September 2004

Waxploitation Records, a leading record label for hip hop and electronic music, announced today that it will release a charity CD in an attempt to assist in the fight against the Genocide taking place right now in Sudan.

The CD, titled Genocide in Sudan, is slated for a late November release and includes

Capitol is prepping the release of a new John Lennon compilation of acoustic recordings and an expanded, remixed and remastered version of his 1975 covers album, “Rock’n’Roll.” Both are due Nov. 2 and were supervised by the artist’s widow, Yoko Ono.

The 17-track “Acoustic” collects favorites from the former Beatle’s solo career, including “Working Class Hero” and “Watching the Wheels,” as well as live acoustic renditions of the “Sometime in New York” songs “Luck of the Irish” and “John Sinclair,” and his peace anthem “Imagine.”

Seven of the acoustic cuts will be officially released here for the first time: “Well Well Well,” “God,” “My Mummy’s Dead,” “Cold Turkey,” “What You Got,” “Dear Yoko” and “Real Love.”

“Rock’n’Roll,” Lennon’s homage to the artists and songs that inspired him as a teenager, emerges with four bonus tracks. Added are the same versions of Rosalie Hamlin’s “Angel Baby” and Phil Spector’s “To Know Her Is To Love Her” that were included on the posthumous 1986 Lennon release “Menlove Avenue.” Although that collection also included Lennon’s run through “Since My Baby Left Me,” an alternate version appears here.

Rounding out the new inclusions is a reprise of Lloyd Price’s “Just Because,” which boasts a different ending than the original “Rock’n’Roll” version, in the form of a Christmas message to his former bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Ono and the people of Great Britain.

The rest of “Rock’n’Roll” is made up of the remixed and remastered versions of Lennon’s faithful interpretations of such classics as Gene Vincent’s “Be Bop a Lula,” Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” and Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue.” Four tracks stem from aborted 1973 sessions with Spector, while the balance was produced by Lennon himself.

In addition to the bonus tracks, the reissued title’s booklet offers a new selection of black and white photographs.

Here is the “Acoustic” track list:

“Love”
“Working Class Hero”
“Well Well Well”
“Look at Me”
“God”
“My Mummy’s Dead”
“Cold Turkey”
“I’m a Man”
“Luck of the Irish” (live)
“John Sinclair” (live)
“Woman is the N*gger of the World”
“What You Got”
“Watching the Wheels”
“Dear Yoko”
“Real Love”
“Imagine” (live)
“It’s Real”

Here is the “Rock’n’Roll” track list:

“Be Bop a Lula”
“Stand By Me”
“Rip It Up/Ready Teddy” (medley)
“You Can’t Catch Me”
“Ain’t That a Shame”
“Do You Wanna Dance?”
“Sweet Little Sixteen”
“Slippin’ and Slidin'”
“Peggy Sue”
“Bring It on Home/Send Me Some Loving” (medley)
“Boney Moronie”
“Ya Ya”
“Just Because”
“Angel Baby” (bonus cut; from “Menlove Avenue”)
“To Know Her is to Love Her” (bonus cut; from “Menlove Avenue”)
“Since My Baby Left Me” (bonus cut; alternate version of “Menlove Avenue” track)
“Just Because (Reprise)” (bonus cut)

Source billboard.com.

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Black Crowe’s guitarist Rich Robinson will be touring for a month this fall in support of his solo debut – Paper. Tour Dates are below.

9/16/04
Poughkeepsie, NY –

The Chance
9/17/04

Providence, RI –
The Call

9/18/04
Portland, ME –
The Big Easy

9/19/04
Hartford, CT –
Webster Theatre

9/21/04
Asbury Park, NJ –
The Stone Pony

9/22/04
New York City –
Hiro Ballroom @ The Maritime Hotel

9/24/04
Philladelphia, PA –
NXNW

9/25/04
Vienna, VA –
Jammin Java

9/26/04
Baltimore, MD –
The Funk Box

9/28/04
Detroit, MI –
The Magic Bag

9/29/04
Cincinnati, OH –
20th Century Theatre

9/30/04
Bloomington, IN –
Uncle Festers

10/02/04
Rockford, IL –
Kryptonite

10/03/04
Chicago, IL –
The Double Door

10/04/04
Milwuakee, WI –
Shank Hall

10/05/04
Minneapolis, MN –
Ascot Room @ The Quest

10/08/04
Urbana, IL –
Canopy Theatre

10/13/04
Cleveland, OH –
Agora Theatre and Ballroom

10/15/04
Buffalo, NY –
Nietzsche’s

Paul McCartney, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tony Bennett, Sonic Youth, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Los Lonely Boys and Tegan & Sara will join event founder Neil Young on the bill for the 18th annual Bridge School Benefit. The shows will be held Oct. 23-24 at Shoreline Amphitheatre outside San Francisco.

Performing as part of Bridge School’s traditional acoustic format will be unfamiliar to a number of the artists, particularly McCartney. The former Beatle will be offering what is believed to be his first acoustic set since a 1991 taping for “MTV Unplugged,” which was later released on CD.

Harper will be making his second Bridge appearance. His guest turn on Pearl Jam’s “Indifference” at the 2001 event was released on a holiday single for members of the band’s Ten Club fan organization.

The Peppers, Tegan & Sara and Sonic Youth will also each be making their second Bridge School visits, while Bennett and Los Lonely Boys will be making their event debut.

As for Young, the shows will cap a brief run of performances that comprises a Sept. 15 show in Berkeley, Calif., the Sept. 17 Clean Air benefit in Duncan, British Columbia, and the annual Farm Aid benefit on Sept. 18 outside Seattle.

Tickets for this year’s Bridge School go on sale Sunday (Sept. 12) via Ticketmaster.

Source billboard.com.

The New York Dolls will release their first-ever live album, Morrissey Presents: The Return of the New York Dolls — Live From Royal Festival Hall, 2004, on September 28th. The CD and accompanying DVD were recorded at the band’s June show at the London venue as part of the Meltdown Festival.

Rabid Dolls fan, and this year’s Meltdown curator, Morrissey urged the legendary Seventies glam rockers to reunite after twenty-four years apart, and his Attack Records will release the album.

“It was just a moment of weakness that I said yes,” says singer David Johansen. “And I’m glad I did.”

The CD will consist exclusively of Dolls songs, while the DVD will feature such covers as Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart,” the Shangri-Las’ “Out in the Streets” and Memphis Minnie’s “In My Girlish Days.”

Sadly, The Return of the New York Dolls will be the last appearance on record by bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, who passed away unexpectedly from leukemia on July 13th. “He was such a genius guy — really loving, and he had this intelligence that was indescribable,” Johansen says. “I was really looking forward to spending more time with him.”

Lone surviving members Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain may even bring the Dolls back into the studio. “I’m feeling that we’ll try and bang out a record this winter,” Johansen says, “and then hit all the festivals next summer.”

Source rollingstone.com.

Veteran rock artist Roger Waters is releasing a pair of new songs today (Sept. 7) via online download outlets. According to the former Pink Floyd leader, work on “To Kill the Child” and “Leaving Beirut” began “immediately after the invasion of Iraq.

“It seems apposite to throw them out there on the Net, before the [U.S. presidential] election,” the Cambridge, England-born artist says. “Historically, there have always been people within the artistic community who have spoken out about things they believe in and they should continue to do so. I shall certainly continue to do so, whether it has any effect or not, because I feel I have a responsibility to myself to do that.”

After naming a litany of corporations in one verse of “To Kill the Child,” Waters sings, “Our standard of living, could this be a reason / That we would choose to kill the child.” In the next verse, a list of religious texts and foods is followed by the refrain, “Is it dogma, doughnuts, ridicule faith / Fear of the dark, or shame or disgrace / That we would choose to kill the child.”

In the whispered verses of “Leaving Beirut,” the song’s narrator recounts the generosity of a desert stranger and his family. In the soaring choruses, Waters berates President Bush for spearheading a war, singing, “Oh George! Oh George! That Texas education must have f***ed you up when you were very small.”

Later in the song, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the target: “Not in my name, Tony, you great war leader you / Terror is still terror, whosoever gets to frame the rules.”

Waters co-produced the new cuts with longtime compatriot Nick Griffiths, who also engineered the tracks. Joining him in the studio were guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low, drummer Graham Broad and vocalists Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold and Carol Kenyon. In addition to vocals, Waters contributes guitar, bass and keyboards to the songs.

“To Kill The Child” and “Leaving Beirut” have been available for streaming on Waters’ official Web site, since Friday. Beginning today, they are on sale at through iTunes, SonyConnect, Napster, Walmart.com and other digital stores.

It has been more than a decade since Waters’ last solo album of original material, 1992’s Columbia set “Amused To Death.” In 2002, he contributed a demo of “Flickering Flame” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” to the internationally released compilation of his post-Floyd career, “Flickering Flame: The Solo Years, Vol. 1.”

Source billboard.com.

The Pixies have added several additional dates to their extensive fall tour schedule, including the first shows near its one-time Boston homebase since November 1991. New dates include Oct. 22 in Phoenix, Oct. 23 in Irvine, Calif., Oct. 24 in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Nov. 22 in Dayton, Ohio.

The band will then return to the Boston area for shows Nov. 30 in Amherst and Dec. 1 in Lowell. The web site PixiesMusic.com is offering pre-sale ticket opportunities beginning tomorrow (Sept. 8); tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday.

The fall tour began over the weekend in Bend, Ore., and proceeds to Vancouver tonight. The group has also recorded a cover of Warren Zevon’s “Ain’t That Pretty at All” for the tribute album “Enjoy Every Sandwich,” due Oct. 19 via Artemis.

As for the possibility of a new Pixies studio album, the jury remains out. “I’m not saying we won’t record, but I don’t know if making an LP for a record company is the way to go, [considering] the way things are right now,” guitarist vocalist Frank Black told Billboard.com recently. “We’ve talked about that heavily. What can we do to keep recording and making music but not make an album, and see what opportunities come our way? It takes the pressure off of us to make our ‘next grand statement’ to the world.”

In related news, spinART will on Oct. 12 release the double-disc Black set “Frank Black Francis,” which sports early Pixies demos plus new versions of the band’s songs recorded with Two Pale Boys.

Source billboard.com.