Eric
Clapton is going deaf -
because of his own rock concerts.
The legendary guitarist has revealed
he suffers from mild tinnitus,
ringing in the ears, and is
convinced his excessively loud
performances with Cream back in the
60s are to blame.
Through
the years I have entertained you,
spent time with you, gotten to know
many of you, and can call many of
you my friend. I enjoy making music
for you more than you will ever
know. And you have shown your
appreciation for my efforts in so
many ways. I am and will always be
grateful for your support, your
enjoyment and your friendship.
The
Kenny Neal Band that will be
representing me, looks forward to
bringing you great "blues" joy in
the future. There will be many
surprise guests sitting in with them
so be sure to continue checking the
website calendar. We will all keep
you informed and I welcome your
letters and your prayers. Thank you
for always being there for me. God
Bless and Good Blues To You. You
can write me at the address below or
you can email me at
A small
independent record label
has told fans of it's
latest CD it will pay
their speeding fines,
issuing a cheeky press
release claiming
responsibility for
getting drivers 'into
the driving groove'.
Morusa Records
claim to have paid
several fines by drivers
who had contacted the
label saying the track
"Let's Drive", by
singer/songwriter
Plissken,
has so much 'driving'
energy they couldn't
help but exceed the
speed limit.
"The consensus is the
song puts you so deeply
into the driving groove
that the speed limit
becomes irrelevant,"
claims Morusa, before
releasing statements
from the afflicted fans.
"It's a great song, but
you get into this zone
and you begin to speed
without realizing it,"
says Connie Mendez, one
of the recipients of a
speeding ticket in
California, while car
expert Barry Chadwick
adds "Music affects the
way you drive and feel
about your car, and this
song will actually make
you enjoy traffic!" says
Chadwick.
"We've received
complaints from drivers
in eleven states," says
Adrian Martinez,
president of Morusa
Records, the label that
released the CD a year
ago. "We have agreed to
pay for some of the
fines as a courtesy."
Morusa are asking people
who have bought the
track, and received a
speeding fine, to
register themselves on
the website. "Have you
gotten a speeding ticket
because of our song?" as
they try to keep track
of how many people are
being pulled over
because of "Let's
Drive."
The slogan "Get on that
open road and put the
pedal to the metal!" on
the CD's cover mount
probably doesn't help.
MUSIC VIDEOS MAY BE PULLED FROM
YouTube & MySpace
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Universal
Music Group, the world's
biggest record company,
is stepping up pressure
against popular online
sites YouTube and
MySpace, accusing them
of infringing the
copyrights of its
artists' music videos.
Universal
chief executive Doug
Morris described video
site YouTube and News
Corp.'s social
networking site MySpace
as "copyright
infringers".
"The poster child for
(user-generated media)
sites is MySpace and
YouTube," said Morris
"We believe these new
businesses are copyright
infringers and owe us
tens of millions of
dollars."
He added, "How we deal
with these companies
will be revealed
shortly."
"This could be the first
salvo from a content
player against business
models based on
user-generated content,
much of which relies on
copyrighted material."
The runaway success of
the free-to-view online
video sites has raised
the question of whether
rights holders such as
record companies and
movie companies should
be compensated, even if
the clips are uploaded
by the users.
To date, YouTube has
said it will take down
any copyrighted material
illegally posted on the
site once it has been
alerted by the rights
holder.
Record companies are
keen to avoid repeating
the mistake they believe
they made when Viacom
Inc.'s MTV was set up 25
years ago -- allowing
their artists' music to
be aired for free.
Morris
in his remarks to
investors on Tuesday
said MTV "built a
multibillion-dollar
company on our (music)
... for virtually
nothing. We learned a
hard lesson."
Christmas
Shopping
just got a whole lot easier with 2 terrific compilation CDs being released
see below...
Happy 30th Anniversary
to Blind Pig
Blind
Pig, one of the world's
leading independent
roots music labels, will
celebrate its "Pearl"
anniversary -
three-tenths of a
century as purveyors of
the finest in blues and
American roots music -
with the release of the
30th Anniversary
Collection, a set of two
CDs and a
bonus DVD that will sell
for the price of a
single CD!
Subtitled
"Pearls From Swine," the
Collection features 33
audio tracks and 6 video
performances from Blind
Pig's illustrious
history, musical moments
that are polished,
timeless, and rare as
pearls.
The two plus hours of
music features blues
greats such as B.B.
King, Buddy Guy, Otis
Rush, and James Cotton;
blues-rock heavyweights
Elvin Bishop, Jeremy
Spencer, and Savoy
Brown; well-established
favorites Tommy Castro,
Rod Piazza, Magic Slim,
and Smokin' Joe Kubek &
Bnois King; and
talented newcomers such
as Big Bill
Morganfield, Albert
Cummings, Hamilton
Loomis, and Harper.
The collection's DVD
spotlights live
performances from
Castro, Piazza, Kubek &
King, Magic Slim, Popa
Chubby, and Reverend
Billy C. Wirtz.
Happy 12th Anniversary
to Ruf Records
In November, blues label Ruf Records will celebrate their 12th anniversary with the release of "Where Blues Crosses Over- 12 Years of Ruf Records Anthology"
This release will be a special collectors edition that includes one CD with 13 tracks, and one DVD also with 13 tracks.
Included on the CD are Sue Foley, Candye Kane, Ian Parker, Omar & The Howlers, Larry Garner, Ana Popovic, Kevin Coyne, Aynsley Lister, Canned Heat, Friend 'n Fellow, Bernard Allison and Luther Allison.
On the DVD look for Blues Caravan, Sue Foley, Bob Brozman, Bernard Allison, Omar & The Howlers, Robin Trower, Ana Popovic, Ian Parker, Imperial Crowns, Aynsley Lister, Walter Trout, Friend n' Fellow and Luther Allison.
A
child prodigy, Roxy started out fronting
swing bands at the famous Glen Island Casino
in New Rochelle, New York and performed her
first major concert at the Shrine Auditorium
in Los Angeles, California at age 9. In her
early teens, she began fronting her own
bands. By her late teens, she was working
six nights a week with her 10-piece soul
band at the Peppermint Lounge on 45th Street
and Times Square in New York City. It was
there that she was discovered and did her
first studio recording as a back-up
vocalist. This led to her going on tour for
four years with the pop-rock band, Dawn,
representing their hits of the time. The
band headlined concert tours with Kenny
Rogers, The Carpenters, Rare Earth, Gladys
Knight & The Pips, Iron Butterfly, The Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band, Mike Nesmith, Mark Lindsay
and many others. In the ‘80’s an EP was
released on Personal Records, produced by
Richie Cordell, which was high on the
Billboard charts for two months. 
Earlier
this year a panel of industry judges selected
BACK IN BLUESVILLE as the "Best
Self-Produced CD" for 2005. 
He's Bad to the Bone, and he's
B-B-B-B-B-Back! Yes, George Thorogood ha a rockin' new record called
"The Hard Stuff". It has everything you could want from George Thorogood and the
Destroyers, plus a few things that might surprise you. Join Elwood Blues
for new music and conversation with George Thorogood, this weekend on the House of
Blues Radio Hour. 
