Elvis Presley Named 'Music Icon' With Postal Service 'Forever' Stamp

Elvis Presley will be honored with a "Forever Stamp" as the sixth official inductee into the Postal Service's "Music Icon Series," joining legends Lydia Mendoza, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin in the elite group.

Graceland, Presley's Memphis estate, will host a First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony on August 12th as part of their "Elvis Week" celebration. The stamp image will be available to preview at a later date; meanwhile, fans are encouraged to spread the word on social media using the hashtag "#ElvisForever."

The U.S. Postal Service launched the "Music Icon" series in 2013 as a tribute to "beloved musicians whose blends of sound and way of life broke musical boundaries." The first round of inductees featured Tejano trailblazer Lydia Mendoza, country-folk legend Johnny Cash and R&B-soul genius Ray Charles. Last year, the Postal Service honored two Sixties rock icons, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. 

How Jimi Hendrix Got His Own Postage Stamp

This isn't Presley's first brush with stamp greatness: In 1993, the rock and roll icon was immortalized on a stamp featuring a watercolor painting by Mark Stutzman. In an unprecedented move, the Postal Service allowed the public to vote between two portraits: Stutzman's rendering of a young Presley and John Berkey's image of a latter-day Presley. Pre-addressed ballots were handed out through American post offices and in an April 1992 issue of People – and more than 75 percent of voters chose Stutzman's version. The stamp earned an official dedication at Graceland after midnight on Presley's 58th birthday, January 8th, 1993. 

Related

• Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Elvis Presley Songs
• Jack White Has Elvis' First Recordings Digitally Transferred
• Elvis' Custom-Designed Planes Will Remain at Graceland

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1H0J6rG
via Christopher Sabec Music

On the Charts: A$AP Rocky Locks Up Second Straight Number One

The premature arrival of A$AP Rocky's sophomore set At.Long.Last.A$AP did little to diminish its debut week sales as the Harlem rapper captured his second consecutive Billboard 200 Number One on the strength of 146,000 total albums sold. The much anticipated album slightly improved on the opening week sales of 2013's Long.Live.A$AP, which moved 139,000 copies in its debut, Billboard reports.

A$AP Rocky on Psychedelic Surprise of 'At. Long. Last. A$AP'

Taylor Swift's 1989 clung to Number Two for a second straight week as the Kendrick Lamar remix of "Bad Blood" continued to sustain that album's sales. Downloads of that track have resulted in a boost in track equivalent album (TEAs) sales, notching another 70,000 1989s to Swift's ledger. Boosie BadAzz, formerly Lil Boosie, scored Number Three as Touch Down 2 Cause Hell sold 64,000 copies in its debut week.

Only one more new release managed to crack the Top 10: Christian group Hillsong United's Empires claimed Number Five with 50,000 units sold. Last week's Number One, Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface, dropped to Number Six. Many albums that have practically resided in 2015's Top 10 – Ed Sheeran's X, Meghan Trainor's Title and the soundtracks for Furious 7 and Fifty Shades of Grey – spent yet another week in the upper echelon of the Billboard 200.

A$AP Rocky's reign should be short-lived, however, as it would take an act of God — or out-of-nowhere surprise release — to keep Florence and the Machine's How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful out of next week's Number One spot.

Related

• A$AP Rocky Recruits Miguel, Samples Rod Stewart for New Song
• On the Charts: Twenty One Pilots Earn Top Spot
• A$AP Rocky 'At.Long.Last.A$AP' Album Review

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1JlsZqv
via Christopher Sabec Music

Janet Jackson Preps First New Album in Seven Years

Janet Jackson's next studio album, her first since 2008's Discipline, will be released this fall via BMG. The as-yet-untitled LP will mark the singer's first venture with newly formed label Rhythm Nation, which will "offer a home to both new and established recording artists," according to a press release on Jackson's website. 

Miss Jackson: The Best of Janet Jackson

Jackon's partnership with BMG is an "artist services deal," which – unlike a traditional record deal – allows the artist to retain ownership of their recordings and "full oversight of all costs and revenues." As Billboard reports, BMG has previously established partnerships with Estelle, Deborah Cox and Leela James, while artists like Prince and Nick Cave have teamed with Kobalt Label Services. 

Jackson teased the new LP last month on her 49th birthday, tweeting a link to a video that promised, "This year, new music, new world tour, a new movement. I've been listening. Let's keep the conversation going." The clip was accompanied by the phrase "My Conversation" and the hashtag "ConversationsInACafe," prompting speculation about possible album and single titles. (Both the singer and producer Jimmy Jam have used that hashtag in the weeks leading to the album/tour announcement.) 

The singer first teased the news in August 2014, tweeting, "If there's a new project, you'll hear it from my lips." Discipline, Jacksons's most recent album, was issued via Island Records, but the singer parted ways with the label soon after the release. Her last tour took place in 2011.

Related

• 100 Best Albums of the Nineties
• Nipple Ripples: Revisiting Janet Jackson's Wardrobe Malfunction
• The Nipple and the Damage Done: Janet's Fall

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1JlaN0a
via Christopher Sabec Music

Rolling Stones Share 'Brown Sugar' Alternate Take With Eric Clapton

The Rolling Stones have been unleashing alternate versions of tracks off their classic 1971 LP Sticky Fingers before the album's deluxe remastered reissue arrives on June 9th. This time, the Stones have shared a looser take on the opening track "Brown Sugar" that features the band rocking out with Eric Clapton. This oft-bootlegged rendition, recorded during Keith Richards and Bobby Keys' birthday party in December 1970, is cleaned up for the reissue, allowing Clapton's excellent slide guitar work to shine.

See Rolling Stones Play 'Sticky Fingers' at Tiny L.A. Gig

The playful, freewheeling take also features Al Kooper on piano in place of Ian Stewart, whose work appears on the Sticky Fingers version. The reissue will also feature an extended rendition of "Bitch," an acoustic "Wild Horses," alternate versions of "Dead Flowers" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," plus five tracks recorded live from London's Roundhouse in 1971.

The super deluxe box set includes another 13-song live album called Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out that the Stones recorded at Leeds University also in 1971. It will also boast a DVD featuring two songs ("Midnight Rambler," "Bitch") that they performed at the Marquee that year. The set also houses a 120-page limited edition book recounts the making of the album plus unpublished photographs from the era.

While the Stones opened up their Zip Code tour – a nod to Sticky Fingers' Andy Warhol-conceived cover – by performing the entire LP at a small club show in Los Angeles, the band didn't repeat the feat when the actual trek kicked off in San Diego. "It's a really great album, but it has a lot of slow songs," Mick Jagger told Rolling Stone of playing the LP in its entirety. "Normally in a show we'd just do one or two ballads. Sticky Fingers has about five slow songs. I'm just worried that it might be problematic in stadiums. Maybe we'd play it and everyone would say, 'Great,' but maybe they'll get restless and start going to get drinks."

Related

• Rolling Stones Kick Off 'Zip Code' Tour With Rock-Solid Gig
• Hear Rolling Stones' Rocking 'Dead Flowers' Alternate Take
• Watch Rolling Stones' First 'Hang On Sloopy' Since 1966

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1M4WsTk
via Christopher Sabec Music

Tom Petty Unearths Shimmering Lost Song 'Somewhere Under Heaven'

Tom Petty has unearthed and released a "new" song, "Somewhere Under Heaven," the first from a trove of tracks that didn't make his 1994 album, Wildflowers, but will comprise the upcoming collection, Wildflowers: All The Rest, Stereogum reports.

Tom Petty's Real-Life Nightmares

"Somewhere Under Heaven" was co-written with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and finds Petty in familiar territory, singing about an American girl named Jenny and the inevitable end of her freewheeling innocence. "One day you're gonna fall in love, one day you're gonna pay the rent / Hold on to what love you find, you're gonna need all you can get," Petty sings, a foreboding twinge in his voice that tugs against the track's bright, sun-soaked guitars.

The track is currently available to stream on Spotify and download on iTunes, though a release date for Wildflowers: All the Rest has yet to be announced. Also, per Petty's website — and a 40-second promo for the album — "Somewhere Under Heaven" will play over the closing credits of the upcoming Entourage movie, which opens June 3rd.

Along with mining his vaults for All the Rest, Petty will revive his pre-fame band, Mudcrutch, which initially reunited in 2008 to record and release their self-titled debut. According to Campbell, the group will begin work on a follow-up LP in August and potentially hit the road afterwards.

As for the Heartbreakers, Campbell told Rolling Stone the band is taking it easy after an extensive tour in support of 2014's Hypnotic Eye. "It's been wonderful," Campbell said. "That was a pretty long tour of us, and now we're just leading our lives and being normal. When we're finished with the next Mudcrutch record, we'll start looking at the next horizon for the Heartbreakers."

Related

• 100 Best Albums of the Nineties: Tom Petty, 'Wildflowers'
• Hear Kris Kristofferson Cover Tom Petty's 'Won't Back Down'
• Flashback: Eddie Vedder Sings 'American Girl' With Tom Petty

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1Mi9hKK
via Christopher Sabec Music

Hear Omar Souleyman's New Syrian Dance Jam 'Bahdeni Nami'

At one point, Omar Souleyman's biggest gigs were wedding parties and special events in Syria, his home country. Then, 25 years into the 49-year-old's career, the rest of the world began to find out what they'd been missing. In 2011, Björk asked him to remix three tracks off her new Biophilia; in 2013 he played at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo; and last year, he led a joyfully chaotic set at his Bonnaroo debut.

Omar Souleyman: Syria's White-Hot Wedding Singer

After teaming with Four Tet for 2013's Wenu Wenu, Souleyman is pushing his sound – dabke dance music – with a follow-up featuring Euro producers like Gilles Peterson, Legowelt and Modeselektor. Above, watch the video for title track "Bahdeni Nami," a Four Tet-helmed eight-minute jam sung to a potential lover.

The clip was shot between Gaziantep and Sanliurfa in Turkey, and it shows slow-motion footage of the singer walking across rocky hills and reciting lyrics as he drives down the highway.

Bahdeni Nami is scheduled to come out July 28th via Monkeytown Records, and Souleyman is ready for whatever increased exposure it might bring. Before the release of Wenu Wenu, he talked with Rolling Stone about his sudden crossover: "At the beginning, it was surprising for me to see an audience reacting to me like this," he said. "But I kind of got used to it."

Related

• Four Tet Looks Back on 'Rounds'
• The 30 Greatest Dance Albums
• Go Inside Bjork's Career-Spanning MOMA Retrospective

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1AJkTVR
via Christopher Sabec Music

Jack White's Third Man Records Opening Detroit Location

Jack White's Third Man Records will open a new retail and office space in the rocker's hometown of Detroit after partnering with Shinola, a local watch and high-end goods manufacturer, to purchase a building in the city's Cass Corridor neighborhood.

Jack White Opens Acoustic Tour With Surprise Show in Alaska

The new store is scheduled to open by November 27th, Black Friday, and a press release teased several surprises to mark the occasion. The building at 441 W. Canfield Street already houses Shinola's flagship store, and was bought with the help of the company's founder, Tom Kartsotis.

While White founded Third Man in Detroit in 2001, the label has operated out of its Nashville headquarters since 2009. Still, White has hoped to bring Third Man back to his hometown, and the Cass Corridor is a fitting locale: White attended high school in the area, and the White Stripes performed their first show there as well.

In a statement, White called the Corridor "the most inspiring area of Detroit for me as an artist and as a Detroiter. From the great visual artists like Gordon Newton to the music of the Gories, and the birth of the Detroit garage rock scene, the Corridor has nurtured Detroit's soul and inventiveness for decades."

The purchase of the space, and partnership with Third Man, will also be a further boon to Shinola, which has played a crucial role in revitalizing Detroit and bringing manufacturing jobs back to the city. Though it began as a watch company, Shinola has expanded its purview to include bicycles, pet supplies, leather goods, apparel, speakers, turntables and headphones.

As for White, opening a new Third Man location will be a fitting endeavor for the musician, who recently wrapped up an extensive world tour behind his 2014 LP Lazaretto and subsequently announced an extended break from the road. With his newfound downtime, the rocker has been co-executive producing American Epic, a documentary about primitive recording devices from the 1920s and defending Tidal. The rocker and co-owner of the recently relaunched streaming service answered questions about the service in Third Man's FAQ section and in verse, with a poem he posted to the Third Man Books website.

Related

• Loretta Lynn, Jack White Tapped for Nashville Walk of Fame
• Leon Redbone Retires, Plans Comp on Jack White's Label
• Jack White's Tidal Claims: Fact vs. Fiction

from RollingStone.com: Music http://ift.tt/1AJkTp5
via Christopher Sabec Music