Classic Hits

Guitars signed by Journey‘s Neal Schon, The Grateful Dead‘s Bob Weir and former Traffic member Dave Mason are among the items currently up for bid in a benefit auction that will help provide free mental health therapy to members of the music industry in need.

The Backline organization and the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund have teamed up to organize the auction with the hope of raising $100,000 for Sweet Relief’s Music’s Mental Health Fund, which will provide mental health resources to about 250 music industry professionals and their family members.

The sale, which is being hosted by the Propeller social-impact platform, includes a Player Plus Stratocaster guitar signed by Schon, a D’Angelico Excel guitar autographed by Weir and a Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster signed by Mason.

The auction also is offering the chance to win tickets to select concerts and events, including front-row seats to Jackson Browne‘s July 26 show at New York City’s famed Beacon Theatre, plus a special merch pack.

To check out the full list of items and to place a bid, visit Propeller.la.

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Elton John‘s classic fifth studio album, Honky Château, was released 50 years ago today, on May 19, 1972.

The album was Elton’s first to top the Billboard 200, spending five consecutive weeks at #1 in July and August of ’72 and beginning a run of six straight chart-topping studio efforts in the U.S. for Elton.

Honky Château included two songs that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, “Rocket Man” — one of Elton’s signature tunes — and “Honky Cat,” which peaked at #6 and #8, respectively.

The album was recorded in France at Château d’Hérouville, an 18th century manor house, and was Elton’s first full album to feature contributions from his classic backing band of guitarist Davey Johnstone, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray.

Johnstone tells ABC Audio that he had basically just met Olsson and Murray for the first time at the airport before the sessions began, but he says they quickly developed a chemistry while working on the album.

“[W]ith Elton on piano, Nigel on drums, Dee on bass and me on guitars, and then us all doing background vocals, we it had tailor-made,” Johnstone says. “[We were a] four-piece … rocking outfit. And with Bernie Taupin supplying the lyrics, it was like, suddenly we were this unstoppable force.”

Johnstone notes that with everyone staying at the chateau, songs often would come together very quickly.

“[W]e’d come down in the morning and have a coffee and a baguette or something, and we’d just immediately start rehearsing some of these songs,” Johnstone recalls. “And in some cases, we’d rehearse the song and we’d say, ‘Oh, that sounds great. Let’s just go over to the studio and cut it right now.’… So it was very, very fast.”

Here’s Honky Château‘s full track list:

“Honky Cat”
“Mellow”
“I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself”
“Susie (Dramas)”
“Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”
“Salvation”
“Slave”
“Amy”
“Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”
“Hercules”

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Queen Elizabeth II‘s Platinum Jubilee celebration, which will mark her 70th year on the British throne, just got a lot more star-studded.

The lineup for the Platinum Party at the Palace, a massive concert set for June 4 in front of Buckingham Palace in London, has been revealed. Sir Elton John, Sir Rod Stewart, Duran Duran and Diana Ross are among the performers, as are, fittingly, Queen + Adam Lambert.

The bill also includes Alicia Keys, Andrea Bocelli, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Also part of the lineup are several pop and rock artists who are well known in the U.K. but perhaps less familiar in the U.S., including George Ezra, Craig David, Elbow, Sam Ryder, Mabel, Sigala & Ella Eyre, Mica Paris, Celeste and Mimi Webb.

There are just 10,000 tickets available, which are being allocated on a first come, first served basis. Visit the BBC’s websitefor more information. It’s not clear yet if the BBC’s broadcast of the event will air in North America.

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A new Alice Cooper action figure celebrating the shock rocker’s memorable early-1970s look and his band’s classic 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies has been released by the Super7 toy company as part of its ReAction Figure series.

The figurine depicts Cooper with his trademark face makeup wearing a black leather outfit, including a vest, gloves and knee-high boots with silver lightning bolts on the side. The toy also features two accessories — a microphone and Cooper’s pet snake.

The figurine comes packaged on a special billion-dollar-bill cardback similar to the one that came with the original Billion Dollar Babies LP.

Billion Dollar Babies is the only Cooper album ever to top the Billboard 200. It included the top-40 hits “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Hello Hooray.”

The Cooper figure is available now at Super7.com and is priced at $18. Previous toys in the ReAction Figure series include figurines depicting Motorhead‘s Lemmy, late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, late Exodus frontman Paul Baloff, Iron Maiden mascot Eddie, King Diamond and Ghost singer Papa Emeritus II.

Cooper is set to kick off a 2022 European tour this Sunday, May 22, in Swansea, Wales. Check out his full schedule at AliceCooper.com.

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A massive Al Stewart box set titled The Admiralty Lights, spanning the veteran Scottish singer/songwriter’s nearly 60-year career, will be released on June 3.

The 50-CD collection features remastered versions of all 21 of Stewart’s studio albums, 18 discs of previously unheard live recordings spanning from 1970 to 2009, three CDs of BBC sessions that Stewart recorded from 1965 to 1972, and eights discs of demos, outtakes and other rare tracks dating from 1964 to 2008.

The box set also includes a 160-page hardback book featuring extensive liner notes, an interview with Stewart, and rare photos and memorabilia; a 24-page “Collectors’ Book” with details about the various rare recordings; a print of the cover of Stewart’s smash 1976 album Year of the Cat signed by artist Colin Elgie; and a poster of Stewart’s 1988 album Last Days of the Century.

Stewart emerged from the British folk scene during the 1960s, but he enjoyed his biggest success as a rock artist with two platinum-selling, Alan Parsons-produced albums — Year of the Cat and 1978’s Time Passages.

Year of the Cat featured the hit title track, which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “On the Border,” which fell just short of the chart’s top 40. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200.

Time Passages reached #10 on the Billboard 200, while its title track became Stewart’s highest-charting single in the U.S., peaking at #7 on the Hot 100.

Other noteworthy recordings in the box set include Stewart’s 1969 Love Chronicles album, featuring contributions from Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones; and 1973’s Present & Future, which boasts appearances by Yes‘ Rick Wakeman and Queen‘s Roger Taylor.

The Admiralty Lights can be preordered now.

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The Eagles will wind down the 2022 U.S. portion of their long-running Hotel California Tour with a recently announced May 28 concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and now additional tickets to the show have been made available.

The tickets, which are priced starting at $139, are on sale now at AXS.com, while a limited number of VIP packages also are available for purchase. The VIP packages include premium seats, special merchandise and more.

The Eagles launched their Hotel California Tour in 2019 with three sold-out concerts at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

As previously reported, the Hotel California shows feature the current Eagles lineup performing the band’s classic 1976 album of the same name in its entirety, as well as other classics, accompanied by an orchestra and a choir.

Prior to the Las Vegas concert, the Eagles have three other U.S. shows scheduled — a May 19-20 engagement in Austin, Texas, and a May 25 performance in Salt Lake City.

The band also has a series of five European concerts scheduled in June.

Visit Eagles.com for complete tour and ticket information.

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A collection of guitars and memorabilia belonging to former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman that had been displayed at the recently closed Sticky Fingers restaurant he owned in London have been added to an auction of music collectibles scheduled for May 20-22.

The auction, the latest installment of Julien’s Auctions’ “Music Icons” sale, will be held at the Hard Rock Café in New York City, while bids also will be accepted online.

Almost 150 lots belonging to the 85-year-old rocker are part of the auction, including guitars, basses, “gold” and “platinum” record awards, photos, posters and other artifacts.

Among the instruments going on the block is a 1965 Framus Star bass that Wyman used during Stones concerts and recording sessions in 1965 and ’66. It is valued between $30,000 and $50,000.

Also being auctioned are a 1974 Dan Armstrong prototype bass that Wyman played on the Stones’ 1975-1976 tour, and a 1978 Travis Bean custom short-scale bass that was custom built for Wyman and was used on Stones recordings and tours from 1978 to 1981; both are estimated to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.

In addition, a 1969 Fender Telecaster guitar that Wyman used for home recordings in the 1970s and ’80s is expected to bring in $15,000 to $25,000.

Wyman also is selling “gold” record awards for such Stones albums as Out of Our Heads, Aftermath, Between the Buttons, Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers.

Sticky Fingers restaurant was open from 1989 to 2021. Wyman notes, “This wonderful collection of Stones memorabilia that was displayed there … [gives] people the chance to have a piece of Sticky Fingers history for themselves.”

Check out the full list of items up for bid at the auction at JuliensLive.com.

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Daryl Hall has three shows left on his current series of joint U.S. tour dates with support act Todd Rundgren, and the Hall & Oates singer has now added a new six-show summer leg to the trek.

The newly announced concerts, which will mostly take place in the Southeast, run from a July 31 performance in Hollywood, Florida, through an August 11 gig in North Charleston, South Carolina. The other shows are scheduled for August 3 in St. Petersburg, Florida; August 5 in Roanoke, Virginia; August 7 in Mason, Ohio; and August 9 in Durham, North Carolina.

Tickets for the concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 20, at 10 a.m. local time via LiveNation.com.

Hall’s current run of shows with Rundgren — his second of 2022 — winds down with performances this Wednesday in Denver; Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Sunday in Austin, Texas. The first run of concerts kicked off on April 1, the same day that Hall released his first solo compilation, BeforeAfter.

BeforeAfter is a 30-track collection that features selections from all five of Hall’s solo studio albums, as well as eight performances from his acclaimed TV/web series Live from Daryl’s House, six of which were previously unreleased.

Among the Live from Daryl’s House performances is a duet between Hall and Rundgren on Rundgren’s 1978 hit ballad “Can We Still Be Friends.”

Meanwhile, Hall also has six U.S. concerts with his longtime musical partner John Oates scheduled for later this year, running from a September 1 show in Canandaigua, New York, through an October 22 performance in Laughlin, Nevada.

Visit HallandOates.com for a full list of dates.

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Last month, Julian Lennon performed a cover of his late father John Lennon‘s classic peace anthem “Imagine” as part of Global Citizen’s Stand Up for Ukraine campaign. Now he’s set to release a special audio-visual NFT focusing on the performance, which will raise money for Ukrainian relief.

The NFT will include Julian’s recording of “Imagine,” which features him accompanied by Extreme‘s Nuno Bettencourt on guitar and backing vocals, as well as a visual interpretation of the song and audio narration by Julian explaining why he decided to perform his father’s famous tune.

The visual element that accompanies the recording includes black-and-white pencil strokes by Julian that transform into pockets of light.

Starting this Friday, May 20, the NFT will be available for purchase at the Yellowheart digital marketplace for 11 days priced at $11. A portion of the proceeds raised by sale of the digital tokens will benefit Julian’s White Feather Foundation and the charity’s efforts to aid Ukrainian refugees.

“The war on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy, and as a human and an artist I have always felt that music finds a way to heal, comfort, rally and support during times of crisis,” Julian says. “Performing my father’s classic ‘Imagine’ was a very personal decision, but an obvious one given his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide.”

He adds, “Partnering with YellowHeart to offer NFT artwork that includes my interpretation of the song will provide an opportunity for fans to connect and unite through the song’s message of unity in a new and innovative way.”

A video of Julian performing “Imagine” with Bettencourt debuted on Julian’s YouTube channel on April 8 in conjunction with the Stand Up for Ukraine campaign. It marked his first public performance of his late father’s song.

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Back in January it was announced the acclaimed three-part Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back would be released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 8, but the release was indefinitely delayed.

Now, Variety reports that the physical versions of the doc will finally get their release on July 12.

According to Variety, the delay was due to a defect that was discovered in the discs.

The DVD and Blu-ray sets will feature the entire 468-minute documentary across three discs, although the outlet reports that there are no bonus features. The foldout packaging includes four commemorative cards boasting pics of each Beatles member. Both editions will offer multiple audio options.

As previously reported, The Beatles: Get Back was directed by Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson and premiered on Disney+ in late November 2021.

The series was created from dozens of hours of previously unseen footage shot in January 1969 for what became the 1970 film Let It Be.

Besides showing the Fab Four working on the songs that eventually appeared on the Let It Be album, Get Back also captures the group jamming on covers and older Beatles tunes, playing songs that would be featured on Abbey Road and the bandmates’ future solo albums — joking, arguing, chatting and more.

The docuseries ends with footage of the entire surprise performance that The Beatles gave on the roof of their Apple company’s headquarters in London’s Savile Row, which turned to be the last time the band played together in public.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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