There’s been a few Robert Plant sightings in Chicago this week.
Plant was spotted having dinner at Monday evening at David Burke's Primehouse at the James Hotel, followed by an appearance in the hotel lobby bar, where he performed an impromptu jam for the crowd.
And last night, Plant joined Los Lobos for a song during the band’s appearance at The Taste Of Chicago festival; they played the R&B classic, “Treat Her Right.”
A fan report from the show suggests Los Lobos told the Chicago crowd that they had shot a video with Robert earlier in the day; Plant is covering the Los Lobos track “Angel Dance” on his new album, Band Of Joy, due in September. Here's my post about the album.
The video here is fan-shot, so heads up: it starts very shaky but evens out for the bulk of the song.
Los Lobos with Robert Plant – Treat Her Right Taste Of Chicago – June 29, 2010
News last week that Sammy Hagar has signed a deal with It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, to write and publish his autobiography next year.
The working title for the book is imaginatively titled, “Sammy Hagar Red.”
Readers can expect to hear about Sammy growing up in the small, steel-mill town of Fontana, California, his rise through the rock ranks from Montrose to solo artist to Van Halen to solo artist again, as well as his latest project with Chickenfoot. We’ll likely also get some details on Sammy’s Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, his expansion of that franchise into other cities, and how he turned his own premium “Cabo Wabo” tequila into an award-winning brand, part of which he sold in 2007 to Gruppo Campari for $80 million dollars.
Wonder if Sam will get into his UFO theories: Hagar has gone on record as saying that he believes he’s been visited, and had tests performed on him, by alien beings, as far back as 1968. With visits on multiple occasions throughout his life, Hagar has said the aliens were from a group called “The Nine” (they’re from the Ninth Dimension, apparently). A quick search will turn up all kinds of information on “The Nine” in UFO history, and Hagar’s comments on the subject seem to be consistent with those in the field.
And maybe – just maybe - we’ll even get a taste of some of the rock and roll fireworks Sammy has been through, especially during his times with Van Halen.
This may be interesting, because it’s actually Hagar’s second stab at working on a book about his life.
I’ve mentioned it before, but Sammy went to court in 1999 to prevent “Red Storm Arising,” a biography by author David Huff, from hitting shelves right before publication. Reports suggest that Hagar originally consented to, and participated in, the creation of the book, but changed his mind after further legal considerations; two chapters were allegedly leaked online.
If you’ve ever done a search for “Sammy Hagar Red Storm Arising” and found these chapters (chapters 19 and 20) – IF they’re the real deal - you’ll know how much detail Sammy can pull out regarding his life. The leaked material sure didn’t reflect well on many people around Hagar (or Hagar himself, at times), and the potential legal fallout from releasing some of the information may even have impacted Hagar’s decision to prevent it from being published.
Here’s Sammy and Eddie Van Halen, at the 1985 Farm Aid concert, a month after Hagar first jammed with, and joined, VH.
Sammy Hagar – Rock And Roll Featuring Eddie Van Halen Farm Aid 1 - Champaign, Illinois – September 22, 1985
The Edge joined Muse on the Glastonbury stage this past weekend for a pretty faithful rendition of “Where The Streets Have No Name.”
Edge appeared for the first encore song of Muse’s headlining set Saturday night.
U2, of course, were originally due to headline the festival themselves last weekend, but had to postpone the second leg of their 360 World Tour due to Bono’s recent back surgery.
Muse are currently on tour in support of their latest disc, “The Resistance.”
TMZ has posted Vince Neil’s mug shot from his Las Vegas arrest last night.
More details are coming out, including media reports that the Vegas police were actually looking for Vince when he was pulled over. Reports suggest that Neil may have been intoxicated and involved in smashing a woman’s camera while at his Tres Rios Cantina in the Las Vegas Hilton earlier in the evening.
Motley Crue’s Vince Neil is reportedly in a Las Vegas jail today following his arrest for suspicion of DUI last night.
According to the Clark County Detention Centre, Neil was arrested at 11:16p last night, and is currently in Clark County Jail, with bail set at $2,000.
Neil just released “Tattoos & Tequila,” his first solo album in 15 years; he also has a autobiography – of the same name – due out on September 23.
Vince’s history includes jail time for being drunk behind the wheel, back in 1984, when his car crashed, killing passenger Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley of Hanoi Rocks.
Following in Sammy Hagar’s entrepreneurial footsteps, Vince has been spreading his investments around. Vegas is Neil’s second home: he recently opened his second club there – Tres Rios Cantina at the Las Vegas Hilton; he also owns Feelgood’s Rock Bar And Grill, as well as two tattoo shops (Vince Neil Ink) and a luxury “rock n’ roll airline service” (Vince Neil Aviation) at McCarran airport.
More info is coming out about the Santana classic rock covers album I told you about a few months ago…
Word is the still-untitled record will be out in September.
Sony executive Clive Davis, who worked with Santana on 1999’s “Supernatural,” chased Carlos for a year with the idea for the album; he chose half the tracks while Carlos selected the other half.
So far, here’s how the album is shaping up:
Rob Thomas - “Sunshine Of Your Love” (Cream) Pat Monahan (Train) - “Dance The Night Away” (Van Halen) Scott Weiland - “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (The Rolling Stones) Joe Cocker - “Little Wing” (Jimi Hendrix) Chris Cornell - “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin) Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) - “Smoke On The Water” (Deep Purple)Nas - “Back In Black” (AC/DC) Chris Daughtry - “Photograph” (Def Leppard) TBA - “Fortunate Son” (CCR) India.Arie & Yo-Yo Ma - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The Beatles)
Santana will preview some of the new covers while on the road this summer with Steve Winwood; the tour kicks off June 30 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
A couple of cool, live things from Jimmy Kimmel recently:
The show experienced a power outage about an hour before taping the June 22 program; Kimmel and crew went ahead and did the show, anyway, recording things on a Macbook using the system’s iSight webcam. Wow!
Well, as expected, Eddie Van Halen did make an appearance on last night’s 100th episode of Lopez Tonight, with comedian George Lopez.
It was a fun show overall, with guests Kobe Bryant and Louis C.K.
Celebrity congratulation clips were sprinkled throughout the show, and Eddie’s aired at the start of the final segment of the program.
While he said he couldn’t be at the show in person, Eddie did wish George all the best via a video message, and passed along one of his new Wolfgang guitars as a gift for the occasion.
Ed then played “La Cucaracha” on guitar, following by some trademark hammer-ons and guitar squeals.
You’ll see Ed’s message, and George’s response, in the following montage:
Lopez Tonight – Celebrity Congrats montage 100th Episode - June 24, 2010 (Includes Eddie Van Halen @ 2:13 mark)
Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the passing of pop icon Michael Jackson.
Michael dabbled with rock stuff during his career: from Slash(“Black Or White” and “Give Into Me”) to Steve Stevens(“Dirty Diana”) to Eddie Van Halen’s genre-changing solo on “Beat It,” Jackson worked without musical boundaries.
Thought I’d throw together an interesting collection of Michael-related things for today…
This is the lead guitar solo from “Beat It,” as recorded by Eddie Van Halen.
Came across some news recently that original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno has scheduled a series of shows in Japan later this year.
Now, Di’Anno out on the road pretty much all year, but these shows mark the 30th Anniversary of the debut Maiden album.
30 years? Wow.
I can still remember the first time I saw Maiden back in 1980: the band was featured on an episode of The New Music as part of a spotlight on U.K. heavy metal. Amongst stories of British metal and air guitar playing in clubs, Maiden’s “Women in Uniform” video stood out like a bolt of lightning.
I raced out to the record store in search of the album; after skimming the song list on “Iron Maiden,” I couldn’t find the “Women” track but figured it was a safe bet to buy since the single sounded so amazing.
Iron Maiden’s debut is full of high-energy hard rock/metal with a punk vibe, great playing and great tunes. There was a change in the British metal scene in the late 70s/early 80s, and bands like Maiden, Def Leppard, Venom, Saxon and others picked things up where the Purples and Zeppelins left off.
The scene was dominated with bands that played faster and maybe even heavier than their predecessors, laying the groundwork for speed metal and thrash metal. Punk had been around a few years, and some of that energy was channeled through the hard rock scene. In Maiden’s case, some of that punk feel came from the playing, and some of it was from Di’Anno himself.
Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden The Marquee Club, London - 1980
Paul’s vocals added the right vibe to the original Maiden sound. It’s probably unfair to compare Di’Anno and his follow-up, Bruce Dickenson, because they’re two completely different type of singers: Dickenson’s high wail versus Di’Anno’s rough, street-wise approach.
For the Japanese shows in November, Di’Anno will be playing the entire Maiden debut plus songs from his second album with the band, “Killers.”
Oh, and as for “Women In Uniform”…it took me several years to find the song, and I picked up an import of the 12” single. Found out many years later that it was a cover of a Skyhooks song. Even managed to get Maiden leader Steve Harris to sign it for me when I interviewed him in 1987 for my college radio metal show.
With the World Cup in full swing, there’s news this week that the Argentina team is rocking out to Oasis.
Some, like World Player Of The Year Lionel Messi, are getting psyched for their matches by playing Oasis in their hotel rooms, on the way to games and in the dressing room.
Many on the Argentina squad have recently been turned on to the band by teammate Carlos Tevez, and now the team has made a public offer for Oasis to “name their price” to reform and play at the team’s victory party, should they win the tournament on July 11.
Various reports quote Messi as saying “We have agreed, that if we win the World Cup, we want to fly them (Oasis) over to Argentina for our celebration party. We just need them to name their price.”
Oasis split last year, with the Gallagher brothers each going their separate ways; the band’s new best-of collection, “Time Flies...1994-2009,” was just released.
Given Noel’s declaration that he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” following one last punch-up between the two, it remains to be seen whether or not the brothers could put aside their differences for some large coin and a one-off show.
Remember the unreleased Pearl Jam track that found its way online recently? Well, the mystery has been solved….
Out today, “Better Days” is a solo Eddie Vedder track; something he recorded for the Eat Pray Love soundtrack for an upcoming movie starring Julia Roberts. The full soundtrack will be available July 20.
Further to my previous posts here, here and here, Beck continues to roll out tracks from the fourth installment in his unique “Record Club” series, this time featuring INXS’ 1987 album, “Kick.”
The album is being posted in sequence, and here’s the latest few songs…
Record Club – Loved One (2010) Original by INXS, from “Kick”
Record Club – Wild Life (2010) Original by INXS, from “Kick”
Record Club – Never Tear Us Apart (2010) Original by INXS, from “Kick”
Record Club – Mystify (2010) Original by INXS, from “Kick”
Record Club – Kick (2010) Original by INXS, from “Kick”
Ever wonder what an Eddie Van Halen solo record would sound like?
That question has literally been following Eddie for decades.
During the classic VH years, it used to come up all the time, and Ed deflected the idea, suggesting if he ever did one, he’d probably have brother Alex and bassist Michael Anthony play on it, and that wouldn’t be much of a stretch from VH itself.
After David Lee Roth’s departure in 1985, Eddie had considered doing some sort of a solo project, where he would have different singers on each track – he wrote “Right Now” with Joe Cocker in mind, for example (btw, that sounds like it would still make a cool cover for Cocker to do).
Of course, Santana did the same thing with his 1999 album, “Supernatural,” and it pushed his career into the mainstream stratosphere. But Ed’s mid-80’s idea still included both Alex and Michael, so maybe it wasn’t really a ‘solo’ concept after all. Contractual issues with various labels and co-ordinating the participants’ schedules, combined with Ed’s instincts to continue to move forward with VH, pushed the idea off the table.
Fast forward to 2006: with VH in no-man’s land, between singers and with no plans on the horizon, Eddie hooked up with friend, and adult film director, Michael Ninn, to create music for Ninn’s project, “Sacred Sin.”
Eddie recorded two instrumentals: “Rise” and “Catherine,” as well as some ‘transitional piano pieces’ that were sprinkled throughout the movie. “Catherine" is a new version of the theme from Ninn’s 2005 film of the same name.
The songs are only available on the DVD of the film; three videos were put together to showcase the tracks and help promo the movie.
Eddie Van Halen – Rise (2006)
Eddie Van Halen – Catherine (2006) Eddie Van Halen studio cut
Eddie Van Halen – Catherine (2006) Full version
On September 30, 2006, Eddie hosted an extravagant bash at his place to help launch the movie, and he played live for the invited guests. Eddie teamed with the L.A. band Starf*ckers, including Eric Dover of Jellyfish and former Motley Crue vocalist John Corabi.
Eddie Van Halen with Starf*ckers – Jump “Sacred Sin” launch party Ed’s house – September 30, 2006
Yesterday, Heaven & Hell announced a tribute gig to honor the late Ronnie James Dio, who passed away May 16 at the age of 67.
On July 24, H&H will play “A Tribute To Ronnie James Dio” at the High Voltage Festival at London’s Victoria Park, joined by singers Glenn Hughes and Jorn Lande.
Former Deep Purple/Black Sabbath star Hughes was a close friend of Dio’s, while Lande is the singer for German metal band, Masterplan; he has also released several solo albums, including a Dio tribute record due out next month.
Proceeds from the show will go to Dio’s “Stand Up And Shout For Cancer” Fund. The charity is committed to the early detection and prevention of cancer through facilitating access to medical screening and educational programs. More details on how you can get involved at Dio’s website.
H&H were expected to tour Europe this summer, but cancelled the dates when Ronnie took a turn for the worse this spring.
Dio’s final concert with H&H was in Atlantic City on August 29, 2009 – the last show of “The Devil You Know” tour. A clip from the show, and a post-show interview with Ronnie, has been released through the Black Sabbath website, with permission from the band and Wendy Dio.
Ronnie James Dio – interview with black-sabbath.com Atlantic City, NJ – August 29, 2009
Interesting stop last week on Conan O’Brien’s“Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television” tour…
Conan landed at Jack White’s Third Man Records in Nashville last Thursday to record the set for future release on vinyl. About 1,000 fans lined up for the chance to be one of the lucky 300 who made it inside for the show, which featured tracks like Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again”, The Band’s “The Weight”, Elvis Presley’s “Blue Moon”, Stray Cats’ “Rock This Town”, and Radiohead’s “Creep.”
Also featured was a version of The White Stripe’s “Seven Nation Army,” and a fan-made video of most of the song is featured below.
Jack joined Conan for covers of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” and Ronnie Hawkins’ “Forty Days.”
In keeping with the analog theme of pressing the show to vinyl, the full set was recorded to reel-to-reel tape, and the show paused briefly so that the producers could change tapes without missing anything.
Available late next month, the album can be pre-ordered now via Third Man Records here.
Conan O’Brien – Jack White intro / Blue Moon Of Kentucky (snippet) / Seven Nation Army (snippet) Third Man Records, Nashville, TN – June 10, 2010
While browsing info for an item on Paul McCartneylast week, I came across footage of a bunch of songs from Paul’s appearance on Letterman back in 2009.
While only two songs made it to air, McCartney and crew actually played a full 30-minute set on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theatre - Letterman’s home, and the historic building where The Beatles initially took America by storm with their February 9, 1964 appearance on Sullivan.
The additional 5 tracks not included on the show were available as a live, streaming webcast.
I hadn’t seen the extra footage before, so thought I’d dig it out to share, in case you maybe hadn’t seen it, either.
I did the same thing recently with the full Hoodoo Gurus set from the 2009 Sound Relief concert in Australia.
Paul McCartney – Band On The Run The Late Show With David Letterman – July 15, 2009 (Not included on original broadcast) (webcast video quality, but best audio source I could locate)
Paul McCartney – Let Me Roll It The Late Show With David Letterman – July 15, 2009 (Not included on original broadcast)
The biggest sporting event in the world kicks off this weekend as World Cup action starts in South Africa.
32 teams are in the tournament, which runs from June 11 – July 11. Italy return to defend the title they won at the 2006 tournament in Germany; the game was won in a penalty shooutout, which losers France couldn’t have enjoyed.
I’ve always hated the concept that a team game is decided in a shootout, especially when it comes to title and medal matches. In my mind, it’s a crappy way to win and it’s a crappy way to lose: let the team game continue as long as it takes to settle things as a team, not as a one-on-one play.
World Cup 2010 is expected to be the most-watched tv event in history: estimates are that more than 125 million viewers will see each match, and that the Final will surpass the 715 million viewers from the 2006 closer.
Shameless plug: if you’re looking for some cool gear to show support for your favorite team, check this out.
As usual, there are 2 official songs for this year’s event; I’ll play both and throw in a rocker, just for fun…
Last night, Slash was attacked on stage at a show in Milan, Italy.
During “Sweet Chile O’ Mine,” a concertgoer (I won't call him a fan) managed to jump on stage and push Slash from behind, sending him forward towards his stage monitors; the push was slight, though, and Slash was only pushed off-stride. It appears that Slash’s guitar hit his stage monitor, causing it to break.
The shove was not nearly as hard as the one Noel Gallagher got from Daniel Sullivan in Toronto in September, 2008, which broke three of Gallagher‘s ribs.
One of the security team raced to catch the idiot while things were in motion: in the video, you can see them both tumble past Slash into the pit in front of the stage.
So far, there’s been no reports that Slash was hurt, and he posted the following comment to his facebook page:
“What’d I say? Rowdy crowd for sure. But amazing! The guy who nailed me didn't take me down but he busted my poor gtr. Ah well, it was a kick ass rock show.”
Looks like Pickering, Ontario’s Daniel Sullivan isn’t the only a-hole out there….
The incident was caught on video here:
Slash – stage attack Milan, Italy – June 10, 2010
And here’s a flashback to the Oasis incident:
Oasis – Toronto attack by Daniel Sullivan Virgin Music Festival, September 2009
The Steve Miller Band returns next week with “Bingo!” – their first new album in 17 years.
Co-produced by Miller and engineered by the legendary Andy Johns(Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Rolling Stones), Bingo! is reportedly the first of two albums recorded together at George Lucas’ state-of-the-art Skywalker Studios– the second one will follow next year.
In stores next Tuesday, Bingo! is an album of blues and R&B covers that features a couple of guest spots by guitar whiz Joe Satriani.
Steve Miller Band – Bingo!
Hey Yeah Who's Been Talkin' Don't Cha Know Rock Me Baby (featuring Joe Satriani) Tramp Sweet Soul Vibe (featuring Joe Satriani) Come on All Your Love You Got Me Dizzy Ooh Poo Pah Doo
Here’s some background on the record:
The Steve Miller Band – Bingo! Preview (2010)
The lead track is “Hey Yeah” – included below – and if you don’t want to wait ‘til next week, you can preview all the new tunes here.
An unreleased Pearl Jam song found its way online earlier today; I’ll repeat “found” because it was actually discovered on the band’s password-protected label website.
The “leak” was a post by “Pete” with the following message: “Gary, Kelly wanted you to hear this please give it a listen.”
Now, Kelly is Kelly Curtis, PJ’s manager; Gary is likely someone who works with Kelly, and “Pete” was likely the go-between for getting the file shared.
An interesting, intense but quiet song that has caused a stir in the PJ community as fans try to determine the timing of the recording.
A song with the same title was recorded as part of the "Riot Act" sessions in spring 2002, and speculation grows whether this is the ’02 recording or, possibly, an updated recording or something completely different. Is it the "Riot Act" song intact? If so, was it redone or retouched? Is it something left over from the "Backspacer" sessions, maybe a b-side, perhaps? Something from Vedder’s “Into The Wild” sessions? Is it something new entirely? Is it for an upcoming release?
Until something official comes from the PJ camp, it’ll remain a mystery….
Told ya last month about Joe Elliott of Def Leppard’s side project with some of The Quireboys, Down ‘N’ Outz; the band was formed specifically to open a series of reunion shows for Mott The Hoople last year at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.
Down’N’ Outz play only Mott-related tunes – songs by Mott, Ian Hunter and British Lions; the group’s debut, “My Regeneration,” is out next month, but fans of Classic Rock magazine can get a 10-track advance sampler free with the June issue.
The group has released the first track, “England Rocks,” a cover of Ian Hunter’s classic, “Cleveland Rocks.”
Watch for cameos by Ian Hunter, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, Brian May and others…
Down ‘N’ Outz – England Rocks (2010)
Beyond a Hunter classic, many people will know “Cleveland Rocks” because it was used as the theme song for The Drew Carey Show; that version was done by The Presidents Of The United States Of America.
Plant’s new album, "Band Of Joy," is set for a September 13 release. It’s Robert’s first album since 2007’s much-celebrated “Raising Sand” effort with Alison Krauss.
This time out, Plant is joined by singer Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller (guitar), Darrell Scott, Byron House (bass) and drummer Marco Giovino.
The lineup recorded 24 songs in 15 days for the record; early word is that the album picks up where “Raising Sand” left off, maintaining the raw, organic sound of that record while heading into rockier territory.
Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy start a mini-US Tour July 13 in Memphis.
Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy Due: September 13, 2010
Angel Dance House of Cards Central Two-O-Nine Silver Rider You Can’t Buy My Love I’m Falling In Love Again The Only Sound That Matters Monkey Cindy, I’ll Marry You One Day Harms Swift Way Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down Even This Shall Pass Away
If you’re a Zeppelin fan, you already know that Band Of Joy was the group Robert was in with John Bonham before Zep launched.
Rock Trivia: one of BOJ’s roadies was Noddy Holder, who went on to form Slade.
Plant featured a couple of tunes by the original Band Of Joy on his 2003 compilation, “Sixty Six To Timbuktu.” Here’s one of them…
The Resistance - Muse 
Ozzy Osbourne - Let Me Hear You Scream - Single - Let Me Hear You Scream