Beatles' Anthology, Volumes 1, 2 & 3, Are Latest to Make It to the Digital Domain

The Beatles catalog continues to roll out into the digital world with the announcement that the three volumes of the Beatles' Anthology will debut June 14 on iTunes.

The albums will be available as individual volumes, as they were issued in 1995 and 1996 to coincide with the television specials of the same name, for $29.99. A career spanning set with all 155 tracks from the three volumes will also be available for $79.99 along with individual Anthology Highlights volumes at $12.99. Individual tracks, a key to the digital revolution, will be sold for $1.29 each.

Remastering for all of the music was performed by the same team that did the reissues of the original albums and the more recent 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 collections. Also included in the digital package will be the original artwork as assembled by Klaus Voormann.

Upon their original release, Anthology, Volumes 1-3 each topped charts and went multi-platinum in several countries around the world.  Free as a Bird, the new song on Volume 1 assembled from archive tapes, became The Beatles' 34th Top 10 hit in the U.S., winning the 1996 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Volume 2 included Real Love, another archive track assembled especially for the release while Volume 3 includes A Beginning, an instrumental orchestral arrangement originally recorded for The Beatles (The White Album).

From Volume 2, this is Real Love.

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BBC Shows the Last Performance by Freddie Mercury

Britain's BBC has aired a special program with video from Freddie Mercury's final performance before his untimely death.

Mercury appeared on the BBC and performed a solo version of Queen’s These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The frail looking Freddie is seen in the footage having his make-up applied and checking his appearance before performing the song.

Comedian Rhys Thomas had the footage in his archive. He was the co-producer of the documentary Queen: Days Of Our Lives.

Freddie was yet to announce he was suffering from the AIDS virus when the show was filmed. He only announced his disease publically the day before he died.

The BBC documentary also features footage of the making of the Radio Ga Ga video and the band talking after the controversy that arose from their I Want To Break Free video.

The show aired in the UK on BBC 2.

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Alice Cooper Forced to Call Off Show Due to Food Poisoning; First Show Cancellation in 30 Years

Alice Cooper is one of the hardest working men in rock, as is shown by his over thirty years of touring without cancelling a date. Unfortunately, that amazing run has come to an end.

Cooper was scheduled to appear in Santiago, Chile when he suffered from food poisoning. Alice was on his way from Mexico City to Santiago and had Chilean Sea Bass on the plane.

A statement from his assistant KC at his website read, “As many of you know, Alice Cooper was forced to cancel his first show in 30 years last night! Alice got food poisoning somewhere on our trip between Phoenix, Mexico City and Santiago. We had a long layover in Mexico City, where he was feeling fine. Once we were on the plane to Santiago after an 8 hour layover in Mexico City, Alice started to feel ill. He didn't sleep the entire flight, so naturally when we arrived in Santiago he was feeling fairly zombieish. He was unable to sleep at the hotel all day, even after a visit from local Dr. Phillips (who I heard as Dr Feelgood as he introduced himself!). We got him on some medication and put him to bed, which is where he stayed until this morning”.

Alice recovered the next day and the show in Buenos Aires, Argentina went ahead as planned.

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Members of AC/DC Still Consider Bon Scott Part of the Band

It has been over 31 years since the world lost Bon Scott, but his bandmates in AC/DC still consider him a part of the band.

Scott, who tragically died in 1980 after a night of drinking in London, continues to be on the minds of the band and Bon's replacement, vocalist Brian Johnson, feels his death was just "unlucky."

He said, "He wasn't a wild, wild, wild man, he was just as wild as the other boys were. He was just unlucky. We've all done stupid, dumb things where we're young, but we got away with it. He didn't.

"It was just one of them stupid things that shouldn't have happened, and it was accidental and it was stupid.

"I just won't have a bad word said against him. We still talk about him like he's a member of the band in the dressing room."

The Australian rock group, who also includes brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd, are to release a new version of their 1979 concert film Let There Be Rock, made in Paris shortly before Bon's death, and Brian said it gives a "wonderful insight" into the singer.

He added to the USA Today newspaper, "If you want to understand the band, then you'll understand this when you see Bon Scott with the boys when they were young and just starting out, and thinking you never know what the future holds. You can tell these guys just wanted to rock 'n' roll.

"They showed me this movie and I saw it and it's a wonderful insight into Bon Scott."

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Almanac: May 31, 2011

Births:

• 1930 - Clint Eastwood (81)
• 1938 - Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) (73)
• 1938 - Johnny Paycheck (d. 2003)
• 1940 - Augie Meyers (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornadoes (71)
• 1947 - Junior Campbell (Marmalade) (64)
• 1948 - John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
• 1952 - Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk) (59)
• 1954 - Vicki Sue Robinson (d. 2000)
• 1955 - Tommy Emmanuel (56)
• 1956 - Fritz Hilpert (Kraftwerk) (55)
• 1959 - Danny Pearson (American Music Club) (52)
• 1962 - Corey Hart (49)
• 1963 - Wendy Smith (Prefab Sprouts) (48)
• 1964 - Darryl "D.M.C." Daniels (Run-D.M.C.) (47)
• 1964 - Scotti Hill (Skid Row) (47)
• 1965 - Steve White (Style Council) (46)

Deaths:

• 1977 - Lloyd Perryman (Sons of the Pioneers) (60)
• 1996 - Elsbeary Hobbs (Drifters) (59)
• 2000 - Johnnie Taylor - Heart attack (63)
• 2004 - Robert Quine (Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Lou Reed) - Heroin Overdose (61)
• 2006 - Lula Mae Hardaway (mother of Stevie Wonder) (76)

On This Day:

• 1956 - Buddy Holly wrote That'll Be the Day after seeing the movie The Searchers.
• 1958 - Dick Dale performed Let's Go Trippin' for the first time, possibly signaling the start of surf music.
• 1961 - Chuck Berry opened Berry Park in St. Louis with a zoo, golf course and amusement park.
• 1966 - The Monkees began filming their TV series.
• 1975 - The Rolling Stones kicked off a New York City press conference on their next tour by playing on the streets in the back of a flatbed truck.
• 1976 - The Who set a record for loudest performance at 120 decibels.
• 1977 - The BBC banned the Sex Pistols' single God Save the Queen. The IBA also told independent stations that playing the record would breach British law.
• 1977 - Emerson, Lake & Palmer began a U.S. tour with a 70-piece orchestra.
• 1982 - R.E.M. signed with I.R.S. Records for five albums.
• 1989 - Tin Machine, with David Bowie, made their live debut in New York.
• 1993 - Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Hurley become parents for the first time.
• 1997 - Bob Dylan was released by a London hospital after treatment for histoplasmosis.
• 2005 - The British Salvation Army closed the children's home Strawberry Fields in Liverpool.

Divorces:

• 2000 - Janet Jackson and Rene Elizondo (announced, marriage was secret for nine years)

Recorded:

• 1969 - Give Peace a Chance - John Lennon and Yoko Ono as the Plastic Ono Band
• 1969 - Honky Tonk Women - Rolling Stones

Released:

• 1969 - My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder
• 1975 - One of These Nights - Eagles
• 1982 - Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
• 1988 - Down in the Groove - Bob Dylan

Broadcast:

• 1964 - Dave Clark Five make first of 11 appearances on Ed Sullivan.
• 1965 - Marianne Faithfull became a permanent guest on BBC2 TV's Gadzooks! It's the In Crowd.

Number Ones - U.S. Singles:

• 1975 - Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender (1 weeks)
• 1980 - Funkytown - Lipps, Inc. (4 weeks)

Number Ones - U.S. Albums:

• 1958 - The Music Man - Original Cast (2 weeks)

Number Ones - U.K. Singles:

• 1980 - Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless) - M*A*S*H (3 weeks)

Number Ones - U.K. Albums:

• 1980 - McCartney II - Paul McCartney (2 weeks)
• 1986 - So - Peter Gabriel (2 weeks)
• 1998 - Blue - Simply Red (1 week)

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New Releases by Veteran Artists for May 31, 2011

The complete list of new releases by veteran artists can be found after the cut.

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Almanac: May 30, 2011

Births:

• 1909 - Benny Goodman (d. 1986)
• 1926 - Johnny Gimble (85)
• 1944 - Lenny Davidson (Dave Clark Five) (67)
• 1955 - Topper Headon (Clash) (56)
• 1958 - Marie Fredriksson (Roxette) (53)
• 1960 - Stephen Duffy (Duran Duran) (51)
• 1964 - Wynonna Judd (47)

Deaths:

• 1980 - Carl Radle (Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Derek & the Dominoes) - Kidney failure (38)
• 1993 - Sun Ra - Pneumonia (79)
• 1996 - John Kahn (Jerry Garcia) - Heroin overdose (48)
• 1997 - West Arkeen (Guns N' Roses) - Drug overdose (36)
• 2000 - Tex Beneke - Respiratory failure (86)
• 2003 - Mickie Most (producer of Herman's Hermits, Animals, Donovan, Jeff Beck Group) - Mesothelioma (64)

On This Day:

• 1962 - Benny Goodman & his band were the first jazz group to play the Soviet Union.
• 1966 - The Jefferson Airplane performed a benefit for the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization.
• 1972 - Roxy Music plays their first live show in Lincolnshire, England.
• 1974 - Bernadette Whelan, a 14-year-old fan of David Cassidy, died four-days after being in the crush of over 1,000 fans at one of his shows.
• 1987 - Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys was arrested on suspicion of throwing a beer can that hit a fan in the face.
• 1987 - David Bowie started his Glass Spiders Tour in Rotterdam, Holland.
• 1990 - Midnight Oil played a concert in front of Exxon's New York office in protest of the Valdez oil spill.
• 1991 - Morrissey played the first show of his debut solo U.S. tour in San Diego, CA.
• 1997 - Neil Young slices his finger while cutting a sandwich, causing a European tour to be postponed.
• 1999 - A Kenny Rogers concert at London's Royal Albert Hall is interrupted when a bomb threat causes the venue to be cleared.
• 2002 - Diana Ross voluntarily entered the Promises rehabilitation facility to work out some "personal problems" before beginning a tour.
• 2004 - Madonna was ordered to pay almost $500,000 in damages for copying photos by Guy Burton in her video for Hollywood.
• 2009 - Ozzy Osbourne sued Tony Iommi over royalty payments, saying that Iommi's ownership of the band name stopped royalties from properly flowing through to him.

Marriages:

• 1966 - Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
• 1982 - Deborah Allen and Rafe Van Hoy
• 1992 - Paul Simon and Edie Brickell

Recorded:

• 1968 - The Beatles (White Album) - Beatles (first day of recording)
• 1978 - In Through the Out Door - Led Zeppelin (first day of recording)

Released:

• 1953 - These Foolish Things - Five Keys
• 1953 - You Are My Only Love - Cardinals
• 1980 - 21 at 33 - Elton John
• 1989 - Batdance - Prince
• 1989 - On Our Own - Bobby Brown

Broadcast:

• 1975 - Joan Baez hosts Midnight Special with guests Hoyt Axton, Hampton Hawes, Kool & the Gang.
• 1980 - Temptations host Midnight Special with guests Firefall, Robbie Dupree, Jim Photoglo.

Number Ones - U.S. Singles:

• 1964 - Love Me Do - Beatles (1 week)
• 1970 - Everything is Beautiful - Ray Stevens (2 weeks)
• 1998 - Too Close - Next (1 week (4 previous weeks at number 1))

Number Ones - U.S. Albums:

• 1953 - Music For Lovers Only - Jackie Gleason (1 week)
• 1959 (Stereo Albums) - South Pacific - Soundtrack (3 weeks)
• 1992 - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - Black Crowes (1 week)
• 2009 - 21st Century Breakdown - Green Day (1 week)

Number Ones - U.K. Singles:

• 2010 - Dirtee Disco - Dizzee Rascal (1 week)

Number Ones - U.K. Albums:

• 1992 - Michael Ball - Michael Ball (1 week)
• 2004 - Under My Skin - Avril Lavigne (1 week)
• 2010 - Immersion - Pendulum (1 week)

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