Fleetwood Mac Ray Waddell, Nashville Nearly 500 vintage concert recordings from Fleetwood Mac, the Kinks, Santana and Billy Joel are now available for download purchase through a new arrangement between Wolfgang's Vault and Universal Music Group. The recordings include live performances by UMG artists culled from thousands of Bill Graham-promoted concerts, along with gems from other catalogs and archives dating back decades. "This is a far-reaching agreement to make available what I would consider previously unreleased live performance recordings of Universal Music Group artists from the mid-'60s on through today," Wolfgang's Vault founder Bill Sagan tells Billboard.com. "It covers hundreds of UMG performers and thousands of live performance concerts." You can read the rest of the article here.

Not really an adequate analogy. Maybe if we were comparing the digital format to 8-tracks, cassettes and the reel-to-reel but even the most avid of audiophiles prefers the sound of vinyl to compact discs. There's a reason for that, something is lost during the transfer of analog to digital.

I know of some folks that buy vinyl just to burn it to digital for use on their iPods. There's also some that do the same thing because of "The Loudness Wars" (compression). Personally I thought the whole compact disc thing was forced on the music consumer. Once all vinyl was removed from the local stores I had no choice but to purchase CDs. At first the sound quality of CDs was far inferior to that of vinyl (even though that, along with their supposed "indestructibility") were among it's strongest selling points. It took years but finally the sound quality of CDs improved. Of course CDs and iPods are more manageable than vinyl but the beauty of liner notes and artwork were also lost along the way. I still don't own an iPod, nor do I have any immediate plans to do so. Once CDs are removed from shelves (in much the same manner that vinyl was) then I will be forced to transfer my CD collection to some sort of digital device.

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

There is absolutely no choice as there are no record stores here at all, just the big boxes. I have to travel to other cities to find a record store, period. Even then, they are few and far between. However I do know of a least a few places in the Triangle area of NC that stock a large amount of used vinyl.

I guess it all depends on where you go looking for vinyl. Locally I have several options. One of the last standing record stores stocks new vinyl but they also have a pretty vast collection of used stuff. There's also several places in town that carry nothing but used stuff. Not sure I understand this. So no one even really bought a Jimi Hendrix LP? To the contrary...

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

Vinyl Returns in the Age of MP3 LP and turntable sales grow as fans find warmer sound in classic format DAVID BROWNE For his 19th birthday, Simon Hamburg wanted only one present: a turntable for his dorm room at the University of Southern Mississippi. His father bought him a portable $69 model, and Hamburg's older brother chipped in LPs by Simon and Garfunkel and the Who. "Listening to 'Baba O'Riley' on vinyl is always better than listening to 'Baba O'Riley' on anything else," Hamburg says. "You can hear every instrument. It sounds stupid, but it's like you're feeling the music. You're part of it." You can read the remainder of the article here.

By Jonathan Perry Globe Correspondent Monica Morgan, an 18-year-old high school student from Jacksonville, Fla., is taking a breather from scouting prospective colleges in and around Boston. She is standing inside Newbury Comics in Cambridge, scouring the bins of new LP releases by artists such as Gnarls Barkley and Bjork. Rows of colorful album covers catch her eye. "My dad just gave me a record player, so I mostly like to buy vinyl," says Morgan. A stash of records originally owned by her mother, and now bequeathed to her, led Morgan to her latest love. "I have some old Beatles records with my mom's maiden name on them," she says. "I just like the way they sound." You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

PAUL STANLEY Is 'Not Opposed' To Idea Of KISS Carrying On With All-New Members Roy Hilmar Svendsen of Norway's NRK reports that KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has confirmed what has been some fans' biggest fear for some years now — that KISS are indeed planning to keep KISS running and touring after founders Paul Stanley and Simmons decide to take off the make-up for good. During a familiar rant by Simmons about how KISS could go on forever, Svendsen asked jokingly if the band would consider looking for replacements for Simmons and Stanley in a TV show, similar to programs like "Rock Star" and "American Idol". "We have already signed the contract, and it is going to go through in a couple of months," Simmons reportedly replied. Click here for the rest of the story.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A spokeswoman says rock pioneer Bo Diddley has died. He was 79. The spokeswoman says Diddley died of heart failure Monday. He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation. Diddley was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat. His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

Radiohead After word spread that Prince covered Radiohead's "Creep" at the Coachella festival, the tens of thousands who couldn't be there ran to YouTube for a peek. Everyone was quickly denied -- even Radiohead. All videos of Prince's unique rendition of Radiohead's early hit were quickly taken down, leaving only a message that his label, NPG Records, had removed the clips, claiming a copyright violation. But the posted videos were shot by fans and, obviously, the song isn't Prince's. To read the remainder of the article click here.

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Speaks Out From Rehab Aerosmith Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has made his first public statement after entering a rehab facility earlier this month. To read the article click here

There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. If the lists consist of nothing but well worn favorites that should be familiar to most everyone, they get criticized for that. If anything remotely off the beaten path is mentioned they're criticized for trying to be trendy merely by mentioning something that's considered obscure by the masses. As suggested by the Yahoo columnist, it's probably best that everyone make their own list. That would be much more productive than the usual bitchfest these type of threads usually turn into over who (and who didn't) make the respective list.

I was a huge fan back when I was a teenager in the 70s but can't say I'm really into 'em all that much these days. In fact, they're one of the few artists I owned vinyl records by that I haven't upgraded to CD (that is, if you can call CDs an "upgrade"). If I buy anything it'll probably be Alive! (my first record by them) and that's it. I did receive Kissology Vol. 1 as a gift a few Christmases ago which I have enjoyed immensely (especially some of the old TV clips which I haven't seen since they first aired). Although I enjoy watching the DVD from a nostalgia standpoint it didn't really renew my interest in Kiss. On that same note I also haven't really had the desire to see any of the many "farewell" tours either. I feel very fortunate that I got to see them on the Rock n' Roll Over Tour back in the 70s and would rather leave that memory intact.

Like I said, I don't really think of Hendrix as a thief as Townsend wasn't the first to smash his guitar and he certainly wasn't the last. Hey, hey, my, my, rock 'n' roll will never die, Just hang your hair down in your eyes You'll make a million dollars. Well, I was in this band goin' nowhere fast We sent out demos, but everybody passed So one day, we finally took the plunge Moved out to Seattle to play some grunge. Washington State that is. Space Needle ...Eddie Vedder ...mud 'n' honey! Now to fit in fast, we wear flannel shirts, We turn our amps up until it hurts, We got bad attitudes, and what's more When we play we stare straight down at the floor, wow-ee Pretty scary. How pensive ...how totally alternative. Now to fit in on the Seattle scene We gotta do somethin' they ain't never seen. So, thinkin' up a gimmick one day We decided to be the only band that wouldn't play -- a note. Under any circumstances. Silence ...music's original alternative. Roots grunge... Well we spread the word through the underground, that we were the hottest new thing in town. The record guy came out to see us one day, and just like always, we didn't play; it knocked him out. He said he loved our work. He said he loved our work, but he wasn't sure if he could sell a record with nothin' on it. I said tell 'em we're from Seattle. He advanced us two-and-a-half million dollars. Hey, hey, my, my, rock 'n' roll will never die, Hang your hair down in your eyes You'll make a million dollars. Well, they made us do a video, but that wasn't tough, 'Cause we just filmed ourselves smashin' stuff. It was kinda weird, 'cause there was no music, But MTV said they'd love to use it. The kids went wild, the kids went nuts, Rolling Stone gave us a five-star review; said we played with guts. We were scorin' chicks, takin' drugs, then we got asked to play MTV Unplugged; you shoulda seen it. We went right out there and refused to do acoustical versions of the electrical songs that we had refused to record in the first place. Then we smashed our shit. Well, we blew 'em away at the Grammy show, by refusin' to play and refusin' to go. And then just when we thought fame would last forever, Along come this band that wasn't even together. Now, that's alternative ...hell, that's alternative to alternative. I feel stupid ...and contagious. Well our band got dropped, and that ain't funny, 'cause we're all hooked on drugs, but we're outta money So the other day I called up the band, I said, "Boys, I've taken all I can, "Shave off your goatees, pack the van... "We're goin' back to Athens." - Todd Snider, Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues

More fodder for discussion, this time from Yahoo: The 25 Most Rockin' Riffs

On the television front, it should never be mistaken for an accurate depiction of real life, especially the "reality" shows. As for quality programs on television, it's kinda like music, you've always had to weed through the shit to find something decent. Before American Idol there was Star Search and similar shows. Crap TV is nothing new.

I can't say I ever thought it was "tacky", at least in the sense of unoriginality. I mean, it's not like Townsend had some kind of patent on smashing his shit. Same for guitarists playing with their teeth or behind their heads. In the Bill Graham autobiography Bill Graham Presents Bill relates a story of telling Hendrix he is so good he doesn't need to engage in all of the flashy showmanship. During his next gig at Winterland he goes out and stands stock still while still managing to rip his guitar to shreds.

Was it Steal This Book or Woodstock Nation where he went on and on about his love for the Who? Either way, he definitely went too far at Woodstock and got what was coming to him, from one of his heroes no less. I wasn't in attendance but recall reading about a Drive-By Truckers show where a fan tried to touch Cooley's Flying V. Next thing he got was a boot to the face. Something similar happened at a Drivin' n' Cryin' concert I saw in the early 90s. They had specifically asked members of the audience not to crowd surf (this is back when it was trendy and it was in a college town) yet someone tried to anyway. When he tried to climb onstage their lead guitarist gave him a boot to the head which ended up requiring stitches. I kinda felt bad for the kid (who was with our party) but it's not like he wasn't warned.

As an avid radio listener it's been very worth it to me. I only have it in my car but recently signed up at their website so I can take full advantage of my subscription so I can listen online.

Yeah, that isn't what I'd call a mullet. Maybe a "shag" haircut (that was also popular in the 70s) that morphed into the "party in the back, business in the front" mullet look in the 80s.

I agree but I still save them.

Now that I have XM I can't say I listen to NPR that much (if at all) anymore but I do enjoy XNPR. They also have Bob Edwards, who used to host Morning Edition.