Chris Willman-Senior: Last News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticTaylor Swift has gone to Carolina in her mind in her new single, which was released at midnight Thursday night — the first newly written original song she’s put out since the “Evermore” album in late 2020. But things are more brooding for her in that state of mind than they were for James Taylor.“Carolina” is the end-credits theme for the film “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which doesn’t reach theaters for another three weeks — July 15, to be exact — and the song provides a foretaste of the possibly jolting mood of the climax, where she and the movie’s protagonist are definitely not feeling 22.As much as it’s a direct outgrowth of Swift loving the source novel, fans may feel the song is a throwback … all the way back to the “Folklore”/”Evermore” era of two years ago, with those albums’ primary producer, Aaron Dessner, back on board for a tune lightly augmented with the Americana-friendly elements of mandolin and fiddle. Swift provided more insight into the song in an Instagram post.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAt a recent intimate listening session for a new Bob Dylan record, there was a last-minute mention from someone in the control room of L.A.’s Village Studios that attendees should have their phones off. It probably went without saying, but producer T Bone Burnett added a note of incidental gravity: “Yeah, if this gets out,” he laughed, “my life will be over.”You might hear that kind of hyperbole about not letting leaks get out at other listening sessions for new recordings, but it had a little more weight at this one.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticTaylor Swift will release her new song, “Carolina,” a theme for the film “Where the Crawdads Sings,” tonight, she revealed on her social media this morning.The song arrives three weeks in advance of the release of “Where the Crawdads Sing,” due in theaters July 15.The coming drop was revealed in an image on the artist’s Instagram Story. She didn’t include any additional text about the tune, although it’s likely she would have more to say when the song arrives tonight.Hardcore fans already had a pretty good idea the tune would be arriving tonight.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticA funny thing happened at Bob Dylan’s concert at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach: It got dark… really dark. But only on stage; out in the auditorium, the house lights stayed up, dimmed just a little, for the whole show.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe Chicks have postponed three more tour dates to give singer Natalie Maines “vocal rest” after she stopped a concert a half-hour in Sunday night in Indianapolis.“As a result of strict doctor’s orders for vocal rest, the Chicks are forced to postpone the following shows,” the band announced on social media, listing the cities of Clarkston, MI, Noblesville, IN and Cincinnatti, OH, all of which have new dates listed for late September or early October.Tour update. #CHX2022 pic.twitter.com/ClHTWUaWsC— The Chicks (@thechicks) June 20, 2022This makes four shows to date that are being or will need to be rescheduled.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticEarth, Wind & Fire was alternately singing about the 12th of never and the 21st night of September, but it was all about the 19th evening of June as the veteran group proved an obvious audience favorite during “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom,” a multi-artist, multi-genre show at the Hollywood Bowl  broadcast live on CNN Sunday to commemorate the national holiday.Held to celebrate the anniversary of Black emancipation in the U.S., the concert spanned almost as wide an array of musical and performance styles as could be packed into a single prime-time slot, from soul to classical to country to jazz. That breadth established, the lineup had a special emphasis on artists that ruled the R&B world of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, leading an emcee to joke to the sold-out audience about a time “before all those knee replacements out there.” Even with EWF, Chaka Khan and others getting the crowd on its feet, there may have been no greater eruption of joy during the three hours than the one that occurred during a short set by Bell Biv DeVoe.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticOn the occasion of Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday weekend, anyone reading this is probably thinking the same thing: Only 80 Paul McCartney songs? The hope, of course, is that he lives to 120, in order to provide a hook for a much easier-to-narrow-down list of his 120 finest. But 80 is just enough to cover the breadth as well as greatness of the 20th century’s (and beyond’s) greatest journeyman singer-songwriter, from The Beatles to today.This critical list of major, world-changing accomplishments and delightful trifles runs the gamut from “The Long and Winding Road” (sorry to anyone who still has PTSD from the Phil Spector arrangement) to “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” (sorry, just generally, on that one).

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIf you think that this weekend’s Record Store Day Drop feels like a dribble, you’re not completely wrong. The June 18 event is an adjunct to the big collectors’ kahuna that happened back in April, with just under 80 exclusive vinyl titles being released for this bonus RSD, versus the roughly 400 shoppers got in mid-spring.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticBaz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” is far from being just about Elvis, when it comes to the music in the film and on a forthcoming soundtrack album. Besides the vintage Presley cuts included, the movie is providing the opportunity for the most high-profile multi-artist soundtrack in years.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe Black Music Action Coalition has issued a report on representation for Blacks and other people of color in mainstream country music, and, probably unsurprisingly to anyone who has followed the genre and some of its attendant racial controversies, the picture painted isn’t a pretty one.The BMAC issued the damning report Thursday in advance of hosting a panel discussion Saturday at Soho House Nashville, at which point the organization will detail some of the specific changes it is asking for in the industry.“For over 100 years, this country and industry have excluded and marginalized Black people’s contributions to this genre,” said Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/co-chair of BMAC, in a statement. “It is our intention with this report to create a truth and reconciliation opportunity for our industry.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic“King James,” a new dramedy at the Mark Taper Forum, is a two-hander about a love triangle of sorts. The unseen third point in this romance, per the title: basketball legend LeBron James, whose on-again, off-again status as a hometown hero with the Cleveland Cavaliers over a period of 12 years is the catalyst and constant trigger for a friendship between a couple of true believers in Northeast Ohio.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIn a further test of whether he will be able to pick up his career somewhere in the vicinity of where it left off amid misconduct allegations three years ago, Ryan Adams has announced a tour of eight cities in the Midwest and South, following up on a run of five cities in the Northeast he completed in May.The mini-tour of mid-sized halls begins Oct. 14 with a stop at Atlanta’s 2,600-seat Tabernacle and wraps up in the almost identically sized Stephens Auditorium in Ames, Iowa Oct.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticJoel Whitburn, whose books of research on the charts were a staple of the bookshelves of anyone who cared about the history or business of pop music for decades, died Tuesday at age 82.No cause of death was immediately given, although Whitburn was reported to have been in ill health for some time.The Wisconsin native’s company, Record Research, had been publishing books based on the Billboard charts going back to 1970, with a count of tomes that as of a little under a decade ago amounted to 122 books.Amid all the genre-specific books he published, Whitburn’s “flagship” book and top seller was “Top Pop Singles.” That book covered everything that was a hit from 1955 forward, with Whitburn throwing in three years worth of mid-’50s stats from a chart that predated the Hot 100’s beginning in 1958 because he “wanted to include that early rock ‘n’ roll history.” But he was never under the delusion that music started with Elvis Presley, as evidenced by his also having publishing a book titled “Pop Memories: 1890-1954.” His completism wasn’t limited to pure data: Whitburn’s home in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIn the unlikely rock-star mini-feuds department, Elvis Costello and Rod Stewart — who decades ago had discussions about making an album together — renewed what seems to be a frenemy-ship in recent days. They’ve tangled on social media in a humorously feisty way over what Costello considered to be a botched royal performance by Stewart, and what Stewart considers to be an unbecoming hairline on Costello’s part.According to the Daily Mirror (which Costello additionally took on… because hating the Daily Mirror is one thing almost all music stars can agree on), Costello took a few moments in a Glasgow show to get in a little dig at Stewart, who’s known as a major booster of Scottish soccer.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAs happened last year with the Eddie Vedder-helmed Ohana Festival, an “encore weekend” has been added for the Southern California rock gathering. But this ain’t no Coachella — the second weekend, set for Oct.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAs the days grow shorter in late fall, there will still be something to smile about for fans of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. The first American tour by the group, collectively known as the Smile — and not to be confused with Greenwood and Yorke’s other group, Radiohead — has been set for late fall.The trio’s shows in the U.S. will all take place in mid-sized theaters, beginning Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticMick Jagger has tested positive for COVID, he announced in a social media post Monday. The diagnosis will force the postponement of at least one concert by the Rolling Stones, a gig scheduled for Monday night in Amsterdam.“I’m so sorry that we’ve had to postpone the Amsterdam show with such short notice tonight,” he wrote on Twitter.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticOn the heels of the release of his “Twelve Carat Toothache” album, Post Malone is announcing a 33-city fall arena tour, with one of the featured artists on the album, Roddy Ricch, as the opening act on all but a few dates.The “Twelve Carat Tour” kicks off Sept. 10 in Omaha at the Chi Health Center and wraps up Nov. 15 at L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena.Actually, two of the final dates are in L.A., albeit at different venues — there’s a Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe final public concert appearances of Tony Bennett and Glen Campbell helped tell the world what many families of those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease already know: that music memories can be some of the last to go.A new app, Vera, is dedicated to helping dementia patients by creating personalized playlists that stir different parts of the brain and can at least temporarily assist with overall lucidity as well as mood. Universal Music Group announced this week that it is licensing its entire catalog for the app, which is the creation of Music Health, a Sydney-based company.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThere are at least a couple generations of music fans now that have Phoebe Bridgers at the top of a list of artists they’d love to be having still more musical conversations with. But especially for a streaming series that has women in their early 20s at the fore, as Hulu’s “Conversations With Friends” does, it makes sense that the first go-to for producers to approach with the idea of doing a theme song would be Bridgers.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticJeff Beck and Johnny Depp have announced a joint album that’s on the way, after Beck unofficially put word of it out to a concert audience last week, and the pair are heralding it with a video that was released Thursday, for a Depp-penned original song, “This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr.”The homage to the screen siren Lamarr, who died in 2000 at age 85, is one of two songs written by Depp for the project, the other one being “Sad Motherfuckin’ Parade.” These freshly penned originals are the outliers on “18,” an album otherwise made up of cover songs, some of them sung by Depp, some in fully instrumental form. It’ll be out via the Rhino label on CD and on digital platforms July 15 (with a vinyl release to follow on Sept.