Classic Hits

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones is one of more than 20 musicians from seven different countries featured in a video performing a new version of the blues song “When the Levee Breaks.” It premiered this weekend at PlayingforChange.com and on the Playing for Change YouTube channel.

“When the Levee Breaks,” a song written about about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, was originally recorded by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. Led Zeppelin’s reworked version of the tune appears on the band’s 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV.

The video, which features various musicians and singers performing their parts in different locations around the world, also includes Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins and ex-Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks, as well as Trucks’ wife and current band mate Susan Tedeschi on vocals, Robbie Robertson‘s son Sebastian on guitar, singer/songwriter Ben Lee on harmonica, and many others.

The clip also includes footage such natural disasters as flooding and drought.

“It seems that little has changed since 1927, or even 2005 with [Hurricane] Katrina,” Jones says in a statement regarding “When the Levee Breaks.” “It’s still a really powerful track, both musically and lyrically.”

Those who view the video are encouraged to donate money to the Playing for Change Foundation to aid its efforts raise awareness about and support organizations focused on various environmental issues.

The new recording and video of “When the Levee Breaks” is the latest in a series of covers of famous songs by international musicians that have been put together by  Playing for Change organization, which connects people around the world through music.

The “When the Levee Breaks” video originally premiered in December 2021 as part of the Peace Through Music: A Global Event for the Environment virtual benefit event.

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Edgar Winter has released a second advance single from his upcoming album project, Brother Johnny: An All-Star Tribute to Johnny Winter: a rendition of his late older sibling’s 1968 song “Mean Town Blues.”

Edgar’s version of the driving blues-rock gem, which is available to stream now, also features acclaimed contemporary blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Gregg Bissonette of Ringo Starr‘s All Starr Band, and longtime John Mayer bassist Sean Hurley.

“Johnny’s most highly respected authenticity was as a blues man, particularly his style of slide guitar, and if there’s one song that best epitomizes and brings all those elements together to represent the many aspects of who Johnny was in the early days, it is ‘Mean Town Blues,'” Edgar writes in the liner notes for Brother Johnny. “Every time I hear it I think, ‘Now that’s Real Johnny Winter.’ It just captures the essence of everything he was.”

As previously reported, Brother Johnny, which Edgar organized as a tribute to his brother, blues-rock guitar great Johnny Winter, will be released on April 15. The album features contributions from an impressive list of guest musicians, including Starr, Joe Walsh, ZZ Top‘s Billy Gibbons, Michael McDonald and John McFee of The Doobie Brothers, ex-Allman Brothers Band members Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, Foo Fighters‘ Taylor Hawkins, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, and many others.

The 17-track collection, which was curated by Edgar and producer Ross Hogarth, was put together to present Johnny’s artistic evolution. In addition to featuring various covers and renditions of songs by Johnny, it also includes two new originals by Edgar.

The album’s lead single, which was released in January, is a cover of the Chuck Berry classic “Johnny B.Goode” that features Edgar and Walsh sharing lead vocals.

Johnny Winter died in 2014 at age 70.

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The Scorpions have released another advance track from their their forthcoming studio album, Rock Believer, which is due out next Friday, February 25.

The new tune, titled “Shining of Your Soul,” is available via digital formats now, and is one of the few love songs on Rock Believer. Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine, who wrote the lyrics for the track, says it’s about the intensely passionate attraction that one person can sometimes feel for another.

Meine notes that “Shining of Your Soul” is about that emotion you may experience “[w]hen someone enters the room and you sense an aura that makes everything else fade into the background. When the atmosphere changes inexplicably, and one is enveloped in a warm glow. The shining of a soul.”

Musically, the song features verses that offer up a taste of reggae, while the choruses burst forth with the German rockers’ trademark melodic metal sound.

“Shining of Your Soul” is the fourth advance track from Rock Believer that the Scorpions have released, following “Peace Maker,” the album’s title track and “Seventh Sun.”

You can pre-order Rock Believer now.

As previously reported, The Scorpions will kick off their 2022 tour in support of the Rock Believer album with a nine-date Las Vegas residency at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood, running from March 26 to April 16. Visit The-Scorpions.com for more info.

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Paul McCartney just announced a 2022 U.S. tour today, which should help him offset the big loss he recently took on the sale of a New York City penthouse he owned with his wife, Nancy Shevell.

The Wall Street Journal reports the the former Beatles star and his spouse sold their luxury apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking the Big Apple’s Central Park for $8.5 million, which is $7 million less than they purchased the residence for in 2015.

According to the newspaper, the duplex apartment initially was listed at $12 million in June of 2021, then was reduced to $10.5 million in September.

McCartney and his wife bought the apartment, located at at 1045 Fifth Ave., for $15.5 million, which is about 40% less than they sold it for.

As reported by the Street Easy real-estate website in 2015, the co-op residence boasts wraparound balconies, a living room, library, master bedroom, and master sitting room that all face Central Park above the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir, plus a formal dining room and “a double height gallery.” The duplex also boasts floor-to-ceiling windows that are 40 feet high.

The New York Post reports that the building was built in 1967 by late developer Manny Duell, who created the duplex for his wife. She lived there until her death in 2014.

McCartney’s upcoming trek, dubbed the Got Back Tour, is scheduled to run from an April 28 concert in Spokane, Washington, through a June 16 show in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and his current band, The Dirty Knobs, have released a second advance single from their forthcoming sophomore album, External Combustion, due out on March 4.

The new tune, “Electric Gypsy,” is available now via digital formats, while a music video for the song has debuted on Campbell’s official YouTube channel.

The clip begins with Campbell hitchhiking in the desert, where he’s picked up by RV driven by a tattooed woman. Inside the motor home are The Dirty Knobs’ members and some female friends. The vehicle soon stops, and the musicians and their friends get out, and band proceeds to play the song out in the desert around a fire pit.

In a recent Facebook post, Campbell writes, “‘Electric Gypsy’ is one of my favorite songs on the new record. The song came to me in a moment of inspiration before a session with the band — and we recorded it that day in one take, guitar solo and all.”

As previously reported, External Combustion is an 11-track collection that features guest appearances by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople fame, Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and alt-country artist Margo Price.

Campbell wrote most of the songs on External Combustion during the past year, although two tunes date back to the 1990s and were recently rediscovered by Mike in his vault of unreleased tracks.

Prior to “Electric Gypsy,” Campbell and the group also released the album’s lead track, “Wicked Mind,” as an advance digital single, along with a companion music video.

External Combustion can be pre-ordered now, and is available on CD, on vinyl and via digital formats.

Campbell and The Dirty Knobs kick off a U.S. tour on March 9 in Tampa, Florida. Visit TheDirtyKnobs.com for the band’s full schedule.

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Everyone knows that Billy Joel is from Long Island, New York, but if you’ve ever wanted to get a better sense of the places that he sings about in his songs, you can now do it online.

The Billy Joel “New York State of Mind” Landmarks website has just launched, featuring an interactive map of 50 locations in New York that are either connected to Billy’s life, or are mentioned in his songs. You can navigate to places he’s played, like Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium, or see, for example, exactly where the “Miracle Mile” is that Billy sings about cruising in “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” is located.

In keeping with this theme, a new digital five-track EP called Places is out on all streaming platforms, showcasing some of the locations on the map.  The songs include “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” “New York State of Mind,” “Big Man on Mulberry Street,” “Everybody Loves You Now” and “Miami 2017 (See the Lights Go Out on Broadway).” It’s just the first in what will be a series of thematic EPs.

And if you want even more Billy, Walmart is now selling exclusive collectors’ editions of six of his albums, pressed on 12-inch colored vinyl with photo inserts.  Piano Man, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, An Innocent Man and Storm Front are all available, in different colors.

Both the website, the EP and the vinyl discs are part of the #50YearsofBilly celebration, recognizing 50 years since the release of his debut solo album, 1971’s Cold Spring Harbor.

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After being canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic, the Cincinnati Music Festival is returning July 21-23 with a lineup that includes Janet Jackson and The O’Jays.

Janet will headline the festival’s final night, and she’ll be preceded by The O’Jays, Tank, After 7, and saxophonist Kirk Whalum. Former Gap Band lead singer Charlie Wilson will be the headliner on Friday, July 22, while that bill also features Anthony Hamilton, Tony! Toni! Tone! and guitarist Jonathan Butler. BJ The Chicago Kid will open the festival on Thursday, July 21.

Tickets are now on sale on the festival website.

Jackson is enjoying a resurgence in her music sales and streams following the January 28 premiere her self-titled documentary on A&E and Lifetime. on January 28. As previously reported, her streams skyrocketed by 109 percent after the four-part documentary debuted.

According to Nielsen, 2.8 million people tuned in to watch part one of the documentary, and it amassed an additional 1.2 million views via digital download or on-demand. Parts two through four were seen by 4.3 million, 3.7 million and 3.8 million people,respectively, when they aired for the first time.

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If watching Get Back has made you crave more Beatles, then we’ve got good news: Paul McCartney‘s hitting the road for what he’s calling the Got Back tour.

“I said at the end of the last tour that I’d see you next time. I said I was going to get back to you. Well, I got back!” says Paul in a statement. 

The 13-city trek, the first since his Freshen Up tour wrapped in 2019, launches April 28 in Spokane, WA and is set to wrap up June 16 in East Rutherford, NJ.

The tour marks McCartney’s first-ever show in Spokane, as well as his live debuts in Hollywood, FL, Knoxville, TN and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and his first show in Baltimore, MD since 1964 with The Beatles.

Tickets go on sale February 25 at 10 a.m. local time. American Express® Card Members can get tickets starting Tuesday, February 22 at 10 a.m. local time through Thursday, February 24 at 10 p.m. local time. For all the details, visit PaulMcCartneyGotBack.com.

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Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons are hitting the road once again for a tour of the U.S. and U.K.

The group, whose 1967 song “Beggin'” became a huge hit last year thanks to a cover by the Italian rock band Måneskin, will kick off the tour March 4 in Boston. They’ll be on the road through January of 2023, stopping for a run of dates in June in the U.K.

“I’m so excited to go back on the road,” says Valli, 87, in a statement. “I’ve missed performing for our wonderful fans.”

Old hits by The Four Seasons and Valli have been reintroduced to a whole new generation over the past two years. In addition to last year’s revival of “Beggin’,” 2020 saw Valli’s 1967 solo hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” reworked into two separate hits. 

An artist called Surf Mesa‘s interpolated the song as “ily (i love you baby),” and made it a global smash. Meanwhile, a Spanish interpolation called “Te Quiero Baby (I Love You Baby)” by Chesca and Pitbull was a hit on the Latin charts.  Even pop superstar Shawn Mendes performed the song on BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge.

Meanwhile, another pop superstar, Nick Jonas, is playing Valli in a new streaming version of the musical Jersey Boys, though it’s not clear when and on which platform it’ll debut.

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Last month, Dead & Company was forced to call off its two-weekend Playing in the Sand destination festival due the Omicron surge of COVID-19.  But the band’s Bob Weir is planning to hit the road next month with his other band, and tells USA Today that, “God willing,” Dead & Company will be on the road this summer.

Weir’s Wolf Bros, which Weir formed in 2018 with Don Was and Jay Lane, are scheduled to launch a 13-city tour March 9 in Nashville, TN.  “It’s looking like, knock on wood, the Omicron effect will be in the rearview mirror,” Weir tells USA Today. “Here’s hoping something else doesn’t pop up.”

If you can’t make the tour, Friday sees the release of the first-ever vinyl Wolf Bros LP, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live in Colorado, recorded in June of 2021. Released on Third Man Records, it’s the first volume of a two-volume collection, due out later this year.

Asked to reflect on his musical legacy, Weir — whose resume also includes Ratdog and Furthur in addition to The Grateful Dead, Dead & Company and Wolf Bros — refuses to be pinned down to being famous for just one thing.

“There are great musical cultures and great music to be found. But there is nothing quite as magical as the American songbook. I spent 60 years or so delving as deep into it and as intently as I can,” he says. “I just love the stuff so much…be it country, blues, R&B…I try to play it all.”

Weir adds, “I guess in years to come, when people listen to me they’ll make note of the fact that he tried to play it all. We’ll see how successful people think I got.”

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