Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler and Motown founder Berry Gordy are among the notables from the arts and entertainment world who will be saluted at the 44th edition of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors gala. The star-studded ceremony will be held December 5 at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.
This year’s other Kennedy Center honorees are Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and Puerto Rican opera singer Justino Díaz.
The awards are presented annually by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to people who have made lasting contributions to American culture through the performing arts.
A TV special documenting this year’s event will be broadcast during the 2021-2022 television season on CBS, and will be streamed live and on demand on Paramount+.
“I’m grateful to the Kennedy Center for bestowing this honor on my work and I look forward to being a part of this prestigious celebration of the arts,” Mitchell says in a statement. “I wish my mother and father were alive to see this. It’s a long way from Saskatoon [Canada].”
Midler gushes, “I am profoundly touched by this honor, in fact, I am stunned and grateful beyond words. For many years I have watched this broadcast celebrating the best talent in the performing arts that America has to offer, and I truly never imagined that I would find myself among these swans.”
Gordy declares in his own statement, “The Arts not only give voice to the voiceless, but connect us, transform us, and soothe our souls. The Kennedy Center Honors epitomizes the recognition and value of both the Arts, and the Artist. I am thrilled to become a part of this prestigious American legacy.”
Eric Clapton has threatened to cancel performances at U.K. venues that require audience members to be vaccinated to attend his concerts.
Clapton’s message, which was posted on the Telegram page of Robin Monotti, who identifies as a pro-vaccine-safety advocate, was in response to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s recent announcement that COVID-19 vaccine passes would be required to attend events at nightclubs and other venues.
“Following the PM’s announcement on Monday…I feel honour bound to make an announcement of my own,” Slowhand writes. “I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”
Accompanying the message is a link to Clapton’s rendition of the 2020 Van Morrison song “Stand and Deliver,” which criticizes the U.K. government’s pandemic-related restrictions on live performances.
In May, another message from Clapton was posted on Monotti’s Telegram page in which he revealed he experienced a severe reaction after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“[M]y hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again,” Eric wrote. “[I] should never have gone near the needle.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone in May, a spokesperson for the U.K. government agency overseeing the vaccine maintained that “over 56 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 have now been administered in the UK, saving thousands of lives through the biggest vaccination programme that has ever taken place in this country.”
The rep added, “Our advice remains that the benefits of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca outweigh the risks in the majority of people.”
Clapton’s next U.K. concerts are scheduled for May 2022. He begins a run of U.S. dates in September 2021.
Green Day played their first full, in-person concert since the COVID-19 pandemic began Tuesday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The sold-out show, which required all attendees to be fully vaccinated, featured the live debut of the punk trio’s latest song, “Pollyanna,” which was released in May. Fan-recorded footage of the performance was posted to social media.
Other songs played during the set include “Longview,” “Welcome to Paradise,” “Brain Stew” and “Holiday,” as well as a cover of KISS‘ “Rock and Roll All Nite,” according to Setlist.fm.
Green Day played the Tulsa concert as a warm-up gig for their Hella Mega tour alongside Weezer and Fall Out Boy, which launches July 24 in Dallas.
A new collection of Slash signature Epiphone guitars was released Tuesday, featuring multiple acoustic and electric models, as part of a partnership between Epiphone and the Gibson company.
The Epiphone Slash Collection features guitars inspired by Gibson models that the Guns N’ Roses legend has played throughout his career. The electric models are the Epiphone Slash Les Paul Standard finished in Appetite Burst, November Burst, Anaconda Burst and Vermillion Burst, and the Slash “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop, which is gold. The collection’s acoustic model is called the Epiphone Slash J-45, which is available in Vermillion Burst and November Burst finish.
All of the guitars in Epiphone Slash Collection feature Slash’s “Skully” signature drawing on the back of the headstock, the guitarist’s signature on the truss rod cover, and a hardshell case that also includes the “Skully” logo.
Speaking about his signature collection in a new Epiphone promo video, Slash notes, “It’s a huge honor to be able to have a guitar that’s got your name on it…representing you…These are really well put together, all the best materials, all the best components. Everything I could want in an electric guitar is all in this. And so for…a reasonable amount of money, you can get a really great guitar that will last your whole career.”
All of the new Slash Epiphone models are available at a list price of $899. For more information about the instruments, visit Epiphone.com.
The Epiphone models were inspired by the pricier guitars released last year as part of the Gibson Slash Collection.
The 16th and latest installment of Bob Dylan‘s The Bootleg Series archival collections is due out September 17 and will focus on the sessions for three of the lauded singer/songwriter’s early-1980s albums — 1981’s Shot of Love, 1983’s Infidels and 1985’s Empire Burlesque.
Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985) will be available as a deluxe five-CD, 57-track collection featuring 54 previously unreleased recordings, including many outtakes from the three aforementioned albums, as well as rehearsal recordings, live performances and more.
The first disc of the deluxe set features mainly rehearsal recordings from 1980 and ’81, including versions of earlier Dylan tunes, select covers and reworked traditional tunes. It also features a Shot of Love studio outtake — a cover of the Elvis Presley classic “Mystery Train” with Ringo Starr on drums.
Disc two features mostly outtakes from Shot of Love, while discs three and four focus of outtakes from Infidels. Infidels was co-produced by Dylan and Dire Straits‘ Mark Knopfler, and the sessions included musical contributions from Knopfler, Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark, ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and more.
Springtime in New York‘s final disc boasts a variety of Empire Burlesque alternate takes, a live rendition of “Enough Is Enough” from a concert at Ireland’s Slane Castle and a performance of “License to Kill” from a March 1984 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.
The deluxe Springtime in New York set comes packaged with a book, memorabilia, photos and more. The collection, which can be pre-ordered now, also will be released as an abridged two-CD set and two-LP vinyl set. In addition, a limited-edition four-LP package pressed on colored vinyl will be issued by Third Man Records as part of their Vault Series.
Here’s the Springtime in New York track list:
Disc 1
“Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)” — Rehearsal
“To Ramona” — Rehearsal
“Jesus Met the Woman at the Well” — Rehearsal
“Mary of the Wild Moor” — Rehearsal
“Need a Woman” — Rehearsal
“A Couple More Years” — Rehearsal
“Mystery Train” — Shot of Love outtake
“This Night Won’t Last Forever” — Rehearsal
“We Just Disagree” — Rehearsal
“Let’s Keep It Between Us” — Rehearsal
“Sweet Caroline” — Rehearsal
“Fever” — Rehearsal
“Abraham, Martin and John” — Rehearsal
Disc 2
“Angelina” — Shot of Love outtake
“Price of Love” — Shot of Love outtake
“I Wish It Would Rain” — Shot of Love outtake
“Let It Be Me” — International 7″ single B-side*
“Cold, Cold Heart” — Shot of Love outtake
“Don’t Ever Take Yourself Away” — Shot of Love outtake*
“Fur Slippers” — Shot of Love outtake
“Borrowed Time” — Shot of Love outtake
“Is It Worth It?” — Shot of Love outtake
“Lenny Bruce” — Shot of Love alternate mix
“Yes Sir, No Sir” — Shot of Love outtake
Disc 3
“Jokerman” — Infidels alternate take
“Blind Willie McTell” — Infidels outtake
“Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight” (Version 1) — Infidels alternate take
“Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight” (Version 2) — Infidels alternate take
“Neighborhood Bully” — Infidels alternate take
“Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart” — Infidels outtake
“This Was My Love” — Infidels outtake
“Too Late” (Acoustic Version) — Infidels outtake
“Too Late” (Band Version) — Infidels outtake
“Foot of Pride” — Infidels outtake
Disc 4
“Clean Cut Kid” — Infidels outtake
“Sweetheart Like You” — Infidels alternate take
“Baby What You Want Me to Do” — Infidels outtake
“Tell Me” — Infidels outtake
“Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” — Infidels outtake
“Julius and Ethel” — Infidels outtake
“Green, Green Grass of Home” — Infidels outtake
“Union Sundown” — Infidels alternate take
“Lord Protect My Child” — Infidels outtake
“I and I” — Infidels alternate take
“Death Is Not the End” (Full Version) — Infidels outtake*
Disc 5
“Enough Is Enough” (Live) — Slane Castle, Ireland
“License to Kill” (Live) — Late Night with David Letterman, March 22, 1984
“I’ll Remember You” — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)” — Empire Burlesque alternate mix
“Seeing the Real You at Last” — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“Emotionally Yours” — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“Clean Cut Kid” — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“Straight A’s in Love” — Empire Burlesque outtake
“When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky” (Slow Version) — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky” (Fast Version) — Empire Burlesque alternate take
“New Danville Girl” — Empire Burlesque outtake
“Dark Eyes” — Empire Burlesque alternate take
Founding Romantics guitarist Mike Skill has released a new version of his band’s classic 1979 tune “What I Like About You” in advance of his debut self-titled solo EP, which is due out on September 10.
The updated rendition of “What I Like About You” is available now on all streaming services, including Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp. The track features Skill on lead and backing vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass, as well as current Romantics member Brad Elvis on drums and Patrick Harwood on harmonica.
Skill co-wrote “What I Like About You” with Romantics frontman Wally Palmar and the band’s founding drummer, Jimmy Marinos, who sang the original version of the tune.
Recalling how the song was born one day before a Romantics rehearsal, Skill says, “I offered that I had this new idea…I opened with the simple chords, and [Marinos] jumped in with his signature animal groove…and [he] instantly dropped in singing, scatting, jamming in free form, sketching a lyric, throwing words against the wall to see what would stick, as I scatted with backups…’Uh huh, Hey! Uh huh!'”
The song appeared on The Romantics’ 1980 self-titled debut album, and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #49, although the tune’s popularity continued to grow in the ensuing years.
Skill’s forthcoming EP also will be released on vinyl later in 2021.
The 16-track collection, which can be pre-ordered now, is a mostly orchestral suite of songs that Kaye composed as a requiem for the many people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the album’s release coincides with the 20th anniversary of the horrific event.
Kaye had temporarily retired from music at the time of the 9/11 attacks, which he watched unfold on TV.
“The next day I unpacked my keyboards for the first time in a long time,” the 76-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer remembers. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. It was one of those things that happened, inspiration on a musical level.”
The songs on End of Innocence thematically cover the events leading up to the tragedy, aspects of the attacks themselves and the aftermath of 9/11.
Kaye’s wife, Dani Torchia, sings on a number of the album’s tunes, while current Yes touring drummer Jay Schellen, who played with Tony in the group Circa, also lent his talents to the record.
“I wanted it, musically, to be about that day,” Kaye says of the project, “but I felt compelled to extend it to deal with the repercussions of what happened. Musically, it was quite challenging to do the battle scene and then the [song] ‘Hope and Triumph,’ a patriotic anthem and the consequences of war.”
The album ends with a tune titled “Ground Zero,” which Kaye says is about “the hope for the future, the rebuilding.”
A portion of the profits from End of Innocence will benefit the Gary Sinise Foundation, a charity that supports veterans, military members and first responders experiencing hardships.
Here’s the album’s full track list:
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/Twilight Time”
“911 Overture”
“NYC Blues”
“Battle Cry”
“285 Fulton Street”
“Let’s Roll”
“Tug of War”
“Flight 11”
“Towers Fall”
“Sweetest Dreams”
“Aftermath”
“Heroes”
“The Battle”
“Hope and Triumph”
“Homecoming”
“Ground Zero”
With the 50th anniversary of the release of Don McLean‘s classic anthem “American Pie” approaching, a special “bookazine” has been released featuring information and stories about the famous tune and photos of the singer/songwriter throughout the years.
The 96-page publication, titled Don McLean’s American Pie: The Official 50th Anniversary Celebration, is available wherever magazines are sold. Those who purchase the bookazine will be able to download for free a digital copy of the new a cappella version of the song that McLean recorded with country vocal group Home Free.
“American Pie” originally was released on October 24, 1971, and appeared on McLean’s album of the same name, which also was issued that day. The song spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during early 1972, while the album topped the Billboard 200 for seven weeks around that same time.
Using the tragic 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper — now commonly called “The Day the Music Died” — as its launching point, the epic eight-and-a-half-minute tune features allegorical imagery that appears to chronicle key historic and cultural events of the late ’50s and the 1960s. The song also includes poetic reflections on the disillusionment felt by the generation who came of age during the volatile 1960s.
As previously reported, McLean has co-written a new children’s book inspired by “American Pie” that will be published in September as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the song.
Veteran hard-rockers Tesla will get their show on the road for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year with a new U.S. trek dubbed the “Let’s Get Real!” tour.
The outing is scheduled to kick off on August 5 in Grants Pass, Oregon, and is mapped out through a November 20 concert in Tupelo, Mississippi.
The band has almost 30 confirmed gigs on its schedule, including headlining shows, festival appearances and dates opening for such well-known acts as Styx, Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Tesla actually will support Skynyrd at nine concerts this year.
“We are so excited and anxious to get back to performing ‘real’ live concerts again,” says founding Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon. “There’s nothing like the energy of being in the same spontaneous moment with an audience of people.”
He adds, “We are planning some surprises for our fans on this upcoming tour by playing some deeper Tesla cuts as well as a fresh brand new song we just wrote. Of course we will play the hits as well, but introducing a fresh new track on this return is something we are very excited about!”
You can check out the group’s tour schedule at TeslatheBand.com.
Tesla’s most recent studio album, Shock, was released in 2019.
Depeche Mode is continuing its 12-inch vinyl singles reissue campaign with the release of Ultra — The 12″ Singleson September 10.
The deluxe box set features eight 12-inch vinyl discs, including B-sides, alternate mixes and live versions of four singles from the band’s 1997 album Ultra: “Barrel of a Gun,” “It’s No Good,” “Home” and “Useless.” “Barrel of a Gun” and “It’s No Good” were both hits on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.
Ultra was the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ first album as a trio since 1982. It peaked at number five in the U.S. and inspired the name of Miami’s annual Ultra Music Festival.
The Ultra 12-inch singles box follows the release of similar box sets focusing on the singles from the Depeche Mode albums Speak & Spell, A Broken Frame, Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Music for the Masses, Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion.
