#ultimate classic rock

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

As he sets out on the latest tour by his Led Zeppelin Evening, Jason Bonham is "a little sad" – but not angry – about losing his spot in Sammy Hagar's band.

Answering a fan's social media question a few days ago, Bonham revealed that his 10-year tenure with The Circle and last year's Best of All Worlds tour band had come to an end. "Sammy has decided to carry on with Kenny," Bonham wrote, referring to Kenny Aronoff, who filled in during the four Best of All Worlds shows in August when Bonham rushed to England to help care for his mother, who'd suffered a stroke.

The move reunited the last Chickenfoot touring lineup of Hagar, Aronoff, guitarist Joe Satriani and bassist Michael Anthony (along with keyboardist-guitarist Rai Thistlethwayte). The group, with Aronoff, has been pictured working on new material in the studio, and Bonham says Hagar let him know he'd been replaced not long after the tour's end.

"I was trying to answer fans, really, because they were asking me, 'Why aren't you involved with the new thing they're recording?' and saying, 'Aren't you gonna do it again?' 'I was let go, so, no,'" Bonham, who recorded three albums with Hagar (2015's At Your Service, 2019's Space Between and 2022's Crazy Times), tells UCR. "Sammy rang me awhile ago. He was asking about my mom, but then he said, 'Y'know, I’m not gonna do much next year,' blah, blah blah, 'and I'm gonna go with Kenny.' I was a little shocked, I must say. I'd be lying to you if I wasn't a little sad, because we were on fire at the end of the tour. And I got a little upset. That was strange, after 10 years of being with him."

Nevertheless, Bonham has nothing but good to say about Hagar. "Listen, I love the guy to bits. I don't wish him any ill. I still speak to him. Honestly, the guy has taught me so much – about business, being positive. I'm an English guy; I can be really negative half the time. Even if the sun is shining, 'but it could rain.' He really helped me in that aspect big-time, and business sense and never taking no for an answer, always believing in yourself."

"So, yeah, I had a great 10 years. He allowed me to always do what I wanted to do. When my thing would get busy he always gave me the space. I couldn't ask for more."

Bonham is pleased to report, however, that his mother is well on the mend. "Mom is absolutely doing amazing, which is more than I could ever possibly imagine – from literally being told 'Say goodbye now' to now," he says. "She is a stubborn, hard-ass woman that suddenly went, 'I'm OK. I'm gonna be good.' It's still gonna take a lot of rehab and a lot of time to get back to what she was, but the real painful part – she beat that. So she's fighting on. She's almost back to normal, almost back to not talking to me. So she must be getting better! [Laughs.] She's gonna be around for a lot longer."

Amid all this, Bonham has just hit the road again with LZE, kicking off Tuesday night, Nov. 19, in Indianapolis, with 18 more U.S. dates through Dec. 16. "It blows my mind that something I started 14 years ago, only wanting to do it once, has just naturally become a part of my life that I've enjoyed doing on a yearly basis," the son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham says. "I never intended to do so many shows each year – but we've got about 20 in the beginning of the year and 20 at the end of the year, a winter run, and then bands started to ask me to go open for them on summer tours."

Bonham has kept his LZE set lists evolving as well; during its most recent rehearsals it's "been pulling out some songs that have never been done," or rarely performed, including "Friends," "Achilles' Last Stand," "In the Evening" and the extended "Dazed and Confused" from The Song Remains the Same.

Bonham says he's also "working to do" a full-album presentation of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti for its 50th anniversary next year. "This is purely done as love, as a passion project," Bonham says. "I still get very kind of in awe or overwhelmed with the response we get. Every night I say to the audience, 'I will do it until I can't play any longer. If I can't play to the ability that the songs need, or the day I don't enjoy doing it, I will call it a day."

Bonham, who's also part of the all-star Black Country Communion, has some other points of pride for the year. He remains active with his son Jagr Henry, who had a rock radio hit with "Breed" this year.

"I'm so proud of him and the music he's making. Some of the music is a little heavy for some people’s tastes, but to me – I'm a drummer. I love riff-based music. We've got a really good start with it, and he's gonna come out and join [LZE] for a few shows and scare some of my fans a little because he's, like, 6-foot-4, he's ripped, completely tattooed, but the his band is great. I am just so pleased he's at this point, and it's just gonna get better."

HOW JASON BONHAM HELPED FOREIGNER GET BACK TOGETHER

And even though he was not an inducted member, Bonham was pleased to see Foreigner – which he played in from 2004-08 – get its due last month from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Back in 2004, I did a charity event in Santa Barbra with [Foreigner founder] Mick Jones and got [current bassist] Jeff Pilson involved and we had one of the original keyboard players and I brought an old singer I'd worked with before. ... After it was over I said, 'Come on, Mick. let's get the band back together!' That was the start of it, and they're still touring 20 years later. My time there was short, but I'm really pleased I had something to do with bringing the band back together, 'cause the music of Foreigner is timeless."

He added with a laugh: "It was always weird ... 'cause my wedding song was 'Waiting For a Girl Like You.' That's when I danced with my wife. To play that on a nightly basis always felt a little weird."

[krispyweiss]

Donald Fagan Reportedly Hospitalized; Steely Dan Drops off Eagles’ October Tour Dates

- Steve Miller and Vince Gill to fill in

Donald Fagen is hospitalized with an undisclosed illness, the Indianapolis Star reports, causing Steely Dan to drop out of the remaining October dates on the Eagles’ farewell tour.

Steely Dan is expected to rejoin the tour Nov. 2 in Atlanta.

There’s no word on what is ailing Fagen. Five members of the Eagles road crew, meanwhile, tested positive for COVID-19 before the band’s Oct. 9 show in Indiana, the newspaper reported.

The Dan last opened for the Eagles Sept. 20. Since then, Sheryl Crow (Oct. 5-6), Steve Miller (Oct. 9-10, 13 and 17) and Eagle Vince Gill (Oct. 15) have been tapped to warm up audiences, Ultimate Classic Rock reports.

Steely Dan is listed as the opener on the Eagles’ just-announced Jan. 5-6, 2024, tour stops in California. Neither group has commented on social media.

10/10/23

[northwestofinsanity]

Another REO Speedwagon breakup post… this one was not expected

I didn’t realize at the start of 2024 that when 2025 came around, I’d be coming to terms that at least, for now, REO Speedwagon -one of my major emotional support bands -only exists in spirit, but here we are.

There was another podcast on Ultimate Classic Rock that came out about it, including a live interview of Bruce Hall *and* Neal Doughty, just a few days before Christmas, and that’s was a few weeks ago now… I did *not* want to do this until the holiday season was over, because this situation continues to be sad.  (Didn’t want to kill the vibe for people who enjoy the holidays, and didn’t want to make it harder for those who already have a hard time around them either.) I don’t think it will ever be anything but sad -unless Kevin Cronin comes around and decides to get back together with Bruce, which given Kevin’s track record of going back on major things like this involving members who have left the band, I don’t think he will. (I still hope, but I’m not counting on it.

Anyway.  With Neal’s POV being here, and it being the first time we’ve really heard directly from him in detail, I think it adds more and is worth noting.  I thought my post on the Eubanks Podcast would be the last, as, after that, I did not think I would be able to stay neutral anymore, but with the content in this one, I don’t think I necessarily have to.  (I will *not* be trash talking Kevin, and still don’t condone that per Bruce’s requests not to, but pointing out key points of information that all point against him -so all this will be under the cut so that any Kevin Cronin fans can keep scrolling and not look if they’d rather not know).  While Bruce has stayed very neutral and left out certain details to protect Kevin Cronin in all the past things, Neal has been very open about why he’s sided with Bruce, in addition to just being very close to him, and Bruce is also taking more of a stand for himself here. It seems he’s had more time to process it all and is more ready to talk about it than he was in the previous podcast.

The UCR article is here . Tumblr has embedded them on the post, but just in case things go wonky with those, I’m hyperlinking text, too.

The UCR podcast episode is here (I don’t know how well it will work on different devices, but I can listen to it on my iPad browser while I’m still on iOS 17 right now, and I don’t even have a Spotify account, so I feel like that’s a sign it should work well and play for most people)

Key point outline under the cut: (and I am actively trying to get the “Keep reading that showed in my draft but now isn’t showing in the published post fixed)

At 7:20, at this time, Bruce reveals that when he went to pick up his gear when it became apparent he would not be coming back for awhile, if at all, Kevin refused to let him have his own amplifiers back, since it was needed for Matt Bissonette to use to help maintain the same sound.  

Neal goes on to clarify that this has been going on since the beginning of 2024, and that they have indeed tried to work this out, as fans have told them to do.  At 9:25, Neal states that he does not think he is legally allowed to quote what was in them, but says that Kevin sent “vicious” and “cruel emails” to Bruce in their attempts to work this situation out.  Later in the interview, Neal goes on to say that this was the biggest reason he ended up opposing Kevin, and not allowing him to use the name.  Not because of it just being that Bruce had been pushed out involuntarily, but he didn’t think Kevin deserved to use it on his own after being so cruel.

Around 10:40, the voting scheme and legal agreement as to why Kevin was unable to use the name of REO Speedwagon on his own without an agreement is explained.  No lone member of the band was ever allowed to go out with the name, unless majority parties agreed on it (e.g. if Bruce had voluntarily retired as Neal had, Kevin could have continued to use it). It is reiterated that Kevin’s refusal to let Bruce back in the band (over all the reasons Kevin has come up with since Bruce’s back surgery) is the only reason he was going to get it taken away in the first place.  This goes on for a few minutes, including a brief mention that REO’s original manager, Irving Azoff, even stepped in to help, but couldn’t reason with it.  It ultimately came to a point of Kevin saying he quit at the same time as being told he couldn’t use the name without letting Bruce back in.

At 14:10, Neal addresses Kevin’s comment that the 2024 lineup of REO is the best-sounding lineup of REO that has ever been.  They do defend Kevin in that it’s something that is *expected* by the press in interviews often, thus, sometimes is required to be done even if it’s not what is actually believed, but they are upset with the implications of that regarding Gary Richrath.

At 17:45, Neal reveals some stuff going on between him and Kevin, and Kevin exerting more control in the band, as reason for his choice to retire beyond what was described with the traveling issue.  But, he also reveals that he would happily rejoin the band for a farewell tour, if it had been done before Kevin went solo.  This leadership thing is also reiterated around 22:35 after going back through more efforts to have tried to get back together for a farewell tour that likely will not happen at this point.

24:00 Neal reviews he was initially pressured by management and Kevin to vote *against* Bruce, so that “REO Speedwagon” could continue on as a name, and he explains it was not a decision he took lightly.  He didn’t want to take the name away from Kevin in respect to that it might hinder him in the future, since his own name as a solo is not as recognized as the band name (and he says he is glad for Styx partnering up with him to help him along, since it made it slightly less hard to deal with that side), and still reiterates that nobody wants Kevin to not do well on his own, but with how close Bruce is to him, and with the way Bruce was treated, he couldn’t vote against Bruce in good conscience.  Neal was ultimately placed into the position as the tie-breaker, and it was a very hard position for him to be in.

28:25 comes a discussion of how unusual it is for bands to use this majority vote thing to shelve a name, rather than someone continuing with it, or two separate forms existing.  Bruce reiterates that he would not find a singer and continue on with it, and Neal explains more directly that the majority reason for his vote -and the final tipping point after everything he had to weigh out -is his inability to support all the cruel things that were said in emails to Bruce.  Bruce feels bad that it was done this way, because he feels if Kevin had done a farewell tour with him -at least let him back long enough for that -and other past members of REO before going solo, he’d have the blessing of fans to do well, rather than being dragged down by this debacle, now.  

30:50 is a reiteration of how the initial fight turned into an all-out war over Bruce, and Neal explains he did not want to be in this position of power, and drops the line, “Brotherhood is more than a slogan” in regard to his relationship with Bruce. Bruce quoted this when he linked this on his Facebook page, and has suggested that this single quote from Neal has meant so much to him while he’s continuing to heal from this.

33:30 goes into more direct detail of Irving Azoff’s role in trying to help settle the dispute, how he ultimately called Kevin, after speaking to everyone else in the band, and sadly, since he doesn’t really have any power in this other than attempting to get Kevin to see how it might have been better for him in the long term to just let Bruce back for a farewell, at least, there wasn’t anything he could do when Kevin wouldn’t hear it.

34:50 goes on the discussion of Kevin’s ultimate choice, and Kimmie Sue Hall chimed in with the exact quote of how the legal documentation was worded with the end agreement that Kevin signed for going solo at the end of the whole dispute: “Withdrew from REO Speedwagon Touring Incorporated”, after many documented threats that “[he would] go solo” (“Kevin will go solo”) if he could not continue to tour with Matt and without Bruce.

36:45 Neal reiterates that fans who still want REO Speedwagon can still see the version from last year in all but name, it will still sound the same as the exact band, and that every possible measure was taken to keep it from coming to this. They don’t want fans who want to continue having the experience to not go see Kevin if they want to because of this, but the dispute over the band name became deeper than they wanted it to be.

38:35, Neal goes on to explain what it would ultimately have been like to him if he had voted against Bruce, and is very open about how much he cares about Bruce -to the point he admits to nearly being in tears -and the pain is audible in his voice.  He states that he will gladly take the rap as the one who broke up REO with his decision to fans who are unhappy with his choice, with what is more important in the grand scheme.  This vote turned into being “purely about human relationships” by the end of the dispute, and the ultimate choice actually disadvantages Neal and Bruce from a business perspective, as since they are still members of REO even while not touring, they get a percentage of tour revenue -which will not occur with Kevin under a solo name -as is put toward the interview as a final reiteration of this not being about ending up on top.

So, with the limitations to what Neal actually can say, it seems like this got even uglier than what was known before, and this has been painful for Bruce even before it became known that he would never be in REO again (or at least as we suspect for now). I’m disappointed with Kevin, but not shocked (as someone who had a hard time coming to terms with how Gary Richrath was treated when I first became an REO fan). I don’t want him to not do well (and his new Facebook page is swamped with trolls right now over this)… but I can’t say what he’s done is okay, either. Maybe he’ll come around, but again, it doesn’t seem likely, or at least not right away. There’s been a lot of speculation I’ve seen as to if he’s actually alright right now, and that’s so much of a speculative can of worms that I don’t think it’s responsible to get into publicly… but I’ve seen things first hand enough that with the people who have said those speculative things, I can’t deny the possibility. At least for that much, I hope something -anything -can come about to give this situation a better ending, even if it’s late, and it can’t undo what Bruce and Neal have had to go through.

[rocknsoulhitmusicshow]

IN MEMORIAM: 2023 DEATHS

Those whom we have lost this year:

David Crosby

Jeff Beck

Lisa Marie Presley

Fred White

Barrett Strong

Ultimate Classic Rock's goodbye salute

[grand-line-shenanigans]

And the dance floor is filling up with blood

But oh lord, you've never been so in love

[deancasforcutie]

Representation for the stim every Classic Rock Neurodivergent has <3

[bowtomysparklingoceans]

Hip hip hooray! Happiest Birthday Pageyyy!!! My God My Hero plz don’t die 😔 muwsh meowmeow

[the-alan-price-combo]

this picture sleeve is a psychological need 🙏

[houseofcatwic]

[crepuscularpete]

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

The iconic photo of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth standing under the McDonald’s arches on a winter day has been installed in the place where it was taken.

Fans have become familiar with Richard Upper’s picture since it was shot during the two Van Halen members’ promotional tour of 1978. Upper had been sent to join them in a limousine as they capitalized on interest in the band’s debut album, released that year.

At the opening of a brand-new restaurant in the same location, Upper recalled the story, telling West Newsmagazine: “We were driving from KSHE down Watson and we saw the McDonald’s sign. We’re already hungry, and they said, ‘Let’s go, guys.’ So we did.”

He continued: “We got our meals and we were walking back to the limousine. I looked up at the sign and said, ‘Eddie, we can’t leave without taking a shot of this with you guys.’ So he’s rifling through his bag trying to eat ‘cause he’s really hungry, and he and David get perfectly right in the middle, under the sign, and I take a bunch of pictures. This was the best one.”

The current owner of the Crestwood franchise – national restaurant No. 71 – confirmed it was the first McDonald’s in St. Louis, in Missouri and possibly on Route 66 when it opened in August 1958. Nolan Ruiz explained that the original building had been replaced soon after Van Halen and Roth had visited. That building was recently knocked down to make way for a state-of-the-art establishment, with the famous picture on display.

He added that there was another point of local interest: “It’s how I met my wife and became the proud parent of four children.”

Watch A Short Documentary on the Van Halen McDonald’s Photo

Watch the Van Halen McDonald's Photo Unveiling

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

AC/DC –You Shook Me All Night Long

[krispyweiss]

Quarter Notes: Blurbs & Briefs from Sound Bites

- In this edition: Paramore; Aoife O’Donovan; John Lennon; Alex Van Halen

PARAMORE SAYS NO TO TENNESSEE; YES TO RSD: Newly named 2024 Record Store Day Ambassadors Paramore declined an honor from the Tennessee Legislature marking its recent Grammy win after Republicans in the chamber blocked a similar honor for Allison Russell.

The members of Paramore are white. Russell is black.

“The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel,” Hayley Williams said in a statement reported by Deadline.

“Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind. … And thank you to Allison Russell for using your voice and artistry to band people together, not tear them apart.“

AOIFE O’DONOVAN TO PLAY “FRIENDS” FOR FRIENDS: Aoife O’Donovan will host a pre-release listening party for her forthcoming (March 22) All My Friends LP.

The event - which will also feature a short performance and Q&A - is March 12 in Santa Monica; ticketing info here.

Read Sound Bites’ coverage of the album’s two advance singles here.

LENNON PLAYS MORE MIND GAMES: John Lennon’s Mind Games will get an anniversary reissue “later this year” and will be previewed with a four-song Record Store Day EP.

RSD is April 20.

ALEX VAN HALEN, AUTHOR: Alex Van Halen will release his memoir, “the Brothers Van Halen,” Oct. 22, Ultimate Classic Rock reports.

2/21/24

[repurposedmeatlocker]

Ok this keeps on coming up. I hate to bitch about it but what is with all these people blocking me??? I'm exaggerating. It is not a whole lot, but these are people I interacted with amicably in the past on here and deadass idk what I did to warrant a block unless they just found me annoying? Not that it matters at all tbh, but I'd be lying if it didn't kind of just leaves a bad taste in my mouth : /

[stupidrobot000]

Blood TW / CW ! Rocktober day 3 Virus

What if Megaman had some sort of virus that caused him to snap? :0

[blackros78]