John Fogerty

Credit: Johnfogerty.com

John Fogerty will play the Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Cosmo’s Factory” and “Green River”  in their entirely during a two-night run at New York’s Beacon Theater, Nov. 17-18.

Fogerty buffs will recognize the “hell freezes over” significance of this moment.

The two albums, first released in 1969 and 1970 respectively, included such now classic rock tunes as “Bad Moon Rising, “ “Green River,”  “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” and  “Up Around the Bend.” But as CCR fans know,  a young and naive Fogerty signed away his publishing to Fantasy Records head Saul Zaentz.

Then, in one of the strangest moments in rock history,  after Fogerty had moved on to Warner Bros., Zantz  sued Fogerty, accusing him of plagiarizing himself. For years, Fogerty was so devastated by the fight that he refused to play any Creedence songs.

Fogerty re-incorporated CCR material years ago, but this will mark the first time he’s playing these albums front-to-back. In an even sweeter twist, Concord, for whom Fogerty recorded for briefly six years ago, purchased Fantasy and, in a great faith move, offered to pay Fogerty artist royalties on his CCR material.

In addition to performing the albums, he will play a bonus set of hits. Opening both shows for the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will be Delta Spirit.

James Durbin

 

Credit: FOX

We know that “American Idol” Season Ten finalist James Durbin signed to Wind-Up, home of acts like Evanescence and O.A.R., but now we’re getting more info about his debut album.

“Memories of a Beautiful Disaster” will come out Nov. 21, according to a Durbin tweet on Tuesday.  He explained the title thusly: “Means looking back on events in my life, to see the beauty in the pain.”

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Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart attend "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops" in San Diego, CA

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Is the boys’ club otherwise known as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame about to shift to ladies’ night?

This year’s potential class of 15, announced Sept. 27,  includes five female or female-fronted acts, including first time nominees Joan Jett, Heart and Chaka Khan (as leader of Rufus), and returnees Donna Summer and Laura Nyro.

If three of the women make the final cut, it will mark the first time more than two female acts have been inducted in the same year.

For trivia buffs, the first woman inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was Aretha Franklin, in 1987. There have been some years when no women have been among the final five, and a handful of years when more than one female has been inducted, especially if one includes acts who aren’t led by a woman, but have a female member like the Talking Heads. Counting only solo female acts, like Joni Mitchell, or female-fronted bands, like Blondie, 20 of the 125 acts inducted over the past 25 years are women.

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Life is complicated. That’s not a new revelation, of course, but it’s the guiding theme on Switchfoot’s new album,  the cleverly titled “Vice Verses,” out today.

For every blessing, as lead singer Jon Foreman sings on the gentle, contemplative title track, there are curses. While we’re busy navigating life’s land mines, there’s beauty and sorrow going on, usually simultaneously.

The album’s second track, the propulsive, psychedelic “The Original,” sounds quite unlike anything the band has ever done before. And maybe that’s the point of “Vice Verses.” The album is all over the map musically, touching on every corner of the rock spectrum.

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R.E.M. frontman/nude model Michael Stipe attends the 2011 Elton John Oscar viewing party in West Hollywood, CA

Credit: AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

Last week came word that  R.E.M.  31-year history would be tied up nearly in a bow with “Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011,” but details were scant on the package.

Now we are getting the full track listing for the Nov. 15, 40-song retrospective, plus the good news that it will include three new tracks,  first single “We All Go Back To Where We Belong,” “A Month of Sundays” and “Hallelujah.” "Belong" goes to radio on Oct. 18.

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Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake is making quite a movie career out of playing real-life characters.  In “Alpha Dog,” he played low-life Frankie Ballenbacher, who was based on Jesse James Hollywood’s buddy Jesse Rugge; in “The Social Network,” he portrayed internet entrepreneur Sean Parker, and now, he’ll bring colorful music executive Neil Bogart to the big screen. (Not to mention, he voiced Boo-Boo in “Yogi Bear.”)

“Spinning Gold” will tell the story of Bogart, who died of cancer in 1982 when he was 39, and his rise from a poor kid in Brooklyn to a major player in pop culture. “This is saga about a young dreamer who started with nothing and came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, believing anything was possible and every risk was worth taking,” said Bogart’s son/”Spinning Gold’s” screenwriter, Tim Bogart, to Deadline Hollywood.

Bogart accomplished a lot in his short life. After stints at Cameo-Parkway and Buddah Records, Bogart co-founded Casablanca Records. The first signing was Kiss, but the label will always be most closely associated with its disco acts like Donna Summer and the Village People, as well as funk act Parliament. He also started Boardwalk Records with Joan Jett as his debut artist. Casablanca was an innovative label: it was one of the first to issue 12” singles and also, smartly, licensed a number of European disco hits for the U.S.

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LeAnn Rimes' "Lady & Gentleman"

There are no pictures of LeAnn Rimes in a bikini on her new album, “Lady & Gentlemen.” And that’s a good thing.

Over the last few years, Rimes’ illicit and now legal relationship with new hubby, “The Playboy Club” star Eddie Cibrian; her incessant tweeting about her life with said new hubby and two stepsons, photos of her in  various kleenex-sized bikinis, and discussion about her seemingly ever-more-slender frame have completely and totally overwhelmed her considerable abilities as a singer.  With “Lady,” out Tuesday, maybe we can all move on.

Rimes was only 13 when she came to national prominence with her preternaturally mature, resonant, rangy vocals on her stone-cold country song “Blue,” which was written originally for Patsy Cline, but the legendary singer died before she could record the tune.

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Kelly Clarkson in "Mr. Know It All"

It’s Kelly Clarkson and her fan, the blowing kind, in the video for “Mr. Know It All,” which premiered on Vevo today.

The majority of the video is Clarkson performing the song in front of her self-described “Wall of Doubt,” a seemingly endless wall totally covered with headlines of tabloid stories written about Clarkson, ranging from speculation on why she’s still single to how she dropped all her friends after winning “American Idol,” and the recent leaking of tracks from new album “Stronger," which is out Oct. 24.

Throughout, a fan gently blows her light-brown locks, as her band members appear in silhouette projected on the Wall of Doubt.  There are a few additional scenes interspersed, including Clarkson at a party dancing with another girl until Clarkson falls on her butt, as well as a Clarkson packing her bag  as she tells the titular “Mr. Know It All”  that he doesn’t know a thing about her.

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Lady Gaga performing at the I Heart Radio festival in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Credit: AP Photo/Chris PIzzello

I wouldn’t consider myself a Little Monster, but I think Lady Gaga just won me over for life with this performance and dedication. Last night in Las Vegas at Clear Channel’s I Heart Radio mega-concerts,  Lady Gaga gave a knock-out, emotional tribute to 14-year Jamey Rodemeyer, who committed suicide last week after being bullied for more than a year.

Rodemeyer was a huge Gaga fan. In this moving intro to “Hair,” a breathless Gaga, seated at a piano shaped like the motorcycle from the "Born This Way" cover, says, “I just want to take a minute because I don’t know if any of your know this, but we lost a little monster this week and I wanted to dedicate this song to him tonight because he was really young.” The screen then flashed Rodemeyer’s name, the date of his death, and apparently a tweet to Lady Gaga he sent that serves as a chilling last note: “Bye Mother Monster. Thank You For All You Have Done. Paws Up Forever.”

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 Michael Stipe

 

Credit: AP

1) R.E.M.: Sometimes magnificent, often inscrutable, but always interesting, the durable Athens, Ga. purveyors of jangle pop call it quits after 31 years.  It’s not the end of the world as we know it, it just feels that way.

2) Lady Antebellum: Country trio lands its second No. 1 album as “Own The Night” opens with sales of close to 350,000 copies. They own the charts too.

3) Universal Music Group and Live Nation: The two powerhouses partner up to blend their artist management companies, but the pact hardly ends there.  The deal has potential for an amazing array of synergies (or conflicts of interest, depending upon whom you ask). How much larger does Live Nation Entertainment have to get before it is officially too big to fail?

4) Tony Bennett: This week Bennett became the oldest living artist  to chart on the Hot 100. The 85-year old may very well land the first No. 1 album of his career  and may very well possibly land the first No. 1 album of his career with “Duets ll.” Hey, he may have a future in this business we call show.

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