Blues Harmonica Great Norton Buffalo Passes Away At 58

Blues and rock harmonica great Norton Buffalo, who spent the past 32 years as a member of The Steve Miller Band, has passed away October 30 at the age of 58 after a short bout with cancer.

Buffalo had been diagnosed with lung cancer in September, when after a concert he complained of feeling ill. He was diagnosed with stage 4 Adenocarcinoma of the lower right lobe. The next day. he found out that it had spread to his brain.

Born September 28, 1951 in Oakland, California, he earned perhaps his greatest success as a member of the Steve Miller Band, a position he held for over two decades beginning in the mid-1970s; as a session player, Buffalo also lent his harmonica skills to records from performers including the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and Elvin Bishop. He issued his solo debut, Lovin’ in the Valley of the Moon, on Capitol in 1977, followed a year later by Desert Horizon.

After spending the 1980s primarily as a sideman, Buffalo teamed with blues slide guitarist Roy Rogers in 1991 for R&B, which earned a Grammy nomination for the track “Song for Jessica”; the duo’s follow-up, Travellin’ Tracks, appeared a year later. Additionally, Buffalo led his own band, the Knockouts.

The Black Crowes To Get Cabin Fever In November

The UK's Classic Rock station Planet Rock is reporting The Black Crowes are to release a brand new DVD entitled Cabin Fever on November 23.

Cabin Fever is a behind the scenes/performance film capturing the band’s remarkable recording sessions for their current album, Before The Frost…Until The Freeze.

The brand new studio album was recorded as live in front of a tiny studio audience at Levon Helms’ studio near Woodstock earlier this year.

The DVD will show the between song banter with the audience, behind the scenes rehearsals and interviews.

Here’s the trailer:

The Faces To Reunite With Rod Stewart in 2010?

Rod Stewart has given the strongest indication yet that The Faces are set to reform.

The band who played a Royal Albert Hall show last week, did so without their original frontman Rod Stewart with Bad Company's Paul Rodgers taking on vocal duties.

"[They had] a reunion a without me because I'm promoting this album ['Soulbook']," Stewart told CNN . "Hopefully, I'll get me old job back. It's on the cards. I'll do it eventually." He added.

The band have previously stated they were set to reform but seemingly Stewart's and Wood's involvement with their own careers has stopped it from happening.



TheFaces split up in 1975 after guitarist Ronnie Wood began playing with The Rolling Stones.

Clapton Pulls Out Of Rock Hall Concert After Surgery

Eric Clapton has pulled out of this week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York after undergoing gallstone surgery.

Kristen Foster, a publicist for the guitarist, said Tuesday that Clapton was doing well and recuperating with his family in England.

The hall says Jeff Beck will replace the 64-year-old guitarist for Friday night's show at Madison Square Garden.

Clapton was to perform as part of a two-night celebration in honor of the hall's 25th anniversary. Beck now joins U2, Aretha Franklin and Metallica for the final night.

The Thursday lineup includes Crosby, Stills and Nash; Stevie Wonder; and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. HBO will air the concerts Nov. 29.

Clapton's Web site says he remains committed to his 2010 concert schedule.

Book Reveals David Bowie Used Witchcraft To Beat Cocaine Paranoia

A white witch helped cure David Bowie of his crippling drug-fueled paranoia, according to a revealing new book about the rock star.

Writer Mark Spitz spent years talking to Bowie, as well as the rocker's family and friends, in a bid to explode myths about the Let's Dance legend in his new tome, "Bowie."

And Spitz reveals how the rocker called on magic to help him get through a terrifying part of his life.

In the book, Spitz writes, "While planning the follow-up to "Young Americans" (album), Bowie would sit in the house with a pile of high-quality cocaine atop the glass coffee table, a sketch pad and a stack of books. Psychic Self Defense was his favorite. Its author describes the book as a 'safeguard for protecting yourself against paranormal malevolence.' Using this and more arcane books on witchcraft, white magic and its malevolent counterpart, black magic, as rough guides to his own rapidly fragmenting psyche, Bowie began drawing protective pentagrams on every surface."

Bowie told the author, "I'd stay up for weeks. Even people like Keith Richards were floored by it. And there were pieces of me all over the floor. I paid with the worst manic depression of my life. My psyche went through the roof, it just fractured into pieces. I was hallucinating 24 hours a day."

Spitz adds, "Increasingly Bowie was convinced there were witches after his semen. They were intent on using it to make a child to sacrifice to the devil, essentially the plot to Roman Polanski's 1968 supernatural classic Rosemary's Baby."

A friend hooked Bowie up with New York-based white witch Walli Elmlark.

The author adds, "Elmlark quickly and successfully exorcised the pool. Angie (Bowie), who was living there at the time, noted that it started to bubble and smoke, and that it only rained outside David's window while the rest of the L.A. sky was clear. Elmlark wrote a series of spells and incantations out for Bowie as he continued to wrestle with the forces of darkness."

Joe - Mule : Hard Rockin' Blues Guitarist Joe Bonamassa Joins Gov't Mule In Chicago

Last night, October 24th at the Riviera Theater in Chicago, Illinois, hard rockin' blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa joined Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule onstage during their second set, trading licks for a spellbinding version of "Sco-Mule" and tearing it up on a cover of the Albert King classic "Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home."

The guitarist, whose brand new DVD 'Live From The Royal Albert Hall' (released October 6th) debuted at #6 on Billboard's DVD Chart, was in Chicago for his own sold out show at the Vic Theater. Gov't Mule's new studio album 'By A Thread' is due out this week, October 27th via Evil Teen Records.

Record Dealer Turns Up Ultra-Rare 'Sgt. Pepper' Album

There was something odd about the copy of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP John Tefteller was staring at.

The faces were different. Where John, Paul, George and Ringo were supposed to be, others had taken their place.

“At first look, I thought, ‘Okay, this is a standard Sgt. Pepper LP, but — hey, wait a minute, it’s still sealed. It’s not opened,’” relates Tefteller, owner of John Tefteller’s World’s Rarest Records. “And then as I look at it closely, I go, ‘Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. There’s no Beatles on here. Who are all these people?’ ”

Those people worked for Capitol Records, and Tefteller was about to find out this particular Sgt. Pepper album was no ordinary Beatles record. In fact, it may be one of the rarest Fab Four LPs of all time, and at this writing, he is negotiating its sale to noted Beatles collector Stan “The Beatleman” Panenka.

According to Tefteller, while traveling earlier this year he received a call from a woman whose deceased husband was a Capitol Records executive who worked for the company in Los Angeles.

“He had a collection of mainly jazz and easy-listening LPs,” says Tefteller. “And I don’t normally go out to look at something like that because I’m not really into either of those categories, but I just thought, ‘Well, all right. Capitol Records? Maybe there’s something else in there.’ ”

So he made an appointment to see the records. The woman did say there was a bit of rock ’n’ roll in the collection, and “… as I’m going through the LPs, she says something about, ‘Well, there’s a Sgt. Pepper album in there,’” says Tefteller. “I’m like, yeah, okay. And I just figured, normal Sgt. Pepper album, no big deal, whatever. It’s cute to see one, but they’re not particularly rare unless they’re like factory-sealed in mono, or something. Or factory-sealed original stereo. They could have some value. Just in general I figured all these LPs look like they’re open and used. This is going to be just a standard Sgt. Pepper LP.”

But that was not the case. When Tefteller asked about the record, she replied, “This was one that was given to my husband. The other people on this cover are all Capitol Records executives.”

Tefteller admitted he’d never heard of this before, and he initially dismissed it. “I didn’t know what it was,” he says. “I thought, well, maybe it’s some kind of fake or repro, but it didn’t look like a fake and it didn’t look like a repro. So I just thought, ‘This is unique.’ So based on finding that in the collection, I bought the collection, ’cause she wanted to sell everything.”

When Tefteller got the records, including that strange version of Sgt. Pepper, home, he called Panenka to find out what he had. Panenka told him what he knew about it and said that there had been a couple like it that sold 20 or 30 years ago.

“None of these have turned up in the last 10 years or so,” says Tefteller. “And from what I understand, doing some further investigation, those copies were fairly well-used, whereas this one is factory-sealed in the original shrink and still in perfect condition.”

Tefteller and Panenka believe that only about 100 copies were ever made of this Sgt. Pepper rarity.

“We’re only speculating on that,” says Tefteller. ‘And the reason I say it’s a speculation and a guess is: One, there have only been three or four at most that have turned up over the last 30 years. That would lead you to think that there were very, very few of them made in the first place. Two, just in order to have one copy available to each of the people who are pictured on this front cover — and I would guess they would have more than one copy available to them, perhaps as many as two or three — you would be looking at a press run of around 100. In knowing what I know about how records are manufactured and the process that it takes to do that, it doesn’t make any sense for a record company, even one as large as Capitol, to go through all the trouble of making up a special cover, printing those covers and then factory sealing them and all that unless you’re going to do a minimum of a hundred.”

Since there is nothing really to compare it to at the present time, determining a value for this find is difficult. “I don’t even want to think about putting a specific dollar value on it,” says Tefteller.

Australian Prime Minister Unaware of Jimi Hendrix's Existence

Weeks before he was due to appear on the cover of the Australian Rolling Stone, the country's prime minister has been exposed as a rock 'n' roll ignoramus. A newspaper columnist writes that he once asked politician Kevin Rudd what he thought of Jimi Hendrix.

"Who's he?" replied Rudd.

During his 2007 campaign, Rudd was asked about his rock 'n' roll heroes. After mentioning Simon and Garfunkel, he went with Vivaldi. "I am a big fan of baroque," he said.

Rochester Retro Rockers The Chesterfield Kings To Release Live Album In November

Retro Rockers The Chesterfield Kings' 'live onstage...if you want it', a new live performance on CD, DVD, and vinyl will be released November 24th on Stevie Van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records.

Recorded in the band's hometown of Rochester, New York, as part of a special public television project, 'live onstage...if you want it' includes both electric and acoustic tracks, as well as a cover of Merle Haggard's "Sing Me Back Home." The album will be available in two packages: CD/DVD digipak, as well as a deluxe LP/CD/DVD (LP with an enclosed full-color CD/DVD.

The Chesterfield Kings - bona fide leaders of the modern Garage Rock movement - draw influences from a variety of genres and styles, including British Invasion, Punk Rock, Blues, and Rockabilly, creating a unique brand of reverb-soaked Rock and Roll that is truly their own.

The Byrds' Roger McGuinn Tried to Sway Metallica on Downloads

Spinner Canada is reporting that Metallica might not have faced a well-publicized fan backlash had the band listened to former Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn. When Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was set to testify before Congress against file sharing back in 2000, McGuinn tells Spinner that he tried to convince Ulrich that downloads were the future.

"I talked to Lars, but he didn't seem to get it," says McGuinn, who presented Congress with counter testimony immediately after Metallica. "He was still firmly on the side of the record companies, thinking that people were ripping him off. My attitude was like, 'Hey -- it's the new radio.' You guys ought to be glad when people exploit your stuff and get it around because that means they're going to come to your concerts and buy your merchandise, and you'll make a lot more money that way."

Though 58 at the time -- and a product of the '60s -- McGuinn was ahead of the curve on downloads. Five years earlier, he had launched the Folk Den, a site where he offered free music. To this day, McGuinn still records one traditional folk song a month and offers it there as a free download.

If it seems odd that a 67-year-old would support new technology so much, consider that McGuinn has always been a pioneer. He is responsible the "jingle-jangle" guitar sound and his old band, the Byrds, are credited with kick-starting both psychedelic and country rock. Yet, his stance on downloads had more to do with record labels than technology.

"I'd say 90 percent of artists on record labels don't get money from record companies," says McGuinn, who once worked as a songwriter for $35 a week. "They get it from performances and other things."

McGuinn is disappointed that record labels have more recently gone after YouTube for copyright infringement.

"It's a new radio. It's a new MTV. It's a new media," he says, noting that YouTube provides valuable exposure for music. "To put it down is to shoot yourself in the foot."

While has always supported using technology to advance music, the man who gave us 'Eight Miles High,' 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' and 'Mr. Spaceman' doesn't see any musical value in the 'Rock Band' video games.

"'Rock Band' is not musicianship," he says. "'Rock Band' is hand-eye coordination ... it might be good for timing for a drummer or something, but you're not playing music with that."

Prog Rock Legends Gentle Giant To Digitally Release Seven Classic Albums November 3

On November 3rd 2009 Gentle Giant will be digitally releasing seven of their best-known albums and tracks in digital form for the very first time via their own Alucard label through EMI Music's Label Services unit.

This progressive rock band, which was active from 1970 through 1980, was made up of multi-instrumentalists, and lived to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular." The group's dozen albums combine a range of musical styles-jazz, pop, classical, British soul, rock, blues, medieval, pop, blues, Gentle Giant's legacy has become influential to a range of artists from the arena rock, jam band, virtuoso players, and chamber pop genres.

In a Glass House, The Power & The Glory, Freehand, Interview, Playing The Fool-The Official Live, The Missing Piece and Giant For a Day will become available through all digital channels.

The digital releases will also include previously unheard bonus tracks and artwork.

The band has chosen favorite live versions of songs from each album and some obscure radio sessions. Two of the bonus tracks “Intro 74” and “Intro 76” have been partially re-recorded, embellished and remixed by Kerry Minnear of the group.

Ritchie Blackmore: "I Get Very Bored And Distracted Very Easily"

Fender.com recently conducted an interview with guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Blackmore's Night). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Fender.com: As a founding member of Deep Purple and Rainbow, it's very interesting that you have also become so successful in a totally different genre. When did you first feel an inclination towards Renaissance-inspired music?

Ritchie Blackmore: I felt an inclination towards Renaissance inspired music ever since I heard the song "Greensleeves" when I was 11 years old. And then again in 1972 when I heard David Munrow & Early Music Consort of London. I would always listen to this music at home or in the hotels on the road. I was fascinated by the sound of woodwind music from that era.

Fender.com: Blackmore's Night's debut album, "Shadow of the Moon", became a gold record, while the latest album, "Secret Voyage", debuted at #1 on the Billboard New Age charts, spending four weeks at that position and 41 weeks in the top ten. Although you've said you aren't a fan of being in the studio, you have certainly had tremendous success with your recordings. What creative approach do you take when making albums?

Ritchie Blackmore: The creative approach starts with a vague melody and vague chord progression, which I put down on a small hand recorder. The next step is Candice [Night, Ritchie's wife and Blackmore's Night's singer] humming a melody and we both decide whether there is any potential with the idea. If there is, Candice will go write the lyrics and we put that down on the recorder as well. I never make demos. Then when our producer is in town, he comes to the house and stays with us. We have a small studio downstairs. It's really a tavern turned into a studio. We record it in the house. I like to be spontaneous in the studio. I usually don't have too much worked out before I play.

Fender.com: You and Candice are often inspired by your castle visits, and have mentioned that you usually take the time to learn about the folklore of the local European communities that you visit. What's one of the strangest tales you have come across?

Ritchie Blackmore: Schloss Waldeck. It's a castle that we visit and sometimes play at that has a witches museum. It goes back to the 1300s. One night we did an interview in the dungeon and heard all sorts of paranormal sounds and screams; people walking with chains attached. We later found out the castle was made into a prison and many people were in chains while there.

Fender.com: "Secret Voyage" has been reviewed as an album that takes its listeners on a "musical quest — a voyage through time and space." The single "Locked Within the Crystal Ball" does that with a traditional melody written by King Alfonso X of Castile serving as the seed for your final arrangement and composition. Candice has called this the "Blackmore-izer." Can you describe this creative process in more detail?

Ritchie Blackmore: It just naturally unfolds. It makes the job much easier when you already have a melody that exists to work on. Sometimes it works adding modern instruments. Sometimes it doesn't. I think it worked on "Crystal Ball".

Fender.com: You also revisit the Rainbow classic "Rainbow Eyes" on the album. That was known as one of the softer Rainbow songs, described as somewhat ethereal. Did it lend itself well to a Blackmore's Night song, and how did you determine the re-arrangement?

Ritchie Blackmore: Anything that is melodic lends itself to be included in this band. Originally it was very acoustic and this time around we added the electric guitar to give it a different dimension.

Fender.com: Your guitar intro to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" is widely considered as one of the most famous rock 'n' roll riffs ever. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the experiences the band had when a fire broke out at the Montreux Casino concert hall in Montreux, Switzerland, but how did you come up with the famous riff?

Ritchie Blackmore : Ian Paice (Deep Purple drummer) and I often used to jam, just the two of us. It was a natural riff to play at the time. It was the first thing that came into my head during that jam.

Fender.com: It's been said that you never play the same set when you tour or play a song the same way twice. Is this improvisational style a desire to stay unique, a continual search for perfectionism, or do you just get bored easy with being repetitive?

Ritchie Blackmore : The last one. I get very bored and distracted very easily. I can never remember set pieces, set lines or set anything. I would never be able to be an actor.

Fender.com: Is it true that when your father bought you your first guitar at age 11 it was on the condition that he was going to have someone teach it to you properly or smash you across the head with it?

Ritchie Blackmore: Yes, that is true. He did say that. I think he was used to me, again, getting bored very easily and that it was a passing phase — that I wouldn't carry on playing the instrument. I initially wanted to be a trumpet player, but they were too expensive. Then a drummer, but they were too expensive. So my dad bought me a guitar. It was cheaper. I wanted to be Eddie Calvert; he was a trumpet player, when I was 8.

Fender.com: Could you talk about your evolution as a guitar player, from those early classical lessons to Deep Purple and Rainbow bassist and producer Roger Glover helping you to recognize that while playing with speed can look flashy, that slowing down and holding a note is also a true art?

Ritchie Blackmore: I realized when I first started playing the guitar I wanted to be very fast. Then I realized, when that wore off, that playing slower and with more feeling and emoting was much harder. It took me a few years to get used to playing slowly. Now I find it harder to play fast.

To read the entire interview go to this location.

Ryan McGarvey Provides A Starry Night For Lubbock

This past weekend, legendary rock photographer Robert M. Knight held a screening of the critically acclaimed documentary chronicling his four decade plus career 'Rock Prophecies' at the fifth annual Flatland Film Festival In Lubbock Texas.

Performing after the screening was up and coming blues rock guitarist Ryan McGarvey (who recently sat in with Joe Bonamassa this past August at the Mile High Blues Festival in Denver, Colorado) who provided a solo acoustic set for the multitude gathered for the event. Here's a brief taste in the form of "Starry Night" live in Lubbock, Texas October 17th, 2009 :(photo by Robert M. Knight)

Guns N' Roses Confirm Canadian Tour Dates

Planet Rock is reporting the much rumored, oft delayed and seemingly unlikely Guns N Roses live dates have finally been confirmed.

The band will play thirteen dates in Canada as part of a wider Chinese Democracy World Tour.

The shows kick off early in 2010 in Winnipeg and dates have been set for the rest of January and early February.

Judging by the fact that the dates have been announced as part of a “World Tour” it would suggest that the band will announcing more dates in the very near future.

According to the press release for the tour, the band will be made up of Axl Rose, Frank Ferrer, Tommy Stinson, Richard Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Dizzy Reed, and Chris Pitman plus new guitarist DJ Ashba, who joined earlier this year. They will apparently start rehearsals in LA very shortly.

Chinese Democracy was released in November 2008, fifteen years after GNR’s previous studio album. They last toured in 2006.

Here are the Canadian tour dates:

January
13 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
16 - Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome
17 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
19 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre
20 - Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
24 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
25 - London, ON - John Labatt Centre
27 - Montreal, PQ - Bell Centre
28 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
31 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place


February
1 - Quebec City, PQ - Colisee Pepsi
3 - Moncton, NB - Moncton Coliseum
4 - Halifax, NS - Metro Centre

Star Studded Rock Hall Live DVD's To See Release This Tuesday

Time Life is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by releasing a comprehensive collection of performances from the last quarter century on DVD.

The nine-DVD Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live will be available this coming Tuesday, Oct. 20 exclusively online for $119.96 via TimeLife.com or RockHallDVDs.com.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live includes 52 tributes featuring 125 performances by some of the most influential rock legends in music history, such as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Cream, Santana with Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen, The Doors, Bono, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, AC/DC, The Who, Tom Petty, Metallica and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The ninth DVD includes the 1996 Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with John Mellencamp, Eric Burdon and Bon Jovi, Lou Reed, Soul Asylum, The Allman Brothers, Sheryl Crow, The Kinks, Ann and Nancy Wilson, John Fogerty, James Brown and Al Green.

Additionally, available Nov. 3 is a “recession friendly” three-DVD edition, which will retail at $39.95. The set includes 44 performances and is available only in stores.

Sean Costello's 'Sean's Blues' CD Release Celebration Set

Landslide Records will celebrate the release of Sean's Blues, a 20-track memorial retrospective collection saluting the late Atlanta blues guitarist and singer, Sean Costello, with a special night of music at the Northside Tavern on Saturday, October 24.

Performing that night in a special tribute to Sean will be all the members of his band: Paul Linden on harmonica and piano, Terence Prather on drums, Matt Wauchope on organ and piano and Melvin Zachary on bass. They'll be joined by a number of announced and unannounced special guests, including Dave Gross, Rod Hamdallah, Art Holliday (Soul Shakers), Jon Justice, Jon Liebman (Electromatics), Joe McGuinness, Bill Sheffield and Stephen Talkovich.

Music starts at 10PM and tickets are priced at $10.00. A portion of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bi-Polar Research (http://www.seancostellofund.org). The Northside Tavern is located at 1058 Howell Mill Rd., NW, Atlanta, GA 30318-555. The telephone number is (404) 874-8745; web site: www.northsidetavern.com.

Culled from his three commercial album releases from 1996 through 2001, as well as previously unreleased tracks including three live songs, Sean's Blues captures the essence of what made Sean Costello such a rising star in the blues world until his tragic death in April, 2008, one day before his 29th birthday.

Classic Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin Albums To Be Featured On U.K. Postage Stamps

Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin are among the acts set to feature on a new range of Royal Mail stamps.

A set of 10 stamps featuring classic British album sleeves will enter circulation on January 7 next year, according to stamp collecting website Norvic Philatelics.

Albums in the collection include 'The Division Bell' by Pink Floyd, 'Parklife', 'London Calling', 'Led Zeppelin IV', 'Power, Corruption & Lies' by New Order, Primal Scream's 'Screamadelica', 'Let It Bleed' by The Rolling Stones, Coldplay's 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head', 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' by David Bowie and Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'.

Royal Mail are said to have assembled a shortlist of classic albums, though initially some were deemed unusable due to the darkness of the image.

Hard Rocking Blues Guitarist Wes Jeans Releases New 'Live At Music City Texas' CD

Hard rocking blues guitarist Wes Jeans has just released a new live album 'Wes Jeans Live At Music City' October 13th via Texas Music Records.

Recorded on January 17th, 2009 at Music City Texas Theater in Linden, Texas, the album includes guest appearances by guitarist Lance Lopez and vocalist/guitarist Jason Helms of The Jason Helms Band.

Hailing from the small East Texas town of Marshall, influenced by the hard edged blues rock of Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and ZZ Top, throughout his career the 28 year old Jeans has had the honor of meeting and sharing the stage with many musical greats such as B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Billy Gibbons, Dick Dale, Eric Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robert Cray, Joe Bonamassa, Indigenous, Lance Lopez, Chris Duarte, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, just to name a few.

After a October 2003 show opening for B.B. King in Shreveport, Louisiana, Wes' performance received a standing ovation and B.B. asked the guitarist onto his bus where he told him "Son, you keep your head on straight, you are going places."

In 2004, the readers of Guitar Player Magazine voted Jeans number three among the Young Gun blues guitar players alongside Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

The live album is the fourth release for the guitarist, following the critically acclaimed studio albums 'Wes Jeans' (2000) and 'Forest Of The Pine (2006). A live DVD 'The Wes Jeans Band Live At Juanita's Ballroom' was released in 2005.

For more information go to this location.

Rock Legend Dickie Peterson, Co - Founder Of Blue Cheer Succumbs To Cancer At 61

It is with a sad, heavy heart that we report that Rock 'n' Roll lost a true legend today, as Dickie Peterson, the singer and bassist for pioneering metal/psychedelic band Blue Cheer, died in Germany this morning, October 12th. He had been battling liver cancer for several months. He recently turned 61 on September 12th.

Inspired by the heavy blues improv of Cream and Hendrix, legendary proto metal gods Blue Cheer roared forth from the San Francisco Bay area onto the national scene in a big way in early 1968 with their debut album 'Vincebus Eruptum'. Completely at odds with almost all of what was coming up from the hippie flower power underground, they were the antithesis of bands such as The Grateful Dead, as subtle as a jackhammer and louder than a 747.

Named for the particularly potent "Blue Cheer" acid, incredibly they hit paydirt with both the album and the single culled from it, the classic cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" soaring towards the upper reaches of the Billboard charts, peaking at #14 and #11 respectively. Contemporaries of Hendrix, Joplin and The Doors, their powerhouse performances elicited Jim Morrison to pronounce them, "The single most powerful band I've ever seen".

The first American band to use Marshall amps, the power trio, initially consisting of bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson, drummer Paul Whaley and guitarist Leigh Stephens were undoubtedly the heaviest and loudest band of the time. So loud in fact that due to said loudness, these pure volume dealers had to, for their Eddie Kramer engineered sophomore release 'Outside Inside', record the basic track sessions outside on Pier 57 in Manhattan.

Live, they were the first band ever listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as "Loudest Band In The World", establishing a precedent which was eventually eclipsed by Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple.

After a long recording hiatus, the beast was defiantly back with their first new studio release in 15 years, 2007's 'What Doesn't Kill You...'. Not the usual cash grab by veteran rockers attempting to pad their retirement fund, it showed that after 40 years the band hadn't lost a step.

In June 2009 the band released their first ever DVD Blue Cheer -Rocks Europe, filmed live at Rockpalast, in Bonn, Germany.

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Peterson at length and in depth, covering the entire career of the band. That interview can be accessed at this location.

Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Dickie's family, and multitude of friends throughout the world. RIP, you will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

Blue Cheer "Parchment Farm" Live at Rockpalast, Bonn Germany 2008

Legendary British Rockers Uriah Heep Celebrate Forty Years On 'Celebration : Forty Years Of Rock'

To celebrate their 40th anniversary legendary British hard rockers Uriah Heep have decided to look back to their past without melancholy or nostalgia.

The band have re-recorded twelve of their most successful songs: classics like "Free Me", "Gypsy", "The Wizard", "Easy Livin'" and of course their all-time smash hit "Lady in Black". The result is the brand new collection 'Celebration : Forty Years Of Rock'.

Already released October 6th in Continental Europe and due to be released October 26th in the U.K., the album is slated for a U.S. release in November.

In addition to the twelve re-recordings the band have composed and recorded two completely new songs as a special gift to their fans: "Only Human" and "Corridors of Madness", self described as " two of their best tracks in years".

"Celebration" will also be a tour, reaching every major city in Europe and all over the world.

"Celebration" will be delivered in three different editions:

• Standard Edition (CD Only)
• Deluxe Edition (CD + DVD)
• Collector's Edition (CD+7" Vinyl) signed by the band.
  

For more information go to this location.

Deep Purple To Release New Live Album Next Month

Deep Purple has a new live album in the works called Space Truckin' Round the World Live 68-76. According to Classic Rock magazine, the two-disc set -- due out next month -- will feature rare live recordings from various concerts all over the world, including gigs in Tokyo, Paris and San Diego.

The compilation, which features multiple band line-ups, will also feature a detailed history of the group, individual concert details and photos. It's being released as part of the 10th anniversary of Purple Records -- the label that handles the band's music.

Track list:

CD 1
1 Hush (Inglewood 1968)
2 River Deep Mountain High (Inglewood 1968)
3 Hey Joe (Inglewood 1968)
4 Wring That Neck (Aachen 1970)
5 Into The Fire (Stockholm 1970)
6 Mandrake Root (Montreux 1969)

CD 2
1 Child In Time (Granada TV 1970)
2 Lazy (Denmark 1972)
3 Strange Kind Of Woman (Denmark 1972)
4 Burn (San Diego 1974)
5 Mistreated (San Diego 1974)
6 The Gypsy (Paris 1975)
7 Lady Double Dealer (Paris 1975)
8 Wild Dogs (Tokyo 1975)
9 Love Child (Tokyo 1975)


Deep Purple "Hey Joe" Live At Inglewood 1968 :

Blues Guitarist Freddy Robinson Dies At 70

Bluesman Abu Talib, who recorded and toured with Ray Charles, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, John Mayall, Jimmy Rogers, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Mighty Joe Young under his given name, Freddy Robinson, has died. He was 70.

His daughter, Linda Chaplin, said Talib died of cancer Thursday at a hospital in Lancaster, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.

Talib was born Fred Robinson in Memphis, Tenn., and changed his name to Abu Talib in the 1970s when he converted to Islam.

Chaplin said her father first heard the blues when her grandfather, Otis Robinson, took him along to a "juke joint." He was too young to go in but he'd watch the musicians through a window.

He was inspired to play and improvised an instrument out of bailing wire attached to the wall of a barn when he was nine, she said.

His former manager, Vernell Jennings, said he saved his money and ordered his second guitar from the Sears catalog at age 13.

"He had that guitar his whole life and still played it. It was called Bessie," Jennings said.

Talib could play well by ear, and he was always in demand at clubs, Chaplin said. When he moved to Chicago, he had to go to school to learn how to read music.

He played with Ray Charles, Howlin' Wolf and pianist Monk Higgins and recorded and wrote several songs including "Black Fox," "At the Drive-In," "Bluesology" and the blues instrumental, "After Hours."

ZZ Top To Release Double Live DVD 'Double Down Live' October 20

On October 20, Eagle Vision will release ZZ Top’s 'Double Down Live', the first historic concert performance ever to be approved for release by the band. Clocking in at just under two hours, this double dose disc delivers twenty-eight years of hard rock, Blues, and boogie – ZZ Top style!

Disc one, filmed in 1980, is dubbed “Definitely Then” and has twenty-two early ZZ Top classics from their Tres Hombres and Fandango! albums, including: “La Grange,” “Tush,” “Cheap Sunglasses,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” and more. This concert was captured at the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany for the Rockpalast TV series. The concert took place hot on the heels of the release, thirty years ago, of their classic Deguello album (it features nine of the ten songs from it).

Disc two, subtitled “Almost Now” was shot during their European tour in 2008, includes eleven performances, interview clips, and backstage footage.

Aerosmith To Play Private Show In San Francisco Next Week

Aerosmith will reconvene after a troubled summer for a private concert at a San Francisco, California software convention next week.

The Oracle Corp showcase will be the band's first concert since frontman Steven Tyler shattered his collarbone and suffered a head injury after falling from the stage during an August 5th show in Sturgis, South Dakota.

The group was forced to scrap summer dates with ZZ Top as Tyler recovered from the fall.

The convention show was scheduled before Tyler's accident.

The group is also scheduled to play two shows in Hawaii later this month .

Jon Anderson : "It's Not Respectful" For Yes To Tour Without Him

RockRadio is reporting that Jon Anderson says it's "inappropriate and not respectful to the fans" for Yes to tour without him. And despite recent health problems he was fit and able to rejoin the band for their current tour - but they'd made other plans.

The prog giants are on the road with former Yes tribute singer Benoit David in Anderson's place. The lineup also features Chris Squire, Steve Howe and Alan White, with Rick Wakeman's son Oliver on keyboards.

But Anderson - whose serious respiratory problems forced the band to cancel their 40th anniversary tour last year - says fans who buy tickets to see Yes are expecting to hear him sing and it's misleading for the band with David to use the name.

He says: "I'd actually been ill for about five years and it got to the point where I couldn't continue. I had to take a complete break - and ended up having six operations.

"The band recruited a guy from a Canadian Yes tribute band and went on the road with him. I felt they could have waited until I'd recovered.

"I said to them I was available, but they said they were contracted to Benoit. It's a complicated situation.

"I think it's inappropriate and not respectful to the fans. People have bought tickets thinking I'm performing on the tour.

"I would like everybody to know that, as much as I wish the band well, they should not tour as Yes. The fans should be advised that I'm not part of the tour."

Yes have a line on their website statating Anderson is not on tour with them. The band have endured a stack of lineup changes since they formed in 1968, with bassist Squire the only member who's always been there. But they've enjoyed their most successful eras with Anderson at the mic. He's currently working on three albums' worth of material, including a sequel to his 1976 concept release Olias of Sunhillow, and plans to work with Wakeman again soon.

Guns N' Roses Sued For Song Theft

Guns N' Roses are being sued for $1 million (£627,116) for copying songs which ended up on their last album 'Chinese Democracy'.

Filing the lawsuit are British record label Independiente and the U.S. arm of Domino Records, who are seeking damages against the band and the album's producers.

The songs in question - 'Wherever You Are' and 'A Strangely Isolated Place' by German electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss, were used on the Guns N' Roses track 'Riad N' the Bedouins', according to the lawsuit.

'Chinese Democracy' the band's first new album in 17 years was released in November 2008.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour To Collaborate With The Orb's Dr Alex Paterson On New Album

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour is to collaborate with The Orb's Dr Alex Paterson to work on a new album.

In an interview with The List, Dr Alex Paterson said "I’ve just started work on an album with David Gilmour from Pink Floyd which I think every Orb and Pink Floyd fan will want to hear."

The album is likely to be in the very early stages so it is not likely to be released any time soon.

The Orb remixed Richard Wright's song "Runaway" in 1996, crafting two different versions of the track for a single release from Wright's 'Broken China' album which is now out of print.

The Orb are an English electronic music group known for popularising chill out music in the 1990s and spawning the genre of ambient house. Founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and KLF member Jimmy Cauty, The Orb began as ambient and dub DJs in London.

Their early performances were inspired by ambient and electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Because of their "trippy" sound, The Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs.

Controversial Hendrix Stratocaster Goes On Sale For $500,000

A Jimi Hendrix Fender Stratocaster guitar with a controversial past is back on the market after its owners, one based in San Diego, settled with the late rock star's estate.

The vintage 1967 electric guitar is a right-handed one that was converted to left-handed to accommodate Hendrix.

The owners, Rock Stars Guitars, are asking $500,000 for it.

The instrument, currently on display at the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, was at the center of a 2001 lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court. At dispute were claims by Experience Hendrix LLC that the guitar was stolen shortly after Hendrix's death in 1970, or that it never belonged to him at all.

After two court trials and appeals, the estate settled with Rock Stars Guitars earlier this year for an undisclosed sum and an agreement that Experience Hendrix will give up its claim to the guitar.

As the story goes, Hendrix gave the guitar to roadie James “Tappy” Wright as a gift around 1968.

Rock Stars Guitars owners, Greg Dorsett of San Diego and David Brewis of England, said they bought it from Wright in 1999 for $60,000.

When the company tried to auction it on eBay in 2001, Hendrix's estate halted the sale by questioning its ownership.

A lawsuit followed, ending with a verdict two years later that ruled in favor of the businessmen. The jury awarded the partners $131,000, saying Hendrix's estate prevented them from getting market value on the guitar.

But after subsequent appeals, the case finally resolved in January with the settlement.

“I see this settlement as a complete vindication,” Dorsett said in a statement. “Hopefully the litigation experience has only added to this guitar's unique history.”

For more information on the guitar or to make an offer, visit rockstarsguitars.com.