lauantai 21. toukokuuta 2011

Merirosvokapteeni Keith puhuu syvällisiä!

In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, opening today, rival corsairs set out to find the mythical Fountain of Youth. On board as Captain Teague for the second time, Keith Richards is braced for the usual cracks about his indestructibility.
He has heard it all, including the post-apocalyptic prophecy that "it'll be me and the roaches left," Richards says with a hoarse laugh, shrugging off his reputation as a wrinkled survivor. "I've become a cartoonish little icon. You've got to be proud of that. If you can't take the pot shots, you shouldn't be in show business."
Richards, 67, gets the last laugh as one of few in showbiz to hold the globe rapt for five decades. The raggedly charming guitarist for the
Rolling Stones has crafted indelible riffs, co-written some of rock's finest classics and influenced countless players with his primal, unpretentious style, often while on a rocky and reckless trail of drug habits, legal scrapes, toxic relationships and life-threatening mishaps. (A fall from a tree in Fiji in 2006 required cranial neurosurgery. Residual damage? "A dent, a war wound," he says.)
The unvarnished tale unfolds in his highly praised, best-selling memoir, Life (which peaked at No. 3 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list), freshly out in paperback (Back Bay Books, $16.99). The tone is pure Keef.
The
Boston Phoenix asserts, "He writes the way he sings — naked, straight up, heart on sleeve," and The New York Times compares Richards' prose to his guitar playing: "intense, elemental, utterly distinctive and achingly, emotionally direct." The New Yorker declares Life "a slurry romp through the life of a man who knew every pleasure, denied himself nothing and never paid the price."
What led him down a path of decadence and carefree indulgence?
"Everybody out there gave me the license," says Richards, holed up in a hotel suite the day before the Pirates premiere at Disneyland. He's trim in all gray, save his bright turquoise high tops and a patterned scarf tied around a mop of shaggy gray hair. "People want to live vicariously, and they set me up. You want Keith? I'll give you Keith. It may not always be me, but people want to believe it."


Making peace with Mick
Richards' wildest days are behind him. He gave up heroin in 1978 and cocaine after his head injury. He has been happily married to model Patti Hansen since 1983. He's more workaholic than alcoholic, drinking vodka sparingly these days and hustling moonlighting guitar gigs as he maneuvers to reboot the Stones in time to mark next year's 50th anniversary.
That's a ticklish question in light of Life's tough love for
Mick Jagger. Richards dwells on the singer's philandering and dictatorial tendencies, calls him "unbearable" and even impugns his manhood.
When Jagger read Life before publication, "the blue pencil was flying," Richards says. "Of course, he had a few issues. I said, 'What am I going to do, lie? After all, Mick, the book ain't about you.' He did give me a hard time throughout life. Trying to bring the man down to earth took a while and took a toll on me. I have great respect for the man. I love him dearly, quirks and all."
When Jagger and Richards, boyhood pals since the early '50s, met in
New York a month ago, "Mick pouted a bit, as is his wont," Richards says. "I told him, 'It's water under the bridge. I want to talk about the future. We're larger than a little bitching here and there. It's only rock 'n' roll.' I love working with Mick. Maybe that friction that makes it work, that bit of sand in the oyster that makes the pearl."
The band is plowing through masters of 1978's
Some Girls in search of buried gems for a reissue similar to last year's Exile on Main Street. Jagger has a solo album in the works, and Richards has collaborated with Tom Waits and cut tracks with Steve Jordan, key member of his solo band X-Pensive Winos.
"There's a Wino-ish thing in the air," Richards says. "We've got a track or two."
But a monster milestone is looming, and Richards concedes, "Timing is everything." The Stones played their first gig at London's Marquee Club on July 12, 1962. Richards' golden anniversary wish list: a 2012 studio album and world tour.
"Something's blowing in the wind," he says. "The idea's there. We kind of know we should do it, but nobody's put their finger on the moment yet. This is what we have to ask each other: Do we want to go out in a blaze of glory? We can, if Mick and Charlie (Watts) feel like I do, that we can still turn people on. We don't have to prove nothing anymore. I just love playing, and I miss the crowd."
Marking the band's 50th with a blowout tour "does indeed seem logical, even likely," says Ray Waddell, Billboard's senior editor of touring. "If they do, and if they bill it as their last, which they've never done, it will without a doubt be an international blockbuster and a lock to be among the top tours of all time."
U2's 360 tour just surpassed the record $558 million set by the Stones' Bigger Bang tour, and the Irish quartet is expected to gross $700 million before 360 ends in July, according to Billboard Boxscore. It also holds the record for attendance with 7 million tickets sold, pushing the Stones' Voodoo Lounge, with 6.4 million, to second place.
"If they were to pass U2 and reclaim the record gross, it would probably be driven by ticket prices as opposed to attendance, as the unprecedented capacities on 360, as well as the sheer number of shows, is what drove that band's historic numbers," Waddell says. "If the Stones go out, there is no reason they wouldn't command the highest ticket prices in history, at least on the top end. And it would be worth the price."
Can the Stones reclaim the touring crown?
"I don't know and I don't care," Richards sniffs. "So what? U2 made a few mill more, or maybe not by the time the gross is done and you look at the net. Meanwhile, (Broadway's) Spider-Man is going down the tubes. And I don't think they played to 2 million people in Brazil, which we did (in 2006, the largest rock concert ever).
"U2's a good band, so why not? I hope another band eclipses both of us. Bono's an interesting guy. I wouldn't say he's my favorite guy to hang with."


Film is ‘bizarre other world’
He finds Pirates star Johnny Deppmore simpatico. Richards joined Disney's franchise at the behest of Depp and plays the father of his character, Jack Sparrow, a wry, mumbling buccaneer largely inspired by the guitarist.
"I get to shoot somebody," Richards says. "It's fun and a change, a bizarre other world. If you're used to rock 'n' roll, books and movies are fairly tame."
The swashbuckling pair became drinking buddies off set, though Richards says he's not the guzzler he was.
"Johnny loves red wine, and I'll drink anything that's available," he says. "If there ain't any around, I don't drink. If I think, 'I can handle this better with a drink,' I'll take it. Compared to the other stuff I did, a drink is gnat's piss."
As for that other stuff, Richards says his pharmaceutical consumption, while copious, was cautious. "I don't recommend it for anybody else," he says, adding with a cackle: "I'm not human, after all. It's not something to emulate. It was done out of innocence."
Not simply an occupational hazard, drugs "helped you make the gig, especially if you're working 350 days a year," he says. "You can't be vegetarian and straight and play rock 'n' roll."
You can be monogamous, Richards discovered. He had three children with
Anita Pallenberg and flings with Ronnie Spector and Marianne Faithfull (partly as payback to Jagger for bedding Pallenberg) before settling down with Hansen.
"If you're married to Patti Hansen, you don't want to switch," he says. "She's the most wonderful woman in the world. I love her more every day. If anyone can keep me on the straight and narrow, she's the one."
Hansen survived bladder cancer after being diagnosed in 2007, a scare that sent her usually unflappable husband into a tailspin.
"I didn't handle it that well," he says. "I had to pretend everything's cool because someone has to not freak out, but it was a terrible jolt."
He was less taken aback when the couple's daughter Theodora, 26, was arrested in March for scrawling on a Soho convent wall and possessing marijuana.
"That was a wake-up call for her," her father says. "She went to the tank for the night, didn't say, 'Do you know who my dad is?' She went to court, did her community service. I admire the way she handled it."
Richards is no stranger to the blunders of youth. Writing Life brought those lessons into sharper focus.
"I realized how stupid I could be at times," he says. "What a dummy."


Lasting bond with a guitar
The redeeming love story at Life's core is between Richards and his guitar.
The book, a notch above most rock autobiographies, "is terrific when Richards writes about the music," says
Greg Kot, co-author of The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock 'n' Roll Rivalry.
"That band, that sound was his mission, though it was eventually derailed by heroin. The human relations, they all fell by the wayside, whether it was with Mick Jagger, friends, associates, wives, children. He treats all of them far more blithely than he does the music, which remains sacred."
Life is on the shelf, but Richards' life isn't. Overwhelmed by reaction to the book, he may consider a sequel.
"Not a lot of cats get to be No. 1 on their first bash at it," he says. "I might fill in the gaps later. It's not the Bible, but I didn't realize what a task it would be. You try being Keith Richards twice in one lifetime." ( Edna Gundersen)
www.usatoday.com

perjantai 20. toukokuuta 2011

Gregg Allmanilta & Tony Iommilta muistelmat!

Following in the footsteps of Keith Richards, Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler and Pete Townshend, Gregg Allman will finally put his story to pen and paper. The Allman Brothers legend signed a deal with William Morrow and will release his memoirs next spring.
In a statement, Allman said: “When I got out of high school, I thought, ‘I'll take a year or two off and play the clubs, get this out of my system and then go to med school.’ More than 40 years later, I figure it's finally time to write about this crazy journey that's taken me around the world and back.”
The Allman Brothers Band was formed in 1969 by Gregg Allman, his brother Duane, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson. Following the tragic deaths of Duane Allman in 1971 and Berry Oakley in 1972, the band soldiered on and—despite a few breakups and reunions—the Allmans have continued their tradition as one of rock’s great live acts to this day.

Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi is the latest rock star to get in on the autobiography fad.
His future includes an autobiography called, Iron Man: My Life with Black Sabbath and Beyond, as well as supergroup WhoCares, which is a collaboration between Iommi and Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan.
Excerpts from the chat are below, on his future plans:
“I’ve got a lot of things in the can, but I can’t talk about that at the moment. I am doing my autobiography now, which comes out at the end of this year. I’m also doing [music for] three movies. It’s gonna be three altogether, but I’m doing one first and then we’ll take on another one next year or whenever. But I’ve signed up with a producer for three films. So that’s something else that’s gonna keep me very busy. And I’ve also got another project that I’m writing at the moment. I’m doing a lot of writing.”
WhoCares will drop their debut single in North America on June 27 through Eagle Rock Entertainment and in Europe on May 24 via earMUSIC.
Blabbermouth.net

Chuck Berryn eka sinkku täyttää tänään 56 vuotta!

Chuck Berry recorded his first single Maybellene 21.5. 1955 at the Universal Recording Studios in Chicago. According to Berry’s partner, Johnnie Johnson, the song was a reworking of the traditional Ida Red, renamed Maybellene after producer Leonard Chess spotted a mascara box in the studio bearing that name. The song hit #5 on the U.S. pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts.


Secreat loven esittäjä on poissa!


British pop star of the ’60s, Kathy Kirby has died. The Daily Telegraph reports that she was 72.
Best known for her dramatic version of “Secret Love” which made it to #4 on the U.K. charts in 1963, Kirby suffered a short illness before passing away on Thursday.
In 1964, NME named her Top British Female Singer and, in 1965, Kirby, a blonde bombshell often compared to Marilyn Monroe, represented the U.K. in the Eurovision Song Contest with “I Belong,” finishing second behind Luxembourg.
She had two more Top 10 hits in the ’60s and her own TV series. She also sang the theme song for the BBC series Adam Adamant Lives! A stage show about her life, Secret Love, was produced Leeds in May 2008.

Bob Dylania juhlitaan Tavastialla!

Kotimaiset huippuartistit juhlistavat Bob Dylanin 70-vuotissyntymäpäivää Tavastialla. Lavalle nousevat 24. toukokuuta muun muassa Paleface, Anssi Kela, Dave Lindholm ja Pelle Miljoona
Bob Dylanilla on ollut valtava vaikutus populaarimusiikkiin jo viiden vuosikymmenen ajan ja artistin omaleimaisen soundin ovat löytäneet sukupolvet toisensa jälkeen.
Se näkyy myös juhlien artistikattauksesta, mukana on sekä pitkänlinjan suomalaisia huippumuusikoita että nuorempia tähtiartisteja. Illan aikana lavalla nähdään Pelle Miljoona, Paleface, Dave Lindholm, Esa Kuloniemi ja Aija Puurtinen, Siiri Nordin, Anssi Kela, Heikki Silvennoinen, Mikko Kuustonen, Eero Raittinen ja Joe Vestich.

Artistit esittävät konsertissa omia Dylan-suosikkejaan ja illan aikana tullaan kuulemaan musiikillisen ikonin monipuolista tuotantoa uran alkupäästä aina tähän päivään saakka. Illan vieraiden taustalla soittaa taiturimainen Wentus Blues Band.
Bob Dylan on yksi maailman kuuluisimmista ja arvostetuimmista muusikoista. Dylanin levyjä on on myyty maailmanlaajuisesti yli 90 miljoona levyä ja hän esiintynyt tuhansissa tilaisuuksissa ympäri maailmaa viisi vuosikymmentä käsittävän uransa aikana. Dylan on edelleen yksi maailman ahkerimmin kiertävistä artisteista vuosittaisella yli sadalla konsertillaan.
http://www.bobdylan.com/
http://www.bobdylan.com/store

torstai 19. toukokuuta 2011

Bob Dylan 70 vuotta ensi tiistaina! Too Old To ROCK?

Ajat muuttuvat, lauloi nuori Bob Dylan aikanaan. Ensi tiistaina 24.5. hän täyttää 70-vuotta! Telegraphin toimittaja Neil McCormick miettii, joko Dylanin ja muiden hänen aikalaistensa aika on ohi. Hänen loppupäätelmänsä on, että 60-70-vuotiaat rockstarat pärjäävät edelleen erittäin hyvin. Tutkimuksen mukaan 20 menestyneimmästä liveartistista 40 % on kuusikymppisiä.
Yleisö ei vanhetessaan enää siirry pehmeämpään Mantovaaniin tai tradijazziin, vaan pitää nuoruutensa suosikit. Varmasti esimerkiksi Elton Johnilla ja Tom Jonesilla riittää Pori Jazzissa kuulijoita ja sitäpaitsi Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Paul McCartney ja kumppanit ovat edelleen oivassa luomisvireessä, joten vanhemmille ikäluokille riittää uuttakin kuultavaa.Once upon a time, rock music was young - and its stars were, too. Bob Dylan will be 70 years old next Tuesday, May 24. Seventy! From one perspective, looking through the prism of youth-obsessed pop culture, it seems such an extraordinary thing. Pop freezes its icons in moments in time, and Dylan will always be there at the explosive birth of the modern pop age, manning the barricades of the Sixties revolution, captured in black and white: a skinny, grave-faced, curly haired, visionary twentysomething, strumming his acoustic guitar, blowing bony notes through his harmonica, warning the adult establishment to get out of the way (“Senators, congressmen, please heed the call/ Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall”) because the times they were a-changin’.
Well, the times have changed all right and Dylan with them. This year, he has toured the once mysterious and inaccessible land of China, allegedly submitting his set list to censorship by the powers that be. He didn’t play The Times They Are a-Changin’ but he did play his world-weary postscript from the year 2000, Things Have Changed, in which he growls with a defeatism that borders on defiance: “People are crazy, times are strange/ I used to care but things have changed.” Yet he ended his set in Beijing with his beautiful 1974 hymn Forever Young, in which he elegantly celebrates the most positive virtues of youth: “May your heart always be joyful/ May your song always be sung.”
We are still singing Dylan’s songs, in all their poetry, wisdom, contradiction and complexity. His sombre, gospel-tinged ballad Make You Feel My Love from 1997 has just spent more than 40 weeks in the British top 40, delivered with worshipful authority by 23-year-old star of the moment, Adele.
Shift the pop-culture prism, and Dylan at 70 starts to make a different kind of sense, because he has been here, right in front of us all this time, hair greying, jowels sagging, wrinkles spreading across his face, voice slowly turning from the barbed wire ululations of a youth in thrall to the ageless depths of folk to a rubbed raw bullfrog croak of an old man giving it whatever his ragged vocal cords still can.
And he is not alone, out there on the geriatric frontline. Paul McCartney (68) is on tour, and planning a new album. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (both 67) are considering another Rolling Stones tour. Brian Wilson (68) is currently on tour in Britain, no longer a Beach Boy, but still a celebrated musical genius. Paul Simon (69) has a new album and tour this year. Roger Daltrey (67) has been performing the Who’s rock opera, Tommy. Rock and roll once revelled in its youthful flash of energy, delighting in anti-adult sloganeering like “Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse” and Pete Townshend’s aggressively nihilistic “I hope I die before I get old” (he is 66 today), but those who survived its first hedonistic impulses inevitably did get old, and along the way made some vital new discoveries. Music is for life. And life is long.
It.is a good time to be a veteran rock musician. Bob Dylan’s last album, 2009’s Together Through Life, was number one on both sides of the Atlantic, his first British chart topper since Desire in 1975. Neil Diamond (70) had his first ever number one studio album in Britain in 2008. Leon Russell (69) staged a critically acclaimed comeback last year with The Union, made with Elton John (a mere stripling of 64).
Other spring chickens enjoying a second wind of recording and touring success include Greg Allman (63) and Robert Plant (a youthful 62), who, when challenged about being a sexagenarian rock star in a radio interview, smartly retorted “old people do it better”. Perhaps that could be a new slogan for our times. But it would be a mistake to get too carried away by the apparent triumph of age over beauty. As recorded music sales collapse and musical activity migrates towards the internet, it is older consumers still romantically attached to the notion of the long-playing record as a cohesive work of art who are keeping the album alive. Bob Dylan fans, in other words.
The young are still with us, illegally downloading Lady Gaga, Rihanna and provocative art rapper Tyler The Creator. And if you haven’t heard of him, then all it shows is that the generation gap is still wide open. But veterans are cleaning up on the still thriving live circuit, too, trading on reputations built over time. According to a recent report on the live music industry by Deloitte, a full 40 per cent of the frontmen of the top 20 highest grossing live acts in the States will be 60 or over next year.
Rock got old, and so has its audience. This is our music, and it still speaks to us, still tells us things about our lives, still brings us joy in the moment, still carries our spirits aloft. Because it turns out that we didn’t, as we perhaps might have once imagined in more innocent times, all slip into pipes and slippers and start listening to Mantovani and trad jazz. Certainly, we may have shifted the dial from BBC Radio One to Radio 2, but only to find the DJs were getting older with us, and are still playing our songs. And even if veteran artists are only talking to their own generation, we should celebrate the very fact that they are still talking.
Paul Simon, an artist working at the very heights of lyrical singer-songwriting, has spoken of being on “a new frontier”: the frontier of age. Prior to the Sixties, popular songs were essentially show tunes, dance tunes, novelty songs and love songs. Dylan and his contemporaries introduced the notion of the songwriter as a poetic chronicler of his life and times, they were artists of their own interior worlds, making pop music music that aspired to the same heights as other art forms.
This remains the challenge, as Simon would have it: “The struggle of Dylan and the Stones and McCartney and Neil Young is to see the possibility of talent continuing to evolve, as is the case in other arts. Nobody says you should stop painting when you’re 60.”
Dylan at 70 makes sense to us, because he is still helping his listeners make sense of the world. The final track on his most recent album is a masterpiece every bit as beautifully wrought and challenging as The Times They Are a-Changin’, even if its message might sound sour in the mouth of a firebrand youth. It’s All Good simultaneously rails against and accepts the injustices of life, juggling with the great and small in an almost mocking spirit, eyes fixed on an even bigger picture. “Big politicians telling lies/ Restaurant kitchens, all full of flies” barely seem to move Dylan at 70, as he declares he “wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could”.
It’s a song no child could have written, magnificent in its ambiguity, the great bard of pop culture barking out his indifference over a rattling rock and roll rhythm, snapping “throw on the dirt, pile on the dust”. It is, as he wryly notes, “all good”.
As we mark Dylan’s shifts from the raging fires of youth to the slow-burning embers of old age, we should celebrate not just his extraordinary legacy, but the even more extraordinary fact of his continuing creativity, reporting back from what may turn out to be popular music’s last unexplored frontier.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Rootsy.nu: Staffan Soldingin arvio Levon Helmin Ramble At The Ryman-levystä!

Om man ändå hade varit där, på Ryman Auditorium i Nashville den 17 september 2008. Det måste ha varit något alldeles speciellt. Om man ska döma av den liveplatta som nu kommer och bekräftar detta.Laguppställningen för The Midnight Ramble på turné var The Levon Helm Band med gäster: Levon Helm (vocals, mandolin, drums); Buddy Miller (vocals, guitar); Larry Campbell (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, fiddle); Teresa Williams, John Hiatt (vocals, acoustic guitar); Sheryl Crow (vocals, autoharp); Amy Helm (vocals, mandolin, drums); Sam Bush (vocals, mandolin); Sammy Davis, Jr. (vocals, harmonica); Brian Mitchell (vocals, accordion, piano, organ); Billy Bob Thornton (vocals); Erik Lawrence , Jay Collins (saxophone); Steven Bernstein (trumpet); Clark Gayton (trombone, tuba); Tony Leone (drums); Paul Ossola (bass) George Receli (percussion). Så mycket mer behöver egentligen knappast sägas.Men om man vill, så kan man säga att det är friskt, fartfyllt, glatt och en musikalisk guldgruva av sånger ur den amerikanska traditionen som bjuds. Sånger från förr, sånger från The Band och sånger från Levons tidigare soloplattor får en kärleksfull, livfull och ömsint behandling från band och gäster. Inte minst måste man ge det helt underbara blåset en stor eloge för det arbete de gör.För att vara en sjungande trummis och mandolinspelare i The Band som fick strupcancer på slutet av 90-talet så sjunger den 70-åriga Levon alldeles fantastiskt bra med sin personligt säregna och nu ännu mera hesskrovliga sångröst. Man kan se Levon Helm både som en utveckla och som en konservator av den amerikanska musiktraditionen. Men han håll sig väldigt nära den och han håller den väldigt kär. Precis så jordnära som han uttryckte det på albumet »Dirt Farmer«. Så här får vi vaudeville, blues, R&B, rock ´n´ roll, bluegrass, country rock och traditionell folkmusik.Bättre start än en av flera klassiska sånger från The Band i sin säregna vaudevillestil kan inte någon annan än »Ophelia« vara. Bara för att följas av Chuck Berrys »Back To Memphis« och två spår med sångaren och munspelaren Little Sammy Davis; Buster Browns »Fannie Mae« och Slim Harpos »Baby Scratch My Back«. Sedan följer en skön duett med Sheryl Crow i »Evangelina« och Sam Bush och Buddy Miller stiger in på scenen för att sig an countryvalsen »Wide River To Cross«. Den enkla storheten växer fram i »Anna Lee« med en följsam fiol som enda följeslagare till sången.Föreställningen avslutas med en stor dos sånger från The Bands storhetstid. »Rag Mama Rag och sedan tre där Brian Mitchell, Larry Campbell och John Hiatt byter av varandra vid sångmikrofonen i «The Shape I´m In», «Chest Fever» och avslutande, som sig bör, «The Weight”. Passion känns som ett alldeles perfekt ledord för det vi får höra här. 1 timme och 11 minuters kärleksförklaring.
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Staffan Solding

torstai 12. toukokuuta 2011

Brian Wilson jää eläkkeelle!

Beach Boys-nero Brian Wilson heittää syyskuussa viimeiset keikkansa Lontoossa, jota hän sanoo rakkaimmaksi kaikista maailman kaupungeista. Hän lopettaa kiertueet ja suunnittelee jatkossa esiintyvänsä vain kotiseudullaan Kaliforniassa.
68-vuotias Wilson on ollut mukana showbisneksessä puoli vuosisataa, ja hän haluaa ottaa jo rennommin. Hänelle live-esiintymiset on aina ponnistus ja häntä on aina vaivannut epävarmuus lavalla.
Nuoruuden huumeiden käyttö ja psyykkiset ongelmat ovat kuluttaneet häntä myös fyysisesti. Edelleenkin hän kuulee ääniä, jotka varoittavat ja pelottelevat kuolemalla, mutta hän oppinut elämään niiden kanssa.
Lontoossa Brian Wilson esittää lauluja klassisilta albumeilta Smile ja Pet Sounds ja viimeisimmältä, jolla hän tulkitsee Gershwiniä. Brian Wilson has revealed that he plans to retire from touring after his London concerts this year.
The singer also said he still suffers from the hallucinations and stage fright that led to him become a recluse in the late Sixties and early Seventies at the height of the Beach Boys- fame.
Wilson, 68, admitted that life on the road was "very hard work" for him and that his dates at the Royal Festival Hall in September were likely to be his last in London. "I'm always afraid just before I go on stage because I'm not sure how the concert's going to work.
"As I get older it gets harder for me. But when I'm sitting down at the keyboard and my band's behind me, I can do it." When asked if he had contemplated retirement, he replied: "Oh God yes. Another year, maybe. This could be the last time I play here. I'm going to miss it but I'm getting a little bit old for touring."
Wilson has suffered from hearing voices in his head since the Sixties when he also fought drug addiction and depression. He said: "What the voices say is still pretty much the same, negative things, 'You're going to die', or, 'You better watch out', life-threatening kinds of things.
Performing helps, but I'll still have the voices there when I'm on stage. They're always with me."
Wilson will perform tracks from Smile, Pet Sounds and his recent album Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin at the Royal Festival Hall for three nights starting on September 16. He added: "London is my favourite city in the whole world. I love the people here. I think the people appreciate the music a lot better than Americans do, they're a lot more sensitive to the music than Americans are."
Evening Standard

Missisippi tulvii: Graceland ja Beale Street turvassa!

Iso joki, Missisippi tulvii, mutta viranomaisten mukaan Graceland(kuvassa) ja rockin ja bluesin tärkeät maamerkit ovat turvassa kuten Sun-studiot, joissa Elvis, Johnny Cash ja Jerry Lee Lewis tekivät levytyksiään.
Missisipin vesi ei ole ollut näin korkealla sitten 1930-luvun ja varsinkin kaupungin etelälaidan deltan maanviljelijät ovat hätää kärsimässä ja yrittävät pystyttää itsekyhäämiään tulvaesteitä omaisuutensa suojaksi. Emergency workers pledged to "charge hell with a water pistol" in their efforts to protect Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, as the Mississippi River rose to levels not seen since the 1930s.
The worst floods to hit the central United States in more than 70 years have swallowed uphomes, farms and roads and there had been fears that the home of "The King of Rock and Roll" could be hit.
The river swelled to six times its normal width and Army engineers have been patrolling levees in the waterlogged city of Memphis, Tennessee.
It crested at a height just inches short of the area's all-time record, but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup.
Hundreds of people were forced from their homes but officials said Graceland, which is several miles south of downtown, and other famous musical landmarks like Beale Street were safe.
At Beale Street, a thoroughfare known for blues music, tourists gathered to take photographs as water pooled at the end of the road.
Bob Nations Jr, director of the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, said: "I want to say this, Graceland is safe. And we would charge hell with a water pistol to keep it that way and I'd be willing to lead the charge." Sun Studio, where Presley made some of his recordings, as did Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, also escaped the flood.
To the south of the city, farmers in the Mississippi Delta built homemade levees to protect their crops.
Louisiana began evacuating prisoners from the state's toughest prison and opened floodgates to relieve pressure on levees outside New Orleans.
US President Barack Obama has declared the flooding a "major disaster" in the states of Missouri and Tennessee, ordering federal aid to the areas.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

AC/DC-solisti lyttää Idols-kilpailut!

AC/DC oli äskettäin Lontoossa uuden DVD-ja BLU RAY-julkaisun Live At River Plate ensi-illassa. Yhtyeen laulusolisti Brian Johnson hehkutti Buenos Airesissa, Argentiinassa kuvattua konserttifilmiä, jossa he esiintyivät kolmena iltana 70 000 innokkaalle fanille.
Hän otti myös kantaa Idols-tyyppisiin realitykisoihin, jotka hänestä tuottavat kertakäyttöartisteja ja ovat pelkkää itsepetosta.
Uuden albumin tekeillä oloa Johnson ei vahvistanut.AC/DC:n edellinen albumi Black Icehan ilmestyi vuonna 2008. Yhtyeen eläkkeelle jäämistä 63-vuotias laulaja ei myöskään pitänyt ajankohtaisena, vaan kertoi edelleen pitävän esiintymistä jännittävänä. LONDON – Unlike Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, you won't find members of AC/DC on the panel of a singing contest: They're not exactly fans of the reality show route to success.
"There's only one way to do it," said lead vocalist Brian Johnson. "You get on the stage, you learn your trade and you get out and play in front of people. You serve your apprenticeship just like anybody else."
Johnson added: "The shortcut ways leads to tears at the end of the day. It's all hype. And it's not fair on the kids to make them famous one week and then nobodies the next. It's just not right."
Johnson and Angus Young — who jokingly asked if Tyler was "hanging people or something" when told of Tyler's role as a judge on "American Idol" — reflected on the path to success last week in London before the premiere of their latest DVD, "Live At River Plate." It features performances from Argentina, where the band — which also includes Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd — performed to an impressive crowd of 70,000 fans each show for three nights last December.
As part of one of the biggest and most enduring bands in the world, Young and Johnson believe that early struggles got them to where they are today. Johnson said he started his singing career in British youth clubs in front of 30 people. And he took buses to get there.
It's a far cry from the large-scale concerts, which were filmed in Buenos Aires and marked AC/DC's return to the country after a 13-year absence.
Johnson, 63, said they got an extremely warm welcome back, and the footage shows over-excited fans flooding to the stadium.
"From leaving the hotel, the streets were lined all the way to the gig, three or four deep with kids and you knew there was something special going on in the air. You could almost feel it. The atmosphere was unbelievable," he said.
"It is quite an imposing stadium," Johnson continued. "They were as one, just jumping up and down to the music. And it's a sight I'll never forget as long as I live. All audiences really rock — but all together? I've never seen that. They just seemed so happy to see us. I remember the smiles — thousands and thousands."
As for new material, there's no firm news on the follow up to 2008's "Black Ice" just yet. The album, which was the band's first in eight years, sold millions around the globe.
There are no plans to retire either.
"I cannot think of anything as exciting," said Johnson. "I can't think of anything more that makes you feel more alive than that. It really does. You know you're alive when you're up there. Anything else would be second rate."
"AC/DC Live at River Plate," is out this week.
Associated Press

Aerosmithin Steven Tylerilta sinkku ja elämänkerta!

Maailman menestyneimpiin rock-yhtyeisiin lukeutuvan Aerosmithin solisti ja keulahahmo Steven Tyler julkaisi tällä viikolla singlen (It) Feels So Good , jolla on mukana myös Pussycat Dollsista tutuksi tullut Nicole Scherzinger. Kyseinen julkaisu on Tylerin ensimmäinen soolosinkku ja se julkistettiin viime maanantaina suositussa Ryan Seacrestin aamuohjelmassa. Videon ensi-ilta tapahtuu Jenkeissä American Idol-ohjelmassa huomenna perjantaina 13. toukokuuta. Suomessa kyseinen jakso nähdään 25. toukokuuta.
Steven Tyler palasi parrasvaloihin tämän vuoden tammikuussa hieman totutusta poikkeavassa roolissa, kun hän nousi yhdeksi supersuositun American Idol-ohjelman tuomareista, yhdessä Jennifer Lopezin ja Randy Jakcsonin kanssa. Tyler on ehdottomasti yksi ohjelman väripilkuista ja on tuonut mukaan kaivattua huumoria ja tvistiä herskyvällä olemuksellaan ja spontaaneilla kommenteillaan. Käynnissä oleva 10. tuotantokausi on rikkonut ohjelman aiemmat katsojaennätykset; American Idolia seuraa parhaillaan n. 20 miljoonaa katsojaa jo pelkästään Yhdysvalloissa.
Tyler on saanut myös juuri valmiiksi omaelämänkertansa Does This Noise In My Head Bother You? Hän kertoo kirjoittamastaan kirjasta seuraavaa: ”I’ve been mythicized, Mick-icized, eulogized and fooligized, I’ve been Cole-Portered and farmer’s-daughtered, I’ve been Led Zepped and 12-stepped. I’m a rhyming fool and so cool that me, Fritz the Cat, and Mohair Sam are the baddest cats that am. I have so many outrageous stories, too many, and I’m gonna tell ’em all. All the unexpurgated, brain-jangling tales of debauchery, sex & drugs, transcendence & chemical dependence you will ever want to hear. And this is not just my take, this is the unbridled truth, the in-your-face, up-close and prodigious tale of Steven Tyler straight from the horse’s lips.” http://www.steventyler.com/

maanantai 9. toukokuuta 2011

Walker Brothersin perustaja on kuollut!

Walker Brothers: Scott, Gary & John John Walker, 67, menehtyi puoli vuotta kestäneen taistelun jälkeen maksasyöpään Los Angelesissa viime lauantaina.
John Walker, oikealta sukunimeltään Maus, perusti legendaarisen Walker Brothersin vuonna 1964 Hollywoodissa opiskelukaveriensa Scott (Engel) Walkerin ja Gary (Leeds) Walkerin kanssa. Viimeksimainitun ehdotuksesta he eivät jääneet Los Angelesiin, vaan päättivät kokeilla siipien kantavuutta Lontoossa. He ottivat aikamoisen riskin, sillä kaikilla heillä oli jo nimeä kotona. Scott oli ehtinyt maistaa jo listamenestystä vuonna 1962 Routers-yhtyeen basistina instrumentaalilla Let`s go` ja Gary säestää itse Elvis Presleyä.

John Walker taas tunnettiin lapsinäyttelijänä, ennen kuin hän keksi musiikin. Hän opetteli soittamaan useita soittimia, mutta parhaiten hän kehittyi kitaristina. Hän antoi jopa lähistön nuorukaisille soittotunteja, heidän joukossaan eräs Carl Wilson, myöhemmin Beach Boysin jäsen.
19-vuotiaana John oli jo sessiokitaristina tunnetuilla Gold Star-studioilla, jossa työskenteli muun muassa Phil Spectorin alaisuudessa. Hän esiintyi myös Hollywoodin pintapaikoissa ja yleisössä oli tähtiä Rollareista lähtien.

Walker Brothersilla onni oli kuitenkin myötä Lontoossa ja yhtye sai nopeasti levytyssopimuksen ja alkoi äänitykset Phillipsin studioilla ja siellä syntyi myös heidän helposti tunnistettava soundinsa.

John oli hyvä löytämään yhtyeelle kappaleita ja hänen valinnoistaan Make it easy on yourself oli ykköshitti syyskuussa 1965. Sitä seurasi My ship is coming in, joka saavutti kolmossijan ja maaliskuussa 1966 ykköseksi nousi The Sun ain’t gonna shine anymore. Näitä seurasi vielä puolisentusinaa listamenestystä.
Vuonna 1968 yhtyeen jäsenten tiet erkanivat. John siirtyi soolouralle ja laulu Annabella nousi Top 30:een. Muita pienempiä menestyksiä hänelle olivat Kentucky Woman, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight ja Woman, mutta parhaiten Walkereista menestyi kuitenkin tummaääninen Scott Walker.
Yhteen John ja Scott palasivat kolmeksi vuodeksi vuonna 1975. John oli ollut katsomassa leffaa, Deadlier Than The Male, jonka tunnarina soi Walker Brothers-laulu ja hän ajatteli, kuinka hiton hyviä he olivat ja soitti Scottille ja ehdotti comebackiä. Tom Rushin laululla No regrets he olivat taas listoilla ja tekivät kolme albumia.
Palattuaan Kaliforniaan, John perusti tuotantoyhtiön Arena Artistes Association ja hänestä tuli konsultti muille artisteille. Laulajana hänet pitivät edelleen kiireisenä erilaiset nostalgiakiertueet ja Walker Brothers-uudelleenjulkaisut, joiden promoamiseen hän osallistui innolla.

Omaa musiikkia hän julkaisi vuonna 2000 levyttäen kokoelman rakkauslauluja. Tämä You-albumi sai vuonna 2007 jatko–osan Just For You. Samana vuonna ilmestyi myös hänen joululevynsä, joka jäi hänen toistaiseksi viimeiseksi.