As you may have noticed via social media posts, today is former Hollies lead vocalist Allan Clarke’s birthday. How interesting to see an email this afternoon stating Mr. Clarke is sending me a present from his official store. Actually, I paid for his new vinyl LP I’ll Never Forget and the signed art card that comes with it, so the message was to inform me they have been shipped. Happy Birthday, Allan!
Clarke has reason to be in a party mood. If there was a candle on his cake for every time “Buddy’s Back” from the new album has been played on radio stations over the past few weeks, he’d have a hard time blowing them all out. The song was composed by Graham Nash, Clarke’s lifetime friend and fellow Hollies founder. It’s just one of the tracks Clarke and Nash sing together on I’ll Never Forget.
If you’ve seen Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles handing out cigars, it could be to celebrate the birth of her first book. Her This Bird Has Flown novel was officially released yesterday, and she’s about to travel the country promoting it. Hoffs has been impressive as a journalist in recent magazine articles, so it will be interesting to see how she does with fiction. Early reviews have been positive. Her tour brings her to the Chicago Humanities Festival next Thursday, April 13, where she’ll discuss This Bird Has Flown, sign copies, and perform a few songs.
The Handcuffs are part of a triple bill coming to The Outta Space venue in Berwyn this Friday night. The band’s latest album Burn The Rails has been garnering a lot of airplay on indie rock stations. There’s a lot to choose from, but my favorite track has to be “I Cry For You.” Brother Derek and Mrs Smith And The Present are the other two acts that night. And just in case I’m not the only one who gets them mixed up, The Outta Space venue in Berwyn and the Out Of Space festival taking place in Evanston this July are two different things.
Cowboy Junkies will be performing at The Old Town School of Folk Music this Thursday and Friday, April 6 and 7.
The Muddy Waters 110th Birthday Blues Jam featuring the great blues artist’s son Mud Morgenfield takes place at The Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines this Friday, April 7.
Morgenfield is among the recently announced acts for this year’s Blues Festival in Millennium Park on June 8 – 11. As reported by Miriam Di Nunzio in yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times, the list of headline acts also includes Bobby Rush, Los Lobos, Lil Ed And The Blues Imperials, and Blind Boys Of Alabama.
Last Friday, I mentioned the Chicago-based Made Of Stone group will pay tribute to The Stone Roses as part of Jim Ryan’s Classic Albums Night at Reggies Music Joint on May 25. Here’s another example of current musicians honoring worthy acts other than The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc.: The Joe Cocker Tribute Band will perform The Joe Cocker Mad Dogs And Englishmen - Joe Cocker Career And Fillmore East Tribute in a show this Saturday night at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights. The only other Joe Cocker tribute I’ve ever seen was John Belushi on Saturday Night Live.
Describe The Night, a new time traveling thriller written by Rajiv Joseph will finish its run at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago this Sunday, April 9. It’s being directed by Austin Pendleton, who like Joseph, is a Steppenwolf ensemble member.
Tickets are still available for The Who’s Tommy at the Goodman Theatre in downtown Chicago. Prices range from $30 to $100, depending on what day you choose and where you sit. That’s actually less than I expected. The musical, with book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, and directed by McAnuff, will run from June 13 to July 23.
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