Classic Hits

If These Walls Could Sing, the new documentary about London’s Abbey Road Studios that was directed by Paul McCartney‘s daughter Mary, which got its world premiere at Colorado’ Telluride Film Festival in September 3, will soon make its TV debut on Disney+.

The news was revealed at Abbey Road’s official website and a preview clip from the doc was posted along with the announcement featuring Paul sharing recollections about working at the studio.

In the clip, McCartney recalls a time during the late 1970s when his late wife and Mary’s mom, Linda, walked a black pony they owned named Jet into Abbey Road from their nearby London residence. Paul’s memories are accompanied by photos of Linda walking with the pony across the famous zebra crossing outside of the studio.

The preview also features Paul explaining why he continued to work at Abbey Road with his solo band Wings after the breakup of The Beatles, who did most of their recording at the studio.

In London, we had used other studios, but we always liked this [Abbey Road] the best,” he notes. “So that when I was looking to record with Wings, I thought, ‘Well, this is the best studio. I know it. I know a lot of the people here … It’s just a great studio. You know, all of the microphones work … So it was great. It was great to come back home.”

As previously reported, the documentary looks at highlights of Abbey Road’s 91-year history. To make the movie, film crews were allowed to have intimate access to the studio’s premises for the first time ever.

The doc also features interviews with Elton John, Jimmy Page, members of Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Oasis‘ Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher, conductor John Williams, producer Giles Martin and more.

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Veteran New Zealand/Australian pop-rock band Crowded House has announced rescheduled dates for its recently postponed 2022 North American tour, which now will take place next spring.

The trek’s revamped itinerary, which features 18 shows, now kicks off on May 2 in Vancouver, Canada and is plotted out through a May 30 concert in Boston.

“Crowded House are delighted at long last to be able to play shows in North America,” says frontman Neil Finn in a statement. “We have been picking up the pace recently as the world opens up and can’t wait present the show with this band lineup in absolute top form to the good folk of North America, from sea to shining sea.”

Last month, the band announced that its 2022 tour, which had been slated to run from early September to early October, was being postponed because current Crowded House drummer Elroy Finn — Neil’s son — had injured his lower back and needed time to recuperate.

Previously purchased tickets for the 2022 dates will be honored for the rescheduled shows.

In addition to Neil and Elroy, Crowded House’s current lineup also features original bassist Nick Seymour, acclaimed producer Mitchell Froom on keyboards and Neil’s son Liam on guitar. The band is supporting its latest studio album, 2021’s Dreamers Are Waiting.

Prior to the North American trek, Crowded House will launch a 2022 Australian tour running from late October to late November. Check out the band’s full schedule at CrowdedHouse.com.

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KISS member Gene Simmons may have millions of fans who adore his music, but in a new interview with Goldmine, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer admits that, besides one exception, he has no friends.

“Even today as I sit here, other than Paul [Stanley], and we only get together when we do stuff for the band … How do I say this without sounding inhuman? I don’t have friends,” Simmons tells the magazine.

He adds, “Yeah, if friends means, ‘Gee, I don’t know what I’m going to do this afternoon. Hey, you want to come over and hang out?’ I’m more interested in what I want to do, and I don’t want to pretend that I’m interested in what you want to do because I am not.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the 73-year-old rocker muses on what he might experience after he dies.

“I’m OK if there’s a heaven and a God. I’m OK with it. I’m also OK if there’s nothing,” Simmons maintains. “I lean towards nothing. My question is, if we get an afterlife, do mosquitoes? Maybe my mother’s sort of wise statement about every day above ground is a good day, and that’s it.”

In addition, Simmons reflects on something he wished he knew when he was younger that would have made his life easier.

“That it didn’t matter what I thought I knew, and it didn’t matter what I knew,” he notes. “You still have to wade through the jungle by yourself. All the knowledge in the world, or no knowledge at all, doesn’t prepare you for life because there’s no one journey, there’s no one road.”

The full interview is available in the latest issue of Goldmine.

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Carlos Santana and his famous band have extended their long-running Las Vegas residency well into the spring of 2023.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have announced two new eight-date engagements of their An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live show at the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The first runs from January 25 through February 5 and the second from May 17 through May 28.

Tickets for all of the new performances go on sale to the general public this Saturday, September 24 at 10 a.m. local time via House of Blues.com/Santana, MandalayBay.com and Ticketmaster.com. Fans can also call 800-745-3000 to purchase tickets.

Santana fan club members and Citi card members can buy presale tickets starting Wednesday, October 21 at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiPrivatePass.com for more information. House of Blues, Live Nation and Ticketmaster presales will begin Thursday, September 22 at 10 a.m. PT.

Part of the money from the tickets sold for Santana’s Las Vegas shows benefits the Milagro Foundation, the charity Carlos co-founded that helps young people in impoverished communities around the world. Some proceeds will also be donated to the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which uses music to help young people develop life skills.

Meanwhile, Santana has three shows left on his current run of House of Blues residency concerts — Sept. 21, 23, 24 and 25 — and the band also has another previously announced eight-date stand this year that’s scheduled from November 2 to November 13.

Visit Santana.com to check out the group’s full tour schedule.

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Elvis Costello has announced plans for a unique, 10-night stand dubbed 100 Songs and More that will take place from February 9 to February 23 at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.

Costello will perform a completely different set each night and will play more than 200 of his songs over the course of the engagement. Elvis has confirmed 10 tunes that he’ll perform at each show; he’ll play at least 10 additional songs during every gig.

The first five concerts will feature Costello performing solo; he will be joined by his Attractions and Imposters keyboardist Steve Nieve at the remaining five shows. Elvis penned a clever poem that hints that some surprise guests may also be joining him during the run. For more information, visit ElvisCostello.com.

Tickets for the 100 Songs and More concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, September 23, while presale tickets are avaiable to Citi card members through the company’s Citi Entertainment program. Visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details.

In other news, Costello has two special charity shows scheduled on September 30 at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The concerts will feature him playing tunes by late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia and Garcia’s longtime songwriting partner Robert Hunter. The event will raise money for Prader-Willi Homes of California, a charity dedicated to the creation of a residential center for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

In addition, Costello will be performing at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on October 1.

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Guns N’ Roses‘ classic 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II will be reissued on November 11 in multiple configurations and formats, including expansive CD and vinyl box sets featuring remastered versions of both records plus a treasure trove of bonus content.

The super deluxe Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II box sets will feature either seven CDs or 12 LPs. Both versions will include a Blu-ray featuring a previously unreleased video of the band’s May 1991 performance at The Ritz Theatre in New York City, as well as a new live music video for “You Could Be Mine.”

In addition, the box sets will feature the full audio of the New York City show and of a complete and previously unreleased concert that Guns N’ Roses played in January 1992 in Las Vegas.

The super deluxe box sets also feature a 100-page hardcover book that boasts rare photos, memorabilia and archival documents, as well as such collectible items as a replica fan club materials and backstage pass, uniquely designed lithographs, seven band photo prints, a poster and more.

The reissues also will be available together as a four-LP colored-vinyl collection, and separately as deluxe two-CD sets, single CDs and two-LP black-vinyl sets. Digital versions of all the version also will be available.

Released simultaneously in September 1991, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted at #2 and #1, respectively, on the Billboard 200 chart. Use Your Illusion I features the top-10 hits “Don’t Cry” and “November Rain,” while Use Your Illusion II includes the top-30 single “You Could Be Mine.”

Both albums have gone on to be certified seven-times Platinum by the RIAA.

You can preorder the reissues now.

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This Saturday, Elton John is set to perform at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., but on Friday, while he’s in the neighborhood, he’ll be stopping by to visit the Bidens.

President Joe Biden and the first lady will host a performance by Elton on the South Lawn of the White House as part of an event called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme.” Organized in collaboration with A+E Networks and The History Channel, the event will honor teachers, nurses, frontline workers, mental health advocates, students LGBTQ+ advocates and more.

It will also “celebrate the unifying and healing power of music” and pay tribute to Elton’s “life and work.”

The Bidens will deliver remarks at the event. The fact that A+E and The History Channel are involved seems to indicate that the whole thing will be televised at some point, but there are no details on that as of yet.

This week, Elton is also performing in Atlanta as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

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Journey guitarist Neal Schon recently shared some details about his band’s concrete and potential touring plans for 2023 and beyond during pro wrestler/rock singer Chris Jericho‘s Talk Is Jericho podcast and in a separate interview with ABC Audio.

In July, Journey announced that four North American concerts that were postponed earlier this year had been moved to March 2023 and that their Freedom Tour 2022 support act Toto would be opening the rescheduled shows.

Schon revealed to Jericho that the makeup shows will be part of a full 2023 tour leg featuring Toto that will kick off in February and will include about 40 dates.

“[W]e’re gonna do the secondary markets in the United States and do some of the main markets that we didn’t hit this last time,” Neal explained.

He added that, after taking “a little break,” Journey and Toto will head to Europe and Japan, noting that Journey would open for Toto in Europe, where the latter group is more popular.

Meanwhile, Schon revealed to ABC Audio that he hoped to schedule a series of U.S. stadium shows in late 2023 that would feature Journey, Toto and Santana.

Neal, who was a member of Santana from 1971 to 1972, noted that with 2023 marking the 50th anniversary of Journey’s formation, “it makes total sense to do something with Carlos [Santana] … because that’s where I came from before I started Journey.”

Schon told ABC Audio that he talks to Carlos multiple times a week, and revealed that Santana wants to play shows with Journey, and that the guitarists have also discussed getting together to collaborate on some new music.

“[There’s] a lot of musical history there,” Neal said. “And of course … we love playing together too.”

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Daryl Hall has lined up a new series of fall U.S. tour dates with support act Todd Rundgren, with whom the Hall & Oates singer has been playing concerts on and off throughout 2022.

The eight-show run kicks off November 19 in Syracuse, New York, and then heads to the Midwest for concerts mapped out through a December 3 performance in Evansville, Illinois.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, September 23, at 10 a.m. ET, while presale tickets will be available starting Tuesday, September 20, at 10 a.m. local time.

Hall and Rundgren have a previously announced show scheduled for October 1 in Brookville, New York. Tickets for that event are already on sale.

Hall’s dates with Rundgren have been in support of Daryl’s first solo compilation, Before After, which was released in April.

Daryl also has four Hall & Oates concerts scheduled for next month — October 7 in Atlantic City, New Jersey; October 9 in Uncasville, Connecticut; October 20 in Sparks, Nevada; and October 22 in Laughlin, Nevada.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, Rundgren will be taking part in the 2022 Celebrating David Bowie tribute tour, which runs from an October 6 show in San Diego through a November 13 concert in Phoenix. In addition, Todd will release his long-delayed, collaboration-packed album Space Force on October 14.

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Elton John not only received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, but he performed at multiple royal events and met the monarch a number of times during her 70 years on the throne. On Monday, he took to Instagram to reflect on his history with the queen as the world tuned in to watch her funeral.

“Today I’ll be joining the rest of the world in remembering Her Majesty The Queen,” Elton writes. “My own memories of her are filled with joy and admiration. The Queen honored me with a CBE, a knighthood and the Companion of Honor.”

He adds, “I was lucky enough to perform at three of her Jubilees. They were always joyous and humbling experiences. But it was the moments out of the public eye that I will most fondly remember her for: dancing together to ‘Rock Around the Clock’ at Windsor Castle or experiencing her great wit, warmth and humor first hand.”

“She served with grace and dedication,” he concludes, “and she will be sorely missed.”

He added two photos to his post: One of himself in the ’70s meeting the queen and one of them meeting in more recent times, with fellow musical British knights Tom Jones and Cliff Richard looking on.

Elton danced with the queen to Bill Haley‘s “Rock Around the Clock” at Prince Andrew‘s 21st birthday party in 1981. As Elton hilariously describes in his autobiography, Me, Princess Anne asked Elton to dance with her to Elvis Presley‘s “Hound Dog.” When the DJ segued from that into “Rock Around the Clock,” the queen appeared and asked if she could join them — which she did, still holding her handbag.

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