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May 2012 17 | 12:00 am
Bill Ward has officially announced that he will not be joining Black Sabbath for this year's performances. Bill confirmed this with a letter on his website.
He said, "I can't prioritize the Sabbath fans making one show more important than the other. I can't do that. All of you are important. It's all the gigs or none at all. I can't come to Birmingham and 'see what happens' knowing there is a risk of not being able to play Download or Lollapalooza. Again, for me, it's all or nothing. I didn't want to make this decision, but I have to be honest and transparent."The group announced its reunion and new album last year before Ward said he wouldn't participate under the current terms. The group has not yet responded to the new remarks.
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May 2012 17 | 12:00 am
Although he's recently gotten his wrists slapped by Mick Jagger for talking about the Rolling Stones' plans to the press, Ron Wood says that the Stones reunion is definitely happening. Wood told The Sun, "It looks like we are going to be doing more stuff. I am keeping October (and) November free, that's what I've been told. I'm just awaiting more information." The Stones have reportedly been rehearsing in Manhattan and Weehawken, New Jersey -- although Keith Richards came out publicly to announce that contrary to rumors -- the band would not be backing Jagger this weekend on Saturday Night Live.
Ron Wood was asked about the Stones working on any new songs in rehearsals: "New ones? Are you joking? We are familiarizing ourselves with our back catalogue and have only scratched the surface."
With the Stones now in their 50th year, Mick Jagger was asked what the recipe is for such unparalleled and long lasting success: "I think that the Stones are very lucky -- yeah, you always need a lit of luck. They were in the right place at the right time. And they -- we, when we work, we work very hard. So you need all those things. It's no good just being hard-working, 'cause lot's of people are hardworking. But you've got to be hardworking, on your game, and be lucky." Ron Wood's relationship with Keith Richards is in many ways more intense than his relationship with Jagger. Wood chronicled the ups and downs of "life with Keith" in his own recent autobiography called Ronnie. Wood was asked to describe the status of their current relationship: "It's just gone through its changes over the years. We're like chameleons, we can adapt to any situation and still remain very close and see the reality of things." AUDIO: MICK JAGGER ON THE ROLLING STONES' LONGEVITY
AUDIO: RON WOOD ON RELATIONSHIP WITH KEITH RICHARDS
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May 2012 17 | 12:00 am
The Beach Boys racked up some major sales last night (May 16th) during their one-hour appearance on QVC plugging their upcoming album, That's Why God Made The Radio, coming on June 5th. The band -- which includes co-founders Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and David Marks -- along with longtime member Bruce Johnston -- sold over 15,000 copies of the album, generating over $300,000 in sales. In addition to the new studio set, customers received a special 11-track CD of the band's greatest hits. Over the course of the hour, the band performed "Do It Again," "Catch A Wave," "Surfer Girl," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "409," "That's Why God Made The Radio," "California Girls," and "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
As the band's 50th anniversary tour progresses, the Beach Boys are digging deep into their catalogue performing both classics and deep album cuts spanning their entire career. As the band constantly changes it's setlist, fans are grooving on such early surf-era and pre-Pet Sounds era classics as "Hawaii" featuring David Marks, "Don't Back Down," "Kiss Me Baby," "Please Let Me Wonder," "You're So Good To Me," Brian Wilson's spotlights on the Pet Sounds standard "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," Sunflower's "This Whole World," Carl & The Passions - So Tough's "Marcella," Holland's "Sail On Sailor," along with Al Jardine's take on "Cottonfields," Bruce Johnston's Surf's Up classic, "Disney Girls," and Mike Love's takes on "All This Is That" and 15 Big Ones' "It's O.K. -- as well as the group's rendition of the Sunflower standout, "Add Some Music To Your Day."Al Jardine explained that although the band's studio work continued to break boundaries during the late-'60s and early-70s, they were able to trade on their past to keep their careers -- and new projects -- afloat: "We were so, y'know, we were living in a bubble obviously. Because we'd go out on the road and do most of the Top Ten stuff, and then we'd go back in the studio and do what we wanted to do. So we really had the security of being able to, I think, go out and still pretty much, y'know, make a living with our music and have both our cake and eat it too, in other words." Mike Love says that the group has always tried to squeeze a few new rarities into the show whenever possible: " We're always thinkin' from year-to-year what one song or two songs or three songs can we put into the show to kind of, y'know to touch upon some of the albums that we've done." Bruce Johnston told us that sometimes a hit-packed setlist is what the casual Beach Boys audience demands: "Y'know, we've learned the hard way. Often we've tried some of the subtle, wonderful songs, but the audience will kind of get restless."
AUDIO: MIKE LOVE ON ADDING RARITIES TO SETLISTS
AUDIO: AL JARDINE ON CREATIVITY
AUDIO: BRUCE JOHNSTON ON LACK OF RARITIES IN BEACH BOYS SETLIST
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May 2012 17 | 12:00 am
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Chicago's Robert Lamm has always been the band's most open and active musician and when the chance came to remix and reinterpret the band's material he jumped on it. Industry insiders are buzzing about the upcoming album, Robert Lamm Songs: The JVE ReMixes, coming on June 1st, which feature Lamm's Chicago classics and solo favorites dramatically reworked from the ground up by producer Jon Von Eps. The songs mix and match melodies, reconstruct songs, and add new musical elements to some tunes recorded as far back as the '60s.
We asked Lamm, that seeing as how it's being billed as a "Robert Lamm" album, if the band wanted to distance themselves from the project: "Well, I don't think so much that they didn't want the Chicago moniker on it; what they didn't really understand was the concept of remixing. So, when it came to them saying, 'We're not really interested in investing time taking remixes' -- y'know, that's when I knew I'm just gonna go ahead and pull songs from my solo catalogue and some of my best songs from my Chicago catalogue. So then I knew it was going to be a Robert Lamm album." Among the Chicago classics included Robert Lamm Songs: The JVE ReMixe sare: "Beginnings," "Saturday In The Park," "25 Or 6 To 4," (Latin and dance versions)," and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?," among others.
Chicago tour dates (subject to change):
June 13 - Springfield, IL - Sangamon Auditorium
June 15 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
June 16 - Memphis, TN - Live At The Garden at Memphis Botanic Garden
June 28 - Sioux City, IA - Orpheum Theatre
June 29 - Council Bluffs, IA - Harrah's Casino - Stir Concert Cove
June 30 - Red Wing, MN - Treasure Island Resort & Casino
July 1 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest at BMO Harris Pavilion
UPDATED: The Doobie Brothers/Chicago tour dates (subject to change):
July 11 - Tucson, AZ - Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre
July 13 - Lake Tahoe, CA - Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena At Harveys
July 14 - Concord, CA - Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord
July 15 - Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk
July 17 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 20 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
July 21 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
July 22 - Houston, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July 24 - Atlanta, GA - Chastain Park Amphitheatre
July 25 - Boone, NC - The Holmes Center
July 26 - Raleigh, NC - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
July 27 - Columbus, OH - Ohio State Fair at Celeste Center (Doobie Brothers only)
July 28 - Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island
July 29 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
August 1 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 2 - Pittsburgh, PA - First Niagara Pavilion
August 4 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Resort Spa & Casino
August 5 - Raleigh, NC - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
August 7 - Sylvania, OH - Centennial Terrace
August 16 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center
August 18 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
August 19 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
August 21 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
August 23 - Virginia Beach, VA - Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
August 24 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
August 25 - Gilford, NH - Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion (Chicago only)
August 26 - Hartford, CT - Comcast Theatre (Chicago only)
August 28 - Binghamton, NY - Anderson Center For The Performing Arts
September 11 - San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay (Chicago only)
September 14 - Portland, OR - Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre (Chicago only) AUDIO: ROBERT LAMM ON CHICAGO REMIX ALBUM
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May 2012 17 | 12:00 am
Elton John reportedly showed off his temper over the weekend while onstage at Caesars Palace's Colosseum in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Elton made a watery mess onstage during his Million Dollar Piano show. He also reportedly tossed a stool and hinted that that he was angry at his management team and people were going to get fired.
The show also reportedly started 20 minutes late and ended 25 minutes early.
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