Donna Jean Godchaux grateful to sing again Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay, who spent seven years with the Grateful Dead, is touring. "I've never been happier," says the Alabama native, who moved back to her native state 27 years ago. Chronicle photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic She barely escaped with her life - her husband didn't - but the only woman to ever belong to the Grateful Dead doesn't want to think about the dark times before she left the band after seven years in 1979. "I don't like to talk about it because the memories I have of being in that band are the best of my life," says Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay, 60, on a rare visit to Marin County since moving back to her native Alabama 27 years ago. You can read the rest of the article here

Paul McCartney Treats Liverpool to “A Day in the Life” Live Debut More than forty years after first appearing on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles‘ epic “A Day in the Life” made its debut live performance at a Paul McCartney concert in Liverpool this weekend. Following a run through “Yesterday,” the opening chords of “A Day of the Life” were strummed, and McCartney launched into the verses previously sung by John Lennon while Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono watched from the crowd. The song’s long delay to the live stage was apparent as McCartney accidentally sang his own “Made the bus in seconds flat” line twice before segueing into Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.” Watch a clip from “A Day in the Life” here. Daniel Kreps

R.E.M. w/The National and Modest Mouse Tuesday, June 10th Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek Raleigh, NC

Kenny Roby and the Mercy Filter Friday, May 30th The Cave Chapel Hill Patty Hurst Shifter Saturday, May 31st Sadlack's Heroes Raleigh Monty Warren and the Friggin' Whatevers (CD Release Party for Trailer Park Angel) w/ The Sugar and Special Guests: Caitlin Cary (Tres Chicas/Whiskeytown) Rick Richards (Georgia Satellites) Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team Slick Judge Vic Saturday, May 31st Pour House Music Hall Raleigh

I agree but I still save them.

Maybe it was here which was posted just one page back in this thread. With all due respect to Alice and Velvet Revolver, I hope to hell not. I honestly just wouldn't see that working. Plus, everyone knows it's going to be Gary Cherone.

Velvet Revolver Reject Reality Show Plans, Prepare Announcement

Manzarek Eyes Doors Documentary, Other Projects The Doors Greg Prato, N.Y. Marking the 41st anniversary of the release of the Doors' classic self-titled album are several band-related projects already in shops and on the horizon. Tops on the list is an as-yet-untitled documentary that will chronicle the group's entire career. "We have plans for a big Doors documentary film in the works," Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek tells Billboard.com. "I saw the first cut of it yesterday, and it's looking real good. But that won't be out 'til another six months." You can read the remainder of the article here.

Henley isn't the only one. Depending on how it's done I have no problem with it but in Ted's case I believe his music and his life show suffer because of it. There's a delicate balance there that Ted has yet to achieve. He's always been a handful but I preferred his music before he became the Rush Limbaugh of rock.

Ted back in the day was a different animal than he is now. Yeah, he's always been the Motor City Madmouth but his concerts back then wouldn't be confused with the pro-war rallies they are today. I have no problem with mixing politics and music but somewhere along the line Ted's political side took precedence over the music. I understand his latest record (Love Grenade) garnered some good reviews but a few years ago when I saw him live his new music stood out like a sore thumb compared to his vintage material.

From Lynyrdskynyrd.com LYNYRD SKYNYRD’S BILLY POWELL UNDERGOES EMERGENCY SURGERY Nashville, TN – Billy Powell, one of the original members and keyboard player for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Lynyrd Skynyrd, has underwent an emergency partial revision hip replacement surgery in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday, May 21. “Billy's hip had continued to give him dislocation problems and it was determined that a revision was the only possible solution,” says Lynyrd Skynyrd manager Ross Schilling of Vector Management. Billy will be recovering over the next 3-6 weeks and will have to wear a hip brace for the next 3 months. It is expected that Billy will re-join Lynyrd Skynyrd on tour sometime in July. The band will tour with an interim keyboardist in the mean time, while Billy recovers.

While I agree to an extent, I don't think it's true across the board. In my case the local theaters tend to play only the huge blockbuster type movies. If you want to see something even remotely off the beaten path you're going to have to travel to another city. The best bet is to wait for everything to come out on DVD as you have a wider variety to choose from. Even then, if the only option you have in your town is Blockbuster, you're still pretty much fucked. I'm not a subscriber (yet) but that's where services like Netflix come in. Small towns just aren't going to take chances on most movies so choices are extremely limited by that.

Patty Hurst Shifter Sadlack's Heroes Saturday, May 31st Raleigh, NC

Duran Duran w/ Your Vegas Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park Cary, NC

I saw this several weeks ago on HBO but forgot to mention it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I figured it would be: On Turner Classic Movies last weekend:

I saw him on Letterman recently. The song he performed seemed to be nothing more than a rewrite of Sweet Home Alabama. Can't say I cared for that any more than I ever cared for his version of rap/rock.

Years ago, on Skynyrd's official message board their archivist insisted there was nothing else left in the vault but ever since then there's been all kinds of stuff released (usually just one or two rarities tacked onto a compilation, a marketing tactic which I loathe). Also highly recommended is the Deluxe Edition of Gimme Back My Bullets that comes with a DVD of their Old Grey Whistle Test performance from the same time period when they were down to two lead guitarists. Believe you me, it still kicks ass.

I just don't hear it, nor do I hear any Black Dog in In The Still of The Night. Now, Kashmir I do hear in there.

I love that one as well. It was a nice flashback to the beginnings of Skynyrd since it was pretty much one of the very first lineups of the band. If you haven't heard either of the records below (both of which include One More Time) they make a very welcome additions to any Skynyrd collection. The first one is the album One More Time was originally scheduled to appear on.

Maybe it's just me but I hear absolutely no similarity whatsoever between Brian Johnson's vocals on Back In Black and Plant's on Black Dog. The only thing they have in common is the word "black".

Thanks for the report. I wanted to see the Police back in '85 when they hit Greensboro on the Synchronicity Tour but I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I caught them in Charlotte this past fall on their reunion tour. It was very good and I enjoyed it immensely but I'm not so sure I'd be willing to drop $90 on seats in the nosebleed section again. And you're right about Stewart Copeland, he kicked ass all night long.

How is that? Nothing the matter with Rush these days but All the World's A Stage captures them in their prime. Oh, and funny how you'd make a crack about the Drive-By Truckers' audience having mullets (which is a crock of shit if I've ever heard it) when Rush's audience was once full of them, including the band members themselves.

I don't think anyone's saying anything is Brian's "fault", just that they have a preference when it comes to the material. "I'm sick to death of people saying we've made 11 albums that sounds exactly the same. In fact, we've made 12 albums that sound exactly the same." - Angus Young

From RollingStone.com: Kid Rock, Peter Wolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd Raise the Roof at the Garden Last night at Madison Square Garden, Kid Rock brought his Rock and Roll Revival Tour north of the Mason-Dixon for a crowd-pleasing review that included guests Peter Wolf, Reverend Run and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were playing the Garden for the first time in their forty year career. Click below for photos and stories from last night’s gig. • Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Peter Wolf Lead Rock and Roll Revival Tour at Madison Square Garden

Skynyrd was set to play Huntsville, Alabama, in the spring of 77, I had a ticket but it got cancelled. So, the show, it was rescheduled for the Street Survivors Tour And the rest, as they say, is history. Drive-By Truckers from Let There Be Rock from Southern Rock Opera ...and while I'm at it, one more from Southern Rock Opera especially since you bring up Baton Rouge: GREENVILLE TO BATON ROUGE (Hood / DBT) One more night, one more show, four down, eighty-four to go This ain't no time for moving slow Greenville to Baton Rouge I'll call you up when I get through The life I live is the life I choose Greenville to Baton Rouge The shows have sure been great this year All eight cylinders all twelve gears Call you up when I touch down at the airport in a Louisiana town. Street survivors, feeling no pain A little more rock, a little less cocaine. And don't forget about Stevie Gaines Greenville to Baton Rouge I'll call you up when I get through If it's the last thing that I do Greenville to Baton Rouge Last night, you should have seen this plane. The right engine shot a twelve foot flame. But South Carolina made us glad we came. Now we're up in the air again. Once we hit Louisiana, baby, I don't care Got a brand new airplane waiting for us there Give this piece of shit back to Aerosmith. Wake me up when we get there. The right engine gave a little flash, the pilot panicked and dumped the gas Everything is quiet, we're dropping fast. When we touch down gonna whup' his ass! Greenville to Baton Rouge Can't die now got a show to do The life I live is the life I choose Greenville to Baton Rouge. ***Tells the tale of the actual final flight. For the record, the plane was a 1947 Convair Turbo Prop that had formerly been used as an airliner for Eastern before they moved to an all jet fleet. It was leased from a company in Dallas TX. The band Kiss had formerly leased it and Aerosmith had planned on taking it, but their management was appalled at how shabbily it had been maintained and passed on it.