NEW BOOK ON MICK JAGGER/KEITH RICHARDS

Just when you though you knew all there was to know about the Rolling Stones, a new Mick Jagger biography reveals details of his love life and his complex relationship with band mate Keith Richards.

Publisher Ecco, a Harper Collins imprint, describes the bio, simply titled Mick Jagger, as "The real story of how a shy economics student became a modern Antichrist...of the beautiful women from Chrissie Shrimpton to Jerry Hall, whom he has bedded but not always dominated...of the enduring but ever-fraught partnership with his "Glimmer Twin," Keith Richards. Mick Jagger, above all, explores the keen and calculating intelligence that has kept the Stones on their plinth as 'the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band' for half a century." You can also enjoy a generous preview of the book at the publisher's website.

Author Phillip Norman has written three previous biographies of the Stones, as well as what the New York Times calls the definitive book about the Beatles: Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles.

Mick Jagger will be available October 2.

HEY ST JUDE CAMPAIGN

 Famous faces including Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Jordin Sparks, Betty White and Jon Hamm are featured in the clip crooning to the Beatles’ hit “Hey Jude.”

Since its founding in 1962, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has helped save countless lives affected by catastrophic juvenile diseases — and they’re marking their 50th anniversary by deepening their commitment to the cause with a new donation campaign, dubbed ‘Hey St. Jude.’

Promoted with a heartwarming video set to the strains of the Beatles classic ‘Hey Jude,’ the campaign — which has its own Twitter hashtag, #heystjude — seeks to drum up donations for the hospital by offering a #heystjude t-shirt to anyone who contributes $35 or more.

You can see the shirt on Betty White in the still from the video at the top of this post — as well as on a dizzying array of celebrities who turned out to sing ‘Hey Jude’ in the clip, including Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Robin Williams, and Jennifer Aniston. No matter how many times you’ve listened to the song, you’ve never heard it like this.

Dedicated to the belief that “no child should die in the dawn of life,” the hospital has consistently provided treatment to patients regardless of “race, religion or a family’s ability to pay,” as well as dedicating a substantial portion of its funds to medical research. Visit the Hey St. Jude website for more information.

EARLY ROLLING STONES FILM: CROSSFIRE HURRICANE

The Rolling Stones, the rock 'n' roll icons who have defined creativity, daring and durability, are to be chronicled in a kaleidoscopic new film that documents the key periods of their career and their incredible adventures.

The film will be broadcast live by satellite to over 250 cinemas across Europe, from the London Film Festival Premiere on Thursday 18 October and include live coverage from the red carpet before the film screening begins.

For more information and to book tickets, go here:

'Crossfire Hurricane', directed by Brett Morgen, provides a remarkable new perspective on the Stones' unparalleled journey from blues-obsessed teenagers in the early 60's to rock royalty. It's all here in panoramic candour, from the Marquee Club to Hyde Park, from Altamont to 'Exile, from club gigs to stadium extravaganzas.

With never-before-seen footage and fresh insights from the band themselves, the film will delight, shock and amaze longtime devotees, as well as another generation of fans, with its uniquely immersive style and tone. 'Crossfire Hurricane' places the viewer right on the frontline of the band's most legendary escapades.

Taking its title from a lyric in 'Jumping Jack Flash', 'Crossfire Hurricane' gives the audience an intimate insight, for the first time, into exactly what it's like to be part of the Rolling Stones, as they overcame denunciation, drugs, dissensions and death to become the definitive survivors. It's the backstage pass to outdo them all.

The odyssey includes film from the Stones' initial road trips and first controversies as they became the anti-Beatles, the group despised by authority because they connected and communicated with their own generation as no one ever had. "When we got together," says Wyman, "something magical happened, and no one could ever copy that."

From the outset of the film, viewers know they're in for a white-knuckle ride. No sooner had the early Stones line-up first played live under that name in the summer of 1962 than they were bigger than the venues that tried to hold them. Wyman remembers how the crowds were soon inspiring manic behaviour, especially among screaming girls, whose uncontrollable excitement was obvious as stardom beckoned for the band already earmarked as the bad guys with press headlines -- 'Would you let your daughter marry a Rolling Stone?

Riots and the chaos of early tours are graphically depicted, as is the birth of the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership. The many dramas they encountered are also fully addressed, including the Redlands drug bust, the descent of Brian Jones into what Richards calls "bye-bye land," and the terror and disillusionment of 1969's Altamont Festival.

The film illustrates the Stones' evolution from being, as Mick vividly describes it, "the band everybody hated to the band everybody loves": through the hedonistic 1970s and Keith's turning-point bust in Canada to the spectacular touring phenomenon we know today. Richards also reveals the song that he believes defines the "essence" of his writing relationship with Jagger more than any other.

Asked in a formative interview in the film what it is that sets them apart from other groups, Jagger says with quiet understatement: "A chemical reaction seems to have happened." Keith Richards added, "You can't really stop the Rolling Stones, you know when that sort of avalanche is facing you, you just get out of the way". It's been happening ever since, and the life and times of the Rolling Stones have never been as electrifyingly portrayed as they are in 'Crossfire Hurricane.'

Worldwide distributors of 'Crossfire Hurricane' are Eagle Rock Entertainment in London, with Tremelo Productions and Milkwood Films as the production companies.

As befits the first rock band to reach the 50-year milestone with their global stature now greater than ever, the film combines extensive historical footage, much of it widely unseen, with contemporary commentaries by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and former Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. Period interviews, extensive live performance material and news archive give the production a truly kinetic aura and no-holds-barred approach. 'Crossfire Hurricane' has taken over a year to make and produce with the full cooperation of The Rolling Stones and will be released in November.

RIP ANDY WILLIAMS

By Stephen M. Silverman
09/26/2012

Andy Williams, whose corn-fed good looks, easygoing charm and smooth rendition of "Moon River" propelled him to the heights of music stardom in the early '60s, died Tuesday at his home in Branson, Mo., following a battle with bladder cancer, his family announced.

He was 84, and 2012 had marked his 75th year in showbiz. Williams is survived by his wife Debbie and his three children, Robert, Noelle and Christian.

With 17 gold and three platinum records to his name, Williams enjoyed his golden years playing golf and dividing his time between La Quinta, Calif., and Branson, where he appeared at his Andy Williams Moon River Theater since 1992.

It was on the stage of that theater, in November 2011, Williams announced he had bladder cancer. At the time, he assured fans the disease was no longer a death sentence and that he had every intention of being a survivor.

Born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of a railroad worker, Howard Andrew WIlliams sang in his family's church choir with older siblings Bob, Dick and Don. In the late '30s, the boys built up a name for themselves regionally on Midwestern radio stations as the Williams Brothers quartet.

After the war, in 1947, they joined entertainer Kay Thompson in her innovative and sophisticated nightclub act. In his 2009 memoir Moon River and Me, Williams admitted he had a long affair with Thompson, who had been a legendary vocal coach at MGM (she taught Judy Garland and Lena Horne to sing for the screen) and was 18 years the senior of her handsome young protégé.

In 1952, when the brothers' act broke up, Andy launched his solo career, only to find himself broke and without bookings. Giving himself one last shot, he wisely switched his repertoire from clever Noël Coward ditties to the latest pop hits, and his New York club appearances soon included singing spots on the Tonight show (which was in Manhattan at the time), then regular TV shots and a Columbia Records contract.

By the early '60s he had an easy-listening hit under his belt, "Can't Get Used to Losing You," though it was his romantic take on the Best Song Oscar winner from 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's, "Moon River," that landed him on the map – and kept him there.

The smash hit recording led to NBC's 1962 launch of The Andy Williams Show, which remained on the air until 1971 and then returned as an annual Christmas special. It was on the variety weekly program in 1963 that Williams introduced to America a group of young singing siblings from Utah, The Osmond Brothers.

Despite his own clean-cut good looks – the Williams signature look was a turtleneck under a brightly colored pullover sweater – scandal did touch Williams's life. In the mid-1970s, his ex-wife, French dancer Claudine Longet, went on trial in Aspen for the fatal shooting of her lover, international skiing star Vladimir ("Spider") Sabich.

In the end, Longet, who claimed the shooting was an accident, was found guilty of misdemeanor criminal negligence and received only a 30-day sentence, which she served on and off at her convenience. In his 2009 memoir, Williams, who during the trial had accompanied his ex-wife to the courtroom on a daily basis, continued to defend her innocence.

Longet and Williams were married from 1961 to 1975 and had three children together: Noelle, Christian, and Robert. They survive him, as does his second wife (since 1991), Debbie Williams.

ROD STEWART 2013 LAS VEGAS TOUR DATES

Rod Stewart has lined up the first set of 2013 dates for his Las Vegas show Rod Stewart: The Hits.

Stewart will appear at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on January 23, 26, 27 and 30, and February 1,2, 6, 8 and 9. Tickets go on sale this Friday, September 28 at 10 a.m. Las Vegas time.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's final Caesars Palace show for 2012 will be on October 7, but as previously reported, he will be a special guest at Cee Lo Green's benefit show, Cee Lo and Friends, at Planet Hollywood in Vegas on the 10th. Rod and Cee Lo appear on each others' Christmas albums, which are both due out the same day: October 30.

Larry Marano/Getty Images

ELVIS, FRANK, DEAN, CASINO AND OLD LAS VEGAS....

July 31, 1969 Elvis played Las Vegas and I like this gig the most as he hadn't started wearing those crazy white jumpsuits. Sorry folks but I have never liked those suits on E... Liked him best in Black Leather or in this black mohair suit in the photo above...

The coolest signs ever made were hanging on the Las Vegas strip in 1950's-1960's..sadly they are gone now..

The film Casino is one of my very favorite Martin Scorsese films.  I did a story awhile back on the real people/players of that film.  Here is a link to it.. Casino the True Players

Then I found a very cool old time Las Vegas photographs and 2 cool slide shows... The one below is colorful and quite historic...

This slide show is incredibly cool check the entire story.... Las Vegas Slide Show

The Rat Pack is my favorite of all Las Vegas entertainers...I did a story I love on Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.. ck that one out too if you are a huge fan like I am..

THE DEATH OF JOHN BONHAM 9-25-1980

On Sept. 25, 1980, at 32 years of age, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham passed away, inadvertently bringing an end to one of rock’s greatest bands.

The group’s final studio effort ‘In Through The Out Door’ had been released in Sept. 1979 after many delays. In May 1980, the group performed what would be their last European tour. That September, the band was in rehearsals at guitarist Jimmy Page’s house in advance of an American tour.

Bonham reportedly began drinking early in the day, continuing to consume copious amounts of alcohol well into the evening. Not long after the group’s rehearsals had wrapped up for the night, Bonham passed out in a drunken state and would never wake up.

In the weeks following Bonham’s untimely death, London newspaper The Guardian reported that Bonham had consumed “about 40 measures of vodka in 12 hours.” At the inquest of Bonham’s death, his assistant Rex King told the authorities how he and Page’s assistant Albert Hobbs had put Bonham to bed that evening.

On the morning of Sept. 25, Led Zeppelin’s road manager Ben Lefevre attempted to stir Bonham but noticed that something was indeed wrong with the drummer. After unsuccessfully searching for a pulse, Lefevre called an ambulance. A sample taken from Bonham’s bladder showed an alcohol level of 276 milligrams per hundered millilitres. Bonhams’s death was ruled accidental after it was determined that he died after inhaling his vomit.

Pathologist Dr. Edmund Hemstead reportedly said, ”This indicated he inhaled the vomit but didn’t die immediately as the result of that, and that he died some hours later due to the shocked state on inhaling vomit, during which time the alcohol in his blood would have broken down.”

Led Zeppelin issued a brief statement declaring they would not continue as a band without their departed drummer, and apart from a handful of charity shows they have kept their word. The most recent of these events, a full-length 2007 concert at London’s O2 arena, is headed for November 2012 release as the live album ‘Celebration Day.’