| Stories 1 to 10 of 33 |
|
11/6/2009
The Beatles have studiously avoided selling their catalog via download, and
now they're battling a rogue Internet company that's doing just that. A Los
Angeles Federal District Court judge has ordered BlueBeat, which put the
Beatles' music up on its site earlier this week and was selling some songs for
as little as 25 cents, to remove all material by the Fab Four and other EMI
artists. BlueBeat owner Hank Risan contended that the songs on the site had been
re-recorded, using a new technology called "psycho-acoustic simulation," making
them exempt from copyright, but the judge ruled that Risan could not support
that claim. Another hearing is scheduled for November 20th, which may result in
penalties for BlueBeat.
more
|
11/6/2009
John Fogerty doesn't have a Detroit
area concert on his current itinerary, but fans can still see him play on
Saturday night (November 7th), when the former Creedence Clearwater Revival
frontman performs on PBS' "Live By Request." The format of the show allows fans
to request songs and pose questions via Facebook, Twitter and other social
media, which Fogerty tells The Insider "is pretty nerve-wracking, especially in
this modern world. Way back in the old days, when the red light was on
everything was live, and you really had to have it all together. Even the
records people made in the old days, (before) multi-track, it was all done at
once so everything had to be perfect, or as good as you can make it. That's what
this show is going to be like. And then you add the thing that you're gonna be
surprised by a request and I've got to turn around to the band and say, 'OK,
here we go...' It's gonna be fun, though. I did it one time before, and I
remember getting very keyed up for it. Certainly that's what's going to happen
this time. And once it's over there's something very satisfying about
...
more
|
11/6/2009
Is Bruce Springsteen planning an autobiography? Reports out of New York
indicate that the New Jersey rocker has indeed decided to turn his personal
journals into a full-fledged book, more in-depth than his 1998 lyrics collection
"Songs." A publishing industry source told the New York Post that Springsteen's
"could be the biggest rock music autobiography of all time," netting $9-$10
million for worldwide rights. Keith Richards received a reported $8 million
advance for his still-unpublished memoir, while Eric Clapton took $4 million for
his 2008 autobiography. Springsteen performs on November 13th at the Palace of
Auburn Hills, including the "Born to Run" album in its entirety. Tickets are
still available.
more
|
11/4/2009
The Beatles have taken their long-awaited digitization of their catalog
into their own hands. Rather than link with online retailers such as iTunes, the
Fabs' Apple Corps. has created a limited edition (30,000) apple-shaped USBs that
will contain the 14 remastered stereo albums, including all the visual elements
that are part of them. The drives, titled The Beatles Limited Edition USB Stick,
will be available starting December 8th and retail for $279. They're currently
available for pre-order at www.thebeatles.com. There's still no word
on when individual Beatles albums and tracks will be made available for
downloading, however.
more
|
11/4/2009
The "Raw Power" incarnation of Iggy Pop & the Stooges plan to tour
worldwide in 2010. Pop, guitarist James Williamson and drummer Scott "Rock
Action" Asheton will be joined by current Stooges bassist Mike Watt, who in this
case will be replacing the late Ron Asheton who played bass on the 1973 album.
The group will perform a one-off show on Saturday (November 7th) in Brazil, but
Pop told the BBC that "the real touring starts next year," including an
appearance at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival next May in London. No other
dates or recording plans have been announced, however. The Stooges have been
nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2010; an
announcement is expected early next year.
more
|
11/2/2009
Bob Seger's has announced a November 27th release date for his "Early
Seger, Vol. 1" collection. The 10-song set will be available exclusively at
Meijer stores and then become available Nov. 30 via the official www.bobseger.com web site. Portions of each
song are currently streaming at the site. The songs are drawn from the 1972-74
period when Seger put out three albums -- "Smokin' O.P.'s," "Back in '72" and
"Seven" (aka "Contrasts") -- on his manager Punch Andrews' Palladium Records
label, distributed by Reprise; the albums have been out of print for many years.
Three of the songs -- "Wildfire," "Star Tonight" and "Get Ya Pumpin' " -- have
never been released, while the rest of the set includes the "Smokin' O.P.'s"
cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter," a gospel-flavored rendition of
the Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider" from "Back in '72" and the "Seven"
tracks "Get Out of Denver," "U.M.C. (Upper Middle Class)" and "Long Song
Comin'." Seger recorded new parts for some of the songs in September and October
at Kid Rock's studio in Clarkston, including a fresh guitar solo by Jim McCarty
for "Get Out of Denver" and additional music by the Motor City ...
more
|
10/30/2009
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, Jeff
Beck, Jackson Browne, Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills & Nash helped
get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concerts off to a rollicking
start Thursday night (October 29th) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Springsteen's set featured a full array of guests, with Billy Joel joining the E
Street Band (augmented by a full horn section) for his own "You May Be Right,"
"Only The Good Die Young" and "New York State Of Mind" and Springsteen's "Born
To Run," Sam & Dave's Sam Moore singing "Hold On, I'm Comin' " and "Soul
Man," Fogerty performing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" and
"Proud Mary" and Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman," Rage Against The Machine's Tom
Morello on "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" the Clash's "London Calling" and
Springsteen's "Badlands," Darlene Love recreating her classic Phil
Spector-produced hits "Fine, Fine Boy" and "Da Doo Ron Ron," and the full cast
plus Browne closing the set with Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)
Higher And Higher." CSN performed "Woodstock," "Marrakesh Express," "Almost Cut
My Hair," "Midnight Rider" with Bonnie Raitt, "The Pretender" with Browne,
"Mexico" ...
more
|
10/30/2009
An early look at the upcoming John Lennon biopic "Nowhere Boy" has surfaced
online. The trailer for the film, which deals with the late Beatle's
adolescence, is available at http://tinyurl.com/yjh9crf. The movie is
based on "Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon" by his
half-sister Julia Baird and focuses primarily with Lennon's relationships with
his mother, Julia (played by Anne-Marie Duff), and his aunt Mimi Smith (Kristin
Scott Thomas). British actor Aaron Johnson will play Lennon, while Thomas
Sangster will portray a young Paul McCartney. The film marks the directoral
debut by Sam Taylor-Wood and is scheduled for a U.K. debut on Christmas day,
with a U.S. release expected around the same time.
more
|
10/28/2009
Gallstones have forced Eric Clapton to pull out of this week's Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concerts. Clapton was to have played on
Friday (October 30th) at New York's Madison Square Garden on a bill with U2,
Aretha Franklin, Ozzy Osbourne, the Kinks' Ray Davies, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and
others. According to a statement, Clapton "will spend time recuperating at home
in the U.K. and is very sorry to disappoint the fans and the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame." Concert organizers are relieved, however, that Bruce Springsteen and
the E Street Band will perform at Thursday's (October 29th) concert despite the
death of his cousin and assistant road manager Danny Sullivan earlier this week.
Springsteen and company did cancel a planned show at Kansas City but have
confirmed that they'll play the Hall of Fame show as scheduled.
more
|
10/28/2009
The Who is coming to the video game world -- we're just now sure when or how yet. Frontman Roger Daltrey, who's currently on a solo tour of North America, has confirmed that a Who video game is in the works, telling masslive.com that "they're going to be doing a Who one next year. There is one planned. (The idea) is fabulous. Anything that gets non-musical people interested in music is wonderful. In my opinion, music is our last true great freedom. They can burn our books, they can burn our paintings, but they can't stop us singing and making music." There's no word on whether the Who game will be part of the popular Rock Band or Guitar Hero series or another game line.
more
|