• Keith Richards Disagrees with World: 'Sgt. Pepper's' is "Mishmash of Rubbish"

    It's impossible to universally agree that any one album is the greatest in history, but the closest we've come is 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' The Beatles' iconic release that has resonated with both its music and art. Numerous publications have named the band's 1967 album as the singular best record ever put to wax (many make the same argument for Revolver as well). One person familiar with the scene disagrees. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards defied conventional expectations this week, describing 'Pepper's' as "rubbish."

  • Queen Elizabeth and Concerts: The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, One Direction and More

    Fifty years ago on this date, The Beatles debuted its new film, Help!, in London and there was a very big name in the crowd at the debut: Queen Elizabeth II. This constituted arguably the greatest gathering of famous British-folk in the last century, while also demonstrating that the monarch was more than happy to take in popular entertainment along with her constituents (a fan site for the Royal Family notes that she has considerably more "lowbrow" taste than her husband, Prince Philip). If you need more proof of the Queen's enjoyment of popular music, here are some more instances from recent (and not so recent) years.

  • Bob Dylan's Biggest Non-Newport Folk Festival Performances: Concert for Bangladesh, More

    Fans and promoters at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island will spend the entire weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of the occasion when Bob Dylan first took the stage with an electric guitar, thrilling some of the audience and alienating just as many, who felt betrayed by the folk icon taking a more rock 'n' roll approach to his genre. Given 50 years to think about it, and excellent albums such as Highway 61 Revisited as a result, the folks at Newport are feeling a bit more generous about what is now considered one of the most iconic live appearances of all time. It certainly goes down as the most momentous concert in Dylan's career, but don't think that he hasn't played a few other "big" shows in a career that stretches nearly 60 years. Here are a few other big live moments for The Bard.

  • Wilco Drops Free, New Album 'Star Wars' by Surprise [LISTEN HERE]

    Wilco went more than four years without a releasing a new studio album, and then promptly dropped 'Star Wars' on Thursday, creating a sensation for alt-rock fans similar to what Drake did with 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late' for hip-hop fans. Even better, the new set is available for free download at the band's website, or for streaming (which you can do at the bottom of this page).

  • Kurt Cobain, The Beatles and Michael Jackson: Bad Musician Statues

    A humorous petition has suggested that Outkast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi be carved into Georgia's historic Stone Mountain, a monument near Atlanta that's drawn controversy for its homage to the Confederacy in the form of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in Mt. Rushmore-style. Our official stance at Music Times is that the ATLiens riding in a Cadillac on the side of the mountain wouldn't hurt. And, even if it does border on the absurd, it wouldn't be the worst statue of a musician to be erected. Alas, The Beatles, Kurt Cobain and Michael Jackson (especially Michael Jackson) have been subjected to attempted memorials that fall way short of tastefulness.

  • Apple Music Might Destroy Your iTunes Catalogue; Fix Available

    Apple Music is the hot new thing in music streaming, especially if you're hopelessly devoted to products marketed by the computer company or if you really need to stream Taylor Swift's '1989' because you just won't buy it. Unfortunately for many converts to Apple Music, especially those who have preexisting iTunes accounts with the company, a multitude of problems have emerged surrounding the service.

  • Greece, Colonel Tom Parker, Allen Klein and Other Bad Money Managers

    Odds are, if you're reading Music Times right now, you aren't all that interested in the current financial crisis of Greece, or the fact that the nation failed to pay the 1.5 billion euros it owed the International Monetary Fund as its bailout expired. It's a big—and very complicated—deal, but we're not going to take up your time explaining the sticky situation it puts both the Mediterranean nation and the European Union in. Instead, we figured we'd show you some of the worst money management issues in music...or more specifically, the managers that ran their clients through the cleaners worst. Performers such as Elvis Presley, Beyoncé and NSYNC get hosed.

  • Spotify Charts Most Popular Keys in 30 Million Song Catalogue (Hint: It's Major)

    Spotify's Insights blog took to the streaming service's massive music catalogue with the intent of figuring out what keys were most popular among the 30 million tracks. Every song is based around one of 12 possible notes, as well as a mode (generally major for "happier" music and minor for "sad"). That results in nearly every piece of Western music being played in one of 24 possible keys. Jazz pianist Kenny Ning moonlights as a data analyst for Spotify and he charted the results of what he found. So what key was most popular?

  • The Beatles' 'White Album' Signed by Charles Manson on Sale for Nearly $50,000 via iOffer

    It's widley known that Charles Manson drew ideas and often referenced the Beatles "White Album" when describing the war on race and his involvement in 'Helter Skelter.' A copy of the 1968 LP has surfaced for sale, allegedly signed by Charles Manson and his fellow criminal confidants Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Charles 'Tex' Watson and Pat Krenwinkel.

  • Breaking Benjamin Talks "Failure," Leeches and Covering Weezer with Music Times [EXCLUSIVE]

    Music Times had the chance to chat with rockers Breaking Benjamin about its new lineup and new album Dark Before Dawn (available June 23) at the Rock On The Range festival this weekend. We tried not to Saturate (see what we did there?) the conversation with questions aimed specifically at frontman Benjamin Burnley but things swing that way anyhow. He and his bandmates discussed current single "Failure," leeches, covering Weezer and Ed Wood movies.
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