News Roundup: 3/22/2011

Pinetop Perkins, a blues pianist who won a Grammy last month for his Joined at the Hip album, has died at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 97. Perkins’ career included collaborations with Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and BB King, the latter of whom called him “one of the last great Mississippi bluesmen” in a statement. [NME.com] R.I.P. also to British bassist Jet Harris, who performed with the Shadows during the first half-decade of the band’s career. Harris’ playing can be heard on the Shadows’ 1961 debut, which became the first instrumental LP to top the U.K. charts, as well as the band’s international smash “Apache.” After leaving the group in the early ’60s, he charted several more European hits as the duet partner of drummer Tony Meehan. [Pitchfork.com]

News Roundup: 3/21/2011

Wyclef Jean was shot in Haiti on Saturday night, sustaining an injury from a bullet that grazed his hand. In an interview with NME, Jean said, “I got out of the car and heard gunfire … The next day I noticed there was blood on my shirt and speakers. I have no idea who fired the rounds or whether they were shooting at me.” Jean was in the city of Delma for Haiti’s general election. The former Fugees member attempted to run in the election for the country’s president, but ended his campaign in September because he had not lived in Haiti during the run up to the election. [Billboard.com] South by Southwest is done for another year, but 2011’s festivities didn’t go off without a hitch. Death From Above 1979’s surprise show on Saturday night was halted by police when fans tore down a small fence behind the venue in which the duo was playing. On Friday, Screeching Weasel’s Ben Weasel attacked two women at the band’s show; according to the L.A. Times, he was upset over ice being thrown onstage (he later apologized for the outburst). OMD’s performance at Stubbs on Friday was marred when an unauthorized camera boom fell, resulting in audience injuries that sent four crowd members to the hospital. Due to incidents like these, the festival’s organizers will collaborate with the City of Austin to limit free events at SXSW 2012. [NME.com, MXDWN.com, TheDailySwarm.com]

News Roundup: 3/18/2011

Gettin’ down on Friday! Rebecca Black’s now-infamous “Friday” continues to enjoy success on the internet and the charts, having racked up more than 16 million Youtube views in the past two weeks. Since its release on iTunes earlier this week, the official single has climbed to number 31 on the digital retailer’s charts. And that’s not counting the sales it’s been getting today — Friday — which will likely bump it into the chart’s upper reaches. [www.Apple.com] Damon Albarn’s second musical theater production, “Doctor Dee,” will debut this summer at the Manchester International Festival. Based upon the life of 16th-century alchemist John Dee, the show will star the Blur frontman himself. [RollingStone.com]

News Roundup: 3/17/2011

R.I.P. acid jazz guitarist Melvin Sparks, who died of heart failure at his home in Mt. Vernon, NY. Sparks began as a soul-jazz guitarist in the ’60s and ’70s, playing with artists including Lou Donaldson. Those sounds inspired a new generation of players in the ’90s and 2000s, such as the Greyboy Allstars, Galactic and Derek Trucks. Sparks restarted his recording career with 1997’s I’m a Gittar Player; his last release was 2006’s Groove on Up. [Gibson.com] Jack White performed an impromptu show at SXSW as part of Third Man Records Rolling Record Store. White played Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and the White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” to a crowd in a parking lot. He also introduced a new Third Man recording artist, Seasick Steve, who played a short set as well. [TheDailySwarm.com]

News Roundup: 3/16/2011

Rapper Nate Dogg died Tuesday from an undisclosed cause. He was 41. Born Nathaniel D. Hale, Nate Dogg is best known for his collaborations with rappers Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Warren G., on whose single “Regulate” he appeared in 1994. The Long Beach native’s last solo album was 2003’s Nate Dogg. Although no cause of death were given, he had suffered several strokes in recent years. [L.A.Times.com] Pearl Jam are set to begin work on a new album in April. Bassist Jeff Ament says that once the guys begin work on the follow-up to 2009’s Backspacer, they will also announce more details for the Pearl Jam Twenty Festival, which will most likely take place over Labor Day. Also in the works is an Eddie Vedder solo album due out this year, an album from Ament’s project Tres Mts. (out this week), and drummer Matt Cameron’s new album with Soundgarden. [Billboard.com]

News Roundup: 3/15/2011

Tom Waits, Alice Cooper, Leon Russell, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, and Darlene Love were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night. The 26th annual induction ceremony also saw its share of surprise guest artists, including Bruce Springsteen (who played guitar for Love), Bette Milder (Love’s duet partner on “He’s a Rebel”), and John Mayer (who supported Russell on “A Song for You”). [Billboard.com] Jon Bon Jovi is taking Steve Jobs down in a blaze of glory. During a recent interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, the singer claimed that the Apple CEO is “personally responsible for killing the music business.” Bon Jovi, whose band earned more money than any touring outfit last year, went on to explain that digital consumers are missing out on the experience of entering a store, buying a physical product, and spending time with the liner notes and cover art. [DigitalMusicNews.com]

News Roundup: 3/14/2011

R.I.P. legendary jazz drummer Joe Morello, who died on March 12 at his home in New Jersey at age 82. Best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Morello played with the group from the mid-’50s to the late-’60s, recording 60 of the over 120 albums he performed on with the quartet. He was also named best drummer by Downbeat Magazine for five consecutive years and played with Stan Kenton, Jimmy Raney, Glen Gray and Marian McPartland during his career. In later years, Morello became a teacher to drummers including Max Weinberg and Danny Gottlieb. [Spinner.com] R.I.P. also to original Hues Corporation member Bernard St. Clair Lee, who sang on their 1974 disco hit “Rock the Boat.” Lee died at his home in Lake Elsinore, CA last Tuesday from natural causes at age 66. Recently, Lee performed with vocalists Elaine Woodard and Bruce Glover in a reformed Hues Corporation. [LATimes.com]

News Roundup: 3/11/2011

The Beach Boys’ Smile, originally planned as the follow-up to Pet Sounds and ultimately abandoned due to Brian Wilson’s mental instability, will be released by Capitol later this year. Wilson and the surviving Beach Boys have backed the project, which will be co-produced by longtime Beach Boys engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd. [Billboard.com] Months after the release of Keith Richards’ tell-all autobiography, former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor — who replaced Brian Jones and played with the band from 1969 to 1974 — has announced plans to write his own bio. Don’t expect another account of drug-fueled, sex-addled debauchery, however. “I don’t want to write the kind of book that will shock people, about the scandals, sex, drugs and rock and roll,” Taylor explained to Gibson.com, “because Keith’s done that with his book.” [Spinner.com]

News Roundup: 3/10/2011

Cheeky Monkeys! Suck it and See is the title of Arctic Monkeys’ upcoming album, which will be released June 6. The band recorded the 12-song set in Los Angeles with producer James Ford, and song titles like “Love is a Laserquest” and “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” are in keeping with that insouciant album title. [WeAllWantSomeone.org] R.I.P. songwriter Jean Dinning, best known for the maudlin 1959 hit “Teen Angel.” Dinning — whose brother Mark sang the song, which told the story of a young girl who dies tragically — was 86 and survived by two sisters, four children, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. [AOLNews.com]

News Roundup: 3/9/2011

Original Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was found dead by police in a Utah home on Tuesday morning. He was 44. Starr, who had been jailed last month for drug possession in Salt Lake City, had battled drug addiction for many years and appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2009. While on the show, Starr revealed that he had left Alice in Chains due to his increasing drug use. Alice in Chains’ lead singer Layne Staley died from an overdose of heroin and cocaine in 2002. [MTV.com] Space-rock ensemble Spiritualized have signed with the blues label Fat Possum. Although there is no release date yet for the follow-up to 2008’s Songs in A&E, Spiritualized are scheduled to play a concert on October 11 at London’s Royal Albert Hall — the site of the band’s classic 1997 live album. [Pitchfork.com]

News Roundup: 3/8/2011

Got an appetite for debt reduction? Former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan is opening a financial planning firm named Meridian Rock. McKagan, who writes the “Duffonomics” column for Playboy.com and holds a finance degree from Seattle University, hopes to fill his client list with fellow musicians. [Spinner.com]
After selling an estimated 100 million albums as a solo artist and nearly 150 million as a member of Genesis, Phil Collins has officially retired from the music business. Despite speculation that negative reviews, poor treatment by the press, and health problems (including nerve damage in his hands) were involved in the decision, Collins attributes the retirement to his desire to spend time with his two young sons. [Reuters.com]
A/V Roundup: Katy Perry gives a shout-out to fellow pop starlet Lady Gaga during an acoustic cover of “Born This Way,” Glee star Darren Criss performs Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs” on Live with Regis and Kelly, Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard previews one song from his band’s upcoming album and another from the Russell Brand film “Arthur,” and the Strokes play “Under Cover of Darkness” on Saturday Night Live. [Billboard.com, ConsequenceOfSound.net, TheAudioPerv.com]

News Roundup: 3/4/2011

A/V Roundup: A leather-clad Lykke Li performs on Last Night with Jimmy Fallon, director Sam Taylor Wood directs the music video for R.E.M.’s “ÜBerlin,” the Strokes go to the opera during the Warren Fu-directed “Under Cover of Darkness,” R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now streams in its entirety at NPR.org, and Wild Flag premieres its new single “Glass Tambourine.” [Pitchfork.com, Stereogum.com, NPR.org] American Idol trimmed down its roster last night, axing 11 contestants to arrive at the show’s Top 13. Jennifer Lopez’s new video, “On the Floor,” was premiered during the episode’s final minutes. [Billboard.com]

News Roundup: 3/3/2011

The Flaming Lips, Cee-Lo Green, Cake, Wilco and Ke$ha are among the acts booked for Memphis, TN’s eclectic Beale Street Music Festival. Coinciding with the city’s Memphis in May celebration, the fest runs from April 29 to May 2 and will also feature sets by Gregg Allmann, Mumford & Sons, Lucinda Williams, Ludacris and Stone Temple Pilots. [ConsequenceofSound.net] Think pink: Nicki Minaj’s debut album Pink Friday has broken the record for most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 by a female rapper as it spent its 14th week in the upper echelon of the Billboard 200 albums chart. [GigWise.com]

News Roundup: 3/2/2011

Violinist Eugene Fodor, one of the most famous classical musicians of the ’70s, died on Saturday. Best known for winning the second prize at the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow, Fodor was a media sensation whose rugged good looks and technical proficiency on the violin made him one of the most recognizable classical musicians to the general public. However, beginning with a highly publicized drug arrest in 1989, Fodor’s success foundered and he struggled to keep his career afloat. After battling both drug and alcohol abuse, Fodor died of cirrhosis at his home in Arlington, Va. He was 60 years old. [NYTimes.com] Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy is set to release his ninth solo album on June 7. Fittingly titled Ninth, the album will be Murphy’s first since 2004’s Unshattered. Besides Ninth, there is still no word from Murphy on what, if anything, is going to happen to the tracks he purportedly worked on with recently-passed bassist Mick Karn for the duo’s planned new Dali’s Car album. [Billboard.com]