Classic Rock News

Jeff Beck has released a new instrumental version of the 1966 Beach Boys gem “Caroline, No” as the latest advance track from 18, his upcoming collaborative album with actor/rocker Johnny Depp, which is due out digitally and on CD July 15.

The track is available now via digital formats, while a companion music video featuring footage of Beck playing the song live in concert has debuted on his official YouTube channel.

“Caroline, No” was the final song that appeared on The Beach Boys’ lauded 1966 album, Pet Sounds.

“That entire album was great support for me in horrible times,” Beck notes. “I’d left the Yardbirds and regretted it because I had nothing. I was back living with my mum and dad. I thought, right, I’m not going sit around doing nothing. So, I bought a stereo and Pet Sounds, and I was just riveted to the spot. I remember it was a great big cure from losing the Yardbirds, having Jimi Hendrix stomp all over things, and losing my girlfriend. All that happened in what seemed like the same day.”

“Caroline, No” is the fourth track released in advance from 18 following a cover of John Lennon‘s “Isolation,” the Depp original “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr” and a rendition of The Velvet Underground‘s “Venus in Furs.”

As previously reported, 18, which can be preordered now, is a 13-track collection that features two songs written by Depp alongside 11 covers, including tunes by The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Everly Brothers and the aforementioned Lennon, Beach Boys and Velvet Underground.

Beck is currently on tour in Europe, and Depp has been joining him as a special guest at each stop of the trek.

Here’s the full 18 track list:

“Midnight Walker” (Davy Spillane cover)
“Death and Resurrection Show” (Killing Joke cover)
“Time” (Dennis Wilson cover)
“Sad Motherf***in’ Parade” (Johnny Depp original)
“Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” (Beach Boys cover)
“This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr” (Johnny Depp original)
“Caroline, No” (Beach Boys cover)
“Ooo Baby Baby” (The Miracles cover)
“What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye cover)
“Venus in Furs” (The Velvet Underground cover)
“Let It Be Me” (The Everly Brothers cover)
“Stars” (Janis Ian cover)
“Isolation” (John Lennon cover)*

* = on digital and CD version only.

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Pink Floyd has announced plans to release a physical version of its new song “Hey Hey Rise Up,” which the band recorded with singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boombox and first made available as a digital single in April.

“Hey Hey Rise Up” now will be released on CD and as a seven-inch vinyl single on July 15 in the U.K. and most other countries, while it won’t be available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia in those formats until October 21, and in Japan until August 3.

The CD and vinyl single also will include a second track, a newly reworked version of the 1994 Pink Floyd song “A Great Day for Freedom,” which originally appeared on the band’s 1994 album The Division Bell.

As previously reported, “Hey Hey Rise Up” was recorded in late March and uses vocals taken from an Instagram post showing Andriy singing the Ukrainian protest song “The Red Viburnum in the Meadow” while standing in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square. The song, which was written during World War I, has become an anthem in Ukraine protesting Russia’s invasion of the country.

The track also features Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason, along with keyboardist Nitin Sawhney and longtime Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt. A music video for the song accompanied its release in April.

For the updated version of “A Great Day for Freedom,” Gilmour reworked the track using the original tapes, which also feature Mason and late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, along with backing vocalists Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine and Durga McBroom.

You can preorder the CD and vinyl single now. Proceeds raised by the discs and the digital version of “Hey Hey Rise Up” will benefit Ukraine humanitarian relief efforts.

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Megadeth‘s upcoming album, The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, finally has a release date.

The long-in-the-works follow-up to 2016’s Dystopia is set to arrive September 2. The first single, titled “We’ll Be Back,” is available now via digital outlets and is accompanied by a short film streaming now on YouTube.

“For the first time in a long time, everything that we needed on this record is right in its place,” says frontman Dave Mustaine. “I can’t wait for the public to get hold of this!”

The Sick is Megadeth’s 16th studio effort and their first since founding bassist David Ellefson was let go from the band last year after a sexually explicit video of him leaked online. The parts that Ellefson had already recorded for the album were replaced by frequent session bassist Steve Di Giorgio. Megadeth has since recruited returning member James LoMenzo to be the band’s official new bassist.

Megadeth will hit the road ahead of The Sick‘s arrival in August on a U.S. tour with Five Finger Death Punch.

Here’s the track list for The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, which also features collaborations with Sammy Hagar and Ice-T:

“The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!”
“Life in Hell”
“Night Stalkers” feat. Ice-T
“Dogs of Chernobyl”
“Sacrifice”
“Junkie”
“Psychopathy”
“Killing Time”
“Soldier On!”
“Célebutante”
“Mission to Mars”
“We’ll Be Back”
“Police Truck”
“The Planet’s on Fire (Burn in Hell)” feat. Sammy Hagar

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A new four-part docuseries called Women Who Rock that focuses on female singers and musicians who have made a significant impact on the music world since the 1950s will premiere July 10 on EPIX.

The show will feature new interviews with Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, The B-52s‘ Kate Pierson, Sheryl Crow and many more reflecting on the musical contributions they and other female artists have made.

The series will showcase the artists sharing insights and stories behind their music, as well as discussing such topics as power, fame, truth and the struggle to achieve success.

The premiere episode, titled “Truth,” will look at the roots of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s and ’60s with profiles of Mavis Staples, Chaka Khan and the late Janis Joplin, plus commentary from Weymouth, Pierson, Norah Jones, Rickie Lee Jones, Merry Clayton and others.

Episode two, titled “Defiance,” which premieres on July 17, will focus on the 1970s and such artists as Wilson, Jett, Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks and Carole King.

The third episode, dubbed “Power,” debuts on July 24, and delves into the artists who emerged during the 1980s and ’90s, among them Benatar, Sheila E., Natalie Merchant, Crow, Missy Elliott, Courtney Love, Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette.

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Bad Company and Free singer Paul Rodgers has lent his vocal talents to a new song called “Red Harvest” by veteran singer/keyboardist Richard T. Bear, aka T Bear.

A music video for the melancholy tune, which T Bear was inspired to write while watching footage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has premiered on the Quarto Valley Records’ official YouTube channel.

The clip features live performance footage, along with images of Ukraine, a brief cameo by Rodgers, and scenes of T Bear singing on a beach dressed in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Money raised from the song and video will be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross’ humanitarian relief efforts.

“I watched as the missiles and bombs rained down upon the civilians; people trying to flee the death and destruction,” explains T Bear. “I walked over to my piano and in less than 30 minutes I had the idea of ‘Red Harvest.'”

The track also features former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber, acclaimed session bassist Lee Sklar and veteran session drummer Tony Braunagel, who produced the song with help from Juber.

All of the artists who participated in the recording did so free of charge.

“T Bear was truly inspired when he wrote ‘Red Harvest,'” Rodgers says. “I think we are all shocked at what is happening in Ukraine. Such a feeling of helplessness. We all do what we can.”

T Bear has posted a video on his Facebook page in which he reveals he’s working on a new studio album he expects to release in January.

During his career, T Bear has recorded with many well-known artists, including Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Blues Brothers, Billy Squier and Cher, as well as for KISS members Gene Simmons‘ and Peter Criss‘ solo projects.

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Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard has teamed up with singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco for a new song called “Disorders.”

The track was recorded in collaboration with PJ’s Gigaton producer Josh Evans, saxophonist Skerik and drummer Stanton Moore. It will raise money for the National Network of Abortion Funds in support of abortion access as the Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“With the imminent overturning of Roe v. Wade, women in every Republican stronghold in this country are left treading in a sea of unnecessary suffering, just trying to keep their heads above water,” DiFranco says. “Poor women will be drowned by the score. That is why this track is a fundraiser for abortion access — to help women who don’t have resources but who desperately need abortions.”

“I am so grateful for men like Stone, Skerik, Stanton,” she adds. “Not just for the blessing of this track and the honor of being invited into it, but for actually seeing women in their full humanity and being willing to stand with them.”

You can listen to “Disorders” now via digital outlets.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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With a price tag of just under $400, this stuffed animal isn’t going to be one you want to give to the kids.

The legendary German toy company Steiff has teamed up with Elton John to create a limited edition teddy bear that’s a tribute to both Elton and his 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Just like Benny in “Benny and the Jets,” the teddy sports a “mohair suit” of soft fur and also rocks a pair of exclusive sunglasses from the Elton John Eyewear collection.

Images from the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album cover appear on the teddy’s footpads, and he has detailing that makes him look like he’s wearing a baseball jacket with “Elton John” embroidered on the back, as Elton does on the album cover. He’s even wearing a “diamond” cross earring in one fuzzy ear, just like Elton does, and the signature Steiff button in his ear is gold-plated.

Only 3,000 Elton teddies will be produced, at $395 a pop. You can preorder them now; they ship October 31.

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Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has announced a new signature guitar as part of his partnership with Gibson.

The Dave Mustaine Flying V EXP Rust in Peace is a new take on the iconic model, featuring an “alien tech green” finish. Named after Megadeth’s 1990 album, the guitar “delivers the powerful, heavy sound and exceptional playing performance on the stage and in the studio that Dave demands,” a press release declares.

For more info on the Flying V EXP Rust in Peace, which will set you back $2,999, visit Gibson.com.

Mustaine first announced his partnership with Gibson in 2021. The collaboration has so far yielded the non-Rust in Peace edition of the Flying V EXP as well as the Dave Mustaine Songwriter acoustic guitar.

In related news, Megadeth is seemingly preparing to finally release new music from the band’s anticipated new album, The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, the long-in-the-works follow-up to 2016’s Dystopia. A cryptic social media post hints at something new dropping this Thursday, June 23.

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On the heels of releasing his debut solo album, Speed of Heat, last Friday, former Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter has lined up a series of California tour dates in support of the record.

Baxter currently has six shows on his schedule: July 30 in Sutter Creek, July 31 in Mill Valley, August 1 in Oakland, August 2 in West Hollywood, August 3 in Solana Beach and August 4 in San Juan Capistrano.

The new series of shows follows Baxter’s East Coast outing in May. Baxter’s band features Speed of Heat co-producer CJ Vanston on keyboards, as well as Mark Damian on drums and Hank Horton on bass.

“CJ suggested Mark and Hank and I didn’t actually meet them until we started rehearsing for the tour,” Baxter says. “But we meshed immediately, and the initial dates went so well we don’t want to stop.”

As previously reported, Speed of Heat is a 12-track collection that features a mix of original tunes and select covers. Among the latter are versions of the Steely Dan classics “My Old School” and “Do It Again,” and the 1960 instrumental “Apache” that was popularized by The Shadows.

The album features Baxter singing lead on some tracks, as well as some guest vocalists and musicians, including his one-time Doobie Brothers bandmate Michael McDonald, country star Clint Black, Toto keyboardist David Paich and blues-rock singer/guitarist Jonny Lang.

McDonald lends his vocals to a song called “My Place in the Sun,” which he co-wrote with Baxter and Vanston, while Paich plays an organ solo on the “My Old Town” cover.

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A new documentary focusing on Don McLean‘s epic 1971 song “American Pie” and its legacy will premiere in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on July 8 and will make its television debut July 19 on the Paramount+ streaming service.

The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie” will include new interviews with McLean and will feature the singer/songwriter revealing for the first time secrets behind the tune’s creation and the meaning behind its lyrics.

The film also looks at important cultural moments and events in U.S. history that played a role in inspiring “American Pie” and features various people from different generations explaining how they were affected by the song.

The movie includes commentary from a number of celebrities, including Garth Brooks, The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson and actor Peter Gallagher, who share their admiration for the song and discuss how it has impacted their lives.

“This documentary is something that will make people think, especially since so many throughout the years have asked me what certain lyrics meant or whom I was referring to, but now I finally can solve many of those mysteries,” says McLean. “Everyone from Madonna to Garth Brooks to Weird Al Yankovic has recorded ‘American Pie’ and made it their own. So many people have their own interpretation of the song, and I love it.”

You can check out a trailer for the film now at Paramount+’s official YouTube channel. In the preview, we hear McLean explain of the song, “I wrote all the verses in about an hour, like a genie out of a bottle,” and how Buddy Holly‘s death helped inspire it.

The Day the Music Died also will be screened in select theaters around the world on July 14 and July 17.

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