Classic Hits

A piece of wall from The Ed Sullivan Show‘s set, signed by all four Beatles members when they made their historic first appearance on the program on February 9, 1964, is going up for bid as part of a Fab Four memorabilia auction this month.

The auction, which will feature over 20 Beatles-related collectibles, will take place on September 24 at Heritage Auctions’ Dallas location and at HA.com.

The 16-inch-by-48-inch wall section features the autographs of Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison and “Uncle” Paul McCartney along with doodles drawn by each Beatle. 

“Put simply, no other autographed piece of Beatles memorabilia is as historic and well-documented as the wall from The Ed Sullivan Theater,” says Heritage Auctions executive Garry Shrum. “It’s … a treasure from the day music changed forever.'”

According to the 2016 publication The Beatles Book, a Sullivan Show stagehand named Jerry Gort asked the band to sign the wall before they played their second set. Then, in September of ’64, the wall section wound up in a bin that was set to be dumped, but Gort rescued the historic item. He later gifted it to a wheelchair-using Beatles fan named Lofton Sproles, and the wall section was eventually sold multiple times in the ensuing years.

Bidding for the historic item will start at $600,000.

Also going on the block as part of the auction is a pair of Beatle boots owned and worn by Harrison, who gifted them to Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom in 1985 when they both were working on the album Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session.

The boots, which feature an opening bid of $40,000, also feature Harrison’s humorously signed dedication “to Slim Jim with love from Fat George.”

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Jeff Beck recently announced dates for a fall U.S. headlining tour, and now comes word that the British guitar legend will perform most of his shows with actor/rocker Johnny Depp, whom he collaborated with on his latest studio album, 18.

After Beck kicks off the headlining trek with an October 1 concert in Atlanta, Depp will join Jeff for the remaining shows, beginning October 4 in Washington, D.C. and running through a November 12 performance in Reno, Nevada.

Beck and Depp, who also toured together in Europe earlier in the summer, will showcase songs from 18 at the concerts. The 13-track collection features two Depp originals alongside an eclectic selection of covers, including tunes by The Beach Boys, John Lennon, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, The Velvet Underground, The Everly Brothers and Killing Joke. 18 was released in July on CD and digital formats, while a 180-gram black vinyl version is due out on September 30.

As previously reported, Beck will play a series of six shows in late September with ZZ Top before launching his headlining tour; the first three will also feature Heart‘s Ann Wilson.

Jeff is accompanied at his shows by a backing that features bassist Rhonda Smith, drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Robert Stevenson.

Check out Beck’s full schedule at JeffBeck.com.

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Longtime Moody Blues singer/guitarist Justin Hayward has released his first new solo single in more than two years, a melodic, acoustic guitar-driven track called “Living for Love.”

The track is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, while a lyric video for the tune has debuted on Hayward’s official YouTube channel.

The romantic song features Justin reflecting on the excitement of a burgeoning romance when he was young.

“I’m one of a generation that as teenagers, if we were lucky, were living just for love; with the most wonderful music, freedom and optimism,” the 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer says. “We didn’t really understand at the time but I have to celebrate those days now, while we are still here, and we remember.”

Hayward recorded “Living for Love” in Italy earlier this year, and he and his studio collaborator Alberto Parodi are the only musicians featured on the track, with Hayward playing guitars and keyboards and Parodi also playing keyboards.

Meanwhile, Hayward has made some “Living for Love”-themed merchandise available for purchase at his online store.

Hayward wrapped up a U.S. solo tour in June and is now preparing to launch a 10-date United Kingdom trek that begins September 11. Visit JustinHayward.com to check out all the dates.

Hayward, of course, has written and sung many of The Moody Blues best-known songs, including “Nights in White Satin,” “Question,” “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere,” “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Your Wildest Dreams.”

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Dave Davies recently published a candid new memoir titled Living on a Thin Line, and now the founding Kinks lead guitarist is set to release a companion musical compilation with the same title.

Living on a Thin Line is a 13-track collection that will be released on CD on Friday, September 9, while a two-LP vinyl version is due out on January 13, 2023, four days before the physical version of his autobiography will be published in the U.S. The CD and vinyl editions can be preordered now at Amazon.

The album features a selection of previously released solo studio recordings and live performances, as well as brand-new mixes of two of Dave’s songs created by his son Simon.

The new mixes are of “This Is the Time,” a track from Davies’ 2007 album Fractured Mindz, and of a live version of the Dave-penned 1971 Kinks tune “Strangers” that he performed at a 1999 concert in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Among the other songs on the compilation are “The Lie!,” “Displaced Person” and “Fortis Green” from 2002’s Bug; “This Precious Time (Long Lonely Road)” and “Cradle to the Grave” from 2018’s Decade, a collection of unreleased tracks Dave recorded during the 1970s; and rerecorded versions of The Kinks’ “Death of a Clown” and “Susannah’s Still Alive” that appeared on Dave’s 1998 Kinked album.

The new album also includes three performances from Dave’s 2000 concert album Rock Bottom: Live from The Bottom Line — versions of The Kinks’ “Look Through Any Doorway,” “Living on a Thin Line” and “You Really Got Me.”

Davies’ Living on a Thin Line book was released via physical formats in the U.K. — and digitally worldwide — in July.

Here’s the full track list of the Living on a Thin Line compilation:

“The Lie!”
“Displaced Person”
“Fortis Green”
“This Precious Time” (Long Lonely Road)”
“Cradle to the Grave”
“Strangers” (Live) (2022 Edit)
“Death of a Clown”
“Susannah’s Still Alive”
“Unfinished Business”
“Look Through Any Doorway” (Live)
“Living on a Thin Line” (Live)
“You Really Got Me” (Live)
“This Is the Time” (2022 Edit)

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A 1958 Gibson Les Paul guitar that George Harrison purchased specifically to help secure the return of his prized 1957 Les Paul guitar, known as “Lucy,” after it had been stolen, is going up for bid as part of an auction scheduled for September 24.

Harrison was gifted “Lucy” by his friend Eric Clapton in 1967 and used it frequently during the last years of The Beatles. The guitar was stolen from George’s Beverly Hills home in 1973 and eventually purchased by a Los Angeles guitar shop, which in turn sold it to a Mexican musician named Michael Ochoa.

After Ochoa returned home with “Lucy,” Harrison tracked down the instrument. After some negotiating, George agreed to trade a sought-after 1958 Les Paul with a sunburst finish and a Fender Precision bass for his beloved guitar. Harrison purchased the ’58 Les Paul, now nicknamed the “Ransom” guitar, from Norman Harris, of L.A.’s Norman’s Rare Guitars shop.

Ochoa later sold the ’58 Les Paul to Robert Truman, co-owner of Nadine’s Music guitar shop in Hollywood. Truman has now included the “Ransom” guitar in a collection of instruments being auctioned on September 24 by Heritage Auctions.

Bidding for the ’58 Les Paul is starting at $250,000.

“Vintage guitar collectors and Beatles collectors alike will have to fight over this guitar,” says Heritage executive Aaron Piscopo. “It’s beautiful, with action like butter: a real-deal ’58 ‘Burst with one of the more incredible stories in rock history.”

For more details about the auction, visit HA.com.

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Stevie Nicks is among the guest artists who have contributed to Cracker Island, the just-announced upcoming eighth studio album by Gorillaz, the virtual alternative rock band led by Blur frontman Damon Albarn.

Cracker Island, which will be the cartoon group’s first new studio effort since 2020’s Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, will be released on February 24, 2023.

Nicks is featured on a song called “Oil.” Other guests contributors on the record include Beck, Tame Impala and newly crowned MTV VMA Artist of the Year Bad Bunny.

The album’s title track, which features acclaimed bassist Thundercat, debuted in June. Another new song from Cracker Island, “New Gold” featuring Tame Impala and rapper Bootie Brown, has just been released as an advance digital track, while a companion music video has premiered on YouTube.

Various versions of Cracker Island can be preordered now at Gorillaz.com.

Gorillaz will launch a North American headlining tour on September 11 in Vancouver, Canada.

Here’s the full Cracker Island track list:

“Cracker Island” — featuring Thundercat
“Oil” — featuring Stevie Nicks
“The Tired Influencer”
“Tarantula”
“Silent Running” — featuring Adeleye Omotayo
“New Gold” — featuring Tame Impala & Bootie Brown
“Baby Queen”
“Tormenta” — featuring Bad Bunny
“Skinny Ape”
“Possession Island” — featuring Beck

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Mariah Carey is a guest on the latest episode of Archetypes, Meghan Markle’s podcast. The two women bond over being biracial, but also discuss a word that’s been used to describe both of them over the years: diva. Mariah says she doesn’t mind being called that, but she also doesn’t like its negative connotations.

The word originally meant a very talented women, usually in the arts, like an opera singer. Mariah tells Meghan, “People take it as a compliment now, some people, and then some people take it as, ‘Oh, she’s such a diva.'” When Meghan asks her if it’s a compliment or a criticism, Mariah says, “I think it’s both. For me, it’s both.”

Mariah says growing up, she used to hear her mom, who was an opera singer, describe friends as “very much the diva,” so she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Of course, she now knows the origin of “diva,” but notes that it’s become an insult in the past 20 years or so.

“It became, like … they mean you’re a successful woman, usually,” she tells Meghan. “But also … a b***h. Like, it’s not O.K. for you to be a boss. It’s not O.K. for you to be a strong woman.” Mariah admits that most of the time, her super-extra diva behavior is “for laughs,” and her fans know it.

When asked by Meghan to describe herself in three words, Mariah doesn’t choose diva. Instead, she says, “Exhausted, angry…yet hopeful … But if I have to describe the whole thing, it’s faith, honestly.”

You can listen to the entire discussion now wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson will receive a special honor at the 24th Annual Ann Liguori Foundation Charity Golf Classic event, which will take place September 22 at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York.

The annual fundraiser, organized by veteran sports broadcaster and talk-show host Ann Liguori, benefits various cancer-related charities, including the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and East End Hospice.

Lifeson, who in addition to his well-known career as a rock musician is an avid golfer, will be presented with the 2022 ALF Music Honoree Award at the charity event’s Award’s Dinner following the golf tournament. The benefit will also feature a silent auction.

“[Cancer] is a disease we are all too familiar with,” says Liguori in a statement. “We are all directly or indirectly affected by this dreadful disease and anything we can do to fight cancer has been a mission of mine for decades since our family lost my Dad to cancer in 1981. We also lost my brother to leukemia when he was 22. My sister Jean, brother Dan and I, are committed to this cause forever.”

Lifeson, along with his Rush bandmate Geddy Lee, is also scheduled to take part in the two star-studded tribute concerts the Foo Fighters have organized in honor of their late drummer Taylor Hawkins. The shows will take place on September 3 at Wembley Stadium in London and on September 27 at the Kia Forum near Los Angeles.

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David Bowie will be the latest artist honored with a stone plaque on The Music Walk of Fame, the London attraction in the city’s Camden Town district, which is renowned for its musical history.

Variety reports that the unveiling ceremony will be held on September 15, followed by a private event that’s expected to be attended by the late rock legend’s friends, fans and musical associates.

Bowie, who was born in the Brixton section of London, performed at Camden’s famed Roundhouse venue three times with his early band The Hype. His unveiling will take place one day before the new officially sanctioned Bowie film Moonage Daydream opens in IMAX theaters. The movie will then get a wider release on September 23.

“David Bowie is a global influence, one of the ultimate influencers and sooner or later, we had to have him on The Music Walk of Fame,” says Music Walk of Fame founder Lee Bennett. “Our intention is for this to be the highest honour a music figure can receive in the U.K. and beyond, the unveiling of David’s stone ensures that legacy.”

He adds, “We have huge plans for the future, but for now, let’s celebrate one of the greats of music.”

In November 2019, The Who became the first artist inducted into The Music Walk of Fame. They were followed by Madness, Soul II Soul and the late Amy Winehouse. In addition to featuring plaques honoring significant people from the music world, The Walk of Fame also serves as a virtual museum — with an app that uses augmented-reality technology to enhance visitors’ experience.

You can visit TheMusicWalkofFame.com for more information.

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ZZ Top has more than two dozen upcoming U.S. shows scheduled this fall as part of the famed Texas trio’s 2022 Raw Whiskey Tour.

Among the concerts are six late-September dates that will feature British rock-guitar legend Jeff Beck as an opening act; the first three also will include a set by Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson.

ZZ Top singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons notes that he’s performed with both Beck and Wilson before and says it’s possible that they may all end up onstage together during the upcoming shows, which are scheduled to take place in three different Texas cities — on September 23 in Del Valle, September 24 in Dallas and September 25 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands.

“[I]t’s going to be a very interesting gathering, having an expanded lineup on the stage,” Gibbons tells ABC Audio. “Let’s go for it.”

Gibbons also reveals that he recently had a conversation with Beck, one of his guitar heroes, who mentioned a couple of ZZ Top songs he was hoping to jam on with the group.

“He said, ‘Listen … I’ve been polishing my chops. I got ‘La Grange’ down,'” Gibbons reports. “He said, ‘Can we do “Rough Boy”?’ I said, ‘Well, we’ve done it in the past … There’s no reason why we can’t stretch it out.'”

ZZ Top’s upcoming U.S. tour dates are mapped out from a September 17 concert in Catoosa, Oklahoma, through a November 13 show in Pompano Beach, Florida. The band’s 2022 itinerary winds down with a five-date Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Resort, scheduled from December 3 to December 10.

Check out the band’s full schedule at ZZTop.com.

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