Review: New DVD/CD is only The Rolling Stones – and just great rock 'n' roll

By: Steve Marinucci AXS Contributor Jul 13, 2018

The Rolling Stones' newest entry in their From the Vault series, The Rolling Stones: No Security. San Jose '99, out on the streets July 13, is a back-to-basics concert release that finds the band performing a real stand-out show.

The concert, available in various configurations of video and audio on DVD and 2-CDs and Blu-ray and 2 CDs and audio only on 3 LPs or digital downloads, was part of two shows the Stones did on April 19 and 20, 1999, in San Jose, CA. The shows were originally to have taken place in January, but were pushed back to April because Jagger had the flu, according to a report at the time in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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.

Michael Nesmith's First National Redux live album returns to some of his best solo music

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.

George Harrison guitar used at final Cavern Club appearance to be auctioned

Published Aug. 6, 1018.

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.

McCartney guitarist talks remaking the Smokey Robinson hit song he co-wrote and getting help from the Motown legend

Published Aug. 9, 2018

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.

CBS announces McCartney 'Carpool Karaoke' special with added footage

Published Aug. 8, 2018 

The Paul McCartney Carpool 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.

Previously lost Beatles footage from 1964 has been found

Published Aug. 13, 2018

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.”

According to The Beatles Film & TV Chronicle by Jőrg Piper and Volker Path, a short excerpt from the show was included in The Beatles Anthology TV series. Perry says the segments were shot on videotape and the quality of the footage was “very good.”

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.

John Lennon-Yoko Ono music video 'Imagine' film headed to theaters

  

John Lennon in "Imagine" (Lennon Archive)

Published Aug. 14, 2018


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.

A DVD with an hour of footage taken from the recording sessions for the album, Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's 'Imagine' Album, was produced by Andrew Solt and released in 2000 and is still available. The Imagine film was released on VHS.