Fri 03.12.10
A man has been arrested for making terrorist threats after posting a video on the Internet of him holding a sign which read "Elton John Must Die." The Associated Press reported that that 65-year-old Neal Horsley was arrested on Wednesday (March 10th) 50 miles west of Atlanta in Carrollton, Georgia on charges of criminal defamation and disseminating terrorist threats over the Internet. In the video, Horsley is seen holding the threatening sign in from of a building where Elton reportedly owns a condo.
Horsley, an anti-abortionist founded the Creator's Rights Party, and has stated that he is running as a candidate in the 2010 governor's race and was seen "campaigning" on July 4th, in Downtown Carrollton wearing a placard of with the head of an aborted fetus while singing an "anti-abortion song."
* Horsley is reportedly up in arms over Elton's recent statement to Parade magazine in which he said that he felt Jesus Christ was a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."
* Horsley said in his video: "What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ."
* Apart from his latest arrest, Horsley is best known for a starting a late-'90s website posting the names and addresses of abortion doctors which Planned Parenthood deemed "a hit list for terrorists."
* Horsley was being held in the Fulton County jail until Thursday (March 11th) pending on $40,000 bond. The judge stipulated that he must live with his son in a house with a landline and would have to pay 10 percent of his in cash.

Fri 03.12.10
Pink Floyd won an unexpected victory against record label EMI yesterday (March 11th) when a British High Court judge ordered the company to stop selling downloads of individual tracks -- which specifically follows the band's agreement with EMI. The Associated Press reported that Floyd's lawyer Robert Howe had expressed to the court that the band had agreed to only sell "bundles" -- or their albums in their entirety because each work was a singular "seamless" piece. How defended the band's late '90s contract with EMI stating that in protected "the artistic integrity of the albums."
Judge Andrew Morritt ruled in favor of Floyd stating that the contract protected "the artistic integrity of the albums." He went on to say the EMI was "not entitled to exploit recordings by online distribution or by any other means other than the complete original album without Pink Floyd's consent."
* He ordered that EMI must pay the band's legal costs, and will rule at a later date at how much the label will be forced to pay the band in damages. A second ruling on the band's royalty rate was made in private.

Fri 03.12.10
John Fogerty will recieve the 2010 BMI Icon honor at the 58th annual Pop Awards on May 18th in Los Angeles. The BMI Icons are selected because of their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." The invitation-only event will also honor the songwriters and publishers of the past year's most-performed pop songs in the U.S. The evening's festivities will culminate with an all-star musical tribute to Fogerty.
Past BMI Icons include the Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Hall & Oates, Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton, Carlos Santana, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Ray Davies.
* Although Fogerty performs most of Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic hits in his live shows, he feels it's important to keep creating and releasing new music: "I sure don't wanna be a retro person at all. I get real uncomfortable -- you know, that's one of the reasons I never wanted to tour under the name Creedence Clearwater whatever. Those days are long, long gone, and I'm just too current and competitive. I mean, I have things to do now."
* John Mellencamp has been a lifelong fan of Fogerty's, and in 2005 featured him on his tour as a special guest. He says that Fogerty's music stands out in any era: "Well, you know, John has always been there, you know, as a songwriter, and as a musician, in my life as long as I've been listening to music almost. When I was in junior high, I was listening and, you know, his music was quite a bit different than everything else that was on the radio. Think about the Doors and Creedence -- there was quite a division there."

Fri 03.12.10
* Ron Wood is responding so well to his new-found sobriety that guess what -- he's considering marriage again!!! The troubled Rolling Stones guitarist, whose last relationship with 21-year old Russian waitress Katerina Ivanova ended after Wood allegedly attacked her in a drunken rage, is considering tying the knot with 30-year-old Brazilian-born Ana Araujo. The happy couple has been dating about for about a month. (The Daily Express)
o Friends including Mick Jagger, Elton John, Rod Stewart, and Kate Moss have been rallying around Wood as he struggles to get clean. He reportedly told a friend: "Now I know everyone's behind me, I'm desperate to give up for good. Mick calls me every few days." (The Sun)

* Coming on May 11th is the Spanish-tinged double live disc from Jackson Browne and David Lindley, called Love Is Strange. The album, which will be released on Browne's own Inside Records, features both rarities and classics from Browne's catalogue including "Sit Down Servant," "For Taking The Trouble," "Take It Easy," "Late For The Sky and "These Days," among others. (Spinner.com)
o After years of recording for major labels, Browne has walked away with mixed emotions about how the record industry works: "I would love to be a record company, like, a mogul, you know. On the other hand, I like suddenly occurred to me, like, no, I don't. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be like, the guy that all your friends sit on you to release their record. The fact that record companies only want to make a lot of money means that there's a need for smaller companies, independent companies and companies that just want to make the music they want to make."
o On May 22nd, Browne will receive the Strings & Voices for Dialogue and Civil Rights Award in Sarzana, Italy at the 13th Acoustic Guitar Meeting. (Vintage Vinyl News)
o Browne, with his band and special guest David Lindley, kicks off his next set of dates on July 20th in Las Vegas at The Joint.

* The British venue where Squeeze played its first gig in 1975 will receive a special "blue plaque" by the Performance Rights Society For Music. Chief group members Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford will be on hand during the March 23rd unveiling ceremony outside of Greenwich Dance Hall.
o Tillbrook joked in a prepared statement saying, "It's a pleasure to return to the place where we performed as Squeeze way back in 1975. I still buy my cheese just up the road."
o Squeeze follow Dire Straits, Jethro Tull, and Blur who have already gotten their own "blue plaques."

Fri 03.12.10
Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash offered his thoughts on his ex-bandmate, Guns singer Axl Rose, during an interview on Thursday morning (March 11th) at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario as part of Canadian Music Week. According to the Toronto Sun, Slash was more complimentary toward Rose that he's been in the past during the interview, despite Rose lashing out at Slash as recently as last year in several online chats and interviews.
Slash said about Rose, "You have to attempt to understand him as a human being and where he's coming from. I see things very black and white. That's just me. And that doesn't necessarily mean that that's right. And he sees things in a very colorful kind of way, and I can't really knock it, 'cause that's just him. So I try not to sit there and say derogatory things about his personality, because it's his personality that makes him so f***ing great, and just difficult to deal with."
* Slash left Guns N' Roses in 1996 and told us a while back why he finally found it too difficult to work with Rose: "Something with Axl was very insecure and it just kept the band from sort of functioning properly. Although he was wanting to do things, I never to this day really understand exactly what he was getting at, and because it took so long to ever get anything done, I always attribute it to some sort of fear factor."
* Slash also spoke in the interview about being sober for only three-and-a-half years despite having two sons aged five and seven. He said, "When Perla (Slash's wife) announced that she was pregnant, I was loaded on Oxycontin going to an Aerosmith gig, and I was out-of-my-mind high that night. And I was like, 'Okay, so now it's time to start taking care of this issue,' but I thought I could juggle it, which I did up until about three-and-a-half years ago."
* He also spoke about the late Michael Jackson, for whom Slash laid down some guitar parts on the album Dangerous. Slash said, "When all that stuff happened in 2001 or whenever it was, he got all of those (accusations) and stuff, the one thing that Michael really wanted, and the one thing that made him happy, was he wanted everybody to like him. And so all of the sudden he was completely ostracized, pretty much by North America, for all these accusations (even) though he was acquitted, and it sort of just killed him."
* Slash releases his self-titled solo album on April 6th.

Thu 03.11.10
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and producer Don Was talked about the upcoming expanded reissue of the Rolling Stones' 1972 watershed release, Exile On Main Street. The reissue will feature four outtakes from the original sessions -- including one called "Following The River" which Jagger recently wrote lyrics to and recorded the song's first set of vocals. Jagger explained the process, telling Rolling Stone, "I just started from nothing on that. The core tape of it was the piano and the drums, bass, and guitar. There was no top line or lyric. I started from scratch -- I mean, that's what I do, and I've done it many times before. And it's daunting in the beginning, but after a while you get into it."
Richards was asked if he felt that the legendary basement studio at Nellcote, his chateau on the French Riviera where much of the album was recorded, played a crucial part in Exile's earthy sound: "Oh, definitely. That was a pretty unique way of recording. We did a lot of work on the stuff when we took it to L.A., 'cause we did a lot of overdubs and stuff on it there, but there was something about the rhythm section sound down there -- maybe it's the concrete, or maybe it's the dirt, but it has a certain sound to it that you couldn't replicate if you tried."
* When pressed about the band heading into the studio in the near future, Richards joked: "Hey, you're asking me? You better ask Mick that one (laughs). But my feeling is that, generally, people get itchy at a certain time. I'm sort of waiting for a phone call, you know?"
* Although some fans might scoff at the fact that Jagger and Richards added overdubs to the newly discovered tracks -- when producer Don Was was asked to confirm a rumor that former Stones guitarist Mick Taylor took part in the new sessions, he said: "I'm not saying it's not true. I'm simply not going to deny."
* Peter Wolf who's opened for the Stones several times with the J. Geils Band, says that their importance in rock is pretty much unparalleled: "They're a continuum of a great tradition, and they help define rock-and-roll. They help re-energize rock-and-roll. When you look at, listen to bands today, their effect is still so profound. And to me, they've become as important to rock-and-roll as, one would say, Duke Ellington or Count Basie is to jazz. They're just great contributors to the art form, and the aspect that they're able to gather together and do it, it's something that is of value."

FAST FASTS
* The new Exile On Main Street is due out on May 18th. The package will feature a deluxe CD edition with the 10 bonus tracks. The super deluxe package includes vinyl, the 30-minute documentary DVD and a 50-page collector's book with photos from the Exile era.
* The documentary DVD Stones In Exile "tracks the making of Exile" -- which may mean that actual footage of the band's basement studio at Nellcote, actually exists.
* The film will also incorporate footage from 1974's concert film Ladies And Gentlemen. . . The Rolling Stones -- which features the Stones live in concert in 1972, along with portions of the band's still-unreleased C***sucker's Blues tour documentary from that same year.
* The reissue will feature four previously unheard of Stones tracks: "Plundered My Soul," "Dancing In The Light," "Following The River," and "Pass The Wine."
* The collection will also feature alternate versions of both "Soul Survivor" and "Loving Cup."
* Exile On Main Street was released on May 12th, 1972 and spent four weeks at Number One. Highlights on the album include: "Rocks Off," "Rip This Joint," "Tumbling Dice," "Sweet Virginia," "Torn And Frayed," "Loving Cup," "Happy," "Let It Loose," "All Down the Line," and "Shine A Light."

Thu 03.11.10
Ringo Starr revealed that for his latest album, Y Not, he actually recorded the songs from the ground up by creating the tracks alone on synthesizer. Ringo mainly recorded the new collection at his home in L.A. taking a more active production role than in recent years.
We asked him what prompted the welcomed twist on record making: "Y'know the creative brief was that I was sitting at home with nothing better to do in L.A., and I had Pro-Tools and I had a few synthesizers in one of the bedrooms we sort of transffered into a studio -- 'cause you can do 'em anywhere now. I just started putting stuff down. Playing the synthesizer to get rhythm pattern and notes, of course, and I would play drums to whatever I did. And that would give it the color through the verses and the choruses. It would just sort of split it up into -- 'this could be a song.' But I had no words, I had no melody."
* Y Not -- which is Ringo's highest-charting album since 1976 -- features Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Benmont Tench, Billy Squier, Joss Stone, Van Dyke Parks, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Richard Marx, Dave Stewart, and Ben Harper.

Thu 03.11.10
Kiss is partnering with E1 Entertainment in Canada to produce and all new comedic TV series, according to The Canadian Press. Both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will serve as executive producers on the project. Stanley said in a press statement, "Coupling E1's successes and ingenuity with the global force of Kiss guarantees an express pass into the homes of our youngest Kiss Army members with a show of superior quality."
Stanley admits that he's never surprised by how deep Kiss' fan devotion continues to run worldwide: "It really for me, resoundingly once again, I guess validates for me why this band exists. It's not a tepid recreation of the past, it's really an ageless beast that dominates at will. It's timeless."
* There's been no title, plot line, or premiere date announced for the new Kiss TV show.
* Kiss kicks off its next series of dates on May 1st in Sheffield, England.

Thu 03.11.10
Coming on March 29th is The Very Best Of Free & Bad Company Featuring Paul Rodgers. The 15-track British import will also be released as a 26-track expanded iTunes version featuring solo tracks along with those by the Firm -- Rodgers' 1980's band with Jimmy Page, and the Law -- his 1990's short-lived team up with the Faces and Who drummer Kenney Jones. The full 26-track online version marks the first time Rodgers' entire career has been chronicled on one collection.
The full iTunes tracklist for The Very Best Of Free & Bad Company Featuring Paul Rodgers is: Bad Company: "Can't Get Enough," "Rock Steady," "Feel Like Makin' Love," "Rock N' Roll Fantasy," "Run With The Pack," "Seagull," "Shooting Star" Free: "My Brother Jake," "Be My Friend," "The Hunter," "Little Bit Of Love," "Fire And Water," and "All Right Now," "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (The Firm); "Muddy Water Blues (acoustic)" (Paul Rodgers); "Soul Of Love" (Paul Rodgers); "Radioactive (12" Mix) (The Firm); "Live In Peace (Live) (The Firm); "The Hunter" (Live from BBC) (Paul Rodgers), "Saving Grace" (Paul Rodgers); "Midnight Moonlight Lady" (Live at Wembley 1985) (The Firm); "Over You" (Paul Rodgers); "Laying Down The Law" and "Missing You Bad Girl" (The Law).
* Rodgers told us that during his stints in all four bands -- and on his own -- the one musical inspiration has always been the blues: "You used to look around and think, 'God, is there no other way?', you know? And then I heard these blues guys singing about jumping on the first train smoking, and heading out of town, you know, and my friends can have my room. And I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if you could just do that?' And that drew me to playing and singing blues. And it's actually what I did, and I'm still doing."
SIDE NOTES
* Out now is Bad Company: Hard Rock Live. The CD/DVD features the band's reunion concert in Hollywood, Florida on August 8th, 2008. Prior to the historic Hard Rock gig, the original surviving members of Bad Company -- Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, and Simon Kirke -- hadn't played together in over a decade.
* Bad Company will team up for a string of UK gigs in April, with the Joe Perry Project opening for them on all dates. The opening show will take place on April 1st at the Birmingham LG Arena, with the mini-tour wrapping up on April 11th at Wembley Arena.
* Last year Rodgers was presented with the "Classic Songwriter" award at the annual Classic Rock Magazine Roll of Honor and was given an honorary Doctorate Degree from Teeside University.

Wed 03.10.10
Out now is the new Jimi Hendrix vault collection Valleys Of Neptune which features previously unreleased tracks recorded by the guitarist between October 1968 and 1970. The 12-song, 60-minute set also features covers of Elmore James' blues classic "Bleeding Heart," Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love," as well as such Hendrix originals as "Ships Passing Through The Night," "Lullaby For The Summer" and the original undubbed Jimi Hendrix Experience rendition of "Hear My Train A Comin'."
Hendrix's step-sister, Janie Hendrix, the CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, says that fans can look forward to many more Hendrix releases in the future: "At least 15 more years of releases we have left, and every year will be, surprisingly, material you've never heard. Jimi was a workaholic when it came to his music . . . and he had his own studio -- he was very blessed, one of two artists that did at his time. So, we have a lot of music in the vaults. . . People need to sit back and hold on."
* Legendary producer-engineer Eddie Kramer was working the boards for the sessions that comprise Valleys Of Neptune -- among many other sessions -- and explained what it was like during Hendrix's groundbreaking heyday: "In the heat of battle, when you're in the studio and you're running tape and you know we're up to take 20 -- by the time we finish, take 27 -- who knew that take 21 or take 22 was gonna be a gem that you'd find 30 years later as being just absolutely phenomenal as an illustration of how Jimi was able to bring the band up to a certain level and have expectations from them beyond what a normal human being would want, you know?"
* The tracklisting for Jimi Hendrix's Valleys Of Neptune is: "Stone Free," "Valleys Of Neptune," "Bleeding Heart," "Hear My Train A Comin'," "Mr. Bad Luck," "Sunshine Of Your Love," "Lover Man," "Ships Passing Through The Night," "Fire," "Red House," "Lullaby For The Summer," and "Crying Blue Rain."
SIDE NOTES
* Also out now are CD/DVD editions of Hendrix's official catalogue -- Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland, and First Rays Of the New Rising Sun.
* The remasters -- which are also available as vinyl editions -- feature newly-produced mini-documentaries packaged with each disc.