‘s ranking was determined by more than 250 artists, musicians, producers, music industry figures, critics and journalists, who all submitted in their top 50 choices, which the magazine then tabulated. More than half of the songs on the new list weren’t present on the 2004 list.

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The U.K.’s Download Festival is heading to Germany, and Metallica will be along for the ride.

The metal legends are headlining the inaugural Download Germany, set to take place June 24, 2022. The lineup will also include Five Finger Death Punch and Sabaton, with more artists being announced at a later date.

For more info, visit DownloadGermanyFestival.de.

The U.K. version of Download was founded in 2003, and is held in England’s Donington Park. However, it hasn’t taken place since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though a smaller, downsized version, deemed Download Pilot, was held this past June.

Download is set to return in 2022 with headliners Iron Maiden, KISS and Biffy Clyro.

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Last year, Dion DiMucci released a collaborative album titled Blues with Friends that featured contributions from a jaw-dropping cast of music legends.  Now the doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll great has announced plans for a similarly star-studded follow-up project.

The album, titled Stomping Ground, will be released November 5, and features Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, Boz Scaggs, Rickie Lee Jones and more. In addition, the record’s liner notes were penned by The Who‘s Pete Townshend.

In his own album notes, Dion writes, “To make music with friends, and to make friends through music: I can’t imagine a better life than this. I am grateful to my friends who made Stomping Ground with me — and my new friends who are listening.”

Stomping Ground features 14 tracks: 13 originals, plus a cover of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Red House” that Dion recorded with folk-blues artist Keb’ Mo’. You can pre-order the album now.

Last month, Dion released one of the new songs as an advance single — “I’ve Got to Get to You,” which features Scaggs and the father-son guitar duo Joe and Mike Menza.

The album’s lead track, “Take It Back,” which features blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa, has just debuted, along with a companion video. A third advance song, “Angel in the Alleyway,” featuring Springsteen on guitar and harmonica and Scialfa on vocals, is due out October 13.

Townshend writes about Stomping Ground, “This one will blow those little white things in our ears right into your brain.”

In other news, a stage musical based on Dion’s life and music, titled The Wanderer, will premiere next March at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.

Here’s Stomping Ground‘s full track list:

“Take It Back” — with Joe Bonamassa
“Hey Diddle Diddle ” — with G.E. Smith
“Dancing Girl ” — with Mark Knopfler
“If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll ” — with Eric Clapton
“There Was a Time ” — with Peter Frampton
“Cryin’ Shame ” — with Sonny Landreth
“The Night Is Young ” — with Joe Menza and Wayne Hood
“That’s What The Doctor Said ” — with Steve Conn
“My Stomping Ground ” — with Billy F Gibbons
“Angel in the Alleyways ” — with Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen
“I’ve Got to Get to You ” — with Boz Scaggs, Joe Menza and Mike Menza
“Red House ” — with Keb’ Mo’
“I Got My Eyes on You Baby ” — with Marcia Ball and Jimmy Vivino
“I’ve Been Watching ” — with Rickie Lee Jones and Wayne Hood

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Sharon Osbourne is getting candid abut her relationship with Ozzy Osbourne, revealing that she and her husband used to “beat the s*** out of each other.”

Speaking with DailyMailTV about an upcoming biopic about her and the Black Sabbath frontman, the former The Talk host opened up about their volatile past. 

“Our fights were legendary because we would beat the s*** out of each other,” she told the outlet, adding, “It stopped, must be, 20 years ago, but we had a good run.”

Sharon, 68, and Ozzy, 72, wed in 1982 and share three adult children together — Aimee, 38; Kelly, 36; and Jack, 35.

While the biopic will detail the highs and lows of the British couple’s relationship, Sharon says that at the end of the day it’s a “love story.”

“It’s a movie about Ozzy’s and my life, how we came together in the early days and our volatile relationship,” she said. “All the fights, all the makeups, all the fights, all the arrests, all the everything. And it’s a love story.”

There is no official word on when filming for the project will begin, though Sharon says she’s hoping for spring. 

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This Saturday, The Zombies will return to London’s famed Abbey Road Studios, where the British Invasion legends recorded their classic 1968 album Odessey and Oracle, to play a special concert that will be streamed live worldwide.

The show, which will begin at 3 p.m. ET, will be viewable at the Veeps.com streaming platform.

Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone tells ABC Audio that the band will be playing in Abbey Road’s historic Studio Two, where The Beatles did most of their recording.

Regarding the set The Zombies have planned, Blunstone says, “We’re gonna be playing many hits, but lots of deep cuts too, and five new songs. And three of those songs, we’ll have strings with us.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer adds, “[I]t’s gonna to be really exciting. Obviously, we’ve never done anything like this before.”

The new tunes are part of an upcoming album that the group is recording. Colin also notes that the band will be playing about four songs from Odessey and Oracle, which was recorded mostly in Abbey Road’s Studio Three.

Odessey and Oracle was the last album made by The Zombies’ original lineup, and the band actually broke up before its release. The album includes the group’s signature tune “Time of the Season.”

Following the streaming concert, Blunstone and Zombies co-founder, keyboardist Rod Argent, will take part in a remote Q&A with acclaimed rock journalist David Fricke. The band mates also will take questions from members of the virtual audience, including some surprise celebrity guests.

Tickets to watch the concert cost $20, while tickets offering both the show and the Q&A are priced at $35. More expensive bundles that include a T-shirt and/or a poster also are available. Tickets and bundles can be purchased at Veeps.com.

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An official music video has debuted for “She’s Fire,” Carlos Santana‘s new collaboration with acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren and hit-making rapper G-Eazy.

In the clip, G-Eazy meets an alluring women in a bar and she proceeds to do a sexy dance for him that sets the rapper and the entire watering hole on fire.

Carlos also appears in separate scenes, playing his guitar on a tropical beach. As he delivers an incendiary solo, Santana to is engulfed in flames. In addition, Warren makes a cameo in the clip as one of the bar’s patrons. You can watch the video at Santana’s official YouTube channel.

“She’s Fire” is featured on Warren’s debut album, The Cave Sessions Vol. 1, which was released in August. The track also will appear on Santana’s forthcoming studio effort, Blessings and Miracles, which is due out on October 15. The latter album also includes Carlos’ recently released new collaborative single with Matchbox Twenty‘s Rob Thomas, “Move.”

You can pre-order Blessings and Miracles now.

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Limited-edition releases from Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, U2 and Fleetwood Mac are among the exclusive vinyl discs that will be released during the 2021 edition of Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event, taking place November 26.

Aerosmith’s offering is 1971: The Road Starts Here, featuring a previously unheard early recording of the band playing several songs in their rehearsal room, including “Dream On.” It’s available on vinyl and cassette.

Osbourne’s 1991 solo album No More Tears will be available as a 12-inch picture disc. The record, which spawned the hit “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s release is Paris 67, a red-and-blue-vinyl LP that boasts an official “bootleg” performance that the guitar legend and his band gave at the Olympia Theatre in Paris in October of 1967.

U2 is issuing a four-track EP celebrating the 40th anniversary of its popular early tune, “Gloria.” The disc, which is pressed on yellow vinyl, features the studio version of the song, plus three live renditions recorded in three different decades.

Fleetwood Mac is offering a two-LP set titled Alternate Live, a 14-track collection featuring performances of various songs taken from the band’s deluxe reissues of Rumours, Tusk and Mirage.

Other artists issuing 2021 Black Friday releases include Big Brother & The Holding Company with Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, The Jim Carroll Band, Alice Cooper, David Crosby & Graham Nash, The Kinks‘ Dave Davies, Dio, Dire Straits, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Jorma Kaukonen, Little Feat, Motorhead, Night Ranger, Poison, Lou Reed, Bush‘s Gavin Rossdale, Todd Rundgren, Stray Cats, Joe Strummer, Tesla and Heart‘s Nancy Wilson.

For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.

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An updated version of the Doors concert film Live at the Bowl ’68, along with bonus content, will be screened in select theaters on November 4 to celebrate the 50th anniversary this year of the band’s classic album, L.A. Woman.

The screening event, dubbed The Doors: Live at the Bowl ’68 Special Edition, will feature the full movie, as well as footage of a new performance by surviving Doors drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined by various guest musicians, plus a conversation with Densmore, Krieger and the group’s manager, Jeff Jampol.

Tickets for the screenings go on sale starting September 21 at TheDoorsFilm.com.

Live at the Bowl ’68, which originally was released in 2012, features restored footage of a July 5, 1968, show that The Doors played at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles that’s widely considered to be one of the band’s best performances caught on film. An album featuring select songs from the same concert was released in 1987 under the title Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

The “Special Edition” of Live at the Bowl ’68 boasts a remastered audio mix in Dolby ATMOS and 5.1 surround sound created by longtime Doors engineer Bruce Botnick, who recorded the original Hollywood Bowl show and co-produced L.A. Woman.

“The magic that has been done to enhance the picture and sound quality of this show will make everyone feel as though they have a front-row seat at the Hollywood Bowl,” says Krieger.

As previously reported, an expanded 50th anniversary reissue of L.A. Woman will be released on December 3.

Here’s the full Live at the Bowl ’68 song list:

Show Start/Intro
“When the Music’s Over”
“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)”
“Back Door Man”
“Five to One”
“Back Door Man” (Reprise)
“The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)”
“Hello, I Love You”
“Moonlight Drive”
“Horse Latitudes”
“A Little Game”
“The Hill Dwellers”
“Spanish Caravan”
“Hey, What Would You Guys Like to Hear?”
“Wake Up!”
“Light My Fire”
“Light My Fire” (Segue)
“The Unkown Soldier”
“The End” (Segue)
“The End”

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