Classic Rock News

Jeff Beck to Join Brian Wilson for L.A. Show

By: Amber Harvey — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:42:00 GMT

Brian Wilson, creative leader of the Beach Boys, has announced via his website that iconic guitarist Jeff Beck will join him “for an evening of historical collaboration” at Los Angeles’s the Greek Theatre on Sunday, October 20^th.

This news comes just a few weeks after Wilson announced that Beck will appear on his upcoming Capitol Records studio album, which will be the 11^th solo LP from the Beach Boys co-founder.

“Jeff is one of the most amazing guitarists I’ve ever worked with and his vibe is inspiring,” said Wilson on his website, “in fact I think we should do an album together!”

The duo will be joined by Wilson’s former bandmates, rhythm guitarists Al Jardine and David Marks, whose collaboration in last year’s Beach Boys 50^th Anniversary tour turned sour when replacement singer Mike Love decided to cut them out of the group.

The Greek Theatre is just one of a handful of select venues that the three Beach Boys will grace with their presence this summer—their additional tour dates are listed below:

July 20 – Atlantic City, NJ –The Grand @ The Golden Nugget
July 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE – Outdoor Stage
July 23 – Interlochen, MI – Kresge Auditorium
July 25 – Kettering, OH – Fraze Pavilion
July 26 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia Festival
July 27 – Apple Valley, MN – Weesner Family Amphitheatre

Slated for his own set at the Greek, Beck will join Wilson, Jardine and Marks in performing some of his favorite Beach Boys tunes, as well as a new track from Wilson’s upcoming album.

For additional information on Brian Wilson, visit the former Beach Boy’s website. For more on Jeff Beck, click here, and be sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

Happy Birthday, Ann Wilson!

By: Ane Taylor — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:01:00 GMT

When you think of women who rock, you can't help but think of Ann Wilson. Today the legendary Heart singer celebrates a birthday!

Wilson, along with her sister Nancy, became iconic in the music industry by proving that the world of Rock and Roll wouldn't be the same without female rockers.

In 1976, Heart took the world by storm with their debut album, Dream Boat Annie, which spent 100 weeks on the music charts and featured hot singles like “Magic Man” and “Crazy on You.”

After their first album Heart’s success continued with a number of chart-topping records and hits, selling more than 35 million albums, including their latest LP Fanatic, which was released last year.

Aside from Heart, Wilson and her powerhouse voice also appeared on movie soundtracks including Footloose, The Golden Child and Tequila Sunrise, also releasing a solo album titled Hope & Glory in 2007.

But for all the Heart fans out there, there’s no need to worry, because the band is still going strong.

Heart, which was just inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April, is currently on their HeartBreaker Tour, which began June 17 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Tickets are still on sale and the tour, also featuring Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, is set to conclude in early November.

There’s no better way to celebrate your birthday than performing in front of a cheering crowd, and after nearly four decades in the music business, Wilson is still rocking out!

For more information on Ann Wilson and Heart, visit the band’s official website, and don’t forget to wish Wilson a Happy Birthday in the comments below.

Adam Lambert and Queen to Rock Again

By: Troy Frisby — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:38:00 GMT

Queen’s Brian May has confirmed that Adam Lambert will join the band for at least one more show this summer.

According to MTV UK, after singing with the band at three sold-out shows in London and three more in Eastern Europe last summer, Lambert will return, and this time, it might be for a much broader audience.

“We are talking about doing something with Adam, probably for TV,” May told MTV, adding, “We’re not talking about touring yet, but we are talking about doing an event.”

May explained that he and the former American Idol contestant have kept in touch since their performances last year, saying the two have “a good friendship.”

Of working with musicians that might not seem like rockers, May told MTV UK, “Rock and roll is not a closed shop, you’ve got to have an open mind in life, and a lot of the most interesting stuff happens when you interact with someone you never would’ve dreamed you’d interact with.”

Keep an eye on Queen’s official website for more on the band’s upcoming appearances with Adam Lambert, and don’t forget to check out a video of the band performing “I Want to Break Free” in London last year.

What do you think of the Lambert-Queen collaboration? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Rolling Stones Planning Extended Glastonbury Festival Set

By: Ane Taylor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:29:00 GMT

Stage times for the Glastonbury Festival have been released and you won’t believe how long the Rolling Stones will be performing!

The iconic rock band, set to headline the festival for the first time, will be playing for a whole two hours and 15 minutes, taking the Pyramid Stage on Saturday June 29 at 9:30pm and wrapping things up at 11:45pm, according to NME.

With a little over two hours, the Stones, who are currently on their 50 & Counting Tour, will most likely rock a number of their greatest hits, and perhaps their newest tunes "One Last Shot" and "Doom and Gloom," which were featured on their latest compilation album, GRRR!, released last year.

NME also reports that for the first time, the BBC will live stream over 250 hours of footage, allowing fans to watch and choose different performances from the festival as they happen.

The UK festival will run from Wednesday June 26 to Sunday June 30 and will feature performances by Chase & Status, Public Enemy, Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins and a tons more.

For more information on performers and stage times visit the Glastonbury Festival official website and for more information on the Rolling Stones head to their official website also.

Bob Seger to Appear on Season Finale of "The Voice"

By: Gary Graff — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:02:00 GMT

One of rock's great voices will be part of "The Voice's" season finale.

Bob Seger will appear on Tuesday's (June 18) season finale, performing with the Swon Brothers, the Oklahoma duo that got major props for its cover of Seger's "Turn the Page" last week.

Seger has been in Los Angeles since Saturday (June 15) to rehearse with the Swons; they'll perform one of his songs during the broadcast, but its identity is being kept secret. The appearance gives Seger a break from working on his next album, his first of all-new material since 2006's "Face The Promise."

Earlier this year, in the midst of his Rock And Roll Never Forgets Tour, Seger told us that he really wants to get the project finished and out this year:

"I told Capitol records I want this out end of August, and they said OK...I'll tell you, even if I have to do covers I don't care. I just want to have good songs on it...so I don't care if I write 'em or not, but I'm gonna try to write 'em."

During the tour Seger previewed one new song, "All of the Roads" -- which he says is being considered for the album's title track -- as well as versions of the Wilco/Billy Bragg/Woody Guthrie collaboration "California Stars" and John Hiatt's "Detroit City." Other songs targeted for the album include "Gate of Eden," "Ride Out" and "Wonderland."

Seger won't be "The Voice's" only big-name guest on Tuesday: Cher, Bruno Mars, Pitbull, OneRepublic, Hunter Hayes, Florida Georgia Line, Nelly and Christina Aguilera are also slated to perform.

CLICK HERE to learn out more about Gary Graff and his award-winning music journalism including the books he has written on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

Neil Young Returning for Farm Aid Benefit Concert

By: Troy Frisby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:38:00 GMT

Neil Young is once again joining forces with several other iconic musicians to perform at the Farm Aid benefit concert in September.

Farm Aid was co-organized by Young, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson, all of whom will perform at the event this fall. The Huffington Post reports that Dave Matthews, who joined the organization’s board of directors back in 2001, will perform at the benefit concert in Saratoga Springs, New York as well.

The group was founded back in 1985, making Farm Aid the longest-running benefit concert series in the U.S., according to the organization's website. Farm Aid has raised more than $40 million in order to “raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on the land.”

The Farm Aid 2013 benefit concert will take place on September 21 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the event will be available beginning Friday, June 28. For more information, visit farmaid.org.

Check out Neil Young’s live performance of “Down by the River” from Farm Aid’s 25^th anniversary back in 2010 below.

Pink Floyd’s Catalog ‘Unlocked’ on Spotify After One Million Streams

By: Amber Harvey — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:55:00 GMT

Mission accomplished Pink Floyd fans!

The band’s entire discography as well as the solo albums of their guitarist and co-vocalist David Gilmour, have been officially “unlocked” on Spotify after a promotional deal between Pink Floyd and the music streaming service, according to an official statement.

In a campaign starting on Friday, June 14^th, the arrangement held that as soon as Floyd’s iconic 1975 track “Wish You Were Here” hit one milion streams, the band’s entire back catalog would be made available for Spotify’s 20 million registered users.

The campaign took a mere four days—demonstrating how very badly the music site’s listeners wanted access to such mind-bending, hit LPs as The Wall, the Dark Side of the Moon, Animals and Division Bell.

This accomplishment by Floyd fans makes Spotify the only free streaming music service to have the band’s discography in its entirety.

For more information on Pink Floyd, who celebrates the 40^th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon this year, visit their website, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Springsteen Performs "Promised Land" for Charity

By: Troy Frisby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:53:00 GMT

The Boss is the latest music icon to join Bono’s new charity project "The ONE Campaign."

While some of the younger artists are covering legendary songs in order to raise awareness for the world poverty project, Bruce Springsteen is taking on one of his own.

The singer has released a live performance of his song, “The Promised Land,” from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Springsteen’s new version of “The Promised Land” joins a number of iconic songs, including a cover of “Give Peace a Chance” by the late John Lennon’s son, Sean, along with Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine, as well as Aerosmith's performance of their hit “Living on the Edge.”

Of course, U2 frontman Bono had to get in on the action for the campaign he started. For the project, U2 performed a cover of Billy Idol’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

The Boss is in the middle of his Wrecking Ball Tour, currently performing in Europe for the summer. For the latest on Springsteen tour dates, check out his official site.

Check out video of Springsteen’s new recording of “The Promised Land” and leave your thoughts on how it stacks up to the original studio version in the comments below. For more on Bono’s ONE campaign, head over to http://www.one.org/protestsongs/.

Lock of Mick Jagger’s Hair Up for Auction

By: Troy Frisby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:25:00 GMT

Would you pay to get your hands on a lock of your favorite rocker’s hair? What if it was for charity?

In an odd bit of news today, Rolling Stone reports that a British woman is putting those questions to the test. The grandmother of Chrissie Shrimpton, who dated the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger back in the early ‘60s, saved a lock of Jagger’s hair when he stayed at the family’s farm.

After her grandmother’s death, the hair was passed on to Shrimpton’s aunt. After she also passed away, Shrimpton found a small paper envelope containing the hair while searching through her belongings.

The label on the envelope reads, “Mick Jagger’s hair after being washed & trimmed by Chris at Rose Hill Farm.” Though the discovery probably came as a surprise, Shrimpton eventually decided to put the hair up for auction.

Beginning on July 3, the item will be available for sale online through Bonhams, a UK auction house. Bonhams estimates that the lock of hair could fetch as high as $3,100.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit Changing Faces, a charity dedicated to helping “people and families who are living with conditions, marks or scars that affect their appearance.

At this point, there’s no word from Jagger on what he thinks of the situation. Check out rollingstones.com for the latest on the Stones, and don’t forget to share how much you’d pay for a token of your favorite rocker in the comments below.

Bob Dylan Sets Fall European Tour

By: Troy Frisby — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:28:00 GMT

The legendary Bob Dylan has announced a European tour that will kick off this fall.

Classic Rock Magazine reports that the 72-year-old singer, who just had a birthday last month, announced more than 30 dates for the upcoming tour, which will start in Oslo, Norway on October 10 before finishing up in London at the end of November.

The news comes shortly before the singer-songwriter is set to get on the road for a U.S. tour this summer, performing his first show since early May later this month.

Upcoming North American Tour Dates for the Next Month:

6/26 West Palm Beach, Florida at Cruzan Amphitheatre
6/27 Tampa, Florida at Live Nation Amphitheatre
6/29 Atlanta, Georgia at Aaron’s Amphitheatre
6/30 Nashville, Tennessee at The Lawn at Riverfront Park
7/2 Memphis, Tennessee at AutoZone Park
7/3 Tuscaloosa, Alabama at Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre
7/5 Noblesville, Indiana at Klipsch Music Theater
7/6 Cincinnati, Ohio at Riverbend Music Center
7/9 Duluth, Minnesota at Bayfront Park
7/10 St. Paul, Minnesota at Midway Stadium
7/11 Peoria, Illinois at Dozer Park
7/12 Chicago, Illinois at Toyota Park
7/14 Clarkston, Michigan at DTE Energy Music Theatre

Dylan has been releasing his set lists from his most recent shows on his website, which show the icon kicking things off with his Oscar-winning “Things Have Changed” and sticking to tracks from his most recent LP, 2012’s Tempest.

The singer still manages to work in some old classics, however, including “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Visions of Johanna” and “All Along the Watchtower.”

For a complete list of tour dates, head over to Dylan’s official site.