Classic Hits

Ex-Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes is bringing back his Christmas Jam benefit concert for the first time since 2018.

The 31st edition of the holiday event will take place in Haynes’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday, December 10 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.

The lineup will feature Haynes’ current band Gov’t Mule, founding Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh‘s Phil Lesh & Friends collective, Brothers Osborne, Dinosaur Jr., Beth Hart and more.

The concert also will boast several special guests, including former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed and current Who touring violinist Katie Jacoby.

Besides playing with Gov’t Mule, Haynes will be performing as part of Phil Lesh & Friends, whose lineup will also feature guitarist John Scofield, keyboardist John Medeski and drummer John Molo.

Tickets for the 2022 Christmas Jam will go on sale to the public on Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. ET, while pre-sale tickets and VIP and travel packages will be available starting this Friday, October 14 at 10 a.m. ET. Visit XmasJam.com for more info and to purchase tickets.

“I’m excited to finally bring back Christmas Jam and continue the tradition we’ve been building for over 30 years,” says Haynes. “It feels like the perfect time to return to celebrating this wonderful cause (and life in general) and to be helping the community in my beloved home of Asheville.”

He adds, “Looking forward to being together for an amazing night of music and holiday cheer.”

In addition to the main show, Xmas Jam by Day gigs will be held at select local venues.

The Christmas Jam concert will raise money for the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and for BeLoved Asheville, an organization that helps the local homeless population and other in-need people in the community.

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This past June, Queen‘s Brian May and Roger Taylor revealed that a previously unheard archival track by the band featuring late frontman Freddie Mercury had been rediscovered and was being prepared for release.

Now, Queen has announced that the song, titled “Face It Alone,” will officially be released worldwide this Thursday, October 14 at 6:15 a.m. ET. The band has been teasing the song’s arrival with a series of social media posts that include snippets of the tune.

In addition, photos of billboards and posters promoting the tune that have appeared in cities around the world, including London, Toronto, Madrid and Mexico City, have been posted on Queen’s official website.

An official webpage for the song has also been launched; it features a countdown clock that expires on Thursday at 11:15 a.m. ET.

May and Taylor revealed details about “Face It Alone” during a BBC interview just before Queen + Adam Lambert performed at London’s Buckingham Palace to kick off the star-studded Party at the Palace concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II‘s 70 years on the throne.

Taylor told BBC host Zoe Ball, “We [found] a little gem from Freddie that we’d kind of forgotten about,” adding that the track came from the sessions for Queen’s 1989 album The Miracle, which was the next-to-last record Mercury made with the band before his death from AIDS in 1991.

“It was kind of hiding in plain sight,” May told Ball. “We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Well, no, we can’t really rescue that.’ But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘OK, we can do this and this.'”

He added, “It’s like stitching bits together. But it’s beautiful. It’s a very touching piece from Freddie.”

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Ringo Starr recently canceled five shows with his All Starr Band after he tested positive for COVID-19, but the former Beatles drummer has announced that he and his group are set to relaunch their tour as planned on Tuesday, October 11 in Seattle, Washington.

On Monday, Ringo posted a message on his social media pages that reads, “On the road again I will see you in Seattle on Tuesday the 11th Portland [Oregon on] Wednesday I am negative peace and love everybody thanks for waiting.”

Accompanying the note is a photo of Starr flashing a peace sign and showing off his negative COVID test.

Besides the Seattle and Portland concerts, Ringo and the All Starr Band have five more shows remaining on their current North American trek — on October 14 in San Jose, California; October 15 in Paso Robles, California; October 16 in Los Angeles; and on October 19 and 20 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Last month, Ringo released a new four-track EP titled EP3. He also recently announced that an archival concert album and video titled Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Live at The Greek Theater 2019 will be released on November 25.

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Stevie Nicks seems to be in a very creative mood lately. First she released her cover of “For What It’s Worth,” then she joined pal Dave Stewart of Eurythmics to sing a song called “Face to Face” in support of Ukraine. Now she’s posted a poem on Instagram that she says she’s turned into a new song called “Get It Back.”

The poem, which was posted on Monday, is a plea for people to stand up for what they believe in by voting. Nicks writes, “Don’t close your eyes and hope for the best/ the dark is out there/ the light is going fast/ and all the rights you had yesterday are taken away.” 

The poem goes on to urge people to “stand up and take it back … you don’t have much time.” Stevie writes, “I wanna teach you to fight” before later urging, “Get mad/ It’s slipping through your fingers.”

In an introductory note to fans and “women of America, from 18 to 100 years old,” Stevie writes, “At 74 years old, I can honestly say that I am worried about every one of you. Worried about health care, and just in general, worried about your God given rights. You must gather together now. You must register to vote as soon as you can … and you must vote!”

Noting that the deadline for registering is Tuesday, October 11, in many states, Stevie points to “the disintegration of Roe v. Wade” as a reason that some may want to go to the polls.

“I watched what happened to women from 1966 … to 1973 when I was 2 years away from joining Fleetwood Mac,” she continues. “Believe me … you don’t want that world to come back.”

Stevie says she’s recording the song right now; no word yet on when it’ll be released.

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This month marks the 45th anniversary of the 1977 plane crash that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s Ronnie Van Zant and two other band members. The group’s former drummer, Artimus Pyle, says he’s now putting together a star-studded tribute album to commemorate the tragedy.

Pyle, who survived the accident, tells ABC Audio that 17 tracks have been recorded so far for the album, which will feature his solo group, the Artimus Pyle Band, playing classic Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes, along with a bunch of guest artists.

The 74-year-old drummer reveals Sammy Hagar, Gov’t Mule‘s Warren Haynes, Ronnie Dunn of the country duo Brooks & Dunn and Billy Ray Cyrus are contributing to the project.

“Sammy Hagar is singing ‘Simple Man,'” Artimus reports. “He puts his heart and soul into it.”

He adds that Haynes sings “Saturday Night Special,” Dunn performs “Sweet Home Alabama” and Cyrus sings “Call Me the Breeze.”

Pyle has long been estranged from the Lynyrd Skynyrd camp, so perhaps the most surprising news about the tribute is that founding Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington has contributed to a track.

“Gary Rossington plays his iconic slide solo on ‘Free Bird,'” Pyle notes. “I’m on the drum track. So that’s the first time that’s happened in 40 years … Against all odds, Gary and I are on a track together that will be on this new album.”

As for how he feels about his solo band’s renditions of the tunes, Pyle says, “Only we could play them with the ferocity and the fervor that we play these songs with.”

Artimus says the Skynyrd tribute is still in the works and that they may decide to make it a double album, “because who deserves more than Ronnie Van Zandt a double tribute album?”

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A remastered version of Cat Stevens‘ sixth studio album, 1972’s Catch Bull at Four, will be released on December 2 in multiple formats in celebration of its 50th anniversary.

The album, which can be preordered now, will be available on CD, as a 180-gram vinyl LP and via digital formats. A limited-edition orange-vinyl version of the LP can be purchased exclusively at CatStevens.com, uDiscoverMusic.com and TheSoundofVinyl.us.

Released in September 1972, Catch Bull at Four was Stevens’ only album to top the Billboard 200. It featured one hit single, “Sitting,” which peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Arriving at the height of Stevens’ popularity, Catch Bull at Four found the British singer/songwriter reflecting on his fame and delving deeper into his spiritual beliefs. Musically, the album featured more complex production and a wider range of styles than his previous records.

“Contrary to the spiritual nature and theme of the album, Catch Bull at Four went straight to number one and became one of my biggest commercial accomplishments,” Stevens, who is now also known as Yusuf, notes. “It was scary! I feared it would divert me from my spiritual goal. That’s precisely why I followed it up with an album called Foreigner, which would sacrifice my newly acquired crown for a welcome return to obscurity.”

Catch Bull at Four was produced by founding Yardbirds member Paul Samwell-Smith, who also produced Stevens’ Mona Bone Jakon, Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Sitting”
“Boy with a Moon & Star on His Head”
“Angelsea”
“Silent Sunlight”
“Can’t Keep It In”
“18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)”
“Freezing Steel”
“O’Caritas”
“Sweet Scarlet”
“Ruins”

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What happens when you combine the guitar of Eddie Van Halen and the vocals of Chris Cornell? Unfortunately, we may never know, but such a song apparently came close to happening.

According to guitarist Pete Thorn, who played in Cornell’s live solo band, the Soundgarden frontman and the Van Halen shredder had developed a friendship, which they one day hoped to channel in the studio.

“Eddie always wanted to do something with Chris musically,” Thorn tells The Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Show. “Eddie loved his voice.”

As Thorn explains, a Cornell-Van Halen collaboration became a possibility toward the late 2000s, when Thorn was putting together some alternate, stripped-down demos of songs off Cornell’s 2009, electronic and pop-driven solo album, Scream. Upon hearing Thorn’s recordings, Cornell suggested they ask Van Halen to play on them.

While Thorn was waiting for Cornell to reach out to Eddie, he happened upon a friend who built amps for Van Halen. Thorn shared Cornell’s idea with him, who then gave Thorn Van Halen’s number. A few days later, Van Halen called Thorn back and the two set up a recording session. While Van Halen did play on the recording, that’s as far as it got.

“I don’t wanna get anybody excited thinking that this ever got finished, because it didn’t,” Thorn says. “But, [Van Halen] did work on it.”

“It’s a long story, but it never got a vocal on it by Chris,” Thorn continues. “It just never ended up getting finished.”

Sadly, it will stay that way, as Cornell died in 2017, while Van Halen passed in 2020.

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Foreigner has unveiled plans to return to Las Vegas in the spring of 2023 for a new residency at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort.

The eight-date engagement, dubbed “The Best of Foreigner 4 & More Live,” will take place on March 24, 25, 29 and 31 and April 1, 5, 7 and 8. The concerts will feature the band playing selections from its best-selling studio album, 1981’s 4, as well as many other classics from the group’s back catalog.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, October 14 at 10 a.m. PT.

Foreigner fan club members will be able to buy pre-sale tickets starting Tuesday, October 11 at 10 a.m. PT, while Live Nation customers and members of The Venetian Resort’s Grazie loyalty program can purchase pre-sale tickets beginning Wednesday, October 12 at 10 a.m. PT.

You can buy tickets via Ticketmaster.com, VenetianLasVegas.com, the box offices at the resort and by calling 702-414-9000 or 866-641-7469.

Foreigner has played multiple residencies at The Venetian Theatre over the years, most recently in March and April of this year.

Meanwhile, their next scheduled concert takes place on Tuesday, October 11 in Cape Town, South Africa. The band has 10 other confirmed dates on its upcoming schedule, not including the Vegas performances. Visit ForeignerOnline.com for a full list of those shows.

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U2 frontman Bono took part in a Q&A event focusing on his forthcoming memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, on Friday in New York City as part of the 2022 edition of The New Yorker Festival.

According to Billboard, the event, which featured the 62-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in conversation with longtime New Yorker editor David Remnick, began with the singer performing a trio of U2’s songs — “With or Without You,” “City of Blinding Lights” and “Vertigo.”

During the interview, Bono revealed that bassist Adam Clayton had a few critiques regarding the memoir, including that he felt there wasn’t enough about music in the book.

Regarding his bandmate’s complaint, Bono said he told Clayton, “Well, you know, it’s not just a music memoir. I wanted to give people a view that my life as an artist, my life as an activist, my life as a hooligan, my life as a husband, my life as a father … [were] all part of the same creative canvas.”

A major part of Surrender is devoted to Bono’s 40-year marriage to his wife, Ali. Musing about what has been behind the couple’s successful relationship, he said, “Friendship can outpace romantic love, sometimes. And friendship is what myself and Ali have.”

Bono also talked about the significance of the book’s title.

“I still find it hard to surrender to my bandmates,” he noted. “As an older person, it gets even harder to surrender to my wife, to surrender to my maker. I’m a defiant character, but I’m working on that … That’s why I wrote the book.”

Surrender will be released on November 1. Bono will launch a 14-date world book tour the following day in New York.

Visit SurrenderMemoir.com for more details.

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Last month, Julian Lennon released his first new studio album in 11 years, an 11-track collection titled Jude.

Julian, the older of late Beatle John Lennon‘s two sons, tells ABC Audio that Jude is actually made up mostly of previously unreleased older songs.

“This journey started with me receiving a few boxes of different formatted tapes from the basement of my business manager in London, who retired,” he explains, noting that the tapes dated back to the beginning of his music career.

“The first thing I saw was reel-to-reel tape,” Julian says. “[I]t had the original demos for ‘Too Late for Goodbyes,’ for ‘Valotte,’ a number of other songs on the [1984 Valotte] album, and a couple of songs that I was saving for a later date.”

Lennon says he began working his way through the tapes, picking songs to update for what he initially felt would make a good EP. Julian looked for tunes with themes that fit together well, and that reflected what was currently going on in his life and in the world, eventually realizing he had enough tracks for a full album.

The album’s title is a reference to the classic Beatles song “Hey Jude,” which Paul McCartney famously wrote in 1968 to cheer up a young Julian after his father left his mother. Lennon says titling the record Jude partly ties in with his recent decision to legally change his given first name, John, to Julian, which he’s been called since childhood.

“Jules, Jude, me, retrospective, collection of songs from life, taking ownership of the name Jude and/or being me finally … that all made sense to me,” he maintains. “And it was just pieces of this weird puzzle that just came together and all made sense in the end.”

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