Blog Posts by Daniel Kreps

The Rolling Stones might not have any plans to reunite for their 50th anniversary, but another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group is talking tour to mark their half-century celebration. Rolling Stone reports that the four living members of the Beach Boys have set aside their many legal battles with one another and plan to tour next year. Brian Wilson hinted at a reunion back in May when he said, "I'm considering it. I don't know yet, but I am considering it." This summer however, Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and Al Jardine got together in the studio to re-record the group's "Do It Again," and plans to hit the road in 2012 were cemented.

The group overlooked their differences in order to promote the upcoming SMiLE reissue, as well as plan future archival releases. On top of that, Love and Wilson are planning on writing new music together, and Beach Boys session drummer Eddie Bayers said he has already recorded drum parts for some of Wilson's "unbelievable" new compositions.

Wilson

The manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered its second day this morning, and the prosecution called Jackson's assistant Michael Amir Williams to testify about the night the singer died. While he was on the stand, the prosecution presented a video of Williams playing a short, panicked voicemail he received from Murray on June 25, 2009. In the video, Williams proved the voicemail wasn't doctored by 1) unlocking his iPhone, 2) hitting "Phone" and then "Voicemail," and 3) showing everyone watching the trial on TV all three of Murray's personal Las Vegas phone numbers. Prank callers of the world unite!

The Amp called Murray's work number, and surprise, we were greeted with a message informing us "The number you have reached is out of service." A call to Murray's mobile phone number led us to the voicemail of a woman who was definitely not Murray (man, do we feel terrible for this poor Las Vegas woman who now has Murray's old number -- she's going to have

Bob Dylan is regarded by many as rock's greatest lyricist, but he's also building a reputation as music's sneakiest plagiarist. It began at a young age, when the then-Robert Zimmerman's first published poem was just lyrics he stole from a Hank Snow song. Through the years, Dylan has been accused of repurposing other writers' lyrics, poems, or lines of movie dialogue into his own songs. Still, this is Bob Dylan we're talking about here, and his legendary body of work has overshadowed those minor lyrical larcenies. The art world, however, is less forgiving.

Dylan paints on the side, and occasionally that work is featured in galleries. An exhibit of Dylan's paintings called "The Asia Series" currently adorns the walls of New York's Gagosian Gallery, and it turns out many of the paintings might not be Dylan's original compositions. According to the New York Times, some of the works in the Asia Series are just Dylan's painted depictions of photographs by genuine artists like Henri-Cartier

Former music mogul Suge Knight, who infamously ran Death Row Records like it was an episode of The Sopranos, will be the focus of an upcoming Showtime documentary. According to the New York Times' Arts Beat, Knight has agreed to give interviews for the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, which will chart the label boss' rough childhood on the streets of Compton to his brief (two games) career in the NFL to founding Death Row Records with Dr. Dre, a move that ushered in the G-Funk era of hip-hop.

The doc should allow Knight to clarify many of the myths and legends surrounding his Death Row reign. Did he really dangle Vanilla Ice over a balcony by the ankles to intimidate the rapper into signing over his "Ice Ice Baby" royalties? What was the inside scoop about his beefs with N.W.A and 2 Live Crew? What was Knight's role in the murders of Tupac Shakur (then a Death Row artist) and the Notorious B.I.G.? (Since Knight, though never charged, is still a person of interest in Biggie's death, it's

Night two of Pink Floyd Week on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon delivered what its host called a "first-of-its-kind performance": Roger Waters, backed by Foo Fighters, performing The Wall's "In the Flesh." The Wall may be the most "arena rock" album of all time, but Waters and Foos do an excellent job of translating its magnitude to Fallon's tiny, fan-flanked stage. Three guitarists and two bassists are more firepower than Floyd ever brought to "In the Flesh," and Waters' voice hasn't diminished at all. Kind of makes you wish this dynamic collaboration would play the entire Wall together someday. (Stadium tour maybe?)

In addition to the performance, Waters also sat down for a quick interview with Fallon. Who knew Waters was a fan of the Shins?:

Tonight on Fallon, MGMT will perform the Syd Barrett-era track "Lucifer Sam."

On the same day the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2012 nominees, Tom Waits, one of the Hall's 2011 inductees, returns with a new song called "Back in the Crowd." Whereas his new disc's abrasive title track "Bad as Me" was tailor-made for barroom brawls, this song is a slow, bluesy ballad. According to Waits, "Back in the Crowd" is "as an old fashioned jukebox tune for a slow dance with your girl (or guy)."

Gotta love how the song was intentionally recorded like it's "an old fashioned jukebox tune" from the 1950s. With its fuzzy and unpolished production, "Crowd" sounds like it could easily be coming out of the radio of a car your grandfather drove 60 years ago. More importantly, it's vintage Waits, featuring his longtime guitarist and collaborator Marc Ribot. Check it out below or head over to iTunes to download it. Bad as Me is out October 24th.

In television courtroom dramas, the prosecution often shows the jury a grotesque photo of the murder victim so the image haunts them when they're deliberating the fate of the accused. It's a fairly routine and surprisingly effective trial strategy that Los Angeles DAs used today as the manslaughter trial against Michael Jackson's physician Conrad Murray began.

To kick off their opening statement, prosecutors showed -- for the first time -- a photo of the King of Pop lying dead on a hospital gurney, looking pale and gaunt with his mouth agape. TMZ reports that the Jackson death photo presented in court was actually retouched by the prosecution: A green tint was added to give the picture a sickly hue, and the word "Homicide" was typed out above Jackson's body for dramatic effect. You can see the photo here, but be warned, it's a picture of a dead Michael Jackson. It's a gruesome start to a trial that will only get more morbid from this point on.

The opening statements also included

The super deluxe 4CD/1DVD edition of Nirvana's Nevermind finally hits (Best Buy) stores today. Or, you can download the entire reissue over at iTunes, where the song "Territorial Pissings" is censored as "Territorial P******s" by Apple's suddenly prude music service. There are 70 songs and over four hours of music to absorb in this extraordinary reissue, but thankfully The Amp is here to give you the highlights. Obviously, the best tracks on the Nevermind reissue are all found on the original LP, so our favorites will focus on the songs that weren't available until the 20th anniversary edition. These are The Amp's five must-hear tracks:

• "Territorial Pissings (Devonshire Mix)" -- Not all that different from the Side B opener -- producer Butch Vig's mix is more distinct on "On a Plain" and "Something in the Way" -- the Devonshire Mix of "Territorial" is notable because it omits Krist Novoselic's off-key singing of the Youngblood's "Get Together" and launches straight into "Pissings."

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