Beatles Website To Offer Back Catalogue?

Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are looking at releasing the Beatles back catalogue through their own website, reports Blender.
The two surviving members, along with the estates of the late John Lennon and George Harrison, have been negotiating with Apple about an iTunes release.
But Harrison's son Dhani said they are not satisfied with the offer made by Apple and they may go elsewhere.
He said: "We're losing money every day. So what do you do? You have to have your own delivery system, or you have to do a good deal with Steve Jobs."
But he says that a download is worth 99 cents, and we disagree."
Meanwhile, the Beatles edition of the Rock Band video game has been given a September 9 release date.

Hendrix Acoustic Tape For £100k

A never before heard demo tape reel of acoustic Jimi Hendrix recordings is set to be auctioned next month, reports Planet Rock.

The tape features just Hendrix, an acoustic guitar and an occasional harmonica on 14 tracks. The tape features many of the songs that would end up on Electric Ladyland as well as a cover of Dylan’s ‘Tears Of Rage.’

According to the Independent On Sunday the tape was recorded in Hendrix’s flat in London and was given to his neighbour, Carl Niekirk, after Hendrix borrowed some milk & sugar.

“It was a constant stream of people coming and going and partying,” Mr Niekirk told the Independent. “Because I asked him, he just gave it (the tape) to me. As simple as that.”

The tape then passed to Mr Niekirk’s sister and lay forgotten in a wardrobe for years before it was sold for a nominal fee to Mark Sutherland and Paul Jackson, who run the Cafe Music Studios in east London just over ten years ago. And now, after years of legal wrangling with the Hendrix estate, the pair are finally free to sell the tape.

The tape is expected to fetch between £50,000 - £100,000 when it goes to auction on 28 April.If you have a little spare cash and fancy splashing out on something rather special then head to www.famebureau.com .

Heaven & Hell Preview Single

Heaven & Hell have unveiled a preview of their “debut” single, ‘Bible Black'.

The single will be released ahead of the release of the band’s new studio album, The Devil You Know on 28 April, says Planet Rock.

The single is a chugging metal titan that sounds, not surprisingly, like Dio-era Sabbath at its peak. The band have apparently lost none of their fire and if this song is a signal of intent then the album should be something really special.

The Devil You Know is technically the band’s debut studio album, although it will fundamentally be a follow-up to Sabbath’s 1992 album Dehumanizer.

The band have already announced an extensive European tour in support of the new record, although no UK dates have been confirmed as yet.

Santana Play Silverstone

Santana has been confirmed as a headliner at this year’s Silverstone Classic, reports Planet Rock.

The Silverstone Classic is the country’s biggest rock and racing event featuring three days of rare cars, races, displays, fairs, exhibitions and, of course, a headline performance by a major rock artist.

Santana will top the bill at this year’s event, which takes place between 24 - 26 July. So far it’s the only UK date on the legendary guitarist’s European tour.

Here's the full European tour schedule:

4 July - Bucharest, B'estfest Festival

6 July - Istanbul, Kuracesna Arena

8 July - Athens, Karaiskaki Stadium

11 July - Belgrade, Youth Festival

12 July - Croatia, Varazdin Festival

14 July - Trieste, Trieste Piazza unita d'Italia

15 July - Brescia, Brescia Palafiera

17 July – Kitzbuehel Festival

18 July - Mainz, City Park Fair

19 July - Straubing, Jazz on the Danube festival

21 July - Halle, Gerry-Weber Arena

22 July - Dortmund, Westfalenhalle

23 July - Hamburg, Stadtpark

25 July - Northamptonshire, Silverstone Race Track

Woodstock 40th Anniversary

The Woodstock Festival is looking to be reborn in 2009 as it celebrates its 40th Anniversary.

The festival’s co-founder Michael Lang is currently seeking sponsorship for the event which he hopes will be a reunion of sorts with at least some of the bands that played in 1969 returning to the stage for this year’s event.

“There would be a lot of legacy bands – the Who, Santana, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Cocker maybe,” he told Billboard Magazine. “And it would be people like Steve Earle and Ben Harper. There's certainly room for the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers and Dave Matthews...That would be the shape of the music.”

The difficulties faced at the moment all revolve around finance, however. Lang wants the festival to be a free event, and that means that he needs a lot of money to help fund it.

"It's free, but it costs a lot of money. That's kind of what we're in the middle of right now. Depending on how successful we are in raising that sponsorship money will determine when and how we do this event – or if we do this event, frankly.

"The festival celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 1999 with a festival headlined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the event was marred by complaints about facilities and access to water which eventually led to a mass riot by the festival goers.

Billboard reports that the festival will be celebrated in many other ways during 2009, including a release of a director’s cut, four hour version of the seminal ‘Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace And Music’ film featuring 18 performances that weren’t in the original movie.

Rhino Records will also release a six CD box set of performances from the festival.

Guns 'n' Roses Dates Imminent?

Guns N’ Roses appear to be preparing for something as they announce the arrival of yet another guitarist, reports Planet Rock.

The official departure of guitarist Robin Finck, who has rejoined Nine Inch Nails, was confirmed on the Guns N’ Roses website as it also confirmed the appointment of new guitarist DJ Ashba.

Ashba is a member of SIXX:AM, Nikki Sixx’s side project, with whom he co-wrote the 2008 Motley Crüe album Saints Of Los Angeles.

"DJ's a gifted, energetic guitarist that Guns N' Roses is proud to have on board!!" says Axl Rose on the band’s official website. "We're very excited to have the opportunity to work together. Guns' radar has silently been aware of DJ's presence for quite some time. He brings a fresh approach to our particular brand of mayhem expanding the tapestry of Guns N' Roses live. Once DJ's name was in the hat, the hat disappeared!!

"Rumours persist that details of a GNR world tour will be announced very soon. The appointment of a new guitarist seems to suggest that those rumours may well be true.

Purple Add Second London Date

Deep Purple have added a second date at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, reports Planet Rock.

The band will now play the London venue on 14 & 15 November after overwhelming demand prompted them to add the second show.Deep Purple are to play a handful of other shows around the country including dates in Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham.

Here are the dates:

Apollo, Manchester - 10 November

S.E.C.C., Glasgow - 11 November

NEC, Birmingham - 13 November

Hammersmith Apollo - 14 November

Hammersmith Apollo - 15 November

Hendrix Film In The Pipeline

A new DVD about Jimi Hendrix and his time in London in 1969 is to feature candid “reality TV” style footage, Planet Rock has revealed.

The footage was shot in February 1969 in the month building up to Hendrix’s performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Hendrix’s sister Janie, who is the CEO of Experience Hendrix “the company who handles the publishing rights to the legendary guitarist’s music) says that a camera crew followed him for a month, yielding candid footage of him at home, about town and hanging out backstage.

The news comes hot on the heels of a new publishing deal that has been signed between Experience Hendrix and the Universal Music Publishing Group that will see Universal exclusively handling Hendrix’s catalogue around the world for the next five years.

Speaking about the deal, Janie Hendrix revealed that there is still “10 more years of Hendrix music in the vaults”, and as well as the aforementioned Royal Albert Hall DVD and album, there looks likely to be at least one other new album released this year – probably an unreleased Band Of Gypsys live album.

New Chickenfoot Material

The first new music by the Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith supergroup is now online, reports Planet Rock.

The two tracks by the band have been previewed very briefly in previous posts by the band on their official website, but the songs have now been completed and added in full.

Both songs are groove based rockers based around Joe Satriani’s simply riffs, with the rhythm section keeping it heavy and Sammy Hagar doing his best “Robert Plant” over the top. In terms of sound this is pitched somewhere between Van Halen and Led Zeppelin, with what sounds like an inordinate amount of fun thrown into the mix.

No word on an album or tour yet but confirmations on both are expected soon.

As well as the two songs more info can be found at www.chickenfoot.us

Johnny Winter UK Tour

Blues legend Johnny Winter has announced a series of dates across the UK.
Winter will appear in the UK in May, kicking off with a gig at the Glasgow Academy on 21 May.
Tickets for the shows are on sale now.

Academy, Glasgow - 21 May
York Opera House - 22 May
Shepherds Bush Empire, London - 23 May
The Stables, Milton Keynes – 24 May
The Globe, Cardiff - 25 May
The Globe, Cardiff - 26 May
Robin 2, Dudley – 27 May
Princess Pavilion, Falmouth - 28 May
The Assembly, Leamington Spa – 29 May

UFO UK Dates

UFO will play an extensive UK tour this summer in support of their new album, The Visitor.
The band, who release their new album on 2 June, kick off their UK tour in Brighton on 9 June. Their UK dates will conclude at the Bulldog Bash in Stratford-Upon-Avon in August, reports Planet Rock.

The tour, however, will come a little too soon for founding member Pete Way who is still recovering from the liver disease that prevented him from working on the new record.

Tickets for the dates are on sale now.

9th June - Concorde 2 - Brighton
10th June - The Junction - Cambridge
12th June - Spring & Airbrake - Belfast
13th June - 02 Academy - Glasgow
14th June - 02 Academy - Newcastle
16th June - 02 Academy - Leeds
17th June - Rock City - Nottingham
19th June - Wulfrun Hall - Wolverhampton
0th June - Academy 2 - Manchester
21st June - 02 Academy - Bristol
23rd June - The Brook - Southampton
24th June - Shepherd's Bush Empire
7th August - Bulldog Bash - Stratford-Upon-Avon

Trower And Bruce UK Date

Jack Bruce and Robin Trower are to play a date together in the UK, reports Planet Rock.
Bruce & Trower will play a one-off date at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Wednesday 5 August in support of last year’s excellent Seven Moons album. It will be the first time that they have played in the UK together in support of the collaboration album.
The two legends will be joined by drummer Gary Husband (Level 42), who also played drums on the album, for the one-off date.S
even Moons is the fourth collaboration between former Procol Harum guitarist Trower and Cream’s iconic bassist. Tickets for the Shepherd’s Bush show are on sale now.

Bad Company To Reunite For 2009 Tour

Paul Rodgers will reunite Bad Company for a world tour in 2009, reports Planet Rock.
While the Queen and Paul Rodgers project takes a well earned break after a hectic 2008, Paul Rodgers will reunite with Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs for a tour later this year.
A post on the band’s official website simply says “Bad Company to tour in 2009!”.
The band last toured in 2002, although the last time the original line-up of the group toured was in 1999. Original bassist Boz Burrell sadly passed away in 2006.
Kirke, Ralphs and Rodgers played a one-off live date in Hollywood at the end of last year. That show has been filmed for a live DVD that’s due out in the next couple of months.

No Reunion Till Rod Gives The Nod

Any future Faces reunion will depend on whether Rod Stewart agrees to it, according to Ian McLagan.

Last year saw rumours circulating that the band were on the verge of reuniting for a world tour and even a brand new album, their first since 1973. The reunion would have seen the four surviving members of the band reunite with Red Hot Chili Pepper, Flea, replacing the late Ronnie Lane. However, in January both Rod Stewart and Flea denied any knowledge of the reunion.

Speaking to Billboard Ian McLagan says he had met up with Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Kenney Jones and Stewart’s touring bassist for three days of rehearsals last November and despite it being “really, really great”, he has heard nothing since.

“I'll get a call eventually, and maybe we'll do something in June or July,” McLagan says, “'cause I don't want to do anything next year. I'm not gonna wait again. It's either gonna be this year...It's now or never! I've got my fingers crossed, but I'm not going to waste energy trying to make it happen. I've worked for 30 years trying to make it happen. It's now in the lap of the gods -- or the hands of Rod, maybe.”

McLagan says that Jones, Wood and himself have a new plan to entice Stewart into the reunion. “We do a couple shows and film it. Whether Rod wants to do that...I'm hoping he'll be into that 'cause it'll be such a lot of fun. It's what the three of us would like Rod to agree to.”

McLagan is currently touring his latest solo album Never Say Never in the US with his Bump Band.

Oasis Unsuitable For China

Oasis have been deemed unsuitable to perform in China, it has been revealed.

The band were due to perform a couple of shows in the country in April, but after the dates were mysteriously cancelled yesterday the reason was yet to be revealed.

But the band released a statement yesterday afternoon that revealed the reason why the dates had been cancelled.

“According to the show's promoters, officials within the Chinese Ministry of Culture only recently discovered that Noel Gallagher appeared at a Free Tibet Benefit Concert on Randall's Island in New York in 1997, and have now deemed that the band are consequently unsuitable to perform to their fans in the Chinese Republic on 3rd and 5th of April, during its 60th anniversary year.

“Oasis are extremely disappointed that they are now being prevented from undertaking their planned tour of mainland China and hope that the powers that be within China will reconsider their decision and allow the band to perform to their Chinese fans at some stage in the future.”

In their homeland, meanwhile, things are going a little better with the band confirmed as one of the headliners at this year’s V Festival, which takes place on 22 – 23 August.

Joe's New Album Hits UK Charts

Joe Bonamassa’s latest album The Ballad Of John Henry landed in the Top Thirty of the UK charts this week.

Joe reached number 26 in the UK album charts this week, marking his best debut in this country to date following last year’s live album Live From Nowhere In Particular making its debut in the top 50.

Joe is on tour in April, and although most of the tickets have already been snapped up there are a handful left so make sure that you get your hands on some.