The Rolling Stones have just announced they are releasing new music, with "Foreign Tongues" which will be the legendary British rock band's twenty-fifth studio album. Their last album of original material, "Hackney Diamonds" was released three years ago and the Stones has once again teamed up with Andrew Watt to produce their latest effort which will be drop on July 10th.
While the two original members, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are now octogenarians (and longtime guitarist Ronnie Wood is not far behind at seventy-eight) and have been creating and playing music together for over sixty years, that doesn't mean they still can't rock. And they prove it quite convincingly with two songs released from the upcoming record. There's the lead single "In the Stars", a rousing blues-rock track with Jagger's vocals sounding in good form while another track, "Rough and Twisted" (which had been teased and put out on vinyl on Record Store Day last month under the band name, "The Cockroaches") is a guitar blasting blues number that glides with the band's classic swagger.
Some tracks were recorded during the "Hackney Diamonds" sessions and much like that last album, this new record will feature a few impressive guest appearances, this time by Paul McCartney, Robert Smith of The Cure, and Steve Winwood. "Foreign Tongues" will also feature the final recording with the band's original drummer, Charlie Watts which was done during a session in Los Angeles shortly before his death in 2021 at the age of eighty.
Marianne Faithfull, the British pop chanteuse who found fame in the 1960's before succumbing to drug addiction then recovering and making a comeback in the late '70's, has passed away on January 30th at the age of seventy-eight. She began her career with a melodic, high-registered voice but after contracting severe laryngitis along with years of drug abuse, Faithfull was left with a singing voice that was lower pitched and raspy. The singer had suffered from numerous ailments throughout her life and recently contracted COVID-19 in 2020, causing pneumonia and was hospitalized for three weeks. After recovering, she continued to struggle with breathing issues and memory loss.
The London born Faithfull began performing folk music in bars and cafes. But her career would shift considerably after attending a party for the Rolling Stones in 1964. She met the Stones producer, Andrew Loog Oldham there and, taken in by the beauty and presence of this eighteen year old, offered her a chance to record. Oldham gave her a new song that he, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had written and "As Tears Go By" would become a top-ten pop hit in the UK (the Stones would record their own hit version a year later) for Faithfull. She would follow this with several more popular singles in Britain.
In 1965, Faithfull met artist, John Dunbar which was quickly followed by them getting married and having a son, Nicholas not long after. But a love affair with Jagger began the following year with Faithfull leaving her husband and child behind. The beautiful, glamourous couple best represented the free spirit of the mod '60's. Faithfull would continue to make music and would appear in several films including "The Girl on a Motorcycle" and "Hamlet". But by the time their relationship had ended five years later, Faithfull was homeless and addicted to heroin.
After getting herself clean and sober, Faithfull attempted a musical comeback. She released a country album, "Dreamin' My Dreams" in 1976 which didn't get much notice. But four years later, Faithfull teamed up with musician Barry Reynolds who helped produce some demos with her. The results got the attention of Chris Blackwell who signed her to his record label, Island Records. "Broken English" was released in 1979 with Faithfull's voice noticeably different sounding yet still very emotive. The album, which was a collection of new wave with elements of punk and reggae, received critical acclaim and giving Faithfull a first nomination of a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Faithfull would continue on with her music career, experimenting with sounds, recording albums that featured jazz, blues, standards, modern rock. She even re-recorded her first hit "As Tears Go By" in 1987 which was a more wistful and weathered version. Faithfull recorded twenty-one albums during her career with her last in 2021, "She Walks in Beauty" where she collaborated with Australian multi-instrumentalist, Warren Ellis. They had started this project of British romantic poetry set to music the year before but had to wait until Faithfull recovered from COVID to complete.
For over sixty years, The Rolling Stones has remained "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World". And this British band, which the current lineup features founding members, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (following the passing of original drummer, Charlie Watts in 2021) and Ronnie Wood (who joined in 1975), is still making music together. The Stones are about to release a new album of original material (their first in eighteen years) called "Hackney Diamonds".
With production by Don Was and Andrew Watt, the band had begun work back in 2020 before being interrupted by the COVID-19 shutdowns, then going back in earnest in late 2022 and concluding in early 2023. The album, due out on October 20th, has an impressive list of guest musicians appearing which includes Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga, former Stone, Bill Wyman and a member of their "rival" Brit rock band back in the '60's, former Beatle, Paul McCartney. There are a couple of tracks that features Watts on drums with the rest of the album featuring new drummer, Steve Jordan.
The first single, "Angry" delivers a classic Stones sound, filled with thrashing guitars, pulsating beat and a characteristically cheeky vocal by Jagger. The music video has actress, Sydney Sweeney as a black leather clad chick gyrating seductively in the back of a convertible as the car cruises down Sunset Blvd in LA, watching vintage Rolling Stones billboards come to life.
Music has always played an important part in cinema since the very beginning of the industry. The early films were silent but were accompanied by a pianist or even, in some large cities, a small orchestra in theaters. When recorded, synchronized sound began in 1927, it was a game-charger for the movies and the first sound feature film released, "The Jazz Singer" was, not surprisingly, a musical.
Over time, documentaries were made about music and the gifted artists who created these sounds. In recent years, this has exploded with a large number of movies about musicians, well-known, obscure or forgotten, in all genres have been filling cinemas and streaming channels.
Vulturehas put together a list of fifty of what they consider to be the best music documentaries of all time. First putting these selections together in 2015, they have updated this listing to include recent releases. These movies (which include a few concert films) are all important and fascinating documents. There are films which deeply explore what has made many of these popular musicians so vital; highlight professionals who had assisted singers and musicians with their careers and reveal talented artists who never had a real opportunity to shine in their lifetime yet remain highly influential.
Sarah Dash, one third of the soul-funk group, Labelle before venturing out as a solo artist, has sadly passed away on September 20th at the age of seventy-six. No cause of death has been revealed to date.
Born in Trenton, NJ (and one of thirteen children), Dash began singing in church where her father was a pastor. After moving to Philadelphia as a teen, she started to sing soul and doo-wop when she joined a local girl-group, The Ordettes with Sundray Tucker, Nona Hendryx and Patricia Holte. Tucker left the group and Cindy Birdsong replaced her with the act changing their name to The Blue Belles in 1962. The group went through another change after their management decided for lead singer, Holte to be renamed "Patti LaBelle", with the quartet becoming Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. The group had a few minor pop and r&b hits with "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", "Down the Aisle" and covers of "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Danny Boy" and "Over the Rainbow".
After Birdsong went off to join the Supremes in 1967, the remaining members struggled before changing management (to English talent manager, Vicki Wickham), musical direction and their name to "LaBelle" in 1971. The group would become best known for their socially conscious songs and soulful renditions of rock songs by Cat Stevens, The Who and working with singer/songwriter, Laura Nyro on an album. While LaBelle enjoyed critical acclaim, they still failed to achieve commercial success until their 1974 album, "Nightbirds". The record featured the single, "Lady Marmalade" (produced by Allen Toussaint and Wickham) about a New Orleans sex worker that would become the group's biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Soul charts. LaBelle's subsequent albums did not receive much attention and after creative disagreements on material, the trio decided to go their separate ways in 1977.
During her time with Labelle, Dash had begun to sing more lead vocals and co-write songs. She released her self-titled debut album in 1978 and had a top-ten disco hit with "Sinner Man" with Dash later finding popularity in dance music. After developing a friendship with Keith Richards while Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles opened for his band, The Rolling Stones in the early 1960s, he asked her to tour with him and his side band, X-pensive Winos in 1988 and provide backing vocals on the Stones' 1989, "Steel Wheels" album. And after the occasional musical reunion over the years, LaBelle finally released another album, "Back To Now" in 2008, thirty-two years after their last recording.
Charlie Watts, the low-key yet vibrant drummer for "the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band", the Rolling Stones, passed away on August 24th at the age of eighty. There has been no cause of death disclosed but Watts had been suffering from some health issues over the last few years including throat cancer in 2004. The British musician joined the Stones a year after they formed in 1962 and remained with the band until his passing, even planning on performing with the Stones on their current No Filter tour (and had never missed a show when the band was on the road throughout his career) but had to withdraw due to his failing health.
Watts's first love was jazz and was given a drum set by his parents when he was fourteen, learning to play by drumming along with the recordings of "Jelly Roll" Morton and Charlie Parker. Although he attended art school, planning on becoming a graphic designer, Watts still played drums occasionally with jazz and r&b bands in local clubs. In 1961, Watts joined the blues band, Blues Incorporated but was practical by keeping a day job with an advertising firm during his time with the group.
Watts met members of the scrappy blues-soul band, The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, early in their formation. They pursued him for a while before Watts finally agreed and made his first appearance as a Stone at the Ealing Blues Club in 1963. With Andrew Loog Oldman becoming their manager, Stewart was forced out and he pushed for the band's image as rock & roll bad boys. It seemed to work as the Stones first reached the UK pop charts with "I Wanna Be Your Man" in 1964, followed by hit covers of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and Bobby & Shirley Womack's "It's All Over Now".
Watts' jazz-influenced drumming style helped transform the sound of the Rolling Stones, making their music swing in a way not typical in rock. And while he was part of a very popular rock & roll band, Watts never gave up his love of jazz, forming his own band, the Charlie Watts Orchestra in 1986 and releasing a live jazz album. He later put together a smaller group called the Charlie Watts Quintet which he toured and recorded with throughout the 1990's. Watts also did not give up with his artistic endeavors, having designed some album covers and helped create the stages for the Stones' concerts over the years.
Watts had a love/hate relationship with his participation with the band; while he loved playing with his mates, he had no desire to become a pop star, staying out of the spotlight outside of performing as much as possible. When the Rolling Stones where inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, the drummer did not attend the ceremony. Watts is survived by his wife, Shirley, who he married in 1964, and their daughter, Serafina.
I was quite surprised to hear how smoothly a settlement was reached between Sam Smith and Tom Petty in regards to the new pop star's hit song sounding very similar to the rocker's 1989 tune. Although Smith and his co-writers, James Napier and William Phillips were not familiar with "I Won't Back Down", the song composed by Petty and co-writer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, the trio agreed to add them as writers to last year's smash, "Stay With Me" which earned Sam Smith multiple Grammy nominations. It's pretty amazing how there was no ugly, drawn-out legal battle and the situation was resolved very amicably.
Do they really sound alike? Well, maybe it's just me but I can't really hear it. Here are the two songs together, so listen and judge for yourself:
"Stay With Me" - Sam Smith (2014) vs.
"I Won't Back Down" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1989)
This is hardly the first time this situation of songs sounding similar has arisen. Below are a few famous examples that were eventually settled in court. These cases, I can hear the similarities, (especially Harrison vs. The Chiffons):
The Rolling Stones - "Anybody Seem My Baby" (1997) vs.
David Fincher is the man of the moment due to his critically acclaimed, box-office hit, "Gone Girl". What people may not realize (or remember) is that Mr. Fincher began his career directing commericals and most notably, music videos. To date, he's made over fifty clips with his most recent being Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie" which won Fincher a Grammy Award last year for Best Music Video.
New York Magazine has complied a list ranking the Oscar-nominated director's best work in music videos. Click below to read:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the British musical group who are known as "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band", The Rolling Stones.
Childhood friends, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards both shared a deep love for the blues and r&b and decided to form a band. On July 12, 1962, they first performed with Jagger providing vocals and Richards, guitar along with guitarist, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart on piano and Tony Chapman on drums, as "The Rollin' Stones" at the Marquee Club in London. The band started off playing mostly blues covers but were encouraged by their management to write their own material with Jagger and Richards teaming up to become the group's main songwriters.
The Rolling Stones had their first U.K.top-ten recording with a cover of Buddy Holly's classic, "Not Fade Away" in February 1964 but reached the U.S. pop charts later that year with the song, "Time Is On My Side", peaking at number six. After the song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" became the band's first international number one smash in 1965 (also the first big hit written by Jagger and Richards), this began a long string of hit records and world tours for The Rolling Stones.
Bill Wyman joined the group later in 1962 to play bass and Charlie Watts replaced Chapman to become the band's drummer in 1963. Also that year, Ian Stewart was removed from the group as their manager felt he didn't fit properly with their image of a "rock & roller" but he would remain as The Stones' road manager and occasionally play piano on recordings until his death in 1985. After developing a serious drug problem causing his inability to properly contribute to the group, it was decided that Brian Jones should leave The Stones in June 1969 but less than a month later, Jones drowned at home in his swimming pool. Mick Taylor joined The Stones as a guitarist shortly after Jones had been released from the band and stayed with the group until 1974. Ron Wood, who was the guitarist for The Faces, toured and recorded with The Rolling Stones in 1975 but didn't decide to officially join The Stones until the following year when his band broke-up. Bill Wyman retired from the group after "The Steel Wheels" Tour in 1992. He later formed a blues-rock band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in 1997 and continues to perform with them.
This highly successful band has recorded twenty-nine studio albums to date, seventeen live albums and released over one hundred singles to wind up selling over two hundred million records worldwide. They were inducted in to The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1989.
There are rumors that The Rolling Stones are planning a tour to commemorate their anniversary, possibly to begin later this year or 2013 but no exact details have been revealed yet.
Here are a few of my favorite tunes by The Rolling Stones:
"Get Off Of My Cloud" - The Rolling Stones (1965)
"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones (1969)
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" - The Rolling Stones (1973)
"Beast Of Burden" - The Rolling Stones (1978)
"Shattered" - The Rolling Stones (1978)
"Start Me Up " - The Rolling Stones (1981)
Here is a live appearance by The Stones on "The TAMI Show" concert performing their first U.S. hit, "Tine Is On My Side":
The Stones perform live another hit song, "Angie":
This great video for "Love Is Strong" from The Rolling Stones' 1994 album, "Voodoo Lounge" was directed by film director, David Fincher:
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