Real Rock News

AC/DC THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND BON SCOTT STATUE CAMPAIGN

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:41:00 GMT

AC/DC has officially given its endorsement to a campaign to get a statue of late lead singer Bon Scott erected in his hometown of Kirriemuir, Scotland. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the band posted an item about the project on its official website and pointed to the site of DD8 Music, organizers of the campaign, where fans can donate to the project's fundraising drive.

The project needs to raise 50,000 pounds, or $75,000, by June 5th to move forward, and is about a third of the way there. DD8 Music has launched a Kickstarter account to raise the necessary funds.

DD8 Music's Graham Calloway said he didn't speak with anyone from the band before they promoted the campaign on their website.

Guitarist Malcolm Young told us a while back that Scott's spirit has always stayed with the group: "He's always there. He never left the band. That's just the way that we are. You know, we're very tight as a unit. It's the reality of it all. You just never forget. There's so many stories with Bon, and it creeps in every day. And if it's not one of the band, it's a fan."

Individual members of the group past and present have offered their support previously, with former bassist Mark Evans saying last September, "It's so amazing that Bon is getting honored like this, especially since Scotland is such an important place in the history of AC/DC. Bon already had a street named after him in Kirriemuir and now this!"

The statue would be the second of Scott, who was born in Kirriemuir in 1946 but moved with his family to Australia in 1952. An Australian statue honoring Scott has already been on display since February 2008.

The singer died in 1980 at the age of 33 from alcohol poisoning. He sang on AC/DC's first six studio albums, including High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock and Highway To Hell.

CHECK IT OUT: See AC/DC's post on the campaign, complete with links, at http://www.acdc.com/us/news/bon-scott-statue-kirriemuir

BILL WYMAN ON THE ROLLING STONES: 'NEVER AGAIN'

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:40:00 GMT

Bill Wyman says that while it was nice to sit in for a couple of songs during the Rolling Stones' London shows last year -- he's happy he's not in the band. Wyman, who's just published his new high-end Stones tome, Bill Wyman's Scrapbook, talked to The Huffington Post and explained where he stands with the band these days, "The nice thing was that my kids saw me on stage with the Stones. They'd asked me the December before, and I had to jam with them for three days. I was under the impression I was going to get really involved, but when it came to it, they only wanted me to do two songs, which was very disappointing."

During the Stones' 2012 50 & Counting dates, Wyman only appeared onstage for two songs -- "It's Only Rock N' Roll" and "Honky Tonk Women." Wyman, who at 76 is the oldest Stone, quit the band in 1991 after nearly 30 years with the band: "I've always maintained that you can't go back to things, and they can never be the same. It's like a school reunion, or (an) Army reunion. If you try to go back and have a relationship with someone, it doesn't work, and it's the same musically. It doesn't work. It was a one-off. Five minutes. Okay, never again. No regrets, we're still great friends."

Wyman retired from the Rolling Stones shortly after their 1989/1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle world tour. He says that he doesn't listen to the band's recent work: "I don't really listen to their music now, I must say, because it's something that is gone out of my life, really, y'know? I never did play the records anyway, much, because you kind of, you'd heard them all so many times by the time the records came out, you know, in the studio, the mixing and mastering and that."

BLACK SABBATH'S 'CSI' APPEARANCE NOW ONLINE

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:39:00 GMT

Black Sabbath's appearance on the season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation aired Wednesday night (May 15th) on CBS-TV, with the entire episode now available for viewing online at CBS.com. The band world premiered a song called "End Of The Beginning" from their upcoming album 13. The episode's plot followed the CSI team as they investigated a series of murders that resemble the sins in Dante's Inferno, with the trail leading the detectives to attend a Sabbath concert.

Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler admitted to being a fan of the show since it first came on the air.

13 is due out on June 11th. The disc is the first Sabbath album in 35 years to feature Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi.

Sabbath will launch a North American tour in support of the new CD on July 25th in the Woodlands, Texas.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE TOWNSHEND

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:38:00 GMT

Happy Birthday to Pete Townshend, who turns 68-years-old on Sunday (May 19th)!!! Townshend, who is the primary creative force behind the Who, wrote nearly all of the band's music and has been responsible for crafting the stories and themes behind such rock classics as Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia. In February, he wrapped the North American dates for the Who's Quadrophenia & More tour, with the trek resuming next month in Europe. Last year, he published his long awaited autobiography, titled, Who I Am, to critical acclaim.

In January 2012, Townshend signed an exclusive, new publishing deal with Spirit Music Group to administer and promote his past and future songwriting catalogue. The pact also includes a long-term publishing agreement for Townshend's upcoming projects, including new songs composed for potential solo and Who releases -- as well as songs from Townshend's upcoming multimedia piece, Floss, which is based around an aging couple. Back in 2010 he pushed back a series of Who dates to presumably complete Floss. He was quick to explain that the project is not the Who's next "rock opera" posting on TheWho.com, "Floss is not a new Who album. It is a musical play. Some of the music might work for Roger (Daltrey) and me; I am still working on it. I reckon I have another year to go writing."

In 2009 he had announced the Floss project by stating: "Floss will be a (sound and light) musical piece, intended for outdoor performance, or arenas. Several of the more conventional songs from Floss will be featured on a forthcoming Who recording for release in 2010. Floss will be heard in concert for the first time in 2011, at a venue and date yet to be established. I am already having talks with producers in New York."

There is still no date set for Floss' stage premiere.

That same year Townshend and his wife of 40 years, Karen Astley, were granted a preliminary divorce in London's High Court. The couple had been separated since 1994. Townshend has been romantically linked with musician Rachel Fuller since 1996.

In 2006, after a 24-year-wait, Townshend wrote and produced the Who's comeback album Endless Wire. Despite the album hitting Number Seven in the U.S. charts, Townshend has stated that he felt the album fell short of his commercial expectations, and complained that none of the songs garnered the level of airplay he had come to expect with previous Who projects.

A while ago, we asked Townshend why he needs grand concepts such as Tommy, Quadrophenia, and the recent Wire And Glass mini-opera, behind most of his work: "I just write. I'm just a songwriter, y'know that's what I do. Which is why it's very important for me to have some kind of concept to hold me down, some kind of concept to give my work shape, focus, and direction. Because I don't feel that the Who ever had a clear brief (on what to write for them), ever, ever, ever, ever."

Pete Townshend says that he realized very early on that the Who's relationship with their fans differed greatly from the traditional showbiz precedents: "What we suddenly realized is that we weren't speaking for our audience, our audience were telling us what to say. Now, that's a very, very, different process. And it's one that I discovered when I was very, very young, it's one that I continue to honor today. So what I'm trying to do is, when people say to me, 'Hey Pete, your songs are very personal. How do you think that Roger can feel about singing them?' Roger can sing them 'cause they're not personal at all. My songs are your songs."

He says that he makes no apologies for veering away from rock music to dabble in theater, films and novels: "Y'know, some of those people that still to this day regard me as being pretentious because I aspire to live my life as an artist rather than a 'cash is king' rock n' roll performer. If that's pretentious, so be it."

DID JASON NEWSTED SAVE METALLICA BY LEAVING THE BAND?

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:38:00 GMT

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted told NY Hard Rock Examiner that it was his departure from the band in 2001 that was a catalyst for the group to stay together in the long run. Following Newsted's exit, frontman James Hetfield checked into rehab for an extended stay and the album that was being recorded at the time was abandoned. Newsted explained, "I had to be the one that stepped up and made the sacrifice for everybody . . . because I did what I did, they're more successful than they've ever been, they still set the standard, James is healthier than he's ever been in his entire life. I'm clear-eyed again, I'm off drugs, I'm 19 years old again. I got more years under my belt and I'm still the same fighting weight I was on any of my tours."

Metallica eventually rallied back, recording the St. Anger album, recruiting Robert Trujillo to play bass and documenting their near-breakup in the 2004 documentary Some Kind Of Monster.

Newsted told us a while back what went wrong in Metallica during that dark period: "Nobody ever wanted to speak up and rock the boat, throw a wrench into the machine. You know, it was just rolling like a freaking tank over everything that came in its way, and nobody ever wanted to mess with that really. And so emotions, feelings, personal stuff, all that was kind of buried in the hole, wherever they buried it, inside themselves or somewhere else, you know. Then people started realizing the value of things."

Newsted recently returned to the metal scene with his new, self-named band, which also features Staind guitarist Mike Mushok.

Newsted the band released its debut EP earlier this year and will issue its first full-length album later in 2013.

Metallica is preparing to headline its second Orion Music + More festival next month, on June 8th and 9th in Detroit. The band also has a feature-length movie called Metallica Through The Never coming out this fall.

PAUL McCARTNEY KICKS OFF NORTH AMERICAN 'OUT THERE' DATES

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:00 GMT

Paul McCartney kicks off the North American leg of his 2013 Out There tour this weekend. "Macca" and his band open things up over two nights, Saturday and Sunday (May 18th and 19th), at Orlando, Florida's Amway Center. The tour -- which is the former Beatle's busiest road trek since 2005 -- will take in 20 shows over a leisurely 12 weeks playing to both indoor arenas, stadiums, and outdoor festivals. McCartney wraps up his June dates with a quick three-date popover to Europe where he'll play Warsaw, Poland; Verona, Italy; and Vienna, Austria before resuming the second half of North American dates.

McCartney explained that even though some of the songs in his setlist date back 50 years, as a father and grandfather he's able to find new emotions in the tunes that he couldn't possibly have imagined back in his Beatles days: "A song like 'Yesterday' I wrote when I was 20, or 21, or something. And so, it was a quite a young man writing about yesterday -- I didn't have many yesterdays, it was only about few years of them. It's much more emotional now for me, because, y'know, my yesterdays involve bringing up children now, and when they were little babies. As you go on, the songs seem to have more depth. Y'know, words that I just wrote because I liked the sound of them -- now I like the meaning of them."

Paul McCartney tour dates (subject to change):

May 18, 19 - Orlando, Florida - Amway Center
May 22, 23 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
May 26 - Memphis, Tennessee - FedEx Forum
May 29, 30 - Tusla, Oklahoma - BOK Center
June 8, 10 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
June 14 - Manchester, Tennessee - Bonnaroo Festival
June 22 - Warsaw, Poland - National Stadium
June 25 - Verona, Italy - Roman Amphitheatre
June 27 - Vienna, Austria - Happel Stadium
July 7 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
July 9 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park
July 12 - Washington, DC - Nationals Park
July 14 - Indianapolis, IN - Bankers Life Fieldhouse
July 16 - Milwaukee, WI - Miller Park
July 19 - Safeco Field - Seattle, Washington
July 23 - Quebec City, QC - Plains Of Abraham
August 9, 10, 11 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park (***Show Date TBA)
August 12 - Winnipeg, MB - Investors Group Field
August 14 - Regina, SK - Mosaic Stadium At Taylor Field

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS MAY START NEW RECORD IN FALL

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:37:00 GMT

By the time the Red Hot Chili Peppers wind down their summer schedule -- which consists of the Orion Music + More festival in early June and a few more scattered gigs -- it will be just under two years since the band released its 10th studio album, 2011's I'm With You. According to drummer Chad Smith, that means it will soon be time for the Chili Peppers to start thinking about album number 11: "Yeah, we're just doing four or five one-offs through the summer and then we'll start writing songs again, so I think in the fall -- we're looking at probably in September -- getting together and starting to get on a roll and start writing songs for the next record. Yeah, we're looking at the fall."

In addition to co-headlining the Orion festival with Metallica on June 8th and 9th in Detroit, the Chili Peppers will also play Delaware's Firefly Festival on June 21st, a show in Anchorage, Alaska on August 5th and the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco on August 11th.

I'm With You was released on August 29th, 2011 and was the first new Chili Peppers album in five years.

It marked the recording debut with the band of guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who replaced longtime axeman John Frusciante the year before.

Chili Peppers bassist Flea is also doing shows with Radiohead's Thom Yorke in their Atoms For Peace project, while Smith has recently been recording with his Chickenfoot bandmate, Sammy Hagar.

FLASHBACK: PAUL McCARTNEY, GEORGE HARRISON, AND RINGO STARR JAM AT ERIC CLAPTON'S WEDDING RECEPTION

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:36:00 GMT

It was 34 years ago Sunday (May 19th, 1979) that a select group of party-goers witnessed the closest thing to a live Beatles reunion when Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr reunited to jam at Eric Clapton's wedding reception at his English estate. The impromptu performance marked the one-and-only time that the three former-Beatles had played in public together since the group's final performance on the Apple Rooftop on January 30th, 1969.

Clapton had married Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd, and set up an outdoor stage for a mammoth jam session which featured the three ex-Beatles, a reformed Cream, the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman, Elton John, David Bowie, and many more. John Lennon was living in the U.S. at the time, and was not present.

Although the three former "Fabs" also took part in a makeshift sing-a-long jam at Starr's wedding in 1981, the Clapton wedding reception marks the only time that the former Beatles made music onstage in a somewhat professional manner. Among the many songs reported to have been performed that day were the Beatles' 1967 classic "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Wings co-founder Denny Laine also participated at the jam session at Clapton's wedding reception and says that it didn't feel as historic an event as it has been made out to be: "I never think like that, 'Hey, I'm jamming with (laughs) some of the Beatles.' I never think like that. Y'know, these were all people I knew. Like Eric, I'd known when he was in the Yardbirds."

Both Clapton and Boyd published their memoirs in 2008 and spoke about their decade long marriage. Boyd says that upon looking at her marriage to Clapton 20 years after their split, she ultimately regrets leaving Harrison for him: "I don't want to totally blame Eric, but I think his behavior was wrong -- was morally wrong to entice me to leave George, because I was married to George and I really shouldn't have done that. But also, I was wrong as well to allow myself to be flattered (by Eric) to that extent. So, y'know we both were wrong morally on that moral issue."

Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd divorced in 1988. She stayed in close contact with Harrison until his death in 2001, but has no ongoing relationship with Clapton.

BUCKINGHAM & NICKS BOOKEND RELATIONSHIP ONSTAGE

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:35:00 GMT

With Christine McVie long gone from Fleetwood Mac's touring lineup, the show is basically an ongoing dialogue between former lovers Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Although the majority of the band's setlist is made up of material which chronicles their torturous split in the '70s, there are a couple of bright spots showing the couple being positive towards each other.

Fans and critics alike have taken notice of the how the revamped long unreleased Buckingham Nicks song "Without You" and the show closing "Say Goodbye" show an actual real love between the often strained Buckingham and Nicks.

Lindsey Buckingham shed some light on the emotions between the two standout songs: "'Without You,' which I think was written right after Buckingham Nicks, she thinks maybe before, she talks about that being a song about me at a time when everything was before us and simpler times. And then we come on at the end and we do 'Say Goodbye,' which is a song I wrote about her 10 years ago when all our illusions had basically fallen away -- not being a bad thing, really. Y'know, sometimes it tales the loss of illusion in order to keep moving forward. And the song was still about resolve and for the future and about closure."

Fleetwood Mac performs tonight (May 17th) in Calgary, Alberta at Scotiabank Saddledome.

MICHAEL ANTHONY AND CHAD SMITH PLAYING ON NEW SAMMY HAGAR ALBUM

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:17:00 GMT

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith are in the studio with ex-Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar, where the Red Rocker is working on a new album. The three musicians, of course, comprise three-fourths of the lineup of Chickenfoot, although they are apparently not making a new Chickenfoot record at the moment. Joining them on guitar is Neal Schon of Journey, who also played with Hagar in the early Eighties act HSAS.

Hagar told us a while back why he liked playing with Smith: "Chad just brings a certain amount of intensity with the way he plays that I've just never been in a band with a drummer like that before. He's like Keith Moon with John Bonham's foot, you know, or something. I don't know what to call him. He's Chad Smith."

In a clip posted online, Hagar calls the current group of musicians a "new and improved" version of HSAS.

The initials of the four musicians' last names also happen to spell out HSAS. The original lineup of that act, which issued one live album in 1984, featured Hagar, Schon, Kenny Aaronson on bass and Michael Shrieve on drums.

Chickenfoot, which also includes guitarist Joe Satriani, has released two albums, 2009's self-titled debut and 2011's Chickenfoot III. Drummer Kenny Aronoff replaced Smith for touring purposes in 2011 when Smith had to return to duty with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.