Tommy Emmanuel Performs An Acoustic Fingerstyle Cover of 1968’s ‘Classical Gas’
In 2011, guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel performed a scorching fingerstyle cover of the Mason Williams 1968 instrumental hit “Classical Gas“. Emmanuel had previously played this piece for an episode of the 2005 Seth MacFarlane cartoon American Dad.
Iggy Pop & David Bowie on The Dinah! Show, 1977
Iggy Pop, whose solo recording career began with two albums produced by David Bowie, said in an interview after Bowie died that he saved him.
“The friendship was basically that this guy salvaged me from certain professional and maybe personal annihilation — simple as that,” said Pop. “A lot of people were curious about me, but only he was the one who had enough truly in common with me, and who actually really liked what I did and could get on board with it, and who also had decent enough intentions to help me out. He did a good thing. He resurrected me. He was more of a benefactor than a friend in a way most people think of friendship. He went a bit out of his way to bestow some good karma on me.”
Here they are on The Dinah! Show back in 1977.
Campaign Commercial for Hunter S. Thompson’s failed run for Sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, 1970
Classic Hunter, as he shaved his head completely bald for the campaign so he could refer to the other guy as “my long haired opponent”.
Video: That time Paul McCartney got arrested marijuana possession in Japan, 1980
In January 1980, when Wings flew to Tokyo for a tour of Japan, customs officials found approximately 8 ounces (200 g) of cannabis in his luggage. They arrested McCartney and brought him to a local jail while the Japanese government decided what to do. After ten days, they released and deported him without charge.
In 1997, he spoke out in support of decriminalisation of the drug: “People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminals is wrong.” He did however, decide to quit cannabis in 2015, citing a desire to set a good example for his grandchildren.
Music Canada launches new non-profit organization Music Canada Cares
Music Canada is pleased to announce the establishment of Music Canada Cares, an affiliated national organization that will lead Music Canada’s corporate social responsibility efforts.
Music Canada Cares is a dedicated non-profit focused on highlighting the extraordinary benefits of music to society. Music Canada Cares will work to promote equitable access to music education, and strive to improve the connection between Canada’s diverse music industry and communities.
Music Canada Cares’ first initiative is The Three Rs Music Program. The program will improve the inventory of musical instruments in Ontario’s publicly funded schools by rescuing gently used instruments, restoring them to a fully functional condition and reuniting them with students across the province.
The Three Rs Music Program will serve both English-language and French-language schools, with the goal of improving access to quality music education for youth across Ontario. The program prioritizes providing instruments to Indigenous, at-risk, and underrepresented communities.
Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that represents the major record companies in Canada: Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada. Music Canada also works with some of the leading independent record labels and distributors, recording studios, live music venues, concert promoters, managers and artists in the promotion and development of the music cluster. For more on Music Canada, please visit www.musiccanada.com
Bettye LaVette on how the music industry pigeonholed her in the 1960s
They started off by trying to make me sound like a girl, which really played me out of position. I really thought at one point I could sound like Doris Day, and it took me a long time to accept the fact that I sound more like James Brown. And now I’m trying to convince everybody it’s OK for me to sound like James Brown. They all sounded either like they came from church or like girls. And I didn’t come from church, and I really don’t sound like girls as we know girls to sound.
Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa playing “Interstellar Overdrive” live in Belgium in 1969
They should have teamed up as Frank Floyd.
Young Bob Dylan fans complaining about him “selling out” by going electric in 1966
Ah, the problems we blab on about. Nothing’s really changed.
In 1966, Bob Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following his “going electric” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The musicians Dylan employed as his backing band were known as The Hawks; they subsequently became famous as The Band. He was being constantly heckled by folkniks or angry fans throughout the second, electric half of a concert. Even the press began to go along with the dissent of his fans. A review in the magazine Melody Maker of the May 5, 1966 concert in Dublin, Ireland stated that “It was unbelievable to see a hip-swinging [sic] Dylan trying to look and sound like Mick Jagger. For most it was the night of the big let-down.”
Childish Gambino Is Giving Ticket Buyer Two New Songs
Well, this is cool. Childish Gambino is heading out on the road with Vince Staples for his This Is America tour starting in October, and fans who purchase tickets to a show are receiving two songs from him, “Algorhythm” and “All Night.”
9/6 – Atlanta, GA @ Infinite Energy Arena
9/8 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
9/10 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
9/12 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
9/14 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
9/15 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
9/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
9/19 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
9/22 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
9/23 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
9/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
9/27 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
9/29 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
9/30 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
10/2 – San Jose, CA @ SAP Center
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/5 – Phoenix, AZ @ Gila River Arena
10/9 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
10/12 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena