Classic Hits

A new four-part docuseries called Women Who Rock that focuses on female singers and musicians who have made a significant impact on the music world since the 1950s will premiere July 10 on EPIX.

The show will feature new interviews with Pat Benatar, Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Joan Jett, The B-52s‘ Kate Pierson, Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, Sheila E., Mavis Staples and many more reflecting on the musical contributions they and other female artists have made.

The series will showcase the artists sharing insights and stories behind their music, as well as discussing such topics as power, fame, truth and the struggle to achieve success.

The premiere episode, titled “Truth,” will look at the roots of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s and ’60s with profiles of Staples, Khan and the late Janis Joplin,plus commentary from Weymouth, Pierson, Norah Jones, Rickie Lee Jones, Merry Clayton and others.

Episode two, titled “Defiance,” which premieres on July 17, will focus on the 1970s and such artists as Wilson, Jett, Blondie‘s Debbie Harry, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks and Carole King.

The third episode, dubbed “Power,” debuts on July 24, and delves into the artists who emerged during the 1980s and ’90s, among them Benatar, Sheila E., Natalie Merchant, Crow, Missy Elliott, Courtney Love, Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette.

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Bad Company and Free singer Paul Rodgers has lent his vocal talents to a new song called “Red Harvest” by veteran singer/keyboardist Richard T. Bear, aka T Bear.

A music video for the melancholy tune, which T Bear was inspired to write while watching footage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has premiered on the Quarto Valley Records’ official YouTube channel.

The clip features live performance footage, along with images of Ukraine, a brief cameo by Rodgers, and scenes of T Bear singing on a beach dressed in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Money raised from the song and video will be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross’ humanitarian relief efforts.

“I watched as the missiles and bombs rained down upon the civilians; people trying to flee the death and destruction,” explains T Bear. “I walked over to my piano and in less than 30 minutes I had the idea of ‘Red Harvest.'”

The track also features former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber, acclaimed session bassist Lee Sklar and veteran session drummer Tony Braunagel, who produced the song with help from Juber.

All of the artists who participated in the recording did so free of charge.

“T Bear was truly inspired when he wrote ‘Red Harvest,'” Rodgers says. “I think we are all shocked at what is happening in Ukraine. Such a feeling of helplessness. We all do what we can.”

T Bear has posted a video on his Facebook page in which he reveals he’s working on a new studio album he expects to release in January.

During his career, T Bear has recorded with many well-known artists, including Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Blues Brothers, Billy Squier and Cher, as well as for KISS members Gene Simmons‘ and Peter Criss‘ solo projects.

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Can you remember back to 2012? Believe it or not, that was the last time that Matchbox Twenty released an album. Since then, front man Rob Thomas has put out three solo albums — including last year’s Something About Christmas Time — but now, it looks like Rob’s promises of new music are going to come true.

The band tweeted out a video that runs down their five previous albums, including their 2007 compilation Exile on Mainstream, plus the singles taken from each one. It’s captioned “Album #6…Stay Tuned.”

In September 2021, Rob told ABC Audio, “We’re actually working on some new songs right now. Maybe it’s an EP. I’m not going to sure what form that takes. But nowadays, it’s kind of open the way that we can present music. So we’re working on some new stuff right now that we’re really excited about.”

But in November 2021, Rob told ABC Audio that “doing a full album is probably folly” because he didn’t think the band had time in their personal lives to “make the kind of album that we would want to make.” But that was before Matchbox Twenty postponed their 2022 tour to 2023, so perhaps they managed to find the time.

When album #6 does arrive, it’ll be the follow-up to 2012’s North, which included the songs “She’s So Mean” and “Overjoyed.”

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On the heels of releasing his debut solo album, Speed of Heat, last Friday, former Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter has lined up a series of California tour dates in support of the record.

Baxter currently has six shows on his schedule: July 30 in Sutter Creek, July 31 in Mill Valley, August 1 in Oakland, August 2 in West Hollywood, August 3 in Solana Beach and August 4 in San Juan Capistrano.

The new series of shows follows Baxter’s East Coast outing in May. Baxter’s band features Speed of Heat co-producer CJ Vanston on keyboards, as well as Mark Damian on drums and Hank Horton on bass.

“CJ suggested Mark and Hank and I didn’t actually meet them until we started rehearsing for the tour,” Baxter says. “But we meshed immediately, and the initial dates went so well we don’t want to stop.”

As previously reported, Speed of Heat is a 12-track collection that features a mix of original tunes and select covers. Among the latter are versions of the Steely Dan classics “My Old School” and “Do It Again,” and the 1960 instrumental “Apache” that was popularized by The Shadows.

The album features Baxter singing lead on some tracks, as well as some guest vocalists and musicians, including his one-time Doobie Brothers bandmate Michael McDonald, country star Clint Black, Toto keyboardist David Paich and blues-rock singer/guitarist Jonny Lang.

McDonald lends his vocals to a song called “My Place in the Sun,” which he co-wrote with Baxter and Vanston, while Paich plays an organ solo on the “My Old Town” cover.

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Will & Grace executive producer Gary Janetti is looking back at Madonna‘s infamous cameo and hinted she made herself less funny because of how she dressed.

The “Ray of Light” singer appeared in the series’ fifth season as a woman named Liz, who becomes roommates with Megan Mullally‘s character, Karen.

Speaking to the Behind The Velvet Rope podcast, Janetti revealed there was a specific way that Madonna’s character was supposed to look, but the Grammy winner refused to “dress down.” 

He described Liz as “an executive secretary” and said she was “the kind of woman who wears her sneakers on the subway and carries her shoes in her bag and goes to a happy hour after work but thinks she’s… a big deal in her tiny office.”

Janetti adds Madonna was supposed to wear suits with sneakers, but she “didn’t want to wear any of those clothes.” He noted that because the singer was “at the height of her fame,” she wanted to call the shots on her makeup and wardrobe. It was also apparent, to him, that Madonna was not going to budge.

So, Madge wore what she wanted and added “long, blonde hair extensions” — but it wasn’t her character’s vibe.  Because of that, some jokes had to be rewritten because they “didn’t make sense anymore.”

“She looked like Madonna. She looked like a rich, fabulous celebrity, which wasn’t what the character was,” he said. He added, “As a result, it was about 50 percent less funny than it should have been.”

Janetti said Madonna was “funny” and had a “good sense of humor” but inferred that wasn’t enough to salvage her cameo.

Will & Grace ran for eight seasons between 1998 and 2006.

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A new documentary focusing on Don McLean‘s epic 1971 song “American Pie” and its legacy will premiere in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on July 8 and will make its television debut July 19 on the Paramount+ streaming service.

The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie” will include new interviews with McLean and will feature the singer/songwriter revealing for the first time secrets behind the tune’s creation and the meaning behind its lyrics.

The film also looks at important cultural moments and events in U.S. history that played a role in inspiring “American Pie” and features various people from different generations explaining how they were affected by the song.

The movie includes commentary from a number of celebrities, including Garth Brooks, The Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson and actor Peter Gallagher, who share their admiration for the song and discuss how it has impacted their lives.

“This documentary is something that will make people think, especially since so many throughout the years have asked me what certain lyrics meant or whom I was referring to, but now I finally can solve many of those mysteries,” says McLean. “Everyone from Madonna to Garth Brooks to Weird Al Yankovic has recorded ‘American Pie’ and made it their own. So many people have their own interpretation of the song, and I love it.”

You can check out a trailer for the film now at Paramount+’s official YouTube channel. In the preview, we hear McLean explain of the song, “I wrote all the verses in about an hour, like a genie out of a bottle,” and how Buddy Holly‘s death helped inspire it.

The Day the Music Died also will be screened in select theaters around the world on July 14 and July 17.

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ZZ Top has added three new shows to their 2022 Raw Whisky Tour, all taking place in their home state of Texas in late September and featuring Jeff Beck and Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson as special guests.

The concerts are scheduled for September 23 in Del Valle, September 24 in Dallas and September 25 in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands. Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 24 at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Pre-sale tickets for members of ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres fan club are available now.

ZZ Top launched the Raw Whisky Tour in late May, and with the addition of the three Texas shows, the band now has over 40 confirmed upcoming 40 dates. The trek celebrates ZZ Top’s new Tres Hombres whiskey brand as well as the group’s forthcoming album, Raw, which will be released July 22.

As previously reported, Raw was recorded at the historic Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas, in conjunction with the famed blues-rock trio’s 2019 documentary, That Little Ol’ Band from Texas. It features ZZ Top’s classic lineup — singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and late bassist Dusty Hill — playing an intimate set of songs from their back catalog.

Meanwhile, the shows with ZZ Top are Beck’s first announced U.S. dates for 2022. He recently announced that he’ll be releasing a collaborative album with actor/rocker Johnny Depp titled 18 on July 15.

Wilson has been on tour supporting her latest solo studio album, Fierce Bliss, which was released in April, but she announced via Twitter on Tuesday that she had to postpone her remaining June concerts because four crew members tested positive for COVID-19. Her trek will resume in July.

Check out ZZ Top’s full tour schedule at ZZTop.com.

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A 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of Jethro Tull‘s classic 1972 concept album Thick as a Brick will be released on July 29.

The reissue will offer a recreation of the original album’s unique packaging, which featured a 12-page broadsheet newspaper that included fake news articles, a crossword puzzle, a connect-the-dots puzzle and more.

The half-speed-mastered LP, which features acclaimed prog-rock studio whiz Steven Wilson‘s 2012 mix of the album, can be preordered now.

Thick as a Brick, which featured one long, continuous song, was released in March 1972 and became Jethro Tull’s first album to top the Billboard 200 chart, spending two weeks at #1 in June of that year.

The concept behind Thick as a Brick is that the album’s lyrics came from an epic poem written by an 8-year-old boy named Gerald Bostock, a character created by front man Ian Anderson.

The newspaper, dubbed The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser, was written by Anderson and two of his Tull bandmates — keyboardist John Evan and bassist Jeffrey Hammond — and includes a review of the album itself.

You can check out a video of Anderson showing off the vinyl reissue at Jethro Tull’s official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the long-out-of-print deluxe 40th anniversary CD/DVD version of Thick as a Brick will be made available again on October 7 and can be preordered now.

The CD/DVD set includes stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the album by Wilson, the original mix and a book featuring a recreation of the newspaper, an interview with Anderson, rare photos and more.

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The Isley Brothers were among the list of stars inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last Thursday, and ahead of their nostalgic performance of past hits at the ceremony, they talked with ABC Audio about the importance of Black music.

“So much of the music, in terms of its foundation, comes from Black artists,” said Ernie Isley, who was joined on the carpet by his brother Ronald Isley.  

“You look at the Isley Brothers catalog — I mean, you could do a party and just play Isley Brothers music because of the songs,” he said. “In addition to having the Isley Brothers, you’d have The Beatles, you’d have Aaliyah, you’d have ‘I love it when you call me Big Poppa,’ you’d have Ice Cube, all sorts of artists that lean on our catalog.”

The Isley Brothers, a soul and R&B family music group from Ohio, has a catalog that spans more than eight decades and features hits like “Twist and Shout,” “It’s Your Thing,” “That Lady” and “Fight the Power” and top-selling albums like Between the Sheets.

As for which song the duo is particularly proud of producing, Ronald said, “Each and every one of them,” while adding that “Shout,” the band’s first record to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is the one most likely to be played at weddings.  

Last week’s induction ceremony saw a performance of “Shout” by Ernie and Ronald, who said it “feels great” to be honored after 65 years of music.

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The Beach Boys released an expanded and remastered version of their popular 2003 hits compilation Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys this past Friday.

The updated retrospective features a whopping 80 tracks, 50 more than the original version, and is part of a recently launched worldwide celebration marking The Beach Boys’ 60th anniversary.

Founding Beach Boys member Al Jardine marvels at his group’s long history and the deep, wide-ranging body of work they created — as exemplified by Sounds of Summer — thanks in great part to the compositional skills of his band mate Brian Wilson.

“Yeah, it’s fantastic, really. We were really lucky,” Jardine tells ABC Audio. “We were a tight-knit family for a long period of time. And the miracle of the songwriting part of it, being Brian’s forte, we just got lucky. And we got so many wonderful opportunities since that first recording to grow with the music. And here we are 60 years later.”

The deluxe Sounds of Summer reissue includes 24 new mixes, with stereo mixes of two tracks being made available for the first time.

Jardine says he thinks it’s cool when Beach Boys tunes get sonic updates, noting that “it’s nice to…have a little slightly different point of view each time you hear it all [again].”

Regarding the decision to release an expanded compilation, Al says, “[W]e’re capturing new generations every decade, so it kind of makes sense in a way. Our audience is expanding. We have more folks listening to us now, and enjoying the lesser-known stuff as well [as the summer-themed classic hits].”

As previously reported, the deluxe Sounds of Summer reissue is available now as a three-CD set, as a six-LP vinyl package and via digital formats.

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