Paul McCartney: Yoko Ono Did Not Cause Beatles Split

by Rolling Stone, Entertainment NBC News: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/29/14779868-paul-mccartney-yoko-ono-did-not-cause-beatles-split

Michael Webb / Getty Images file

Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1968

Paul McCartney says that Yoko Ono isn't at fault for splitting the Beatles or tearing John Lennon away from the group in an upcoming TV interview with David Frost, the BBC reports.

"She certainly didn't break the group up," McCartney says, countering the commonly held belief that Ono caused the Beatles' dissolution.

"I don't think you can blame her for anything," McCartney says, adding that Lennon was "definitely going to leave."

McCartney also says Lennon wouldn't have written "Imagine" without the influence of Ono, a conceptual artist. "When Yoko came along, part of her attraction was her avant-garde side, her view of things," McCartney says. "She showed him another way to be, which was very attractive to him. So it was time for John to leave."

Paul McCartney, "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" -- premiere

The interview will air on Al Jazeera English in November.

Helpless: On the Poetry of Neil Young

by Brian Cullman, The Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/10/23/fang-song-on-the-poetry-of-neil-young/

There was a fascinating if incomplete musing on the New Yorker website this week regarding Neil Young’s insularity and on the incomprehensible idea that he never reads.

It seemed strange that someone who doesn't read would decide to write a book, though it’s often true that writing and reading aren’t necessarily two sides of the same coin. They are often very different coins, operating in very different currencies. When you go to a bank to make change, the exchange rate is never in your favor.

I forwarded the piece to my friend Bill Flicker, out in Los Angeles, who wrote back that he never listens to Neil Young’s words, that they are simply placeholders or crumbs that are scattered on a walk through a musical forest. Actually, I do listen to his words. Not always. But when I listen, they’re remarkably visual and evocative:

Blue blue windows behind the stars.
Yellow moon on the rise.
Purple words on a grey background
To be a woman and to be turned down

How did those windows get behind the stars? I don’t know, but I can see them clearly. Sometimes as a child's drawing. Sometimes as a reflection on an airplane window. There may not be logic involved, but there is something deeper than that. As for those purple words, they shine against the grey background much as Matisse’s goldfish shine through the water they swim in.

I can see them clearly reflected on the surface of being turned down. Turned down like a bed, like a stereo, like a deal. A woman turned down. I can see that reflection even if I can’t explain it. If I could, the song might not be as powerful as it is.

What is the color
When black is burned?
What is the color?

I know what that color is but I’m not permitted to say. Joy Williams once wrote that “the children had told her once that the sun was called the sun because the real word for it was too terrible.” She was listening to Neil Young when she wrote that.

Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger

Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger. Not cover me with earth. Not cover me with death. But cover me with the very impulse behind my death. Cover me with the will that I should die, that I should cease. That idea, that line, is worthy of anyone you can name. Anyone. It’s large as the sky. Yet small enough to fit into a song. That’s the terrible beauty of it.

Not all of Neil Young’s songs are as evocative or as powerful. Songs pour out of him at an alarming rate, and for better and for worse they are part of an enormous work that’s still in progress, that keeps expanding.

There are songs that seem ungainly or odd, that seem to have their gears showing, but I tend to think of these the way I think about those extra widgets or metal bits that come with a Swiss Army knife. I don't know why they’re there, but they seem like they’re there for a reason, part of a larger scheme.

Sometime much later, when you’re lost in the forest of the night, that useless whatsit might be the only thing that could save your life. You never know.

The elegant simplicity of Young’s songs does not seem manufactured. There’s neither a faux primitivism nor a childlike celebration of the obvious a la, say, the venerable comic strip Nancy.

Rather, they combine a child’s focus and need to meet ideas head on with a zen equanimity. The sense of foreboding we feel isn’t necessarily in the songs but in us. These are reports sent back from a place beyond judgement. from a weatherman used to the cold:

Wind blowing through my sails
It feels like I'm gone
See the sky about to rain
broken clouds and rain
Big bird flying across the sky
throwing shadows on our eyes

According to Alec Wilkinson, who wrote the New Yorker piece, Young has missed out on “examples of language carrying complicated thoughts or feelings, the way they are carried in the poems of writers such as Philip Levine or William Butler Yeats or the prose of a writer such as Isak Dinesen.” Well, yes. And no.

We’d all be better off for having Philip Levine and W. B.Yeats and Isak Dinesen in our libraries and in our heads. But Neil Young operates in a very different and a very special arena. His songs seem to be both post-literate and preliterate in a powerful and distinctly modern way, leapfrogging over logic and seeming to come straight from the unconscious.

Maybe not even his unconscious, more out of a collective yearning or out of some deep and mostly hidden national or international dream state. If swamps or lagoons could hum, they'd probably hum Neil Young songs.

Brian Cullman is a writer and musician living in New York City. He last wrote for the Daily on Nick Drake.

Everything You Need To Know About The Bob Dylan Discography: Fun Facts And Other Surprising Numbers

Cover of Times They Are A-Changin

by Johnny Clark

As we all know, Bob Dylan is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time and has recorded a huge number of songs.

Most of us only know his major albums because the Bob Dylan discography is a big object that few master and that a newcomer wouldn't know how to handle. So let's dig into it and underline the key facts that come out of the list of the artist's albums.

1. First things first: Dylan has released throughout his career 35 studio albums - out of which 58 singles, 13(!) live albums and 15 compilation albums (aka "best of" albums). Add to these figures all the albums on which he appears by contributing with one or more songs, notably with the Travelling Wilburys, on The Last Waltz or on Folkways: A Vision Shared - A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly. And not to mention the countless bootlegs, tribute albums and soundtracks on which songs written and/or performed by Mr. Dylan appear.

2. B. Dylan is a productive artist. The longest period between 2 albums being the five years that separate Love And Theft (2001) from Modern Times (2006). He'd rather released an album every 1 or 2 year since his first production, the eponymous Bob Dylan, came out in 1962. And when it's not 2 albums released the same year, like he has done 6 times throughout his career: in 1964 (with The Times They Are a-Changin' and Another Side of Bob Dylan), 1965 (Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited), 1970 (Self Portrait and New Morning), 1973 (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid and Dylan) and 1975 (Blood on the Tracks and The Basement Tapes) and 2009 (Together Through Life and Christmas in the Heart).

3. He has released his entire discography on one label, Columbia, except for the album Planet Waves, which came out on Asylum in 1974.

4. All of his albums where released in Vinyl except World Gone Wrong (1993) which came out in CD and cassette only. His first CD release was with Empire Burlesque back in 1985 and the last one to be issued in cassette was Time Out Of Mind, in 1997(!).

5. It is amazing how people have the ability to remember exactly what they were doing when a traumatic event happened such as the death of a personality or the beginning of a worldwide conflict. Well I recall what I was doing on September 11, 2001: I was on my way to get the newest Bob Dylan Album, Love and Theft, when I heard the news...

It seems pretty obvious that for Bob Dylan, music is a real work in progress and that he does the job. And the Bob Dylan Discography is a true object of study for all the singer-songwriter coming after him.

If you like Bob Dylan than you might also check out Frans Schuman. His first two albums are made of guitar and harmonica only tracks. Some are folk songs and some have a different feel. But I think you might like it.

Click here to download a copy of his latest single for free.

Cheers, Johnny Clark.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Johnny_Clark
http://EzineArticles.com/?Everything-You-Need-To-Know-About-The-Bob-Dylan-Discography:-Fun-Facts-And-Other-Surprising-Numbers&id=7339385

SPECIAL NOTICE: Rolling Stones Said to Add More Live Gigs: Touring Member Hints at Additional 50th Anniversary Shows

by Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rolling-stones-said-to-add-more-live-gigs-20121010?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

The Rolling Stones (Wikipedia)

The Rolling Stones are still planning a run of 50th anniversary shows, but now the group's touring saxophonist Bobby Keys says the Stones will play more than the supposed Brooklyn and London dates, Billboard reports.

Keys said the band is "gonna do some more concerts, starting in November with two in England and then a couple here in the States, then there's a few added concerts after that. Keith [Richards] told me a couple months ago there was something in the wind and just be ready to go. I'm waiting for them to send me the plane ticket and the information, and then I'll go."

Keys said there's a feeling of finality to plans for a round of anniversary shows. "The reality is this train is going to pull into the last station pretty soon - I don't know how soon," he said. "I've been saying this since 1980, but I feel like it's kind of winding down. This may be sort of the 'Sayonara, see you later, had a good time, keep in touch.' I don't know that for sure. I haven't officially been told anything ... I just take my cue primarily from what Keith says, so we'll have to see."

In a recent interview with Q magazine, Richards seemed sure of the London and Brooklyn shows. "We've got some shows in London, I believe, and in New York, but I really can't talk about any of that at the moment," he said. "They've put the gag on me on this. You can hint!"

In August, Rolling Stone learned the band is planning two shows at Brooklyn's Barclays Center before the end of the year. The shows would coincide with other anniversary plans this fall, including the Rolling Stones' career retrospective documentary Crossfire Hurricane, which will air on HBO on November 15th. The band will also release a new greatest hits collection, GRRR!, on November 13th.

Related

• Rolling Stones Plan First Shows Since 2007
• The Rolling Stones Unearth Vintage Clips for 'Crossfire Hurricane' Trailer
• Rolling Stones Add Two New Songs to Upcoming Hits Collection

SPECIAL NOTICE: Lee Daniels Set to Direct New Janis Joplin Film

by Retro:Kimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/10/lee-daniels-set-to-direct-new-janis.html

Janis Joplin's Official Website is so cool...

Director Lee Daniels is in talks to take charge of a new Janis Joplin biopic starring Amy Adams as the tragic 1960's rock and blues legend.

Robert Katz and Andrew Sugerman are producing along with Ron Terry, who wrote the screenplay with his wife, Theresa Kounin-Terry. Jay Tobin is exec producing.

Joplin was the hard-living singer behind such rock classics as "Piece of My Heart" and "Me and Bobby McGee." She crested on the wave of the 1960s counterculture as one of the faces of hippiedom, and she performed at Woodstock.

Joplin, who has influenced artists ranging from Stevie Nicks to Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine), died of a heroin overdose in 1970, just weeks after Jimi Hendrix succumbed to his drug demons, giving a one-two punch to the face of the Age of Aquarius.

Amy Adams

The life of late vocalist Janis Joplin has been the subject of much discussion in Hollywood over the years, and it looks like a biopic on the singer will finally get made. According to the Hollywood Reporter, director Lee Daniels is in talks to oversee ‘Get It While You Can,’ with ‘The Master’ actress Amy Adams attached to star as the music icon.

The path to making Joplin’s story on the big screen has been a long one, with numerous actresses, directors and film companies showing interest over the years. At one point, Renee Zellweger and Brittany Murphy were attached to projects on Joplin, while directors Fernando Meirelles and Catherine Hardwicke have been on board to oversee past Joplin films that never made it to completion.

Actress Amy Adams is to star as Ms Joplin ... if Amy can pull this off she'll likely win an Oscar. This part is a dream role for the right actress. The make up people have their work cut out for them to make Amy look like Janis!

Joplin is best known for her classic tracks ‘Piece of My Heart’ and ‘Me and Bobby McGee.’ She passed away in 1970 at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose. Despite her short tenure in music, Joplin’s impact was definitely felt. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

Adams has seen her star rise in Hollywood in recent years. She earned Oscar nominations for her roles in ‘Junebug’ and ‘Doubt’ and has appeared in such box office hits as ‘Catch Me if You Can,’ ‘Enchanted,’ ‘Julie & Julia,’ and ‘The Muppets.’ In addition to ‘The Master,’ Adams also starred in the recent Clint Eastwood film, ‘Trouble With the Curve.’

 Director Lee Daniels

Janis died from a drug overdose in 1970 at the age of 27. RIP Pearl ... my favorite Joplin tune ... Half Moon.

Robert Plant Opens Up About Led Zeppelin Reunion, Failed Follow-Up With Alison Krauss: Zeppelin Frontman Also Says He Stopped Writing Songs Because of Tony Blair

Cover of Raising Sand

by Andy Greene, Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robert-plant-opens-up-about-led-zeppelin-reunion-failed-follow-up-with-alison-krauss-20110106

In the new issue of Rolling Stone - on stands and online in the digital archives now (subscription required) - Robert Plant explains to writer Stephen Rodrick why he was unwilling to keep performing with Led Zeppelin after their 2007 reunion concert.

"It was an amazing evening," Plant says. "The preparations for it were fraught and intense, but the last rehearsal was really, really good, for all that it represented and all that we were trying to capture. But I've gone so far somewhere else that I almost can't relate to it ... it's a bit of a pain in the pisser to be honest. Who cares? I know people care, but think about it from my angle - soon, I'm going to need help crossing the street."

Led Zeppelin: Rarely Seen Photos from "Good Times, Bad Times"

Other highlights from the piece:

- Plant and Alison Krauss began crafting a follow-up to their 2007 surprise smash LP Raising Sand, but it didn't go well. "The sound wasn't there," says Plant. "Alison is the best. She's one of my favorite people. We'll come back to it."

- Plant recently flew to Morocco and recreated a legendary trip he went on with Jimmy Page where the duo wrote "Kashmir." "I wanted to go back and take that road," Plant says. "It just heads all the way down the coast. It was fucking amazing."

Robert Plant Previews Upcoming Band of Joy Album

- Tony Blair's religious awakening horrified Plant to the point that he stopped writing new songs. "The last time I lifted a pen was when Tony Blair became a Roman Catholic," he says. "We were supposedly going into the Gulf, determined to sort the world out in the name of tyranny. Then, once he had to leave the throne, he became a Roman Catholic and became a peace envoy in the Middle East. That's when I knew the world was completely upside down."

Robert Plant Plays Intimate Club Gig

- Plant is endlessly annoyed by his musical peers (he won't name names) who do little besides replay their old hits. "There's  nothing worse than a bunch of jaded old farts, and that's a fact," he says. "People who have written their story - they've gotten to the point where nothing moves. I don't deal in that, and I don't deal with anybody who deals in that."

10 Great Quotes on Life From John Lennon

John and Yoko (Photo: Wikipedia)

by Nikki Striefler

Lessons from a Rock and Roll Spiritual Seeker

John Lennon may have had more in common with the great thinkers of any age than with other songwriters who were his contemporaries.

Certainly he was first in a cadre of rock stars who used their celebrity as a force for good, paving the way for Bono and Bob Geldof by decades.

He found his way out of a turbulent life and troubled, working-class childhood and grew into different roles - from Rock Star, peace advocate, social activist, women's rights advocate, and managed to fashion a philosophy that elevated the human spirit and encouraged people to work, individually and collectively, toward a better world.

Like Socrates, Lennon wanted to stimulate people to think for themselves. "There ain't no guru who can see through your eyes," he sings in "I Found Out."

Lennon said he knew he was 'different,' even as a child, sometimes feeling lost and bewildered by it. "I was different from the others. I was different all my life. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius. There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn't see. I was always so psychic or intuitive or poetic or whatever you want to call it, that I was always seeing things in a hallucinatory way."

Throughout his short life, Lennon fought many existential battles with himself and whatever he thought of as God. To interpret Lennon's spiritual hunger, Lennon searched for and sang about the truth, discarding religious indoctrination and accepted norms when they proved unhelpful.

In 1966 Lennon was famously quoted as saying that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. The quote sparked outrage in both the US and the UK, but the real problem with what Lennon said was that there was an element of truth in what he said.

The Beatles WERE more popular (meant more) than Jesus himself for youth in England and America at that time - as do television, video games and many other things of this world to many people today.

Lennon's personal spiritual journey was a public one; from his experimentation with drugs; his encounters with the Maharishi; to his undertaking of primal scream therapy, which helped to grow a number of self help/spiritual fads that mirrored the shifting moods of more than one generation.

In fact, The Beatles 1968 visit to India to learn Meditation at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is credited by some as the first change in attitudes in the West about Indian spirituality. Amidst widespread media attention, their stay at the ashram was one of the band's most productive periods.

John Lennon was a man who both reflected his times and influenced them. He did his searching right out in the open. And if anything, he was probably too honest about both his doubts and his beliefs for his time.

"Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living for today," said Lennon, in the anthem that for many defined his life. "Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too."

Ironically, Mark David Chapman, who shot Lennon in 1980, said that he had become obsessed with the political messages in Lennon's music. He was incensed by Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" remark and stated he was further enraged by "God", and "Imagine."

Toward the end of his short life, Lennon referred to himself a "Zen Christian." He left us with a great legacy of self-examination and spiritual philosophy.

10 Great Quotes from John Lennon

1) You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are.
2) If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.
3) A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.
4) Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
5) I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you.
6) Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.
7) God is a concept by which we measure our pain.
8) Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.
9) If someone thinks that love and peace are a cliche that were left behind in the 60's, that's his problem. Love and Peace are eternal.
10) We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant ... you've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.

Tell us which quote is your favorite (or add another!) at http://www.glad.is

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nikki_Striefler
http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Great-Quotes-on-Life-From-John-Lennon&id=7064253

VIDEO: "Cocaine" by Andwella's Dream

Hi everyone,

I don't know much about this band, but it is really worth listening to. This is brilliant! From 1969, I believe. Lots of Hammond Organ and some really cool guitar work.


Published on YouTube by rockdovu

VIDEO: The Rolling Stones "Crossfire Hurricane" Film Trailer

Hi readers,

Here's the trailer of the new Rolling Stones movie "Crossfire Hurricane" with some further commentary below. Enjoy the movie and feel free to leave a review in the comments box below!

Crossfire Hurricane will screen in select cinemas nationally on Sunday 28 October with encore screenings at some cinemas. Find a cinema near you at www.crossfire-hurricane.com.

Crossfire Hurricane, which takes its title from the opening lines of "Jumping Jack Flash", provides a remarkable new perspective on The Rolling Stones' unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60s to rock royalty for almost five decades.

The film combines extensive historical footage, much of it widely unseen, with contemporary commentaries by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and former Stones, Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. Period interviews, extensive live performance material and news archive give the production a truly kinetic aura and no-holds-barred approach.

Coinciding with the The Rolling Stones 50th anniversary, this commemorative documentary pays tribute to the extraordinary success of the band, directed by Academy Award-nominated Brett Morgan (The Kid Stays in the Picture).

Crossfire Hurricane will have its world premiere at a gala screening at the BFI London Film Festival later this month.

Published on YouTube by sharmillfilmsAU

NEW BOOK REVIEW: The John Lennon Letters

by RetroKimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/10/new-book-john-lennon-letters.html

“The John Lennon Letters” (also available in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Canada) which hits the streets Oct. 9 when he would have turned 72, is a birthday gift to us all.

The massive 392 page book is filled with almost 300 letters and documents dating from his childhood to the day of his death, including what was possibly his final autograph.

These aren't just a pile of papers from unimportant times in his life.

There are letters written while the Beatles were in Hamburg, during the days of Beatlemania and on his own after the Beatles had broken up.

But the marvelous thing about the book, which was compiled by author Hunter Davies, who wrote the Beatles' authorized biography, is the pure emotion contained in the letters.

And while Lennon was often thought of very imaginative and hard, and there are examples of that, the book shows he could also be very tender.

Amazon.com Widgets

BOOK REVIEW: Neil Young: "Waging Heavy Peace"

by Alexis Petridis, The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk

Neil Young's marvellously idiosyncratic autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, rummages through his 50-year career - and offered its writer a relief from music.

Neil Young with Crazy Horse during Farm Aid 2012 (Photo: Jacqueline Larma/AP)

Read an exclusive extract from Waging Heavy Peace 

There are perhaps more relaxing preparations for interviewing Neil Young about his autobiography than reading Neil Young's autobiography. It's not that Waging Heavy Peace isn't a good book. It is, albeit in a very Neil Young-ish way.

Over the course of its 500 pages, Waging Heavy Peace is variously wildly idiosyncratic, unpredictable, bafflingly digressive, wryly funny, deeply moving, plain-speaking, still in thrall to the mysticism of the late 60s, painfully honest - "do not doubt me in my sincerity," counsels Young at one point, "for it is this which has brought us to each other now" - infuriatingly elusive and shot through with moments of rare insight and beauty, which you might say makes it the perfect literary counterpart to the 50-year career it describes, in a fairly roundabout way.

Anyone hoping for a chronological hop through Young's triumphs - the astonishing run of albums that stretches from 1969's Everybody Knows This is Nowhere to 1979's Rust Never Sleeps, the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, his early 90s resurgence, borne by the alt-rock scene his music inspired - is going to go home very disappointed indeed.

The main criticism of it is that it has a tendency to ramble, but as fans at Crazy Horse's recent show in New York's Central Park would have told you - perhaps as their version of 1991's Love and Only Love entered its 14th minute, with no sign of a conclusion in sight - Young is an artist who has always reserved the right to ramble on a bit.

The problem, at least for the prospective interviewer, and particularly if the interviewer is a huge, hawkish Young fan, comes when you reach the part where Young reveals his feelings about interviews.

"I hate interviews," he offers, fairly unequivocally. Journalists, meanwhile, are "jerks" and "dickheads". He is specifically referring to the journalists from Associated Press present at the infamous mid-80s interview when Young - he of the peace signs on his guitar strap and the song about how he never knew a man could tell so many lies until he saw Richard Nixon - appeared to voice support for Ronald Reagan.

But you somehow get the feeling it extends to the profession as a whole. Still, at least the prospective interviewer can console himself with the fact that he's not a blogger, by contrast with whom journalists appear to be his favourite people in the world.

Still, crackling down the line from his New York publisher's office, the 66-year-old sounds affable enough. If I never exactly get the impression that talking to me is the highlight of his day, at least it's nothing compared with some of the stories that circulate among quaking hacks who have made his acquaintance over the years.

It might help that I can't see him: Young's eyes apparently have a habit of fixing journalists with a glare that causes them to wake in a cold sweat years after their encounter. "Back in the beginning I was averse to doing press because I'm not really comfortable with reading about myself," he offers.

"It pisses me off that I can't just create art and have the art stand on its own. I would say, hey, if it's a great album it's going to sell … if it sucks, you know, no one's going to buy it. If it's mediocre, some people will buy it, or it could be great and nobody will get it. But it doesn't make any difference what you say about it."

Nevertheless, he says, Waging Heavy Peace isn't intended as a rebuttal, a misunderstood artist setting the facts straight: he professes not to care about the shelfloads of books that have already been written about him.

"There's nothing much I can do about it and it doesn't matter to me. I find it of interest just to look at it and go, hey wow, that's something else. What am I going to do with it? I don't know what to do with it."

In fact, the book seems to have very prosaic reasons for existing. "Writing is very convenient, has a low expense and is a great way to pass the time," he tells the reader at one juncture, with admirable candour. "I highly recommend it to any old rocker who is out of cash and doesn't know what to do next."

Young needed the money, because he appears to spend it as fast as he earns it. Not, it should be noted, on rock star fripperies, but on vast, complex non-musical projects about which he talks at length in Waging Heavy Peace: his Lincvolt electric car, his inventions for model railways, and his proprietary music system Pono, an iPod rival he says delivers perfect studio sound quality.

He had the time because he broke his toe and was unable to play live: "My manager had mentioned that Penguin was interested in me doing my memoirs, but I hadn't thought much about it. But then when I broke my toe I was just sitting there going, what am I gonna do now? I thought: why don't I just do that book?"

To compound matters further, the author of Homegrown and Roll Another Number for the Road had given up smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol on his doctor's advice: he suffered a brain aneurysm in 2005, the same year his father died after a long struggle with Alzheimer's.

He says that he had barely written a song in 40 years without smoking weed: according to the book, he had literally never performed with his most celebrated backing band Crazy Horse straight. Waging Heavy Peace is underpinned by a struggle to connect with his muse without the aid of a smoke. Given that he is about to release his second new album this year, it's a struggle he clearly overcame.

Arriving hot on the heels of Americana, which featured Young and Crazy Horse singing the British national anthem, Psychedelic Pill opens with a track that clocks in at nearly 28 minutes: clearly Young's cranky eccentricity has survived sobriety intact.

In Waging Heavy Peace, however, there are moments when Young openly wonders if he'll ever complete another song. "How fucking loose do I have to be to write a song?" he protests at one point.

To read further, go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/oct/04/neil-young-autobiography-relief-music

SPECIAL NOTICE: Beatles Magical Mystery Tour News!

by RetroKimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/10/beatles-magical-mystery-tour-news.html

Magical Mystery Tour News
Worldwide Digital Release Debut
Theatre Screenings Continue Around the Globe
Arena Presents The Story Behind The Movie

To celebrate the release of Magical Mystery Tour, the restored film will be shown on the big screen for the very first time and include some never before seen footage and interviews.

A strictly limited number of screenings will take place from 18th September in the US, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Mexico. For details of screenings near you please watch the trailer and click on 'Cinemas'.

In 1967, in the wake of the extraordinary impact of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album and the Our World satellite broadcast of All You Need Is Love, The Beatles devised, wrote, and directed their third film, Magical Mystery Tour, a dreamlike story of a coach day trip to the seaside.

The film follows a loose narrative and showcased six new songs: Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On The Hill, I Am The Walrus, Flying, Blue Jay Way, and Your Mother Should Know.

Magical Mystery Tour To Be Released on iTunes

The long out-of-print, classic feature film makes its worldwide digital release debut, exclusively on The iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com/TheBeatles), with a remastered and remixed soundtrack and iTunes Extras featuring extensive bonus features and detailed art, including a companion booklet.

Seven iTunes-exclusive Magical Mystery Tour ringtones also debut today, joining a broad selection of Beatles songs available for ringtone purchase on The iTunes Store.

Continued Screenings of the Film

With a Gala screening in London last night, the film continues to be shown at selected theatres. Experience the restored visuals and clarity of the surround sound at a screening near you.

BBC Broadcasts Magical Mystery Tour Revisited Documentary

The BBC will be showing the documentary Magical Mystery Tour Revisited this Saturday in the UK on BBC Two at 9.45pm GMT. The documentary will be broadcast locally around the world - check your local listings for information about dates and times.

Arena presents the greatest Beatles story never told, a blockbuster double-bill. Beginning with a documentary full of fabulous Beatles archive material never shown before anywhere in the world. Songs you'll never forget, the film you've never seen and a story that's never been heard.
Magical Mystery Tour Revisited on BBC Two

You can pre-order your copy today from:
Official US Store | Official UK Store | Official Japan Store

Many thanks
thebeatles.com

SPECIAL NOTICE: Very Rare Rolling Stones Photos on Display in Los Angeles

by RetroKimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/10/very-rare-rolling-stones-photos-on.html

Brian Jones

Found: Photographs of the Rolling Stones, will be a month long exhibition of twenty-three rare and candid photographs that document the Rolling Stones in Savannah, Georgia and Clearwater, Florida in 1965. Archival prints will be for sale in both 24×36 and 7×10.

Photographs of the Rolling Stones,” an exhibit centered around a collection of unattributed photographs discovered at a Southern California estate sale. Curators Lauren White and George Augusto collaborated with Apart Projects to present the 23 never-before-publicly-displayed candid images, all taken from the band’s American tour in 1965.

The shots feature intimate portraits of band-mates Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Ian Stewart, all set against the backdrop of 1960’s Savannah, Georgia and Clearwater, Florida. Read more at LA CONFIDENTIAL

New Book on Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

by RetroKimmer.com: http://www.retrokimmer.com/2012/09/new-book-on-mick-jaggerkeith-richards.html

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (Wikipedia)

Just when you though you knew all there was to know about the Rolling Stones, a new Mick Jagger biography reveals details of his love life and his complex relationship with band mate Keith Richards.

Publisher Ecco, a Harper Collins imprint, describes the bio, simply titled Mick Jagger, as "The real story of how a shy economics student became a modern Antichrist ... of the beautiful women from Chrissie Shrimpton to Jerry Hall, whom he has bedded but not always dominated ... of the enduring but ever-fraught partnership with his "Glimmer Twin," Keith Richards.

Mick Jagger, above all, explores the keen and calculating intelligence that has kept the Stones on their plinth as 'the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band' for half a century." You can also enjoy a generous preview of the book at the publisher's website.

Author Phillip Norman has written three previous biographies of the Stones, as well as what the New York Times calls the definitive book about the Beatles: Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles.

Mick Jagger will be available October 2.

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