Classic Hits

Jackson Browne‘s latest studio album, Downhill from Everywhere, was released today.

The lauded singer/songwriter chatted about the project during a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, including the meaning behind the name of the album and its title track.

Browne explained that the tune is about the pollution of the ocean.

“I realized that downhill has that sort of resonance about…’is it all downhill from here?’…but it actually specifically refers to the fact that the ocean is downhill from all of humanity,” he noted. “I mean, there’s a storm drain out in front of my studio, there’s a little stenciled sign on it saying, ‘This drain leads to the ocean.’ So be careful what you put in there.”

Browne also discussed the song “A Little Soon to Say,” which he revealed was inspired by playing a Vermont festival hosted by singer/songwriter Grace Potter, whom he greatly admires.

“It’s really about being at a gathering of people,” he said, “and this audience was so amazing to look out upon because there were young and old, and there were some weather-beaten faces and some young, positive, really open-hearted people.”

He added, “I had the lines before I left there that night. I told [Potter], ‘I got this song started’ as I said goodnight that night to her and her husband and her baby, and I said, ‘I came looking for Grace…I came for inspiration.'”

As previously reported, Downhill from Everywhere finds the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer addressing such themes as the plight of illegal immigrants, prejudice against same-sex relationships, racial justice and mortality.

Browne launches a joint U.S. tour with James Taylor on July 29 in Chicago, and he also has some headlining dates scheduled. Visit JacksonBrowne.com for his full itinerary.

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Former Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham has just released a second advance track from his forthcoming self-titled solo album, which is due out on September 17.

“On the Wrong Side,” which is available now via digital formats, is an upbeat-sounding pop-rock tune that according to a statement is about the ups and downs Buckingham experienced while touring with Fleetwood Mac.

Lindsey draws a comparison between “On the Wrong Side” and his classic Fleetwood Mac hit “Go Your Own Way,” noting that the 1977 tune was “not a happy song, subject-matter wise, but it was an ebullient song musically. This was sort of the same idea.”

As previously reported, the upcoming album is Buckingham’s first solo studio effort since 2011’s Seeds We Sow and his seventh overall.

The 10-song collection, which Buckingham wrote, produced and recorded at his home studio in Los Angeles, can be pre-ordered now and will be available on CD, as a vinyl LP, and on digital and streaming platforms.

Lindsey previously released a song called “I Don’t Mind” as the first advance track from the album.

Meanwhile, Buckingham will launch a 30-city U.S. solo tour with a September 1 show in Milwaukee, marking the first time that Lindsey will be playing in-person concerts since he underwent emergency heart surgery in February 2019.

Check out Buckingham’s full tour schedule at LindseyBuckingham.com.

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Back in August of 2008, Glen Campbell took the stage at the famed West Hollywood, California, venue the Troubadour, the stage known for career-transforming performances from rockers, country stars, comedians and more since its opening in the late 1950s.

Campbell’s 14-song set at that show featured many of the crossover star’s enduring hits, including “Galveston,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Gentle on My Mind” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

Now, more than a decade after that concert took place, fans can revisit the late singer’s performance with a new live album called Glen Campbell: Live from the Troubadour. The collection arrives this Friday, July 23.

An Arkansas native who toed the line between country and pop stardom while also enjoying a storied acting career, Glen died in 2017 at the age of 81 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He announced in 2011 that he’d been diagnosed with the disease. That same year, he was the subject of a documentary titled Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, which chronicled his last years on the road as he grappled with how his illness affected his abilities as a performer.

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The animated series Madagascar: A Little Wild returns for a fourth season on Peacock and Hulu, and this time, Alanis Morissette is along for the ride.

In the new season, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo are joined by Alanis as the voice of Starlene, a talented hermit crab who has stage fright.  The series follows the main characters of the 2006 movie Madagascar as kids, living in their rescue habitat at the Central Park Zoo in New York City.

The action-packed trailer seems to suggest that the animals escape from the zoo and start running around New York City, though it’s unclear why. Starlene shows up briefly, as she asks the gang, “Are you always this happy?”

The new season starts August 6 and runs for six episodes.

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Live music is back, and concert promoter Live Nation is celebrating by offering $20 tickets to its shows this summer.

The promotion, dubbed Return to Live, will let you see artists including Daryl Hall & John Oates, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago and many others at various outdoor Live Nation venues across the U.S. for just twenty bucks — taxes and fees included.

Other veteran artists participating in the promotion include Alanis Morissette, The Black Crowes, Alice Cooper, Dead & Company, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pet Shop Boys.

The Return to Live tickets go on sale beginning next Wednesday, July 28, at noon ET. For the full list of participating artists and venues, visit LiveNation.com.

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Paul McCartney and Beck have released a music video for their collaborative song, “Find My Way.”

The clip was co-produced by the company Hyperreal Digital, which, according to a press release, “specializes in the creation of hyper-realistic digital avatars.” The result showcases a “de-aged” version of the Beatles legend — akin to the effects used in the Martin Scorsese movie The Irishman — as he walks and dances through a trippy hotel hallway.

“The technology to de-age talent and have them perform in creative environments like this is now fully-realized, even with one of the most recognized faces in the world,” says Hyperreal CEO Remington Scott.

You can watch the “Find My Way” video streaming now on McCartney’s official YouTube channel. The clip also features cameos by the real, 79-year-old Macca and Beck.

“Find My Way” is one of many collaborations included on McCartney III Imagined, a compilation featuring updated versions of songs off Sir Paul’s 2020 solo effort, McCartney III. The collection also includes covers or remixes by St. Vincent, Queens of the Stone Age‘s Josh Homme, Blur‘s Damon Albarn and Phoebe Bridgers, among others.

McCartney III Imagined was released digitally in April. Vinyl, CD and cassette versions of the album, which include a bonus track featuring actor and DJ Idris Elba, are due out this Friday, July 23.

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Former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum is a proud papa!

Sorum and his wife, Ace Harper, have just announced that Harper gave birth to a baby girl named Lou Ellington Sorum on June 11.

Lou, who is the couple’s first child, was born in Palm Springs, California, and weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces.

“Our Hearts are so full of gratitude that God has brought this angel into our lives,” Matt and Ace say in a statement. “Our baby girl Lou Ellington is pure Love & Joy.”

Sorum and Harper, who’ve been married since 2013, announced the impending birth of their daughter back in March in a People magazine article.

Ace is a singer/songwriter, dancer, artist and fashion designer who previously collaborated musically with her husband in a band called Diamond Baby.

Sorum, meanwhile, co-produced, co-wrote and plays drums on ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons recent solo album, Hardware. In addition, he’s preparing to publish a book called Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘n’ Roll Stories on September 7 that will feature him discussing his experiences trying to achieve a successful music career, while reflecting on the challenges of being a rock star.

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Bruce Springsteen has joined forces with Barack Obama to create a book titled Renegades: Born in the USA, featuring a series of candid conversations between the rock legend and the former president, which will be published October 26.

The book focuses on the conversations between Springsteen and President Obama that were featured on the eight-part podcast of the same name, which premiered on Spotify earlier this year. The podcast captured the two men reflecting on various topics involving their lives, music, and their love of the U.S.

The Renegades book will feature rare and exclusive photos and previously unseen material from the two authors’ archives, including handwritten lyrics by Springsteen and Obama’s annotated speeches.

The conversations featured in the podcast and the book took place last year, and included segments contemplating the volatile and conflict-filled climate in the U.S.

Bruce writes in the Renegades introduction, “There were serious conversations about the fate of the country, the fortune of its citizens, and the destructive, ugly, corrupt forces at play that would like to take it all down…Will we let slip through our hands the best of us or will we turn united to face the fire? Within this book you won’t find the answers to those questions, but you will find a couple of seekers doing their best to get us to ask better questions.”

Adds President Obama, “[T]he conversations Bruce and I had in 2020 feel as urgent today as they did back then. They represent our ongoing effort to figure out how it is that we got here, and how we can tell a more unifying story that starts to close the gap between America’s ideals and its reality.”

For more details about the book, and to order a copy, visit RenegadesBook.com.

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After postponing the 2020 North American leg of their No Filter tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Rolling Stones are ready to start things up again in the fall.

The 2021 edition of their trek will kick off September 26 in St. Louis and is plotted out through a November 20 concert in Austin, Texas.

The 13-date outing includes confirmed stops at most of the venues where The Rolling Stones were scheduled to play in 2020, as well as concerts in three new cities — an October 13 appearance at this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, an October 13 show in Los Angeles and a November 6 performance in Las Vegas.

The Stones originally had been scheduled to play the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2019, but they canceled their performance because frontman Mick Jagger needed to undergo emergency heart surgery.

All tickets purchased for rescheduled 2020 concerts will be honored for the new dates. Tickets for the newly added shows will go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 30, at 10 a.m. local time. Some exclusive VIP packages will be available. Visit RollingStones.com for more details.

Meanwhile, the band unfortunately was unable to reschedule concerts in four cities they had been slated to visit in 2020: Vancouver, Canada; Louisville, Kentucky; Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York.

People who purchased tickets for these shows will be contacted by Ticketmaster directly with more information. These ticketholders may be given the opportunity to purchase priority tickets for concerts taking place in nearby cities.

“I’m so excited to get back on the stage again and want to thank everyone for their patience,” Jagger says. “See you soon!”

Adds Keith Richards, “We’re back on the road! See you there!”

Here’s the full list of Stones tour dates:

9/26 — St. Louis, MO, The Dome at America’s Center
9/30 — Charlotte, NC, Bank of America Stadium
10/4 — Pittsburgh, PA, Heinz Field
10/9 — Nashville, TN, Nissan Stadium
10/13 — New Orleans, LA, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
10/17 — Los Angeles, CA, SoFi Stadium
10/24 — Minneapolis, MN, U.S. Bank Stadium
10/29 — Tampa, FL, Raymond James Stadium
11/2 — Dallas, TX, Cotton Bowl Stadium
11/6 — Las Vegas, NV, Allegiant Stadium
11/11 — Atlanta, GA, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
11/15 — Detroit, MI, Ford Field
11/20 — Austin, TX, Circuit of the Americas

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Police drummer Stewart Copeland has teamed up with Grammy-winning Indian-music composer Ricky Kej to record an epic album titled Divine Tides that was released this week via all major streaming platforms.

According to a press statement, the nine-track album, which also includes contributions by a variety of musicians from across the globe, is a “tribute to the magnificence of our natural world and the resilience of our species,” and “features a diverse musical canvas of soundscapes, melodies, lush ambient textures and pulsating rhythms.”

Explaining how he got involved in the project, Copeland says, “One day during the Apocalypse I got a call from Ricky Kej about making an album. He had assembled an amazing collection of exotic musicians, or perhaps I should say deeply traditional musicians, in the exotic context of his inspired production style. The flow of ideas soon became a torrent of recording and music.”

He adds, “The spiritual ambience…infused my aggressions upon inanimate objects with loving passion. The timpani were ringing! The crotales were singing! Making this record has been a unique adventure in both music and divine awareness.”

Meanwhile, Kej, who won a 2015 Grammy in the Best New Age Album category for Winds of Samsara, says working with Copeland on Divine Tides “was one of the best, most fulfilling personal and musical experiences I could have ever asked for,” adding, “Stewart is not only a living legend but an extremely humble human being, filled with positive energy, that pushed us to deliver our very best.”

Copeland and Kej are planning to release music videos for eight of Divine Tides‘ nine tracks, two of which — “Himalayas” and “Art of Devotion” — have already premiered and can be viewed on YouTube.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Wonders of Life”
“Himalayas”
“Our Home”
“At of Devotion”
“Pastoral India”
“I Am Change”
“Prayer”
“Gandhi”
“Mother Earth”

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