Classic Hits

As he waits to head back out on tour with his All Starr Band in September, Ringo Starr has posted a video update at his YouTube channel in which he shares some news about an upcoming release he has planned.

In the clip, the former Beatles drummer starts by sending out his usual “peace and love” message to fans, explaining that he’s hanging out on a beautiful day.

Then, after noting that the tour will be picking up again in September after a bunch of June dates were postponed, he declares, “I have another EP out in September. It’s called EP 3. And so, September’s gonna be pretty busy, thank you.”

As previously announced, Ringo and the All Starr Band’s postponed shows were rescheduled to run right into their fall North American leg, which is mapped out through an October 19-20 stand in Mexico City.

As its title suggests, Starr’s upcoming EP with be the third EP he’s released in the last couple of years. The first, Zoom In, was issued in March 2021, while the second, Change the World, arrived in September of last year.

Meanwhile, the end of the update video features footage of Ringo having fun while briefly jamming out with Toto and All Starr Band guitarist Steve Lukather on a version of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” with Ringo accompanying Steve on bongos.

After he stops playing, Starr comments, “Let’s do a version of that,” then declares, “Bongo boy!”

You can check out the All Starr Band’s full list of tour dates at RingoStarr.com.

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A new box set featuring remastered versions of former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler‘s four most recent solo studio albums, plus a disc of bonus songs, will be released on October 7 as a six-CD set, a nine-LP vinyl collection and on digital formats.

Mark Knopfler: The Studio Albums 2009-2018, which can be preordered now, includes 2009’s Get Lucky, 2012’s Privateering, 2015’s Tracker and 2018’s Down the Road Wherever. It also features the companion compilation Back in the Day: The Bonus Tracks 2009-2018, which includes studio B-sides and bonus tracks, as well as two previously unreleased songs from the Down the Road Wherever era — “Back in the Day” and “Precious Voice from Heaven.”

Three tracks from the rarities compilation — “Back in the Day,” “Don’t Suck Me In” and “Sky and Water” — are available now as advance digital tracks.

The vinyl box set will feature two LP versions of Get Lucky, Privateering, Tracker and Down the Road Wherever, plus the single-disc Back in the Day, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The collection also will come with five embossed prints of the cover art of each album.

Get Lucky, Privateering, Tracker and Down the Road Wherever peaked at #17, #65, #14 and #15, respectively, on the Billboard 200.

The upcoming box set is the follow-up to the Mark Knopfler: The Studio Albums 1996-2007 collection, which focused on Mark’s first five solo albums and was released in the U.S. in April.

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It’s been less than five months since Bryan Adams released Classic, a digital album stuffed with re-recordings of his greatest hits from the ’80s and ’90s — and part two is already on its way.

“Bryan is happy to announce ‘Classic Pt. II’ featuring 7 newly re-recorded favorites, is out digitally on Friday! Pre-save now!” Adams tweeted out on Thursday, sharing a link so fans can make sure the album arrives in their playlists at midnight.

Why is the “Summer of ’69” singer making these albums? Similar to pop supestar Taylor Swift‘s masters saga with her former label, Bryan is also fighting to reclaim the rights to his music.

In a March 2022 interview, he told Stereogum that Swift inspired him to re-record his old hits. Adams revealed that his former label, Universal Music Group, declined to hand over the rights to his catalog.

“She and I have been in a similar situation lately with our master recordings. My record company wasn’t interested in negotiating the return of my early masters, so I’ve done what she has done to re-record my early songs again,” he explained, adding that his Classic albums are coming out “thanks to Taylor.”

Swift invited Adams to sing with her during her Reputation Tour in 2019, and they performed “Summer of ’69” together. Bryan that hinted she made it even easier for him to think he could re-record his decades-old hits.

“I loved singing with Taylor,” he recalled, “In fact, I believe it’s the best version of the song since the original recording.”

Adams’ latest studio album of original material, So Happy It Hurts, was released this past March, one week after Classic.

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A new archival Joni Mitchell collection called The Asylum Years (1972-1975) that features remastered versions of the iconic singer/songwriter’s first four albums for the Asylum label is due out September 23.

The package, which includes 1972’s For the Roses, 1974’s Court and Spark and the double live album Miles of Aisles, and 1975’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns, will be available as a four-CD set, a five-LP vinyl collection and digitally.

After releasing her first four studio albums on Reprise Records, Joni signed to Asylum and began delving more deeply into jazz influences.

As Mitchell’s friend Neil Young writes in the box set’s liner notes, “She had grown from folk to jazz and in between, creating a unique kind of sound that I loved to listen to over and over.”

This period also saw Joni score her highest-charting albums and singles.

For the Roses peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 and featured Joni’s first top-40 hit, “You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio,” which reached #25 on the Hot 100.

Court and Spark ascended to #2 on the Billboard 200, powered by the singles “Help” and “Free Man in Paris,” which reached #7 and #22, respectively, on the Hot 100.

Miles of Aisles also peaked at #2 and included a version of her classic “Big Yellow Taxi” that reached #24 on the Hot 100.

The Hissing of Summer Lawns climbed to #4 and featured the minor hit “In France They Kiss on Main Street.”

The cover of The Asylum Years (1972-1975) features an original painting by Mitchell, and fans who preorder the CD or LP version of the set from JoniMitchell.com will receive a limited-edition poster of the artwork.

Check out the box set’s full track list here.

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James Taylor, Peter Gabriel and Mavis Staples are among the artists who have lent their talents to Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, a 12-track album celebrating the late legendary Canadian singer/songwriter.

The album was produced by Larry Klein, Joni Mitchell‘s ex-husband and main producer since the 1980s. Here It Is features versions of a mix of well-known and more obscure songs by Leonard Cohen, spanning from his 1967 debut album through 2016’s You Want It Darker, which was released shortly before his death.

Taylor recorded a new version of the 1984 tune “Coming Back to You” for the tribute album, while Gabriel contributed the title track, “Here It Is,” a rarity that dates back to 2001. Staples delivered a rendition of the 1984 tune “If It Be Your Will.” 

Taylor’s cover of “Coming Back to You” is available now as an advance digital track.

Taylor says of the tune, “Like so much of Leonard Cohen’s writing, this lyric resonates deeply with his forlorn and hopeless take on the bleak landscape of love and attachment. So, breathe a deep sigh and, drink up …”

Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Iggy Pop and David Gray are also featured on the tribute album.

Klein says he decided to organize the album for his close friend Cohen after realizing he’d been covering his songs with other collaborators. He assembled a group of respected jazz musicians and brought in guest singers to create reworked versions of Cohen’s tunes.

“It was an immensely gratifying experience to recontextualize these poems, and shine a different light on them,” Klein notes.

You can preorder Here It Is now. It will be available October 14 on CD, vinyl and digital formats.

Here’s the album’s full track listing:

“Steer Your Way” — Norah Jones
“Here It Is” — Peter Gabriel
“Suzanne” — Gregory Porter
“Hallelujah” — Sarah McLachlan
“Avalanche” — Immanuel Wilkins
“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” — Luciana Souza
“Coming Back to You” — James Taylor
“You Want It Darker” — Iggy Pop
“If It Be Your Will” — Mavis Staples
“Seems So Long Ago, Nancy” — David Gray
“Famous Blue Raincoat” — Nathaniel Rateliff
“Bird on the Wire” — Bill Frisell

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Earlier this month, country-rock pioneer Richie Furay, who co-founded Buffalo Springfield and Poco, released his latest solo album, the country covers collection In the Country.

The 12-track album mainly features renditions of major country hits, while also including some noteworthy crossover tunes, like Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis” and John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Furay tells ABC Audio the album came about after he reconnected with producer Val Garay, who produced his 1979 album, I Still Have Dreams.

Furay says Val suggested they do a country hits project. They both came up with lists of tunes, which they narrowed down to include chart-toppers from Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Lonestar, Alabama and Lee Ann Womack.

“Most of ’em were big hits … [but] I don’t want people to listen to this record and do comparisons,” Furay insists. “I just want ’em to sit back, ’cause, man, we just need music today … that people can just get lost in, and just say, ‘Wow, that’s just good sounding music.'”

Furay recorded the album in Nashville with talented session musicians. He also brought in some guests to contribute backing vocals, including his former Poco bandmate, longtime Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit.

Furay says of Schmit, who appears on multiple tracks, “He’s just a dear friend … whenever I ask Timothy if he wants to come and be a part of a record … if he’s got the time … he’s always there.”

Schmit also connected Furay with current Eagles touring member Vince Gill, who sings on a cover of the 1958 Ricky Nelson hit “Lonesome Town.”

Furay says working with Gill “was really a thrill and a blessing for me … He’s such a great, talented guy.”

Here’s In the Country‘s full track list:

“Somebody Like You” (Keith Urban)
“I Hope You Dance” (Lee Ann Womack)
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver)
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” (Sammy Kershw)
“Your Love Amazes Me” (John Berry)
“I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” (Alabama)
“Lonesome Town” (Ricky Nelson)
“Walking in Memphis” (Marc Cohn)
“I’m Already There” (Lonestar)
“The River” (Garth Brooks)
“In This Life” (Collin Raye)
“Chalk” (Buddy & Julie Miller)
 
Digital Bonus Tracks:
“I Cross My Heart” (George Strait)
“Pickin’ Up the Pieces” (Poco)

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David Lee Roth has posted a previously unreleased solo song at his official website and YouTube channel called “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” that finds the Van Halen frontman reminiscing about his old band.

Accompanying the track is a vintage photo of Roth and his three Van Halen band mates all jumping in the air at the same time. The stripped-down tune features multi-tracked acoustic guitars and sparse keyboards accompanying Roth’s vocals.

The song begins with the lines, “We laughed, we cried, we threw that television off the balcony/ That memory means so much to me,” and Diamond Dave sings later, “Remember when you safety pinned the tablecloth to my pants/ And I stood up to the sound of dancing, and the sound of our romance beginning.”

According to the fan site Van Halen News Desk, Roth recorded “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” several years ago with current Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 during the same sessions that yielded some of the other tracks Dave has released over the past couple years, including “Somewhere over the Rainbow Bar and Grill,” “Giddy-Up!,” “Low-Rez Sunset” and “Pointing at the Moon.”

In a 2021 interview with AL.com, John 5 mentioned “Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway” while discussing his sessions with Roth.

“Being a Van Halen fan and a Dave Lee Roth fan, it’s unbelievable because it’s about Dave singing about Van Halen and what it was like,” the guitarist noted. “Really something special, so I really hope that comes out.”

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Neil Young will release a remastered version of his 1989 EP Eldorado as a standalone vinyl disc for the first time on August 19.

The five-track collection was originally only released in Japan and Australia on CD and was later included as part of Young’s Original Release Series #4 box set, which arrived in March.

Eldorado includes two songs, “Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love,” that had never appeared on any other album as well as three tunes from Neil’s 1989 studio album Freedom — “Don’t Cry,” “Eldorado” and a cover of the 1963 Drifters hit “On Broadway.”

Young recorded the disc with bassist Rick Rosas and drummer Chad Cromwell, while longtime Crazy Horse guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro is featured on the title track.

The EP can be pre-ordered now and is available on CD as well as vinyl. Those who order the discs will also receive a high-res download of Eldorado.

When discussing the sound quality of the new release, Neil says, “Because of the technology used in mastering from the original files, the digital to analog transfer is superb, getting more out of the digital masters than the original CD could present. This then, is the best sounding Eldorado ever!”

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The Bangles and The Allman Brothers Band are taking part in the 2022 edition of Ten Bands One Cause.

The annual charity initiative features 10 artists reissuing albums on pink vinyl to raise money for Red Door Community, formerly known as Gilda’s Club NYC, which supports those with cancer and their caregivers. The organization was founded in memory of late comedian and Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

This year’s crop of reissues includes The Bangles’ 2014 compilation Ladies and Gentlemen…The Bangles! and the Allman Brothers’ Live from A&R Studios, which was recorded in 1971 but wasn’t released until 2016. Other artists taking part include The Black Keys, Judah & the Lion, Nas and Senses Fail.

For more info, visit 10Bands1Cause.com.

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Indie-pop act Bleachers welcomed a surprise guest to the stage during their show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday: the one and only Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss joined frontman Jack Antonoff and company to perform their collaborative tune “Chinatown,” which appears on the latest Bleachers album, 2021’s Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. Fan-shot footage of the rendition is streaming now on YouTube.

The onstage team up with Bleachers follows a recent run of live guest appearances by Springsteen, who also showed up at concerts by Coldplay and Paul McCartney over the past month or so. Bruce will head out on his own tour with his E Street Band in 2023.

“Chinatown” was first released as a single in November 2020, and Springsteen also appeared in the official music video for the song.

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