Classic Rock News

Wednesday night, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and his longtime partner, Chloé Mendel, hosted a virtual benefit concert supporting the victims of the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, where the couple has long lived. During the show, Corgan debuted a new song that he wrote about the tragedy.

Speaking to the audience ahead of the performance, Corgan shared that he was initially wary of using what happened as inspiration for music.

“It kind of reminds me of when you get your heart broken when you’re young and you write really bad poetry,” Corgan said. “I don’t want to write really bad poetry about something that was very hurtful.”

Later, Corgan found himself working on a new Pumpkins song, which turned into his “reaction … to what happened.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good song or a bad song, but it certainly expresses the way that I feel,” he said.

You can watch Corgan’s rendition of the song via the archived YouTube stream of the concert, starting around the 1:37:00 mark. The show, which raised over $250,000 for the Highland Park Community Foundation’s shooting response fund, also featured performances by Jane’s Addiction‘s Perry Farrell and Bob Moses, among others.

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The 1982 Motörhead album Iron Fist is being reissued in honor of its 40th anniversary.

The deluxe package will be released September 23 and includes various demos, alternate versions and instrumentals as well as a previously unreleased full live recording of Motörhead’s 1982 concert at Scotland’s Glasgow Apollo.

You can watch a new video for the demo version of the Iron Fist title track, featuring archival live footage, now on YouTube.

The original Iron Fist had the tough task of following Motörhead’s 1980 album, the iconic Ace of Spades, as well as the band’s beloved 1981 live album, No Sleep ’til Hammersmith. It would also end up being the last Motörhead album to feature the trio’s classic lineup of Lemmy, guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor.

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Earlier this month, country-rock pioneer Richie Furay, who co-founded Buffalo Springfield and Poco, released his latest solo album, the country covers collection In the Country.

The 12-track album mainly features renditions of major country hits, while also including some noteworthy crossover tunes, like Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis” and John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Furay tells ABC Audio the album came about after he reconnected with producer Val Garay, who produced his 1979 album, I Still Have Dreams.

Furay says Val suggested they do a country hits project. They both came up with lists of tunes, which they narrowed down to include chart-toppers from Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Lonestar, Alabama and Lee Ann Womack.

“Most of ’em were big hits … [but] I don’t want people to listen to this record and do comparisons,” Furay insists. “I just want ’em to sit back, ’cause, man, we just need music today … that people can just get lost in, and just say, ‘Wow, that’s just good sounding music.'”

Furay recorded the album in Nashville with talented session musicians. He also brought in some guests to contribute backing vocals, including his former Poco bandmate, longtime Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit.

Furay says of Schmit, who appears on multiple tracks, “He’s just a dear friend … whenever I ask Timothy if he wants to come and be a part of a record … if he’s got the time … he’s always there.”

Schmit also connected Furay with current Eagles touring member Vince Gill, who sings on a cover of the 1958 Ricky Nelson hit “Lonesome Town.”

Furay says working with Gill “was really a thrill and a blessing for me … He’s such a great, talented guy.”

Here’s In the Country‘s full track list:

“Somebody Like You” (Keith Urban)
“I Hope You Dance” (Lee Ann Womack)
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver)
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” (Sammy Kershw)
“Your Love Amazes Me” (John Berry)
“I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” (Alabama)
“Lonesome Town” (Ricky Nelson)
“Walking in Memphis” (Marc Cohn)
“I’m Already There” (Lonestar)
“The River” (Garth Brooks)
“In This Life” (Collin Raye)
“Chalk” (Buddy & Julie Miller)
 
Digital Bonus Tracks:
“I Cross My Heart” (George Strait)
“Pickin’ Up the Pieces” (Poco)

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David Lee Roth has posted a previously unreleased solo song at his official website and YouTube channel called “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” that finds the Van Halen frontman reminiscing about his old band.

Accompanying the track is a vintage photo of Roth and his three Van Halen band mates all jumping in the air at the same time. The stripped-down tune features multi-tracked acoustic guitars and sparse keyboards accompanying Roth’s vocals.

The song begins with the lines, “We laughed, we cried, we threw that television off the balcony/ That memory means so much to me,” and Diamond Dave sings later, “Remember when you safety pinned the tablecloth to my pants/ And I stood up to the sound of dancing, and the sound of our romance beginning.”

According to the fan site Van Halen News Desk, Roth recorded “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” several years ago with current Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 during the same sessions that yielded some of the other tracks Dave has released over the past couple years, including “Somewhere over the Rainbow Bar and Grill,” “Giddy-Up!,” “Low-Rez Sunset” and “Pointing at the Moon.”

In a 2021 interview with AL.com, John 5 mentioned “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” while discussing his sessions with Roth.

“Being a Van Halen fan and a Dave Lee Roth fan, it’s unbelievable because it’s about Dave singing about Van Halen and what it was like,” the guitarist noted. “Really something special, so I really hope that comes out.”

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Neil Young will release a remastered version of his 1989 EP Eldorado as a standalone vinyl disc for the first time on August 19.

The five-track collection was originally only released in Japan and Australia on CD and was later included as part of Young’s Original Release Series #4 box set, which arrived in March.

Eldorado includes two songs, “Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love,” that had never appeared on any other album as well as three tunes from Neil’s 1989 studio album Freedom — “Don’t Cry,” “Eldorado” and a cover of the 1963 Drifters hit “On Broadway.”

Young recorded the disc with bassist Rick Rosas and drummer Chad Cromwell, while longtime Crazy Horse guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro is featured on the title track.

The EP can be pre-ordered now and is available on CD as well as vinyl. Those who order the discs will also receive a high-res download of Eldorado.

When discussing the sound quality of the new release, Neil says, “Because of the technology used in mastering from the original files, the digital to analog transfer is superb, getting more out of the digital masters than the original CD could present. This then, is the best sounding Eldorado ever!”

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The Allman Brothers Band and The Bangles are taking part in the 2022 edition of Ten Bands One Cause.

The annual charity initiative features 10 artists reissuing albums on pink vinyl to raise money for Red Door Community, formerly known as Gilda’s Club NYC, which supports those with cancer and their caregivers. The organization was founded in memory of late comedian and Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

This year’s crop of reissues includes The Allman Brothers’ Live from A&R Studios, which was recorded in 1971 but wasn’t released until 2016, and The Bangles’ 2014 compilation Ladies and Gentlemen…The Bangles! Other artists taking part include The Black Keys, Judah & the Lion, Nas and Senses Fail.

For more info, visit 10Bands1Cause.com.

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The Osbourne family has a new member.

Ozzy and Sharon‘s son, Jack, announced Wednesday that his fiancée, Aree Gearhart, gave birth to a baby named Maple Artemis Osbourne on July 9.

“Aree and Maple are doing great and are happy and healthy,” Jack wrote in a tweet.

Sharon also shared the news on Twitter, writing that she and Ozzy are “over the [moon].”

Jack and Aree announced they were expecting in March following their engagement at the end of 2021. Maple is their first child together; Jack has three kids with ex-wife Lisa Stelly.

Meanwhile, Jack’s sister Kelly announced in May that she was expecting her first child with Slipknot‘s Sid Wilson.

In addition to welcoming a new grandchild, Ozzy’s been promoting his upcoming new album, Patient Number 9, which arrives September 9. Last week, he made his debut at San Diego Comic-Con, where he set the record for the largest signing at this year’s event, according to a press release.

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Indie-pop act Bleachers welcomed a surprise guest to the stage during their show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday: the one and only Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss joined frontman Jack Antonoff and company to perform their collaborative tune “Chinatown,” which appears on the latest Bleachers album, 2021’s Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. Fan-shot footage of the rendition is streaming now on YouTube.

The onstage team up with Bleachers follows a recent run of live guest appearances by Springsteen, who also showed up at concerts by Coldplay and Paul McCartney over the past month or so. Bruce will head out on his own tour with his E Street Band in 2023.

“Chinatown” was first released as a single in November 2020, and Springsteen also appeared in the official music video for the song.

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Late Clash frontman Joe Strummer would have celebrated his 70th birthday this August 21, and to mark the milestone, a box set collecting all of his work with post-Clash band The Mescaleros will be released on September 16.

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years features remastered versions of the group’s three studio albums — 1999’s Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, 2001’s Global a Go-Go and 2003’s posthumous Streetcore — as well as a disc titled Vibes Compass that boasts 15 rare and previously unreleased tracks.

Vibes Compass includes some of Strummer’s first demos for The Mescaleros, outtakes of Joe’s last recordings with the group and a song called “Ocean of Dreams” that features Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones.

The collection, which can be preordered now, will be available as a four-CD set, a seven-LP vinyl package and digitally.

The physical versions of the box set come with a book featuring new interviews with Strummer’s friends, collaborators and Mescaleros bandmates plus unseen handwritten notes, lyrics and drawings from Joe’s archives.

A demo version of the 1999 Mescaleros song “The Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which appears on Vibes Compass, has been released as an advanced digital track. Its video, which features animated versions of Joe’s drawings, has premiered on YouTube.

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years was curated by Strummer’s widow, Lucinda Tait.

“There’s so much great music that Joe left us in his archive,” says Tait. “[The] songs he made with [The Mescaleros] just seemed to resonate so strongly and reinvigorated his connection with his audience at a level he hadn’t experienced since his days with The Clash.”

Strummer died of a heart attack in December 2002. He was 50.

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Nearly 40 years after its release, Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets” finally has a video.

The metal legends have premiered a lyric video for the thrash classic, which originally debuted in 1986 as the title track off the third ‘Tallica album. The eight-and-a-half-minute clip, streaming now on YouTube, features imagery related to puppet strings and the field of crosses from the Master of Puppets cover artwork in between shots of a mysterious, sword-wielding figure.

The new visual comes amid renewed interest in “Master of Puppets” following its use in the season four finale of Netflix’s Stranger Things. After the episode’s premiere earlier this month, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and gave Metallica their first appearance on the all-genre ranking in 14 years.

Metallica released a statement saying that they were “beyond psyched” and “totally blown away” by the placement of “Master of Puppets” in Stranger Things. They even released a TikTok of them shredding along to the scene in which the character Eddie Munson plays the song.

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