TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: GOT THEIR "MOJO" WORKIN'

I loved Tom Petty's last two albums, both of which were non-Heartbreakers projects: 2008's Mudcrutch reunion/debut album, and 2006's solo album Highway Companion (which reunited him with the Full Moon Fever team of Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne). But I'm glad that his next album will be the first Heartbreakers studio album since 2002's underrated The Last DJ. The album is called Mojo and will be coming out in the spring.  And if you buy tickets for the band's summer tour, you automatically get a free digital copy of the album. Also of note: the opening bands on this summer's tour include My Morning Jacket, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills & Nash, ZZ Top and The Drive-By Truckers. Man, I would LOVE to see The Drive-By Truckers with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Anyway, get more info about the album and the tour at Tom's website. And by the way, check out his weekly SIRIUS|XM Radio show on Deep Tracks, you can also hear it all day long on SIRIUS|XM Music Showcase.

NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE CONCERT LINEUP ANNOUNCED

Over the summer, I mentioned that NARAS had announced that the great Neil Young would be honored as their MusicCares Person Of The Year in 2010. The concert/event will take place January 29 at the L.A. Convention center, and will probably cost a ton of money (albeit, going to a good cause, MusicCares does some good stuff).

I've read online (but not at the NARAS site) a list of performers, so I don't know if it offiical, but if it is, this is a great lineup: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, Ozomalti, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Crosby Stills & Nash, Wilco, Jackson Browne, Josh Groban(!) and some new band called Everest. Fans rarely get to see these shows (even on TV) which is too bad, especially this year.

CATCH IT ON HBO: THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME CONCERT

If, like me, you aren't a millionaire and weren't able to attend the two-night Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden last week and were really bummed about it, here's a small bit of consolation: HBO will be broadcasting highlights from the show on November 29 (and probably broadcasting repeats afterwards? I don't know, I don't have HBO). You can see the lineup at the right.

In 1995, I attended the "Concert For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" celebrating the opening of the actual museum (the Hall of Fame existed in the abstract for years before the building was finally built and opened to the public). The lineup featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (an especially big deal, as they hadn't performed together in a few years at that point), Al Green, The Allman Brothers Band, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, George Clinton & The P-Funk Allstars, John Fogerty (his first performance in a long time), Robbie Robertson (one of his only solo performances ever), John Mellencamp, The Kinks (I think it was their final public performance), Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Soul Asylum (who backed Lou Reed and then Iggy Pop). There were some cool combos: Bruce and The E Street Band backed Chuck and Jerry Lee (although I read that Bruce was unhappy with their performance), Bruce sang "Forever Young" with Dylan, Al and Aretha snag together, Sheryl sang with the Allmans, Larry Graham of The Family Stone performed with P-Funk, it was a pretty good time.

But last week's shows were even better. Rollling Stone wrote up both nights, which were filled with highlights. This time, Bruce & E Street (in top form as opposed to last time) backed up Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, John Fogerty and Darlene Love, plus they were joined by Tom Morello for "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" and The Clash's "London Calling." Wow. They also backed up Billy Joel on a few of his songs. Stevie Wonder collaborted with John Legend (who came to MSG straight from singing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium at The World Series!), B.B. King, Sting, Smokey Robinson and Jeff Beck. Paul Simon collaborated with Dion and Little Anthony & The Imperials, and did a Simon & Garfunkel set after his solo set. And Crosby Stills & Nash were joined by Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne. That was just night one!

On night two, Aretha Franklin was joined by Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz, and Jeff Beck (filling in for Eric Clapton) was joined by Sting, Buddy Guy and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Then stuff got really crazy as Metallica took the stage. Opening with "For Whom The Bell Tolls," "One" and Bob Seger's "Turn The Page," they were then joined by Lou Reed for versions of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat." Whoa. Then Ozzy Osbourne joined them for Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Finally, Ray Davies for The Kinks' "You Really Got Me." Then it was U2, who played their own songs, but also backed Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith for "Because The Night." The Black Eyed Peas also joined u2, as did Mick Jagger for "Gimme Shelter" and "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Wow, I can't wait to see this on TV, and hopefully they release an album of this. And hopefully it will be more affordable than the DVD box set of induction ceremony highlights. (Get it here).

INSERT "OLD" JOKE HERE: RICK RUBIN TO PRODUCE CSN

Soon after the announcement that Rick Rubin is
going to produce the next ZZ Top album, word comes out that he's also producing the next Crosby Stills & Nash record. According to Billboard, it's going to be an album of covers.

I remember about ten years ago, there was talk that the trio was going to record an album of songs they had done in thier former bands: The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies. They ditched that idea, started writing new songs, and went to the studio for the sessions which would eventually attract Neil Young for the Crosby Stills Nash & Young album Looking Forward. But if Rick doesn't want new songs, the band is obviously smart enough to do what he wants to be able to work with him. But Rick Rubin doesn't spend as much time in the studio as other producers: I wonder how that will go.

In the same Billboard story, Graham Nash mentions some other interesting projects, including an album worth of unreleased tapes of Stephen Stills playing with Jimi Hendrix. Nash also said that he was putting together a live album from CSNY's 1974 tour. The Neil tome Shakey didn't make that tour sound too great, but I'd gladly buy that album. I'd rather hear a live album from the 1999 or 2001 tours though.

By the way, the "old" in the title is a reference to the title track of Looking Forward where Neil sings about "trying not to use the word 'old.'" But I wonder: Columbia Records signed Rick as a Exec VP last year: I wonder how signing ZZ and producing CSN will give them a return on their investment?