This Day In Music: March 16

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Born on this day:

1942, Jerry Jeff Walker, US singer, songwriter
1948, Michael Bruce, guitar (Alice Cooper)
1954, Jimmy Nail, UK actor, singer
1954, Nancy Wilson, vocals (Heart)
1959, Flavor Flav (Public Enemy)

1959, doo-wop group The Platters scored their only U.K. and U.S. #1 with “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”

1964, The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the U.S. with 2,100,000 copies of their latest single, “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

1965, The Rolling Stones were at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “The Last Time.” the group’s third U.K. #1 and the first A-side for songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

1969, Fleetwood Mac, The Move, Amen Corner, Peter Sarstedt, The Tymes, Harmony Grass and Geno Washington all appeared at Pop World ‘69 at London’s Wembley Empire Pool.

1970, Motown singer Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor at the age of 24. Initially Terrell recorded solo but from 1967 onwards she recorded a series of duets with Marvin Gaye. She had collapsed onstage into Gaye’s arms on October 14, 1967 during a concert in Hampton, Virginia. Marvin reacted to her death by taking a four-year hiatus from concert performance and went into self-isolation.

1972, John Lennon lodged an appeal with the U.S. INS office in New York, after he was served with deportation orders arising from a 1968 cannabis possession conviction.

1989, Bez from The Happy Mondays was arrested at Manchester Airport moments before boarding a flight to Belfast for a gig, charged with breaking bail conditions set from a previous arrest.

1991, seven members of country singer Reba McEntire’s band and her road manager are among 10 people killed when their private jet crashed in California just north of the Mexican border. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.

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Slash to Play on Steven Adler’s Album

Although there’s still plenty of uncertainty surrounding a potential Guns N’ Roses reunion at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April, we do know that at least two original GN’R members are working together. Guitar god Slash is lending a few licks to former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s forthcoming album.

“Looking forward to laying down some guitars on a song for Steven Adler’s new record tomorrow night,” Slash tweeted on Wednesday.

It seems that Slash is paying back Adler, who played drums on the guitarist’s self-titled debut album. Adler performed on “Baby Can’t Drive,” which also featured Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea on bass and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger on vocals.

There’s no word on the title or release date for Adler’s record; Slash’s new album, Apocalyptic Love, is due out May 22.

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Mötley Crüe and KISS to Announce Co-Headlining Tour Next Week

Get ready to get twice your bang for your buck, as Motley Crue singer Vince Neil has dropped the news that the Crue will be co-headlining a colossal U.S. tour with KISS that’s set to run from July to September, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Look for the official tour announcement to drop next week.

“It’s going to be really cool because KISS is bringing their full stage show, and Motley will be bringing our full stage show, so you are going to see two huge headliners at the same time,” Vince said. “It’s going to be one of the biggest tours of the summer, if not the biggest.”

Motley Crue are also set to rock a solo June tour in Moscow. Vince is stoked for it. He says the guys have hundreds of thousands of loyal fans in Russia. “I’m really looking forward to being there. It’s going to be a great summer!”

The Crue just wrapped a two-and-a-half week residency at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Joint in Las Vegas last month, and guitarist Mick Mars exclusively told Gibson.com that he feels the Crue are “breaking the ice” when it comes to rock bands having their own residencies.

“I’m an old-school type of person. When it comes to residencies, I think Motley Crue is kind of breaking the ice in that area, because when I think of residencies, I think of the older names and non-rock acts,” he said. “So, I feel like it’s what we did with the Roxy in Los Angeles with the rock scene. We were the first unsigned band to play there, which opened up a whole new area for bands that were unsigned to play. So, we could be doing the same thing here. I don’t know – I don’t have a crystal ball [laughs]. But, I’m guessing stuff like that will happen.”

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Bruce Springsteen’s <em>Wrecking Ball</em> Bumps Adele’s <em>21</em> From #1 Spot

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Bruce Springsteen, who knocked Adele’s relentless 21 out of the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 this week. And they said it couldn’t be done!

The Boss notched his 10th #1 debut with his new album Wrecking Ball, which sold 196,000 copies in its first week of sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, scarcely bumping the Grammy-winning songstress out of her longstanding position on top. But the win didn’t come easy. In fact, Springsteen apparently squeezed out Adele by just over 1,300 copies, so the race was as tight as possible.

Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball is the first release to take Adele off the #1 spot this year. Even so, don’t shed any tears for Adele just yet, because 21 also surpassed the 8 million sales mark this week, making it the first album to top 8 million in sales since Usher’s hits-packed 2004 disc, Confessions. Moreover, Adele’s 21 sales totaled 195,000, which was plenty enough to secure her the #2 spot on the chart, just above NOW 41, which pushed 152,000 copies. Lady Antebellum’s Own the Night claimed the #4 spot on the list at 108,000 copies sold, and Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto rounded out the top 5 with 100,000 in sales.

In other Boss news, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to tour North America in support of Wrecking Ball beginning this weekend.

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The Rolling Stones to Release Documentary Spanning Entire Career

They may not be touring this year, but The Rolling Stones have other plans, as the gents have revealed plans to unleash a new documentary that will highlight every period of their career, right from their humble beginnings in 1962 up to this year’s 50th anniversary celebration, according to Rolling Stone. The flick, which has yet to claim a title, will be directed by The Kid Stays in the Picture director Brett Morgen and executive produced by the Stones. Look for it to debut at the rockers’ 50th anniversary celebration in September.

“For anyone who wants to experience the band, this is the film that will defy convention and create a sonic tapestry to transport viewers into the world of The Rolling Stones,” Morgen said in a release. “The film will deliver the original, bold, sexy and dangerous flavor of the iconic rock band.”

The documentary also promises dollops of never-before-seen shots from the band’s lost stashes and personal archives. “Nobody has put the story together as a narrative," Morgen told Rolling Stone. “We’ve been looking under every rock going through their archives. It will be music never heard before, and I've conducted 50-plus hours of interviews so far. By the time we’re done, they will be the most extensive group interviews they’ve ever done.

“He told me 80 percent of the footage has never been seen before, which amazes me,” Keith Richards told Rolling Stone. “I didn’t know there was that much around.”

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<em>Downton Abbey</em>’s Elizabeth McGovern to Play Isle of Wight Festival

Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern will perform at this summer’s Isle of Wight Festival.

According to BBC News,McGovern will sing with Big Country and perform with her own band, Sadie and the Hotheads.

The actress and singer said: “I am thrilled to be playing with such a stellar cast of musicians.”

Big Country’s Tony Butler stated: “We had a tradition of working with great female vocalists such as Kate Bush and Eddi Reader in the past, so having the opportunity to have Elizabeth perform with us at the IOW is going to be really cool.”

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Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts Wanted to Play Queen’s Concert

There’s plenty of activity this week surrounding The Rolling Stones.

First the Stones delayed their 50th anniversary tour by a year, and then drummer Charlie Watts said he’d liked to have been on the bill for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert.

He told the Daily Express: “I’d love to have done the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, because that’s a great thing, I think, but I don't think we'd have the time to do it. It’ll be a night of the Sirs, won’t it, with Paul McCartney and Elton. Lovely guy, Elton.”

The televised concert will take place at Buckingham Palace in London on June 4. The lineup so far features Ed Sheehan, JLS, Jessie J, Annie Lennox, Madness, Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey, Elton John and Paul McCartney.

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This Day in Music: March 17th

Broughto you by ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:
1919, Nat King Cole, singer
1938, Zola Taylor, vocals, The Platters
1941, Paul Kantner, vocals, guitar, Jefferson Airplane
1944, John Sebastian, vocals, guitar, The Lovin’ Spoonful
1951, Scott Gorham, guitar, Thin Lizzy (For more on Gorham, see This Day in Music Spotlight.)
1962, Clare Grogan, vocals, Altered Images
1967, Billy Corgan, vocals, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins
1970, Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman), guitar, vocals, Ween
1973, Caroline Corr, drums, vocals, The Corrs
1975, Justin Hawkins, vocals, The Darkness

1957, Elvis Presley bought the Graceland mansion from Mrs. Ruth Brown-Moore for $102,500. The 23-room, 10,000-square-foot home, on 13.8 acres of land, would be expanded to 17,552 square feet of living space before the King moved in a few weeks later. The original building had at one time been a place of worship, used by the Graceland Christian Church and was named after the builder’s daughter, Grace Toof.

1966, The Walker Brothers had their second U.K. #1 with the single “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (originally recorded by Frankie Valli).

1967, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave and Booker T. and The M.G.’s appeared at London’s Finsbury Park Astoria on the first night of a 17-date U.K. tour.

1968, The Bee Gees made their U.S. television debut when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1973, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show’s single “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” peaked at #6 on the U.S. chart. The single was banned in the U.K. by the BBC due to the reference of the magazine.

1978, U2 won ?500 ($850) and a chance to audition for CBS Ireland in a talent contest held in Dublin. The Limerick Civic Week Pop ’78 Competition was sponsored by The Evening Express and Guinness Harp Lager.

2004, Kinks singer Ray Davies received his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to the music industry.

2006, The Smiths turned down a $5 million (?2.8m) offer to reform for a music festival. The band, which split acrimoniously in 1987, rejected the bid to get back together for the year’s Coachella festival.

2008, Ola Brunkert, the former drummer with the Swedish group ABBA, was found dead with his throat cut at his home in Majorca, Spain. Brunkert died after he hit his head against a glass door in the dining room at his home. He was found dead in his garden after trying to seek help. The 62-year-old musician had played on every ABBA album and had toured with the group.

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White House Spokesman Hails Guided By Voices

Not many bands come with a White House seal of approval. But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has put his indie-rockin’ heart on his sleeve. While making an announcement as to the travel plans for Obama and English PM David Cameron to Dayton, Ohio, this week, Carney couldn’t help but mention his favorite band.

Having announced President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron were headed to Dayton, Ohio, for an NCAA tournament play-in game, Carney felt he had to add, “As you probably know, Dayton is the home of the Wright Brothers, the Dayton Peace Accords, and Guided By Voices, the greatest rock ’n’ roll band of the modern era, in my humble opinion.”

Whether GBV are flattered or simply baffled by the endorsement, no one yet knows.

Guided By Voices will release their second album of the year in June with Class Clown Spots a UFO on Fire Records. This follows on the heels of Let’s Go Eat the Cake Factory, the Guided By Voices album released in January, marking the reunion of classic lineup: Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell and Kevin Fennel.  

U.K. PM David Cameron made his own bid for indie cred in 2010, declaring himself a huge fan of The Smiths. Johnny Marr, ex-Smiths guitarist, Tweeted in return: “Stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don't. I forbid you to like it.”

Where will this all end? Obama himself declaring he’s collecting Sebadoh 7-inch singles?

Check out Jay Carney’s favorites below.

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Aerosmith to Return with Movie Song

Aerosmith are set to return with a movie soundtrack song. Ultimate Classic Rock reports that the song “Legendary Child” will appear on the soundtrack for the forthcoming sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which will be released on June 29.

“Legendary Child'” was an outtake from the band’s 1991 Get a Grip sessions, but Aerosmith have now re-recorded it for the movie, and it’s also looking likely to appear on the band’s forthcoming new album due in Fall 2012.

Aerosmith’s Joe Perry recently told Canada’s QMI Agency that the forthcoming album “definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff. People are always asking for something that sounds like the old stuff. We’ve tried to bring that back.”

Hear an original demo of the 20 year-old “Legendary Child.”

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Incense and Peppermints: 10 Giants of Psychedelic Guitar

For a time, in the second half of the ’60s, it seemed nearly every band on the planet was dabbling in psychedelic rock. Sitars, harpsichords and Mellotrons leaped to the fore, but the guitar never lost its place as psychedelic rock’s central instrument. George Harrison, Eric Clapton (in Cream) and even Keith Richards (Their Satanic Majesties Request, anyone?) are among those who contributed to the cause, which lives on in such bands as Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips.

Below are 10 guitar greats who ventured deep into psychedelic rock’s dizzying kaleidoscope. Who is your favorite psychedelic guitarist? Tell us in the comments section.

Michael Monarch (Steppenwolf)

Vocalist and rhythm guitarist John Kay gets all the attention, but it was original Steppenwolf guitarist Michael Monarch who provided the six-string magic in such landmark songs as “Magic Carpet Ride,” “The Pusher” and, of course, “Born to be Wild.” Citing Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Albert King as influences, Monarch helped establish the template for so-called acid rock. Asked about the trippy intro to “Magic Carpet Ride,” Monarch told ThePsychedelicGuitar.com he “cranked the amp” and recorded two tracks of guitar noise that were then mixed together. “If I had to recreate it, it would be hard,” he said.

Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane)

A gifted finger-stylist, Jorma Kaukonen was a driving force in Jefferson Airplane as the band moved toward a psychedelic sound in the late ’60s. Inspired by Mike Bloomfield and by Cream, Kaukonen honed a raga-inflected style that helped propel such classics as “The Last Wall of the Castle” and the nine-minute instrumental, “Spare Chaynge.” During his tenure with The Jefferson Airplane, Kaukonen’s primary guitar was a Gibson ES-345.

Erik Braunn (Iron Butterfly)

Erik Braunn was a mere lad of 16 when he joined Iron Butterfly in 1967. One year later, he ensured a place for himself in acid rock history with “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida,” a 17-minute opus crafted around one of psychedelic rock’s most memorable riffs. Immensely gifted, Braunn continued to work as a songwriter, studio musician and producer until his untimely death, in 2003, of a heart attack. He was just 52.

Prince

Prince’s work as a funk guitarist is exemplary, but when he turns his mind to it, his playing evidences a profound love for ’60s-style psychedelia. The Purple Rain soundtrack contained hints of that affection, which reached full fruition on the 1985 album, Around the World in a Day. It’s hardly a coincidence that Prince dubbed his recording complex Paisley Park Studios.

Roky Erickson

A persuasive argument can be made that the 13th Floor Elevators – led by pioneering Texas guitarist Roky Erickson – were the very first psychedelic rock band. Erickson’s loopy six-string work and feral vocals on the group’s 1966 debut, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, established a template for all the “Nuggets”-era rockers (think Count Five and the like) who came in their wake. No less an icon than ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons cites Erickson as a primary influence.

Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren’s immense talents as a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist have sometimes obscured the fact that he’s a sensationally gifted guitar player. Both in Utopia and in his solo work, Rundgren’s six-string style has often steered toward Hendrix-like psychedelia, as exemplified by much of his 1974 2-LP opus, Todd. Few artists have combined the exquisite use of synthesizers with kaleidoscopic guitar sounds as effectively as Rundgren has.

Jerry Garcia

As the house band for novelist Ken Kesey’s “Electric Kool-Aid” parties, the Grateful Dead were the seminal group in the rise of San Francisco’s psychedelic movement. From that auspicious beginning, guitarist Jerry Garcia went on to become the driving force in the band for three decades. “Garcia painted outside the frame,” Carlos Santana once wrote, in a Rolling Stone profile of Garcia. “He played blues but mixed it with bluegrass and Ravi Shankar. He was the sun of the Grateful Dead – the music they played was like planets orbiting around him.”

Frank Zappa

Few guitarists have matched Frank Zappa’s sense of adventure with his chosen instrument. Pushing boundaries and defying convention, Zappa’s loopy excursions into jazz-rock, classical-rock and all points in between were the sonic equivalent of a thrilling carnival ride. “I think he was the best electric guitar player [ever], other than Jimi Hendrix,” Phish’s Trey Anastasio once told Rolling Stone. “Every boundary that was possible on the guitar was examined by him.”

Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett’s extended guitar freak-outs – especially “Astronomy Domine” and “Interstellar Overdrive,” from Pink Floyd’s 1967 debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn – are essential touchstones for any guitarist intent of taking the instrument to otherworldly dimensions. Combining kaleidoscopic arrangements with an exquisite sense of melody, Barrett charted musical territories hitherto unexplored. Pink Floyd’s sonic adventurousness owes an incalculable debt to Barrett’s original vision.

Jimi Hendrix

It’s not for nothing that Jimi Hendrix dubbed his pioneering trio The Experience. Centered on his seemingly supernatural gifts on guitar, Hendrix’s recordings constitute an eclectic journey filled with dizzying twists and turns. The opening riff for “Purple Haze,” the first song on Hendrix’s first album, flung open the doors to a floodgate of trippy sonic extravaganzas.

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Music Stars Pay Tribute to Rolling Stones

An all-star cast of music stars, past and present, will tip their caps to the musical legacy of The Rolling Stones in concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. The show takes place on Tuesday, March 13, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.

Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Ronnie Spector, members of TV on the Radio, Marianne Faithful, the Mountain Goats, Ian Hunter and many others will recreate every single track on the Stones’ hits compilation Hot Rocks: 1964-1971.

 It’s mostly a mystery as to which artists will play which songs. A few have tipped their hands: Rosanne Cash hinted that she will sing “Gimme Shelter” with John Sebastian and Earle told Billboard that he’s playing “Mother’s Little Helper,” because it’s the first song he learned on guitar.

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Scales Made Easy: Using Visual Patterns In Composition

Visual patterns are a great way of learning scales. Most of us are very familiar with the minor pentatonic pattern, which looks like a slightly squashed box when laid out on the fretboard. And three-note-per-string patters are a great way of adding some Holdsworthian angularity to your soloing. And we recently looked at symmetrical scales as a way of adding some spice to a fast lead guitar lick. But there’s another visual trick I like to employ from time to time to come up with new riffs and licks. And it’s so ridiculously simple that you can even use it when you’re nowhere near a guitar, or if you have no working knowledge of music theory at all. There’s no particular name for this technique, so let’s just call it the visual pattern method.

A lot of us have used visual patterns without even knowing it, in the form of a famous fretboard warm-up exercise. I’m sure you’re all familiar with this one:

The idea is simple: play four consecutive notes, move down one string and along one fret, and continue. It’s a great pattern to warm up each of your fingers individually because it forces you to move from string to string as well as eventually along the whole fretboard. And if you play it fast enough, it’s an almost-chromatic, slightly seasick-sounding lick that you can use to connect one section of a solo to another. But there are other patterns you can try out. Play the following notes and notice the inverted triangle shape they make on the fretboard. I’ve laid the pattern out in four different locations on the neck, one for each bar, and when played consecutively they make for a pretty nice harmonic contour.

The great thing about using a method like this to find a neat-sounding note combination is that you can then go back to your theory books and find a scale that contains those notes. For instance, the notes in the first bar (A, C#, D#, E and G#) are contained within the many keys including A Lydian (A, B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#), G# Phrygian (G#, A, B, C#, D#, E, F#) and F# Dorian (F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E). The most obvious of these is A Lydian because the lick starts on an A and you can use a ringing open A string as a drone to play over, but some really unusual and interesting textures present themselves when you try playing over the other notes, too.

Of course, you can use any shape or pattern you like in your search for ideas. Circles, ovals, squares, zig zags… I like to use an X pattern as a high-speed sweet picking/hammer-on lick. Play it over an F#5 power chord for the first bar and E5 for the second. I’ve included the pick sweeping directions, but feel free to slow this lick down and play it as an alternate picked exercise.

Another interesting pattern (which works best across the bottom four strings) is actually related to an established scale that is popular in avant-garde and modern classical music: the Whole Tone Scale. This is a particularly weird sounding scale because it doesn’t resolve the way typical scales do. And Frank Zappa uses it to great effect on the solo to “Outside Now” on his Broadway the Hard Way album from 1988. Every note of this scale is a whole tone away from the last, and all you need to do is play it through in ascending order a couple of times and you’ve played all 12 notes, so it can be played in any key. From a visual perspective, the Whole Tone Scale is easy to remember because it looks like parallel diagonal lines. In the example below I’ve presented it as a three-note-per-string scale as well as a four-note-per-string scale. What I really like about this scale is that you can create some really out-there melodies out of its constituent notes, or you can simply play it linearly and exploit the “forever climbing” nature of the scale’s lack of resolution.

I’ll leave you with this fun little way of employing patterns to extremely dramatic effect: letters. Try spelling words on the fretboard. You could space these all out over the fretboard in a row, but for some real atonal fun, stack them all on top of each other. See if you can identify the word in the example below, which spells out the word “Gibson.” I’ve used a few different approaches here: tracing the letters in a line for the G and I, then outlining the shape of the B, then tracing the S, outlining the O and approaching the N with some very unorthodox chords (just barring across each string to represent the sides of the letter). I’ve presented this in 4/4 with very even rhythms so you can easily get from one pattern to another. The result is a harmonically and rhythmically interesting jazz-fusion sound, especially thanks to those dense chords at the end.

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Rush to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Golden Gods Awards

Veteran prog rockers Rush will be honored for their years of excellence at the upcoming Revolver Golden Gods Awards ceremony. The Canadian band will receive the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement award at the event, set to take place on April 11 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D will present the honor, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.

“We are honored and delighted to receive this honor – especially because it will be presented by Jack and Kyle,” Rush drummer Neil Peart said. “Our ‘lifetimes’ are not over yet, and we dearly hope our ‘achievements’ are not either, so I suppose you could say that to us this is the ‘So Far, So Good’ award.”

Black also had this to say about Rush: “Rush was the most impressive band, musically, when I was just learning about rock. Weirdly, they got your body moving in interpretive-dancing ways, but it was still aggressive. Their stuff was just so complex and so tasty!”

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Rolling Stones Won’t Tour in 2012, But…

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have confirmed that there will not be a 50th Anniversary Rolling Stones Tour in 2012. The rock legends said that they aren’t quite prepared to go globe-trotting, according to Rolling Stone.

However, it appears that the Glimmer Twins have their sights set on something in 2013. Richards suggests that a tour next year is actually more appropriate for the 50th anniversary.

“The Stones always really considered ’63 to be 50 years, because Charlie [Watts] didn’t actually join until January,” Richards said. “We look upon 2012 as sort of the year of conception, but the birth is next year.”

Richards and Jagger also talked about a December jam session in January that reunited them with former Stone Bill Wyman.

“We played a lot of blues and outtakes of Some Girls and things like that,” Jagger said. “It went very well.”

Keef added: “We’re back in touch, which is great, because I hadn’t really spoken to him for years.” Richards also theorized that Wyman may rejoin the Stones on their 2013 tour. “I think he’s up for it. We talked about it. I’ll let you know when I can.”

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U2’s Bono Recommends Courtney Love

Rock star and avid campaigner Bono has helped Hole singer Courtney Love secure a condo in New York. Kurt Cobain’s widow used the U2 frontman as a reference for the landlord of the home in New York’s Nolita neighborhood.

The Daily Express reports that Bono wrote “a paragraph” as a character reference for Love.

The Hole singer, however, already has had a noise complaint from a pregnant neighbor. But Love apologized and told the New York Post, “It sounds really lame, being a rock star and all... It’s all good now.”

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Buy a Guitar Online - Top Ten Things to Look For When Buying a Guitar Online

Eddie Vedder to Play U.K. for the First Time

Eddie Vedder will play in the U.K. for the very first time this July.

According to NME.com, the Pearl Jam singer will promote his solo Ukulele Songs album with a European tour, starting in Amsterdam on July 25 and finishing in Portugal on August 3.

Vedder’s debut solo U.K. dates are at the Manchester O2 Apollo on July 28 and

Then London HMV Hammersmith Apollo on July 30.

Vedder’s band, Pearl Jam, are booked to headline this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, alongside Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, in June.

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11 Tips For Buying a Used Guitar

Billy Corgan: Rock and Roll is Being Taken Over by ‘Posers’

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan lamented the state of alternative rock in a one-on-one conversation with writer Brian Solis at South by Southwest earlier this week, asserting that “posers” have replaced authentic artists. “[Artists who achieve breakthrough success today] have grown up thinking that being famous is the goal,” he said. “Not to be respected, not to be dangerous.” Corgan went on to say, “Don’t call it rock ’n’ roll. I was part of a generation that changed the world – and it was taken over by posers.”

In a subsequent interview, conducted at SXSW’s Samsung Blogger Lounge, Corgan talked about the impact social media has had on the music industry. “The music business is shamefully behind the curve as far as understanding the effects that social media has on the business,” Corgan said. “They just treated it like it was a curse and a plague upon them. And I was one of the first people to stand up and say, ‘No, this is a great thing.’”

Corgan had little to say about his new music with Smashing Pumpkins. The band’s new album, Oceania, is set to be released in June.

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Tom Morello Teaming with Occupy Austin for ‘Flash Mob Dance Party’

Tom Morello is set to team up with the Occupy Austin movement at South by Southwest this Friday (March 16) for a special showcase. As reported by Rolling Stone, Morello promises the event will be “a mighty SXSW throw down.”

“SXSW has a lot of specialty shows – record companies, vodka companies, promoters and things like that,” Morello said. “I thought it was important that at a music gathering of that size, to have a place where the rebels, revolutionaries, rockers, rappers and the 99 percent could gather ….”

Morello had previously reached out to representatives of Occupy Austin, soliciting input regarding the showcase. “Their intention is to have this flash mob dance party that’s going to arrive at the [Swan Dive] venue,” he said.

Morello will perform with his band, the Freedom Fighter Orchestra. Prior to Morello’s performance, Wayne Kramer will play a set in support of Jail Guitar Doors, a nonprofit organization that provides instruments to prisons for purposes of rehabilitation.

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Doobie Brothers Drummer Michael Hossack Dies at 65

Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack, who played on such hits as “Listen to the Music,” “China Grove” and “Blackwater,” has died at the age of 65. Hossack, who had been battling cancer, passed away on Monday (March 12) at his home in Dubois, Wyoming.

Hossack joined The Doobie Brothers in 1971, becoming the second drummer in the group’s two-drummer lineup. He left the band in 1973 to form the band, Bonaroo, and went on to open his own recording studio. In 1987, Hossack re-joined The Doobie Brothers for a series of benefit concerts for Vietnam War veterans. He also contributed to the group’s recent albums, Cycles, Brotherhood and World Gone Crazy.

Doobie Brothers co-founder Tom Johnston praised Hossack as “an incredible musician.” He went on say, “Mike has always been a part of my musical life and the life of The Doobie Brothers. The last few years, he was brave and determined to keep on playing in the face of ill health, and I will always admire him for that.”

The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, whose friendship with Hossack spanned 43 years, added, “We shared some wonderful adventures together, times I will never forget. Thanks for all those wonderful memories, Mike, and all the great music. We love you.”

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This Day in Music: March 14th

Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:

1933 Quincy Jones, producer
1945 Walter Parazaider, sax (Chicago)
1946 Jim Pons, bass guitar (The Leaves, The Turtles)
1983 Jordan Taylor Hanson (Hanson)

1955, CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey turned down the chance to sign Elvis Presley. Instead, at the same audition, he signed Pat Boone.

1963, Cliff Richard & The Shadows were at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Summer Holiday.” Taken from the film of the same name, it was Cliff’s seventh U.K. #1.

1968, the promotional film for The Beatles’ “Lady Madonna” was broadcast in black and white on BBC’s Top Of The Pops. The film was shot while the group was recording the track “Hey Bulldog” in Studio 2, EMI Studios.

1972, soul singer Linda Jones, who had a 1967 U.S. #21 single with “Hypnotized,” died at the age of 26 in New York after collapsing into a diabetic coma following a performance at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre.

1983, Jon Bon Jovi formed the band Bon Jovi. See This Day in Music Spotlight .

1985, Dead Or Alive were taken off the U.K. music television show The Tube after admitting they were incapable of playing live. The group had scored a 1985 U.K. #1 with “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”

1990, Flea and Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers were arrested for sexually harassing a woman in Daytona Beach, Florida. There were each fined $1,000.

1991, American songwriter Doc Pomus died. He co-wrote with Mort Shuman many early ’60s hits, including “A Teenager in Love,” “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “Sweets for My Sweet,” “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” “Little Sister,” “Suspicion,” “Surrender” and “Viva Las Vegas.”

1995, with the release of Me Against The World, Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a #1 album on the Billboard chart while in prison.

2001, Peter Blake, who designed The Beatles’ classic Sgt. Pepper album cover, sued the group’s record company, EMI, for more money. Blake was given a one-off payment of $340 in 1967, but became “cheesed off” that the company had not offered to pay more money.

2006, U2 topped Rolling Stone’s annual list of 2005’s biggest money earners with $154.2 million. The top five were rounded out by The Rolling Stones ($92.5 million), The Eagles ($ 63.2 million), Paul McCartney ($56 million) and Elton John ($48.9 million).

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This Day in Music: March 15th

Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:

1940, Phil Lesh, bass, The Grateful Dead
1941, Mike Love, vocals, The Beach Boys
1944, Sly Stone, vocals, organ, guitar, Sly and the Family Stone
1946, Howard E. Scott, guitar, War
1947, Ry Cooder, guitarist
1955, Dee Snider, vocals, Twisted Sister
1962, Terence Trent D’Arby, singer
1963, Bret Michaels, vocals, Poison
1968, Mark McGrath, vocals, Sugar Ray
1972, Mark Hoppus, bass, vocals, Blink-182
1975, Will.i.am, rapper, producer, Black Eyed Peas
1977, Joe Hahn, DJ, Linkin Park

1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Colonel Tom Parker. Parker had previously managed the Great Parker Pony Circus with one of the acts being a troupe of dancing chickens.

1964, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 58-date U.K. tour at the Invicta Ballroom in Chatham, Kent. Half the dates saw the Stones playing two shows in one evening.

1973, Roberta Flack was at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and Elton John had the #1 album with Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player.

1975, Led Zeppelin went to #1 on the U.K. chart with the double album Physical Graffiti, the first on their own Swan Song label. The album spent six weeks at #1 on the U.S. chart.

1977, Pink Floyd played the first of six sold-out nights at Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England.

1986, The Bangles were at #2 on the U.K. singles chart with “Manic Monday,” a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher. It also made #2 in the U.S., held off #1 by Prince’s own “Kiss.”

1989, The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million (?40 million) contract to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history.

2002, Yoko Ono unveiled a seven-foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check-in hall of Liverpool’s John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words “Above Us Only Skies.” For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.

2004, Former Crazy Town guitarist Rust Epique died of heart failure from an apparent heart attack at his home in Las Vegas. Epique was 35. Crazy Town had the 1999 world-wide #1 single “Butterfly.”

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Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye Will Play Oasis Songs

Talking to British radio station Xfm, ex-Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has said that his new band, Beady Eye, will be playing Oasis songs live this summer.

Gallagher said: “We’re doing Fuji Festival in Japan, which is in July. And we will be dropping Oasis songs for anyone who’s bothered.

“We were always going to do it, but we thought the album needed to stand on its own. We’ve done some good gigs, we’ve done some s--t gigs. And it’s time to drop them in now. Everyone else is. I feel they’re just as much my songs as they are Noel’s. And if people don’t like it, go to the bar or f--k off. If they do like it, jump up and down, let’s have a good time.”

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Taylor Swift is Pop’s Biggest Earner in 2011

Country singer Taylor Swift earned more than any other pop act last year. According to Billboard, Swift made a cool $35,719,902 last year if you include music sales, royalties and touring income.

Rock legends U2 came second with $32 million while another country singer Kenny Chesney was third with $29.8 million. Lady Gaga could only manage fourth place.

Top Earner of 2011:

1. Taylor Swift - $35.7m
2. U2 - $32.1m
3. Kenny Chesney - $29.8m
4. Lady Gaga - $25.4m
5. Lil Wayne - $23.2m
6. Sade - $16.4m
7. Bon Jovi - $15.8m
8. Celine Dion - $14.3m
9. Jason Aldean - $13.4m
10. Adele - $13.1m

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Gibson Artists Lined Up for Musikmesse

Several Gibson artists will be at the Gibson booth at this year’s Musikmesse, the world's leading trade fair for the music industry.

Musikmesse features numerous exhibitor booths showing products, as well as workshops, concerts demonstrations and seminars.

The event takes place in Frankfurt, Germany, from March 21-24.The final day is consumer day and the following Gibson artists will be appearing at the Gibson booth:

10 a.m. – Daniel Wirtz
10:30 a.m. – Jeff Waters
11:30 a.m. – David Pfeiffer
12 p.m. – Everlast
1 p.m. – Bring Me the Horizon
2:30 p.m. – Livingston
3 p.m. – Oomph!

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Top 10 Stories of the Week in Music News

It’s been another fascinating week in the crazy world of rock and roll. The Rolling Stones are getting an all-star tribute in New York and Keith Richards celebrated the Stones picking up 9 million Facebook fans. Sadly, rock and roll lost Ronnie Montrose, and Sammy Hagar was quick to pay tribute to the guitar great. Also, in the wake of Davy Jones’ death, fellow Monkee Michael Nesmith said that, in his opinion, Jones was The Monkees. Finally, Motley Crue’s Vince Neil opened his own strip club. Now that’s rock and roll!

1. Sammy Hagar and Lita Ford Pay Tribute to Ronnie Montrose

2. Music Stars Pay Tribute to Rolling Stones

3. Taylor Swift is Pop’s Biggest Earner in 2011

4. Jack White Performs Solo Show at Third Man Records Birthday Party

5. Keith Richards Celebrates 9 Million Stone Facebook Fans

6. Gibson Launches Artist in Residency Program

7. Michael Nesmith: Davy Jones Was The Monkees

8. Sharon Osbourne on Zakk Wylde: ‘He is Like Our Oldest Son’

9. John Frusciante to Miss Chili Peppers’ Rock Hall Induction

10. Motley Crue’s Vince Neil to Open Girls Girls Girls Strip Club

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This Day in Music: March 13th

Brought to you by ThisDayinMusic.com.

Born on this day:

1933, Mike Stoller, songwriter
1939, Neil Sedaka, singer, songwriter
1959, Ronnie Rogers, guitar, T’Pau
1960, Adam Clayton, bass, U2
1972, Common, rapper
1973, David Draiman, vocals, Disturbed

1964, Billboard reported that sales of Beatles singles currently accounted for 60 percent of the U.S. singles market and The Beatles’ album, Meet the Beatles, had reached a record 3.5 million copies sold.

1965, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds due to musical differences with the other band members. Clapton wanted to continue in a blues-type vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of their first hit, “For Your Love.”

1971, Brewer and Shipley entered the U.S. singles chart with “One Toke Over the Line.” The song, which featured The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia on steel guitar, peaked at #10 despite being banned by radio stations for drug references. Brewer and Shipley maintained that the word “toke” meant token, as in ticket – hence the line “waitin’ downtown at the railway station, one toke over the line.”

1976, The Four Seasons started a three-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “December 1963 (Oh What a Night),” the group’s fifth U.S. #1. It also was their only U.K. #1.

1985, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure received the best-selling A-side award at the 30th Ivor Novello Awards for “Do They Know it’s Christmas.”

1987, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998, English reggae and ska artist Judge Dread (Alex Hughes) died after collapsing as he walked off stage in Canterbury, England. He achieved 10 U.K. hit singles during the ’70s and was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica. Dread has the most banned radio songs of all time.

1999, Cher started a four-week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Believe,” making Cher, at 53, the oldest woman to top the Hot 100.

2006, The Sex Pistols refused to attend their own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Blondie, Herb Alpert, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Miles Davis and Black Sabbath were also inducted. For more on this story, see This Day in Music Spotlight.

2007, Coffee house Starbucks announced the launch of its own music label, saying it would sign both established and new artists. The chain, which had 13,000 stores worldwide, had already released albums under its Hear Music brand, licensing songs from other companies. Starbucks bosses said the label would now become more independent and that music fit the firm’s identity.

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