Before Declan Patrick MacManus morphed into Elvis Costello, formed the Attractions as his backing band and emerged as one of the lead figures in the new wave and British punk movement of the mid-late 1970's, he was in an act known as Rusty with Allan Mayes. That outfit did a fair amount of touring in the UK but never got the opportunity to record. Mayes recently reached out to his former musical partner to see whether he'd be willing to get together and play some of the songs they performed together those many years ago. To his surprise, Costello was so enthused with the notion that he proposed that he and Mayes not only revisit the material they'd played together in 1972, but that they record the album they never got the chance to then. The two of them went through some old setlists and picked out the songs they wanted to record. Elvis arranged for members of his current band, The Imposters, to contribute to the sessions. The end result will be The Resurrection of Rust, an album that will be available at Elvis Costello concerts and gets released on CD June 3, with a vinyl release to follow.

Johnny Depp joined Jeff Beck on stage at Sheffield City Hall in the UK Sunday (5/29) as Beck launched his European tour. Depp, who has proven he has decent guitar chops while performing with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper in the Hollywood Vampires, joined Beck on versions of Isolation, the John Lennon song they recorded together in 2020, and stuck around to play on the Hendrix song Little Wing and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

Neil Young's next archives release is an album he and Crazy Horse worked on just before embarking on a South American tour in 2001. Toast sessions were fraught with complications and writing roadblocks, according to an interview guitarist Frank Sampedro did with Rolling Stone. When the tour wrapped up, Young opted not to resume work on that album and started working with Booker T. and the MG's on Are You Passionate?, the album they put out together in 2002. When Neil finally revisited Toast, listening to the sessions convinced him that Crazy Horse "...shows a depth never seen or heard before" on them. The album drops on July 8.

Sad to note the passing Sunday (5/29) of the rocker known and loved as The Hawk. Ronnie Hawkins was 87. His death brought this message on Twitter from the Band's Robbie Robertson. Levon Helm once credited Hawkins as the man that "molded us into the wildest, fiercest speed-driven bar band in America.'" His towering, swaggering, fun loving presence will be missed by lots of musicians. R.I.P. Hawk.

Naught Again, a double album of previously unreleased live music recorded at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall during a three night run of concerts in 1992 by the jam band ensemble Zero finally became available last week. The release features stellar performances by guitarist Steve Kimock, keyboard wizard Nicky Hopkins, Tubes and Grateful Dead keyboard player Vince Welnick, Jerry Garcia Band collaborator John Kahn and Martin Fierro. Kimock and Quicksilver Messenger Service member John Cipollina formed Zero in 1984. Credit Dan Healy for the outstanding recording quality and Brian Risner for mixing one of the best sounding live albums we've ever heard.

Bruce Springsteen has announced that he and his E Street Band members will start a US arena tour in February, 2023 and follow it up with a European tour. In an unusual move, all of the cities for the second leg of the tour were revealed, but none of the first leg's US cities or venues were announced.

Rockin' Blues guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor already has an avid following in the UK, but her stature in the States is on the verge of getting a big boost thanks to a couple of US guitar greats Taylor has impressed. June 10th Joe Bonamassa's KTBA label will release CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray versions of a concert she did in Franklin, Tennessee that featured Bonamassa with her on three tracks and and Kenny Wayne Shepherd on a fourth. The 16 song June 10th release will also include an additional track, I'm No Angel, on the Blu-ray version along with behind the scenes footage from the concert.

We lost one of the most distinctive voices in rock on April 19th, 2012 when Levon Helm succumbed to neck and head cancer. Almost a year before his passing, the Band's drummer hosted a live session with Mavis Staples at his barn that included Levon's daughter Amy, Staples' sister Yvonne, guitarist Larry Campbell and Levon's Midnight Ramble horn section. The soulful, heartfelt performance recorded June 3, 2011 was released this week on the album titled Mavis Staples Levon Helm Carry Me Home. It features the versions of Curtis Mayfield's This Is My Country, Bob Dylan's You Got to Serve Somebody, the Buddy and Julie Miller song Wide River To Cross, moving renditions of You Got To Move, Trouble In My Mind and Farther Along, plus The Weight, a song Staples sang on during the Band's November, 1976 farewell concert, The Last Waltz.

Robert Plant was in Muscle Shoals, Alabama earlier this week to visit FAME Studios, home of the Muscle Shoals Sound. The Led Zeppelin front man has a deep regard for the studio that birthed so many R&B great songs and albums from artists he admires.

Photo credit: Fame Studios, Facebook

Fans of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy will want to keep ears and eyes open for Phil Lynott Songs For While I’m Away + Thin Lizzy The Boys Are Back In Town Live At The Sydney Opera House October 1978. This June 24 release from Mercury pairs the acclaimed Phil Lynott documentary with a renowned live concert film, the set will be available as a 2xDVD+CD and Blu-ray+DVD+CD (with the Phil Lynott documentary on the Blu-ray).

Songs For While I’m Away chronicles the life and music of Phil Lynott, utilizing archival footage, interview segments with Lynott, music from both the Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott solo catalogs,notable conversations with Thin Lizzy's other members and Adam Clayton (U2), Huey Lewis (Huey Lewis & The News), James Hetfield (Metallica) and others, as well as Phil’s wife and daughters. Combined, these conversations reveal an all-encompassing look at Phil, from his 1950s’ upbringing as a Black boy in blue collar Dublin to his rise to fame. Fully exploring his history and rippling impact on music, the film examines Lynott as a singer, songwriter, poet, father, and cultural icon.

Complementing this film is The Boys Are Back In Town Live At The Sydney Opera House October 1978. Previously released on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD, this version presents the show in the highest quality that has been made available, with not only cleaned up video and remixed audio from multi tracks, but five additional songs from this set that have never been officially released. This performance showcases the electricity of these original Rock ‘N’ Roll masters.

Eric Clapton, Lindsey Buckingham and Pearl Jam are the latest to have touring plans disrupted due to positive COVID tests. While it appears Clapton will be able to resume touring this week and expects his upcoming US dates with Jimmy Vaughan to stay on schedule, the entire schedule of the former Fleetwood Mac member's first solo European tour has been put on hold.

EC tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 days after his May 8th Royal Albert Hall concert and was advised by doctors that a full recovery could be jeopardized if he resumed performing too soon, leading to the postponement of concerts scheduled for Zurich, Switzerland last night and Milan, Italy tonight. Barring any setback, the 77 year-old guitar great should be able to re-start his European tour this Friday in Bologna, Italy. His seven concerts US tour opens in Columbus, Ohio September 8th.

Pearl Jam had soldiered on with replacement drummers at a couple of gigs after Matt Cameron tested positive. After learning that Jeff Ament had also tested positive for COVID, the group announced Wednesday it would cancel concerts in Sacramento and Las Vegas.

We lost the venerable and eclectic musical genius Dr. John (aka Mack Rebennack) to a heart attack in June, 2019.  At the time of his passing, the New Orleans based keyboard great had been working on an album paying tribute to departed musicians he greatly admired .  Things Happen That Way, the posthumous release that comes out September 23, 2022, is titled for Guess Things Happen That Way, a song Johnny Cash put on the charts.  The Release also includes the good Doctor's versions of well-known songs recorded by Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, the Travleing Wilburys and his own I Walk on Guilded Splinters, along with a couple of other songs he wrote during the sessions.  Among the musicians he worked with on what would become his last album were Lukas Nelson, Aaron Neville, bassist Will Lee and Bonnie Raitt's go-to keyboard player Jon Cleary.

What may be the most impressive private collection of rock instruments ever assembled gets its first public viewing next month. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has spent a good chunk of his fortune amassing an array of iconic instruments that belonged to members of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and many other great rockers. Many of those are included in a display that will be viewable for free at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on June 3rd.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was peaking in 1969, a year the group released three very solid albums. In April of the following year, the California band's surging popularity in the UK earned it a debuting concert at Royal Albert Hall. Footage filmed during that concert somehow ended up shoved into a London vault, where it sat for decades. Fans will finally get to see it when a documentary in the works under the guidance of a team that includes credits for work on The Beatles: Get Back, and Rocket Man and Running Down a Dream, the Elton John based film and excellent Tom Petty documentary.