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.”

Def Leppard Isn't Just Another Las Vegas Cover Band

One of the best Rock scenes recently spotted on primetime weekend TV was during the hot new TBS show Wedding Band. A Def Leppard cover group meets up with a client, "We're writing new songs. We've played the original band's music so much that we think before they think. " Then I bump into a Charleston, SC story about a former AC/DC cover band lead vocalist being chosen to play Bon Scott. Copycat cover bands aren't new. I spent all of 2012 writing and producing commercials for Radio parties featuring the next best thing. One of my favorite nights in Los Angeles was at the House of Blues which featured a group called Diamond; all night they did it right: Neal Diamond. I was convinced the smooth crooner was standing on that stage. But away from it do cover bands return to a normal life and style? Or...do the Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley look-a-like's physically believe they're the second coming. With so many cover bands flooding bars and clubs (because they're affordable) when the real players stand up and make noise not a cheer is risen therefore nothing is given and all that once was returns to a land of "We used to be." Thank God we've still got Las Vegas. Popping their heads up inside the realms of Sin City is Def Leppard. Who wants fans to know they're aiming to write new material. Absolutely I started laughing out loud. Did they consult the cover band on the TV show Wedding Band first? Classic Rock Magazine reports that fans should expect a new album. Frontman Joe Elliott hopes to hire an extra hotel room and set it up as a recording studio in between concerts. First, however, the band have to complete preparations for performing classic album Hysteria in full – including songs they haven’t played in decades. Elliott tells Rolling Stone: “It’ll not be too hard; we’re not changing arrangements like Bowie or Tom Waits might do. We’re going to play the songs as they are on the record. We’re going to revert back to the original versions.” He admits delivering Pour Some Sugar On Me partway through a show, when it’s usually reserved for encores, will be “a bit of a head trip” but he adds: “I think it’s okay. It’s going to be weird, but people are going to be expecting it.” With the Vegas shows during March and April based on a schedule of three days on, four days off, the band should find time to concentrate on writing material. “I don’t know if we’ll do an album,” Elliott says. “Maybe the way to go is put one or two tracks out at a time and see how it goes – almost like a seven-inch single.” That’s not the priority at the moment. “We’ve got a golden opportunity,” the singer reflects. “We’ve got ample opportunity to look each other in the eye and go, ‘What you got?’” Meanwhile, he’s marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Def Lep’s third album Pyromania, which saw guitarist Phil Collen replace Pete Willis. “It had been a labour of love to make,” he recalls. “Little did we know, in comparison to Hysteria it was a piece of cake.” His memories include “multiple studios in London, one guitarist out, one guitarist in, equipment breakdowns, tapes turning transparent because of the thousands of times they were rewound and fast forwarded for multiple overdubs.” But he continues: “We found our sound on this record, with the help of a great producer in Mutt Lange, the new studio technology that we eagerly embraced – unlike many of our peers – and an incredible enthusiasm to make a record no one else had ever made. “Whether we did or didn’t isn’t important. What is, is that we made the record we wanted to make. We finally sounded like the us we wanted to be.”

Stealing Music Proves To Be Good For Business

Is it wrong to say that we've grown seriously out of control with an addiction to finger pointing? Or can we just agree to disagree that the current generation to which we live has too many blood sucking lawyers with nothing better to do but stir up trouble? For extremely selfish reasons I've never locked onto the idea of ripping songs from the internet. I voice radio commercials worldwide; nothing pisses me off faster than jamming to a favorite station like a teenage boy with his car stereo cranked beyond live concert acceptability only to be interrupted by your voice, your commercial that wasn't paid for. The MP3/YouTube era has injured a lot different performers in several unassociated careers. Don't expect anything to change. Classic Rock Magazine reports a public survey sponsored by Google suggests that peer-to-peer filesharers spend 30% more money on legal music purchases than those who don’t join peer-to-peer networks. And while 80% of the public think it’s acceptable to share copyrighted material with family, and 60% believe the same about passing it onto friends, around 85% say it’s unacceptable to upload content for general consumption. Columbia University’s American Assembly conducted the survey with support from internet search giant Google. Responses were sought from the USA and Germany in order to establish whether cultural differences existed. In the US, median P2P users have a music collection of 2000 tracks, of which 760 were purchased legally. Non-network users’ digital collections contain around 1300 songs, of which 580 were sourced legitimately. The figures suggest that, while filesharers possess more stolen content, they also buy more legal content. Technology site Ars Technica notes: “There is a perennial debate about whether peer-to-peer file sharing reduces the market for music and other creative content. “It’s obvious why those who download pirated files from peer-to-peer networks might purchase less content through legitimate channels. But some scholars argue file sharing can make it easier for fans to find new content they like, broadening their tastes and causing them to buy more music in the long run.” Ars Technica says of the survey results: “It’s an important reminder: heavy P2P users are also heavy consumers of music from legitimate channels.” The survey also suggests that the vast majority of people – 69% in the US and 71% in Germany – are against internet monitoring as a means of enforcing the law. Researchers also found that, in general, Germans are more supportive of other efforts to protect copyright: 59% felt that illegal downloading should result in some form of punishment, compared to 52% of Americans.