Archived outtakes recorded during the sessions that produced Physical Graffiti are being put on the auction block. The Zeppelin recordings come from the collection of producer Ron Nevinson. In addition to the Zep work, the auction being conducted from March 13-20 will feature recordings made at Eric Clapton's Rainbow concert that resulted in his 1973 comeback album, early mixes from Bad Company's 1974 debut album and material from Ozzy Osbourne and the Who. Additional items being offered include a pair of glasses that belonged to John Lennon and an autographed first pressing of Twist & Shout.
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Kenny Wayne Shepherd has earned himself a lot of big name fans and several of them will be heard on his next album. Goin' Home, due May 5th, will feature tracks that include Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr, Warren Haynes and Kim Wilson. Shepherd calls the 12 track recording one that '...pays homage to the spirit of the original music', that being the blues tunes and musicians that inspired him to learn to play. Among the better known songs included on the release are The House Is Rockin', You Can't Judge a Book By The Cover and Born Under A Bad Sign.
The Allman Brothers Band is gearing up for its annual March run at the Beacon Theatre, but guitarist Warren Haynes is also looking forward to renewing his two Northeast outdoor gatherings this summer. The long established Mountain Jam returns to Hunter Mountain on the eastern edge of the Catskills early in the summer and his more recent venture, the Peach Music Festival, is back for its second year at a ski area near Scranton, PA in mid August. The Allmans will make two appearances, including a festival closing set at the Peach on the 17th, and plans a complete performance of the double Eat A Peach album.
The US Postal Service is reportedly planning a Music Icons series of postage stamps that will feature John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and a number of other musicians. If put in circulation, the stamp bearing the image of Lennon will be the first US stamp to feature a foreigner. Other musicians expected to be featured include, Roy Orbison, Willie Dixon, Sam Cooke, Fats Waller and Sarah Vaughan.
Around thirty Rolling Stones fans standing around outside a rehearsal studio in Paris Friday afternoon 
Patty Smyth claims that she was Eddie Van Halen's first choice to replace David Lee Roth when he went solo in 1985. The rumored offer has surfaced repeatedly over the years, but the Scandal lead singer recently shed some additional light on the circumstances. Speaking with writer Roger Hillis, Smyth says she got the offer directly from Eddie and says she was asked to keep quiet about it '...because they didn't want Sammy Hagar to feel like he was the second choice'. Smyth says she turned down the invite because she was pregnant, did not want to move to the west coast and, '...those guys were partying pretty hard at the time.' She added that Eddie gave her an ultimatum about accepting or passing on the offer while sitting at a table with the VH guitarist, Paul Schaeffer, Danny Kortchmar and Eddie's wife at the time, Valerie Bertinelli, after a David Letterman Show taping. "Eddie said he needed a 'yes' or 'no' from me so he could move on and find someone else if I wasn't interested. When I said 'no', Eddie called Sammy".
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Aside from a spell with Free and Bad Company front man Paul Rogers touring with them, members of Queen have remained largely on the sidelines since the death of one of Rock's most dynamic lead vocalists. Their idle period will apparently end with an Idol taking Freddy Mercury's place in the spotlight. Guitarist Brian May says Queen will probably mount a US tour this summer with American Idol contestant Adam Lambert handling lead vocals. Speaking with BBC Radio 2, May said, 'We are ongoing. we can't help it. I think we all protested too much in the sense when Freddie went and w didn't want to talk about it and didn't want to be Queen for a while. But after a while, you realize that people want to hear the songs and see us do things.'
Ray Davies of the Kinks and Donovan Leitch will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of fame on June 12 in New York City. While Ray and brother Dave both wrote tunes for the Kinks, Ray penned all of the band's biggest songs, including Lola and You Really Got Me. Donovan, who scored a #1 song in the US in 1965 when Sunshine Superman topped the charts, was inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame in 2012. The Kinks earned that honor in 2005.
While Sunday's 
Gravitas is the title of the next Asia album, the group's fist since the departure of guitarst Steve Howe. Drummer Carl Palmer tells Classic Rock Magazine that the addition of 25 year-old guitarist Sam Coulson allows the band to go in '...a slightly different, and perhaps tougher, direction'. Singer John Wetton adds that the album is full of '...raw energy, enthusiasm and free from impurities', and calls Gravitas '...Asia by Asia. At last'. Hmmm, don't let the screen door hit ya on the way out, Steve. The album has a March 25th release date..jpg)
Downloads of Invisible, the new U2 song made available for free via iTunes during the Super Bowl and for 30+ hours following the game, triggered a donation of more than $3 million from Bank Of America to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB & Malaria. The bank had originally capped the $1 per download donation it would make to the organization at $2 million, but decided to extend both the time frame and the total. iTunes will also pass along all money that comes its way from future downloads of the $1.29 track. To date, RED, an organization Bono co-founded in 2006, has provided the Global Fund with more than $250 million. Bank Of America has committment to help raise another $7 million within two years for the Fund.
Vince Neil says that the band's upcoming farewell tour only applies to the band not touring after the carpet bombing run they will do this summer and fall with Alice Cooper. Talking with KDKB in Cooper's hometown Friday (1/31), Neil maintained that the band is '...still going to be making music', adding, 'We'll probably just make music - do songs for certain things. Motley Curue will still be around'. Group members signed a 'cessation of touring' pact that prohibits tours under the band name after 2015.
