Classic Rock News
By Gary Graff - The Classic Rock Insider
Updated Monday, September 08, 2008
JOURNEY SAYS YOUTUBE SINGER IS THE REAL DEAL
Of the 18 members how have passed through Journey's ranks over its 35 career none is as unique as new frontman Arnel Pineda, a Filipino who the band found singing Journey covers on YouTube. But keyboardist Jonathan Cain tells the Insider that Pineda is as real a deal as any of the others who have occupied the singer's seat in Journey. "I was blown away," Cain says, recalling his first look at Pineda's videos. "There he was, with that voice. It was just...phenomenal. They were crappy recordings, but you could tell it was live and (his singing) was the real deal." Journey wound up needing a new singer after Steve Augeri, who replaced longtime frontman Steve Perry, fell victim to incurable voice problems and his replacement, Jeff Scott Soto, proved incompatible after just 11 months. There were rumors that Perry might return to the fold for the first time since 1998, but Cain says that was never a consideration: "(Perry) said, 'No, don't expect anything from me. We're done,' and I know he keeps his word. He's done it. His legacy is there. Why would he want to go back it? And we wouldn't want to slide backwards, either. We're really lucky things have worked out this well. We appreciate how fortunate we are." Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday (September 9th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 pavilion and $27.50 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com
HEART HAS CONCEPT IN MIND FOR NEXT ALBUM
Heart is playing the oldies -- albeit some in reinvented fashion -- during its current tour with Journey and Cheap Trick. But guitarist Nancy Wilson tells the Insider that she and sister Ann have new music up their sleeves, too. "Right now it's a concept album," Wilson says of what will be Heart's first new album since "Jupiter's Darling" in 2004. "I'm writing for it already, and it will all thread together thematically from top to bottom. It'll be a complete experience instead of a collection of songs, and it'll have more of a cinematic feel to it." Wilson says Heart hopes to hit the studio this fall to start work on the album and have it ready for release in 2009. "I think it's a really fresh idea, so I'm not quite ready to unveil it yet," she says. "I don't want other people to rip us off. So I'm keeping the details quiet right now." Heart performs with Journey and Cheap Trick at 7 p.m. Tuesday (September 9th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 pavilion and $27.50 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
HEART SAYS REPULICANS' USE OF
Heart is not loving the Republican Party's use of its hit "Barracuda" as vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's theme song. After the tune was played at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night (September 4th), sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, along with Universal Music Publishing and SonyBMG, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign and issued a statement saying that "The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored." Palin was nicknamed Barracuda as a high school athlete. Heart's action follows Jackson Browne, who sued the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee in August over its use of his "Running on Empty" in ads. That case is still pending in Los Angeles district court. Heart performs with Journey and Cheap Trick at 7 p.m. Tuesday (September 9th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 pavilion and $27.50 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
NEW 'KICK OUT THE JAMS' COMING ON NEXT GUITAR HERO GAME
A new version of the MC5 classic "Kick Out the Jams" will grace Guitar Hero World Tour when the video game is released on October 27th. MC5 co-founder Wayne Kramer recently hit the studio with Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell and former Guns N' Roses axeman Gilby Clarke to record the updated version of "Kick Out the Jams." The MC5 celebrates a special anniversary on Halloween -- 40 years since it recorded its first album at the Grande Ballroom.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN CONTRIBUTES NEW SONG TO FILM
With is Magic Tour just finished, word comes that Bruce Springsteen has written the title song for "The Wrestler," a new film by Darren Aronofsky that's premiering at Friday (September 5th) at the Venice Film Festival. Aronofsky ("Pi," "Requiem For a Dream") confirmed Springsteen's song on his Internet blog, writing that it will be played during the film's closing credits: "Bruce Springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for the closing the film. Called 'The Wrestler,' it is a wonderful acoustic piece. makes me choke up every time i hear it. He really captured the spirit of the film and Mickey (Rourke)'s character in the piece." "The Wrestler" will also be shown on Sunday (September 7th) at the Toronto Film Festival and in October at the New York Film Festival. It should be in theaters before the end of the year. Springsteen and his E Street Band wrapped up their world tour on Saturday (August 30th) in Milwaukee but are rumored to be playing at Super Bowl XLIII in January.
DYLAN SIGNS UP FOR HARMONICA ENDORSEMENT
He's lent his name, music and image to iTunes and Victoria's Secret. Now Bob Dylan has a new product to hawk -- harmonicas. Dylan, who actually plays the instrument, has signed on for a Bob Dylan Signature Series with Hohner Harmonicas. Each of the instruments will include a logo designed by Dylan as well as a hand-stamped signature. A special issue of 25 seven-harmonica sets and 100 individual harmonicas will be hand-signed by Dylan, who's been a regular Hohner player throughout his career. The Dylan Hohners should go on sale in October, and the manufacturer expects to sell about 10,000 harmonicas before the year's out. Dylan wraps up his current U.S. tour with three dates in California this week, and he's readying the October 27th release of "Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8," which will include rare material from 1989-2006.
GENESIS SCHEDULES FINAL BOX SET
Genesis will finish its catalog rollout on Nov. 11 with the release of "Genesis: 1970-1975," the last of three box sets containing upgraded and expanded versions of the British group's studio albums. The new collection will feature the years Peter Gabriel fronted the band, including the "Trespass," "Nursery Cryme," "Foxtrot," "Selling England By the Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" albums; each comes with an extra DVD of interviews, television performances and other material, while "The Lamb's" DVD includes a performance of the entire rock opera from France in 1973 and a 1974 French TV performance of "Supper's Ready." "Extras 1970-1975," meanwhile, will carry 10 rarities such as the B-side "Twilight Alehouse," three songs from a BBC program, a performance from "The Midnight Special" and the VH1 program "Genesis 1967-1975." The set will carry a $139.98 list price, and the individual albums are expected to be made available in 2009.
ALICE COOPER PLANNING BIG 'SPIDER' SHOW FOR 2009
Alice Cooper's current Psychodrama Tour is, he says, "basically the classic rock tour," featuring hits and a couple of songs from his new concept album, "Along Came a Spider." But the Detroit-born shock rocker tells the Insider that he plans to roll out a full-scale "...Spider" show in 2009. "Right now I've got people that are drawing things up," says Cooper. "We've started thinking about 'What can we do to make this really interesting and what new things can we do with the stage?' I gonna definitely create a new way for Alice to die, something nobody's seen. A lot of clever minds out there are working on it It's weird to be working on a show for a year from now, but at the same time I can at least give myself a good head start." "...Spider," Cooper's 25th album, tells the story of a serial killer who wraps his victims in silk the color of his eyes and also removes on of their legs in order to turn himself into a, well, spider. It finishes with a twist, however, which we won't reveal here. "That (twist) needs to be there for it to be an Alice Cooper thing," he says. Cooper is also mulling over a visual treatment of "...Spider" with different horror directors creating videos for each song. Cooper performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday (August 27th) at the Michigan State Fair, Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, Detroit. The show is free with a State Fair admission; Gold Circle seats are available for an additional $20. Call (313) 369-8250 or visit www.michigan.gov/mistatefair.
GREGG ALLMAN HAPPY TO BE BACK WITH THE
Gregg Allman says he's back and ready to rock after a bout of treatment for Hepatitis C that forced him to take the first half of this year off. "I'm back with the living now," Allman tells the Insider. "I don't have all my strength back yet. I'll sleep eight hours, 10 hours, 11 hours, but I'm getting totally back up on my feet again." Allman says the treatments for the disease, which laid dormant for many years, was "hell...but it worked." He mostly regrets having to cancel the group's annual month-long stint at New York's Beacon Theatre. "I've never done that," he notes, "and had it not been a total emergency, I wouldn't have done it this time. But I just flat couldn't make it, man. They make you take this (medication), you might as well plan on staying home for half a year." Allman says the group plans to return to the Beacon in March with several big-name guests -- "All the people we've played with," he contends -- as the focal point of the Allmans' 40th anniversary celebration. The group is also writing songs for a new album, which will be its first since 2003's "Hittin' the Note." The Allman Brothers Band and Bob Weir & Ratdog perform at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (August 27th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $49.50 pavilion, $29 lawn with a $60 lawn four-pack available. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
DOORS NAME CONTROVERSY NEARING RESOLUTION
It looks like Doors alumni Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger will be Riders on the Storm from here on out. The California Supreme Court has refused to hear the duo's appeal on a ruling by a lower court that they cannot call their current band the Doors of the 21st Century and must pay $5 million to former drummer John Densmore and the estate of late singer Jim Morrison. Densmore and the estate had agreed the duo could go on the road and play Doors songs but could not "improperly" invoke the Doors' name while doing so. In response to a 2003 suit, the courts agreed that the Doors of the 21st Century was too close to the band's original name and could not be used. Densmore has also vetoed the use of the Doors' music in ads for Apple and Cadillac. Court records indicate that, as the Doors of the 21st Century, Manzarek and Krieger grossed $8 million and netted $3.2 million. The lower court ordered the duo to play Densmore and the Morrison estate $3.2 million plus $2 million in legal costs, although the latter award is under review. Riders on the Storm, meanwhile, continue to tour wtih former Fuel singer Brett Scallions singing Morrison's parts. The group performs September 19th at the Emerald Theatre in Mt. Clemens. Call (586) 913-1920 or visit www.emeraldtheatre.com for details.
ZZ TOP STARTING TO PLAN NEXT ALBUM
They'll be on the road until early November, but the three men of ZZ Top are eyeballing a new album in the near future. The Lil' Old Band From Texas has signed with producer Rick Rubin and his American Recordings imprint, and guitarist Billy F. Gibbons tells the Insider that the prospects are exciting. "All I can say at this point this a new venture between the two of us," Gibbons says. "I've known Rick for 20 years and we've waited for this opportunity for a double decade. I've not sat down with him pointedly to get down to business just yet, but I feel very comfortable working within the framework that he envisions. He's got a good feel on the pulse, and I'm very interested in what he might have in mind." Gibbons says that Rubin has forwarded one idea -- hooking ZZ Top up with the Black Keys for some writing and possibly recording. Meanwhile, there is some new material around already, from a 15-day studio session Gibbons did in May with a couple of engineers, during which Gibbons says he "managed to squeeze out 15 tunes. "It was just me kickin' back and having a good time," Gibbons recalls. "We did everything from a black church gospel ballad to updated versions of 'Rollin' and Tumblin',' did some Jimmy Reed take-off things, just keeping that bluesy thread throughout. I think that as long as we maintain that blues tradition, the material takes on an identity that's easily digestible, at least in terms of what our fans have asked for." Prior to the new album, ZZ Top will release an expanded 25th anniversary "Eliminator (Collector's Edition) on Tuesday (August 26th), while Gibbons has recorded a version of Chuck Berry's "Run, Rudolph, Run" with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister for a compiliaton called "Metal Christmas" that's due out this fall. ZZ Top performs with Brooks & Dunn and Rodney Atkins perform at 7 p.m. Saturday (August 23rd) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $59.50 and $39.50 pavilion, $29.50 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
JIMMY PAGE TO BRING
Led Zeppelin fans will get a treat at Sunday's (August 24th) closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Zep guitarist Jimmy Page will team with new British singing sensation Leona Lewis for a rendition of the group's first hit, "Whole Lotta Love." The word comes from bassist Guy Pratt, who's playing with the duo, in a posting on his web site that's since been removed but has still been widely reported.
NEIL YOUNG LINES UP FALL TOUR
Neil Young is headed back on the road -- and is coming to the Detroit area. Young will perform Dec. 7 at the Palace of Auburn Hills as part of a 19-date tour that begins October 14th in St. Paul, Minn., and wraps December 15th in New York City. Ticket details will be announced, soon. Young will be touring ostensibly to promote the first volume of "Archive," a long-awaited multi-disc collection chronicling his career that's expected out this fall. But Young recently told the Insider that he also enjoys touring just for the sake of touring these days: "Playing for people with a great band is very rewarding. It's very physical -- it's very good for ME physically. It keeps me in top form, physically, and that makes me feel good. And I've come up with a way of doing it so I'm on and I'm off and on and off and I get enough time off so I can focus on the car project and do things like that for six to eight weeks and then I go right back out on the road again and take another couple shots at that. So we've just got a plan like that -- one thing supports another." Prior to the tour Young will perform at this year's Farm Aid concert on September 20th in Mansfield, Mass. He's also expected to announce dates and a lineup soon for his annual Bridge School Benefit.
AC/DC RELEASES NEW ALBUM DETAILS
AC/DC will release its long-awaited new album on October 20th -- exclusively via Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, as expected. "Black Ice" is the hard rockers' first set of new material since "Stiff Upper Lip" in 2000. It was recorded with producer Brendan O'Brien at his Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. The first single, "Rock 'N' Roll Train," will be released on August 28th, with a video recently shot in London, and the group is planning a world tour starting in North America in October. Prior to the album, AC/DC will release a concert DVD, "No Bull: The Director's Cut," from a 1996 concert in Madrid, on September 9th. The "Black Ice" album is currently available for pre-order at www.acdc.com and the Sam's Club and Wal-Mart web sites.
BLACK SABBATH ALUMS PLANNING NEW ALBUM
A new album is coming from Heaven & Hell -- which most of us know better as the third incarnation of Black Sabbath, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals and Vinnie Appice playing drums. Guitarist Tony Iommi tells the Insider that he, Dio and bassist Terry "Geezer" Butler have been writing in Los Angeles and have "about six or seven new songs" ready to go. They plan to reconvene after the group's current Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest. The guitarist adds that he's "really pleased" with what the group has come up with so far, describing the material as "really good, pretty powerful." But even though it used the Sabbath name for the new box set -- "The Rules of Hell," featuring Dio's four albums with Sabbath -- Iommi says the group plans to stick with the Heaven & Hell name. "It does get confusing that way," Iommi acknowledges. "It really is Black Sabbath, whatever we do. We just choose to go out as Heaven & Hell so everyone knows what they're getting, so people won't expect to hear 'Iron Man' and all those songs we did with Ozzy (Osbourne)." The Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead, Testament and Seduce, plays at 4:30 p.m. Monday (August 18th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $85 and $60 pavilion, $24 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
STEELY DAN WOULD RATHER TOUR THAN RECORD THESE DAYS
It's been five years since Steely Dan's last album, "Everything Must Go." And co-founder Walter Becker says fans shouldn't hold their breath waiting fro the next one. "At this point we don't have a (record company) deal and we haven't really talked too much about it," Becker tells the Insider, "so I don't think there's any real plan in place. I figure it's something we can do at any time we want to, and if it's ever to happen it'll be in some sort of organic way. And at this point I think the touring thing is better for us in a way. It feels better for me to go out and tour and play those songs than to be cooped up indefinitely in a studio. That's just the way I feel right now." There is some new music; Becker released his second solo album, "Circus Money," earlier this year. But he isn't playing any of those songs with Steely Dan on its current Think Fast Tour. "My experience has been that fans are there because they want to hear Steely Dan songs," Becker explains. "I think there probably are Steely Dan fans who, if it's not Donald (Fagen) singing, it's not Steely Dan -- and I think that's a perfectly valid way to feel about it. So I don't want to impose this on people." Steely Dan and the Joey DeFrancesco Trio perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday (August 15th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre. Tickets are $85 and $55 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
U2 ALBUM TITLE LEAKS
U2 may have a title for its new album. "No Line on the Horizon" was registered to Universal Music Operations Ltd. of London in late July and is expected to be the title of the Irish group's follow-up to 2004's "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." The company also registered several song titles, including "For Your Love," "Love Is All We Have Left," "One Bird," "Moment of Surrender," "The Cedars of Lebanon" and "No Line on the Horizon." The album is expected out in mid-November, with a world tour to follow in 2009. Before that, U2 will be releasing an expanded edition of its DVD "Live at Red Rocks" on September 29th, along with the companion live album "Under a Blood Red Sky."
SPRINGSTEEN TO PLAY SUPER BOWL?
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are being tipped as the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIII, which takes place February 1st in Tampa, Fla. The New York Post has reported that guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt has already rented out the city's Hard Rock Cafe for a Super Bowl Party, but the National Football League says the reports re premature. "We don't talk about our talent discussions," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Variety: "We don't have any talent confirmed for the Super Bowl." If true, Springsteen will join a line of classic rockers that have played the coveted halftime slot, including Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones and last year's act, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. In other Springsteen news, word has leaked that Springsteen and Patti Scialfa's oldest child, Evan, will be attending Boston College this fall and is planning to move into his dormitory during Labor Day Weekend, after his mom and dad finish their current set of U.S. tour dates.
PAUL MCCARTNEY JOINS FORMER CAT STEVENS ON NEW SONG
Paul McCartney will make a guest appearance with Yusuf Islam (who you know as Cat Stevens) on a new song. McCartney is lending his voice to "Boots & Sand," which chronicles Islam's thoughts about being denied entry to the U.S. in 2004 after his name was confused with another man's on a list of foreigners not permitted to enter the country. Islam has also lined up former Hollies guitarist Terry Sylvester, Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss to perform on the song, but no release date has been announced yet. Islam's last album, "An Other Cup," came out in 2006. McCartney, meanwhile, continues his cross-country Route 66 trip with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. They were recently spotted camping at Bennett Springs State Park in Missouri after previous sightings in Oklahoma City, Springfield, Ill., and Joliet, Ill. -- where McCartney's 1989 Ford Bronco was towed for being illegally parked at the Joliet Area Historical Museum.
KANSAS MEMBERS PLANNING SIDE PROJECT
Kansas is getting ready to make some new music -- sort of. Four members of the veteran group, all but singer-keyboardist Steve Walsh, have launched a side project called Native Window. Guitarist Rich Williams tells the Insider that he, drummer Phil Ehart, bassist Billy Greer and violinist David Ragsdale are two-thirds of the way through the group's first album, which they hope to release in 2009. "It's just an opportunity for us to put on a different hat and be something other than Kansas," Williams explains. "We don't know what it's going to be, really. The one thing we don't want to be is Kansas; when we start to sound too much like (Kansas) we re-write the part. It's unknown territory, but it's fun. And if it's received well, we might open for Kansas someday!" Kansas is currently touring to promote the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of the group's first live album, "Two For the Show," while Williams says there are plans to play more dates with symphony orchestras next year and possibly film a DVD. Kansas performs at the 2008 Rockin' on the Riverfront concert series at 8 p.m. Friday (August 8th) on the RiverWalk behind the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Admission is free. Call (313) 567-3126 or visit www.gmrencen.com.
ROD STEWART COUNTERS RON WOOD'S CLAIMS THAT HE'S TIGHT
Last month they were talking about reuniting the Faces; now Rod Stewart is sniping at former bandmate Ron Wood. Seems that Wood, who's now with the Rolling Stones -- and was most recently back in rehab for his alcoholism -- has been making frequent comments about Stewart being tight with his money, and the singer is getting tired of hearing it. "I am not tight or mean," Stewart said in a recent Australian interview. "Ronnie Wood, who is a great mate, keeps saying I am. He's such an a**hole. He says I'm tighter then two coats of I paint. I am careful with money, Ronnie isn't. Ronnie doesn't keep his eyes on the accounts like I do. He's got no Scottish blood in him. But I'm not tight. I do lots of work for charities. I just don't make it public." Stewart acknowledged that he might have contribute to his reputation for financial prudence "a little bit in the early days when I was building an image for myself and with my love of Scotland, but not all Scottish people are tight, believe me." Stewart and Bryan Adams perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 6) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $150 and $85 pavilion, $35 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
LET IT BE, DVD PLANNED, BUT NOT SCHEDULED YET
Contrary to published reports last week, the Beatles "Let it Be" will eventually be released on DVD -- but nobody knows when. The Beatles fan site AbbeyRd's Beatles Page confirms that the group's Apple Corps does plan to release the Academy Award-winning documentary, released in 1970, but that no date has been determined. A source last week said that surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had scotched any plans of releasing the movie, which documents infighting and bickering amongst the four band members. The unnamed source said that "The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it's felt it won't be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story." AbbeyRd's Beatles Page reports that Apple officials said "we do have plans to release it some time in the future." "Let it Be" won the Academy Award for Best Music Score as well as a Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. In 2003 the Beatles released "Let it Be...Naked," a version of the "Let it Be" album produced by George Martin, before the tapes were turned over to Phil Spector for "sweetening" in 1970.
CREAM EYEBALLING POSSIBLE OCTOBER REUNION -- AND MORE
Another Cream reunion may be in the offing for October -- although bassist Jack Bruce says it's not yet a guarantee. Bruce, who's part of this summer's Hippie Fest tour, tells the Insider that he and Eric Clapton plan to attend a ceremony on Oct. 3 in London where Cream drummer Ginger Baker will be given a Drummers Achievement Award by cymbal maker Zildjian at the Royal Festival Hall. "I know there's a good chance we may play at that event...but I don't want to overstate it and make it into something it isn't," Bruce explains. " 'Cause I'm only the bass player, I can't say for sure." Nevertheless, Bruce expects that he, Clapton and Baker will at least "have a chat about" some future reunions, as the trio did May of 2005 in London, which resulted in a subsequent live album and DVD, and October of 2005 in New York. "I think there might be a chance of some more," Baker says. "I would like to do some more, 'cause I enjoyed it. It was very emotional. I would like another shot at it. It's quite difficult for us, 'cause it's all very separate. Ginger's living in South Africa. Eric's this mega-star, and it's difficult for us to keep in communication. But as soon as we do it's wonderful." Hippie Fest, featuring Jack Bruce of Cream, Eric Burdon & the Namials, Melanie, Badfinger featuring Joey Molland and Terry Sylvester of the Hollies, plays at 7 p.m. Saturday (August 2nd) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $35.50 pavilion, $10 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
DYLAN, CREEDENCE RAID VAULTS FOR FALL RELEASES
Bob Dylan and Creedence Clearwater Revival have scheduled major archival projects for release this fall. Dylan will release "Tell Tale Signs -- The Bootleg Series Vol. 8" on October 7th, a three-disc set focusing on the past two decades of his career. Among the songs are outtakes and alternate versions of tracks from his "Time Out of Mind," "Oh Mercy," "Modern Times" and "World Gone Wrong" albums, as well as contributions to the soundtracks for "Gods and Generals," "Lucky You" and "Clinch Mountain Country" and a version of "Cold Irons Bound" from Dylan's performance at the 2004 Bonnaroo festival. One song, "Dreamin' of You," is available as a free download at Dylan's web site, while copies of "Tell Tale Signs" purchased at BobDylan.com will come with a 7-inch vinyl single featuring two additional songs. CCR, meanwhile, will roll out expanded editions of its six studio albums on September 30th. All of the titles -- "Creedence Clearwater Revival," "Bayou Country," "Green River," "Willy & the Poor Boys," "Cosmo's Factory" and "Pendulum" -- will feature extra tracks, including B-sides, unreleased outtakes and live material, and, on "Willy & the Poor Boys," a version of "Down on the Corner" recorded with Booker T & the MGs.
FRAMPTON MOVING FORWARD ON NEXT ALBUM
Peter Frampton won a Grammy Award -- his first -- for his last album, 2006's all-instrumental "Fingertips." So he's approaching its follow-up with a certain amount of confidence. "We've written a lot of songs for it already, but I haven't finished writing yet," Frampton, who plans to continue working on the album after his summer concert tour and have it finished for a 2009 release, tells the Insider. "I've had nine, 10 months of writing it, and it's just been a luxury. I'm addicted to writing now. I'm just hoping I don't have Stevie Wonder disease, where you don't ever finish the record. I promise I'll never get to that stage." Frampton says the album might include a couple of instrumentals but will feature mostly vocal tracks. And in addition to his regular band he also plans to do some recording with Motown's Funk Brothers, who he inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame earlier this year. "That was probably the highlight of my life," says Frampton, who played "Shotgun" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" with the group that night. "I said to the guys, 'Look, I would just die if we could do a session for my next record,' and they were like, 'When do you want to do it?' So...we're going to do something. A couple of tracks with them would just be icing on the cake for me." Frampton performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (July 29th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $35 pavilion, $10 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
CD, DVD TO FOLLOW POLICE REUNION TOUR
The Police plan to lift the veil on their reunion tour -- although well after the fact. The 14-month-plus outing ends on August 7th in New York City, and it will be followed by a live CD and DVD recorded Dec. 1-2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The DVD will also include a documentary about the tour called "Better Than Therapy," which was directed by Jordan Copeland, the son of Police drummer Stewart Copeland. "He's a much better filmmaker than me," the elder says Copeland, who turned his home movies into his own film called "Everyone Stares: the Police Inside Out," tells the Insider. "He totally gets right under our skins, the little bastard, and his analysis of the group is better than any I've seen. It's unbelievable to see the early rehearsals compared to where we're at now. Some of them were so raw we had to take them out, some of the scenes. But he's still got the nitty gritty there, with us each grappling with the reality of life in the band again." No release date has yet been set for the projects. Copeland, meanwhile, promises that he and bandmates Sting and Andy Summers are serious when they say this will be the last Police tour ever. "It was always planned as a very finite thing," Copeland says. "In the back of our minds there was the possible 'Who knows? Maybe if some new material comes up or something like that, you never know...' But the mission has always been finite." The Police and Elvis Costello & the Imposters perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (July 26th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $232.50 and $97.50 pavilion, $47.50 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
NEIL YOUNG SAYS SONGS DROVE TONE OF 2006 CSNY TOUR
Neil Young says a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tour was already in the works for 2006 when he came up with the songs for his politically provocative "Living With War" album -- and turned the whole endeavor on its head. "I just said to the other guys, 'Listen, this (music) is all I can do. I can't mix this up with anything else,' " Young -- whose documentary of the Freedom of Speech Tour, "CSNY: Deja Vu," opens Friday (July 25th) at the Maple Art Theatre in Bloomfield Hills -- tells the Insider. "For us to water it down and sprinkle in our old romantic ballads to try and soften it...I said, 'There's no reason to soften it. We should just treat it like journalism and go for it and try to do this." David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash readily agreed, and the subsequent 34-date trek, which played at the Palace of Auburn Hills, became a spark point for political discourse as CSNY openly called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush. Nash recalls it as "the first tour I was on with bomb-sniffing dogs and FBI agents at the gigs," and Young concurs that it was "the most nerve-wracking tour I've ever done." CSNY has also released a live companion album to the film, which Young calls "hands down the most rockin' record that was ever made by this band," and a DVD has also been released.
REPORT SAYS TOWNSHEND, DALTREY NOT GETTING ALONG
There are reports that the Who's upcoming North American tour, which kicks off October 21st at the Palace of Auburn Hills, may not be a friendly affair -- even in the wake of the group's VH1 Honors special. The New York Post quotes an insider as saying that Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the Who's remaining founding members, are "at each other's throats right now" but will still hit the road for what's expected to be a $100 million payday. The source says the two particularly disagree over repertoire for the band these days; "Pete has been writing all this new material and wants to perform the new stuff, but Roger wants to stick with 'My Generation,' 'Won't Get Fooled Again,' 'Pinball Wizard' and other classics." According to the report, contracts for the show stipulate that the Townshend and Daltrey must have separate dressing rooms on opposite ends of the corridor, as well separate travel arrangements and hotel accommodations. The two are not expected to converse before or after the concert. "They will basically show up, play, and leave," the source says. Daltrey and Townshend are expected to keep the Who on the road into 2009, with dates around the world.
MELLENCAMP CALLS NEW ALBUM AN
John Mellencamp portrays his just-released new album, "Life Death Love and Freedom" as something of an accident. "All of these songs were written in a 15-day period," the Indiana rocker, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, tells the Insider. "I had no intention of writing songs for a record. The songs just sort of happened." And while he's known for a kind of irascible nature that's reflected in the dark countenance of these 14 songs, Mellencamp contends that "one would be making an error to personalize these songs too much. These songs were written in the American Songbook tradition" of third-person and fictionalized scenarios. Despite the new album, Mellencamp is still playing plenty of his old hits on tour this summer == but he cautions fans that some of them might not sound exactly like when they were hits. "You have to make it interesting for the guys in the band and myself," he explains. "I don't want to play 'The Authority Song' and have it sound liked it did in 1983. You can do a song a million different ways; as long as I keep the melody pretty close to the bone, it works. It kind of challenges the audience a little bit. But guys that I admire have always done that. I've seen Bob Dylan do that for a zillion years. I've seen Neil Young do it a zillion times. So knowing that and having the opportunity to do that myself, why wouldn't I?" John Mellencamp and Lucinda Williams perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday (July 18) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $85 and $49.50 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
NEW ALBUM, OTHER PROJECTS KEEPING CSN BUSY
Crosby, Stills & Nash haven't released a new album as a trio since 1994 -- but that appears likely to change next year. Graham Nash tells the Insider that he, David Crosby and Stephen Stills have started working with Grammy-winning producer Rick Rubin on a project they'll record and release in 2009, though it has a bit of a twist. "What (Rubin) wants is an album with no CSN songs," Nash reports. "He wants to do an album of all the songs we love, all the songs we wish we've written. It's brilliant from this point of view because we usually...wait five years to record an album. This way there's no pressure." Nash says the trio has had "many discussions" with Rubin about the project, whittling the proposed list of songs down to a current 20, which they're rehearsing after sound checks during its summer tour. Nash declines to name specific songs but acknowledges most would be considered well-known. The new album is just one of a slew of projects involving CSN individually and collectively, too. "CSNY: Deja Vu," the documentary of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 2006 Freedom Of Speech Tour, opens July 25, with the companion live album due Tuesday (July 22). Nash, meanwhile, is overseeing a number of archival projects, including his own box set, which will be released in time for his 67th birthday in February. He's curating a Stills box set as well and recently discovered an album's worth of material of Stills playing with Jimi Hendrix that will be compiled for another release. Nash is also putting together a live album from CSNY's 1974 stadium tour, a set of Crosby Nash acoustic recordings and a benefit record for the Children's Defense Fund that will feature his and Crosby's collaborations over the years with artists such as Elton John, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Collins, Jackson Browne and others. Crosby, Stills & Nash perform at 8 p.m. Saturday (July 19) at the Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus of Oakland University, Rochester Hills. Tickets are $75 and $45 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
AFFAIRS WITH WOMAN, BOTTLE PUT RON WOOD BACK IN HEADLINES
Ron Wood is apparently writing another sordid chapter in the Rolling Stones' history book. Sources in the U.K. say that Jo Wood, the guitarist's wife of 23 years, plans to leave him after a reported affair with a 19-year-old Russian, Ekaterina Ivanova, who works as a waitress in London and is said to have posed naked for Wood's sketches. One source told the U.K. newspaper The Sun that "It has sunk in he has had an affair and (Jo Wood) feels betrayed. They had such a strong marriage. He's thrown it all away with his stupid behavior...Jo has been through the mill. She thought he was only drinking buddies with the girl and she was hanging around him for free drinks. Now everything has surfaced about how they met and Jo has hit rock bottom." Ivanova's mother, Irna, denied the pair are romantically involved, saying, "There is nothing between them." The episode comes amidst reports that Wood, who has gone through several stints of rehab, has fallen off the wagon again and is drinking two bottles of vodka a day and has vowed to check back into rehab after getting calls from bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and former Faces cohort Rod Stewart. Last fall, Wood told the Insider that drinking is a perpetual issue in his life: "I think a lot of it with the drink and drugs was the celebration thing. If you'd done something really well, you'd go, 'Yeah! Let's drink to that!' and that was just kind of getting out of hand...I don't like to think of that as me." The Stones are currently on hiatus, and Wood and Stewart have reportedly discussed a Faces reunion -- which may face a roadblock with the guitarist's latest issues.
BON JOVI, SPRINGSTEEN LEAD FIRST-HALF BOX OFFICE STATS
It was a good first half of the year for classic rock on the road -- especially classic rock from New Jersey. Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band led the pack in PollStar magazine's report of the top-grossing tours of the first six months of 2008. Bon Jovi took in $56.3 million for 39 shows, while Springsteen and company pocketed $40.8 million for 29 shows in North America. Van Halen was third with a $36.8 million take, and the Police were No. 10 with $23.3 million. Also in the Top 20 were: Rush, $18.3 million; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with Steve Winwood, $17.8 million; and the Eagles, $15.8 million.
RINGO ALREADY HAS START ON HIS NEXT ALBUM
Ringo Starr fans might not have to wait long for the former Beatle's next album. Starr tells the Insider that he's "in the middle" of a new album, which will follow this year's "Liverpool 8." "I'm sort of doing it, not (in) big chunks," Starr says. "I started a bit last year, late last year, and I did a bit (in) January and February of this year, and I did some in April. In May I did a bit more. I'm doing it slow and easy, and hopefully I'll finish it by next year." Starr says he's been working on the album alone, "putting down all the back tracks myself, and I'm just inviting people, like guitarists, to play on it -- who I won't mention 'cause I might take them off!" Starr has put the album "on hold," however, while he tours with the latest edition of his All-Starr band, which includes previous All-Starr Band members Billy Squier, Edgar Winter, Men at Work's Colin Hay and the Average White Band's Hamish Stuart, as well as "new kid" Gary Wright and Detroit native Gregg Bissonette on drums. "I'm feeling really good about this one 'cause I know everybody in the band," says Starr, who recently released a live album and DVD from the 2006 All-Starr Band tour. "A lot of the All-Starr Bands, though I knew of the artists and their work, I'd never met a lot of them. But I've actually met everybody on stage with me this tour, so it makes it a little easier." Starr and his All-Starrs perform at 9 p.m. Friday (July 11th) in the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor, 377 Riverside Drive East, Windsor. Tickets are $46-$69. Call (888) 345-5885 or visit www.caesarswindsor.com.
Rothbury Festival Features Classic Rock, Too
The just-completed Rothbury Festival in western Michigan focused on mostly younger bands, but it did not forget about classic rock. Members of two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame groups -- the Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead -- brought their solo projects to the four-day bash, filling the fields at the Double JJ Ranch with some familiar sounds. Dead drummer Mickey Hart brought his latest ensemble to Rothbury for an opening night performance on Thursday (July 3rd), delivering his old group's favorites such as "Fire on the Mountain," "Sugaree" and "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad;" Hart's keyboardist, Kyle Hollingsworth, also opened the entire festival with an instrumental version of the Beatles' "Taxman." On Saturday (July 5th), Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife, Susan Tedeschi, graced Rothbury with their Soul Stew Revival, an 11-piece outfit that played 95 minutes of mostly R&B, blues and rock covers. While their two children ran around and blew bubbles backstage, the couple led the ensemble through the Allmans' "Stand Back," Stevie Wonder's "Sugar," Derek & the Dominos' "Any Day" and "Key to the Highway," Allen Toussaint's "Hercules" and the Aretha Franklin arrangement of the Beatles' "Hey Jude." Trucks' Allmans bandmate Warren Haynes brought his other band, Gov't Mule, to Rothbury for a Sunday (July 6th) set, then joined Dead bassist Phil Lesh and his Friends collective for the first four songs of their two-set performance, which closed Rothbury in the wee hours of Sunday morning with a Dead-heavy repertoire that included "Althea," "China Cat Sunflower," "Dire Wolf," "Sugaree" and "Uncle John's Band." Backstage, Haynes and Trucks told the Insider that they're looking forward to the Allmans' August tour -- which includes an August 27th date at the DTE Energy Music Theatre -- and that Gregg Allman has completely recovered from his bout with Hepatitis C. Haynes said the Allmans also have enough new songs for "about half" of a new album. Classic rock also turned up in performan ces by some of the younger acts at Rothbury. John Mayer, with girlfriend Jennifer Aniston in tow, threw his lot in with the classic crowd, incorporating covers of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" into his set on Sunday, while the Dave Matthews Band closed Saturday's show with a romp through Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again)."
BAD COMPANY -- AND THEY CAN'T DENY IT
Bad Company has announced reunion plans for August -- but for one night only. The group will perform for the first time in nine years on August 8th at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.; frontman Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke will take part, but Lynn Sorenson, the bassist from Rodgers' solo band, will step in for the late Boz Burrell, who passed away in 2006. "It'll be great to see the guys and play and go back down that road again just for one night," Rodgers tells the Insider. "On a musical level it's really good. I totally respect the guys musically." Rodgers says the show is also taking place to protect the Bad Company copyright after learning of plans for at least one bogus Bad Company to hit the road in the near future. The show will be dedicated to the memory of Steve Weiss, the longtime attorney for Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and Swan Song Records, who passed away last week in Florida. It will also be recorded for a DVD that will accompany a Bad Company compilation expected out later this year.
STEVEN TYLER: IT WAS DETOX, NOT REHAB
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler is now saying that his recent stint in a California treatment facility was actually for "detox" rather than a full course of rehab. Promoting the new video game Guitar Hero III: Aerosmith, Tyler told the Associated Press that after some recent surgeries he felt that he needed a "safe environment" in which to recuperate: "To have your feet done, to have your leg done, you have to be on narcotics. You have to be on sleep aids at night. I don't know about Joe (Perry, Aerosmith's guitarist) but I was off and running and I didn't like the me that was me...This was a month ago, so I just put the brakes on and checked into detox and just pulled the plug on all of it." The 60-year-old Tyler said he's feeling fine now and is looking forward to working on a new Aerosmith album and getting back on the road -- possibly, in fact, before the end of the year. Perry, meanwhile, is recovering from knee replacement surgery that was done in March.
PAT BENATAR WORKING ON BOOK ABOUT HER CAREER
As one of the first and most visible female rockers, Pat Benatar's had a fascinating life and career. Now she and her husband, guitarist and co-writer Neil Giraldo, plan to document it in a memoir they're currently writing. "It's fun," Benatar tells the Insider. "It's just like going through snapshots and all these things I don't remember anymore -- and some things I don't want to remember anymore, but most of it's good." Benatar says the book will focus mostly on "what the world was like when women were emerging on the rock scene and all the sexism and everything." And if you're looking for tawdry details, she says, keep looking. "When it comes to that (personal) stuff, I'm so boring -- you have no idea. I'm married to the same man for 31 years, right? It's ridiculous. So (the business) seemed like a much more interesting thing to focus on, and I think people will find it very interesting." No title or publication date have been announced yet for the book. Benatar's latest release is a new two-CD compilation called "Ultimate Collection." She opens this year's Rockin' on the Riverfront series at 8 p.m. Friday (June 27) on the RiverWalk behind the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Admission is free. Call (313) 567-3126 or visit www.gmrencen.com.
BOZ SCAGGS RECORDING STANDARDS FOR NEXT ALBUM
What's Boz Scaggs up to these days? Well, he's recording a new album, but don't expect more "Lowdown" or "Lido Shuffle" -- or even "Loan Me a Dime," for that matter. "I don't think I'll be writing any pop songs or in that genre, whatever that is these days," Scaggs tells the Insider. Instead he describes the new album -- "Speak Low," which is due in September -- as a collection of standards that's "a sort of progressive, experimental effort...along the lines of some of the ideas that Gil Evans explored...It will be a more bluesy, Rhythm & Blues album" that features "unusual instrumentation." Songs on the album include Chet Baker's "She Was Too Good to Be True," Johnny Mercer's "This Time the Dream's on Me," the oft-recorded Billy Taylor/Dick Dallas hit "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and the Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track. "It was very challenging to me as a vocalist," Scaggs says. "It's just another direction, another opportunity for me as a vocalist to explore some more music. This is a different way of using my voice, and much more musically challenging and adventurous for me." Scaggs performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (June 26th) at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, 14900 Metropolitan Parkway at Schoenerr, Sterling Heights. Tickets are $51 and $38 pavilion, $13 lawn. Call (586) 268-5100 or visit www.freedomhill.net.
DYLAN READYING NEXT
Online reports have Bob Dylan preparing the next volume of his archival Bootleg Series -- this time a collection of rarities that spans the past couple of years. According to the reports the collection will include: a pair of tracks, "Rise Again" and "Polly Vaughan," from Dylan's unreleased 1992 Chicago sessions with David Bromberg; "32:20 Blues," an outtake from the 1994 solo acoustic set "World Gone Wrong;" five outtakes from 1989's "Oh Mercy," including solo piano versions of "Dignity" and "God Knows," which surfaced on 1990's "Under the Red Sky;" three outtakes from 1997's Grammy Award-winning "Time Out of Mind" -- "Girl From The Red River Shore," "Shake Sugaree" and "Mississippi," the latter of which was recorded by Sheryl Crow and then again by Dylan on 2001's "Love and Theft;" and four leftovers from last year's "Modern Times," including "Cross The Green Mountain" and "From Gods And Generals." No title or release date has been set for the album, though it's expected in the fall. Dylan is currently on tour in Europe and begins a U.S. tour on August 9th in Pittsburgh, although no Detroit area date is on the itinerary.
CHICAGO, DOOBIES A WINNING CONNECTION
Fans headed to see Chicago and the Doobie Brothers this weekend at the DTE Energy Music Theatre will get a double shot of classic rock during the encores. Chicago trumpeter Lee Loughnane tells the Insider that -- as Chicago did with previous tour mates Earth, Wind & Fire and Huey Lewis & the News -- the two groups combine for a half-dozen songs: Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Free" and the Doobies' "Listen to the Music," "Takin' it to the Streets" and "Rockin' Down the Highway." "The songs are strong as it is," Loughnane says, "but when both bands get together on stage it creates an excitement that sort of doubles the impact of the songs. It's really interesting to watch it happen with the audience, 'cause everybody is standing, dancing, singing. It's almost louder than the bands, and you can imagine the power of the two bands together." Loughnane says it feels like the Chicago-Doobies connection is strong enough to go out again next year and possibly film a concert DVD like his band did with Earth, Wind & Fire. "I think it's something we can offer both of our audiences that they don't normally get to hear," says Loughnane. "The way we do this, people can listen to the stuff they're used to hearing, the hits, and have another band on so they're listening to a band they've also enjoyed but might not have been their favorite. And both bands combined takes it into a different stratosphere, and I think both bands gain more fans in that way." Chicago, meanwhile, is supporting "Stone of Sisyphus," the group's "new" album that was actually recorded in 1993 and was finally released earlier this week. Chicago, the Doobie Brothers and Nicola Congiu perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $67.50 and $39.50 pavilion, $25 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
LED ZEP 'HOPE' TO RELEASE REUNION SHOW DVD
With any further Led Zeppelin reunions in ice at the moment, guitarist Jimmy Page is thumping the drum for a DVD release from the group's vaunted reunion performance last December in London. Page has confirmed the show -- a benefit for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund -- was filmed and recently was asked by BBC 6Music if the DVD would ever come out. Page said "I hope so, one day, yeah," while bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones was even more adamant, saying, "Yeah, I should think one day the DVD will come out, but there is no hurry to do it. It was a special occasion, you know, and we really wanted that just to be it really." While there's no firm word on the DVD, rumors are circulating about a fourth-quarter release this year, probably with some if not all of the proceeds going to the Ertegun fund.
PLANT SAYS LED ZEP IS NOT HIS PATH THESE DAYS
Robert Plant continues to pour cold water on hopes for a Led Zeppelin reunion. During a teleconference with reporters last week, Plant was asked about choosing to tour with Alison Krauss -- with whom he recorded the Grammy Award-winning "Raising Sand" album -- instead of his old band. He responded that "my whole deal about singing is I don't just go into remote control to satisfy my ego. I go into a place where I can actually look forward...I'm working around Alison. I'm learning from Alison, I'm learning so much about America and American music from Alison and T-Bone and the whole band. Professionally, this is why I exist as a singer. Amen." Led Zeppelin rumors have been surfacing nonstop since the group reunited at a December concert in London. But while Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have spoken about the inevitability about more dates, Plant told the Insider that he foresees only more work with Krauss in the future: "I'm in no hurry to go anywhere. I want to stay very close. This is a font of knowledge, and I'm sticking as close to it as I can. I'm a very fortunate man. I couldn't wish for anything better than this." Plant and Krauss perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday (June 17th) at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Some single tickets remain at $35-$79.50. Call (313) 471-6611 or visit www.olympiaentertainment.com.
A KISS REALITY SHOW? MAYBE, THE SAY
Might you have a chance to be in Kiss some time in the near future? Apparently so, based on a recent interview frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did on Norwegian TV. When asked about the possibility of a "Kiss Idol" reality show to form a new version of the band, Simmons said that "The answer is yes...The deal has just been signed," although Stanley quickly countered that "there is no signed deal." (Footage of the interview is available at www.nrk.no.) In a subsequent posting at Kissonline.com, Stanley reiterated that no deal has been signed for "a Kiss clone reality show" made it sound like a distinct possibility: "If we were to do a 'Kiss II,' and I don't rule that out, it would be in addition to, and never in place of Kiss. If we were to do it, I know it would be done in a groundbreaking way and would be tremendously entertaining. Kiss has always defined itself by the rules we break, so what's the big surprise? We are in the middle of our biggest and most successful tour of Europe ever, playing to over a half million people, and neither Kiss or I have any plans to stop afterwards." Kiss will be in Europe through June 29th, then returns to the U.S. for a stop at the Rock'n The Rally festival on August 4th in Sturgis. S.D., and shows in Nevada and California. No further dates have been announced.
SEGER, BUFFETT JOIN LITTLE FEAT ON NEW ALBUM
Bob Seger and Jimmy Buffett are part of an all-star lineup helping Little Feat on its next album. "Join the Band," finds the current version of Little Feat re-recording some of the group's best-known songs with its guests, including Seger's first recording since 2006's "Face the Promise," on "Something in the Water" and Buffett on "Champion on the World" and "Time Loves a Hero." Buffett, who executive produced the set, tells the Insider that the goal of the project is "to let Little Feat make some money. They're one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands ever...and I thought it would be great for them to have a shot." Also guesting on "Join the Band" are the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson ("Oh Atlanta"), the country duo Kix & Dunn ("Willin' "), Dave Matthews ("Fat Man in the Bathtub"), Vince Gill ("Dixie Chicken") and Emmylou Harris ("Sailing Shoes"). "Join the Band" is due out August 26th. The current line-up of Little Feat includes Silver Bullet Band backup singer Shaun Murphy.
MORE ZEP GIGS TO COME, PAGE SAYS
Jimmy Page is keeping Led Zeppelin fans' hopes alive. After jamming with the Foo Fighters over the weekend in London, the guitarist promised the British newspaper The Telegraph that there will be more Led Zeppelin shows in the future -- although he implied they would most likely before special events (like December's show for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund) and festivals rather than full-fledged tours. Hopes for the latter were scotched this year when frontman Robert Plant chose to tour with Alison Krauss to support their Grammy-winning "Raising Sand" project instead. Page and John Paul Jones joined the Foo Fighters Saturday (June 7th) at Wembley Stadium for a pair of Zep songs; Foos frontman Dave Grohl moved to drums for "Rock and Roll" while drummer Taylor Hawkins sang lead, and the two switched for "Ramble On." Plant, meanwhile, is keeping the Zep repertoire alive on his tour with Krauss, performing versions of "'When The Levee Breaks," "Black Dog" and "The Battle of Evermore." The duo plays Detroit's Fox Theatre on June 17th.
DYLAN, WONDER SALUTE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL RUN
Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder have spoken out overseas in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. In a rare interview in the London Times, Dylan, who's in the midst of a European tour, said that "We've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up...Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. I'm hopeful that things might change." Wonder, meanwhile, offered his endorsement during a press conference in London on Thursday (June 5th). Asked about Obama by reporters, Wonder saluted the Illinois senator as "a combination of JFK and Martin Luther King. With that he can't lose." Wonder previously voiced support for Obama during a press conference after his September concert at the Meadow Brook Music Festival.
JAMES TAYLOR CELEBRATES RED WINGS' STANLEY CUP
James Taylor's concert Wednesday night (June 4th) at the Meadow Brook Music Festival became a Stanley Cup victory part during the encores. With the final score of the game rippling through the 7,000-strong sellout crowd, backup singer Arnold McCuller placed a Red Wings hat on Taylor's head as the group rolled into a version of the Eddie Floyd soul favorite "Knock on Wood." And though the following song -- Taylor's hit take on Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" -- was pre-planned, it was that much more appropriate given the circumstances. During the bows, McCuller also brought a Red Wings jersey on stage and draped it in front of the group, much to the delight of the crowd.
It may be one of the best-known albums of all time, but not everybody wants to hear Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" these days. The British newspaper The Sun reports that organizers of Britain's famed Glastonbury festival, which takes place June 27th-29th, turned down Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's offer to play "Dark Side" in its entirety at this year's event. One source told the sun that Glastonbury producer Michael Eavis "was grateful for the offer he turned it down. He wants the event to appeal to a younger generation, and feels that Dave wouldn't." Gilmour's former bandmate, Roger Waters, has been performing the entirety of "Dark Side" during his recent tours and also played it at this year's Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. Despite the Glastonbury snub, Gilmour has agreed to play Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother Suite" with the Italian Pink Floyd tribute band Mun Floyd at the Chelsea Festival on June 14th and 15th in England. The performance, which also includes a cellist, a 40-member vocal chorus and a 10-piece brass ensemble from the Royal College of Music, is being coordinated by "Atom Heart Mother" co-composer Ron Geesin.
DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR NEXT HEARTBREAKERS ALBUM
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are on the road this summer just to play -- without a new album or anything else to promote. "They made us an offer we couldn't refuse," guitarist Mike Campbell tells the Insider. "It just seemed like a good summer to go out and play." And even though Petty, Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench released an album with their previous band, Mudcrutch, in April, Campbell says that it may be later rather than sooner before we do hear any new music from the Heartbreakers camp. "It's looming," Campbell confirms. "We're gonna do this tour this summer and then take a couple years off to write the next album. We'd like to make a really great album this time and take our time with the songs, so after this tour we'll have some time to really regroup and work on it at our own speed." Petty, meanwhile, tells the Insider that the Heartbreakers are as strong and together as ever these days. "I still hear rumors all the time that we're breaking up," he says. "I don't know where they come from. It's just a really great surprise to find out you can get better as you get older. If you take care of yourself and care a lot about what you're doing, there's no end to it, I don't think. I think you can keep improving, and if we don't, we'll stop." Petty and the Heartbreakers, with Steve Winwood opening, kick off their tour Friday (May 30th) in Grand Rapids and perform at 8 p.m. Saturday (May 31st) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Tickets are $99.50 and $55. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
GENESIS SAYS NO MORE REUNION ACTIVITY PLANNED
A new DVD is coming, but Genesis has no plans for making music together again -- at least for the time being. Frontman Phil Collins tells the Insider that "nothing's planned, anyway" -- except for his stated desire to focus on his family rather than the road. For Genesis' future, then, Collins says "it's a question of whether there's anything musically, rather than touring, to do. Then there's still possibilities, but we're not discussing it really seriously yet. Guitarist-bassist Mike Rutherford, meanwhile, adds that, "We're all peddling quite slowly at the moment. I like that phrase." There remains a possibility of doing a reunion performance of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" with Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett, but Collins says that will be "for something special" like a one-off performance rather than a full touring production. Genesis is also considering making archival shows available to fans on its web site, but Rutherford says the group is proceeding cautiously on that front, too. "You don't want to perceived as trying to flog stuff," he explains. For the time being, then, fans will have to make due with "When In Rome 2007," a three-disc DVD set including the group's entire July 14, 2007 show before 500,000 fans at Rome's Circus Massimo and a nearly two-hour documentary, "Come Rain or Shine," about the group's reunion tour last year. The DVD goes on sale in June exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club or via Genesis' web site.
MCCARTNEY GETS YALE DEGREE, WINS SEXY SMILE POLL
Paul McCartney racked up a couple of new honors over the holiday weekend. On Monday (May 26th) he was in New Haven, Conn., to receive an honorary Doctor of Music from Yale University at its annual Class Day commencement ceremonies. Yale does not publicize its honorary degrees, but McCartney was seen in the New Haven area throughout the weekend -- including hanging out with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose son attends Yale and who gave the Class Day address. Blair, who dined with McCartney after the ceremony, told the graduates that they should "be prepared to fail as well as to succeed, and realize it is failure, not success, that defines character...Sir Paul McCartney reminded me that the first record company the Beatles approached rejected them as a band no one would want to listen to." Presenting McCartney with his degree, Yale President Richard Levinhe told the former Beatle that "here, there and everywhere, you have pushed the boundaries of the familiar to create new classics." The Yale band played the Beatles' "Hey Jude" as McCartney received his honor. It's not McCartney's first music doctorate; the University of Sussex in England presented him with his first in 1988. McCartney also received a somewhat lesser award as the winner of the Senior Celebrities category in a British Sexiest Smile poll held by organizers of National Smile Month. Actress Helen Mirren was second and Prince Charles' wife Camila Parker Bowles was third in the contest. McCartney is rehearsing for a June 1st homecoming concert in Liverpool, England, which will be broadcast live on British radio. It's rumored the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr will join him, marking the first time they've played together in Liverpool since December 5th, 1965.
LED ZEP COMING TO TORONTO? MAYBE...
What seemed like a another wild Led Zeppelin reunion rumor this week may have some legs after all. A spokesperson for the Toronto Skydome/Rogers Centre has confirmed that the venue is in "preliminary discussions" with the Zep camp for a three-show stand later this year. Initial reports suggested the shows would take place in August -- after Zep frontman Robert Plant wraps up his tour with Alison Krauss -- but venue communications manager Nadia Flamm told Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper that those dates were unlikely because of Toronto Blues Jays baseball and other events scheduled during the month. "Just based on the time needed for conversion purposes, it would be a very tight squeeze," Flamm said. The reports also suggested these would be Zep's only North American appearances, though rumors of a larger tour have been constant since the band regrouped to pay tribute to the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun during December in London. Plant, meanwhile, is performing versions of several Zep songs with Krauss; the two play June 17th at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.
NEW COMPILATION CELEBRATES CLASSIC ROCK
Classic rock is getting its due from the popular "NOW" series, with the June 3rd relese of "NOW That's What I Call Classic Rock!" The 20-songs set has a couple of local connections -- Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band" and Kiss' performance of "Rock and Roll All Nite" at Cobo Arena -- and will be accompanied by a TV special, "VH1 Classic Presents: NOW Classic Rock," which debuts at 8 p.m. on May 31st. The full track list for the album includes: "We Will Rock You" by Queen; "Barracuda" by Heart; "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers; "Spirit Of The Radio" by Rush; "My Generation" by the Who; "Fire" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience; "More Than A Feeling" by Boston; "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas; "Renegade" by Styx; "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner; "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple; "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad; "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain; "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival; "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd; "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band; "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie; "Surrender" by Cheap Trick; "Show Me The Way (live)" by Peter Frampton; and "Rock And Roll All Nite (live)" by Kiss. The "NOW" series has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide since 1998 and 10 of the pop-oriented "NOW That's What I Call Music!" titles have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
GENESIS DVD TO BE WAL-MART EXCLUSIVE
Following in the footsteps of the Eagles and Bryan Adams, Genesis has announced that its new concert DVD, "When in Rome 2007," will be available only via Wal-Mart and Sam's Club outlets and at the group's web site, genesis-music.com. The three-disc set, directed by David Mallet, is a follow-up to last year's "Live Over Europe 2007" CD and features the group's entire European tour finale performance before 500,000 fans at the Circo Massimo in Rome. A third disc includes the nearly two-hour documentary "Come Rain or Shine," while extras include additional interview material, deleted scenes from the documentary, behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals and sound checks, and a photo gallery. Pre-orders for the DVD are now being accepted. Reuniting for the first time in 15 years, Genesis played 47 shows in Europe and North America last year but has made no plans for future reunions. Genesis will attend a premiere of the DVD on Wednesday (May 20th) in London and then take part in a Q&A session with British actor Philip Glenister that will be beamed via satellite to 20 other movie theaters across the U.K. This fall, Genesis will conclude a box-set reissue series with a package focusing on the Peter Gabriel years, from "Trespass" to "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" but not include the "Genesis Live" album.
CHICAGO
Chicago's next new release will be an old one. On June 17th, the group will release "The Stone of Sisyphus (XXXII)," a "lost" album that was record in 1993 but was never released because Chicago's label at the time, Warner Bros., felt it was not commercial enough. That decision led the group to leave the company, taking the album with it. Trombonist James Pankow acknowledges the album is "more experimental...more daring" than what Chicago was doing at the time, likening "Sisyphus" to the first few albums of the band's career. "IT had bee a long time since we made a record like that," Pankow says. Among the songs is "Bigger Than Elvis," which features guest appearances by Elvis Presley bassist Jerry Scheff -- father of Chicago bassist Jason Scheff -- and the vocal backing group the Jordinaires. This edition of "Sisyphus" also comes with demo takes of three songs plus a version of the title track without the rhythm loop that appears on the album take. Chicago is touring with the Doobie Brothers this summer and performs June 21 at the DTE Energy Music Theatre.
BOWIE PUBLISHER SHOOTS DOWN MUSICAL RUMOR
David Bowie's music is apparently not headed to the stage after all. After reports surfaced in England about a new musical featuring Bowie songs and based on his 1976 science-fiction movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth," Bowie's music publisher issued a statement saying that the singer "is not 'teaming up with Peter Schaufuss' to present theatrical versions of any of his musical works." Schaufuss is a Danish choreographer who was said to be planning to premiere the musical in Denmark before bringing it to England. In the statement, RZO Music said that "We have licensed absolutely no material written by Mr. Bowie to Schaufuss. We have never been requested to and we do not intend to." RZO also noted that the estate of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" director Walter Tevis has not dealt with Schaufuss, either, and noted that "the advertising for this production appears to be utilizing an unauthorized name and likeness of Mr. Bowie and we will seek injunctions, if necessary, to stop their use."
NEW COMPILATION CELEBRATES CLASSIC ROCK
Classic rock is getting its due from the popular "NOW" series, with the June 3rd relese of "NOW That's What I Call Classic Rock!" The 20-songs set has a couple of local connections -- Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band" and Kiss' performance of "Rock and Roll All Nite" at Cobo Arena -- and will be accompanied by a TV special, "VH1 Classic Presents: NOW Classic Rock," which debuts at 8 p.m. on May 31st. The full track list for the album includes: "We Will Rock You" by Queen; "Barracuda" by Heart; "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers; "Spirit Of The Radio" by Rush; "My Generation" by the Who; "Fire" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience; "More Than A Feeling" by Boston; "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas; "Renegade" by Styx; "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner; "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple; "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad; "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain; "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival; "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd; "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band; "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie; "Surrender" by Cheap Trick; "Show Me The Way (live)" by Peter Frampton; and "Rock And Roll All Nite (live)" by Kiss. The "NOW" series has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide since 1998 and 10 of the pop-oriented "NOW That's What I Call Music!" titles have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
LONG AND WINDING ROAD ENDS FOR MCCARTNEY MARRIAGE
It's official; Paul McCartney and Heather Mills are divorced. The British High Court's Mr. Justice Bennett (that's what they call 'em) finalized the long and winding case on Monday morning (May 12th), pronouncing the couple divorced on the grounds they've been separated for two years. McCartney and Mills were each due in court to hear the official pronouncement. In March, Mills was granted $48.6 million settlement with McCartney, though she'd asked for more than $200 million; she's reportedly hired investigators to prove that McCartney is worth more than the $600 million that he claimed during the proceedings. McCartney and Mills were married on June 11th, 2002 and separated May 17th, 2006 -- meaning Mills receives about $34,000 per day she was married to McCartney. They're sharing custody of their only child, four-year-old Beatrice. McCartney, meanwhile, has set a pair of live dates -- June 1st in Liverpool, England, and June 14th in Kiev, the Ukraine. He's rumored to be planning a world tour for later this year but no other shows have been announced.
FAN CREATES
The Beatles live again -- sort of -- thanks to an enterprising fan named Octavio. Octavio has combined bootlegged demo and outtake material with some newly recorded parts to create an album's worth of "new" Beatles songs, which he's posted on www.youtube.com/user/gaius476. Among his creations are: "Now and Then," the purported third song the surviving Beatles and producer Jeff Lynne considered for "The Beatles Anthology" project; Paul McCartney's 1968 demo version of "Goodbye" combined with the recording Mary Hopkins released on the Beatles' Apple label the following year; John Lennon demos of "You Saved My Soul," "India," "Grow Old With Me" and "Help Me To Help Myself," among others; and George Harrison demos of "I Don't Wanna Do It" and "Nowhere to Go." The YouTube videos are comprised mostly of still photo montages. Audio-only versions of the songs can be found on Octavio's blog at virtualbeatles.blogspot.com which provides the audio to the tracks. The Beatles' Apple Corps has not commented on Octavio's work or issued any sort of cease-and-desist order -- yet.
Of the 18 members how have passed through Journey's ranks over its 35 career none is as unique as new frontman Arnel Pineda, a Filipino who the band found singing Journey covers on YouTube. But keyboardist Jonathan Cain tells the Insider that Pineda is as real a deal as any of the others who have occupied the singer's seat in Journey. "I was blown away," Cain says, recalling his first look at Pineda's videos. "There he was, with that voice. It was just...phenomenal. They were crappy recordings, but you could tell it was live and (his singing) was the real deal." Journey wound up needing a new singer after Steve Augeri, who replaced longtime frontman Steve Perry, fell victim to incurable voice problems and his replacement, Jeff Scott Soto, proved incompatible after just 11 months. There were rumors that Perry might return to the fold for the first time since 1998, but Cain says that was never a consideration: "(Perry) said, 'No, don't expect anything from me. We're done,' and I know he keeps his word. He's done it. His legacy is there. Why would he want to go back it? And we wouldn't want to slide backwards, either. We're really lucky things have worked out this well. We appreciate how fortunate we are." Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday (September 9th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 pavilion and $27.50 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com
Heart is playing the oldies -- albeit some in reinvented fashion -- during its current tour with Journey and Cheap Trick. But guitarist Nancy Wilson tells the Insider that she and sister Ann have new music up their sleeves, too. "Right now it's a concept album," Wilson says of what will be Heart's first new album since "Jupiter's Darling" in 2004. "I'm writing for it already, and it will all thread together thematically from top to bottom. It'll be a complete experience instead of a collection of songs, and it'll have more of a cinematic feel to it." Wilson says Heart hopes to hit the studio this fall to start work on the album and have it ready for release in 2009. "I think it's a really fresh idea, so I'm not quite ready to unveil it yet," she says. "I don't want other people to rip us off. So I'm keeping the details quiet right now." Heart performs with Journey and Cheap Trick at 7 p.m. Tuesday (September 9th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $39.50-$89.50 pavilion and $27.50 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
A new version of the MC5 classic "Kick Out the Jams" will grace Guitar Hero World Tour when the video game is released on October 27th. MC5 co-founder Wayne Kramer recently hit the studio with Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell and former Guns N' Roses axeman Gilby Clarke to record the updated version of "Kick Out the Jams." The MC5 celebrates a special anniversary on Halloween -- 40 years since it recorded its first album at the Grande Ballroom.
With is Magic Tour just finished, word comes that Bruce Springsteen has written the title song for "The Wrestler," a new film by Darren Aronofsky that's premiering at Friday (September 5th) at the Venice Film Festival. Aronofsky ("Pi," "Requiem For a Dream") confirmed Springsteen's song on his Internet blog, writing that it will be played during the film's closing credits: "Bruce Springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for the closing the film. Called 'The Wrestler,' it is a wonderful acoustic piece. makes me choke up every time i hear it. He really captured the spirit of the film and Mickey (Rourke)'s character in the piece." "The Wrestler" will also be shown on Sunday (September 7th) at the Toronto Film Festival and in October at the New York Film Festival. It should be in theaters before the end of the year. Springsteen and his E Street Band wrapped up their world tour on Saturday (August 30th) in Milwaukee but are rumored to be playing at Super Bowl XLIII in January.
He's lent his name, music and image to iTunes and Victoria's Secret. Now Bob Dylan has a new product to hawk -- harmonicas. Dylan, who actually plays the instrument, has signed on for a Bob Dylan Signature Series with Hohner Harmonicas. Each of the instruments will include a logo designed by Dylan as well as a hand-stamped signature. A special issue of 25 seven-harmonica sets and 100 individual harmonicas will be hand-signed by Dylan, who's been a regular Hohner player throughout his career. The Dylan Hohners should go on sale in October, and the manufacturer expects to sell about 10,000 harmonicas before the year's out. Dylan wraps up his current U.S. tour with three dates in California this week, and he's readying the October 27th release of "Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8," which will include rare material from 1989-2006.
Genesis will finish its catalog rollout on Nov. 11 with the release of "Genesis: 1970-1975," the last of three box sets containing upgraded and expanded versions of the British group's studio albums. The new collection will feature the years Peter Gabriel fronted the band, including the "Trespass," "Nursery Cryme," "Foxtrot," "Selling England By the Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" albums; each comes with an extra DVD of interviews, television performances and other material, while "The Lamb's" DVD includes a performance of the entire rock opera from France in 1973 and a 1974 French TV performance of "Supper's Ready." "Extras 1970-1975," meanwhile, will carry 10 rarities such as the B-side "Twilight Alehouse," three songs from a BBC program, a performance from "The Midnight Special" and the VH1 program "Genesis 1967-1975." The set will carry a $139.98 list price, and the individual albums are expected to be made available in 2009.
Alice Cooper's current Psychodrama Tour is, he says, "basically the classic rock tour," featuring hits and a couple of songs from his new concept album, "Along Came a Spider." But the Detroit-born shock rocker tells the Insider that he plans to roll out a full-scale "...Spider" show in 2009. "Right now I've got people that are drawing things up," says Cooper. "We've started thinking about 'What can we do to make this really interesting and what new things can we do with the stage?' I gonna definitely create a new way for Alice to die, something nobody's seen. A lot of clever minds out there are working on it It's weird to be working on a show for a year from now, but at the same time I can at least give myself a good head start." "...Spider," Cooper's 25th album, tells the story of a serial killer who wraps his victims in silk the color of his eyes and also removes on of their legs in order to turn himself into a, well, spider. It finishes with a twist, however, which we won't reveal here. "That (twist) needs to be there for it to be an Alice Cooper thing," he says. Cooper is also mulling over a visual treatment of "...Spider" with different horror directors creating videos for each song. Cooper performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday (August 27th) at the Michigan State Fair, Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, Detroit. The show is free with a State Fair admission; Gold Circle seats are available for an additional $20. Call (313) 369-8250 or visit www.michigan.gov/mistatefair.
Gregg Allman says he's back and ready to rock after a bout of treatment for Hepatitis C that forced him to take the first half of this year off. "I'm back with the living now," Allman tells the Insider. "I don't have all my strength back yet. I'll sleep eight hours, 10 hours, 11 hours, but I'm getting totally back up on my feet again." Allman says the treatments for the disease, which laid dormant for many years, was "hell...but it worked." He mostly regrets having to cancel the group's annual month-long stint at New York's Beacon Theatre. "I've never done that," he notes, "and had it not been a total emergency, I wouldn't have done it this time. But I just flat couldn't make it, man. They make you take this (medication), you might as well plan on staying home for half a year." Allman says the group plans to return to the Beacon in March with several big-name guests -- "All the people we've played with," he contends -- as the focal point of the Allmans' 40th anniversary celebration. The group is also writing songs for a new album, which will be its first since 2003's "Hittin' the Note." The Allman Brothers Band and Bob Weir & Ratdog perform at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (August 27th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $49.50 pavilion, $29 lawn with a $60 lawn four-pack available. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
It looks like Doors alumni Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger will be Riders on the Storm from here on out. The California Supreme Court has refused to hear the duo's appeal on a ruling by a lower court that they cannot call their current band the Doors of the 21st Century and must pay $5 million to former drummer John Densmore and the estate of late singer Jim Morrison. Densmore and the estate had agreed the duo could go on the road and play Doors songs but could not "improperly" invoke the Doors' name while doing so. In response to a 2003 suit, the courts agreed that the Doors of the 21st Century was too close to the band's original name and could not be used. Densmore has also vetoed the use of the Doors' music in ads for Apple and Cadillac. Court records indicate that, as the Doors of the 21st Century, Manzarek and Krieger grossed $8 million and netted $3.2 million. The lower court ordered the duo to play Densmore and the Morrison estate $3.2 million plus $2 million in legal costs, although the latter award is under review. Riders on the Storm, meanwhile, continue to tour wtih former Fuel singer Brett Scallions singing Morrison's parts. The group performs September 19th at the Emerald Theatre in Mt. Clemens. Call (586) 913-1920 or visit www.emeraldtheatre.com for details.
They'll be on the road until early November, but the three men of ZZ Top are eyeballing a new album in the near future. The Lil' Old Band From Texas has signed with producer Rick Rubin and his American Recordings imprint, and guitarist Billy F. Gibbons tells the Insider that the prospects are exciting. "All I can say at this point this a new venture between the two of us," Gibbons says. "I've known Rick for 20 years and we've waited for this opportunity for a double decade. I've not sat down with him pointedly to get down to business just yet, but I feel very comfortable working within the framework that he envisions. He's got a good feel on the pulse, and I'm very interested in what he might have in mind." Gibbons says that Rubin has forwarded one idea -- hooking ZZ Top up with the Black Keys for some writing and possibly recording. Meanwhile, there is some new material around already, from a 15-day studio session Gibbons did in May with a couple of engineers, during which Gibbons says he "managed to squeeze out 15 tunes. "It was just me kickin' back and having a good time," Gibbons recalls. "We did everything from a black church gospel ballad to updated versions of 'Rollin' and Tumblin',' did some Jimmy Reed take-off things, just keeping that bluesy thread throughout. I think that as long as we maintain that blues tradition, the material takes on an identity that's easily digestible, at least in terms of what our fans have asked for." Prior to the new album, ZZ Top will release an expanded 25th anniversary "Eliminator (Collector's Edition) on Tuesday (August 26th), while Gibbons has recorded a version of Chuck Berry's "Run, Rudolph, Run" with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister for a compiliaton called "Metal Christmas" that's due out this fall. ZZ Top performs with Brooks & Dunn and Rodney Atkins perform at 7 p.m. Saturday (August 23rd) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $59.50 and $39.50 pavilion, $29.50 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Led Zeppelin fans will get a treat at Sunday's (August 24th) closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Zep guitarist Jimmy Page will team with new British singing sensation Leona Lewis for a rendition of the group's first hit, "Whole Lotta Love." The word comes from bassist Guy Pratt, who's playing with the duo, in a posting on his web site that's since been removed but has still been widely reported.
Neil Young is headed back on the road -- and is coming to the Detroit area. Young will perform Dec. 7 at the Palace of Auburn Hills as part of a 19-date tour that begins October 14th in St. Paul, Minn., and wraps December 15th in New York City. Ticket details will be announced, soon. Young will be touring ostensibly to promote the first volume of "Archive," a long-awaited multi-disc collection chronicling his career that's expected out this fall. But Young recently told the Insider that he also enjoys touring just for the sake of touring these days: "Playing for people with a great band is very rewarding. It's very physical -- it's very good for ME physically. It keeps me in top form, physically, and that makes me feel good. And I've come up with a way of doing it so I'm on and I'm off and on and off and I get enough time off so I can focus on the car project and do things like that for six to eight weeks and then I go right back out on the road again and take another couple shots at that. So we've just got a plan like that -- one thing supports another." Prior to the tour Young will perform at this year's Farm Aid concert on September 20th in Mansfield, Mass. He's also expected to announce dates and a lineup soon for his annual Bridge School Benefit.
AC/DC will release its long-awaited new album on October 20th -- exclusively via Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, as expected. "Black Ice" is the hard rockers' first set of new material since "Stiff Upper Lip" in 2000. It was recorded with producer Brendan O'Brien at his Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. The first single, "Rock 'N' Roll Train," will be released on August 28th, with a video recently shot in London, and the group is planning a world tour starting in North America in October. Prior to the album, AC/DC will release a concert DVD, "No Bull: The Director's Cut," from a 1996 concert in Madrid, on September 9th. The "Black Ice" album is currently available for pre-order at www.acdc.com and the Sam's Club and Wal-Mart web sites.
A new album is coming from Heaven & Hell -- which most of us know better as the third incarnation of Black Sabbath, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals and Vinnie Appice playing drums. Guitarist Tony Iommi tells the Insider that he, Dio and bassist Terry "Geezer" Butler have been writing in Los Angeles and have "about six or seven new songs" ready to go. They plan to reconvene after the group's current Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest. The guitarist adds that he's "really pleased" with what the group has come up with so far, describing the material as "really good, pretty powerful." But even though it used the Sabbath name for the new box set -- "The Rules of Hell," featuring Dio's four albums with Sabbath -- Iommi says the group plans to stick with the Heaven & Hell name. "It does get confusing that way," Iommi acknowledges. "It really is Black Sabbath, whatever we do. We just choose to go out as Heaven & Hell so everyone knows what they're getting, so people won't expect to hear 'Iron Man' and all those songs we did with Ozzy (Osbourne)." The Metal Masters Tour with Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead, Testament and Seduce, plays at 4:30 p.m. Monday (August 18th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $85 and $60 pavilion, $24 lawn with a $75 lawn four-pack. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
It's been five years since Steely Dan's last album, "Everything Must Go." And co-founder Walter Becker says fans shouldn't hold their breath waiting fro the next one. "At this point we don't have a (record company) deal and we haven't really talked too much about it," Becker tells the Insider, "so I don't think there's any real plan in place. I figure it's something we can do at any time we want to, and if it's ever to happen it'll be in some sort of organic way. And at this point I think the touring thing is better for us in a way. It feels better for me to go out and tour and play those songs than to be cooped up indefinitely in a studio. That's just the way I feel right now." There is some new music; Becker released his second solo album, "Circus Money," earlier this year. But he isn't playing any of those songs with Steely Dan on its current Think Fast Tour. "My experience has been that fans are there because they want to hear Steely Dan songs," Becker explains. "I think there probably are Steely Dan fans who, if it's not Donald (Fagen) singing, it's not Steely Dan -- and I think that's a perfectly valid way to feel about it. So I don't want to impose this on people." Steely Dan and the Joey DeFrancesco Trio perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday (August 15th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre. Tickets are $85 and $55 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
U2 may have a title for its new album. "No Line on the Horizon" was registered to Universal Music Operations Ltd. of London in late July and is expected to be the title of the Irish group's follow-up to 2004's "How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." The company also registered several song titles, including "For Your Love," "Love Is All We Have Left," "One Bird," "Moment of Surrender," "The Cedars of Lebanon" and "No Line on the Horizon." The album is expected out in mid-November, with a world tour to follow in 2009. Before that, U2 will be releasing an expanded edition of its DVD "Live at Red Rocks" on September 29th, along with the companion live album "Under a Blood Red Sky."
Paul McCartney will make a guest appearance with Yusuf Islam (who you know as Cat Stevens) on a new song. McCartney is lending his voice to "Boots & Sand," which chronicles Islam's thoughts about being denied entry to the U.S. in 2004 after his name was confused with another man's on a list of foreigners not permitted to enter the country. Islam has also lined up former Hollies guitarist Terry Sylvester, Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss to perform on the song, but no release date has been announced yet. Islam's last album, "An Other Cup," came out in 2006. McCartney, meanwhile, continues his cross-country Route 66 trip with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. They were recently spotted camping at Bennett Springs State Park in Missouri after previous sightings in Oklahoma City, Springfield, Ill., and Joliet, Ill. -- where McCartney's 1989 Ford Bronco was towed for being illegally parked at the Joliet Area Historical Museum.
Kansas is getting ready to make some new music -- sort of. Four members of the veteran group, all but singer-keyboardist Steve Walsh, have launched a side project called Native Window. Guitarist Rich Williams tells the Insider that he, drummer Phil Ehart, bassist Billy Greer and violinist David Ragsdale are two-thirds of the way through the group's first album, which they hope to release in 2009. "It's just an opportunity for us to put on a different hat and be something other than Kansas," Williams explains. "We don't know what it's going to be, really. The one thing we don't want to be is Kansas; when we start to sound too much like (Kansas) we re-write the part. It's unknown territory, but it's fun. And if it's received well, we might open for Kansas someday!" Kansas is currently touring to promote the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of the group's first live album, "Two For the Show," while Williams says there are plans to play more dates with symphony orchestras next year and possibly film a DVD. Kansas performs at the 2008 Rockin' on the Riverfront concert series at 8 p.m. Friday (August 8th) on the RiverWalk behind the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Admission is free. Call (313) 567-3126 or visit www.gmrencen.com.
Last month they were talking about reuniting the Faces; now Rod Stewart is sniping at former bandmate Ron Wood. Seems that Wood, who's now with the Rolling Stones -- and was most recently back in rehab for his alcoholism -- has been making frequent comments about Stewart being tight with his money, and the singer is getting tired of hearing it. "I am not tight or mean," Stewart said in a recent Australian interview. "Ronnie Wood, who is a great mate, keeps saying I am. He's such an a**hole. He says I'm tighter then two coats of I paint. I am careful with money, Ronnie isn't. Ronnie doesn't keep his eyes on the accounts like I do. He's got no Scottish blood in him. But I'm not tight. I do lots of work for charities. I just don't make it public." Stewart acknowledged that he might have contribute to his reputation for financial prudence "a little bit in the early days when I was building an image for myself and with my love of Scotland, but not all Scottish people are tight, believe me." Stewart and Bryan Adams perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 6) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $150 and $85 pavilion, $35 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Contrary to published reports last week, the Beatles "Let it Be" will eventually be released on DVD -- but nobody knows when. The Beatles fan site AbbeyRd's Beatles Page confirms that the group's Apple Corps does plan to release the Academy Award-winning documentary, released in 1970, but that no date has been determined. A source last week said that surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had scotched any plans of releasing the movie, which documents infighting and bickering amongst the four band members. The unnamed source said that "The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it's felt it won't be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story." AbbeyRd's Beatles Page reports that Apple officials said "we do have plans to release it some time in the future." "Let it Be" won the Academy Award for Best Music Score as well as a Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. In 2003 the Beatles released "Let it Be...Naked," a version of the "Let it Be" album produced by George Martin, before the tapes were turned over to Phil Spector for "sweetening" in 1970.
Another Cream reunion may be in the offing for October -- although bassist Jack Bruce says it's not yet a guarantee. Bruce, who's part of this summer's Hippie Fest tour, tells the Insider that he and Eric Clapton plan to attend a ceremony on Oct. 3 in London where Cream drummer Ginger Baker will be given a Drummers Achievement Award by cymbal maker Zildjian at the Royal Festival Hall. "I know there's a good chance we may play at that event...but I don't want to overstate it and make it into something it isn't," Bruce explains. " 'Cause I'm only the bass player, I can't say for sure." Nevertheless, Bruce expects that he, Clapton and Baker will at least "have a chat about" some future reunions, as the trio did May of 2005 in London, which resulted in a subsequent live album and DVD, and October of 2005 in New York. "I think there might be a chance of some more," Baker says. "I would like to do some more, 'cause I enjoyed it. It was very emotional. I would like another shot at it. It's quite difficult for us, 'cause it's all very separate. Ginger's living in South Africa. Eric's this mega-star, and it's difficult for us to keep in communication. But as soon as we do it's wonderful." Hippie Fest, featuring Jack Bruce of Cream, Eric Burdon & the Namials, Melanie, Badfinger featuring Joey Molland and Terry Sylvester of the Hollies, plays at 7 p.m. Saturday (August 2nd) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $35.50 pavilion, $10 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Peter Frampton won a Grammy Award -- his first -- for his last album, 2006's all-instrumental "Fingertips." So he's approaching its follow-up with a certain amount of confidence. "We've written a lot of songs for it already, but I haven't finished writing yet," Frampton, who plans to continue working on the album after his summer concert tour and have it finished for a 2009 release, tells the Insider. "I've had nine, 10 months of writing it, and it's just been a luxury. I'm addicted to writing now. I'm just hoping I don't have Stevie Wonder disease, where you don't ever finish the record. I promise I'll never get to that stage." Frampton says the album might include a couple of instrumentals but will feature mostly vocal tracks. And in addition to his regular band he also plans to do some recording with Motown's Funk Brothers, who he inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame earlier this year. "That was probably the highlight of my life," says Frampton, who played "Shotgun" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" with the group that night. "I said to the guys, 'Look, I would just die if we could do a session for my next record,' and they were like, 'When do you want to do it?' So...we're going to do something. A couple of tracks with them would just be icing on the cake for me." Frampton performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (July 29th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $35 pavilion, $10 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
The Police plan to lift the veil on their reunion tour -- although well after the fact. The 14-month-plus outing ends on August 7th in New York City, and it will be followed by a live CD and DVD recorded Dec. 1-2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The DVD will also include a documentary about the tour called "Better Than Therapy," which was directed by Jordan Copeland, the son of Police drummer Stewart Copeland. "He's a much better filmmaker than me," the elder says Copeland, who turned his home movies into his own film called "Everyone Stares: the Police Inside Out," tells the Insider. "He totally gets right under our skins, the little bastard, and his analysis of the group is better than any I've seen. It's unbelievable to see the early rehearsals compared to where we're at now. Some of them were so raw we had to take them out, some of the scenes. But he's still got the nitty gritty there, with us each grappling with the reality of life in the band again." No release date has yet been set for the projects. Copeland, meanwhile, promises that he and bandmates Sting and Andy Summers are serious when they say this will be the last Police tour ever. "It was always planned as a very finite thing," Copeland says. "In the back of our minds there was the possible 'Who knows? Maybe if some new material comes up or something like that, you never know...' But the mission has always been finite." The Police and Elvis Costello & the Imposters perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (July 26th) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $232.50 and $97.50 pavilion, $47.50 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
There are reports that the Who's upcoming North American tour, which kicks off October 21st at the Palace of Auburn Hills, may not be a friendly affair -- even in the wake of the group's VH1 Honors special. The New York Post quotes an insider as saying that Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, the Who's remaining founding members, are "at each other's throats right now" but will still hit the road for what's expected to be a $100 million payday. The source says the two particularly disagree over repertoire for the band these days; "Pete has been writing all this new material and wants to perform the new stuff, but Roger wants to stick with 'My Generation,' 'Won't Get Fooled Again,' 'Pinball Wizard' and other classics." According to the report, contracts for the show stipulate that the Townshend and Daltrey must have separate dressing rooms on opposite ends of the corridor, as well separate travel arrangements and hotel accommodations. The two are not expected to converse before or after the concert. "They will basically show up, play, and leave," the source says. Daltrey and Townshend are expected to keep the Who on the road into 2009, with dates around the world.
John Mellencamp portrays his just-released new album, "Life Death Love and Freedom" as something of an accident. "All of these songs were written in a 15-day period," the Indiana rocker, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, tells the Insider. "I had no intention of writing songs for a record. The songs just sort of happened." And while he's known for a kind of irascible nature that's reflected in the dark countenance of these 14 songs, Mellencamp contends that "one would be making an error to personalize these songs too much. These songs were written in the American Songbook tradition" of third-person and fictionalized scenarios. Despite the new album, Mellencamp is still playing plenty of his old hits on tour this summer == but he cautions fans that some of them might not sound exactly like when they were hits. "You have to make it interesting for the guys in the band and myself," he explains. "I don't want to play 'The Authority Song' and have it sound liked it did in 1983. You can do a song a million different ways; as long as I keep the melody pretty close to the bone, it works. It kind of challenges the audience a little bit. But guys that I admire have always done that. I've seen Bob Dylan do that for a zillion years. I've seen Neil Young do it a zillion times. So knowing that and having the opportunity to do that myself, why wouldn't I?" John Mellencamp and Lucinda Williams perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday (July 18) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $85 and $49.50 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Crosby, Stills & Nash haven't released a new album as a trio since 1994 -- but that appears likely to change next year. Graham Nash tells the Insider that he, David Crosby and Stephen Stills have started working with Grammy-winning producer Rick Rubin on a project they'll record and release in 2009, though it has a bit of a twist. "What (Rubin) wants is an album with no CSN songs," Nash reports. "He wants to do an album of all the songs we love, all the songs we wish we've written. It's brilliant from this point of view because we usually...wait five years to record an album. This way there's no pressure." Nash says the trio has had "many discussions" with Rubin about the project, whittling the proposed list of songs down to a current 20, which they're rehearsing after sound checks during its summer tour. Nash declines to name specific songs but acknowledges most would be considered well-known. The new album is just one of a slew of projects involving CSN individually and collectively, too. "CSNY: Deja Vu," the documentary of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 2006 Freedom Of Speech Tour, opens July 25, with the companion live album due Tuesday (July 22). Nash, meanwhile, is overseeing a number of archival projects, including his own box set, which will be released in time for his 67th birthday in February. He's curating a Stills box set as well and recently discovered an album's worth of material of Stills playing with Jimi Hendrix that will be compiled for another release. Nash is also putting together a live album from CSNY's 1974 stadium tour, a set of Crosby Nash acoustic recordings and a benefit record for the Children's Defense Fund that will feature his and Crosby's collaborations over the years with artists such as Elton John, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Collins, Jackson Browne and others. Crosby, Stills & Nash perform at 8 p.m. Saturday (July 19) at the Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus of Oakland University, Rochester Hills. Tickets are $75 and $45 pavilion, $20 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Ron Wood is apparently writing another sordid chapter in the Rolling Stones' history book. Sources in the U.K. say that Jo Wood, the guitarist's wife of 23 years, plans to leave him after a reported affair with a 19-year-old Russian, Ekaterina Ivanova, who works as a waitress in London and is said to have posed naked for Wood's sketches. One source told the U.K. newspaper The Sun that "It has sunk in he has had an affair and (Jo Wood) feels betrayed. They had such a strong marriage. He's thrown it all away with his stupid behavior...Jo has been through the mill. She thought he was only drinking buddies with the girl and she was hanging around him for free drinks. Now everything has surfaced about how they met and Jo has hit rock bottom." Ivanova's mother, Irna, denied the pair are romantically involved, saying, "There is nothing between them." The episode comes amidst reports that Wood, who has gone through several stints of rehab, has fallen off the wagon again and is drinking two bottles of vodka a day and has vowed to check back into rehab after getting calls from bandmates Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and former Faces cohort Rod Stewart. Last fall, Wood told the Insider that drinking is a perpetual issue in his life: "I think a lot of it with the drink and drugs was the celebration thing. If you'd done something really well, you'd go, 'Yeah! Let's drink to that!' and that was just kind of getting out of hand...I don't like to think of that as me." The Stones are currently on hiatus, and Wood and Stewart have reportedly discussed a Faces reunion -- which may face a roadblock with the guitarist's latest issues.
It was a good first half of the year for classic rock on the road -- especially classic rock from New Jersey. Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band led the pack in PollStar magazine's report of the top-grossing tours of the first six months of 2008. Bon Jovi took in $56.3 million for 39 shows, while Springsteen and company pocketed $40.8 million for 29 shows in North America. Van Halen was third with a $36.8 million take, and the Police were No. 10 with $23.3 million. Also in the Top 20 were: Rush, $18.3 million; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with Steve Winwood, $17.8 million; and the Eagles, $15.8 million.
Ringo Starr fans might not have to wait long for the former Beatle's next album. Starr tells the Insider that he's "in the middle" of a new album, which will follow this year's "Liverpool 8." "I'm sort of doing it, not (in) big chunks," Starr says. "I started a bit last year, late last year, and I did a bit (in) January and February of this year, and I did some in April. In May I did a bit more. I'm doing it slow and easy, and hopefully I'll finish it by next year." Starr says he's been working on the album alone, "putting down all the back tracks myself, and I'm just inviting people, like guitarists, to play on it -- who I won't mention 'cause I might take them off!" Starr has put the album "on hold," however, while he tours with the latest edition of his All-Starr band, which includes previous All-Starr Band members Billy Squier, Edgar Winter, Men at Work's Colin Hay and the Average White Band's Hamish Stuart, as well as "new kid" Gary Wright and Detroit native Gregg Bissonette on drums. "I'm feeling really good about this one 'cause I know everybody in the band," says Starr, who recently released a live album and DVD from the 2006 All-Starr Band tour. "A lot of the All-Starr Bands, though I knew of the artists and their work, I'd never met a lot of them. But I've actually met everybody on stage with me this tour, so it makes it a little easier." Starr and his All-Starrs perform at 9 p.m. Friday (July 11th) in the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor, 377 Riverside Drive East, Windsor. Tickets are $46-$69. Call (888) 345-5885 or visit www.caesarswindsor.com.
Bad Company has announced reunion plans for August -- but for one night only. The group will perform for the first time in nine years on August 8th at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.; frontman Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke will take part, but Lynn Sorenson, the bassist from Rodgers' solo band, will step in for the late Boz Burrell, who passed away in 2006. "It'll be great to see the guys and play and go back down that road again just for one night," Rodgers tells the Insider. "On a musical level it's really good. I totally respect the guys musically." Rodgers says the show is also taking place to protect the Bad Company copyright after learning of plans for at least one bogus Bad Company to hit the road in the near future. The show will be dedicated to the memory of Steve Weiss, the longtime attorney for Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and Swan Song Records, who passed away last week in Florida. It will also be recorded for a DVD that will accompany a Bad Company compilation expected out later this year.
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler is now saying that his recent stint in a California treatment facility was actually for "detox" rather than a full course of rehab. Promoting the new video game Guitar Hero III: Aerosmith, Tyler told the Associated Press that after some recent surgeries he felt that he needed a "safe environment" in which to recuperate: "To have your feet done, to have your leg done, you have to be on narcotics. You have to be on sleep aids at night. I don't know about Joe (Perry, Aerosmith's guitarist) but I was off and running and I didn't like the me that was me...This was a month ago, so I just put the brakes on and checked into detox and just pulled the plug on all of it." The 60-year-old Tyler said he's feeling fine now and is looking forward to working on a new Aerosmith album and getting back on the road -- possibly, in fact, before the end of the year. Perry, meanwhile, is recovering from knee replacement surgery that was done in March.
As one of the first and most visible female rockers, Pat Benatar's had a fascinating life and career. Now she and her husband, guitarist and co-writer Neil Giraldo, plan to document it in a memoir they're currently writing. "It's fun," Benatar tells the Insider. "It's just like going through snapshots and all these things I don't remember anymore -- and some things I don't want to remember anymore, but most of it's good." Benatar says the book will focus mostly on "what the world was like when women were emerging on the rock scene and all the sexism and everything." And if you're looking for tawdry details, she says, keep looking. "When it comes to that (personal) stuff, I'm so boring -- you have no idea. I'm married to the same man for 31 years, right? It's ridiculous. So (the business) seemed like a much more interesting thing to focus on, and I think people will find it very interesting." No title or publication date have been announced yet for the book. Benatar's latest release is a new two-CD compilation called "Ultimate Collection." She opens this year's Rockin' on the Riverfront series at 8 p.m. Friday (June 27) on the RiverWalk behind the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Admission is free. Call (313) 567-3126 or visit www.gmrencen.com.
What's Boz Scaggs up to these days? Well, he's recording a new album, but don't expect more "Lowdown" or "Lido Shuffle" -- or even "Loan Me a Dime," for that matter. "I don't think I'll be writing any pop songs or in that genre, whatever that is these days," Scaggs tells the Insider. Instead he describes the new album -- "Speak Low," which is due in September -- as a collection of standards that's "a sort of progressive, experimental effort...along the lines of some of the ideas that Gil Evans explored...It will be a more bluesy, Rhythm & Blues album" that features "unusual instrumentation." Songs on the album include Chet Baker's "She Was Too Good to Be True," Johnny Mercer's "This Time the Dream's on Me," the oft-recorded Billy Taylor/Dick Dallas hit "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and the Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track. "It was very challenging to me as a vocalist," Scaggs says. "It's just another direction, another opportunity for me as a vocalist to explore some more music. This is a different way of using my voice, and much more musically challenging and adventurous for me." Scaggs performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (June 26th) at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, 14900 Metropolitan Parkway at Schoenerr, Sterling Heights. Tickets are $51 and $38 pavilion, $13 lawn. Call (586) 268-5100 or visit www.freedomhill.net.
Fans headed to see Chicago and the Doobie Brothers this weekend at the DTE Energy Music Theatre will get a double shot of classic rock during the encores. Chicago trumpeter Lee Loughnane tells the Insider that -- as Chicago did with previous tour mates Earth, Wind & Fire and Huey Lewis & the News -- the two groups combine for a half-dozen songs: Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Free" and the Doobies' "Listen to the Music," "Takin' it to the Streets" and "Rockin' Down the Highway." "The songs are strong as it is," Loughnane says, "but when both bands get together on stage it creates an excitement that sort of doubles the impact of the songs. It's really interesting to watch it happen with the audience, 'cause everybody is standing, dancing, singing. It's almost louder than the bands, and you can imagine the power of the two bands together." Loughnane says it feels like the Chicago-Doobies connection is strong enough to go out again next year and possibly film a concert DVD like his band did with Earth, Wind & Fire. "I think it's something we can offer both of our audiences that they don't normally get to hear," says Loughnane. "The way we do this, people can listen to the stuff they're used to hearing, the hits, and have another band on so they're listening to a band they've also enjoyed but might not have been their favorite. And both bands combined takes it into a different stratosphere, and I think both bands gain more fans in that way." Chicago, meanwhile, is supporting "Stone of Sisyphus," the group's "new" album that was actually recorded in 1993 and was finally released earlier this week. Chicago, the Doobie Brothers and Nicola Congiu perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Sashabaw Road east of I-75, Independence Township. Tickets are $67.50 and $39.50 pavilion, $25 lawn. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
Might you have a chance to be in Kiss some time in the near future? Apparently so, based on a recent interview frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley did on Norwegian TV. When asked about the possibility of a "Kiss Idol" reality show to form a new version of the band, Simmons said that "The answer is yes...The deal has just been signed," although Stanley quickly countered that "there is no signed deal." (Footage of the interview is available at www.nrk.no.) In a subsequent posting at Kissonline.com, Stanley reiterated that no deal has been signed for "a Kiss clone reality show" made it sound like a distinct possibility: "If we were to do a 'Kiss II,' and I don't rule that out, it would be in addition to, and never in place of Kiss. If we were to do it, I know it would be done in a groundbreaking way and would be tremendously entertaining. Kiss has always defined itself by the rules we break, so what's the big surprise? We are in the middle of our biggest and most successful tour of Europe ever, playing to over a half million people, and neither Kiss or I have any plans to stop afterwards." Kiss will be in Europe through June 29th, then returns to the U.S. for a stop at the Rock'n The Rally festival on August 4th in Sturgis. S.D., and shows in Nevada and California. No further dates have been announced.
Bob Seger and Jimmy Buffett are part of an all-star lineup helping Little Feat on its next album. "Join the Band," finds the current version of Little Feat re-recording some of the group's best-known songs with its guests, including Seger's first recording since 2006's "Face the Promise," on "Something in the Water" and Buffett on "Champion on the World" and "Time Loves a Hero." Buffett, who executive produced the set, tells the Insider that the goal of the project is "to let Little Feat make some money. They're one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands ever...and I thought it would be great for them to have a shot." Also guesting on "Join the Band" are the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson ("Oh Atlanta"), the country duo Kix & Dunn ("Willin' "), Dave Matthews ("Fat Man in the Bathtub"), Vince Gill ("Dixie Chicken") and Emmylou Harris ("Sailing Shoes"). "Join the Band" is due out August 26th. The current line-up of Little Feat includes Silver Bullet Band backup singer Shaun Murphy.
James Taylor's concert Wednesday night (June 4th) at the Meadow Brook Music Festival became a Stanley Cup victory part during the encores. With the final score of the game rippling through the 7,000-strong sellout crowd, backup singer Arnold McCuller placed a Red Wings hat on Taylor's head as the group rolled into a version of the Eddie Floyd soul favorite "Knock on Wood." And though the following song -- Taylor's hit take on Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" -- was pre-planned, it was that much more appropriate given the circumstances. During the bows, McCuller also brought a Red Wings jersey on stage and draped it in front of the group, much to the delight of the crowd.
It may be one of the best-known albums of all time, but not everybody wants to hear Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" these days. The British newspaper The Sun reports that organizers of Britain's famed Glastonbury festival, which takes place June 27th-29th, turned down Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's offer to play "Dark Side" in its entirety at this year's event. One source told the sun that Glastonbury producer Michael Eavis "was grateful for the offer he turned it down. He wants the event to appeal to a younger generation, and feels that Dave wouldn't." Gilmour's former bandmate, Roger Waters, has been performing the entirety of "Dark Side" during his recent tours and also played it at this year's Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. Despite the Glastonbury snub, Gilmour has agreed to play Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother Suite" with the Italian Pink Floyd tribute band Mun Floyd at the Chelsea Festival on June 14th and 15th in England. The performance, which also includes a cellist, a 40-member vocal chorus and a 10-piece brass ensemble from the Royal College of Music, is being coordinated by "Atom Heart Mother" co-composer Ron Geesin.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are on the road this summer just to play -- without a new album or anything else to promote. "They made us an offer we couldn't refuse," guitarist Mike Campbell tells the Insider. "It just seemed like a good summer to go out and play." And even though Petty, Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench released an album with their previous band, Mudcrutch, in April, Campbell says that it may be later rather than sooner before we do hear any new music from the Heartbreakers camp. "It's looming," Campbell confirms. "We're gonna do this tour this summer and then take a couple years off to write the next album. We'd like to make a really great album this time and take our time with the songs, so after this tour we'll have some time to really regroup and work on it at our own speed." Petty, meanwhile, tells the Insider that the Heartbreakers are as strong and together as ever these days. "I still hear rumors all the time that we're breaking up," he says. "I don't know where they come from. It's just a really great surprise to find out you can get better as you get older. If you take care of yourself and care a lot about what you're doing, there's no end to it, I don't think. I think you can keep improving, and if we don't, we'll stop." Petty and the Heartbreakers, with Steve Winwood opening, kick off their tour Friday (May 30th) in Grand Rapids and perform at 8 p.m. Saturday (May 31st) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Tickets are $99.50 and $55. Call (248) 377-0100 or visit www.palacenet.com.
David Bowie's music is apparently not headed to the stage after all. After reports surfaced in England about a new musical featuring Bowie songs and based on his 1976 science-fiction movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth," Bowie's music publisher issued a statement saying that the singer "is not 'teaming up with Peter Schaufuss' to present theatrical versions of any of his musical works." Schaufuss is a Danish choreographer who was said to be planning to premiere the musical in Denmark before bringing it to England. In the statement, RZO Music said that "We have licensed absolutely no material written by Mr. Bowie to Schaufuss. We have never been requested to and we do not intend to." RZO also noted that the estate of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" director Walter Tevis has not dealt with Schaufuss, either, and noted that "the advertising for this production appears to be utilizing an unauthorized name and likeness of Mr. Bowie and we will seek injunctions, if necessary, to stop their use."
Classic rock is getting its due from the popular "NOW" series, with the June 3rd relese of "NOW That's What I Call Classic Rock!" The 20-songs set has a couple of local connections -- Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band" and Kiss' performance of "Rock and Roll All Nite" at Cobo Arena -- and will be accompanied by a TV special, "VH1 Classic Presents: NOW Classic Rock," which debuts at 8 p.m. on May 31st. The full track list for the album includes: "We Will Rock You" by Queen; "Barracuda" by Heart; "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers; "Spirit Of The Radio" by Rush; "My Generation" by the Who; "Fire" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience; "More Than A Feeling" by Boston; "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas; "Renegade" by Styx; "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner; "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple; "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad; "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain; "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival; "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd; "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band; "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie; "Surrender" by Cheap Trick; "Show Me The Way (live)" by Peter Frampton; and "Rock And Roll All Nite (live)" by Kiss. The "NOW" series has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide since 1998 and 10 of the pop-oriented "NOW That's What I Call Music!" titles have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.