On October 28 Shout! Factory will make available the previously unreleased Gonzo Tapes in a newly produced collection titled The Gonzo Tapes: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, in concurrence with the Magnolia Pictures film release of Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, directed by Academy Award®-winning director Alex Gibney.
Legendary Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson knew from the beginning of his career that he would one day be famous and so became a dedicated archivist of his own writing, saving copies of all his correspondence including personal letters, drafts for magazines and books, angry letters to his editors, and even notes written on cocktail napkins. But most important to Thompson was his tape recorder, which allowed him to document his experiences as a participant rather than an observer, often setting it down in a bar or hotel room to pick up the mood and conversation, or to record what it was like spending days speeding down highways with the Hell’s Angels.
Recorded by Thompson between 1965 and 1975, these tapes capture his thoughts and descriptions both as they’re happening and in reflection, as he would often go back to rerecord commentary. Filmmaker Alex Gibney, producer Eva Orner and Gonzo archivist Don Fleming were given permission by Thompson’s widow to explore the boxes of tapes stored in the basement of his Owl Farm home in Woody Creek, Colorado, left behind after Thompson’s suicide in 2005. Fleming transferred the audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes to digital files, and they made their way to the cutting room for the film Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
Gibney, the producer/writer/director of the film who also made “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “Taxi to the Dark Side,” writes in his introduction to The Gonzo Tapes, “These tapes were pure gold, lending an intimacy to the film that it couldn’t have had otherwise.” As Loren Jenkins writes in the notes that accompany The Gonzo Tapes, “The idea that these tapes will now be made available to the public to help reveal some of what went on behind the Gonzo screeds is something I believe Hunter would delight in if he were still alive today.”
The Gonzo Tapes features original cover artwork by Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman, an introduction by film director Alex Gibney, an essay by journalist and Thompson’s fellow foreign correspondent Loren Jenkins, and notes by The Gonzo Tapes producer Don Fleming, former front man of the Velvet Monkeys and Gumball who has produced Sonic Youth, Alice Cooper, Hole, and more.
Disc 1 of the 5-CD set is titled “Hell’s Angels,” and includes Thompson’s notes from a year of riding with the infamous biker gang, an unprecedented feat from which Thompson made a name for himself and which famously became a book. Discs 2 and 3 contain the notes that materialized as his well-known novel Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, and eventually of course a major motion picture.
Disc 4, titled “Gonzo Gridlock 1973–1974,” captures Thompson in the years following the completion of his book Fear And Loathing: On The Campaign Trail ’72, recording his thoughts for a new novel, drafts of a never published Rolling Stone story involving Fear and Loathing cohort Oscar Acosta, a cocaine-fueled never-written assignment from Rolling Stone on a book titled Cocaine Papers: Sigmund Freud, as well as notes and an argument with Ralph Steadman during a 1974 trip to Zaire where he was to report on the legendary “Rumble In The Jungle” between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali for Rolling Stone, and which he skipped for a swim in the hotel pool.
Disc 5, titled “Fear and Loathing in Saigon,” finds Thompson traveling to Vietnam just days before the fall of Saigon in 1975, where, armed with a cooler of beer and wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, he rode to the front line and observed the final major combat action of the war. The day before Saigon fell Thompson left for Laos to work on a story he had in mind about CIA concentration camps.
Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture – The Stuff You Grew Up On But Never Outgrew. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts Grammy®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists and lovingly assembled album reissues. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. For more on Shout! Factory, visit www.shoutfactory.com.
Disc 1 - HELL’S ANGELS
Bass Lake Run . . . Terry The Tramp Interview #1 . . . Driving Back Through Oakland . . . The Merry Pranksters Welcome The Hell’s Angels . . . It’s A Long Dirty Story . . . Ha-Ha, Not Thump-Thump . . . Terry The Tramp Interview #2 . . . Zing Zong Wing Ding Rush . . . A Question For The Ages
Disc 2 - FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS
We Have Seized The High Ground . . . One Toke Over The Line . . . If All Else Fails We Must Get Ether . . . In Search Of The American Dream . . . Terry’s Taco Stand, USA . . . Anybody In Search Of The American Dream Needs A Lawyer, A Doctor And A Bodyguard
Disc 3 - MORE FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS
Goddamn! This Monster’s Licking My Arm! . . . Oscar Fled In Terror . . . Drug Up . . . Weird Road . . . Across This Treacherous Sand . . . A Huge Tidal Wave Will Come In On Me Now . . . Vegas D.A. Final Notes . . . The Whole Room Is Total Chaos . . . Wenner Calls . . . With A Big “W” in 65-Pt Type
Disc 4 - GONZO GRIDLOCK 1973–1974
Guts Ball . . . Cozumel . . . Fear And Loathing In Acapulco . . . Freud Cocaine Papers . . . Fear And Loathing In Kinshasa
Disc 5 - FEAR AND LOATHING IN SAIGON
I’m The One That’s Supposed To Be Crazy . . . Hotel Continental Palace . . . The Thursday Night Panic . . . Last Stand At Xuan Loc . . . Hong Kong . . . The Last Dispatch From Saigon
Preferred Retail Link:
http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5256808
Official Site Link:
http://www.gonzo.org
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UK songstress Dido will release her highly anticipated third album, Safe Trip Home, on November 18. The first single “Don’t Believe In Love” is currently available for download and was recently featured on TV’s 90210.
“Don’t Believe In Love” Stream:
The journey is underway for Dido’s forthcoming album, Safe Trip Home, which will be released by Arista Records on the newly announced date of November 18, 2008.
Leading up to the release of her third album, film directors from around the world have been invited to make a series of short films to spotlight each of the album’s 11 songs. Filmed at locations though out the globe (Mumbai, Rio, Bangkok and more), each film will examine a day in life of people in different countries. Trailers for the first four films can be viewed online at: http://www.youtube.com/SafeTripHome.
In the coming weeks, Dido will host upcoming listening parties outside of London and Los Angeles, where Safe Trip Home will be played its entirety. Afterwards, she will meet fans.
Safe Trip Home is currently available for digital pre-order from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com). Customers who pre-order the album from iTunes will instantly receive Dido’s new single, “Don’t Believe In Love.” Two digital versions are available through iTunes: a standard and a deluxe that features bonus content. The deluxe version contains three bonus tracks “For One Day,” “Summer” and a remixed version of “Northern Skies,” a video for “Don’t Believe In Love,” digital liner notes, plus the pre-orders-only track “The Day Before The Day 5/4.”
Recorded in Los Angeles and London, Safe Trip Home is produced by Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Kanye West, Rufus Wainwright, Eels), Ark—the new production company founded by Rollo Armstrong (Faithless) and Dido. The new album includes smoldering, soulful songs that feature Dido playing guitar, piano, bells and the trusty recorder she toured Europe with as a prodigious pupil of London’s Guildhall School of Music. She’s even responsible for some of the album’s drums (most notably on the sumptuously melancholy “Quiet Times.”). The record also includes “Grafton Street,” a song Dido co-wrote with Brian Eno.
Safe Trip Home follows the global, chart-topping success of Dido’s two previous albums: No Angel and Life for Rent.
Official Site Link:
http://www.didomusic.com/gb/home
More than just the words on the walls, Hard Rock International has remained true to its motto – “LOVE ALL” by continuing its pledge to serve others – since the company’s founding in 1971. Hard Rock is proud to announce the launch of The 2008 Global “Imagine There’s No Hunger” campaign to benefit WHY, a nonprofit organization that finds innovative solutions to hunger and poverty around the Globe. Hard Rock’s SERVE3 benefit compilation features new, never-before-released or rare tracks by a unique blend of major multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning and acclaimed recording artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, Avril Lavigne, Starsailor, My Morning Jacket and more. Setting the foundation for “Imagine There’s No Hunger,” artist and musician Yoko Ono has graciously donated her late husband John Lennon’s inspirational song “Give Peace A Chance.” With the exception of this classic, the songs on SERVE3 are new, electric or acoustic, and reflect the generosity of the artists that donated them to the project on behalf of serving those in need. SERVE3 will be available at select Hard Rock locations around the world and www.hardrock.com beginning November 4, 2008, with downloads available at digital retailers.
Download and Share Toby Lightman’s “Color” From SERVE3
Tracklisting For SERVE3:
1. Remember When The Music - performer - Bruce Springsteen
2. Love Has Made You Beautiful - performer - Joss Stone
3. Look At You (Jim’s Electronic Version) - performer - My Morning Jacket
4. When You’re Gone (Live From Toronto, Best Damn Tour) - performer - Avril Lavigne
5. Diane (Live From Bonnaroo) - performer - Robert Randolph & The Family Band
6. Complete Control - performer - The Charlatans
7. People Get Ready - performer - Ryan Shaw
8. Keep Coming Back (Live From Nashville) - performer - Marc Broussard
9. Military Madness (Graham Nash Cover) - performer - Starsailor
10. Mother Earth - performer - Micki Free
11. I Be Rockin’ It - performer - DMC
12. I Know It’s Over (The Smith’s Cover) - performer - The Chapin Sisters
13. Give Peace a Chance - performer - John Lennon
14. On A Night Like This - performer - Dave Barnes
15. Color - performer - Toby Lightman
16. Becoming (Remixed) - performer - Brilliant Mistakes
17. I Hope You’re Upset - performer - Middle Distance Runner
18. Heaven - performer - Scott Barnhill
19. Time - performer - Lisa Bouchelle
20. Jew Said Grace - performer - The Dead Tree
About WHY:
For more information, visit www.worldhungeryear.org.
Check out Def Jam’s newest R&B group Brutha covering the Sam Cooke tune ‘Jesus Gave Me Water’.
Tune into BruthaTV on YouTube each week for a new acapella video leading up to the premiere of their BET reality show ‘Brothers to Brutha’ on Nov. 18! www.youtube.com/user/BruthaTV
