An expansive digital-only collection titled Motown Unreleased: 1969, featuring 60 previously unissued tracks recorded by various Motown artists 50 years ago, has been released in celebration of the label's 60th anniversary.

The album includes recordings by Motown legends such as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Temptations, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin and Valerie Simpson.

More than half of the collection's tracks are previously unheard compositions, like Wonder's "Mister Moon," The Temptations' "Pretty Little Brown Skin Girl" and Gladys Knight & the Pips' "I Had a Dream (Opus I)," a song penned by Ashford & Simpson in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968.

Other interesting tunes on Motown Unreleased: 1969 include The Jackson 5's rendition of The Miracles' "What's So Good About Goodbye," recorded prior to the release of their debut smash "I Want You Back"; and Ross & the Supremes' version of Wonder's "For Once in My Life," which was recorded at Diana's final session with her famous group.

In addition, the album features five instrumentals by Motown's house band The Funk Brothers, credited to the outfit's leader, keyboardist Earl Van Dyke. 

The Rolling Stones have announced that they will be releasing a special box set of Let It Bleed on November 1 to mark the album's 50th anniversary.

The limited-edition box set will feature two LPs and two HybridSuper Audio CDs with remastered stereo and mono mixes by Bob Ludwig.

The package will also include a 7" replica single of "Honky Tonk Women" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want," in addition to an 80-page hardbound book containing several unpublished photos by Ethan Russell, and a poster.
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The box set is rounded out with three 12" x 12" hand-numbered replica-signed lithographs.

The reissue will also be available as a standalone CD and LP, and digitally.

"When we did the first Let It Bleed remaster in 2002, our intention was to pay homage to the original work," said Ludwig. "When we did this new version, the purpose was to make it as great as it could possibly sound."
"If you listen on a good set of speakers or good headphones, you'll hear subtle things in the background that are now much more clear that were somewhat hidden before," he added

Let It Bleed peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and included classics like "Gimme Shelter," the title track, "Midnight Rambler" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

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Sir Rod Stewart has revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago but has won the battle against the disease.

The pop legend told The Mirror that he was diagnosed with the disease in February 2016 during a routine checkup.

Stewart revealed his prostate cancer during a fundraising evening with former Faces bandmates Kenney Jones and Ronnie Wood.

"No, it's not what you think. Two years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. No one knows this, but I thought it was about time I told everybody. I'm in the clear now, simply because I caught it early. I had so many tests," Stewart said.

Stewart encouraged everyone to be aware of prostate cancer and explained how an early diagnosis can prevent it from becoming fatal.

He added, "If you're positive, and you work through it and you keep a smile on your face... I've worked for two years and I've just been happy, and the good Lord looked after me."
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Back in 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which was also successfully treated.

​Mary Wilson says she is open to a Supremes reunion, but she thinks the decision is up to Diana Ross.
Speaking with People, Wilson said, "I think the fans would love to see it, but that's really up to Diana [Ross]. It's up to her and if she would like to do it, then I'll be there!"
The Supremes, consisting of Florence Ballard, Ross and Wilson, were very successful with several hits. The all-female group were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.

Founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100

Commenting on their success, Wilson said, "The Supremes were very — we were famous, we were one of the most famous female groups in the world."
She added, "And right now when you look at history, you see mostly the guys — you see The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Elvis, but what about the girls? We girls were doing quite well ourselves."

Vince Gill hosted an All for the Hall event at the Novo Theater at L.A. Live on Sept. 17 in Los Angeles with special guests Emmylou Harris, Luke Combs and Sheryl Crow.
The foursome performed songs and swapped stories during the “guitar pull,” a casual affair in which songwriters take turns performing while their fellow artists listen or add accompaniment.
One of the highlights of the evening was Luke’s performance of “When It Rains It Pours,” which was his second No. 1 hit in 2017. 
Since founding All for the Hall in 2005, Vince Gill has helped raise more that $4.3 million for the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum’s educational department, which serves more than 100,000 people annually.

Robert Earl Keen will once again hit the road this holiday season for his eighth annual Christmas tour.

REK at Ryman 2018; photo by Whitley WhiskersThis year’s 15-stop holiday extravaganza, which is dubbed REK’s Countdown to Christmas Tour: Lunar Tunes & Looney Times, will pay homage to the space race and all things celestial in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
“This show will turn on the ‘psyche-delactic’ jukebox and light up the tree of tranquility!” says Robert Earl. “The countdown begins now!”
The tour will kick off on Dec. 2 in Greenville, S.C., and make additional stops in New York, Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville and more. The festive set is sure to include REK’s classic, “Merry Christmas From the Family,” and many more out-of-this-world tunes.
Shinyribs will serve as support. Tickets go on sale on Aug. 9 at 10 a.m.

Robert Earl Keen’s Countdown to Christmas Tour
Dec. 2 | Greenville, SC | Peace Center
Dec. 3 | Charleston, SC | Charleston Music Hall
Dec. 4 | Durham, NC | Carolina Theatre
Dec. 5 | New York, NY | Town Hall
Dec. 6 | Washington, DC | Lincoln Theatre
Dec. 7 | Bristol, TN | Paramount Center for the Arts
Dec. 8 | Charlottesville, VA | Jefferson Theater
Dec. 10 | Charlotte, NC | Knight Theater
Dec. 11 | Atlanta, GA | Variety Playhouse
Dec. 15 | Chattanooga, TN | Walker Theatre
Dec. 17 | Fayetteville, AR | Walton Arts Center
Dec. 18 | Houston, TX | House of Blues
Dec. 20 | Austin, TX | ACL Live -Moody Theater
Dec. 21 | Austin, TX | ACL Live – Moody Theater
Dec. 26 | Oklahoma City, OK | The Jones Assembly
Dec. 27 | Dallas, Texas | House of Blues
Dec. 28 | Memphis, TN | Germantown Performing Arts Center
Dec. 29 | Nashville, TN | Ryman Auditorium
Dec. 30 | Fort Worth, TX | Bass Performance Hall

The next installment in Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series will focus on his return to his recording career in the years following his 1966 motorcycle accident.

Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 will arrive on Nov. 1 and feature outtakes from John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, and give the first official releases to the oft-bootlegged 1969 session with Johnny Cash -- who gets a featured credit on the set -- with a few extras thrown in.

The seven John Wesley Harding outtakes have never been bootlegged. A source close to Dylan told Rolling Stone that choosing what to include was difficult: "There just doesn’t seem to be many alternate versions of the songs. The ones we have are often very similar to each other. We had to include ‘All Along the Watchtower,’ but it’s not like ‘All Along the Watchtower’ cha-cha or anything. But ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’ is great and has a completely different melody. I don’t think anything had more than three complete takes."

Looking for Nashville Skyline outtakes proved a different challenge, because approximately half of the tapes couldn't be located. "There was an engineer who had taken some of the tapes home and put them in a storage locker,” the source noted. "Someone later bought them for a couple of grand and Sony had to buy the tapes back. Most of what we have comes from the storage locker, but the rest were lost. From the best we can tell, they are just gone."

The dates with Cash -- intended for an album that never got released -- exist in full and take up half of the three CDs. The set contains 25 tracks, including "Wanted Man," which they wrote on the spot and Cash recorded for At San Quentin a week later, and six songs featuring Carl Perkins.

The collection is rounded out by the three numbers Dylan recorded during his appearance on The Johnny Cash Show, covers of two Cash songs -- "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues" -- from the Self Portrait sessions and four tunes recorded with bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs and family for a documentary.
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