If you grew up with Frank Zappa, and he loomed large in your youth-cultural pop rebel sandbox (as he did in mine), he seemed to be many things at once. The outrageous hippie with the thick black T-shaped goatee who looked weird and threatening enough to represent something very far removed from peace and love. The avant rock ‘n’ roll absurdist who led the band of wilted flower children known as the Mothers of Invention. The scandalous joker seated half-naked on a toilet seat in the iconic ’60s poster that read “Phi Zappa Krappa.” The airy and sophisticated pop-rock-jazz prodigy who, starting around the time of “Hot Rats” (1969), began to put together songs that had the intricate quality of hypnotic musical Tinkertoy. The band leader who whipped his musicians into learning those how-many-notes-can-i-jam-into-three-seconds tracks with the bop-till-you-drop discipline of a counterculture Duke Ellington. The tall skinny long-haired guitar god who...
- 11/23/2020
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Roots-music trio Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band adds a fourth member in Dom Flemons for a high-octane cover of “Shake Your Money Maker.” The musicians convened at Sun Records Studio in Memphis in late 2019 to re-create the Elmore James blues standard, which they had first performed together as a jam at the Blues Music Awards earlier that year.
It’s a particularly fierce take, with a guitar assist from Stax Records icon Steve Cropper and Scot Sutherland on bass. Their full-throttle version deftly blends elements of roadhouse blues with...
It’s a particularly fierce take, with a guitar assist from Stax Records icon Steve Cropper and Scot Sutherland on bass. Their full-throttle version deftly blends elements of roadhouse blues with...
- 9/9/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
When Pj Harvey started releasing records in the early Nineties, her raw lyrical depictions of sex and violence made people uncomfortable; it wasn’t often you heard a young, female artist (or a male one for that matter) sing something like “I’ll make it better/I’ll rub ’til it bleeds.” But Harvey wasn’t trying to play alt-rock Alice Cooper. She came about her strong stomach honestly, working as a teenage farm hand in England’s West Country. “I used to ‘ring’ all the lambs’ tails and testicles,...
- 7/30/2020
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
This story was originally published in a Fleetwood Mac special collector’s edition in May 2017.
One night in the summer of 1967, a new band with no name and an unsettled lineup entered Decca Records’ London studios to make a demo tape. This was not an official booking. Producer Mike Vernon, a Decca staffer, arranged the after-hours session to save money and avoid prying eyes. He was a close friend of the group’s leader, 20-year-old singer-guitarist Peter Green. Vernon also ran an independent label, Blue Horizon, specializing in blues – vintage...
One night in the summer of 1967, a new band with no name and an unsettled lineup entered Decca Records’ London studios to make a demo tape. This was not an official booking. Producer Mike Vernon, a Decca staffer, arranged the after-hours session to save money and avoid prying eyes. He was a close friend of the group’s leader, 20-year-old singer-guitarist Peter Green. Vernon also ran an independent label, Blue Horizon, specializing in blues – vintage...
- 7/26/2020
- by David Fricke
- Rollingstone.com
“The High Note” began life as a screenplay titled “Covers,” and at times the music-themed drama turns into a tribute to the power of a cover song performed by someone other than the person who originated it: Aretha Franklin with Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Share Your Love,” the Staples Singers with the Band’s “The Weight,” P.P Arnold with Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” the Dixie Chicks with Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” …
And the movie, which was directed by Nisha Ganatra (“Late Night”) and written by Flora Greeson, would like to take some familiar material and put a fresh spin on it, too. How well is succeeds depends on one’s tolerance level for understatement and for unabashed corn, both of which are found in the film, though obviously not at the same time.
Instead, it bounces around like a musical artist determined to show off...
And the movie, which was directed by Nisha Ganatra (“Late Night”) and written by Flora Greeson, would like to take some familiar material and put a fresh spin on it, too. How well is succeeds depends on one’s tolerance level for understatement and for unabashed corn, both of which are found in the film, though obviously not at the same time.
Instead, it bounces around like a musical artist determined to show off...
- 5/27/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
September 12, 2013, Issue 1191, of Rolling Stone
‘I Just Thank God For Being Alive,” Little Richard says. “I never knew that I would live to see 80. I’m the only one in my family who ever got to that age.”
A year ago, it didn’t seem like Little Richard, one of the first and most influential — if not the most influential — singer-songwriter-pianists in the history of rock & roll, would make it to 80. He was at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., booked for one of the few concerts he’s...
‘I Just Thank God For Being Alive,” Little Richard says. “I never knew that I would live to see 80. I’m the only one in my family who ever got to that age.”
A year ago, it didn’t seem like Little Richard, one of the first and most influential — if not the most influential — singer-songwriter-pianists in the history of rock & roll, would make it to 80. He was at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., booked for one of the few concerts he’s...
- 5/9/2020
- by Neil Strauss
- Rollingstone.com
It’s a safe bet that when Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang approached Watkins Glen International to host the still-up-in-the-air Woodstock 50 festival this summer, he had visions of Summer Jam in his head. On July 28th, 1973, a mere four years after Woodstock, a concert at the same upstate New York racetrack featuring only the Allman Brothers, the Band, and the Grateful Dead drew an estimated 600,000 people — enough to earn it the Guinness World Record for the most attendees at a pop music festival. By comparison, Woodstock attracted a minuscule 250,000 people, according...
- 7/28/2019
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
The Rolling Stones have curated a new compilation, Confessin’ the Blues, that will feature songs from blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. The set arrives November 9th via BMG and Universal.
Confessin’ the Blues fittingly opens with Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone” and features other classics like Berry’s “Little Queenie,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Litle Red Rooster” and Bo Diddley’s “You Can’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover.” The collection will also boast tracks from Elmore James, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred McDowell,...
Confessin’ the Blues fittingly opens with Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone” and features other classics like Berry’s “Little Queenie,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Litle Red Rooster” and Bo Diddley’s “You Can’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover.” The collection will also boast tracks from Elmore James, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred McDowell,...
- 8/1/2018
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
For many, the story of Fleetwood Mac begins with the 1974 arrival of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the talented yet combustible American duo who ignited an explosive string of hits that continue to define the band. But Mick Fleetwood wants to move past those rumors. Fans of the group’s pop jewels would hardly recognize their original incarnation as one of the most respected British blues bands of the ’60s. Now the founding drummer is telling the tale of those formative years in Love That Burns: A Chronicle of Fleetwood Mac, Volume One 1967–1974, a lavish new book by Genesis Publications due out Sept.
- 8/14/2017
- by Jordan Runtagh
- PEOPLE.com
Guitar great George Thorogood is stepping out from his legendary band the Destroyers for the first time with a new solo album, Party of One, on Aug. 4—and People has an exclusive first listen!
Responsible for a string of gritty rock hits including “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” and “Reelin’ and Rockin’,” Thorogood’s latest will feature 14 blues tracks that range from old school traditional—John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and Hank Williams’ “Pictures From Life’s Other Side”—to modern classics like the Rolling Stones‘ “No Expectations.”
Party of One reunites Thorogood...
Responsible for a string of gritty rock hits including “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” and “Reelin’ and Rockin’,” Thorogood’s latest will feature 14 blues tracks that range from old school traditional—John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and Hank Williams’ “Pictures From Life’s Other Side”—to modern classics like the Rolling Stones‘ “No Expectations.”
Party of One reunites Thorogood...
- 7/31/2017
- by Jordan Runtagh
- PEOPLE.com
“Cathy’s Clown,” from The Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival's antiwar anthem “Fortunate Son” and Heart Like a Wheel, from newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Linda Ronstadt, have been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Albums by U2 (The Joshua Tree), Isaac Hayes (Theme From Shaft) and Art Blakey (A Night at Birdland) and music from Celia Cruz, Bing Crosby, Elmore James, Buck Owens, The Louvin Brothers, Louis Jordan and Jeff Buckley also can be found among the latest batch of 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings to be preserved, it was announced today. The selections bring
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- 4/2/2014
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene just presented a remarkable concert event celebrating the folk legend and actor Theodore Bikel in anticipation of his 90th birthday in May 2014. 'Miracle of Miracles A Chanukah Extravaganza' filled the stage at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, last night, December 2 with one rare musical treat after another. Featured in the all-star cast were the beloved Emmy-winning actor Fyvush Finkel, klezmer giant Frank London, the Russian concert phenomenon Psoy Korolenko and the Broadway actors Joanne Borts 'Once' and Elmore James, among many others. Check out photos from the special event below...
- 12/3/2013
- by Stephen Sorokoff
- BroadwayWorld.com
Elmore James (January 17, 1918 - May 24, 1963), inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, is one of the most important figures in the development of the blues. By playing electric guitar not as a louder version of an acoustic guitar, but rather as a new instrument that took advantage of the amplifier to create a new sound, he revolutionized the blues and influenced several generations of rockers as well.
Fortunately, there is a single-cd compilation that offers an excellent cross-section of his legacy: The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James (Rhino, 1993). Unfortunately, it's no longer in print and isn't on iTunes, but it was so popular and highly acclaimed that there are plenty of copies still floating around, as a look at Amazon.com quickly reveals -- and they're still cheap, too. The 21-song collection includes items from the Trumpet, Chess, Flair, Atlantic, Chief, Fire, Sphere Sound,...
Fortunately, there is a single-cd compilation that offers an excellent cross-section of his legacy: The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James (Rhino, 1993). Unfortunately, it's no longer in print and isn't on iTunes, but it was so popular and highly acclaimed that there are plenty of copies still floating around, as a look at Amazon.com quickly reveals -- and they're still cheap, too. The 21-song collection includes items from the Trumpet, Chess, Flair, Atlantic, Chief, Fire, Sphere Sound,...
- 1/27/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
-- As drummer in a forgotten New Jersey band in the 1960s, David Chase never got close – never even got close to close – to making it in music. Yet from a sound check of his rock-infused HBO series "The Sopranos," it's clear the music never faded away.
So what better way for the TV revolutionary to make his film directing debut than with a story that's all about the music? Chase's "Not Fade Away" – a somewhat autobiographical drama about a Jersey boy playing drums in a `60s band and dreaming of stardom – would be called a promising first feature from some unknown filmmaker doing the rounds at Sundance. Coming from a Hollywood heavyweight who's spent decades in the TV trenches, it's a hopeful sign, or maybe just wishful thinking, that more of the quality that has fled film for television might somehow be channeled back to the big-screen.
"Not Fade Away" is a sweet,...
So what better way for the TV revolutionary to make his film directing debut than with a story that's all about the music? Chase's "Not Fade Away" – a somewhat autobiographical drama about a Jersey boy playing drums in a `60s band and dreaming of stardom – would be called a promising first feature from some unknown filmmaker doing the rounds at Sundance. Coming from a Hollywood heavyweight who's spent decades in the TV trenches, it's a hopeful sign, or maybe just wishful thinking, that more of the quality that has fled film for television might somehow be channeled back to the big-screen.
"Not Fade Away" is a sweet,...
- 12/19/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
In case you forgot, David Chase‘s coming-of-age movie Not Fade Away is set to open this month, so the good thing is that today we finally have the first cip from the whole thing! As you already know, the movie will tell us the story of three best friends from the suburbs of New Jersey who decide to form a rock band. Check out the rest of this report to hear how they sound. Not bad at all – if you ask me!
So, The Sopranos creator and producer David Chase is making his feature directing debut with the movie which is set in New Jersey in 1964 where a group of friends are inspired to form their own rock band fronted by a gifted singer-songwriter.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Starring John Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill, Bella Heathcote, Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald and James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away...
So, The Sopranos creator and producer David Chase is making his feature directing debut with the movie which is set in New Jersey in 1964 where a group of friends are inspired to form their own rock band fronted by a gifted singer-songwriter.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Starring John Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill, Bella Heathcote, Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald and James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away...
- 12/7/2012
- by Jeanne Standal
- Filmofilia
When you want to get the music of legends like The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Bob Dylan in your movie, securing the licensing can be both tricky and expensive, and prohibitive for many filmmakers whose budgets may already be strained. But that's not the case for David Chase's "Not Fade Away," because in his back pocket, he has the secret weapon of Steven Van Zandt. The E Street Band member, executive producer, and rock 'n' roll enthusiast worked with Abcko Records to pull together this pretty damn impressive selection of tunes, which includes songs from the movie and a couple that aren't, but that help make this one a pretty nice little mixtape of tracks. Sitting alongside the aforementioned artists are Sex Pistols with their rare cover of The Modern Lovers' "Road Runner," blues legends Elmore James, Robert Johnson and Lead Belly, classic cuts by Van Morrison and...
- 12/5/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Bb King, who has just turned 87, has returned home to Mississippi to play to family and friends. In the experience of a lifetime, Ed Vulliamy joins him and hears from the maestro about his rise from the cotton fields to international stardom
The fat red sun settles itself against the horizon, throwing a last, honey-sweet light through humid evening and over a small crowd on the lawn beside a railroad track that cuts through the cotton fields beyond. A quarter-moon rises and a chorus of cicadas serenades imminent twilight, now conjoined by the sound of the band; the drummer catches the backbeat and the compere announces: "How about an Indianola hometown welcome for the one-and-only King of the Blues: Bb King!"
And on he comes, to applause from people who know him well and claim him as their own – the last of the blues masters a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.
The fat red sun settles itself against the horizon, throwing a last, honey-sweet light through humid evening and over a small crowd on the lawn beside a railroad track that cuts through the cotton fields beyond. A quarter-moon rises and a chorus of cicadas serenades imminent twilight, now conjoined by the sound of the band; the drummer catches the backbeat and the compere announces: "How about an Indianola hometown welcome for the one-and-only King of the Blues: Bb King!"
And on he comes, to applause from people who know him well and claim him as their own – the last of the blues masters a few weeks short of his 87th birthday.
- 10/7/2012
- by Ed Vulliamy
- The Guardian - Film News
Outkast's Andre Benjamin might not be able to perform any Jimi Hendrix songs in his upcoming biopic about the late great rocker, but that doesn't mean he won't have any tracks to sing in the movie. The folks behind "All By My Side" are getting around the copyright issue with Hendrix's estate by having Benjamin perform a series of covers Hendrix did of other bands' music to help make the movie as realistic as possible.
It turns out that this is actually not that big of a deal for the movie's creators. Producer Sean McKittrick told Rolling Stone that he never went to Experience Hendrix, the group that controls the copyrights for Hendrix's songs, because he knew that they likely wouldn't need to use them.
"This is the story of Jimi being discovered as a backup musician and how he went to London and became Jimi Hendrix," he said, saying...
It turns out that this is actually not that big of a deal for the movie's creators. Producer Sean McKittrick told Rolling Stone that he never went to Experience Hendrix, the group that controls the copyrights for Hendrix's songs, because he knew that they likely wouldn't need to use them.
"This is the story of Jimi being discovered as a backup musician and how he went to London and became Jimi Hendrix," he said, saying...
- 7/3/2012
- by Terri Schwartz
- MTV Movies Blog
There's been a lot of speculation over which songs/recordings the producers of All Is By My Side (the upcoming Jimi Hendrix biopic starring OutKast's André 3000, currently filming in Ireland) will or won't have at their disposal without the approved consent of the Jimi Hendrix estate. In what I can't help but think is a semi-conniving sidetrack to Experience Hendrix LLC's blatant disapproval of the production, it's been announced (via Rolling Stone) that the film (set during Hendrix's pre-fame years in London, roughly 1966-1967) will instead feature new recordings of André 3000 performing many of the songs Hendrix himself covered during that time period.
| Related… Picture This: Photos Of André 3000 As Jimi Hendrix Leak |
According to producer Sean McKittrick, the soundtrack (which may or may be released as an album along with the film's projected 2013 released date… although, come on, how could it not?) features Mr. André Benjamin...
| Related… Picture This: Photos Of André 3000 As Jimi Hendrix Leak |
According to producer Sean McKittrick, the soundtrack (which may or may be released as an album along with the film's projected 2013 released date… although, come on, how could it not?) features Mr. André Benjamin...
- 7/3/2012
- by Brett Warner
- Filmology
An album of 'lost' Jimi Hendrix tracks has been confirmed for release. Due for arrival on March 8, the record is titled Valleys Of Neptune and has been produced by Hendrix's stepsister Janie, along with collaborators John McDermott and Eddie Kramer, NME reports. Alongside covers of Cream's 'Sunshine Of Your Love' and Elmore James's 'Bleeding Heart', the LP features The Jimi Hendrix Experience's early rendition of 'Hear My Train A Comin''. Alternate versions of 'Ships Passing Through The Night' and 'Lullaby For The Summer' also feature on the disc, which was recorded sporadically at a string of studios in London and the Us between 1968 (more)...
- 1/12/2010
- by By Oli Simpson
- Digital Spy
Some of Jimi Hendrix's previously unreleased and rare recordings will become widely available with the March 9 release of "Valleys of Neptune." The compilation-style album leads off with the title track, which gets its own single release on Feb. 2. These songs were recorded mostly at Hendrix's Electric Lady studio in 1969, during the last few months of his turbulent life. They were cut amidst recording the guitar god's ambitious, posthumously completed swan song "First Rays of the New Rising Sun." The album includes covers of Cream’s "Sunshine of Your Love" and Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart." Also featured are re-recorded versions...
- 1/11/2010
- by Katie Hasty
- Hitfix
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