Classic Rock News

Paul McCartney has joined the many artists and other celebrities voicing his support for Ukraine as the country is being invaded by the Russian military.

McCartney has posted a note on his official website and social media pages that reads, “Remembering playing for our friends in Ukraine in Independence Square in 2008 and thinking of them in these difficult times. We send our love and support.”

Sir Paul also included link to three organizations aiding in relief for Ukrainians in need — UNICEF, Save the Children and the Red Cross.

Accompanying the message is a photo of Sir Paul waving a Ukrainian flag while onstage at the aforementioned concert, which took place in June 2008 in the capital city of Kyiv. According to PaulMcCartney.com, the former Beatles legend’s show was free, was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, and was broadcast live on Ukrainian television.

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It’s been over eight years since Lou Reed took his last walk on the wild side, but had he lived, the influential rocker would have celebrated his 80th birthday today.

Reed came to fame in the late 1960s as the leader, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of the New York City-based band The Velvet Underground, whose songs explored dark themes such as drugs, kinky sex and domestic violence in the midst of the “Flower Power” era.

Although the group enjoyed little commercial success, their edgy and poetic tunes and sometimes experimental music inspired countless bands and artists that followed in their wake, including David Bowie, Roxy Music, Patti Smith and many notable punk, New Wave and alternative rock acts.

The band’s 1967 debut, The Velvet Undeground & Nico, was ranked #23 on Rolling Stone‘s 2020 list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Reed left The Velvet Underground in 1970 and forged a critically acclaimed solo career that spanned over 40 years.

Lou’s best-known solo effort was 1972’s Transformer, which was co-produced by Bowie. The album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 and included Reed’s signature tune “Walk on the Wild Side,” which reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “Perfect Day.”

Two of Reed’s solo albums were certified gold for sales of 500,000 in the U.S. — the popular 1974 live album Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal and 1990’s New York, which featured the modern-rock hit “Dirty Blvd.”

Reed was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1992 as member of The Velvet Underground and posthumously as a solo artist in 2015.

Reed’s final album project saw him collaborate with Metallica on the 2011 concept album Lulu.

Lou died of liver cancer in October 2013 at age 71.

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Here’s wishing Jon Bon Jovi a very Happy 60th Birthday.

Born on March 2, 1962, the New Jersey native formed Bon Jovi during the early 1980s. The band self-titled debut was released in 1984, and featured the single “Runaway,” which reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Bon Jovi’s career exploded with its third album, 1986’s Slippery When Wet, which featured not one but two chart-topping hits — “You Give Love a Band Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” — along with the #7 single “Wanted Dead or Alive.” The album spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, and has gone on to sell over 12 million copies in the U.S.

The band continued its multi-platinum success with 1988’s New Jersey, which spent four weeks at #1, and yielded five top-10 hits — chart-toppers “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You,” as well as “Born to Be My Baby,” “Lay Your Hands on Me” and “Living in Sin.”

Four other Bon Jovi albums also topped the Billboard 200 — 2007’s Lost Highway, 2009’s The Circle, 2013’s What About Now and 2016’s This House Is Not for Sale.

The group’s other notable pop hits include “Bed of Roses,” “Always” and “It’s My Life.”

In 2006, Bon Jovi scored a #1 country hit with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” a duet with Sugarland‘s Jennifer Nettles.

In 2018, Jon was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Bon Jovi. Outside of music, Jon has acted in various films and TV shows, and has been noted for his philanthropy, particularly through his Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation and the JBJ Soul Kitchen community restaurants.

Next up for Jon and his band, a U.S. tour kicking off April 1.

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Whenever there’s some kind of crisis in the world, Stevie Nicks turns to her journal — and then she shares her words with her fans.  What’s inspired her latest missive is the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On her socials, the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has posted a “letter” to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which is actually more of a poem. It begins, “Are you lonely, Mr. Putin? Is that why you sit at your long, long marble table alone in the night and through the day/and talk to ghosts[?]”

“Because you really have no friends — everyone is afraid of you; afraid to even offer up good advice, because great emperors don’t listen to anyone but ghosts,” she writes. 

Stevie then goes on to tell Putin that he “will never be forgiven,” adding, “Your ghosts will haunt you night and day. They will shake their heads and say, ‘This time, Vladimir, you went to[o] far.”

“I hope you never sleep again,” she writes. “I hope you sit at that long, ugly, lonely table for the rest of your life. I hope your ghosts surround you until you are old and grey and miserable. I hope the history books in your country cease to ever write another word about you — I hope you turn to dust.”

“I hope you become invisible. I hope you become ‘the forgotten one,'” she adds, concluding, “The ghosts are coming Mr. Putin. They’re coming for you. Perhaps, they’re already here.”

It remains to be seen if Stevie will turn her thoughts into a song. Her letter follows another post she wrote four days ago, in which she described Putin’s actions as “Hitler coming back to haunt us.”

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After its original September 2021 publication date was postponed, former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum‘s memoir, Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories, is finally scheduled to be released on May 10.

As previously reported, Double Talkin’ Jive features Sorum candidly looking back at his eventful life and music career.  The rocker recounts his dramatic and dangerous early years as a drug dealer, his many adventures during his 1990-1997 stint with Guns N’ Roses, and his work and exploits with many other rock artists, including the supergroups Velvet Revolver and Kings of Chaos, plus The Cult, Alice Cooper and ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons.

Double Talkin’ Jive also finds Sorum opening up on his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and reflecting on the perils and pitfalls of rock stardom.

The book features a foreword penned by Gibbons, whose 2021 solo album, Hardware, was co-produced and co-written by Sorum, and featured Matt playing drums on all the tracks.

Double Talkin’ Jive can be pre-ordered now at various online book sellers. Signed copies can be pre-ordered at RareBirdLit.com.

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Dozens of artists, including KISS, The Doobie Brothers, Sammy Hagar and Rod Stewart,are taking part in Live Nation’s 2022 Lawn Pass promotion.

A Lawn Pass ticket allows you to attend up to 40 concerts this summer at one of a select number of Live Nation amphitheaters for a total of $199, plus fees.

Other tours participating in the promotion include Chicago, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, Phish, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Santana‘s joint trek with Earth, Wind & Fire, Steely Dan, and Styx‘s outing with REO Speedwagon and Loverboy. More artists will be announced soon.

The promoter says Lawn Pass not only will allow fans to catch concerts at their local selected music venue, they will also be able to access some select sold-out shows. “Each Lawn Pass purchaser will receive a custom personalized credential with their name that serves as their ticket on each show day,” Live Nation says.

Only a limited number of Lawn Passes will be available per venue, and are on sale now at LawnPass.LiveNation.com on a first-come, first-served basis.  Check out the website to find eligible venues and artists.

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Record Store Day is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, and in honor of the milestone, a limited-edition 12-inch vinyl single featuring two versions of the recent Paul McCartney tune “Women and Wives” has been chosen as Record Store Day’s first Song of the Year release.

The single will feature McCartney’s original version of “Women and Wives” — which appeared on 2020’s McCartney III album — on one side, and alt-rocker St. Vincent‘s 2021 remix of the tune on the other.

St. Vincent’s “Women and Wives” remix was featured on the McCartney III Imagined album, which was released in April 2021 and included covers or remixes of all the McCartney III tracks by various artists.

As previously reported, Record Store Day 2022 will take place on April 23, with an additional drop date for select releases on June 18. The “Women and Wives” vinyl single will be released on June 18, and a limited run of 3,000 numbered copies will be available.

Explaining why “Women and Wives” was chosen as Song of the Year, Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz says, “I was driving down a Montana highway one sunny, snowy morning when St. Vincent’s imagined version of ‘Women and Wives’ came on [satellite radio]. I was stunned by the song’s message of chasing the future. When St. Vincent’s Jeff Beck-like guitar solo arrived at the end, I got goosebumps. This is a classic McCartney song, up there with some of his best.”

McCartney was inspired to write the song after reading blues legend Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter‘s biography, and he recorded the track with an upright bass that belonged to Elvis Presley‘s early bassist, the late Bill Black.

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson says he has no current plans to collaborate with his fellow surviving band mate, singer/bassist Geddy Lee, but isn’t ruling out working with him on new music in the future.

“We’re not putting any pressure on it or anything,” Lifeson explains in a new interview with Guitar World. “We had a lot of good years together and we still love each other very much. I talk to Geddy every other day — we’re best friends. There’s more to our life together than just writing music. So if it happens, it happens. And it’ll happen when it happens.”

Rush played its final show in August 2015, when the band wrapped up its R40 40th anniversary tour. Any chance for a full reunion ended with the passing of drummer Neal Peart, who died of brain cancer in January 2020 at age 67.

Lifeson currently is preparing for release of the self-titled debut of his new group, Envy of None, which also features bassist/singer Andy Curran of the veteran Canadian rock band Coney Hatch, and a 24-year-old vocalist named Maiah Wynne from Portland, Oregon.

Alex tells Guitar World that Envy of None’s music doesn’t sound like anything he’s previously done.

“There’s lots of straight-ahead guitar, but there’s also mandola and lots of manipulated, sequenced things,” he notes. “And I’ve really become an aficionado of backwards guitar as well. So there’s everything from acoustic fingerstyle stuff to really heavy stuff, trippy kind of backwards things to Hendrix-y melodic parts. I’m really quite pleased with it.”

The Envy of None album, which can be pre-ordered now, will be released on April 8.

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High-quality audiophile versions of the Electric Light Orchestra‘s fourth studio, 1974’s Eldorado, will be released in the coming months by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab — as a two-LP box set mastered at 45 rpm, a single LP mastered at the standard 33 rpm, and on the hybrid SACD format.

All three versions have been remastered from the original analog tapes, and can be pre-ordered now at MusicDirect.com.

The single-LP version and vinyl box sets, which are both pressed on 180-gram “SuperVinyl,” will be available in March and September, respectively, priced at $59.99 and $125.

The LPs in the two-disc collection were created using Mobile Fidelity’s ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step lacquering process. The sets are limited to 10,000 numbered copies.

The SACD version will be released in April and is priced at $29.99.

Originally released in September ’74 in the U.S., Eldorado was a concept album that frontman Jeff Lynne wrote about a man who escapes the disillusionment of his dull life by journeying into fantasy worlds via his dreams. Musically, the record is heavily influenced by The Beatles, and blends pop and rock sounds with orchestral and choral elements.

Eldorado became ELO’s first album to break into the top 40 of the Billboard 200, peaking at #16. It featured the group’s first stateside hit, “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Our team is proud and honored to reissue ELO’s groundbreaking album Eldorado,” says Mobile Fidelity executive president John K. Wood. “We want to bring fans closer to the music by revealing all the intricate sonic details and subtle nuances in Jeff Lynne’s mix of this iconic album.”

Here’s the full Eldorado track list:

“Eldorado Overture”
“Can’t Get It Out of My Head”
“Boy Blue”
“Laredo Tornado”
“Poor Boy (The Greenwood)”
“Mister Kingdom”
“Nobody’s Child”
“Illusions in G Major”
“Eldorado”
“Eldorado Finale”

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Van Morrison is among the music artists and composers who will discuss their Oscar nominations for this year’s Best Original Song honor during a virtual event hosted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

You can tune in to watch beginning March 3 at 8 p.m. ET. The event is free to watch, though you do need to register ahead of time.

Morrison is nominated for his song “Down to Joy,” from the film Belfast.

The conversation will also include Billie Eilish and her brother FINNEAS, Diane Warren, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Dixson, who are nominated for their respective songs for the James Bond film No Time to Die, Four Good Days, Encanto and King Richard. Disco and funk legend Nile Rodgers, who is the current chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, will moderate the discussion alongside Oscar-winning composer Paul Williams.

Incidentally, Morrison is a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, as are Warren, Rodgers and Williams.

For more info, visit SongHall.org.

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