Font ResizeWyman and Taylor join the Stones onstage
During The Rolling Stones' first concert since 2007, they were joined by original bassist Bill Wyman and guitarist Mick Taylor, who replaced Brian Jones in 1969.
During their 23-song, 2 -hour gig at London's O2 Arena, the Stones also were joined by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, who handled Merry Clayton's original intense vocal on 1969's "Gimme Shelter," and guitar great Jeff Beck, who shredded away on a song The Stones had never before performed, Don Nix's "Going Down," a song he recorded in 1972 with his second Jeff Beck Group; that's the one after Rod Stewart & then-bassist, now-Stones guitarist Ron Wood quit to form The Faces.
But the interest was on seeing Wyman and Taylor reunite with the group.
Original member Wyman last performed live with The Stones in 1990, while Taylor, who was a Stone from 1969-1974 (replaced by Wood), played live with them only once (in 1981) since he quit.
The 76-year-old Wyman, who has led the star-studded Rhythm Kings the past couple of decades, joined the band on the 1974 hit, "It's Only Rock and Roll" and 1969's "Honky Tonk Woman." Taylor, whom The Stones' recruited from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers as a hotshot 20-year-old, added searing guitar work to "Midnight Rambler," from 1969's "Let it Bleed," his first album with the group.
It should also be noted that The Stones opened with the group's second single, Lennon-McCartney's
The set was loaded with the usual Stones hits, but they did showcase two new songs, "Doom and Glom" and "One More Chance." There also were two rarely performed gems, the 1965 hit, "Get Off of My Cloud" and their first U.S. hit, a cover of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now," from 1964. Richards gave Jagger a brief break, taking lead vocals, as he did on record, on "Happy," from 1972's "Exile on Main St.," and "Before They Make Me Run," his defiant 1978 response to his heroin bust in Toronto the year before.
Coldplay will take several years off
Onstage in Australia, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told the crowd: "This is the last big show for us for three years or so," reports Entertainment Weekly. The London-based foursome has three gigs still on its schedule, on Dec. 29 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and on Dec. 30 and New Year's Eve at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
New Year's Eve shows in SoCal & Vegas
New Year's Eve gigs in southern California include Pink Martini at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown L.A.; Tracy Guns and his L.A. Guns band at the Whisky A Go Go; The English Beat at the Canyon Club in Agoura; The Psychedelic Furs at the Anaheim House of Blues; and The Reverend Horton Heat at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach.
New Year's in Las Vegas has Queensryche, Quiet Riot and Buckcherry at the Fremont Street Experience; The Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Cosmopolitan; Frankie Avalon at the South Point; The Coasters and The Platters Dinner Show at the Colorado Belle; The Temptations Review starring former lead singer Dennis Edwards at the Eastside Cannery; The Black Keys at the Hard Rock; Brandy at Palazzo; and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker at the Palms.
Elton dedicates Beijing show to dissident
Elton John dedicated his concert in Beijing to Chinese sculptor, photographer and political dissident Ai Weiwei, reports AP. The announcement caused surprise among attendees but the incident went unreported in the concert's coverage by Chinese media.
Last year, the 55-year-old artist was detained by authorities for three months and forbidden from leaving the country. John met the dissident before the concert and the two posed for a photo. Ai Weiwei has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance and actions on human rights and democracy.
Obits: Stamp, Dunford & Carroll
Chris Stamp, who produced and co-managed Jimi Hendrix and The Who in the `60s, among other acts, died of cancer in New York City at age 70, according to Billboard. Onstage during The Who's concert in Detroit, Roger Daltrey paid tribute to Stamp, telling the audience, that he was a man "without whom, we wouldn't be the band we were. Chris, we can never thank you enough." Stamp also co-founded Track Records, which released the first Jimi Hendrix Experience records in the U.K. as well as hits by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown ("Fire"), Golden Earring and The Who. Stamp retired from music and became a therapies and addiction counselor in New York City.
Earl "Speedoo" Carroll, lead vocal first for `50s Harlem doo-wop groups The Cadillacs and later The Coasters, died in a New York nursing home at age 75 following a stroke. Carroll and The Cadillacs hit No. 17 in 1955 with "Speedoo," that also became the singer's nickname. They also reached No. 11 on the R&B chart with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Other hits were "Peek-A-Boo" and "What You Bet."
Carroll left The Cadillacs in 1963 and joined the Coasters, a group The Cadillacs had come more and more to resemble. He was a Coaster until the early 1990s, when he reformed The Cadillacs for good, performing with them for the remainder of his career. The Cadillacs were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.
Guitarist Michael Dunford, who formed the second version of English folk rockers Renaissance with members of The Nashville Teens during the summer of 1970, died of a reported cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Surrey, England. His age was not reveled. Dunford was the band's chief songwriter and had been with the band through the breakups and reunions (1970-1987, 1998-2002), the last one coming in 2011.
New Releases
Among the recently released albums, digital reissues and deluxe box sets are the 3-CD "Resonance: Live in Basel Switzerland," a record of the 2010 reunion tour from guitarist Steve Howe, singer-bassist John Wetton, drummer Carl Palmer and keyboardist Geoff Downes, known collectively as Asia; "Girl on Fire," Alicia Keys' fifth album since 1997; "Judy Collins Live From The Metropolitan Museum Of Art" with guests Shawn Colvin, Ani DiFranco, Jimmy Webb and Kenny White; "Rage Against the Machine – XX (20th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Box Set 2CD/2DVD/1 LP), from the fiery Los Angeles-based anarchist rockers; a remastered 1975 album from former Velvet Underground collaborator Nico, "Reims Cathedral – December 13 1974"; a 2-CD import, "5x5 Live," from Scottish New Wave pop-rockers Simple Minds; a 2-CD import from legendary bluesman Howlin' Wolf, "Three Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles"; "Country: George Jones."
A CD/DVD import, "Fire It Up: Deluxe Edition," from Joe Cocker includes a DVD of Joe singing six song in concert, including Keith Urban's "I'll Walk In The Sunshine Again"; a 4-CD box (also DVD), "The Pogues in Paris: 30th Anniversary Concert"; a 2-CD import with 14 additional songs, "I Will Always Love You: Best Of" from Whitney Houston; the 4-disc, "Spring 1990:
So Glad You Made It," from The Grateful Dead; a 6-CD import box, "Classic Album Selection" from Paul Weller and his English New Wave band, The Jam; a 3-CD import set, "Long Play Collection: 7 Original Albums on CD," from country and gospel pioneers The Louvin Brothers; and "Interstellar – Live in 1970" from veteran Miami rockers NRBQ.
Among the holiday releases are an offbeat, eclectic 2-CD "An All-Star Salute to Christmas" features Iggy Pop's "White Christmas," The Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger's "Little Drummer Boy," The Bay City Rollers' "Cuz It's Christmas," L.A. Guns' "Little St. Nick," James Brown's "Funky Christmas," country gal Donna Fargo's "Jingle Bells," legendary Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw's "Dominick the Donkey," Spanky & Our Gang's "Sleigh Ride," Judy Collins' "Amazing Grace," The Motel's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and guitarist Dweezil Zappa's take on Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime"; the 16-song, "Classic Christmas" from `50s doo-wop, R&B, rock and roll pioneers The Platters; the import, "Christmas: Special Edition," from contemporary crooner Michael Buble;
New DVDs and Blu-rays include "Yanni: Live at El Morro Puerto Rico" was taped last December at the 16th century Castillo San Felipe Del Morro in San Juan.
Now Playing
Classic acts from the `50s, `60s and `70s continue to perform. Here's what one of them is doing.
Around 1966, a classy, eminently tasteful form of melodic rock music emerged and took the pop charts by storm. It was baroque rock or baroque pop. The sound was an early fusion rock or pop music with the strains of classical music. Oboes, French horns, string quartets and especially harpsichords were major components of the baroque sound. Baroque pop also went psychedelic as Indian sitars, the sitar-like tambura and drums called tablas, were often added to create a previously-unheard musical style.
Some good examples of baroque pop are Donovan's "Epistle to Dippy" (No. 19 in 1967), Love's "She Comes in Colors," Cream's "As You Said," The Grass Roots' "Feelings," Simon and Garfunkel's "Leaves That Are Green," The Kinks' "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home," and Chad and Jeremy's "Rest in Peace." The Moody Blues and Procol Harum were major practitioners of baroque pop. The Zombie's 1968 LP, "Odessey and Oracle," is a baroque pop masterpiece. Even Frank Sinatra got in on the baroque pop movement as evidenced by his 1968 take on Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."
The Beatles recorded several baroque pop songs, including Paul McCartney's "For No One" on their 1966 LP, "Revolver" and "Fixing a Hole" on "Sgt. Pepper's" in 1967 and George Harrison's "Piggies," from 1968's "White Album"; while The Rolling Stones' "Ride On Baby," "Ruby Tuesday," and "Lady Jane" are each baroque pop.
However, the best baroque pop band may have been The Left Banke, which formed in New York City in 1965. Its' two major hits were both released in 1966. "Walk Away Renee" hit No. 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and is No. 220 on Rolling Stone magazines' 500 Greatest Songs of all Time. Its' follow-up single, "Pretty Ballerina," made it to No, 15 and was faithfully covered, believe it or not, by Alice Cooper in 2005. Both are each classic examples of baroque pop that used a mournful string quartet to unforgettable effect against Steve Martin Caro's distinctively airy high-pitched vocals. Another baroque Left Banke gem, "Desiree," came out in June 1967 and was a minor hit.
The group's debut LP, released in February 1967, titled "Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina," is a baroque pop classic. Their second and last album, "The Left Banke Too," from November 1968, wasn't, and the LP failed to even chart (a third album, "Strangers on a Train," that was recorded in 1978 but not released until 1986 and also didn't chart).
During 1967-1968, various members of the quintet came, quit, and rejoined before the group disbanded in 1969 because of internal battles, management and financial problems. In 1971, Martin-Caro, keyboardist and main songwriter Mike Brown, guitarist George Cameron and bassist Tom Finn reunited briefly to record two songs for the soundtrack to an adult film, "Hot Parts."
Brown joined Ian Lloyd's pop-rock outfit, Stories, and in 1973, they hit No. 1 with a cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie." Caro-Martin pretty much disappeared from the scene, writing in 1985, that "Looking back, The Left Banke was only a positive experience for a few months. Mostly it was negatives – bad management, bad vibes." Seven years after that third and final LP was recorded, Martin Caro added, "I'll never work with The Left Banke or any people from the past again."
Brown, Finn and Cameron reunited last year for a couple New York shows with several backup musicians, including strings and an oboe player. They also brought on board singer Mike Fornatale who sings Martin Caro's vocals perfectly. This year, they've performed a handful concerts in New England, including two with The Zombies. Considerable quality footage from their recent concerts is available on YouTube. It is hoped that The Left Banke will undertake a nationwide tour in 2013.
Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.
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