New Releases

December 6th
Black Keys, Roots, Amy Winehouse, Gary Numan, Dead Milkmen, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Elvis Costello (live)

December 13th
Deep Purple (re-release,) Rammstein, Naughty By Nature, Josh Ritter (live,) Snoop Dog 

December 20th
Common, Young Jeezy, Soundtrack: Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

January 10th 

LA Guns,  Nightwish, Rick Ross, Snow Patrol, The Little Willies, Alex Chilton, VA--Meet Me In Mardi Gras, Van Morrison  

Rock News

• Courtney Love, singer for the band Hole, and widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, is being evicted from her rented townhouse in Manhattan's West Village. The singer is said to be $54,000 in back rent, as well as allegedly setting it one fire and ruining it's designer décor by painting and wallpapering portions of the townhouse without permission. According to Donna Lyon, the owner of the property, "I learned about this when I wanted to sell the house and had photographs taken. They sent me the brochure and I said, 'This can't be my property.' I came to New York to see it and I was horrified by what she had done. The walls that had been hand-painted and glazed were ruined, covered in damask wallpaper and ice-blue paint.”

• NBC is now requiring The Roots, house band for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, to clear all introduction music for guest appearing on the show. The new rules come after the band played Fishbone's song Lyin' Ass Bitch during the entry of republican congresswoman and presidential candidate Michelle Bachman. Fallon called an offered an apology to Bachman, and issued a statement saying “...I don't know. Maybe [drummer and band leader for The Roots] Questlove is a Romney guy.”

• The Rolling Stones plan to meet later this month to discuss the possibility of touring for their 50^th anniversary. The relationship between Stone's guitarist, Keith Richards, and lead-singer Mick Jagger, has been strained since the release of Richard's biography Life in 2010 which was very harsh on Jagger and his contributions to the band. Stone's lead-guitarist Ronnie Woodhas said “I think there's a healing process waiting to take place, I think it's happening now as we speak, but it has to be resolved. Something has to be resolved there. They have to come to terms with going on a working basis, which [drummer] Charlie [Watt] and I will help make happen. Wish me luck." Richards is optimistic about the tour saying “Mick is welcome, I'm sure he'll turn up”

• A Foo Fighters concert in New Zealand this past week caused geological vibrations that registered on par with “volcanic tremors.” Geologists at an Auckland GeoNet monitoring station, located about a mile from the concert site reported, "The ground was shaking three times per second in a nice rhythmic motion.” with notable lulls between songs. The tremors were caused by a combination of the band's playing, and the 50,000+ fans dancing, with the largest tremor coming at 8:20pm when the band took the stage.

• Dan “Bee” Spears, bass player for Willie Nelson for the past 43 years, died unexpectedly on December 9^th after slipping and falling coming out of his RV. Spears has been performing with Nelson since he was 19, when he was hired despite not knowing how to play the bass, once claiming “One of the guys said, 'Hell, let's hire Bee. He doesn't play, but we can teach him..., and he won't come in with any preconceived bullshit!'' According to Dee Pearce, a friend who found Spears, he has been knocked out from the fall and died of exposure.

Rock History

1953—"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" by 10 year old Gayla Peevey, was released as a fund-raising effort to buy a hippopotamus for the Oklahoma City Zoo. Oklahomans raised $4,000 for the cause, with much of the money coming from children. The zoo bought a 3-year-old hippo named Matilda who had eight offspring and died in 1998.

1954—Bill Haley & The Commet's “Rock Around The Clock” becomes the first rock-&-roll single to enter the British charts.

1964—A crowd of fans/mourners mob the limousine of James Brown as he attempts to attend the funeral of friend, soul-singer Sam Cooke, forcing Brown to leave without ever getting out of the car.

1977—Elvis Costello & The Attractions appear on the television program Saturday Night Live. Producer Lorne Michaels has refused to allow Costello to perform his hit "Radio, Radio" due to the song's criticism of the broadcasting industry. A few measures into "Less than Zero", Costello halts his group and goes into "Radio, Radio." Costello would not appear on the program for another 25 years, when he would join the Beastie Boys on stage midway through their song "Sabotage", and start playing "Radio, Radio"

1999—Keith Richards decides to keep a guitar that he was asked to autograph outside his birthday party at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. The owner of the guitar decides not to press charges saying, "It's Keith, man." 

2010--Avant-garde rock music pioneer Don Van Vliet, better known by his stage name Captian Beefheart, dies after a long battle with multiple-sclerosis.

This Week In Rock History

1963—19 year-old Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped at gun point from his hotel room at Harrah's Casino in Lake Tahoe, California. He is released, unharmed, two days later after his father paid the $240,000 ransom.

1964—Soul singer, Sam Cooke, is shot and killed in the lobby of a Los Angeles motel. According the shooter, motel manager Martha Franklin, Cooke broke into the office of the motel demanding to know the whereabouts of a young woman Cooke had brought to the motel with him. Despite a ruling of “justifiable homicide” rumors persist that Franklin and the young woman, Elisa Boyer, were working together to rob Cooke.

1967—A 26-year-old Otis Redding is killed when the plane he is piloting crashes into Lake Monona. Also killed in the crash were four teenage members of his backing band The Bar-Kays. Only trumpeter, Ben Cauley, who was seated directly behind Redding survived the crash.

1969— A fictitious group called Steam was given credit for this week's Billboard chart topping tune, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". The song was actually recorded by Gary De Carlo, who intended it to be the "B" side of his first single. Gary didn't like the song and when record executives wanted to issue it as the "A" side, he insisted it be released under an assumed name. After the song became a hit, De Carlo still wanted nothing to do with it and a group from Bridgeport, Connecticut was recruited to tour in support of the record.

1976—KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is nearly electrocuted during a concert in Florida when he touches a short-circuited light. He is carried from the stage but returns 10 minutes later to finish the show.

1980-- Just two months after his 40th birthday, John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman, outside his home at the Dakota Apartment building in New York. Lennon was shot in his chest, back and left arm and was pronounced dead thirty minutes later. Earlier in the day, Lennon had autographed an album for Chapman. Lennon's killer was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains in prison, being denied parole in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Rock News

--The Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame have announced their 2012 inductees Wednesday morning. The performers inducted included hip-hop pioneers The Beastie Boys, hard rockers Guns N' Roses, British folk troubadour Donovan, funk-rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers, songstress Laura Nyro and British icons The Faces/Small Faces. Nominated bands who did not make the cut this year included The Cure and Heart, both of which were nominated for the first time. Two members of The Faces are being inducted for the second time, band singer Rod Stewart has already been inducted as a solo artist, and Faces guitarist, Ron wood, was inducted as guitarist for The Rolling Stones.

--Dobie Gray, the singer best known for his 1973 hit Drift Away, has died. The soul singer was born Lawrence Brown in 1940 to Texas sharecroppers, and began signing at a young age in his grandfather's church. Gray was discovered by Sono Bono in the early 1960s and signed to the small Stripe Records label. His first hit came in 1965 when Gray placed the song In Crowd in the Billboard charts at #13. Gray’s last appearance on the charts came in 2003 when his re-recorded Drift Away, with singer Uncle Kracker, went to #9. He was 71.

--A new park "celebrating the life and music of Jimi Hendrix" is set to open in Hendrix's hometown of Seattle Washington in 2012. The two-and-a-half acre Jimi Hendrix Park will be located in the city's Central District and will feature stepping stones featuring his lyrics, rain drums, a sculpted butterfly garden, a performance area, a sound garden, and ample green space. Hendrix, who died in 1970 at the age of 27, would have turned 70 years old in 2012.

--Legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin has died. Sumlin was probably best known for his long-term collaboration with Howlin' Wolf, performing on blues classics as Wang Dang Doodle, Spoonful, and Back Door Man. In recent years Sumlin had battled lung cancer, having a lung removed in 2002. Sumlin died of heart failure on Sunday at the age of 80.

Tickets

Tickets Currently on Sale at

Cactus Records

Updated: February 8th, 2012

  FEBRUARY

10th--Sweet Tooth Ball--Emerson--$25 single/$40 couples--$, CK, cc

11th--Cold Smoke Awards--Emerson--$13 (awards only), $22 (awards & after party, 21+)--$, CK, cc

14th--The Werks--Emerson--$13 each, or $22 for couples--$, CK, cc 18+

16th--The Bozeman Film Festival Presents: Academy Award Nominated Short Films (double feature)--Emerson--$5/$7 (for one show), $10 (for both)--$ or CK

17th--Tumbledown House (CD release party)--Peach Street Studios--$20--$, CK, cc SOLD OUT

17th & 18th--The Understudy--MSU Black Box Theatre--$10 student/senior, $12 general--$, CK, cc

18th--Ana Sia--Filling Station--$13--$ or cc, no checks! 21+

19th--Latin Angels Lingerie Fashion Show & Dinner

24th--Foamazon--Filling Station--$8--$ or cc, no checks! 21+

24th & 25th--The Understudy--MSU Black Box Theatre--$10 student/senior, $12 general--$, CK, cc

29th--The Bozeman Film Festival Presents: A Dangerous Method--Emerson--$5/$7--$ or CK
 
  MARCH

1st--Chali 2Na--Zebra--$16--$ or cc, no checks! 21+

2nd & 3rd--Rail Jam (w/Atmosphere, Mac Lethal, and The Crystal Method)--Big Sky Resort--$22--$, CK, cc (tickets go up to $33 after the first 1000)

2nd & 3rd--The Understudy--MSU Black Box Theatre--$10 student/senior, $12 general--$, CK, cc

5th--Marty Party--Filling Station--$13--$ or cc, no checks! 21+
 
6th--G. Love & the Special Sauce--Emerson--$25--$ or cc, no checks

8th & 9th--Pinky & the Floyd--Emerson--$22 per night, $33 both nights--$, CK, cc

9th--Moustache Bandits CD Release Party--Zebra--$12--$, CK, cc 21+

  APRIL

14th--Montana Chamber Society (Muir String Quartet)--Reynolds Recital Hall--$22 student/senior, $29 general admission--$, CK, cc

This Week in Rock History

1956—Elvis Presley made an unannounced stop by the Sun Records studio to find Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash watching Carl Perkins in the studio. The foursome ended up doing some impromptu recording, the results of which would be released years later as The Million Dollar Quartet.

1960—After a mysterious fire breaks out in their hotel room, Paul McCartney and Pete Best are forcibly deported from Germany on charges of arson.

1965—Keith Richards steps on a microphone cable and is electrocuted and knocked unconscious during a Rolling Stones concert in Sacramento, California. After a short break, he recovers and is able to continue.

1969—President Richard Nixon, Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew, and forty US governors view "simulated acid trip" films and listen to Rock music in order to comprehend the generation gap. It didn't work.

1970—An over-zealous fan with a flare gun sets the Montreaux Casino on fire during a Frank Zappa & The Mother's of Invention concert. The members of Deep Purple, who are recording just across the lake from the casino, witness the fire and write the song “Smoke On The Water” in response, including the line “some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground...”

1979—Anita Pallenburg, the common-law wife of Rolling Stones Keith Richards, is cleared of murder charges in the shooting death of her young male companion, whose body had been found in her New York state home. Pallenburg had been in a relationship with Brian Jones before leaving him for Richards, leading to strain and an increase in the drinking that eventually lead to Jones' dismissal from the band.

1979—Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand top the Billboard charts with their duet “You Don't Bring Me Flowers.” Both artists had previously recorded solo versions of the song and were persuaded to re-record it as a duet after a DJ spliced together vocals from both solo version and played it on the air to positive response.

1979—Just three months after Keith Moon's death, tragedy struck The Who again, when eleven people were trampled to death while trying to reach unreserved concert seats at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati.

1980—A retrospective compilation album of John Lennon's solo music called "The John Lennon Collection" started a six-week run at #1 on the UK album chart. The front and back covers for the LP were taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz on December 8th, 1980, just five hours before Lennon was murdered.

1993—Whitney Huston's recording of Dolly Parton's “I Will Always Love You” reaches the #1 position on the charts where it will remain until March of the following year.

1993—Composer/guitarist/singer Frank Zappa passes away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 54. News of his death is not announced until two weeks later, giving his family time to bury him in an unmarked grave without interference from fans or reporters.

2001—George Harrison succumbs to cancer at a friend's home. Though he had battled cancer for years, his death came as a surprise, as he had not publicly announced his latest relapse.