'Wind' Blowing In New, Rare Young Albums
Neil Young has christened his new studio album "Prairie Wind," which will be released as a CD/DVD package Sept. 20 via Reprise. "The DVD shows us recording the whole record," the artist writes on his Web site. "Every note you hear, you see!" The set is expected to feature contributions from keyboardist Spooner Oldham, pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith and drummer Carl Himmel.
As first reported here, Young will also be the subject of a concert film to be shot during several performances next month at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. The project will be directed by Jonathan Demme ("Stop Making Sense," "The Silence of the Lambs").
And while full touring plans have yet to be confirmed, Young is set to appear at the annual Farm Aid benefit concert Sept. 18 in Tinley Park, Ill., which will feature performances from Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Wilco and new addition Kenny Chesney.
Young will also perform at his long-running Bridge School fundraiser Oct. 29-30 in Mountain View, Calif.
Finally, the artist's site says his next major project will be the release of "Archives Vol. 1" on a yet-to-be-announced date. Young has been conceptualizing the release of material from his extensive vaults for decades, and the project has frequently come and gone from release schedules over the years.
Eva Longoria Shrugs Off Emmy Snub
NEW YORK - "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria has shrugged off being snubbed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in this year's Emmy nominations.
"I'm new. I just arrived. I didn't expect at all to be in the minds of the Academy," she tells syndicated TV show "Extra" in an interview set to air Friday night.
Three of the ABC show's stars, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman, were nominated for best comedy series actress. (Also overlooked was Nicollette Sheridan, who had gotten a Golden Globe supporting-actress nomination for the show.)
"I was disconnected from newspapers," says Longoria, who was in China when the nominations were announced last week. "I didn't experience the hoopla."
"Desperate Housewives," a dark satire about life in suburbia, cleaned up with 15 nominations. The show asked to be considered in the comedy series category, usually home to half-hour sitcoms.
"I'm so happy that we're in the comedy category," says Longoria. "I love going against the traditional comedy."
On her budding romance with Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, Longoria says: "They (the press) got it right ... it's so hard to keep things private because then you compromise your own lifestyle. It's like I don't want to hide, I don't want to eat in every day ... we have a good time and we don't care what is written."
Longoria says she's decided to learn French, since Parker is a native of France.
"It's a beautiful language. I mean his whole family speaks French and all his friends. I mean I want to be in the conversation," she says. "I am going to have to get with it."
Blues legend Long John Baldry dies
VANCOUVER (CP) -- Vancouver-based blues legend Long John Baldry has died after a four-month battle with a chest infection, his agent said Friday on the musician's website.
The 64-year-old musical giant was admitted to the intensive-care unit of a Vancouver hospital in April after returning from a trip to his native Britain with respiratory problems.
Baldry is credited as one of the main forces in British blues, rock and pop music in the 1960s and first hit the top of the U.K. singles charts in 1967 with Let the Heartaches Begin. He has released over 40 albums.
Baldry, nicknamed Long John because of his six-foot-seven-inch height, had been living in Canada for most of the past 25 years.
He has performed and recorded with such top rock 'n' rollers as Rod Stewart, Elton John, Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones even opened for Baldry in London during an early performance in the 1960s, before the band became a household name.
The British press reported that Stewart considered Baldry a mentor, and was at his bedside when he was first admitted to hospital after he fell ill in March. There were reports Stewart even helped to pay his ailing friend's medical bills.
Baldry claimed blues legends like Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry as his earliest musical influences.
'BB6' contestant's legal past revealed
Contestant Janelle Pierzina was in deep trouble even before entering the ‘Big Brother’ house. According to The Smoking Gun site, Pierzina answered a three and a half year-old arrest warrant just days before starting the ‘Big Brother’ game.
In 2001, Pierzina faced a misdemeanor theft charge after being accused of stealing from a Macy’s store. Court records show that between 2001 and 2004, three warrants were issued for Pierzina’s arrest when she failed to appear in court. On June 24, Pierzina pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor theft charge. She was fined $982 U.S. and ordered to stay at least 100 yards from Macey’s.
The Smoking Gun also reports that Pierzina has faced bench warrants before when she failed to appear for an arraignment on a misdemeanor DWI count. Pierzina was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail term, placed on a year's probation, fined $1000, and directed to enroll in an alcohol education program. Pierzina failed to complete the alcohol education program and another bench warrant was issued for her arrest. Pierzina later appeared in court and completed the program.