• Newsted Speaks Out on Metallica Induction
• “Massive” Woodstock May Not Come in ‘09
• Bruce’s “Secret Weapon”: Jay Weinberg
• T.I. Sentenced to Year and a Day in Jail
• Metallica Unveil “Broken, Beat and Scarred”
• Wilco Get Experimental on June LP
• Random Notes: The Week in Rock Photos
• Trailer for Taking Woodstock Debuts
• Behind the RS 100 List
• Beyoncé Covers Alanis at Canadian Gig
• Sarver Exits Idol, Giraud Gets Fright
• Weekend Rock List: Color Bands
• News Ticker: Britney, The Dead
• Single Minded: P.O.S. Cover Pearl Jam
• Fricke’s Picks: Doug Sahm
• Video: Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” Live
• Tool Announce Plans to Tour Summer ‘09
• Ben Harper & Relentless7 Talk New LP
• B.B. King & Buddy Guy’s Backstage Summit

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic

• We caught soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Metallica’s surprise SXSW performance, then hung out with James Hetfield to talk Guitar Hero. Plus, the heavy metal gods announced more tour dates, released a “Broken, Beat and Scarred” video and invited Jason Newsted to join them at the Rock Hall ceremony (”The Black Album will be back,” Newsted told RS.) And that cop who urinated on fans at a Metallica show in Boston is no longer a police officer.

• Kanye West, Jane’s Addiction, Devo, OutKast’s Big Boi, the Hold Steady, Circle Jerks, Juliette and the New Romantiques, Silversun Pickups, Airborne Toxic Event and Little Boots are just a fraction of the big-name artists and emerging acts Rock Daily caught down in Austin, Texas last weekend. Check out our SXSW coverage for the full scoop.
• We learned that Billy Corgan is to Smashing Pumpkins what Axl Rose is to Guns n’ Roses after drummer Jimmy Chamberlin left the band. Chamberlin explained he couldn’t “cash the check” anymore.
• Prince finally launched his colorful Lotusflow3r Website, giving fans an early taste of his three new albums and allowing them to watch all that footage the Web Sheriff banned from YouTube for the price of $77. Lotusflow3r, MPLSound and Elixir all hit Target Sunday.

Photo: Deano /Beetham / Splash News

John Mayer hit the high seas this week as his annual Mayercraft Carrier set sail for a few days of hot licks and guitar face. Also, Rihanna stepped out with some new ink, which wouldn’t be that newsworthy had the recently battered star not commissioned gun tats for her sides (she had tattoo artist BangBang specially flown out to L.A. to do the job). Plus, Eminem hit a blackjack table looking like Rain Man, Aretha Franklin’s hat was reborn (as a cake!), Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz assured the world their marriage is solid with a televised kiss and Amy Winehouse posed for a hilarious photo with a fan. All those images and much more in our weekly roundup of can’t-miss rock photos:

• Random Notes: Kanye West, Metallica, Rihanna and the Week in Rock

This week’s near-reunion of Soundgarden — featuring guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd fronted by grunge icon Tad Doyle — made us long for the days of Superunknown and flannel shirts, a decade and a half before Chris Cornell hooked up with Timbaland and starting releasing Trent Reznor-reviled albums like Scream. Apparently, our readers feel the same way, like this week’s winning commenter Sucking In Seattle:

“I’m sure Chris is trying just something new. Like meth or crack cocaine, there are some things you shouldn’t experiment with. This offering is a good example.”

Cornell, having now “fell on black days,” will hopefully come back into the Soundgarden fold someday soon.

Radiohead, Tina Fey, Sacha Baron Cohen, LeBron James, J.J. Abrams, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Banksy and Barack Obama all have something in common: they’re forward-thinking individuals on Rolling Stone’s RS 100 list of agents of change. Perhaps you’ve perused the list and wondered how the RS editors selected these folks — if so, don’t miss deputy managing editor Nathan Brackett breaking down our methodology in a behind-the-scenes video, above.

Then count down the Top 20 Agents of Change and check out Change on the Cover of Rolling Stone, a look back at members of the RS 100 club’s past features in the magazine.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Besides bands named after Animals, we noted a big number of acts with color-related names at SXSW. The Black Lips, White Lies, Red Fang, YellowFever, the Pink Spiders and countless more. Therefore, this week’s Rock List is dedicated to the best artists to use hues in their moniker. Tell us your favorites, and on Monday we’ll compile the rainbow results and announce the winner. Before you dig out that box of Crayolas, check out our picks:

• Pink Floyd
• The White Stripes
• Black Sabbath
• Al Green
• Black Flag

As we count the days until the June 9th release of Sonic Youth’s The Eternal (more on that album in our Spring Album Preview), this week we flash back to 1991, when the antics of donkey-voiced reporter Nardwuar the Human Serviette push the band to physically assault their interviewer and break the prized 7′’ vinyl he’d brought Thurston Moore as a gift. (It kind of reminded us of the time Thurston squished one of our interns). Any time an interviewer says to their subjects, “You idiot, you fucking piece of shit,” you know you’re in for a fun conversation. Other questions the legendary Nardwuar asks the band: “Was I wrong for thinking your ‘Dirty Boots’ video was lame?” and “Why does Led Zeppelin suck?” Kim Gordon’s response: “Because there are so many bad bands that imitated them.”

Bonus video: Nardwuar encounters Sonic Youth 11 years later in Vancouver and finally comes face-to-face with his assailant, guitarist Lee Ranaldo. Plus, Moore predicts the entire fall of the compact disc, calling it “the 8-tracks of the yuppie generation”: (more…)

Photo: Jeff Sciortino

In Rolling Stone’s Spring Album Preview, Jeff Tweedy says Wilco’s country-tinged album, due in June, is their best yet. “We wanted to go in there with more of an eye for sculpting something sonically,” he says. The group also confirmed that the album’s closing track, “You and I,” will feature Canadian songstress Feist on vocals.

Today Wilco took to their official Website to tell fans they’ve spent the past few weeks in Valencia, California, mixing the disc. The band adds, “Here’s a list of song titles spied on the reels — note this is not necessarily complete and not in sequence:” (more…)

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Last December E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg was driving his 18-year-old son Jay to school in Hoboken, New Jersey, when Bruce Springsteen called. “He wanted to talk to Jay,” says Max. “He said to him, ‘Jay, this is Bruce. You may have heard I have a band. In that band I have the world’s greatest drummer, who has a scheduling conflict. He gave me your name and number and suggested that I call you to see if you’d be interested in playing with me and the E Street Band.’ ” Jay accepted.

Up until four years ago Jay had never played the drums. “When he was 14, on his own and without any direction from me, he took one of my old drum sets and set it up in the attic of a barn we have and essentially taught himself,” says Max. “Teaching him myself would have been like teaching your kid to drive. That can be a nightmare. At Jay’s suggestion, I backed off on showing him anything.” Within a year Jay had guested onstage with the Used, and later the Bouncing Souls. “Every one of those appearances had been really daunting,” says Jay. “It’s like my experience as a hockey goalie. I find it cool to be under that sort of pressure. You can make or break this entire thing.” He now plays in the punk group the Reveling. (more…)

Photo: Natkin/WireImage

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is excited about his trip to Cleveland, Ohio, in two weeks. And why shouldn’t he be? The band he spent 15 years slapping his bass for, the mighty Metallica, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4th, and for the first time in nine years, “the Black Album band will be back together and mow the shit down,” as he puts it.

That’s right. Newsted has confirmed for Rolling Stone that he’s going to be onstage with the band he left back in 2001, along with guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and the man who replaced him, bassist Robert Trujillo. Newsted says former bassist Ron McGovney will also be on hand for the honors, as will Ray Burton, the father of the man Newsted replaced, the late Cliff Burton.

“There’s three bass players getting inducted, and James, Lars and Kirk,” he says. Former guitarist Dave Mustaine, who now fronts Megadeth, will not be inducted, however. “Its not my decision. I have nothing to do with that. It was decided by the band, and I think it was just a hard-and-fast rule… anyone who has recorded on any Metallica recordings that have been released to the public as an official release were invited to the induction. So, that’s kind of that.”

According to Newsted, it was Ulrich who made the “very recent” call, inviting him to Cleveland for the induction. (more…)

Photo: Temme/WireImage

P.O.S., “Why Go” [Pearl Jam Cover]
“There’s no auto-tune in grunge music,” says Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. before this dead-on Pearl Jam cover. He meant it as a warning, but we’re taking it as a commendation.

Annie, “Anthonio” [Designer Drugs Remix]
Who says there are no second acts in blog rock? Besides S-M? Like, every day? This breathless remix of the new Annie single might be enough to prove us wrong.

Ciara, “Love Sex Magic” [Chew Fu Small Room Remix]
The new sound of dance music? The old sound of dance music. Chew Fu turns the new Ciara single into something that wouldn’t sound out-of-place on, say, Thriller. (more…)

Beyoncé’s I Am… Sasha Fierce tour arrived in Canada, where the singer celebrated our neighboring country’s rich musical history by performing songs by two of Canada’s most well-known female artists at her opening show at Edmonton, Alberta’s Rexall Arena. In the video above, Beyoncé and her all-girl band segue out of “If I Were a Boy” into an awesome abbreviated version of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Later, Mrs. Jay-Z donned a wedding dress for an a cappella version of “Angel” by Nova Scotia native Sarah McLachlan (video after the jump.) With three more Canadian shows in cities like Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Vancouver on the way, here’s hoping Beyoncé busts out some Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Feist before heading back to the States. And no Nickelback covers, please. (more…)

Photo: DUNAND/AFP/Getty

As Woodstock’s 40th anniversary approaches rumors are flying that another birthday concert is in the works. While original producer Michael Lang has been talking about plans for one concert in New York City and another in Berlin, 1969 Woodstock producer Joel Rosenman, Lang’s partner for 40 years, says the show is very far away from being booked and may not even happen this year. “It may not be the year for Woodstock,” he says. “We’ve had some very encouraging news about this year in the past few weeks, but we don’t know for sure. We’re not going to let some technical number, some digit, determine when the next Woodstock is. We’re going to let something bigger than that determine it.”

Rosenman says there were big plans for multiple Woodstocks all across the world last year, but the economic crash has made it very difficult to find funding. “That’s an ambitious format that we can conceived of at a time when the tide was coming in in the world economy,” he says. “It’s a much different world a year later.”

Rosenman hopes to pull in enough sponsors that they won’t have to charge for tickets. “A lot of the venues we’re looking at would require the event to be free since they’re on public property,” he says. (more…)

The trailer for one of Rock Daily’s most anticipated films of the year, Taking Woodstock, debuted March 25th during an episode of Demetri Martin’s Comedy Central show, Towleroad reports. The film tells the true story of Elliot Tiber, played by Martin, who helps organizer Michael Lang secure a concert permit in order to stage the famed 1969 music festival in upstate New York (incidentally, Woodstock celebrates its 40th anniversary this summer). The film was directed by Ang Lee and also stars Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Watchmen’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Paul Dano, Imelda Staunton and Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur, whose farmland became the stage for Woodstock.

“The cast is insanely fresh,” producer James Schamus told Rock Daily in August 2008. “It’s an amazing bunch of people. You look around and I can’t believe we’re getting away with this.” (more…)

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

There was no pastiche in anything Doug Sahm (1941-1999) put on record. Every note — his early country sides as Little Doug; his good-vibes garage rock and R&B in the Sixties and Seventies with the Sir Douglas Quintet; the prairie-dancehall ecstasy of the Texas Tornados — was packed with the roots, spices and determined playtime of Texas life. Lone Star music, at its best, in every form, was religion to Sahm. “You just can’t live in Texas/If you don’t have a lot of soul,” he sang in “At the Crossroads,” on the SDQ’s 1969
album Mendocino.

But Sahm loved to share the salvation, and Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm (Vanguard), has been conceived and executed in that spirit. The guest list is heavy on all-star natives who knew Sahm or grew up with a lot of Doug in their diet, including Delbert McClinton, Tornados accordionist Flaco Jiménez, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, Alejandro Escovedo and Joe “King” Carrasco, who tackles “Adios Mexico” armed with members of the Tornados. Of those crossing state lines for the party, Dave Alvin revs up the great “Dynamite Woman,” and singer Little Willie G. of Chicano rock legends Thee Midniters shows how Sahm’s 1965 Top 10 hit “She’s About a Mover” would have sounded if it had come out of East Los Angeles instead of central Texas.

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