Classic Hits

The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward is out with some new music.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has released a two-track digital-only single that includes an orchestral rendition of the Dream Academy tune “Life in a Northern Town,” which he recorded with singer-songwriter, producer and conductor Mike Batt. The tune features Hayward on lead vocals, backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The release also includes a live performance of The Moody Blues song “Hope and Pray” taken from a Kent, Ohio, performance on Justin’s Blue World tour.

The original “Life in a Northern Town” was the debut single from the British band Dream Academy. It was released in March 1985 and went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hayward is getting ready to head out on another leg of his Blue World tour, which has him playing songs from throughout his career and sharing stories about those tunes. The trek kicks off April 15 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and wraps May 20 in San Francisco.

A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at JustinHayward.com.

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Bruce Springsteen fans are anxiously awaiting the upcoming movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, in which The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White plays The Boss — and it sounds like they aren’t going to be disappointed.

While Springsteen has already said in interviews that he was impressed with White’s portrayal, one of the actors in the film, comedian Marc Maron, is sharing just how well White pulled off the role.

In an interview with Collider, Maron talks about White doing his own singing in the film and shares, “[T]here were times when Bruce didn’t know whether what he was listening to was him or Jeremy. It’s a good story, man.”

Maron plays a recording engineer named Chuck Plotkin in the film, directed by Scott Cooper, noting it’s a “very small part, but the guy is pivotal in the story.” He adds that the best part about doing the role was getting to hang out on set with Bruce and his manger Jon Landau, who is played in the film by Jeremy Strong.

“The real perk of doing that movie was Strong is playing Jon Landau, and White is playing Bruce, but Bruce and Jon, the real ones, were just out at Video Village,” he says. “They were hanging out the whole time. So, Scott would yell cut, and then you’d just go hang out with Bruce for a while. So, that was pretty great.”

He adds, “So anytime you had a minute to get off the set, you’d just go ask Bruce some questions.”

Deliver Me From Nowhere follows Springsteen’s efforts to make his 1982 solo album Nebraska. The film is based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

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Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ first-ever live album is finally getting a full U.S. release to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Saturnight: Live from Tokyo, recorded on June 22, 1974, at Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo, was originally only released in Japan, but will now get its first full release in the U.S. on May 2. While it was made available in the U.S. as a limited-edition Record Store Day exclusive vinyl in November, it will now be released digitally and on CD, vinyl and limited-edition lava splatter vinyl.

The CD will include a 16-page booklet with lyrics, as well as notes from some of the people who were there, including bassist Bruce Lynch and Stevens’ 1974 tour manager, Carl Miller. The vinyl version will come in a gatefold sleeve with the same lyrics and notes.

The live album includes performances of songs like “Wild World,” “Oh Very Young,” “Where Do the Children Play,” “Lady D’Arbanville,” “Peace Train” and “Father & Son.” It also features the first live performance of Stevens’ rendition of Sam Cooke‘s “Another Saturday Night,” which would go on to become a top-10 hit.

And fans can now get a taste of that concert with the release of Stevens’ live performance of “King of Trees,” from the album Buddha and the Chocolate Box, which is available via digital outlets.

Saturnight: Live from Tokyo is available for preorder now.

And speaking of live performances … Yusuf/Cat Stevens has a big live show on the books for 2025. He’s set to open for Neil Young at his BST Hyde Park show in London on July 11. Van Morrison is also on the bill.

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Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash is blasting a New Jersey resident who used one of his most iconic lyrics to share what Nash calls “hate and intolerance.”

The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young singer took to his Instagram Story to respond to a sign that read “boys have a penis, girls have a vagina,” along with “Teach your children well … Crosby, Stills & Nash.”

“It has come to my attention that a vile individual in NJ has this sign in his yard with a quote from my song Teach Your Children,” Nash writes. “I want to make it abundantly clear that I do not support this kind of hate and intolerance and that this is a disgusting message that has nothing to do with my song.”

He adds, “A sign like this is meant to exclude and shame people which is the very opposite of the message that I spread throughout my music.”

Nash reiterated his support for the transgender community, noting he “would never seek to make them feel less than or ashamed of being who they are.”

Finally he writes, “If you teach your children anything, let it be compassion and understanding. Especially of anyone who might not be exactly like them.”

“Teach Your Children” was released in 1970 and appeared on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu. It peaked at #16 on the Hot 100 chart, but went on to be one of the band and Nash’s signatures tunes.

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Marianne Faithfull passed away in January at the age of 78, but she’s still got music to share.

A posthumous four-track Marianne Faithfull EP, Burning Moonlight, will be released as a limited-edition vinyl for Record Store Day on April 12, with a digital EP to follow on June 6.

“As we grieve the loss of Marianne, we are pleased to announce the release of these songs which she worked on during the year before her death,” her son, Nicholas Dunbar, shared in a statement. “Marianne lived to create and perform music – it was her driving force and she never stopped. Right up until the end she was looking forward to this release which now completes and celebrates her remarkable artistic career.”

The EP was recorded to celebrate Marianne’s 60 years in music, with the press release noting the songs mix “her pop roots with her folk influences.”

“It’s a good time to look back,” Faithfull said upon completing the recording. “It helps me to remember all the things I’ve done. I can’t say I’m a particularly nostalgic person, but I am enjoying this period of reflection.”

To coincide with the announcement, the title track of the record has been released to digital outlets. It’s described as a “moving ballad of resilience and acceptance,” noting it “was inspired by the opening line of her debut single ‘As Tears Go By,'” which was a song written by The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and their manager Andrew Loog Oldham. The tune later became a top-10 hit for the Stones.

Burning Moonlight is available for preorder now. Here is the track list:
“Burning Moonlight”
“Love Is”
“Three Kinsmen Bold”
“She Moved Thru’ The Fair”

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Carlos Santana has shared another track from his upcoming album, Sentient.

The latest release is a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, with a live instrumental version of  “Stranger in Moscow,” a track from the King of Pop’s 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1.

Santana originally recorded the track in 2007 with producer and drummer Narada Michael Walden’s band.

“Narada knew that I loved the song, so he arranged it with his band,” Santana shares. “I showed up and we played it with no rehearsal.”

He adds, “I’m basically singing it with my guitar. I’m visualizing Michael Jackson and what he would do – I got pretty close. I think when Michael listened to it, wherever he is, he smiled and said, ‘Yeah, that’s it.’”

“Stranger in Moscow” is available now via digital outlets.

Sentient, dropping March 28, features 11 tracks, including three previously unreleased songs. The album features collaborations with Smokey Robinson, Miles Davis, Italian pianist Paolo Rustichelli, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Cindy Blackman Santana.

Sentient is available for preorder now.

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One of Bob Dylan’s earliest recordings just sold at auction, bringing in almost $40,000.

The demo, circa 1961, was recorded live at New York’s Gaslight Café and was produced by Dylan’s first manager, Terri Thal. It was sold through the Boston-based RR Auction for $39,325, almost twice the original estimate of $20,000.

The tape features six tracks: Dylan originals “Man on the Street,” “He Was a Friend of Mine,” “Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues” and “Song to Woody,” plus two covers.

The recording was part of a larger Dylan-themed auction that brought in over $1.1 million.

Other items snapped up the auction include a Hohner Marine Band harmonica that was played during Dylan’s infamous 1966 world tour, in which he was called “Judas” for playing electric guitar; it sold for $19,456. Handwritten and signed lyrics to “All Along the Watchtower” sold for $61,599, a stage-worn “Nudie” suit that Dylan purchased for his Rolling Thunder Revue collaborator Bob Neuwirth sold for $54,206, and a Dylan original mixed media painting, titled “Cassandra,” was snapped up for $79,539.

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Little Feat is dropping a new album in May.

The group will release Strike Up the Band on May 9, featuring the new single “Too High To Cut My Hair,” written by Fred Tackett.

“‘Too High To Cut My Hair’ is based on a true story where (Fred) and his wife Patricia were in a hotel room in New Orleans,” Little Feat’s Bill Payne shares. “Fred had asked for a trim, but decided that she was too high to cut his hair. And then he thought, ‘oh my god, what a title!’”

He adds, “People love the humor in our records, a cherished entree to those when they find it. So I’m happy this song displays that humor, and in full.”

The band brings that same sense of humor to the video for the song, which stars Lilly Winwood, daughter of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Steve Winwood, as a drunk hairdresser who fails at giving each member of the band a haircut.

“Too High To Cut My Hair” is available now.

Strike Up the Band is the follow-up to Little Feat’s 2024 album, Sam’s Place, which was their first new album in 12 years.

Little Feat will support the album with the new Strike Up The Band tour, which kicks off May 5 in Rutland, Vermont. A complete list of Little Feat dates can be found at LittleFeat.net.

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is set to release his new memoir, Heartbreaker, on March 18. In a new Guitar Player interview he opens up about his relationship with Petty and discusses the rocker’s 2017 death.

Petty died of an accidental drug overdose; he had been self-medicating to deal with pain he was suffering from hip problems. Campbell says he never confronted Petty about his drug use because that wasn’t the type of relationship they had.

“With Tom, it was like ‘Your private life is yours, and mine is mine,’” Campbell shares. “I can see what you’re doing, but out of respect for you, I’ll trust you’ll do the right thing. If you need me, call me.”

He says he doesn’t think confronting Petty would have done anything anyway, explaining, “[T]he thing with Tom was, you could say that and he would just look at you like, ‘But I’m Tom Petty. I’m going to do whatever I f****** want. Get out of my face.’”

Campbell says he doesn’t torture himself over what he could have possibly done to save Petty, noting, “My conscious is clear because Tom knew that I knew, and Tom knew that I wasn’t forcing him and getting in his face about it.”

“We had this invisible understanding, and I didn’t have to confront him for him to know how I felt about it,” he says. “So I have no second thoughts about it. I don’t beat myself up like that.”

Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate Howie Epstein died of a drug overdose in 2003, a year after he was kicked out of the band for substance issues. Campbell says of his late bandmates, “I miss them … but I did all I could.”

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Neither Elton John nor Brandi Carlile appear in the video for their latest collaborative single, “Swing for the Fences,” from their forthcoming joint album, Who Believes in Angels? Instead, the video casts two young male actors to create what a press release calls “a dynamic and emotional exploration of sensuality and liberation.”

The clip starts off with a young man alone in a carpeted room, turning on the song, which Brandi describes as “an anthem for young gay kids out there,” and dancing frantically in front of a mirror. He looks out the window and sees another young man across the street, who waves to him.

Eventually, the guy outside rings the doorbell; the other guy lets him in and then they do a sensual dance together before ending up in bed, sharing a kiss.

Director Xavier Dolan says the video shows “a young person claiming his power and pride through music and dance, especially at a time where some people, some very powerful people, are trying to weaken and rescind that power, and tame that pride.”

Elton says in a statement that after he and Brandi recorded “Swing for the Fences,” “we all just felt this massive sense of joy and euphoria … it just sounded great.”

Who Believes in Angels? is out April 4.

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