Classic Rock News

A number of instruments played and signed by artists who performed at the two tribute concerts to late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins are going up for auction.

Among the items available include a Gibson Trini Lopez guitar signed by Foo frontman Dave Grohl and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic; the bass Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones played with signatures from Jones, Novoselic and The Cars‘ Elliot Easton; an Eddie Van Halen “Frankenstein” guitar signed by Grohl, Novoselic, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Joan Jett and Kesha; the guitar Queen‘s Brian May played signed by Grohl, Copeland, AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson and Kesha; and a Nile Rodgers-signed Hitmaker Fender Stratocaster.

The Gibson Trini Lopez and the Rodger-signed Strat are the highest-priced and are expected to fetch between $6,000 and $8,000.

Auction house Julien’s Auctions will be putting the instruments up for sale via its upcoming Icons & Idols: Rock ‘n’ Roll event, taking place November 11-13. As with the concerts, proceeds from the auction will benefit the organizations MusiCares and Music Support.

“MusiCares was honored to be the U.S. non-profit beneficiary for the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts and we are proud to partner with Julien’s Auctions on this incredible collection,” says Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares. “We are dedicated to helping the humans behind the music because music gives so much to the world, and this auction continues the beautiful celebration of Taylor’s life, and his immense contribution to the music industry.”

For more info, visit JuliensAuctions.com.

Hawkins died on March 25 at age 50. The tribute concerts took place in London on September 3 and in Los Angeles on September 27.

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December’s a big month for Neil Young fans. Not only is the rock legend releasing a box set commemorating the 50th anniversary of his landmark Harvest album, we’re also getting a film documentary to go along with it.

Neil Young: Harvest Time “takes viewers on an intimate journey to Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California for the ‘Harvest Barn’ sessions, to London for an iconic performance with the London Symphony Orchestra, and to Nashville where the then 20-something Neil Young worked on various tracks of this signature album,” according to the distributor, Trafalgar Releasing.

The film, shot between January and September 1971, includes footage of Young creating and recording Harvest classics like “Old Man” and “Heart of Gold,” as well as other songs from the RIAA-certified four-times Platinum album. You can watch a clip from the film now.

“I was 24, maybe 23 and this album made a big difference in my life,” Young says of Harvest. “I had a great time and now when I listen to it, I think I was really just lucky to be there. I hope you enjoy this story, which is Harvest Time, and which talks about everything that happened.”

Neil Young: Harvest Time will debut December 1 in select theaters worldwide, with an encore presentation on December 4. Tickets go on sale November 10 at NeilYoungHarvestTime.com.

The Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition box set drops on December 1, just 24 hours before Neil Young: Harvest Time opens. You can order it now in two physical versions offering the same content — a three-CD/two-DVD set and a collection featuring two vinyl LPs, a vinyl seven-inch disc and two DVDs.

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Santana‘s fourth studio album, 1972’s Caravanserai, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month, and to mark the milestone, Carlos Santana and the band’s founding drummer, Michael Shrieve, reflected on the jazz fusion-influenced project with ABC Audio.

Caravanserai, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, was heavily inspired by the then-contemporary improvisational jazz sounds that artists such as Miles Davis, Return to Forever and Pharaoh Sanders were creating.

“What was really important about Caravanserai [was that it] gave birth to multidimensional music,” Carlos said.

The album, which yielded no hit singles, was considered a commercial failure, but has become a fan favorite.

Carlos said he and Shrieve were driving creative forces behind the album, along with bassist Dougie Rauch, one of several musicians who had recently joined Santana.

“It just fell naturally normal for Michael and I to grab hold of the reins and lead the horses to another path,” Carlos explained.

Carlos also noted that although there was a backlash to Santana’s new direction on the album, he and Shrieve remained undeterred.

“Everybody left and right were telling us, ‘You’re committing career suicide. This is not gonna work,'” Santana said. “And we were like, the more they say that to us, the more we were determined, not necessarily to prove them wrong, but to see to fruition that this music needed to be birthed.”

Meanwhile, Shrieve told ABC Audio that because of Santana’s new direction, he and Carlos were inadvertently responsible for the creation of Journey.

According to Shrieve, Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon were unhappy with Caravanserai, so they decided to form a new group that showcased a more mainstream rock sound. Soon, Journey was born.

A special 50th anniversary Caravanserai T-shirt is available now at Santana.com.

Here’s Caravanserai‘s track list:

“Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation”
“Waves Within”
“Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down)”
“Just in Time to See the Sun”
“Song of the Wind”
“All the Love of the Universe”
“Future Primitive”
“Stone Flower”
“La Fuente del Ritmo”
“Every Step of the Way”

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Ever since he stopped doing joint tours with Elton John a while back, Billy Joel has rarely shared the stage with anyone: It’s unusual for him to even have an opening act.  But next year, he plans to team up for a double bill with a performer as equally legendary as he is.

Billy will perform a show on April 8, 2023 with none other than Stevie Nicks. The pairing will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.  The show is appropriately billed as “Two Icons, One Night.”  Tickets will go on sale November 11 at 10 a.m. LiveNation.com or SeatGeek.com.

On Instagram, Stevie wrote, “excited to hit the road with the amazing @billyjoel in 2023.”  Her use of the phrase “hit the road” makes it sound as though they might perform together at additional dates, but so far, this is the only one that’s been announced.

The show is Stevie’s first announced performance for 2023; she’ll complete her fall tour this weekend. As for Billy, he’ll continue his Madison Square Garden residency, and next year, he has additional dates booked in Atlanta, Florida, London, New Zealand and Australia.

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Some of country music’s biggest stars will pay tribute to one of rock’s legendary bands on their 60th anniversary with Stoned Cold Country, an album celebrating The Rolling Stones.

Hit-making acts including Little Big Town, Eric Church, Maren Morris, outlaw country legend Steve Earle and many others provide country-influenced interpretations of some of the Stones’ biggest hits.

Though the album doesn’t drop until next year, you can get a taste now of Brothers Osborne’s country-funk take on “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It),” with help from Americana husband and wife duo The War and Treaty. That track drops this coming Friday, November 4.

Here’s the Stoned Cold Country track list:

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” — Ashley McBryde
“Honky Tonk Women” — Brooks & Dunn
“Dead Flowers — Maren Morris
“It’s Only Rock N’ Roll (But I Like It)” — Brothers Osborne & The War and Treaty
“Miss You” — Jimmie Allen
“Tumbling Dice” — Elle King
“Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” — Marcus King
“Wild Horses” — Little Big Town
“Paint It Black” — Zac Brown Band
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — Lainey Wilson
“Sympathy for the Devil” — Elvie Shane
“Angie” — Steve Earle
“Gimme Shelter” — Eric Church
“Shine a Light” — Koe Wetzel

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AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson‘s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But the 75-year-old says there was a time he had all but given up on music — until another rock legend gave him some life-changing advice.

Speaking with The West Australian newspaper about his just-released autobiography, The Lives of Brian, Johnson recalls his life before joining AC/DC, when he quit his job as an engineer to focus on music. He fronted a band named Geordie that scored a single top-ten hit, enough to convince Johnson that he was on his way to stardom — until the bottom fell out.

“At the age of 28, I’d lost everything. My marriage, my career, my house,” Johnson recalls, adding, “I’d had my shot and blown it.”

Even so, Johnson formed another band, working non-music jobs, including installing car windshields, to help pay the bills. But it was while he was living with the other band members in a single apartment that The Who‘s Roger Daltrey, already a rock legend, invited them over to dinner at his country manor.

“He said, ‘I’m going to give you one piece of advice, Brian,” Johnson recalls. “Never give up. Do you understand me? Never, ever give up’.”

“And I really took that to heart,” says Johnson. “He’s probably forgotten that he said that, but I didn’t.”

Not long after that, Johnson was invited to audition for the AC/DC frontman spot after original lead singer Bon Scott‘s death. And the rest, as we all know, is rock and roll history.

The Lives of Brian is available everywhere now.

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A pair of John Lennon’s trademark round, wire-frame ‘granny’ glasses and a Cadillac convertible once owned by Neil Young are among the many items going under the hammer at Julien’s Auctions’ Icons & Idols: Rock ‘n’ Roll auction the weekend of November 11-13 at the Hard Rock Café in New York City.

The gold-tone glasses, which Julien’s says have been photo-matched to confirm that the late Beatles member actually wore them, is estimated to sell for between $60,000-$80,000. If you’re a rock and roll gear head with deep pockets, expect to pay between $100,000 to $150,000 for a sky-blue 1949 Cadillac Series 62 convertible once owned by Young, and only 8,000 of which were ever produced.

Other items to be offered at the auction include a grand piano personally owned and used by Bob Dylan at his Woodstock, New York home ($50,000-$70,000); a studio-played 1968 Fender Precision bass guitar owned by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Stu Cook, used to record CCR classics including “Bad Moon Rising” and “Fortunate Son” ($30,000 – $50,000); and a “one-of-a-kind black and yellow Charvel EVH art series guitar,” signed and played by Eddie Van Halen during a an April 17, 2008 concert in Reno, Nevada ($40,000 – $60,000).

The item with the highest pre-sale estimate, however, is a signed 1973 Fender Mustang guitar that Kurt Cobain played — and subsequently smashed — during Nirvana‘s first-ever U.S. tour in 1989. Expect that to sell for between $200,000 and $400,000. Julien’s previously auctioned Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, which he famously played during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance, for a record-breaking $6 million.

Memorabilia from the Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, David Gilmour, Gene Simmons, Meat Loaf, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Nikki Sixx and more will also be offered at the auction.

For more info, visit JuliensAuctions.com.

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Over three years ago, during a guest appearance with David Crosby to promote the documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, which he produced, Almost Famous writer/director Cameron Crowe promised Jimmy Fallon that when his musical adaptation of the film opened on Broadway, Fallon had an open invitation to reprise his role as Dennis Hope, the future manager of the film’s fictitious band, Stillwater.

Crowe made good on that offer on Tuesday’s Tonight Show.

“My dream has always been to have you come and be the link between the two casts, the cast of the musical…and the movie, Crowe shared. “So, I would like you to come on the Broadway stage and play your part again of Dennis Hope.”

“I’m in!” Fallon exclaimed, in the not-so-surprising moment.

It’s not clear when and how often Fallon will appear, but he’s already grown a beard to be ready.

Fallon isn’t the only special guest performer in Almost Famous. Crowe told Deadline that MSNBC journalist John Heilemann has expressed interest in making occasional appearances as David Felton, the Rolling Stone reporter played in the film by Rainn Wilson. No dates have been announced as yet, but it reportedly will happen.

The stage roles of Hope and the reporter are usually played respectively by Jakeim Hart and Van Hughes.

Almost Famous is based in part on Crowe’s time as a teen reporter for Rolling Stone in the 1970s. Currently in previews, the Broadway musical officially opens Thursday, November 3.

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Neil Young started the ’90s by rocking out on the album Ragged Glory, and subsequent 1991 live albums Arc and Weld. But when 1992 rolled around, Young, who was suffering from tinnitus, decided to mellow out a bit. The result was Harvest Moon, which marks its 30th anniversary Wednesday.

Like Young’s classic ’70s albums Harvest and Comes a Time, Harvest Moon featured acoustic guitar, piano and banjo, rather than screaming electric guitar. Neil was accompanied on Harvest Moon by backing band The Stray Gators, which also had played on Harvest, but with a slightly different lineup. On Harvest Moon, three of the group’s original members — pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith, bassist Tim Drummond and drummer Kenny Buttrey — were joined by famed songwriter and session keyboardist Spooner Oldham.

Also returning were Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor on backing vocals. The two, along with Crosby, Stills & Nash, had sung backups on Harvest, as well. In addition, Nicolette Larson and Neil’s sister, Astrid Young, lent their backing-vocal talents to Harvest Moon.

Featuring memorable songs like “Unknown Legend,” “From Hank to Hendrix,” “War of Man” and the title track, Harvest Moon was a huge success, reaching the top 10 in both the United Kindgom and Young’s home country of Canada; in the U.S., it made the top 20. It’s been RIAA-certified double Platinum for sales of 2 million copies.

Harvest Moon was also named Album of the Year at Canada’s Juno Awards, and outsold both Ragged Glory and its predecessor, 1989’s Freedom. A concert album from the Harvest Moon tour called Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 was released in 2009 as part of Young’s ongoing Archives series.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Unknown Legend”
“From Hank to Hendrix”
“You and Me”
“Harvest Moon”
“War of Man”
“One of These Days”
“Such a Woman”
“Old King”
“Dreamin’ Man”
“Natural Beauty”

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Billy Joel has donated $250,000 to Hurricane Ian relief via his charity, The Joel Foundation.

Ian was the fifth strongest hurricane ever to hit the continental U.S. Residents of Fort Myers and Southwest Florida will benefit from the donation to the Lee County Strong Hurricane Ian Relief Fund. The money will go toward rebuilding efforts, as well as to the local maritime community and school music programs.

In a statement, the Piano Man and his wife, Alexis, note that Florida is their “winter home” and that living through their own experience with Superstorm Sandy a decade ago has motivated them to “help those less fortunate.”

Over the years, The Joel Foundation has pledged and made over $7 million in charitable donations.

Billy has a scheduled show in Florida in early 2023: He’ll play at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on January 27.

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