New Hendrix Electric Ladyland Making-Of Disc Set Due Dec. 9

Experience Hendrix LLC has announced the release of At Last… The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland DVD and companion Electric Ladyland Collector’s Edition CD + DVD. The packages will be released on December 9 through Universal Music Enterprises coming 40 years after the initial release of Electric Ladyland, the third and final album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was the last Hendix studio album to have been produced during the guitar icon’s lifetime and reflects his meticulous involvement in every facet of its creation.

Electric Ladyland is the source of such legendary Hendrix tracks as “All Along the Watchtower,” “Crosstown Traffic,” “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and is commonly acknowledged by Hendrix cognoscenti as the most fully realized, cohesive project of his entire career. It was the only Hendrix album to have hit #1 on the Billboard charts. It is, indisputably, the crowning achievement of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and underscored Hendrix's abilities as singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer.

At Last… The Beginning: The Making of Electric Ladyland documents the creation of the album that was released in the fall of 1968 as a 2 LP set. Some of Jimi’s closest associates are seen on screen discussing their recollections of Hendrix and the project including JHE bassist Noel Redding, drummer Mitch Mitchell, manager Chas Chandler who discovered Hendrix after he left the Animals; drummer Buddy Miles who appeared on the album and later went on to work with Hendrix in the Band of Gypsys, Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady, Steve Winwood and Dave Mason from Traffic and others who participated in the Electric Ladyland sessions that took place at Olympic studios in London and the Record Plant in New York. One of the highlights of the program includes a session with original Electric Ladyland engineer Eddie Kramer who discusses the techniques Hendrix, Mitchell and Redding employed in recording Electric Ladyland and playing some of the original multitrack tapes to illustrate the process.

Originally produced in 1997 as the premiere episode the acclaimed Classic Albums television series, The Making of Electric Ladyland is newly edited with expanded features and almost 40 minutes of additional content not seen in the original feature.

While the DVD is offered as a stand-alone title, a Deluxe CD + DVD Collector’s Edition that includes The Making of… DVD along with the classic Electric Ladyland CD offers consumers both the expository look at the Electric Ladyland as well as the actual album which ranks as one of the most significant projects in the Hendrix canon. All Music Guide, Blender and Rolling Stone have all awarded Electric Ladyland five (out of five) stars as it has been firmly ensconced in the pantheon of rock’s greatest achievements for 40 years.

DVD Tracklisting:

Prologue
Burning of the Midnight Lamp
…And The Gods Made Love
All Along The Watchtower
Rainy Day, Dream Away
Still Raining, Still Dreaming
Voodoo Chile
Crosstown Traffic
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
Little Miss Strange
Gypsy Eyes
South Saturn Delta
House Burning Down
1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
Long Hot Summer Night
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
Epilogue

CD Tracklisting:

…And The Gods Made Love
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
Crosstown Traffic
Voodoo Chile
Little Miss Strange
Long Hot Summer Night
Come On (Let The Good Times Roll)
Gypsy Eyes
Burning of the Midnight Lamp
Rainy Day, Dream Away
1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
Moon, Turn The Tides…Gently Gently Away
Still Raining, Still Dreaming
House Burning Down
All Along The Watchtower
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

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Taylor Swift Soars To No. 1 Debut

With the best sales week for a country album in a year, 18-year-old Taylor Swift debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums with her sophomore set, "Fearless." The Big Machine release sold 592,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the largest sum for a country album since Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" started with 711,000 last November.

"Fearless" shifted 129,000 copies digitally, the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004.

Meanwhile, six songs from "Fearless" will debut on tomorrow’s Billboard Hot 100, led by "White Horse" at No. 13. "Horse" is her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, her six debuts and seven total tracks on tomorrow chart each tie her with Hannah Montana for the most by a female artist in a single week. Of the 13 tracks on "Fearless," 11 have now spent time on the Hot 100.

The next three slots on The Billboard 200 are debuts, with "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta starting at No. 2 with his self-titled 19 Recordings/Jive album on sales of 183,000. The 29th edition of the multi-label "Now That's What I Call Music!" series begins at No. 3 with 172,000, while T-Pain's "Thr33 Ringz" (Kovinct/Nappy Boy/Jive) opens at No. 4 with 167,000.

Last week's No. 1 album, the Chop Shop/Atlantic soundtrack from "Twilight," drops to No. 5 on a 35% decrease to 107,000. AC/DC's "Black Ice" slips 2-6 on a 34% decline to 105,000, while Walt Disney's "High School Musical 3" soundtrack is down 3-7 on a 14% dip to 94,000.

Enya's first holiday album, "And Winter Came" (Reprise) debuts at No. 8 with 92,000. The project is expected to be a strong seller through the end of the year, potentially in the vein of Josh Groban's runaway hit album from last year, "Noel."

Christina Aguilera's hits package, "Keeps Gettin' Better," is new at No. 9 with 73,000. The album was exclusively available at Target. Rounding out the top tier is T.I.'s "Paper Trail" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic), which falls 7-10 on a 10% decline to 62,000.

Seal's R&B covers album, "Soul" (Warner Bros.), debuts at No. 13 this week with 45,000. That's an improvement over his dance-driven 2007 album "System," which crept in at No. 35 with 30,000. Further down the chart, a best-of "Now That's What I Call Music" album lands No. 32 with 22,000) and producer David Foster's all-star live set "Hit Man" (Warner Bros.) debuts at No. 46 with 15,000.

Album sales this week are up 26.8% from last week with 8.9 million units, but down 24% from the same week last year (11.72 million).

Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield.

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Diamond, Rubin To Get Busy On Third Album

Neil Diamond is about to embark on the final leg of his latest world tour, but he's already put his next album in motion.

The veteran singer tells Billboard.com that he recently met with Rick Rubin, who produced his last two albums and they've set a meeting for Jan. 12, four days after Diamond's final concert, to start planning the follow-up to his recent chart-topping "Home Before Dark."

"I told (Rubin) I want to start writing on the 12th," says Diamond, who hits the road Saturday in Grand Forks, N.D., for a 17-show North American run. "He said, 'Why don't you not start writing and let's sit down and talk about what the concept is and what we're gonna do.' I said, 'Good idea,' so we'll meet on the 12th and go from there."

Diamond says he and Rubin have "spoken about an idea we both like" but adds it's "too early in the process" to talk about it, other than to say that he expects it will be "a different concept, a different approach to the album than we've had on" "Home Before Dark" and 2005's "12 Songs."

There's material left from both albums including a few songs Diamond considers "really wonderful recordings," but he says he and Rubin still plan to "start fresh. We're going to make believe there's no such thing as songs in the can. We don't know if the songs we've recorded are going to be meaningful or even usable on this next album."


Before fans hear the new music, however, Diamond plans to deliver a souvenir of the tour, which has so far played to nearly a million fans in nine countries since May. He says the show has been filmed, and he expects to roll it out in the new year as a television special as well as a DVD.

"I'm very pleased with it," Diamond says. "I've always felt you could never really replicate the experience of being at a concert, but this film comes as close to replicating it as anything I've ever seen."

Diamond will be honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on Feb. 6, 2009, in Los Angeles, and he'll also be acknowledged two nights later during the 51st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony.

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Blink-182 Members Finally 'Reconnecting'

After a messy split in 2005, the three members of Blink-182 are back in communication, raising speculation that a reunion may be in the offing.On his blog, group member Mark Hoppus says the recent death of Blink producer Jerry Finn and drummer Travis Barker's survival of a plane crash brought the men back in contact."We're just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking," he says. "It's a good thing. Obviously the first question for a lot of people will be, 'Does this mean a Blink-182 reunion?' The answer is none of us know. We haven't talked about it at all. Right now it's just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect and let the past be the past."Since Blink-182's split, Barker and Hoppus formed +44, while Tom DeLonge fronted Angels & Airwaves. The band's last show was Dec. 16, 2004, in Dublin; its career sales are more than 12.7 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

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Bob Marley Guitar to Be Auctioned

Collectors are expected to bid high on November 24, 2008, for a Yamaha SG1000 electric guitar owned and played in concert by Bob Marley during the reggae superstar's final worldwide tour in 1979.

Christie's auction house expects the bids to fall within the $30,000 to $40,000 range. Yamaha presented the guitar to Marley when he visited the Yamaha factory in Hamamatsu during the Japan leg of the tour, and photographs of the legendary singer playing in Tokyo and Osaka are included with the sale of the guitar.

In 2007, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the SG1000 and SG2000, Yamaha introduced the SBG1000 and SBG2000, faithful reproductions of the originals individually hand built by the highly skilled master luthiers at the famed Yamaha Music Craft in Hamamatsu, Japan, the company's elite workshop that is responsible for producing Yamaha's top-of-the-line handcrafted acoustic guitars and custom instruments.

In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Yamaha guitars in the United States, Yamaha will introduce a limited-edition SBG3000, a masterpiece of the guitar-maker's art.

Besides Marley, other renowned players who used Yamaha SG guitars include Carlos Santana, jazz master Al Di Meola, Stax/Volt house guitarist Steve Cropper, Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), Paul Barrere (Little Feat) and Al McCay (Earth, Wind & Fire).

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Yamaha Guitars, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit yamahaguitars.com.

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Phil Anselmo: "You Bet Your Ass" Metallica Fans Support Down

Guitar World recently had the chance to catch up with ex-Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo while his current band, Down, is on tour supporting Metallica. Down, also featuring guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, have been touring behind their latest release, Down III.

Never one to mince words, here's what Anselmo had to say about the challenge of opening for the biggest metal band in the world.

GUITAR WORLD How you holding up?
ANSELMO Oh, I’m a little tired, man. We did two in a row with Metallica last night. Other than that, I’m doing great.

Where are you?
I’m in Milwaukee and I ain’t gonna lie, it’s a little chilly.

How’s the tour going?
Very interesting. It’s one of those different type of tours because of the stage setup: a big circular stage. It’s kind of fucking crazier, more like a horseshoe-ring stage. It’s a different experience working two sides of the room, if not six different sections. It’s really tough, because I’m used to [playing] head-on on an old-school style stage.

But it’s something that grows on you. You begin to deal with the circular stage. And I guess by about the third show is when we had our best show up to that point. But, you know... Other than that, shit, it’s been awesome. The crowds have been really, really fucking super receptive.

So the Metallica legions are into Down?

You bet your ass.

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Exclusive! Eddie Van Halen Talks About His New EVH Wolfgang Guitar

In a new, exclusive interview with Eddie Van Halen, Guitar World magazine talks to the Van Halen legend about the making of his new EVH Wolfgang guitar from Fender (due in stores in early 2009). In the interview, appearing in the February issue of the magazine, the guitarist explains how the Wolfgang is “a culmination of my 35 years of experimenting with guitars. Everything that I’ve destroyed, stumbled onto, learned and experienced in my journey to get to where we are now is in this guitar. And there is a lot more to come.

"A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. I’m very brutal on my instruments, but not all the time. I’m not to the point where I’m like Pete Townshend and smashing the shit out of it after a gig. I wouldn’t do that to an instrument that is a part of me. I don’t need to do this for financial reasons. I could have just stayed at home and built this guitar for myself. I do this because a lot of people ask if they can get what I use. Well, yes you can and what you get is identical to what I use.”

Throughout the in-person interview with Guitar World writer Chris Gill, which took place in a workshop at the EVH/FMIC (Fender Musical Instrument Corporation) factory, Van Halen details the painstaking process of designing and constructing the EVH Wolfgang.

“The tolerance of things on this guitar is like NASA standards. It had to be tight, and it had to be quality. Le Mans is probably the most important race on the planet. It’s 24 hours—a grueling, brutal race. There’s a reason why an Audi R8 won that race three years in a row [2000–2002]. Those guys did what we did with this guitar. They paid attention to every damn detail. You can’t say, ‘Oh, that will do.’ No, it won’t do.”

Regarding the slim profile of the Wolfgang neck, Van Halen commented, “It was a matter of closing my eyes and feeling it. We went back to some of my earlier guitars, like the striped guitar I had back in 1984. That’s the way I like it to feel. It’s nice. It’s like a sexy woman.”

When asked if we could expect any new music from him soon, the guitarist had this to say:

“I’ll be making music ’til the day I die. I’ve done all kinds of stuff, and more is coming. I can’t tell you exactly when right now. Wolfgang is in the 12th grade and he needs to graduate first. Then I’m getting married in June. We’ll pick it up after that.”

The complete interview appears in the February issue of Guitar World, on sale December 16, 2008. An exclusive video documentary featuring Eddie Van Halen on the making of the EVH Wolfgang guitar will appear on the CD-ROM that accompanies each issue of the February issue. Collectors will be able to choose from four different Eddie Van Halen covers of the February issue.

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Bruce Springsteen 'Dreams' Big On New Album

As expected, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's new album, "Working on a Dream," will arrive Jan. 27 via Columbia. Excerpts from the title track debuted during NBC's NFL halftime show last night (Nov. 16).

The album includes 12 new songs plus the bonus tracks "The Wrestler" (from the Mickey Rourke-starring film of the same name) and "A Night With the Jersey Devil" (which Springsteen gave away free online on Halloween).

As with 2007's "Magic," Springsteen worked with producer Brendan O'Brien on basic tracks and brought in the E Street Band as needed during tour breaks. "All the songs were written quickly -- we usually used one of our first few takes," he says.

Springsteen and company will return to live duty Feb. 1 as part of the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show in Tampa, Fla.

Here is the track list for "Working on a Dream":

"Outlaw Pete"

"My Lucky Day"

"Working on a Dream"

"Queen of the Supermarket"

"What Love Can Do"

"This Life"

"Good Eye"

"Tomorrow Never Knows"

"Life Itself"

"Kingdom of Days"

"Surprise, Surprise"

"The Last Carnival"

Bonus tracks:

"The Wrestler"

"A Night With the Jersey Devil"

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Black Keys' Auerbach Unveils Solo Debut

Black Keys vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach will take time off from his primary band to release his solo debut early next year and will also tour in support of the project.

The 14-track "Keep It Hid" is due Feb. 10 via Nonesuch. Auerbach will hit the road for an 11-date solo tour beginning Feb. 28 in Washington, D.C., with Texas rockers Hacienda serving as his backing band as well as opening act. Murfreesboro, Tenn.-based Those Darlings will also support.

"It's all over the map," Auerbach tells Billboard.com of the music, which he's been stockpiling for several years. "I write songs for the Black Keys, so some of them sound like they could be Black Keys songs. But some songs are just acoustic guitar. There's some real dark tunes and some psychedelic rumbas. It's all that stuff I grew up playing -- all those bluegrass harmonies. I experimented a little bit with instrumentation."

Recorded at Auerbach's Akron, Ohio, studio "Keep It Hid" is something of a family affair; the artist's father Chuck wrote the song "Whispered Words," while his uncle, James Quine, sings and plays electric guitar on "Street Walkin'." Auerbach's protege, Jessica Lea Mayfield, appears on "When the Night Comes."

Musically, "Keep It Hid" runs the gamut from the sparse, drum-less opener "Trouble Weighs a Ton" and the genial acoustic closer "Goin' Home" to raw, swaggering rockers like "Heartbroken, In Disrepair" (with the trademark vibrato guitar effect from the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now") and "The Prowl." Other highlights include the British Invasion-style "My Last Mistake" and the late night lament "When the Night Comes."

Auerbach says the solo shows will be "a totally separate thing from the Black Keys, so there will definitely no Black Keys songs. You'll hear anything I feel like playing."

There's plenty of activity in the Black Keys camp in the run-up to "Keep It Hid." Having recently completed a writing session with ZZ Top's Billy F. Gibbons and producer Rick Rubin, the group plays Bristol, England, tonight (Nov. 17), and releases a Lance Bangs-directed concert DVD, "Live at Crystal Ballroom," tomorrow.

After early January dates in Australia, the Keys will play a handful of North American shows through mid-February.

Here are Dan Auerbach's solo tour dates:

Feb. 28: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
March 1: Boston (Paradise)
March 2: Brooklyn, N.Y. (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
March 3: New York (Bowery Ballroom)
March 5: Cleveland (Beachland Ballroom)
March 6: Chicago (Metro)
March 7: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
March 10: Seattle (Showbox)
March 11: Portland, Ore. (Wonder Ballroom)
March 13: San Francisco (Bimbo's)
March 14: Los Angeles (El Rey Theatre)

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The Who Looks Back To '77 On Live DVD

A December 1977 concert from Kilburn, London, considered a holy grail by Who fans, was a somewhat ambivalent experience for the band, according to frontman Roger Daltrey.

"I just remember it was kind of a weird day," Daltrey tells Billboard.com about the Gaumont State Theatre show, which was filmed for Jeff Stein's documentary "The Kids Are Alright" and is being released in its entirety tomorrow (Nov. 18) on the DVD "The Who at Kilburn 1977. "We did the show in the afternoon, which is not the best time of day to be on form, especially for (drummer) Keith Moon."

Though Who biographer Johnny Black has called the concert "disastrous," Daltrey says the he "always thought it was quite a good show, but I remember that Pete (Townshend) at the time wasn't very happy with it, and I never quite figured why. I'll have to buy the DVD and find out, I guess." During the concert a clearly upset Townshend tells the somewhat unruly crowd that, "There's a guitar up here if any big mouth f*cking little git wants to take it from me."

The Kilburn show was the second to last the Who played with Moon before his death on Sept. 7, 1978. The group played another London show, on May 25 of that year, at Shepperton Studios, also for the "The Kids are Alright." Daltrey has said that Moon was not in good shape for either taping and that seeing the footage while the documentary was being assembled had a profound effect on the drummer.

In addition the Kilburn show, the new DVD also includes a never-before-seen Dec. 14, 1969, concert from the London Coliseum, which purports to be the first-ever officially recorded live performance of the rock opera "Tommy."

Daltrey and Townshend, meanwhile, are gearing up to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors, which will take place Dec. 7 in Washington, D.C. "It really is an honor indeed," Daltrey says. "Coming from where we come from, being totally inspired by American music at such a young age and now being honored by the country that inspired me, it's unbelievable."

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