Elvis Presley Birthday: King Of Rock 'N' Roll Would Be 79 Today

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Had he lived, King of Rock n' Roll would have been 79 today.

The incredible Elvis life story began when Elvis Aaron Presley was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953. 



Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager.

 

In 1954, Elvis began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture. 



He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges, his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.

 

His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.  

Wish you were still with us.

Article by Elvis.com

Ronnie Wood and Mick Taylor unite for a intimate show in NYC

photo by Katarina Benzova

Around 11 p.m. last night at New York's Cutting Room, Ronnie Wood closed his eyes and began playing a tasteful, descending blues intro before abruptly changing tempos. He instead kicked into Jimmy Reed's shuffle "Shame, Shame, Shame," throwing his arms high while delivering it in a grizzled howl before pointing to Mick Taylor a few feet away, who stoically delivered a searing solo on his Les Paul. "That was one of the first records I bought in high school!" Wood said afterward with a grin. "Not bad, is it?"

                      photo by Katarina Benzova

Wood and Taylor's show last night at the tiny venue was a loose blast as they played the blues they grew up on – the setlist included no Rolling Stones songs and mostly explored Mississippi electric blues pioneer Jimmy Reed. Months after the Stones took the final bow of their "50 and Counting" tour (which reunited Taylor with the band for the first time in decades), the duo have formed a new union, booking small gigs in London and New York with a band of pros including Al Kooper and drummer Simon Kirke. Fans paid up to $300 face value for seats at the mostly invite-only gig, which included everyone from Kinks guitarist Dave Davies to Mary Kate Olsen in the crowd.

                   photo by Katarina Benzova

While the pairing may seem surprising, the duo go way back: Wood was a huge fan of Taylor's in England in the Sixties. He would even fill in for Taylor when he was stricken by stage fright in his band the Gods. "He used to be too nervous even to go on, and he'd say 'Ronnie, play my bit for me," Wood recalled in According to the Rolling Stones. "Mick Taylor always underestimated his talent."  

 photo by Katarina Benzova

That dynamic was still evident last night, with Wood relishing the role of frontman – mugging in exaggerated poses while howling away on classics like the show opener, "I Ain't Got You," and "I'm That Man Down There" and "Big Boss Man." Taylor laid low before breaking into fiery solos – at one point in the night, he made a subtle reference to “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking" (the only Stones nod the entire night). They both harmonized on Reeds' "Bright Lights Big City," and traded raucous slide licks during an extended take on Reed's "Going to New York." The show recalled what those nights must have been like, or something you might see at a late night jam at Woody's on the Beach, Woods' ill-fated Miami nightclub – and proved the duo don't need the Stones touring machine t0 put on a mindblowing show.

photo by Katarina Benzova

Article by Patrick Doyle/Rolling Stone Magazine

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ronnie-wood-and-mick-taylor-unite-in-new-york-20131108#ixzz2kIXMhoN6 
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R.I.P Lou Reed

With the passing of Lou Reed, we have lost of one rock's great originators – someone who advanced rock'n'roll's approach to music, subject matter, and style. Without the four albums he made with the Velvet Underground alone – indeed, without their first two albums – the shape of rock would be markedly different.

Lou Reed, who pushed the boundaries of rock as both the leader of the Velvet Underground and a solo artist, has died at age 71, Rolling Stone reports. Reed's decades-spanning career was launched in the 1960s with the Velvet Underground, which played with Andy Warhol's performance troupe the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Hugely influential across the nascent New York punk scene and in the wider musical world, the band's albums — particularly their premiere The Velvet Underground & Nico — redefined the sound and style of rock music. After leaving the group in 1970, Reed began his acclaimed solo career, during which he would produce everything from avant-garde noise to melodic rock. The cause of death is not known, but the musician underwent an emergency liver transplant in April due to serious health problems.

aricle by The Verge

Shooting Alice in Chains at Uproar festival 2013

While I'm not shooting The Dead Daisies I sneak around and shoot other bands on the Uproar Festival;)
Here is few of Alice in Chains:

In recording studio with The Dead Daises

We took 3 days off the Rockstar UPROAR TOUR that I'm are currently on with The Dead Daisies and spending some time in Excello recording studio in Brooklyn, NY making some new music.
Here are few pics:

 Photography by Katarina Benzova

HAPPY B'DAY MICK JAGGER!!!

 

Mick Jagger 1977/photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot

Mick Jagger will celebrate his 70th birthday Friday, his ecstatic reception last month at the Glastonbury Festival still ringing in the ears, as just one of a generation of wrinkly rockers determined not to go quietly.

The Stones raised the roof at the British music festival on June 29 with a two-hour performance featuring hits from their 50-year back catalogue, including “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.

Still athletic thanks to a rigorous health and fitness regime, Jagger doesn’t have any problems belting out the numbers either.
Pensionable they may be — Jagger’s birthday will bring their combined age to 277 — but superannuated they are not.
The Glastonbury show was so popular one reviewer said a circus contortionist would have been hard pressed to get within 500 yards (metres) of the stage, and it garnered rave reviews as well as affectionately mocking headlines.
“Glastonbury’s night of the living dead”, said the Daily Mail newspaper, joking that while “Mick looked ready for more, Keith looked in need of a warm malt drink”.

Last year, Jagger and fellow pensioners Keith Richards — 70 later this year — Charlie Watts, 72, and Ronnie Wood, 66, also played to packed houses on their “50 and Counting” tour to mark the group’s 50th anniversary.
“I don’t see why there shouldn’t be a 60th anniversary,” said Richards at the time.
And the Stones — creaking hips and knees permitting — are far from alone.

Many of those who started off with them in the sixties are still performing — alongside musicians who grew up listening to their music and are young enough to be their grandchildren.
The Who, with Roger Daltrey, 69, and Pete Townshend, 68, still tour and last year closed the London Olympics with crowd pleasers Baba O’Riley and “My Generation”.
Earlier this year, David Bowie, 66, surprised the music world with a new album, “The Next Day”, his first in a decade.
His wife Iman hinted that a tour might be in the pipeline despite earlier denials.
Last year, Bob Dylan, 72, Leonard Cohen, 78, and Patti Smith, 66, also recorded new albums, dispelling any lingering sense that pop music is the exclusive territory of the young.
All three continue to criss-cross the world to appear on stage.
Brian Wilson, 71, last year reformed the Beach Boys for the group’s 50th anniversary and released an album, and Paul McCartney, also 71, continues to compose and perform to packed houses.

                       photo by Mark Seigler

A documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year saw forgotten 1970s folk musician Sixto Rodriguez rediscovered.
The “Sugar Man” of Detroit, 71, has since undertaken a sell-out world tour and also put in an appearance at Glastonbury.

But if artists are happy to carry on long beyond what many would have once considered their sell-by date, others wonder if such geriatric rock could stifle younger talents.

“We live in a pop age gone loco for retro and crazy for commemoration. Band re-formations and reunion tours, expanded reissues of classic albums and outtake-crammed box sets, remakes and sequels, tribute albums and mash-ups,” British writer Simon Reynolds said in his 2011 book “Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction to its Own Past”.
“But what happens when we run out of past? Are we heading toward a sort of culturalecological catastrophe where the archival stream of pop history has been exhausted?”

by Taboola/The Raw Story

Aerosmith and The Dead Daisies New Zealand and Aussie tour 2013

I'm back in Aussieeee and first time for me in New Zealand:) This time with The Dead Daisies as a support for Aerosmith:)

Super excited about this run. 

We have 4 shows :  24/04/13    Dunedin, NZ

                   28/04/13    Melbourne,AU

                   01/05/13    Brisbane, AU

                   04/05/13    Melbourne, AU

Whohooo..Let's rock it:)))

Soon will be posting pics of KISS, Motley Crue, ZZ Top from last tour so keep on checking up my blog even that it takes me a while to write it:)