So great.
The Man Who Would REALLY Be King – Sam Phillips – Gets A New Book By Peter Guralnick
Sam Phillips, founder of the label Sun Records, didn’t care much about making flawless recordings. Instead, the man who discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison and a host of others rejected perfection in favor of spontaneity and individuality.
“Sam would say, ‘I hate that word, perfection. It should be banned from the English language,'” music writer Peter Guralnick tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “He didn’t care about the mistakes; he cared about the feel.”
In his new book, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll, Guralnick chronicles Phillips’ work at Sun and his lasting impact on the music industry.
Guralnick describes Phillips as “a visionary” who worked to introduce the African-American music of his day to a broader white audience: “His vision from the very beginning was that music, and specifically African-American music, could conquer all of the prejudice, all of the race prejudice, the class prejudice, the divisions, the categories into which music — like everything else in American life — was divided.
“I think he’s as original and as strikingly individuated and as determinedly motivated an artist really as anybody I’ve ever written about,” Guralnick adds.
Via NPR
William S. Burroughs Reads His “Thanksgiving Prayer” In Gus Van Sant Film
Gus Van Sant’s short film “Thanksgiving Prayer” features William S. Burroughs reading the poem “Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1986”, from Tornado Alley (a collection of his short stories and this poem) intercut with a collage of black and white images.
Adele Announces “25” World Tour
When the final figures are in, Wednesday will prove to another big day in Adele world: At close of Tuesday, 25’s week one US sales stood at 2.8m. And 3 million is likely happening by the time I write this.
Meanwhile, in the UK, 25 has now officially broken the week one album sales record set by Oasis’s Be Here Now in 1997.
25 had shifted 737,000 units by close of play yesterday, according to the Official Charts Company.
Next up? A record-breaking tour? Glad you asked. UK advance tickets go on sale Tuesday 1st December at 9am GMT.
EU advance tickets go on sale Wednesday 2nd December at 9am GMT. North America is likely next.
| General Sale | |||
| 29Feb | SSE Arena Belfast, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 1Mar | SSE Arena Belfast, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 4Mar | 3Arena Dublin, Ireland |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 5Mar | 3Arena Dublin, Ireland |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 7Mar | Manchester Arena Manchester, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 8Mar | Manchester Arena Manchester, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 15Mar | The O2 Arena London, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 16Mar | The O2 Arena London, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 18Mar | The O2 Arena London, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 19Mar | The O2 Arena London, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 25Mar | The SSE Hydro Glasgow, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 26Mar | The SSE Hydro Glasgow, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 29Mar | Genting Arena Birmingham, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 30Mar | Genting Arena Birmingham, United Kingdom |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 29Apr | Tele2 Arena Stockholm, Sweden |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 1May | Telenor Arena Oslo, Norway |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 3May | Forum Copenhagen, Denmark |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 4May | Jyske Bank Boxen Herning, Denmark |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 7May | Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 8May | Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 10May | Barclaycard Arena Hamburg, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 11May | Barclaycard Arena Hamburg, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 14May | Lanxess Arena Cologne, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 15May | Lanxess Arena Cologne, Germany |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 17May | Hallenstadion Zurich, Switzerland |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 21May | MEO Arena Lisbon, Portugal |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 22May | MEO Arena Lisbon, Portugal |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 24May | Palau Sant Jordi Barcelona, Spain |
On Sale 3rd December at 9am GMT | |
| 28May | Arena di Verona Verona, Italy |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 29May | Arena di Verona Verona, Italy |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 1Jun | Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 3Jun | Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 9Jun | AccorHotels Arena Paris, France |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 10Jun | AccorHotels Arena Paris, France |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 12Jun | Sportpaleis Antwerp, Belgium |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
| 13Jun | Sportpaleis Antwerp, Belgium |
On Sale 4th December at 9am GMT | |
Local Current in Minneapolis to go all-Prince as soon as it snows
Some Minnesotans dread the coming of the fall’s first snow, and others look forward to it with excited anticipation. We’ve chosen the latter route. In fact, the first time it snows, one of my favourite radio stations – The Current in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are going to have a party: a Prince party.
When MPR News weather guru Paul Huttner officially certifies that one inch of snow has accumulated in Chanhassen, Minnesota—home of Prince’s Paisley Park studio—they’re going to pull the Prince lever and start an all-out Prince marathon on our Local Current stream of Minnesota music. The hits, the B-sides, the album tracks…they’re just going to play a steady stream of Prince to welcome winter, Purple-style.
Cue up the Local Current stream (which you can find on their website and on the free MPR Radio app for iPhones and Androids) and start watching the skies. To be alerted via e-mail as soon as they’re ready to go purple, sign up for their Purple Alert.
When it rains, it pours—but when it snows, it gets super funky.
Jim Morrison and Harrison Ford Backstage, 1968
Jim Morrison and Harrison Ford backstage at the Bakersfield Civic Center, during the time when Harrison Ford worked as a cameraman / grip for The Doors, 1968.
The 2016 edition of BreakOut West coming to Regina for the first time since 2012
The Western Canadian Music Alliance are pleased to announce that Regina, Saskatchewan has been named host city for the 14th annual BreakOut West, taking place October 13-16, 2016. SaskMusic, Creative Saskatchewan, Tourism Saskatchewan, City of Regina, and Regina Hotel Association have all taken part in bringing the annual festival, conference and Western Canadian Music awards back to Regina, which last hosted the event in 2012. The first Western Canadian Music Awards was also hosted in Regina in 2003.
“We are very excited to bring BreakOut West 2016 back to Regina. Regina is a great city that hosts fantastic events with superb facilities and an amazing volunteer base,” says Robyn Stewart, Executive Director of the Western Canadian Music Alliance. “The city has an enthusiastic volunteer base and superb facilities. The BreakOut West Conference, Festival and Western Canadian Music Awards are all about celebrating and showcasing the remarkable musical talents of our artists and this is a great chance for the Saskatchewan music industry to participate on their home turf. Based on past successes in host cities, BreakOut West expects to have a significant impact on the local economy.”
“BreakOut West is about recognizing our artists and industry professionals while providing opportunities for them to perform onstage at home, and build a larger following across Canada,” the Honourable Mark Docherty, Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport, said. “The event will showcase the talent of Saskatchewan musicians and enable attendees from western Canada, and across the world, to experience what we have to offer.”
The experience of attending BreakOut West for all western Canadian artists, is summed up nicely by Mike Dawson, Executive Director of SaskMusic, “BreakOut West gives artists the unique ability to showcase in front of over 3,000 music fans and more than 500 national and international music industry professionals including music supervisors, managers, festival buyers, agents, publicists, social marketing experts and many more. It’s a tremendous opportunity for Saskatchewan artists in all genres and in all career-levels. The conference is also a great place for our artists to learn, to network and to be recognized.”
BreakOut West 2015 was hosted this past September in Victoria, BC, and was an unforgettable weekend of performance, information and networking for all who attended. The 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards and Industry Awards were handed out throughout the weekend, which also ran concurrent with Rifflandia Festival.
Animals Get Into The Holiday Spirit In A New Promo For ‘The Secret Lives of Pets’
For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day.
Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio.
The Secret Lives Of Pets hits theatres on July 8, 2016.
Wu-Tag Clan’s Raekwon Talks About His Favourite Films
One of the Top 50 MCs of all time, Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon’s solo debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx “contained a narrative album format revolving around cocaine trafficking, criminal activity, and a rise through the ranks of the illegal industry,” says AllMusic. It sounds a lot like his favourite movies of all time – The Godfather and Scarface, as the video below will show.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt IS Janet Jackson In Lip Sync Battle
The Night Before stars Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt battle it out in the 2015 Holiday Special of Lip Sync Battle. Anthony takes on MC Hammer’s classic “2 Legit 2 Quit” and Joseph does a spot-on rendition of Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation”! (Fast forward to 2:00 if you just want to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance.)