Paul McCartney sat down with David Frost recently for an hour long interview in which he said that the Beatles were breaking up regardless of anything Yoko Ono did or said.  McCartney did go on record as saying that Ono's presence in the studio during some of the group's last recording sessions made him uncomfortable, but added that manager Allen Klein, the man that took over managing the group after Brian Epstein's death in 1967, was a far more detrimental to the band, a statement he punctuated by pretending to punch a photo of Klein.  According to Paul, Klein was the one that caused him to start feuding with John, George and Ringo, telling Frost, 'I was fighting against the other three guys who'd been my lifelong soul buddies. I said I wanted to fight Klein.'
He also gave credit to Ono for having been an inspiration to John, pointing out that without her Lennon would never have written Imagine.
Guardian.co.uk

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Rolling Stones fans lucky enough to score one of the 700 $19.45 tickets available for pre-tour warm-up concert staged Thursday (10/25) in Paris were treated to a high energy set of material spanning multiple eras of the group's five decades.  The set roared to live with a rollicking verison of Route 66 on the stage of Trabendo in the northern part of Paris and also included versions of Tumbling Dice, Miss You, Midnight Rambler, Jmping Jack Flash and Doom And Gloom, one of two new songs recorded recently in a local studio. The Stones left the crowd with Brown Sugar a little over an hour after taking the stage.  At least one additional small venue date is expected to take place before the band goes large at the O2 Arena in London November 25th.
Two long departed members of the Rolling Stones are expected to perform with the group for at least a portion of the two dates scheduled for December in the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.  Rolling Stone has said the rumored reunion plan seems to have firmed up and raised the possibility that Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor may not be the only special guests gracing the stage on December 13 and 15 in the Garden State.  As to whether the two London two NJ shows represent the only concerts the band plans on doing, Keith Richards told RollingStone.com, '...once the juggernaut starts rolling, it ain't gonna stop. So without definitely saying yes - yeah. We ain't doing this for four gigs!'.

NJ.com HenneMusic.com

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Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension album gets released Tuesday, November 6th. The night before the  album drops, the band will do a free live set somewhere on the streets of Beantown.  Details on where and when the hit and run concert will take place won't be announced until Monday, November 5th, the morning of the concert.  A little sleuthing into city permits might get the location out sooner. 
The group resumes its Global Warming tour two days after the release, covering 14 more cities with Cheap Trick in the opening slot.
AntiMusic.com

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A helicopter reportedly registered to a business entity owned by AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been sighted combing the waters near Tauranga, New Zealand where a police and naval diver search for a missing 23 year-old boater had been suspended after a week. Three other men accompanying Shaun Hogarth managed to make it to shore safely after the dingy they were in swamped on October 16.  A police official announced the official search was being discontinued because authorities believe there is no chance Hogarth will be found alive.  The MD 520N chopper  registered to Phil Rudd Extreme Transport Limited is apparently being used in a private search being coordinated by the missing man's family.  The $2.5 million helicopter bears the name of Phil's Place, a restaurant Rudd owns.
SunLive.co.nz

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PR appearances in advance of the release of Celebration Day, the DVD filmed during the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion in London, has made the former Zep band mates more accessible to the media than anytime in the last three decades.  While the group has spent more time than it would like dispelling any notion of performing together in the future, some interesting tidbits have emerged, including Jimmy Page telling the BBC that he is working on a new album he expects to have ready for released before year's end.  The guitarist says the material is likely to surprise people and says,  '... the way to present music is same picture, different frame, and sometimes this frame is quite radical'.
Gibson.com

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A lineup lacking some of the star power of recent Bridge School benefit concerts delivered an evening of music that did little to warm up the crowd on a chilly night at the Shorline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, California Saturday night (10/21).  The best thing many had to say about the night was that chronically late Axl Rose was true to form - which resulted in an unannounced performance by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam to fill time until the band that passes itself off as  Guns N' Roses was ready to go on.
In addition host and organizer Neil Young and GNR, the lineup included the Flaming Lips, k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Lucinda Williams and Steve Martin with his bluegrass band the Steep Mountain Rangers.   Young's closing set with Crazy Horse featured  the loosely rendered, drawn out, forgettable material he has slapped together on his most recent releases along with vaguely notable songs from his catalog.  The only exceptional exception was a stark version of The Needle and the Damage Done.
SFGate.com

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Bruce Springsteen and Bill Clinton attracted a beyond capacity crowd to a campaign stop on behalf of President Obama Thursday (10/18) at Cuyahoga Community College near Cleveland, Ohio.  Springsteen had indicated that he planned to stay on the sidelines this election season but decided to make himself available as polls showed Republican nominee Mitt Romney narrowing the incumbent's lead going into the closing weeks of the campaign.  A statement posted to Springsteen's web site suggested he thinks the stakes are too high for him not to get involved and that getting out the vote for the President is important to him because he considers Obama the better candidate to narrow the gap between the American dream and the American reality, adding, "...our vote, is the principle way we get to determine that distance and that equation'.
During the rally, Springsteen said his support for Obama centers on the President's health care reform, support of women's rights, his decision that the US auto industry was too important not to rescue and his determination to give lower and middle class Americans a better path forward.  Noting the slow pace of improvement, Springsteen said progress can often be a, '...slow march, inch by inch, day after long day', adding, 'I believe we are in the midst of those long days right nor. And I am here because President Obama feels those days in his bones - for all 100%.'  He closed with a close-to-home appeal to voters in a state with a lot of jobs tied to the automotive industry, saying, 'When you were down, you were out and your whole economy was threatened, the president had your back. You've got to have his back too.'
Plans are also in the works for a free concert in Virginia, another state considered critical by both parties in this year's election day results.
WashingtonPost.com

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Finally, a beer with a Dead head on it.  Craft brewer Dog Fishhead has developed a pale ale targeted at Dead Heads.  American Beauty Imperial Pale Ale will hit shelves in December.  The company won favor with Grateful Dead Productions for more than the robust flavor of the new pour made with all American hops and barley.  David Lemieux says the deal went down with Sam Calagione's brewery because '...these are really good people and are the type of folks we want to work with.'
In keeping with the spirit of working with one of the original jam bands, the brewery wants input for one additional ingredient for American Beauty - an invitation so certain produce plenty of mind altering substance suggestions that Dogfish Head specifies that the winning ingredient will be one that  '...works best in the context of a strong pale ale recipe.'
DogFish.com

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Paul Stanley had an uncharacteristically restrained response to Steven Tyler's recent dismissal of KISS as nothing more than a 'comic book band'.  Appearing on the syndicated Rockline program Monday (10/15) with guitarist Tommy Thayer, Stanley responded to host Bob Coburn's invitation to respond to the statement made during an interview on a Tampa, Florida radio station by saying, 'Maybe Steven's feeling a bit full of himself because he has an album coming out.'  Stanley did get another dig in while taking about the co-headlining tour KISS and Aerosmith did in 2003 - a tour in which Aerosmith got the closing slot on every night.  Stanley said Tyler 'Had a chip on his shoulder back then', and was '...looking down his nose a bit at KISS', and added that, 'Seeing him come on stage to an underwhelmed audience and people walking out' gave him a smile.
AntiMusic.com
 

The Rolling Stones have finally confirmed concerts for London's O2 Arena and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.  The UK dates are slated for November 25 and 29, with the lone US dates confirmed at this point taking place on December 13 & 15.  The second New jERSEY date will also be offered as live a pay-for-view.  The availability of the extra time required for the live telecast apparently cost the Barclay Center in Brooklyn the chance to land the dates.
Keith Richards issued a statement Monday (10/15) confirming the dates and apologizing for the delay in getting the dates firmed up.  The concerts with a whirlwind of 50th anniversary projects involving the band. GRRR!, a massive compilation of recorded material, gets released November 13.  A Rockumentary titled Crossfire Hurricane premiers in London October 18 and opens at the Zeigfeld Theater in New York the same day GRRR! gets released and a large book commemorating the group's half century Rocking the world also comes out in the fall.
NYDailyNews.com

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Bruce Springsteen will appear with former President Bill Clinton Thursday (10/18) in Ohio and also make a campaign rally appearance in Iowa the same day to issue his personal appeal to swing state voters to return Obama to the oval office with their votes on November 6th.  In announcing the Springsteen push for the President in the two states,   Obama's re-election campaign director said, 'Bruce Springsteen's values echo what the President and the Vice President stand for: hard work, fairness, integrity.' Springsteen performed during the inaugural ceremony in front of the Washington Monument after the last election and authorized the Obama campaign to use his song We take Care of Our Own at the Democratic convention and campaign events.
 

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac (Rhiannon, Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow), Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (Walk This Way, Dude, Looks Like A Lady), Kinks veteran Ray Davies (You Really Got me, Lola), B.B. King (Lucille, Rock Me, Baby), Elvis Costello (Alison, Pump It Up), Annie & Dave Lennox of the Eurthymics (Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, Would I Lie To You?), Steve Winwood (Gimme Some Lovin', Higher Love), Bobby Womack (It's All Over Now, Breezin') and Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, the pair responsible for most of the songs of Foreigner (Cold As Ice, Waiting For A Girl Like You) and Jimmy Buffett (Margaritaville, Come Monday) have been named as 2013 nominees to the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.  Jones is thrilled with the prospect of being enshrined with the others for '...doing one of the things I love most.'  Voting for the 2013 nominees to the New York based Hall will continue until Dec. 17.  Awards will be handed out at a June 13 ceremony at the Marriott Marquee in Manhattan.

A judge in the UK concluded that inaccurate statements in June articles implying that Elton John was a 'tax avoider' did not rise to the level of libelous.  The Secrets of Tax Avoiders story published by Times Newspapers wrongly identified an individual engaged in questionable film making investment schemes as being John's former accountant.  The singer's lawyers said that the incorrect association of their client with that individual implied that Elton John was engaged in 'immoral schemes'.  The papers later admitted being wrong both in asserting that Patrick McKenna had worked for Elton John and that McKenna's company, Ingenious Media, had been engaged in transferring funds offshore to vaoid being taxed on them.
BBC.Co.uk

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Tom Petty is parting ways with a very special car for charity. The 1996  Jaguar XJS convertible goes up for bids on EBay Thursday (10/11), with all proceeds from the highest bid being turned over to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides humanitarian medical relief services in more than 60 countries around the world.
Petty got the car for his wife when the two first started dating, and says that both he and Dana consider the Jag their favorite car, adding, 'We sure are gonna miss it'.  A lot of people needing urgent medical attention will sure be glad they were willing to.
RollingStone.com

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Sometimes when he' speaking he may sound sloshed, but Joe Walsh swore off Vodka, aka his 'best friend', and drugs nearly 20 years ago.  One Day At A Time, s song on his 2012 release Analog Man, provides a sobering account of staying sober and why he probably wouldn't be around to have recorded it had he not stuck with the decision he made 18 years ago.  As Joe puts it, 'This song is about my path out of the darkness of drug addiction and alcoholism. The message is that there is a way out and a new life waiting in recovery that is good.  I'm doing this because if it helps 1 person - it's worth it.  It's by giving back that we receive and I am eternally grateful for my sobriety and my life today.'
ClassicsDuJour.com

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John Cusack played a great lead in the  2000 film adaptation of High Fidelity - a top 10 music movies in our book.  But his most famous scene in a movie remains the one from his 1989 debut feature film, Say Anything, when, as hopelessly love struck Lloyd Dobler, Cusack appeared below the window of the object of his affection holding a boom box over his head blaring Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes.  That brief scene accounted for a major sales resurgence of an album that had already achieved a number of milestones in the three years since its release.
During the Hollywood Bowl concert (10/7) marking the 25th anniversary of the So album, Cusack emerged from the wings of the stage, boom box in hands, presented it to Gabriel and made his exit, appropriately, without a word.  Say Anything director Cameron Crowe was in the audience and tweeted about it.  Cusack responded by urging his fans to follow Crowe on Twitter and 'occasionally suggest' that he and Crowe should do another movie together.
Gawker.com 

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The clearest signal yet that the Rolling Stones will be on stage for 50th anniversary concerts comes from guitarist Keith Richards.  Q Magazine claims that Richards confirmed that the group is spending time preparing for live shows, saying that three more weeks of rehearsals are booked and that concerts in London and New York will follow.  The Glimmer Twin offered no details, saying group wants a tight lid on them until all of the details are in place.  Earlier reports indicated a pair of live dates at the O2 Arena in London and the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn were in the works.
Examiner.com
 

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Artists ranging from Mavis Staples to Roger Waters of Pink Floyd took the stage at the Meadowlands Arena Wednesday (10/3) in a musical tribute to Levon Helm, the late drummer for the Band.  The three and a half hour concert was a straight-forward affair with music delivering the message instead of speeches and multi-media backdrops.  Notably absent from the lineup were the Band's Robbie Robertson and the artist he and Levon backed early in his career, Bob Dylan.  The Band's Garth Hudson did attend, doing When I Paint My Masterpiece with John Prine and delivering a version of Chest Fever with Dierks Bentley.  Jacob Dylan pinch hit for his father, doing Ain't Got No Home and saying his father would have loved to be there but could not because he was in rehearsals for his tour (a lame reason not to have attended in our book). Other highlights from the night included Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes on Long Black Veil, Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph on Up On Cripple Creek, Roger Waters with My Morning Jacket on The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down and joining Amy Helm for Wide River to Cross, Grace Potter's rendition of I Shall Be Released and the all-in finale of The Weight.
 

If catching Queen in concert was something you never had the opportunity to do or you wish you could do it again, the next best thing comes your way Nov. 6 with the release of Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live In Budapest. Filmed in 1986 during the final tour with Freddie Mercury, the Budapest concert stood out as one of the best live performances Queen ever staged.  A Hungarian audience of 80,000 Rocked the Népstadium along with the band during the first large scale Rock concert staged in a behind the Iron Curtain.  The 20+ track DVD and Blu-ray features Under Pressure, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and includes a documentary about the band's 'Magic Year'.  A Deluxe double CD package adds several other tracks to the mix.
The sound has been remastered and encoded in 5:1 surround sound and the footage has been re-engineered to give it eye-popping HD clarity that Brian May and Roger Taylor say '...looks fantastic on the screen', and add that the documentary '...does a great job of setting the scene' during an extraordinary period in Queen history.
 

©Rock Hall of Fame

The Rock Hall of Fame's annual disregard for two highly influential bands finally came to an end with the announcement that Deep Purple and Rush will be on the ballot that goes out to 600 music industry voters for the 2012 inductees.  Deep Purple has been eligible for 20 years, the Canadian power trio for 15.  Rush issued a statement thanking the Hall and saying band members are '...especially thrilled for the many, many dedicated fans to whom this nomination is so very important.'  Guitarist Alex Lifeson reacted to the Hall's long term indifference to his band in 2010 by quipping, '...they don't want us in there and we really don't want to be there.'  Deep Purple veteran recently slammed the Hall for ignoring his former band, saying, 'We know the people in charge and we know how they think. It's become a joke in a way.'
The two groups are joined on the ballot by Heart, Procol Harum, Joan Jett & the Balckhearts, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Meters, Kraftwerk, Randy Newman, the Marvelettes, Donna Summer, Public Enemy, NWA and Chic.
ClassicRockMazgazine.com

MORE DEEP PURPLE INSIGHTS  MORE RUSH INSIGHTS

In an age in which making an album can take ages, Neal Schon hopes to prove a good one can be made in less than a week.  The Journey guitarist spent a total of 4 days recording his solo album The Calling.  He says what resulted was some of the best instrumental sessions he has ever done and an album he told Fuse TV is, '...probably one of my best'.  Playing drums on the album is Steve Smith, the former stick man that backed Schon in Journey.  The album, due out October 23, also features keyboard great Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck) on two songs.
HenneMusic.com


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The same people that go to hockey games for the fights and NASCAR races for the crashes won't want to miss what could turn into the live television equivalent when Axl Rose does his real time TV interview in decades. The host up for the challenge and the sure-fire ratings an Axl live session should generate is Jimmy Kimmel, who welcomes the GNR front man to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, October 24.  Rose will be talking up his group's residency at The Joint, the lavish live music venue in the Hard Rock Cafe & Casino in Las Vegas, which is scheduled for a 12 date run between Halloween night and the 24th of November. 
Maybe being just an elevator ride from the venue will mean Vegas fans won't be kept waiting hours past show time for Axl to arrive on stage.
HenneMusic.com
 

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Many consider Slowhand to be Eric Clapton's best solo album.  Released in November, 1977, songs from the multi-platinum project produced by Glyn Johns were in heavy rotation on Rock radio through the rest of that year and much of the next two, with Lay Down Sally, Wonderful Tonight and EC's cover of J.J. Cale song Cocaine, leading the way.  Side two lead off with the nearly 9 minute churning, burner The Core, with Clapton's masterful guitar work in active interplay with great vocals from Yvonne Elliman and Marcy Levy. 
While details have not yet been announced about the bonus material that will be included in deluxe editions due November 19, we do know that all of the original songs on the '77 release have been remastered for the sets that include single, double and triple CD+DVD editions, plus vinyl options.
TheMortonReport.com

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