Hendrix: Electric Requiem is a graphic novel that charts the life of the guitar icon
Arriving this August, the new comic tells the story of Jimi Hendrix’s complex personal and artistic life. A new graphic novel and biography of Jimi Hendrix – Hendrix: Electric Requiem – is set to be published on August 22, via Ablaze. Written and illustrated by Mattia Colombara and Gianluca Maconi, Hendrix: Electric Requiem, opens with Hendrix entering the afterlife and reflecting upon the time he had on Earth.
Aside from this handy storytelling device and a little supposition, though, Electric Requiem largely draws a faithful line between key events in the guitarist’s life: from his difficult childhood through to his first encounter with a guitar and on to his key musical accomplishments, including Woodstock and Monterey Pop. It also attempts to examine the enduring racism Hendrix faced throughout his life, even at the height of his success.
We’ve seen a preview and can tell you that it goes beyond the scope of your typical biography, attempting to dissect and visually reference the poetry of Hendrix’s lyrics, as well as his prodigious guitar talent. The artwork also makes the most of the source material, drawing (sometimes, perhaps a little too gratuitously) on the rich, psychedelic imagery of the era.
Ablaze’s own blurb describes the graphic novel as follows:
“A compelling trip into the mind and world of Jimi Hendrix. Electric Requiem is an exhilarating ride, from Jimi’s difficult beginnings in the South, plagued by racism, through his global stardom and triumph at Woodstock, and the excessive lifestyle of a rockstar. A rockstar who, even with all his experiences, never forgot where he came from.
“Skillfully written by Mattia Colombara and illustrated by Gianluca Maconi, this gripping tale of music, personal demons and thirst for glory is a must-have for any Jimi Hendrix fan.”
Credits: By Matt Parker / Guitarworld.com
Eric Clapton ‘Nothing But the Blues’ Film, Soundtrack Due
Eric Clapton’s Nothing But the Blues, a film – which aired once in the U.S. on PBS in 1995 – has been upgraded to 4K for its long-awaited official release. In addition to the film, Reprise Records will release a new soundtrack with more than an hour of previously unreleased live performances recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 1994 during the legendary guitarist’s tour supporting From the Cradle, his Grammy®-winning, multi-platinum blues album. The film and soundtrack arrive on June 24, 2022, in a variety of formats.
Written and produced by Scooter Weintraub and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the documentary includes an in-depth interview with Clapton conducted by Scorsese. Throughout the interview, Clapton discusses his love for the blues and the profound impact bluesmen like Muddy Waters and B.B. King had on his music. Many of those artists (Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Walker) appear in the film through vintage performances, interviews, and photographs.
At the heart of the film and audio formats are Clapton’s performances of blues standards and lesser-known blues songs. The CD features 17 songs; and the DVD and Blu-ray each contain 20 tracks. Two nights at the Fillmore (Nov. 8-9, 1994) were filmed and recorded and the highlights from the two shows were selected for this release. Clapton’s longtime co-producer, Simon Climie, has remixed the audio from those performances from the original multi-tracking recordings.
A Super Deluxe Edition includes with the documentary on Blu-ray, the soundtrack on both 2-LPs and CD, and a bonus CD with four extra tracks, and an exclusive hardcover book with memorabilia, including a numbered lithograph, 12×24 poster, Clapton guitar string set, custom guitar picks, and an exclusive bandana.
Watch Clapton’s previously unreleased live performance of Freddie King’s “Have You Ever Loved A Woman”
Credits:
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Bob Dylan Shares Remake Of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' Video
Bob Dylan recently released a new video for his “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” marking his 60th anniversary as a recording artist. The video premiered at an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for those attending the opening weekend of the Bob Dylan Center. It was accompanied by the launch of a new Dylan60 microsite, which is housing the clip along with an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) lens filter.
The remake, titled “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022,” is a starry reinterpretation of D.A. Pennebaker’s original. It features the handwriting or expressions of several artists, including Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Cey Adams, and Wim Wenders. “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is the opening track and first single from 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home, the legendary singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album for Columbia, a division of Sony Music.
Credits: By RTTNews Staff Writer
Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott Celebrated With Film, Live Release
Thin Lizzy’s legacy is being celebrated with a simultaneous CD and film release. The band’s charismatic singer/songwriter/bassist Phil Lynott is the focus of the film, Songs For While I’m Away, while Thin Lizzy are featured in the concert film, The Boys Are Back In Town Live At the Sydney Opera House October 1978. The paired collection arrives on June 24, 2022, via Mercury Studios. The set will be available as a 2-DVD+CD and Blu-ray+DVD+CD. (The Lynott documentary is on the Blu-ray). Watch the trailer for the film below.
From the May 5 announcement: Songs For While I’m Away chronicles the life and music of Lynott, utilizing archival footage, interview snippets from the man himself, and music from both the Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott solo catalog. It also features conversations with Midge Ure (Ultravox / Thin Lizzy), Darren Wharton (Thin Lizzy), Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy), Adam Clayton (U2), Huey Lewis (Huey Lewis & the News), James Hetfield (Metallica) and others, as well as Phil’s wife Caroline Taraskevics and daughters Sarah Lynott and Cathleen Lynott. It traces his 1950s’ upbringing as a Black boy in blue collar Dublin to his rise to fame.
The new version of The Boys Are Back In Town Live film presents the show in the highest quality that has been made available, with not only cleaned up video and remixed audio from multi tracks, but five additional songs from this set that have never been officially released (“Warriors,” “Don’t Believe a Word,” “Still in Love With You,” “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed” and “Suicide”). This performance showcases the electricity of the band – Lynott, Gorham (guitar / background vocals), Gary Moore (guitar / background vocals), and Mark Nauseef (drums) – delivering their celebrated anthems, such as “Jailbreak,” “Bad Reputation,” “Me and the Boys” and the title track.
“Literally the best hard rock entertainer I’ve ever seen.” Watch the official trailer for Songs For While I’m Away.
CREDITS: by Best Classic Bands Staff
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https://youtu.be/6qvQ95JU6IY
Watch Steve Vai and Nile Rodgers help create the iconic ‘Halo 2’ theme
Watch Steve Vai and Nile Rodgers help create the iconic ‘Halo 2’ theme
After being told to “just vibe”, Steve Vai improvised a solo that would feature on the main theme for ‘Halo 2’. A studio recording of guitarists Steve Vai and Nile Rodgers creating the now-iconic theme for Halo 2 has been shared by the series’ original composer, Marty O’Donnell.
Today (April 19), O’Donnell announced that a dispute regarding royalties for his work creating the Halo soundtrack has been “amicably resolved”. Along with the announcement, O’Donnell shared footage of Vai and Rodgers working together on their contribution to the main theme for Halo 2, which includes instrumentals from the pair.
Within the video’s 27-minute run-time, there are plenty of moments that detail how the pair came up with Halo 2‘s guitar-led theme – including Rodgers explaining that he wants to create something “really true” to the game’s original soundtrack. At 0:53, fans can spot Rodgers listening to the string-led portion of Halo 2‘s theme, before picking up his guitar and improvising a chord progression to play with the piece.
After Rodgers’ rhythm section drew praise from Vai, Rodgers joked that “I was doing something like this with [Eric Clapton], he sat there and went “okay, now what am I gonna play?” he said, “you’re covering all the harmony and all the rhythm, what am I supposed to do?” Around the 8:30 mark, a conversation between Vai and Rodgers shares a glimpse into the pair’s approach to collaborating on the Bungie project.
Rodgers tells Vai he wants it “to sound like you’re there with the orchestra” but doesn’t want to change the theme too much as “the original thing is so well-known”. When Vai tells Rodgers to “produce me, baby”, Rodgers instructs him to “just vibe, just groove on it for a minute” to see what he can come up with.
Remarkably, Vai’s improvisation – which begins at 9 minutes in the video – creates the solo that went on to be largely used in Halo 2‘s main theme, much to the approval of Rodgers. The footage was filmed while recording at Seattle’s Studio X, which has been used by artists ranging from Nirvana to Macklemore and Soundgarden.
– Credits: NME – Andy Brow
https://youtu.be/CrTMc2i6Lzc
Eric Clapton Said George Harrison Wouldn’t Have Wanted Concert for George, but Clapton Wouldn’t Have Cared
Eric Clapton and George Harrison were life-long friends. They shared the same love for music, and although they also shared the same love for a woman, nothing came between them. So, when George died of cancer in 2001, Clapton was beside himself. He had to do something to honor his friend, even if that meant doing something George would never have wanted.
Eric Clapton organized Concert for George in 2002.
After George died, Clapton wanted to do something to pay tribute to his life-long friend. So, he came up with Concert for George, a star-studded tribute concert. “It was [Clapton’s] idea,” George’s widow, Olivia, told Rolling Stone.
“He phoned me not long after George died and said, ‘I’d like to do something.’ Eric was a very deep friend of George’s, so I felt confident and relieved that it was Eric coming to me.”
“Olivia had given me this job of being musical director,” Clapton added, “to single out people for certain songs, and I found that really hard.
We were all quite protective of our relationships with George.” Fans and a vast group of George’s closest friends gathered on Nov. 29, 2002, exactly a year after George died, at London’s Royal Albert Hall for Concert for George. They filmed it and released it in theaters and on DVD a year later.
Among the performers were Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Billy Preston, and Paul McCartney. George’s only son, Dhani, played acoustic guitar through most of the performance.
Shankar told the crowd that he believed George’s spirit was with them. However, George would have been uncomfortable with the tribute concert.
Eric Clapton said George Harrison wouldn’t have liked Concert for George
Clapton thought of what his friend would have said about the tribute concert during rehearsals. He realized George wouldn’t have wanted Concert for George. However, Clapton said he didn’t care what George would have thought.
He needed to grieve. “I thought that if he were here, he’d probably say, ‘Thanks very much Eric, but I don’t really want this,’” Clapton told the LA Times.
“I thought, ‘What would I say if he said that?’ “And I then thought, ‘Well I’m doing this for me, actually.’ And that’s more the truth of it; I needed to do it for him, but it was for me most of all because I needed to be able to express my grief in that kind of way.”
The guitarist found it hard to communicate his feelings to the ex-Beatle
After everything George and Clapton went through together, Clapton was never entirely able to show his friend his feelings.
“A lot of times during our relationship, I found it very difficult to communicate my feelings toward George my love for him as a musician and a brother and a friend because we skated around stuff. I was probably dealing with that, too, making amends.”
It was a little late, but Concert for George allowed Clapton to tell George how he felt about him finally. Clapton needed to show George, he loved him by celebrating George’s life.
Hopefully, Concert for George allowed Clapton to mourn George properly and to say all the things he never got to say to him.
Credits: Hannah Wigandt – Showbiz CheatSheet
https://youtu.be/n7SUiaBe5LM
Tyson Fury Teams Up With Don McLean To Remake Classic Song, ‘American Pie’
Tyson Fury, who will take on fellow Brit Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on 23rd April live on BT Sport Box Office, famously performed American Pie after defeating Deontay Wilder in Fury v Wilder II in 2020. The song has since become synonymous with the boxer who is not afraid to showcase his musical talent.
The latest iteration of the song sees McLean singing the verses to “American Pie”, perfectly articulating Tyson’s comeback story, before he’s joined in the chorus by the Gypsy King himself. The Morecambe-based fighter is no stranger to jumping on the mic, having previously appeared on Robbie Williams’ song “Bad Sharon” in 2019.
Ahead of Fury v Whyte the song will be aired on BT Sport to promote the fight and will be played in the stadium on fight night as 94,000 fans pack into Wembley stadium to witness the first all-British heavyweight world title fight for a generation.
In addition to celebrating Fury’s homecoming, the duet coincides with the 50th anniversary of American Pie – both the album and single – as well as the release of a children’s book, documentary about the pop culture impact of the song, and a world tour which will come to the UK and Europe starting in September 2022.
Fans will be able to watch all the build-up, undercard and the main event of Fury v Whyte exclusively live on BT Sport Box Office.
Don McLean is a Grammy award honoree, a Songwriter Hall of Fame member, a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and his smash hit “American Pie” resides in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and was named a top 5 song of the 20th Century by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA).
Credits: Tim Peacock – Udiscovermusic.com
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