Classic Pop, Rock & Country Music News
By Steve Smith
Carole King to retire?
Carole King says she's decided to ride off into retirement. The 70-year-old songwriting-singing legend tells the Associated Press that she's probably recorded her last album and that her 2010 co-headlining tour with James Taylor was her final tour.
Initially, she made her name as a songwriter, teaming with her then-husband Gerry Goffin. They scored their first hit 51 years ago, in 1961, when "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," by The Shirelles reached No. 1 on the Top 40 pop chart.
"At this point, I can look back at my life and career as a songwriter and say I've done everything I really want to do," she said.
King, who published her autobiography, "A Natural Woman: a Memoir," in April, did not rule out writing an occasional song here and there for a project, nor did she say that she was done with performing one-off concerts.
No Stones on SNL?
In 2001, at Paul McCartney's post-9/11 tribute "Concert for New York City" to honor that city's police and fire personnel, Mick Jagger performed. To the surprise of all, Keith Richards, who had never said he would be appearing, showed up to support Jagger on "Miss You" and "Salt of the Earth."
With that in mind, was Richards playfully misleading Rolling Stone magazine in saying that he will not join his band's singer when he hosts and also serves as musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" this week? Or was he simply telling it as it will be?
"I spoke to Mick and he said it's something that he said yes to many months ago, so he's just doing it," Richards said.
The Stones have been reported jamming and rehearsing in a New Jersey recording studio.
It's been announced that Jagger will be joined in performance on SNL by Jeff Beck, The Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire.
Streisand to perform
The last time Brooklyn-born Barbara Streisand performed in the city of her birth was when she was 7 years old. The 70-year-old songstress will make a rare concert appearance at the new 19,000-seat Barclay's Center in Brooklyn on Oct. 11, she has confirmed. It is her only scheduled concert of 2012.
In a statement announcing her concert, Streisand said, "Brooklyn to me means the Loew's Kings, Erasmus (her public high school), the yeshiva (Jewish school) I went to, the Dodgers, Prospect Park, great Chinese food. I'm so glad I came from Brooklyn — it's down to earth. I guess you can come home again."
As a duet partner, she's hit pay dirt as numerous times over the years, including the No. 1 singles, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Neil Diamond in 1978, and "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" with Donna Summer n 1979, and the No. 3 single, "Guilty" with The Bee Gees Barry Gibb in 1981.
Now, she wants to do what Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra did: record an album of duets and take it to the top of the charts, reports Forbes. Execs at her label, Sony, want her to record with younger artists, including Adele and Rihanna in an effort to broaden her appeal beyond boomers and seniors, reports the Belfast Telegraph.
The Gloved One's glove for sale
Numerous items of clothing worn by Michael Jackson and often designed with his considerable input will be auctioned at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills on Dec. 2, according to Britain's Daily Mail. The biggie is a white right-handed crystal glove. It's anticipated that it will fetch more than the $375,000 that a similar glove bagged when it was auctioned in 2009.
The entire collection, including the shirt he wore in the 3-D "Captain EO" video, and the breakaway suit he wore on his 1987-89 BAD tour, is on a tour of South America, Asia and Europe. The exhibit opened this weekend in Santiago, Chili. A portion of the monies received from the auction will benefit the Guide Dogs of America and the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas.
Nancy Sinatra's anguish
On the 14th anniversary of the death of her father, Frank Sinatra, an anguished 71-year-old Nancy Sinatra tweeted that she, her sister Tina and her brother Frank, Jr., were not allowed by their stepmother Barbara to properly say goodbye to their dad. Sinatra's widow was the crooner's fourth wife, whom he married in 1976. The former Vegas showgirl was previously married to Zeppo Marx from 1959-73.
Nancy's series of tweets began, "14 years ago today my father died and I was not given the chance to say goodbye. I will never forgive her for that. NEVER. Karma is too good for her … Did then and continues to hurt us today. A horrible human being."
She continued, "He asked, 'Where are my children?' and his children didn't know (he was dying). She is evil personified. (I wasn't allowed to visit) because then the obits couldn't say, 'He died with his wife by his side.'"
A hit for Martha Reeves
Former Martha and The Vandellas frontwoman Martha Reeves has a new record. The 70-year-old, who performed on "Dancing With the Stars" three weeks ago with fellow Motown legends The Temptations and Smokey Robinson as another former Motown superstar, Gladys Knight, danced as a contestant, is at No. 25 on Billboard's Dance Club/Play chart with "I'm Not Leaving," in which she backs up The Crystal Method.
This weekend, Reeves and fellow Motown singing group The Contours, whose Top 10 hit, "Do You Love Me," was a million-seller in 1962, was backed by the Reno Symphony at that city's Pioneer Center with for the Performing Arts. She'll be at the Rrazz Room at San Francisco's Hotel Nikko for six nights beginning Oct. 9.
Donald 'Duck' Dunn dies
Bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as a member with Stax Records instrumental house band Booker T. and The MGs, died in a Tokyo at 70 where he had been performing at a nightclub as part of a Stax revue, reports Reuters. While the cause of death was not announced, his fellow MG, guitarist Steve Cropper, who was on the same tour, said Dunn died in his sleep in his hotel room.
The musician was best known to younger audiences as a key member of The Blues Brothers Band beginning in 1978. He supplied classic bottom lines on countless Stax Records hits by the likes of Otis Redding ("The Dock of the Bay"), Sam & Dave ("Hold On, I'm Coming"), Wilson Pickett ("In the Midnight Hour"), Albert King ("Born Under a Bad Sign"), Eddie Floyd ("Knock on Wood") as well as Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes, The Staples Singers and Johnny Taylor. For a couple years, circa 1983-85, he was a member of Eric Clapton's band.
He and The MGs, who initially broke up in 1971 but reunited continually through the decades, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and in 2007, the band was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
TV bandleader Mort Lindsey dies
Television bandleader and composer Mort Lindsey, who was musical director for "The Merv Griffin Show" from 1962-86, died of a heart attack at his Malibu home at 89, reports the New York Times.
Lindsey was pianist, arranger and musical director for Judy Garland's celebrated comeback 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall that resulted in a No. 1 album, and at Barbra Streisand's huge "Happening in Central Park" in 1967, that won him an Emmy for the TV special. He also served as orchestra arranger for Liza Minnelli's classic 1972 TV special, "Liza with a Z."
In addition, he recorded with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Pat Boone and Eddie Fisher as well as Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, Elton John and Michael Buble.
Ringo's lost Beatles pics
In the days of Beatlemania, it was a common sight to see Ringo Starr taking photos, personally documenting history. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Beatle who, in 1973, recorded his and George Harrison's No. 1 standard, "Photograph," confesses that he can't find those priceless photographs.
"I don't know where they are. I wish I did. There's been several moves (over the years) and things happen."
He hopes they'll turn up like the lost postcards he found in a box a decade about 10 years ago. "I found a box on my shelf and was like, 'What the hell is that?' and it was full of postcards."
The 71-year-old singing-songwriting-drummer discovered that they were 53 postcards from around the world from Paul, George and John, who would send him a postcard from their vacation spots. He published the cards in a hardcover book in 2004 as "Postcards from the Boys."
In other Ringo news, he and his buddy, former Eurythmics guitarist-producer Dave Stewart have signed a deal to create a musical for Paramount, reports Deadline Hollywood. "Hole in the Fence" is based on an original "coming of age" story by the two about two teens in a poor mining town who form a band. Starr and Stewart will executive produce and write songs for the movie.
Reba's got a new comedy show
"Malibu Country," a new sitcom starring the owner of three dozen No. 1 country singles and worldwide record sales of more than 70 million, Reba McEntire, will premier this fall on ABC. Lily Tomlin adds an edge to the comedy as McEntire's character's mother.
"Congrats to everyone associated with 'Malibu Country.' We got picked up. We're going to have so much fun. I can't wait to get to work," she tweeted. The network had already agreed to air the show's pilot episode.
The series is about a mother of three, played by the 57-year-old McEntire, who divorces her cheating rock star husband and packs up and moves from Nashville to Malibu. McEntire's first sitcom, "Reba," was a success, running for six seasons, from 2001-07, on the WB network, and it remains on the air in syndication.
Jerry Garcia's and Julie Andrews' homes sold
The late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia's final home, an 11-acre estate in Nicasio, 32 miles north of San Francisco in Marin Country, has been listed for sale for $3,595,000, $400,000 less than when it was listed in 2010, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The property includes a 7,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom main residence that also includes a workout room as well as a separate 1,500-quare-foot artist's studio, a solar-heated pool, fountains and an organic vegetable garden. The estate is down the road from Dead bassist Phil Lesh's new restaurant-concert venue in San Rafael, Terrapin Crossings. Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995 at 53.
The movies' Mary Poppins, 76-year-old Julie Andrews, has sold the traditional-style Beverly Hills home that she and her late husband, director Blake Edwards, bought in 1989. The house — which has an artist's studio above the garage — sits on less that one-quarter-acre. It was listed less than a month ago and sold for its asking price, $2,649,000.
Stevie Wonder's nephew arrested for extortion
The 38-year-old nephew of Stevie Wonder has been arrested for attempting to extort $5 million from the singer, according to E! Online.
Alpha Lorenzo Walker and his girlfriend, Tamara Eileen Diaz, were arrested for allegedly trying to peddle what's been termed as "embarrassing information" about the 62-year-old Motown great to the tabloids unless he coughed up the cash. At the time of his arrest, Walker was on probation for a grand theft conviction. In February, Diaz was busted for pot possession with intent to sell.
Mick Hucknall goes solo
From 1985-2010, redheaded singer Mick Hucknall led English pop group Simply Red, selling more than 50 million albums in the process. Since the band called it a day, the 52-year-old has been fronting a reunited Faces, joining guitarist Ron Wood, keyboardist Ian McLagan, drummer Kenny Jones and new bassist Glen Matlock, formerly of The Sex Pistols on a series of concert and a world tour.
After 27 years as a star, Hucknall announced his first solo concert, which will be on Sept. 16 at London's Royal Albert Hall. He promises to sing tons of Simply Red hits, probably a few Faces classics and he'll also showcase songs from his upcoming album, "American Soul," that featured the British soul belter's takes on a batch of our R&B classics.
Dr. Eagles and Dr. Alison Kraus
The Eagles' Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh, and bluegrass-country singer Alison Kraus were awarded honorary doctor of music degrees from Boston's Berklee School of Music, reports VVN. Each honoree attended.
Before the ceremony, students performed a concert of songs by the Eagles and Kraus and her band Union Station. Since 1971, the school has honored such artists as its first recipient Duke Ellington as well as Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, David Bowie, Loretta Lynn, Patti LaBelle, Bonnie Raitt and Count Basie.
Loretta Lynn wants Zooey Deschanel
Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member, 80-year-old Loretta Lynn is adapting her 1969 hit song, 1976 autobiography and subsequent 1980 biographical music, "Coal Miner's Daughter" into a Broadway musical, reports the Boot. She unveiled her plans at an Opry concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium this week. At the concert, she introduced an attendee, singer-actress Zooey Deschanel, who she has tapped to portray her. She then brought Deschanel onstage where together the twosome sang "Coal Miner's Daughter." The production is still in the planning stages and no time for its premiere was mentioned.
Curved Air tour
English progressive rock/acid folk pioneers Curved Air, formed in 1970, wraps up a rare tour, one of its first in more than two decades, this weekend in Germany, according to singer Sonja Kristina on her Facebook page. After tune-up shows in Belgium and the Netherlands, the sextet toured the United Kingdom and Germany. The band's recent activity will conclude at Weyfest in Surrey, England on Sept. 1. Curved Air's first three albums all hit the Top 20 in Britain in the early '70s.
McBride at the Indy 500
Country songbird Martina McBride will sing the national anthem before a a couple of hundred thousand fans at the nationally televised Indy 500 in Indianapolis on May 27. She just played the historic Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, site of the final concert of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens & the Big Bopper Richardson.
Village People's Willis sues – and wins
Former Village People singer Victor Willis, who portrayed the policeman in the iconic group, won a legal battle to reclaim his rights to 33 songs, reports the New York Times. Willis, 60, co-wrote the group's '70s and '80s party hits "Macho Man," "Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy." Willis, who says he'll release a solo album titled "Solo Man" in a few weeks, said, "Those songs gross millions a year, so it could be a significant thing." After the ruling, he said, "I am extremely happy with the court's determination and I look forward to controlling my copyright interests in 2013."
Obama honors Burt Bacharach & Hal David
President Obama honored songwriters Burt Bacharach, 84, and Hal David, 90, the team behind such unforgettable tunes "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," and ''Close to You," that were recorded by artists including Dionne Warwick, the Carpenters, Alicia Keys and Elvis Costello.
The duo was awarded the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. To honor them, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall and Stevie Wonder performed their hits at the ceremony. The ceremony and concert airs May 21 on PBS' "In Performance at the White House."
Bacharach, who said receiving the award from Obama might top winning his Academy Awards, attended the ceremony, but David is recovering from a stroke and was too ill to attend.
New Releases
Among the new albums, re-releases and deluxe box sets are the 13 instrumentals that comprise "Shape Shifter," the 36th album from Santana; "Fillmore East 1968 (Rhino Handmade) from Iron Butterfly; "The Sun Era Outtakes" from Carl Perkins; "Heroes," from Willie Nelson and his friends, including Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joe Shaver, Sheryl Crow and others; "Storm & Grace," a country, folk and blues collection from Lisa Marie Presley produced by T-Bone Burnett; an import, "Ep's 1988-1991" from Dublin alt rockers My Bloody Valentine; "Eleven Eleven Expanded" from former Blasters, X and The Knitters guitarist-singer-songwriter Dave Alvin; a 3-CD import of The Small Faces 1868 classic album, "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake"; "Boy On Bridge" from the singer of Canadian Celtic band Great Big Sea; "Dune" from nouveau flamenco rock guitarist Ottmar Leibert; and The Tubes 1983 LP, "Outside Inside" with five bonus cuts; and "Two of the Same Kind," the complete 1960 London recording sessions from blues singer-pianist Memphis Slim with a founding father of British blues, Alexis Korner;
"Radio Fun," 32 previously unreleased tracks from The Hollies recorded for the BBC between 1964-71; a re-mastered "Misterioso," a 1958 live album from The Thelonious Monk Quartet; an import, "World Tour 1976" from The Climax Blues Band; "Night & Day" from R&B singer Andre Williams and The Sadies; "Damn Good Time" from roots blues band The Nighthawks; "Songs Without Words" from Ian Whitcomb; "Upper West Side" from jazz guitarist Bobby Broom; "Surf's Up" from Jan & Dean; an import, "Greatest Hits Volume III" from The Bellamy Brothers; "Glorifier of American Song: A Collection of Rare Recordings 1930-1950" by Flapper and Depression-era band singer Ruth Etting;
"If the Price is Right (Expanded Edition)" from Bonnie Pointer; an expanded import of a 1980 LP, "Hang Together" from NYC soul trio Odyssey; and "Live in Berlin," a 2-CD/DVD package from Chris Thompson, lead singer for Manfred Mann's Earth Band on all the group's hits, including both of the group's Bruce Springsteen-penned biggies, "Blinded By the Light" and "Spirits in the Night," (that are included on these CDs, as is the first Mann band hit, Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn).")
There's more: a 3-CD import box, "Alle Kinder Lieben Nena," from Nena of "99 Luftballons" fame; "Infamy," a comeback CD from long absent Pennsylvania New Wave band The Sharks; "Toots 90 – The Best Of" from whistling Belgian guitarist-harmonica jazzman Toots Thielmans; an import, "1939-58" from jazz pianist George Shearing; "The Wonderful Music of Bobby Blue Bland"; "The Wonderful Music of Aretha Franklin"; an import, "Petula," from Petula Clark; the 40th anniversary import edition of "Just As I Am," from Bill Withers; an import, "Essential" from K.C. & The Sunshine Band; "The Decca Years" from Tom Jones; a remastered import, "Alpha Centauri" from German electronic kings, Tangerine Dream;
A 2-CD import, Purple Hits II" from Deep Purple; a 2-CD anthology from Brit ska guys The Specials, "More or Less The Specials"; and a 24-song budget priced, "Hits That Reigned in 1952," featuring Jo Stafford, Nat King Cole, Danny Kaye, Kay Starr, Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Rosemary Clooney, Mario Lanza, Eddie Fisher, Les Paul, Guy Mitchell, Al Martino and more.
There also are bargain-priced double albums on single CD re-issues just out from Foghat, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, exotica lounge pianist Martin Denny, '70s "Jesus Music" singer Mike Johnson, Jackie Gleason & His Orchestra, the late blues-rock harmonica player Paul Butterfield and country folk rocker Jesse Winchester; the "Icon" best of series continues with releases by Aerosmith and Status Quo; and "Celebrating Jean-Luc Ponty – Live at Yoshi's," is one jazz violinist, two-time Grammy winner Mads Tolling and his quartet, celebrating another, former Frank Zappa and The Mahavishnu Orchestra's Ponty.
Artists support Occupy
"Occupy this Album," a 99-song 4-CD set featuring 99 artists benefitting "the 99%" and inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement is an eclectic collection of rock, jazz, reggae, flamenco, alt, and more. Proceeds go toward sustaining the needs of the occupy movement nationwide.
Among the artists contributing to this set are Jackson Browne, Patti Smith, Loudon Wainwright III, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, Willie Nelson, indie folk rocker Ani DeFranco, folkabilly singer Nanci Griffith, NYC singer-guitarist Mike Rimbaud, singer-songwriter Jill Sobule with X singer-bassist John Doe, Tom Morello's Nightwatchman persona, Third Eye Blind, Yoko Ono, Canadian alt rockers Our Lady Peace; Toots & The Maytals, The Mammals featuring Pete Seeger, New Jersey alt rockers Yo La Tengo, Garland Jeffreys, The Pimps of Joytime featuring Roy Ayers, The Warren Haynes Band, "Texas Country" singer James McMurtry with Joan Baez and Steve Earle; pop folk singer Dar Williams, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Arlo Guthrie and Family, Lucinda Williams, Mogwai and Michael Moore's take on Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'."
Now Playing
Classic acts from the `50s, `60s and `70s continue to perform. Here's what some of them are doing.
Singing-songwriting folkie Bob Lind hit it big internationally in 1966 when his gentle, strings-driven "Elusive Butterfly" went Top 5 in several countries, including the U.S. and in the U.K.
In 1972, singer-songwriter Danny O'Keefe took his wistful, melancholy ballad, "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues."
These two have been playing clubs, coffee houses and universities for decades. Lind and O'Keefe, both 69, are touring together for the first time.
They'll be appearing on May 24 at three warmly intimate SoCal venues next week: the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena on May 24, the back room at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica on May 25 and at the Plaza Playhouse Theater in Carpenteria on May 26.
Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. Read the entire column at www.sgvn.com. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.
