Classic Rock News

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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Over his storied career, Bob Dylan has been inspired by many things — but who knew two of those things were coffee and Munchkins?

On the dedication page of the legendary singer/songwriter’s new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, Dylan offers a “special thanks” to “all the crew at Dunkin’ Donuts.” The Boston Globe reports that Dylan’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, has confirmed images of the page that have been circulating are legit, telling the paper, “The line ‘all the crew at Dunkin’ Donuts’ appears on the dedication page. We can offer no further insight.”

According to The Globe, the book has been in the works since 2010. The paper speculates that’s why the 81-year-old artist referred to the chain as Dunkin’ Donuts and not as its current name, Dunkin’, which it adopted in 2018.

The Globe also notes that Dylan primarily lives in Malibu, California, when he’s not on the road, and there are a number of Dunkin’ locations nearby. And, The Globe notes, “Dylan spends much of the year on tour, where he has presumably sampled Dunkin’ brews around the globe (of which there are many).”

But like so many other facts about Bob Dylan, the details of his Dunkin’ order — black coffee? A dozen Munchkins? Pumpkin Spice cold brew? — will remain a mystery for now.

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It’s only country music, but they like it … and rock ‘n’ roll, too.

A tribute to The Rolling Stones will be part of this year’s Country Music Association Awards, airing on ABC November 9. During the three-hour show, award-winning country duo Brothers Osborne will team up with Americana husband-and-wife duo The War & Treaty to sing “It’s Only Rock & Roll (But I Like It).”

The performance is in recognition of a new album called Stoned Cold Country, which features some of country’s biggest artists performing classic Stones songs, including “Wild Horses,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Dead Flowers.” 

The Brothers Osborne/War & Treaty duet is being released as a single November 4, with the album to follow next year. Other participating artists include Zac Brown Band, Elle King, Steve Earle, Eric Church, Maren Morris and Brooks & Dunn.

Other Rock & Roll Hall of Famers who’ll be saluted at the CMA Awards include the late Jerry Lee Lewis: King will perform “Great Balls of Fire” with The Black Keys in his memory.  

And finally, Linda Ronstadt will be honored as country stars Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack and Brandy Clark, joined by Joan Osborne, take the stage to sing the version of The Everly Brothers‘ “When Will I Be Loved” that was made famous by Ronstadt in 1975.

The CMA Awards air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena November 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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A new animated video for “I’m Only Sleeping,” one of the songs featured on The Beatles‘ new remastered edition of Revolver, just hit YouTube.

The trippy clip opens with an oil-painting image of John Lennon sleeping, which swirls into a series of dreamy, watery images, some featuring the other Beatles, their manager Brian Epstein, fighter planes dropping bombs, birds and more. The concept seems to be that everything we’re seeing is part of Lennon’s dream.

As the dream progresses, time seems to progress backwards: We see more swirly, oil-painting images of The Beatles running onto a stadium field for a concert, the band performing onstage, headlines trumpeting their success, the group playing at the Cavern Club in their early days, a quick glimpse of Liverpool’s Penny Lane and what looks like Lennon receiving his first guitar.

The clip ends with the final image being wiped away in real life by an artist, who’s apparently been painting the entire thing in his studio.

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Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew are reuniting next year for more installments of their popular show celebrating the music of Talking Heads.

The Talking Heads guitarist/keyboardist and the former King Crimson singer and guitarist started doing these gigs in 2021 after being inspired by a 1980 show that Talking Heads played in Rome to support their album Remain in Light. At the time, Belew was a touring member of the band. Harrison and Belew performed songs from Remain in Light at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater last month.

The tour starts February 16 in Denver and wraps up in New Haven, CT on March 11. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 4 at 10 a.m. local time via remaininlight.net.

In a statement, Harrison says, “Remain In Light is a high point in my career. Adrian and I had often discussed the magic of the 1980 tour and the sheer joy it brought to audiences. It is such a delight to see that joy once again in the audiences on the current tour.”

Belew adds, “A joyful show of Talking Heads songs you know and love performed by a hot, eleven-piece ensemble including Jerry and me: You can’t help but dance and go home with a happy smile on your face.”

Belew is currently part of the Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which wraps up November 13.

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U2‘s Bono may have titled his new book Surrender, but he says that word is something he really doesn’t quite get…though he’s working on it.

Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday, the Irish icon noted that “[‘Surrender’] is a word I haven’t yet fully grasped or fathomed, if I’m honest. I was born with my fists up, metaphorically — sometimes physically! — and putting them down is hard for me.  And I’m trying to. So the title is where I’m headed, rather than where I’m at.”

The full title of the book is Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. In his conversation with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Bono described it as “a love letter” to his wife, Ali Hewson.

“Writing the book was really frightening because I was going to have to let her read it!” he laughed. “And she came back with spelling [corrections], mostly — there were a couple of sections she wanted removed.”

Bono met Ali and the other three members of U2 during the same week at their high school in Ireland and has kept both his relationship and his band going for more than 40 years. Asked how he’s managed that feat, Bono joked, “Desperation.”

Turning serious, he then explained, “Friendship is at the heart of it, really. I mean, friendship is a lot less passionate as it looks at face value but I think it can outpace even romantic love. If you’ve got both — even better.” 

“I love my bandmates,” he added, laughing, “We don’t always love each other at the same time…but we get through it. We’re always breaking up!”

On Wednesday, Bono starts his 14-date book tour, described as “an evening of words, music and some mischief,” in New York City.

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Bono‘s memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, gets released on Tuesday, November 1, and to celebrate its arrival, the U2 frontman will make an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, which airs starting at 7 a.m. ET.

As previously reported, Surrender follows Irish rocker, born Paul Hewson, from his childhood in Dublin to the loss of his mother when he was 14, to the founding of U2 and their rise to global stardom. It also covers Bono’s activism, including his work to fight AIDS and extreme poverty.

The book’s subtitle refers to the fact that as each of its 40 chapters is named after a U2 song. Bono also contributed 40 original drawing to the publication.

To promote Surrender, Bono has lined up a 14-date book tour dubbed Stories of Surrender beginning Wednesday, November 2, in New York City. The trek, which is completely sold out, features stops in seven North American cities followed by stops in seven European cities. It runs through a November 28 event in Madrid.

The tour is described as “an evening of words, music and some mischief,” which means Bono won’t only be talking about his life, he’ll be singing about it too.

In other news, Bono also marked the impending arrival of his book with a humorous animated video posted Monday on U2’s YouTube channel and set during this year’s edition of the Halloween Parade in New York City’s Soho section.

The clip, which Bono narrates, features the singer excitedly watching as copies of Surrender are put on display in the window of a local bookstore. As the cartoon progresses, Bono is approached by people dressed as Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, who are revealed to be his three bandmates — Larry Mullen Jr., The Edge and Adam Clayton.

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