Great stuff SAJ:thanku:

SAJ, as a multi-talented person, would you please translate this for us:P

There's the magnificent Keith Richards too (love his bright green shoes in the attached photo!). Bill Wyman seems to be finally taking the hint - BW's hair was for years dyed way, way too dark.

Here's a brief excerpt from an interview with Alice Cooper. The relevant part is highlighted. My dad had silver hair at 40 -I would probably have the same if it wasn't for Clairol The Sun (London); Nov 24, 2010; p. 35 Full Text: ( Copyright © News Group Newspapers Limited 2010) EACH week our no-nonsense (and frankly eccentric) Mistress Of Modern Manners quizzes a nervous celebrity about ethics and standards. Here, rock legend ALICE COOPER is grilled about his skincleansing routine, what makes him blush and stretchy trousers. WE share a love of make-up, Alice, though I hope mine is a little more subtle. Clogged pores can be a nightmare. Are you scrupulous about removing it all at bedtime? I never remove it. If you looked good the night before, why not wake up looking good? NO one will ever see Betty Brisk's real hair colour. I plan to dye until I die. How about you? Ever tempted to go grey and get a short back and sides? My father had a full mane of silver hair when he was 40 -- it was magnificent. I would probably have the same hair if it wasn't for Clairol. Jimmy Page has the only honest hair in rock and roll.

It looks like Jimmy and David Bowie go back a very long way! This article recalls Jimmy's session playing on an early Bowie group in the days when he was still Davie Jones. Love the comment about Bowie's teeth! Bob Solly remembers being in a band with David Bowie,1964 The Daily Telegraph (London); Nov 13, 2010; Sophie de Rosee; p. 106 Full Text: ( Copyright © Telegraph Group Limited 2010) This is a photograph I took of all seven members of the blues band the Manish Boys, in Mote Park in Maidstone, Kent. I had studied photography because it was the cool thing to do. David Bailey was on the scene and I thought it was the best way to meet models. The fellow with the cap is Mick White, I'm next to him grinning, and on my other side is Davie Jones, as David Bowie was known then. He had rotten teeth; I think it cost him Pounds 26,000 to have them put right. In the dark glasses is Johnny Flux, who later changed his name to John Edward. He was responsible for the children's TV programme Metal Mickey, as well as Renee and Renato's 1982 No1 hit Save Your Love. We were all multi-instrumentalists and very young; I was 20, David was 18. We had formed the band the year before. The fashionable thing to do then was to name your group after birds - like the Flamingos and the Hawks - but we wanted to do something a bit edgy, and were inspired by the record Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters. David didn't join until July 1964 when our manager said to us, 'I've got a great singer who is in limbo at the moment. You'd be ideal for him and he'd be ideal for you. Do you fancy taking him on?' We had enough mouths to feed but we tentatively told Les to bring him down to Kent that Sunday. It was a blazing-hot day. We were all smoking our heads off and the minute David walked in, dressed in buckskin and with long hair, we knew we would take him on. He played a soul record that he'd made and I hated it. It was absolutely awful. None the less, he had made a record and we hadn't, so were in awe of him. He then sang us a couple of songs that he'd written. We didn't really want him but we took him on anyway. On January 15 1965 we recorded our first-ever track, Pity the Fool. It was arranged that Jimmy Page would play on the record. Back then, before Led Zeppelin, he was a session guitarist. We had a two-hour slot at the recording studio and did two cuts each of Pity the Fool and one of David's own songs, Take My Tip. It was the first time David committed a self-composed song to wax. At the end of the session Jimmy said, referring to Pity the Fool, 'Well, it's definitely not going to be a hit.' And he was right. The record company pressed only about 500 copies. The demise of the band in 1965 was down to lack of finances rather than a clash of egos. We are regarded as one of the iconic unknown bands of the era, mainly because of David. If he hadn't been in the band we would have been just another short-lived band who made one record. David is very affable, and hasn't got a side to him. I speak to him on the telephone occasionally and he's just the same as he was then. Interview by Sophie de Rosee The exhibition 'Any Day Now: David Bowie - the London Years (1947-1974)' is on at Proud Camden until December 5 (proud.co.uk)

India's latest is late on parade Evening Standard (London); Nov 18, 2010; p. 17 Full Text: (Copyright © Associated Newspapers Ltd. 2010 ) NOVELIST and newspaper columnist India Knight launched her latest work of fiction, Comfort and Joy, at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. "Getting books out of India is like being the crotchety form mistress dealing with the dog ate my homework excuse," announced Knight's publisher, Fig Tree founder Juliet Annan. "She could have written two-and-a-half novels by now if she'd not been on Twitter. She'd tweet about a bat flying in the window and I'd know there was another lame excuse coming." Knight certainly pulled in the highprofile guests. Led Zeppelin rock legend Robert Plant was there, alongside Joan Bakewell, Kirstie Allsopp and Sarah Brown.

Many of you will remember Maggie Bell when she was signed to Swansong Records, and also performing at the O2. Maggie, the Queen of Scots and the Queen of Soul, set to rule again Derby Evening Telegraph (Derby); Nov 24, 2010; NIGEL POWLSON; p. 23 Full Text: (Copyright © Northcliffe Newspapers Group Limited 2010) MAGGIE Bell is Scotland's unofficial Queen of Soul. She was a founder member of Stone the Crows and later had a successful solo career on both sides of the Atlantic before quitting Britain for the Netherlands and a sojourn that lasted two decades. Now she's back and working in tandem with Dave Kelly, London's "slide guitar king", who learned his trade in the backing bands of, and recording with, Son House, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. He has been a member of The Blues Band for the past 28 years. Maggie says: "Dave's with the Blues Band and I have my own band and Dave has done a few gigs with us abroad. But we started this little duo as a sideline a couple of years ago and it has been very successful and we do different stuff to what I would do with my band. It's just the guitar and my voice but the blend is great and it gives us a chance to do different things to normal. "Dave's one of the best players in the world and we do a real mixture, which seems to work." You can see them at The Flowerpot tomorrow. A solo set by Dave will be followed by a set with Dave playing guitar for Maggie's songs, all topped by a few duets. The pair are now on the third tour together and were about to kick off in Scotland when Qt caught up with Maggie. "It's freezing at the moment and the first gig is in Inverness - so that should be fun," she says. "Since I came back from Holland four years ago it has been the best time of my life because there's no pressure. There's no stress from big record companies and management, it's wonderful." Maggie did a few other projects while out of the UK including playing Billy Connolly's wife in a BBC production but didn't really make full use of her voice. "I did a few gigs but nothing spectacular," she says. Maggie went to Holland for the archetypal reason - "I met a man and fell in love" she admits. "We didn't have any kids but got a dog. When the dog died I left the man. "I had a normal life. But it didn't work and I didn't want to die in Holland so I came back to the UK to finish what I had started in the music business." Vocally regarded as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin, Maggie was a founder member of influential early 1970s outfit Stone The Crows with Leslie Harvey. "It's amazing the number of people who followed me back then who still come to gigs," she says. Stone The Crows ended tragically when Harvey was electrocuted in a freak accident. Maggie later enjoyed chart success as the singer of the hit, Hold Me with B. A. Robertson and when she returned to the UK music scene in 2006 performed live at Led Zeppelin's one-off reunion concert at London's O2 in November 2007. "If you are really professional and love it you can only get better and better," says Maggie. "I think it's all about technique and everyone says I'm singing better than ever before." SEE THE SHOW MAGGIE BELL AND DAVE KELLY WHERE: The Flowerpot, King Street, Derby. WHEN: Tomorrow, doors open 8pm. TICKETS: Pounds 12. INFORMATION: Call 01332 834438 or go to www.rawpromo.co.uk. "Dave's one of the best guitar players in the world and we do a real mixture." MAGGIE BELL Credit: BY NIGEL POWLSON

SAJ, It got a fair amount of media coverage in the UK in advance of the anniversary date. I assume that's because Hendrix died over here. There was the usual question raised of whether JH died from misadventure, or was he murdered? Without going back to check, I remember posting on this site the details of a newspaper competition to win a stay at the hotel Hendrix used to use in London where they have created a 'Hendrix' suite with memorabilia. I suppose if Jimmy was on vacation, the anniversary would be the last thing on his mind (especially in Pattaya ).

Yet another of these 'greatest' lists. Zeppelin in at number 19 with Battle of Evermore. IMHO there should have been multiple LZ entries, particularly from Physical Graffiti. HITS THAT NEVER WERE. THE 50 GREATEST ALBUM TRACKS The Sunday Telegraph (London); Nov 21, 2010; JAMES DELINGPOLE, PETER LYLE, KIM TAYLOR BENNETT, TOM GOCKELEN-KOZLOWSKI; p. 11 Full Text: (Copyright © Telegraph Group Limited 2010) 1 Pink Floyd Summer of 68 Atom Heart Mother, 1970 Keyboard player Rick Wright here contributed by far the best song to Floyd's most underrated album. Lovely, swirly brass; lashings of trippy English pastoral; ace key and tempo changes. Best moment: 'Goodbye to you. Charlotte Pringle's due', natch. 2 REM Swan Swan H Life's Rich Pageant, 1986 Probably the most quintessentially REM-ish song the band ever wrote. It stands for Swan Swan Hummingbird, of course, and like so many tracks from their cultish, early, gnomic, mumbly period is almost entirely incomprehensible and thus happily free of leaden political significance. The melody shimmers with a gorgeous melancholy; the guitars are like Lennon's on Working Class Hero. 3 Stevie Wonder Isn't She Lovely? Songs in the Key of Life, 1976 The Motown singer refused to release this as a single. It became one of his best-loved melodies none the less. 4 Arcade Fire Haiti Funeral, 2005 A career-defining single for most other bands, there were enough outstanding highlights on Funeral to leave this untouched. 5 Kate Bush Mother Stands for Comfort Hounds Of Love, 1985 In 1985 British popular musical taste reached an avant-garde high. Despite being full of difficult, weird songs such as this one, Hounds Of Love ousted Madonna's Like A Virgin from the top spot. 6 Oasis Married with Children Definitely Maybe, 1994 The keenly observed, bitterly cruel lyrics provided an early indication of Noel Gallagher's formidable songwriting talent. 7 The Killers Sam's Town, 2006 All the Killers' best songs sound like retro classics you have loved for ever, this impossibly catchy one sounding like the missing link between early Eighties British synth pop and Bruce Springsteen. 8 The Smiths Cemetry Gates The Queen Is Dead, 1986 'So we go inside and we gravely read the stones.' Oh, you japesome punster, Morrissey. Though Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others is catchier, this sun-shunning, poetic-name-dropping, bedsit-angst-fest with its famously misspelt title is about as Smiths as you could ever get. 9 The Clash Jimmy Jazz London Calling, 1979 Delivered with drunken elegance, Joe Strummer proves there's more to punk than attitude and power chords. 10 Franz Ferdinand Jacqueline Franz Ferdinand, 2004 'It's always better on holiday' runs the Glasgow band's supremely catchy chorus. Yes it is. 11 Velvet Underground Venus in Furs Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967 Thumping, incessant and threateningly demonic, Venus in Furs is the highlight of the New Yorkers' Andy Warhol-produced album. 12 Jay-Z Takeover Blueprint, 2001 Providing the highlight of Blueprint, his career-best album, Takeover is a witty and merciless attack on his rapping rival, Nas. 13 The Stone Roses Song For My Sugar-spun Sister The Stone Roses, 1989 The Mancunian four-piece packed their debut with spellbinding pop melodies like this, influencing a generation of Brit-poppers. 14 Genesis Supper's Ready Foxtrot, 1972 'Walking across the sitting room I turned the television o-off...' You're not supposed to admit to liking winsome, early Seventies, public-schooly progressive art rock songs lasting more than 20 minutes. Dig the trippy key change at 1.58. Gabriel, Collins: you had it once... 15 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Country Girl Deja Vu, 1970 Even by CSNY's considerable standards, the harmonies essayed here on this masterpiece of portentous hippy-folk rock are so complex the whole edifice threatens to collapse like Miss Havisham's wedding cake. Then Young's winsome, sweet, quavery little-boy-lost voice comes to the rescue 'Country girl I think you're purrtyy...' 16 The Streets Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way A Grand Don't Come for Free, 2004 Should he stay in with his girlfriend or go out? This dilemma inspires one of The Streets' finest moments. 17 The Kinks This Time Tomorrow Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, 1970 Ray Davies recently re-recorded this with Mumford & Sons but it's the original that shows the songwriter in his absolute prime. 18 David Bowie Oh! You Pretty Things Hunky Dory, 1971 Rick Wakeman's lithe, perky piano intro whets the appetite for one of the sweetest songs Bowie ever wrote. Everything's perfect: the melody, the bizarre lyrical mash up of Aleister Crowley weirdness with cosy domesticity, all delivered with such artless charm: 'I've made some breakfast and coff-ee-ee-eee...' 19 Led Zeppelin The Battle of Evermore Led Zeppelin IV, 1971 Besides having the best mandolin intro ever, The Battle Of Evermore is quite possibly the finest flowering of Zep's epic 'Gandalf waggles his pointy slippers' folk rock phase. Middle Earth trembles. 20 Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile Electric Ladyland, 1968 Fifteen minutes long, this extended version of Voodoo Chile finds Hendrix in devastating form. 21 Radiohead Exit Music (For a Film) OK Computer, 1997 This atmospheric but simple guitar-led track provides a heart-stoppingly beautiful counterweight to Radiohead's more intricate output. 22 The Cure Last Dance Disintegration, 1989 The Cure's singles tended to be unrepresentative, poppy kitsch like Love Cats. You'll only find the true essence of the Cure's rainwashed gothic melancholy on their album tracks like this, so bleak you can almost smell the angst, despair and patchouli. Nice tune, though. 23 Roxy Music In Every Dream Home a Heartache For Your Pleasure, 1973 No song ever captured the Roxy at their most Pirelli-calendar, art-school glam-rock kitsch better than this paean to modern living, addressed adoringly to a sex doll. Best bit? The huge instrumental break that follows: '"I blew up your body...But you blew my mind!'" 24 David Bowie Five Years The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972 Behind Bowie's most celebrated alter ego lay a threatening and dystopian world-view, as this anthemic lament shows. 25 Johnny Cash The Mercy Seat American III: Solitary Man, 2000 Every cover song the Man in Black did was better than the original and this one with Hurt is his greatest. That ravaged, wise, bleak, Old Testament prophet's delivery convinces you that Cash really is up there on death row, strapped to his chair, uttering his last words. 26 The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter Let it Bleed, 1969 Written while Keith Richards' unfaithful girlfriend was with Mick Jagger, this is a rallying call against violence, pain and obviously infidelity. 27 Al Green Light My Fire Al Green Gets Next to You, 1971 The Doors' frantic hit remade as a slow-burning, last-two-people-in-the-bar lust song for grown-ups who know what they're doing. For a faster, equally brilliant and also album soul alternative, try Stevie Wonder's version from two years before. 28 Bruce Springsteen. Trapped We are the World (USA For Africa album), 1985 Springsteen. donated this cover of a Cat Stevens-produced Jimmy Cliff hit - about being stuck in and ruled by a relationship - to the 1985 album by the US version of Live Aid. Airplay alone soon saw it become a rock chart-topper. 29 Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway For All We Know Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, 1971 This Coots/Lewis standard from 1934 is heartbreaking enough in Nat King Cole's famous version, even though, under scrutiny, the lyrics suggest a slick-talking seduction effort. Slowed down, stripped back and injected with extra sadness in the form of Hathaway's utterly tender voice, before a false ending and a ghostly piano reprise, it'll floor you every time. 30 Stevie Wonder Creepin' Fulfillingness' First Finale, 1974 Luther Vandross knew this crepuscular, desire-driven ballad from an inexplicably overlooked Stevie Wonder album was a winner chorus. His Eighties cover became one of his most beloved hits, despite being no threat to Wonder's original. 31 Neil Young Cowgirl in the Sand Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, 1969 You want check-shirt wearing, feedback-fuelled hairy dudes singing about the magnetic lure of dangerously foxy chicks and rock-star drugs? Chuck out your Kings of Leon collection and put this 10-minute monster on loop. 32 Pulp Underwear Different Class, 1995 Modern songs portraying sex as threatening and murky are rare, and one this accessible is unique. 33 Joni Mitchell Down to You Court & Spark, 1974 Joni Mitchell is the most accomplished lyricist pop has ever known, and from the end of the Sixties to the mid-Seventies her words, voice and melodic invention were peerless. Mitchell excels on vocals, clavinet and the messiness of modern love. 34 Stephen Stills Johnny's Garden Manassas, 1972 Crosby, Nash and Young's sometime bandmate joined ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and a host of Latin musical talent to create a new form of funky, folk rock. Any commuter will find much to love in this number about working for the man to fund an escape to a pastoral paradise. 35 Bonnie Raitt Baby Mine Stay Awake (various artists), A&M, 1998 Dumbo's gorgeous mother-child ballad retooled by Raitt and the Was Not Was mob as a sublime love song from an unlikely album of muso Disney covers. 36 Pixies Hey Doolittle, 1989 The band's second album is so packed with breakout hits - Debaser, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven to name a few - it's easy to overlook this little number. Strand by strand it's an odd combination: the Mexican-leaning guitars, the tortured tear and ragged grunts of Frank Black, Kim Deal's plaintive refrain and the sexually charged frustration of the lyrics; but it coalesces beautifully in a way only the Pixies can. 37 The Beatles A Day in the Life Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 John Lennon and Paul McCartney had drifted apart by 1967 but this ambitious masterpiece shows they still complemented each other perfectly. 38 Bob Dylan Dark Eyes Empire Burlesque, 1985 At the end of his synth-pop album the great man triumphantly returns to his earlier acoustic sound. 39 Bruce Springsteen Out in the Street The River, 1980 Such euphoric 'blue-collar' tracks provided a counterweight to the Reagan era and still sound urgent and powerful today. 40 Weezer Across The Sea Pinkerton, 1996 Pretty much any song from Weezer's then ignored, now lauded second album stands out. Loosely based on Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly, this song in particular, inspired by a letter from an adoring Japanese fan, laid singer Rivers Cuomo's loneliness bare, his randy daydreams brought to the fore over a bed of simple fuzzed up chords and a matchless sing-along melody. 41 Jeff Buckley Everybody Here Wants You Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk, 1998 From the four-track demos and early studio versions Buckley left behind after his tragic drowning in the Mississippi River in 1997, Everybody is the singer at his most pared back, but the effect is no less stunning. His vocal richly evocative, heady with lust and romance, it is quintessential Buckley and another poignant reminder of what was lost. 42 Pavement Here Slanted & Enchanted, 1992 No song encapsulates the melancholic gaze over the end of an era quite as eloquently as California's lauded lo-fikings, and musically Coldplay's Yellow bares the traces of it. In a rare moment frontman Stephen Malkmus eschews his penchant for obtuse lyrics for a more direct line of communication. A frequent set-closer during this year's sell-out reunion shows, Malkmus concludes: 'Last time, last time is the best time.' 43 Sufjan Stevens, Casimir Pulaski Day Illinoise, 2005 Religious overtones, loss of a loved one, breathless romantic attraction and warmly wrought nostalgia all coexist in this softly spun, banjo-twangled, French horn-assisted track. Here Stevens's neatly observed lyrics and intimate delivery could melt the most hardened of hearts. 44 The Emotions Blind Alley Untouched., Stax/Volt, 1971 Isaac Hayes on the drums, co-writer David Porter playing the piano, and four of the most sampled bars of all time make this girl group classic about putting off an overattentive suitor the gift that keeps on giving. 45 The Opera R Kelly R, 1998 You don't really have to approve of his extra-musical predilections or lyrical approach to know that R Kelly is the most naturally talented pop star and melody maker since Prince's late-Eighties heyday. This short, strange, pseudo-classical effort is the perfect song to play for those doubters who think they know R Kelly's limits. 46 Bob Dylan, It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Bringing It All Back Home, 1965 Dylan was just 23 when he released his divisive acoustic/electric album Bringing It All Back Home and on It's Alright, Ma he delivers a cascading, incendiary invective, a breakneck downpour of words he seems powerless to stem. Several of the lines from the song have found their way into collections of quotations, with Jimmy Carter famously using 'he not busy being born is busy dying' in his presidential nomination acceptance speech. 47 Aretha Franklin Ain't No Way Lady Soul, 1968 Written by her sister, this understated beauty was obscured by the day's more boisterous hits. It's been a grower ever since. 48 Prince The Cross Sign o' the Times, 1987 Unlike most of the royal canon, this track from Prince's most virtuosic phase is virtually funk-free, instead following the rock ballad route for a goose-pimple generation song about belief that swells a la Stairway to Heaven and ends with a snippet of singing angels, and could probably take you right to the pearly gates by force of faith alone. 49 Van Morrison Caravan Moondance, 1970 Possibly the most monumental pop song ever, and it got grand live run outs on Morrison's own classic live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, and The Band's The Last Waltz. Just brilliant, and definitely the last word in summer night campfire classics. 50 Jackson Browne These Days For Everyman, 1973 Browne originally wrote this for Velvet Underground associate Nico. A few years later, when he was the young, talented, handsome songwriter who all the hot girls in California wanted to know, he covered it on his own debut album, and managed to make it even more gloriously depressing than before. Credit: COMPILED BY JAMES DELINGPOLE, PETER LYLE, KIM TAYLOR BENNETT, TOM GOCKELEN-KOZLOWSKI

UK musicians reveal their favourite guitar hero Found this on a Musical Instrument Professional Website http://www.mi-pro.co...ite-guitar-hero Adam Savage 24/11/2010 11:00am Eric Clapton named top guitarist as a result of survey by Allianz Musical Insurance A survey undertaken by Allianz Musical Insurance at Guitar Nation Live led to Eric Clapton being named the number one guitar idol for the large turn out of visitors who went along to the company's stand at the event. Musicians were asked to reveal the guitarist that has had the most effect on them, and Clapton topped the pile, with Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Chuck Berry completing the top five. Clapton's 'Blackie' Stratocaster was also declared the guitar visitors would most like to own, followed by Jimmy Page's Double neck Gibson, the Number One Strat, played by Stevie Ray Vaughan, the original Les Paul and Brian May's Red Special. "It's great to see that the UK still has a strong rock star tradition," said Robin Stagg, Allianz Musical Insurance's claims manager. "At Allianz we want to make sure that guitarists can keep living like their guitar heroes by protecting their instrument should it be damaged, lost or stolen." For another part of the survey, guitarists were asked to state the most unusual place that they have played their instrument. A surprising 38 per cent said they had played on a beach, one claimed to have played on a plane and, bizarrely, three had apparently played on a rollercoaster.

Yes, Steve, I agree with your interpretation. Blacksheepmusic probably gave a quick reply to the person who asked him what he spoke about to JP, and didn't give much thought to how his comments come across. I was surprised JP didn't know it was Hendrix's anniversary.

Thanks Steve. Nevertheless, I am going to at least one of Paul Rodgers' gigs - he's one of my all-time favourites.

There have been others before on this site who have contacted his management about when Jimmy's site will go live. His management have a contact email for anyone who wishes to contact them about their artists. I do not feel 'compelled' to do anything, and no, my entire world does not hinge on it either.

I found a recent comment made by 'Blacksheepmusic' on the Youtube page where he talks about meeting Jimmy. Someone asked what he and Jimmy spoke about when they met - here is Blacksheepmusic's reply:- "We Spoke about Hendrix he did not know that it was his 40th that day... Nice Guy all round great Smile I spoke to him about his house and asked him if he had performed the unfinished Abramelin Which Alister Crowley had started in the Early 1900's at the Famous Boleskine he said he had not started it to have Finished it...lol He commented on Today's Music being controlled by the Producers I commented that there is a Strong underground Music Scene keeping it Real!J" theblacksheepmusic 2 weeks ago

Jahfin, Being a fan of JP can be very frustrating - I emailed his management company yesterday to ask if there was any progress with JP's new website - I received no answer. I've emailed them again today, and I'm still waiting. I figure that his management company are as much in the dark as everyone else. If I get a reply from them, I'll post it on the site, but as I've said elsewhere, it will probably be non-committal.

Jahfin, If depends on the individual involved. I can only speak for myself, and I would know in my mind what I would want to say at a 'meet and greet', and then bottle it when the moment came. I have had a look at the price of some of these 'meet and greets' and I can think of better ways of spending my money. You do have a good point though about it being less stalkerish - at least it's upfront. I always find it worrying if you get someone who travels from gig to gig and hangs around at the stagedoor each time.

mstork, Thanks - this is the most hopeful news I've heard about Jimmy producing something new. Let's hope it comes to fruition.

Thanks Steve. I looked up Ticketmaster's UK site and they have these VIP packages for a small number of artists, which leads me to agree with you that it's a more common feature of US concerts. I think I'd find it embarrassing!

I wish it was Jimmy! Anything to get JP back on a stage.

Source:- http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/news/national/11480/Paul+Rodgers+Announces+2011+Solo+Tour Paul Rodgers, legendary singer/songwriter is the only musician in history to have led three bands to international success Free, Bad Company and The Firm and achieve a Grammy nominated Solo career. He will be returning to the UK in April of 2011 to play 10 exclusive Solo shows. His last UK Solo tour in 2006 culminated with the filming of his debut Certified Gold DVD “Live in Glasgow” that charted internationally, #1 in Canada #3 in the US, on the Nielsen soundscan charts, #2 in Japan and #4 in the UK. He is one of the most revered vocalists and songwriters in rock music. ”Paul Rodgers is the real deal.” Eric Clapton 2008 ”Working with Paul gave me the opportunity to appreciate what an extraordinary vocalist and songwriter this man really is.” Jimmy Page. 2010 “Paul’s voice is incredible!” Robert Plant 2010. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 19th November 2010 via [link] . Selling over 90 million and counting records during his career, Paul Rodgers is and has been one of the most sought after and recognizable vocalists in rock music, who joined forces with Queen in 2004 to tour and go on to record a new studio album “The Cosmos Rocks” released in 2008.A songwriter and self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Rodgers has written, recorded, produced and released 30 albums since 1968. He has recorded/performed with some of the most legendary figures in musical history - Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Slash, Nils Lofgren, Charlie Watts, Bryan Adams, Motown's Sam Moore & The Four Tops, blues greats Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin and others. In 2009, Rodgers was the recipient of the Classic Rock Roll of Honour “Classic Songwriter” award presented to him by Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Recently, BMI presented Rodgers with his fourth “Million Air” Award in recognition of more than four million performances of Free’s hit song "All Right Now” on U.S. radio, the song has also surpassed a massive 2,000,000 radio plays in the UK (as of 2000). A radio staple for 40 years, “All Right Now” was an international #1 hit in over 20 territories.”When I started writing “All Right Now” the lyrics and the melody flowed easily. It felt special then and still does. It’s a must play in my Solo set.” Paul Rodgers .The song topped the UK’s 2010 Planet Rock radio fan poll as the “Greatest Rock Single,” in “one of the most decisive polls” they’ve ever run, beating out 39 international chart-topping hit songs from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, AC/DC, The Eagles, Queen and Guns and Roses. Previous Planet Rock polls placed “All Right Now” on the “Best Summer Rock Song,” “Greatest Rock Riff of All Time” and “Ultimate Driving Songs” charts. After a five-year skyrocketing run of success, Free would disband in 1973 and Paul Rodgers would go on to form and front another legendary rock band, Bad Company. Earlier this year, “The Very Best of Free and Bad Company featuring Paul Rodgers” , featuring Rodgers’ greatest works during the legendary ’68-’73 era of Free and ’73-’82 era of Bad Company, became Bad Company's first top 10 chart appearance since 1979 and Free's first since 1991.Paul Rodgers and Bad Company’s 2010 UK tour Sold Out. Supporting Rodgers as very special guests on his Solo tour are special guests Joe Elliot’s Down ‘N’ Outz. Fronted by Joe Elliott of Def Leppard and backed by The Quireboys, Down ‘N’ Outz will be an evening of music by Mott The Hoople and its collective works. PAUL RODGERS + Very Special guests Joe Elliott's Down 'N' Outz APRIL 2011 FRIDAY 15 BLACKPOOL OPERA HOUSE SATURDAY 16 SHEFFIELD CITY HALL MONDAY 18 NEWCASTLE CITY HALL TUESDAY 19 GLASGOW CLYDE THURSDAY 21 02 APOLLO MANCHESTER FRIDAY 22 NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CENTRE SUNDAY 24 BOURNEMOUTH BIC MONDAY 25 SOUTHEND CLIFF PAVILIONS WEDNESDAY 27 LONDON ROYAL ALBERT HALL THURSDAY 28 BIRMINGHAM NIA Tickets go on general sale 9am on Friday 19th November 2010 priced at £34.50 adv regionally, London £32.50 / £37.50 / £40.00 / £50.00 (subject to booking fee) and are available from [link] There will be an artist pre-sale from [link] midday on Tuesday 16th November 2010, available on a first come first serve basis, maximum order of 4 tickets per purchase. Ticket bundles will be available as follows 1. Paul Rodgers VIP Meet and Greet Bundle -1 Premium Seat in the First 5 Rows -1 Meet and Greet with Paul Rodgers -1 Signed Event Poster -1 Commemorative VIP Laminate 2. Paul Rodgers Enhanced Ticket Bundle -1 Premium Seat in the First 10 Rows -1 Signed Event Poster -1 Commemorative VIP Laminate

I've emailed I.E. Music to ask if they have any idea when JP's website will be up and running (I know others have done this in the past, but it might help to remind I.E. that we are still waiting). I dare say that I will get the usual non-committal answer along the lines of 'we will be contacting those who have signed up'. I'll post any reply I get here.

Deborah J, If it is true that Jimmy reserved #666 for himself (and that may just be a rumour) that would mean yours is the next one to his own personal copy!!!

Hi Ocean, Great pics! Would you give us some detail as to when and where were they taken? Did you speak to Robert for any length of time? Thanks.

Mattmc, I pretty much agree with what you say. Why did JP go to the bother of taking on new management and starting the process of putting up a website? If he wanted to retire, he should have just said so, and everyone would have respected his decision. By saying he would like to do some concerts in 2011, it naturally raises expectations. It was the same scenario this time last year.