03.27.08 (RockAndMetal.com) Sevendust has announced the return of original guitar player Clint Lowery to the band. Lowery was with Sevendust when they formed in 1995 and singed to TVT Records in 1997. Lowery was a key member of the Sevendust attack throughout the their TVT years which saw the band release Sevendust (1997) Home (1999), Animosity (2001), Seasons (2003) and Southside Double Wide (2003). After leaving TVT in 2003 the band and Lowery mutually parted ways, with Lowery moving on to join his brother in the band Dark New Day. Sevendust brought in former Snot guitar player Sonny Mayo to replace Lowery and went on to release three full length albums. Next (2004) on the now defunct Winedark Records, Alpha (2007) on 7Bros. Records, Sevendust's wholly owned label through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group and Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow which comes out April 1st on 7Bros/Asylum. Says Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose on Lowery's return: "This was extremely tough considering Sonny is our brother and has been amazing to work with. He didn't do anything wrong at all, we just owe it to ourselves and all the folks that grew up with us to put our original band back together. Clint has always been our brother and Sonny will always remain our brother as well. We are sorry to say goodbye to Sonny and I'm sure this will be tough on the fans that follow him, but we're excited about reuniting the original lineup of Sevendust." Saya vocalsi LaJon Witherspoon: "Everything happens for a reason. Sonny is an incredible person and we thank him for everything. Just like when you leave home, you come back! Hopefully everyone will understand the decision we have made. God bless you all. Welcome home Clint Lowery." LaJon Witherspoon, Vocals Sevendust's new record Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow is out on Tuesday, April 1st, for which the band will be hitting the road in support of later in the month.
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03.25.08 (AP) The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records, saying the record label has illegally used their name and music in promotional deals that hurt the band's credibility with fans. In a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, the rockers said they have "worked hard for over two decades to accumulate a considerable amount of goodwill in the eyes of the public," and that Virgin's use of the band in a "Pepsi Stuff" promotion with Amazon.com and Pepsi Co. threatens their reputation for "artistic integrity." Virgin released the Smashing Pumpkins' music for more than 17 years, but the only active agreement between the two parties, the lawsuit claims, is a deal granting Virgin permission to sell digital downloads of the band's songs. The agreement does not give Virgin the right to use the band in promotional campaigns to sell outside products, the lawsuit said. The band members said they would "never grant such authority to Virgin, or any other entity." An after-hours call to Virgin Records wasn't immediately returned. The lawsuit demands that Virgin pay with the profits earned in the promotion and asks for an injunction against using the Pumpkins' name or music in the future.
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03.21.08 (AP) Lawyers for the Beatles sued Friday to prevent the distribution of unreleased recordings purportedly made during Ringo Starr's first performance with the group in 1962. The dispute between Apple Corps Ltd., the London company formed by the Beatles that helps guard their legacy, and Fuego Entertainment Inc. of Miami Lakes stems from recordings the Fab Four apparently made during a performance at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. Eight unreleased tracks are said to be among the recordings, including Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and McCartney and John Lennon singing "Ask Me Why." Apple Corps claims that the songs were taped without the consent of the band and that Fuego and sister companies Echo-Fuego Music Group LLC and Echo-Vista Inc. have no right to distribute them. "This appears to us to be a garden-variety bootleg recording," said Paul LiCalsi, an attorney for Apple Corps. But Fuego Entertainment says the recordings were legally made. "Don't claim that these were just bootlegged," said Fuego president Hugo Cancio. "It's not like today, that you just go in with a phone or a blackberry and you record." The lawsuit contends that the recordings are of poor quality and that circulating them "dilutes and tarnishes the extraordinarily valuable image associated with the Beatles." Cancio said that he had not been served with a copy of the lawsuit, but that the filing demanding at least $15 million in damages was not expected. "I'm surprised because up to a few weeks ago, we were in good-faith conversations with Apple," he said. Also named in the lawsuit is Jeffrey Collins, a partner of Cancio who obtained the recordings. It's unclear how Collins obtained the recordings. Cancio intended to release the songs as "Jammin' with The Beatles and Friends, Star Club, Hamburg, 1962." "It's unfair to millions of Beatles fans not to allow this recording to be put out. The world deserves to hear these tracks," he said. "The fact is that we have it; they don't, and that is what's bothering them."
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03.03.08 (AP) Blind rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey has died after a lifelong battle against cancer. He was 41. Healey died Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital, said bandmate Colin Bray, who was in the room with Healey's family when the guitarist died. The Grammy-nominated Healey rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that gained international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light." The album included the hit single "Angel Eyes." Healey had battled cancer since age 1, when a rare form of retinal cancer known as Retinoblastoma claimed his eyesight. Due to his blindness, Healey taught himself to play guitar by laying the instrument across his lap. His unique playing style, combined with his blues-oriented vocals, earned him a reputation as a teenage musical prodigy. He shared stages with George Harrison, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Bray said he and many others expected the guitarist to rally from this latest illness. "I don't think any of us thought this was going to happen," Bray said. "We just thought he was going to bounce back as he always does." Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumors from his lungs and leg. Bray and fellow bandmate Gary Scriven remembered their frontman as a musician of rare abilities with a generous nature and wicked sense of humor. Healey's true love was jazz, the genre that dominated his three most recent albums. His love of jazz led him to host radio shows in Canada where he spun long-forgotten numbers from his personal collection of over 30,000 vinyl records. His death came weeks before the release of his first rock album in eight years. "Mess of Blues" is slated for a North American release on April 22. He is survived by his wife, Christie, and two children.
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03.02.08 (AP) Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger escaped an assassination plot hatched in 1969 by the Hells Angels, a new British Broadcasting Corp. documentary has claimed. A program to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Monday says the rock star was the target of the plot following a purported dispute with the motorcycle gang over concert security. Jagger had vowed not to use Hells Angel members as bouncers following the death in December 1969 of an 18-year-old fan at a notorious free performance at Altamont Speedway in Northern California. In return, gang members hatched a plan to kill Jagger at his holiday home in Long Island, New York, the BBC claimed. "The Hells Angels were so angered by Jagger's treatment of them that they decided to kill him," Tom Mangold, the presenter of the program, was quoted as telling Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper. He said the plan was disclosed during an interview with Mark Young, a former FBI officer, for the BBC's "The FBI at 100" documentary. Mangold said the men tried to reach Jagger by sea. "The boat was hit by a storm and all of the men were thrown overboard," he was quoted as saying. They all survived but made no other attempt on his life, Mangold said. It was not clear whether Jagger was ever informed of the alleged plot against him. LD Communications, Jagger's publicists in Britain, did not immediately return calls requesting comment. The Hells Angels have always denied any connection with the Altamont Speedway killing.
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