LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Down in the Boondocks” singer Billy Joe Royal has died. Royal passed away Tuesday at his home in Morehead, North Carolina. He was 73. “Down in the Boondocks” hit number 9 in 1965. Royal’s other pop hits include “I Knew You When” and “Cherry Hill Park.” Royal enjoyed a successful country music career in the 1980s, with hits like “Tell It Like It Is,” ”Love Has No Right” and “I’ll Pin A Note To Your Pillow.” His song “Burned Like A Rocket” had been a rapidly rising hit in 1986 until the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened and country radio stopped playing it.
Archives for October 2015
John Mayer Defends Grateful Dead’s Resurrection
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — John Mayer says he doubts there’s anybody who bought a ticket to the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well shows in California and in Illinois who said, “I hope this is really it.” Mayer says he can’t imagine a Deadhead saying, “When I paid my money, I paid to see these guys finish this.” Dead guitarist Bob Weir says, “I guarantee there are a couple.” Mayer will join Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (KROYTZ’-man) to tour as Dead and Friends beginning October 29 in New York.
Surviving Members of CCR Says Reunion is Improbable
TOPANGA, Calif. (AP) — John Fogerty used to go into a rage whenever he was approached about Creedence Clearwater Revival reuniting. Fogerty says he’s let those feelings go and now his answer is, “I don’t know. Maybe.” However, he doubts it. Drummer Doug Clifford agrees. He says, “Things are too broken.” Bassist Stu Cook says, “It would be a milestone if we could just sit down and have a beer.”
Patti Smith Has Four Books In The Works
NEW YORK (AP) — Even as Patti Smith releases her new memoir this week, she’s looking forward to the next book, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Rolling Stone reports Smith is working on four more books. One is another autobiography about her music and her husband, the late Fred “Sonic” Smith of The MC5. The other books are a collection of poems, a detective story and a young adult novel. Smith’s book, “M Train,” is new this week. Her first memoir, “Just Kids,” came out in 2010.
Stevie Wonder Divorce
designer Kai Millard Morris. The action comes more than three years after the Grammy-winner filed to end his second marriage. Wonder and Morris were married in September 2001 and separated in ’09. They have two sons together, ages 14 and 10.
Yoko ONO and Friends Fail To Set Peace Sign Record
NEW YORK (AP) — Not enough people came out to give peace a chance on Saturday. More than 2,000 people joined Yoko Ono in New York’s Central Park in an attempt to set a world record for the largest group of people forming a peace sign in honor of John Lennon’s birthday. A Guinness World Records representative says the group had to be at least 5,000 to create an official record. Lennon’s birthday is on Friday and he would have been 75.
Grateful Dead / John Mayer Ticket Giveaway
NEW YORK (AP) — Members of the Grateful Dead and John Mayer are giving away 10,000 free tickets to a concert next month. The two musical acts say 5,000 fans will have a chance to win two tickets each to their Nov. 7 show in New York City. The group has partnered with American Express for its music series, “American Express Unstaged,” for the sweepstakes. Fans can enter to win tickets today through Thursday on Dead & Company’s website. No tickets for the show will go on sale.
Quincy Jones Honored for Body of Work and Charity Contributions
UNDATED (AP) — Quincy Jones will be given an award and an all-star jazz salute for his music and his humanitarian work. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz says Jones has won the Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award. Among the performers who will pay tribute to Jones are Hancock, Dave Grusin, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Heath, George Benson, Hubert Laws, Arturo Sandoval, Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau. The event is set for Nov. 15 in Los Angeles.
Robbie Robertson Writes Book Based on Iroquois Tale
NEW YORK (AP) — Robbie Robertson of The Band has created a children’s book based on a story he heard as a boy about the Iroquois. Robertson’s book, “Hiawatha and the Peacemaker,” is the story of a Mohawk named Hiawatha who was chosen to translate the Peacemaker’s message of unity for five warring Iroquois nations in the 14th century. Robertson is of Mohawk and Cayuga descent and heard the story as part of the Iroquois oral tradition. The book comes with a CD containing a Robertson original song. It’s out now.
Jazz Saxophonist Phil Woods Dies
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The sax player who played the solo on Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” has died. Phil Woods died Tuesday in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, at the age of 83, according to the Bensing-Thomas Funeral Home. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Woods had performed his last concert Sept. 4 while using oxygen, then announced he had emphysema and was retiring. Woods played on many Quincy Jones albums, and Jones says Woods was the best jazz alto sax player there was. Woods also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Clark Terry, as well as with Steely Dan and Paul Simon.
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