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Quick Takes: Tom Petty; Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, & John Fogerty; Spencer Davis; Ann Wilson; The Outfield

By Music News Oct 20, 2020 | 7:00 PM
  • Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s special Tom Petty Birthday Bash, honoring what would have been his 70th birthday (on October 20th), will be held virtually on Friday, October 23rd with five hours of performances, testimonials, and tributes to Petty from friends and fans starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio, with a livetream concert event set for 7:30 p.m. ET via Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel.
  • Performances will include Heartbreakers Mike Campbell & Benmont Tench, Adam Sandler, Amos Lee, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Dave Stewart, Dhani Harrison & Graham Coxon, Emily King, the Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Gary Clark Jr., Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams, Lukas Nelson, Norah Jones, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Roger McGuinn, Spoon, Stephen Stills with Christopher Stills, and Susanna Hoffs and Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers.
    • Special guests include Stevie Nicks, Eddie Vedder, Jakob Dylan, Jimmy Iovine, Kiefer Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Marty Stuart, Olivia Harrison, Post Malone, Rick Rubin, and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction. (Press release)
  • Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, and John Fogerty have just signed on to appear on Jerry Lee Lewis' 85th birthday with the online show, Whole Lotta Celebratin' Goin' On: 85 Years Of The Killer. The show will air on October 27th at 8 p.m. ET via jerryleelewis.com or via Lewis' Facebook and YouTube pages.
  • Among those also appearing are Elton John, President Bill Clinton, Willie Nelson, Tom Jones, Joe Walsh, Billy Gibbons, Bonnie Raitt, James Burton, Mike Love, Marty Stuart, Kris Kristofferson, Priscilla Presley, Chris Janson, Lee Ann Womack, Andy Grammer, Peyton Manning, and more. The event will be hosted by actor John Stamos. (Press release)
  • Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group, which catapulted Steve Winwood into super stardom, died on October 19th at age 81, after being hospitalized for pneumonia. The Davis Group — which in addition to Spencer and Winwood, was rounded out by Steve's brother Muff on bass, and Pete York on drums — will forever be remembered for their groundbreaking 1967 Top 10 smashes, “Gimme Some Lovin'” (#7) and “I'm A Man” (#10).
    • Although he never stopped recording and performing, following the group's initial split in 1969, Davis worked as promoter for good friend Chris Blackwell's Island Records, working closely with Bob Marley, Robert Palmer, as well as Steve Winwood. (The Guardian)
  • Heart's Ann Wilson has just dropped new cover version of Steve Earle's 2004 tune, “The Revolution Starts Now!” Wilson explained why she chose to record the song, telling Rolling Stone, “Things are just building and have been building for a long time for this sort of fever pitch before the election, and I have never seen a time when people have been so divided. Even with the pandemic, which could have been a real unifier, it seems like there’s the lowest common denominator in human nature at play, where everyone’s just all split up and divided and hating each other. So this song talks about thinking higher. I think it’s a message that it is really good for people to hear right now. It’s a third message — it’s not Trump, it’s not Biden, it’s something else. It’s us.” (Rolling Stone)
  • Tony Lewis, the bassist and frontman for the Outfield, died on October 19th at age 62. No cause of death was announced. Lewis' soaring tenor vocal was featured on the band's five Top 40 hits — including “Your Love” (#6) and “All The Love In The World” (#19) from 1985's Play Deep collection. Guitarist John Spinks died back in 2014 of liver cancer at age 60. (Yahoo)