Rolling Stone's Readers Poll: Best Albums of 2012

Please follow the link to see what albums topped the list of most Rolling Stone readers in 2012.

I must say that I agree with several of the choices here, including this year's winner for album of the year.

-Will Fisher, The Showbiz Kids

Ronnie Wood Gets Married (Rolling Stone)

Please follow the link to read more about The Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood tying the knot with Sally Humphries..

Phish "Carini" (Relix)

In anticipation of Phish’s New Year’s Eve run, Relix looks back to December 30, 1997 at Madison Square Garden...

Heart’s Wilson Sisters Cover Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at Kennedy Center Honors

Please follow the link to read more about Heart's moving rendition of 'Stairway to Heaven' at the Kennedy Center Honors... 

The Beatles and Stones could end up on British currency

Read more here:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-rolling-stones-british-pound-notes/

The Black Crowes Reunite

Read more here:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/black-crowes-2013-tour/

Merry Christmas from the Showbiz Kids

From all of us at the Showbiz Kids, have a Merry Christmas!!

On the turntable this Sunday...Christmas Portrait

Christmas Portrait is the first Christmas album recorded by The Carpenters (and the only one issued during Karen Carpenter's lifetime), originally released on October 13, 1978 (A&M 4726).

The album sold one million copies and included a revised version of the group's signature Christmas song, "Merry Christmas Darling". It also includes one of two versions of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town". (A slower version, recorded in 1974, as well as other unused songs recorded during this album's sessions, were issued on the Carpenters' later Christmas album, An Old-Fashioned Christmas.)

The CD version of Christmas Portrait, issued in 1984, is a compendium of selected tracks from the Carpenters' two Christmas albums into one 74-minute program, with tracks from each interspersed in the running order; "Ave Maria" was remixed at this time in order to include a choral track that went missing in 1978 and was later found.. (A CD of the original LP content was briefly issued exclusively in West Germany around the same time.) In 1996 (1998 in the US), a two-CD set titled Christmas Collection was issued internationally, containing Christmas Portrait and An Old-Fashioned Christmas together in their original respective tracklists. Richard Carpenter remixed most of the album tracks for Christmas Portrait due to deteriorated masters.

In December 2011, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 album sales chart at No. 150 and eventually achieved a new chart peak position of No. 126.

In December 2012, the album again re-entered the Billboard 200 album sales chart and attained a new chart peak position of No. 117.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul McCartney-Wonderful Christmastime SNL 2012

Jack White Drops Out of 'The Lone Ranger' (Rolling Stone)

Hans Zimmer replaces Jack White for film score.  Read more here.

Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters + More Make List of 2012′s Top 25 Tours (Ultimate Classic Rock)

Please follow the link to read more about the top grossing tours of 2012. 

Warren Haynes, The String Cheese Incident, The Avett Brothers, Sheryl Crow and More Celebrate Christmas Jam (Jambands.com)

Follow the link to read the full review of Warren Hayne's 24th Annual Christmas Jam from jambands.com. 

Rolling Stones Joined by Bruce Springsteen, Mick Taylor and Many More for Final 2012 Concert (Ultimate Classic Rock)

The Rolling Stones were not 'waiting on a friend' to show up over the weekend during their final concert of 2012.  Read more here to see who joined them onstage in NJ!

Widespread Panic’s 12 Days of Archiving Underway (‘92 "Diner" and ’01 "Pilgrims") (Relix)

Follow the link to read more about Widespread Panic's 12 Days of Archiving Series!

On the turntable this Sunday...Document

Document is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in 1987 a few months after their rarities collection Dead Letter Office appeared and is the last album of new material by the band released on the I.R.S. Records label. It is the first album on which the band worked with producer Scott Litt.

Document was R.E.M.'s first album co-produced by Scott Litt and the band, a collaboration that continued through Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. The album's clear production and muscular rock riffs helped to move the band towards mainstream success and built on the work done by Don Gehman, who had produced their previous album Life’s Rich Pageant. This release not only launched "The One I Love," R.E.M.'s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (it reached number nine), but also gave them their first platinum album.

"Exhuming McCarthy" makes an explicit parallel between the red-baiting of Joe McCarthy's time and the strengthening of the sense of American exceptionalism during the Reagan era, especially the Iran-Contra affair. Starting with the click-clack of a typewriter, it also includes a sound clip of Joseph Welch's rebuke of McCarthy from the Army-McCarthy Hearings: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.... You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

The song "Strange" was originally recorded by the post-punk band Wire on their debut album Pink Flag. This version has slightly altered lyrics, changing "Joey's nervous" to "Michael's nervous" in the first verse, and has a considerably faster tempo.

R.E.M. expanded their instrumentation somewhat on the album, adding dulcimer to "King of Birds" and saxophone to "Fireplace".[1] This experimentation would lead to their adoption of the mandolin, which featured prominently on their subsequent albums Green and Out of Time. Furthermore, the band's musicians began swapping instruments both in concert and in the studio in an effort to create new sounds and avoid stagnation.[citation needed]

The original sleeve for the album featured the message "File under Fire", a reference to what Michael Stipe considered to be the central lyrical theme of the album, and also references the chorus to "The One I Love".  A similar message ("File under water") could be found on the cover of the band's second album, Reckoning, as well as on the compilation album Eponymous ("File under grain") referring to the idea behind "Talk About the Passion", which was about hunger. Two rejected suggestions for the title of the album—R.E.M. No. 5 and Table of Content—also appear on the sleeve artwork. Other possible album titles included Mr. Evil Breakfast, Skin Up with R.E.M., and Last Train to Disneyland (the last one having been suggested by Peter Buck, who felt that America under the presidency of former actor Ronald Reagan was beginning to feel a lot like the famed amusement park).

Robert Christgau praised the album, and called "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" an "inspirational title." Stephan Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that "Where Life’s Rich Pageant sounded a bit like a party record, Document is a fiery statement, and its memorable melodies and riffs are made all the more indelible by its righteous anger."

Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke felt that the album was R.E.M.'s "finest to date", and said that "Document is the sound of R.E.M. on the move". Rolling Stone went on to include the album in their list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (in 41st place), and then ranked it number 470 on 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at number 17 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

Track listing:

All songs were written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, except as indicated.

Side one – "Page side"

1."Finest Worksong" – 3:48

2."Welcome to the Occupation" – 2:46

3."Exhuming McCarthy" – 3:19

4."Disturbance at the Heron House" – 3:32

5."Strange" (Bruce Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman, Robert Gotobed) – 2:31

6."It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:05

Side two – "Leaf side"

7."The One I Love" – 3:17

8."Fireplace" – 3:22

9."Lightnin' Hopkins" – 3:20

10."King of Birds" – 4:09

11."Oddfellows Local 151" – 5:21

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_(album)

Rolling Stones to Host Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga and the Black Keys

Guests will join rockers for pay-per-view special December 15th

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rolling-stones-to-host-bruce-springsteen-lady-gaga-and-the-black-keys-20121210#ixzz2EgqcEvDL

Jimmy Page Announces Plans for 2013 Solo Tour

Despite the ongoing Led Zeppelin reunion rumors, Jimmy Page recently announced his plans to tour in the upcoming year.  Read more here.

Divine Fits

Back in high school I used to tape The David Letterman show on our VCR and just watch him when I got home...finally I just said screw it and started staying up late to watch it. Anyway these days I don't stay up late but when I do it counts. Like on Letterman this band called Divine Fits was on November 16th for their TV debut and Letterman loved them. Glad I stayed up late.

Before I go on Divine Fits is made up of folks from great current bands Spoon ,Wolf Parade, and New Bomb Turks. They are Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner, Sam Brown and Alex Fischel. 

If you're stuck listening to the same old music take a second and branch out with Divine Fits.

Michael Smith-The Showbiz Kids

Rush, Heart, Randy Newman Lead 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

To read more about the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, follow the link.

Joe Perry on Aerosmith's Future (UCR)

Joe Perry talks about the future of Aerosmith....

Remembering John Lennon (Ultimate Classic Rock)

John Lennon's death marked, 32 years later.

Paul Stanley Finally Boards Kiss Autobiography Train (Ultimate Classic Rock)

KISS frontman Paul Stanley is working on his autobiography as recently confirmed on Nikki Sixx's radio show. 

Read more here. 

On the turntable this Sunday...A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas is an album by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, released in 1965 as the soundtrack to the CBS Christmas television special of the same name. It is among the most popular Christmas music albums of all time. There was also a book-and-record set featuring music, dialogue and stills from the Christmas special released in 1977 on a 33 RPM vinyl record by CBS Records.

Fantasy Records first reissued the album on CD in 1986, with a track listing and cover art identical to the original 1965 LP release. In 1988, a new CD version was issued, with updated cover art and "Greensleeves" added as a bonus track. This track features Guaraldi performing as part of a different trio than the one heard on the original eleven songs. This CD version can still be purchased in stores and online with the cover art shown on the right and to the bottom.

In 1997 Fantasy issued a Starbucks Exclusive edition of the album, sold only through Starbucks retail. This version omitted "Greensleeves" and had very different cover art and new liner notes. A somewhat controversial remastered version (see below) of the original album was released by Concord Records in conjunction with Fantasy on October 10, 2006. The 2006 edition includes four previously unreleased bonus tracks—all are alternate versions of songs in the original track listing—and features Digipak packaging, new liner notes by music critic and historian Joel Selvin, and the original cover art.

In 2012, Fantasy again reissued the album; this time entitled, "A Charlie Brown Christmas [2012 Remastered & Expanded Edition]", with 14 tracks, including two songs from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. This reissue features the original 1965 recording newly remastered with 24-bit technology from the original analog stereo master tapes and a booklet containing images from the show and new liner notes by Derrick Bang. Concurrent with the digital release, Fantasy will issue a 2012 LP pressing (on green vinyl) of the album.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.

In 2012 the album was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings.

-Wikipedia 

45 Years Ago: Traffic’s ‘Mr. Fantasy’ Released (Ultimate Classic Rock)

Read more about Traffic's classic album Mr. Fantasy here.

Dave Brubeck

I was at Disc Exchange a few years ago in the jazz section and someone asked me what CD would be good for someone wanting to get into jazz. I immediately without even thinking twice handed them Dave Brubeck's Take Five. I said this is the one he needs to hear first.

RIP Dave Brubeck

2009 Kennedy Center Honors

Please take some time and read about this treasure to our musical and American culture.

NPR Blog written by PATRICK JARENWATTANANON

Ansel Adams: America is a symphonic tribute saluting one of America's most cherished artists, composed by Chris and Dave Brubeck.

Mike Smith- The Showbiz Kids

Relix-You Can Become The 6th Member of moe. for a Night

For more details on how to join moe. for a night, follow the link to Relix here.

Tom Petty, ZZ Top Reportedly to Headline Bonnaroo 2013 (Ultimate Classic Rock)

It's not until next summer, but the rumors have already begun as to who the headliners of Bonnaroo 2013 will be...read more here.

President Obama Pays Tribute to Led Zeppelin at Kennedy Center Honors (UCR)

Follow the link to read more about Led Zeppelin's Kennedy Center honors.

Steve Winwood to tour with Rod Stewart

Please follow the link to read more about Steve Winwood and Rod Stewart's plans to tour together in the spring.

Zeppelin on Letterman

Follow the link to read more about Led Zeppelin's appearance on Letterman tonight!

On the turntable this Sunday...The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 by Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release The Unforgettable Fire, on The Joshua Tree U2 aimed for a harder-hitting sound within the limitation of conventional song structures. The album is influenced by American and Irish roots music, and depicts the band's love-hate relationship with the United States, with socially and politically conscious lyrics embellished with spiritual imagery.

Inspired by American tour experiences, literature, and politics, U2 chose America as a theme for the record. Recording began in January 1986 in Ireland, and to foster a relaxed, creative atmosphere, the group recorded in two houses, in addition to two professional studios. Several events during the sessions helped shape the conscious tone of the album, including the band's participation in A Conspiracy of Hope tour, the death of roadie Greg Carroll, and lead vocalist Bono's travels to Central America. Recording was completed in November 1986; additional production continued into January 1987. Throughout the sessions, U2 sought a "cinematic" quality for the record, one that would evoke a sense of location, in particular, the open spaces of America. They represented this in the sleeve photography depicting them in American desert landscapes.

The Joshua Tree received critical acclaim, topped the charts in over 20 countries, and sold in record-breaking numbers. According to Rolling Stone, the album increased the band's stature "from heroes to superstars". It produced the hit singles "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", and "Where the Streets Have No Name". The album won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1988. The group supported the record with the Joshua Tree Tour throughout 1987. Frequently featured on critics' lists of rock's greatest records, The Joshua Tree is one of the world's best-selling albums, with over 25 million copies sold. In 2007, U2 released a remastered edition of the record to commemorate its 20th anniversary.

"Unexplainable" Photo Snapped at Jim Morrison's Grave (Rolling Stone)

Check out this photo of rock historian Brett Meisner taken next to Morrison's grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery.