Classic Hits

Bruce Springsteen has won a lot awards during his long career, but an Olympic medal certainly isn’t among them. However, one of his children will have the chance to go for Olympic gold, silver or bronze in Tokyo this summer — The Boss’ daughter, Jessica, has been named to the U.S. Equestrian jumping team.

TeamUSA.org reports that Jessica, who is 29, is ranked 27th in the the world and will make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. She will be riding a a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion named Don Juan van de Donkhoeve.

Jessica, who lives in Los Angeles, began riding when she was just four years old. She’s finished in first place at several major competitions over the last few years.

The Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to run from July 23 through August 8.

See you in Tokyo #USAJumping #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/A5TB1xJSjI

— US Equestrian (@USequestrian) July 5, 2021

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Today, July 6, marks the 50th anniversary of the release of third Allman Brothers Band album, At Fillmore East, widely considered one of the greatest-ever live albums.

The double-album marked a commercial breakthrough for the Southern jam band, peaking at #13 on Billboard‘s Top Pop Albums chart, and eventually becoming the group’s first platinum-certified release.

The album was recorded during a March 11-13 stand at promoter Bill Graham‘s famous New York City venue. At Fillmore East captured the band firing on all cylinders, showcasing the two-guitar interplay of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, and frontman Gregg Allman‘s soulful vocals and soaring Hammond organ.

Among At Fillmore East‘s performances are renditions of blues gems such as Blind Willie McTell‘s “Stateboro Blues” and T-Bone Walker‘s “Stormy Monday,” as well as three originals — “Hot ‘Lanta,” “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Whipping Post.”

The album featured several extended jams that allowed the Allmans to fully explore their eclectic mix of blues, jazz, soul and psychedelic rock, including an almost-13-minute rendition of the Betts-penned instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and an epic 22-plus-minute version of Gregg Allman’s “Whipping Post.”

In the 2012 Allmans biography One Way Out, producer Tom Dowd said of the At Fillmore East performances, “Here was a rock ‘n’ roll band playing blues in the jazz vernacular. And they tore the place up.”

Sadly, At Fillmore East was the last album Allman Brothers Band released before Duane Allman’s death at age 27 on October 29, 1971, in a motorcycle crash.

In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked At Fillmore East second on its “50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time” list. It also was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2004.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

Side One
“Statesboro Blues”
“Done Somebody Wrong”
“Stormy Monday”

Side Two
“You Don’t Love Me”

Side Three
“Hot ‘Lanta”
“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”

Side Four
“Whipping Post”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

After attending three exhibitions of his artwork in Florida in May, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen will be on hand for two similar events this weekend: Saturday, July 10, in New Jersey’s Atlantic City and Sunday, July 11, in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The Florida exhibits were among the first public events Allen participated in since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he tells ABC Audio that it’s been “really fun to get back out there and do something in person.”

He adds, “[T]here’s nothing like…meeting up with new people…and see[ing] what their take on my artwork is.”

Allen says the new exhibition, dubbed “Wings of Hope,” features seven or eight new pieces, including some additions to his “Legends Series” of portraits saluting late musicians who have influenced or inspired him.

“[O]ne of them [is] Johnny Cash…He’s the original bad boy,” Rick notes. “[A]nd another one [is] Kurt Cobain, who basically turned the music industry on its head with that brand of…raw [music].”

Allen also created new portraits of Eddie Van Halen for the series.

“[T]he sad news of [Eddie’s death]…really kind of floored me,” Rick says. “I didn’t know him that well, but I’d met him a few times through friends. And that was such a huge shock.”

For fans interested in how Allen’s art events work, he explains, “When I first get to the gallery…I’ll say hello to everybody,” while noting that he generally spends a lot of the time in a private room being “introduced to people that have bought pieces.”

He adds, however, “I always make time for everybody.”

Paintings and high-res prints of his pieces will be on sale at the events.

For more details, visit WentworthGallery.com.

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John Lennon, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix are among the music stars who are being turned into Funko Pop! figures.

The toy company has announced a slew of new, music-themed editions of its ever-popular big-headed collectables as part of its Popapalooza event.

Multiple Lennon figures were revealed in a post on Funko Pop!’s official Twitter feed, including one depicting the late Beatles legend wearing a khaki army jacket, and another showing him as he looked in a famous 1974 photo taken of him flashing a peace sign in front of the Statue of Liberty. However, the post notes that the designs currently are “subject to licensor approval.”

The Elvis figure shows the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll wearing a bejeweled white jumpsuit and is packaged in a box that features a replica of Presley’s 1975 Pure Gold compilation.

The Hendrix toy shows the guitar great in the outfit he wore for his Live in Maui performance. The figure’s design also is “subject to licensor approval.”

Other Popalooza announcements include new figures of Green Day, Pearl Jam and Ozzy Osbourne.

The new Funko Pop! toys are expected to be released in the coming weeks and months.

Popapalooza 2021: Pop! Rocks- John Lennon. Pre-order today! #Popapalooza #FunkoPopapalooza #Funko #FunkoPop@EntEarth: https://t.co/piKYmqrtgL
Distritomax: https://t.co/YeMzeB8DjE pic.twitter.com/sCZiCKPFWN

— Funko (@OriginalFunko) June 30, 2021

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Ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has released the first single from his forthcoming studio album, Surrender of Silence, which is due out on September 10.

The track, “Wingbeats,” combines African rhythms and musical elements with melodic pop and prog-rock influences. The song is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, while a companion music video has premiered on YouTube.

Hackett shares vocals on “Wingbeats” with his sister-in-law, Amanda Lehmann, as well as with Pink Floyd session and touring singer Durga McBroom and her sister, Lorelei.

The video includes footage of indigenous African people, wildlife, and beautiful scenic landscapes from the continent.

As previously reported, Surrender of Silence is an 11-track collection offering an eclectic mix of World Music genres, including Russian classical music as well as sounds of the Far East, Africa and more.  The album is scheduled to arrive less than eight months after Hackett’s previous studio effort, the classical-inspired acoustic instrumental project Under a Mediterranean Sky, which was released in January.

Surrender of Silence can be pre-ordered now, and will be available in various formats and configurations. Visit HackettSongs.com for more details.

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Just in time for the Fourth of July, Jesse Colin Young, former frontman of the folk-rock band The Youngbloods, has released a video of himself performing a stripped-down acoustic version of the classic patriotic anthem “America the Beautiful.”

The clip, which you can watch now at Young’s official YouTube channel, features the artist singing in front of the backdrop of beautiful natural landscapes from various locations around the U.S.

“Coming out of the pandemic we are able to see this country, our America, with fresh eyes,” says the 79-year-old singer/songwriter in a statement. “I have always loved this song, and wanted to share my version with you so we could revel together in the beauty of this place we call home.”

Last November, Young released his 22nd solo album, Highway Troubadour. The 11-track collection features new solo acoustic versions of songs from throughout Jesse’s 50-year-plus career, including renditions of the Youngbloods tunes “Darkness, Darkness” and “Sugar Babe,” plus the recent song “Cast a Stone” from his 2019 solo album, Dreamers.

Highway Troubadour was inspired by Young’s online video series “One Song at a Time,” which he launched during the COVID-19 lockdown. It features him playing various songs from his back catalog while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.

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Tenacious D is adding a bit more tenacity to The Beatles with a new charity single that has gotten a thumbs-up from Paul McCartney himself.

The comedy duo has released “You Never Give Me Your Money”/”The End,” an acoustic mashup of two tracks from the Fab Four’s Abbey Road medley. Being a Tenacious D performance, the cover also includes some extra four-letter words that pop up amid Jack Black‘s signature riffing vocal style.

Reacting to the cover, McCartney writes on his Facebook page, “This Tenacious D cover of our song is fantastic! It’s so imaginative and so well performed. What a great tribute to the original. Guys — I love it.”

Black and band mate Kyle Gass also have debuted an over-the-top mixed-media music video for their Beatles homage, which depicts the duo an a variety of surreal scenarios and locations, including on a mountain top, at Stonehenge, at Big Ben, in a forest, and in a jail cell. Gass dons a poorly fitting Beatles wig throughout most of the clip.

“Tenacious D are paying tribute to the greatest band in the world…not themselves…The Beatles!!!” the duo proclaims. “In the spirit of healing the world…please enjoy Tenacious D’s mashup of two classics from Abbey Road.”

You can download “You Never Give Me Your Money”/”The End,” now via digital outlets. The vinyl single version, which is available now for pre-order, will raise money for Doctors Without Borders.

Last fall, the D released a star-studded cover of the Rocky Horror Picture Show classic “Time Warp” to encourage voting.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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Jim Morrison, the iconic lead singer of The Doors, died 50 years ago this Saturday, July 3, 1971, at age 27.

Morrison died unexpectedly during an extended stay in Paris while on hiatus from The Doors. He was found dead by his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, in the bathtub of their rented apartment. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but the actual cause remains a mystery, since no autopsy was performed.

The late Doors frontman’s influence on music and popular culture has been immeasurable, thanks to his charismatic persona, his powerful vocal style, his exploration of dark themes and his talent for combining poetry with rock music.

Morrison had a fascination with pushing social boundaries that, unfortunately, coincided with a penchant for excess that included a serious alcohol dependency.

Doors drummer John Densmore recalls that he heard that Morrison had died while he was jamming with band mates Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger.

“[Jim] had been away for a few months and we wanted to make music and we were jamming on stuff, hoping he’d be back to help us,” Densmore tells ABC Audio. “And then, the manager came downstairs and said Jim had passed.”

John says that when Morrison was in Paris, he worried about the singer knowing his issues with alcohol.

“I was hoping he wasn’t drinking, but, you know, the Parisians have wine for breakfast,” Densmore notes. “[Paris] might not have been such a good place for him.”

As tragic as Morrison’s young death was, Densmore says he’s grateful for what he and the band created together.

“[I]t became bigger than its ingredients that came together in a garage in Venice [Beach, California,]” John notes. “And we gotta honor that muse and be thankful that something came in [that was] magic.”

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Foreigner‘s hit-packed fourth studio album, the aptly titled 4.

The album featured such enduring tunes as “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero,” which peaked at #2, #4 and #26, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.

Propelled by those hits and a fourth top-40 single, “Break It Up,” 4 became Foreigner’s only album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200, spending 10 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart from August 1981 to January 1982. 4 has sold over 6 million copies in the U.S.

Interestingly, “Waiting for a Girl Like You” set a Billboard record by spending 10 weeks at #2 on the Hot 100 tally without ever reaching the top. It was blocked from #1 by Olivia Newton-John‘s “Physical” and Hall & Oates‘ “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do).”

The title 4 also was a reference to the fact that Foreigner had become a quartet after the exit of founding multi-intrumentalist Ian McDonald and keyboardist Al Greenwood in 1980.

Founding guitarist and main songwriter Mick Jones co-produced the album with “Mutt” Lange, then famous for producing AC/DC‘s Back in Black and soon to become more famous for his work with Def Leppard.

4 was the first Foreigner album to make significant use of session musicians. Thomas Dolby, who had a big hit of his own in 1982 with “She Blinded Me with Science,” played synthesizers, while Motown sax legend Junior Walker contributed a memorable solo to “Urgent.”

Singer Lou Gramm told ABC Audio that while “Waiting for a Girl Like You” may be the tune that fans remember most from 4, he considers “Juke Box Hero” to be “the quintessential Foreigner song.”

Here’s 4‘s full track list:

“Night Life”
“Juke Box Hero”
“Break It Up”
“Waiting for a Girl Like You”
“Luanne”
“Urgent”
“I’m Gonna Win”
“Woman in Black”
“Girl on the Moon”
“Don’t Let Go”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A bevy of veteran music artists are part of the lineup of CNN’s The Fourth in America special, which will air on the cable network on Independence Day from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET.

The Beach Boys, Foreigner, Chicago, Sammy Hagar & The Circle, REO Speedwagon, Bangles frontwoman Susanna Hoffs and Kool & the Gang are among the many performers that appear on the show, which will also will feature live footage of fireworks displays in cities across the U.S.

The Beach Boys will be joined by their longtime honorary member, actor John Stamos.

Meanwhile, Hagar tells ABC Audio that his performance with The Circle was filmed during a series of recent concerts that he and the band played in Florida, which were some of their first shows since the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“Woo, it was awesome,” Sammy gushes about the gig. “[CNN] filmed a lot of our songs. And we were really having a good night…I felt so good about that night, ’cause the band was so up to play. It was about our fourth show, so we were getting our wings back, and the audiences [were] just nuts.”

Other artists who will perform on The Fourth in America include Blues Traveler, Bebe Rexha, Billy Ray Cyrus, Black Eyed Peas, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood and many more.

The special will stream live on CNN.com, and also will be viewable on Apple and Android mobile devices via CNN apps for those with a login to a cable provider. The program also can be viewed on CNNgo.

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