Fire Sale: MySpace is Sold to California Ad Network for $35 Million

The heart of rock & roll is still beating, but does MySpace still have a pulse? Its new owner hopes to resuscitate the once-dominant social-media site.

Oh, how the (formerly) mighty have fallen. After years of decline and several leaders at the helm, MySpace has finally been sold at deep discount like a one-hit wonder CD in the cut-out bin. It was announced Wednesday that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will sell MySpace to California advertising network Specific Media for a mere $35 million.

And speaking of 35 million, that's how many people visited MySpace in May, less than half of its highest total, which came in October 2008.) But the selling price is far below what News Corp. had hoped to attract for MySpace (it was looking for $100 million), and it's minuscule compared to the $580 million that the media conglomerate paid for MySpace back in 2005.

Irvine-based Specific Media (which has only been in business since 1999) is hoping to turn MySpace around by focusing on its former strength as a portal for musicians and actors and their fans.To add some celebrity juice to that effort, Specific has brought in none other than pop star Justin Timberlake as a minority investor. (Is it just a coincidence that JT played Napster and Facebook entrepreneur Sean Parker in the movie "The Social Network"?)

Specific says that Timberlake will "play a major role in the creative direction of Myspace," according to an L.A. Times article. News Corp. will retain a small stake in MySpace, the article says.

So will Specific's MySpace strategy succeed where others have failed? It's hard to say. I've enjoyed using MySpace as a way to find new music (though not to connect with "buddies," etc.), so I'll be looking in on the retooled version.

It's a sad ending for MySpace, which was once the hottest social-media website before it got lapped by Facebook. The good news for MySpace is that it's fallen so far from its heights that there's nowhere to go but up.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Gillian Welch, Eilen Jewell, & More

"The Harrow And The Harvest" by Gillian Welch (shown above with David Rawlings), which comes out June 28th, is available for free online preview. Photo: Flickr user furtwangl.

 
There are quite a few good new albums available for free preview this week, especially from AOL Music and Spinner. Among the ones I'm most looking forward too are the new CDs from three Americana singer-songwriters: Eilen (pronounced "feelin'") Jewell, Gillian Welch, and Jolie Holland (former of the Be-Good Tanyas).

There are many other new releases you can preview (as always, I've listed just a sampling below), and Spinner is also offering online streaming of some of the CDs its dubbed the year's best so far, including those by Adele, Fleet Foxes, Tennis, and Yuck (odd name, good album).

NPR First Listen:

• "The Harrow And The Harvest" by Gillian Welch

Spinner.com's Listening Party:

• "High Horses and Heels" by Marianne Faithfull
  
• "Phoenix Rising" by Deep Purple
  
• "Culture of Fear" by Thievery Corporation
  
• "Pint of Blood" by Jolie Holland
  
• ... and Spinner's Best of 2011 albums (so far), including "21" by Adele, "Arabia Mountain" by Black Lips, "Dye It Blonde" by the Smith Westerns, and "Helplessnes Blues" by Fleet Foxes

AOL Music Listening Party: 

• "Taking Back Sunday" by Taking Back Sunday
  
• "Queen of the Minor Key" by Eilen Jewell
  
• ... and a number of albums by artists I haven't heard of, but sound interesting, including: "Liquid Zoo" by 100 Monkeys, "Idle Ages" by Junior Battles, and "The Verge" by There for Tomorrow

Music Notes: Free Soul at Summerstage; Case & Cave Cover The Zombies; Danny Amis Benefit; More

 

Neko Case and Nick Cave cover The Zombies' "She's Not There," and you can hear it at the link below.

Here's a collection of music news items from New York and Hoboken to Brazil and Croatia.

* Soul is on the menu at a free SummerStage show today, June 25th, at the main stage in Central Park. Lee Fields & The Expressions headline (6:30 p.m.), preceded by neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums (5 p.m.) and the trio KING (4 p.m.). Doors open for the show at 3 p.m. (See NY Daily News article on Fitz and the Tantrums)

* Neko Case and Nick Cave have teamed up to record a cover of the classic 1960s hit "She's Not There" by The Zombies, and you can stream it from KCRW. The song was recorded for use in the HBO TV show "True Blood," and at the blog post above you can hear the story of how the version came about by Gary Calamar, who is both a KCRW DJ and the music supervisor for "True Blood." The Case & Cave version of "She's Not There" will be for sale on iTunes after the June 26th premiere of "True Blood"'s fourth season.

* Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley Yo La Tengo will headline a show this Wednesday at Maxwell's to benefit Hoboken native Danny Amis, a member of the band Los Straitjackets. Amis was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of bone-marrow cancer, last year. Other bands playing at the show are The Individuals, The Schramms, Purple Knife, and Tall Lonesome Pines. Tickets for the show are $15. (Buy Danny Amis benefit tickets here.) Also, Los Straitjackets play Maxwell's on August 4th.

* I ended up missing the big Bottom Line tribute to New York show at the World Financial Center the other night, but it sounded like a great night of music, according to the review here. And the live show wasn't the only news: it was apparently mentioned at the gig that the defunct club's owners, Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, are near a deal on opening a new Bottom Line. That would be great news indeed, and I look forward to hearing more about where the club will be located and when it will open.

* Looking for some interesting rock/pop music from different countries? The L.A. Times has an article featuring songs from nations around the world (with streams of them), chosen by music journalists or critics from the home countries. You'll hear tunes from countries you may not have heard from in terms of music, including Germany, Austria, and Romania. I'm glad to see that the tune representing the U.K. is from Glasgow rockers Sons & Daughters, whom I'm a fan of.

Free Shows in NYC Tonight: the Bottom Line's New York, Tift Merritt, Ozomatli

Willie Nile is one of the many NYC artists playing the "New York on My Mind" show at Rockefeller Park tonight.

In one of those abundance-of-riches situations you often see in the summer in NYC, there are three great free concerts in the City Wednesday night. The one I'll be at is the The Bottom Line Presents: New York on My Mind at Rockefeller Park [UPDATE: the World Financial Center's Winter Garden] in Lower Manhattan. This show features many of the local New York artists (often in the singer-songwriter vein) who often played at The Bottom Line, the much-loved Greenwich Village club that gave many acts their start or a welcome place to come back to (and that closed down several years ago).

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had a multi-night stand their early in their career, and the artists I've seen there range from The Waitresses (in the early '80s) to Suzanne Vega and Patty Griffin and former Cream bassist Jack Bruce.

Appearing at Wednesday's "New York on My Mind" show are Rosanne Cash, Marshall Crenshaw, Garland Jeffreys, Willie Nile, Martin Rivas, Suzzy and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Catherine Russell, longtime NYC DJ Vin Scelsa, Loudon Wainwright III, Dar Williams, and more guests. Producer and guitarist John Leventhal (who is also Cash's husband) serves as music director for the show, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Rockefeller Park, north end of Battery Park City, at the corner of River Terrace and Warren Street.


Tift Merritt performs "Broken" at SXSW in 2008.

Over at at Madison Square Park, Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist Tift Merritt and band will play the 2011 Mad. Sq. Music series. Merritt's albums and performances have attracted praise from many quarters, and she'll no doubt be playing a number of tunes from her latest album, "See You On the Moon." (See an NPR story on Tift Merritt here.) The show is scheduled to run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. 23rd Street & 5th Avenue.

Out in Brooklyn, the Los Angeles-based Latino band Ozomatli, which mixes salsa, funk, hip-hop, and more, will play Red Hook Park as part of Summerstage. The band's diversity of influences and styles was no doubt part of the reason Ozomatli was chosen to serve as official U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors. Ozomatli is known for its energetic shows, and they'll be performing at 7 p.m. Red Hook Park, Otsego, Bay, Hicks, Lorraine, Court, Halleck Streets. (See Google Maps directions here.)

NOTE: Rain is predicted for Wednesday afternoon and evening, which may affect these shows. The Twitter accounts for each series should be a good source of up-to-date information: @R2RFestival, @MadSqParkNYC, and @Summerstage. [The River to River show has been moved indoors; the Madison Square and Summerstage shows are rain or shine.]

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Gomez and Dave Alvin; Buddy Holly Covers; & More

The latest album from British rock band Gomez is one of the new CDs available for free preview this week.

The new album by British band Gomez and a couple of collections featuring big names highlight the free album previews available this week.

"Rave On Buddy Holly" features cover songs of the rock pioneer by the likes of Paul McCartney, Fiona Apple and Jon Brion, The Black Keys, Florence and The Machine, Patti Smith, Cee Lo Green, and more.

And "Red Hot + Rio 2," the latest in the series of HIV benefit records, features performers including John Legend and Bebel Gilberto, as well as intriguing collaborations between American and Latin musicians such as Beck and Seu Jorge, Of Montreal and Os Mutantes, and Mia Doi Todd and José González.

NPR First Listen:

• "Rave On Buddy Holly" by various artists
  
• "Red Hot + Rio 2" by various artists

KCRW Album Preview: 

• "Sound Kapital" by Handsome Furs - the duo of Wolf Parade frontman Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry (streaming until July 20)

Spinner.com and AOL Music Listening Party:

• "Whatever's on Your Mind" by Gomez
  
• "Eleven Eleven by Dave Alvin
  
• "We Are the Champions" by Jeff the Brotherhood
  
• ... and many more, including albums by artists I don't know but am listening to this week, including Bobby, FM Belfast, Skysaw (featuring former Smashing Pumpkins member Jimmy Chamberlin), the Parlotones, Crossfade, Danko Jones, the Emily Zuzik Band, Pixikill, Noise by Numbers, Priory, and Miracle Parade

Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band Dies of Stroke Complications

Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence "Big Man" Clemons in concert.

It's a sad day from the Jersey Shore to the rest of the rock and roll world: Clarence Clemons, the "Big Man" who anchored Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band for decades, died Saturday from complications of a stroke he suffered last weekend.

Though he was nearing the age of 70 (I didn't realize he was quite that old) and had suffered a number of injuries, Clemons had been planning on joining the E Street Band on its next tour, planned for 2012. Clemons had played with Springsteen for 40 years, and his importance to the singer and the band was evident from the cover of the breakthrough album "Born to Run": Clemons is the only member of the band to appear with Springsteen, with the scruffy young singer holding his guitar and leaning on the Big Man, who is blowing his sax.

For more details about Clarence Clemons and his life, see this detailed article from NJ.com's Tris McCall. (I found the introduction video above at the article as well.) You can find the New York Times obituary here and an L.A. Times blog post here.

As the article mentions, Clemons remained a force and kept playing, with Springsteen and with other projects, right up until the end, despite numerous health setbacks. (Besides knee replacements, he apparently also had had spinal operations.) Recently he had played on Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album, and had performed with her on an American Idol episode. Clemons can also be seen playing his sax in Gaga's just-released video for "The Edge of Glory."

Statement on Bruce Springsteen's website on the passing of Clarence Clemons:

It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7:00 tonight, Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away. The cause was complications from his stroke of last Sunday, June 12th.

Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence: Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.

It's not uncommon for musicians to pass away, of course, and Clarence Clemons lived a longer life than many of them. But this one hits me harder than almost all others, not only because he was such a key member of the band but because I've followed Springsteen's career (and that of Clemons) for so long.

I first heard of Bruce Springsteen in 1973 and saw him for the first time at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, where he was a late replacement for Boz Scaggs, the second of three acts on the bill. (The headlining act was... Anne Murray, yes, the Canadian singer known for the pop hit "Snowbird.")

Rest in peace, Big Man. You gave a lot of people a lot of enjoyment over the years, and for those of us in the NYC/NJ area who knew of you before "Born to Run," we got to enjoy your playing a little longer than other people. Thanks for all the great music.

What are your favorite memories of or stories involving Clarence Clemons?