Choice Classic Rock

June2020

New Dion, Dylan, Young & More!

I have just added 14 newly released classic rock tracks into high rotation on the playlist featuring songs from icons like Dion, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Nine of the songs are from the following newly released albums:

Dion - Blues With Friends
Dion – Blues With Friends

Dion – Blues With Friends … Ably assisted by the likes of Van Morrison, John Hammond, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Bonamassa, Paul Simon, Samantha Fish and Brian Setzer – the 81 year old rock/pop/blues legend has delivered a sizzling album of blues. Highly recommended! Listen for the tracks Blues Comin’ On, Hymn To Him, What If I Told You and Song For Sam Cooke (Here In America). Read the review here.

Bob Dylan – Rough And Rowdy Ways … With his 39th album – the first one of all new original material since 2012 – Dylan takes us on a trip with “references and direct lines to 20th century cultural touchstones – from political and geographical talking points to life-long influences and his musical peers that helped shape the rock ‘n’ roll landscape in the ’60s.” Listen for the song Goodbye Jimmy Reed. Read the review here.

Neil Young – Homegrown … This album sat in the artist’s archives – unreleased – since 1975. It is the “unheard bridge” between two acoustic-based albums, the 1972 classic Harvest and 1978’s Comes a Time, but because of the personal nature of the songs – and the heartache he was going through at the time – he chose not to release it until now. It was worth the wait! Listen for the tracks Vacancy and White Line. Read the review here.

Champlin Williams Friestedt – CWF 2 … This band consists of former Chicago singer Bill Champlin, former Toto singer Joseph Williams, and Swedish guitarist/producer Peter Friestedt. They recorded their first album in 2015, an EP in 2018 – but this new album has delivered the AOR goods with a very Chicago/Toto sound. Listen for the songs Runaway Dancer and Love In the World. Read the review here.

New Singles

The other 5 songs are all recently released singles:

Kansas – Jets Overhead … this is the third single from the band’s upcoming album The Absence Of Presense, which is scheduled for release July 17th, 2020.

Elvis Costello – No Flag … this song is a return to the artist’s punk/new wave roots and finds him expressing “the communal disgust so many of his listeners feel about their government, be it the United States or the United Kingdom.” A keeper …

The Allman Betts Band – Magnolia Road … this track is the first single from the bands second album Bless Your Heart, which is due for release on August 28th, 2020.

Bragg & Hemsworth – Tall Stories On Short Street and New World (Has Begun) … Tim Bragg and Ross Hemsworth are two talented musicians who have teamed up to produce these excellent songs. Both tracks are from their upcoming album Tall Stories On Short Street – which is due for release on July 31st, 2020. Click here to read more about this project.

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New (Sorta) Styx

It’s kind of a Styx reunion for these social distancing times – as one current and one former member have released some new music – separately of course!

I have just added 9 newly released classic rock tracks into high rotation on the playlist. Four of the songs are from the following newly released albums:

Dennis DeYoung - 26 East: Volume 1
Dennis DeYoung – 26 East: Volume 1

Dennis DeYoung – 26 East: Volume 1 … The former Styx keyboardist/vocalist has released a new album that sounds very Styx-like. He sat down and wrote enough songs for two albums (hence the Volume 1 in the record title) – so we can look forward to a Volume 2 sometime! Listen for the tracks With All Due Respect and A Kingdom Ablaze. Read the review here.

FM – Synchronized … This is the 12th album from the UK institution that has been together for 36 years, and the band sounds as good as ever. Listen for the songs Superstar and Broken. Read the review here.

New Singles

The other 5 songs are all recently released singles:

Neil Finn (with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie) – Find Your Way Back Home … the three members of Fleetwood Mac got together to record this charity single – with all proceeds going to the Finn’s home country charity – Auckland City Mission (New Zealand).

Eric Clapton & B.B. King – Rollin’ And Tumblin’ … this song is a bonus track from the expanded re-release of the duo’s 2000 release – Ridin’ With The King, which is due for release on June 26th, 2020.

Yusef – Where Do The Childen Play … the man formerly known as Cat Stevens is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his breakthrough album Tea For the Tillerman – by recording a re-imagined version of the album – with the original producer Paul Samwell-Smith onboard to assist. Listen to this track for a preview of what’s to come when the album is released on September 18th, 2020.

Tommy Shaw – Going To California … the Styx guitarist/singer/songwriter could not sit still during this pandemic social distancing – so he recorded this version of the Led Zeppelin classic.

Alison Solo – Chiron … this is another song from the Canadian multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter. It can be found on her latest album, Plutonian, which is only available digitally right now. Click here to hear more.

Choice Classic Rock – classic rock radio like you’ve never heard it before!

… 100% Commercial Free – 100% of the Time …

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