#107 - April 17, 2012: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain; Hole; Paul McCartney, Johnny Depp & Natalie Portman; Woody Guthrie; Ron Wood & The Rolling Stones; Levon Helm; Men at Work's Greg Ham; Bob Marley; Jimmy Buffett & Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder; The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert; Andrew Love of The Memphis Horns; Jimmie Rodgers - and more!

Did Nirvana’s Cobain record solo album?

During the last weeks of his life, Nirvana’s late leader Kurt Cobain laid down several tracks for a solo album, according to his friend Eric Erlandson, who was guitarist for Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love’s band, Hole. Erlandson made the revelation during an interview on the cable TV music network, Fuse, to promote his new book, “Letters to Kurt,” a collection of correspondences to his pal.

Erlandson divulged that Cobain, “was headed in a direction that was really cool. It would have been his ‘White Album.’ That’s really what he was going towards, a solo album but working with different people.” He added, “I got to see him play it in front of me. That’s why I was really sad when he died. He was cut short. Who knows where his music would have gone.”

In addition to the batch of his own compositions for the album, Cobain recorded a cover song, but Erlandson wouldn’t say what it was. Of the demos, he said he hoped that they’ll be released.

Cobain, who battled depression and heroin addiction, took his life at his home in Aberdeen, Washington, in February 1994 at age 27, joining the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, The Rolling Stones Brian Jones, Canned Heat’s Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, Drifters lead singer Rudy Lewis, Grateful Dead keyboardist Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan, Badfinger leader Pete Ham, Minutemen singer-guitarist D. Boon, and most recently Amy Winehouse, to pass at that age.  

Speaking of Hole, the band’s most successful lineup, the 1994-95 contingent of Erlandson, Love, drummer Patty Schemel and bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, reunited last week in NYC for their first performance in 17 years. The occasion was the premiere of a documentary on Schemel, “Hit So Hard,” about her near-fatal drug addiction and her subsequent recovery. The band ran through ragged takes on “Miss World,” from 1994’s “Live Through This,” and “Over the Edge,” that appeared on their 1995 album, “Ask for It.”

In other Nirvana news, that band’s drummer Dave Grohl, who has led, sang and played guitar for The Foo Fighters since 1995, is back in the studio recording with Nirvana’s semi-retired bassist Krist Novoselic and Garbage drummer Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s blockbuster 1991 influential grunge masterwork, “Nevermind” album that has sold 30 million copies worldwide, according to NME.  It’s speculated that the trio are working on music for Grohl’s upcoming documentary on Sound City Studios, the Van Nuys recording  studio where “Nevermind” was produced. Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors,” Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” and “Damn the Torpedos” by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were recorded there.

To tie everything all together, Love, 47, who has clashed with the 43-year-old Grohl numerous times since Cobain’s death,  recently tweeted that he  attempted to seduce Love and Cobain’s 19-year-old daughter, Francis Bean Cobain. Later, she recanted her charge, tweeting to her estranged daughter, “Bean, sorry I believed the gossip…Mommy loves you.”

Woody Guthrie Square dedicated in L.A.

The intersection of 4^th and Main streets, four blocks south of city hall in Downtown Los Angeles has been named Woody Guthrie Square, after the late Dust Bowl-era folk music singer-songwriter, who lived in the area during the Depression-era 1930s. Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie, unveiled the sign designating the square. Nora is in charge of the Guthrie archives.

To celebrate Guthrie’s 100^th birthday, a Grammy Museum-produced concert was held at L.A’s Club Nokia with Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Kris Kristofferson, John Doe of X, singer-songwriter Joe Henry,  Brian Wilson’s collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Rage Against the Machine guitarist and political activist Tom Morello and 80-year-old New York folkie and close pal of Bob Dylan’s, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Billboard reports that the evening ended with audience and performers raising the roof by singing the best-known of Guthrie’s  3,000 compositions, “This Land is Your Land.”

Woody Guthrie, who inspired countless folk and rock artists, including Pete Seeger, John Mellencamp, Phil Ochs, The Clash’s Joe Strummer, and especially Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, died in New York City in 1967 at age 55.

No Rolling Stones album yet

Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, who last week was in Cleveland being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his other band, The Faces, is apologizing for jumping the guy when he suggested that The Stones would be entering a recording studio at the end of the month, “to just throw some ideas around,” which many in the media took as Gospel that the band would be recording a new album.

Wood told Billboard that when singer Mick Jagger heard this, he wasn’t pleased. “I heard from Jagger and he’s going, ‘What the hell? We don’t know anything yet!’ I said, ‘You know what (the media) are like. I just expressed my personal view: I would love t go into the studio.’ Then they took it all wrong. I didn’t mean to say things out of line.”

Former Band drummer Helm dead

Levon Helm, the former singing drummer and mandolin player for The Band whose Arkansas Mississippi Delta drawl added authenticity to songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” died at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City at 71.

Helm and the rest of the group’s members first formed in 1958 when they were rockabilly musician Ronnie Hawkins’ backup band. They called themselves The Hawks. They left Hawkins in 1964 and became Levon and The Hawks. In 1965, Bob Dylan recruited the group as his backup band. Dylan and the re-named Band toured the U.S in 1965 and embarked upon a world tour the following year. Dylan continued to use The Band on and off over the next several years, including on what was Dylan’s comeback tour in 1974.

The Band released its own debut LP, “Music from Big Pink” in 1968. They recorded and toured relentlessly until calling it a day with the legendary “Last Waltz” concert on Thanksgiving at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The concert saw the group joined by the likes of Dylan, Hawkins, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield. For the finale, they were joined by the guest stars as well as Ron Wood and Ringo Starr on Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.”

But The Band, minus guitarist Robbie Robertson who had a falling out with Helm, regrouped seven years later, in 1983 and toured until they broke up for good in 1999 following the drug-related heart attack death of singer-bassist Rick Danko. The Band also recorded three more albums during the ‘90s.

Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer more than a dozen years ago. He recovered but his voice was severely damaged and it took hi years to regain it. In recent years he hosted his “Midnight Ramble” in the studio he called “the Barn” at his home in Woodstock, New York, where local musician friends and guests as varied as Elvis Costello, Donald Fagan of Steely Dan, Mississippi Delta blues pianist Pinetop Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Emmylou Harris, Rickie Lee Jones, Gillian Welch and others.

Robertson posted on his Facebook page that he arranged a bedside visit with Helm a few days before his death.  It was reportedly the first time in decades the two had spoken much less seen each other.

“Last week, I was shocked and so saddened to hear that my old mate, Levon, was in the final stages of is battle with cancer. It hit me hard because I thought he had beaten throat cancer and had no idea that he was ill,” he wrote. “I sat with Levon for a good long while, and thought of the incredible and beautiful times we had together.”

“Levon is one of the most extraordinary talented people I’ve ever known and very much like an older brother to me. I am so grateful I got to see him one last time and will miss him and love him forever.”

Men At Work’s Ham dead

Greg Ham, whose flute playing provided ‘80s Aussie pop-rockers Men at Work with its signature, was found dead in his home in Melbourne, reports Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. He was 58. No reason was cited, however, a large contingent of local police was at the scene and the scene was cordoned off.

Led by Ham and singer-guitarist Colin Hay, Men at Work sold more than 30 million records worldwide. They scored four Top 10 singles here, including their debut 45, “Who Can It Be Now” that hit No. 1. Its follow-up, “Down Under,” became their nation’s unofficial theme song and went to No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Ireland and the U.S.

The band broke up in 1986, but Ham and Hay reunited and toured the world as Men at Work from 1996-2000, and headlined the closing ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, performing “Down Under.”  The two men continued to perform on occasion since then.

Ham and Hay met in 1972 when they were seniors in high school in Melbourne. May released a statement, saying, “We played in a band and conquered the world together. I love him very much. He’s a beautiful man.”

In 2010, Ham was accused of stealing “Down Under’s” flute riff from a Australian children’s campfire song, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” The judge ruled against Ham and the band and they were ordered to turn over five percent of the song’s royalties dating back to 2002 as well that same figure for future royalties. According to friends and local Melbourne paper, The Age, the court decision devastated Ham.

On the album chart

Lionel Ritchie’s “Tuskegee,” is at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album chart. “Tuskegee” sees the smooth R&B and pop star re-record his hits country-style with help from the likes of Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Rascal Flatts, fellow crossover guy-former Hootie and The Blowfish leader Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney and Kenny Rogers, who duets on the Ritchie-penned “Lady,” that Rogers took to No. 1 in 1980, a song Billboard lists at No. 47 on its All Time Top 100. If the album makes it to the top, it’ll be his first No. 1 album in the U.S. in 26 years.

New Orleans voodoo rocker Dr. John’s just released “Locked Up,” produced by Black Keys singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach, debuted at No. 33, his highest charting album in 39 years, since “In the Right Place” hit No. 24 in 1973.

Former or current (depending on who you believe) Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson’s non-Tull solo album sequel to his classic 1971 Jethro Tull concept album, Thick as a Brick” is a hit. Anderson’s new concept album, “Thick as a Brick 2” is at No. 55 in its first week. No Tull or Anderson solo album has reached that number on the chart in a quarter century. The last time it happened was in 1987 when the Grammy-winning gold album, “Crest of a Knave” made it to No. 32.

New Bob Marley documentary

On April 20, a new documentary on the late Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley, titled, “Marley,” will be the first release ever to be made available for streaming on Facebook, according to a press release from the PR firm Rogers and Cowan. Marley’s Facebook page has more than 37 million fans. The documentary hits the theatres on April 20 as well.  The film can be streamed for $6.99 via PayPal or via credit card. A portion of the proceeds from Facebook will benefit Save the Children, a non-profit organization that helps kids in need.

Recent releases

Among the recently released albums, re-issues and deluxe box sets are Chicago bluesman Lurrie Bell’s “The Devil Ain’t Got No Music”; “Sweet, Sad & Salty” from actor-folk singer Burl Ives; a 2-CD, “The Essential Donovan,” from the new Rock Hall inductee; Johnny Cash’s “Unseen Cash From William Speer’s Studio”; “Older Than My Old Man Now” from folkie humorist Loudon Wainwright III; and a 2-CD, “Complete Hit Singles A’s & B’s,” from Cowboy Copas, the country western singer who was killed in the 1963 plane crash along with Patsy Cline;

“The Pearl Sessions” from Janis Joplin; “Secrets Of Flying: Expanded Edition” from Bahaman R&B singer Johnny Kemp; “Massey Hall Moments: All Live” from Gordon Lightfoot; “Here’s Little Richard”; “The Big Heat” from former Wall of Voodoo singer Stan Ridgeway; an import, “Travelling,” from veteran Swedish pop duo Roxette; “The Complete Bowdoin College Concert 1960,” a 2-CD from folk legend Pete Seeger; “Hidden Gems” from Luther Vandross; a 2-CD, “Marley: Original Soundtrack” to the new documentary on the Rastaman.

The Jesus & Mary Chain’s long out of print 1994 album, “Stoned & Dethroned,” with guest vocals from Shane McGowan, leader of The Pogues and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, was just re-issued on vinyl. Among the new DVDs out is a 14-DVD box set from The Grateful Dead, “All the Years Combine: The DVD Collection.”   

Jimmy Buffett in, Eddie Vedder out

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was forced to postpone his 15-date solo tour because of nerve damage cause by a back injury last year. So, Jimmy Buffett is taking his slot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on May 3.

Other performers at the famed fest that runs April 27 through May 6 at the Fairgrounds Racecourse include The Beach Boys; ‘60s “Chapel of Love” girl group The Dixie Cups; Little Anthony & The Imperials; Herbie Hancock; English reggae vets Steel Pulse; local Big Easy outfit Buckwheat Zydeco; Latin jazz and salsa conga player Poncho Sanchez; Flaco Jimenez, Augie Meyers and their band, The Texas Tornados; former Allman Brothers and current Rolling Stones touring keyboardist Chuck Leavell; “The Soul Queen of New Orleans,” Irma Thomas; Cajun vets BeauSoliel with Michael Doucet; ragtime jazz pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson; Tom Perry and The Heartbreakers; Cee-Lo Green; jazz saxman Dave Koz; eight-member New Orleans group The Soul Rebels Brass Band; and My Morning Jacket.

Also, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; Dr. John; Al Green; gospel singer Yolanda Adams; jazz singer Dianne Reeves; jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, father of Wynton and Branford; Soul Asylum leader Dave Pirner; Cowsills singer Susan Cowsill; Florence & The Machine; Ani DiFranco; Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk; 76-year-old Mississippi bluesman James Cotton; The Dirty Dozen Brass Band; Zac Brown Band; original Wailers drummer Bunny Wailer; Mavis Staples; Bruce Hornsby; N.O. piano king Allen Toussaint; local treasure The Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Aaron Neville; New Orleans blues guitarist Guitar Slim, Jr.; The Foo Fighters; The Neville Brothers and another Neville-filled band, The Meters; Bonnie Raitt; Maze featuring Frankie Beverly; jazz alto sax player David Sanborn; journeyman Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel.

Buffett recently took a stage in Omaha for the first time since 1985. To commemorate the occasion, he was introduced by the man he refers to “Cousin Warren,” his un-related pal, billionaire Warren Buffett. The two have been friends for years, reports the Omaha World. Buffett then took a seat to the side of the stage where he cheered his “Cousin Jimmy” throughout the show.

Rock Hall puts on big time induction concert

All of the groups inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at this year’s ceremony and concert in Cleveland had members who for whatever reasons did not attend. This included The Faces frontman Rod Stewart; Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose and co-founding rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin; Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, who served two important terms in the band; and Adam Yauch from The Beastie Boys.

Traditionally, the inductees and a bunch of guest musicians hit the stage to jam on the new members hit songs, and this year’s bash was not different.

Among the highlights were ZZ Top’s bearded two-some, guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill baying tribute to blues guitarist Freddie King, who went in as an early influence, playing two King classics, “Hideaway” and “Goin’ Down.”

John Mellencamp gave Donovan’s induction speech and joined him on “Season of the Witch.” The Scottish psychedelic folk rock troubadour soloed on “Catch the Wind” and “Sunshine Superman.”

Bette Midler inducted the late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, followed by relative newby Sara Bareilles’ take on Nyro’s “Stoney End.”

Brill Building songwriter Carole King presented the late impresario Don Kirshner, before giving way to Phil Spector protégé Darlene Love who sang King and then-hubby Gerry Goffin’s 1960 Spector-produced smash, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt did the induction honors for The Faces. With Stewart out ill with the flu, members guitarist Ron Wood, keyboardist Ian McLagan and drummer Kenny Jones and new bassist, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock called in the group’s current singer, former Simply Red frontman, Mick Hucknall and together they ripped through “All or Nothing,” “Ooh La La” and “Stay With Me.”

Smokey Robinson inducted ‘50s rockers Bill Haley’s band, The Comets; Gene Vincent’s group,  The Blue Caps; Buddy Holly’s backups, The Crickets; James Brown’s support unit, The Famous Flames; Hank Ballard’s Midnighters; and his own backup singers, The Miracles.

Robbie Robertson, former guitarist for The Band gave the introductory speech for newly enshrined engineer-producers Tom Dowd, Glyn Johns and Cosimo Matassa.

Comic Chris Rock did the honors for The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band then dug out a trio of tunes, ending their brief set with their 1991 hit, “Give It Away.”

LL Cool J  and Public enemy rapper Chuck D inducted The Beastie Boys before The Roots, Kid Rock and Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes performed a Beastie’s medley that included “What’cha Want.”

Green Day inducted Guns N’ Roses. With Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy doing a perfect Rose, Slash, Gilby Clarke, Matt Sorum and Steven Adler gave the throng a three-song show that included “Mr. Brownstone” with Green Day leader Billie Joe Armstrong joining in on guitar, followed by “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.”

The evening ended when Ron Wood, Kenny Jones, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Armstrong, Slash, and P-Funk leader George Clinton, ran through Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony airs May 5 on HBO.

Depp & Portman in new McCartney vid

Paul McCartney turned director for the video of his new record, “My Valentine,” the song he wrote for his bride Nancy Shevell and debuted at their wedding reception last October. The song is from his latest album, “Kisses From the Bottom.” McCartney actually directed three videos, one with Johnny Depp, another with Natalie Portman and the third featuring both actors. The video can be seen on YouTube.

Tenor saxman Andrew Love dies

Memphis Horns tenor sax player Andrew Love did in Memphis at 70, according to AP. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. He played on 53 No.1 hits as well as 83 gold and platinum records. The Memphis Horns backed up everyone from Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding to U2, Alicia Keys and Neil Diamond.

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Classic acts from the `50s, `60s and `70s continue to perform. Here's what one of them is doing.

Beginning in 1957, velvet-voiced pop singer Jimmie Rodgers scored three Top Three hits over the next year, including his debit 45, “Honeycomb,” that hit No. 1. Months later, his follow-up single, “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,” that was written by Pete Seeger and the rest of his folk group, The Weavers, made it to No. 3.

In December 1967, shortly after “Child of Clay” became his final hit single, he was pulled over by an off-duty LAPD officer and badly beaten, sustaining a skull fracture and some loss of memory. He eventually sued the LAPD and received a $200,000 settlement. After a recuperation period of more than a year, he resumed his recording career and even hosted a summer variety show on ABC in 1969.

Several years ago he told me that a severe illness caused major damage to his vocal chords. This prompted his retirement from music. He was living happily in Palm Springs spending his days as a part-time golf pro on one of the local courses.

Since the, his voice has recovered to the point that he’s been making small appearances here and there. Rodgers, now 78, is headlining a benefit concert on Saturday at the First Church of Christ in Middletown, Connecticut.