Guitar Jam

Cars Axeman Elliot Easton Tapped for Fantasy Tour

From the Loop >
Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and former Deep Purple member Glenn Hughes are among the musicians set to serve as counselors on the first-ever Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp Tour. The traveling event will stop in New York on July 9, and in various other soon-to-be-announced cities this coming summer. One outstanding band of campers, chosen by the participating rock stars, will win a free trip to the next London edition of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp scheduled for November 2008. Click here for more info on the tour.

Romantics Lose Suit Against Makers of Guitar Hero

From Wired News >
A federal judge has killed a suit filed by 80s band The Romantics against Activision, which claimed that the version of "What I Like About You" used in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s was too close to the original.

According to  statement from the band's lawyer, The Romantics felt the Guitar Hero cover tune "infringed" on their "trademark sound" and wanted to "share" in any "good commerce" generated by the game.

The judge decreed that Activision played by the rules when adding the song to the game, and was therefore off the hook.

Will The Romantics go quietly into that good night, or will they file an appeal? Depends on how empty their bank accounts are, I imagine.

Clapton Featured in Upcoming Classic 60 Minutes

Eric Clapton will be featured in a Classic 60 Minutes episode. The VH1 Classic series compiles vintage interviews with musicians, taken from episodes of CBS' 60 Minutes, and expands them with previously unseen footage and updates. The opening show, featuring Clapton, will air at 8 p.m. ET on Jan. 6.   

Launched in May 2000, VH1 Classic is a 24-hour network that presents videos, concerts and music specials all day long, featuring the best of rock, soul and pop artists from the 60's, 70's and 80's, including The Beatles, The Stones, Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Stevie Wonder, The Police and many more.

Steven Stills Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

From The Loop >
Steven Stills is set to undergo a prostate cancer operation. The rock icon has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo treatment for the disease early next year, his Crosby, Stills & Nash bandmate Graham Nash revealed Monday. "Stephen found his [cancer] at an early stage," Nash said during an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live. "He, I believe, is going to be operated on, on his birthday on Jan. 3." Stills turns 63 on that date.

Steve Miller Using Guitar Auction for Charity

Steve Miller is selling two autographed, custom-painted guitars to benefit the firefighters who battled a forest blaze near his Sun Valley, Idaho-area home this summer. The one-of-a-kind axes, which Miller played during a Nov. 17 concert, currently are listed online for $32,000 each. They will go up for auction Dec. 25 if those prices are not met.

For more information click here.

Big Guns Come Out for Guitar Players Ball

There’s a heavy Line-up for the Guitar Players Ball taking place during the 2008 Winter NAMM Show. Blabbermouth reports that George Lynch (ex-Dokken, Lynch Mob), Dave Meniketti (Y&T), Warren DeMartini (Ratt), Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses) and Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns) are among the musicians who will take part in the the Guitar Players Ball on January 17 at the Galaxy Theater (3503 South Harbor Blvd) in Santa, Ana, California.

Tickets are $29.50 ($20.00 with a NAMM badge) and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.

Breakdown: Zeppelin Set Review Song by Song

Rocks biggest show of the year happened last night: The Led Zeppelin reunion show at London's 02 Arena. The Guitar Jam Daily Blog has been checking out all the reviews and the breakdowns on the 16-song set list. The most succinct wrap up we found was from Billboard's Ed Christman:

From Billboard.com
"Good Times, Bad Times" shows Robert Plant is in fine form and will go on to turn in a sterling vocal performance throughout. But the song comes off a little flat, as the sound crew struggle to get the right mix.

"Ramble On" gets the crowd moving and singing along. Later, some will describe the song as a weak moment, but it's the first one to get the crowd to erupt. Sound still isn't right, with some feedback chiming in during one of the quiet interludes. Still, it displays the dynamic for which Zeppelin is best known -- sparse melodic acoustic passages exploding into rock electric passages. Page starts cranking.

"Black Dog" and its intricate opening riff (authored by John Paul Jones) brings a smile to everyone's face, in the audience as well as on stage. Plant is looking like he is having the most fun as the audience chimes in and helps, but not where you would expect. Its clear that his fears that he would one day be a parody of himself singing "Whole Lotta Love" are not going to be realized this decade, thank the rock gods.

In between songs, Plant finally acknowledges the crowd with a brisk "good evening," before the band launches into "In My Time of Dying," from the "Physical Graffiti" album. It's a Page/Bonham tour-de-force which restored faith among the faithful that the band could still sound malevolent after the happy-go-lucky pop metal that dominated the "Houses of the Holy" album.

"For Your Life," from "Presence," is unfurled for the first time in the band's history. Anybody who relegated it to the lower echelons of the Zep workbook are quickly shown how badly mistaken they are. A highlight of the evening.

Click here for more >

Twister Sister's Jay Jay French Riffs on Zeppelin Tour

From Blabbermouth.net
Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French — a mega Led Zeppelin fan who saw them opening for Iron Butterfly at the Fillmore East in New York in January 1969 — recently spoke to UK-based journalist Dave Ling about Zeppelin's reunion concert that is scheduled to take place tonight (Monday, December 10) at London's O2 arena.

"I just don't know if they'll pull it off, and I'd rather remember the band the way they were," he said. "I give away the 'How The West Was Won' DVD to friends as gifts; the telepathy and synergy between them at that point [in 1972] still brings up goosebumps. But I want to be clear — they're getting back together for charity, which is absolutely the right reason. I applaud them for doing the one thing they know that can raise the most amount of money. I hope it's a great show and that the fans enjoy it. Jason Bonham is a great drummer. John Paul Jones is a master musician. But my question is: Will Jimmy [Page] be able to play the way we all remember, and can Robert [Plant] still sing those songs? I don't know the answer to that."

Keef Releases Solo Single Just In Time For The Holidays

From Reuters
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is reissuing his 1978 solo single "Run Rudolph Run" on iTunes just in time for the holidays, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The tune, popularized by Chuck Berry, will be sold on a two-for-one basis with Richards' more-recent rendition of Toots and the Maytals' "Pressure Drop."

The arrangement does not include the B-side of "Run Rudolph Run," Richards' cover of Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come."

Richards recorded "Run Rudolph Run" in 1976. The "Pressure Drop" redo dates from a session in 2003, when he contributed the track "Careless Ethiopians" to the Grammy-winning Toots and the Maytals album "True Love."

The tunes will go on sale on December 11, a week before Richards turns 64.

Guitar Jam Daily Partners with TrueFire

Guitar Jam Daily is pleased to announce a new video content partnership with video guitar instruction leader TrueFire Studios. Each day GJD and TrueFire will bring a new idea, riff, technique, chord lesson,  approaches to soloing, and more through our custom video player on the homepage. The player includes the video lesson, tab, power tab, jam tracks, and text information on each segment. This content rich module will give you - our readers - a deep resource to become a better guitar player!

Plug in and start Jamming!

Guitar Jam Daily is pleased to announce a new video content partnership with video guitar instruction leader TrueFire Studios. Each day GJD and TrueFire will bring a new idea, riff, technique, chord lesson,  approaches to soloing, and more through our custom video player on the homepage. The player includes the video lesson, tab, power tab, jam tracks, and text information on each segment. This content rich module will give you - our readers - a deep resource to become a better guitar player!

Plug in and start Jamming!