The Rolling Stones announced May 10 that the latest release in their “From the Vault” series will be “No Security - San Jose '99,” a 1999 concert from the “No Security Tour” that took place in San Jose, California. The film will hit the streets July 13 and be available on DVD, Blu-ray, DVD + 2CD, 3 LP and digital formats by Eagle Rock Entertainment.
The concert, which took place near the end of the tour, features the band on a stripped-down tour playing smaller venues with no security, no inflatables and no extras. The band is in an interactive mood as Jagger takes pictures of the crowd and gives high fives to fans. “We're here to have a good time,” Jagger tells the crowd.
The setlist goes retro back to the '60s and includes “Midnight Rambler” and rare performances of “Some Girls” and “Saint of Me.”
The announcement on May 10 comes on the 40th anniversary of the release of “Miss You” in 1978. The song, which kicked off the “Some Girls” album, was a number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 during a 20-week run.
The track list from “No Security - San Jose '99” (Source: Eagle Rock Entertainment):
Jumpin’ Jack Flash Bitch You Got Me Rocking Respectable Honky Tonk Woman I Got The Blues Saint Of Me Some Girls Paint It Black You Got The Silver Before They Make Me Run Out Of Control Route 66 Get Off Of My Cloud Midnight Rambler Tumbling Dice It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It) Start Me Up Brown Sugar Sympathy For The Devil
By: Steve MarinucciAXS ContributorJun 9, 2018
It was unseasonably cold in Saratoga, California June 6 as The Monkees' Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith brought “The Mike Nesmith & Micky Dolenz Show' to town at the scenic Mountain Winery. Unlike past Monkees tours with movie clips and cutting up, “The Mike & Micky Show” is no-frills Monkees spotlighting just the music. It began quietly as the guys came out on stage with no introduction and launched into “Good Clean Fun” from The Monkees Present
Although the cold weather didn't help much in making the audience comfortable, it was a relaxed evening of music as the two Monkees sang 31 songs from the group's catalog, even throwing in such gems as “Different Drum,” a Nesmith song rejected for The Monkees but which was later given to Linda Ronstadt, who was then with the Stone Poneys. She and her group hit No. 13 on the Billboard singles chart with it in 1968.
The set also included three songs from their psychedelic movie “Head”: “The Porpoise Song,” “Circle Sky” and “As We Go Along,” plus other deep cuts like “The Door Into Summer,” “St. Matthew,” “Auntie's Municipal Court” and “I'll Spend My Life With You.” The show also featured two from the group's much-acclaimed “Good Times!” album, “Birth of An Accidental Hipster” and “Me and Magdalena,” which sounded great live. The backing band is a tight group and also a family affair with Micky's sister, Coco Dolenz, singing backup vocals, and Christian Nesmith, Mike's son, playing guitar. Christian's musical partner, Circe Link, also sang backup vocals.
A live album from this tour would be a real gem and the idea is currently being floated. Cross your fingers and here's hoping it happens.
The setlist (from Micky Dolenz's representatives):
The Grapes, a venerable Liverpool tavern that was at one time a hangout for The Beatles in their early days, may have closed for the last time, the local newspaper the Liverpool Echo reported June 8. The paper reported The Grapes' owners confirmed to them it had closed, but they would not say whether it would remain shuttered permanently.
“The Grapes is a Liverpool institution, originally servicing the workers around the warehouses in Mathew Street,” Beatles historian and expert Spencer Leigh, author of The Beatles In Liverpool and several other books on the group told AXS.com. “It found a new clientele in the 1950s. As the Cavern was dry, musicians would cross the street to the Grapes for refreshment, in many instances smuggling booze into the Cavern for their next set.”
“The Grapes was the pub all the musicians that played at the Cavern went to – as the Cavern didn’t have a license to serve alcohol. The Beatles were certainly regulars,” said tour guide Richard Porter, who leads walking tours of Beatles sites from The Beatles in London website.
Leigh says the venue had changed little since the days that the Fab Four hung out there. “There was a wonderful photo of The Beatles sitting 'round a table in The Grapes and as little had changed, you could recreate the pose on the same benches.” He said he didn't think it was a lack of clientele that caused it to close. “Mathew Street is always busy and especially so on the weekends. Indeed, I steer clear of Mathew Street on Friday and Saturday nights as it is so rowdy and unpleasant.”
Howard A. DeWitt, who wrote about his visit to The Grapes in his book The Beatles: Untold Tales, said being there was like being in a time machine. “When I visited the Grapes in the 1970s, it was like being back in 1963,” he told AXS.com. “Bob Wooler and Clive Epstein took me around and we met Brian Kelly. And then in 1983, I went back to write The Beatles Untold Tales. The Grapes was filled with stories and surprisingly they were true.” He called it “a wonderful spot for a relaxing drink and some tall tales that have truth."
Donna Jackson, from St Peter’s Church, Woolton, where the historic July 6, 1957, meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, took place, and who is also a senior lecturer in modern history at the University of Chester, told AXS.com she hopes the closure is not permanent. “The general impression that I get is that it’s only a temporary thing. I hope so anyway. It’s definitely an important place in Beatles history. If you remember, the Jacaranda (another pub frequented by the Beatles when they were still in Liverpool) closed down very suddenly a few years ago, but then it reopened and now it’s better than ever.”
Spencer Leigh said his favorite memory of The Grapes took place in 2002. “Allan Williams, the Beatles first manager, had had a bit too much to drink and he was mourning the loss of his close friend, the Cavern DJ Bob Wooler. 'I have the ultimate Beatles possession for sale,' he shouted, 'Bob Wooler’s ashes .' The patrons laughed but the sad thing about this story is that the person who would laugh the most – Bob Wooler -- wasn’t able to
.”
The Monkees' Michael Nesmith will release a new live album with the First National Band Redux. Live at the Troubadour, recorded during their recent tour on July 27 in the UK and Aug. 3 in the U.S. by 7A Records was announced by the record company on June 18. The album will be available on CD and vinyl and feature 21 tracks on one CDs and 22 songs on two vinyl albums that will have a bonus performance of “Rio.” The first 1,000 LP pressings will be on 180-gram gold vinyl. The CD will include a color booklet with previously unseen photos.
The vinyl set will have an embossed cover. Both will have liner notes written by Nesmith.
“I've never been happier with a record,” Nesmith said in a statement about the release of the album. “I've never been more proud and pleased to get it out in front of people, and play it and leave it with the people, in their care. It's at the top of my form. It's the best I can do. So if I die now … that was it, guys.”
Nesmith announced the first of The First National Band Redux shows in November with two Southern California shows, then additional ones were added. In a recent interview in Billboard. Nesmith raved about the revived band. “This band is stellar, this FNBR,” he said. “And I think I've got new territory to explore, and new songs to sing, and ideas to purvey. I just can't help but think there's some sort of life left in FNB that I want to nurture and bring forward.”
The live album was recorded, mixed and produced by Christian Nesmith, Michael's son, who is currently on tour with his father as part of “The Mike & Micky Show” that also features Monkee Micky Dolenz. Another round of dates by The First National Band Redux will begin at the end of the current Nesmith-Dolenz tour. Tickets for some of the upcoming First National Band Redux shows are available here. Tickets for remaining dates of “The Mike and Micky Show” are available here.
CD Track list:
1. “Intro” 2. “Nevada Fighter” 3. “Calico Girlfriend” 4. “Nine Times Blue” 5. “Little Red Rider” 6. “The Crippled Lion” 7. “Joanne” 8. “Dedicated Friend” 9. “Grand Ennui” 10. “Lady Of The Valley” 11. “50 Years Ago” 12. “Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)” 13. “Different Drum” 14. “Papa Gene's Blues” 15. “Tengo Amore” 16. “Keys To The Car” 17. “Mama Nantucket” 18. “Bye Bye Bye” 19. “Some Of Shelly's Blues” 20. “Silver Moon” 21. “Thanx For The Ride”
2LP Vinyl Track list:
LP 1 Side 1
1. “Intro” (1:16) 2. “Nevada Fighter” (3:23) 3. “Calico Girlfriend” (2:42) 4. “Nine Times Blue” (2:00) 5. “Little Red Rider” (2:49) 6. “The Crippled Lion” (3:30) 7. “Joanne” (3:50)
LP 1 Side 2
1. “Dedicated Friend” (3:33) 2. “Grand Ennui” (6:58) 3. “Lady Of The Valley” (4:05) 4. “Rio” (6:26) (Vinyl Only Bonus Track)
LP 2 Side 1
1. “50 Years Ago” (2:30) 2. “Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)” (3:10) 3. “Different Drum” (2:10) 4. “Papa Gene's Blues” (2:38) 5. “Tengo Amore” (4:02) 6. “Keys To The Car” (3:06)
LP 2 Side 2
1. “Mama Nantucket” (3:07) 2. “Bye Bye Bye” (4:07) 3. “Some Of Shelly's Blues” (3:58) 4. “Silver Moon” (4:27) 5. “Thanx For The Ride” (4:21)
By: Steve MarinucciAXS ContributorJun 19, 2018 Paul McCartney and Capitol Records today announced the former Beatle will release a new double A-sided single with the songs “I Don't Know” and “Come On To Me” on Wednesday, June 20. The new songs will be a prelude to an album release coming in the fall. The LP is as yet officially untitled, though indications point to it being called Egypt Station. Some of the picture clues posted by McCartney's social media accounts had that title and his Twitter account has now added an #egyptstation hashtag.
A press release described the two new songs as having completely different styles. “I Don't Know” is a soulful ballad, while “Come On To Me” is an uptempo rocker. “Come On To Me” was played for the first time when he performed live at the Philharmonic Pub last week in Liverpool during a visit to his hometown. A fan-made video of the song turned up on YouTube shortly after the performance. McCartney had surprised locals and tourists by suddenly turning up with James Corden of CBS' “The Late Late Show” to film a segment of Carpool Karaoke. As part of the filming, the pair also went to the statues of the four Beatles on the Liverpool waterfront, McCartney's childhood home on Forthlin Road and “the shelter in the middle of the roundabout” on Penny Lane mentioned in the song by The Beatles. CBS has announced the segment will air on June 21.
The release of the two new songs follows a week of daily clues posted on McCartney's social media accounts that had fans feverishly trying to guess what it all meant. The LP release this fall will be his first album under his new deal with Capitol Records that was announced in 2016. More details on the album and its release will be forthcoming, the announcement today said.
McCartney recently added four new reissues to his McCartney Archive Series -- NEW, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Wings GreatestandThrillington. All were released in single CD digipaks, 180gram black vinyl and in limited edition 180gram color vinyl pressings.
Paul McCartney was definitely not on the mind of South Side Slim's (Henree Harris) when he went to audition for the video shoot his friend had suggested to him in 2013. “Willie McNeil, the former drummer for John Mayall and a friend of mine, sent me a note about this audition,” Slim said in an email interview. “Willie (then) called and asked if I'd gotten the email he sent for an audition for a blues artist. So I checked, found it and went down for it. I thought because Willie had called me up that they had requested a blues guy and I would just get the job.”
But then Slim, who'll appear at 3:30 p.m. June 23 at the Long Beach Bayou Festival at Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, California, found out a lot of people were trying out, too. “The corridor was full of artists vying for the position, and at that point I thought, "Oh well," and got in line. I gave the interviewer my CD and a brief history about myself.” He said as he was leaving the building, he saw bluesman Roy Gaines and his friend McNeil. “When I saw Gaines,” he said, “I thought I know who's going to get this part.”
The interview was on a Thursday and the shoot was to take place the following Monday. Friday came and went and nothing happened. “Then on Saturday, I was in a car with my son and got a call, and they said they picked me and would be sending me the information.”
It was still a secret who he'd be shooting with. “When I got the call, I still didn't know. I went in on Monday and all the people that were selected were on set. No one really knew who the artist was going to be. I was thinking it was going to be Little Richard. We were given a non-disclosure agreement, which everyone had to sign.”
It was then he found out. “After we signed it, we were told, 'You're going to be working with Paul McCartney!' Wow, I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe I was going to be working with an icon. I felt like I was going to be part of history.”
The shoot took place in a Los Angeles theater. “The setting was to be 1957, which is ironic as that's the year I was born. We were then sent to wardrobe to put on 50's costumes. Upstairs was the area where we were filming. There was a monitor playing and Paul was sitting behind the monitor playing 'Early Days.' He was behind a partition so we saw him only on the monitor at that point.”
Then came a second surprise. “There was a guy there in a cowboy outfit that looked sort of like Indiana Jones. I thought to myself, 'Wow, that guy looks like Johnny Depp!' Later on, I was in the balcony looking over downtown and he was smoking a cigarette. I casually said to someone that guy looks like Johnny Depp. They said, "Dude, that IS Johnny Depp.'”
Slim had a chance to chat with McCartney during a quiet moment. “After the first jam session, and lunch break, we were sitting around waiting for the crew to get reorganized. I asked him about his first guitar. He said, "This is it right here. It's the first guitar I ever had. My Dad gave it to me." He told me about his father giving it to him and I remember him saying at the end of the conversation, "It changes life." I also still have my first guitar and coincidentally my father gave me my first guitar also. It sure does change life.”
This year's festival will feature a huge array of blues, jazz, R&B, soul, zydeco and cajun music. Performers beside Slim include Ray Goren, Margaret Love & The Lovetts, The McKee Brothers, Corney Mims and The Knowitaltz, Jeffrey Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, T-Broussard and the Zydeco Steppers, Jo Jo Reed, The Acadien Cajun Band and Crawdaddio. Tickets are available in advance at The Long Beach Bayou website.
This week, McCartney released two new songs, “I Don't Know” and “Come On To Me,” ahead of a new album, “Egypt Station,” coming out Sept.7. He also told the BBC in interviews that he plans several live shows in upcoming months.
The cover of Steve Perry's new album, 'Traces'. (Courtesy Concord Music)
Concord Music announced Aug. 15 that former Journey lead singer Steve Perry will release his first new album in 25 years, Traces, in October. Perry released a music video, “No Erasin',” and a digital single ahead of the album today.
Perry also issued a statement to his fans about his long time away from music. “Years ago, I disappeared. There were many reasons, but mainly … My Love for Music had suddenly left me.
"I knew that simply stopping, was what I had to do. If music was ever to return to my heart, then and only then I would figure out what to do. If not… so be it, for I had already lived the dream of dreams.
“Many years passed. One day, I began sketching some musical ideas with the creative freedom that I was the only one who would ever hear them. One song led to many. My Love for Music had returned.
"Then another beautiful thing happened. I found Love. My precious Kellie gave me a life I never knew I had. I lost her December of 2012. I now deeply understand the meaning of: ’It’s better to have Loved and Lost, Than to have never Loved at All.' “May of 2015, I began recording. These songs are special to me. I respectfully ask that you please listen to them, And whatever they make you feel, I thank you for listening.”
The album, produced by Perry and co-producer Thom Flowers, has nine original tracks in the regular edition and 15 in the deluxe version. One of the tracks is a Beatles cover, "I Need You."
“Putting 30 years into 10 songs has certainly been an emotional experience for me. I started writing and recording these songs with the creative freedom that I was the only one who would ever hear them. Along the way, I rediscovered my love for music. Each track represents traces of my past, but is also a hopeful look into the future. I invite you to listen with an open heart,” Perry said about the album.
Perry joined Journey in 1977. His first album with the group, Infinity, included one of his original songs, “Lights,” which became a band staple. He sang on nine of the band's albums. The others were Evolution, Departure, Dream After Dream, Captured, Escape, Frontiers, Raised on Radio and Trial By Fire. He left the band amid a dispute in the band over back issues he was having and the band wanting him to have surgery for it so they could tour to support Trial By Fire. He recently opened his own website, www.steveperry.com.
The CD tracklist:
TRACK LISTING: 1. No Erasin’ 2. We’re Still Here 3. Most Of All 4. No More Cryin’ 5. In The Rain 6. Sun Shines Gray 7. You Belong To Me 8. Easy To Love 9. I Need You 10. We Fly 11. October in New York (Deluxe edition only) 12. Angel Eyes (Deluxe edition only) 13. Call On Me (Deluxe edition only) 14. Could We Be Somethin’ Again (Deluxe edition only) 15. Blue Jays Fly (Deluxe edition only)
Watching and listening to the performance shows the group was recharged and ready for the postponed dates. The Stones -- minus the usual inflatables and security on the No Security tour– perform as rock solid as you'll ever hear them. The show features an unlikely setlist. It starts off with “Jumpin' Jack Flash,” often used at the end of shows rather than the beginning. It then kicks into “Bitch,” “Respectable” and “Honky Tonk Women.” The reshuffled and somewhat unusual lineup all through the set list really pinpoints the sharpness of the band on this tour. While on some shows, the Stones have just gone through the motions, that's not the case here. Keith Richards and Ron Wood are sharp, as is Jagger, Charlie Watts and the rest of the band.
Although the booklet that comes with the release tries to link the 1999 show with the group's 1966 in the city, there's really little they have in common besides the three original members of the band still on the stage – Jagger, Richards and Watts. But the band does bring out three vintage chestnuts – “Route 66,” “Paint It Black” and “Get Off My Cloud.” The latter song sounds especially good in this lineup.
The band rolls into the show climax with hot versions of “Midnight Rambler,” “Tumblin' Dice,” “It's Only Rock 'n' Roll,” “Start Me Up” and “Brown Sugar.” If there's one song that seems to spoil the rhythm, though, it's the encore, “Sympathy for the Devil,” which closes both the CDs and video.
But there's no mistaking that the stripped-down tour accomplished what it likely set out to do – letting the Stones play as a unit, not as a big stage show. Hey, it's only rock 'n' roll – and that's the way it should be.
It was a surprise and a nice one when Michael Nesmith decided to revive his First National Band album with the gigs that resulted in Michael Nesmith and the First National Band Redux Live at the Troubadour. The album, already out in the UK, will be released in the U.S. on Aug. 3 on 7A Records.
The original release of the First National Band albums was a strong period for Nesmith. The country-rock sound was a natural for him and it also made him a pioneer of this music, thanks to his stellar band from those days that included pedal steel player extraordinaire Red Rhodes. It took 50 years for Nesmith to return to this music, but the Redux is still as warm and beautiful as it ever was. The new group includes two of his sons, Christian and Jonathan, on guitars and vocals. Christian also mixed and mastered the album. The rest of the band includes Pete Finney, who's marvelous on pedal steel, Jason Chesney on bass, Jim Cox on keyboards, Circe Link and Amy Spear on vocals and percussion, and Christopher Allis on drums.
The live set concentrates mainly on the First National Band albums, with a couple of songs from the Monkees and also “Different Drum,” which was a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. Nesmith enjoys the love from the audience and clearly gets more comfortable as the set continues.
And this band really cooks. There are many good songs on the set, but two of our favorites are “Mama Nantucket” and “Bye Bye Bye” when Finney's pedal steel really takes off. It's worth it to hear Nesmith bring it all back. The vinyl version of the album, by the way, includes an extra track, “Rio.”
The mystery over his recent health issues now revealed after he announced he'd had quadruple bypass surgery, this album has even more interest. And Nesmith, now 75, will be back out on the road in September with FNBR, then has plans to go back with Micky Dolenz to finish “The Mike and Micky Show” tour that was cut off by his health issues. His unique talents were a vital part of The Monkees. It's good to see him back out there again. And anyone who has loved his music over the years will love this album.
A 1963 Maton Mastersound MS-500 electric guitar used at The Beatles' final appearance at the Cavern Club by George Harrison will be auctioned during Gardiner Houlgate's next guitar sale in September, the UK auction house has announced. The guitar, which was made in Australia, has a natural flame maple finish with a sunburst maple back, a bound Back Bean 22-fret fingerboard, a black scratchplate, two pickups, two volume and two tone knobs, a three-way selector switch and a Bigsby vibrato.
According to the auction house, Harrison borrowed the guitar from Barratts Music, a guitar shop in Manchester, while his Gretsch Country Gentlemen guitar was being repaired. Harrison continued to use the guitar even after his Gretsch came back from the shop, playing it at several gigs in July and August that year, including on Aug. 3, 1963, when The Beatles made their last appearance at the Liverpool venue.
After the guitar was returned to Barratts, Roy Barber, guitarist with Dave Berry and the Cruisers swapped his Fender Stratocaster for the Maton. And even though he was aware it had once been used by Harrison, Barber continued to play it for several years before finally putting it in storage. It has been auctioned previously, most recently by Julien's in 2015 when it sold for $485,000. The instrument comes with a letter of authenticity and a picture of Harrison holding the guitar.
The guitar will be previewed Sept. 12-13, according to the auction house. Gardiner-Houlgate estimates its value for the upcoming auction at £300,000 to £400,000 (or ($390,044 to $520,447 USD).
Paul McCartney recently returned to the Cavern Club for a surprise gig on July 26. The set list included both Beatles and solo songs, plus songs from his upcoming Egypt Station album due Sept. 7. You can see footage from the gig at the video on this page.
During a little down time from his work with Paul McCartney, guitarist Brian Ray has been keeping busy. He's just released his version of “One Heartbeat,” a song he co-wrote that became a Top 10 hit for Smokey Robinson in 1987. The new “One Heartbeat,' released digitally by Wicked Cool Records, Little Steven Van Zandt's label includes guest vocals from the Motown legend.
The original version was written by Ray and Steve LaGassick and submitted to Robinson even though they were told Robinson had plenty of new songs. But Robinson recorded it and the song became a hit. Ray said in a phone interview that his new version came about after Van Zandt heard a demo of the remake. “'This is genius. We've got to get this out there right now. This is a hit record,' he told Ray. “And I said, 'Well, this was a hit record.' And he goes, 'What do you mean?' And I said, 'I wrote this for Smokey Robinson 30 years ago.' And he said, 'How did I miss that?' And I said, 'Probably because you were out there playing stadiums with that new album called 'Born To Run.'”
The new version has a different and sort of a Motown feel than the original. “I wasn't doing the version that I've done now to be more Motown. I wasn't sort of imitating anything except following the muse, thinking how could I make this different and how could I make this my own,” he said. “And this idea just came around to me of the double-time drums and then this sort of crazy driving bass line in the chorus that's doubled with tenor and baritone saxes repeating that cool line. And then I said, 'It going to need some fuzz guitar and it's going to need some sort of swaggering vocals. And then I got together with my writing partner for 'One Heartbeat,' Steve LeGassick.” The two worked out some new guitar and bass lines.
Ray told LeGassick, “'You're a genius. You're still a genius.' And yeah, we had a great time sort of rediscovering the song we wrote together 31 years ago and finding it in a new venue.” The basic tracks for the new song, produced by Ray, were recorded at East-West Studios in Los Angeles used by the Beach Boys for “Pet Sounds” and also by The Turtles and The Mamas and The Papas. The band on the song includes Elvis Costello band member Davey Farragher on bass, drummer Erik Eldenius and the Texicali Horns, and, of course, Robinson.
Ray said he and Smokey Robinson have long been friends, so he thought, “Well, why not give it a try?” Robinson agreed and put his part down at Village Studios. “It was just fantastic,” Ray said. Robinson posted his thoughts about the new version on his Facebook page. “It was a blast to record my vocals on Brian's rockin' version of the song he wrote for me 30 years ago!.” Starting Aug. 6, the song became “The Coolest Song in the World” on Van Zandt's Underground Garage on Sirius/XM. Ray says the song will be in maximum rotation for two months straight.
Ray was with McCartney during his recent trip to Liverpool to film Carpool Karaoke for James Corden. The filming involved a surprise show at the Philharmonic Pub in Liverpool which, Ray said, seemed to bring a flood of memories for McCartney.
“It was really fun just because we're standing there on the stage and I can see waiting for the curtain to open before the reveal before the actual surprise. And we're behind the curtain and Paul's just sort of taking in the room and he's looking up at the crown moldings in this very old historic pub. And if I wasn't mistaken I thought I saw his memories flash back to when he was young hanging out in this same pub as a young teenager with this dream band that he was with just coming up in his hometown.”
The Liverpool trip also included a show at The Cavern Club, where The Beatles played numerous times in a string that began before their fame went worldwide. “It must have been 110 degrees in there. And I was sweating for an hour after the show was finished. So it was really exciting. It was just a great honor to have played this small club that means so much in the history of rock 'n' roll and Paul's place in the history of rock 'n' roll. ”
McCartney is releasing a new album in early September titled Egypt Station. “I think that Paul has gone above and beyond on this album. And I'm really excited about the possibilities and bringing the songs to the people in a live audience.” Asked if he'll be doing a lot of live shows with McCartney as the year ends, Ray said, “I hope so.”
On that end, McCartney has announced a new tour called “Freshen Up.” It will begin in Canada in September and he'll headline the 17th annual Austin City Limits festival in October. The tour will move to Japan in late October and early November, then Europe and the UK in December and more dates may be added. Some tickets are available here.
The Paul McCartneyCarpool Karaoke segment with James Corden that has recorded 130 million views on Facebook and YouTube since its debut a month ago will get prime time treatment Aug.20 in an hour-long CBS special that will include new footage not seen during the original broadcast, the network announced Aug. 7.
“We were overwhelmed by the response to our Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney,” Ben Winston, executive producer of The Late Late Show, said in the announcement today. “We loved making it and knew we had something special, but it was so wonderful for us to see how many people watched and enjoyed it."
The original segment was just under 24 minutes long and aired June 21. It showed McCartney and James Corden, host of CBS' The Late Late Show cruising around Liverpool, visiting some iconic spots like Penny Lane and the house at 20 Forthlin Road where McCartney grew up, and talking about Paul's music with The Beatles and as a solo artist. The segment also featured a bit of a surprise concert McCartney and his band played at the Liverpool Philharmonic pub.
All this activity comes on the heels of a new McCartney album, Egypt Station, to be released Sept. 7. McCartney has already released two songs, “I Don't Know” and “Come On To Me” in advance of the disc. More promotion for the album can be expected as the release date gets closer.
Twelve minutes of Beatles footage from the UK television show “Thank Your Lucky Stars” thought to have been missing was recently rediscovered, according to Chris Perry of Kaleidoscope Productions. The British firm specializes in programs exploring the heritage of British television programs and which announced the find last week.
“The footage found in the studio taping session for The Beatles appearance on the Nov. 21, 1964 episode of 'Thank Your Lucky Stars'; which was renamed 'Lucky Stars Special' for this special episode that featured The Beatles,” Perry told AXS.com Aug. 13. “This taping session includes Brian Matthew, the host clowning with The Beatles for two introductory segments, and then The Beatles mime to four songs – 'She’s A Woman,' 'I Feel Fine,' 'I’m A Loser,' and 'Rock And Roll Music.'” (Note: The music video above is not the found footage.)
Perry posted on Kaleidoscope's Facebook page, “So Kaleidoscope has always assumed that the music is all that exists. Apple has never revealed if more existed but some years ago there was a brief moment of Brian shown introducing Sounds Incorporated which suggested that more of the show might exist. Enquiries within Apple recently revealed that they thought more footage existed as well but they didn’t know exactly how much. Kaleidoscope was very surprised, therefore, to recently run a DVC Pro tape sent from the USA and discover it contained the studio recording for this 1964 TYLS show. There are the ABC time-clocks for separate studio sessions and the Beatles are fooling around in the studio with Brian.”
Kaleidoscope has uncovered other lost Beatles appearances as well, he said. “Our previous finds regarding The Beatles include the audio from their BBC-TV appearance on 'Pops and Lenny' from May 16, 1963, as well as complete shows from the 'Pop Go the Beatles' radio series, including the very first episode. The 'Pops and Lenny' is most interesting as it contains a unique 70-second-long live performance of 'Please Please Me.'"
Another recent Kaleidoscope find was a 1963 TV appearance by the comedy group Morecombe & Wise, who also appeared with the Beatles on the comic duo's own TV show in 1963 and “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 23, 1964. This clip, however, didn't feature The Beatles. Perry described the Morecombe & Wise footage as “a public information film from 1963 regarding drunk driving, and is not from a television appearance.”
In 2016, Kaleidoscope reported over 100 discoveries of lost footage, including a complete 1961 episode of The Avengers TV series titled Tunnel of Fear with Patrick Macnee and Ian Hendry. The episode was made before either Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg joined the show.
The John Lennon and Yoko Ono film Imagine is coming to theaters this September with a remastered look and remixed music. On Aug. 14, Eagle Rock Entertainment announced that the film will include a Dolby Atmos soundtrack and also some newly added previously unreleased bonus material. The original 1972 release of the film was produced and directed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It includes appearances by George Harrison, Fred Astaire, Andy Warhol, Dick Cavett, Jack Palance and Jonas Mekas and is a visual collection of video songs taken from the album. The recording sessions for Imagine were done in the U.S. and UK and produced by the couple with Phil Spector.
“The people who all worked on Imagine were Peace People and it was so enlightening and exciting all the way through to be one of them. Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world,” Yoko Ono said in a statement released to announce the film screenings.
The new restoration of the 83-minute film was done by Paul Hicks. Added for the theater screenings will be 15 minutes of new recording studio footage with Lennon, Harrison, pianist Nicky Hopkins, drummer Alan White and bassist Klaus Voormann performing the songs “How Do You Sleep?” and “Oh My Love” in Dolby Atmos sound. Tickets for the theater screenings are available at www.imaginefilmtickets.com.
