Starr says:

Anyone who has a Ringo story that they think would interest the author can contact him at michaelsstarr@gmail.com

Michael Starr is the television columnist for the NY Post and has written biographies on Peter Sellers, Art Carney, Joey Bishop, Bobby Darin, Raymond Burr and Redd Foxx. His Ringo Starr biography is expected to be published in 2015. Starr is not related to Ringo, whose real surname is Starkey.

A statement from Donna’s family reads:

After working as backing singer for the group Three Dog Night and touring with a stage production of Hair, Summer signed with the European label, Groovy Records, and released her first album “Lady of the Night” in 1974. Although not a big success, it did mark the start of her working relationship with producer Giorgio Moroder, with whom she would record the great hit “Love To Love You Baby” the following year.

“Love To Love You Baby” – Donna Summer

“Love To Love You Baby” reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and began a period of great chart success for Summer, including the hit singles “Could It Be Magic,” “Last Dance,” “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “MacArthur Park.” There were also hit albums, including “A Love Trilogy,” “Four Seasons of Love,” “I Remember Yesterday,” “Once Upon a Time,” and “Bad Girls”. The latter reached number one on the Billboard album chart in 1979, repeating the chart topping success of her 1978 live album “Live and More”.

“I Feel Love” – Donna Summer

The 1970s was undoubtedly Summer’s most commercially successful period, but she continued to have significant success in the 1980s after breaking away from her disco image, including the hit album “She Works Hard for the Money,” the title track of which reached number three on the Hot 100. She also continued to attract critical acclaim, with five Grammy Awards spanning the years 1979 to 1998.

Summer continued to perform until near the end, releasing her seventeenth and final studio album, “Crayons,” in 2008. This was her first album of original material since 1991′s “Mistaken Identity,” and would be her biggest chart success since “She Works Hard for the Money”.

In 2009, Summer performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honour of President Obama.

A number of stars have already paid tribute to Summer:

Elton John – “Her records sound as good today as they ever did. That she has never been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame is a total disgrace especially when I see the second-rate talent that has been inducted. She is a great friend to me and to the Elton John Aids Foundation and I will miss her greatly.”

Darlene Love – “I’m in complete shock! Didn’t know that Donna was battling lung cancer – She truly was ‘The Queen of Disco’! Rest in peace my darling! xo”

Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) – “For me, there is no doubt that her song I Feel Love had a dramatic effect on modern music. it was certainly a key influence on my work with Duran Duran. Together with producer Giorgio Moroder, Donna pioneered the use of electronic sequencers in dance music. Today that sound that seems so familiar, but in 1977, it was a brave new frontier. It’s extremely rare that you hear one song that completely changes the way you perceive music, I Feel Love, achieved that.”

Dion DiMucci – “May the Lord embrace and keep you my dear friend. Peace in Heaven forever and ever., With great love, Dion.”

Dionne Warwick – “My heart goes out to her husband and her children. Prayers will be said to keep them strong.”

The title will be released on the FTD collector’s label.

Author Ernst Jorgensen has been working on the project for years, meticulously piecing together the finer details of these innovative early days of Elvis’ career.

So what can be expected from the project? The 512-page book promises to tell the Sun story in more detail and with more accuracy than any previous title. Among the 500 photographs will be 200 that have never been published before.

The CDs will feature all of Elvis’ Sun master recordings, and all available outtakes. There will also be exciting live recordings from the period and the amateur recordings that the young Elvis made at the Memphis Recording Service before he was signed to Sun. The pre-publicity is also boasting 10 unreleased tracks, which has led to speculation that the likes of “Little Mama” will finally be heard. We await official confirmation of what these 10 titles are.

Expect this to be one of the finest Elvis releases of all time.

Unfortunately, as an FTD release, this will have a limited run and you will have to go to specialist stockists to pick it up. The Elvis Shop London and Now Dig This both have it available for pre-order.

Thunderclap Newman’s one and only hit single, “Something In The Air,” is Song of the Week on Classic Pop Icons. “Something In The Air” was released on single in May 1969, backed with “Wilhelmina”. It also appeared on the band’s only album, “Hollywood Dream,” the following year and on the soundtracks of the movies “The Magic Christian” and “The Strawberry Statement”.

Thunderclap Newman was a band put together by The Who’s guitarist, Pete Townshend, in order to showcase the songwriting talents of John “Speedy” Keen, who had been a chauffeur and roadie for The Who. Keen had written “Armenia City in the Sky,” which appeared on The Who’s 1967 album “The Who Sell Out”.

The band was a short-lived experiment, with very little output and only a handful of live shows, but with “Something In The Air” they released one of the UK’s biggest singles of 1969 and one of the most enduring songs of the era.

Written a year on from the so-called Summer of Love and in the wake of the growing student protests over Vietnam, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, “Something In The Air” was a rallying call for those who believed that the time for real, positive social change had arrived. Keen’s lyrics are in contrast to the idealistic flower power message though. Scott McKenzie’s 1967 hit had urged young people to “be sure to wear some flowers in your hair,” but Keen asserted that it’s time to “Call out the instigators,” “Lock up the streets and houses,” and “Hand out the arms and ammo”. The recurring message is “Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right”. The song’s original title was in fact “Revolution,” but it was changed because The Beatles released a song of that name.

Although the song’s message might come in and out of fashion, the real reason that it has endured is that it has such a strong melody and was so well performed and produced by all concerned. Keen’s lead vocal and drumming are particularly strong, but the melodic bass part, well crafted guitar riffs, unusual piano solo, and busy string arrangement are all noteworthy. There isn’t a weakest link on this recording.

“Something In The Air” – Thunderclap Newman

Thunderclap Newman released one more single, “Accidents,” but it didn’t chart in the US or make the Top 40 in the UK. The same fate befell their subsequent efforts and the band split up in 1971.

Authorship

The words and music for “Something In The Air” were written by John Keen.

Recording date/location

“Something In The Air” was recorded in early 1969 at Pete Townshend’s home studio in Twickenham and IBC Recording Studios, located at 35 Portland Place, London.

Musicians

Thunderclap Newman were:

• John Keen – vocals and drums
• Pete Townshend (credited as Bijou Drains) – bass
• Andy “Thunderclap” Newman – piano
• Jimmy McCulloch – guitar.

Pete Townshend was replaced on bass by Jim Pitman-Avery when the band played live.

Andy Newman was a jazz pianist who Townshend had known at art college. In recent years he has toured and recorded with a new line-up of Thunderclap Newman.

John Keen recorded a couple of solo albums in the 1970s, “Previous Convictions” and “Y’know Wot I Mean?”, and had a short career as a producer for acts including Motorhead. He died in 2002.

McCulloch went on to play with several bands after Thunderclap Newman split up, including Paul McCartney’s Wings. He died of a heroin overdose in 1979.

John Keen, Pete Townshend, Andy Newman and Jimmy McCulloch

Chart performance

“Something In The Air” topped the UK singles chart and peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

Notable covers

“Something In The Air” – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty’s cover of “Something In The Air” featured as a bonus track on his 1993 Greatest Hits album and was a minor hit when released on single the following year. It’s a fairly predictable cover, with Petty and the band sticking to the original arrangement, but replacing the piano break with a guitar solo.

“Something In The Air” – Hayley Sanderson

Hayley Sanderson’s cover of “Something In The Air” was used for a TalkTalk advertising campaign in 2006 and also released as a charity single to benefit Treehouse, the UK charity for autism education. Sanderson’s voice is strong and appealing, and works well against the 35-piece string section.

There will be a new Song of the Week on May 21.

Thunderclap Newman’s “Something In The Air” is available on the album “Hollywood Dream”. You can also download it as a single MP3.

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Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream (CD)	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now
Something In the Air – single track (MP3)	Buy Now	Buy Now	N/A

Fellow Booker T. and the MGs member, Steve Cropper, announced the death of his friend on Facebook with the following message:

Dunn was born on November 24, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee, and began playing bass at the age of 16. In the late 1950s, he formed a band called the Royal Spades with his school friend Steve Cropper and other local musicians. The Royal Spades would soon change their name to the Mar-Keys and sign a deal with Atlantic Records, scoring a number three hit with “Last Night”. Booker T. and the MGs were one of the groups spawned from the Mar-Keys in the early ’60s, but Dunn was not an original member. He joined in 1964, replacing bassist Lewie Steinberg.

Donald Dunn (far right) with Booker T. and the MGs

Dunn’s bass lines were an important component of the so-called Stax sound, helping create some truly great recordings. Here’s four classic songs on which he appears:

“Knock On Wood” – Eddie Floyd

“In the Midnight Hour” – Wilson Pickett

“Hold On, I’m Coming” (live) – Sam and Dave

“Try a Little Tenderness” (live) – Otis Redding

The last two clips were taken from the Stax/Volt European tour of 1967, during which Booker T. and the MGs backed Otis Redding, Arthur Conley, Sam and Dave, and Eddie Floyd. They also showcased some of their own hits, including “Green Onions,” with Dunn playing the bass part that Lewis Steinberg had played on the studio recording.

“Green Onions” (live) – Booker T. and the MGs

As well as providing expert backing to some of the finest soul acts of the 1960s, Booker T. and the MGs continued to record solo material, including the album “McLemore Avenue,” which was an instrumental version of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road”.

Dunn remained a busy live and session performer after the Stax heyday, playing behind the likes of Eric Clapton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and the Blues Brothers. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2007 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of the MGs.

Donald Dunn is survived by his wife, June; son, Jeff; and grandchild, Michael.

Related item:
Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns dies aged 70

Every aspect of “Fire and Rain” is detailed by Taylor in an excellent instrumental performance that is worth watching even if you are not a guitar player.

The lesson is available at www.jamestaylor.com/guitarlessons/

The previous lessons cover the songs “Little Wheel,” “Country Road” and “Second Wheel”.

Taylor is also offering fans the chance to enter a draw for an autographed, personalized copy of the vocal part for “Fire and Rain” from his personal library. To enter the contest, go to the guitar lesson link above, share the video and fill out the form. The winner will be announced on or after June 11, 2012.

Freddie’s former bandmate, Brian May, told the BBC that the production team had been working on ways to include the late singer in the production, but that they will not be using a hologram effect. May describes the approach as “an optical illusion of sorts” and claims that “People will come out saying, ‘did we actually see Freddie?’”.

“We Will Rock You” has been playing at London’s Dominion Theatre since May 14, 2002. The 10th anniversary celebration is expected to attract some big names, including Robert De Niro, who is one of the show’s producers.

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Franklin’s 1972 gospel album, “Amazing Grace,” has sold over two million copies, making it one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time. It was also critically acclaimed, winning the 1972 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance. The double album was recorded live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972.

“Mary, Don’t You Weep” – Aretha Franklin

The Gospel Music Hall of Fame has inducted more than 150 members since its inception in 1971, including Elvis Presley, Al Green, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton.

“Tower of Song” (live) – Tom Jones

As a bonus, Jones sang the song “Traveling Shoes” at the piano with Jools.

“Traveling Shoes” (live) – Tom Jones and Jools Holland

Both songs will feature on Jones’ forthcoming album “Spirit In The Room”.

“Spirit In The Room” tracklist

1. Tower Of Song
2. (I Want To) Come Home
3. Hit Or Miss
4. Love And Blessings
5. Soul Of A Man
6. Bad As Me
7. Dimming Of The Day
8. Traveling Shoes
9. All Blues Hail Mary
10. Charlie Darwin.

The deluxe edition of “Spirit In The Room” will include the bonus tracks “Just Dropped in,” “Lone Pilgrim” and “When The Deal Goes Down”.

You can pre-order “Spirit In The Room” now from:

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Tom Jones – Spirit In The Room (CD)	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now
Tom Jones – Spirit In The Room Deluxe (CD)	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now

See also:
Tom Jones covers Leonard Cohen’s “Tower Of Song” (video)

This is the latest in a long line of awards and honours for the legendary singer, including 22 Grammy Awards, and induction into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The Billboard Music Awards show will be hosted by Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell of Modern Family. Adele leads the way with 18 nominations, followed by LMFAO (17), Rihanna (13), Lady Gaga (10) and Lil Wayne (10).

Last year’s recipient of the Billboard Icon Award was Neil Diamond.