Pulse Music

SPRINGSTEEN WRAPS NORTH AMERICAN LEG IN NEW JERSEY

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band closed out the first leg of their 2023 tour on Friday night (April 14th) at Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center. The home-state show opened with Springsteen saluting the crowd by playing a rearranged version of his 1992 Lucky Town favorite, "Local Hero."

Other highlights featured "The Boss" and the band performing their classic cover of Tom Waits' "Jersey Girl" and a take on his 2002 The Rising party anthem, "Mary's Place."

Sadly, Springsteen dedicated the final song of his set -- "I'll See You In My Dreams" from 2020's Letter To You -- to his late-nephew, Michael Shave Jr. who had died earlier that day. No cause of death has been announced for Shave, who was 53 and the son of Springsteen's younger sister Ginny. She and her husband, Mickey's early relationship was immortalized in the title track to Springsteen 1980 album, The River.

Springsteen & The E Street Band will kick off their European tour on April 28th in Barcelona, Spain at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company.

The band will be back on the road Stateside this summer and kicks off their stadium tour on August 9th and 11th at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

Bruce Springsteen still takes pride in the fact that since the E Street Band's reformation in 1999, they've consistently played to the top of their -- or any other band's -- game: "It's the long, long ride that it's all about. It's that I've had these guys and these ladies at my side and we've made it this far, and that we're here to do it. It's the consistency. . . Professionalism is alive and well, we hope. We just want to carry on and give some people some smiles and some inspiration."

NEW JERSEY FINALLY GETS A 'BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN DAY'

New Jersey has officially named September 23rd "Bruce Springsteen Day." APP.com reported that on April 15th, Gov. Phil Murphy issued the official proclamation honoring Springsteen's birthday at the inaugural American Music Honors event, presented by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Murphy was quoted as saying, "There's been 14 administrations in New Jersey since Springsteen started performing. I can't believe it's taken this long." (APP.com)

Billie Eilish made a surprise appearance at Coachella Saturday (April 15th) night.

Videos shared to social media show the singer crashed Labrinth's set to perform their collaborative single "Never Felt So Alone."

An early version of the track previously appeared on HBO's Euphoria.

It was 53 years ago today (April 17th, 1970) that Paul McCartney released his first solo album apart from the Beatles. Although McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr had all produced and released solo projects before, the McCartney album was the first solo mainstream record released in the aftermath of the group's breakup.

McCartney featured an assortment of tracks recorded at home and in the studio, featuring McCartney on all instruments, with the help of his wife Linda McCartney on harmonies. Several of the songs were Beatles-era rejects, such as "Junk," which was originally intended for the band's 1968 self-titled double set commonly known as the "White Album." Early versions of "Every Night," "Teddy Boy," and a snippet of "Maybe I'm Amazed" were also rehearsed by various members of the band during the next year's Let It Be sessions. The instrumental track "Hot As Sun," also performed during the January 1969 sessions, dated as far back as 1960.

Although Lennon had quietly quit the band the previous September, none of the Beatles said anything about the split publicly until McCartney issued a self-penned interview included in the press copies of album. McCartney recalled how the press release issued with the reviewers copies of McCartney broke the news of the Beatles' breakup and the end of his partnership with John Lennon: "It was actually months after we'd broken up and no one was saying anything. And I was putting out a crazy little release, press release with the McCartney album, 'cause someone had said to me, 'We need some press on this, you better do something.' And I didn't want to sit down and be interviewed; I didn't feel secure enough to do that. So I said, 'Well, we'll make up a question and answer thing.' So I said to, actually it was (Beatles aide) Peter Brown, I said to him, 'Write me out a questionnaire of what you think they'd ask me.' So I just filled it all in, like a questionnaire. And it all came out weird. The press got it; it looked like I was trying to do a real number. John then thought, y'know, 'A-ha, he's done the announcement of the Beatles' split.' But, I mean, I thought months after, someone had better do it."

McCartney recalled the sessions in 1999 during the production of his Wingspan project, saying that, "Some of the songs on McCartney I had tried with the Beatles and they hadn't worked out. The Beatles were breaking up and nobody had any patience. . . So I thought, 'Right, I'll do it on my own.'"

McCartney explained that over the years, the original McCartney album -- which was recorded partially at home -- has become known as rock's first "indie" album: "It has got a sort of 'indie' thing. Y'know, it's now what would be called an 'indie' thing. To me, then, it was just for me, knockin' around experimentin' with some sounds and not worrying how it was gonna turn out. I think that was one of the secrets. With this stuff it was like, I wasn't really doing it with anything in mind; it was only when I had a bunch of the songs together and people started to say, 'Well, that's your new album, is it?' 'I said, Well, not. . . no. . .' 'Well, it sounds like it.' And I was persuaded."

McCartney, who still performs "Maybe I'm Amazed" live in concert, admits that the song is a definite emotional period piece for him: "'Maybe I'm Amazed' sums up the time for me. Y'know, Linda and I had just got together and that song was my amazement at getting with this great girl. It just worked. I didn't really stress out over it. I just made this song up and thought of lyrics, like, y'know, 'hung me on a line,' 'pull(ed) me out of time,' and things -- just little phrases that occurred to me about this relationship."

The cover, which featured a symbolic photo of a bowl of spilled cherries, included the iconic back cover photo of McCartney holding his infant daughter Mary tucked into his jacket. The photo, along with the inner gatefold cover spread, underscored what McCartney claimed at the time was his ultimate message: "Home, family, (and) love."

In 1999, Neil Young inducted McCartney into the Hall of Fame as a solo artist. During his speech, Young took the time to explain what he appreciated about McCartney's first solo album: "I loved that record because it was so simple. And there was so much to see and to hear, it was just Paul. There was no adornment at all, there was no echo, there was nothing. There was no attempt made to compete with things he'd already done. And so out he stepped from the shadow of the Beatles."

Although no singles were released from the album, "Maybe I'm Amazed" was regarded as an instant classic, gaining massive AM and FM radio airplay. In 1977, a live version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" peaked at Number 10 on the charts. Until recently, the song has nearly always opened the piano set of McCartney's concerts.

During Wings' final tour in 1979 McCartney finally debuted two of the McCartney album's standout tracks in the band's set lists incorporating full band arrangements on "Every Night" and "Hot As Sun."

McCartney revisited the McCartney album during his 1991 taping of MTV's Unplugged, which featured a return to "Every Night" and the live debuts of "That Would Be Something" and "Singalong Junk."

It would be a full decade before McCartney would release a true follow-up to the McCartney album. 1980's synth-oriented McCartney II, which included the studio version of McCartney's Number One hit "Coming Up," and peaked at Number Three on the album charts.

Ringo Starr's former producer Mark Hudson says that if he had the chance to produce McCartney, he'd love to pick up exactly where the McCartney album left off: "I would love to get my hands on him, because I think I would like to do a nastier (sounding) record with him -- not louder. Like (sings) 'Walk like a woman!' -- 'Oo You,' and 'Maybe I'm Amazed.' There was a simplistic vibe to that."

HBO's Eastbound And Down viewers heard a snippet of a 1970 McCartney album deep classic during the series premiere episode -- with "Momma Miss America" being played during one of the show's scenes. The song got a second lease on life when it was featured in the 1996 Cameron Crowe film Jerry McGuire. Paul McCartney recalled recording the song at home in London's St. John's Wood: "It was great, it was a very free album for me to do, 'cause I would just get up and (yawn) 'Breakfast' and wander into the living room and do a track. So, it's got that feel on it. Y'know, there's a lot of stuff that you might have thought twice about -- but I didn't. Like instrumentals, like 'Momma Miss America' -- crazy little instrumentals. But, I sorta like 'em. And I hear 'em now, I think -- 'Did I do that? Oh, that was cheeky, that was nice.'"

McCartney sold two million copies upon its release and topped the album charts for three weeks, staying in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 charts for 13 weeks.

Sadly, 18 years to the date of the album's release (April 17th, 1998) -- and 22 years ago today -- Linda McCartney died after a long bout with cancer. She and Paul had been married 29 years.

In June 2011, McCartney released remastered and expanded editions of 1970's McCartney and 1980's McCartney II as part of his ongoing "Archive Collection."

Out now is "Empires," Smashing Pumpkins' latest video from their soon-to-be released Atum: Act 3 album, which drops on May 5th. "Empires" has become the Number One most added song to Active Rock radio. The band's track, "Spellbinding," is also currently the Number One most added to Alternative Rock radio.

Act 3 is the third volume in its Atum trilogy. The "three-act rock opera" follows 1995's Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and 2000's Machina/Machines Of God.

Leader Billy Corgan told us a while back that he puts a painstaking amount of effort into every song he records: "I'm more detail-oriented probably than anybody I've worked with. People commonly call it perfectionism, but I feel a little bit like a painter, because as the person who sort of generates the original idea and writes the song, I have to sort of put it all together. So, it's like, if some element is not supporting another element that I'm intrinsically involved in, then there's some part of me getting disappointed."

It was 15 years ago today (April 17th, 2008) that the E Street Band's co-founding organist Danny Federici died at age 58 at New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, following a three-year battle with melanoma. Federici, who was nicknamed "Phantom" due to a comical scuffle with the law during a 1970 riot at a Bruce Springsteen show, had been playing with Springsteen since 1969 -- longer than any other musician in the E Street Band at that point.

Federici backed Springsteen in such pre-fame bands as Child, Steel Mill, the Bruce Springsteen Band, and Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom. Federici's organ, accordion, and glockenspiel work were hallmarks of Springsteen's sound, evoking the heart and soul of the New Jersey shore and the characters from the central Jersey scene whom Springsteen chronicled in his early works. In 1999, Springsteen saluted Federici during his acceptance speech to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, saying, "Danny Federici, the most instinctive and natural musician I ever met and the only member of the band who can reduce me to a shouting mess. I love you Danny. Your organ and accordion playing brought the boardwalks of Central and South Jersey alive in my music. Thank you."

Springsteen had announced on November 21st, 2007 that Federici would be sitting out the then-upcoming leg of his European dates to take time off to receive cancer treatment. Federici's last full E Street Band concert took place in Boston on November 19th, on the last night of the first leg of their tour. Word of Federici's long-rumored fragile health spread quickly after the show, at which Federici was unusually spotlighted numerous times during the concert and the curtain calls.

Federici made a surprise appearance with the band less than a month before his death during Springsteen's March 20th, 2008 concert in Indianapolis, where he joined the band for selected numbers in the show, including "The Promised Land," "Spirit In The Night," and "Fourth Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," which featured Federici on his first instrument, the accordion. Federici also appeared for the encores, including "Backstreets," "Kitty's Back," "Born To Run," "Dancing In The Dark," and "American Land," which featured he and E Street pianist Roy Bittan on dual accordions. Charlie Giordano of Springsteen's side project the Seeger Sessions Band, was named as Federici's permanent replacement.

In 2018, Springsteen selected the final show to feature Federici as one of his monthly vault releases -- Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - TD Banknorth Garden - Boston 11/19/07. Federici's March 20th, 2008 rendition of "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," was included on the 2008 EP, Magic Tour Highlights.

Shortly before his death in 2008, E Street Band co-founder and organist Danny Federici -- who had played with "The Boss" the longest -- explained that Springsteen was nothing if not his own man: "Bruce is Bruce. He does what he wants, when he wants it, and he changes his mind all the time."

Steve Van Zandt explained that Federici was literally there long before the E Street big bang: "Danny is one of the original guys from our local. . . we had a little scene where we all ended up hanging out in Asbury Park, called the Upstage Club, and y'know, Danny goes back all the way there with me, and Bruce, and Garry Tallent, also."

Fellow E Street Band co-founder and keyboardist David Sancious admitted to us that Federici's death hit him hard: "When Danny passed away I was on tour in Italy and I couldn't attend the funeral and I was able to send a message and condolences to his wife. It's tough, y'know, it arrests your attention. You realize -- if you didn't realize it already -- when your friends start to pass away, it arrests your attention to that sense of mortality."

Clarence Clemons, who stood in front of Federici night after night after night, explained shortly before his own 2011 death, how tied together his and Federici's lives were: "Danny was like my son. Danny did everything first, including dying. The first time I had any kind of drug. . . relationship was with Danny, and the first time I did anything that's crazy, I did it with Danny. We had a little thing going that we used to do in between songs. I miss him so much. But, man, when Danny was there it was. . . it was something different, y'know? It was something different."

During the E Street Band's 2014 Rock Hall induction, Bruce Springsteen spoke candidly about the ties that bound him and his bandmates: "It was a band. We struggled together and sometimes we struggled with one another. We bathed in the glory and often the heartbreaking confusion of our rewards together. We enjoyed health and we've suffered illness, and aging, and death together. We took care of one another when trouble knocked, and we hurt one another in big and small ways. But in the end, we kept faith with each other. And one thing is for certain. I told a story with the E Street Band that was -- and is -- bigger than I ever could've told on my own."

In February 2000, as part of his ongoing live archive series, Bruce Springsteen released the E Street Band's first show following Danny Federici's death and funeral. The set, titled St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL - April 22nd, 2008, opens with the audio of the celebratory film chronicling "Phantom's" life with Springsteen, before a heart-wrenching rendition of "Backstreets," along with the tour premiere of "Growin' Up," a one-off performance of the gospel standard, "I'll Fly Away," and a take of Federici's signature tune with the band, "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," featuring Roy Bittan filling in for his fallen E Street partner.

Metallica is making history on April 25th, when all 12 of the songs from their new 72 Seasons album will be released as videos using American sign language. This marks the first time a major rock band has ever done so.

Blabbermouth reported, "In honor of #NationalASLDay, Metallica has partnered with Amber G Productions, an ASL interpreting company, and DPAN (Deaf Professional Arts Network) to kick things off with the title track."

James Hetfield told us a while back what keeps him going year-after-year: "Well, for me writing music is like breathing, and being able to create things in a band that has a huge family out there and a following around the world, and be able to get my confusion and questions and insanity into this music and put out to the rest of the world so people can relate. . . there's no better thing."

For the first time in nearly a decade, Blink-182 is scheduled to play Coachella.

To make the announcement, Coachella posted a reference to one of Blink's songs and wrote: "Take off your pants and jacket ☀️" you've been warned!

The band compiled of Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and Tom DeLonge is set to play the Sahara stage this Friday night (4-14).

TL;DR:

• Blink-182 is scheduled to play Coachella this Friday night (4-14).

The wait is over -- as Metallica releases the band's 11th studio album, titled 72 Seasons today (April 14th). The set marks Metallica's first studio collection since 2016's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct.

Upon announcing the set, James Hetfield said in a statement, "72 seasons -- the first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told 'who we are' by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is a reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry."

Headed to cinemas worldwide on Friday, August 18th and Sunday, August 20th is Metallica's latest concert film, Metallica: M72 World Tour Live From Arlington, TX.

According to the official press release:

This unprecedented global theatrical event will see the band playing two nights with two completely different setlists, with songs spanning the group's 40-plus year career, from 1983's classic Kill ‘Em All to 2023's long-awaited 72 Seasons. The band won't play a single song twice, making for a total of more than 30 songs across both nights.

The M72 tour will feature a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed Metallica Snake Pit to center stage, while giving fans a complete 360-degree view from every seat in the house. With a state-of-the-art multi-camera set up, fans will be right in the middle of the action, no matter where they are in the world. For more information, visit Metallica.film.

During their recent appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were asked about how they felt about the inclusion of their classic track, "Master Of Puppets" in the Netflix series, Stranger Things: "(James Hetfield): No one was against it for sure. Anything that's gonna get us out there -- especially older music. It still blows my mind that people like that song, (laughs) first of all. . . (Jimmy Kimmel): Yeah? (James Hetfield): (Laughs): Yeah, and the younger generation are. . . (Lars Ulrich): It's, like, a nine-minute heavy metal song from 1986, that probably pre-dates most of these people by 25 or 30 years (laughter). It's just insane. Who would've thought, right?"

Metallica kicks off their upcoming tour on April 27th and 29th at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.

It was 60 years ago today (April 14th, 1963) that the Beatles and the Rolling Stones first met. The Beatles, who were new on the scene in London, had heard about the group through word of mouth, and were in the audience at the Stones' show in Richmond at the Crawdaddy Club at the Station Hotel. Shortly thereafter, George Harrison personally recommended that Decca Records -- the same label that had passed on the Beatles -- sign a deal with the still-unknown Stones.

In 1988 when Mick Jagger inducted the Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he recalled first laying eyes on the group while on stage, remembering, "We were playing a little club in Richmond and I saw right in front of me, there they were -- THE FAB FOUR. The four-headed monster. They never went anywhere alone. And they had on the most beautiful long, black leather trench coats." Jagger joked that, "I thought to myself, 'If I have to learn to write songs to get one of those, I will.'"

The two bands, which were pegged as being rivals in the rock press, were actually very close. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the Stones' sophmore single, "I Wanna Be Your Man" -- which the Stones chose as their second number on December 8th, 2012 at the kick-off of their 50 & Counting shows in Brooklyn, New York. The concert also fell on the 32nd anniversary of John Lennon's murder. Throughout the '60s, McCartney and Jagger coordinated their record release schedules and staggered their releases, so that they wouldn't have overlapping hits, which would force fans to pick one band over the other.

Keith Richards was an immediate fan and friend of The Beatles. He admits that following manager Andrew Loog Oldham's brief that the Stones become the opposite of the lovable "Mop Tops" was ingenious and important in separating the Stones from all the other British beat groups that followed in the Beatles wake: "There was no competition between the bands, per se, y'know -- but in the greater world, the Beatles were the "Fab Four," y'know? As I say, that's wearing the ‘white hat.' So the only other (laughs) place to go is to wear the ‘black hat' (laughs), y'know? And at the same time, we were pretty natural, and I think all we really did was, we didn't ‘showbiz' ourselves up."

Mick Jagger admitted that the Beatles' opened all the doors for the Stones by recreating the music business in the early-'60s: "They were both rivals and they were also, I mean, they were also showing the way, 'cause they were the first at this kind of. . . They were kind of trailblazers in a lot of ways, and they went to the United States first, y'know, they showed the way, they were big international stars -- because in England, most people have never really been stars outside of England. You had your little patch and that was it. And the Beatles kind of showed you could be big internationally."

The Stones' late-drummer Charlie Watts remembered that as big as the Rolling Stones got, they never penetrated the global psyche the way that the Beatles did: "The Beatles, the phenomena of them was something else. But I don't think, I don't think you could put the same sort of madness that they had going (on the Rolling Stones). I think there was at concerts where you'd turn up and play, but I mean generally where you had every joke on television was a Beatle joke, or something -- or The Brady Bunch would say 'I'm going to a (Beatle concert).' Y'know, on that level."

In 2005 when the Stones performed as the Super Bowl's halftime act the year after McCartney, he echoed Lennon's 1970 statement that the Stones did everything the Beatles did a year later: "It's not bitchy, but if you look at the career of the Beatles and the Stones, they always do stuff a year after we do. So we do Sgt. Pepper and about a year later they do Satanic Majesties, they do their psychedelic album. The Beatles come to America, about a year later the Stones do. So I like it. They're holding true to form."

Over the decades, The Beatles and The Stones have enjoyed both a personal, and at times professional, relationship:

The Beatles' inner-circle on the mid-'60s "Swingin' London" club scene included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and the Animals' Eric Burdon.

George Harrison was at Keith Richards' house just prior to Jagger and Richards' infamous 1967 drug bust.

Jagger and Richards attended several Beatles recording sessions, including the legendary orchestral overdub of the group's "A Day In The Life" track.

In 1967, the Stones' late co-founder Brian Jones played saxophone on the Beatles' "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), which was eventually released in 1970 as the B-side to "Let It Be."

Lennon and McCartney contributed backing vocals to the Stones' 1967 single "We Love You," and Jagger returned the favor by attending the "All You Need Is Love" global satellite broadcast.

That summer, Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithfull traveled with the Beatles to Bangor, Wales for a weekend lecture with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was there that the Beatles learned of the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. Around that time, the Beatles and the Stones tossed around the idea of starting their own joint record label.

John Lennon made his first-ever solo appearance at the Stones' December 1968 taping of their Rock And Roll Circus, performing "Yer Blues" with the makeshift band called the Plastic Mac, which included Keith Richards on bass, Eric Clapton on lead guitar, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Mitch Mitchell on drums. For a brief time in 1969, the two bands shared a manager, the American-born accountant Allen Klein.

In July 1969, Paul and Linda McCartney, who was once romantically linked to Jagger, attended the Stones' comeback gig at London's Hyde Park. It was at that show that the Stones premiered their new single "Honky Tonk Women," which was rumored to be inspired in part by Linda, who according to legend was "the divorcee in New York City."

In 1971, both McCartney and Ringo Starr -- who were not on speaking terms -- attended Mick and Bianca Jagger's wedding in St. Tropez.

During the summer of 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono visted the Stones in France during the recording of Exile On Main St.

Lennon and Jagger collaborated several times in the studio. In 1973 Jagger added guitar to Yoko's Approximately Infinite Universe album, and in 1974 Lennon produced a version of Jagger singing "Too Many Cooks," which has only recently been released.

In 1979 Ringo Starr and former Stones bassist Bill Wyman performed together on Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

In 1981, Stones guitarist Ron Wood co-wrote produced several tracks for Starr's Stop And Smell The Roses album. Keith Richards also took part in the sessions.

In 1986 McCartney performed onstage with Jagger and David Bowie, playing acoustic guitar during the Prince's Trust Concert, when the pair performed their hit remake of "Dancing In The Street." Jagger, who was unhappy with his performance, wouldn't let his and Bowie's portion air in America.

Julian Lennon performed with Keith Richards in 1986 during the filming of Chuck Berry's 60th birthday concert film, Hail! Hail! Rock N' Roll. He later recorded a cover of the Stones 1967 hit, "Ruby Tuesday. His brother Sean Lennon was briefly romantically linked to Mick Jagger's daughter, Elizabeth Jagger.

In Keith Richards' 2010 autobiography, he revealed that he and McCartney had actually struck up a close friendship starting earlier in the decade.

In 2012 Paul McCartney -- along with Rod Stewart -- served as Ron Wood's best man at his wedding to Sally Humphreys.

On March 27th, 2013 Wood and McCartney joined McCartney's son James McCartney onstage during his performance at London's Ambassador Club.

On February 15th, 2015, Keith Richards introduced Paul McCartney's performance of "Maybe I'm Amazed" on NBC's Saturday Night Live - 40th Anniversary Special.

Last October 14th, while performing in L.A., Mick Jagger took a swipe at Paul McCartney during the Stones' concert at SoFi Stadium. Jagger was commenting on the former-Beatle's recent take on the Stones to The New Yorker, when he offered up, "I'm not sure I should say it, but they're a blues cover band, that's sort of what the Stones are. . . I think (the Beatles') net was cast a bit wider than theirs."

While chatting with the crowd at the Stones gig -- Jagger couldn't help but poke "Macca" when he said, "There's so many celebrities here tonight, of course, y'know? Naturally. Megan Fox is here, she's lovely. Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga. Kirk Douglas -- aah, misread that one. Uh, Paul McCartney is here; he's going to help us — he's going to join us in a blues cover later."

Paul McCartney has reportedly supplied bass to an upcoming track nn the Stones' still-unannounced studio album.

DYLAN COVERS THE DEAD

Bob Dylan proved there are more than a few surprises still up his sleeve. Despite the legendary singer /songwriter playing a pretty static setlist over the past few years, on Wednesday night (April 12th) during his concert at Tokyo's Tokyo Garden Theater, Dylan performed the Grateful Dead's 1970 American Beauty standard, "Truckin'," marking the first time he's ever tackled the song in concert.

"Truckin'" was written by Dylan's sadly departed good friends and periodic collaborators, Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. Hunter and Dylan first teamed up fort two songs on Dylan's 1988 Down In The Groove collection, co-writing "Ugliest Girl In The World" and "Silvio." Nearly a decade later, their collaborated on most of the lyrics to Dylan's 2009 chart-topping Together Through Life album.

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart recalled to us the thrill of Dylan joining the Dead on the road back in 1987: "My fondest memory was actually completing a song where everybody remembered the lyrics (laughs). Y'know, especially Bob, y'know. . . And, yeah, I thought if we completed a song without incident, that was a great event because it was pretty chaotic onstage. We weren't over-rehearsed and so, we were wingin' it. But I loved it. I just loved to hear all those songs and they took on all those different aspect of our band -- as opposed to Dylan's band."

Bob Dylan performs tonight (April 14th) at Tokyo's Tokyo Garden Theater. Following his Tokyo run, he'll be on the road in Europe through July.

DYLAN RELEASING SOUNDTRACK TO 'SHADOW KINGDOM'

On June 2nd, Bob Dylan will release the long-awaited soundtrack to his 2021 virtual Shadow Kingdom live concert. The set marks the first time the audio from the show has been officially issued and will be available in digital, CD and double-LP 12-inch vinyl formats. The full-length Shadow Kingdom feature film will also be available for download and rental on Tuesday, June 6th.

Although universally renowned as one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century, Bob Dylan explained that there are definitely fundamentals to songwriting that everyone needs to abide by: "Well there are certain rules and regulations to it. I mean, you just don't sit down and write a song, y'know what I mean? There's a certain amount of learning you have to, y'know, go through to get to that point and not only living experience, but, I mean, you have to also play an instrument and carry some kind of tune, I guess."

The tracklisting to Bob Dylan's Shadow Kingdom is:

"When I Paint My Masterpiece"
"Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)"
"Queen Jane Approximately"
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"
"Tombstone Blues"
"To Be Alone With You"
"What Was It You Wanted"
"Forever Young"
"Pledging My Time"
"The Wicked Messenger"
"Watching the River Flow"
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
"Sierra's Theme"

Kiss was forced to briefly pause their concert on Wednesday (April 12th) in in Manaus, Brazil after Gene Simmons fell ill, according to Blabbermouth.

Paul Stanley addressed the situation, telling fans: "We're gonna have to stop. We know how much you love Gene. He's obviously sick, and we're gonna have to stop to talk care of him because we love him, right? Let's give Gene a really loud, 'Gene!'"

Shortly after he and the band took a break to regroup. Simmons asked a member of the road crew to bring him a chair and performed the rest of the show seated.

On Thursday, Gene Simmons later tweeted a message to fans, which read: "Ok, kids. Not a big deal. Thanks for your kind wishes. Last night we played Amazon jungle Stadium/Brazil. Humidity and temperature were sky high. I was dehydrated and was forced to sit for a song. We got back on stage in 5 minutes & finished the show."

Gene Simmons has often been the first to credit Kiss' legions of fans for their success and admits that the love and support the band has been given by their "Kiss Army" remains beyond their wildest imaginations: "Kiss fans are beyond anything we ever dared hope for, in terms of fans. We were gonna be happy with just being able to sell a record and, and doing our music, but to get this kind of loyalty is beyond anything we ever expected."

Kiss will next perform on Saturday (April 15th) in Bogota, Colombia.

Niall Horan announced late on Thursday, April 13 that his new single, "Meltdown" will be out on April 28. The former One Direction member described the song as "basically about feeling anxious and being in that kind of freaking out moment but knowing deep down that everything will be alright."

In the cover art, he's shown with a troubled look as he leans against an old radiator, dressed in shades of creamy neutrals.

Horan's new album, The Show will be out at the end of the month. So far, the lead single "Heaven" has spent six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #62.

TL;DR:

• Niall Horan‘s new single, "Meltdown" will be out on April 28.
• Horan's new album, The Show will also be out at the end of the month.

The National and Phoebe Bridgers released a video for their single, "Your Mind Is Not Your Friend."

In an interview with Apple Music 1, lead singer Matt Berninger explained how the song was written when he was climbing out of a long phase of writer's block and depression. He said his wife kept telling him that ‘This is just a phase. This is not really you.'"

"Your Mind Is Not Your Friend" the fourth single from The National's latest album First Two Pages of Frankenstein.

TL;DR:

The Weeknd's upcoming HBO series, The Idol, has been chosen by Cannes Film Festival as one of four Out of Competition Selections.

Co-created by The Weeknd, he stars in it alongside Lily-Rose Depp.

According to a press release, the storyline follows Depp's character, an aspiring artist, as she works to become the sexiest pop star in America.

Described in the promotional trailer as the "sleaziest love story of all time," The Idol has been in the works since 2021 and has reportedly undergone several delays and personnel changes.

An HBO launch date has not been announced.

TL;DR:

It was 49 years ago today (April 14th, 1974), that the Who's Pete Townshend played his first ever solo concert in London at The Roundhouse. The concert, which took place on Easter Sunday, was scheduled during a break from Townshend's recording sessions for the Tommy - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He had originally envisioned a mellow low-key gig to benefit the Camden Square Community Playhouse Theatre, but heavy publicity from the British rock trades made the show the high-profile show of the spring.

Townshend spent about a week rehearsing the show and creating tape loops and rhythm tracks to provide backing for his acoustic and electric set, in which he also played the clavinet -- an electric keyboard. Tapes of the show that have been making rounds with collectors reveal a particularly rowdy crowd -- with Townshend handling himself pretty well against at least one drunken heckler.

Among the Who classics performed were "The Seeker" -- which opened the show, "Happy Jack," "Substitute," "See Me, Feel Me," "Tattoo," "Let's See Action," "Pinball Wizard," as well as covers including Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter," Traffic's "No Face, No Name, No Number," Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man," "Amoureuse" by Veronique Sanson -- later the wife of Stephen Stills, and the Bob Dylan-related standards "Girl From North Country," and "Corina, Corina."

The show marked Townshend's live debut his 1966 tune called "Join My Gang" which he had written for the British pop singer Oscar -- better known as Paul Nicholas.

During the show, he took the time to play his original demos of "My Generation" over the venue's P.A. system. He later encored with the song, in a medley with the Who's "Magic Bus."

Performing solo wasn't a decision that Townshend took lightly. That said, he always felt that his work was one of a singular artist who adapted his material to fit the Who's structure: "Well, obviously, every writer, every individual that creates has to draw on their own experiences and when I set out to write songs -- I shoot from the hip. I don't actually write for any particular voice."

The Roundhouse concert -- which is legendary among die-hard Who fans -- has gone down as a curious footnote in Townshend's performing career. It would be over five years before he would step onstage solo again.

57 years ago today (April 14th, 1966) the Beatles recorded their 12th U.S. chart topper, "Paperback Writer." The song, which was recorded during the group's Revolver sessions, was the first to prominently feature Paul McCartney's Rickenbacker bass guitar as a lead instrument.

The Beatles' legendary engineer, the late-Geoff Emerick told us that he thought that by mic'ing McCartney's bass with a loudspeaker he could break new ground with how a bass sounded on the radio: "So my theory was that if a loudspeaker could push a bass out then a loudspeaker can take it back in. And use that loudspeaker as a moving core microphone, and that's exactly what I did. And it did have a certain roundness and a fullness to it."

"Paperback Writer" was not included on Revolver, but released as the group's spring single. It went on to top the charts for two weeks in the spring and early summer of 1966. It was the only song from their current set of sessions to be included on the 1966 tour, which proved to be their last.

McCartney resurrected the song in 1993 and played it on his New World Tour. It was eventually included on that year's Paul Is Live album. "Paperback Writer" -- now featuring McCartney on lead guitar and including an extended coda -- is now in his current concert rotation and featured on the 2009 Good Evening New York City live album

It was 59 years ago Sunday (April 16th, 1964) that the Rolling Stones released their self-titled debut album. The collection, which was based around the Stones' stage act at the time, featured covers of Bobby Troup's "Route 66," Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You," Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do," Bo Diddley's "Mona (I Need You Baby)," Chuck Berry's "Carol," and Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get A Witness," among others.

The album featured the first Stones-released Mick Jagger-Keith Richards original "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)," along with the group's co-write with Phil Spector -- "Little By Little" -- which like all of the Stones' early group collaborations was credited to the pseudonym Nanker Phelge.

Keith Richards was quoted talking about the album in Victor Bockris' Keith Richards: The Biography: "A first album can be incredible. All that energy . . . unbelievable! It's almost sad in a way, because you know it can only be a once-ever experience . . . I still listen to that album, the enthusiasm there is obvious I think . . . We had all these numbers we had been playing for ages and at that point they were just ready to be (gotten) down in the studio."

The striking cover shot of the band by David Bailey was groundbreaking at the time in that it didn't feature the group's name or the album title on the cover. The only identification was the iconic Decca label in the upper right-hand corner.

The Rolling Stones went on to top the UK album charts for 12 weeks. Its American counterpart -- with a slightly different track listing -- retitled England's Newest Hitmakers went on to peak at Number 11 in the States.

Keith Richards explained that becoming a pop -- or even a rock n' roll -- sensation was the furthest things from the Stones' minds: "No, we were R&B. Yeah, and to us, we were very anti-pop and anti-fame -- mainly because it was totally out of the question, I guess. But at the same time, the showbusiness aspect of it never appealed to us. We were sort of crusaders for the blues. If we can turn a few people on to, like, the stuff, like Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee (Hooker), Elmore James -- that was our mission in life for those first couple of years."

The Stones' late-drummer Charlie Watts admitted that upon joining the Stones in early-1963, becoming famous -- let alone being regarded as living legends -- truly seemed impossible: "No, no, every band I'd ever been in lasted a week. I mean, you only lasted as long as the guy in the club, or whatever, would book you for. So, if they didn't like you, y'know, it was two gigs and that was it. So I always thought it was gonna last a week."

After 60 years in the public eye, we asked Mick Jagger what he recalls about his and the Stones' early fame: "You kind of always say that it was great to get the band going the very first time, because you start to be successful the first year or first couple of years and like, all your little teenage dreams (laughs) are sort of coming true. And so, you feel very young and you're very ambitious and you're starting to be successful and that feels very good. Like, getting your first job, isn't it, y'know?"

On Wednesday, April 12, Foo Fighters shared a cryptic message on social media that their fans understood to be an announcement of new music.

In a message that was so faded in color that you could barely see, the Instagram post read: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Fans flooded the comments section with excitement and among the first was Jack Black of Tenacious D who responded back with "I think so."

Earlier this week, Foo Fighters announced several tour dates with headlining shows beginning in May and running through October.

Foo Fighters formed in 1994 by former Nirvana drummer and now lead vocalist Dave Grohl. Band members include Chris Shiftlett on guitar, bassist Nate Mendel, Rami Jaffee on keys and guitarist Pat Smear. Hawkins, who died one year ago this month, had been the band's drummer since 1997. A new drummer has not been announced.

TL;DR:

• Foo Fighters shared a cryptic message on social media that their fans understood to be an announcement of new music.
• "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
• Among the first was Jack Black of Tenacious D who responded back with "I think so."

Set for release on May 19th is Paul Simon's latest album, Seven Psalms. According to the announcement, the 33-minute, seven-movement song cycle is intended to be listened to as one continuous piece. The entirely acoustic-based new set, which was produced by Simon and Kyle Crusham, includes choral elements from the noted British vocal ensemble VOCES8, as well as an appearance by Simon's wife, singer/songwriter Edie Brickell and jazz great Wynton Marsalis.

A trailer for the new album has been released including excerpts from an upcoming Simon documentary, titled In Restless Dreams.

A while back, Paul Simon explained that for him, songwriting is not about resting in one's comfort zone: "Well, I think it's my job not to actually be that concerned about being safe. I think you go for whatever it is that you think the truth is. In my case, I find the area I find most vulnerable in and therefore the area I'm most interested in is the heart, love. That's the area I least wanna talk to you about, or tell you about, or reveal about myself. And so, that's the area that I feel compelled to write about. But I really feel it's, like, the job to go for the hit and if you kiss and they, they laugh at you or they criticize you, well, y'know, get a tougher skin."

The tracklisting to Paul Simon's Seven Psalms is:

"The Lord"
"Love Is Like A Braid"
"My Professional Opinion"
"Your Forgiveness"
"Trail Of Volcanoes"
"The Sacred Harp"
"Wait"

Post Malone shared a clip from the studio and you can see him jamming out to a pop-tinged track. Only a few lyrics can be heard, but it sounds like a relationship song. His new single, "Chemical," will be out on Friday (April 14).

TL;DR:

• He will release his new single "Chemical" on Friday.

Coming on June 23rd is Eric Clapton's The Definite 24 Nights. The new expanded set expands Clapton's classic 1991 live album with several hours of unreleased performances from "Slowhand's" record-setting residency at London's Royal Albert Hall. The package will be available in six-CD/three-Blu-ray and eight-LP/three-Blu-ray configurations. Both versions come with three Blu-ray discs for the video content, a hardbound book, and an individually numbered lithograph featuring a photograph of Clapton by Carl Studna.

Standalone versions of the individual concerts -- 24 Nights: Rock, 24 Nights: Blues, and 24 Nights: Orchestral -- will be released the same day in two-CD/DVD and triple-LP (Rock and Orchestral) ($49.98) and 2-LP (Blues) configurations.

Among the special guests appearing on the set are Johnnie Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Chuck Leavell, Phil Collins, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Ferrone, Ray Cooper, and Jerry Portnoy.

On May 17th, a newly compiled feature film, titled Across 24 Nights, will be screened in cinemas worldwide.

Eric Clapton's 24 Nights was originally released on October 8th, 1991 at peaked at Number 38 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set was culled from 42 shows performed in 1989 and 1990 at London's Royal Albert Hall. The shows alternated Clapton performing with a four piece band, a nine-piece band, a scaled-back blues ensemble, and the nine-piece band along with the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen.

One of the highlights on the expanded 24 Nights is the new 14-track blues disc. Eric Clapton told us point blank that listening to blues icon Robert Johnson's songs made him want to be a musician: "It got me moving, really. I mean, it got me moving in terms of understanding the power of music in my life. I knew I was responding to this stronger than other people were, and I didn't really talk about it very much to anybody -- I just kind of used it as a starting point."

Eric Clapton told us, that like any seasoned performer, he does his best to make sure fans leave the concert satisfied, but his first priority is actually the people standing next to him on stage. He said things only work when he and his fellow musicians are in sync: "I really play for the band -- y'know, we play for one another. That's the first priority, is 'Are we all clicking?' And then, once you've looked inward, you look out and see if everyone's okay out there."

On Saturday night (April 15th) Eric Clapton kicks off a six-night run at Tokyo, Japan's Nippon Budokan.

Machine Gun Kelly is set to bring his sold out hometown Cleveland, Ohio performance to theaters next month.

With the long title of - Machine Gun Kelly: Mainstream Sellout Live from Cleveland: The Pink Era, it boasts a ton of hits. This one-night-only cinema event will treat fans to behind-the-scenes moments from the sold out world tour.

Tickets are available online for the May 13^th.

TL;DR:

• One night only, Machine Gun Kelly is set to bring his sold out hometown Cleveland, Ohio performance to theaters on May 13.
• Tickets available online.

Madonna's album, Like a Virgin, Mariah Carey's single, "All I Want For Christmas is You," and Queen Latifah's album All Hail The Queen, have been added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Other notables include Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven," Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville." John Lennon's "Imagine." is the first recording by a former Beatle to be honored. The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album was inducted in 2003.

The induction of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics comes just months after they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

25 entries are selected and announced each year by the Library of Congress.

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