Archival DVD from DEVO due next month

DEVO's The Men Who Make The Music/Butch Devo & The Sundance Gig will be available on DVD and digital formats on Aug. 12.

The release combines concert footage from DEVO's 1978 tour with music videos and interstitials featuring a vague story about DEVO's rocky relationship with "Big Entertainment."

 

As for the bonus program, Butch Devo and the Sundance Gig, Jerry Casale says, "In January of '96, we closed Sundance Film Festival. We wore 1920s style prison suits and dished out classic DEVO songs to an unsuspecting audience of Hollywood elite."

Track Listing:

Jocko Homo (Music video, taken from "The Truth About De-evolution")
General Boy 1
Wiggly World (Live)
General Boy 2
The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise (Music video)
Roll Out The Barrel (AKA "Rod Rooter's Big Reamer")
Praying Hands (live)
General Boy 3
Uncontrollable Urge (Live)
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Music video)
General Boy 4
Jocko Homo (Live, partial performance)
Secret Agent Man (Music video, take from "The Truth About De-evolution")
Smart Patrol / Mr. DNA (Live)
Come Back Jonee (Music Video)
General Boy 5
Red Eye (Live)
Devo Corporate Anthem

Counting Crows news

Counting Crows will release its seventh studio album Somewhere Under Wonderland on Sept. 2 via Capitol Records.

“Palisades Park” is available now on iTunes with the purchase of the full album at http://smarturl.it/SUW. A short film of the song “Palisades Park,” directed by Bill Fishman, is also available now and can be seen at http://smarturl.it/PalisadesPark.

Fans can order limited-edition versions of the album with an art book or art portfolio directly from the band at countingcrows.com/preorder and at Amazon. The band is in the midst of the North American leg of their world tour (see dates below).

Counting Crows - featuring Adam Duritz (vocals), Jim Bogios (drums), David Bryson (guitar), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), David Immergluck (guitar), Millard Powers (bass) and Dan Vickrey (guitar) - have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide after emerging on the music scene in 1993. For more information, visit countingcrows.com.

Track Listing

1. Palisades Park
2. Earthquake Driver
3. Dislocation
4. God Of Ocean Tides
5. Scarecrow
6. Elvis Went To Hollywood
7. Cover Up The Sun
8. John Appleseed’s Lament
9. Possibility Days

Counting Crows North American Tour Dates

Date City Venue

Jul 12 Somerset, KY Master Musicians Fest**
Jul 14 Highland Park, IL Ravina Festival – Highland Park
Jul 15 Columbus, OH The LC Pavillion
Jul 17 Orillia, ON Casino Rama Entertainment Centre
Jul 18 Detroit, MI Motor City Casino Hotel
Jul 20 Cincinnati, OH Horseshoe Cincinnati
Jul 21 Grand Rapids, MI Meijer Gardens
Jul 23 Milwaukee, WI The Riverside Theater
Jul 25 St. Paul, MN The Myth
Jul 26 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Ballroom
Jul 29 Houston, TX Bayou Music Center
Jul 30 Austin, TX ACL Live
Aug 1 Tulsa, OK Hard Rock
Aug 2 Durant, OK Choctaw Casino Resort
Aug 4 Socorro, TX Socorro Entertainment Center
Aug 6 Tucson, AZ AVA Amphitheater
Aug 7 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
Aug 10 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Beach
Aug 12 Redmond, WA Marymoor Park
Aug 13 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Aug 15 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
Aug 17 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre

Counting Crows European Tour Dates

Date City Venue

Nov 1 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham
Nov 2 Glasgow O2 Academy Glasgow
Nov 4 Newcastle O2 Academy Newcastle
Nov 5 Leeds O2 Academy Leeds
Nov 7 Manchester O2 Apollo Manchester
Nov 8 Leicester De Montfort Hall
Nov 10 London Roundhouse
Nov 11 London Roundhouse
Nov 13 Paris Bataclan
Nov 14 Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall
Nov 16 Cologne E-Werk
Nov 17 Brussels Ancienne Belgique
Nov 19 Berlin Huxleys Neue Welt
Nov 20 Munich Theaterfabrik
Nov 22 Padova Gran Teatro GEOX
Nov 23 Milan Alcatraz

A Tribute to Johnny Cash's 'Bitter Tears'

Of all the dozens of albums released by Johnny Cash during his nearly half-century career, 1964's Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian was among the closest to the artist's heart.

A concept album focusing on the mistreatment and marginalization of the Native American people throughout the history of the United States, its eight songs-among them "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," a #3 hit single for Cash on the Billboard country chart-spoke in frank and poetic language of the hardships and intolerance they endured.

Now, 50 years after it was recorded, a collective of top Americana artists has come together to reimagine and update these songs that meant so much to Cash, who died in 2003. 

Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited (Sony Music Masterworks, Aug. 19), produced by Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Aaron Neville), features Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Milk Carton Kids and more, interpreting the music of Bitter Tears.

"Prior to Bitter Tears, the conversation about Native American rights had not really been had," says Henry, "and at a very significant moment in his trajectory, Johnny Cash was willing to draw a line and insist that this be considered a human rights issue, alongside the civil rights issue that was coming to fruition in 1964. But he also felt that the record had never been heard, so there's a real sense that we're being asked to carry it forward." 

Bitter Tears did not realize its stature as a landmark recording easily and quickly. At the time that Cash proposed the album, he was met with resistance from his record label. They felt that a song cycle revolving around the Native American struggle as perpetrated by the white man took him too far afield of the country mainstream and Cash's core audience. Cash still released the album and although it did not perform as well as he had hoped, he remained extremely proud of the album throughout his life. 

Ironically, at the same time that his own label was balking because it felt he would alienate the country audience with his Native American tales, Cash was finding a new set of admirers among the burgeoning folk music crowd.

Cash's debut performance of "Ira Hayes" at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival had earned him rave reviews. His appeal was undeniably expanding beyond the country audience, and for those who did connect with Bitter Tears, among them a 17-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter named Emmylou Harris, its music was revelatory and important.

"The record was a seminal work for her as a teenager," says Henry. "She bought the album brand new and realized at that moment that Johnny Cash was a folk singer, not a country singer, and was involving himself politically and socially in a way that she had identified with the great folk singers at that moment."

Henry's awareness of Harris' affection for Bitter Tears led him to invite her to contribute to Look Again To The Wind: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited. Following the epic, nine-minute album-opener "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow," written by Peter La Farge-a folk singer-songwriter with Native American bloodlines who Cash had befriended-and sung here by Welch and Rawlings, Harris takes the lead vocal on the Cash-penned "Apache Tears," which also features sweet, close harmonies by the Milk Carton Kids. For Henry, carefully matching artist to song was integral to the integrity of the project.

On some of the tracks, that process required a great deal of consideration. But when it came to deciding who would interpret "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," Henry quickly zeroed in on Kristofferson.

That song is based on the true story of Ira Hamilton Hayes, a Pima Indian who was one of the six Marines seen raising the flag at Iwo Jima in an iconic World War II photograph. Hayes' moment of glory was followed upon his return to civilian life with prejudice and alcoholism-Cash, moved by Hayes' story and La Farge's recounting of it, vowed to record the song. When planning out Look Again To The Wind, Henry knew that only a few living singers could deliver the song the way he wanted to hear it. He called Kristofferson, utilizing Rawlings and Welch to sing background.

"I wanted somebody whose relationship with Johnny Cash was not only musical but personal," he says. "I'd worked with Kris on a couple of other things and I thought why not ask? Who else has a voice with that kind of power and authority?"

That same sense of intuition guided Henry to choose the other participants and the material they would render. For La Farge's "Custer," the album's third song, the producer knew instinctively that Steve Earle was the right man for the job.

"Steve is an upstart, and there are very few people I can imagine working right now who could deliver a song that is that pointed in that particular way and do it authentically without cowering from it or making it feel a little too arch," Henry says. "He really could embody the kind of swagger that that song insists upon."

The album was recorded in three sessions: the first two in Los Angeles and Nashville and, lastly, one at the Cash Cabin, in Cash's hometown of Hendersonville, Tennessee, where Bill Miller cut his contribution. Providing the instrumental backing for most of the album are Greg Leisz (steel guitar, guitars), Keefus Ciancia (keyboards), Patrick Warren (keyboards for the L.A. sessions), Jay Bellerose (drums) and Dave Piltch (bass). 

Track list: 

As Long as the Grass Shall Grow - feat. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Apache Tears - feat. Emmylou Harris w/The Milk Carton Kids
Custer - feat. Steve Earle w/The Milk Carton Kids
The Talking Leaves - feat. Nancy Blake w/ Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings
The Ballad of Ira Hayes - feat. Kris Kristofferson w/ Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Drums - feat. Norman Blake w/ Nancy Blake, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch & David
Rawlings 
Apache Tears (Reprise) - feat. Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings
White Girl - feat. The Milk Carton Kids
The Vanishing Race - feat. Rhiannon Giddens
As Long as the Grass Shall Grow (Reprise) - feat. Nancy Blake, Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings
Look Again to The Wind - feat. Bill Miller

Smokey Robinson duets album on the way

Smokey & Friends, the new duets album from legendary Motown icon and Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson on Verve Records, has been moved up to Aug. 19. See track listing below.

On the Randy Jackson-produced set, Robinson is joined by James Taylor, Sir Elton John, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, John Mayer, CeeLo and others.

Robinson and John turn "The Tracks of My Tears" into an organ-drenched call and response; while Legend's graceful piano playing adds a new elegance to "Quiet Storm." On "My Girl," Miguel, Aloe Blacc, and 'N Sync's JC Chasez match The Temptations' harmonies, as Mayer recreates the song's instantly recognizable opening guitar riffs.

Track Listing:

1. The Tracks Of My Tears - Elton John
2. You Really Got A Hold On Me - Steven Tyler
3. My Girl - Miguel, Aloe Blacc & JC Chasez
4. Cruisin' - Jesse J
5. Quiet Storm - John Legend
6. The Way You Do (The Things You Do) - CeeLo Green
7. Being With You - Mary J. Blige
8. Ain't The Peculiar - James Taylor
9. The Tears Of A Clown - Sheryl Crow
10. Ooh Baby Baby - Ledisi
11. Get Ready - Gary Barlow

smokeyrobinson.com

Queen + Adam Lambert concert review: Los Angeles

A version of my review originally appeared at losangelesregister.com.

Queen + Adam Lambert
When: July 3
Where: The Forum, Inglewood

“I’m thrilled that the Forum is back. It’s been 30 years since we trod these boards,” enthused Queen guitarist Brian May, before starting an acoustic concert segment at the venue on Thursday night.

The band’s original lineup last played there in September 1982 during the “Hot Space” tour. Before that was a four-night 1980 stand, which Michael Jackson attended. The King of Pop went on to do some recording sessions with Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury.

Since both vocalists are now deceased, those songs are currently being finished by founding members May and drummer Roger Taylor, for an album of new and old (“Queen Forever”) material tentatively due next winter.

Also in the works is a film biopic starring Ben Whishaw (“Skyfall,” “Cloud Atlas”) as Mercury. More immediately, “We Will Rock You,” the long-running theatrical production based on the veteran London rock group’s music, opens at the Ahmanson Theatre on July 15.

Having previously toured and recorded with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company during the mid-2000s to mixed reviews, Queen has found the ultimate front man in Adam Lambert. The “American Idol” runner up initially performed with them on the series' 2009 season finale and then did half a dozen European dates.

May recently told Rolling Stone, “This [American tour] is the closest you’ll ever get to see Queen as it was in our golden days.”

Indeed. Lambert, 32, has a strikingly similar sense of panache as Mercury, plus a mightily impressive vocal range.

Each was on full display in Inglewood amid a spectacular show rife with classic rock bombast (i.e. requisite drum and guitar solos) that clocked in just over two hours.

Plenty of U.K. hits were represented within the 22-song set, but several selections were probably unknown to all but the faithful. Lambert first appeared on screens shrouded in silhouette and then emerged from the top stage tier, clad in black leather.

Accompanied by longtime keyboardist Spike Edney, bassist Neil Fairclough and Taylor’s young son Rufus on drums/percussion, Queen + Adam Lambert kicked everything off with brawny rocker “Now I’m Here.” It was the first of four tunes culled from 1974’s “Sheer Heart Attack.”

“Stone Cold Crazy” featured a strong careening guitar intro as the singer nailed those rapid fire lyrics and knelt down in awe of May’s muscular riffs. All the musicians harmonized well on stomper “Fat Bottomed Girls,” Lambert strutted his stuff with authority and a min-cam attached to May’s guitar neck provided a bird’s eye view of the legend’s masterful fretwork.

Following Lambert’s change into a glam-styled glittery shirt with fringe, spikes and platform shoes, “Lap of the Gods…Revisited” contained the night’s first sing along and was capped by billowing smoke plumes. He headed to a smaller B-stage located amid the venue’s floor section to camp it up during a sprightly “Seven Seas of Rhye,” while lounging on a regal couch. Lambert playfully sipped from a bottle of champagne amid the solid “Killer Queen” and May joined him there.

The front man easily proved his mettle for an ultra-dramatic “Somebody to Love,” as Taylor gave a thunderous heft to “I Want it All,” the tempo increased and May did another fast fingered display.

A montage tribute to Mercury came during a solo acoustic take on “Love of My Life,” where the axe man said “this is for Freddie. He’s not very far away” and paused after singing the line “I still love you.” It finished with a film clip of Mercury singing the song.

Prior to the folky space tale “’39,” also on the B-stage, May mentioned Einstein’s theory of relativity (he has a PhD in astrophysics) and was joined by the other musicians. Taylor was front and center to ably handle lead vocals on poignant ballad “These Are the Days of Our Lives.” Once Lambert returned, the drummer also impressed during their stunning duet “Under Pressure” and said, “It’s good to be back here; it feels like home. There’s no dancers. Just real singing.”

Lasers and a mirror ball provided ambience to the breathtaking highlight “Who Wants to Live Forever” (another subtle nod to Mercury’s absence). Later, “Tie Your Mother Down” was a full throttle attack with some call and response action. Lambert was a bit shaky on the slide guitar-enhanced “Radio Ga Ga” and a tempered, extended version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” but redeemed himself for the stunning high drama of “The Show Must Go On.”

Queen + Adam Lambert finished the main set with “Bohemian Rhapsody” as Lambert traded verses with Mercury via the classic 1975 music video (it got me wondering what this tune would be like with a pseudo-hologram a la Jackson at the Billboard Music Awards) and a caped May emerged looking like a sorcerer to finish with some ferocious licks.

Here's hoping the latest Queen paring sticks for awhile. 

Setlist: Queen at the Forum, Inglewood, Calif., July 3, 2014
 
Now I'm Here/Stone Cold Crazy/Another One Bites the Dust/Fat Bottomed Girls/In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited/Seven Seas of Rhye/Killer Queen/Somebody to Love/I Want It All/Love of My Life/'39/These Are the Days of Our Lives/Under Pressure/Love Kills/Who Wants to Live Forever/Tie Your Mother Down/Radio Ga Ga/Crazy Little Thing Called Love/The Show Must Go On/Bohemian Rhapsody
Encore:  We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions

All photos by Kelly Swift

A Tribute to 'Born in the U.S.A'

2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. Although it would become his biggest selling album with seven top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars says "any of those songs could be played with acoustic guitar alone and still be great."

Taking this idea as its premise, Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A (out 9/16, Lighting Rod Records) strips the album's twelve indelible originals to the core, with contributions from Low, Nicole Atkins, Justin Townes Earle, Blitzen Trapper, Joe Pug, Trampled by Turtles and more.

Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires tackle "Born In The U.S.A." 

Isbell says of his cover, ""Born In The U.S.A." is one of my favorites because so many people have seemingly misunderstood the lyrical content and the song's overall tone. When you listen to the demo, the dark, minor key arrangement makes it clear that this is not strictly a song of celebration. We wanted to stay true to that version."

Shires adds, "I love that the song paints a picture of struggle in the face of the American dream, and the irony in the chorus is delivered with such force that it nearly transcends irony altogether."

Track list:

1) "Born In The U.S.A" - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires
2) "Cover Me" - Apache Relay
3) "Darlington County" - Quaker City Nighthawks
4) "Working On The Highway" - Blitzen Trapper
5) "Downbound Train" - Joe Pug
6) "I'm On Fire" - Low
7) "No Surrender" - Holly Williams
8) "Bobby Jean" - Ryan Culwell
9) "I'm Goin' Down" - Trampled By Turtles
10) "Glory Days" - Justin Townes Earle
11) "Dancing In The Dark" - Nicole Atkins
12) "My Hometown" - North Mississippi Allstars

'(What's The Story) Morning Glory' next in Oasis deluxe reissues

photo by Stefan de Batselier

The 'Definitely Maybe' reissue was very impressive. This one should be as well...

The second in the Oasis: Chasing The Sun series, (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, will be released on Sept. 30 via Big Brother Recordings.

Demand for the legendary Manchester band remains as strong as ever: the first reissue in the series, Definitely Maybe, recently entered the UK album chart at No.5, selling almost 20,000 copies in its first week.

A large proportion of sales have been on vinyl, making it one of the biggest selling 12" records of 2014 so far. The accompanying exhibition of rare photo's and memorabilia Chasing The Sun: Oasis 1993 - 1997 attracted over 40,000 visitors to a Shoreditch gallery in April.

Each Chasing The Sun series album release is remastered and available with rare and exclusive bonus content. (What's The Story) Morning Glory? has been remastered from the original tapes by Ian Cooper at London's Metropolis Studios, supervised by the album's producer Owen Morris.

Many contributors, including original members of the inner circle who were involved in studio and live recordings, came together to hunt down unheard demos and live material. The team also unearthed a wealth of never-seen-before photos and vintage memorabilia, which will be included in the new artwork.

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? is available on standard CD & digital download, Special Edition 3 x CD & digital download, 12" vinyl LP (with digital download bundle of all bonus CD content), & Deluxe Box Set (including LP, Special Edition CD, 7" of an exclusive demo, replication of an original 12" promo & merchandise).

The follow-up to Oasis's 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, (What's The Story) Morning Glory? was released on Oct. 2, 1995 and sold a record-breaking (at the time) 347,000 copies in its first week. The album spent 10 weeks at No.1 in the UK, and is Oasis's most commercially successful, with 22 million copies sold worldwide to date, including 4 million in the US.

It features many of Oasis's biggest hit singles, including Don't Look Back In Anger, Wonderwall, Some Might Say, and Roll With It, and won the Best Album at the 1996 Brit Awards, with Oasis also taking Best British Group and Best Video awards.

It was during the Morning Glory? era when Oasis played two nights at Maine Road Stadium, the then home of Manchester City Football Club, in April 1996, and Knebworth House, where the band played to 250,000 fans over two nights in August 1996. Over 2.6 million people applied for tickets for the shows, making it the largest ever demand for concert tickets in British history.

Each brand new edition of the album includes a re-mastered version of the original. The Special Edition CD and Deluxe Box Set include two CDs of all the B-sides plus rare and unreleased Oasis tracks from the Morning Glory era. The Deluxe Box Set format comes with new sleeve notes by respected rock critic Neil McCormick.

Next in the Chasing The Sun series is Be Here Now 

Oasis: (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Chasing The Sun Edition track listings:

Disc 1

Hello
Roll With It
Wonderwall
Don't Look Back In Anger
Hey Now!
(untitled)
Some Might Say
Cast No Shadow
She's Electric
Morning Glory
(untitled)
Champagne Supernova

Disc 2

Talk Tonight
Acquiesce
Headshrinker
It's Better People
Rockin' Chair
Step Out
Underneath The Sky
Cum On Feel The Noize
Round Are Way
The Swamp Song
The Masterplan
Bonehead's Bank Holiday
Champagne Supernova (Brendan Lynch Mix)
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

Disc 3 

Acquiesce (Live At Earls Court)
Some Might Say (Demo)
Some Might Say (Live at Roskilde)
She's Electric (Demo)
Talk Tonight (Live At Bath Pavilion)
Rockin' Chair (Demo)
Hello (Live At Roskilde)
Roll With It (Live At Roskilde)
Morning Glory (Live At Roskilde)
Hey Now (Demo)
Bonehead's Bank Holiday (Demo)
Round Are Way (MTV Unplugged)
Cast No Shadow (Live At Maine Road)
The Masterplan (Live At Knebworth Park)