Classic Hits

Legendary violinist and founding member of the rock band Kansas, Robby Steinhardt, has passed away at age 71, his family confirms.

His widow Cindy shared the news in a statement on Facebook Monday, writing that Steinhardt was admitted to a hospital in Tampa, Florida, with acute pancreatitis in May and later went into acute septic shock and was placed on life support.

She says he bounced back “much to the amazement of his entire medical staff,” but on July 17, the day he was supposed to move to a rehab center, the sepsis returned and he passed away in her arms.

“We are beyond devastated as our lives were about to start a new adventure,” Cindy writes. “Robby just recorded his first solo album with the talented music producer Michael Franklin at Solar Studios. A tour to start in August, Robby was so looking forward to being back on stage doing what he loved.”

She encouraged fans to share pictures and stories of Robby on his page and to “Hug your loved ones, be happy, stay safe and be well.”

Steinhardt made his mark on the music world with violin and vocals on such Kansas classics as “Dust in the Wind,” “Point of No Return” and “Carry on Wayward Son”

In addition to his wife Cindy, he is survived by his daughter Becky. A memorial will be announced at a later date.

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Bob Dylan returned to the stage on Sunday for a special livestream show, but if you missed it, you can still watch it on demand until midnight tomorrow, July 20.

According to the New York Post, Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom show was filmed in black and white. It lasted less than an hour and featured the 80-year-old rock legend performing with a four-piece band in a club located in a wooden hut. The “audience members” — actually actors — didn’t applaud and didn’t appear to pay attention. Dylan himself didn’t speak.

In the show — Dylan’s first since COVID-19 put his so-called “Never Ending Tour” on pause  — he ran through 13 songs, many of which were deep cuts.  The set list included “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” “Queen Jane Approximately,” “Tombstone Blues,” “Forever Young,” “Watching the River Flow,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”

According to the New York Post, the most recent song Dylan performed was 1989’s “What Was It You Wanted,” from the Oh Mercy album.

Visit Veeps.com to purchase a $25 ticket to watch the show yourself.

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In May, artwork by the late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia was put on sale as an NFT, or non-fungible token, which is a unique digital collectible.  Now, an entire collection of Garcia’s digital artwork is going on the block in the NFT format.

The three-part collection will be sold via YellowHeart, a platform that accepts both cryptocurrency and credit card payments.  It’s a digital artwork series called An Odd Little Place: The Digital Works of Jerry Garcia (1992-1995), featuring 20 pieces from the late legend, created on his Apple computer.

Of the 20 pieces, 17 are limited edition pieces of original digital artwork, and the other three are additional works found in the Garcia Archives in a folder called “Last 48 Hours.” Two of the three date from August 7 and August 8, 1995, while the third is believed to be unfinished.  Garcia died on August 9, 1995.

You can get a glimpse of the collection now on YouTube.  Yellowheart is also teaming with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a preview event on August 5, which will be attended by members of Garcia’s family. An exhibit of the artwork opens to the public the next day.

The first part of the collection launches today, along with ticket sales to the Rock Hall preview event. There are five VIP Vault Tour Experiences, which cost $10,000 each, and 20 Exhibition Preview Experiences, which cost $2,500 each.

The second partof the exhibition will be revealed August 1, which would have been Jerry’s 79th birthday. The third part is an auction of those three final works, starting August 5 at 3 p.m. ET.

To lessen the environmental impact of creating NFTs, the Garcia Family will donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

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Journey has scheduled a one-night-only performance in Las Vegas this December.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will take the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday, December 18, but what makes the show special is that they’ll be performing with a symphony orchestra.

The show will feature Journey’s new lineup, which includes former American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass and famed producer Narada Michael Walden on drums, along with Neal Schon on guitar, Jonathan Cain and Jason Derlatka on keyboards and Arnel Pineda on vocals.

As previously reported, Journey’s classic 1981 album Escape was recently RIAA-certified Diamond for more than 10 million sales.

Journey will be one of the headliners at Lollapalooza on July 31.

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For the past week or so, there’s been an ongoing online debate about the opening lyric of Bruce Springsteen‘s 1975 classic, “Thunder Road.”  But now, it appears that Bruce’s manager, Jon Landau, has solved the mystery.

It started when New York Times writer Maggie Haberman went to see Bruce’s Broadway show and tweeted, “A screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways.”  Fans pounced, insisting that Haberman had it wrong: It’s “Mary’s dress waves.”

But fans who believe that the Boss sing “sways” jumped to Haberman’s defense, sparking a back-and-forth between the two camps, and even a Los Angeles Times article examining the issue and presenting evidence for both sides.  For example, the lyric database on Springsteen’s official website, as well as the original lyrics printed on the album, say “waves,” but in handwritten lyric sheets from that period, and in Bruce’s autobiography Born to Run, the lyric is “sways.”

Reps for Springsteen wouldn’t comment, but Landau, who co-produced the Born to Run album in addition to managing the Boss for decades, has written a letter to The New Yorker, clarifying the issue.

“The word is ‘sways,’” Landau wrote. “That’s the way he wrote it in his original notebooks, that’s the way he sang it on Born to Run, in 1975, that’s the way he has always sung it at thousands of shows, and that’s the way he sings it right now on Broadway. Any typos in official Bruce material will be corrected.”

Landau added, “And, by the way, ‘dresses’ do not know how to ‘wave.’”

Poetry experts might argue that the best evidence for “sways” is the fact that it precedes the line, “Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays.”  “Sways” rhymes with “plays,” while “waves” does not.

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Foghat has just released a new concert album and video called 8 Days on the Road in celebration of the veteran rockers’ 50th anniversary.

The collection, which is available as a two-CD/DVD package and digitally, features a November 2019 performance by the band at Daryl’s House, the club Daryl Hall owns in Pawling, New York.

Founding Foghat drummer Roger Earl tells ABC Audio that the band hadn’t planned to record the show, but since the club has cameras and recording equipment already set up, they went ahead and documented the gig.

“The sound in the room is terrific…It’s like playing in your living room,” Earl explains. “[A]nd then we took all the stuff home and [Foghat lead guitarist and producer] Bryan Bassett…started working on it. And we listened to…the first rough mixes and we said, ‘Wow, looks like we can play still.'”

Roger adds that he also was “pleasantly surprised” with the film of the show.

The concert features Foghat delivering inspired renditions of many of their best-known tunes, including “Slow Ride,” “Fool for the City” and the Willie Dixon classic “I Just Want to Make Love to You.”

Earl notes that the band also included two rarities in the set, a cover of Chuck Berry‘s “Maybellene,” which the group originally recorded for its 1972 self-titled debut, and a version of the Wild Cherry hit “Play That Funky Music.” Roger says he suggested that the band perform the latter tune because Bassett is a former Wild Cherry member, and played on the original track.

Earl tells ABC Audio that Foghat will be playing the 8 Days on the Road set at their 2021 concerts, so if “people come to see us and they like the set…it’s already pre-recorded for them.”

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The second of two 2021 Record Store Day “Drops” events takes place this Saturday, July 17. Some of the limited-edition vinyl discs that will be available exclusively independent record stores include offerings from Hall & Oates, The Rolling Stones, ex-Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty, Donna Summer and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Hall & Oates are releasing a clear-vinyl reissue of their smash 1980 album Voices packaged with a booklet featuring a new interview with the duo.

The Rolling Stones are putting out a reissue of their classic 1971 two-LP compilation Hot Rocks, pressed on yellow vinyl and featuring expanded original artwork.

Fogerty’s release is a four-song EP featuring selections from his 1973 debut solo album, The Blue Ridge Rangers.  The project was a collection of country and traditional cover tunes that he issued under the fictional band name The Blue Ridge Rangers.

Summer’s Record Store Day offering is a colored-vinyl two-LP deluxe version of her classic 1979 disco album Bad Girls, featuring one red and one blue disc.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are releasing an LP titled Déjà Vu Alternates that features alternate versions of the songs from the group’s classic 1970 debut album, Déjà Vu. Those tracks also appear on the recently released deluxe Déjà Vu reissue.

The July 17 installment of Record Store Day 2021 also includes exclusive releases from The Allman Brothers Band, Yes‘ Jon Anderson, Canned Heat, The Clash, The Cure, The Kinks‘ Dave Davies, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Hot Tuna, Badfinger‘s Joey Molland, The Monkees, Randy Newman, Queen + Adam Lambert, Lou Reed, Small Faces, Cat Stevens, The Sweet and War.

Check out the whole list of releases and participating independent record stores at RecordStoreDay.com.

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Jon Bon Jovi‘s JBJ Soul Foundation is helping to provide housing for homeless veterans.

The charitable organization has given a $100,000 grant to the American Legion Post 107’s nonprofit Veterans Center of Hoboken in Bon Jovi’s native New Jersey, which will be used to provide new housing and supportive services to homeless veterans.

“JBJ Soul Foundation is dedicated to continuing our work with veterans, addressing issues of hunger and homelessness, and we are all inspired by the Veterans Center of Hoboken,” Bon Jovi says in a statement.

“The Center is not only expanding with 18 additional furnished housing units, but is also providing services including physical and mental health care and employment opportunities for these struggling veterans,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer adds. “This is exactly the kind of mission and positive impact the Foundation is proud to support.”

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An archival performance video and album capturing a live in-studio session by Bob Marley and the Wailers, recorded and filmed in October 1973 at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, will be released in multiple formats on September 3.

Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Capitol Session ’73 can be pre-ordered now, and will be available as a DVD/CD package, a standalone CD, a two-LP colored-vinyl set and digitally.

Famed producer Denny Cordell set up a four-camera shoot filming the band playing 12 songs, with most of the material coming from the group’s two most recent albums — 1973’s Burnin’ and 1972’s Catch a Fire. Among the classic tunes Marley and The Wailers performed were “Stir It Up,” “Get Up Stand Up” and “Kinky Reggae.”

The footage from the session was considered lost for many years, but over the last two decades the film was fully unearthed at various storage units, and now has been restored and remastered.

At the time of the October ’73 session, Marley and his group had started to establish themselves in the U.S. They had been touring as Sly and the Family Stone‘s opening act, but had been fired from the trek and so decided to make their way to LA, where the session took place.

In advance of The Capitol Session ’73‘s release, a video of Marley and the Wailers performing “Stir It Up” has debuted on Marley’s official YouTube channel and the audio has been made available via streaming services.

The two-LP set will be available on green marble vinyl and, exclusively from TheSoundofVinyl.us, on Rasta swirl vinyl — that is, red, yellow and green.

Here’s the release’s full track list:

“You Can’t Blame the Youth”
“Slave Driver”
“Burnin’ and Lootin'”
“Rastaman Chant”
“Duppy Conqueror”
“Midnight Raver”
“Put It On”
“Stop that Train”
“Kinky Reggae”
“Stir It Up”
“No More Trouble”
“Get Up Stand Up”

DVD bonus tracks:
“Duppy Conqueror”
“Rastaman Chant”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Veteran rock drummer Jason Bonham, who lately has been playing with the Sammy Hagar-fronted group The Circle, has announced dates for a fall 2021 U.S. tour with his own outfit Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, which pays tribute to his late father John Bonham‘s famous band.

The MMXXI Tour currently features 29 confirmed shows, kicking off October 15 in Stateline, Nevada, and plotted out through a November 26 concert in Hollywood, Florida. Tickets for all of the dates went on sale to the general public today.

A look at Bonham’s itinerary explains why he won’t be joining Hagar and the other members of The Circle — bassist Michael Anthony and guitarist Vic Johnson — at four of Sammy’s six recently announced Las Vegas residency shows at The Strat. The “Sammy Hagar & Friends” performances are scheduled for October 29-30, November 5-6 and November 12-13, but Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening has gigs on the four November dates.

Meanwhile, Bonham has posted a message about his upcoming Led Zeppelin tribute tour on his Facebook page that reads, “We go deep real deep. Never a short set and always have surprises my love for Zep is only over shadowed by my love for my father.”

To check out JBLZE’s full schedule and purchase tickets, visit JasonBonham.net.

Prior to the trek, Bonham will be playing 10 concerts with Hagar & The Circle during July, August and September.

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