Well, hello again everybody. Here’s another little run-down of things for you while Matt himself has been covering so much ground:
Neil Young/Jack White: There’s a rumor going around that Neil Young and Jack White have been working together and that a project of theirs may nearly be done. The early word is that it may be a covers album that is slated for release at some point in the Spring. We’ll have to see how this plays out. Hopefully, it’ll get to a point of confirmation. Otherwise, we’ll discover it was another one of those well-crafted internet hoaxes-of which some real beauties have sprung in the past. I highly recommend checking in at Thrasherswheat.org to see how this piece of information is coming along. (I have forgotten where I found this piece of news. I’m pretty sure it was reported at over at the KLIZ Classic Rock Daily website.)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Word is also surfacing that the new album by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers is now essentially finished being worked on and that it is coming down to which tracks Petty wants to use to make up the new album. (IMWAN)
Honest Jons label: Do you people remember that I told you that I would occasionally pass along news of material that is really ancient and will expand your horizons if you kept an open mind? Well, along with the ’70s Africa stuff I try to push around here and other parts, there’s a great label out there from the U.K. called Honest Jons. They’ve been spending the past decade or so putting out releases of ethnic recordings from back in the days when recordings were put to lacquer discs (pre-tape). If you wish to put yourself in a Jimmy Page frame of mind and listen to some stuff from the Middle East, then you owe it to yourself to take a chance on their latest title. It’s a various artists package called Let No One Judge You: Early Recordings From Iran 1906-1933. All of this material that Honest Jons has been working on over the years is taken from the EMI Archives. Among other titles of theirs, they have a spell-binding release of theirs from some time back that that is called Give Me Love: Songs Of The Brokenhearted-Baghdad, 1925-1929. Another one is To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings From Istanbul. Some of you may or may not like this stuff. But for those of you who are adventerous, the Honest Jons label may hold some pleasant surprises for you. I bet Jimmy would approve. (Amazon U.K. e-mail)
Bruce Springsteen: A certain Mr. Springsteen has announced a bootleg series for recent shows which set off a firestorm among fans. Supposedly, the initial announcement that put a bur in people’s shoes has now been worked out and that the price tiers for the shows has been worked out. But the greater news out of this recent announcement and immediate storm that it produced is that an unidentified source, speaking to Backstreets Magazine, says that signs may be indicating that classic archive shows from the past could well see not only downloads, but CD releases too. So people, don’t get starry-eyed if you meet him at a service entrance to one of his shows. Tell him that you’d like to see him release old shows as well and that you’d also like CD copies and not just downloads. Also, you should remind him to improve the sound if he can, but don’t tamper with what was put down on tape.Any mistakes are part of the charm of a show. Don’t you just drool over some dreamy possibility for ’78 radio broadcasts and/or ’74 “Boom” Carter Era shows being released in the near future? If he does this, I’d support him and buy physical copies of current shows and even the ’92-’93 stuff. (Backstreets/Hoffman Forum/IMWAN/Every serious Springsteen web discussion board on the face of the planet)
The Grass Roots: Along with the great news coming out of Real Gone Music that they are releasing The Grass Roots-The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hits Singles Collection (which will be all mono singles), it might be easy for people to overlook that a significant album is getting a reissue from them. It’s Gris Gris from Dr. John. It is slated for a March 4 release on the same day as The Grass Roots package. (Hoffman Forum)
Neil Young: It has now been pretty much confirmed that Neil Young has a new album in the pipeline for March. At first, it was thought to be a Neil Young and Jack White album, but it appears to only be a Neil Young album which may have been worked on at Jack White’s Third Man Studios. The album will be an acoustic album which will be called A Letter Home. There is also word that the album may be a joint Warner Brothers/Third Man Records release. (Rolling Stone Magazine online/IMWAN/Hoffman Forum)
Bob Dylan: There’s a beautiful buzz going on among the Dylan community over an unnamed source who spoke to Rolling Stone Magazine recently about possible future Bootleg Series releases. Some of these possibilities appear to point in the direction of DVD releases to go with CDs. It’s almost a given that the Blood On The Tracks material is going to come out on CD not terribly long from now. After that, things will continue to stay interesting while throwing a few curves our way. 1) A Rolling Thunder Revue documentary is in the works. Not long after that DVD, we may also get ones for Hard Rain-Fort Collins, CO ’76. There’s also an outside chance that Renaldo and Clara may get a release. 2) Born Again period release which may include DVD or CD releases. 3) DVD for a Dylan/Petty Tour show. The one mentioned by the unnamed source is one from Syney, Australia 1986. (IMWAN/Hoffman Forum/Rolling Stone Magazine/ISIS)
Miles Davis: The latest installment of the next volume of the Miles Davis Official Bootleg Series has been announced. Miles At The Fillmore-Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Volume 3 is now up for pre-order at both Amazon and Amazon U.K. and slated for late March. (Hoffman Forum)
The Grateful Dead: Last, but not least, the guys who set the standard for archive releases, The Grateful Dead, have announced their latest Dave’s Picks release that is now available for pre-order. Volume 9 comes from a May 1974 show at the Harry Adams Field House at the University of Montana in majestically beautiful Missoula, Montana. The show is due for release on February 1.