Zorro and Expats are the big shows coming to Prime Video in January. The former is what Amazon are calling a “bold reinterpretation” of the classic hero El Zorro for 2024. Starring Miguel Bernardeau as Diego de la Vega and Renata Notni as Lolita Marquez, it’s definitely an intriguing-sounding action-adventure series, with a ten-episode first season based on the iconic character originally created by Johnston McCulley all the way back in 1919.
Meanwhile, upcoming drama series Expats is based on the bestselling 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, and follows “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community” in Hong Kong. Nicole Kidman has been known for picking the right kind of shows to lead in the past, so let’s hope this is another banger for the actress, who is also on board as an executive producer here.
Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month.
Meanwhile, upcoming drama series Expats is based on the bestselling 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, and follows “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community” in Hong Kong. Nicole Kidman has been known for picking the right kind of shows to lead in the past, so let’s hope this is another banger for the actress, who is also on board as an executive producer here.
Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month.
- 1/1/2024
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
If you’re wondering what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in June, the answer is a lot. The streamer has a solid slate of movies heading into summer 2023. From the first two “Creed” films to “Love, Rosie,” “Yours, Mine & Ours” and other clever romantic comedies, the streamer has a range of options for viewers with different tastes. Newer theatrical releases arriving on the streamer in June include “TÁR,” “Armageddon Time,” and “M3GAN.”
TV premieres to look forward to include Boots Riley’s “I’m A Virgo” and the fourth and final season of John Krasinski’s “Jack Ryan.” “Crazy Rich Asians” arrives early in June, followed by “Interstellar” for all Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey lovers. Even though “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” doesn’t release in theaters until November, all four “Hunger Games” films land on Prime Video this June. Perfect timing — maybe even with a reread...
TV premieres to look forward to include Boots Riley’s “I’m A Virgo” and the fourth and final season of John Krasinski’s “Jack Ryan.” “Crazy Rich Asians” arrives early in June, followed by “Interstellar” for all Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey lovers. Even though “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” doesn’t release in theaters until November, all four “Hunger Games” films land on Prime Video this June. Perfect timing — maybe even with a reread...
- 6/1/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
With its list of new releases for June 2023, Prime is bringing a handful of Amazon Originals and many recent movie hits to the fold.
It’s actually quite a busy month for non-American programming in Amazon Originals department. Shows and movies like Deadloch, My Fault, and Medellín all originate from outside the U.S. and U.K. For the American and British crowd, however, the streamer is debuting two big tentpoles.
The first is I’m a Virgo on June 23. Acclaimed director Boots Riley’s TV followup to Sorry to Bother You will tale the surreal and satirical tale of a giant in Oakland. That will be followed by the more conventional (assumedly) fourth season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on June 30.
The real fireworks this month come from a ludicrously deep bench of library TV and movie titles. Give them a look for yourself below but if we were to highlight just a few,...
It’s actually quite a busy month for non-American programming in Amazon Originals department. Shows and movies like Deadloch, My Fault, and Medellín all originate from outside the U.S. and U.K. For the American and British crowd, however, the streamer is debuting two big tentpoles.
The first is I’m a Virgo on June 23. Acclaimed director Boots Riley’s TV followup to Sorry to Bother You will tale the surreal and satirical tale of a giant in Oakland. That will be followed by the more conventional (assumedly) fourth season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on June 30.
The real fireworks this month come from a ludicrously deep bench of library TV and movie titles. Give them a look for yourself below but if we were to highlight just a few,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The fourth and final season of “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” arrives on Prime Video on June 30. It finds Ryan — now the new acting CIA director — unearthing internal corruption and suspicious black ops that leaves the United States vulnerable to attack. John Krasinski stars as the tough-as-nails Ryan.
Watch the “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” trailer:
“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” is a new docuseries that reveals the truth behind the myth of the wholesome religious family and their involvement with the predatory Bill Gothard and The Institute in Basic Life Principles. The organization’s abusive practices — and the insidious long political game it plays — is revealed on June 2. The Duggars and their 19 “happy” kids are exposed as frauds, while also being manipulated by Gothard and enduring the scandal of Josh, their sexually abusive son.
Check out the “Shiny Happy People” trailer:
When a body is found on the beach in the Tasmanian town of Deadloch,...
Watch the “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” trailer:
“Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” is a new docuseries that reveals the truth behind the myth of the wholesome religious family and their involvement with the predatory Bill Gothard and The Institute in Basic Life Principles. The organization’s abusive practices — and the insidious long political game it plays — is revealed on June 2. The Duggars and their 19 “happy” kids are exposed as frauds, while also being manipulated by Gothard and enduring the scandal of Josh, their sexually abusive son.
Check out the “Shiny Happy People” trailer:
When a body is found on the beach in the Tasmanian town of Deadloch,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Fern Siegel
- The Streamable
Southern Rock Opera or The Dirty South? Ask any Drive-By Truckers fan to name the band’s recorded masterpiece and you’ll likely get a spirited debate. On Tuesday, the group makes their own case for the latter with the announcement of a massive package titled The Complete Dirty South. Due June 16, The Complete Dirty South revisits the 2004 concept album about the South and its complicated figures with bonus tracks, remixed songs, and even new vocals on “Puttin’ People on the Moon” and “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” (The group...
- 4/11/2023
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Drive-By Truckers have announced a new reissue of their 2004 album The Dirty South. Titled The Complete Dirty South, the LP will arrive on June 16th via New West Records, and it includes a remixed version of “Puttin’ People on the Moon” with new vocals that’s now available as a first listen. Stream it below.
The Complete Dirty South resequences and expands the album to its originally intended 17-song tracklist with three bonus songs and includes four remixes — two of which feature newly updated vocals. The LP was remastered by Greg Calbi, who’s known for his work on classic albums by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, and more.
Plus, it comes with a 32-page booklet featuring original and new liner notes written by Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood; track by track descriptions written by Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell; never-before-seen photos; and new artwork by the late Wes Freed.
The Complete Dirty South resequences and expands the album to its originally intended 17-song tracklist with three bonus songs and includes four remixes — two of which feature newly updated vocals. The LP was remastered by Greg Calbi, who’s known for his work on classic albums by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, and more.
Plus, it comes with a 32-page booklet featuring original and new liner notes written by Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood; track by track descriptions written by Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell; never-before-seen photos; and new artwork by the late Wes Freed.
- 4/11/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
“Jennifer Hudson stuns with her performance” – Brian Truitt, USA Today
Jennifer Hudson Stars In Respect, The Remarkable Biopicand Dazzling Celebration Of Aretha Franklin’S Incredible Legacy – Available To OWN For The First Timewith All New Never-before-seen Extras. Respect Showcases A Spectacular Ensemble Cast Including Forest Whitaker, Mary J. Blige, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron, Audra McDonald And Tituss Burgess. OWN It On Digital Now Blu-ray And DVD November 9, 2021 From Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)And Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Experience the cinematic music event of the year featuring Oscar® and Grammy® Award winner and vocal powerhouse Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) as legendary singer Aretha Franklin in the inspiring true story Respect, available to own for the first time on Digital now and on Blu-ray and DVD November 9, 2021 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Hailed by critics as “electrifying” and “extraordinary”, MGM’s musical biopic gives an authentic inside look at the life and legacy of one of the greatest,...
Jennifer Hudson Stars In Respect, The Remarkable Biopicand Dazzling Celebration Of Aretha Franklin’S Incredible Legacy – Available To OWN For The First Timewith All New Never-before-seen Extras. Respect Showcases A Spectacular Ensemble Cast Including Forest Whitaker, Mary J. Blige, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron, Audra McDonald And Tituss Burgess. OWN It On Digital Now Blu-ray And DVD November 9, 2021 From Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)And Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Experience the cinematic music event of the year featuring Oscar® and Grammy® Award winner and vocal powerhouse Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) as legendary singer Aretha Franklin in the inspiring true story Respect, available to own for the first time on Digital now and on Blu-ray and DVD November 9, 2021 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Hailed by critics as “electrifying” and “extraordinary”, MGM’s musical biopic gives an authentic inside look at the life and legacy of one of the greatest,...
- 10/19/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Roger Hawkins, a drummer who powered the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on hits by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and the Staple Singers, died Thursday following an extended illness. He was 75 and his death was announced by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation on Facebook.
As part of the Muscle Shoals Music Section – affectionately known as the Swampers – Hawkins was the backbone of scores of pop, soul, R&b, and rock hits.
The 2013 documentary, Muscle Shoals, spotlighted the talent of the recording team. Hawkins most notable successes included working with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, on the massive hits Respect, Think, Chain of Fools, Mustang Sally and Land of 1000 Dances. He also played drums on the Staple Singers’ iconic I’ll Take You There.
Hawkins was born in Indiana and moved to Alabama as a teenager. Hawkins backed local singer Percy Sledge on When a Man Loves a Woman, which quickly...
As part of the Muscle Shoals Music Section – affectionately known as the Swampers – Hawkins was the backbone of scores of pop, soul, R&b, and rock hits.
The 2013 documentary, Muscle Shoals, spotlighted the talent of the recording team. Hawkins most notable successes included working with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, on the massive hits Respect, Think, Chain of Fools, Mustang Sally and Land of 1000 Dances. He also played drums on the Staple Singers’ iconic I’ll Take You There.
Hawkins was born in Indiana and moved to Alabama as a teenager. Hawkins backed local singer Percy Sledge on When a Man Loves a Woman, which quickly...
- 5/21/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Roger Hawkins, the drummer in the legendary Swampers and Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section who played on hits like Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally,” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” has died at the age of 75.
The Muscle Shoals Music Foundation announced Hawkins’ death Thursday. Al.com reports that Hawkins died following an extended illness; the drummer suffered from numerous illnesses later in life, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Our hearts are breaking today as the heartbeat of ‘The Swampers’ drummer Roger Hawkins...
The Muscle Shoals Music Foundation announced Hawkins’ death Thursday. Al.com reports that Hawkins died following an extended illness; the drummer suffered from numerous illnesses later in life, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Our hearts are breaking today as the heartbeat of ‘The Swampers’ drummer Roger Hawkins...
- 5/20/2021
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
When Keith Richards first met Gram Parsons in 1968, he felt he’d known him all his life. “There was an immediate recognition,” he wrote in his autobiography, Life. “What we could have done if we’d known each other earlier.”
It’s easy to discern the influence Parsons had on Richards, who had a cosmic country streak with 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo with the Byrds and 1969’s The Gilded Palace of Sin with the Flying Burrito Brothers. His death at the age of 26 only further cemented his legacy as a country-rock pioneer,...
It’s easy to discern the influence Parsons had on Richards, who had a cosmic country streak with 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo with the Byrds and 1969’s The Gilded Palace of Sin with the Flying Burrito Brothers. His death at the age of 26 only further cemented his legacy as a country-rock pioneer,...
- 4/21/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Ozzy Osbourne and Liam Gallagher discuss the legacy of Rockfield Studios in the upcoming documentary Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm, out next month.
Rockfield — originally a farm that was converted into a studio by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward — is known as the world’s first residential studio. Located in the Welsh countryside, it’s hosted Black Sabbath, Queen, Robert Plant, Oasis, Coldplay, Simple Minds, and more.
Directed by Hannah Berryman, the clip above shows Osbourne and Tony Iommi recalling how they rehearsed 1970’s Paranoid at Rockfield. “We didn...
Rockfield — originally a farm that was converted into a studio by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward — is known as the world’s first residential studio. Located in the Welsh countryside, it’s hosted Black Sabbath, Queen, Robert Plant, Oasis, Coldplay, Simple Minds, and more.
Directed by Hannah Berryman, the clip above shows Osbourne and Tony Iommi recalling how they rehearsed 1970’s Paranoid at Rockfield. “We didn...
- 4/21/2021
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
There is even more genius to go around in the story that “Genius: Aretha Franklin” tells than just Aretha’s own. Her classic records wouldn’t have stood the test of more than four and five decades without the chemistry she and her voice formed with the musicians that gave the music its masterful groove. In portraying Franklin, Cynthia Erivo had the most herculean task in making the six-episode Nat Geo series, which is now up for on-demand streaming on Hulu. But the show’s executive music producer, Raphael Saadiq, had a considerable one, too, in coming up with tracks that really sounded like the famous players of Muscle Shoals and not musical shills.
Says Anthony Hemingway, the executive producer and one of the directors of “Genius”: “Not only is Raphael an incredibly accomplished musician, but he has such a diverse background – from creating hit albums, collaborating with trailblazing...
Says Anthony Hemingway, the executive producer and one of the directors of “Genius”: “Not only is Raphael an incredibly accomplished musician, but he has such a diverse background – from creating hit albums, collaborating with trailblazing...
- 3/26/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Bettina Gilois, a screenwriter who worked on “McFarland USA” and “Bessie,” has died from cancer. She was 58.
Gilois passed away on Sunday, her friend told multiple media outlets. TheWrap has reached out to representatives for Gilois.
Along with “McFarland USA,” Gilois co-wrote the film “Glory Road” about Texas Western college basketball team of the 1960s, and “The Lost Wife of Robert Durst,” a 2017 Lifetime TV movie that starred Katharine McPhee. The HBO pic “Bessie” starred Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith. Gilois received an Emmy nomination for co-writing the biopic about the legendary blues singer, which she shared with Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland and Horton Foote.
Also Read: Charlie Daniels, Country Music Singer of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' Dies at 83
Gilois was in the middle of writing the series “Muscle Shoals” about the famed Alabama recording studio, which was being produced by Johnny Depp, with Nancy Wilson of Heart composing the music.
Gilois passed away on Sunday, her friend told multiple media outlets. TheWrap has reached out to representatives for Gilois.
Along with “McFarland USA,” Gilois co-wrote the film “Glory Road” about Texas Western college basketball team of the 1960s, and “The Lost Wife of Robert Durst,” a 2017 Lifetime TV movie that starred Katharine McPhee. The HBO pic “Bessie” starred Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith. Gilois received an Emmy nomination for co-writing the biopic about the legendary blues singer, which she shared with Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland and Horton Foote.
Also Read: Charlie Daniels, Country Music Singer of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' Dies at 83
Gilois was in the middle of writing the series “Muscle Shoals” about the famed Alabama recording studio, which was being produced by Johnny Depp, with Nancy Wilson of Heart composing the music.
- 7/6/2020
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
Hollywood screenwriter and author Bettina Gilois died Sunday night in her sleep after battling cancer, her friend Joshua Plant confirmed to Variety. She was 58.
Gilois wrote the HBO film “Bessie” starring Queen Latifah, and numerous other films and books.
Before her death, Gilois had several projects in the works, including the drama “Shutter Spy,” about Hollywood photographer Frank Worth, and the series “Muscle Shoals,” which is produced by Johnny Depp. She was also writing a story for Lifetime about Mahalia Jackson, and Netflix’s “A Million Miles Away,” a true story about Jose Hernandez, a migrant worker who later became an astronaut.
Her credits include Disney’s “McFarland, USA” with Kevin Costner, “Glory Road” starring Josh Lucas and Lifetime’s “The Lost Wife of Robert Durst.” She was nominated for a Emmy for writing “Bessie” and “McFarland, USA.”
Among its accolades, “Bessie” won an NAACP Image Award for writing for...
Gilois wrote the HBO film “Bessie” starring Queen Latifah, and numerous other films and books.
Before her death, Gilois had several projects in the works, including the drama “Shutter Spy,” about Hollywood photographer Frank Worth, and the series “Muscle Shoals,” which is produced by Johnny Depp. She was also writing a story for Lifetime about Mahalia Jackson, and Netflix’s “A Million Miles Away,” a true story about Jose Hernandez, a migrant worker who later became an astronaut.
Her credits include Disney’s “McFarland, USA” with Kevin Costner, “Glory Road” starring Josh Lucas and Lifetime’s “The Lost Wife of Robert Durst.” She was nominated for a Emmy for writing “Bessie” and “McFarland, USA.”
Among its accolades, “Bessie” won an NAACP Image Award for writing for...
- 7/6/2020
- by Mackenzie Nichols
- Variety Film + TV
Bettina Gilois, an award-winning screenwriter and author, has died in her sleep at age 58, according to a friend. She had an advanced form of cancer and passed just days before her July 9 birthday.
Gilois was having what was described by a friend as “a career year” when she passed, with several projects in development at various networks.
Gilois first began working as an assistant to Slava Tsukerman, the director of Liquid Sky, in her native Berlin. She also worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York on the television series Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes.
She subsequently joined Keith Barish and Arnold Kopelson Productions as a development executive, which led to producing credits on Fire Birds, as well as Triple Bogie on a Par Five Hole with Amos Poe.
She began her writing career working with Joel Silver Productions, and in the last twenty five years has written projects for further notable producers,...
Gilois was having what was described by a friend as “a career year” when she passed, with several projects in development at various networks.
Gilois first began working as an assistant to Slava Tsukerman, the director of Liquid Sky, in her native Berlin. She also worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York on the television series Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes.
She subsequently joined Keith Barish and Arnold Kopelson Productions as a development executive, which led to producing credits on Fire Birds, as well as Triple Bogie on a Par Five Hole with Amos Poe.
She began her writing career working with Joel Silver Productions, and in the last twenty five years has written projects for further notable producers,...
- 7/5/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Foy Vance has kept a busy schedule this year. From Muscle Shoals, a collection of Americana songs recorded in the titular capital of Alabama’s soul-music scene, arrived in June, followed in September by To Memphis. Although both albums were tracked in the American South, the songwriter remains a busy road warrior across much of the globe, playing gigs in England — where his record label, the Ed Sheeran-run Gingerbread Man Records, is based — one minute before heading elsewhere — say, his native Bangor, Ireland, or perhaps AmericanaFest in Nashville — the next.
- 12/9/2019
- by Robert Crawford
- Rollingstone.com
Jason Isbell has spent a good deal of 2019 focusing less on his Grammy-winning songwriting and more on the instrument that enabled his rise from Muscle Shoals to Music City — his guitar.
Isbell, whose six-string skills helped define a trio of Drive-By Truckers albums before he found solo success, has recently played sideman to country supergroup the Highwomen and backed Sheryl Crow on her cover of Bob Dylan’s “Everything Is Broken.”
While logging road miles with his backing band the 400 Unit this summer, he worked bluesy guitar bends into the new song “Overseas,...
Isbell, whose six-string skills helped define a trio of Drive-By Truckers albums before he found solo success, has recently played sideman to country supergroup the Highwomen and backed Sheryl Crow on her cover of Bob Dylan’s “Everything Is Broken.”
While logging road miles with his backing band the 400 Unit this summer, he worked bluesy guitar bends into the new song “Overseas,...
- 10/16/2019
- by Jim Beaugez
- Rollingstone.com
Tim McGraw and Shy Carter take a celebratory tour of the South in their newly released collaboration “Way Down,” the latest in a series of tracks McGraw has put out ahead of a yet-to-be-announced solo album.
“Way down in Alabama got the Dreamland/B-ham, Mobile, Muscle Shoals,” intones McGraw, name-checking a few of the state’s most well-known cities and one of its beloved barbecue joints. It continues apace, lauding the towns (and women) of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and others, marrying a swaggering, swampy rhythm to Carter and McGraw...
“Way down in Alabama got the Dreamland/B-ham, Mobile, Muscle Shoals,” intones McGraw, name-checking a few of the state’s most well-known cities and one of its beloved barbecue joints. It continues apace, lauding the towns (and women) of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and others, marrying a swaggering, swampy rhythm to Carter and McGraw...
- 10/2/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
There’s another new streaming service making its way into the market. Magnolia Pictures announced Thursday that it has launched Magnolia Selects, an indie streaming platform boasting Magnolia’s library of independent films.
Magnolia has also launched three subscription-based movie channels that will air via Dish in the U.S. The channels, called “Warriors & Gangsters,” “Dox” and “Monsters & Nightmares,” are genre specific to action, documentaries and horror, respectively, and will provide a curated selection of movies within those genres.
Magnolia Selects launches at a price of $4.99 per month, and each standalone chanell will cost $2.99 per month via Dish’s On Demand Subscriptions and the Dish Anywhere app.
Also Read: IFC Films Launches Subscription VOD Streaming Service
“With Magnolia Selects’ latest expansion on Dish, our films have the ability to reach new audiences on more platforms than ever before,” Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said in a statement. “We’re excited to...
Magnolia has also launched three subscription-based movie channels that will air via Dish in the U.S. The channels, called “Warriors & Gangsters,” “Dox” and “Monsters & Nightmares,” are genre specific to action, documentaries and horror, respectively, and will provide a curated selection of movies within those genres.
Magnolia Selects launches at a price of $4.99 per month, and each standalone chanell will cost $2.99 per month via Dish’s On Demand Subscriptions and the Dish Anywhere app.
Also Read: IFC Films Launches Subscription VOD Streaming Service
“With Magnolia Selects’ latest expansion on Dish, our films have the ability to reach new audiences on more platforms than ever before,” Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said in a statement. “We’re excited to...
- 9/12/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Jimmy Johnson, the guitarist for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (a.k.a. “the Swampers”) whose foundational R&b-based playing could be heard on hundreds of records, including iconic hits by Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Wilson Pickett and Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at the age of 76. His death was confirmed by his son Jay Johnson, who did not reveal a cause of death. “He is gone,” his son wrote on Facebook. “Playing music with the angels now.”
“The mighty Jimmy Johnson has passed,” Jason Isbell, who grew up in the Shoals area,...
“The mighty Jimmy Johnson has passed,” Jason Isbell, who grew up in the Shoals area,...
- 9/5/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Songwriter and musician Donnie Fritts died Tuesday at 76. John Paul White, who produced Fritts’ 2015 album Oh My Goodness, recalls his collaborator’s influence and gentle nature in this remembrance.
Donnie Fritts made me cry the day we met.
I’d asked him to be a part of the Muscle Shoals documentary premiere party, and he responded, “Well, you have to come write a song with me first.” To which I replied, “Don’t throw me in that briar patch.”
I went to his home he shared with his wonderful wife...
Donnie Fritts made me cry the day we met.
I’d asked him to be a part of the Muscle Shoals documentary premiere party, and he responded, “Well, you have to come write a song with me first.” To which I replied, “Don’t throw me in that briar patch.”
I went to his home he shared with his wonderful wife...
- 8/28/2019
- by John Paul White
- Rollingstone.com
Alabama musician, songwriter, and actor Donnie Fritts, an architect of Southern soul music whose songs were covered by dozens of artists from Waylon Jennings to Dusty Springfield, died Tuesday night. His publicist confirmed Fritts’ death at the age of 76.
Fritts’ friend and fellow songwriter Gary Nicholson posted a tribute to Fritts on Facebook early Wednesday morning, writing in part, “There aren’t words to describe what his loving friendship has meant to me through the years, so many songs and stories, it’s gonna take awhile to process this one.
Fritts’ friend and fellow songwriter Gary Nicholson posted a tribute to Fritts on Facebook early Wednesday morning, writing in part, “There aren’t words to describe what his loving friendship has meant to me through the years, so many songs and stories, it’s gonna take awhile to process this one.
- 8/28/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Fifty years ago, a handful of milestone albums set the tone for rock of the following decade. Crosby, Stills & Nash initiated a fresh approach to harmonies and looser group names; the eponymous debut by the Allman Brothers Band laid the foundation for the Southern rock of the Seventies. And setting the scene for the white soul-pop that would explode with the likes of Hall and Oates was Boz Scaggs’ self-titled album, which Atlantic Records rolled out on this day in August 1969.
Technically, Boz Scaggs wasn’t a debut; Scaggs had...
Technically, Boz Scaggs wasn’t a debut; Scaggs had...
- 8/27/2019
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
At 78, Willie Hightower sometimes struggles to remember details from his long career, but there are some occasions he recalls vividly: like the day his wife died (April 16th, 1995 — Easter Sunday), or the time he met Sam Cooke. The gospel phenom had traveled to Hightower’s Gadsden, Alabama, hometown with his gospel group, the Soul Stirrers. Hightower, who grew up singing in church, was just a teenager when he met Cooke in the mid-late fifties, but his life would never be the same after getting to speak with the soon-to-be pop superstar.
- 5/21/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
For the past dozen or so years, Swedish singer-songwriter Daniel Norgren has been releasing albums full of romantically-rendered Southern folk interpretations for European audiences. Wooh Dang, his sparse eighth album, is the first to be released in the United States, and will likely help establish the 35 year-old singer-songwriter to an Americana scene that his music fits neatly into.
Over ten songs, Norgren offers a survey course of sorts in 20th century American roots music: “Dandelion Time” is a Southern blues indebted to Howlin Wolf; “The Power” draws from Smokey Robinson...
Over ten songs, Norgren offers a survey course of sorts in 20th century American roots music: “Dandelion Time” is a Southern blues indebted to Howlin Wolf; “The Power” draws from Smokey Robinson...
- 4/18/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Mavis Staples gets funky with the new song “Anytime,” from her upcoming album We Get By. Produced by Ben Harper, the full project will be released May 10th.
“Give me a one way ticket, somewhere I’ve never been/I’m rock, paper, scissors and I’m bound to win,” sings Staples, her inimitable purr backed by a strutting bass-and-guitar groove. She adopts an optimistic outlook for the future, though not one that happens without some hard work and sacrifice. It’s an earthy, uplifting sound reminiscent of the Staple Singers...
“Give me a one way ticket, somewhere I’ve never been/I’m rock, paper, scissors and I’m bound to win,” sings Staples, her inimitable purr backed by a strutting bass-and-guitar groove. She adopts an optimistic outlook for the future, though not one that happens without some hard work and sacrifice. It’s an earthy, uplifting sound reminiscent of the Staple Singers...
- 4/17/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
With the bittersweet “I Still Love You (Now and Then)” from his forthcoming LP Fever Breaks, Josh Ritter addresses a former love who still holds in her sway a piece of his shattered heart. Even as he references a new romance in the mournful ballad’s lyrics, he is simultaneously drawn to a powerful memory, singing, “I still love you now and then, when her fingers brush my skin/When the night falls over all of everything that’s been/And everything we were and cannot be again.”
Fever Breaks,...
Fever Breaks,...
- 3/22/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Jason Isbell has announced ShoalsFest, his first-ever music festival in his hometown of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Slated for October 5th, the one-day festival will feature main stage sets from Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Mavis Staples, Sheryl Crow and Amanda Shires, in addition to a slew of yet-to-be announced second-stage performers.
“These acts are all personal favorites of ours, and we’re proud to bring them to our hometown and show them a good time,” says Isbell, a native of the region who grew up playing with and learning from the area’s famed session musicians.
“These acts are all personal favorites of ours, and we’re proud to bring them to our hometown and show them a good time,” says Isbell, a native of the region who grew up playing with and learning from the area’s famed session musicians.
- 3/18/2019
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
By the early 1970s, Willie Nelson was both an acclaimed songwriter and a frustrated artist. Having recorded for Liberty and then RCA Records, the Texan notched just one Top Ten solo hit with “Touch Me,” in 1962. He wouldn’t have another until 1975, by which time he was recording for Columbia Records, a move that afforded him more creative control over his material and the production of his albums.
But between his seven-year stretch at RCA, and the golden — and platinum — years at Columbia, Nelson was living in Austin and entertaining...
But between his seven-year stretch at RCA, and the golden — and platinum — years at Columbia, Nelson was living in Austin and entertaining...
- 3/6/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Tracks by Maren Morris, Gangstagrass, Jared Deck and Patty Griffin are among the 10 must-hear songs this week.
Yola, “Faraway Look”
Produced by Dan Auerbach, this country-soul showcase is cut from the same cloth as Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” with orchestral strings that swoon and a retro-minded chorus that would have likely earned a standing ovation from Ed Sullivan’s studio audience. Coupled with the previousl -released “Ride Out in the Country,” the song helps whip up more buzz for Yola’s upcoming debut, Walk Through Fire.
Vandoliers, “Cigarettes in the...
Yola, “Faraway Look”
Produced by Dan Auerbach, this country-soul showcase is cut from the same cloth as Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” with orchestral strings that swoon and a retro-minded chorus that would have likely earned a standing ovation from Ed Sullivan’s studio audience. Coupled with the previousl -released “Ride Out in the Country,” the song helps whip up more buzz for Yola’s upcoming debut, Walk Through Fire.
Vandoliers, “Cigarettes in the...
- 1/21/2019
- by Robert Crawford
- Rollingstone.com
In 2015, Rachel Wammack was crowned Miss University of North Alabama, where the Muscle Shoals native was pursuing a Professional Writing degree through the school’s English department. During the show’s talent competition, she brought out the big guns from her marching band days to ensure her victory.
“The talent portion I was most excited about,” says the 23-year-old performer. “I had a little lapel mic, a little Garth mic, and I sang and played marimba for my talent. That helped me win the entire pageant.”
Though the marimba doesn...
“The talent portion I was most excited about,” says the 23-year-old performer. “I had a little lapel mic, a little Garth mic, and I sang and played marimba for my talent. That helped me win the entire pageant.”
Though the marimba doesn...
- 1/3/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
From South America to Ireland via Iceland, from great white soul out of the Deep South to the paisley revival, here is a dynamite variety with further evidence of the long demise of the CD: The first album is only available digitally — and on vinyl.
Diamante Eléctrico, Buitres (Altafonte)
Formed in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2012, Diamante Eléctrico make alternative rock en Español with cross-the-border zeal. Singer-bassist Juan Galeano, guitarist Daniel Álvarez and drummer Andee Zeta recorded 2016’s La Gran Oscillacion with Joshua V. Smith, Jack White’s house engineer at Third Man Records...
Diamante Eléctrico, Buitres (Altafonte)
Formed in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2012, Diamante Eléctrico make alternative rock en Español with cross-the-border zeal. Singer-bassist Juan Galeano, guitarist Daniel Álvarez and drummer Andee Zeta recorded 2016’s La Gran Oscillacion with Joshua V. Smith, Jack White’s house engineer at Third Man Records...
- 11/29/2018
- by David Fricke
- Rollingstone.com
One year ago this week, Eric Church celebrated the final moments of his 2017 tour on the Las Vegas Strip, where he played an outdoor show to 22,000 attendees at the Route 91 Harvest festival.
“You guys have fun tonight in Las Vegas!” he shouted from the front row, after leaping from the stage to the ground during the final moments of “Springsteen.” Then, while casinos like the Mandalay Bay glittered in the distance, he grew emotional, telling the crowd that “this song, 100 percent, is about nights like tonight, when the weather is...
“You guys have fun tonight in Las Vegas!” he shouted from the front row, after leaping from the stage to the ground during the final moments of “Springsteen.” Then, while casinos like the Mandalay Bay glittered in the distance, he grew emotional, telling the crowd that “this song, 100 percent, is about nights like tonight, when the weather is...
- 10/4/2018
- by Robert Crawford
- Rollingstone.com
It’s difficult to offer a different perspective on an artist whose songs you know by heart. It’s even harder with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The group’s 1993 Greatest Hits album is 12-times platinum, and more than half of his albums were Top 10 sellers. By the time of his death last year, his songs were already deeply woven into the fabric of American pop and rock. So creating a new anthology of Petty’s music is already a Sisyphean task. With more than 40 years of recordings, there is...
- 9/28/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Here’s a fun idea for a record: Take a veteran singer who also happens to be a lovable goofball with a dirty streak and leave him alone in a room with modern technology.
That’s the concept behind Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, the new album from Swamp Dogg, real name Jerry Williams Jr. Williams is the kind of figure who, unfortunately, seems unlikely to emerge from the modern music industry, a genre-free vagabond who never had much commercial success as a solo act despite his knack for memorable songs and bizarre album artwork.
That’s the concept behind Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune, the new album from Swamp Dogg, real name Jerry Williams Jr. Williams is the kind of figure who, unfortunately, seems unlikely to emerge from the modern music industry, a genre-free vagabond who never had much commercial success as a solo act despite his knack for memorable songs and bizarre album artwork.
- 9/7/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Last April, Steven Tyler took a brief respite from his solo tour to cut a track at the historic Florence Alabama Music Enterprises (Fame) Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. For a new compilation called Muscle Shoals…Small Town, Big Sound, Tyler put his own bedraggled spin on one of the studio’s most famous exports: “Brown Sugar.”
The Rolling Stones originally recorded the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at the end of 1969, the height of the prolific town’s golden age, for the 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Tyler replaced Mick Jagger’s taut,...
The Rolling Stones originally recorded the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at the end of 1969, the height of the prolific town’s golden age, for the 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Tyler replaced Mick Jagger’s taut,...
- 8/30/2018
- by Sarah Grant
- Rollingstone.com
In a development as unfortunate as it is unsurprising, Kacey Musgraves is the only female artist up for Album of the Year at the 52nd annual Cma Awards, which announced its nominees on Tuesday. Musgraves — whose acclaimed third full-length Golden Hour is in the running with releases from Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett and Dierks Bentley — is also, by little coincidence, the only artist in that group that fans can still catch in the intimacy of a 686-capacity theater in Northern Alabama.
That was the case Saturday night at...
That was the case Saturday night at...
- 8/28/2018
- by Adam Gold
- Rollingstone.com
Candi Staton’s career has been full of zigzags since she released her first solo album, I’m Just a Prisoner, in 1970. She was an overlooked southern soul singer, working with producer Rick Hall of Muscle Shoals fame; a dancefloor killer in both discos (“Young Hearts Run Free”) and European clubs (the Source collaboration “You Got the Love”); a gospel singer with a spot in the Christian Music Hall of Fame; and a cause celebre for indie rockers when working with aging soul singers became a fad in the 2000s.
- 8/24/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
North American release of A.X.L. remains on schedule for Friday.
Lenders have taken control of Global Road Entertainment’s domestic feature production and distribution division as the company’s financial woes deepen.
Global Road management met with staff on Tuesday (August 21) to explain the situation. Screen understands that at time of writing there was no mention of lay-offs at the company formed by Donald Tang’s (pictured) Tang Media Partners (Tmp).
Furthermore the development is not believed to impact the television or sales divisions, which according to sources remain going concerns.
In situations when a lender assumes control of a company,...
Lenders have taken control of Global Road Entertainment’s domestic feature production and distribution division as the company’s financial woes deepen.
Global Road management met with staff on Tuesday (August 21) to explain the situation. Screen understands that at time of writing there was no mention of lay-offs at the company formed by Donald Tang’s (pictured) Tang Media Partners (Tmp).
Furthermore the development is not believed to impact the television or sales divisions, which according to sources remain going concerns.
In situations when a lender assumes control of a company,...
- 8/21/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
North American release of A.X.L. remains on schedule for Friday.
Lenders have taken control of Global Road Entertainment’s domestic feature production and distribution division as the company’s financial woes deepen.
Global Road management met with staff on Tuesday (August 21) to explain the situation. Screen understands that at time of writing there was no mention of lay-offs at the company formed by Donald Tang’s (pictured) Tang Media Partners (Tmp).
Furthermore the development is not believed to impact the television or sales divisions, which according to sources remain going concerns.
In situations when a lender assumes control of a company,...
Lenders have taken control of Global Road Entertainment’s domestic feature production and distribution division as the company’s financial woes deepen.
Global Road management met with staff on Tuesday (August 21) to explain the situation. Screen understands that at time of writing there was no mention of lay-offs at the company formed by Donald Tang’s (pictured) Tang Media Partners (Tmp).
Furthermore the development is not believed to impact the television or sales divisions, which according to sources remain going concerns.
In situations when a lender assumes control of a company,...
- 8/21/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16th at age 76, recorded more than 40 full-length albums in her six-decade career. It’s a deep catalog, crowded with indisputable classics and hidden gems. Rolling Stone’s music staff is paying its R.E.S.P.E.C.T.s to the Queen with tributes to our favorite Aretha LPs. Next up: Kory Grow on her second great album of the year 1968.
By the time Aretha Now arrived in the summer of 1968, Aretha Franklin was on one of pop music’s great winning streaks.
By the time Aretha Now arrived in the summer of 1968, Aretha Franklin was on one of pop music’s great winning streaks.
- 8/21/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16th at age 76, recorded more than 40 full-length albums in her six-decade career. It’s a deep catalog, crowded with indisputable classics and hidden gems. Rolling Stone’s music staff is paying its R.E.S.P.E.C.T.s to the Queen with tributes to our favorite Aretha LPs. Next up: Will Hermes on a late-’60s soul masterpiece.
I bought my copy of Lady Soul in the mid-’70s at my neighborhood record store in Queens for $2 – used but in perfect condition,...
I bought my copy of Lady Soul in the mid-’70s at my neighborhood record store in Queens for $2 – used but in perfect condition,...
- 8/20/2018
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Eric Church is continuing to roll out songs from his forthcoming sixth LP, Desperate Man, with “Heart Like a Wheel,” a soulful, shuffling ballad that meditates on lifetime love against the odds, delivered to his fan club, the Church Choir, on Thursday night. Now widely available in a lyric video, Church offers up some of the album’s recurring iconography to accompany the track: industrial hangars, cloudy skies and something soaring through the air – this time, a plane, though it’s a bird who pops up on the album’s cover.
- 8/17/2018
- by Marissa R. Moss
- Rollingstone.com
With 40-odd studio albums over a 60-plus-year recording career, it would take many days just to listen to Aretha Franklin’s peerless archive of music, let alone assess it. Yet with years of fandom behind him, longtime Variety contributor Chris Morris has chosen a necessarily subjective selection of 10 exceptional performances from the one and only Queen of Soul, who passed away Thursday, which offers some idea of the scope of her achievement over the breadth of her virtuosic career. Beginners are pointed to her early albums for Atlantic, particularly “Lady Soul” and “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You,” as well as compilations like “30 Greatest Hits” and “Queen of Soul.”
“The Day Is Past and Gone”. Aretha Franklin’s prodigious talent was on full display in her first recording, made at the age of 14 at her father’s church in Detroit. It’s a pure gospel performance,...
“The Day Is Past and Gone”. Aretha Franklin’s prodigious talent was on full display in her first recording, made at the age of 14 at her father’s church in Detroit. It’s a pure gospel performance,...
- 8/17/2018
- by Chris Morris
- Variety Film + TV
Aretha Franklin’s genius took so many forms — as a singer, a songwriter, an album-crafter, a live performer. But the Queen was also one of history’s most audacious Beatle fans. Nobody ever sang the Beatles like Aretha. Since she was one of the few Sixties musicians as famous and revered as they were, she felt free to take any approach she pleased to a Fabs song — sometimes radically reworking it, as when she sang “Eleanor Rigby” in the first person. When Aretha sang any song, even a Beatle song,...
- 8/16/2018
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
Update with full family statement: Aretha Franklin, known worldwide as the Queen of Soul and universally ranked among the greatest, most influential singers of the 20th century, died this morning at her home in Detroit. The music, cultural and social icon was 76.
Her death at 9:50 Am Et from pancreatic cancer was confirmed by her publicist to the Associated Press. A family statement said Franklin’s “official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute” in Detroit.
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,” the family statement reads. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.”
Read the full statement below.
News of Franklin’s most recent decline in health surfaced over the weekend,...
Her death at 9:50 Am Et from pancreatic cancer was confirmed by her publicist to the Associated Press. A family statement said Franklin’s “official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute” in Detroit.
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,” the family statement reads. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.”
Read the full statement below.
News of Franklin’s most recent decline in health surfaced over the weekend,...
- 8/16/2018
- by Greg Evans and Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Company recently pulled Johnny Depp thriller City Of Lies from release.
Less than one year after it launched Global Road Entertainment, Tang Media Partners (Tmp) is reportedly struggling to raise funds to keep its film and TV venture alive beyond 2018.
Chatter about Global Road intensified after last week’s news that the company had pulled its Johnny Depp crime drama City Of Lies over concerns about the star’s lifestyle, ongoing legal woes, and a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
However of deeper concern will be a report in The Hollywood Reporter claiming that a $200m cash raise overseen by Moelis & Co.
Less than one year after it launched Global Road Entertainment, Tang Media Partners (Tmp) is reportedly struggling to raise funds to keep its film and TV venture alive beyond 2018.
Chatter about Global Road intensified after last week’s news that the company had pulled its Johnny Depp crime drama City Of Lies over concerns about the star’s lifestyle, ongoing legal woes, and a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
However of deeper concern will be a report in The Hollywood Reporter claiming that a $200m cash raise overseen by Moelis & Co.
- 8/16/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Company recently pulled Johnny Depp crime drama City Of Lies from release.
Less than one year after it launched Global Road Entertainment, Tang Media Partners (Tmp) is reportedly struggling to raise funds to keep its film and TV venture alive beyond 2018.
Chatter about Global Road intensified after it pulled the release of Johnny Depp crime drama City Of Lies last week, in response to the star’s deteriorating public profile, ongoing legal woes, and a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
Perhaps of deeper concern will be a report in The Hollywood Reporter claiming that a $200m cash raise that...
Less than one year after it launched Global Road Entertainment, Tang Media Partners (Tmp) is reportedly struggling to raise funds to keep its film and TV venture alive beyond 2018.
Chatter about Global Road intensified after it pulled the release of Johnny Depp crime drama City Of Lies last week, in response to the star’s deteriorating public profile, ongoing legal woes, and a tell-all interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
Perhaps of deeper concern will be a report in The Hollywood Reporter claiming that a $200m cash raise that...
- 8/15/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The date is November 25th, 1990, and Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood are upstairs at Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studio cutting an album — not for Drive-By Truckers, but for their first band, Adam’s House Cat. Twenty-eight years later, that album, Town Burned Down, is about to see the light of day, with a sneak peek in the form of the snotty punk rock of “Runaway Train.”
Not to be mistaken for a song of the same name by Soul Asylum, a Top Five hit two years later, “Runaway Train” shares a scrappy,...
Not to be mistaken for a song of the same name by Soul Asylum, a Top Five hit two years later, “Runaway Train” shares a scrappy,...
- 8/1/2018
- by Jeff Gage
- Rollingstone.com
On a recent afternoon in the suburbs of northern New Jersey, Bettye Lavette sat at her kitchen table, a glass of chardonnay and a weed vape pen in front of her. As her favorite oldies played in the background – the Soul Stirrers, the Drifters – she told a story about one of the many industry giants who offered to boost her career. This one happened to be Pharrell Williams, who she ran into at an event on Long Island a few years ago. “He comes up to me and said, ‘I can produce you,...
- 7/26/2018
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
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