Rolling Stone's List of the 50 Best Albums of 2015

As the curtain falls on 2015, it might be hard to remember any albums released this year besides Adele's record-breaking, generation-uniting, triple-platinum-and-counting 25. But there was so much more to hear. Kendrick Lamar's Molotov-cocktail-tossing hip-hop, D'Angelo’s razor-sharp R&B and Kamasi Washington's restorative jazz all made major statements, feeling like three crucial dispatches from the #BlackLivesMatter protests under three black-and-white covers.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2015-20151201#ixzz3vdGRAQN8

MGMT Tease Return in 2016

It appears as if Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser are readying a comeback as MGMT. A message on the band’s Twitter account noted that “2016 is the year MGMT re-dominates your mind hole.”

Read more @ jambands.com

Motley Crue: Where Do They Go From Here? (UCR)

With the Dec. 31 conclusion of Motley Crue‘s final tour looming, one question remains: Where do they go from here? 

Read More of Corbin Reiff's article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Motley Crue: Where Do They Go From Here? 

moe. Plan ‘Star Wars’ Bustouts for January 1 (jambands.com)

On Halloween, moe. presented a Star Wars themed show that saw the group put a special twist on some of their originals. Along with interspersing clips from various Star Wars films an jamming on the iconic John Williams score, the band turned some of their originals into Star Wars tunes, including “Shoot First” into “Han Shot First,” “St. Augustine” into “Senator Palpatine,” “Moth” into “Hoth” and others.

Read more @ jambands.com

On the turntable this Sunday...In Search of..

In Search of... is the debut album released by N.E.R.D. The group originally released it in Europe in 2001, where Kelis' Neptunes-produced album Wanderland, was better received. Similarly to Kelis' early work, the original version of In Search of... juxtaposes hip-hop and rock influences and styles.
In 2002, the album was re-released worldwide with the electronic production backing replaced by backing provided by 1960s-style power pop band Spymob, giving the new version of the album more of a rock-oriented sound. The skits and the intro were also dropped, significantly shortening the play length.

Read more @ Wikipedia

Randall Bramblett and The Mega-Blasters Will Join Widespread Panic on New Year’s Eve

Randall Bramblett and The Mega-Blasters horn section will once again sit in with Widespread Panic on New Years Eve. The Georgia jamband icons confirmed the news on their Facebook page earlier this week. Widespread Panic will close the year at Atlanta, GA’s Fox Theatre from December 29-31. The stretch of shows is their first proper headlining shows at the intimate Fox since their 25th anniversary celebration in early 2011.

Read more @ jambands.com 

Merry Christmas from The Showbiz Kids!

We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas!!!

-The Showbiz Kids

2015’s Coolest Rock Stories (Ultimate Classic Rock)

As 2015 comes to a close, your friends at Ultimate Classic Rock are taking a look back at the year that was — specifically, some of the best, worst and weirdest stories we’ve covered over the last 12 months.

Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: 2015's Coolest Rock Stories 

Florence and The Machine, My Morning Jacket and More Cover Eagles of Death Metal for Charity (jambands.com)

After the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13 that included an assault on the Eagles of Death Metal concert, the band put out a request to the music community asking artists to cover their “I Love You All the Time,” a track off their most recent album, with the promise that they would donate all royalties to charity.

Read more @ jambandscom 

Chris Stapleton: Country's Breakout Star Talks Big Year, New Music (Rolling Stone)

There's an inscription inside Chris Stapleton's wedding ring that doubles as one of the highlights of his concerts: "You Are My Sunshine." Before he and his wife Morgane said, "I do," the former Ms. Hayes had the title to the oft-covered Jimmie Davis classic secretly engraved in Stapleton's wedding band.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/chris-stapleton-countrys-breakout-star-talks-big-year-new-music-20151218#ixzz3uhpd0574

Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple + Steve Miller Elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (UCR)

A classic-rock heavy 2016 induction class finds Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chicago, who had been eligible since 1994, earlier claimed victory in fan voting.

Read More @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple + Steve Miller Elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

On the turntable this Sunday...A Very Special Christmas

A Very Special Christmas is the first in the A Very Special Christmas series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit Special Olympics. The album was released in 1987, and production was overseen by Jimmy Iovine for A&M Records. A Very Special Christmas has also raised millions of dollars for the Special Olympics. The cover artwork was designed by Keith Haring.

On January 16, 1998, the album was certified Quadruple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies in the United States.
As of November 2014, A Very Special Christmas is the nineteenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 2,520,000 copies according to SoundScan.

Faith No More Cut Up Creepy Horror Noir for 'Separation Anxiety' Video (Rolling Stone)

Faith No More cut up clips from the 1955 horror-noir film, Dementia (also known as Daughter of Horror) in the distressing, engrossing new video for "Separation Anxiety."





Read more and watch the video @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/faith-no-more-cut-up-creepy-horror-noir-for-separation-anxiety-video-20151215#ixzz3uPgag6mj

Suwannee Springfest Reveals Lineup (jambands.com)

The 20th Annual Suwannee Springfest has announced its initial lineup, which is topped by John Prine, The Del McCoury Band, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Infamous Stringdusters and Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers.

Read more @ jambands.com

UCR's Top 20 Albums of 2015

The Top 20 Albums of 2015 found some classic-rock legends pushing their craft into audacious new areas, some returning with new perspective to earlier sounds and others simply confirming their towering legends. Click through the above gallery to find out how they all ranked.

Read More of Nick DeRiso's article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Top 20 Albums of 2015 

Luther Dickinson to Release Career-Spanning Blues & Ballads Double Album (jambands.com)

Luther Dickinson will release Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II) on February 5 via New West Records.

The career-spanning double album includes 21 new songs from throughout the guitarist’s life, including songs he wrote with North Mississippi Allstars, songs he learned from friends and family, songs passed down to him by his heroes and mentors, songs that have lived in the American subconscious for decades now-presented in a similar, stripped down palette of voice, guitar, drums and some blues fife and Beale Street piano...

Read more @ jambands.com

'A Charlie Brown Christmas' at 50: The Making of a Classic Soundtrack (Rolling Stone)

The legend goes like this: In 1963, producer Lee Mendelson made a documentary about Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, for which he needed music. One night, Mendelson was driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, tuned into a San Francisco jazz station. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" came on the air, a drifting cut where melodies appear and then disappear, and bouncing elation is matched by tiny moments of despair. The track was pianist Vince Guaraldi's mini-hit that year, and Mendelson was struck by how it sounded simultaneously adult and childlike.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-charlie-brown-christmas-at-50-the-making-of-a-classic-soundtrack-20151209#ixzz3uLLpS33K

Steve Perry Reveals Plans for New Solo Album (UCR)

Steve Perry has spent most of 2015 working on his first solo album in more than 20 years.
The former Journey vocalist shared the news during a call-in to the Mark in the Morning show on KSWD-FM in Los Angeles (via Melodic Rock), during which Perry — who was phoning to wish radio personality “Uncle” Joe Benson a happy birthday — fielded a few questions about his future plans.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Steve Perry Reveals Plans for New Solo Album

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

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the fifth studio album by American jazz group the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The album was released in December 1965 in the United States by Fantasy Records. It is the soundtrack to the CBS Christmas television special of the same name. Guaraldi was contacted by television producer Lee Mendelson several years prior to compose music for a documentary on the comic strip Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Although the special went unaired, these selections were released in 1964 as Jazz Impressions of "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". Coca-Cola commissioned a Christmas special based on Peanuts in 1965 and Guaraldi returned to score the special. 

A Charlie Brown Christmas features several originals ("Christmas Time Is Here", "Linus and Lucy") as well as covers of contemporary Christmas songs ("The Christmas Song", "O Tannenbaum"). The score for the special was largely cut at recording sessions at Glendale, California's Whitney Studio. Much of this material was later re-recorded by Guaraldi at three sessions later in the year at Fantasy Recording Studios in San Francisco, alongside a choir of children culled from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in nearby San Rafael. The sessions ran late into the night, with the children rewarded with ice cream afterwards. Bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli have been credited as performing on the album, although a host of musicians claim to have recorded the album.

Released a week prior to the broadcast premiere of the special, A Charlie Brown Christmas sold well, and became increasingly famous in the ensuing decades. It is among the most popular Christmas albums in the United States, where it has been certified Triple Platinum, having shipped at least three million copies. As of November 2014, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the tenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 3,410,000 copies according to SoundScan.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas has been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" sound recordings.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

50 Years of 'Rubber Soul': How the Beatles Invented the Future of Pop (Rolling Stone)

Happy 50th birthday to Rubber Soul, the album where the Beatles became the Beatles. It was the most out-there music they'd ever made, but also their warmest, friendliest and most emotionally direct. As soon as it dropped in December 1965, Rubber Soul cut the story of pop music in half — we're all living in the future this album invented.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/50-years-of-rubber-soul-how-the-beatles-invented-the-future-of-pop-20151203#ixzz3tXW2WYrM

Scott Weiland: 20 Essential Songs (Rolling Stone)

Last Thursday night, Scott Weiland was found dead on his tour bus at the age of 48. Throughout a two-decade-plus career with Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver and various solo ventures, the singer became just as well known for his personal demons as for his obvious musical talents, but his recorded legacy stands strong. Weiland's signature baritone delivery, glam-derived swagger and way with a tender hook made him one of the standout voices of the Nineties and beyond. Here are 20 essential songs from his sizable catalog.

Read more @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/scott-weiland-20-essential-songs-20151204#ixzz3tTDzhNid

New Website Phinest Version Seeks the Best of the Best of Phish (jambands.com)

A new website, Phinest Version, is trying to find the best versions of all the fan-favorite Phish songs by asking band connoisseurs to name and vote on which live version they think is the best of the best.

Read more @ jambands.com

Joe Satriani Unveils Details of 2016 G4 Experience Guitar Clinic (UCR)

Joe Satriani will bring his G4 Experience guitar clinic back for its third annual outing in 2016. Scheduled for Aug. 8-12, 2016, the G4 will take the action from Cambria, Calif., cross-country to Long Island, N.Y. — a move that, as Satriani explains on the event website, is about much more than a simple change of scenery.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Joe Satriani Unveils Details of 2016 G4 Experience Guitar Clinic 

Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review (UCR)

Back in 1979, Bruce Springsteen was all set to release the follow-up to the previous year’s Darkness on the Edge of Town. After legal problems made the wait between that album and its predecessor, the breakthrough Born to Run, a long three years – an eternity in the ’70s – Springsteen was more than ready to get back into the studio.

Read More of Michael Gallucci's review @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review 

The Arcs Almost Finished with Next Album (jambands.com)

After releasing an EP that features Dr. John and David Hidalgo, Dan Auerbach told Billboard that he and his band The Arcs are “really close” to finishing their next album, which would be a follow-up to this year’s Yours, Dreamily,.

Read more @ jambands.com

Eagles of Death Metal to Play with U2 in Paris, Continue Tour (jambands.com)

Eagles of Death Metal, who were playing at Paris music venue Le Bataclan on November 13 when it suffered a terrorist attack that left 89 dead, are reportedly returning to the French capital this weekend...

Read more @ jambands.com

On The Turntable this Sunday...Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

On December 18, 1966, MGM released a soundtrack LP in conjunction with the television special. CD releases include albums produced by Island (1995) and Mercury Records. In the recorded version, Boris Karloff does all voices except Cindy Lou Who (which is again voiced by Foray). The song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" includes all verses with their original rhyming lyrics and the isolated song tracks have different durations due to being re-recorded.

On Oct 5, 1999, Rhino Entertainment released a new CD soundtrack (which included the soundtrack for another Dr. Seuss cartoon, Horton Hears a Who). Both story collections contain selected dialogue and music numbers. The "isolated music tracks" in this edition are taken directly from the television soundtrack and are not the re-recorded tracks from earlier versions. The dialogues are the originals, being voiced by Boris Karloff for "Grinch" and Hans Conried for "Horton."

Because Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits as singing the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", it is sometimes attributed to Boris Karloff. After becoming aware of this oversight, Seuss himself called Ravenscroft and apologized profusely and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number.^{[citation needed]} Karloff received a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category—the only major performing award of his career—for the album.

Styx Announce $25,000 Donation for Victims of Paris Attacks (UCR)

The members of Styx have announced that Rock to the Rescue, the nonprofit organization they co-founded with REO Speedwagon, has donated a sizable sum to relief for families affected by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Styx Announce $25,000 Donation for Victims of Paris Attacks

Scott Weiland, Former Stone Temple Pilots Singer, Dead at 48 (UCR)

Former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland has died at the age of 48. According to his official Facebook page, the singer “passed away in his sleep” while on a tour stop in Bloomington, Minnesota with his band the Wildabouts.

Read More: Scott Weiland, Former Stone Temple Pilots Singer, Dead at 48 

Bono to Auction Off Bike Ride for (RED) Campaign (Rolling Stone)

One year after Bono was seriously injured from a bike accident in New York City's Central Park, the U2 frontman is auctioning off a bike ride to a donor as part of a campaign for his organization (RED), which raises money to battle AIDS. That ride with rock royalty can be won by donating at least $10 through the Omaze platform. The campaign launches on Tuesday, December 1st, to honor World AIDS Day, The Associated Press reports.

Read more Ryan Reed's article @ Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bono-to-auction-off-bike-ride-for-red-campaign-20151130#ixzz3sziQNL3C

My Morning Jacket Cover Eagles of Death Metal in Beacon Theatre Finale (jambands.com)

My Morning Jacket closed out their rarity-filled, career-spanning four night Beacon Theatre run in New York City Saturday night with a 21-song setlist that saw the band once again dig deep along with offering a slew of their live staples. 

Read full article @ jambands.com

Journey Welcome Back Drummer Steve Smith, Announce 2016 Tour With Doobie Brothers (UCR)

Journey will have another busy year on the concert circuit in 2016 — and they’ll return to the road with drummer Steve Smith, who’s back in the lineup for the first time since the ’90s.


Read More of Jeff Giles' article @ Ultimate Classic Rock: Journey Welcome Back Drummer Steve Smith, Announce 2016 Tour With Doobie Brothers