Singer Curtis Lee dies at 75

Curtis Lee, who made it big in the early ’60s pop music world before returning home to Yuma and building decades’ worth of homes here, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.

Lee’s daughter, Stephanie Lee-Howell, said he will be remembered “not only as a local boy who made it big but as a true family man who believed in the small-town values and roots. He was proud of Yuma and being part of the community.”

Read more:

via Homebuilder, singer Curtis Lee dies at 75 – Yuma Sun: News.

A Revolution, With Guitars: How The Beatles Changed Everything

This February 7 marks 50 years since The Beatles first came to America. A thousand tributes will tell you what happened. But how and why did it happen the way it did? What was America really like then, culturally and socially, that allowed the group to strike such a deep nerve? And what was it about The Beatles themselves—their backgrounds, their style, and of course their music—that made them so unlike anything Americans had seen before?

In his new e-book Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles and America, Then and Now, Michael Tomasky explains the group’s impact in the context of the times in a richly detailed, often surprising, I-never-knew-that! account of why they became the phenomenon they did. Kurt Andersen says of Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: “This book was a revelation. No one has more lucidly and entertainingly distilled the whys and hows and look and feel of the moment the Sixties began.”

Continue reading Part One via A Revolution, With Guitars: How The Beatles Changed Everything – The Daily Beast.

Part Two – Before the Earthquake Hit: When The Beatles Landed in America

Part Three – ‘You’ve Got to Be Kidding’: Why Adults Dismissed The Beatles in 1964

Part Four – Was The Beatles’ Music Really That Unique? Yeah, It Totally Was

Scott McKenzie Dies At 72

The song’s creator Scott McKenzie has died in Los Angeles at the age of 73. ‘If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear a flower in your hair’ is one of the great hippy songs of its era and defined San Francisco in the 60s.

Read more:

via Scott McKenzie Dies At 72 | News | Music News | Noise11.

Paul McCartney on the Olympics opening ceremony

Paul McCartney, whose Twitter account rarely is from him personally, made an exception to the rule to comment on the Olympics opening ceremony he played on Friday night.

“Thanks for the great response guys! Tonight was terrific, great, really cool. It was a trip and very exciting. It was a great opening ceremony! Didn’t realize Her Majesty was such a good parachutist!”

(Read more and see the slideshow by clicking the link below)

via Paul McCartney on the Olympics opening ceremony: ‘terrific, great, really cool’ – National Beatles | Examiner.com.

Concert review: The Beach Boys show Phoenix that they are still cruisin’

They were a band. Take them for all in all. We shall not look upon their like again. With apologies to Shakespeare, watching The Beach Boys perform Saturday night, July 7, 2012 at the Grand Canyon University Arena, one felt as if they were witnessing history. (Read more by clicking the link below)

via Concert review: The Beach Boys show Phoenix that they are still cruisin’ – Mesa Classic Rock Music | Examiner.com.

Beach Boys catch a wave in Toronto

Nice review of The Beach Boys‘ show in Toronto on June 19, with set list. Mentioned in the article is singer/songwriter Andy Kim, who attended the show. Click on the link below to read it.

Beach Boys catch a wave in T.O. | Music | Entertainment | Toronto Sun.

Happy birthday to Paul McCartney

Happy 70th birthday to Sir Paul McCartney today!

THE BEATLES – ALL MY LOVING (FEBRUARY 9 – 1964) – 1 – YouTube.

The Rock Bottom Remainders – 20th Anniversary Show June 22

Whether you’re into music or reading, you can’t go wrong with The Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock and roll band consisting of well-known writers like Stephen King and Amy Tan. Founded in 1992 by the late Kathi Kamen Goldmark, the Remainders have scheduled a performance (billed as The Past Our Bedtime Tour) in Los Angeles, California to mark their 20th anniversary.

The Rock Bottom Remainders’ band members/authors are:

• Stephen King
• Dave Barry
• Sam Barry
• Ridley Pearson
• Scott Turow
• Matt Groening
• Roy Blount, Jr.
• Mitch Albom
• Greg Iles
• James McBride
• Amy Tan

They will be joined by Roger McGuinn and other special guests.

For tickets and info on the show, which takes place on June 22, 2012, visit the link below.

The Rock Bottom Remainders.

Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch dead at 65

Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac who went on to write songs and record several hits during a solo career, died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was 65.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said Welch’s wife found him with a chest wound at their south Nashville home around 12:15 p.m.

Welch was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including “Sentimental Lady” in 1977 and “Ebony Eyes” in 1978.

(Read more by clicking the link below)

Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch dead at 65 – NYPOST.com.

Herb Reed of The Platters – R.I.P.

Herb Reed, who was the last surviving member of the Platters’ five original members, founded the popular R&B group in Los Angeles in 1953. “Only You” and “The Great Pretender” were among their hits. Reed passed away on June 4, 2012.

(Read more here:)
Herb Reed obituary: Founder of the Platters dies at 83 – latimes.com.