Music

The ninth installment of the star-studded Rock Legends Cruise, which originally was supposed to take place sail in February 2021, but was postponed because the COVID-19 pandemic, finally sets sail today from Port Canaveral, Florida.

One of the nautical rock extravaganza’s headlining acts this year is Deep Purple, and the famed British hard-rock band’s founding drummer, Ian Paice, tells ABC Audio that this is the first time his group has ever played this type of event.

Asked how he feels about doing the cruise, Paice explains, “I’m not trying to get any pre-formed ideas about it. I’m sure it’ll be very nice to spend a week in Florida in the middle of winter on a boat where I don’t have to work too hard, and I can wander off to a bar whenever I feel like and have a nice exotic tropical drink.”

To warm up for the cruise, Deep Purple played two gigs in Florida this past week, which were among the band’s first live performances since the pandemic began in 2020. Since that time, Deep Purple has released two studio albums — 2020’s Whoosh! and last year’s covers collection Turning to Crime.

Paice says the band likley won’t include too much material from the new albums on the cruise, noting that the performance time is limited and “the people on that boat are gonna want to hear those classic songs.”

Deep Purple currently has no other U.S. shows scheduled for this year, but Paice says, “[A]ssuming that everybody is fit and healthy and still wants to do it…then [the band will tour the States in] 2023.”

The Rock Legends Cruise IX runs through February 18, and also features Styx, Don McLean, ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder, Blue Öyster Cult and many more.

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With Valentine’s Day taking place this Monday, Neil Young & Crazy Horse have debuted a new animated lyric video for their song “Don’t Forget Love,” which appears on the group’s latest album, Barn.

The clip, which was directed by Neil’s wife, actress Daryl Hannah, features a series of animated drawings created by Gary Ward. Among the many images depicted in the art are a human heart, a couple kissing, a hand flashing a peace sign, a hand holding a few roses, a rain cloud, a rainbow, the sun shining on the moon and the Earth, and animals including bears, an owl, a dove and a blackbird.

The delicate song features sparse instrumentation, driven by piano, with lyrics that encourage “don’t forget love” when negative things are happening in your life.

In a brief video interview with Young posted in December on his YouTube channel, Neil explains, “I wrote that song for myself so that whenever I start to lose it I can just listen to that and go, ‘I wrote that. Why can’t I just do that?’ So, you know, a lot of it’s cheap therapy. Very cheap.”

As previously reported, Barn was recorded last June in a restored 19th century barn Young owns in the Colorado Rockies, and was released in December. A documentary about the making of the album, also called Barn and which Hannah also directed, premiered around the same time as the record’s release, and currently is streaming for free on Neil’s YouTube channel.

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Sting‘s latest solo album, 2021’s The Bridge, features a song titled “For Her Love.” Now the former Police frontman has released a Spanish-language version of the tune called “Por Su Amor.”

The new track, which is available now globally via digital outlets, was recorded during Sting’s recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he was inspired by the scenery of Baja, California, and the views of the Gulf of California.

The Spanish lyrics for “Por Su Amor” were written by musician, songwriter and producer Martin Kierszenbaum, who is also Sting’s manager. Martin also co-wrote of “For Her Love” and co-produced The Bridge album with Sting, as well as contributing contributed keyboards to “Por Su Amor” and The Bridge.

You can check out a lyric video for “Por Su Amor” at Sting’s official YouTube channel.

Sting will give “Por Su Amor” its premiere performance on the 2022 edition of the long-running Latin music awards show Premio Lo Nuestro, which will air February 24 on Univision.

Sting has recorded other songs in Spanish in the past, as well as in Portuguese and French.

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This Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Allman Brothers Band‘s classic fourth album, Eat a Peach.

The record, a two-disc set that includes a mix of studio tracks and live performances, is the band’s last album to feature founding slide guitarist Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle crash at age 24 on October 29, 1971, not long after the sessions began.

Although Eat a Peach had no hit singles, it features what became many of The Allman Brothers Band’s most popular songs, including “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” and “Melissa,” both written by lead singer/keyboardist Gregg Allman; “Blue Sky,” penned by singer/guitarist Dickey Betts; and a memorable cover of blues great Elmore James‘ “One Way Out.”

The live tracks — “One Way Out,” “Trouble No More” and the epic “Mountain Jam” — were recorded at the same run of 1971 New York City shows that yielded the band’s At Fillmore East album.

“Mountain Jam” is a 34-minute-plus improvised instrumental based on British folk-rocker Donovan‘s 1967 hit “There Is a Mountain.” To fit the jam onto the album, it was split into two parts and took up two full sides of the double LP.

Eat a Peach peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200, The Allman Brothers’ highest-charting album up to that time, and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for 1 million units sold in the U.S.

In 2020, Eat a Peach was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Here’s the album’s full track list:

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More”
“Les Brers in A Minor”
“Melissa”
“Mountain Jam” (live)
“One Way Out” (live)
“Trouble No More” (live)
“Stand Back”
“Blue Sky”
“Little Martha”

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