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May 26th, 2013.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVIE NICKS!
Rock on Goldust Woman!
Looking through my old ticket stubs and recalling the shows that I've seen. I was lucky enough to catch STEVIE NICKS with PETER FRAMPTON in 1986 at the Orange County Fair in Middletown, NY. Back then, cameras and video were rare to bring to shows unless you were a bootlegger, which I never was. Thankfully, years later, shared footage is available. Take a look at the excitement that Stevie created while supporting Frampton on tour. And watch at the end how she is SO gracious and involved with her fans. She STILL is!
I saw her again in 1989 at Jones Beach. She is one of those artists who is so close to my heart and soul, that I've never written an article about her. Despite the full Fleetwood Mac collection and Stevie Nicks solo records, placing ethereal music and lyrics in my head for the past several decades, finding words to talk about the Welsh Witch Music muse is difficult. All that I can say is she was part of my own coming of age in understanding music can be an expression of what is unspoken. I learned from Stevie Nicks that music is not only something you listen to, but a way of life. Her songs describe a type of connection that very few understand. She sings of the grey areas between love and loss, spirit and wind, being and thought. If you're a Stevie Nicks fan, you will know what I am talking about.
And to those that I love
Like a ghost through a fog
Like a charmed hour and a haunted song
And the angel of my dreams
Angel of my dreams~From "Angel," Tusk, Fleetwood Mac 1980 B-Side to "Sisters of The Moon" (single), 1979 (album).
One of my favorite videos of Stevie Nicks includes Lindsey Buckingham, recording the song, "Angel". Notice the connection, the tension, that is still between this dynamic couple in rock. Their chemistry on stage and in songwriting remains unmatched in this and any other lifetime.
As of this writing, Stevie Nicks is touring with Fleetwood Mac and promoting several previously unreleased songs with the band.
Here are her latest press releases:
New Fleetwood Mac Songs Released
Fleetwood Mac has released 4 new songs on a downloadable set titled Extended Play. The set includes Lindsey's "Sad Angel" and Stevie's "Without You" which are being played on the tour, plus two other songs, "It takes Time" and "Miss Fantasy". The songs are available on iTunes and Amazon. The songs can be downloaded individually or as a set. Click HERE to go to iTunes and preview or purchase the songs on Extended Play.
She is also involved in a recent movie:
"Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams" Download Available The "In Your Dreams" film documentary is available for digital download exclusively at iTunes on May 14th. The film is being released after a recent successful theatrical run where it received rave reviews by the fans across the US and Canada. You can purchase it on the iTunes order page.
Visit Stevie's website at http://rockalittle.com/
And the summer became the fall
I was not ready for the winter
It makes no difference at all
'Cause I wear boots all summer long~from "Nightbird," The Wild Heart, Stevie Nicks (1983).
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We've seen Bob Dylan and His Band twice in the past few years. When he comes through the Western Mass area, the homage to this poet-songwriter legend is a tradition. No photos, no fanfare, no announcement, just the show.
In my research, preparing to write up the review of the recent live performance, I revisited, Self Portrait. From Columbia Records, Dylan released a highly criticized double album of covers, 'as a joke' to 'get everyone off his back, and end the spokesman of a generation tags.'
Despite reactions from Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone, 'What is this shit?'* the album went gold in the US, where it hit #4, and gave Dylan yet another UK #1 hit before it fell down the charts.
One of the songs that has stayed with me from this double album of covers and varied folk productions is 'Early Mornin' Rain'. A Gordon Lightfoot tune from Lightfoot! , I could swear I heard Dylan smile while he was singing this song. Understanding the context of the entire record, maybe he was!
*Greil Marcus, "Self Portrait No. 25", in Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader (1970), p. 74 (Benjamin Hedin, ed., 2004).
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Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and founding member of The Doors has died at 74 years old. He passed away Monday at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (Monday, May 20, 2013, 12:31 PM PT). Many sources reported that he struggled with bile duct cancer.
Manzarek was from Chicago and founded The Doors after meeting Jim Morrison in Venice Beach, California. Morrison was a poet then, and the creativity between his lyrics and Manzarek's keys were unmatched. The Doors, with their hip, psychedelic, rock groove, changed the landscape of recorded music and live shows for the rest of rock and progressive music history. Concerts were controversially like parties and sit-ins, where fans often had communal experiences with the words and music.
The Doors sold more than 100-million albums worldwide, and received 19 Gold, 14 Platinum and five multi-Platinum albums in the U.S. alone. "L.A.Woman," "Break On Through to the Other Side," "The End," "Hello, I Love You," and "Light My Fire" were just a few of their most popular songs.
Read more: Ray Manzarek Keyboardist for The Doors Dies at 74
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Dear Readers:
Here is an idea that fans and studio musicians have been talking about for a long time. It is finally coming! GIVE FANS THE CREDIT is a petition that encourages producers and digital outlets to list ALL musicians and artists involved in EACH recording.
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Photo by www.bluebirdreviews.com
Former US president, Bill Clinton was " ... Gonna Crawl," to get Led Zeppelin to reform in 2012.
From CBS and the AP Press:
"Hots On For Nowhere."
"According to CBS, David Saltzman of the Robin Hood Foundation, which organised the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert in New York, said that he and the film executive Harvey Weinstein had flown to Washington DC to enlist Clinton's help in getting Led Zeppelin on the concert bill alongside The Who, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones."
Clinton agreed to Saltzman and Weinberg's request and approached Led Zepplin band members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in Washington at the Kennedy Center Honors gala, which took place days prior to the Hurricane Sandy benefit. However, the former President could not get the band up on the stage.
"Hey Hey What Can I Do?"
"Harvey Weinstein had this great idea that we could enlist Bill Clinton to convince Led Zeppelin to reunite," Saltzman said. "The President was terrific – 'I really wanna do this, this will be a fantastic thing, I love Led Zeppelin'. And Bill Clinton himself asked Led Zeppelin to reunite, and they wouldn't do it."
"Hats Off ..." to Mr. Clinton for trying. "How Many More Times" will we seek a Zeppelin reunion answer? It's the "Battle of Evermore". We love our rock heros, "Hot Dog" "I Can't Quit You Baby."