Lennon Regretted Political Statements?

Joe Flannery, The Beatles’ booking agent during the band's early career, claims John Lennon confessed that he had gone overboard with his political statements and had made a "t**" of himself.

Lennon was also planning to return to his hometown of Liverpool and wanted to sail into the city on board luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 as his fans lined the shore.

According to Britain's Daily Express, Flannery says he spoke to Lennon months before he was shot dead outside his New York apartment in 1980, and recalls, "We enjoyed a lengthy conversation. We talked a lot of rubbish of course. He was very well and happy but he missed Liverpool, he missed the others and he missed London but he told me at one stage that he regretted 'getting too political'. He said that he had made a bit of a 't** of himself'...

"'We should start talking about me coming home, before that b**tard Nixon gets me', he said. I was rather taken aback and asked him to explain. John launched into a diatribe against the former president. He was convinced that even out of office Nixon carried power and wanted him dead.

"He felt some kind of curse was hanging over him... His tone bothered me a little, expressing as it did what sounded like a touch of paranoia. 'It would be good to come home for a bit', he finally stated... He even suggested that I should fly out to New York when the time came to return with him on the liner. I was flattered but mentioned that I wondered whether the Qe2 could actually get down the Mersey (river in Liverpool). 'Look into it,' John shouted, 'I want to come home in a blaze of glory.'"

Lennon’s ‘65 Ferrari Up For Auction

John Lennon’s first car, a blue 1965 Ferrari 330GT, will be going up on the auction block in July.

Lennon paid a little over $10,000 (about $171,000 in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars) and put just over 20,000 miles on the car before selling it in October 1967.

As one of just 500 of this model Ferrari made and one of the few still with the original engine and chassis, this vehicle would be a valuable commodity on its own. But with its rare history the car is expected to sell for nearly $340,000.

 Pop Star Perry, High School Choir Guest with the Stones

The Rolling Stones welcomed pop star Katy Perry and the Green Valley High School choir on stage during their Saturday night (May 11th) appearance at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Perry duetted with Mick Jagger on ‘Beast Of Burden.’

Once again Mick Taylor, in addition to highlighting ‘Midnight Rambler,’ joined the band for the final encore of ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.’

The Green Valley High School joined the Stones an encore performance of ‘You Can't Always Get What You Want.’

Choir director Kim Ritzer said she thought it was a joke when she first got a message on Facebook from someone she didn't know inviting them to sing backup. She later learned a friend who teaches music at the University of Southern California had recommended them.

"When I announced it to the kids, I think their parents were more excited than they were because some of them didn't even know who the Rolling Stones were," Ritzer told KLAS-TV.

They sealed the deal with an audition via Skype for a representative of the band in London.

"I called my dad. He was screaming at me over the phone and said, 'Are you kidding me?'" said Kyle Sorenson, a freshman in the Green Valley High choir.

Toronto to Host "Pinballpalooza" for New Production of Who’s ‘Tommy’

Organizers of Toronto’s Stratford Festival will hold a special daylong event to celebrate the upcoming opening of a revival of the stage musical based on The Who‘s 1969 rock opera, ‘Tommy.’ 

As part of the promotional extravaganza, dubbed “Pinballpalooza,” one-hundred pinball machines will be set up in the lobby of Toronto’s First Canadian Place and will be used to attempt to set a Guinness World Record.

The event also will offer special ticket deals for the new ‘Tommy’ production and performances by some of the cast members. A special ‘Tommy’-themed video pinball game can be played online at StratfordFestival.ca.

The revamped version of the ‘Tommy’ musical is in previews now at the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Canada, and will officially open there on May 30th. The Tony Award-winning stage production, which was created by Pete Townshend and director Des McAnuff, has been updated using new technology and stagecraft innovations.

Astronaut Covers Bowie In Space, Posts Video

A Canadian astronaut has paid tribute to David Bowie, appropriately covering ‘Space Oddity’ while 230 miles above Earth.

Commander Chris Hadfield recorded his version to mark the end of his time on the International Space Station, posting his music video online on Sunday (12 May 13) ahead of his scheduled return to Earth the following day (13 May 13).

In the clip, Hadfield sings Bowie's 1969 track while strumming an acoustic guitar, floating effortlessly around the craft and gazing out of a window into space.

In a post on his Twitter.com page, Hadfield writes, "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World."

Bowie replied by tweeting, "Hallo spaceboy."

Hadfield has spent the last five months aboard the Iss, and has become an Internet sensation by tweeting regular updates about his experiences in zero gravity.

Foreigner: Gramm Recalls Brain Tumor

Just published is ‘Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades In Rock N’ Roll’ by original Foreigner frontman and co-founder, Lou Gramm. The book discusses Gramm’s experiences in Foreigner as well as his successful battle with substance abuse and near fatal brain tumor in 1997.

Lou Gramm shed some light on the tumor that threatened to permanently derail his career and possibly kill him: “It was a non-cancerous tumor, but it was the size of a large egg and it was in my frontal lobe and it had tentacles wrapped around my pituitary and optic nerve.”

Gramm was asked how he first realized that something was critically wrong with him: “I started getting incredible headaches — worse than any hangover I’d ever had. My long and short-term memory started to become spotty, and my eyes would cross once in a while. And I went for an MRI and they said it was a large tumor, the size of an egg and that it had been there since birth, growing.”

Sabbath: ‘CSI’ Behind the Scenes Video Posted

CBS has released a special behind-the-scenes video of the season finale of ‘CSI,’ which features a special appearance by Black Sabbath.

In the three-minute clip, star Ted Danson explains that the episode centers around the search for a serial killer, with three potential suspects, leading to a season-ending cliffhanger. At some point, Danson and co-star Marc Vann wind up at a club where Black Sabbath are performing. The episode will feature the premiere of the studio version of ‘End of the Beginning,’ from Sabbath’s album ‘13,’ which will be released June 11.

“It’ll be my first Black Sabbath concert,” Danson said. “How cool is that?”

For bassist Geezer Butler, a longtime fan of the show, the feeling was mutual. “I’ve watched every episode since it started,” he said while barely able to contain his excitement. “‘Cause I like crime stuff, and it was realistic.”

However, Ozzy Osbourne noted that playing a rock singer on a television show is considerably difference from being one, due to the delays that pop up during filming. “I’m not an actor,” he said. “It’s like a hurry-up-and-wait. When you see it on TV, it’s all done, but when you’re filming, there’s a lot of stuff going on.”

The episode will air this coming Wednesday (May 15) at 10PM Eastern.

Sabbath Starved During Early Years

Black Sabbath struggled to book shows in their native U.K. so they travelled in order to get work - but the group had to stay overseas for weeks at a time to make the journey worthwhile.

The band landed a residency in Hamburg, Germany - but bassist Geezer Butler reveals they struggled to feed themselves during their time in the country.

He tells Mojo magazine, "It was f**cking horrible. We were literally starving. Sometimes I'd cry because I'd be so hungry. But we couldn't get any gigs in England. We got a gig in Carlisle and a few in Birmingham but nobody else would book us, so the one place that we could get a residency was the Star-Club (in Hamburg).

"You couldn't afford the petrol to go for just one gig so you had to stay there for two or three weeks. We used to push the van across Europe most of the time.'"

Mellencamp Musical To Tour In The Fall

‘Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,’ the Southern gothic musical with lyrics by Stephen King and music by John Mellencamp and T-Bone Burnett, will embark on a 20-city American tour beginning in October.

Mellencamp sparked the collaboration, which took place over a 13-year span, when he mentioned that a pair of brothers had met a grisly end in a cabin on his land. The first was accidentally killed as the two siblings battled over a girl, and the doomed couple then died not long after in a car accident. King quickly drew up an outline for a play, and work commenced from there in an off-and-on fashion.

“John can make rock ‘n’ roll records and I can write books for the rest of our lives,” King says in a news release. “But that’s the safe way to do it — and that’s no way to live if you want to stay creative. We were willing to be educated, and at our age, that’s an accomplishment.”

Set in the village of Lake Belle Reve, Miss., the ‘Ghost Brothers’ narrative fills in an imagined backstory even while new songs — performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a live four-piece band — help frame their character’s emotions.

“This is a gothic story-driven rock concert,” director Susan Booth says. “I want the emphasis to be on this fantastic score and our great singers and how the story advances us from song to song. In most musicals, the songs advance the narrative. With ‘Ghost Brothers,’ the story will advance the songs.”

Tickets for the tour, which begins in Bloomington, Ind., go on sale Friday, May 17, at AEG Live. A studio release is also set for release via Hear Music and the Concord Music Group on June 4.

’Ghostland Brothers’ Tour Dates

October

10 Bloomington, Ind. – Indiana University Auditorium

11 Louisville, Ky. – Whitney Hall

12 Knoxville, Ky. – Knoxville Civic Auditorium

13 Asheville, N.C. – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

16 Nashville, Tenn. – Ryman Auditorium

17 Evansville, Ind. – Aiken Theatre at The Centre

18 Indianapolis, Ind. – Clowes Memorial Hall

19 Akron, Ohio – Akron Civic Theatre

22 Columbus, Ohio- Palace Theatre

24 Ft. Wayne, Ind. – Embassy Theatre

25 Madison, Wisc. – Overture Hall

26 Rockford, Ill. – Coronado Performing Arts Center

27 Appleton, Wisc. – Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

29 Milwaukee, Wisc. – Riverside Theatre

31 Minneapolis, Minn. – State Theatre

November

1 Sioux City, Iowa – Orpheum Theatre tickets on sale May 17

2 Ames, Iowa – Stephens Auditorium

3 Davenport, Iowa – Adler Theatre

5 South Bend, Ind. – Morris Performing Arts Center

6 Grand Rapids, Mich. – DeVos Performance Hall