Newsbites: Grateful Dead Mickey Hart wanted for assault

Denial: Mickey Hart

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart is wanted in connection with an assault in Kentucky. Police issued a warrant after a Cecil Curtsinger, who attended a Mickey Hart Band show on September 8, claimed he’d been thrown down, struck, pushed then ordered off a tour bus. The musician, real name Michael Hartman, says: “I am totally baffled. Any accusation is completely false and without any basis whatsoever.” The charge of fourth-degree assault could lead to up to a year in jail. Hart, 69, played with the Grateful Dead from 1967 until 1971 then again from 1974 until the band split in 1995 after Jerry Garcia’s death. Since then he’s played with offshoot band The Dead. [TMZ]

AC/DC release their first live album in 20 years on November 20. Live At River Plate was recorded in 2009 during their Black Ice World Tour. It will be available in double-CD and triple-red-vinyl formats with multiple covers and a 24-page booklet. Tracklist:
01. Rock N Roll Train
02. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
03. Back In Black
04. Big Jack
05. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
06. Shot Down In Flames
07. Thunderstruck
08. Black Ice
09. The Jack
10. Hells Bells
11. Shoot To Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. You Shook Me All Night Long
15. T.N.T.
16. Whole Lotta Rosie
17. Let There Be Rock
18. Highway To Hell
19. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

Bob Dylan has blasted critics who say he’s used other people’s work to create his lyrics then not credited them. The veteran performer says: “Quotation is a rich and enriching tradition, that certainly is true – for everybody but me. There are different rules for me. Hendry Timrod: have you ever heard of him? Who’s been reading him lately? Who’s pushed him to the forefront? Who’s been making you read him? If you think it’s easy to quote him, do it yourself and see how far you get. These people tried to pin the name Judas on me – the most hated name in human history. And for what? For playing an electric guitar? All those evil motherfuckers can rot in hell.” [Rolling Stone]

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 25. Organisers say: “These ladies will join the likes of Journey and Motley Crue. Many young, aspiring female rockers look up to these legendary ladies of rock’n'roll.”

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian insists the band never entertained the concept of changing their name during the anthrax attack scare that followed 9/11. Ian says: “All this mainstream media are suddenly calling our publicist trying to get interviews. My attitude was, ‘These guys didn’t want anything to do with us when our record came out, and now they want to fill space because this is the story of the week?’ I did one interview and the guy was a huge fan of the band. He said, ‘If I could cover you in this paper, of course I would.’ We just wouldn’t buy into it – just because we happen to be in a band that has the same name, a name we had been renting for 20-odd years at the time.” [Straight]

Wolfgang Van Halen has suddenly found himself without as much downtime as his bandmates while his father recovers from emergency surgery. The bassist was asked to join Mark Tremonti’s solo band at short notice. Wolfgang tweeted: “Holy shit! An abrupt change of plans has left me playing bass with Tremonti tomorrow – I’ve got some tunes to learn!”

Carlos Santana has signed a deal to write an autobiography. The book is scheduled for release on 2014, and does not yet have a title.

Sully Erna of Godsmack believes kids today are given too easy a time of it. He explains: “Parents don’t let their children experience enough. I was raised in a tough neighbourhood where there was a lot of drugs, gangs and crime. It made me who I am today. Parents should let their children lose at board games and such, otherwise they grow up being spoiled and unaware of the real world. I think parents should sit their kids down and talk to them when they lose at baseball or whatever. Otherwise when they grow up, they can’t accept it when they go to a job interview but don’t get the job.” [Weed Street Journal]

Hawkwind‘s only remaining founding member Dave Brock will release a solo album in November, entitled Looking for Love in the Lost Land of Dreams.

Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung thinks it’s important to understand the balance between a good show and good music. “One does not need flash bombs if you have good songs,” he says. “On the other hand, flash bombs can be fun. What allows me to be this age and still have people come see me is the catalogue of songs. Long after they forget you wore bad clothes in the 70s – that’s fashion – the songs are still there, and that’s music.” [LeaderPost.com]