Rare Images Mean Big Money for Labels

Amid drastic drop-offs in CD sales, the major labels have discovered new sources of revenue — by looking in their basements. Sony BMG recently launched Icon Collectibles, a line of rare photos from the label's archives, with candid, unpublished shots of artists from Miles Davis to Bob Dylan, and Warner label Rhino Entertainment just started selling reproductions of concert posters for bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.

Published: 2008-08-06 Provider: Rolling Stone

New Beck Song “Chemtrails” Hits the Web

Beck’s “Chemtrails,” the first song from his upcoming Danger Mouse-produced Modern Guilt, is now streaming on the singer’s official website. As Rolling Stone reported last week, the album channels British rock of the 1960s, and the psychedelic “Chemtrails” fits that mold. Beck seems to be channeling Jefferson Airplane/Moby Grape mastermind Skip Spence — an artist Beck previously covered — on the track, which may or may not be the first single. Modern Guilt still doesn’t have an official release date, but sources say June is a safe bet. [Photo: Beck/Drew Brown]

Published: 2008-05-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Songs for Reefer Gladness

Thanks to all of you who celebrated the 4/20 holiday weekend properly by helping us compile this awesome list of the best songs to play while getting high. We know your diligent research took it’s toll on your relationships, employment status and brain cell count but we appreciate it. Enjoy the official list, below. 1. “Shine On You Crazy Diamonds, Pts. 1-5” – Pink Floyd 2. “Pack the Pipe” – The Pharcyde 3. “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” – Spiritualized 4. “Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix 5. “White Rabbit” – Jefferson Airplane 6. “Slow Ride” – Foghat 7. “Summertime” – Janis Joplin 8. “Feelin’ Alright” – Joe Cocker 9. “ Everything In Its Right Place” – Radiohead 10. “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” – Dr. Dre 11. “Moonage Daydream” – David Bowie 12. “No Quarter” – Led Zeppelin 13. “Higher Than The Sun” – Primal Scream 14. “Roses Are Free” – Ween 15. “Spirit In the Sky” – Norman Greenbaum 16. “Young Folks” – Peter Bjorn & John 17. “El Scorcho” – Weezer 18. “It’s Good to Be King” – Tom Petty 19. “Blue Monday” – New Order 20. “1979” – Smashing Pumpkins 21. “Someone Great” – LCD Soundsystem 22. “Float On” – Modest Mouse 23. “ More Than This” – Roxy Music 24. “Candle” – Sonic Youth 25. “Summersong” – Decemberists

Published: 2007-04-24 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Lists

Rock List: Readers’ Top Songs About Insanity

Last week, in honor of Britney’s breakdown, Huckabee’s antics and Winehouse’s latest string of disasters—breaking news! There’s more of them!—we asked our readers for the best songs about insanity. As expected, a song about noted nutcase Syd Barrett and a track sung by a man who once bit off the head of a bat received the most votes. Ditch the straitjackets and check out the full list of twenty-five songs here. 1. Pink Floyd – “Brain Damage” 2. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid” 3. Pixies – “Where Is My Mind?” 4. Metallica – “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” 5. Radiohead – “Climbing Up the Walls” 6. Guns n’ Roses – “You’re Crazy” 7. Green Day – “Basketcase” 8. Nirvana – “Lithium” 9. David Bowie – “All the Madmen” 10. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” 11. The Ramones – “Gimme Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” 12. Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer” 13. The Doors – “The End” 14. Jefferson Airplane – “White Rabbit” 15. Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train” 16. Suicidal Tendencies – “Institutionalized” 17. Tool – “Rosetta Stoned” 18. The Rolling Stones – “19th Nervous Breakdown” 19. Tears For Fears – “Mad World” 20. Sonic Youth – “Schizophrenia” 21. Jimi Hendrix – “Manic Depression” 22. The Police – “Every Breath You Take” 23. David Bowie – “Aladdin Sane” 24. Joy Division – “She’s Lost Control” 25. The Kinks – “Acute Schizophrenia Blues”

Published: 2008-01-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Lists, Rock Daily

The Grateful Dead Movie Coming Soon — Don’t Eat the Brown Movie Tickets

The Summer of Love is officially threatening to take over the cinema. Across the Universe is set for fall release, Gus Van Sant’s take on Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is in the works and now moviegoers can start preparing for the most acid-soaked tale of them all: Home Before Daylight, a film based on the formative years of the Grateful Dead. The movie will be adapted from a book by Steve Parish, who has some real credentials: He was a Dead roadie for 35 years. The story, which has already been endorsed by Dead guitarist Bob Weir, will chart the history of the band, focusing on those times they chilled with Ken Kesey and Jefferson Airplane in the Haight-Ashbury days. We’re totally stoked for this film, if just to see who gets cast as Grace Slick (please not Lindsay Lohan). While no release date is set for the film, we anticipate something in the 2009 ballpark, as the script will undoubtedly be a fact-checker’s nightmare (how would you verify whether or not Weir actually saw an eight-headed dragon that breathed purple flames while he was tripping acid during the twenty-third minute of a “Dark Star” jam?). Plus, the CG effects will likely cost in the millions to make sure those hallucinations look realistic. So, who would you like to see cast in this film? Paul Giametti as Pigpen, anyone?

Published: 2007-07-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Britney’s Comeback Rescheduled For This Week? McCartney’s New Album, And More

Britney Spears was supposed to play a couple of secret shows last week but cancelled. Her big secret show-fueled comeback is now on for this week. Rumor has it that the pop star and her various wigs will be performing the House of Blues in San Diego on May 1st, Anaheim on May 2nd, as well as the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on May 3rd all under the name The M + M’s.” Mick Jagger could use your help discerning an interesting medium through which to tell his life story. Jagger reportedly started working on his autobiography, but stopped because he found the process too boring. “I was offered a large sum of money, which I found tempting and I started writing,” the rocker told Rolling Stone in the most recent issue. “I was sitting around talking endlessly about the past, living in it. And I found it rather dull. I’d love to find another form to do it in. A book form, but not in the accepted showbiz memoir.” Suggestions? Paul McCartney next studio album, Memory Almost Full, contains 13-tracks and will hit stores June 5 via Starbucks’ new Hear Music label. It will also be the first McCartney album to ever be available digitally. A new Jefferson Airplane biography, Take Me To A Circus Tent, sounds like it’ll be the perfect beach read for this summer, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. Peace out.

Published: 2007-04-30 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Morning News Roundup

Dead roadie's story to bigscreen

Film News: Grais to produce 'Daylight' -- Michael Grais will adapt "Home Before Daylight," an autobiography by a longtime Grateful Dead roadie, for the bigscreen. He's also producing. Project will trace the music- and drug-filled exploits of the Bay Area band, which mingled with the likes of Ken Kesey and Jefferson Airplane during its heyday and developed a devoted following on the concert circuit well into the 1980s.

Published: 2007-07-06 Provider: Variety.com

Report: Jagger was to be killed by Hells Angels

Read full story for latest details.

Published: 2008-03-03 Provider: CNN Keywords: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gang Violence, Jefferson Airplane, Crime, Meredith Hunter, Entertainment, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Rolling Stones, Tom Mangold, Marty Balin, California, Mick Jagger, Long Island, United Kingdom, Music Stars, Mark Young, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Altamont, Celebrity News

Dank and Dreary, It Was White Magic's Night to Howl

A damp Tuesday night in December might be synonymous with the doldrums, but it's perfect weather for a White Magic show. Led by the soulful bellow of Mira Billotte, the Brooklyn band's macabre ditties evoke Jefferson Airplane gliding through the pages of an Edward Gorey book.

Published: 2007-12-13 Provider: Washington Post

Jefferson Airplane

American psychedelic rock group Jefferson Airplane performing at the Naumburg Bandshell in central Park, New York, 15th August 1972, with singer/songwriter Grace Slick centre, left. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Published: 2006-11-01 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: Full Length, Performance, Females, Black And White, USA, New York State, New York City, Medium Group Of People, Band, Singing, Playing, Singer, Music, Stage, Psychedelic, Guitarist, Songwriter, Arts Culture and Entertainment, , Grace Slick;Paul Kantner;Jorma Kaukonen;Jack Casady

Grace Slick

American singer/songwriter Grace Slick of psychedelic rock group Jefferson Airplane, July 1970. (Photo by McCarthy/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Published: 2006-11-01 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: Horizontal, Looking At Camera, Headshot, Females, Black And White, USA, One Person, Singer, Music, Psychedelic, Portrait, Posing, Songwriter, Arts Culture and Entertainment, , Grace Slick

Slick At Woodstock

American singer/songwriter Grace Slick with psychedelic rock group Jefferson Airplane at the Woodstock Festival, Bethel, New York, 17th August 1969. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Published: 2006-11-01 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: Full Length, Males, Females, Black And White, USA, New York City, Three People, Dress, Singer, Music, Psychedelic, Woodstock Music Festival, Songwriter, Arts Culture and Entertainment, , Grace Slick