Creedence Clearwater With Seger, Kid Rock And The Foo Fighters

The late 60's straight into the 1970's were flooded by Storytellers: Crosby Stills and Nash, Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Jackson Brown, The Eagles, John Denver's Rocky Mountain High and some new punk kid from Jersey Bruce Springsteen. Even Jocks on the Radio got into the art of engagement; Paul Harvey was brilliant with the daily news while Casey Kasum and Dick Clark masterfully kept us glued to the giant metal sticks stuck in the mud somewhere in the fields of way the hell out there. One of my favorite Casey breaks came while sharing the story of Creedence Clearwater Revival's challenge to generate enough love from music fans dominate Billboard Magazine's number one position. It's not that CCR wasn't capable, there was "always" a chunk of Pop Culture above their brand of sound. Wait! Get your hands off that computer mouse! No tapping out! John Fogerty has confirmed that his upcoming album will be centered around classic Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, but the album’s engineer says the result is completely new songs. Kid Rock, Bob Seger, Jennifer Hudson and the Foo Fighters are among the confirmed musicians who contributed to ‘Wrote a Song for Everyone.’ “It’s no nostalgia fest,” Bob Clearmountain tells Rolling Stone. Fogerty says he waited to record with each of his chosen partners until they could meet in studio and do it live. “I didn’t want to just mail people tracks because then everyone would just do ‘Proud Mary’ like the old record,” he says in the same interview. He’s been working on the album since 2010, and originally scheduled it for release in October 2012. A press release about the delay suggested there would be original material on the album, something that is not addressed in the Rolling Stone article. The focus is on the old CCR songs, however. Fogerty has finally regained publishing rights to the songs after a lengthy legal battle. “I wrote all these songs,” he said. ” They’re back home with Daddy, like they should be.” Confirmed songs on ‘Wrote a Song for Everyone’ include ‘Fortunate Son,’ ‘Born on the Bayou’ and ‘Long As I Can See the Light.’

AC/DC Is Ready To Rock Super Sunday

In the Radio biz copyright laws forbid teams of jocks and other talker's from calling it the Super ****. Do what I do and bust open a can of buzz and call this Sunday the Monster Mash after Christmas. It's the single biggest party celebration after New Years Eve but nowhere near as festive as Christmas. It's not the Super **** My parties are a feast of beer, the best whiskeys, tastiest vodkas and everything else that'll make you extremely thirsty after the game. We wash down our alcohol with food and I mean tons of it. Therefore this football game should be officially dubbed The Supper Bowl. After the game I don't have room for any more food cuz I spent the entire damn day eating like it was supper. Oh! To help you work the ribs, beans, pizza and everything else the neighbors have dumped on the dining room table...we get laugh, holler and complain about the commercials. This year someone new is coming to the flat screen party. Classic Rock Magazine reports that we're gonna get a little AC/DC. It makes you want to pump your fist, stomp your feet, and…get behind the wheel of a sensible four-cylinder economy car that gets great gas mileage? Well, maybe not. But Hyundai is still reportedly interested in using the Australian rock legends to help add an extra splash to their Super Bowl ads — and even if it doesn’t seem like the most natural fit, as Bravewords points out, the automaker could use all the extra dazzle it can get: The 150 seconds of ad time they’ve purchased during the game will cost them something like $9.5 million. (To put things in perspective, that’s enough to buy 565 Hyundai Elantras at MSRP.) Their few seconds as car shills should give the guys in AC/DC a nice added cash infusion — not that they really need it these days, what with the impressive sales figures generated by their recent decision to put their catalog up for digital download on the iTunes store. Either way, rock fans should savor this glimpse of the band; according to guitarist Malcolm Young, their next album is still “a year or two away.”

Clapton's Return Is Part Of Rocks Evolution

My love for music can easily be traced back to a deeply entrenched fascination with the way of the Greatest of Greats. Not everybody was born to be a Rock Star and those that have tried aren't erased but temporarily replaced by a truer underground river of onboard passion and drive. Let me give you an example: John Mayer. Take him or leave him. A billion times he's been labeled the next Dave Matthews who just like John is a hit or miss in the out of tune public acceptance department. When that occurs the industry of Rock doesn't erase the artist but holds the door open for the Masters to pick a lick while chanting new lyrics. Led Zeppelins most recent hangout re-mastered for your car and backyard, the 2013 return of David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac back on tour. Def Leppard in Vegas for a month. Are you gripping the full vibe? You don't have to believe in evolution to fall witness to the front row changes of Rock's minute by minute survival. No Marshall Amp is created to be turned off. Just stick another guitar chord into the hole and bang that thing until your fingers get tired. When accomplished give no ego only respect to the keepers of the print left on the strap still clutching the back and chest of the conductor dressed up in nothing more than realities bite. With that being said...Classic Rock Magazine reports guitar legend Eric Clapton is back in action, both on the road and in the record stores. “Slowhand” will release a new album, titled ‘Old Sock,’ March 12 on his own label, Bushbranch Records. The label is distributed by Surfdog. The 12 song set will be Clapton’s 21st album in a nearly 50 year career. The announcement was made on the Surfdog website, which very simply said “Surfdog is thrilled to announce the signing of a deal with Eric Clapton for his forthcoming album.” Like many older artists, Clapton has left the major labels for smaller, more ‘artist friendly’ terrain. Clapton makes an interesting, and high profile, addition to the small label, whose roster includes a wide variety of acts including Glen Campbell, Brian Setzer and Dave Stewart. ‘Old Sock’ will be available on CD and as a 2-LP set. Surfdog lists the March 12 release date as “tentative,” but it is already being pre-sold via online stores. Clapton’s US tour begins March 14 in Phoenix, Ariz.

40 Years Of KISS Without A One Night Stand

Video of their first show We've all played the game: If I could go back in time what would I change. I know one thing I wouldn't change....spending unheard amounts of teen time totally focused on every frickin KISS poster Tiger Beat Magazine stuffed into their paperback bindings. The album covers poisoned the Rock n Roll stew while the introduction of comic books kept me from being acceptably normal. I fail to hold the correct number of fingers required to count the number of times Montana made Baptist preachers and missionaries commanded, "Stopped listening to Kings In Satin Service!" It forced me to buy paint. Oh hell yes and it burned when spread across this perfectly ripe Radio face. I swear to God I didn't get a single crud poppin pimple due to my special mix of Noxzema cream with acrylic blacks, reds, bright whites and grays. I didn't want to be. I was the fifth member of KISS. Gene Simmons proved it backstage December 1985 when he didn't order bodyguards and unforgettably dressed women to escort me out the back door. My biggest regret was staying for the show. I still remember Ace Frehley replacement Bruce Kulick asking me why I was headed for the exit. My only response was, "Are you kidding me? Missing the show will cause pain. I have to go feel something because being back here with you guys tonight has made me effing numb." My greatest KISS moment had nothing to do with the band. Artist to artist Paul and I stood together discussing the texture of paint on a canvas after its been mixed with Mont Blanc ink. I wasn't there to speak with or about the man behind the star. From the canvas we did speak. Offering technique rather than guitar picks and lyrics. Brush strokes that peaked the paint versus fingertips adding curve to a faded evaluation seemingly attractive enough to invite wanderers to believe in a communication of expression. As for Simmons have sex with a billion plus women. I flat out don't believe it. The men of KISS were and still are comic book heroes designed to influence the mindset of teenage boys. The greatest marketing idea Gene ever came up with was the idea of convincing our organs that it's possible to be everything to everybody and have a lot of fun in the sheets. Just make sure you put on a raincoat. January 30th, 1973 proved to be a pivotal day in many teen boys lives. According to Classic Rock Magazine, less than 10 people witnessed the first live performances by Kiss at the Popcorn Club (soon to be renamed the Coventry) in Queens, N.Y. According to bassist Gene Simmons, the group was paid $50 for performing two sets that evening. Simmons and guitarist / co-frontman Paul Stanley had recently left their previous group, Wicked Lester, recruiting drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley for their new outfit. Their goal, as Simmons explains in a series of anniversary posts on the band’s official site, was to “put together the band we never saw on stage.” After their first manager quit, declaring the new band’s music “the worst crap he ever heard,” Simmons took over, cold-calling the Popcorn and convincing them to hire the band for a three-night stand for $150. As you can see in this photograph from that era, the band’s trademark facepaint and costumes were still in an embryonic phase, but those first shows featured many of the songs on which the group would build their reputation in the coming years: ‘Deuce,’ ‘Black Diamond,’ ‘Watchin’ You’ and many more. Since those humble beginnings, of course, Kiss rose in relatively quick fashion to the top of the music industry. By the end of the decade they were arguably the biggest rock band in the world, and to date the group has released 20 studio albums and pioneered the merchandising of rock music. Frehley and Criss would leave the group in the early ’80s (returning for a few years in the late ’90s), but Stanley and Simmons endured several career ups and downs to earn the group its current place among rock’s most enduring and popular bands. They recently dominated the fan-voted 2012 Ultimate Classic Rock Awards, winning in six categories largely on the strength of their most recent album, ‘Monster.‘

Jason Bonham Didn't Want To Grow Up To Be A Rock Drummer

Although it's been nearly two months since Led Zeppelin's Kennedy Center honoring; multitudes of emails have been received over who was trapped behind the set during Ann and Nancy Wilson's cover of Stairway To Heaven. Music fans unfamiliar with Classic Rock and its deeply woven roots barely spotted the center line of the colors spinning around the core of his eyes. It was Jason Bonham! Son of John who helped level the mountains of Beatle's shaped hysteria late 60's into the prime of Carpenter and John Denver ridden Heaven. Hold on now... Jason isn't the typical my daddy was a Rock Star so I'll be one too. His big dream was the farthest thing from large concert stages and out of shape groupies. It was to become a motorsport star. He tells Noisecreep: “Growing up, my heroes were American motocross riders. I didn’t want to be a drummer – I wanted to me a motocross rider.” Those plans never came to fruition, and Bonham settled into a career behind the drumkit, playing with his own bands along with Led Zep and Black Country Communion. Now sober for 14 years, he admits it was a challenge to prove himself against his father’s reputation. “At some point I got sick of people calling me Bonzo junior,” he explains. “But now I’m older and wiser, I’m just honoured to be mentioned in the same breath.” After Zep’s 2007 reunion show – released last year as Celebration Day – the drummer started work on his touring show Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience. It was planned to be a one-off set of gigs but has continued into 2013 to positive reviews. But he says he’d never have taken part if Robert Plant hadn’t given his consent. “When I started I had a big discussion with Robert. He said, ‘Do it because you want to, not because you have to.’ As long as you do it well and do it with a smile on your face, you have my blessing.” During the shows he performs the band’s classic tracks, interspersed with family home video from his childhood years. One of his aims is to hint at the person John Bonham really was: “Everyone knows these stories about a wild and crazy guy,” he says. “But at home he was just like any other father. He might have been in Led Zeppelin – but to me he was just Dad.”

Duane Allman In A Box Set? Whose Buying CD's?

A couple weeks back I found myself rummaging through an old beat up junk store that specializes in the fine art of "Passing it Forward." They pay you money for junk then jump the price to make a profit. The vinyl album collection was the largest I had seen since Ernie's in Park Road Shopping Center was the biggest baddest music store in Charlotte. (1985) Never did I dream of one day standing at a crate slowly sifting through un-alphabetized material collecting memories that lasted barely three seconds. Every album cover had a story. Every reason why I quit collecting them instantly overshadowed the process of music pleasure. Then I saw what I've always dubbed the ugliest mistake the industry has ever pushed itself into: Box sets. Hordes of creatively designed eye catchers that barely had enough wind to say, "Hey um, wanna play me like a southern fiddle?" Maybe it's because I've been a radio jock since 1979 but box sets have never been anything but in the way. The music is brilliant. The price the record pimps stamped onto the outside basically asked, "Any suckers in the crowd? There's one born every minute." I'm not gonna lie to you. My KISS collection didn't start at album number one. Detroyer earned my virginity. A few months down the pipe the label put out a three record set. Hell yes I had to have it! It was KISS! Except it never made it to the turntable but once. Seriously! Once you've been bitten by Alive 1 then Destoyer...everything before it was a practice. Then came the IPod and every shape of MP3 and Wav file. Smart Phones were bangin and your Grandma could hoist in Charlie Pride at the flick of a button. Knowing where the music industry has gone...I ask, "Why has Rounder Records assembled and fine-tuned a massive box set of Duane Allman highlights for ‘Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective?" I TOTALLY grasp the importance of his presence this side of the radio speaker but a box set? Has someone advised Best Buy and Wal Mart who've slashed their music selections up like fresh trout? Wait! Like a classic info-merical on late night television. There's more! The seven-disc box set will be available on March 5. It features 129 songs from his early days as a garage rocker through his time with the Allman Brothers Band. Stop! For some reason when I think of Classic Rock Box Sets I instantly picture John Hancock from WBT. I can still remember when he got his IPod and how it physically changed his life. Who is going to buy a box set? Have they set up shop in a local flea market? The term Box Set went out with MTV's unplugged. But wait! There's more! According to Rolling Stone, studio sessions with Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Boz Scaggs are amongst the treats one will find on ‘Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective.’ It begins with his time with the Allman Joys and then the Hour Glass. Also included is is Allman’s work with Derek and the Dominoes. The ‘Skydog’ box set will be the second to come from the Allmans in 2013. Earlier this week the band announced they’d be releasing a four-disc set of two live shows from 1972 and 1973. Both the Macon, Ga. and Uniondale, N.Y. show were recorded after Duane Allman’s death in 1971. Note to creative minds wanting to make it big. Adele has been the number one selling artist in the world two years in a row not selling compact discs. Selling cd's is calling your audience old. If you truly want to reach an Allman Brothers fan go vinyl. Wait! Who's got a turntable capable of pumping up the volume so loud you feel like you're in the studio?

Timothy B Schmidt Cancer Update Is Positive

The chances of truly getting to know the writers, producers and performers that pump volumes of creative flow into our heads and hearts is nearly next to never and yet their writing, music and stage presentation has a way of shaping the way we talk, walk, live and breathe. Then word hits the street of something not so sweet. Not our maker but shaper has slipped into a pair of normal everyday shoes. A date with reality. Not just Classic Rock but all fans of music are endless with their support. That being said an Eagle has come under attack. Classic Rock Magazine reports bassist Timothy B. Schmit's battle with cancer appears to be over. We learned of Schmit’s cancer diagnosis last month, when his assistant told a fan site that he’d undergone surgery for throat and neck cancer following the band’s show on Nov. 12, 2012. Fortunately, that seemed to take care of the problem — as his assistant put it, “He does not need to have chemo or radiation. Now he just has to keep an eye on things every month for about a year to be sure it stays away, and then not so often.” Last week, Schmit followed up with an update of his own at his official website, calling himself “way past due in expressing my sincere gratitude for the outpouring of get well wishes I’ve received.” Of course, he’s been a little distracted with what he called his “disheartening” health problems; fortunately, after a three-night hospital stay, he was back on his feet and on the mend. “My voice is coming along nicely, and as many of you know, I was able to perform with the Eagles just before the new year,” Schmit pointed out. “So … All is good. The brief synopsis is: I discovered a problem and took care of it; simple as that.” In fact, he’s already looking toward the future. “I love my work, and plan on doing it for as long as possible,” Schmit assured fans. “I’m chipping away at a new solo album, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear of more Eagles action in the near future.”