Bruce Springsteen played his classic 1975 album Born To Run in full yesterday (June 20) as a tribute to the actor James Gandolfini, who passed away yesterday at the age of 51.
Age cannot wither him, nor custom stale his finite variety, though he does seem fractionally more concerned about his trousers falling down these days. The ungodly miracle of Iggy Pop, 66 years old, remains one of the most bizarre and compelling spectacles in rock’n’roll; more bizarre and compelling, perhaps, with every year that goes by.
Nile Rodgers reveals the huge influence The Beatles had on him in the new issue of Uncut (dated July 2013 and out now).
The Chic guitarist and songwriter, who recently teamed up with Daft Punk on their new Random Access Memories album, was particularly struck by the closing track of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, "A Day In The Life".
"This was the first song I learned to play on guitar," explains Rodgers. "My transformation happened years earlier when I first heard 'The End' by The Doors, but it wasn't as important as actually learning 'A Day In The Life'."
If I’d had the time/guts to put my favourites of 2013 list into some order, I suspect Steve Gunn’s “Time Off” would’ve come out pretty near the top, so it’s a great pleasure to host these new videos today of Gunn and his band in session.
The week thus far fairly inevitably dominated by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (here’s my review of the O2 gig), but there are plenty of good new things here.
