New CD Releases, June 12: Traveling Wilburys, Toby Keith, Paula Cole
The Traveling Wilburys "The Traveling Wilburys"
Arguably among the greatest supergroups of all time, The Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne) get the full Rhino treatment here.
This two-disc set features re-mastered tracks from the band's two studio albums as well as a DVD of music videos and other footage. It also includes a 40-page booklet about the band.
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Toby Keith "Big Dog Daddy"
Add another jewel to the country king's crown with this album, which marks the first time Keith has acted as sole producer on a CD.
"Big Dog Daddy," Keith's second release on his own Show Dog Nashville label, follows last year's "White Trash with Money." That previous outing became Keith's 12th career platinum album and helped him become the most-played country artist on radio for the fourth consecutive year, according to Nielsen BDS.
The cowboy is again off to a fast start with this record. The disc's lead single, "High Maintenance Woman," is already a Top 10 hit on the country charts and is the fastest-rising single of Keith's career.
Keith will support "Big Dog Daddy" with a North American tour, also featuring singer/songwriter Miranda Lambert and country band Flynnville Train, which kicks off June 21 in Birmingham, AL.
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Paula Cole "Courage"
The Massachusetts-born songbird is finally back, returning with her first new studio album since 1999's "Amen." The vocalist receives help from several sources on this album, including some piano work by jazz legend Herbie Hancock.
Cole remains best known for her participation in Sarah McLachlan's epic Lilith Fair tours as well as for the mid-'90s mega-hit "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"
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Various Artists "Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur"
Musicians turn to the songbook of John Lennon to create a benefit album for the people of Darfur. The all-star set includes such pairings as U2 on "Instant Karma," Avril Lavigne on "Imagine," Green Day on "Working Class Hero" and Matisyahu on "Watching the Wheels."
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Queens of the Stone Age "Era Vulgaris"
Josh Homme's hard-rocking crew returns with a follow-up to the 2005 studio recording "Lullabies to Paralyze." Contributors to the project include Strokes vocalist Julian Casablancas and Mark Lanegan.
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More new releases:
Blue Scholars, "Bayani" (Massline)
Cherryholmes, "Cherryholmes II: Black & White" (Skaggs Family)
DJ Khaled, "We the Best" (Koch)
John Doe, "A Year in the Wilderness" (Yep Roc)
Fabolous, "From Nothin' to Somethin'" (Def Jam)
Fair to Midland, "Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True" (Republic)
Adam Freeland, "Mexico City"(Global Underground)
Enrique Iglesias, "Insomniac" (Interscope)
Eddie Levert Sr. & Gerald Levert, "Something to Talk About" (Atlantic)
Mark Olson, "The Salvation Blues" (Hacktone)
Enrico Pieranunzi, "Live in Japan" (Camjazz)
Mark Ronson, "Version" (Red Ink)
Sonic Youth, "Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition)" (Geffen)
Spyro Gyra, "Good to Go-Go" (Heads Up)
Various Artists, "GU Mixed" (Global Underground)
'Big Brother 8' Plans Expanded Coverage
Starting on July 5, you'll be able to spend the rest of your summer doing nothing but watching "Big Brother."
The eighth season of CBS' reliable summer shut-in saga will launch with an hour-long episode starting at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 5. The series will then inundate CBS' various online ventures. Plus, for the first time, "Big Brother" will move to CBS' corporate sibling Showtime.
CBS will air "Big Brother" on Thursday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m., as well as Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
As a result, CBS' struggling reality offering "Pirate Master" will be on the move in July. The Mark Burnett-produced series will get a special 9 p.m. Thursday airing after the "Big Brother 8" premiere, before moving to its new time slot on Tuesday nights a 10 p.m., the closest thing to a diapora on CBS' schedule.
But back to "Big Brother" and its attempts to take over the known world... For the seventh straight season, CBS will offer 24-7 streaming video from within the the house via RealNetworks and SuperPass. For the second straight year, CBS will offer special mobile phone content. CBS will also offer full-length episodes and highlight clips on its CBS Audience Network. Also, the online series "House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show" will return for its fourth season.
This season's biggest additional twist is the appearance of "Big Brother: After Dark" on Showtime's "Shotoo" broadcast platform. Each night, Shotoo will feature a live feed from the Big Brother house airing from midnight-to-3 a.m. ET. That sounds like it might be boring, but since the "Big Brother" house is in Los Angeles, it'll actually be from 9 p.m. to midnight for the guests, so expect the potential for occasional random nudity.
Big moment for Journey at 'Sopranos' end
NEW YORK - The songwriters of Journey's power ballad "Don't Stop Believin'" were "jumping up and down" when they learned a few weeks ago it had been licensed for use in the final episode of "The Sopranos."
But even they couldn't believe how it would prove so integral to one of the most memorable final scenes in television history.
"It was better than anything I would have ever hoped for," said Jonathan Cain, Journey keyboard player, who watched at home with his wife and family.
Tony Soprano chose the song after flipping through a jukebox at a New Jersey restaurant where he dined with his family. The song played in the background as ominous characters flitted about and, right as Steve Perry was singing "don't stop," the HBO series did exactly that, for good. The ending infuriated some fans, amused others and intrigued all.
Cain, who wrote the song with Perry and Neal Schon, didn't know how it would be used when they agreed to the licensing. Cain kept the fact that it was going to be in at all a secret, then watched the episode with his family.
"I didn't want to blow it," he told The Associated Press on Monday. "Even my wife didn't know. She looked at me and said, `You knew that and you didn't tell me?'"
Journey released the song in 1981, and it reached No. 9 on the singles chart. It has taken a life of its own since then, often reflecting the attitude people had toward Journey itself. "Don't Stop Believin'" brings back fond memories for many, is unbearably cheesy for others.
It's easy to imagine Tony Soprano, back in the day, taking a young Carmella to a Journey concert.
David Chase, creator of "The Sopranos," has an eclectic musical taste. He's curated two songtrack albums for his series, and made music a key part of the stories, particularly as the ending credits rolled. It's possible "Don't Stop Believin'" was part of the elaborate inside joke he made of the final episode.
It's also possible he found the end of the last verse too hard to resist: "Some will win, some will lose," Perry sings. "Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on ... "
"Don't Stop Believin'" has been featured in a several television and movie scenes. It crept onto an iTunes top-10 list when, during the same week, it was on Fox's "Family Guy" and in a romantic scene on MTV's "Laguna Beach."
Sports teams have adopted it, too. After the Chicago White Sox used it in 2005, Perry sang it at the parade to celebrate the team's World Series victory.
Cain, who has a 13-year-old and twins aged 11, said the songwriters are careful about how they license the song, and have resisted several advertising campaigns. They debated its use in the film "Monster" with Charlize Theron but, in the end, "she's too cute to say no to," he said.
He was a little nervous Sunday when, as he watched with his children, the mob boss Phil was shot and viewers heard his head crunched as it was run over by an SUV. But he loved the final scene.
"It was very smart writing," he said. "I always love movies where you don't see the guy whacked. You wonder whether he's going to get whacked."
It could help Journey's visibility, too, as it did for singer Nick Lowe when his song "The Beast in Me" was used over the closing credits for "The Sopranos" very first episode. There had been some speculation that Chase would return to it for the finale.
"A lot more people knew Johnny Cash's version (of `The Beast in Me') and this put Nick's version on the map," said Jake Guralnick, Lowe's American manager. "Nick's version is a lot more vulnerable."
Cain said it indicated that a wish he and Perry had — that their songs would have a long life — was coming true.
"It puts our feet in the cement," he said. "We're a staple in the American music culture. Like us or not, we're here to stay."
"Fletch" Gets New Director & Star
With Zach Braff gone, the planned 'Fletch' prequel entitled "Fletch Won" seemed to stall.
Now, the IESB reports that "Dawson's Creek" and "The Skulls" star Joshua Jackson is apparently up for the title role of Irwin Fletcher, the wise-cracking investigative reporter from the previous two Chevy Chase movies.
On top of this, they also say Steve Pink is tipped to be taking over for Bill Lawrence in the directing chair. Pink helmed last year's disappointing frat comedy "Accepted" and penned the acclaimed John Cusack comedies "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "High Fidelity".
No further word on casting, dates or budget unfortunately.
One final look at `Sopranos' characters
NEW YORK - The eruption heard across the country Sunday night at 10:03 p.m. EDT: Collective exclamations of "What?" "Are you kidding me?" and "#$&!?"
The choose-your-own-adventure ending of "The Sopranos" left endless loose ends that seemed to parody the typical audience expectations for a series finale. If you were bothered by the never-heard-from-again Russian who escaped assassination in the Pine Barrens, well, you're probably not very happy now.
Meanwhile, "Sopranos" creator David Chase was in France, unreachable to all press, according to an HBO publicist. You might call it a safe house, far away from the giant hit he just ordered on "Sopranos" watchers.
But as ambiguous as the conclusion of the HBO drama was, the 86th episode — titled "Made in America" — still left us with final, indelible images of the main characters.
TONY SOPRANO: Many expected Tony to die, but the mob boss managed to live through the episode; whether he lives much past that is a matter of subjectivity. Were the shady-looking characters hanging around the diner in the final scene there to kill Tony? Were they undercover cops? Neither? With a likely indictment hanging over his head, our last impression of Tony ( James Gandolfini) was of a relatively peaceful family man who had come to terms with many of his headaches, including Uncle Junior (whom he had disavowed after Junior shot him) and therapy (which he disavowed after Dr. Melfi ended their sessions). He showed interest in both in the finale. His kids continue to disappoint, but perhaps not too much. Any judgment of Tony's lasting mental state, though, would take pages and pages, and still leave unresolved issues.
PHIL LEOTARDO: In the battle of Tony vs. Phil, New Jersey vs. New York, Tony won. Phil (Frank Vincent) met his fate at a gas station where he was shot, and then had his skull accidentally run over for good measure. Tony was able to turn Leotardo's crew after even they acknowledged that the New York boss had gone "too far" in his war. Tony blamed the "tension" partly on Leotardo's inherited insecurity from the deceased New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, a veiled reference to Johnny Sack's sensitivity to his wife's weight. As always, slight comments linger, even beyond the grave.
A.J. SOPRANO: Tony's son was his old self. He didn't kill himself, his dad or figure prominently in the mob war fallout. Instead, A.J. ( Robert Iler) griped about America and quoted "Yeets." He accidentally burned his SUV to a crisp, but also finally kissed his model friend Rhiannon. He decided he wanted to join the Army, but was dissuaded when his parents got him a job on a movie, which was put into production after "Danny" Baldwin passed a script to Tony. That future seemed no more likely to last for A.J. than any other, but it was he who warmed his family in the final scene by quoting Tony in wanting to "remember the times that were good."
MEADOW SOPRANO: Tony's daughter (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) mainly remained on the sidelines in the finale, as she had for much of the season. She and Patrick Parisi are headed for marriage, and he might be getting her a job at his law firm once she's completed law school. When Tony pressed her on why she wasn't still going to medical school, Meadow said she became interested in law only after seeing the police badger her family — perhaps furthering Tony's guilt. We also learned that Meadow is an absolutely terrible parallel parker.
AGENT DWIGHT HARRIS: We learned more about the FBI agent (Matt Servitto) in the final episode than in all those before it: His job is hurting his relationship, and he's having an affair with another agent. Harris also supplied Tony with the approximate location of Leotardo. Working terrorism, he clearly misses the more understandable, exciting world of the Mafia. When told of Leotardo's death, he cheered: "We're gonna win this thing!" There were, though, several reveals of FBI surveillance on Tony, including phone taps. And Carlo Gervasi was rumored to have flipped after his son was arrested for selling ecstasy.
CARMELA SOPRANO: Carmela ( Edie Falco) remained a faithful wife to Tony and was seen flipping through real estate brochures, suggesting real estate remained her devotion. She also grown tired of Tony's use of his depression as a crutch — similar to how Tony viewed Christopher Moltisanti's alcoholism. When Tony spoke to A.J.'s therapist about the hurt his mother caused, Carmela's eyes rolled.
PAULIE "WALNUTS" GUALTIERI: The Soprano soldier (Tony Sirico) proved both his allegiance to Tony and his deep distrust of felines. A cat adopted by the crew that sat and stared at a photo of Christopher particularly bugged Paulie, who thought it might signify a "jinx" following Christopher's death. Though Paulie was suspected of cooperating with the New York family, he proved loyal to Tony. When Tony offered Paulie Carlo's job, Paulie hesitated, but eventually took it. In between, he showed he was feeling his age, and was haunted by sighting of the Virgin Mary — in the Bada Bing, of all places.
SILVIO DANTE: After being shot last week on orders from Leotardo, Silvio ( Steven Van Zandt) was only shown briefly laid up unconscious in a hospital bed, his wife quietly filing his toenails. No mention was made of any recovery for Tony's second in command.
JANICE SOPRANO: Tony's sister and the wife of the late Bobby Bacala was shown in mourning, but feeling relatively resilient. Janice ( Aida Turturro) joked to Tony: "I need to watch my weight. I need to snag another husband."
CORRADO "JUNIOR" SOPRANO: Tony had long abandoned his increasingly senile uncle and former head of the family after Junior ( Dominic Chianese) accidentally shot Tony at the start of the sixth season. But Tony visited Junior at what appeared to be a state-run old-age home, to tell him to leave his money (if he can remember where he buried it) to Bacala's children. Junior didn't recognize Tony; when Tony reminded Junior that he once ran Northern New Jersey with Tony's father, Junior replied: "We did? That's nice."
DR. JENNIFER MELFI: Melfi ( Lorraine Bracco) was a no-show in the finale after her abrupt termination of therapy with Tony in the penultimate episode. Tony appeared to use A.J.'s therapist as a Melfi stand-in, divulging, "You see, I never could please my mother." You can take the mobster out of therapy, but you can't take therapy out of the mobster.
Hilton says she'll no longer `act dumb'
LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton says she will no longer "act dumb."
The reality TV star and relentless publicity-seeker spoke with Barbara Walters by phone Sunday, a day after releasing a statement saying she hoped the media would focus on "more important things" than her 45-day jail sentence, according to ABC News' Web site.
"I used to act dumb. ... That act is no longer cute," ABC quoted Hilton as saying.
After spending three days in jail in a reckless driving case, Hilton was briefly released to home confinement Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday. She is now housed in the medical ward of a maximum-security detention center.
According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton's mother, Kathy, phoned Walters. During the conversation, the 26-year-old socialite called her mom on another line, found out her mother was talking to Walters, and then called Walters collect. All jail inmates are required to call collect.
Hilton has been saying that she is changed by her jailhouse experience, and she repeated that theme with Walters: "Now, I would like to make a difference. ... God has given me this new chance."
Bill Murray adds spark to kid film "Ember"
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Bill Murray has signed on to star in "City of Ember," a family movie from the director of the animated horror "Monster House."
Murray will play the larger-than-life mayor of Ember, a city that flourished for generations in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once-powerful generator is failing, and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Two teenagers must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.
Newcomer Saoirse Ronan will play one of the teenagers, and Toby Jones ("Infamous") will portray Barton Snode, the mayor of Ember's right-hand man.
Gil Kenan will direct the project from an adaptation of Jeanne DuPrau's book this summer in Belfast. The project is set up at Walden Media, the firm behind such adaptations as "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Holes." 20th Century Fox will release "Ember" domestically in October 2008. Kenan made his feature directing debut last year with "Monster House," which was executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg.
Murray's recent credits include "Broken Flowers" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou."