Despite his nickname of The Jewish Elvis, Neil Diamond is a man who truly loves Christmas. He's already got two out and now, just in time for Halloween, he'll release his third album, the cheerfully titled A Cherry Cherry Christmas . The album will feature the prerequisite Christmas songs like "Jingle Bell Rock", "White Christmas" and "Joy To The World". The Man Forever In Blue Jeans will also take a crack at the choir favorite of "Amazing Grace" and has recorded a new song entitled "Christmas Dream". And to rep his chosen [...]
Jay Farrar seems to be getting a lot of musical inspiration from the past these days. As we've previously reported, the Son Volt front man teamed up with DC4C's Ben Gibbard to record an album based on a Jack Kerouac novel. Farrar will now take a page out of his old Uncle Tupelo band mate's playbook by putting out an album of unrecorded Woody Guthrie songs. While there isn't too much information floating around about the project, the album was recorded in New [...]
Filed under: News , New Music , Exclusive It's no secret that when holiday music hits radio, you're going to hear way more songs about Christmas than Chanukah. With Christmas, you get a bevy of classics like 'White Christmas,' 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' 'Jingle Bells' and on and on. With Chanukah, you're lucky if you hear more than 'The Dreidel Song.' So, when Neil Diamond -- who's been called the "Jewish Elvis" -- wanted to include a song about the festival lights on his third Christmas album, [...]
Recorded live at New York's Madison Sqaure Garden in August 2008, Hot August Night/NYC captures Neil's phenomenal four-night sold-out run and presents definintive versions of classic tracks, audience crowd-pleasers, personal favorites of the artist, and the first concert versions of songs from his recent releases - the critically-acclaimed 12 Songs (2005) and Home Before Dark (2008) which debuted
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News , Exclusive Neil Diamond is one of music's unquestioned top live draws, a performer who's set attendance records at venues around the world, from the 10 sold out nights at L.A's Greek Theater that comprised his first 'Hot August Night' album to the four at N.Y.'s Madison Square Garden that make up his recent 'Hot August Night: New York' DVD. But who are the artists that have impressed him live? "I've seen quite a number of memorable shows," [...]
As it's been a customary thing to do here, when I have family members, dear friends, followers, etc...who are having a birthday, it's only fitting that they deserve a special little present, in the form of music, and well, my ramblings. Today's honorary kiddo is Zoe , one of the raddest people on the planet, whom I met through our respective "jobs"; hers being real, mine being this site. I could probably create a thousand playlists and mixes for this little lass, considering our combined love of similar styles [...]
Ellie Greenwich, one of the greatest pop songwriters of the 1960s, has died at the age of 68. She is responsible for co-writing (with her partner/husband Jeff Barry) songs like "Be My Baby" for the Ronettes, "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me" for the Crystals, and "Chapel of Love" for the Dixie Cups. She was also one of the rock era's first female producers, helping to shape Neil Diamond's first songs as a performer including "Cherry Cherry" and "Solitary Man." A true giant in the music field. Los Angeles [...]
MUSIC NEWS - Voyageur Press will publish the forthcoming book, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: An Illustrated History of A Walk on the Wild Side from rock journalist , Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times, co-host of syndicated radio program Sound Opinions) on September 15, 2009 (order your copy below thru MNN ). The beautifully packaged book is the first complete illustrated history published on the seminal New York band, and out in time to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the group's founding. The hefty 192-page volume, in perfect balance [...]
Nicole Miller's first solo show mashes a psychedelic video background, a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt and the trope of the orchestral conductor to defy the stability of stereotype. 'The Conductor' is absurd, amusing and even frightening at times. Actor Eric Ruff mimes the gestures and expressions of a conductor, allowing the audience to inspect the blinks and twitches and tics by which an orchestral leader communicates a musical document to his players. This interview by Drew Denny.
Filed under: News , Exclusive Neil Diamond 's recent return to the Brooklyn, N.Y. neighborhood where he grew up -- filmed for his new live DVD, 'Hot August Night: NYC' -- brought up plenty of memories for the singer. More than 50 years later, Diamond is still hurt by the move of his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. "The Dodgers were part of my existence so I have mixed feelings," Diamond tells Spinner of now rooting for the team. "They left me. They abandoned me." [...]
VELVET UNDERGROUND, NEIL DIAMOND, AND QUEEN TO RECEIVE GRAPHIC TREATMENT IN CLASSIC WORDS AND PICTURES VOYAGEUR PRESS ROCKS THE FALL WITH THREE "ILLUSTRATED HISTORY" BOOKS BY MUSIC'S TOP JOURNALISTS THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: A Walk on the Wild Side, by Jim DeRogatis, on Sept. 15 NEIL DIAMOND IS FOREVER: The Man and His Music, by Jon Bream, on Oct. 15 QUEEN: The Crown Kings of Rock, by Phil Sutcliffe, on Nov. 15 MINNEAPOLIS ? Voyageur Press continues to establish itself as America's leading publisher of pop and rock books with the impending arrival [...]
We usually leave "it list" type postings for other more self-important folk to blog about, but there is so damn much going on this weekend we felt compelled. TONIGHT For you Denton folks, the best bet in our humble opinion looks to be our friends (and Mount Righteous alumni) DISCO:HATE , who are having their CD release show tonight at Rubber Gloves. Doors open at 9, and cost is $6. County Lines and New Science Projects open. Definitely has the makings of one of those interesting [...]
Neil Diamond's Hot August Night/NYC; Live at Madison Square Garden on DVD Recorded live at New York's Madison Square Garden in August, 2008, experience Neil Diamond Hot August Night/NYC on DVD - the entire show beginning to end - 25 career-spanning hits from Neil's phenomenal four-night sold-out run at the fabled concert hall. The DVD features more than two hours of music including "Holly Holy," "Love On the Rocks," "I Am ...I Said," "Forever In Blue Jeans," "Cracklin' Rosie," "America" and the [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News , Exclusive , Movies Neil Diamond is as any worthy of being the subject of a live DVD as anybody. The man's built his more than four-decade career as much on his energetic and unabashedly crowd-pleasing live show, which has set attendance records around the world, as his brilliant songwriting. There's one problem though: like many artists, Diamond doesn't enjoy watching himself. "I don't really like looking at myself. Really, all I see are the things I'm doing wrong and [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News Grammy week 2010 isn't for another five months and we don't know a single nominee yet, but we already have January 29 marked on the Spinner calendar as one to remember. Why the early excitement? Because Neil Young is being honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year for his incredible resume of philanthropic efforts, from his annual Bridge School benefits to his work with Farm Aid. The 63-year-old Young will join the prestigious past honorees such as Billy Joel , [...]
As long as we're discussing diamonds, here's a sweet treat Ren Dizzle sent all the way from the desert. Neil Diamond: "Shilo"
"Marching In" is NOW AVAILABLE at Guitar9.com! Buy your copy today! Find out why GUITAR PLAYER magazine calls Marching In "whacked out genius"..! Dan Sindel, a "One Man Orchestra," recreates John Philip Sousa's and Handel's orchestral scores on Marching In by transposing and transcribing the compositions to accommodate the guitar's tonal range. Hundreds of layered guitar tracks create a massive electric guitar wall of sound. This collectible "limited edition" CD features an eclectic blend of Dan's "Symphonic Guitar" instrumental orchestrations and [...]
MUSIC NEWS - A rare John Lennon acoustic demo of " Watching the Wheels ," (listen below) the 1981 single released after his death, is one of the highlights from the original motion picture soundtrack to Universal Pictures' upcoming Funny People comedy, from writer/director Judd Apatow's (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up). The soundtrack, out via Concord Records, on July 28 (order below thru MNN ) features two exclusive new live tracks: James Taylor's on-camera performance of " Carolina in My Mind " in the film, and Wilco 's [...]
Filed under: News , Exclusive Tributes from all walks of music continue to pour in for the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson , who died in Los Angeles Thursday at the age of 50. Neil Diamond , a fellow pop icon, shared his sorrow over the news of Jackson's death. "Michael was one of the most brilliant musicians I've ever known," Diamond tells Spinner. "The world will be a sadder place tonight because he is gone." Artists React to Jackson's Passing
As Nazz junior is now in 5th grade, part of the school curriculum is "The Changing Me". Yep, the system is now authorized to teach our children about puberty . For those parents who dissent, their precious children can be excused from these classes. Of course, once the cat is outta the bag with little Billy or Mary's peers, there's no way that they're not gonna hear about it. Mixed feelings on all this. 10 and 11 year old children might be a tad too young to get the news that the stork is dead. [...]
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I’ll Just Leave This Here #161
REMIX SUNDAYS- May 27th, 2012
