50th Anniversary
50 Years Ago, Black Sabbath Deliver the Magnificent Paranoid
The “sophomore slump” has spelt the beginning of the end for quite a few rock acts over the years. But looking back, one of the cases in which the exact opposite occurred was when Black Sabbath delivered one of the greatest metal albums of all time, Paranoid. The Birmingham, UK-based band – singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward – had already caught the attention of rock fans with their detuned and doomy self-titled debut (released in February 1970 in the UK, and June in the United States). And they wasted no time capitalizing on the buzz – issuing Paranoid in the UK on September of that year. (It would arrive in the States in January 1971.) While Sabbath amazingly knocked out the recording of their debut album in a single day, they would t...
The 10 Best Covers of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush
It’s nearly impossible to overstate the artistic influence and value of Neil Young. Born in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1945, he spent his first 20 years or so digesting as much rock ‘n’ roll, country, and doo-wop as possible in the midst of living a somewhat tumultuous life (including suffering from polio, moving around a lot, and becoming a child of divorce). As with many iconic musicians, he dedicated much of his teenage years to playing in multiple fledgling bands. That is, until fate introduced him to another singer-songwriter, Stephen Stills, with whom he’d form the beloved folk-country rock troupe Buffalo Springfield in 1966. (Of course, the two would also help start the arguably even more significant Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young a few years later.) As wonderful and enduring a...
Yusuf / Cat Stevens Re-Records Tea for the Tillerman in Celebration of Its 50th Anniversary
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ classic album Tea for the Tillerman. To celebrate, he’s re-recorded the album in full. Fittingly titled Tea for the Tillerman², this new version is due out September 18th. All 11 original Tea for the Tillerman songs appear on this forthcoming update, including fan favorites like “Where Do the Children Play?”, “Hard Headed Woman”, and “Father and Son”. While Yusuf sought to retain the spirit of these 1970-era tracks, many of them — such as “Wild World” and “Longer Boats” — were given surprising makeovers; the latter cut, for instance, features rapper Brother Ali. In an interview with Apple Music, Yusuf said he wanted to re-work the album to better reflect how he feels in 2020. He explained, “The truth is I sat down with ...
The Who’s Live at Leeds Remains a Peerless Document of Rock and Roll Power
Today, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of arguably the greatest live rock and roll album of all time. June 1969. Back from the brink, The Who are bigger than they ever imagined possible. With Tommy selling 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, it was a remarkable turnaround for a band who, only a few months earlier, neared bankruptcy and calling it a day. In what must have seemed like the blink of an eye, the rock opera was born, and, with it, Pete Townshend ascended to his throne, the last high king of 1960s counterculture. With FM-friendly Tommy A-sides “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” refining their “maximum R&B” down to proto prog-inflected rock, The Who found themselves zig-zagging across the world, topping major festival bills and — full testament to their expan...
Frank Zappa’s The Mothers of Invention Getting 50th Anniversary Box Set
The legend goes that on Mother’s Day of 1964, the R&B group Soul Giants handed over the reins to their new lead guitarist Frank Zappa, who then switched the band’s name to The Mothers. When record label executives balked, Zappa riffed on an old proverb about necessity, and The Mothers of Invention were born. The freak rock trailblazers went through a variety of personnel changes over the years, and by the ’70s Zappa had mostly dropped the “of Invention”. Now, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1970 lineup — which lasted only seven months — the Zappa estate has announced a gargantuan 70-song box set called The Mothers 1970, out June 26th. Featuring Aynsley Dunbar (drums), George Duke (piano/keys/trombone), Ian Underwood (organ/keys/guitar), Jeff Simmons (bass/vocals) and vo...
Grateful Dead Announce 50th Anniversary Reissue of Workingman’s Dead
Mark those calendars, Deadheads. This summer, the Grateful Dead will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Workingman’s Dead with a special reissue featuring a bonus live album. Pre-orders are now ongoing Due out July 10th, the reissue will be available as a CD and on vinyl, with the latter format limited to just 10,000 picture discs. Both come with a newly remastered version of the original album, but the CD edition boasts a little something extra. Fans who purchase the CD reissue will also receive a live album capturing the iconic rock group’s February 21st, 1971 concert at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. Altogether there are 24 recordings on this collection, the setlist pulled from Workingman’s Dead as well as its follow-up, American Beauty. One of those tracks is a live...
50 Reasons We Still Love The Beatles’ Let It Be
Gimme a Reason takes classic albums celebrating major anniversaries and breaks down song by song the reasons we still love them so many years later. This week, we celebrate 50 years of The Beatles’ Let It Be. It’s become an iconic scene: The Beatles carrying out their last-ever live performance on the roof of Apple Corps, joined by keyboardist and general legend Billy Preston, their long hair flipping around in the London wind while they recorded live takes of songs like “Dig a Pony” and “Don’t Let Me Down” before eventually being shut down by the Metropolitan Police. The event was unannounced. Onlookers gathered on their lunch breaks, looking up at the midday sensation. This was the concert from which the final version of the Let It Be album would in part manifest, preserving takes of thr...
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