The world is full of injustice. Oil companies are reaping record profits while the little people shell out $3.42 a gallon for gas. No-talent hacks like Simon Cowell and Paris Hilton are richer than God, and yet, the Pixies have to go on a reunion tour just to make the house payments. It's enough to make me want to drive my Geo Metro into a tree.

No doubt, these are vexing times. Along those lines, how is it that the cosmic cowboy Gram Parsons is not in the Country Music Hall of Fame? It's a travesty ... that's what it is. The man who basically invented alt.-country and has influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones and the Band to Wilco is not there. The man who was a key contributor to the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo, perhaps the first country-rock album, is on the outside looking in.

Perhaps it's the "rock" part of that equation that makes Nashville nervous. If that's the case, then what about Elvis or Johnny freakin' Cash?

You have the power to right this wrong. By going to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/531164998?ltl=1178745550, you can sign a petition and get this man the recognition he deserves.

1967 was ground-zero for just about everything it seems. Not only did Sgt. Pepper come out that summer, but there was also the Summer of Love, Monterey Pop, and the birth of Ten Years After.

The band, formed in 1967 in Nottinghamshire, England, included Leo Lyons, Ric Lee, Chick Churchill and Alvin Lee, and compiled an impressive resume in the years that followed. To celebrate the band's 40th anniversary (don't you feel old now?), a new DVD will be released and there will a tour, according to www.classicrockcentral.com.

A touring warhorse that's logged tons of miles on the road, Ten Years After is probably known most for its legendary performance of "I'm Going Home" at Woodstock in August 1969. The band also played career-defining sets at The Newport Jazz Festival, the Miami Pop Festival, the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival and the Toronto Peace Festival between 1968 and 1975. Ten Years After was also one of the first to sell out Madison Square Garden.

The band reached gold and platinum status with several albums for the Decca label before signing to Columbia Records for $1 million — which now would probably elicit yawns or laughter, like on "Austin Powers" when Dr. Evil holds the world hostage demanding a ransom of $1 million unless he his demands of $1 million are met. Ten Years After then released, in October of 1971, the A Space In Time album, which spawned the single, "I'd Love to Change the World." 

In 1975, Alvin Lee went solo and the group dissolved. Since then, aborted attempts to revive the group have resulted in Lee returning to his solo career. However, the other three founding members eventually reunited, working with hot-shot, 25-year-old guitarist Joe Gooch. The new lineup released Now, an album of new material, and a live album called Roadworks.

Show dates are below:

Ten Years After on Tour
 
Wed  07/11/07 New York, NY  B.B. King's Blues Club 
Thu  07/12/07 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
Fri  07/13/07   Ottawa, ON  Cisco Systems Ottawa  Bluesfest  
Sun  07/15/07   Milton, ON  Escarpment Blues Festival  
Tue  07/17/07   Ferndale, MI  Magic Bag  
Fri  07/20/07   Huntington, NY  Inter-Media Arts Center
Sat  07/21/07   Annapolis, MD  Rams Head On Stage

Tribute albums aren't exactly my cup of tea. The last homage to The Band being dreadful, I've just about given up on the concept altogether.

But, if you're into Jeff Beck (and really, who isn't? I mean, come on ... Yardbirds? The Jeff Beck Group?), there is a new one coming out that sounds a bit intriguing. It's called Freeway Jam to Beck and Back. Due out July 17, on Tone Center (4057), it brings together some heavy hitters from the world of blues, rock, and progressive jazz/fusion for this paean to a man (photo at right from JeffBeck.com) who, for all intents and purposes, has made the guitar his bitch over the years.

Among the contributors are respected guitarists Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Chris Duarte, Greg Howe, Warren Haynes, and Walter Trout. Something tells me they won't defile Beck's amazing catalog the way other tributes have.

Lest you believe that it'll be all guitar solos, with no backing instrumentation, let me tell you, that'd be one false assumption on your part. Playing drums on five of the tracks is Vinnie Colaiuta, with Simon Phillips doing the stick-work on the others. Stu Hamm is holding down the low end on the bass, and Mitchel Forman will be playing keyboards.

Let me know: Are there any tribute albums you think are the bomb, rather than flat-out "bombs"? Hit me back and let me know.

Track listing, hitting you where it hurts — in the wallet, that is:

"Freeway Jam" — Featuring Steve Morse
"Over Under Sideways Down" — Featuring John Scofield
"Beck's Bolero" — Featuring Eric Johnson
"Led Boots" — Featuring Adam Rogers
"El Becko" — Featuring Jeff Richman
"Diamond Dust" — Featuring Mike Stern
"The Pump" — Featuring Warren Haynes
"Behind The Veil" — Featuring Chris Duarte
"Blue Wind" — Featuring Greg Howe
"Brush with the Blues" — Walter Trout

'Tis the summer to bury the hatchet, make peace and get the band back together to make some cash.

This year has seen the reunions of Genesis, Dinosaur Jr., The Police ... even Van Halen at least thought about it. As it turns out, breaking up may be hard to do, but making up is really, really easy when there is money to be made. And the Smashing Pumpkins are going to make a boatload of it.

Their new album, Zeitgeist, is coming out July 10, and hopefully, it'll be a return to the Gish or Siamese Dream Pumpkins, and not the horrible Machina/The Machines of God version. If for some reason you've never listened to Siamese Dream or Gish — first, what's wrong with you? — do yourself a favor and buy both. As the title indicates, Siamese Dream is dreamy, melodic shoegazer music, with heavy guitar riffs and atmospheres you can get lost in. For my money, it's one of the top 3 albums of the '90s.

If nothing else, it'll have cool art work. Obey Giant graphic designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey makes a bold political statement, depicting a drowning Statue of Liberty in bold red, black and white. In the background is a sun. Depending on your perspective, it is either setting or rising.

“Like a great artist can do, Shepard had summed up very simply a lot of complex themes,” says the Great Pumpkin, Billy Corgan, in a press release. “He also used the type font from our very first single, and I asked him about it and he had no idea. He was just on point.”
 
Zeitgeist is the Pumpkins' sixth album and again, Corgan, ever the control freak, is again shouldering most of the work. This time around, there is no James Iha or D'arcy to get in the way, although drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is back in the fold. He even gets producer credit. Maybe this is a kinder, less controlling Billy Corgan.

Anyhow, Zeitgeist's first single, "Tarantula," is due out May 22.
 
Of the illustration's not-so-subtle political tone, Fairey says, "The U.S. is the dominant global force. When things are going wrong in the U.S. they are probably going wrong around the world. I think this images conveys both the U.S. situation and its larger global implications.
 
“I use red frequently because it is a visually powerful, emotionally potent color. Red gets people's attention. In this case there is the added possibility that the red liquid could be blood, giving it an even more sinister sense of foreboding.  Red helps people to realize immediately that something is wrong and the image is not a soothing postcard.”

To get a gander at the album art, go to www.smashingpumpkins.com and www.myspace.com/smashingpumpkins. Check out the tour dates there as well.

What better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love than with a little bit of free-market commerce. Hey, if Ben and Jerry can make capitalism work for them, why can't Time Life?

While the iron is definitely hot, Time Life will release, on June 19, a 40-song double CD with songs from that summer that defined a generation and its counterculture titled Summer of Love: Hits of 1967 (Time Life) and, not surprisingly, it gives off an odor of patchouli. Well, that last bit is not true, but really, don't you think it should?

Comprised of "hippie anthems, stoner faves, and classic AM and FM hits," according to the PR people promoting the box set, it features tracks like The Byrds' "So You Want to be a Rock 'N' Roll Star," Cream's "I Feel Free," and Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints." Whether it digs a little deeper back into those acts' Bible-thick catalogs remains to be seen.

While all those tracks probably already have a place in your iPod, the real prize from this collection might just be the My Generation DVD. What promises to be an in-depth study of how the hippie movement came to flower-power, the DVD boasts rare footage of Bay Area artists doing their thing during the Summer of Love.

There's Janis Joplin jamming with Big Brother and The Holding Company on "Ball and Chain" and a jam session bringing together the prodigious talents of Santana (Goldmine's May 25 cover), the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane. Performance footage from Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Rolling Stones and The Who is included.

Keep an eye on www.timelife.com for more information and do stay tuned for Goldmine's Summer of Love 40th Anniversary issue, coming out this summer. How's that for kismet?

Memories: Anybody out there old enough to remember the Summer of Love? If so, send some of them my way. Who knows? They just might make into Goldmine.

The biggest name in reggae is Bob Marley. What's the second biggest? Why, his backing band, of course.

News arrived this week from the Wailers' camp (photo at right courtesy of www.wailers.com) that the reggae legends, who've sold an astounding 250 million records worldwide, are heading back into the studio to record a new album, destined for a fall release. And that's not all. They are also heading back out on the road, with a new member in tow. His name is Yvad, and from his press clippings, you'd think he's the second coming of Marley himself. Of Jamaican descent, Yvad is a young Rastafarian singer-songwriter inspired by — who else — Bob Marley.

Yvad joins a lineup that includes original members Aston "Family Man" Barrett, considered by many as the best bass player in reggae, and Al Anderson, whose talents have graced recordings by Ben Harper, James Brown, Marley, Peter Tosh and Lauryn Hill.

Visit www.wailers.com to get the lowdown on all things Wailers, and if you dig reggae and Jamaican music in general, visit www.heartbeatreggae.com. Featured in Goldmine's May 25 indie label issue, the site offers a treasure trove of reissued music from some of the best acts in the island's history. Go to http://www.goldminemag.com/Default.aspx?tabid=825&articleid=5909&articlemid=
4972#4972Articles to read about Heartbeat.

Let me know what you think: Who are some of your favorite reggae artists and why? Black Uhuru always did it for me. I had the pleasure of seeing them in college in the basement of the Eagles Club in Milwaukee and, not only was the band smooth and tight, it proved that Michael Rose is probably the best pure singer the genre has ever produced. There, I said it. Prove me wrong.

Pass the duchy to the left hand side and go see 'em. Remaining tour dates listed below.

5/16/07 - Curitiba Master Hall - Curitiba, Brazil - TBA
5/18/07 - Citybank Hall - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - TBA
5/19/07 - Credicard Hall - Sao Paulo, Brazil - TBA
5/24/07 - The Music Mill - Indianapolis, Ind. -9:30PM
5/25/07 - Summer Camp 2007 - Chillicothe, Ill. - 3:00PM
5/26/07 - Hookahville - Thornville, Ohio - 3:00PM
5/27/07 - Jam on the River - Philadelphia, Pa. - TBA
6/14/07 - San Diego County Fair - Del Mar, Calif. - 7:30PM
6/15/07 - House of Blues - West Hollywood, Calif. - 10:00PM
6/16/07 - Reggae in the Desert - Las Vegas, Nev. - 8:00PM
6/19/07 - Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre - Vail, Colo. - 6:30PM
6/20/07 - Steamboat Summer Concerts - Steamboat Springs, Colo. - 7:00PM
6/23/07 - Tulalip Tribes Amphitheatre - Tulalip, Wash. - 8:30PM
6/24/07 - Rialto Theatre Broadway Center for Perf. Arts - Tacoma, Wash. - 8:30PM
6/26/07 - Music on the Half Shell - Roseburg, Ore. - 7:45PM
6/27/07 - Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre - Portland, Ore. - 7:45PM
6/28/07 - Ashland Armory - Ashland, Ore. - 9:00PM
6/29/07 - Arcata Community Center - Arcata, Calif. - 9:30PM
6/30/07 - Marin County Fair - San Rafael, Calif. - 7:30PM
7/2/07 - Summerfest - Milwaukee, Wis. - 10:00PM
7/4/07 - Muskegeon Summer Celebration - Muskegeon, Mich. - 8:00PM
7/5/07 - Comerica CityFest - Detroit, Mich. - 5:30PM
7/9/07 -  Plaza De Los Fueros, Pamplona, Spain
7/10/07 - Heineken Hall, Madrid, Spain
7/11/07 - Bodrum Festival, Turkey
7/13/07 - Bournemouth Opera House, Bournemouth, UK
7/14/07 - National Trust's Lanhydorck Concert, Cornwall, UK
7/20/07 - Malta Jazz Festival, Malta
8/2/07 - Music in the Zoo - Apply Valley, Mich. - 9:00PM
8/3/07 - Summer Alive Concert Series - SImon Estes Amphitheater - Des Moines, Iowa - 8:30PM
8/4/07 - Camp Zoe - Salem, Mo. - TBA
8/5/07 - Lollapalooza 2007 - Chicago, Ill. - 5:00PM
8/10/07 - Innsbrook Pavilion - Glen Allen, VA - 8:00PM
8/11/07 - Loudoun Summer Music Fest - Loudon County, VA - 7:30PM
8/12/07 - Gathering of the Vibes - Bridgeport, CT - 3:30PM
9/11/07 - Stephen C. O'Connell - Gainesville, FL - 7:00PM
9/12/07 - Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, FL - 7:00PM
9/14/07 - 9/15/07 Sound Advice Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL
 

Never one to go against the family, at least in any mob-related way, Gregg Allman is breaking free of his Allman Brothers Band for an abbreviated solo tour.

Consisting of 13 shows, the tour will take Allman to Italy and Poland for the first time ever. Seven solo U.S. dates have also been confirmed.

In "Midnight Rider" fashion, Allman will saddle up with a group of hand-picked musicians. 

"It's different with my own band," says Gregg, whose band includes Bruce Katz on keyboards, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Steve Potts on drums, Mark McGee on guitar, Jay Collins on saxophone and percussionist Floyd Miles. "With the Allmans, it's a democracy and fans expect the songs to be arranged a certain way. But with me, I'm free to pick up an acoustic and do what I want. We switch things up quite a bit."

Allman is no stranger to the road, but that road does stop at the ocean. And though he and the Allman Brothers Band, formed in 1969, have played overseas numerous times, they've never played Italy or Poland.

"We never got there," Gregg says. "Always meant to, but it just never happened."

For those wanting the full Allman Brothers experience, don't fret. Gregg, co-founder of the band and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, recently did shows at the Beale Street festival in Memphis on May 4 and the New Orleans' Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 5. They also did a marathon 15 shows at the Beacon Theatre during the group's annual New York City residency. The group also played in April at the second annual Wanee Festival in Florida, hosted by the group.

The Allman Brothers Band is going out on tour this summer, starting in late July.
Tour dates are listed below. For more information, go to <http://www.greggallman.com/>  or www.allmanbrothersband.com <http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/> .

Friday, May 25         Lincoln City, Ore.        Chinook Winds
Saturday, May 26     Lincoln City, Ore.        Chinook Winds
Sunday, June 3        San Diego, Calif.        Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay
Monday, June 4        Tucson, Ariz.            Rialto Theatre
Wednesday, June 6    Layton, Utah            Kenley Centennial Park
Friday, June 8        Lake Tahoe, Nev.    Harrah's
Saturday, June 9        Piercy, Calif.            Redwood Run
Sunday, June 10        Medford, Ore.            Britt Pavilion
Friday, July 13        Milan, Italy            Arena Civica
Saturday, July 14        Pistia, Italy            Pistoia Blues Festival
Sunday, July 15        Rome, Italy            Stadio Della Pallacorda
Tuesday, July 17        London, England        Stodala Club
Thursday, July 19        London, England        Shepard's Hall

That old theory about "too many cooks in the kitchen" could apply to Motown Remixed Vol. 2. An interesting experiment in theory, this new release pits top studio musicians operating in contemporary Latin music against some of the biggest hits ever produced by Motown in a cross-pollinating, genre mash-up that falls flat on its face more than it succeeds. Talk about your spoiled broth.

Patterned after 2005's Motown Remixed project, which gave Motown classics an electronic, house-music makeover, Motown Remixed Vol. 2 lets producers, DJs and musicians have at it, with decidedly mixed results.

Jr. Walker & The All Stars' "Shotgun," a powerhouse of grind-it-out, gutsy R&B, receives a sunny, technicolor house treatment from Venezuelan synth-pop outfit Los Amigos Invisibles — with help from DJ Afro — and Martha & The Vandellas' "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" gets chopped up and slowed in the David Elizondo mix. Lost is the fluidity and flow of the originals, with Los Amigos Invisibles' humid version of "Shotgun" drawing distracting squiggles all over the thrusting grooves of Jr. Walker And The All Star, but offering little else. Even more disappointing is Elizondo's tepid reworking of "Heat Wave," which blunts the ebullient joy of the group vocals that made the song such a delight. And in the end, maybe welding Latin rhythms with Motown soul isn't the greatest idea. Here, at least, they mix like oil and water, neither genre feeling totally comfortable with the other.

Elizondo, formerly of Univsion, somewhat redeems himself by fleshing out The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" with cool synth washes and minimalist Latin beats that make the original's funk sound fuller, and somehow, even fatter; however, there is an air of artificiality about it that kills the vibe, and the beats feel tacked on and listless.

Reggaeton hot-shit producer SPK adds up-tempo, bossa nova beats to the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back," but hardly anything more. This isn't a full-on remix; it's just a studio wizard with too much time on his hand. It stands in sharp contrast to the bewildering Reggaeton mix of high-stepping piano, woofer-blowing electronic beats and hot accordion ooze spread all over Diana Ross' "The Boss." The original would be unrecognizable were it not for Ross, and what comes out is a confused, jumbled mess. Elsewhere, the Miami Mix of the Jackson 5's "Dancing Machine" is immersed in tropical horns and Latin piano to the point of redundancy; it sounds like a horrible Miami Sound Machine outtake.

But then there is the Randy Cantor mix of "I Can't Get Next To You." Maintaining the soul of the original, Cantor surrounds the original vocals with a dizzying array of Latin beats, party sounds and energetic piano. Following Cantor's remix is the Fun Machine Mix of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," a techno wonderland of echoing vocals, big beats, deft sampling and chill grooves that makes you believe remixing is a noble art form.

Unlike The Beatles' Love remix album that came out a while back, Motown Remixed Volume 2 isn't a coherent, cohesive statement of purpose, and it seems to bring out the worst in almost every artist involved with the project. That's what happens when you have a whole bunch of sonic scientists in the lab working on the same problem — that is, how to blend in Latin influences without scarring the originals. Though all the pieces do seem like sincere homages to Motown's glorious past, the execution is messy. Motown fans are probably going to label these experiments as heresy. That was the contention of some who listened to Love. To me, there are no sacred cows. Everything is up for reinterpretation in this age, and when remixes can add new life to the originals, I'm all for it. That's not always the case with Motown Remixed Volume 2, but I'm not ready to bash the intent of the album just yet.

Let me know what you think. Is it wrong to remix versions of original classics from legendary artists that made Motown the hit-producing factory it was? Should modern-day bands, or even skilled producers like George Martin, leave the works of The Beatles alone?

Boats and bling are two things no rap video should ever be without, and now, dance-punk sensations LCD Soundsystem can at least travel the high seas in style with its brand-new Yacht.

Actually, Yacht is the pseudonym for the oddball electro-pop, bedroom recording project of one Jona Bechtolt (pictured at right in a photo by Sarah Meadows), who scored the opening slot for James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem on its upcoming tour. A uniquely weird, but cheery cocktail of blips and buzzes, and other assorted electronic sounds, Yacht's music is not exactly my cup of tea, but head on over to the www.teamyacht.com to judge for yourself.

The tour launched April 30 in San Francisco. Yacht will play all 12 of LCD Soundsystem's announced shows, except the May 11 and 12 gigs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.

If you're in Portland, Ore., for Cinco de Mayo — and really, who wouldn't want to be in Portland on that festive day? — check out the CD release "YACHT on a Yacht" two-part event. For details, visit www.teamyacht.com. When the LCD tour is over, Yacht will go his own way and continue to tour on his own, before joining up with Tussle and later Architecture in Helsinki.

Yacht tour dates are listed below:

Yacht
April 30 - San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine*
May 2 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox*
May 3 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore*
May 5 - Portland, OR 2 Part CD Release YACHT on a yacht party!
May 6 - Chicago, IL @ Metro*
May 7 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater*
May 8 - Toronto, ONT @ Phoenix Concert Theater*
May 9 - Montreal, QC @ Spectrum de Montreal*
May 11 - Boston, MA @ Avalon*
May 12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Studio B*
May 13 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
May 14 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall*
May 15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
May 16 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
May 17 - Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Saloon
May 18 - St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
May 19 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory
May 20 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
May 21 - Houston, TX @ Proletariat
May 22 - Austin, TX @ Emo’s ^
May 24 - Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts ^
May 25 - San Diego, CA @ The Che
May 26 - Upland, CA @ Baldy Brewery
May 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ^
May 28 - Davis, CA @ Delta of Venus ^
May 31 - Olympia, WA @ Manium Warehouse ^
June 02 - Portland, OR @ Holocene ^
June 13 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s #
June 14 - Vancouver, BC @ Richards on Richards #
June 15 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom #
June 16 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club #
June 18 - Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse #
June 19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre #

* = w/ LCD Soundsystem
# = w/ Architecture in Helsinki
^ = w/ Tussle