Toby Keith is one of the 2024 inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The songwriter died Feb. 5 after a long battle with stomach cancer — one day before the names of the final inductees were to be delivered to the Hall of Fame staff.
Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer, announced Keith as one of this year’s inductees and walked through the nomination process during a press conference in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda Monday morning. “My heart sank that Tuesday afternoon knowing that we had missed the...
Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer, announced Keith as one of this year’s inductees and walked through the nomination process during a press conference in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda Monday morning. “My heart sank that Tuesday afternoon knowing that we had missed the...
- 3/18/2024
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler are teaming up for six part documentary series Johnson and Knopfler’s Music Legends on Sky Arts, here are the details.
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson and Dire Straits guitarist, singer and songwriter Mark Knopfler each found huge success in their respective bands.
Now, they are teaming up for six part documentary Johnson And Knopfler’s Music Legends. Johnson produced a similar documentary, Life On The Road, in which he chatted with Knopfler, Robert Plant, Dolly Parton and Dave Grohl, among others.
The new series will follow the pair as they spend time with six influential figures from the Music industry. The description for each episode reads as follows:
Episode 1: Tom Jones
In the series opener, Brian & Mark meet icon, Sir Tom Jones. In conversation and song, they reminisce on their earliest musical influences and Sir Tom shares captivating stories from his career,...
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson and Dire Straits guitarist, singer and songwriter Mark Knopfler each found huge success in their respective bands.
Now, they are teaming up for six part documentary Johnson And Knopfler’s Music Legends. Johnson produced a similar documentary, Life On The Road, in which he chatted with Knopfler, Robert Plant, Dolly Parton and Dave Grohl, among others.
The new series will follow the pair as they spend time with six influential figures from the Music industry. The description for each episode reads as follows:
Episode 1: Tom Jones
In the series opener, Brian & Mark meet icon, Sir Tom Jones. In conversation and song, they reminisce on their earliest musical influences and Sir Tom shares captivating stories from his career,...
- 3/14/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Two days ago, Dan Marfisi, a longtime musician and songwriter in the L.A. area, received a text from a composer friend. “He wrote, ‘Did you write this song on The X-Files?’” Marfisi says. “He said, ‘You should go to Twitter and check out these threads. You’ll be a hero.’”
Marfisi had no idea what his friend was talking about, but when he went online, he learned that more than a few people have been trying to unearth information about a piece of music he co-wrote 25 years ago — and had barely thought about since.
Marfisi had no idea what his friend was talking about, but when he went online, he learned that more than a few people have been trying to unearth information about a piece of music he co-wrote 25 years ago — and had barely thought about since.
- 12/7/2023
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
The Untold Story Of A Lost Classic: What Ever Happened To Gram Parsons’ Sci-Fi Film ‘Saturation 70’?
In the late 1960s, Gram Parsons, fresh from leaving The Byrds and becoming close pals with the Rolling Stones, signed on to star in a sci-fi film, Saturation 70.
Directed by Anthony Foutz, who worked with the likes of Orson Welles and Richard Lyford and was the son of a very early Walt Disney exec, the film was shot across Joshua Tree and Los Angeles.
But Saturation 70, which also featured the work of Douglas Trumbull, the pioneering special effects wizard behind 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, was never finished, and the footage subsequently vanished.
But a new book tells the wild story of a possible lost classic.
Chris Campion, who rediscovered the film while working on a book about The Mamas & The Papas, is putting together Saturation 70: A Vision Past of the Future Foretold, raising money via Kickstarter for the project with a view to publish next spring via Wolf+Salmon.
Directed by Anthony Foutz, who worked with the likes of Orson Welles and Richard Lyford and was the son of a very early Walt Disney exec, the film was shot across Joshua Tree and Los Angeles.
But Saturation 70, which also featured the work of Douglas Trumbull, the pioneering special effects wizard behind 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, was never finished, and the footage subsequently vanished.
But a new book tells the wild story of a possible lost classic.
Chris Campion, who rediscovered the film while working on a book about The Mamas & The Papas, is putting together Saturation 70: A Vision Past of the Future Foretold, raising money via Kickstarter for the project with a view to publish next spring via Wolf+Salmon.
- 10/26/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Tl;Dr:
Mick Jagger played The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” to The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons.Jagger also played The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” to Parsons, who enjoyed both songs.The Flying Burrito Brothers released their version of the song before The Rolling Stones did. The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger | Evening Standard/Getty Images
The Rolling Stones‘ “Wild Horses” is one of the band’s most famous ballads. Notably, The Flying Burrito Brothers first recorded the tune. Subsequently, The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons discussed why Mick Jagger gave him the song.
The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons got to hear The Rolling Stones’ ‘Wild Horses’ and ‘Brown Sugar’ before the general public
Rolling Stone reports that, during a 1973 interview, Parsons discussed “Wild Horses.” He said Jagger played the tune for him the night of a music festival. “He played me ‘Wild Horses’ and ‘Brown Sugar,'” he recalled.
Mick Jagger played The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” to The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons.Jagger also played The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” to Parsons, who enjoyed both songs.The Flying Burrito Brothers released their version of the song before The Rolling Stones did. The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger | Evening Standard/Getty Images
The Rolling Stones‘ “Wild Horses” is one of the band’s most famous ballads. Notably, The Flying Burrito Brothers first recorded the tune. Subsequently, The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons discussed why Mick Jagger gave him the song.
The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gram Parsons got to hear The Rolling Stones’ ‘Wild Horses’ and ‘Brown Sugar’ before the general public
Rolling Stone reports that, during a 1973 interview, Parsons discussed “Wild Horses.” He said Jagger played the tune for him the night of a music festival. “He played me ‘Wild Horses’ and ‘Brown Sugar,'” he recalled.
- 2/27/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
When The Byrds arrived in the UK for the first time in August 1965, they were hyped as the spearhead of an American Invasion. “The US Beatles!” headlines screamed as their lush cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” topped the charts and their similarly titled debut album broke big on both sides of the pond.
Witnesses of their rammed half-hour show of multi-harmonied folk pop at London’s Flamingo Club were left unimpressed – “Flopsville!” declared Melody Maker – but in the end, the hype won out. Within two years The Byrds would stamp their mark on pop history, laying the foundations for folk rock with their renowned cover of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and their third album Fifth Dimension’s psychedelic mainstay “Eight Miles High”. And they contained at least one future musical icon in their midst. The writer of the vulnerable yet cynical “Everybody’s Been Burned...
Witnesses of their rammed half-hour show of multi-harmonied folk pop at London’s Flamingo Club were left unimpressed – “Flopsville!” declared Melody Maker – but in the end, the hype won out. Within two years The Byrds would stamp their mark on pop history, laying the foundations for folk rock with their renowned cover of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and their third album Fifth Dimension’s psychedelic mainstay “Eight Miles High”. And they contained at least one future musical icon in their midst. The writer of the vulnerable yet cynical “Everybody’s Been Burned...
- 1/20/2023
- by Mark Beaumont
- The Independent - Music
In the way it avoided a conventional timeline or stories behind the making of some of his best-loved albums, Bob Dylan’s 2004 book Chronicles: Volume One wasn’t a remotely traditional memoir. And let’s not even start on the whirligig prose in his Sixties head-scratcher Tarantula. Next to them, his third book, The Philosophy of Modern Song (which is out next week), would seem comparatively straightforward: essays on 66 of his favorite songs, billed, on its inner flap, as “a master class on the art and craft of songwriting.”
Dylan...
Dylan...
- 10/27/2022
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
You know you’ve become a rock institution when you’re awarded a photo-heavy coffee table book that will test the budgets of your fans. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and many more have been awarded that high-end treatment, and the latest recipients will be the Byrds.
On September 20, the group will release The Byrds: 1964-1967, which crams 500 photos (some previously unseen), into 400 pages, all documenting the legendary L.A. band that created folk-rock, country-rock, and arguably psychedelic rock too. Focusing on the original lineup of Roger McGuinn,...
On September 20, the group will release The Byrds: 1964-1967, which crams 500 photos (some previously unseen), into 400 pages, all documenting the legendary L.A. band that created folk-rock, country-rock, and arguably psychedelic rock too. Focusing on the original lineup of Roger McGuinn,...
- 6/29/2022
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Left out of most obituaries about renowned country music talk-show host Ralph Emery, who died Saturday, was his infamy among many rock fans for having gotten into a tiff in the late 1960s with the Byrds. Their beef even resulted in Emery being dismissed, by name, in a Byrds track — “Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man,” which had Gram Parsons and Roger McGuinn attempting to get the last laugh in song.
But, lest Emery be remembered forever by Byrds buffs as a villain in the story, Emery invited McGuinn onto his highly rated cable series “Nashville Now” 17 years later for a reconciliation — albeit a deeply awkward one — that was captured for posterity and can be viewed on YouTube. The sight of the very, very proud Emery admitting his ingrained bias against rock music and extending a sort of olive branch to McGuinn years later manages to be both cringe-worthy and kind of touching.
But, lest Emery be remembered forever by Byrds buffs as a villain in the story, Emery invited McGuinn onto his highly rated cable series “Nashville Now” 17 years later for a reconciliation — albeit a deeply awkward one — that was captured for posterity and can be viewed on YouTube. The sight of the very, very proud Emery admitting his ingrained bias against rock music and extending a sort of olive branch to McGuinn years later manages to be both cringe-worthy and kind of touching.
- 1/16/2022
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
By the time Emmylou Harris released Luxury Liner, the third and most successful LP of her career-defining “honky-tonk angel” period, on Dec. 28, 1976, the vocalist had cemented a reputation for combining vintage country with impeccably chosen covers from outside the genre.
Harris had been famously mentored by the late Gram Parsons, but by now she was outside the country-rock pioneer’s shadow, standing on her own as a country hit-maker and rule-bender. While both of her previous major-label successes — Pieces of the Sky and Elite Hotel — contained unquestionable gems, it was...
Harris had been famously mentored by the late Gram Parsons, but by now she was outside the country-rock pioneer’s shadow, standing on her own as a country hit-maker and rule-bender. While both of her previous major-label successes — Pieces of the Sky and Elite Hotel — contained unquestionable gems, it was...
- 12/28/2021
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Miranda Lambert opened the 55th annual CMA Awards with a medley of five of her hits. It was an agile performance, imbued with the Texas singer’s signature swagger.
Backed by her superb band (always keep an eye on Spencer Cullum Jr. on pedal steel) and dressed in a blue jumpsuit with red fringe that evoked Gram Parsons couture, Lambert lit into her 2005 hit “Kerosene,” the title track of her major-label debut. From there, she jumped six years into the future to the single “Mama’s Broken Heart,” off 2011’s Four the Record.
Backed by her superb band (always keep an eye on Spencer Cullum Jr. on pedal steel) and dressed in a blue jumpsuit with red fringe that evoked Gram Parsons couture, Lambert lit into her 2005 hit “Kerosene,” the title track of her major-label debut. From there, she jumped six years into the future to the single “Mama’s Broken Heart,” off 2011’s Four the Record.
- 11/11/2021
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Apple TV+’s docuseries 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything makes it seem like The Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main Street album was more fun to record than listen to, and that sets a high standard. The record distills the band’s sounds, from acoustic world music political ballads, through deep heartfelt blues, to honky tonk so funky you have to shake your ass. The group plays country, Southern blues, R&b, and the almost-punk-before-punk “Rip This Joint.” “Tumbling Dice,” is a radio staple. Keith Richards even took the lead vocals on a track to keep you happy. There was so much material, it came out as a double album. What could be more fun than that?
Richards’ Nellcôte mansion, on the Côte d’Azur in the South of France, was the hardest rocking musical getaway paradise in 1971. It was a Rock and Roll Main Street, and even the...
Richards’ Nellcôte mansion, on the Côte d’Azur in the South of France, was the hardest rocking musical getaway paradise in 1971. It was a Rock and Roll Main Street, and even the...
- 5/21/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Whether it’s coming out of Nashville, New York, L.A., or points in between, there’s no shortage of fresh tunes, especially from artists who have yet to become household names. Rolling Stone Country selects some of the best new music releases from country and Americana artists. (Check out last week’s best songs.)
Donovan Woods and Aoife O’Donovan, “Iowa”
Donovan Woods collaborates with Aoife O’Donovan on the new song “Iowa,” the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first new music since the excellent 2020 album Without People. Woods opts for the intimate approach on “Iowa,...
Donovan Woods and Aoife O’Donovan, “Iowa”
Donovan Woods collaborates with Aoife O’Donovan on the new song “Iowa,” the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first new music since the excellent 2020 album Without People. Woods opts for the intimate approach on “Iowa,...
- 5/10/2021
- by Jon Freeman and Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and Savages’ Jehnny Beth have shared their new song “Chase It Down,” the opening track from the singers’ collaborative LP Utopian Ashes.
The album documents the breakdown of a fictional couple’s marriage, and “Chase It Down” opens at the onset of their disintegrating relationship, with Gillespie’s husband singing, “I don’t even love you any more.”
As the duo noted when Utopian Ashes was announced, the album is inspired by the country soul sound heard in the duets of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris...
The album documents the breakdown of a fictional couple’s marriage, and “Chase It Down” opens at the onset of their disintegrating relationship, with Gillespie’s husband singing, “I don’t even love you any more.”
As the duo noted when Utopian Ashes was announced, the album is inspired by the country soul sound heard in the duets of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris...
- 5/6/2021
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
“Do you remember Limited Too?” Pearl Charles asks. She’s trying to trace just how far back her love of Abba goes, which brings her to the Nineties pre-teen clothing store. “Everything was flower power and bell-bottoms, and I feel like ‘Dancing Queen’ was huge at all the birthday parties. All of that stuff steeped into my brain when I was a little kid, and now it’s all coming out.”
“Only For Tonight,” the opening track to Charles’ recent album Magic Mirror, drips in disco. Its layers of sunny production mask bleak lyrics,...
“Only For Tonight,” the opening track to Charles’ recent album Magic Mirror, drips in disco. Its layers of sunny production mask bleak lyrics,...
- 4/27/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Billy Gibbons remembers Jim Morrison and Gram Parsons while driving around Joshua Tree in the video for “Desert High,” the latest single from the Zz Top rocker’s upcoming album Hardware.
On the track, Gibbons sing-speaks about Morrison (“The desert toad takes me for a ride/The Lizard King’s always by my side,” a nod to the Doors singer’s alter ego) and pays tribute to “Gram,” the Flying Burrito Brothers singer who died in a hotel room in Joshua Tree.
“Gram died in room eight and left it...
On the track, Gibbons sing-speaks about Morrison (“The desert toad takes me for a ride/The Lizard King’s always by my side,” a nod to the Doors singer’s alter ego) and pays tribute to “Gram,” the Flying Burrito Brothers singer who died in a hotel room in Joshua Tree.
“Gram died in room eight and left it...
- 4/22/2021
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
When Keith Richards first met Gram Parsons in 1968, he felt he’d known him all his life. “There was an immediate recognition,” he wrote in his autobiography, Life. “What we could have done if we’d known each other earlier.”
It’s easy to discern the influence Parsons had on Richards, who had a cosmic country streak with 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo with the Byrds and 1969’s The Gilded Palace of Sin with the Flying Burrito Brothers. His death at the age of 26 only further cemented his legacy as a country-rock pioneer,...
It’s easy to discern the influence Parsons had on Richards, who had a cosmic country streak with 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo with the Byrds and 1969’s The Gilded Palace of Sin with the Flying Burrito Brothers. His death at the age of 26 only further cemented his legacy as a country-rock pioneer,...
- 4/21/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and Savages singer Jehnny Beth have announced their upcoming collaborative album Utopian Ashes.
Ahead of the LP’s release on Third Man Records on July 2nd, the duo has shared the first single “Remember We Were Lovers.” The track and the album are inspired by the country soul sound of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette and focus on the breakdown of a fictional couple’s marriage.
“In the same way you create characters for a novel, we’ve created characters here,...
Ahead of the LP’s release on Third Man Records on July 2nd, the duo has shared the first single “Remember We Were Lovers.” The track and the album are inspired by the country soul sound of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris, George Jones, and Tammy Wynette and focus on the breakdown of a fictional couple’s marriage.
“In the same way you create characters for a novel, we’ve created characters here,...
- 3/31/2021
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
There’s a certain familiarity to the type of rock & roll the Band of Heathens record, as if someone made you the perfectly curated mix tape of sinewy Rolling Stones rockers, aching Eagles ballads, and Gram Parsons weepers. It’s ironic then that the band called its new album Stranger.
Released in late September, Stranger is a warm, enveloping album with a positive message of understanding and compassion that’s just right for the times — call it “comfort rock.” The incongruous title comes from how the band members saw themselves while making the LP.
Released in late September, Stranger is a warm, enveloping album with a positive message of understanding and compassion that’s just right for the times — call it “comfort rock.” The incongruous title comes from how the band members saw themselves while making the LP.
- 10/15/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Chris Hillman couldn’t have chosen a better song title for this excerpted chapter from his upcoming memoir, Time Between — out November 17th via BMG. The chapter, which covers the end of the Sixties, is called “Sin City,” a song off the Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 debut, In the Gilded Palace of Sin.
Below, Hillman recounts the founding of the Burrito Brothers, his relationship with bandmate Gram Parsons and more, but casts it against the tumultuous backdrop of 1969, including the Manson murders and Altamont — tragedies that, in 2020, still resonate in harrowing ways.
Below, Hillman recounts the founding of the Burrito Brothers, his relationship with bandmate Gram Parsons and more, but casts it against the tumultuous backdrop of 1969, including the Manson murders and Altamont — tragedies that, in 2020, still resonate in harrowing ways.
- 8/19/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Christian Lee Hutson recorded so many versions of his new album, Beginners, that the day before it was finally released last month, the singer-songwriter joked with his friends about a dark possibility: “There’s still time to record it one more time.”
Hutson, 29, first began work on his new plaintive folk collection in 2014, back when he was still touring the country as an aspiring retro-country singer, performing Gram Parsons and George Jones covers at an endless string of what he now refers to as “fucking spaghetti restaurants.”
Today, Hutson is...
Hutson, 29, first began work on his new plaintive folk collection in 2014, back when he was still touring the country as an aspiring retro-country singer, performing Gram Parsons and George Jones covers at an endless string of what he now refers to as “fucking spaghetti restaurants.”
Today, Hutson is...
- 7/16/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Bruce Springsteen reflected Wednesday on the protest movement erupting across the nation in the wake of Minneapolis man George Floyd’s death. He said, “We remain haunted, generation after generation, by our original sin of slavery.”
Springsteen made his comments on SiriusXM as part of his ongoing Bruce Springsteen — From His Home to Yours series on E Street Radio.
The songs he picked in the two-hour broadcast reflected his views on political protest and racial injustice.
He began with his own 41 Shots (American Skin), which he wrote about the death of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo in a confrontation with the New York Police Department.
“Eight minutes,” Springsteen said. “That song is almost eight minutes long. That’s how long it took George Floyd to die with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck. That’s a long time. That’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe.
Springsteen made his comments on SiriusXM as part of his ongoing Bruce Springsteen — From His Home to Yours series on E Street Radio.
The songs he picked in the two-hour broadcast reflected his views on political protest and racial injustice.
He began with his own 41 Shots (American Skin), which he wrote about the death of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo in a confrontation with the New York Police Department.
“Eight minutes,” Springsteen said. “That song is almost eight minutes long. That’s how long it took George Floyd to die with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck. That’s a long time. That’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe.
- 6/4/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Bruce Springsteen took to the SiriusXM airwaves on Wednesday morning to play songs as part of his ongoing Bruce Springsteen — From His Home to Yours series on E Street Radio and reflect on the protest movement that has erupted all across America in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. The songs he picked throughout the two-hour broadcast were all about political protest and racial injustice.
He began the show with his 2000 song “41 Shots (American Skin),” which he wrote about the death of unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo at the...
He began the show with his 2000 song “41 Shots (American Skin),” which he wrote about the death of unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo at the...
- 6/3/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Epix’s two-part docuseries Laurel Canyon, directed by Alison Elwood, explores the musical community which nestled into the wooded area right outside the Sunset Strip. Chris Hillman, the first member of The Byrds, moved in after creating folk rock. The Monkees’ Mickey Dolenz threw ping pong tournaments next door to Alice Cooper. Frank Zappa planted his freak flag on the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain. And Michelle Phillips and John Phillips moved onto Lookout Mountain in 1965.
Their band, The Mamas and the Papas, practically invented the Southern California hippie sound, and Michelle was the catalyst. After hearing John Sebastian strum a tune which would become a major hit for his band The Lovin’ Spoonful, Michelle saw the direction the New Journeymen–the band she was in with her husband and other future Papa Denny Doherty–should go. Both sonically and geographically.
Michelle finished up John Phillips’ song...
Their band, The Mamas and the Papas, practically invented the Southern California hippie sound, and Michelle was the catalyst. After hearing John Sebastian strum a tune which would become a major hit for his band The Lovin’ Spoonful, Michelle saw the direction the New Journeymen–the band she was in with her husband and other future Papa Denny Doherty–should go. Both sonically and geographically.
Michelle finished up John Phillips’ song...
- 5/29/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Laurel Canyon, the two-part docuseries Alison Elwood directed for Epix, opens as the Los Angeles folk music scene went electric and The Byrds found a place to nest. Rock and roller Bobby Darrin put a backbeat to folk tunes in the early ‘60s, but his then-guitarist Jim “Roger” McGuinn transformed the genre into folk rock by electrifying Bob Dylan songs with an electric 12-string Rickenbacker when he formed the Byrds. The band, which also included future David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman, was known for a short while as “The American Beatles.” The Byrds put out one of the first psychedelic rock songs, and went on to create country rock.
They were also one of the first groups to move into the woody enclave above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, starting with their then-19-year-old bass player. They would soon be joined by The Monkees, The Mamas & The Papas,...
They were also one of the first groups to move into the woody enclave above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, starting with their then-19-year-old bass player. They would soon be joined by The Monkees, The Mamas & The Papas,...
- 5/27/2020
- by Chris Longo
- Den of Geek
Social distancing is easy for Bernie Leadon, who lives on a farm outside of Nashville. “It’s over 300 acres, so I can walk around with nobody there,” says the former Eagles guitarist. “So basically, I live in a park. I’m fortunate.”
Leadon is featured in the upcoming Laurel Canyon docuseries, which arrives on Epix in two parts on May 31st and June 7th. He hopped on the phone to discuss the film, his friendship with Gram Parsons, and the possibility of reuniting with the Eagles.
Alison Ellwood, who directed the new docuseries,...
Leadon is featured in the upcoming Laurel Canyon docuseries, which arrives on Epix in two parts on May 31st and June 7th. He hopped on the phone to discuss the film, his friendship with Gram Parsons, and the possibility of reuniting with the Eagles.
Alison Ellwood, who directed the new docuseries,...
- 5/22/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
The 2020 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in just a few weeks. Which two country superstars will be selected this year for an induction ceremony slated for next October? Could this finally be the year for Tanya Tucker, who just won her first ever Grammy Awards after a career beginning back in the 1970s? Or will it be a more recent artist now eligible, such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw or Shania Twain?
SEEBiggest Grammy Winners of All Time: See The Most Awarded Artists
The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer,...
SEEBiggest Grammy Winners of All Time: See The Most Awarded Artists
The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer,...
- 2/18/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Fans of Linda Ronstadt have swooned over her voice, a powerful instrument that can blast the dust off an Everly Brothers classic and breathe new life into jazz and mariachi standards. Yet what comes through most strongly in a recent documentary about the singer is the way she used her vocal abilities to call attention to the work of others.
“I can always do a harmony part,” Ronstadt says in a recent interview.
The film, “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” airs on CNN at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Day after a recent theater run, and tells the story via a time-capsule of clips, video moments and Ronstadt’s own words of how the singer captured public fascination with her carefully chosen covers of tunes by Roy Orbison, Clint Ballard Jr. and Warren Zevon, among others. But it also depicts her knack for helping those whose efforts...
“I can always do a harmony part,” Ronstadt says in a recent interview.
The film, “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” airs on CNN at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Day after a recent theater run, and tells the story via a time-capsule of clips, video moments and Ronstadt’s own words of how the singer captured public fascination with her carefully chosen covers of tunes by Roy Orbison, Clint Ballard Jr. and Warren Zevon, among others. But it also depicts her knack for helping those whose efforts...
- 12/30/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
On November 28th, 1925, 94 years ago this week, the Wsm Barn Dance was born. Fashioned after the already popular National Barn Dance, which premiered in April 1924 on Chicago radio station Wls, the show would later be christened the Grand Ole Opry, after host George D. Hay noted that a slate of performers playing hillbilly music, fiddle tunes, and the like would follow a just-completed classical music program. On a Saturday night in 1927, just before harmonica whiz DeFord Bailey played “Pan American Blues,” Hay told the radio audience, “For the next three hours,...
- 11/28/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
The members of Midland aren’t ones to hold their tongues, and now they have a new platform to let it rip. On Wednesday, the country trio of Mark Wystrach, Cameron Duddy and Jess Carson premiered the first episode of their country music podcast Set It Straight on Spotify.
Set It Straight seeks to answer some of country’s burning questions, kicking off with a deep dive into the circumstances surrounding the theft of cosmic-country pioneer Gram Parsons’ body. The episode includes an interview with Phil Kaufman, Parsons’ road manager...
Set It Straight seeks to answer some of country’s burning questions, kicking off with a deep dive into the circumstances surrounding the theft of cosmic-country pioneer Gram Parsons’ body. The episode includes an interview with Phil Kaufman, Parsons’ road manager...
- 9/25/2019
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Country music’s old guard got a taste of the future Tuesday, as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum held its annual “All for the Hall” gala at the Novo Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, and Sheryl Crow were joined by Luke Combs at the intimate, guitar-pull-style event, which benefits the Hall of Fame’s music education programs that now serve more than 130,000 students annually.
“This is the best you can get on a Tuesday,” quipped Gill, as he welcomed the small but captive crowd of 2,000 or so sponsors,...
Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, and Sheryl Crow were joined by Luke Combs at the intimate, guitar-pull-style event, which benefits the Hall of Fame’s music education programs that now serve more than 130,000 students annually.
“This is the best you can get on a Tuesday,” quipped Gill, as he welcomed the small but captive crowd of 2,000 or so sponsors,...
- 9/18/2019
- by Tim Chan
- Rollingstone.com
English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and blues-rocker Delbert McClinton are among the diverse group of artists who will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 18th annual Americana Honors and Awards. The show will be held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on September 11th.
Costello will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, with a wide-ranging catalog of lyrically rich songs that span everything from punk and new wave to country and soul. The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Performance is McClinton, whose more than 50 years of experience in music includes playing...
Costello will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, with a wide-ranging catalog of lyrically rich songs that span everything from punk and new wave to country and soul. The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Performance is McClinton, whose more than 50 years of experience in music includes playing...
- 8/13/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and the Rolling Stones keyboardist/musical director Chuck Leavell will join violinist Robert McDuffie this fall for a tour honoring iconic musicians from Georgia. The trio will perform songs from artists like Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers Band, R.E.M., Outkast, Gram Parsons, James Brown, Gregg Allman, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the B-52s, Brook Benton and more, along with the Mills-composed Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra.
The four-date trek, dubbed “A Night of Georgia Music,” kicks off September 29th in Atlanta,...
The four-date trek, dubbed “A Night of Georgia Music,” kicks off September 29th in Atlanta,...
- 8/6/2019
- by Ryan Reed
- Rollingstone.com
As Martin Scorsese’s Netflix documentary about Bob Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue approaches, one of the members of that traveling troupe, J. Steven Soles, writes about his memories of how the idea of a communal tour gradually took shape.
In the spring of 1975, my new managers at Lookout Management were putting me out on the road as as an opening act on the club circuit. Back in New York, where I was opening for Hot Tuna, club owner Mickey Ruskin’s new place beckoned down Fifth Avenue. Hoping to catch up with old friends, I’d settled in at the bar when Bobby Neuwirth came bouncing in with T Bone Burnett and Larry Poons, artist extraordinaire. We had a few drinks and headed to the Other End to meet up with owner Paul Colby, the great folk singer Phil Ochs (for whom Arthur Gorson and I had helped produce...
In the spring of 1975, my new managers at Lookout Management were putting me out on the road as as an opening act on the club circuit. Back in New York, where I was opening for Hot Tuna, club owner Mickey Ruskin’s new place beckoned down Fifth Avenue. Hoping to catch up with old friends, I’d settled in at the bar when Bobby Neuwirth came bouncing in with T Bone Burnett and Larry Poons, artist extraordinaire. We had a few drinks and headed to the Other End to meet up with owner Paul Colby, the great folk singer Phil Ochs (for whom Arthur Gorson and I had helped produce...
- 4/12/2019
- by J. Steven Soles
- Variety Film + TV
California’s High Desert is heavy with rock history. It’s where country-rock icon Gram Parsons had his corpse cremated by friends; where an Irish band found a name and cover image for a great LP; where Jim Morrison dropped acid and made a movie; where Josh Homme and Kyuss cooked up stoner rock. Now The Mekons — those zany, erudite and beloved British punk-country-reggae-rock survivors — join the processional with Deserted. Recorded near Joshua Tree, the LP loses itself in the desert and finds timely survival metaphors everywhere. And it burrows...
- 3/28/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Country superstar duo Brooks and Dunn will be the latest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The duo was announced on Monday morning in Nashville along with singer/songwriter Ray Stevens and producer/executive Jerry Bradley will be inducted at the 2019 ceremony in October. Watch the official video above.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are two-time Grammy winners, sold over 30 million albums and charted 20 number one songs. Those tunes have included “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Maria,” “Brand New Man” and “Believe.” Stevens made his debut in 1962 and has had such hits as “Everything is Beautiful,” “Gitarzan” and “The Streak.” Bradley ran RCA Records from 1973 to 1982 and was a longtime member of the Country Music Association board. He follows both his father Owen Bradley and uncle Harold Bradley into Hall of Fame induction.
See Acm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women...
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are two-time Grammy winners, sold over 30 million albums and charted 20 number one songs. Those tunes have included “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Maria,” “Brand New Man” and “Believe.” Stevens made his debut in 1962 and has had such hits as “Everything is Beautiful,” “Gitarzan” and “The Streak.” Bradley ran RCA Records from 1973 to 1982 and was a longtime member of the Country Music Association board. He follows both his father Owen Bradley and uncle Harold Bradley into Hall of Fame induction.
See Acm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women...
- 3/18/2019
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Reba McEntire will announce the 2019 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees on Monday, March 18. Which two country superstars will be selected this year for an induction ceremony slated for next October?
The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer, songwriter or musician. The artists chosen last year were Ricky Skaggs (modern), Dottie West (veterans) and Johnny Gimble (musician).
Seeacm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women in there’ [Watch]
McEntire herself was already inducted in 2011. Other recent inductees have included Garth Brooks, Roy Clark, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson,...
The criteria is pretty simple to get in but it’s an exclusive group since only 2-3 people are inducted each year. One person will be from the Modern Era category (an artist who came to prominence at least 20 years ago). Another will be from the Veterans Era (an artist who came to prominence at least 45 years ago). A third inductee would be a non-performer, songwriter or musician. The artists chosen last year were Ricky Skaggs (modern), Dottie West (veterans) and Johnny Gimble (musician).
Seeacm Awards host Reba McEntire was ‘disapointed’ by nominations: ‘I wanted to hear some women in there’ [Watch]
McEntire herself was already inducted in 2011. Other recent inductees have included Garth Brooks, Roy Clark, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson,...
- 3/15/2019
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 debut never made it higher than 164 on the Billboard 200. But the album’s country-rock sound cast a shadow almost from day one, influencing artists ranging from the Rolling Stones to Tom Petty, Beck, Uncle Tupelo and entire generations of future Americana luminaries. The Burrito Brothers weren’t the first artists to hybridize country and rock. Buck Owens and His Buckaroos, for one, got there first, on songs like “Act Naturally.” But The Gilded Palace of Sin was druggier, sexier and more youthful — as much about the...
- 2/6/2019
- by Matt Wake
- Rollingstone.com
On Tuesday evening, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum offered a sneak preview of its newest exhibition, Emmylou Harris: Songbird’s Flight. A lovingly crafted and curated display of personal artifacts, instruments and heart-touching photos chronicling the life and career of the Hall of Fame legend, the unveiling was celebrated with an invitation-only event attended by Harris’s family and friends, fellow musicians and songwriters and more, with special performances by Harris’s friends, Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin.
Miller, who performed Harris’s 1976 Top Five country hit,...
Miller, who performed Harris’s 1976 Top Five country hit,...
- 10/3/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
The annual AmericanaFest, now underway in Nashville, celebrates the best in roots music through dozens of showcases, special events and the Americana Honors & Awards ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium. While the origins of the Americana movement can be traced back several decades, it would be impossible to overstate the influence that singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris has had on the genre.
On Sunday, September 16th, Harris will close out AmericanaFest with her annual Woofstock benefit concert at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater. Featuring performances by Jamey Johnson, John Hiatt and Ashley Monroe, the...
On Sunday, September 16th, Harris will close out AmericanaFest with her annual Woofstock benefit concert at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater. Featuring performances by Jamey Johnson, John Hiatt and Ashley Monroe, the...
- 9/14/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Award-winning singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris will be the focus of a life- and career-spanning exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame this fall as Emmylou Harris: Songbird’s Flight is set to open October 5th and will run through August 4th, 2019.
Among the unique items that will be on display are Harris’ first guitar, a Kay 1160 Deco Note, built around 1965, the jacket — designed by famed clothier Manuel Cuevas — which she wore on the cover of the Trio album with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and, perhaps most poignantly, military decorations,...
Among the unique items that will be on display are Harris’ first guitar, a Kay 1160 Deco Note, built around 1965, the jacket — designed by famed clothier Manuel Cuevas — which she wore on the cover of the Trio album with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and, perhaps most poignantly, military decorations,...
- 9/6/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Although the Louvin Brothers’ illustrious career yielded such memorable singles as “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby,” “When I Stop Dreaming,” and the classic LP, Satan Is Real, the discovery of a treasure trove of previously unreleased demo recordings from siblings Charlie and Ira adds a stunning coda to the Louvins’ already impressive legacy. Love & Wealth: The Lost Recordings, out September 28th on Modern Harmonic, features 29 previously unreleased songwriting demo recordings from 1951-1956, and also includes a spoken audio letter from Ira to Acuff-Rose, the music publishers...
- 8/24/2018
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
When Roger McGuinn phoned into Rolling Stone earlier this week, he was just a few hours away from playing his first Byrds concert in over a quarter century. Well, sort of. His current run of shows may include his fellow Byrd Chris Hillman and they may be playing the group’s most beloved album, 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo, straight through in honor of its 50th anniversary in addition to a whole other set of Byrds classics, but they aren’t billing this precisely as a reunion. Instead, it’s...
- 7/27/2018
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Tracing the progression of rock ‘n’ roll as art in the 1960s, it’s easy to see how each of the great bands of the time attempted to build on and outdo what had come just before. The Beach Boys’ 1966 release “Pet Sounds” has often been cited by Paul McCartney as the springboard for the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” the following year. And hearing that psych-pop landmark, what evolutionary choice did the Byrds have in 1968 but to blow the collective minds of the Haight-Ashbury generation with… an album of traditional country music.
“Sweetheart of the Rodeo” is widely regarded as the world’s first true country-rock album. That R&R&C&W landmark status makes it riper than any other effort in the Byrds’ catalog — even their earlier, far more successful efforts — for silver-haired, silver-anniversary commemoration. Fans are getting the desired “Sweetheart” deal with a tour headlined by ex-Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman,...
“Sweetheart of the Rodeo” is widely regarded as the world’s first true country-rock album. That R&R&C&W landmark status makes it riper than any other effort in the Byrds’ catalog — even their earlier, far more successful efforts — for silver-haired, silver-anniversary commemoration. Fans are getting the desired “Sweetheart” deal with a tour headlined by ex-Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman,...
- 7/26/2018
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Released some 50 years ago, The Byrds’ album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” is universally regarded as the big bang of country-rock, the first album to truly fuse the two genres in a way that baffled and alienated both the group’s rock fans, and was met with suspicion by the country musicians these young long-hairs idolized. Along with founding Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman (the latter of whom came up as a bluegrass musician), it showcased the talents of Gram Parsons — who would go on to be a pioneer of the genre before his 1973 death from a heroin overdose — as well as guitarist Clarence White, who died in a car accident that same year.
Yet the album’s influence was vast and the genres soon began fusing on a much more mainstream level: Johnny Cash soon recorded with Bob Dylan and featured rock musicians on his variety show; and country-rock...
Yet the album’s influence was vast and the genres soon began fusing on a much more mainstream level: Johnny Cash soon recorded with Bob Dylan and featured rock musicians on his variety show; and country-rock...
- 6/4/2018
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
Long before the hipster hordes began their annual passage to the Palm Springs area for the Coachella festival 19 years ago, the area offered a swinging, closer alternative to Las Vegas. Home-away-from-home to the likes of vacationing Rat Packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, as well as Elvis’ honeymoon house with Priscilla and Colonel Parker’s nearby digs, the desert enclave has been a haven from Hollywood for those seeking respite in the sun and heat. That legacy remains to this day in local streets named after the likes of former residents Bob Hope, Dinah Shore and Gene Autry.
Veteran industry publicist Bob Merlis, who bought the first of his three Palm Springs homes in 2003, explains the town first attracted vacationing celebrities with the so-called “two-hour rule,” the film studios’ requirement its stars stay that close to L.A. for any possible reshoots, which effectively eliminated Las Vegas or Hawaii as destinations.
Veteran industry publicist Bob Merlis, who bought the first of his three Palm Springs homes in 2003, explains the town first attracted vacationing celebrities with the so-called “two-hour rule,” the film studios’ requirement its stars stay that close to L.A. for any possible reshoots, which effectively eliminated Las Vegas or Hawaii as destinations.
- 4/12/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
Kesha is digging back into her country roots — the star is set to share the stage with Old Crow Medicine Show for an all-new Cmt Crossroads collaboration.
The hour-long concert special will feature special performances of both artists’ biggest hits, including tracks from Kesha’s No. 1 album Rainbow and Old Crow Medicine Show’s iconic archive that spans nearly two decades.
People has the exclusive clip of their “Your Love Is My Drug” rendition.
“I grew up on country music. It was the first music I sang, listened to and wrote as a child, and I’m especially stoked to...
The hour-long concert special will feature special performances of both artists’ biggest hits, including tracks from Kesha’s No. 1 album Rainbow and Old Crow Medicine Show’s iconic archive that spans nearly two decades.
People has the exclusive clip of their “Your Love Is My Drug” rendition.
“I grew up on country music. It was the first music I sang, listened to and wrote as a child, and I’m especially stoked to...
- 12/1/2017
- by Nicole Sands
- PEOPLE.com
Let’s raise a toast to the late great Anita Pallenberg, queen of the underground, the Rolling Stones muse who gave the Glimmer Twins their glimmer lessons. Pallenberg, who died Tuesday night at the age of 73, wasn’t merely Keith Richards’ consort – she was a rock & roll legend in herself, a style icon, a crucial part of the Stones’ mystique. She taught Keith her sinister glare, taught Mick Jagger her wiggle, taught Brian Jones how to wear floppy hats. Look at pictures of Keith before and after Anita – it’s...
- 6/14/2017
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
Chuck Berry’s Chuck, his first album in 38 years, will come out this year. It’s hard to say whether Berry recorded it — with his longtime backing band — knowing that his remaining time was limited, but he did include a dedication to his wife Themetta in the album’s release statement: “My darlin’, I’m growing old! I’ve worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!”
However the record turns out, it will be impossible to listen to it without Berry’s death coloring how we enjoy the music. Given that the...
However the record turns out, it will be impossible to listen to it without Berry’s death coloring how we enjoy the music. Given that the...
- 3/21/2017
- by Alex Heigl
- PEOPLE.com
You want to get into Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' pants ... you can, for a hefty price. A pair of sage green velvet pants custom-made for the Rolling Stones frontman, and later shared with his bandmate, are up for auction. The slick slacks were gifted to Gram Parsons, which makes it an awesome triangle tailored for the highest bidder. Bidding begins at a grand, but Mick, Keith and Gram's trousers are expected to haul in more than $10k.
- 2/11/2017
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
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