Classic Hits

Here’s wishing a happy 80th birthday to The Byrds‘ Roger McGuinn this jingle-jangle morning.

The singer, guitarist and songwriter, who was born James McGuinn, started his career working with such folk artists as The Limeliters, The Chad Mitchell Trio and Judy Collins.

In 1963, McGuinn relocated to Los Angeles, and after seeing The Beatles‘ George Harrison playing a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar in the 1964 movie A Hard Days Night, he took up the same instrument. McGuinn co-founded The Byrds that year with singer Gene Clark, singer/guitarist David Crosby, bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke.

Considered one of the originators of folk rock, the group showcased the harmonies of McGuinn, Clark and Crosby, while combining folk influences with Beatles-inspired rock.

Applying his folk techniques to the electric 12-string, McGuinn developed what became The Byrds’ signature jangly sound, which has influenced countless artists over the years.

The Byrds’ debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan‘s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1965. The band reached #1 again in December ’65 with their version of Pete Seeger‘s “Turn! Turn! Turn!“

McGuinn also wrote or co-wrote a few Byrds hits, including the influential psychedelic tune “Eight Miles High,” the country-flavored “Mr. Spaceman” and the horn-driven “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.”

The Byrds also pioneered country rock with the 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. From 1968 to ’73, McGuinn was the only founding member who remained in the group. The original lineup reunited for a final album, 1973’s The Byrds, before breaking up.

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, McGuinn teamed up with two former Byrds band mates in the group McGuinn, Clark and Hillman, which scored a top-40 hit with 1979’s “Don’t You Write Her Off.”

Since the ’80s, Roger has mainly focused on his solo career, although he teamed with Hillman and Crosby in 1990 to record four songs for a Byrds box set.

McGuinn was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Byrds in 1991.

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Poison frontman Bret Michaels has been chosen for induction into the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame this year, after his band was part of the institution’s inaugural class in 2020.

Michaels, who grew up in the central Pennsylvania borough of Mechanicsburg, is being recognized individually for his contributions as a solo entertainer, philanthropist and entrepreneur.

Michaels will be performing with Poison Tuesday night in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as part of The Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. He plans to return to his home state in the fall to accept the honor.

“Being born and bred in Pennsylvania, I am proud to be inducted as an individual into the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame, with Poison also having also been inducted on the first-ever ballot,” Michaels says in a statement. “I am beyond excited to be playing Hersheypark Stadium this evening. Come rain or shine, it’s going to be a party and the people of Pennsylvania always rock my world.”

Adds Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame President Brandon Valentine, “As a non-profit organization focused on music education for the local youth, the CPMHOF is honored to recognize Bret Michaels in a positive light. Bret has always held a special place in the hearts of Central Pennsylvanians.”

In addition to his achievements as a member of Poison and a solo artist, Michaels is a reality TV star and producer, and a successful businessman who displayed his entrepreneurial savvy as a winner of Celebrity Apprentice. In addition, Michaels, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child, has long been involved in helping support people with the disease, which is a main focus of his Life Rocks charitable foundation.

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Queen guitarist Brian May has teamed up with 10cc frontman Graham Gouldman for a new song called “Floating in Heaven,” which was released Tuesday in celebration of the historic first images sent to Earth from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The song was written and sung by Gouldman, who also played a number of instruments on the track, while May contributed lead guitar and backing vocals.

The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in December 2021, entered into Earth’s orbit in January of this year and became operational this week. It’s the most powerful telescope ever launched into space and is intended to succeed NASA’s Hubble telescope.

May, of course, has long been passionate about astronomy and earned a PhD in astrophysics from London’s Imperial College in 2007, while Gouldman is also enthusiastic about space science.

“Floating in Heaven” is available now via streaming and as a digital download. To accompany the melodic, atmospheric tune, an animated video depicting the James Webb Space Telescope being launched and activated has debuted on Queen’s official YouTube channel and the Space Telescope Science Institute’s YouTube channel.

You can check out the initial images that the telescope sent to Earth at NASA.gov.

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Three men were arraigned Tuesday on charges they conspired to illegally possess and sell 100 pages of notes and lyrics from the Eagles album Hotel California, including Don Henley‘s lyrics to the songs “Hotel California,” “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town.”

A biographer of the band stole the handwritten manuscripts in the 1970s. In 2005 he sold them to Glenn Horowitz, a rare books dealer and one of the three people charged Tuesday. Horowitz then sold them to Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The charges include conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property and hindering prosecution.

“There is no room for those who would seek to ignore the basic expectations of fair dealing and undermine the public’s confidence and trust in our cultural trade for their own ends,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

After learning Inciardi and Kosinski were trying to sell portions of the manuscripts, Henley filed police reports, told the defendants the materials were stolen and demanded the return of his property. The defendants responded by engaging in a yearslong campaign to prevent Henley from recovering the manuscripts, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Horowitz and Inciardi worked to fabricate the manuscripts’ provenance. Between 2012 and 2017, Inciardi and Kosinski attempted to use that false statement of provenance to coerce Henley into buying back his stolen property.

The men also sought to sell the manuscripts through Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses, and requested that Sotheby’s hide Henley’s claims from potential buyers prior to offering the manuscripts for sale at public auction in 2016.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office retrieved Henley’s stolen manuscripts from Sotheby’s and from Kosinski’s New Jersey residence, including 84 pages to songs from Hotel California.

Shortly thereafter, Horowitz attempted to exploit the recent death of founding Eagles member Glenn Frey to prevent criminal prosecution, claiming that the material originated from Frey.

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Today, July 12, marks the 60th anniversary of the first show that The Rolling Stones played under their famous moniker.

As explained in an article posted on BMG.com, the performance took place at London’s famous Marquee Club on Oxford Street. The show came about when British blues outfit Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, which had a residency lined up at the club, was offered the chance to play a live BBC broadcast that evening and accepted, leaving an opening at the venue.

Singer Mick Jagger, who occasionally performed with Korner’s group, was given the chance to fill in that night with the new band he’d been working with, although they didn’t have a name at the time and needed to choose one for the gig. Guitarist Brian Jones came up with The Rolling Stones, taken from a Muddy Waters song.

The band’s lineup for the show featured Jones — who was using the stage name Elmore Lewis at the time, Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, piano player Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor. There remains some disagreement about who, if anyone, played drums with the group that night.

The Rolling Stones played a 16-song set at the show that featured a mix of blues and early rock ‘n’ roll tunes. Here’s the full set list:

“Kansas City” – Wilbert Harrison
“Honey What’s Wrong” — Billy Fury
“Confessin’ the Blues” — Chuck Berry
“Bright Lights, Big City” — Jimmy Reed
“Dust My Blues” — Elmore James
“Down the Road Apiece” — Chuck Berry
“I Want to Love You” — Charles Smith
“I’m a Hoochie Coochie Man” — Muddy Waters
“Ride ‘Em On Down” — Robert Johnson
“Back in the USA” — Chuck Berry
“I Feel a Kind of Lonesome” — Jimmy Reed
“Blues Before Sunrise” — Elmore James
“Big Boss Man” — Jimmy Reed
“Don’t Stay Out All Night” — Billy Boy Arnold
“Tell Me That You Love Me” — Fats Domino
“Happy Home” — Elmore James

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The nominations for the 2022 Emmy Awards were announced today, and two Beatles-related documentary series came away with multiple nods.

The Beatles: Get Back, the three-part Disney+ docuseries about the January 1969 recording sessions that yielded the band’sLet It Be album, scored five nominations. The program will vie for the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series award, as well as for trophies honoring outstanding directing, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

In addition, the Hulu documentary series McCartney 3,2,1 received three nominations, for outstanding cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing. The six-part program featured Paul McCartney talking with producer Rick Rubin about the music thathe created with The Beatles and as a solo artist.

You can check out the full list of nominations at Emmys.com.

The 2022 Emmys will air September 12 on NBC.

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Moonage Daydream, the first David Bowie documentary to be officially sanctioned by his estate, has gotten a release date.

According to DavidBowie.com and Bowie’s social media pages, the film will open on September 16 in IMAX cinemas and other theaters around the world. A new official poster for the flick has also been unveiled.

As previously reported, Moonage Daydream was written and directed by Brett Morgen, whose previous films include The Kid Stays in the Picture, the Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. The new movie is described as “a sublime kaleidoscopic experiential cinematic odyssey that explores Bowie’s creative, spiritual, and philosophical journey.”

Moonage Daydream will feature Bowie’s own narration and includes unseen footage and performances as well as unheard music. The film includes 47 musical tracks, mixed from the original recordings. David’s longtime friend, collaborator and co-producer Tony Visconti, is serving as the musical producer of the project.

Billboard recently reported that the movie will get its TV premiere on HBO and HBO Max in the spring of 2023.

The first trailer for Moonage Daydream debuted in May. You can watch it now on YouTube.

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Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band‘s return to North American stages for the first time since 2016 will begin in February of 2023.

Bruce and the band will kick off their 2023 world tour with 31 U.S. dates starting February 1 in Tampa, Florida, and will wrap things up April 14 in Newark, New Jersey, before launching their previously announced European leg. After the European trek, which runs from late April through late July of 2023, Springsteen will return to North America for another leg starting in August.

Tickets for the U.S. arena shows will go on sale starting July 20 at 10 a.m. local time, via Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform. You can register for Verified Fan starting now through July 17 for the chance to score tickets. If you receive an access code via the platform, you can buy tickets between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time. Any tickets left will then go on sale that same day at 3 p.m. local time, no code required.

For shows in Houston; Philadelphia; Cleveland; and Brooklyn, New York, the on-sale starts at 10 a.m. local time with no code required.

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Graham Nash launches a U.S. summer leg of his “An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories” tour this Wednesday, July 13, in Red Bank, New Jersey.

The new outing, which will visit various venues in the Northeast, is mapped out through an August 8 concert in Ocean City, New Jersey, and follows a March-April trek that saw the 80-year-old folk-rock legend playing mainly in the Midwest and Southern U.S.

The early-2022 concerts featured Graham performing songs he recorded with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Hollies and from his solo career, as well as select covers.

Nash tells ABC Audio that for his upcoming concerts, he wants to add some brand-new tunes to his set that will appear on his next solo album, which he revealed recently is almost finished, but he admits that this may be a challenge.

“There’s only so much time,” Graham notes. “[W]hen you have the amount of songs that I have [that fans want to hear], plus all the stuff that I want to do in between, plus…the new stuff, I have to really do some serious thinking about which songs not to play.”

During his April-March trek, Nash performed such interesting covers as his ex-girlfriend Joni Mitchell‘s “A Case of You,” Neil Young‘s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and the Stephen Stills-penned CSNY tune “4 + 20,” but it remains to be seen if those tunes will appear in his upcoming sets.

Nash also has a fall leg lined up that will stop in cities throughout the Western U.S., and will run from a September 29 concert in Tacoma, Washington, through a three-show stand, October 27-29, in Park City, Utah. Check out his full schedule at GrahamNash.com.

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Los Lobos will be presented with a prestigious award at the 35th annual Hispanic Heritage Awards, which will air September 30 on PBS, and also will stream on PBS.org and the PBS Video app.

The acclaimed veteran rock band from East Los Angeles, California, will receive the Hispanic Heritage Arts Award. Formed in 1973, Los Lobos is known for blending various styles of Latin and American roots music. They found their greatest commercial success with their chart-topping cover of the late Ritchie Havens‘ classic 1958 hit “La Bamba,” which they recorded for the 1987 Valens biopic La Bamba.

The Hispanic Heritage Awards was created by the White House in celebration of the establishment of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the U.S., which takes place each year from September 15 to October 15.

“Los Lobos is an American roots band, and those roots run deep from their East Los Angeles barrio to influences from blues, rock, jazz, and, of course, Mexican and all Latin American music,” says Hispanic Heritage Foundation CEO and President Jose Antonio Tijerino. “Those ingredients created a unique sound and representation that has never been comprised, which is why the Hispanic Heritage Foundation is honored to recognize Los Lobos with our Arts Award.”

In a post on their Facebook page, Los Lobos say they’re “thrilled to be honored” with the award.

Visit HispanicHeritage.org for more information about the event.

Music artists who have been honored at previous Hispanic Heritage Awards ceremonies include Carlos Santana, Linda Ronstadt, Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, José Feliciano and Tito Puente.

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