News Archive

4 new items to the Shop added
Sunday, 24. June 2001 - 17:38

Source: Wolfgang Guhl

3 new Lyrics added
Sunday, 24. June 2001 - 13:26

Source: Francis Goulet

3 new items to the Shop added
Sunday, 24. June 2001 - 12:18

Source: Wolfgang Guhl

6 new items to the Shop added
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 10:34

Source: Wolfgang Guhl

2 new Concert Reviews added
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 07:49

We added two new reviews to the Concert Reviews section.

Source: Johan Hasselberg

3 new Lyrics added
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 07:49

Source: Francis Goulet

Jerry Lee Lewis is out of the hospital
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 07:49

Jerry Lee was to be released either late yesterday or today from Methodist Central.

Source: Jeffrey Prater

Judge dismisses claim of copyright infringement in lawsuit against Chuck Berry by his longtime pianist
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 07:49

But Johnnie Johnson's suit survives because the judge left intact a claim that Berry misled Johnson

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 16 / 2001
By Tim Bryant

Pianist Johnnie Johnson's song-writing suit against rock 'n' roll legend 
Chuck Berry is no longer about accusations of copyright infringement but 
all about allegations of fraud and whether Berry took advantage of Johnson's alcoholism.

Johnson is seeking millions of dollars in royalties and other money earned by 
about 50 rock classics that he claims he co-wrote with Berry.

In an order issued in St. Louis on Monday, U.S. District Judge Donald J. Stohr 
dismissed Johnson's claim of copyright infringement. Stohr said that Berry 
cannot be liable for such infringement if he and Johnson co-wrote such classics. 
They include "Roll Over Beethoven," "No Particular Place to Go" and "Sweet Little Sixteen."

But Johnson's suit survives because Stohr left intact the claim that Berry misled 
Johnson into believing that, other than through his work as a studio musician, 
he had no right to money earned by the songs that made Berry an international music icon.

For many years, Johnson, 76, was incapacitated by alcoholism, he alleges in the suit, 
which was filed late last year.

Still to be determined, Stohr stated, is whether Johnson's incapacitation was sufficient 
to overcome a statute of limitations that otherwise would bar his fraud claims against Berry.

The next step in the case is mediation. Stohr has set a deadline of July 31 for a mediator - 
yet to be selected - to report whether the case can be settled out of court.

Martin Green, one of Berry's lawyers, said Friday he was pleased with Stohr's ruling.

"He has dismissed the copyright infringement claims, which formed the substantive basis 
of the suit in the first place," Green said.

Johnson's lawyer, Mitch Margo, was unavailable for comment.

The suit seeks unspecified damages from Berry and his Isalee Music Co.

In most instances, Berry wrote poems that he and Johnson put to music, the suit contends. 
Berry copyrighted the songs for himself and later renewed the copyrights in his name 
or through Isalee, the suit states.

Source: Johan Hasselberg

Blues legends John Lee Hooker dies
Saturday, 23. June 2001 - 07:49

(6/21/01, 8 p.m. ET) -- Blues legend and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame member 
John Lee Hooker, known for songs like "Boom Boom," "I'm In The Mood," and 
"Crawlin' Kingsnake," died Thursday (June 21) of natural causes, according to reports. He was 80.

With a canon of more than 100 albums, the Mississippi Delta musician's impact spans several generations. 
Those influenced by Hooker include Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, John Mayall, the Yardbirds, 
Bonnie Raitt, ZZ Top, and George Thorogood.

"Beyond his ability to lock into a hypnotic boogie groove, Hooker is renowned for the gruff emotionality 
of his voice and the stark intensity of his guitar playing," reads his biography for the 
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, to which Hooker was inducted in 1991.

Hooker, born August 22, 1920, began his career with the 1948 single, "Boogie Chillen." 
He saw several periods of increased fame and remained vital into the last decade. In 1990, 
he earned a Grammy Award for the platinum-selling album, The Healer, which featured duets with
Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, and Raitt.

Others that have collaborated with Hooker throughout the years include Van Morrison, Los Lobos, 
the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, Albert Collins, and Canned Heat.

His last studio album was 1997's Don't Look Back.

"All these years, I ain't done nothin' different,'' Hooker told the Times Of London during his resurgence in the '90s. 
"I been doing the same things as in my younger days, when I was coming up, and now here I am, an old man, 
up there in the charts. And I say, well, what happened? Have they just thought up the real John Lee Hooker, is that it? 
And I think, well, I won't tell nobody else! I can't help but wonder what happened.''

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

Source: Johan Hasselberg

Tourdates.com is no longer in service
Sunday, 17. June 2001 - 12:10

One of the most comprehensive Tour Databases on the web, Tourdates, 
closed down the service recently.

Source: Wolfgang Guhl

Jerry Lee Lewis in the hospital
Sunday, 17. June 2001 - 10:50

Jerry Lee has been in the hospital since Friday morning (15.06.) 
because of pneumonia for the second time. 
He is doing ok. News on his condition will be added.

Source: Øyvind Stølefjell

3 new Lyrics added
Wednesday, 06. June 2001 - 11:19

Source: Francis Goulet

Jerry Lee Lewis appearance in Vichy cancelled
Saturday, 02. June 2001 - 16:56

The  Jerry Lee Lewis show in Vichy, France (it was never actually signed) 
next September is also cancelled.

Source: Pierre Pennone