Country music legend Ronnie Milsap recently released his first gospel album, Then Sings My Soul, which includes 24 of his favorite hymns and spirituals in a two-CD set.
I’m not one to listen to gospel music, but when I decided to review this new CD I found myself really enjoying the peaceful sounds of recognizable gospel greats like “I’ll Fly Away,” “Amazing Grace,” “Up To Zion” and secular treasures like “Stand By Me” and “People Get Ready.”
The album is being hailed as a personal life journey for Milsap, who was born in the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina. His family brought him to many church revivals, hoping that a divine intervention would cure his blindness. According to his bio, a young Milsap left those revivals defeated, as his family presumed his own lack of faith prevented the miracle cure from happening. Throughout this, Milsap’s faith was unwavering.
====================
Foreigner signs with Wal-Mart
Mick Jones has watched classic rock bands like the Eagles, AC/DC and Journey reach new levels of popularity thanks to Wal-Mart; now he wants to get his band, Foreigner, in on the action.
Foreigner is releasing a three-disc set of new and classic material in Wal-Mart stores on Sept. 29. "Can't Slow Down" will include a CD of new material, another of remixed versions of Foreigner hits and another live DVD of performance footage, all for $12.
Jones says the Wal-Mart exclusive deal is the perfect way for the band -- best known for hits such as "Hot Blooded," "I Want to Know What Love Is" and "Urgent" -- to reestablish itself.
"As we've been off the album scene for some time. We need a lot of support to get the word out," Jones said in an interview. "Although we've played a tremendous amount of shows, a lot of the public doesn't realize that we're back."
====================
'Whiter Shade' organist wins
He didn't skip the light fandango, but Procol Harum's former keyboardist said he was delighted Thursday after Britain's top court ruled he was entitled to a share of royalties from the band's hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale."
Judges in the House of Lords said Matthew Fisher, who played the track's distinctive Hammond organ intro, should get a portion of future royalties from the song.
Renowned for its mystifying lyrics (beginning "We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels cross the floor"), the song was one of the signature hits of 1967's Summer of Love. It topped the British singles chart for five weeks and was a Top 10 hit in the U.S.
Fisher, 62, now a computer programmer, left the British band in 1969 but 35 years later began a legal battle for a share in the song's copyright.
Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker argued that it was his idea to use the Bach-inspired theme that Fisher played on the track. Brooker, who still tours with the band, said he and lyricist Keith Reid wrote the song before Fisher joined in March 1967.
Fisher said he was delighted by the victory, which was "never about money."
"There will not be a lot of that anyway," he said. "But this was about making sure everyone knew about my part in the authorship. A win without money was never going to be recognized as a win at all."
Oh, yeah, it was never about the money- I have a bridge to sell you in NY.......
====================
Skeletonwitch Unveils New Album, "Breathing the Fire," Cover Art
Athens, Ohio’s SKELETONWITCH has unveiled the cover art of their new full length, "Breathing the Fire," due out October 13th on Prosthetic Records. The cover, designed by Andrei Bouzikov, who has previously done art for Municipal Waste and many others, can be viewed below.
Scott Hedrick, the band's guitarist, commented on the cover, “The art really sums up the new album and what drew me to heavy metal in the first place: it’s brutal, evil, and in a sadistic way, it’s fucking fun! Breathing the Fire is meaner, faster, and far more sickening than Beyond the Permafrost, and the art reflects that. We went for the jugular, and so does Andrei’s art. He did an amazing job. It’s fucking killer when the artist and band share a similar approach: organic. Blood and sweat, ink and paint, tubes in amps, and non-triggered drums. A set of balls. Not gym shorts, sterile computer generated art, effects pedals and redundant arpeggios."
The band will be touring with Black Dahlia Murder in support of Children of Bodom in September and October.
No comments:
Post a Comment