Allbutforgottenoldies.net Music News Digest: Week Of January 20, 2019

January 28, 2019 by Amy Gold

During the week of January 20, 2019, fans bade a final farewell to Maxine Brown Russell (April 27, 1931 - January 21, 2019), Michel Legrand (February 24, 1932 - January 26, 2019), and Reggie Young (December 12, 1936 - January 17, 2019). Russell was a country music singer and the last surviving member of the popular 1950s sibling trio, The Browns. Legrand was an Oscar-winning film music composer who co-wrote the Dusty Springfield 1969 hit song, "The Windmills Of Your Mind," from the movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair." Young was a highly acclaimed and prolific session guitarist who can be heard on numerous classic hits by such artists as The Box Tops, Neil Diamond, Dobie Gray, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, and B.J. Thomas.

Also that week, the Recording Academy announced its list of 25 recordings to be inducted into the 2019 Grammy Hall Of Fame. Among the songs to receive this honor are Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'," Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up," The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," and The Troggs' "Wild Thing." This year's list also includes Jackson Browne's 1972 self-titled debut album and Frank Sinatra's 1967 album, "Francis Albert Sinatra."

Peter Frampton, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Robby Krieger of The Doors are among the featured performers at the upcoming NAMM Show, a music equipment trade conference held each year in Anaheim, CA, which will take place January 24-27, 2019. Billy Joel is set to launch a series of seven concerts at various baseball stadiums around the country beginning March 9 in Phoenix, AZ at Chase Field and ending October 12 in Arlington, TX at Globe Life Park, also covering Camden Yards (Baltimore, MD), Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, PA), Coors Field (Denver, CO), Fenway Park (Boston, MA), and Miller Park (Milwaukee, WI). Also, Chubby Checker is among the featured performers at the upcoming Graceland Live concert series taking place near the late Elvis Presley's famous mansion in Memphis, TN. The concerts begin on March 23 and run through August 21, with Checker to perform on June 22.

Mott The Hoople frontman and co-founder Ian Hunter has revived his old band for its first tour of the U.S. in 45 years. This upcoming eight-date trek will begin on April 1, 2019 in Milwaukee, WI and end on April 10 in New York City, also covering various other cities in the North and Northeast. Mott The Hoople is best known for the classic David Bowie-penned glam rock anthem, "All The Young Dudes" (1972).

Jesse Colin Young of The Youngbloods announced a new album, "Dreamers," which is due out on February 15, 2019. Also, an expanded version of James Brown's 1988 rarities compilation album, "Motherlode," will be released on March 8 as a two-LP set.

Also that week, it was announced that the 2015 concert film, "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church," will be shown in various theaters across the country over the next few months starting January 31, 2019 in Los Angeles and New York City. This long-awaited documentary captures a performance from July 4, 1970 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the second Atlanta International Pop Festival.

Finally, specially-decorated double-decker buses inspired by The Who's 1968 hit, "Magic Bus," were recently introduced in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to celebrate the band's upcoming 2019 "Moving On!" tour which kicks off on May 7, 2019 in Grand Rapids, MI.

(For more information about the above news items, please see below for a list of sources with links.)