Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Music News & Notes

Jerry Lee Lewis releases country single, "Mean Old Man"

Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 24 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. The singer, songwriter, and outstanding pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis has turned back to his roots of country.

The first single, "Mean Old Man," was released for digital download today on Shangri-La Music. Here's the kicker, Lewis recorded the song with Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson is a songwriting genius.

The upcoming CD will be the first country CD from Lewis since the 1970s.

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Allen Thompson Releases New Album

Singer-songwriter Allen Thompson announces the release of his third CD 26 Years on August 25, 2009. Born and raised in Virginia and recently transplanted to Nashville, Allen Thompson's 26 Years is a reflection in ten original songs.

Like many a fine songwriter before him, Thompson has lived a lifetime of experiences in his short time here. With family tragedy of Southern Gothic proportion, Thompson was exposed to addiction and mental illness from a young age, ultimately losing both his maternal grandfather and his mother to the diseases. The heartbreak and uncertainty that haunted him throughout his youth permeate the writing on this album. 26 Years is Thompson's coming of age. "Writing and recording these songs allowed me to come to terms with the end of my childhood and the beginning of the rest of my life," Allen explains in his liner notes.

Thompson has not gone unnoticed. Relix magazine named Allen the Jam Off Competition Winner in their Sept/Oct 2008 issue and he has shared the studio with Bonnie Bramlett, Jack Pearson, Harry Stinson, Jimmy Nalls, and Dave Pomeroy to name a few. Check out Allen Thompson as he takes his 26 Years on the road. The new album will be available online and in select stores on August 25th with several new songs streaming at http://www.myspace.com/allenthompsonmusic

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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Denies Drunken Stage Fall

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler spoke with Rolling Stone to clear up some of the reports that surfaced last week, including a Boston Herald report based on band "insiders" who claimed that Tyler was drunk during his recent fall of the stage and that has created problems within the band. He tells Rolling Stone that he was "As sober as you can be" while discussing the fall. Here are a couple of excerpts from that exchange:

What happened that night?:

I don't really know. There was a torrential downpour and the guys [at the campground] said, "Look, it's still slippery." I watched myself on YouTube, and it could have been my knee buckling or any ankle. The last thing I remember before I hit the ground was people grabbing for me, but they couldn't reach me because of the barricade. At any other Aerosmith show I probably would've been caught and thrown back onto the stage — naked and without jewelry [laughs]. I stood up and couldn't raise my arm and knew I'd broken something.

Care to comment on that clip [on a tabloid site] of you in a liquor store?:

Oh, Jesus Christ. A good friend of mine and Joe's — the brother of the guy who works on my house, my housekeeper — passed away. I was at the funeral. And after the funeral, they're Italian and had a feast at the house, a wake, and I stopped at the liquor store and paid for the booze. I did not buy any for myself. It was never proven that I did. Some kid whipped out a phone and took a picture. Anything to sell papers. It was for the wake. I would do it over and over a million times.

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KISS Announce North American Tour


As they celebrate 35 years of rockin', KISS today announced the dates of the KISS ALIVE 35 North American tour. The tour kicks off with a rapidly-selling, special multiple-show engagement in Detroit Rock City beginning September 25th, where KISS will be playing the classic album that started it all: KISS ALIVE! The tour leg will then hit more than 40 additional cities before concluding in December.

This incredible show will feature a new stage set, pyro effects that only the "hottest band in the world" could deliver, and all new costumes. Fans will be treated to a 2½ hour set of some of rock's greatest hits, including "Rock and Roll All Nite," "I Was Made for Lovin' You," "Detroit Rock City," "God Gave Rock & Roll to You" and "Shout It Out Loud," as well as songs from the band's new album SONIC BOOM. Buckcherry will be main support on all of the KISS ALIVE 35 North American dates.

Said Gene Simmons, "For 35 years, KISS raised the bar for what a rock concert should really be. This year is no different - all new, all killer... all KISS! The master's class in rock is in session! KISS rules. Oh yeah!"

"Bigger IS better!" said Paul Stanley. "SONIC BOOM is our future and KISS Alive is our proud past. On this tour you get KISS Alive plus a slew of other classics and soon to be classics. New stage, new battle gear and a pyro arsenal that will again show everyone that there is only one KISS!"

After completing their biggest tour ever of South America, selling out stadiums once again in Europe, and leaving fans clamoring for more in Australia, KISS is excited to give North America its due. KISS ALIVE 35 North America marks the first leg of the world's first fan-routed tour -- more than 10,000 individual cities across Canada and the U.S. mounted their own unique campaigns to bring KISS to their towns.

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Yellow Sub Re-Do?

Nothing is sacred in Hollywood and they will remake anything. Case in point:

Robert Zemeckis is in negotiations to direct a remake of "Yellow Submarine" for Disney.

"Submarine" was a 1968 animated feature based on music by the Beatles. It was produced by United Artists and King Features Syndicate.

Disney had no comment on the dealmaking, which is in the thick of trying to acquire the rights to the music to the film, which included the title track as well as classics such as "Eleanor Rigby," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "With a Little Help From My Friends."

Like all Zemeckis productions, "Submarine" would be done in performance capture and would also be a digital 3D endeavor.

The movie, a hit when it was released, is about a soldier called Old Fred who meets up with the Beatles and travels in a yellow submersible to Pepperland. Among the group's encounters are the Blue Meanies, music-hating creatures.

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The Black Crows - new CD and Free 2nd Album

THE BLACK CROWES will release their new studio CD, Before the Frost... on 31st August 2009.

A second album, titled …Until The Freeze, will be given away for free exclusively through a unique download code which is included in Before The Frost… as a “thank you” to their fans for two decades of continued support.

Before the Frost..., and its corresponding free album …Until The Freeze, were recorded over a series of five nights at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. Although both are studio albums, all the new material was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience of the band’s fans, making them a part of The Black Crowes musical history.

The innovative technique of inviting fans into the studio to become part of the process during recording is a rare experience.

Before the Frost... features eleven new and previously unreleased Black Crowes songs including Good Morning Captain, I Ain’t Hiding, Been a Long Time (Waiting on Love), and other original songs that will serve to spotlight the bands ability to make emotional connections through their music. The free album …Until The Freeze is a nine-song collection featuring eight new original Black Crowes songs plus a cover version of the Stephen Stills classic So Many Times.

A limited edition vinyl release of Before The Frost…Until The Freeze, featuring all 20 tracks, will also be available on 31st August 2009.

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