Monday, September 30, 2013

Badfinger Owes 3,000% Sales Gain to "Breaking Bad" Finale

From Billboard

Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is suddenly red hot.

The song, which closed the finale of AMC's hit series "Breaking Bad" last night (Sept. 29), has suddenly risen into the top 25 on iTunes' top songs list and is poised for a return to the Billboard charts this week.

Industry sources suggest the song is set for a nearly 3,000% sales gain in the week ending Sept. 29. It sold nearly 5,000 downloads just last night. Remarkably, that one-day figure should immediately make the 1972 song earn its largest digital sales week ever. It has never sold more than 1,000 downloads in a single week, according to Nielsen SoundScan...

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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Jackie Lomax, Dead at 69

From Guitar World

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Jackie Lomax died Monday, September 16, at age 69

Although Beatles fans will most likely remember Lomax for recording a George Harrison-penned track called "Sour Milk Sea" in 1968, Lomax originally rose to prominence as a member of a Merseybeat group called the Undertakers in the early ’60s.

That band's success led to their quickly acquiring the services of Beatles manager Brian Epstein, which eventually led to a friendship with the Beatles and a recording contract with their label, Apple Records.

In 1969, Lomax released a highly regarded solo album, Is This What You Want?, on Apple. It was produced by Harrison and featured contributions by Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton. However, despite its impressive guest list, the album didn't make it past No. 145 on the Billboard album chart.

Although Lomax never enjoyed commercial success, he continued to release R&B-influenced music, including 1971′s Home Is in My Head He remained musically active throughout the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond, doing time in several short-lived bands and resurfacing to record the occasional record...

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Saturday, September 7, 2013

In Depth Look at Lennon's Acoustic Guitar

From WTOP.com

The imperfections were what made it perfect.

It was 18 years ago John Lennon's flat top acoustic guitar used in the Beatles was first displayed to the public at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
DJ Cerphe Colwell was there for the unveiling of Lennon's guitar, and will never forget it.

 

"I stood there for about an hour just staring at it, just thinking about how many hearts and ears were awakened by that Gibson J 160E guitar. Really magical stuff," says Cerphe, whose show is heard on Eco Planet Radio.

Cerphe was one of the participants when the Rock and Roll Hall opened its doors in Sept. 1995, displaying priceless artifacts used by legendary musicians.

Lennon's guitar, which was donated by wife Yoko Ono, had been personalized by the Beatles' leader.

"I really liked the artwork drawings that John did on the wooden body of the guitar, but it was the fretboard and the pick marks and the gouges on the wood and tuning keys that really fascinated me," says Cerphe...

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