Recordings of Ringo Starr's first band discovered after 50 years
Recordings of The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr's first band Rory Storm And The Hurricanes have been discovered, 50 years after they were originally made.
The tapes were recorded in March 1960, a full two years before Starr was asked by producer Brian Epstein to join The Beatles.
The band performed alongside The Beatles during their stint in Hamburg and were considered to be one of the leading lights of the Liverpool scene. They were fronted by Rory Storm [whose real name is Alan Caldwell], who died in 1972. It is in the basement of his sister's house that the new tapes have been found.
The tapes include tracks recorded at the Jive Hive club in north Liverpool, and at Storm's house, which was known locally as Stormsville, where bands including The Beatles would get together once clubs like The Cavern had shut at night.
Storm's sister Iris Caldwell spoke about her brother, who she said was "so far ahead of his time". She told BBC News: "Rory was a performer. He wasn't, like The Beatles, a brilliant songwriter. They called him The Golden Boy and Mr Showbusiness. Rory was so far ahead of his time. He was doing glam rock then. I suppose these tapes have been in an old sealed box ever since [they were recorded]."
Caldwell also said she believed Brian Epstein did not give her brother a real shot at becoming a major success because he "didn't want any major competition" for The Beatles.
It is not yet whether the tapes will be released to the public as yet. Ringo Starr released his 16th solo album Ringo 2012 in January
Revived ska-pop hitmakers No Doubt are previewing all the tracks from their comeback album online.
It has been eleven years, and a successful solo jaunt for frontwoman Gwen Stefani, but No Doubt are on the verge of a new album Push And Shove.
They’ve previewed the first single ‘Settle Down’, a ripping Major Lazer remix, and the title track, and now fans can get a taste of all fifteen songs through iTunes.
The link to the preorder here has 90-second snippets of all the tunes. Listen to the full title track below. Push And Shove is due out on September 25.
Lillian Lopez, one of the founding members of the dance group Odyssey, passed away on Tuesday from cancer. She was 76.
Her son, Steven Andre, announced her death on the band's Facebook tribute page:
It is with tremendous sadness that I announce the passing of my Mother, my mentor, and my very best friend, the founder and first voice of ODYSSEY, Lillian Lopez Collazo Jackson, who died peacefully in hospice on September 4th due to stage four cancer at the age of 76... She will live on in spirit through Annis, Anne, and me as we endeavour to carry on her legacy; to continue the musical journey that is, and always was, ODYSSEY... And of course, her magical voice can still be heard on practically any day, anywhere in the UK: When next you do, and if you can, TURN IT UP! She'd like that... Goodbye Ma, and Thank You...
Also posting a tribute was former Odyssey singer William "Bill" McEachern:
To Lillian,
Rest in peace. The work you've done, speaks for you. Thank you for the opportunity to sing with you and Louise. I am grateful for all that we were able to share with the world together.
I hope to sing with you again, when I see you in heaven.
Thank God, our music still lives,
Bill McEachern
My condolences to the entire family
Odyssey was the brainchild of sisters Lillian and Louise Lopez, although Louise would leave the group before it broke out. Tony Reynolds came on board for their first album, Odyssey, which produced their biggest U.S. hit, Native New Yorker (1977/#21 Pop/#6 R&B/#3 Dance/#5 U.K.) along with the single Weekend Lover (1977/#57 Pop/#37 R&B).
McEachern replaced Reynolds starting with the second album, 1978's Hollywood Party Tonight, and would stay with them through the rest of their contract with RCA. They never had another Pop or R&B hit in the U.S. but scored well in the U.K. with Use It Up and Wear It Out (1980/#1 U.K.), If You're Lookin' For a Way Out (1980/#8 U.K.), Going Back to My Roots (1981/#4 U.K.) and Inside Out (1982/#3 U.K.).
Lillian continued to tour Europe and the Middle East with Al Jackson and Steven Collazo as Odyssey until 2000 when she married Jackson and retired from the business. She went on to become an author, writing the books Bowling Green (2003) and Eight Short Stories For Children (2011).
Singer-Songwriter Joe South passed away at his home on Wednesday at the age of 72. No cause of death has been announced.
South was born Joseph Souter and broke into the music business in 1957 with the novelty record The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor (1958/Pop #47). While his public persona may have been in novelty, he was writing straight out rockers, two of which were recorded by Gene Vincent, I Might Have Known and Gone Gone Gone
During the sixties, South continued songwriting but became better known as a session guitarist playing with artists like Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed and Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde) and on such records as Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin, Sheila by Tommy Roe and The Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel.
As a songwriter, South's biggest hits came for Billy Joe Royal including his hits Down in the Boondocks and I Knew You When while his song Hush became a hit for Deep Purple.
In 1969, South finally found success as a recording artist with Games People Play, a song that talked about the interactions between people, calling them out on hypocrisy and intolerance. The song made it to number 12 in the U.S. and number 6 in the U.K. He equaled that position in the U.S. the next year with Walk a Mile in My Shoes while having lesser hits with Don't it Make You Want to Go Home and Birds of a Feather. Games went on to win the Grammys as Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song.
Among his other songwriting hits were (I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson), These Are Not My People (Freddy Weller), Yo-Yo (Osmonds) and the previously mentions Birds of a Feather (Paul Revere & the Raiders).
In 1971, Joe's brother, Tommy, committed suicide which put South in a deep depression that sent him to live in the jungles of Maui. He continued to record for a few more years but, other than rumors of new music, he didn't release a new studio album after 1976's You're the Reason.
Joe South is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1979) and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (2003).
Mark Abrahamian, the lead guitarist for the rock group Starship, died of a heart attack after a concert in Norfolk, Neb., his road manager said. He was 46.
Road manager Scott Harrison said Abrahamian collapsed after a performance Sunday night.
"We had just finished the show. We were back in the dressing room eating. He apparently told the bass player he wasn't feeling well," Harrison said Monday.
Abrahamian went into the next room and was talking to his fiancee on the phone when he collapsed, Harrison said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Harrison says an autopsy was done Monday.
"It's a shock to everyone," Harrison told The Associated Press in a phone interview from the airport in Omaha, where he was waiting for Abrahamian's fiancee. They planned to get married in December in Hawaii, Harrison said.
Starship was the opening band for a concert that also featured Survivor and Boston.
Harrison said Abrahamian hadn't mentioned any health problems to him, but he apparently had been telling his fiancee.
"He had been having chest pains for a while," Harrison said.
Harrison said Starship's concert on Monday in Orem, Utah, was canceled.
Abrahamian joined Starship 11 years ago. Starship's history goes back to the 1960s with Jefferson Airplane and in 1980s Jefferson Starship.
Abrahamian lived in Austin, Texas. Funeral services are pending.
