Have You Heard the News... Here are current stories about Oldies Artists in the News: Chaka Khan cancelled a concert in Manchester, England just hours before she was scheduled to go on Wednesday (July 23) because she had "lost her voice". She is at home in Lonmdon under a doctor's care and hopes to reschedule the concert in October. Billy Joel performed the final concert at New York's Shea Stadium Friday (July 18). But it was Paul McCartney who made a surprise guest visit, performing "I Saw Her Standing There" with Billy just as he did with the Beatles in 1964. Other guests included Tony Bennett, Roger Daltrey (afterwards, Billy broke his guitar onstage) and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Paul and Billy performed "Let It Be" as the concert's finale. The ballpark is scheduled to be torn down at the end of the season. It's been learned that Earl Nelson, who sang with both Bobby Day (Byrd) and Bobby Relf in the duo Bob and Earl, died July 12 in Los Angeles, where he lived, at the age of 79. He had reportedly been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. Earl and Bobby Day had been members together in the Hollywood Flames, who scored a two-sided hit with "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" and "Crazy" (#11) in late 1957. Bobby Day then went on to a successful solo career before teaming up with Earl in the original Bob and Earl in 1960. Chart success eluded the two, however and Day left, replaced by Bobby Relf in 1962. They reached #85 that year with "Don't Ever Leave Me", but the following year recorded the immortal "Harlem Shuffle" (with young Barry White on piano and arranging). Though it only got to #44 on the pop chart, it has become an enduring R&B classic. Earl wasn't through with the charts, though. In 1966, using his wife's first name and his own middle name, he got to #14 on the pop charts as Jackie Lee with "The Duck" (again arranged by Barry and reportedly the inspiration ten years later for Rick Dees' "Disco Duck"). Ruby Fleetwood, one of the six year-old twin daughters of Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital Friday (July 18) after nearly drowning in the family's swimming pool. Paramedics were able to revive her and she is in critical but stable condition. Singer/songwriter Hank Cochran ("I Fall To Pieces") is recovering in a Nashville hospital after surgery Thursday (July 17) to remove cancerous tumors from his pancreas and lymph node. The cancer was caught early and doctors expect the 72 year-old Hank to make a full recovery. Paul Simon filed suit against a Japanese clockmaker for copyright infringement Friday (July 18). He claims the company used his tune, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in its clock without permission. Paul says 40,000 of the clocks have been sold in the last three years, earning the company $5 million-- the amount he is suing for. A licensing fee would have cost $1 million. A Los Angeles judge ruled Friday (July 18) that Rod Stewart will remain a co-defendant in an assault-and-battery case involving his son, butwill not be liable for punitive damages if he loses. Sean Stewart is accused of beating an man outside an L.A. nightclub in 2006. The case is set to go to trial January 27. The Parents Television Council presented its Integrity In Entertainment award Monday (July 14) to Pat Boone, citing a lifetime of "uplifting, enlightening, educational and wholesome media messages." Said Pat, "I never made a movie or recorded a song that I didn't want my kids and grandkids to hear or see." Condolences to Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, whose mother-- Susan Ray Tallerico-- passed away peacefully Monday (July 14) at the New Hampshire retirement community where she lived. She was 84. Despite pictures showing Barry Manilow looking rather gaunt, the singer's representative insisted Friday (July 18) that he is not ill. Answering charges that he now weighed 100 pounds, se said, "Granted ... he's pretty trim. But 100 pounds? Give us a break. Even Mary Kate and Ashley [Olsen] weight more than 100 pounds The movie version of the ABBA musical, "Mamma Mia!", opened in the United States Friday (July 18). Film critic Roger Ebert gave it two stars, saying, "I was underwhelmed and don't much like ABBA, but this movie wasn't made for me. It was made for the people who will love it, of which there may be a multitude. You know who are are." He called the plot "contrived"-- a "clothesline on which to hang the songs." And the choreography "at times resembled calisthenics." But he liked lead actress Meryl Streep, saying she "can play anybody... She has such a merry smile and seem to be actually having a good time." Jo Stafford, who charted with 78 pop hits between 1944 and 1957, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday (July 16) at her California home at the age of 90. Born Jo Elizabeth Stafford in Coalinga, California in 1917, she started out singing with her siblings on Los Angeles radio as the Stafford Sisters. Marriage caused her sisters to drop out of show business, but Jo formed the Pied Pipers with her husband, John Huddleston, in 1938. Unfortunately, the group never charted while Jo and John were with them, though they sang on some early Frank Sinatra recordings while Frank was with Tommy Dorsey's band (including "I'll Never Smile Again"). Both left in 1943 and Jo began a solo career that included the #1 hits "Candy" in 1945, "My Darling, My Darling" with Gordon MacCrae in 1949 (she charted ten times in duets with Gordon and six more times with Frankie Laine), "You Belong To Me" in 1952 and "Make Love To Me" in 1954. In 1952, she married bandleader Paul Weston and in 1961 won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album with Paul for "Jonathan And Darlene Edwards In Paris" (they portrayed an intentionally bad lounge act-- not that much of a stretch since one of Jo's first hits was a parody version of Perry Como's "Temptation" as Cinderella G. Stump with Red Ingle's band in 1947). In 1954 she hosted her own, self-titled, TV series for one season. A portion of Madison Avenue in Memphis was renamed "Thomas Boggs Boulevard" Wednesday (July 16) in honor of the Box Tops drummer turned restauranteur, who passed away from bladder cancer May 5 at the age of 63. Tom was CEO of the seven-restaurant Huey's chain as well as a partner in four other restaurants. He also was involved in the local food bank, zoo and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tom played on such hits as "Cry Like A Baby" and "Soul Deep". Cat Stevens-- now known by the Muslim name Yusuf Islam-- was awarded an unspecified amount of libel damages from a British news agency in a London court Friday (July 18) over a report last year that said he would not speak to women at an awards ceremony who were not wearing a veil. The agency issued an apology. Yuself said he would donate the "substantial" settlement to his own charity, Small Kindness. An auction of James Brown memorabilia Thursday (July 17) brought in over $857,000-- including $32,500 for the late Godfather's medical bracelet from David Letterman's bandleader Paul Schaffer. A South Carolina judge lifted a temporary stay Monday that had been issued after James' heirs protested the sale. CBS-TV has announced a new reality program set to premiere later this year called "Jingles", where contestants will be required to create and perform-- well, jingles for various products. And the network tapped Gene Simmons of Kiss Wednesday (July 16) to be the lead judge, along with a couple of Madison Avenue advertising women. The winner will receive $100,000 and a job with an ad agency. Natalie Cole announced in a statement Wednesday (July 16) that she has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. The liver disease was discovered in a routine physical and most likely was contracted years ago by drug use. Natalie, daughter of the late Nat "King" Cole, was given anti-viral medication which has left her "virus free" but also with fatigue, muscle aches and dehydration as side effects. She has another album of "duets" with her late father due in September. Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA said Tuesday (July 15) he is suffering from long-term memory loss and cannot even remember the group's 1974 win at the Eurovision Song Contest that propelled their fame. While is his short-term memory is fine (he worked on the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" with partner Benny Andersson), not even hypnosis can bring back memories of ABBA's initial success. "It's like I was not even there," he says. Unfortunately, that also means he doesn't remember being married to the group's gorgeous blonde singer, Agnetha Faltzkog. Hayward "Chuck" Carbo, leader and baritone singer with the Spiders, died in New Orleans Friday (July 11) after a long illness. He was 82. Along with his brother Leonard ("Chick" died nearly ten years ago), Joe Maxon, Matthew West and Oliver Howard, the group charted with five legendary top ten R&B tunes in less than two years-- "I Didn't Want To Do It" (#3) and its flip side, "You're The One" (#8) in 1954, "I'm Slippin In" (#6-1954), "21" (#9-1955) and "Witchcraft (the original version of the later Elvis Presley hit, #5-1956). The group split up when Chuck and Chick left to pursue unsuccessful solo careers. There are more details on how Dolly Parton's "9 To 5" song, already a movie, will become a Broadway musical. Dolly has written 20 new songs for the production, which will begin a seven-week pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles in September. If all goes well, the musical-- starring Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch-- will open in New York April 23. Meanwhile, the Kinks' Ray Davies' musical, "Come Dancing" (set in a British ballroom in the '50s), will open September 13 in London's East End. Joining the list of Ben & Jerry's rock 'n' roll flavors (started long ago with Cherry Garcia) is Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road ice cream, inspired by the Elton John hit. Grab it fast, though, since it will only be around for one week (Juy 18-25) to correspond with Elton's first concert ever in Vermont, where the company is located (that's the only state Elton hasn't performed yet in) July 21. Proceeds will benefit Elton's AIDS Foundation. Les Crane, the controversial radio and television talk show host who voiced the spoken-word hit, "Desiderata" (#8-1971), died of natural causes Sunday (July 13) at Marin County, California's General Hospital. He was 74. Les parlayed his success as a host at San Francisco's KGO radio into the national "Les Crane Show" for ABC-TV (opposite Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show") in 1964, where among his accomplishments was debuting the Rolling Stones on American TV. He was married for five years to actress Tina Louise of "Gilligan's Island". Jinx Dawson, lead singer of Coven ("One Tin Soldier") suffered a massive heart attack Wednesday (July 9) and was taken unresponsive by paramedics to the hospital where she had to be revived. Her right artery was nearly completely blocked, requiring bypass surgery. She was released on Sunday (July 13) however, and is currently recovering at home. The group reformed last November and released a new CD two months ago. Having collapsed from what was termed "mental and physical exhaustion", Marianne Faithfull has announced she is taking the next six months off. The 61 year-old Marianne underwent successful cancer treatment in November of 2006. Beatles producer George Martin was honored with a career award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' Grammy Foundation Saturday (July 12) in Los Angeles as the mostsuccessful producer of all time. The 80 year-old was at the helm of over 50 #1 hits and his prodctions have sold over one billion copies. The widows of George Harrison and Yoko Ono were on hand for the ceremony and guest performers included Jeff Beck and Tom Jones. Handwritten lyrics of John Lennon's song, "Give Peace A Chance" fetched $841,000 at an auction in London Thursday (July 10). John had written the lyrics down before a Montreal "Bed-In" and gave them afterwards to a 16 year-old girl who had originally snuck in and ended up acting as an errand girl for John and Yoko Ono. At the time he said, "These things are going to be worth something someday." And they were-- $200,000 more than the auction house expected. The biggest seller, though, was the drum skin used on the cover of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. It went for over $1 million, four times what was expected. British tabloids are reporting that Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood left his wife of nearly 23 years and was living at his home in Ireland with an 18 year-old Russian cocktail waitress he met while in London in April for the premiere of the group's "Shine A Light" movie. Ronnie's wife left him a furious message threatening divorce and the Stones guitarist returned to London-- and rehab Wednesday (July 16). A nude portrait of the girl is rumored to be among the 55 paintings Ronnie is exhibiting at a Dublin art gallery. Olivia Newton-John announced her marriage to surprised guests at a barbeque at her home in Malibu, California Friday (July 4). Her husband is an American businessman who's ten years younger than the 59 year-old Olivia. Though the couple announced the wedding at the BBQ, they actually were married June 21 in an Incan ceremony in Peru (with a civil ceremony later at the groom's Florida home). But forget those rumors about Cher. She is reportedly "laughing hysterically" over reports by the National Enquirer Wednesday (July 9) that she will marry (other reports say she already did marry) a 38 year-old Hell's Angel (that would make him 22 years younger than her). She is currently on a month-long break from her Las Vegas show. Colin Cooper, lead singer and sax player for the Climax Blues Band, died Thursday (July 3) at his home in Stafford, England after a battle with cancer. He was 68. Colin was an original member of the band when it was set up in 1968 as the Climax Chicago Blues Band. The group released eighteen albums over the next forty years. In America, they were known for two big hits four years apart-- "Couldn't Get It Right" (#3-1977) and "I Love You" (#12-1981). It's just now coming to light that some of Phil Spector's performers filed a lawsuit June 24 in Superior Court in Queens, New York, saying Phil hasn't paid them the royalties they're due twice yearly. Members of the Ronettes, Crystals and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans. Victor Willis, the original policeman character from the Village People, underwent surgery to remove nodules from his vocal cords in a San Diego hospital Monday (July 8). He was released from the hospital Monday (July 14). The surgery forced him to postpone concerts scheduled for later this year. The English Heritage association has decided against giving Ringo Starr's boyhood home in Liverpool landmark status, paving the way (no pun intended) for the house to be torn down. Ringo was born there but moved from the house when he was just four. Ironically, the organization has saved former Beatles drummer Pete Best's home. The four members of ABBA reunited Friday (July 4) for the Swedish premiere of the "Mama Mia" movie in Stockholm. The quartet did not perform but did pose for pictures together and with cast members. They last performed together in public in 1986, although there were reports they sang together at a private birthday party for a friend in 1999.They have made it clear that they will probably never sing together again. Andy Griffith has come out of semi-retirement to appear in a video for country singer Brad Paisley, which premiered this past week. The 82 year-old Andy plays a kind man who gives Brad advice. The heirs of Drifters founder George Treadwell reached an out-of-court settlement Thursday (July 3) with a bogus group (led by a one-time tour agent for the group), giving them exclusive rights to the group name in the UK and Europe. Ironically, none of the current members of the Treadwell group recorded on American or British Drifters hits, either. The Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville announced its 2008 class of inductees Tuesday (July 1). Booker T. & the MGs, the Crickets, Al Kooper and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section are among those wh will be honored October 28. Bette Midler was married at a chapel in Las Vegas in 1984 (the ceremony was performed by an Elvis imitator). The chapel closed down recently and the owners discovered two pictures of the marriage, which were never given to her. So, with Bette performing now regularly in Vegas, they sent the pictures to her-- more than 23 years late. Fortunately, the couple are still married. Raymond Lefevre-- the French composer and performer who had top 40 hits with "The Day The Rains Came" (#30) in 1958 and "Ame Cāline (Soul Coaxing)" (#37) a decade later-- died Friday (June 27) at the age of 78. Born in 1929 in Paris, he attended the conservatory of music there before playing piano in Franck Pourcel's orchestra (with Paul Mauriat) in the fifties. He left in 1956 to begin a solo career that saw him score numerous French television programs and movies and participate in four Eurovision contests. The Rev. Little Richard appeared on the CBS-TV soap opera, "The Young And The Restless" Monday (June 30), performing the wedding of two of the show's characters. Congratulations to Bob Dylan, whose lyrics were quoted Monday (June 23) by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts in a dissenting opinion in the case between pay-phone carriers and long dsistance operators. Justice Stevens quoted the famous line from "Like A Rolling Stone", "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose." Of course, he got the lyrics wrong, quoting it as "When you got nothing" (no "ain't"), though apparently that's the way it's written in the song's official copyright. Someone actually went to the trouble of tallying up how many rock lyrics have been quoted in judicial opinions (not just the Supreme Court) and Bob Dylan comes in first with 26. Paul Simon is second with 12, followed by Bruce Springsteen (5), Mick Jagger & Keith Richards (4), John Lennon and/or Paul McCartney (3), the Grateful Dead (2) and Joni Mitchell (1). David Bowie, former T-Rex drummer Bill Legend and the group's one-time producer have signed a petition against a band fronted by the their second drummer, calling itself T-Rex. Said the tribute band's manager, "Mickey [Finn] wanted the band to continue after his death and also have T-Rex mentioned somewhere in the title. This band was created to perform [Marc] Bolan's great songs. We never had any intention to upset anyone." Ringo Starr is selling off 40 pieces of art he created while on tour in the late '90s. The sale of the pieces, at $2950 dollars, began Friday (June 27) and includes a ticket to Ringo's July 3 show in Florida. Proceeds will benefit the Lotus Foundation, a charity aimed at advancing social welfare. A reel-to-reel tape of Tom Jones singing in the bathroom of the YMCA in Pontyprid, Wales in 1962 will be auctioned off by Christie's of London July 10. The recording by "Tommy Scott & the Senators" was made on portable 8-track equipment as a demo for the song's composers. The group used the unusual location because of its acoustics. It's the earliest known recording of Tom and is expected to bring $4,000 to $6,000-- possibly from Tom himself. Fender has announced the second group of inductees into their Hall of Fame. The Beach Boys and James Burton (who played with Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley and Dale Hawkins, among others) will join four others in the Hall later this summer Ironically, the James Burton Foundation donated 30 Yamaha guitars June 17 to Southern University in Shreveport, Louisiana to start a guitar class as part of continuing education at the school. The first class was Monday (June 23). If the Fender Guitar Hall of Fame is not your speed, try the Freddy Fender Museum, which opened this month in his birthplace of San Benito, Texas. Part of the San Benito Commnity Center, it includes a couple of Freddy's old guitars, a giant belt buckle and a jar of Freddy Fender picante sauce. The town of San Benito slighted Freddy a bit though, as they recently changed the street they named for him to "one-way". UCLA freshman forward Kevin Love, nephew of Beach Boys singer Mike Love and son of one-time group manager Stan Love, was selected 5th in the National Basketball Association draft Thursday (June 26) by the Memphis Grizzlies. He was then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for #3 pick O.J. Mayo, as part of an eight-player swap after the draft was over. Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin member Jimmy Page was given an honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Surrey in Guilford, England June 20 "for services to music". Jimmy was on hand for the honor, even signing a guitar for the university. The California Supreme Court has rejected a petition by producer Phil Spector to have the judge in his murder trial dismissed for bias. His second trial will continue under the original judge this September. A Nashville man was arrested Wednesday (June 25) for disorderly conduct and public intoxication for harassing Cher, who was sitting in a roped-off area of a lounge there. The man was escorted out of the bar when he repeatedly tried to make contact with Cher, then came back and grabbed her by the waist. When he returned a third time and was stopped by security, he called police himself, claiming he'd been assaulted. Cher refused to press charges, but the man asked police to arrest him when he failed a sobriety test. Bond was set at $3,000. Meat Loaf wants everyone to know the cyst on his vocal chords is now gone and, despite his plans to retire, he now will perform "forever". In fact, Meat set up a charity soccer shootout in conjunction with his July 11 concert in Yorkshire, England-- where he was forced to "retire" because of the injury last year. High bidders at a charity auction were allowed to try to kick a soccer ball past him in goal. Meat stopped "many" of the shots, then gave everyone tickets to his show. The event raised nearly $10,000 for two cancer charities (much of it from an American Meat Loaf fan club) and Meat said he would match the donations. If you go to a Steve Miller concert and hear a familiar voice, you aren't hearing things. Sonny Charles of the Checkmates, Ltd., who gave us the hit "Black Pearl", has joined the band. Sonny is featured on three songs on Steve's upcoming album. Comedian George Carlin, the first guest host of Saturday Night Live in 1975, died of heart failure in a Los Angeles hospital Sunday (June 22) at the age of 71. Saturday Night Live will air its very first episode Saturday night (June 28) as a way of honoring George. Known for his ground-breaking "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" routine (which led to his arrest for disturbing the peace by Milwaukee police in 1972 and was ruled indecent by the Supreme Court in 1978), he also had success with his "less blue" material such as "Wonderful WINO" and "Al Sleet, Your Hippy Dippy Weatherman". All told he recorded 23 comedy albums and fourteen HBO television specials. He was scheduled to be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor November 10 at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC.e was scheduled to be honored with the Markl Twain Prize for American Humor November 10 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Dame Shirley Bassey will not be able to perform Friday (June 27) at the 90th birthday concert for South African President Nelson Mandela in London as she continues to recover from emergency stomach surgery in May. Keith Richards, Cila Black and Jerri Hall were among the guests as Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood's daughter got married Saturday (June 21) in London. The reception (with a "Midsummer's Night'sDReam" theme) was held in Ronnie's Surrey mansion. The bride, however, banned her father from performing. Johnny Horton, Paul Davis, Tony Joe White and Bob Morrison are among the 15 nominees vying for three positions in this year's class of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, announced Thursday (June 19). The winners in two categories (songwriters like Bob-- though he also sang-- and singer/songwriters like Johnny, Paul and Tony) will be named October 26. Ramsey Lewis has been commissioned to write a jazz work based on the life of Abraham Lincoln. Bill T. Jones will add choreography to the work, which will be performed next year at the Ravinia Festival north of Chicago in honor of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Frankie Beverly and Maze were honored with a plaque Friday (June 20) on the Philadelphia Walk of Fame. It's the first dedication there in the last eight years. The Three Degrees and Kim Sledge of Sister Sledge were on hand for the dedication, which was followed by a concert by Frankie and Chaka Khan. The Miracles, Rush and the Village People are among the recipients named Thursday (June 19) for next year of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Producer Kenny "Baby Facew" Edmonds and actor and sometimes Beach Boy John Stamos will also be honored. By the way, Tinkerbell made the list but Tarzan's chimp, Cheeta didn't-- despite an online petition. Smokey Robinson was previously honored with a solo star. Congratulations to Paul Anka, who's getting married for the second time July 26. 66 year-old Paul and his 37 year-old girlfriend have been living together for four years and have a 2-1/2 year old son. His first marriage ended in 2000 after 37 years. Chuck Negron, who was fired by Cory Wells and Danny Hutton from the band Three Dog Night in 1985 has found a way to stick it to his old bandmates. When the group was forced to cancel a concert at an Iowa casino scheduled for Saturday (June 21) because of flooding on the Mississippi River, Chuck was more than happy to step in. Spoon-bending "psychic" Uri Geller lost his court bid Tuesday (June 17) against the owners of Elvis Presley's former home on Audubon Drive in Memphis. Uri and his partners had won an Ebay auction with a bid of over $900,000 but altered the terms of the sale and the owners then sold the home for a million dollars to record producer Mike Curb ("Burning Bridges"). A judge ruled the auction was not a binding contract, especially after Uri changed the terms. Mike plans to let Rhodes College use it for their Mike Curb Institute. A Los Angeles hotel filed suit Wednesday (June 18) against producer Phil Spector, his wife and his agent over more than $100,000 in unpaid bills for rooms they reserved during his first murder trial. That trial ended in a hung jury and his second trial begins September 29. Presumably, Phil will be staying at a different hotel. Lester Russaw, former singer with the Coronets-- who had an R&B hit with "Nadine" in 1953-- was sentenced to more than nine years in prison Wednesday (June 18) by a Cleveland judge for robbing two bank at gunpoint last July and November "to pay his medical bills". The 74 year-old was diagnosed in February with prostate cancer. Rob Grill, lead singer of the Grass Roots, is going through some rough times. In an interview last week, the 64 year-old said he underwent brain surgery in February, had pneumonia in the spring, suffered from kidney failure earlier this month and will have knee replacement surgery (his seventh) in July. But the good news is he entered a pretrial intervention program after being arrested for illegally obtaining prescription painkillers last year. He finished the program and his case was dismissed in March. A 17 year-old is in custody in Antigua after police there say he and an accomplice robbed members of Kenny Rogers' backup band at gunpoint Friday (June 13). The two band members were guests of a resort there and were sightseeing when they were robbed of a camera, their credit cards and about $150. A 47 year-old California man is claiming to be the illegitimate son of Eddy Arnold. And he filed a court petition Wednesday (June 11) in Nashville asking that Eddy's body be exhumed, if necessary, for DNA testing. Eddy's family was reportedly aware of the man's claim before the singer's burial last month but said Eddy had denied it. Still think being a "rock star" is the way to fame and fortune? The Fortunes' singer Rod Allen-- who died in January-- left an estate worth around $467,000 when he died, according to probate records recently filed. His wife was the sole beneficiary. Lionel Richie was honored as an "Icon" at the annual TV Land Awards Sunday (June 15). The awards were actually taped the week before. Lionel has also said that he expects the Commodores to reunite "within the next two years". Danny Davis, leader of the Nashville Brass and famed Music City studio trumpet player, suffered a major heart attack Monday (June 9) and died Thursday in a Nashville hospital. He was 83. Danny was also a producer for MGM Records for such diverse artists as Connie Francis, Waylon Jennings, Nina Simone and Frankie Yankovic. He was even instrumental in bringing Herman's Hermits to the label. He was part of the "Million Dollar Band" on TV's "Hee Haw" and also owned a Nashville theatre near Opryland with Boots Randolph. Danny had been retired for nearly three years. The Hollywood studio musicians known as the "Wrecking Crew" will be inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk in ceremonies June 26 (two days before the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary film about the musicians). Among those being honored are drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer, bassist Carol Kaye, guitarists Tommy Tedesco, Barney Kessel, Al Casey and Glen Campbell sax player Plas Johnson and pianists Leon Russell and Larry Knechtel. The group is especially remembered for its work with the Beach Boys and on Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound". And Rolf ("Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport") Harris will be inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Hall of Fame July 1 in Melbourne. The 78 year-old will join previous inductees like Olivia Newton-John and INXS. Said Rolf (who's lived in England most of his life), "I look at all the famous names and am thrilled to be with them for, basically, just enjoying myself through music for the whole of my life. Thank you so much." He may be the pastor at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis, but Rev. Al Green has stopped officiating at weddings. He says the waiting list for marriages was getting too long-- full of tourists from as far away at Tokyo. The short, white dress that Jerri Hall wore for her wedding with Mick Jagger in 1990 sold for $4,700 (five times what was expected) by a London auction house Tuesday (June 10). So far the dress has lasted twice as long as the marriage. The money will go to charity. Meanwhile, a charity auction of sweaters worn by Bill Cosby on his television program are being auctioned through June 12 at Ebay. Proceeds will benefit the Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation, a nonprofit organization which raises money to benefit educational programs named in honor of Bill's's only son. Ennis Cosby was about to begin his doctoral studies when he was murdered in 1997 in Los Angeles. The manager of "England" Dan Seals (of England Dan & John Ford Coley and younger brother of Jim Seals from Seals & Crofts) said Monday (June 9) that the singer is completing four months of radiation treatments at a Houston hospital for lymphoma and is scheduled for a stem cell transplant in the future. "The prognosis is good. He has the best medical care he can get, and he's in good spirits". The son of the late "Tennessee" Ernie Ford donated his father's Presidential Medal of Freedom, given to the singer by Ronald Reagan in 1984, to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Friday (June 6). Stevie Wonder has turned down an offer to use his song, "Isn't She Lovely", in an ad for a toilet. Apparently the company involved was unaware (or didn't care) that the song was written about his daughter, Aisha. James Taylor sang the national anthem before game one of the NBA Finals game between Boston and Los Angeles Thursday (June 5). Boston won, which should have made James (a resident of Martha's Vineyard who was born in Boston but grew up in North Carolina) very happy. Larry Chance and the Earls will be inducted into the Bronx Wall of Fame in ceremonies (including an honrary street sign)June 21. Previous inductees have included Bobby Darin and Dion DiMucci. After 17 albums and nearly 30 million records sold, Toto has officially disbanded. Guitarist Steve Lukather announced the break-up on his Web site Thursday (June 5). Their last concert was April 5 in Seoul, South Korea. Peter MacBeth, founding member and bass player with the Foundations, won a two-year reduction in his child sexual abuse sentence Friday (June 6) in a British court. Peter, who is terminally ill with cancer of the larynx, had been sentenced to six years in prison in March. But the Court of Appeals in London reduced it to four years. Peter admitted sexually abusing a girl four times while she was seven-to-thirteen years-old and to downloading child pornography from the internet. Geddy Lee of Rush donated his entire collection of autographed baseballs -- over 200-- to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City Friday (June 6). The manager of Kiss has confiormed that the group is negotiating with the networks for a reality TV show which would pick replacements for Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons-- when they "eventually" retire. Bo Diddley will most likely be given a posthumous honorary degree in music from the University of Florida. The College of Fine Arts and faculty have already approved the honor-- which the school insists was in the works before Bo's death-- and a final decision will be made June 13. Another Marvin Gaye movie is being shopped to studios, according to Variety. "Marvin" will be directed by F. Gary Gray ("The Italian Job") and produced by David Foster. It will be competing with producer James Gandolfini's "Sexual Healing", starring Jesse L. Martin as Marvin, which is already in production. "Sexual Healing" focuses on the last years of the singer's career, since it only has the rights to his post-Motown recordings. "Marvin" has rights to all his songs and will portray his entire life. William Finegan, leader (with Eddie Sauter) of the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, died Wednesday (June 4) of pneumonia at the age of 91. The two were well-respected big band arrangers (Bill had worked with Glenn Miller, Eddie for Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey) when they joined forces in 1952 and created their own orchestra, reaching #12 that year with "Doodletown Fifers". They followed that up with two more top twenty hits-- "Nina Never Knew" and "The Moon Is Blue", both in 1953. Eddie passed away in 1981. Charlie Daniels was given the Marine Corps Coordinating Council Tennessee Leadership Award Tuesday (June 3) in Nashville. The annual award is given to Tennesseeans who contribute to civil affairs. Charlie was cited for his donations to the local veteran community, including his involvement with the Wounded Warriors fund and United Service Organization Tours in Iraq. Yes has been forced to cancel its 40th anniversary summer concert tour because of Jon Anderson's recent acute respiratory failure, brought on by asthma. In a statement Wednesday (June 4), the 63 year-old singer said, "In the wake of my recent respiratory attack, doctors have advised me to spend the coming months resting and recovering." The assistant producer of a reality television program filed a lawsuit Wednesday (June 4) in Los Angeles against Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten for beating her in January of 2007 when he didn't like the hotel room her was given. No criminal charges were filed at the time, but the woman is now suing for sexual harassment and assault. 46 years after it was stolen, George Jones has been reunited with his guitar. George's guitar with its "White Lightning" strap--named after the hit record-- was taken during a concert in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1962. The thieves sold it to a local man for ten dollars. The recipient's father made him promise to return it to George, but he was unable to get in touch with the "Possum" until recently. In fact, after all these years, George had forgotten he had lost it. He'll be reunited with it during a concert stop June 14 in Bossier City, Louisiana. George Benson was among the winners named Tuesday of the National Endowment for the Arts 2009 Jazz Masters Award. George will receive a $25,000 grant award at a ceremony and concert October 17 in Washington, DC. Smokey Robinson was inducted into Harlem's Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame Monday (June 2). Janet Jackson and Spike Lee were among the celebrities honoring Smokey. Legendary R&B pioneer Bo Diddley, for whom his trademark "shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits" rhythm was named, died Monday (June 2) of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. He was 79. Bo had suffered both a stroke and a resulting heart attack last year. Born Ellas Bates in 1928 in McComb, Missippi, he moved to Chicago to live with his Aunt at the age of 5 and took her surname, McDaniel, in order to enroll in school. He learned violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Chicago and played til he was 15. But Bo had a love of the blues, which he started playing on his first guitar-- a gift from his sister for his 12th birthday. He dropped out of school and started playing on corners on Chicago's Maxwell Street. Contrary to rumor, he did not play with Muddy Waters-- he was too young. His first professional job was at a club on 47th Street when he was 19 (he lied and said he was 21). Cutting a demo, he took it to Chess Records, who signed him to their Checker label in February of 1955, calling him Bo Diddley. The origin of the name? Well, a "didley bow" is southern stringed instrument, but Bo himself said it was a term for a a bow-legged, comical-looking guy. He took it to mean "bad boy". On March 2, 1955 Bo and his bandmates (including maracas player Jerome Green) cut a song Bo wrote and named after himself, as well as the classic "I'm A Man". Though it failed to dent the pop charts, the 2-sided hit went to #1 R&B, charting for 18 weeks. Bo soon followed it up with "Diddley Daddy" (using the Moonglows as his backup singers) (#11-R&B, 1955) and "Pretty Thing" (#4-R&B, 1956). The R&B charts only listed the top 15 songs in those days though, so Bo-- despite continued success with songs like "Who Do You Love"-- didn't chart again until 1959. That year, he finally cracked the pop chart, with "Crackin' Up" (#62-pop, #14-R&B) and "Say Man" (#20-pop, #3-R&B). Amazingly, Bo only showed up three more times on the pop charts-- with "Road Runner" in 1960, "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" in 1962 and "Ooh Baby" in 1967. None of them made the pop top 40. Despite this, Bo was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in its second year-- 1987. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy award in 1998 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jerry Cole, member of the legendary "Wrecking Crew" of Los Angeles studio musicians and guitarist with groups like the Champs (post-"Tequila"), died May 28 from a heart attack at his home in Corona, California at the age of 68. Jerry led the bands on television's "Shindig" and "Hullabaloo" and was a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. A New York judge ruled Monday (June 2) that the producers of the documentary anti-evolution film, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" were within their rights to use a 15-second exerpt of John Lennon's song "Imagine". John's widow, Yoko Ono, had sought a preliminary injunction. But the judge said if the case went to trial, the producers would probably win under the fair use doctine. Yoko says she will appeal. Hugh Jarrett, bass singer with the Jordanaires from 1954 to 1958, who sang backup on dozens of recordings by Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson, died Saturday (May 31) in an Atlanta hospital from injuries sustained in a March 25 car accident. He was 78. Hugh went on to become a television and radio personality in Atlanta, and appeared on the TV series, "In The Heat Of The Night". The Cleveland County, Ohio coroner announced Thursday (May 29) that Sean Levert, son of the O'Jays' Eddie Levert and member of the trio Levert, died last March from complications of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease. He also suffered from several other naturally occurring conditions at the time of death, including cardiovascular disease and withdrawal from alprazolam, an antianxiety drug. Nevertheless, Sean's widow, Angela Lowe, filed a wrongful death suit Monday (June 2) against county officials for neglecting Sean's medical needs while in their jail before his death. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler issued a statement Thursday (May 29), saying that he checked in to a Pasadena, California rehabilitation facility eight days earlier to find a "safe environment" in order to recuperate from recent foot surgeries and physical therapy. Steve Binder-- producer of Elvis Presley's "comeback" TV special in 1968-- and his partner, David Permut, have purchased the rights to Alana Nash's 2003 book about Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker and plan to turn it into a movie. The movie will also delve into Parker's life in his native Holland and early years as a carny and managing Eddy Arnold. Composer Earle Hagen, who wrote the immortal "Harlem Nocturne" and gave us the themes to countless television programs-- including "The Andy Griffith Show" (that's him whistling the theme), "The Dick Van Dyke Show", I Spy" and "Mod Squad"-- passed away Monday (May 26) at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He was 88. Born in Chicago, he moved to Hollywood as a child and played trombone in big bands before serving in the Army Air Corps in World War II. After the war, he was an arranger on such movie musicals as "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "Call Me Madam" and "There's No Business Like Show Business". In 1960, Earle shared an Oscar nomination with Lionel Newman as musical director for the Marilyn Monroe film, "Let's Make Love". Soon after, he hooked up with television producer Sheldon Leonard, who started using Earle as his primary composer. He was given BMI's lifetime achievement honor, the Richard Kirk Award, in 1987. And Alexander Courage-- who composed the theme for the original "Star Trek" and scored hundreds of other television and radio shows and movies-- passed away May 15 in an assisted living facility in Pacific Palisades, California. He was also 88. Ironically, Alexander scored only the pilots and four other episodes of "Star Trek"-- as opposed to "The Waltons", where he worked on over 100 episodes. He won a 1988 Emmy as principal arranger for the ABC special, "Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas" and received Oscar nominations (both shared with Lionel Newman) for his adaptation scores for "The Pleasure Seekers" in 1963 and "Doctor Dolittle" in 1967. Rush donated $100,000 to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights Wednesday (May 28). The donation comes from the sale of tickets to their concert of the weekend in Winnipeg. The group will also sell museum T-shirts at their future concerts with proceeds going to the charity. It's been learned that British drummer Mickey Waller, who played in the Jeff Beck Group and as a studio musician with Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, Chuck Berry, Dusty Springfield and the Rolling Stones, died of cancer April 29 (some sources say May 6) at the age of 66. Mickey also sang backup on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May". The sister of one-time Supremes singer Florence Ballard wants her sister's body exhumed in order to prove she was murdered! Maxine Ballard has never accepted coronary artery thrombosis as the cause of Flo's death and believes she was killed in 1976 to prevent her from telling what she knew about shady record industry practices. Billy Powell, original member and keyboard player with Lynyrd Skynyrd, underwent emergency partial revision hip replacement surgery in Gainesville, Florida May 21. He will spend the next three-to-six weeks recovering and will need to wear a hip brace. He's expected to rejoin the group on tour in July. Paul McCartney was awarded a honorary Doctorate of Music from Yale University during commencement exercises Monday (May 26). The 65 year-old Sir Paul was on campus to accept the honor, which was kept a secret until the ceremony. Paul was also voted the "Sexiest Smile" in a British poll conducted by the organizers of National Smile Month. Of course, he won the "Senior Celebrity" division, ahead of actress Helen Mirren. Mick Jagger came in last. to Oldies Music Home Page © 1997-2008, Ronald P. Smith. All rights reserved.