Monday, December 31, 2018

Phish Revisit Kasvot Växt at MSG (jambands.com)




Phish returned to the stage on Friday evening at New York’s Madison Square Garden for their 57th show at the venue (the band first performed at MSG on 12/30/94). The quartet opened the night by launching into “We Are Come to Outlive Our Brains,” the second-ever performance of the song that Phish debuted during their Kasvot Växt Halloween set.





Read more @jambands.com: https://jambands.com/news/2018/12/29/phish-revisit-kasvot-vaxt-performance-at-msg/#ixzz5bBWu0sS4

Sunday, December 30, 2018

On the turntable this Sunday...The Beatles



The Beatles, also known as The White Album, is the ninth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed, which was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although no singles were issued from The Beatles in Britain and the United States, the songs "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" originated from the same recording sessions and were issued on a single in August 1968. The album's songs range in style from British blues and ska to tracks influenced by Chuck Berry and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Most of the songs on the album were written during March and April 1968 at a Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India. The group returned to EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London at the end of May to commence recording sessions that lasted through to mid-October. During these sessions, arguments broke out among the foursome over creative differences. Another divisive element was the constant presence of John Lennon's new partner, Yoko Ono, whose attendance in the studio broke with the Beatles' policy regarding wives and girlfriends not attending recording sessions. After a series of problems, including producer George Martin taking a sudden leave of absence and engineer Geoff Emericksuddenly quitting, Ringo Starr left the band briefly in August. The same tensions continued throughout the following year, leading to the break-up of the band by 1970.
On release, The Beatles received favourable reviews from the majority of music critics, but other commentators found its satirical songs unimportant and apolitical amid the turbulent political and social climate of 1968. The band and Martin later debated whether the group should have released a single album instead. Nonetheless, The Beatles reached No. 1 on the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and has since been viewed by some critics as one of the greatest albums of all time.


Saturday, December 29, 2018

How a Last-Minute Steve Perry Edit Changed 'Lights' Forever (UCR)




Steve Perry's arrival before the release of 1978's Infinity permanently shifted Journey's career path for the better. But only after Perry made a slight change to "Lights," one of the album's best-known singles.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Friday, December 28, 2018

Neil Young Confirms Winter Crazy Horse and Solo Dates (jambands.com)






Neil Young spent almost all of 2017 off the road, taking the stage only three times: a guest appearance at Stagecoach with pal Willie Neslon, a set with Promise of the Real at Farm Aid and a solo show in his hometown of Ontario. He’s returned to more active duty this year, touring with both his garage-rock act Crazy Horse and Promise of the Real, as well as playing occasional solo theater dates.

Read more @jambands.com: https://jambands.com/news/2018/12/23/neil-young-confirms-winter-solo-dates/#ixzz5ant5NWJJ

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Geddy Lee Admits He 'Barely' Made Sense of Rush Concept Albums (UCR)




Former Rush frontman Geddy Lee admitted he “barely” followed some of the band’s concept album ideas, after decades of having sung lyrics written by drummer Neil Peart.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

George Porter Jr. to Celebrate His Birthday at The Maple Leaf (jambands.com)






George Porter Jr. will celebrate his 71st birthday at New Orleans’ The Maple Leaf tonight (Wednesday, December 26.) For the hometown date, The Meters bassist will be joined by two of his Runnin’ Pardners collaborators, keyboardist Michael Lemmler and drummer Terrence Houston

Read more @ Jambands.com: https://jambands.com/news/2018/12/24/george-porter-jr-to-celebrate-his-birthday-at-the-maple-leaf/#ixzz5ankl71EZ

Monday, December 24, 2018

Sunday, December 23, 2018

On the turntable this Sunday...Phish: NYE 1995



New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden is a live concert album by American rock band Phish that was released in 2005. The album comprises the band's December 31, 1995 show at Madison Square Garden, named by Rolling Stone as one of the "Greatest Concerts of the '90s".
Fans consider it one of Phish's best shows and the band considers it one of their top five concerts. Following this 1995 show, Phish established a tradition of performing multi-night New Year's shows at Madison Square Garden. The concert includes versions of "Mike's Song", "Drowned" by The Who, and songs from Phish's mythic Gamehendge cycle.
The album was released on December 20, 2005, to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary and received the Archival Album of the Year award at the 6th Annual Jammy Awards in 2006. The release marked the first time that the song "The Sloth" had been issued on a commercially released Phish recording.
In addition to a CD, the album was released in FLAC and MP3 formats at LivePhish.com. Selected songs were also available in MPEG-4 video. On March 5, Phish announced that this would be released for Record Store Day 2015 as the band's first live vinyl box set.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Umphrey’s McGee Share Recording of Holiday David Bowie Parody “Santa Oddity” (jambands.com)



Umphrey’s McGee are celebrating the holiday season with a newly released recording of guitarists Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss’ cover of David Bowie’s classic “Space Oddity” with reworked, Santa Clause–themed lyrics.

Read more @jambands.com: https://jambands.com/news/2018/12/14/umphreys-mcgee-share-recording-of-holiday-david-bowie-parody-santa-oddity/#ixzz5ZlXy8Z4m

Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Cure Albums Ranked Worst to Best (UCR)



Not too many bands can claim they were pretty much single-handedly responsible for an entire genre and musical movement. The Cure can.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Jethro Tull Extend 50th Anniversary Tour (jambands.com)



Led by singer-flautist Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull’s 50th anniversary tour will stretch into their 51st year, as the classic rock mainstays will play additional gigs from coast to coast.

Read more @jambands.com: https://jambands.com/news/2018/12/13/jethro-tull-extend-50th-anniversary-tour/#ixzz5ZlYeEuUx

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Rock Stars in Video Games (UCR)



The arcade video game boom of the late ’70s and early ’80s might have made household names of Space InvadersDonkey Kong and Asteroids, but the rock ’n’ roll world was dubious about this new-fangled form of entertainment. As Pac-Man got his own novelty song and the Pretenders employed game sounds on the instrumental “Space Invader,” other musicians seemed to consider video games as a quirky fad with the staying power of the pet rock.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Sunday, December 16, 2018

On the turntable this Sunday...Anthem of the Peaceful Army



Anthem of the Peaceful Army is the debut studio album by American rock band Greta Van Fleet. The album was released on October 19, 2018, and follows the band's original two EP releases, Black Smoke Rising and From the Fires. The first single, "When the Curtain Falls", was released in July 2018. The album was the top selling album in its debut week in the US, selling 80,000 copies. Factoring in album equivalent units, it debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.
The band had formed as early as 2012, but was largely relegated to local live shows and touring until 2017, with the band's release of the EPsBlack Smoke Rising and From the Fires. The band found success with the releases, namely with the singles "Highway Tune" and "Safari Song", which both topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, for five and three weeks respectively.  With the songs' success, they moved to record a full length album, while still actively touring in support of the EPs.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Rick Allen Reveals the Origin of "Gunter Gleiben Glauchen Globen' (UCR)



It's a mystery as old as the track that brought it to life. On the intro to Def Leppard's hit song "Rock of Ages," a slightly accented voice is heard saying "Gunter gleiben glauchen globen." What do the words mean? Why did the band include them in the song? Now, drummer Rick Allen has taken to Twitter to set the record straight.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Friday, December 14, 2018

U2, Rolling Stones, Journey and Def Leppard in Top Rock Tours List (UCR)




U2, the Rolling StonesJourney and Def Leppard all appeared in the annual list of highest-grossing tours, although they were overshadowed by pop artists.
Five other rock artists appeared in Billboard’s Top 20, with all eight taking more than $50 million during the period November 2017 to November 2018.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

All 183 Yes Songs Ranked from Worst to Best (UCR)




Yes have survived for more than five decades because they've been willing to mess around with their recipe and roll with every gut-punch.

See UCR's ranking of all 183 Yes songs @ Ultimate Classic Rock 

Monday, December 10, 2018

UCR's 2019 Concert Preview



Now that 2018 is almost over, many artists have already started to announce their touring plans for 2019. To help you prepare your concert schedule, we've compiled a handy guide to who will be on the road throughout next year.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Sunday, December 9, 2018

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



 A Charlie Brown Christmas is a 1965 studio album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (later credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio). The album was released in December 1965 in the U.S. by Fantasy. It is the soundtrack to the Christmas television special of the same name.
Guaraldi was contacted by television producer Lee Mendelson 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.
Guaraldi composed most of the music, though he included versions of traditional carols such as "O Tannenbaum".[1] He recorded some of the score at Whitney Studio in Glendale, California, then re-recorded some of it at Fantasy Records Studios in San Francisco with a children's choir 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. It was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fameand added to the National Recording Registry of the Library Congress
On August 19, 2016, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quadruple platinum for sales of four millions copies.  In November 2014, it was the tenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era.

Friday, December 7, 2018

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Who's Played the Most Journey Shows? (Ultimate Classic Rock)




While guitarist Neal Schon has been the lone constant member of Journey, they've had a fair degree of turnover with lead singers and drummers over the years, with six men performing each of those roles. We take a look at which singers and drummers have stood onstage with the band the most times throughout its long history.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

UCR's 'The Best Song From Every Beatles Album




The Beatles have become one of the most closely studied bands in rock history. With so much scholarly attention being paid to their work, consensus can be difficult to reach on which album is best – much less which song.


Saturday, December 1, 2018

Eric Clapton Fears for Young Musicians After Avicii's Death (UCR)




Eric Clapton said the death of DJ and producer Avicii, who took his own life at the age of 28, left him in fear for young musicians who receive no help with dealing with their lifestyle.

Read more @ Ultimate Classic Rock