Here & There …

James Brown’s children challenge will – Associated Press

It’s get-out-of-jail time for Mindy McCready – Associated Press

You know those news stories claiming the RIAA is suing a man for ripping his own CDs? That’s not exactly accurate – engadget

It’s easy to join a subscription music service, but not nearly as easy to cancel one – Wired / Eliot Van Buskirk

Question Mark is upbeat after fire, but still mysterious – Detroit Free Press

Where would pop music be today without yesterday’s murders and disasters? – Voice Of America

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Woo-Hoo! Velvet Revolver dates! Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Des Moines, Dallas and Austin for January, Scottsdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura for February and Dublin, London and Cologne in March.

The Toasters have new dates for U.S. and Europe. U.S. cities include Buffalo, NY, Lincoln, NE, and Corpus Christi, TX. European shows are in places like Bratislava, Slovenia, Frankfurt, Germany, and Brussels, Belgium.

Mana updates today with a February routing for Mexico; Ace Frehley plays Columbus, OH, on February 1, travels to Mt. Clemens, MI, for a March 9 gig and Larry Keel And Natural Bridge adds WV, FL, CO and TN, to his 2008 tour plans.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Hubert Sumlin, Jesse Harris, Jonathan Edwards, Juggling Suns, Kevin Devine, Old Blind Dogs, ReBirth Brass Band, The Bobs, Susan McKeown, Tony Brown and Triple Crème.

This Day In Music … (from Associated Press)

In 1929, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians made their first annual New Year’s Eve broadcast over the CBS network from the Roosevelt Grill in New York City.

In 1961, The Beach Boys played their first concert under that name in Long Beach, California.

In 1969, Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, made their debut at the Fillmore East in New York City.

In 1970, Paul McCartney filed suit in London seeking the legal dissolution of the Beatles’ partnership.

Also on this date in 1970, Elvis Presley visited FBI headquarters. On the advice of an underling, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover declined to meet Presley. In documents released by the FBI in 1998, Presley was reported by an agency official to have said the Beatles “laid the groundwork for many of the problems we are having with young people by their filthy unkempt appearances and suggestive music.”

In 1973, Kiss, whose flash-and-thrash stage shows would influence two decades of heavy metal bands, made their debut at the Academy of Music in New York.

In 1974, Mick Fleetwood telephoned Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and invited them to join Fleetwood Mac.

In 1976, The Cars played their first show, in New Hampshire.

In 1978, promoter Bill Graham closed his legendary Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco with a concert by the Grateful Dead and the Blues Brothers.

In 1984, Rick Allen, the drummer for the heavy metal group Def Leppard, lost an arm in a car crash. He rejoined the band after his recovery, playing a specially designed drum kit.

In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, his fiancee and five members of his Stone Canyon band were killed when their private plane crashed near Dekalb in northeastern Texas. They were on their way to perform at a New Year’s Eve concert in Dallas. Nelson’s hit songs included “Hello, Mary Lou,” “Travelin’ Man,” “Poor Little Fool” and “Garden Party.”

In 1993, Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years – the first of two shows at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.