Rock News

ROCK NEWS

AUTHOR CLAIMS MICK JAGGER HAGGLED WITH HOOKERS ON THE ROAD

Mick Jagger haggled with prostitutes over their prices while on tour in the 1980's, according to a new tell-all book. BackStage Pass VIP describes Jagger as being the ultimate businessman in dealing with all aspects of his life on the road -- including sex. Author Debra Sharon Davis spoke about the Rolling Stones' frontman on the road during the band's 1982 European trek, telling Radronline.com: "Even then, Jagger outlined what he was willing to pay as if he were negotiating the details of a world tour -- micro-managing the transactions with call girls in Europe. Equal to music, Jagger loved negotiating. His greatest respect was for businessmen who made a lot of money. For Jagger, a conservative, male chauvinist, it was how he defined manhood. Like almost all decisions, Jagger addressed the problem fiscally. The ultimate CEO. Jagger worried about lawsuits from strange women. He was fixated on the bottom line."

Davis went on to reveal that Jagger always put money front and center while on the road: "On the 1982 European tour in Germany, Jagger made a packed indoor stadium of rowdy kids wait nearly an hour while he calculated box office receipts because he remembered financial inaccuracies years before."

Jagger says that the Stones' music and his past trysts with former lovers has given off the wrong impression about his personal life: "There aren't any playboys anymore, they don't exist anymore. And I've always been a sort of career-minded person, and any vague resemblance to my life to a playboy is merely coincidental."

Mick Jagger will host the May 19th season closer of Saturday Night Live. He'll be backed three times during the program by Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, and Jeff Beck.

DAVE MUSTAINE APOLOGIZES FOR SUPERGROUP TALK

Dave Mustaine has apologized to James Hetfield for suggesting that plans were being made for a Metallica-Megadeth supergroup. Last week, Classic Rock said that Metallica's frontman, James Hetfield, reacted negatively to Mustaine's comments saying that Mustaine was just talking about a supergroup to garner attention for himself. However, Mustaine told Artisan News, that that was absolutely not the case.

He said, "I probably shouldn't have said stuff like that. I guess some people may think I'm trying to use that as a way to get publicity. So I can see where there would be some feelings about it. That wasn't my intention. I won't ever mention it again. I like James and I thought what he said was flattering, then it kind of went the opposite way, then it kind of came back again. I guess my whole thing was, I just wanted them to know that I loved them and I missed them, and I enjoyed playing with them. If that's not mutual, then I understand. I still respect him and I still care about the guy."

He continued to say that he wasn't trying to imply that anything was going to happen, just that he wished it would happen and he would now cross it off his "bucket list."

Mustaine feuded with the members of Metallica for more than two decades before finally patching things up over the last couple of years.

Metallica is currently on a European tour, during which it is playing its self-titled 1991 fifth album, also known as the "black album," every night in its entirety -- but in reverse order.

Metallica will play both the complete "black album" and, for the first time, its entire 1984 effort Ride The Lightning at its own Orion Music & More festival, scheduled for June 23rd and 24th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

DID YOU KNOW?
Dave Mustaine recently revealed himself as part of the fringe "birther" movement, which believes against all evidence and rational thought that President Barack Obama was not born a U.S. citizen. Mustaine said on a Canadian talk show that he knows the President was "born somewhere else than America."

JULIAN LENNON GUESTING ON NEW AEROSMITH ALBUM

Julian Lennon posted a photo of him and Steven Tyler on his Facebook page, with the caption: "Mr Tyler & 'The Other' Mr Lennon, singing background vocals, on the Amazing New 'Aerosmith' Album last night. Such a pleasure... More to come." A source close to Julian told The Daily Express, "Julian is a big Aerosmith fan and has been asked to sing backing vocals on the new album by Steven, who loves Julian's voice as it's reminiscent of John's. Julian's been in his element. It's hoped he'll be joining them on tour too."

There's been no release date or title announced for the new Aerosmith set, which will be the band's follow-up to 2004's Honkin' On Bobo. A single is expected to be released before summer, with it's live debut set for May 23rd on Fox's American Idol.

CHECK IT OUT: Julian Lennon in the studio with Steven Tyler: http://tinyurl.com/cbto7ob

PETER FRAMPTON PREPPING LIVE TOUR COMPILATION

In addition to the upcoming DVD chronicling his 2011-2012 Frampton Comes Alive 35 tour, Peter Frampton has a new live DVD in the works featuring the best of the material from thoughout the anniversary trek. Frampton posted his plans on Facebook, saying, ""We filmed 2 shows for the FCA35 tour DVD. One in NYC and the other in Milwaukee. Those two shows will make up the content of the final DVD. No release date yet but I will update ASAP. The audio from the tour was recorded each night (apart from a handful of shows where the union cost made it prohibitive to record). After I have mixed the audio for the DVD, I will, at some point, choose and mix what myself and the band feel are the best individual performances of each song or piece."

Frampton went on to write: "These chosen tracks will then be made available on CD or download as The Best Of The FCA35 Tour audio only. Again as soon as I know when this will be available you'll be the first to know. Thanks again everyone for an unbelievable year on the road."

Prior to the Come Alive anniversary shows, Frampton's 1970's bassist Stanley Sheldon rejoined Frampton on the road for the first time in 33 years. Frampton admits that there is a bit of nostalgia to having Sheldon back onstage recreating his parts -- but the choice to bring Sheldon back was strictly musical: "I'm always looking to move forward. Y'know music -- music is my life, man. And I've got to do what I feel is best for the music. And that real is -- and especially with the idea of doing Comes Alive in its entirety, I just thought it makes perfect sense."

Sheldon, who is the sole surviving member of the Comes Alive! band following the 2004 deaths of Bob Mayo and John Siomos, told us he's thrilled to be hitting the boards night after night with Frampton once again: "It's incredible after all this time and (I've) been waiting for this call from Peter for a long time, so it's like going home. And our chemistry is stronger than ever, and even though it's unfortunate that Bob and John couldn't join us (laughs) on this one, I think we're generating a lot of feel up there and it's nice. It's really nice to look in his eyes and see him over there (laughs), it's great. He's playing so great." :
June 14 - Los Angeles, CA - The Judd & Jon Comedy & Music Hour(s) Benefit for 826LA at the Eli & Edy Broad Stage
August 3 - Otsego, MN - Rockwoods Jamfest
August 4 - Rockford, IL - Davis Park
August 7 - Buffalo, NY - Artpark
August 8 - Kettering, OH - Fraze Pavilion
August 10 - Greensboro, NC - Coliseum Complex
August 11 - Asheville, NC - Biltmore

ROGER DALTREY RECALLS REJECTING PETE TOWNSHEND SONGS

Roger Daltrey admits to passing on some of the material Pete Townshend has offered him to sing in the Who over the years. Daltrey, who just wrapped up his solo tour behind the band's 1969 rock opera Tommy, chatted with thewho.com and explained that although he's Townshend's main voice in the Who -- it depends on the material. Daltrey revealed, "There are some (songs) that Pete did that I would have loved to have sung, but equally there were some that I chose not to. If I chose not to sing it, it's because I didn't connect to it inside. There was something else going on in it that wasn't applicable to something I could really, really get to grips with emoting. So, it would only have been a lie. And so I couldn't have sung it."

After 1981's Face Dances was released, fans and critics alike blamed Townshend for stockpiling his best songs for his 1980 solo album Empty Glass -- rather than giving the band first dibs on his latest work. Townshend explained that in the case of "Rough Boys," it was Daltrey who actually passed on what would've definitely made an instant Who classic: "He's not comfortable with what the subject is about. Y'know, the subject is homoerotic. The subject is about the fact that, y'know, that it's very difficult to tell just because a guy looks really, really tough on the outside and he's dressed in leather -- is he a man, is he really a tough guy -- or is he something else?"

During his 1994 Daltrey Sings Townshend tour with John Entwistle, Daltrey thrilled die-hard fans with his performance of Townshend's "The Sea Refuses No River" from 1982's All The Best Cowboys Have Chines Eyes album. We asked him if while listening to Townshend's early '80s solo albums, he heard other songs that he felt he easily could've done justice to: "Yeah. 'Slit Skits,' 'Stardom In Acton,' I mean, so many. But I understood why it was happening. I totally understood it. I know exactly what went on there, y'know?"

SLASH DENIES SCOTT WEILAND'S REUNION WITH VELVET REVOLVER

Slash has confirmed that Scott Weiland is not back with Velvet Revolver. A local radio show played a recording for Slash in which Weiland stated that he returned to the group and was even collaborating with guitarist Dave Kushner and bassist, Duff McKagan. However, Slash claimed that Weiland is mistaken.

He said, "He's out of his mind! There's been a common rumor going around. I know he's been positive about that subject. Maybe they know something I don't know. I have absolutely no intention of going back to that. I'm on tour all year. I'll call Duff - but I seriously doubt it. We have no intention of going backwards."

Weiland was sacked in 2008 following a series of problems linked to addiction issues.

Slash's second solo album, Apocalyptic Love, is scheduled for release on May 22 via his own label Dik Hayd International distributed through EMI.

Apocalyptic Love track listing:

WAS JIMI HENDRIX THE MISSING GUITARIST IN EMERSON, LAKE, & PALMERLP???

Could Jimi Hendrix have been the missing lead guitarist in Emerson, Lake & Palmer??? Bassist Greg Lake shed light on the rarely known connection between the legendary guitarist and ELP, telling The Phoenix New Times, "Jimi used to come and watch King Crimson. When Keith (Emerson) and I got together we went looking for a drummer. The first person I talked to was Mitch Mitchell because the Experience had just broken up and Jimi was off doing this Band Of Gypsies thing. Mitch was available at the time, and he said maybe we should get Jimi together. He'll be finished with this Band Of Gypsies thing in a few weeks, and we can get together and maybe the four of us should play. I said, 'fair enough,' and that's how we left it."

Lake, who's gone on to work with Asia and the Who, went on to recall: "A couple of days later we got a call from (rock manager) Roger Stigwood, who said 'Look, I've got the perfect drummer for you. A guy called Carl Palmer.' We played together, it was instantaneously obvious that the chemistry was right. That was the band we were looking for. And so that was it really. We made a decision on the spot. A short while after Jimi was found dead in an apartment in London. The press got a hold of the story that we might jam with Jimi, and speculated that the group would be called HELP. But, alas, it was just a rumor."

Chicago co-founder and trombonist James Pankow says that of all the musicians who helped the band in the late-'60s, it was Jimi Hendrix that did the most in launching the band. Pankow recalled that at the time Hendrix and Chicago considered themselves to be kindred musical spirits, with Hendrix going on record about how much he loved the late Terry Kath's guitar playing: "Very, very 'message-ful' in terms of the ideology at that time -- as our music was. And we kinda had that bond. Not only did he recognize our chops, but I think he recognized our message as well, and needed to bring us into his fold, and invited us to go on the road."