Classic Hits

John Fogerty will headline three special benefit concerts in Florida next month, that will raise money for The Charity Pro’s, a Fort Myers, Florida-based non-profit established to support and advocate for children’s social causes.

The shows, scheduled November 20 in Tampa, November 21 in Estero, and November 23 in Orlando, will raise funds for the organization’s “Charity Pro’s for Heroes” initiative, which will help provide educational scholarships to children of first responders and healthcare workers who died from complications of the COVID-19 virus.

Proceeds from the events also will go toward granting children of fallen heroes a “Megan’s Wish,” that is, a special experience that will enrich their lives with love, hope and strength.

Joining Fogerty at the concerts will be three special support acts — country star Lauren Alaina on November 20, Foreigner on the 21st and Cheap Trick on the 23rd. Recent American Idol finalist Casey Bishop, an Estero native, will perform at all three shows.

Immediate family members of first responders and healthcare workers who passed away from COVID-19 are invited to attend the concerts for free. Those interested in reserving seats can email meg@thecharitypros.org.

First responders and healthcare workers will be able to purchase discount tickets for the events through the end of the day today by using the promo code HERO. Visit TheCharityPros.org for more information.

“Every day, we learn of the incredible stories of the children and families of our Heroes nationwide who are dealing with the effects of losing a parent or loved one,” says The Charity Pro’s founder Megan Maloney. “Bringing these families together to honor their loved ones, their Heroes and ours, is the very least we can do.”

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Jay Black, former lead singer of the 1960s pop-rock group Jay and the Americans, died Friday at age 82, his family revealed to Rolling Stone.

According to the statement, Black passed away from complications from pneumonia, and he also battled dementia in recent years.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Black, whose given name was David Blatt, joined Jay and the Americans after original lead singer Jay Trainor left the group in 1962, not long after the band had scored a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Cried.”

Led by Black’s soaring voice, the band scored many more top-40 hits throughout the 1960s, its biggest coming in 1964 with “Come a Little Bit Closer,” which peaked at #3. Jay and the Americans also hit the top 10 in 1965 with “Cara Mia” and in 1969 with “This Magic Moment,” which reached #4 and #6, respectively.

Among the group’s other hits were “Let’s Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key),” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Sunday and Me” and “Walkin’ in the Rain,” which all cracked the top 20.

The band split up in 1973, and afterward, Black continued to tour as a solo artist, playing his final show in 2017.

Jay and the Americans reformed in 2006 with a new lead singer named “Jay.” The band paid homage to Black in a message posted on their Facebook page on Saturday.

“Today, we mourn the passing of David Blatt a/k/a Jay Black and we acknowledge the great successes we had with him both as a partner and as a lead singer,” the note reads. “We shared both wonderful and very contentious times, and much like an ex-wife, we are so proud of the beautiful children we created. We’ll always remember The Voice.”

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse recently debuted a new song called “Song of the Seasons” as an advance track from the band’s upcoming album Barn, and now a video for the tune has premiered at NeilYoungArchives.com and Young’s YouTube channel.

The clip features stop-motion footage of a beautiful mountain landscape and lake apparently recorded by a stationary video camera.

According to a message Young posted on his website, the video was shot by his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, and shows “the landscape and life where our record was made.”

As previously reported, Barn is a 10-track collection that will be released on December 10. It was recorded “this summer under a full moon, in a restored off-grid 19th century barn high up in the Rockies.” Barn will be available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set.

The box set includes a CD and a vinyl LP, as well as a Blu-ray disc that features a film directed by Hannah offering a look at the making of Barn. The Blu-ray will also be released separately.

In his new message, Young explains, “All the songs in our Barn film are the originals. Crazy Horse is seen playing each (almost) song. All performances are of our original recordings used on the album. Since we play ‘live’ in the Barn, you are seeing exactly what happened that day as we made Barn the album.”

He adds, “Not a lot of records are recorded live anymore, so it should be interesting and fun for you. These are not contrived little snips. They document what happened.”

You can pre-order Barn now.

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The Rolling Stones‘ expanded 40th anniversary version of their chart-topping 1981 album Tattoo You got its release today.

The reissue, which is available in multiple formats and configurations, features nine previously unreleased tracks from that period.

All versions of the Tattoo You reissue feature a newly remastered version of the original 11-track album, which includes such hits and gems as “Start Me Up,” “Waiting on a Friend,” “Hang Fire,” “Little T&A” and “Neighbours.”

The Super Deluxe edition is available as either a four-CD or five-LP vinyl set. It includes the nine unreleased tracks gathered on one CD or two-LP under the title Lost & Found, plus a two-disc live collection dubbed Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982, featuring a 26-song performance by The Stones at the famed London venue.

Lost & Found features covers of the 1970 Chi-Lites tune “Troubles a’ Comin,” the 1963 Jimmy Reed song “Shame, Shame, Shame,” and Dobie Gray‘s soulful hit 1973 ballad “Drift Away,” as well as a reggae-flavored rendition of “Start Me Up.” The tracks have been enhanced with newly added vocals and guitars.

Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982 was recorded in June of that year during the Tattoo You tour, and features performances of various Stones classics, select covers like Eddie Cochran‘s “Twenty Flight Rock” and The Big Bopper‘s “Chantilly Lace,” and several songs from Tattoo You.

The box sets also come with a 124-page book featuring hundreds of 200 rare photos, interviews and more.

In conjunction with the Tattoo You reissue’s arrival, a new video trailer for the collection has premiered at The Stones’ YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, The Stones continues their 2021 U.S. tour with a concert this Sunday in Minneapolis.

Here’s the track list of the reissue’s four-CD version:

CD 1: Tattoo You (2021 Remaster)
“Start Me Up”
“Hang Fire”
“Slave”
“Little T&A”
“Black Limousine”
“Neighbours”
“Worried About You”
“Tops”
“Heaven”
“No Use in Crying”
“Waiting on a Friend”

CD 2: Lost & Found: Rarities
“Living in the Heart of Love”
“Fiji Jim”
“Troubles a’ Comin”
“Shame Shame Shame”
“Drift Away”
“It’s a Lie”
“Come to the Ball”
“Fast Talking Slow Walking”
“Start Me Up” (Early Version)

CD 3: Still Life (Wembley Stadium Concert 1982)
“Under My Thumb”
“When the Whip Comes Down”
“Let’s Spend the Night Together”
“Shattered”
“Neighbours”
“Black Limousine”
“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”
“Twenty Flight Rock”
“Going to a Go Go”
“Chantilly Lace”
“Let Me Go”
“Time Is on My Side”
“Beast of Burden”
“Let It Bleed”

CD 4: Still Life (Wembley Stadium Concert 1982)
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
Band Introductions
“Little T&A”
“Tumbling Dice”
“She’s So Cold”
“Hang Fire”
“Miss You”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“Brown Sugar”
“Start Me Up”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

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The new documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers will get its worldwide release on November 11 as a free streaming event shown in 4K resolution on Tom Petty‘s official YouTube channel as part of the YouTube Originals series.

As previously reported, the movie focuses on the creatively fruitful period from 1993 to 1995, during which Petty made his acclaimed 1994 solo studio effort, Wildflowers, and recorded many other songs that weren’t initially released on the album. The film features previously unseen 16-millimeter footage shot during the making of Wildflowers, archival commentary from Tom, and new interviews with producer Rick Rubin and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell — who both co-produced the album with Tom — as well as with Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench.

A new trailer for the documentary has debuted at Petty’s YouTube channel. The two-minute promo features footage of Petty in the studio and on a tour bus and onstage, vintage photos, and clips of Tench and Campbell discussing Wildflowers. You also hear Tom talking about the project and reflecting on his approach to making the record.

Somewhere You Feel Free premiered in March as part of the virtual South by Southwest Film Festival, and the documentary got its theatrical release as a global screening event on Wednesday, October 20 — coinciding with what would’ve been Petty’s 71st birthday.

The film was directed by Mary Wharton, whose credits also include last year’s Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.

Petty initially had planned for Wildflowers to be a double album, but was convinced by his record label to release it as a single disc. The many extra tracks he recorded during the sessions, along with a bevy of outtakes, finally were released last year on the Wildflowers & All the Rest box set.

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Expanded and remastered versions of The Band‘s fourth album, Cahoots, will be released on December 10, in commemoration of its recent 50th anniversary.

Released in September 1971, Cahoots peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and featured such notable tunes as “Life Is a Carnival,” the Canadian-American roots-rock group’s rendition of Bob Dylan‘s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” and the Van Morrison collaboration “4% Pantomime.”

Among the versions of the 50th anniversary Cahoots reissue is a Super Deluxe box set featuring two CDs, a 180-gram vinyl LP, a Blu-ray disc, a 7-inch vinyl single, a photo booklet and more.

The updated version of the album was mixed by lauded engineer Bob Clearmountain, and overseen by Band guitarist/main songwriter Robbie Robertson.

Robertson explains, “I told Bob, ‘There are no rules. So, every mix we do, I want to start from scratch. I don’t even want to listen to the original. I want to listen to the way we hear it now and be fearless and experimental with it.”

The expanded reissue also features alternate versions of six of the album’s songs, two outtakes from the sessions, and 11 performances from a May 1971 concert at the Olympia Theatre in Paris.

The LP features the remastered original album, while the Blu-ray includes three mixes of Cahoots and some of the bonus tracks — a Dolby Atmos, a 5.1 surround sound and the new stereo mix. The seven-inch single features “Life Is a Carnival” backed with “The Moon Struck One.”

The new mix of “Life Is a Carnival” has been made available as an advance digital track.

The Cahoots reissue, which you can pre-order now, is also coming out as a two-CD set, digitally, and on vinyl.

Here’s the track list of the reissue’s CDs:

CD 1:
“Life Is a Carnival”
“When I Paint My Masterpiece”
“Last of the Blacksmiths”
“Where Do We Go from Here?”
“4% Pantomime”
“Shoot Out in Chinatown”
“The Moon Struck One”
“Thinkin’ Out Loud”
“Smoke Signal”
“Volcano”
“The River Hymn”

Bonus Tracks
“Endless Highway” (Early Studio Take, 2021 Mix)
“When I Paint My Masterpiece” (Alternate Take, 2021 Mix)
“4% Pantomime” (Takes 1 & 2)
“Don’t Do It” (Outtake — Studio Version, 2021 Mix)
“Bessie Smith” (Outtake)

CD 2:*

Live at The Olympia Theatre, Paris, May 1971 (Bootleg, Partial Concert)
“The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”
“We Can Talk”
“Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever”
“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
“Across the Great Divide”
“The Unfaithful Servant”
“Don’t Do It”
“The Genetic Method”
“Chest Fever”
“Rag Mama Rag”
“Slippin’ and Slidin'”

Bonus Tracks
“Life Is a Carnival” (Instrumental)
“Volcano” (Instrumental)
“Thinkin’ Out Loud” (Stripped Down Mix)

* = tracks are previously unreleased.

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Multi-Grammy winner Steve Wonder is looking to add a couple more Grammys to his collection, with the 2020 singles “Where Is Our Love Song” and “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate.”  And as usual, he’s doing it on his terms.

Wonder challenged the music industry status quo in 1971 when he signed a new deal with Motown, where he fought for creative control as well as ownership of his master recordings and publishing rights.

Now 71, Stevie insists on doing things his way. Instead of making the Grammy submissions in the typical R&B categories, he pushed to have the songs considered for best melodic rap performance and best American roots performance.

“‘Where Is Our Love Song’ is a song that speaks to everyone, a traditional song or folk song about America,” Wonder tells Billboard. “I said I didn’t care what’s normally done; that I’m not trying to do the typical. So it was submitted in the best American roots performance category.”

As for “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate,” Wonder says, “It was such an honor to work with Rapsody, Cordae, Chika and Busta Rhymes for what became an amazing marriage with conscious rap. I wanted to be a part of celebrating their greatness as well as our collaboration, so that’s why I decided to put it in that category.”

Wonder has racked up a total of 25 Grammy Awards over his 60-year career. He’s also one of only four artists — along with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Taylor Swift — to win album of the year three times, and the only one to do so with three consecutive releases — 1973’s Innervisions, 1974’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale and 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life.

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Are you ready to rock ‘n’ roll with Ringo Starr? The famed ex-Beatles drummer has debuted a music video for his new cover of the Bill Haley and His Comets classic “Rock Around the Clock,” which appears on Starr’s recently released Change the World EP.

The tune features Ringo’s brother-in-law, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, ripping through a couple of wailing solos.

The video, which you can check out on YouTube, features footage shot at Starr’s Roccabella West home studio of Ringo singing and playing drums, as well as Walsh doing his thing on guitar.

Session bassist Nathan East and Starr’s frequent studio collaborator Bruce Sugar also appear in the clip. The track also features backing vocals from Amy Keys and Windy Wagner.

Ringo says he decided to record his own version of “Rock Around the Clock” because he was reminiscing about the impression the song had on him when he first heard it on his 15th birthday.  His grandparents took him to see the movie Blackboard Jungle in a theater then while he was recovering from tuberculosis.

Starr recalls that when the song came on, the audience “ripped up the cinema!!! They just threw the chairs and went crazy. I thought, ‘WOW this is great!’ I remember that moment like it was yesterday, it was incredible. And the song just rocks.”

“Rock Around the Clock” is one of four songs featured on Change the World, along with “Let’s Change the World,” “Coming Undone” and “Just That Way.” The EP is available now on CD, cassette and digitally. A 10-inch vinyl version will be released on November 16, and can be pre-ordered now.

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Guns N’ Roses are cashing another major paycheck after wrapping the U.S. leg of their 2021 Tour.

Billboard reports that the hard-rock legends sold a whopping 363,000 tickets during their rescheduled tour, which was postponed last year when COVID-19 shut down the entertainment industry. That number of tickets sold amounts to a $50 million payday for GN’R.

Originally called the 2020 Tour, the outing started on Super Bowl Weekend in January of last year at American Airlines Arena in Miami. About 11,200 tickets were sold for the event, which translated into $2.7 million in cold hard cash.

GN’R eventually pumped the brakes as the pandemic worsened and the tour was moved to summer 2021. However, the delay did little to dampen the cash flow because when the tour picked up again on July 31 at Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark Stadium, the outing made history at the time for becoming the concert with the best single-night earnings during the pandemic-era. That summer concert earned a resounding $2.3 million in ticket sales.

As the tour went on, that record was continually broken — for example, the band raked in $4.5 million at New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium on August 5.

Now, with their U.S. leg in the rearview mirror, the band is taking a breather before hitting the road again next year for the third leg of their tour, which kicks off in Lisbon, Portugal on June 4.

The tour is slated to wrap December 10, 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand.

That said, it’ll be awhile before we find out how their pandemic-era trek measures up to their previous Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which ran for four years and earned $584.2 million in ticket sales — making it the third highest-grossing concert tour in history.

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For many years, Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and his friend, sports artist Scott Medlock, teamed up to organize an annual celebrity golf tournament and all-star concert to benefit the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. However, with Medlock himself battling cancer, this year’s edition of the event will feature Krieger joined by various musical friends at a special show to raise money for Scott’s medical bills.

The event, dubbed the “Celebration of Friendship” All-Star Concert — Scotty, Robby & Friends, takes place this Sunday, October 24, at Bogie’s Bar in the Los Angeles suburb of Westlake Village, California.

“Unfortunately, Scotty has got cancer and it’s gotten…bad,” Krieger tells ABC Audio. “So we’re just doing it for him and his family this year, trying to raise some money for them, because it’s amazing how much drug companies will charge for chemotherapy.”

While an official lineup for the show hasn’t been announced, Krieger reveals that the event will feature performances by “a lot of cool people,” including ex-Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine and his current group, a couple of members of Boston, and former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and his collaborator and one-time girlfriend Orianthi.

“It should be fun,” Robby says.

You can check out the various tickets and VIP packages that are available for the benefit concert by visiting TheMedlockKrieger.org and Eventbrite.com.

Some ticket packages include an autographed copy of Krieger’s new memoir, Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with The Doors, which was released earlier this month.

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