The vinyl record collecting blog - with news about new vinyl record releases, vinyl record sales, new music releases, album cover art and weekly features
A test pressing of the Led Zeppelin "Road Box" gets twice the price of one of the regular releases (there were only five released test pressings) and the #1 spot. Also, a bootleg makes the list for only the second time ever, with a Neil Young recording from the early 70s.
1. 12" - Led Zeppelin “Road Box” Test Pressing - $6,100.00
"Saints at Congo Square Vol. 1, " is the third album in Threadhead Records' Congo Square Project series, and is available for download. The project is a sweeping effort to trace the evolution of African and Caribbean music in New Orleans. Collaborators include: Levon Helm, Stanton Moore, A.F.O. drummer John Boudreaux, Sun Ra protégé Marshall Allen, Howlin' Wolf band guitarist Hubert Sumlin and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, just to name a few.
SWANS “MY FATHER WILL GUIDE ME UP A ROPE TO THE SKY”
The first new record from SWANS since 1996! After years of pursuing ANGELS OF LIGHT and recording and producing a diverse roster of artists for his label, Michael Gira has reconvened his legendary group the Swans. As he says: “this is not a reunion. It’s not some dumb-ass nostalgia act. It is not repeating the past. After five Angels of Light albums, I need a way to move forward, in a new direction, and it just so happens that revivifying the idea of Swans allows me to do that”.
This highly anticipated album is as powerful and diverse as anything Gira has ever done, in Swans or otherwise. It opens with the epic, soul-crushing “No Words/No Thoughts”, but quickly veers to more pastoral terrain, and on to ever-ascending monotonal grooves. A filmic-folk idyll featuring Devendra Banhart on lead vocal abruptly shifts to cataclysm, and is followed by more airplane-taking-off ascensions, art songs and lethal sonic pummeling. In short, this is the new Swans album, a significant advance from where they left off and as challenging and emotionally demanding as ever. A massive 18 month tour (Montreal and Toronto dates are scheduled for early October) in support of the album begins in September. Released on Young God and available October 1st, 2010.
1.No Worlds/No Thoughts
2.Reeling the Liars In
3.Jim
4.My Birth
5.You Fucking People Make Me Sick
6.Inside Madeline
7.Eden Prison
8.Little Mouth
Monkey Killer Records Announces Operation Rolling Thunder’s Debut Album
Monkey Killer Records is very proud to announce the release of Dunedin band Operation Rolling Thunder’s debut album, III. Since their inception many years ago, Operation Rolling Thunder have been in the habit of doing things unconventionally; their live sets rarely break the thirty minute mark, they eschew bass in favour of a tight two piece format, and they utilise a sampler in lieu of vocals. Now their debut album is released on vinyl with download three years after it was recorded.
Operation Rolling Thunder’s debut album has had an extended gestation period, having been recorded in 2007 at the Masonic Lodge in Port Chalmers by Dale Cotton (who has recorded High Dependency Unit, Mestar, Collapsing Cities and many more). The record was mastered for vinyl in January 2010, and pressed in the USA, finally ready for release in September 2010.
The album is available now directly through the Monkey Killer Records website, and will be available through selected stores New Zealand wide over the coming weeks.
“Dunedin two-piece sonic rock exponents Operation Rolling Thunder are a musical force to be reckoned with. They create soundscapes that transport you to another time-space continuum…” Vicki Anderson, The Press
“Throughout their unfortunately short set, ‘Thunder displayed an uncanny talent for using dynamics, creating textured sonic landscapes capable of crushing the listener, before relenting – creating claustrophobic tension within their music.” Sam Valentine, Critic
Operation Rolling Thunder: Rob Falconer- Drums/Samples Adam Falconer- Guitar
Brokencyde detail second album, give middle finger to industry
Brokencyde have detailed their upcoming second album, Will Never Die. The album is due out November 9, 2010. The band made the following statement about the album:
"With this whole album, we're putting our middle fingers in the air toward the entire industry," commented Mikl from Brokencyde. "The album artwork is pretty much self explanatory. We want to smash everything and anything that stands in the way of us making music. We want to show all our detractors that all the hate they spew only fuels our music and makes us that much stronger."
1.Epic Intro
2.Dis Iz a Rager Dude
3.Always Go Hard
4.SHAKE!
5.Whatcha Want
6.T.M.H.T.S. Lesson 1 (skit)
7.Teach Me How To Scream
8.Money Hungry Hoe
9.High Timez (feat. Daddy X of the Kottonmouth Kings)
10.Where we @? (skit)
11.Da House Party
12.My Gurl
13.Kama Sutra
14.Ugly Bitch with a Mustache (skit)
15.Goose Gogglez
16.U Ain't Crunk
17.Ride Slow
18.Sunshine
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Social Distortion confirm new album release date
According to the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Social Distortion is scheduled to release their Epitaph Records debut, 'Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes' on November 23, 2010.
The album will be their first since 'Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll,' which was released in 2004. The band released a Greatest Hits album in 2007 and will be touring next month.
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This from Roadrunnerrecords.com:
RONNIE JAMES DIO Statue To Be Erected In Kavarna
Newly created plaster model of Ronnie James Dio statue
Legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio will have a monument dedicated to him in the Bulgarian Black-sea coastal town of Kavarna. The statue will be placed in the city's central park, as part of the soon-to-be built "Walk of Rock," a project approved by the City Council four years ago.
According to Radio Bulgaria, the decision to erect the monument was taken by the municipal administration, with the most active proponents being Kavarna Mayor Tzonko Tzonev as well as leading journalists, musicians and singers.
A replica of the monument was displayed during the three-day Kavarna Rock Fest in July and a plaster model of the statue has since been created, marking the final stage of the preparation for its construction.
The actual statue will be 1.5 meters in height (approximately four feet and eleven inches) and will be combined with large stones taken from the sea.
The artists behind the project are sculptors Alexander Petrov and Krasimir Krastev - Lomsky, while the painting is being handled by Ivan Stratiev.
Dio was reportedly one of the very first heavy rock icons to play Kavarna. In fact, he performed in Bulgaria no less than five times and took an active part in the campaign for liberating the Bulgarian nurses held in prison in Libya for eight years.
According to Standart News, the mayor of Kavarna, Tzonko Tzonev, has managed to turn his life-long hobby — rock music — into a successful and profitable project and thus pours funds into the treasury of Kavarna Municipality. Thanks to Tzonev's efforts, some of the greatest rock musicians of all time have come and performed in the small coastal town of Kavarna.
Ronnie James Dio was one of rock's most respected and talented frontmen, renowned for his instantly recognizable vocals, lyrics and stagecraft. On May 16, 2010, Ronnie succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 67 and the world of hard rock lost one of its greatest talents.
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OZZY OSBOURNE Dedicates 'Road To Nowhere' To His 'Old Friend' RONNIE JAMES DIO
Ozzy Osbourne dedicated the song "Road To Nowhere" to his "old friend" Ronnie James Dio during Ozzy's September 22, 2010 concert at the Palasharp Arena in Milan, Italy.
"I'd like to dedicate this to my old friend Ronnie James Dio," Osbourne said from the stage. "God bless you, man. It's a song called 'Road To Nowhere'. I love you, Ronnie."
Fan-filmed video footage of the Dio dedication and "Road To Nowhere" performance can be viewed below.
Ozzy's setlist was as follows:
01. Bark At The Moon
02. Let Me Hear You Scream
03. Mr Crowley
04. I Don't Know
05. Fairies Wear Boots
06. Suicide Solution
07. Road To Nowhere
08. Shot In The Dark
09. [Band Jam / Solos]
10. Rat Salad
11. Iron Man
12. Killer Of Giants
13. I Don't Want To Change The World
14. Crazy Train
15. Mama, I'm Coming Home
16. Paranoid
17. War Pigs
Ozzy Osbourne told QMI Agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on in May that Ronnie James Dio's ultimately fatal battle with stomach cancer hit close to home.
"As soon as I heard I heard he had been diagnosed with cancer, I sent him some encouragement," Osbourne said. "Having been through that situation myself with (my wife) Sharon when we were doing (the reality TV show) 'The Osbournes', it's always somebody over there. When it lands at your doorstep you're like, 'What do you do? How do you get round this?' When Sharon got (colon) cancer, I'd never known anyone who survived. I thought it was bullshit when they told you, 'They can survive.' I just thought they were trying to smooth me over. And she got over it."
Osbourne added that he ran into BLACK SABBATH/HEAVEN & HELL drummer Vinny Appice at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards show in early April and inquired about Dio's health.
"I didn't get a chance to see him but I was talking to the drummer Vinny, and I said, 'Did he get my message?' 'I don't know,' he said.' And I said, 'Well, tell him to keep up the fight.' Then on the weekend, we heard he had passed away, which is sad. He had a great voice. People thought that me and him were at war. At first, I suppose a bit of theatrics would be involved, but I mean it's been 30 years."
The deaths of Dio and SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray are the latest that have stunned the heavy rock world in the last few months. AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan died last December, while TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman Peter Steele passed away in April.
Ozzy, who knew or had a passing acquaintance with all four artists, told The Pulse of Radio it's sad to see so many musicians pass away in such a short period of time. "I mean, of late everyone's dropping dead," he said. "This happens every so often, you know. I'm only hoping my number don't come up soon. It's what happens, you know. You hear me talking, I'm lucky I'm not one of the dead ones, 'cause I used to — I mean, Ronnie James Dio didn't have any problems, but when there's drugs involved or alcohol...I should have died a thousand times."
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Underoath reveal album cover, tracklisting for new album
Underoath have released the tracklisting and album art for their upcoming album, Ø (Disambiguation), which comes out on November 9 via Tooth & Nail/Solid State in the US and through Roadrunner internationally. The 11-song record will apparently reveal the band’s extensive vocabulary, particularly on songs with titles like “My Deteriorating Incline” and “A Divine Eradication.” You can check out the album’s artsy lunar-style cover here.
The band, who will be touring with A Day To Remember this fall, seems confident that this collection of songs will wow fans. Singer Spencer Chamberlain recently said of the album, “Ø (Disambiguation) lives up to its meaning. It’s an album that provides clarity about a band that has experienced its share of misinterpretation. We think it’s our best record by far.”
Check out the tracklisting below:
1. In Division
2. Catch Myself Catching Myself
3. Paper Lung
4. Illuminator
5. Driftwood
6. A Divine Eradication
7. Who Will Guard the Guardians
8. Reversal
9. Vacant Mouth
10. My Deteriorating Incline
11. In Completion
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Susan Boyle Number One In America
SuBo’s album tops chart more than a month before it’s released...
Susan Boyle’s forthcoming album has already topped the US charts six weeks before its official release.
'The Gift' is number one on Amazon’s US music chart on pre-orders alone – just one day after being made available to order. Boyle's album topped the chart ahead of new releases from Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Neil Young and Taylor Swift.
Amazon declared this “the season of Susan” and said the interest in the Britain’s Got Talent sensation was unprecedented. "She has done phenomenally well going to the top of the chart in the US based on one day of pre-orders alone and she's racing up the charts in the UK as well,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “She has really captured the hearts of the nation, both here and in the States."
SuBo’s debut, I Dreamed A Dream, broke records back in 2009 to become the largest global CD pre-order in history; it went on to sell nine million copies and was the biggest selling album of that year. Judging by the buzz around the singer’s new release, she may just top that.
The Gift’s official UK release date is November 8. The album features Christmas classics The First Noel and O Holy Night alongside covers of pop hits such as Hallelujah, Perfect Day and Don’t Dream It’s Over.
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Texas State University Receives Gift of Large Willie Nelson Collection
John Kalinsky, a long time collector of Willie Nelson memorabilia, has donated his collection to the Wittliff Collections at the Texas State University's Alkek Library.
Included in the collection are 877 recordings (45s, LPs, cassettes, VHSs, CDs, DVDs) covering not only Nelson's performing career, but also his work as a producer, guest musician and songwriter. The collection spans the years 1954 to 2010 and includes two 45s released in 1954 by Dave Isbel which includes Willie on guitar. Also donated was Nelson's own first single, No Place For Me/Lumberjack, recorded in Vancouver, WA when the singers was still working as a DJ.
Wittliff was already had a major collection of Nelson's work, including hand-written lyrics, screenplays, letters, posters and other memorabilia. The Kalinsky collection makes the library the primary repository in the world of Nelson material.
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Florence and the Machine to release album and single on the same day
Florence + the Machine is set to release 'Heavy In Your Arms' on November 15. The single is taken from Between Two Lungs, A two disc special edition of album Lungs to be released on the same day
To round off yet another exceptional year, Florence will be releasing the mighty single 'Heavy In Your Arms' on November 15th through Island Records. Produced by Paul Epworth the track, a favourite of recent festival headlining live sets, was recorded for the Twilight Eclipse film.
Florence comments, 'Heavy In Your Arms I suppose is about the weight of love, and how sometimes it can be a burden between two people. I felt a strong theme in the Twilight series was someone being rescued or being condemned, and is the love you carry bringing you down. I recorded it with Paul one evening, using a lot of strange reversed vocal samples and big hip hop piano. It's basically inspired by 90's hip hop, and gospel choirs, like most of my songs.'
'Heavy In your Arms' will also be available on Between Two Lungs. A two disc special edition version of her 4 x platinum selling Brit Award winning debut album Lungs.
Between Two Lungs will feature new cover art, sleeve notes by Florence and exclusive images. A 10 track second disc which, as well as 'Heavy In Your Arms', also includes among others, a live recording of brand new song 'Strangeness & Charm'. The massive collaboration with Dizzee Rascal 'You Got The Dirtee Love' and a previously unreleased Yeasayer remix of 'Dog Days Are Over' and will also be available on November 15.
Florence recently wowed worldwide audiences with her live performance (and victory) at this year's MTV VMA Awards which saw her album explode in the U.S. Firing up to #2 in the I tunes chart and breaking the top #15 in the Billboard album chart. Exciting times ahead! Back home Florence has just been nominated for two Q Awards, including Best Female and Best Song.
Disc 1. - the Lungs album
1. Heavy In Your Arms
2. You've Got The Dirtee Love
3. Hurricane Drunk (The Horrors Remix)
4. Strangeness & Charm (Live from Hammersmith Apollo)
5. Swimming (Live From Hammersmith Apollo)
6. Dog Days Are Over (Yeasayer Remix)
Disc 2.
Florence & The Machine perform acoustically Live from The Roundhouse:
7. Drumming Song
8. Girl With One Eye
9. Hurricane Drunk
10. Dog Days Are Over
11. My Boy Builds Coffins
12. Hospital Beds
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Katy Perry Mocks Sesame Street Boobs Saga On Saturday Night Live In revealling Elmo shirt...
Katy Perry poked fun at the controversy over her axed Sesame Street cameo as she appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL) last night (September 25). Last week, producers from Sesame Street were forced to axe the singer’s skit with Elmo on the children’s TV show after parents complained that her outfit was to revealing.
Appearing on the set of Bronx Beat on SNL, Perry sported a revealing t-shirt emblazoned with Elmo’s face. The singer, who was playing a 16-year-old library volunteer, bounced up and down as she responded to questions. This breaks me up!
‘You don’t have the American version, the one with the extra track, from 1971, do you?” asked the burly middle-aged bloke in what might once have been a Rolling Stones T-shirt.
All around him, knowledgeable collectors of vinyl – men of a certain age, generally – were having roughly the same conversation with equally knowledgeable dealers.
This was the exhibition hall at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall yesterday as the latest Music Fair began its weekend residency. At one point, a man walked in with a rolled-up array of original Beatles posters. Nearby, people were wondering whether to spend £110 on a Japanese-issue, red vinyl, mono copy of the early Beatles album, With The Beatles, or £80 on a framed HMV presentation marking one million UK sales of Dido’s album, No Angel. Bootleg recordings of live concerts by everyone from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones were also attracting interest.
The fair, which continues today, is part of a network of such events across the UK, and the organisers view them as the future of music shopping.
The collectors are in good company. According to the Official Charts Company and the BPI, the voice of the UK recorded music business, vinyl sales increased by 5% last year, although they still account for a mere sliver of the overall market. Vinyl album sales stood at 219,449, just 0.2% of the market, while seven-inch singles, at 222,193, represented just 0.1%. Some 112.9 million physical albums were sold in 2009, as opposed to 16.1m digital albums. Digital, however, has had an increasingly substantial impact on singles sales. In 2009 there were 149.7m download sales, compared with a mere 3.1m physical sales.
“Vinyl is definitely thriving,” said John Wallace, manager at the organiser, Leicester-based VIP Events. “People are back out there, collecting it. It’s the younger generation that downloads, because they don’t know anything else.”
Despite shifting trends in music, vintage artists who all embarked on their careers in the 1960s remain the most sought-after. “The ones who always stand out are Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan,” adds Wallace, himself a collector of soul records, “though there will be odd new records by certain other artists which might fetch some money. We’ve also noticed that coloured vinyl seven-inch singles are being snapped up.”
Certain items are so rare that, if found in mint condition, could command respectable sums from collectors.
“The Beatles released a single, Please Please Me, in 1963. The first 50 copies or so came out with gold lettering on the black ‘Parlophone’ disc label, on both the mono and stereo versions. If you get a stereo version with the gold lettering, you could be talking about £3000 or £4000. If it’s the mono version, you might get about £300 or £400 for it.”
Edinburgh-based dealer George Robertson, who specialises in blues, jazz and 1960s psychedelia vinyl, said: “There was a downturn in vinyl through the 1990s but there has been an upsurge over the last five years. A lot of people swear by vinyl’s sound, and then there’s the importance of physically owning an artefact from the period in which it was manufactured: it is not like buying a remastered CD.”
Robertson, who is planning to open a music-and-art shop in Stockbridge in the New Year, observes that the internet has impacted on dealers’ ability to acquire fresh stock.
“One of the issues is that people who used to come to fairs to sell stuff to dealers are now selling it themselves on the internet, and getting better prices than if they sold it to dealers. The middleman has gone,” he said.
Robertson concedes that music fairs are even bigger business on the Continent. “The main fairs, in places such as Utrecht, Milan and Barcelona, are big tourist draws. They’re often sponsored by local authorities and can attract between 25,000 or 30,000 people.”
The Glasgow fair is small by comparison but no-one was complaining, least of all the man in the Stones T-shirt, who found what he was after.
Olivia Newton-John (1948) (yes, I still Love her!)
Stuart Tosh - Pilot (1951)
Cesar Rosas - Los Lobos (1954)
Craig Chaquico - Jefferson Starship (1954)
Tracey Thorn - Everything But The Girl (1962)
Cindy Herron - En Vogue (1965)
Shawn Stockman, Boyz II Men (1972)
They Are Missed:
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1898 (Died July 11, 1937) . His works include "Swanee" and "Rhapsody in Blue." Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known.
Blues singer Bessie Smith died in 1937 (age 43) after being involved in a car accident while traveling along Route 61 outside Memphis, Tennessee. Her 1923 song "Downhearted Blues" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.
Born on this day in 1925, Marty Robbins, Country singer and superstar. He died on December 8, 1982.
Richard Shannon Hoon (September 26, 1967 – October 21, 1995), singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and lead singer of the band Blind Melon until his death from a drug overdose in 1995.
Born today in 1926, Julie London, US singer. She died on October 18, 2000.
Born on this day in 1941, Joe Bauer, drummer, The Youngbloods, died of a brain tumour in 1982.
Robert Palmer ("Bad Case Of Loving You") died of a heart attack in 2003.
History:
In 1956, fourteen year-old Tammy Wynette watched the King perform from the front row as "Elvis Presley Day" was celebrated at the Missippi-Alabama Dairy Fair in his home town of Tupelo, Mississippi (where he himself had sung at age ten).
The Monotones recorded "Book Of Love" in 1957.
The musical "West Side Story" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1957.
Connie Francis started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1960 with "My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own."
The Greenbriar Boys started a two-week residency at Gerde's Folk Club in New York in 1961. The opening act was Bob Dylan.
Roy Orbison started a three week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1964 with "Oh Pretty Woman."
The Kinks released the song "You Really Got Me" in 1964.
In 1965, the Beatles were decorated with the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
In 1967, Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.
The Sallyangie a group featuring 15 year-old future Tubular Bells star Mike Oldfield and his sister Sally appeared at The Cousins folk Club Soho London in 1968.
Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) was fined $150 for possession of marijuana in 1968.
The Beatles released the epic LP 'Abbey Road' in the UK in 1969, their final studio recordings from the group. It featured two George Harrison songs "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" plus "Come Together," "Sun King" and "Golden Slumbers."
In 1970, Tamla-Motown Records announced that the Jackson 5 had sold 10 million singles world wide in nine months.
"Walls and Bridges" was released by John Lennon in 1974. He would not release any more new material for almost 6 years.
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened in theaters in 1975.
The Clash released their first U.S. single in 1979. It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."
In 1981, Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden, (Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).
The Go-Go's started a six-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1981 with 'Beauty And The Beat.' The album sells over two million copies.
The Prince song "Purple Rain" was released in 1984.
Michael Jackson started a six-week run at #1 on the US album chart in 1987 with 'Bad.'
Whitney Houston started a two week run at #1 on the US singles chart in 1987 with "Didn't We Almost Have It All."
The Grateful Dead`s "Touch of Grey" peaked at #9 in 1987 becoming the group`s biggest hit.
"Talk Is Cheap" was released by Keith Richards in 1988. It was his first solo album.
Nirvana appeared at the Castaic Lake Amphitheatre, Castaic, California in 1992.
In 1996, police found drugs hidden in a Smarties tube when they raided the London home of Paula Yates and INXS singer Michael Hutchence. The couple were away in Australia at the time of the raid. Smart.....
In 1997, the initial 300,000-unit shipment of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" sold out in Japan on its first day of release.
MTV Russia debuted at midnight in 1998. The first video shown on the network was Mummy Troll's "Vladivostock 2000."
The Dixie Chicks went to #1 on the US album chart in 1999 with 'Fly.'
In 2003, a report published on requests by artists to venues of their backstage requirements revealed; Limp Bizkit insisted that all the lamps in their rooms be dimmable while Mariah Carey would only have 'bendy' straws as she will not use straight ones. Van Halen insisted that back-stage celery is trimmed and not peeled. The Red Hot Chili Peppers asked for a meditation room and a selection of aromatherapy candles. Barry Manilow requested that the air temperature in the auditorium be kept at a regular 65 degrees. Am I want the all brown M&Ms......
Green Day scored their first UK #1 album in 2004 with ‘American Idiot’ the bands seventh release.
Nelly was at #1 on the US album chart in 2004 with ‘Suit,’ his third US #1 album.
In 2006, the Black Crowes issued “The Lost Crowes,” a two-CD compilation featuring previously unavailable tracks. The collection includes 26 songs from sessions in ‘93 and ‘97. A manufacturing glitch forced a one month delay of the set’s release. A DVD version of the Crowes' 92 concert video, “Who Killed Your Bird Out On That Windowsill” was also in stores.
"Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion," a two-disc retrospective of the Rolling Stones guitarist was released in 2006. There are tracks from Wood’s solo albums, plus his tenure with the Stones, the Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.
George Harrison's ‘73 album, "Living in the Material World," was re-released in 2006. The remastered CD has two bonus tracks, "Deep Blue" and "Miss O'Dell."
"The U.S. vs. John Lennon" soundtrack was released in 2006. The disc features 19 Lennon songs, including "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," "Imagine" and "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," as well as a pair of previously unreleased cuts. The movie premieres 9 (Lennon's lucky number) days earlier.
"Last Man Standing," a star-studded album by Rock & Roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis was also released in 2006. Five years in the making, the 21 song CD feature features contributions by Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Don Henley, John Fogerty, Rod Stewart and Ringo Starr.
Tony Bennett's "Duets/An American Classic" album was released in 2006 with the legendary crooner singing alongside Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting, Billy Joel, U2's Bono. The disc commemorates the crooner's 80th birthday.
In 2007, a charitable foundation set up by Shakira donated $40 million to help victims of natural disasters. The money would go towards repairing damage caused by an earthquake in Peru and a hurricane in Nicaragua. A further $5 million would be spent on health and education in four Latin American countries.
Jay-Z started a two-week run at #1 on the US album charts in 2009 with ‘The Blueprint 3,' the rappers eleventh studio album.
