ZZ TOP- Rio Grande Mud 50th Anniversary- Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard

Fiftieth anniversary of the all-important transitional second ZZ Top album, Rio Grande Mud, will focus on the all-around improvements in recording quality and songwriting reflected in such perennials as "Francene", "Just Got Paid", "Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell", and the introduction of "the squank" to guitar vernacular on "KoKo Blue". Squankmaster Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard, and the dearly missed Dusty Hill tell the colorful tales of the earliest days of ZZ Top here In the Studio for  Rio Grande Mud's five decade pit stop.

Aimee Mann- Put Me on Top- Ft Worth 4-92

Aimee Mann, almost unplugged, performs "Put Me on Top" from her solo debut "Whatever" atop (literally) Ft.Worth club Caravan of Dreams overlooking Sundance Square in April 1992 .-Redbeard

Scorpions- Blackout 40th Anniversary- Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schenker

It is the fortieth anniversary of Blackout, the March 1982 big breakthrough in the US for the irrepressible Scorpions. Over the decades I've had countless famous musicians claim that rock & roll had become their life ,but only John Kay of Steppenwolf and the members of The Scorpions knew that playing rock music could COST them their lives...

John Mellencamp- Seventh Son- Chess Studio, Chicago 5-’89

John Mellencamp and his wonderfully talented band left his garage in Central Indiana back in early May 1989 and headed north by northwest to  legendary Chicago Chess Studio and cut this live version of the Willie Dixon song made famous by Johnny…
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Joe Cocker- Heart and Soul

No less than four of Joe Cocker's many albums have significant anniversaries: "Joe Cocker (1972)","Sheffield Steel"('82),"Unchain My Heart"('87), & "Night Calls" in 1992...By way of a "best of" these, here is my 2004 interview with the late Joe Cocker at the time of his excellent "Heart and Soul" release.

Jo Jo Gunne 50th Anniversary- Jay Ferguson

When artist manager-turned-media mogul David Geffen started his first Los Angeles-based record label Asylum Records, his first signing was Jackson Browne and his third deal was with the Eagles. Who was Geffen's second signing? Hometown heroes Jo Jo Gunne. marking the golden anniversary of that first ( and in songwriting, their best ) 1972 album Jo Jo Gunne, singer/songwrite/pianist Jay Ferguson reveals all kinds of influences when he told me, "If Sly and the Family Stone and Little Feat had a love child, it would have been Jo Jo Gunne!" Here In the Studio Jay tells the innocent tale of "Run Run Run","Shake That Fat","Babylon"," 99 Days","Barstow Blue Eyes", and"Take It Easy".

John Mellencamp- Jack and Diane 12-91 garage

Just a few days prior to Christmas 1991, John Mellencamp was rehearsing his band in his garage, literally, in the snow-covered hills of Central Indiana, in preparation for their upcoming 1992 tour. I was invited to interview him and record the band in rehearsal , thus this performance of "Jack and Diane" is absolutely live, no overdubs. In memory of accordion/keyboard player John Cascella.-Redbeard
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Whitesnake’87- 35th Anniversary- David Coverdale

For the thirty-fifth anniversary of one of the best-selling hard rock albums in history, Whitesnake ’87 , here are some of the questions we posed to Whitesnake king cobra David Coverdale.

Bryan Adams- Touch the Hand- Vancouver 3-92

Backtrack with Bryan Adams and his band to rehearsal March 1992 at Little Mountain Sound studio in Vancouver B.C. for their In the Studio performance of "Touch the Hand", absolutely live.

Bryan Adams- So Far So Good/ So Happy It Hurts

"So Happy It Hurts" is the Canadian rocker's fifteenth (!) studio album, and he's not even old enough to get the Early Bird Special down at Denny's. Adams became a star way back in late 1984 with "Reckless", one of the Eighties' biggest sellers, then in 1991 absolutely crushed it with "Waking Up the Neighbours", an all-time biggest selling album in history. Bryan Adams' seventh studio album, "18 'Til I Die" , was a #1 seller in the UK and Top Five sales internationally. But when  "18 'Til I Die" came out in June 1996, US rock radio programmers decided, in spite of the music actually on the album to the contrary, to brand Bryan Adams a love song balladeer, not rock enough, not alternative enough, not cool enough. Adams finally addresses the issue with tongue firmly in cheek on the song "Kick Ass" from "So Happy It Hurts" with the help of the brilliant British pillar of Python humor, John Cleese, who has been skewering pompous pundits for half a century. Also listen to the infectious "Never Gonna Rain Again" which could be Bryan Adams' next big hit.