Rolling Stones- Honky Tonk Women- London 3-14-71

Eras in music no more follow the calendar than Mother Nature does. Thus fifty years ago in mid-March 1971 the last live performance of the Sixties in effect may actually gone down when the Rolling Stones ended their brief Scottish/ English tour at London's Roundhouse with this final performance of "Honky Tonk Women".
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Cheap Trick- Essential- Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander

On a maximum scale of five stars, the 1977 debut by Cheap Trick  receives AllMusic.com's highest rating. And the even more melodic, better sounding  sophomore effort "In Color" in the same year earns 4 1/2 stars. Then Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos wrote and recorded the  masterpiece "Heaven Tonight" in May 1978, yet again scoring a critics' perfect five star rating. So in hindsight it would appear that recording the Rockford IL quartet's set while performing the strongest material from these three killer studio albums, in front of an adoring audience in one of the world's premiere venues, would be as obvious as a sumo wrestler in your shower stall.
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Rush- 2112: Early Best 45th Anniversary- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson

"2112"  by Rush was an amalgam of hard rock, progressive rock, science-fiction and Ayn Rand socio-economics right about the same time that The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Ian Dury and the Blockheads were singing "Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll". So things were about to get interesting in 1976. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush join me here In the Studio

Steve Earle- Guitar Town

"Guitar Town " Steve Earle shares here In the Studio for his #1-charting Country debut in March 1986: "I'm a straggler from what was going on in Austin and Nashville in the mid-70s. I had good teachers, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, B.W. Stevenson...when I first got to Nashville on any given night, you could go to Guy's house. And he'd have everybody, from the street level where I was to Mickey Newbury and Neil Young, with the guitar going around. So it was a good place to learn. Then, basically cocaine sort of created a caste system  and killed that real fast!"

Rush- 2112- Dallas 2012

In 2012 Rush projected exactly one hundred years into a most uncertain future with this performance of the "2112 Overture/ Temples of Syrinx" medley during what sadly turned out to be one of their last concerts there.
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Van Halen- 5150- Sammy Hagar, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, the late Eddie Van Halen

For the 35th anniversary, the late Eddie Van Halen's interview In the Studio is included with Sammy Hagar, brother Alex Van Halen, & Michael Anthony for the story of "5150".
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Doobie Brothers- Takin’ It to the Streets- Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, Michael McDonald

The fact that the Doobie Brothers reinvented themselves for their March 1976 album "Takin' It to the Streets"  is quite widely known, but the reasons for the musical shift, and the manner in which they made it work so successfully, is a fascinating back-story worthy of an HBO mini-series.. On the album's 45th anniversary, Tom Johnston, Pat Simmons, & Michael McDonald are all here In the Studio to recall how it really went down.

Van Halen- Best of Both Worlds- Dallas 12-91

The Van Halen free concert ( you read that right, FREE ) in the streets of downtown Dallas on the afternoon of December 4, 1991 included this performance of "The Best of Both Worlds".

Bryan Adams- Get Up !

Five years ago Bryan Adams released a strong album, "Get Up! "  Bryan was so happy to rekindle his famous songwriting partnership with Jim Vallance that he needed ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne to collaborate on Bryan's strongest new songs in years. Bryan Adams returned In the Studio exhorting us all to Get Up!
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Jethro Tull- Aqualung- Ian Anderson

Few albums from any time in the Rock Era continue  to satisfy quite so well as Jethro Tull's masterpiece "Aqualung". Ian Anderson smartly wrote songs for all seasons for a superb band, including the timeless rockers "Aqualung","Cross-Eyed Mary","Locomotive Breath," and "Hymn #43", but perfectly paced the album with tasty acoustic classics like "Wond'ring Aloud"and "Mother Goose". On "Aqualung" 's anniversary, Ian Anderson is my guest In the Studio.