THIRD MAN'S V.I.P. CLUB

I just got the first package of Third Man Records ' Vault program. For a three month $60 membership, you get access to paid content on their website (and it's lots of stuff, videos, stills). But you also get a package in the mail every three months. So, now I have a sweet-ass Third Man Records t-shirt that isn't available anywhere else. I also have The White Stripes' Icky Thump in glorious mono on double vinyl. And a Dead Weather 7" which includes a cover of doom metal band Pentagram's "Forever My Queen," and another song called "Outside" (I don't know who that is by though). I wonder if enough people will think that this is worth the $20 per month to keep paying. I know there's a lot of collectors out there.

IF YOU WANT TO GET ME A GIFT...

For years, I've hoped that at some point, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would make some of the once-in-a-lifetime performances that go down at their induction ceremonies available. Through Time Life, they are releasing a 9 DVD box set with tons of awesome stuff, including: the Cream reunion (admittedly less cool now that Cream did a few full live concerts with a DVD and CD recording), John Fogerty performing backed by Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson, The Doors' entire induction performance with Eddie Vedder, Santana performing with many of the original members joined by Peter Green, the George Harrison tribute featuring Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison, Steve Winwood and Prince, Queen with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, U2 with Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Beck with Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen with W. Axl Rose, Metallica's Black Sabbath tribute, and (as they say on TV) much, much more! I didn't see any songs from Led Zeppelin's induction, which is a shame: they jammed with Neil Young on one song, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on another. Same night, Neil Young & Crazy Horse jammed with Pearl Jam, I didn't see that on the track list either. But this looks like a fun, if expensive, box set (it's $120). It would be great if they offered the audio tracks a la carte on iTunes, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

KISS - NEW APP, VEGAS RESIDENCY?

Not to be confused with the body care company, Kiss My Face, KISS Your Face is one of the more useful iPhone apps: it turnes your face into a member of KISS. That's even cooler than the light saber app! Find out more at KISSONLINE.

Meanwhile, a story is circulating that KISS may do a Vegas residency. I don't know why that hasn't happened already. It's a perfect match! I've only been to Vegas twice, both times totally paid for by work - but while I was there, I had a good time with it. If I was in Vegas, I'd love to see a huge KISS show.

Meanwhile, with all of the other KISS news about their new album and limited edition M&M's, I forgot to mention that their former guitarist Ace Frehley also has an album coming out. Anamoly comes out September 15, just a few weeks before KISS release Sonic Boom on October 6 (exclusively through Walmart - I wonder if you can buy Ace's album there also?).

SCALPERS, NOT BROKERS

People who re-sell tickets for a profit online are not brokers, they are scalpers. I know this isn't as important of a problem as, say, getting affordable health care for all Americans, but it's still annoying. The New York Times has a story about the industry trying to become legit.

BRIAN JONES' DEATH TO BE RE-EXAMINED

The BBC is reporting that police have recieved some new evidence in the case of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones' death - which occured 40 years ago - and they are going to examine it (but they say that they aren't going to re-0pen the case just yet). That's crazy. I wonder how many police from the force are still active. I wonder what they'll find.

JIMI HENDRIX SIGNS TO SONY

OK, so that is a bit of a misleading headline. But the Jimi Hendrix catalog, run by Experience Hendrix Records, is moving from Universal Music to Sony Legacy. And speaking of misleading, a couple of months ago, I misreported that Experience Hendrix signed a new deal with Universal: that was actually a publishing deal, not a record deal. Sorry about that. But I do wonder if Experience Hendrix will still release the February 1969 gigs at London's Royal Albert Hall that I wrote about in that same story. That's the main thing I care about - will there be cool stuff that we haven't heard before as part of this deal... and I don't mean studio noodling that was never meant for human consumption, I mean quality recordings of live performances.

The press release announcing the Experience Hendrix/Sony deal says that they'll be releasing expaneded editions of all the Jimi albums, but I wonder what hasn't already been released?

HAS OZZY ALREADY REPLACED ZAKK WYLDE?

I wonder what the real reason behind Ozzy Osbourne (allegedly) ditching Zakk Wylde is. But rumors seem to be circulating on the web, including on the metal site Blabbermouth, that Ozzy is now working with a guitarist called Gus G. So, now Oz is gonna have beef with two of the most important guitarists in his life: Zakk and Tony Iommi. It's a shame. Ozzy doesn't have many years left as a heavy metal frontman, and I wish he would finish it on good terms with Tony and Black Sabbath, and with Zakk as well.

WHAT'S UP WITH STEVEN TYLER AND AEROSMITH?

Aerosmith had to cancel their summer tour but that's not the end of the bad news. Apparently a paparazzi web site has footage of Steven Tyler in a liquor store, a place an addict shouldn't be. There's always been rumors that he's fallen off the wagon, I hope that he hasn't. He discusses that in this Rolling Stone interview. He also discusses some other stuff I didn't know about: the fact that he's signed to a different management company than the rest of the band, and that he's working on a solo album.

TWO NEW FOO FIGHTERS SONGS

I mentioned a while back that The Foo Fighters debuted a new song, "Wheels," when they played the White House's July 4th picnic, and that the song is going to be on their upcoming greatest hits album. Well, it turns out that there's going to be another new song called "Word Forward" which was produced by Butch Vig - who of course Dave Grohl worked with on Nirvana's Nevermind. (Dave also filled in for Butch Vig by playing drums on Garbage's "Bad Boyfriend.")

That will probably be the last we hear from the Foos for a while, as Dave is probably going to be spending a lot of time with Them Crooked Vultures in the next few months.

NOEL GALLAGHER QUITS OASIS! (for real, maybe?)

A note posted on the Oasis myspace page from Noel Gallagher says that he quit Oasis. Great band, but I don't think their recent work is as great as their earlier work. Maybe Noel will be more inspired when he doesn't have to write for Liam. The note says "It's with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan. "

ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF THEM CROOKED VULTURES

I can't wait to hear their album, and see them in concert.

KURT COBAIN ON GUITAR HERO

Kurt Cobain is going to be on Guitar Hero 5, and here's what he's going to look like. Eerie. This edition will also have Carlos Santana, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Johnny Cash and Matt Bellamy of Muse.

In other Nirvana news, a live CD/DVD of thier Redding Festival performance from August 30, 1992 is coming out November 17 - the same day that SubPop releases the Bleach reissue.

TRENT REZNOR ON CHRIS CORNELL

So, earlier this year, Trent Reznor was really critical of Chris Cornell's Scream album, which was produced by Timabland. It bummed me out a bit, because I am a huge fan of both artists (Trent and Chris, that is, although Timba has definitely created some songs that I enjoy). And I like some of the songs on Scream, although, admittedly, it doesn't hold up to Chris' greatest moments with Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, or even Audioslave and some of his better solo stuff from the past. In a new interview, Trent elaborated on his comments. He said that when Nine Inch Nails were on Interscope, the same label that Cornell is on, and that label head Jimmy Iovine always was trying to get him to record with Timbaland or Pharell, or whoever was the hot producer of the moment - just to get him on the radio. "I think that when somebody who is respected like he is goes that route, it sends the message that it's OK to give up any kind of core values you had to be the fashion of the moment. I don't think that's OK." I respect that, even though Trent himself has done a remix for Puff Daddy, and wanted to work with Dr. Dre at one point (Dre mixed a song on The Fragile). Read the whole interview here.

I doubt Trent would be impressed that Chris just announced a partnership with Virgin Airlines, who will play Scream on their flights.

MATT SORUM FILLING IN ON DRUMS FOR MOTORHEAD

Velvet Revolver drummer (and former Guns N Roses and

Cult and Y Kant Tori Read drummer) Matt Sorum is going to be playing drums on some dates on Motorhead's upcoming tour. Why? Because Mikkey Dee had booked himself on England's I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!
That's just weird! But it comes from Lemmy himself, via Bravewords.com. I'm hoping to see Motorhead when they come to NYC next week, with The Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy opening up.

BLOGFIGHT!

The indie rock blog Buddyhead just put extremely influencial indie rock blog Pitchfork on blast. Normally I wouldn't care about this, but it was kind of funny. Pitchfork recently made their top 500 songs of the '00s list, and Buddyhead really called them out on it. Here's how they broke down Pitchfork's formula.

10: Disco
09: Set iPod shuffle to “Indie”
08: Disco
07: Beyonce
06: Animal Name
05: Kanye West
04: Eminem
03: Set iPod shuffle to “Indie”
02: Animal Name
01: Lil’ Wayne

Mine would be like (1) Bob Dylan (2) garage rock band with a "the" in the name (3) Aimee Mann (4) album by old-school rapper that no one knows came out... Pretty funny.

RYAN ADAMS: GAMER, ARTISTE

Ryan Adams is kind of a renaissance man: not only can he tackle all kinds of music, from alt-country (a genre he claims to detest) to metal, punk, and Smiths-style music and he's even been a sideman to Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead. But his abilities extend beyond music. His paintings are going to go on display at the Morrison Hotel gallery in NYC next month, and he's also started a video game blog.

THE DOORS LIVE IN NEW YORK BOX SET

No band has lowered their "stock" more in recent years than The Doors, thanks to their silly reunion tours with different singers (and Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek's legal battle with drummer John Desmore and even Police drummer Stewart Copeland who was at one point supposed to play drums on their tour).

But this is the type of thing that can make you forget about all that nonsense: a 6 CD set of four Doors shows recorded at NYC's Felt Forum over two nights in 1970. It comes out in November. Read about it at Rhino's website.

KICK IT BIG WILLIE STYLE

Willie Nelson is one of the most

prolific artists around - and he's over 70 years old. That's pretty inspiring.

But his incredible rate of output can get confusing, so let me help you out. This week, he released American Classic. It's an album of standards in the tradition of his classic Stardust from 1978. It is on a new (for him) label, Blue Note, and features duets with Norah Jones and Diana Krall. "Grammy" written all over it - I hope it works out that way.

Lost Highway is a new compilation of his material from the past decade or so, of material he recorded for the Lost Highway label. This time period includes at least one of my favorite Willie albums - if not my #1 - 2004's It Will Always Be. But there's lots of gems on this album, and while I may have chosen different songs, it is a great place to check out some of Willie's more recent work. There are some rare songs, like "Superman," "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond Of Each Other" and "Ain't Goin' Down On Brokeback Mountain."

The Willie Nelson Special is a DVD of a concert from 1985 where Willie was joined on stage by Ray Charles for a bunch of songs, including their classic duet "Seven Spanish Angels," and a song that they both had a hit with, "Georgia On My Mind." This looks like it is one worth getting - I wish they were putting out a CD as well.

Finally, my favorite Willie album of the year is his collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel, Willie & The Wheel. I wish that got the attention that American Standard will get. Actually, they can both be nominated for Grammys in separate categories: standards and country. It would be cool if Willie nabbed a bunch of awards next year.

ELLIE GREENWICH 1940 - 2009

You don't have to be famous to make an impact. Rest in peace, Ellie Greenwich (I got the image here from a post from Little Steven, a guy who certainly appreciates her incredible songwriting abilities).

THE WHO: NEW ALBUM IN 2010?

Now this was unexpected. Pete Townshend says (on his blog - which I can't access because I'm not a paying member of The Who's fan club or whatever) that he is working on a new musical called Floss, which will provide new material for a new Who album, due out next year. Floss, he says, will get a full theatrical treatment in 2011.

DYLAN'S CHRISTMAS ALBUM

Yep, it's true, Bob Dylan is putting out a Christmas album. Christmas In The Heart comes out next month. All proceeds will benefit the charity Feeding America. In other Dylan news, guitarist Charlie Sexton has rejoined Bob's touring band.

JONATHAN DEMME'S "NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW" TO PREMIERE

Neil Young's Trunk Show, shot in Philly in 2007 by Jonathan Demme, was supposed to debut at SXSW this year, but didn't. It will, however, make its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. This article hints that Neil might perform at the festival, but I hear that that isn't true.

I saw Neil a few nights after this film was shot, and he blew my mind.

SST MOVES TO AUSTIN

Here's a long article in the Austin Chronicle about Greg Ginn moving SST Records to Austin, Texas. I had no idea he still plays as much as he does. I guess there's no chance that he'd ever reconcile with former Black Flag bandmate (or employee, depending on how you look at the way he ran the band) Henry Rollins -when Rollins did his tour of Black Flag songs, Ginn did a bogus reunion show with pre-recorded bass tracks. But it would be cool if it ever did happen. It could raise a lot of money for SST, that's for sure.

A COOL BLACK SABBATH ESSAY

I just want to ignore all the crap going on in the world of Black Sabbath these days and just enjoy the music. I may pick up the deluxe reissues of Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master Of Reality, although the remastered versions on The Black Box (which I actually worked on as a liner notes writer) are pretty definitive. Anyway, I found this great essay about the first three Sabbath albums on The Quietus. Check it out.

THE INDIE ROCK FLOW CHART

This made me laugh. I saw it at the indie rock blog Pigeons and Planes.

THE 12 GREATEST FEMALE ELECTRIC GUITARISTS

I don't read Elle that much. I don't know if I have ever read it, actually. But I like their recent list, inspired by the film It Might Get Loud, of the 12 greatest female electric guitarists. Some really cool ladies on there: Joan Jett, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Kelley Deal of The Breeders and a few others. But not PJ Harvey. I would have included her for sure.

THE SPECIALS' SPECIAL GUEST

It's too bad that Jerry Dammers isn't with the reunited Specials, and no special guest can make up for that. But it was cool that Amy Winehouse made her return to the stage by joining The Specials for "You're Wondering Now" at the V Festival in England.

NORAH JONES TO RELEASE A NEW ALBUM IN NOVEMBER

Norah Jones has just announced that she's releasing a new album in November, and she's working with some new names (and one familiar one). Jacquire King is producing (credits include Tom Waits, Kings Of Leon and Modest Mouse). She also co-wrote songs with Ryan Adams, Okkervil River's Will Sheff, as well as Jesse Harris (who wrote "Don't Know Why").

I look forward to hearing it. It seems like Norah has wanted to add some edge to her music for some time, and maybe this is when she's going for it. I know it is fashionable to dislike Norah, but I'm a big fan. She's as credible as anyone, in my mind. Odds are, she'd be playing in a small bar somewhere, maybe recording for an indie label. Things worked out differently, but I don't think she's changed herself to appeal to the mainstream. I don't think she feels guilty about her success, but I don't think she's going to pander to maintain it.

I remember interviewing her the day that her second album, Feels Like Home, came out. It was the follow up to the zillion selling debut, Come Away With Me, and the pressure on her to follow up that success must have been incredible. Not only was she super cool during the interview, but afterwards, she invited me to her gig that night. Not a Norah Jones gig, but a gig with her band The Little Willies, at some bar in Brooklyn (I think). I think the cover was like $5 or $10. I couldn't believe she was doing that the day her album was coming out, but I guess it was her way of keeping herself grounded. I've always liked her music, and after meeting her, I liked her as a person as well.

U2'S UNFORGETTABLE FIRE DELUXE REISSUE

Last year, U2 put out excellent reissues of their first four releases - Boy, October, War and the live Under A Blood Red Sky EP. In a recent BBC Radio 1 interview, Bono and The Edge discussed a number of things, including how Unforgettable Fire will be next to get the reissue treatment, and it will be coming later this year. I wonder what the bonus tracks will be, and if it will include the 4-track Wide Awake In America EP. Of course, there was also talk that U2 will release a second new album this year, but I doubt that will happen.

MOTOWN'S 50 MOST POPULAR SONGS

Motown has been celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Motown's story is such an astonishing one. The artist roster is unmatched. Smokey. Stevie. The Supremes. Marvin. The Tops. The Temps. What can you really say about Motown that hasn't been said? Anyway, Motown took a poll on their website to find out what their most popular songs were for a collection called Motown 50 Fanthology, which comes out September 1. The Temptations' "My Girl" took first place, followed by Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," and then "Let's Get It On." The Temps were at #4 with "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles were at #5 with "The Tracks Of My Tears." I was fortunate enough to interview Smokey about Motown's history last summer and some of the excerpts of it can be seen inthe below video. It was one of the major honors of my life to sit and talk with the man about the history of Motown.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: DE LA SOUL, PIXIES, STONE ROSES, BOWIE ANNIVERSARIES

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be discussing some
classic albums that celebrate their anniversaries this year.

The Pixies' doolittle celebrates its 2oth, and the band is touring to mark the occasion. I remember buying the album while I was in college after reading a review. It was like the Violent Femmes' debut, which I discovered while in high school: it sounded exotic, like it was from another planet. I didn't love doolittle at first, but I somehow knew that if I gave it time, I would. Earlier tonight I ran 3 miles while listening to it: it was like having a caffine overdose. It was incredible. It is fast and slow, loud and quiet, beautiful and ugly.

de la soul's 3 Feet High and Rising is also 20. They're touring as well; I wrote about this album recently.

The Stone Roses' self-titled debut: also 20. 1989 was a good year. No tour there, but their label is putting out a super deluxe reissue with demos, b-sides, a DVD of a concert from the era, and all thier videos.

The Cult is playing Love in its entirety on their current tour. That album came out 24 years ago, and they've just put out a deluxe reissue.

Finally, David Bowie's Space Oddity is getting a 40th anniversary reissue. I don't think it's one of his better albums, but I will probably check that one out as well.

SO WHAT DO THEM CROOKED VULTURES SOUND LIKE?

Them Crooked Vultures is, as I've mentioned, John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. They have a website, and here's 15 seconds of what they sound like. I'm sold already.

IF YOU HATE GENE SIMMONS, SKIP THIS POST

This movie looks funny anyway, but the Gene Simmons cameo looks hilarious. Gene turns 60 today. Happy birthday Gene.

WATCH NOW: PEARL JAM'S NEW VIDEO "THE FIXER"

You can download the new Pearl Jam video for "The Fixer" at iTunes for free or watch it here.

In other Pearl Jam news, on September 16 in Seattle Stone Gossard will be playing a show with The Hankkhoir, which will also include Shawn Smith and Regan Hagar of Brad, Skerik of Tuatara, Pete Droge and other Seattites. They'll be doing mostly Hank Williams songs, but also other stuff, including some Brad stuff and some of Stone's solo material. Learn more here.

R.E.M. TO RELEASE A(NOTHER) LIVE ALBUM

Quite a few years ago, I got to interview R.E.M. and I asked them why they never put out a live album. They had put out live tracks as b-sides, but they just didn't seem into the idea. I'm glad they changed their mind: in 2007, they released Live, which was a really good album: it gave some of the post-Bill Berry songs some punch that I felt the studio versions lacked. They've since released live discs with the Murmur and Reckoning reissues. Now, they've announced that they will be releasing Live At The Olympia In Dublin album, recorded in July 2007: at this show they were trying out some songs that would be released on their excellent Accelerate. I think 4 songs are already available on iTunes as the Reckoning Live At The Olympia EP, and they sound great.

CHARLIE WATTS HAS A NEW BAND

... not really. But Charlie Watts is doing a few shows in England with a piano player named Ben Waters. Find out more at Mr. Waters' website. Meanwhile, I'm hearing that The Rolling Stones will do more shows in 2010.

LOOG TO GET "STONED" WITH HBO

Andrew Loog Oldham has been there and done it - he was The Rolling Stones' original manager and producer, and he spins a great yarn. If you don't believe me, pick up his books, Stoned and 2Stoned. Or better yet, listen to him on The Underground Garage, where he DJs from his home in Bogota. Now, Variety reports that he's developing an HBO series based on his books. Now that should be fun to watch.

DOLLY PARTON BOX SET DUE IN OCTOBER

Is it even possible that there has never been a Dolly Parton box set before? Sony Legacy is putting out a 4 CD "career-spanning" box set, which should be awesome. It actually will only go through the mid-'90s, so that's not career-spanning, which is a disappointment, but I'm sure it will be worth whatever they charge for it. As a bonus, the liner notes will be written by Laura Cantrell, a great artist in her own right.

STEEL MILL TO RELEASE AN ALBUM (WITHOUT THEIR FORMER LEAD SINGER)

Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez is putting out a new Steel Mill album, All Man The Guns for America. While former lead singer/guitarist Bruce Springsteen won't be on the album, it will feature songs that Bruce wrote back in the day. I'd definitely be interested in hearing what his songs were like in the '60s. Of course I found out about this from Backstreets, and you can check out the album at Steel Mill's website. It's all done with Bruce's blessing.

THOM YORKE NEEDS A YOO-HOO

Larry Flick graciously lets me stop by his morning show on SIRIUS XM OutQ every Wednesday morning to make my weekly "rock report," as he has named it. When we were recently discussing the reissue of R.E.M.'s classic Reckoning, he kind of went off on a tirade about Michael Stipe, and how he takes himself too seriously, and he needs a Yoo-Hoo. You know who else needs one? Thom Yorke of Radiohead. I like Radiohead a lot, but they aren't one of my favorites, and I'm not nearly as crazy about them as their huge legion of fans. But Thom Yorke needs to complain less. He's been saying that Radiohead can't do another full album because it would "kill" them or something like that. Bitch, please. Nothing else needs to be said about that. But Radiohead do have a cool new song, "These Are My Twisted Words," which they are offering as a free download.

SUB POP TO REISSUE NIRVANA'S BLEACH IN NOVEMBER

Nirvana's Bleach turns 20 this year. Wow. Sub Pop is putting out a deluxe reissue with bonus tracks and a live concert recording. What else do you need to know?

HEAR THE NEW KISS SONG

You can hear the new KISS song,
"Modern Day Delilah," at KISSONLINE, where you can also check out their just announced tour dates. I mentioned that their album is coming out at Walmart. But did you know that they also have a new KISS iPhone skin, a line of Mr. Potato Heads and a limited edition version of M&M's? Yes, I'm a big fan, and yes, sometimes thier schtick of putting their name and likeness on everything gets goofy, but I embrace it, it's part of KISS. No one bitches about Jay-Z being too commercial! As far as I'm concerned, every KISS album through Alive II is great, and that's really what I care about. I laugh at all the other stuff, it doesn't bother me.

1969: NOT JUST ABOUT WOODSTOCK

So, there's been a lot of hype about
Woodstock's 40th anniversary and how big of a deal it was. I realize it was a big deal, but lots of other stuff was happening in 1969. It was the year I was born! Here's a few other cool music events from that year: Former Buffalo Springfield member Neil Young went solo: his first solo album, Neil Young, wasn't great, but the follow-up, released later that year, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was his first album with Crazy Horse. Led Zeppelin and The Stooges released classic self-titled debuts (Zep also released their second album in '69), and The Allman Brothers Band and Santana and Yes also released their debuts. Sly & The Family Stone released Stand!, Bob Dylan went "country" with Nashville Skyline, The Velvet Underground released thier self titled classic, Creedence Clearwater Revival released Green River and Blind Faith released thier only album. The Beatles wrapped things up with Abbey Road, The Rolling Stones had Let It Bleed and The Who unleashed Tommy. Also in 1969, Earth changed thier name to Black Sabbath (they'd release their debut in early 1970). A good year for music, and not just hippie stuff.

IT WAS NICE WHILE IT LASTED: THE VERVE BREAK UP (AGAIN)

The Guardian reports that The Verve has broken up. It was nice while it lasted, and I'm glad I got a chance to see them in concert, they were great.

LU'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

Lucinda Williams is going on a tour to celebrate her 30th anniversary (!) as a recording artist. She's going to be doing three night stands in "select" cities where she focuses on a different album each night. I saw her doing this a while back, and, well... it was a disaster. But I'm sure she'll be better this time. She's also giving fans who buy tickets a $7 credit on clothing and a $5 credit for CDs bought at the shows. Good move, Lu!

NEIL YOUNG: NARAS' MUSICARES 2010 PERSON OF THE YEAR

NARAS (a group that I am a member of, although I don't always approve of thier decisions and methods) has announced that Neil Young will be the MusiCares Person of the Year for 2010. Neil will be celebrated at a very high end tribute concert that few regular fans will be able to attend, and it isn't usually recorded for the public. That said, it charges a lot of money to high rollers and raises money for MusiCares, an organization that ensures that "music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need." This includes people with drug problems. Neil is being recognized for his own charitable efforts, mainly his involvement with The Bridge School and Farm Aid. In other Neil news, Warner Brothers has quietly reissued remastered versions of his first four albums, Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush and Harvest. Most of the songs from those albums are found in remastered form on Archives Vol. 1.

VIBE MAGAZINE: SAVED

A company called InterMedia Partners has saved Vibe at the 11th hour: they are going to relaunch the Vibe website, and then the magazine itself. This is the same company that is also relaunching Soul Train, as well as releasing DVDs of classic episodes.