2004

THIS DAY IN MUSIC
Birthdays, break-ups, hits, and highlights.
Wed May 12, 2004

LATEST NEWS
Petty Gets Busy On New Album, Live Set
May 12
Roc-A-Fella Keeps Rolling
May 12
Burning Brides Rise From The ‘Ashes’
May 12
BMI Pop Awards Celebrate Brian Wilson
May 12
Billboard Bits: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tommy Stinson
May 12
Usher Unseats D12 From No. 1
May 12
R&B Artist John Whitehead Shot Dead
May 12
Rapper Ras Kass Sues Priority, Capitol, EMI
May 12
Rock Hall To Open In Arizona
May 12
‘Time’ Is Right For New Milian Album
May 11
Jessica Simpson Sets Summer Tour
May 11
Old 97’s Ride Again On ‘Drag It Up’
May 11
Cowboy Junkies Show Their ‘Soul’
May 11
Tynan Exiting Irish Tenors
May 11
Billboard Bits: Pearl Jam, Paul Simon, The Who
May 11
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Edited By Jonathan Cohen. May 12, 2004, 3:20 PM ET

Billboard Bits: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tommy Stinson

Columbia/Legacy has set a June 1 release date for 14 remastered Bob Dylan titles, which first hit the marketplace last year as Super Audio CD hybrids. The remasters, which include “Blonde on Blonde,” “Blood on the Tracks,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “John Wesley Harding” and “Bringing It All Back Home,” will be available in jewel cases as opposed to the digipaks that housed last year’s editions.

All titles will retail for $11.98 except “Blonde on Blonde” and “Blood on the Tracks,” which will sell for $13.98. The lone album that was part of the initial hybrid campaign that is not being made available next month is Dylan’s most recent studio release, 2001’s “Love and Theft.”

— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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The film version of Neil Young’s latest album, “Greendale,” will be released June 22 on DVD via Sanctuary. The movie, which finds Young and friends bringing to life the characters described in the album, recently enjoyed a theatrical run in more than 40 North American cities.

The “Greendale” DVD will feature a documentary on the film’s creation, interviews with Young and the cast, behind-the-scenes footage, a live performance of album track “Be the Rain” and the full lyrics to the “Greendale” songs.

In late March, Young and Crazy Horse wrapped a run of dates supporting “Greendale,” including a three-night stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The artist has not announced any touring plans for the summer.

Source billboard.com.

Andre 3000, one-half of the chart-topping hip-hop group OutKast, is developing a potential series project with Cartoon Network.

The musician is hashing out ideas for a half-hour special pegged for the cable channel’s “Adult Swim” block. If Andre 3000 and Cartoon — both based in Atlanta — are happy with the results, the channel will greenlight the special for series treatment.

Mike Lazzo, senior vp of Cartoon’s “Adult Swim” program block, quickly got over his reservations about collaborating with celebrities upon meeting with Andre 3000, who has worked as an illustrator. “I’m extremely wary of it, but in Andre’s case, I think he is a creative genius,” he said. “He has definite opinions of what he likes visually.”

While still in the early stages, the project is expected to be inspired by the rapper’s life or possibly his alter ego, Johnny Vulture, the guitar-playing wildman seen in OutKast’s video for the Grammy-winning hit single “Hey Ya!” The special will likely have a musical component similar in style to such off-kilter animated films as “Cool World” and “Yellow Submarine.” The rapper is expected to contribute music to the project.

Andre 3000 also is enjoying a burgeoning film career with a role in the “Get Shorty” sequel, “Be Cool.” He also is gearing up for a starring role in a Jimi Hendrix (news) biopic, to be directed by the Hughes brothers.

Source yahoo.com.

Marlow (a.k.a.Todd Pasternack) returns from the depths of his home studio to release his second indie rock album, The World Before It Ever Was on Pasternack

Umphrey’s McGee’s new album, Anchor Drops will be released June 29th nationwide. The album is being released on SCI Fidelity Records/Hanging Brains Music, and will be distributed coast to coast and beyond by Ryko Distribution. This will mark the sixth release by Umphrey’s McGee, but the first that will be available in record stores around the country.

In support, the band brings their live show on the road this summer. Current tour dates include:

Thu May 20 Bendix Theater South Bend IN
Thu May 27 Shank Hall Milwaukee WI
Fri May 28 Harmony Park Geneva MN
Thu Jun 3 Piere’s Fort Wayne, IN
Fri Jun 4 Newport Music Hall Columbus OH
Jun 6 Belmont-Sheffield Festival Chicago, IL
Fri Jun 11-13 Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester TN
Thu Jul 22 Smilefest Harmony NC

See umphreysmcgee.com for more info.

Willie Nelson has canceled concerts for the next two months to have surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. The 71-year-old star was apparently in so much pain he couldn’t finish a show Saturday in Las Vegas. Nelson had 10 concerts scheduled for the remainder of May and June, including a June 12 appearance at the three-day Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

It is unclear when Nelson will resume touring. Among the events on his upcoming schedule include a June 26 show in Chicago’s Grant Park and his annual Fourth of July Picnic in Ft. Worth, Texas. That show is also tipped to feature performances by Asleep At The Wheel, Los Lonely Boys, Merle Haggard and David Allan Coe, among others.

Source billboard.com.

Yo La Tengo sure know how to keep busy. Last year, the band released a full-length album and an EP, and toured from March through October. They recently got back from a U.K. outing with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, and now they’re suiting up for another round of U.S. dates.

The new tour begins May 24 in Vancouver, B.C., and ends June 11 with a stop at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tenn. The band has set aside three nights in a row for San Francisco, where they consistently sell out multiple gigs.

Southern indie rock vets Antietam are set to support on the trek. Their new album, Victory Park, was just released on Carrot Top Records.

Source pollstar.com.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been wowing audiences for three decades, with a rigorous worldwide touring schedule and an average of at least an album a year.

This summer, the South African group is kicking off a mammoth tour of North America and Europe in support of its latest effort, Raise Your Spirit Higher: Wenyukela.

The trek is set to launch June 11 in Ketchum, Idaho, at Sun Valley Center. The ten-member vocal group will play a few weeks’ worth of U.S. gigs before heading to Europe in July. They’ll do stints in both North America and Europe throughout the fall and winter, including a five-show run in Hawaii in January.

The group is already booked solid for next spring, with North American dates stretching all the way through April. Joseph Shabalala founded Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1974, combining Zulu vocal traditions with the hymnal music of the Christian church. The ensemble became well-known in South Africa almost immediately and achieved widespread fame in the mid-’80s after performing on Paul Simon’s album Graceland.

Source pollstar.com.