Performances recorded at Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood’s Madison Square Garden concerts of February 2008 are scheduled to be released 19 May on CD and on DVD. If this clip of “Forever Man” is any indication, it will be great. These guys rock pretty good for geezers.

Each release will include two discs, and the DVD [...]

Jackie Greene’s first CD was released in 2002, but I didn’t hear of him until American Myth (2006). This cautionary tale comes from his latest, Giving Up the Ghost (2008).
Recorded live at Harmony Festival, 2008.

Science proves that Bob Dylan was right.
Scientists have just shown that one of Bob Dylan’s most famous lines–”everybody must get stoned”– is correct. That’s because they’ve discovered that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself.
The possibilities are intoxicating.
This discovery may lead to new marijuana-like drugs for managing [...]

As a pop music producer, he was a genius; but, as a human being, not so much.  His worldly success and wealth made him a self-obsessed recluse and a pitiful and dangerous old man.
An evil Spector: Record producer guilty of murder
Second jury convicts producer in actress’s death
LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the rock music impresario [...]

Erstwhile rock singer Courtney Love is being sued for messages she sent via that nasty new “social networking” tool Twitter.
Fans of Twitter say its beauty is that it allows users to upload their thoughts as and when they think of them. This can be a serious disadvantage for those of a belligerent disposition. Ms Love’s [...]

Susie, an American woman in Saudi Arabia, has made the shocking discovery that vice cops with the Committee for the Protection of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CVPVP) censor CD covers. She recently bought her son a copy of Kate Perry’s One of the Boys.
When he opened up the CD, we were both astonished [...]

It’s the end of an era.  Elevator music is no more.
They were the jaunty, forgettable streams of synthesized music you would hear between the lobby and your floor.
But like so many other cultural reference points, the elevator-music industry has faded away. And barely anybody noticed.
The breaking point came in February, when Muzak, the company that [...]

This hidden gem, recorded in 1962 for a film that was never released, Ten Girls Ago, features the great Dion singing “Feeling No Pain”. He co-wrote the song and produced a version by The del Satins that was released in 1963. The del Satins were the back-up group on many of Dion’s 1960s [...]

Indonesian singer Agnes Monica has released a pop song entitled “Allah Peduli” (”Allah Cares”), but apparently some Malaysian Muslims don’t want that message getting out.
The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) has now banned the Indonesian song ‘Allah Peduli’ (Allah Cares) because of the word Allah in its lyrics.
MAIS chairman Datuk Mohamad Adzib Mohd Isa said [...]

I have a teenage daughter, so this video spoke to me in a big way.  The song is controversial (as are many Toby Keith songs), but I think it has a positive message about God, his gospel, and his kingdom.

The girl walked away from God for a time, but God didn’t walk away from her. [...]

The president of Tajikistan presumes to give Muslim clerics pointers in good grooming.  Among his sartorial tips: Dress “appropriately”; wear a suit and tie; and, by all means, wash and trim those mangy beards.
Speaking at a conference in Dushanbe on February 26 attended by religious leaders and scholars, President Emomali Rahmon said religious figures should [...]

“Trouble In Mind” was recorded during the Slow Train Coming sessions (1979) and released as the B-side of “Gotta Serve Somebody”.
h/t: Francis Beckwith at What’s Wrong With The World

Iran goes country.
The World Academy of Arts, Literature & Media recently named Iranian band Kiosk Best Blues Band of 2008.
To me, except for the Farsi lyrics, Kiosk looks and sounds like an American alt-country band.
KIOSK is often noted for its biting critical social and
 political, but humorous lyrics.
I’ll just have to take your word on [...]

The little island with the funny three-legged flag has hitherto been popular as a tax haven, but it could soon attract visitors looking to download music from the internet.
Speaking at the MidemNet conference in Cannes, the Manx inward investment minister explained that the island has achieved 100% broadband penetration and now seeks that its citizens [...]

Bob Dylan’s third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), includes “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”, a dramatic and carefully crafted song about a privileged young man named William Zantzinger who negligently killed Hattie Carroll, a black kitchen maid. The song was based on a true story and Dylan used the real names [...]