The Music News Thread

[Oldrottenhead]

that's sad, he was actually quite a big influence on british prog rock, i know van der graaf generator where inspired by him early on.  i believe cream where also influenced by him too. where i know this from i have no idea, read it or saw it or heard it somewhere. but all the mad jamming and free form weird shit bands where doing in the late 60's early 70's i believe he was the source. the iggy pop of prog if you like. anyway i'm rambling but a great man has passed. R.I.P.

[SharksDontSleep]

RIP James Last - 86

I know what you're thinking ... But this is a man who gave us many, many kitsch classics.
This being one of the greatest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF2ODWluPlY

[Blooby]

I am very sad to report this:

Yes bassist Chris Squire has passed away, according to Yes bandmate Geoffrey Downes. Squire was 67. The bassist had been undergoing treatment for acute erythroid leukemia in his adopted hometown of Phoenix.Born in London in 1948, Squire formed Yes twenty years later and remains the only musician to have played on every one of the band’s records. The band was set to head out on tour with Toto beginning in August with a replacement bassist while Squire received treatment for his illness.

[Bluesberry]

Ah shit, that's just depressing.....I thought he would live forever......RIP beautiful bass man

[Oldrottenhead]

Damn, I feel like I've lost an uncle.

[Oldrottenhead]

Damn, I feel like I've lost an uncle.

[Lurker]

Chris Squire was one of the rare ones.  "Unique" is an overused word, but in his case it is truly appropriate.  His style was a major component of what set Yes apart.  I'm not expressing this well, but I am hearing his bass runs in my head right now.  Nobody else played like that unless they were copying him.

[Blooby]

In a new interview with Billboard, Carlos Santana says he plans to launch a new project entitled Supernova, a jazz fusion act that will include his wife Cindy Blackman Santana as well as saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin. "Definitely spring recording and summer touring in Europe and maybe America," Santana told the publication. "Can you hear it? It's kind of like playing with, sharing music with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, 'cause Wayne and Herbie, they're at that level of genius, genius, genius, genius. I'm just grateful that they accept it and want to do it."

The guitarist also discussed Santana IV, which will feature original Santana members Greg Rolie, Marcus Malone and Michael Carabello along with drummer Michael Shrieve, who joined the band in 1969. Neal Schon will also be on hand, first joining on guitar in 1971. An album has been recorded and Santana confirmed the group will be touring next year.

The guitarist also hinted at plans to record a whole album with Ronald Isley and Larry Graham.

"I think it moved"  - George Costanza-

[Blooby]

Searching for that last little decorative touch that will set your house apart from everything else in the neighborhood? You may want to bid on the giant inflatable pig created for the cover photo of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals.

The BBC reports that the pig is part of a 30-year collection of work being sold off by Air Artists, the firm responsible for creating it and a host of other rock memorabilia — including pieces used by the Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden and AC/DC.

"I'm sad to see them go but they very rarely see the light of day and so I would be quite happy for someone else to take them for a walk," explained artist Rob Harries. "The clear-out has been quite cathartic and brought back a lot of memories, but I do feel I've been there and done that now, and it's time to move on."

Floyd fans will no doubt recall the fuss created by the pig during its initial flight, which went awry when it broke free from its moorings and ended up grounding flights out of Heathrow before finally landing in a farmer's field and, in his words, "scaring my cows to death."

Things went more smoothly in 2011, when the pig flew again as part of a publicity stunt planned around a series of Floyd remasters, but now that the power station depicted on the Animals cover is being converted into a luxury housing complex, that particular part of the British skyline is off limits, and the next person to send the pig aloft might as well be you.

[Blooby]

Sad news...

Paul Kantner, one of the giants of the San Francisco music scene, died Thursday, Jan. 28, of multiple organ failure. Mr. Kantner, founding member of the Jefferson Airplane, was 74 and had suffered a heart attack earlier this week.
His death was confirmed by longtime publicist and friend, Cynthia Bowman, who said he died of multiple organ failure and septic shock..

Mr. Kantner suffered from a string of health problems in recent years, including a heart attack in March 2015.
With Jefferson Airplane, Mr. Kantner pioneered what became known as the San Francisco sound in the mid-1960s, with such hits as "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit."

The Airplane was renowned for thrilling vocal gymnastics by singers Marty Balin, Grace Slick and Mr. Kantner, the psychedelic blues-rock sound developed by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady and the LSD-spiked, '60s-era revolutionary fervor of its lyrics.

The band was formed in a Union Street bar called the Drinking Gourd, when lead Balin met Mr. Kantner and expressed his interest in forming a "folk-rock" band. It didn't take long for the Airplane to attract a sizable local following, enough so that when fledgling promoter Bill Graham opened his legendary Fillmore Auditorium, the Jefferson Airplane served as the first headliner.
The Airplane was the first of the so-called "San Francisco sound" bands to sign a recording contract with a major label, and in August of 1966, its debut album, “The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off," was released. Slick joined the band a year later and songs like "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" became national hits as the love children came streaming into San Francisco.

The group quickly became an integral part of the ‘6os rock scene, from the Matrix club to Golden Gate Park's "Human Be-In" to Monterey Pop. The Airplane's high point may have been its sterling early-morning performance at Woodstock, while its nadir may have come only months later, at the violence-plagued Altamont concert, when Balin was knocked unconscious by the rampaging Hells Angels.

After the band was grounded by feuds and a lawsuit, Mr. Kantner and vocalist Grace Slick transformed the band into Jefferson Starship in 1974, taking the name from a Kantner solo album.
When Mr. Kantner left the Starship in 1985, he accepted an $80,000 settlement in exchange for a promise not to use the names "Jefferson" or "Airplane" without Slick's consent.

Slick stayed with the Starship and had a hit with "We Built This City" before the band folded in the late 1980s.
A sometimes **** ly, often sarcastic musician who kept his own counsel and routinely enraged his old bandmates — they sued him for trademark infringement (and settled) after he started his own version of Jefferson Starship in 1991 -- Mr. Kantner lived to become something of a landmark on the San Francisco music scene, the only member of the pioneer '60s San Francisco band still living in town.

"Somebody once said, if you want to go crazy go to San Francisco," he said. "Nobody will notice."
Mr. Kanner was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 for his work with the Jefferson Airplane during the band's glory years -- from the breakthrough 1967 "Surrealistic Pillow" album through historic rock festivals such as Woodstock and Altamont.

"We never made plans," said Mr. Kantner, "Well, we made plans, but they went awry. It was good to have a plan in case they didn't go awry."

He maintained a strenuous touring schedule, performing regularly with some version of the Jefferson Starship name. His group sometimes included Jefferson Airplane vocalist and co-founder Marty Balin, as well as David Freiberg of the Quicksilver Messenger Service, another leading Bay Area band from the '60s.
"When I look back on it, that's probably longer than any of the other bands I've been in," Mr. Kantner said.
Paul Lorin Kantner was born in San Francisco on March 17, 1941.

His father, a traveling salesman, sent Mr. Kantner to military school after his mother’s death. He sought escape in science fiction books and music, before being inspired by Pete Seeger to follow a path as a folk singer. He attended Santa Clara University and San Jose State College before dropping out to pursue music.

When not on the road with his band, Mr. Kantner was a fixture at Caffe Trieste in North Beach.
"I've always loved San Francisco better than anywhere,” he said. “It's always had its problems, but just the weather alone, the views. This corner alone has proved so nourishing."

Mr. Kantner is survived by three children; sons Gareth and Alexander, and daughter China.

Funeral arrangements are pending.