News Archive
Fats Domino
News
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
Rock' n' roll legend Antoine "Fats"
Domino still hasn't moved back to his badly damaged home
in the Lower 9th Ward. When he does, he's got a head start on decorating.
During a Monday afternoon ceremony at the
French Quarter Tipitina's, representatives of
the Recording Industry Association of America and Capitol/EMI Records presented
the
79-year-old Domino with reproductions of 20 of the gold-record awards he lost to
the flood.
Dozens of Domino's friends and family
members attended the ceremony, along with New Orleans
music luminaries Irma Thomas, Jean Knight, Deacon John, Charmaine Neville and
Eddie Bo.
 |
Also on hand was legendary recording
engineer Cosimo Matassa, who owned the studio where
Domino recorded most of his hits. To understand why Domino's songs have endured,
Matassa said,
"all you've got to do is listen to them."
The notoriously shy Domino appears in
public only reluctantly. He arrived 30 minutes late,
wearing his signature captain's cap, a beige patterned sport jacket, brown
slacks,
a shirt the color of lime sherbet and a glittering necklace fashioned from a $20
gold piece.
He ran a gauntlet of cameras to reach the
stage, where he smiled, waved and posed for pictures,
then spoke briefly.
"There ain't too much I can say but thanks," he said, doffing his cap. "Thank you very much."
The 20 framed gold singles flanking the
stage spoke more powerfully to Domino's legacy. Each bore
the original red, black or plum Imperial Records label. They included "Walking
to New Orleans,"
"Blueberry Hill," "I'm Walkin'," "Goin' Home,"
"It's You I Love," "I'm In Love Again," "Bo Weevil,"
"Ain't That a Shame," "Poor Me" and "Valley of Tears."
In the 1950s, only Elvis Presley sold more
records than Domino. To earn a gold award from the
Recording Industry Association of America, a record must sell at least 500,000
copies.
New audiences continue to discover Domino's
music. Today , Capitol/EMI releases "Greatest Hits: Walking to New
Orleans,"
a compilation containing 29 of Domino's Top 10 hits from the R&B charts.
Source: Paul MacPhail
Memories
Of James Brown
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
Don Rhodes shares his memories of James Brown
Reprinted by permission of Don Rhodes and The Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle
EDITOR'S NOTE: Don Rhodes, publications
editor of Morris Communications Co. and music columnist for
The Chronicle, recalls his long association with James Brown.
In my mind's eye I can vividly see James
Brown the first day I met him 40 years ago at the peak of
his career when he was truly the most exciting performer to take a stage.
And I can still hear in my mind's ears, the
great, unmistakable sounds of Mr. Brown and his powerful band
and soulful backup singers as they sang his 1966 hit It's A Man's, Man's Man's
World on the stage of
the University of Georgia's new basketball Coliseum in the mid-'60s.
And I remember standing in the darkened
wings near Mr. Brown just before he went on that coliseum stage and
watching him lovingly put his hands on two of his young sons --- one of whom was
Teddy who would be killed
at 19 in a car accident seven years later in June of 1973.
Yet 40 years after that university concert,
the charisma and special talent that was James Brown had diminished
very little whenever he walked into a room or flashed that warm smile.
Just before 8 a.m. on Christmas Day at the
Waffle House in North Augusta, a white waitress in a Santa Claus hat
was handing menus to four black customers and saying, "Did you hear that
James Brown died this morning?"
That's just how special he was.
To the rest of the world, he was the guy
that the cable TV network CNN would call "one of the major musical
influences
of the past 50 years."
To local residents, he was the guy you
would see in local theaters watching afternoon movies, pumping his own gas
at a station near his home in Beech Island, S.C., supporting local musicians at
area nightspots, eating in local
restaurants and just being human instead of being "the superstar."
That meant Augustans saw his human frailties and his bad side as well as his more often kind, funny and giving sides.
I know of few people who gave as much to Augusta as James Brown.
He was there at muscular dystrophy
telethons using the title of one of his hit songs to urge people to
"please, please, please" call in your pledges.
Yes, there were others who provided the
toys and turkeys for his two annual major give-aways, but he was the celebrity
who caused them to happen. He would have guests at his annual Christmas parties
bring gifts to be later given away
to poor children.
He never forgot being poor himself growing
up in Augusta. He talked often about dancing on Augusta sidewalks for
pocket change from then Camp Gordon soldiers to buy his family food and of
walking along local railroad tracks
to find pieces of coal so his family could have some heat during the winter.
He was proud of winning his first talent
contest at the Lenox Theater on Ninth Street that later would become
James Brown Boulevard. He regretted quitting in the fifth grade at Silas X.
Floyd Elementary School and
would later urge other kids not to do the same in his hit single Don't Be A Drop
Out.
But in spite of his few formal years of
schooling, he also was one of the smartest guys I ever knew. One time when
I was in his office in the early '80s, he wanted to impress on me how big he was
in Europe.
He had his secretary call up this music
promoter in France, and Mr. Brown blew me away when he started conversing
with the promoter in fluent French. Then Mr. Brown handed me the phone, and the
promoter in broken English told me
how much Mr. Brown was loved all over Europe.
He gave away hundreds of bicycles, and one
time --- when he saw a young man in Augusta without a coat
on a cold winter day --- he told his driver to stop the car, and he got out and
gave the young man his own coat.
James Brown was a man who caused things to happen even when others didn't think they could happen.
When his record company in the '60s told
him that his fans wouldn't buy him doing a live recording, Mr. Brown paid
out
of his own pocket to rent New York City's Apollo Theater and he recorded in 1962
what became one of
the greatest-selling albums of all time: Live At The Apollo, Volume I.
It would stay on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues charts for an astounding 66 weeks!
"They didn't think I could do it,"
he later told me of his then record company executives. "They
thought I was crazy. I spent my own money. It cost $5,700. Today, it would cost
$400,000.
It probably has sold 25 million copies."
He made music like no one ever made before
or after him. He was Soul Brother No. 1, The Godfather of Soul
and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, and he lived up to all of those
titles.
He loved it when John Belushi and Dan
Aykroyd brought him back to huge public light in the movie
The Blues Brothers as a preacher of all things. He followed it with another
cameo appearance in
another Aykroyd movie, Doctor Detroit.
In 1985, Mr. Brown was happy informing me
about still another recently filmed movie appearance saying,
"Sylvester Stallone told me, 'You thought you were hot in Doctor Detroit.
We're really going
to make you hot.'"
Sure enough, Mr. Brown provided a memorable
movie moment and another huge hit single singing the passionate
and patriotic Living in America in Rocky IV.
Mr. Brown didn't serve in the military, but
his father did, and Mr. Brown was proud of his father's service
to his country in the Navy in Okinawa. His father, Joe Brown, would die in the
U.S. Veteran's Hospital in Augusta.
And Mr. Brown himself would entertain hundreds of thousands of American soldiers over the years at military bases.
In fact, I was there at Long Binh, Vietnam,
in June of 1968 when James Brown sang My Country Tis of Thee to
7,000 black and white soldiers packed into an outdoor amphitheater that only was
supposed to hold 5,000.
In spite of intense tropical heat, Mr.
Brown performed his high-energy show with a few band members that
the U.S.O. had allowed him to bring along.
Back in Augusta several years later, Mr.
Brown would tell me that his U.S.O. trip had been arranged by then
Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Ebony and Jet magazines owner-founder Bob
Johnson.
He also performed in Vietnam at Tan Son
Nhut Air Base near Saigon, the Phan Rang Air Base and
the Bear Cat Base of the 9th Infantry Division.
Nineteen years later he would tell me of
doing those shows, "I was carrying the pride of America with me ---
the pride of humanity from free people throughout the world. ... I take pride in
going anywhere to serve God
and to try to sooth the savage beast in man."
Honestly, he really said that.
Lord knows that Mr. Brown could be a pill
at times like most of us in our darker days. He got mad at me several
times and wouldn't talk to me for years, and then when I saw him again
unexpectedly in person it was
as if nothing had happened between us.
He always introduced me to his band members
and friends saying, "You know, he saw me in Vietnam!"
And he would never fail to ask, "How's your dad doing?" They had
become friends when my father, Ollen Rhodes,
was working as a subcontractor in Aiken County and was doing work on Mr. Brown's
Beech Island ranch style house.
Mr. Brown would want it trimmed in --- what else --- brown paint. My dad and Mr.
Brown often talked
about the Bible together.
One time when my dad took me over to Mr.
Brown's house to talk about a fix-up project, Mr. Brown came outside
wearing pink hair curlers in his hair. He said, "You know, there aren't
many people I'd let see me like this
but your dad is one of them."
In spite of his hell raising and slips of
moral character, Mr. Brown was a faithful Christian in his heart who
sincerely and often gave God the credit for his talents and for the many good
things that happened to him.
"What a beautiful city Augusta has
become," Mr. Brown told me in 1986. "When God recognizes you with his
blessings,
that is the highest honor a man can receive. When your fellow man recognizes you,
that is the second highest
honor you can receive. ... God is the greatest hit maker in the world. I'd
rather be a poor man with religion
than a rich man without it."
James Brown had many, many good things happen to him and not just sold out concerts and best selling recordings.
Augusta, in fact, honored him with special
days more times than any other individual in Augusta's long history ---
in 1969 with a parade on Broad Street, 1986 with James Brown Day at Augusta
Riverfront Marina, 1993 with
the renaming of Ninth/Campbell Street for him and in recent years with his
statue on Broad Street and
the renaming of the civic center in his honor.
One of the greatest honors I've had as a
journalist was when then Mayor Bob Young asked me to write the wording
for the metal marker near Mr. Brown's statue.
And this is what I wrote: "Singer,
songwriter, musician and one-of-a-kind performer James Brown has thrilled
millions
around the world with his hit recordings and electrifying performances. The 1983
Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee,
1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and 2003 Kennedy Center honoree has
called Augusta "home" since moving here
when he was five. It was in Augusta's Lenox Theater that he first received
recognition for his talent by winning
an amateur contest. His songs have enriched the world, and his personality and
generosity have enriched this city."
What I should have wrote, however, is what he told me in 1986 when I asked what he regarded as the keys for success.
He replied, "Just work hard, give the people their money's worth and be sincere in what you do. It's worked for me."
Source: Don Rhodes
Chuck
Berry, The Smithereens, Beale Street Love, Fountains Of Wayne in Cranford, NJ
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
CHUCK BERRY, THE SMITHEREENS, BEALE
STREET LOVE, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE,
THE ENGLISH BEAT, THE OLD CEREMONY, THE APPLES IN STEREO, THE ALARM
15.09.07 - CRANFORD, NJ - MUSICFEST
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: Free Admission
Category details:
General Admission: Standing
Tickets available through
www.ucmusicfest.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in
New York, NY
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
CHUCK BERRY
14.09.07 - NEW YORK, NY - B.B. KING'S
BLUES CLUB
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 90,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.ticketmaster.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry in St. Louis, MO
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
CHUCK BERRY, MY TWO PLANETS
12.09.07 - ST. LOUIS, MO - BLUEBERRY
HILL
TICKETS
Prices:
General Admission: 25,00 $
Category details:
General Admission: Unreserved Seating
Tickets available through
www.metrotix.com
Source: Wolfgang Guhl
Chuck Berry
80th Birthday Celebration World Tour
Monday, 20. August 2007 -
21:11
CHUCK BERRY 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WORLD TOUR
18.10.06
- St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
20.10.06 - Alton, IL - Argosy's Alton Belle Casino SOLD OUT
21.10.06 - Las Vegas, NV - Orleans Arena
15.11.06 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
13.12.06 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
15.01.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
17.01.07 - Moscow, Russia - B-1 Maximum
18.01.07 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Waterfront Hall SOLD OUT
19.01.07 - Istanbul, Turkey - Hilton Convention Center SOLD OUT
20.01.07 - Paris, France - Olympia SOLD OUT
21.01.07 - Bordeaux, France - Theatre Femina SOLD OUT
22.01.07 - Toulouse, France - Halle Aux Grains SOLD OUT
23.01.07 - Hamburg, Germany - Color Line Arena
24.01.07 - Leipzig, Germany - Leipzig Arena
25.01.07 - Malmo, Sweden - Baltiska Hallen
26.01.07 - Goteborg, Sweden - Lisebergshallen SOLD OUT
27.01.07 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio SOLD OUT
28.01.07 - Stockholm, Sweden - Berns SOLD OUT
29.01.07 - Bilbao, Spain - Bizkaia
01.02.07 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
02.02.07 - Alton, IL - Argosy's Alton Belle Casino SOLD OUT
14.02.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
16.02.07 - Branson, MO - Welk Resort Center SOLD OUT
17.02.07 - Branson, MO - Welk Resort Center SOLD OUT
14.03.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
16.03.07 - Columbia, MO - Blue Note SOLD OUT
11.04.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
01.05.07 - Rome, Italy - Piazza S. Giovanni
11.05.07 - Alton, IL - Argosy's Alton Belle Casino SOLD OUT
16.05.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
13.06.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
15.06.07 - Westbury, NY - North Fork Theatre At Westbury
30.06.07 - Clayton, MO - Private Performance SOLD OUT
06.07.07 - St. Louis, MO -
Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
11.07.07 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
12.07.07 - Karlstad, Sweden - Mariebergsskogen
13.07.07 - Jarvso, Sweden - Stenegard
14.07.07 - Stockholm, Sweden - Ulriksdal Festival
16.07.07 - Goteborg, Sweden - Tradgardsforeningen
17.07.07 - Langesund, Norway - Wrightegaarden
18.07.07 - Orebro, Sweden - Brunnsparken
19.07.07 - Bastad, Sweden - Tennisstadion
20.07.07 - Kalmar, Sweden - Skalby Gard
21.07.07 - Hassleholm, Sweden - Petva
22.07.07 - Berlin, Germany - Zitadelle
08.08.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill SOLD OUT
11.08.07 - Alton, IL - Argosy's Alton Belle Casino SOLD OUT
12.09.07 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
14.09.07 - New York, NY - B.B. King's Blues Club
15.09.07 - Cranford, NJ - MusicFest
Source: Wolfgang Guhl