On Tuesday, 59 previously unreleased recordings from The Beatles became available on iTunes in a special collection titled The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963. But it’s not because the surviving bandmates or their record label are being exceptionally generous. The tracks, which include demos, studio outtakes and live BBC recordings, were all set to tape around the band’s transitional period surrounding the release of 1963’s Please Please Me. According to European […]
A classic rock song goes high-tech. After 48 years, Bob Dylan finally made an official music video for his song “Like a Rolling Stone.” And how. The perfect combination of old and new, Dylan’s video for the 1965 song features an interactive virtual television with 16 channels of people lip syncing to the song on their various shows—and the viewer can actually flip through the different channels and watch them. […]
A bit of back-door news took the music scene by surprise this week when rock & roll legend Little Richard admitted during a fundraiser that he had suffered a heart attack a few days prior. As Rolling Stone reports, the icon was onstage conversing with Cee Lo Green during a Recording Academy fundraiser in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday night. During the conversation, Little Richard told the story of his health […]
I mentioned in last week’s rewind that this week marks the 36th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. As has become the custom, fans gathered yesterday for a vigil at the singer’s grave at Graceland. So for this week, I thought it would be cool to pull out two key singles from Elvis’ early years. “That’s Alright Mama” was Elvis’ very first commercial release, recorded on Sam Phillips’ Sun […]
Rolling Stones fans eager to grab a piece of history have about a month to get on the wagon for this one. In commemoration of their now-concluded “50 and Counting” tour, the Stones have released Hyde Park Live, a collection of performances from their July 6 and July 13 shows at London’s Hyde Park, for a limited time on iTunes. This release is historically significant on a number of levels. […]
In case you hadn’t heard by now, today is Record Store Day, and independent record stores the world over will be holding special events and sporting exclusive releases. One of those exclusives is a 1966 mono recording of “Hey, Joe” by Jimi Hendrix, released on 7” vinyl. It seems like a good segue into remembering Hendrix himself, and this song in particular. While “Hey, Joe” is notably one of Hendrix’s […]
When you’ve had a long string of success like guitarist icon Eric Clapton, there comes a point when reviews and album critiques are ludicrous. Why? Because the artist no longer has anything to prove. He can pretty much do what he likes. That’s really the vibe I get from Clapton’s 21st studio recording Old Sock. It’s not a phone-in by any means (you don’t get to be a rock icon […]
With this week’s release of GRRR! by The Rolling Stones (their 50th anniversary compilation/celebration), I thought it would be appropriate to share “Gimme Shelter,” one of my personal favorites by the Stones. Originally released at the end of 1969 on the record Let It Bleed, the song was a very appropriate anthem given the upheaval in the world at that time. With the wars of recent years, it seems once […]
Did anyone see The Beach Boys perform at the Grammys this year? Didn’t they look old? They sure don’t sound that way. That’s Why God Made the Radio, the band’s first album of original tunes in 20 years, officially hits shelves today (June 5) as part of a reunion campaign that I have to say is one of the smartest marketing/promotion strategies I’ve ever seen. Why do I say that? […]
