Springsteen's wife records new album
NEW YORK (AP) - While writing songs for her new album, Patti Scialfa was inspired by a wide range of women: Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, doomed poet Sylvia Plath, renowned author Joan Didion, and, shifting gears, drag racer Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your iPods.
"I didn't realize I'd done that, believe me!" the singer-songwriter says, laughing about the seemingly mismatched group. "I just like strong women. No matter how old you are, you still need your role models.
"That's why churches were built with high ceilings, you know? To look up."
For "Play It As It Lays," her third solo record, the 53-year-old Scialfa raised her personal bar for success. She decided to write about relationships, with her lyrics matched to the R&B sounds of classic Aretha and Al Green.
"I did want to expand myself musically, lyrically and emotionally," Scialfa says between sips of Earl Grey tea. "I wanted to push myself. I like to hide. . . . I had to come up a little tougher."
The effervescent Scialfa wears a black jacket and pants, her red hair falling past her shoulders and a white ruffled shirt. Sitting in a Manhattan hotel suite, she's excited and expansive about the album.
"This record for me is exploring the complexities of long-term relationships," she says. "Real relationships. A partner, people who've been together for a long time. At this point in my life, that's very fascinating to me."
Not just romantic relationships - one track, "The Word," was initially written after her father's death. And, as she observes on "Like Any Woman Would," Scialfa's been a mother, sister, friend and confidant, as well as a spouse.
Her husband of 16 years is Bruce Springsteen; now the mother of three, she joined his band in 1984, and became his wife seven years later.
But Scialfa said she wasn't worried about people reading her lyrics as a referendum on their marriage.
"No, that's OK," she said. "First of all, when you're writing, you're pulling from many, many different areas. I like to start out with something - a seed of some sort of feeling that I know deeply about, or else I feel that I don't write the song well.
"But once it gets going, you can pull anything into it."
While Scialfa's music reflected her love of great R&B, her lyrics were influenced in part by Plath (on "Like Any Woman Would"), Didion (on title track "Play It As It Lays") and Muldowney (on "Run Run Run").
Helping along the way was a great band assembled for the album, featuring guitarist Nils Lofgren, drummer Steve Jordan, bassist Willie Weeks, keyboardist Cliff Carter and utility player Springsteen (harmonica, guitars, B3 organ).
The improbable group improbably dubbed itself "the Whack Brothers."
"They had a lot of fun playing with each other - the jokes and the fooling around all the time," she explains.
Lofgren, a fellow member of Springsteen's E Street Band, praised Scialfa's effort on his website. "Her new album is really amazing," Lofgren wrote, "and I'm happy to be a part of it."
Scialfa, who grew up in Asbury Park, N.J., emerged from the same Jersey shore music scene that spawned her husband, Little Steven Van Zandt and Southside Johnny Lyon. She wound up as a backing vocalist for the Rolling Stones, Buster Poindexter and Southside's Asbury Jukes.
Her first solo record, "Rumble Doll," was released in 1994 - and then came children, and band tours, and 10 years elapsed until her autobiographical "23rd Street Lullaby." Three years later comes "Play It As It Lays," which Scialfa deliberately limited to 10 songs.
"I thought, 'Clear, about one thing - it'll be like reading a short story,' " she says. "And that's how I wanted it to go down, like a short story. Trim the fat. . . . I don't like the excess."
There will be a tour of some sort, most likely in early 2008, for Scialfa to perform her own music. It might be during a break from her other musical gig with Springsteen's E Street Band, which has a new album out Oct. 2 and a tour.
"Really, just selfishly, I have to do something for myself," she says. "You don't want to be resentful, when things come up in your life and you can't do the things that are important to you. My kids are a little older now. So I can go out - even if it's only for a month - just to get out there."
Kidman was secretly engaged post-Cruise
NEW YORK - Nicole Kidman says she was engaged to a mystery man in between breaking up with Tom Cruise and marrying Keith Urban. "I didn't really want a relationship," the 40-year-old actress says. "I just wanted my kids to have me, and I didn't feel comfortable having some person in that small hubbub."
"And then I got engaged to somebody ... but it just wasn't right," she continues in Vanity Fair magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 11. "I wasn't ready. We weren't ready."
Details, please.
"I get engaged and I get married — that's my thing," she says, declining to reveal her former fiance's identity. "I don't want to date. I'm interested in a very, very deep connection."
Kidman and Cruise divorced in 2001 after 10 years of marriage. They have two adopted children, Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12; Cruise has a 1-year-old daughter, Suri, with actress-wife Katie Holmes.
Kidman, who married country singer Urban in June 2006, says she has no regrets when it comes to her marriage to Cruise.
"My agents told me, `Once you become Mrs. Tom Cruise, you do know your career is going to die,'" says Kidman, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in 2002's "The Hours."
"I was appalled," she says. "I was like, `Hello? I'm in love, and I don't care if it's shooting myself in the foot. I'd much rather be married and have a family.'"
The couple "lost a baby early on, so that was really very traumatic," she says. "And that's when it came that we would adopt Bella."
Cryptically, she adds: "There's a complicated background to that, given that I never speak much about many things. One day maybe that story will be told."
Kidman hopes to have a baby with Urban.
"I'm yearning to have one," she says. "I think I would be very sad if I wasn't able to have a baby. Keith knows I want one, and he has been getting there slowly."
Murray explains golf cart incident
VENICE, Italy (AP) -- Bill Murray says he was just dropping people off after a party when he was stopped in downtown Stockholm driving a golf cart.
The police "asked me to come over and they assumed that I was drunk and I explained to them that I was a golfer," Murray told reporters Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where he appeared before the premiere of his new film "The Darjeeling Limited," which also stars Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson.
The star of 1980's "Caddyshack" said he was in Stockholm last month to play in a pro-am golf tournament, and hitched a ride to a post-event party in a golf cart. When no one wanted to drive home, he volunteered.
"I ended up stopping and dropping people off on the way like a bus. I had about six people in the thing and I dropped them off one at a time.
He said police called him over as he was dropping the last couple off at a 7-Eleven, adding "I didn't know they had 7-Elevens in Stockholm."
Swedish police took a blood test after the actor refused a breath test. He could face drunken driving charges.
It's not illegal to drive a golf cart through downtown Stockholm, just unusual.
New CD Releases, Sept. 4: Pink Floyd, Manu Chao, Patti Scialfa
Pink Floyd "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"
The seemingly endless 40th anniversary celebrations--which have included marking the Summer of Love and the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"--continue with this worthy reissue of Pink Floyd's debut album.
The special-edition package of "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" includes three discs. Two of those CDs will sound decidedly similar, yet different enough for audio aficionados--one features the original "Piper'' in mono, while the other is a stereo mix. Both, however, have been remastered.
Disc 3 is what makes this a must-have for Floyd freaks. It is made up of bonus tracks, including all of the band's singles from 1967. It also features rare B-sides and alternative versions of "Piper'' tracks.
The whole set comes in a fancy, Storm Thorgerson-designed package, which is said to resemble a cloth-covered book, and has a 12-page reproduction of vocalist/lyricist Syd Barrett's original notebook.
* * *
Manu Chao "La Radiolina"
Ending a six-year recording hiatus, the international music star returns with the highly anticipated "La Radiolina." Chao's last album was 2001's well-regarded "Esperanza."
The Latin alt-rock pioneer, who came to fame as the leader of Mano Negra, has been very active this year. His 2007 North America tour included high-profile stops at the Coachella, Sasquatch, Quebec Summer and Bonnaroo music festivals.
* * *
Patti Scialfa "Play It as It Lays"
The singer/songwriter/guitarist returns with her third solo album, which follows 1993's "Rumble Doll" and 2004's "23rd Street Lullaby."
Scialfa, of course, is best known for being the wife of Bruce Springsteen. She is also a member of Springsteen's fabled E Street Band and took part in hubby's Seeger Sessions project.
* * *
Ted Nugent "Love Grenade"
The Motor City Madman takes a break from hunting wild animals to release his first CD in five years. Perhaps the most notable selling point for "Love Grenade" is that it includes a re-recording of the 1967 Amboy Dukes classic "Journey to the Center of The Mind." And, yes, that ranks as yet another 40th anniversary celebration, for those of you who simply can't get enough.
* * *
Greg Brown "Yellow Dog"
The folk/roots star returns with a follow-up to last year's "The Evening Call." The Grammy-nominated performer is known as a "songwriters' songwriter" and his tunes have been covered by Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Ani DiFranco and other acclaimed lyricists.
* * *
Other new releases:
Joshua Bell, "Red Violin Concerto" (Sony)
Suzy Bogguss, "Sweet Danger" (Loyal Dutchess)
Chiodos, "Bone Palace Ballet" (Equal Vision)
Every Time I Die, "The Big Dirty" (Ferret)
Ari Gold, "Transport Systems" (Centaur)
Calvin Harris, "I Created Disco" (Almost Gold)
Lee Hazlewood, "Lee Hazlewood-ism: Its Cause and Cure" (Water)
Israel and New Breed, "Deeper Level" (Sony)
Andre Rieu, "Radio City Music Hall: Live in New York" (Denon)
Michelle Shocked, "To Heaven U Ride" (Mighty Sound)
Various Artists, "Bam Margera Presents: Viva La Bands, Vol. 2" (Ferret)
Various Artists, "Guilt By Association" (Engine Room)
Beatles' 'Help!' Expanded For New DVD
The Beatles' second film, 1965's "Help!," will be released in a double-DVD edition Oct. 30 via Apple Corps Ltd and EMI Music. The movie was released in DVD in 1997 and again in 2000, but has been off the market ever since due to rights issues.
In "Help!," drummer Ringo Starr comes into possession of a cursed ring, which he cannot remove, prompting adventures in London, the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas.
The first disc of "Help!" boasts a digitally restored version of the film plus a new 5.1 audio soundtrack, with songs like "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket To Ride," "The Night Before," "Another Girl" and "You're Going To Lose That Girl."
Disc two offers a 30-minute documentary about the making of the movie, a missing scene, a featurette on the restoration process, interviews with cast and crew, three theatrical trailers and vintage radio advertisements.
"Help!" will also be available in a boxed set with a reproduction of director Richard Lester's original script and a 60-page book with rare photos and production notes.
Kelly Clarkson revives her tour
NEW YORK - Kelly Clarkson, who scrapped an earlier tour this summer due to slow sales, is heading back on the road this fall.
The Grammy-winning singer announced Tuesday she would kick off a theater tour Oct. 14 at New York City's Beacon Theater, winding down in Nashville on Dec. 4 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.
"I'm getting pumped to get out there and rock with y'all," she said in a statement. "We intend to blow the roof off these theaters."
The former "American Idol" champ had a rough summer, splitting with her manager amid friction with her record label over the direction of her third album, "My December," which debuted at a disappointing No. 2 on the charts. In July Clarkson canceled an arena tour due to slow ticket sales, and organizers said that they planned to re-evaluate the size of the tour.