Rock
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Robin “Robbie” Bachman, the co-founder and drummer of 1970s rockers Bachman-Turner Overdrive, has died at 69. The news was announced by Bachman’s older brother, former Guess Who singer and BTO vocalist Randy Bachman in a statement on Thursday (Jan. 12), in which he wrote, “Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock ‘n’ roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family.”
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The Winnipeg, Manitoba-bred band (also known as BTO) formed in 1973 and blazed a trail through the prog rock and disco era with a series of hard-charging AM radio rock hits including the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” as well as “Takin’ Care of Business,” “Roll on Down the Highway” and “Let It Ride.” The original lineup included another Bachman sibling, guitarist Tim Bachman (replaced by Blair Thornton in 1974), as well as bassist Fred Turner.
BTO released their self-titled debut in May 1973, but it was their second album, Dec. 1973’s Bachman-Turner Overdrive II that broke them in the U.S., thanks to signature hits “Takin’ Care of Business” and “Let It Ride.” The group’s third effort, 1974’s Not Fragile, hit No. 1 on the Billboard album charts and spawned the driving, stuttering No. 1 hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” and another enduring classic rock radio staple “Roll on Down the Highway,” co-written by Robbie Bachman.
Singer Randy Bachman split after the release of 1977’s Freeways, replaced by bassist Jim Clench, with the group forced to perform as BTO due to the ex-singer’s rights to the full name. The band split up in 1980 and reunited three years later, with Robbie Bachman replaced by former Guess Who drummer Gary Peterson; he returned in 1988 for another three-year run.
Due to ongoing tensions between the Bachman brothers, the revolving door of band lineups continued throughout the late 1980s through a second break-up in 2005; that break-up marked the official end of Robbie Bachman’s run with BTO. Randy Bachman returned for a fourth stint on the mic in 2009, leading the group through its final split in 2018.
See Randy Bachman’s tribute and listen to “Roll on Down the Highway” below.
Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad & brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock ‘n’ roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family pic.twitter.com/XASj6CVXzA— Randy Bachman (@RandysVinylTap) January 13, 2023
A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys, the latest in a series of “Grammy Salute” specials, will tape Wednesday, Feb. 8, three days after the 65th annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. The live concert special will feature a star-studded lineup paying tribute to the classic pop/rock group. It will tape at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will air on CBS later this year.
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The show will tape six weeks after the airing of the previous “Grammy Salute” special; Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon, aired on Dec. 21.
Here’s something they probably won’t tell you on the “Grammy Salute” special: The Beach Boys never won a Grammy in competition, despite four nominations. Even their masterwork “Good Vibrations” went 0-3 at the Grammys. (During The Beach Boys’ 1960s heyday, Grammy voters were still trying to decide what they thought of contemporary pop/rock.)
Grammy voters have since decided they like it – and The Beach Boys in particular – very much. The group received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2001. Wilson was named MusiCares person of the year in 2005. Five Beach Boys recordings have been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which functions as a second chance for the Grammys to reward worthy records they may have missed the first time around.
Since The Beach Boys’ heyday, Brian Wilson has received six more Grammy nominations, winning twice – best rock instrumental performance for “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” (2004) and best historical album for The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set) (2012).
The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 (with Elton John doing the honors). Wilson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007.
The Beach Boys logged four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – “I Get Around” (two weeks in July 1964), “Help Me, Rhonda” (two weeks in May/June 1965), “Good Vibrations” (one week in December 1966) and “Kokomo” (one week in November 1988). Brian Wilson was not involved with the latter smash, which was featured in the Tom Cruise film Cocktail.
The group notched two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 – Beach Boys Concert (four weeks in December 1964) and Endless Summer (one week in October 1974).
The Beach Boys were formed in Hawthorne, Calif., in 1961. The group’s original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson; their cousin Mike Love; and friend Al Jardine. Three of the members are still living – Brian Wilson, 80; Love, 81 and Jardine, 80. Dennis Wilson died in 1983 at age 39. Carl Wilson died in 1998 at age 51.
The Recording Academy, Joel Gallen’s Tenth Planet Productions, and CBS are behind A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys. AEG Ehrlich Ventures, headed by Ken Ehrlich, the former executive producer of the Grammy Awards telecast, oversaw past specials in this series.
The musical directors of several Grammy-branded specials have received Primetime Emmy nominations for outstanding music direction. Two have won in that category. Don Was won for The Beatles: The Night That Changed America (2014). Greg Phillinganes won for Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life – An All Star Grammy Salute (2015).
Rickey Minor was nominated for music direction of two Grammy-branded specials – Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of The Bee Gees (2017) and Aretha! A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul (2019). Davey Johnstone was nominated for Elton John: I’m Still Standing – a Grammy Salute (2018), and Sheila E, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were nominated for Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince (2020).
Jeff Beck, the legendary guitarist who died Jan. 10 at age 78, had a Billboard charts history that stretched over a half century whether it was through his solo work or with the band that brought him his initial fame, The Yardbirds.
Beginning in 1965 and running all the way up to 2022’s Johnny Depp collaboration 18, Beck reached the charts dozens of times, rattling off top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 and scoring entries on the Billboard Hot 100.
In fact, beginning in the 1960s, there was never a decade that didn’t feature an album involving Jeff Beck on the Billboard 200, solo or otherwise. As a guitarist in The Yardbirds, he first appeared on the chart with For Your Love, which peaked at No. 96 on the Billboard 200 in August 1965, followed by Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds (No. 53, February 1966) and Over Under Sideways Down (No. 52, October 1966). Yardbirds Greatest Hits peaked at No. 28 in June 1967 and The Yardbirds hit No. 155 in October 1970, both featuring Beck recordings, but by then he had left the group.
What followed was a multi-decade streak of Beck solo records that reached the chart, beginning with the No. 15-peaking Truth in November 1968. The ‘70s? More albums, paced by the No. 4 peak of Blow By Blow, to date Beck’s highest-charting album on the Billboard 200. The ‘80s brought the No. 21-peaking There and Back in August 1980 as his top-charter, and the ‘90s were accented by Who Else!, at No. 99, in April 1999.
Moving into the 2000s, Beck appeared twice, led by You Had It Coming (No. 110, February 2001), and the 2010s saw four appearances, with Emotion + Commotion leading the group at No. 11 in May 2010. The aforementioned 18 with Depp, Beck’s final release before his death, continued his streak into the ‘20s, hitting No. 183 in July 2022.
On the Hot 100, Beck was best represented by The Yardbirds recordings, accruing a top 10 in 1965 with “Heart Full of Soul” after he replaced Eric Clapton as the band’s lead guitarist (No. 9, September 1965). A cover of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man” reached No. 17 that December. “Shapes of Things” hit No. 11 in May 1966. “Over Under Sideways Down” followed at No. 13 that August, the band’s final top 20 with Beck or otherwise. One more appearance with Beck occurred later that year, with the No. 30-peaking “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.”
Beck reached the Hot 100 three more times as a credited artist, first with Donovan’s “Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)” (credited to Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group) at No. 36 in September 1969. A decade-and-a-half later, he was back with the Rod Stewart collaboration “People Get Ready” at No. 48 (July 1985), and in 2007 he returned one final time to date as a featured artist on Kelly Clarkson’s cover of “Up to the Mountain” (No. 56, May 2007).
But that’s not where Beck’s chart story ends. He was an occasional presence on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart upon its 1981 inception, first with the aforementioned “Ready,” which peaked at No. 5. In all, he reached the chart five times as a lead artist, most recently with Seal collaboration “Manic Depression” (No. 10, February 1994).
A 28-year break from the chart followed before his return as a featured artist on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9” in 2022. A three-week No. 1, it allowed Beck to set a record for the longest amount of time between first chart appearance (“Ready”) and first No. 1, a 37-year, one-month, two-week wait. It’s a record that, as of January 2023, remains intact.
Beck died Jan. 10 in England after a brief battle with bacterial meningitis. He’s nominated at the 2023 Grammy Awards for both best rock performance and best rock song, on Osbourne’s “Patient.”
There’s still about a month left to go before Paramore‘s highly anticipated sixth studio album, This Is Why, arrives, but it is finally beginning to take shape with the release of new single “C’est Comme Ça.”
Described by frontwoman Hayley Williams as a dance punk return to form, the brand new track arrived Thursday (Jan. 12). It’s the third single to be unveiled off This Is Why, due out Feb. 10, and follows lead single and title track “This Is Why” along with “The News.”
“C’est Comme Ça” largely features the Nashville native delivering sharp, irony-clad lyrics in spoken word form over drummer Zac Farro’s driving percussion and guitarist Taylor York’s percussive riffs. The caustic nature of the verses is turned on its head, though, with every repetition of its cloying main hook: “C’est comme ça, na na na na na na na.”
“I know that regression is rarely rewarded/ I still need a certain degree of disorder,” Williams belts, a rare moment on the track where she sings instead of speaks. “I hate to admit getting better is boring/ But the high cost of chaos?/ Who can afford it?”
Fans have been waiting for the single since Paramore began teasing it in the week prior to its release. At one point, the band posted a cryptic video to its Instagram story, captioning it with nothing but the letters “ccc.”
“I’m trying to get un-addicted to a survival narrative,” Williams said of the song’s meaning in a statement. “The idea of imminent doom is less catastrophic to me than not knowing anything about the future or my part in it. The guys and I are all in much more stable places in our lives than ever before. And somehow that is harder for me to adjust to.”
The trio’s newfound stability comes after a five-year hiatus, which Williams, Farro and York spent taking a break from the demands of being one of the world’s best-loved pop punk groups to reevaluate and explore solo projects. They haven’t released an album since dropping After Laughter in 2017, and prior to their string of live shows last year, they hadn’t toured in nearly as much time.
Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, Williams said Paramore “had a really good time getting back into a little bit of dance punk vibes” when making “C’est Comme Ça.”
“I had been listening to a lot of Dry Cleaning and Yard Act and just artists that talk a lot over great, cool, music,” she shared. “So I guess I was just feeling poetic and feeling a bit critical of myself and fused all that stuff.”
Stream Paramore’s newest single “C’est Comme Ça” below:
The music industry is coming together to mourn the loss of Jeff Beck, one of rock’s most masterful guitarists. Following Beck’s death on Wednesday (Jan. 11), famous admirers of the celebrated guitarist have been coming forward to express their sadness, with White Stripes‘ Jack White reflecting on special moments he shared with the late guitarist.
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“Jeff Beck, guitar innovator extraordinaire has moved to the next realm. I wrote to him a couple of years ago to show him that I was standing where he once stood inside Sam Phillips studio in Memphis some 50 odd years before,” White wrote on Instagram. “He was amazingly kind and instructional to me over the years. Many shows that I’ve played began moments after listening to his song “Led Boots” backstage.”
But one moment in particular stands out to White. “This bootleg clip that I’m posting is when I had one of the greatest thrills of my life, along with Meg White and Jack Lawrence of the Greenhornes, we were ‘the yardbirds’ for one night backing up Jeff at the Royal Festival Hall in London,” he shared. “In our rehearsals he plugged straight into an amp, no effects pedals. He was changing the sound of the guitar and doing things people didn’t know were possible from his earliest days on stage. God Bless you Jeff, you must already be chatting with Cliff Gallup somewhere.”
The news of Beck’s death was confirmed in a statement released by his family: “It is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” the statement reads. “After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”
See White’s tribute post to Beck below.
Ringo Starr announced the dates for a spring 2023 tour by his All Starr Band on Thursday morning (Jan. 12). The mostly West Coast outing by the Beatles drummer and his famous friends is slated to kick off on May 19 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, CA and feature a three-show run at the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, as well as shows in San Diego, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles before wrapping up on June 17 in San Jose, California.
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“It’s a new year and here are some new tour dates,” Starr said in a statement. “I love playing with the All Starrs and can’t wait to be back out on the road again with this band. I send Peace and Love to you all and we hope to see you out there.” This year’s model will feature Starr joined by Men at Work singer Colin Hay, Toto guitarist/singer Steve Lukather, jazz/rock drummer Gregg Bissonette, keyboardist/singer Edgar Winter, Average White Band bassist Hamish Stuart and Kansas/Toto multi-instrumentalist Warren Ham.
The All Starr Band hit the road again in 2022 after a pandemic lay-off and Starr also dropped his EP3 collection in September.
Check out the All Starr Band’s dates below.
May 19 — Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Resort Casino
May 20 — Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
May 21 — Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
May 24 — Las Vegas, NV @ Venetian Theatre
May 26 — Las Vegas, NV @ Venetian Theatre
May 27 — Las Vegas, NV @ Venetian Theatre
May 28 — San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts
May 31 — San Diego, CA @ Humphreys Concerts
June 2 — Eugene, OR @ Cuthbert Amphitheater
June 3 — Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater
June 4 — Seattle, WA @ Venue TBD
June 6 — Denver, CO @ Bellco Theater – Denver Convention Center
June 7 — Colorado Springs, CO @ Pikes Peak Center
June 9 — Lincoln, CA @ Thunder Valley Casino
June 11 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
June 13 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Eccles Theater
June 15 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
June 16 — Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre
June 17 — San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic
The late Jeff Beck’s career was marked by an abundance of excellence. And surprises.
From his playing choices to his stylistic maneuvering and frequent changes of personnel, Beck made a career out of keeping everyone guessing — including those who played with him. He was a restless chameleon, starting in rock and blues and then incorporating jazz – mostly of the ‘70s electric fusion variety – into his mix, achieving mastery on all fronts. But it was never just for change’s sake; Beck’s experiments and diversions almost always had purpose.
It worked out, of course. Beck – who passed away Tuesday (Jan. 10) at the age of 78 in England – was a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (with The Yardbirds in 1992 and on his own in 2009) and won eight Grammy Awards, five of them for best rock instrumental performance. He also received the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 2014 along with a slew of other honors. He’s universally acknowledged as one of the greatest guitar players of all-time, in any genre.
His skill on the instrument could and often did leave our jaws on the floor. But some of his decisions did the same — or at least made us raise our eyebrows. As we continue to celebrate one of (and to some, the) best proponent of the electric guitar, here’s a look back at a dozen of the most surprising moments in Beck’s long career.
Fall Out Boy are storming into 2023 with a vengeance. The first taste of new music from the follow-up to 2018’s MANIA album was revealed in a 13-second clip featuring the Chicago-bred group’s signature urgent emo-tinged rock. “Sending my love from the other side/ The apocalypse/ And I just about snapped/ Don’t look back/ Every lover’s got a little dagger in their hand,” singer Patrick Stump rages over a rush of pop-punk energy.
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In the tease posted on Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 11), the band also revealed that the song is due out on Jan. 18 and that there is “lots more to come soon.”
FOB has been teasing their eight album for months, explaining in a new year’s note to fans that they, “spent the last year jamming ideas in a tiny room [and] can’t wait to share them with you,” adding, “Thanks for always sticking around. Thanks for working the beat. Spoiler alert: we got more than a gold watch coming for you next year.”
The update was the follow-up to a nearly two-minute animated claymation video they dropped in late Dec. — A Claymation Fall Out Boy Celebration — starring a cute black dog, vomiting neon hands and a magical land of bizarre, shape-shifting creatures with what sounded like a brief snippet of new music. The video and note appear to be part of a long tease for the as-yet-untitled album, whose release date has not yet been announced.
The update for fans was also preceded by a website announcing “greetings from pink seashell beach,” with an image of a shell (inscribed with the hint “the answers are all inside of this”) that flips over when clicked to reveal a baseball on the other side and the message “the beach was never real. None of it is”; some fans also received cryptic postcards with the words “Pink Seashell Beach” on them and the message, “I saw you in a bright clear field. Hurricane heat in my head. The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end. Inscribed like stone and faded by the rain: ‘Give up what you love give up what you love before it does you in…’”
The shell game reportedly continued this week when Bring Me the Horizon singer Oli Sykes revealed in his Instagram Story that he’d received a box featuring a giant numbered seashell and a note with the single’s title on it. “wtf what is this & why is it at my house,” Sykes wrote.
Before that, fans also posted images of a full-page ad FOB took out in their hometown Chicago Tribune in late November that read “FOB 8: If you build it, they will come.” At press time no additional information was available on follow to MANIA, which featured the singles “Young and Menace,” “Champion” and “The Last of the Real Ones.”
Check out the “Love From the Other Side” preview below.
Sending my love from the other side of the apocalypse And I just about snappedDon’t look backEvery lover’s got a little dagger in their hand https://t.co/CvtlZ8BCVV— Fall Out Boy (@falloutboy) January 11, 2023
Keith Richards is promising some big things in 2023. In a video posted on his socials on Wednesday (Jan. 11) the Rolling Stones guitarist and solo bandleader gave fans something to get excited about when he gave an update on the plans for this year.
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“Hi guys, here we are again. Wishing you all a belated Happy New Year,” said Richards in the 15-second clip in which he looks super-chill hanging in a tropical-looking locale in round shades, a green t-shirt and matching headband. “There is some new music on the way and hopefully we’ll get to see you. Anyway, let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
While Richards did not specify who the music was coming from, there have been ongoing rumblings about the band’s first album of new material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. At press time there was no official announcement about the follow-up to 2016’s covers album, Blue & Lonesome, guitarist Ronnie Wood reportedly confirmed to The Sun in October that the band’s firsts new album in nearly two decades will drop this summer and that it will feature some drumming from late timekeeper Charlie Watts, who died at 80 in August 2021.
At the time, Wood said the band was slated to finish tracks in Los Angeles in late 2022 and that it will feature playing from Watts and and touring drummer Steve Jordan; the unnamed album will be the first one from the group recorded without Watts.
In the meantime, fans can slake their third for Stones classics with the upcoming definitive live album, GRRR Live!, which is due out on Feb. 10. The 24-track collection features the biggest hits from throughout the legendary band’s 60-year career, including “Honky Tonk Women,” “Start Me Up,” “Get Off of My Cloud,,” “Paint it Black” and “Miss You.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012 and 2013 on the 30-show 50 & Counting Tour, which included a Dec. 15, 2012 show at Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center that featured a number of special guests. Some of those performances are chronicled on the album, including collabs with the Black Keys (“Who Do You Love?”), Lady Gaga (“Gimme Shelter”), Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer (“Going Down”), former guitarist Mick Taylor (“Midnight Rambler”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Tumbling Dice.”) After its original airing on pay-per-view in 2012, recordings of the anniversary shows have not been available to fans until now.
Check out Richards’ message here.
Rod Stewart is remembering Jeff Beck as “the greatest,” an otherworldly axeman with whom he formed one of rock music’s hallowed partnerships more than 50 years ago.
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Beck, who passed away Tuesday (Jan. 10) after contracting bacterial meningitis, at the age of 78, was a guitarist “on another planet,” Stewart recounts in a social post.
Posting a picture of the pair together, he writes that Beck “took me and Ronnie Wood to the USA in the late 60s in his band the Jeff Beck Group and we haven’t looked back since. He was one of the few guitarists that when playing live would actually listen to me sing and respond. Jeff, you were the greatest, my man. Thank you for everything. RIP”.
Beck tapped Stewart in 1967 to join his post-Yardbirds project as singer and occasional songwriter. Stewart performed on the albums Truth (from 1968) and Beck-Ola (1969), both cracking the U.S. top 20 and kick-starting Stewart’s Hall of Fame career.
As the decades passed, the magic was still there. In 1985, the pair reunited on “People Get Ready,” a rare hit under Beck’s own name which charted in the U.S., Australia and Europe.
The legendary, late guitarist is considered one of the most gifted musicians to play the six-string, proof of which can be seen in the outpouring from the music community, as the likes of Mick Jagger, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi and Buddy Guy pay tribute on social media. The estates of John Lennon, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and others also paid their respects.
“Now Jeff has gone,” writes Ronnie Wood, “I feel like one of my band of brothers has left this world, and I’m going to dearly miss him. I’m sending much sympathy to Sandra, his family, and all who loved him. I want to thank him for all our early days together in Jeff Beck Group, conquering America.”
🙏Now Jeff has gone, I feel like one of my band of brothers has left this world, and I’m going to dearly miss him. I’m sending much sympathy to Sandra, his family, and all who loved him. I want to thank him for all our early days together in Jeff Beck Group, conquering America. pic.twitter.com/UareDAdtZ9— Ronnie Wood (@ronniewood) January 11, 2023
Along the way, Beck won eight Grammys and was nominated 17 times throughout his career, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992 and as a solo performer in 2009.
Stewart has endured a particularly difficult stretch of late, with two of his brothers dying in as many months during 2022. The two-time Hall of Famer is slated to tour North America, Australia and New Zealand in 2023, while also slotting into a residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in May.