Classic Hits

Ringo Starr‘s latest EP, a four-song collection titled EP3, was released Friday on CD and digital formats.

As its title suggests, EP3 is the third in a series of EPs; the former Beatles drummer has now recorded and released three EPs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coinciding with EP3‘s arrival, Ringo has debuted an official music video for lead track, the upbeat rock tune “World Go Round.” The song was co-written by Toto lead singer Joseph Williams and founding Toto guitarist and longtime All Starr Band member Steve Lukather.

The video features Starr at his home studio and rehearsal space, playing the song with Lukather and recording vocals with some backing singers. The clip also includes scenes of Williams playing keyboards.

The other three tracks on EP3 are “Everyone and Everything,” which was written by hit-making producer and songwriter Linda Perry; “Let’s Be Friends,” a catchy dance tune co-written by Starr’s longtime studio engineer Bruce Sugar and acclaimed songwriter Sam Hollander; and “Free Your Soul,” a laid-back, reggae-flavored tune that Starr co-wrote with Sugar.

Vinyl and cassette versions of the EP are due out on November 14.

EP3 was preceded by the Zoom In and Change the World EPs, which were released in March 2021 and September 2021, respectively.

Meanwhile, Ringo currently is touring North America with his All Starr Band; their next concert takes place tonight in Clearwater, Florida.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s live album and documentary film focusing on a previously unheard and unseen 1970 concert at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall both got their release today.

The album, titled At the Royal Albert Hall, is available on CD, cassette, 180-gram vinyl and digital formats.

The film, Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall, premiered today on Netflix. As previously reported, the movie, which is and is narrated by Jeff Bridges, includes footage of CCR’s entire April 14, 1970, concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It also features archival interviews with all four Creedence members, scenes of the band touring Europe in 1970 and a look at the group’s history.

“Of the live performances that we have recorded, that was the best performance,” CCR drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford tells ABC Audio of the Royal Albert Hall show.

Clifford says he got a kick out of watching footage of the gig, noting that the movie is Creedence’s first and only concert film.

“It’s really a funny thing. I know that’s us and I know that’s me on the drums … but when I look at it, it’s like it’s another band,” Cosmo says. “You know, I’m watching somebody else pound away on the stage.”

Regarding Bridges’ participation in the film, Clifford says, “I’m a big fan of his, for sure … I can’t think of a better narrator than Jeff.”

Meanwhile, the Travelin’ Band film will be available on Blu-ray as part of a super deluxe At the Royal Albert Hall box set that will be released November 14. The package also will feature CD and two-LP vinyl versions of the album, a bonus CD containing music that’s featured in the movie, a booklet and more.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Born on the Bayou”
“Green River”
“Tombstone Shadow”
“Travelin’ Band”
“Fortunate Son”
“Commotion”
“Midnight Special”
“Bad Moon Rising”
“Proud Mary”
“The Night Time Is the Right Time”
“Good Golly Miss Molly”
“Keep On Chooglin'”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Steely Dan‘s first seven studio albums, released from 1972 through 1980 on ABC and MCA Records, will be reissued on vinyl as part of a yearlong campaign, set to kick off this November.

The initiative is being overseen by founding Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen and will feature the release of the albums on 180-gram vinyl, limited-edition premium Ultra High-Quality Vinyl mastered at 45 rpm and on the Super Audio CD format aka SACD.

The reissue campaign begins November 4 with the rerelease of the band’s 1972 debut album, Can’t Buy a Thrill, which featured hits “Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In the Years,” as well as the enduring gem “Dirty Work.” The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified Platinum.

The other six reissues — 1973’s Countdown to Ecstasy, 1974’s Pretzel Logic, 1975’s Katy Lied, 1976’s The Royal Scam, 1977’s Aja and 1980’s Gaucho — will be released periodically throughout 2022 and 2023.

All of the albums are being meticulously remastered, most of them from the original analog tapes.

The Ultra High-Quality Vinyl versions are pressed on 200-gram vinyl and will be packaged in a box that includes a booklet explaining the creation of the superior-quality disc, along with a certificate of inspection.

You can preorder the Can’t Buy a Thrill reissue now.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s live album and documentary film focusing on a previously unheard and unseen 1970 concert at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall both got their release today.

The album, titled At the Royal Albert Hall, is available on CD, cassette, 180-gram vinyl and digital formats.

The film, Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall, premiered today on Netflix. As previously reported, the movie, which is and is narrated by Jeff Bridges, includes footage of CCR’s entire April 14, 1970, concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It also features archival interviews with all four Creedence members, scenes of the band touring Europe in 1970 and a look at the group’s history.

“Of the live performances that we have recorded, that was the best performance,” CCR drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford tells ABC Audio of the Royal Albert Hall show.

Clifford says he got a kick out of watching footage of the gig, noting that the movie is Creedence’s first and only concert film.

“It’s really a funny thing. I know that’s us and I know that’s me on the drums … but when I look at it, it’s like it’s another band,” Cosmo says. “You know, I’m watching somebody else pound away on the stage.”

Regarding Bridges’ participation in the film, Clifford says, “I’m a big fan of his, for sure … I can’t think of a better narrator than Jeff.”

Meanwhile, the Travelin’ Band film will be available on Blu-ray as part of a super deluxe At the Royal Albert Hall box set that will be released November 14. The package also will feature CD and two-LP vinyl versions of the album, a bonus CD containing music that’s featured in the movie, a booklet and more.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Born on the Bayou”
“Green River”
“Tombstone Shadow”
“Travelin’ Band”
“Fortunate Son”
“Commotion”
“Midnight Special”
“Bad Moon Rising”
“Proud Mary”
“The Night Time Is the Right Time”
“Good Golly Miss Molly”
“Keep On Chooglin'”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Official details have been announced about the live broadcast of the 2022 Farm Aid festival, which takes place September 24 in Raleigh, North Carolina, at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.

The sold-out event, which will include headlining performances from Farm Aid board members John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson, will be broadcast live for the second consecutive year on the Circle Network.

The festival will air starting at 7 p.m. ET, and the broadcast will feature live and prerecorded segments. The Circle Network’s social channels will also livestream Farm Aid throughout the day.

Other artists on the bill include Sheryl Crow, Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. Matthews will be playing as a duo with his longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds.

Farm Aid is an annual benefit show that raises money for family farmers in the U.S. Founders Nelson, Mellencamp and Neil Young debuted the event in 1985. Young has dropped off the festival’s performance lineup for the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Aerosmith launched its 2022 Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas residency on Wednesday night at the Dolby Live theater at the Park MGM resort.

The concert is one of eight dates the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers are playing at the Sin City venue in September and early October; the band has another eight-show engagement scheduled there in late November and early December.

Aerosmith originally was supposed play its first 2022 Las Vegas stand in June and July, but those concerts were canceled in May when it was announced that frontman Steven Tyler had entered a treatment facility after relapsing while recovering from foot surgery.

According to People, Tyler was in fine form at Wednesday’s show. The magazine notes he seemingly eluded to his substance abuse issues when he commented to the audience, “It’s either too much or too little all the time. I’m a big fan of too much.”

According to Setlists.fm, the band played a hit-packed, 17-song set that included such classics as “Back in the Saddle,” “Love in an Elevator,” “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” “Dream On” and “Walk This Way.”

Aerosmith also included covers of The Shangri‐Las‘ “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” and Fleetwood Mac‘s “Stop Messin’ Around” in the show, which featured immersive Dolby Atmos audio technology and 12-inch screens displaying never-before-seen visuals.

Leading up to the launch of the residency, the band played concert on September 4 in Bangor, Maine and September 8 at Boston’s Fenway Park. Their next Vegas concert takes place this Saturday, September 17.

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com/Aerosmith.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Grateful Dead‘s “Meet-Up at the Movies” screening events are set to return this year for the first time since 2019.

The latest edition of the cinematic gathering, dubbed “Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022,” will take place at select theaters around the world on November 1, with additional screenings to be held in the U.S., Canada and other locations on November 5.

This year’s event will feature film of an April 17, 1972 show at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark — a performance that was part of the band’s legendary Europe ’72 tour.

Tickets for the screenings go on sale on Friday, September 23 at 10 a.m. ET at MeetUpattheMovies.com.

The 90-minute performance was The Grateful Dead’s first concert ever to be broadcast live and was shown on Danish television. The footage has been restored and color corrected in high-def, and the audio has been mixed and mastered from the original master tapes.

The Dead’s lineup at the time featured Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Donna Jean Godchaux and Keith Godchaux.

The set included the first live performance of “He’s Gone” as well as renditions of such other songs as “Ramble on Rose,” “Jack Straw” and “One More Saturday Night.” You can check out a video of the “One More Saturday Night” performance now on The Grateful Dead’s YouTube channel.

The “Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022” event will bring to an end a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the band’s Europe ’72 live album. The commemoration also included the release of remastered versions of the original album as well as a 24-LP box set, exclusively available at Dead.net, that documents four full concerts from the trek.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mariah Carey‘s sixth studio album, Butterfly, turns 25 on Friday, so she’s releasing a special anniversary collection packed full of goodies.

The Grammy winner teased the upcoming celebration on Instagram and cheekily pretended it hasn’t been a quarter century since she unleashed her five-times Platinum album. “Celebrating 25… minutes… since the release of my favorite and probably most personal album,” Mariah wrote, adding that sales start on Friday.

Mariah isn’t just rereleasing the album, she’s packing it with eight new bonus tracks and classic live performance videos of past songs.

The set will also include 4K digitally remastered music videos for “Honey” and “The Roof.” Speaking of the “Honey” music video, she gave it the documentary treatment and teased a brief clip of it, which hints fans will learn a new thing or two about the spy-themed video.

Butterfly‘s special 25th anniversary edition will also be available in vinyl and cassette form.

Mariah also promised new Butterfly merchandise will soon hit her online store and shared a brief glimpse of some upcoming T-shirts, pants, tank tops, sweaters and more. 

The “Fantasy” singer ended the video with a promise that she has “more surprises” on the way.

Sales begin on Friday, September 16, which marks 25 years to the day Butterfly hit the shelves.

Mariah’s sixth studio album contained the hits “Butterfly,” “Honey,” “My All,” “The Roof,” “Breakdown” and “Close My Eyes,” as well as a cover of Prince‘s “The Beautiful Ones.” The record, which was nominated for three Grammy Awards, has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The reissue of Pink Floyd‘s classic 1977 concept album Animals, featuring a 5.1 Surround Sound mix created in 2018, gets released in multiple formats this Friday, September 16.

Along with the updated mix, the reissue boasts a reimagined and updated version of Animals‘ memorable cover art, which featured a photo of London’s massive Battersea Power Station with a giant inflatable pig tied to its chimneys.

Both covers were created by Aubrey “Po” Powell, co-founder of Hipgnosis, the graphic-design firm that has worked on most of the band’s albums.

The new cover features an ominous-looking recent photo of the building, which is covered in scaffolding, taken at night from a different angle than the original pic, with the pig added digitally.

Powell tells ABC Audio that he had to act fast to get a good current photo of the building because the site is in the middle of a “massive regeneration project” that’s obscuring the view of the station.

Powell says the new photo reflects Animals‘ cynical look at humanity, which was partly inspired by George Orwell‘s dystopian novel Animal Farm.

“I think the reflection of the image is very much related to the album, this Orwellian, dark, bleak, futuristic image,” he notes. “It’s almost sci-fi … Roger [Waters is] over the moon about it, and I think one of the reasons is because [it echoes] the period of time that we live in.”

Powell adds that Pink Floyd’s other members also think the new cover was great.

In addition, Powell says the cover reflects the edgier, more in-your-face new Animals mix, which, he maintains, “sounds so different and so good.”

The Animals reissue will be available Friday on CD, vinyl LP, Blu-ray and SACD. A deluxe multiple-disc package will follow on October 7.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

John Mellencamp will release an expanded and remastered version of his classic 1985 album Scarecrow on November 4.

The box set will feature two CDs featuring a remixed and remastered version of the original album, as well as demos, outtakes and rough mixes of tracks. The package will also include a booklet featuring rare photos and new liner notes penned by music journalist and author Anthony DeCurtis.

Mellencamp has made available the new mix of his hit “Small Town,” as well as a “Writer’s Demo” version and an acoustic version of the song, as advance digital tracks.

Scarecrow was Mellencamp’s eighth studio album; it was released in August 1985 and peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200. The album features five top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to ’60s Rock),” “Lonely Ol’ Night,” “Small Town,” “Rain on the Scarecrow” and “Rumbleseat,” which reached #2, #6, #6, #21 and #28, respectively. Scarecrow has gone on to sell over 5 million copies in the U.S.

You can preorder the reissue now.

Meanwhile, Mellencamp recently reported that’s he finished recording what will be his 26th album. He shared the lyrics to a new song titled “The Eyes of Portland,” which focuses on the homelessness he witnessed in the Oregon city.

Here’s the track list of the deluxe Scarecrow reissue:

CD 1
“Rain on the Scarecrow”
“Grandma’s Theme”
“Small Town”
“Minutes to Memories”
“Lonely Ol’ Night”
“The Face of the Nation”
“Justice and Independence ’85”
“Between a Laugh and a Tear”
“Rumbleseat”
“You’ve Got to Stand for Somethin'”
“R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60’s Rock)”
“The Kind of Fella I Am”
“Small Town” (Acoustic Version)

CD 2
“Under the Boardwalk”
“Lonely Ol’ Night” (Rough Mix)
“Between a Laugh and a Tear” (Writer’s Demo)
“Carolina Shag”
“Cold Sweat”
“Rumbleseat” (Writer’s Demo)
“Smart Guys”
“R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. (A Salute to 60’s Rock)” (Rough Mix)
“Minutes to Memories” (Rough Mix)
“Shama Lama Ding Dong”
“Small Town” (Writer’s Demo)

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.