New App Allows Fans to Record With Taylor Hawkins, Phil Manzanera

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera and jam band Umphrey's McGee have all contributed music to an app called WholeWorldBand, which allows users to create their own music by building around song stems uploaded by the artists. In Hawkins' case, the drummer provided a video session that enables fans to write their own songs with the Foo Fighter on drums. "I was kinda imagining some sort of song in there, but I want you guys to be creative and think of your own thing," Hawkins tells WholeWorldBand users.

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Manzanera, who previously contributed a session to WholeWorldBand, is back for his second foray on the app. This time, the guitarist brings his cover of Kanye West and Jay Z's Watch the Throne single "No Church in the Wild," a song that featured a sample of Manzanera's "K Scope." "The whole process is about musical recycling," Manzanera said of the app. "And I really hope that you join in that recycling process."

Umphrey's McGee have offered up the multi-track stems for their new single "Bad Friday," plus a version of the song where 16 bars are left open for guitar-playing fans to fill in with their own solo. The Police's Stewart Copeland, the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood, Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and many more have similarly dropped sessions onto WholeWorldBand, with the resulting fan-made tracks being posted on social media.

WholeWorldBand is available on iPhone, iPad, and Windows and MacOS computers. In December 2014, the app allowed users to sing Bono's Band Aid 30 lyrics in an effort to raise money to fight Ebola in West Africa.

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Watch RHCP's Chad Smith Jam With Children for 'Little Kids Rock' Event

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith received the "Livin' the Dream" award at Little Kids Rock's first ever Family Jam, raising over $85,000 to help provide music education for students.

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The Family Jam took place at Facebook's headquarters last week, and Smith attended to accept the award created in honor of former Facebook head chef Josef Desimone, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2013.

Smith jammed onstage with young Chili Peppers fans and told Rolling Stone about the importance of philanthropy. "Music has been at the center of my life for as long as I can remember, and it's pretty cool to be in a position to give back," the drummer says. "Thanks to Little Kids Rock for taking the lead and building such an amazing organization.

"It's so important to keep music education alive in our schools, and to dedicate resources to giving back to the next generation of music makers," Smith continues. "I'm committed to doing everything I can to support this effort, and Saturday's event at Facebook was an absolute blast. Who knows — maybe some of the kids we jammed with will be the next Red Hot Chili Peppers!"

The video shows highlights of the event, including Smith joining Little Kids Rock students for a performance of Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2002 hit "Can't Stop." "Music is the lifeblood of our culture and music has saved my life many times over," Smith says in the video. "Everyone should have the opportunity to be involved, in some way, in music."

Smith has been a huge supporter and fundraiser for music education. His drum battle against look-a-like Will Ferrell on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon helped benefit Little Kids Rock as well as Cancer for College, an organization that helps give college scholarships to cancer patients. Smith also participated in a White House talent show last year alongside the Obamas, Sarah Jessica Parker and Alfre Woodard to help raise awareness for arts education.

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Read Previously Unknown George Harrison Letter From 1966

A previously unreleased letter that George Harrison wrote to Atlanta DJ Paul Drew in May of 1966 reveals that the Beatles seriously contemplated recording at Stax in Memphis with producer Jim Stewart before the plan was derailed by financial issues. "We would all like it a lot," Harrison wrote by hand, "but too many people get insane with money ideas at the mention of the word 'Beatles,' and so it fell through!"

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Word of the proposed Stax sessions has circulated before, but it was always said they pulled out due to security issues. It was also never known they contemplated working with Jim Stewart as opposed to George Martin, the only producer they'd ever worked with until the end of their career three years later. 

The letter was recently put on sale by Los Angeles-based rock collectibles dealer Jeff Gold, who acquired it from Drew's widow shortly after he passed away in 2013. "When I read the Stax part I was like, 'What the hell is this?'" says Gold. "I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about this stuff, and I knew it was a major revelation."

The letter, which was postmarked May 7th, 1966, was written when the Beatles were in the early stages of recording Revolver. "The album we are making now should be out around October," Harrison wrote. "But I hear Capitol will make an intermediate album with unused tracks from Rubber Soul, a few old singles and about two or three of the new tracks we have just cut…Well I am off to the studio any minute, as soon as John and Ringo arrive." That "intermediate" album would eventually be released as Yesterday and Today.

"The general assessment is that Capitol did pretty much whatever they wanted with Beatles records," Gold says. "To see that George had a very specific understanding of what Yesterday and Today was going to be before it came out was kind of a revelation too. It surprised me."

Drew was a powerful radio DJ and program director who traveled with the Beatles on their 1964 and 1965 world tour and grew close to the group. Harrison began his letter by thanking him for sending over records by Edwin Starr and Mrs. Miller, the latter a largely forgotten American singer who released off-key rendition of songs like "Downtown" and "Moon River."

Gold is selling the letter for $20,000, and he estimates it will move quickly. "It's just so special," he says. "More people collect the Beatles than anyone else. Bob Dylan is right up there, as are The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. It depends on what you find, but the Beatles are the most widely-collected artist."

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Art Garfunkel Lashes Out at Paul Simon in New Interview

Art Garfunkel lashed out at his former Simon & Garfunkel partner Paul Simon in a scathing new interview where the singer accuses Simon of suffering from a Napoleonic complex and suppressing Garfunkel's creativity. Speaking to The Telegraph, Garfunkel also cites Simon as the reason why the tour aren't embarking on a reunion tour and even takes a mild jab at Paul McCartney.

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"Will I do another tour with Paul? Well, that's quite doable. As far as this half is concerned, why not? But I've been in that same place for decades. This is where I was in 1971." Garfunkel said before pretending to address Simon. "How can you walk away from this lucky place on top of the world, Paul? What's going on with you, you idiot? How could you let that go, jerk?"

Garfunkel also talked about befriending Simon when they were school kids because Garfunkel felt sorry for Simon because of his height. "And that compensation gesture has created a monster," Garfunkel said. When asked if Simon has a Napoleonic complex, he responded, "I think you're on to something. I would say so, yes."

Regarding their post-Bridge Over Troubled Water breakup, Garfunkel said, "It was very strange. Not my choice. Nothing I would have done. I want to open up about this. I don't want to say any anti-Paul Simon things, and I love that the world still loves Simon & Garfunkel, but it seems very perverse to not enjoy the glory and walk away from it instead. Crazy. What I would have done is take a rest from Paul, because he was getting on my nerves. A rest was very much called for. The jokes had run dry. But a rest of a year was all I needed."

In the interview, Garfunkel relays an anecdote about meeting George Harrison and how the Beatles guitarist compared Paul Simon to Paul McCartney. "George came up to me at a party once and said 'my Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.' He meant that psychologically they had the same effect on us. The Pauls sidelined us," Garfunkel said. "I think George felt suppressed by Paul and I think that's what he saw with me and my Paul. Here's the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory."

Simon & Garfunkel last performed together in July 2010. In recent years, Garfunkel has suffered through vocal problems, but he told Rolling Stone in February 2014 that his voice had returned to 96-percent strength. (Garfunkel told The Telegraph that he has "now almost fully recovered it.") Garfunkel also told Rolling Stone that he believed he and Simon would reunite to tour again.

"It takes two to tango. I don't want to be the blushing bride waiting for Paul Simon to walk down the aisle," Garfunkel said. "If he's too busy to work with me I guess the real answer to your question is, 'I'm too busy to work with him.' I think that's the only answer I can give you for pride's sake."

Instead, Simon continued his co-headlining tour with Sting, where that duo frequently performed "Bridge Over Troubled Water" together, much to the chagrin of Garfunkel, according to The Telegraph.

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Surfer Blood Lose Donations for Ailing Guitarist in Van Theft

Surfer Blood hit a setback in their efforts to raise money for guitarist Thomas Fekete after the band's touring van was broken into Saturday on the outskirts of Chicago. Throughout Surfer Blood's tour in support of their new LP 1000 Palms, the band have been collecting donations for Fekete, who left the group after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. 

Surfer Blood Guitarist Thomas Fekete Diagnosed With Cancer

Surfer Blood had played Chicago's Lincoln Hall Friday night. "Not only did we lose thousands of dollars in personal items and show settlements, but we also lost all cash donations we collected for Thomas over the last 8 shows at our merch table," the band told fans on Facebook (via Stereogum). "This last detail is perhaps the most heartbreaking of all in that so much positivity and amazing generosity could be ruined by one bad person(s)."

Surfer Blood also told fans to keep an eye out for some one-of-a-kind guitar pedals in Chicago-area pawn shops, as that might lead to the culprit. The band's instruments were not stolen in the robbery, and their tour will continue as scheduled.

In April, Fekete announced that he would leave Surfer Blood in order to battle "a very rare and aggressive" form of cancer that had spread to his spine and lungs. In addition to undergoing chemotherapy, Fekete hoped to pursue an "alternative treatment plan" that wasn't completely covered by his health insurance. "Any bit of help would be massive for me, as I'm no longer able to tour and make a living, and my wonderful wife/best friend whom I just married in November will now be leaving work to help me throughout my treatment," Fekete wrote in April.

While Fekete's GoFundMe set up an initial goal of $76,000, fans helped the guitarist easily tackle that figure. A new benchmark of $120,000 was established, with over $83,000 already raised. "Any extra funds collected when this is all said and done will be donated to further my doctor's alternative cancer research," Fekete wrote. "I not only feel great, but I am in great spirits, and I know this will soon be over like a bad dream."

In recent weeks, Surfer Blood have played a couple of benefit shows for Fekete, including one at New York's Bowery Ballroom and another in their hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida. It's unclear whether the revenues from those shows were part of the theft.

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Watch U2 Play Super Rarity 'In God's Country' With Fan On Guitar

U2 are just five shows into their Innocence + Experience Tour, and they're already taking fan requests and breaking out super rarities. At last night's show in Phoenix the group was all set to play "The Sweetest Thing" on the B stage until Bono stopped them. "This guy I met earlier asked us to try 'In God's Country,'" Bono said. "Let's try a little of it." As the Edge worked out the chords of a tune he hadn't played in 14 years, Bono looked around the floor for the fan. "Are you the dude?" he said. "Do you know the chords?"

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The fan then came onstage, jumped around manically and gave 3/4th of the band bear hugs. (Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. wasn't having any of it, even holding up his drums sticks to block the dude.) He did know the chords to the song, though Bono stopped him after a second and instructed everyone to slow down so he could remember the lyrics. The song was done a handful of times in 2001, but hasn't been part of the regular setlist since the Joshua Tree tour in 1987.

Bono seems to briefly regret his impulsive decision when they struggled to get it started and the guy keeps talking to him instead of playing ("would you just play this, please?"), but once they kicked into it he rose to the occasion and remembered most of the lyrics. When the somewhat ragged version came to an end the guy literally bowed down to the band, finally got his moment with Mullen and even tried to join in on "The Sweetest Thing," seemingly thinking he was now the fifth member of the band. At this point Bono politely escorted him off, and that guy has a story to tell for the rest of his life.

The setlist changes will likely continue as the tour carries on. Before a recent show in San Jose, Bono told a fan they'd play the Songs of Innocence bonus track “The Crystal Ballroom” at some point. "It really is important to do that," he said. "It’ll take us a few weeks to settle things in. It's so great, that song." Much of the show that takes place on the catwalk and and the main stage is pretty locked in setlist-wise, though during the encores and the B stage segment they have a lot of freedom to play around.

Hey guys, as long as you're taking requests, how about "Red Hill Mining Town," "Lady With The Spinning Head," "Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)," "Please" or "Exit?" We don't even have to play guitar. We can just watch.

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Jack White Pens Poem 'Music Is Sacred'

Just days after Jack White defended the value of music in a Q&A, the rocker has expanded on those thoughts in a new poem titled "Music Is Sacred." In the poem posted to his Third Man Records site, White pleads to "those of you who stand for the sanctity of music / So that its soul can breathe and be heard" and warns of "cowards and those who would intend to rip out your lungs and dampen your desire."

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During White's Q&A with Third Man Records subscribers and Facebook followers, the Lazaretto singer fielded inquiries regarding Tidal, Jay Z's new high quality audio streaming service that White aligned with. When asked why his fans should pay a premium to stream music when they could listen for no charge on YouTube or Spotify's freemium mode, White explained, "Don't devalue musicians, man; support them. Making records is expensive, believe us. I don't see people saying we should go to the movies for free, or Netflix should be free. That state of music is in flux. Be on the side of supporting creativity, not taking from it. This gives you that chance."

White has been eager to assist Tidal in its early goings, offering up an exclusive live stream of his recent North Dakota concert to the service and even personally phoning fans who are Tidal subscribers to thank them for their patronage.

"Tidal is going to help a lot of artists out. I'm talking about the punk band that has 50k hits on YouTube and doesn't see a dime," White wrote in his Q&A. "But also bigger artists, medium artists, whatever, if PSY gets viewed 2 billion times and makes a couple grand, where did all his money go? It's also very important to buy real records from artists you love when they are on tour. That buys gas in our tanks when we were struggling."

Read White's entire "Music Is Sacred" poem:

those of you who stand for the sanctity of music
so that its soul can breathe
and be heard
so that it blooms in graveyards
echoes in hotel hallways
awakens neighbors in the night
and fills peoples minds with fire
shout it out loud with whatever microphone you have
or these stones will shout for you.
jump in front of demons,
and stand over cowards and those who would intend
to rip out your lungs and dampen your desire
tell the living and the dead
what you know in your heart to be true
and what you know your ears
will forever hear
that the melody of the human race
is a song that never ends.
music is sacred.

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