Today's Day in Rock
Robert Plant Open To Led Zeppelin Reunion Next Year?
(hennemusic) Robert Plant was featured on Sunday night's episode of Australia's "60 Minutes" and was grilled about Led Zeppelin doing more reunion shows and Plant had a surprising answer.
Plant sat down with reporter Tara Brown to discuss a variety of topics, including his roots, Led Zeppelin's formation and legendary history, including the 2007 reunion show that was released as "Celebration Day."
"We just wanted to play and see what it was like and be good once," said Plant. "Because we'd been bad so many times in the interim since John passed away; it was time to be good … and we were."
Fans continue to clamor for more Zeppelin live shows, with Plant taking most of the heat for the lack of forward movement on the project.
"You know, the two other guys (Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) are both Capricorns and they keep schtum (quiet); they don't say a word," maintains Robert. "But they are quite contained in their own worlds and they just leave it to me to do this (interviews)."
Brown: "…to be the bad guy"
Plant: "I'm not the bad guy."
Brown: "Well you are for all those Led Zeppelin fans who'd love you to say 'yes, we're reforming.'"
Plant: "Well, then you need to speak to the Capricorns ... 'cause I've got nothing to do in 2014." Watch the segment here.
2012 Guns N' Roses Concert To Be Broadcast on TV
(hennemusic) A June 2012 performance at London, England's O2 Arena by Guns N' Roses will be broadcast on VH1 Classic on March 9 as part of a 5-hour GNR special on the station.
The night will kick off at 8:00 p.m. with a one-hour, all-GNR video block hosted by "That Metal Show"'s Eddie Trunk, followed by the London concert and a rebroadcast of the Axl Rose "That Metal Show" episode.
The big-screen premiere of GNR's 2012 performance at O2 Arena was scheduled for last October at select theaters in Europe but was "postponed" by the band's management. A trailer of the concert can be viewed here.
Beatles Collaborator Tony Sheridan Dies
(Classic Rock) Tony Sheridan, early Beatles collaborator and said to be the first person to play electric guitar on TV, has died aged 72.
The fledgling Fab Four played their first recording sessions as Sheridan's backing band and their appearance on his 1961 single My Bonnie – billed as the Beat Brothers – led to Brian Epstein's offer to manage them.
Original Beatles drummer Pete Best has paid tribute, saying: "My friend Tony passed away this morning. Great guy and great memories. I will miss you." More rock news.
Van Halen and Billy Joel To Co-headline Music Festival
(hennemusic) Van Halen and Billy Joel will co-headline the inaugural Stone Music Festival at Sydney's ANZ Stadium over the April 20 and 21 weekend.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the festival will see co-headliners Billy Joel and VH joined by Kings Of Chaos, Richie Ramone, Lifehouse and Illumination Road also confirmed for the bill.
Major Australian rock acts, including some reunited 90s chart-toppers, are also expected to be named on the bill in the lead-up to tickets going on sale on Thursday, February 21. more on this story
Iron Maiden Inspired Metal Literature University Course
(Classic Rock) A US university is running a course in heavy metal literature after an experiment with Iron Maiden track Out Of The Silent Planet was a massive success.
Linguistics expert Martin Jacobsen used the song from 2000 album Brave New World to teach sentence structure. The lesson included displaying visual diagrams of how the lyrics had been constructed while the music played.
Jacobsen, of West Texas A&M University, tells Amarillo.com: "The students were mad for it – they thought it was crazy and they loved it. I threw it out as an offhand comment one day: 'What we ought to do is have a class in heavy metal.' There was universal agreement from the students in the class: 'Yes, we should actually do that.'"
He argues that many metal lyrics have been inspired by the works of history's greatest writers. "You constantly see these nods to the intellectual tradition that the lyricists come from," he explains. "Therefore it's reasonable to conclude that it's a form of literature as well as a form of music – in much the same way you might say country music is a species of folklore." More.
Zakk Wylde Reveals Black Label Society's Unblackened DVD Plans
(Gibson) Black Label Society's long-talked-about Unblackened DVD will now be filmed March 6 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. The set is planned to contain intimate versions of some of BLS's most popular songs, as well as songs from mainman Zakk Wylde's solo album Book of Shadows and his short-lived Southern rock band Pride & Glory.
The show will feature Wylde on guitar and piano, alongside the members of BLS, as well as a four-piece string section, pedal steel, and special guests. The concert will be broadcast live exclusively on AXS TV. A CD/DVD will be released later in 2013.
Wylde told California radio station 107.7 The Bone and AXS TV, "This is something we haven't done yet, and we wanted to give our fans something new. You can take a song that you've played thousands of times and rearrange it, and all of a sudden it's something totally fresh. The attitude of the songs doesn't change when we play them acoustically — the tunes are gritty regardless."
Wylde adds, "We're gonna do the whole thing with a four-piece string section, a pedal steel guy, and I'm gonna have some of my musician buddies sit in on some of the songs and stuff like that. We're gonna have two solid weeks of rehearsal and then we're gonna knock this thing out. [It will be an] acoustic/electric type of thing… almost kinda like if Pink Floyd was doing an unplugged thing and they did "Comfortably Numb" but Dave [Gilmour] will be sitting down but he'll still rip that solo out. It'll still be electric and then we'll have the string section behind it and the whole band and it'll be killer." more on this story
Yes Guitarist Steve Howe Hosting Music Retreat
(Gibson) Renowned Yes guitarist Steve Howe will host the first Cross Styles Music Retreat, an event taking place August 19-23 2013 at Full Moon Resort in the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock, New York.
Howe says, "This year I'm getting back to doing some solo dates, and the Cross Styles Music Retreat is an extension of that. I'll be enjoying the different things the event will demand of me, as opposed to just doing shows. It's a wider breadth of 'guitarness,' and it indulges me in my singular fascination - the guitar. Hopefully, my team and the audience can do a little mingling and learn more about each other."
Guitar players of all ages, levels and styles are invited to join Howe and other guest instructors for this music camp. It represents a first for Howe.
"As I'm self-taught and don't read music, I come at doing workshops from a different perspective than many who teach," Howe says. "I'll be bringing my experience to the fore through performances, interactions with campers, and daily master classes." more on this story
Rush Expand North American Tour Plans
(hennemusic) Rush have announced the addition of two Canadian concert dates as part of their Clockwork Angels world tour.
After 26 years, Rush are returning to Halifax, Nova Scotia to perform at the Halifax Metro Centre on Friday, July 12.
The band will also play Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario on Saturday, July 6. more on this story
Black Sabbath Aim For Raw Sound On New Album
(Classic Rock) Black Sabbath have released another teaser clip for upcoming album 13, their first with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978′s Never Say Die.
In the video guitarist Tony Iommi discusses the band's new material, produced by Rick Rubin and featuring Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk on drums.
Iommi says: "It's different altogether now. We've got much more of a thing going than what it was in them days. The new material's really good – we've got some good stuff going.
"Rick's looking for a raw Sabbath and that's what we're looking for. We like what we're doing." Watch the teaser here.
Def Leppard Going To Rock Camp
(hennemusic) Def Leppard have signed on to headline a special edition of Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp.
Set for April 4th - 7th in Las Vegas, the event falls in the midst of the band's 11-show residency at The Joint in the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel for their "VIVA Hysteria!" series.
At the Camp, the group will serve as mentors and instructors, guiding campers through their songs as well as general playing and performing techniques. more on this story
Cheap Trick Guitarist Rick Nielsen Gets Picked By American Pickers
(hennemusic) Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen will be featured in an upcoming episode of History Television's American Pickers, premiering March 11.
"What happened was pretty special," said the show's Mike Wolfe. "We're birds of a feather, Frank and Rick and me. Collecting, picking brothers in arms. We were all three bitten by the same crazy bug early on in life and it's amazing how quickly it brought us together when we went to Rick's exhibit in Rockford. That's when the picks really started flying."
"Seeing Rick's exhibit was truly mind-boggling," said Frank Fritz. "For me, as a nearly lifelong Cheap Trick fan, I was in heaven. And, then, to dig even deeper with Rick himself – well, we can't wait for the nation to see what we picked out of Rick's storage lockers. Mike and I drove away from Rockford very, very happy." more on this story
Black Star Riders Mixing Their New Album
(hennemusic) Black Star Riders, featuring former members of Thin Lizzy, have posted an update on the status of their forthcoming debut album. "The album is currently being mixed as we speak," writes the band.
"We will announce 2nd week of March full album details (title, release dates per territory, track listing etc). At the end of March there will be the first 'single' release that will have an exclusive airing via certain media outlets - to be announced - prior to public release. Around the same time more tour dates for the autumn will be announced."
"The album will be released at the end of May. The first Black Star Riders live appearances will be around the same time." more on this story
Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Megadeth Label Sold
(Classic Rock) Sanctuary Records, once home to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and many others, has been sold by Universal to BMG.
The deal is part of an agreement with competition regulators after Universal bought EMI, and it's thought to have been worth $62m.
BMG boss Hartwig Masuch says: "We have made no secret of our ambition to create a new force in the music industry focused on delivering service and revenue to artists. We believe this deal will be good news for those artists, good news for our partners particularly in the independent sector and good news for the music industry as a whole." More rock news.
Dave Grohl and Stevie Nicks Rock Letterman
(hennemusic) Dave Grohl stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman last Thursday to promote his directorial debut, Sound City.
The film, which premiered last month at Sundance, chronicles the story of the Van Nuys, California studio of the same name, where music legends recorded major projects throughout the years – including Nirvana's 1991 smash, "Nevermind."
Grohl joined Letterman for a chat about the project, after which he was joined by the Sound City Players – Foo Fighters plus guests, including Stevie Nicks – for a live performance of "You Can't Fix This" from the flm's soundtrack album. Watch the appearance here.
Alice In Chains Go Behind The Scenes of the Hollow Video
(hennemusic) Alice In Chains recently released "Hollow" as the lead single from their forthcoming album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here."
The band is now sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the video for the track.
The stunning sci-fi-themed clip was shot by award-winning director Roboshobo (a.k.a. Robert Schober; Metallica, Mastodon) and is already nearing the one-million-views mark.
Scheduled for release in May, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones). Check it out here.
Leslie West Shares Story Behind Mississippi Queen
(Gibson) Had Leslie West done nothing more than record "Mississippi Queen" – one of rock guitar's finest moments -- his place in music history would be assured. Fact is, however, that classic, which West recorded with the legendary trio Mountain, is just one chapter in a vast body of work that attests to his monumental skills.
In the summer of 2011, West underwent an amputation of his lower leg due to complications from Type 2 diabetes. Just three months later, he released Unusual Suspects, a guitarist's dream album featuring an A-list of fellow six-string greats. Such is the fortitude of the man.
In the quotes below, he talks about playing with Jimi Hendrix, how he gets his unique tone and the "coolest rock star" with whom he's ever jammed.
On how "Mississippi Queen" was written, as told to Gibson.com: [Mountain drummer] Corky Laing came up with the lyric when he was in his previous band, Energy. He was playing the drums at some club, and the power went out. He saw a girl dancing, and he wanted to keep her dancing, so he started shouting out this stuff. When we got together, he showed me the lyric. I already had the music, and we constructed the song in about 20 minutes.
On playing with Pete Townshend during the Who's Next sessions, as told to Gibson.com: I got a call from The Who's manager, asking if I wanted to play on the album. I was like, "Well, they have a guitar player." But he said Pete didn't want to play lead guitar, that he wanted me to play. It was really funny, those sessions. [Producer] Kit Lambert ran around holding up signs, whenever we would be getting good take. He did that during "Won't Get Fooled Again," holding a sign up that said, "GOOD JOB. KEEP IT UP." Later, of course, they re-did the album with Glyn Johns producing. But Pete did release the original sessions, many years later. I gave him a Les Paul Junior, at those sessions.
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