LOTS OF MUSIC NEWS....
Chicago will return to The Venetian in Las Vegas for nine more shows from February 28th to March 15th. This will be their eighth year there, and, following their run there this year, they became the longest running residency in the venue’s history. Chicago will be back on the road October 22nd in Nashville with dates through November 17th in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ALSO................
A new documentary about the Beatles, titled Beatles '64, will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+ on Nov. 29, acknowledging the 60th anniversary of the band's first trip to America.
Read More: New 'Beatles '64' Documentary to Stream on Disney+ courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock.
IN OTHER MUSIC NEWS....
Despite all their success and ability to deliver hit songs and albums, even John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses and Bruce Springsteen are capable of releasing a disappointing album, at least in the eyes of Rolling Stone, which has published its list of "The 50 Most Disappointing Albums of All Time."
Topping the list is John Lennon's third album, 1972's Some Time in New York City, which Rolling Stone writer Andy Greene says is "as disposable as the newspapers on the cover. He bounced back with Mind Games in 1973, leaving Some Time in New York City little more than an unfortunate time capsule from a troubled time."
Following Lennon at two is The Rolling Stones' 1967 effort, Their Satanic Majesties Request, which even Mick Jagger said in 1995 wasn't very good. "It’s a sound experience, really, rather than a song experience. There’s two good songs on it: ‘She’s a Rainbow’ and “2000 Light Years From Home.’ The rest of them are nonsense…. I think we were just taking too much acid.”
Rounding out the Top 10 are:
3) Bob Dylan - Self Portrait: "In 1984, the notoriously unreliable Dylan claimed he made it bad on purpose to alienate his fans and earn him some peace. 'I wanna do something they can’t possibly like, they can’t relate to. They’ll see it, and they’ll listen, and they’ll say, ‘Well, let’s go on to the next person.’”
4) David Bowie - Tonight: "The whole album just feels oddly rushed. The fiasco destroyed nearly all the momentum he gained from [1983's] Let’s Dance. It would be a long, long time before he regained it."
5) Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy: "The album is ludicrously overcooked.. a deep disappointment. And the sad fact they’ve offered up nothing new since it came out short of warmed-over Chinese Democracy outtakes is even more disappointing."
6) Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch: "For the first time in his career, he whiffed. When he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, he acknowledged it with typical frankness. 'Now my dad, he passed away this year, but I’ve gotta thank him because — what would I conceivably have written about without him? I mean, you can imagine that if everything had gone great between us, we would have had disaster. I would have written just happy songs — and I tried it in the early '90s, and it didn’t work. The public didn’t like it.'"
7) Beach Boys - Smiley Smile
8) Stevie Wonder - Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
9) Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
10) Michael Jackson - Invincible
Other notable acts to make the list include:
- AC/DC - Flick of the Switch
- Tom Petty - Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)
- Elton John - A Single Man
- Journey - Raised on Radio
- Paul McCartney & Wings - Wild Life
- George Harrison - Dark Horse
- Aerosmith - Draw the Line
- U2 - Songs of Innocence
- Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
- Fleetwood Mac - Behind the Mask
- Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
- Peter Frampton - I’m In You
- Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
- The Band - Cahoots
- Van Halen - Balance
- Rod Stewart - Smiler
- John Fogerty - Eye of the Zombie
- Neil Young - Hawks & Doves
FINALLY, CONDOLENCES GOING OUT TO DONALD FAGEN OF STEELY DAN.....
Libby Titus Fagen, the wife of Donald Fagen of Steely Dan for the past 31 years, died on Sunday at the age of 77. Donald made the announcement on the band’s Facebook page, writing, “My beautiful wife, Libby Titus Fagen, passed on October 13th surrounded by family. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts, and for respecting our privacy at this time.”
She was born Elizabeth Jurist in Woodstock, New York and attended nearby Bard College, where Donald Fagen and Walter Becker also went to school. In 1966, she married Barry Titus, and they had a son. They separated in 1968, the same year she released the first of two self-titled singer-songwriter albums. Neither was particularly successful and she eventually turned to songwriting and promoting shows in New York City.
In 1969, she became romantically involved with Levon Helm of The Band and had a second child, Amy Helm, who followed in her parents' footsteps and is now a singer-songwriter. She remained with Helm through much of the 1970s.
In 1989, Titus promoted a one-off concert at New York's Lone Star Roadhouse featuring Dr. John, Fagen, Phoebe Snow, Jevetta Steele, and Bonnie Raitt. It would lead to the formation of the New York Rock and Soul Revue, which Titus promoted with Fagen until early 1992, including 1991's Live at the Beacon album. Fagen credited Titus with rekindling his interest in performing, which he'd abandoned for 15 years.
In 1993, Fagen and Titus married. Donald also reformed Steely Dan with Becker that year.
As a songwriter, Titus collaborated with Burt Bacharach, Carly Simon, Dr. John and others, She wrote "Love Has No Pride," her best known song, with Eric Kaz and saw it covered by a number of singers, among them Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. She also inspired songs by Simon, Dr. John, Wendy Waldman and, in this century, her husband, who wrote "The Great Pagoda of Funn" from his 2006 solo album Morph the Cat about their marriage. They also wrote a number of songs together.
According to Wikipedia, Titus was injured in 2016 when Fagen allegedly pushed her against a marble window frame at their New York City apartment. Although at one point she'd said she was divorcing him, they later reconciled and stayed together through her death.