Take that Tom Edison. The oldest recorded voice was that of a French woman and it predates Mr. Lightbulb by 17 years. It was recorded on something called phonoautograph (pre-Ipod) in 1860. Apparently she’s singing a little French folk song. Hope it’s not something naughty.

The Allman Bros. will postpone touring while band leader, Greg Allman recovers from hepatitis C. Word is that they still plan to go ahead with their headlining spot at Bonnaroo this summer. Get well Gregg.

“I’m getting better but I’m still tired,” the “Whipping Post” singer said. “I need to be at 110 percent to do the shows the way we do them. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support and understanding my Brothers and our fans have given me.”

Seventeen years in the making and it’s all in Axl’s hands now. Soda giant, Dr. Pepper has promised to give every person in the U.S. (except Axl Rose and Buckethead) a free can of Dr. Pepper if Guns N Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” is released sometime, anytime in 2008.

(AP) Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend and business associate of The Beatles, has died, the surviving band members said Monday. He was 66.
  His death was announced in a statement released by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison and the band’s Apple Corps Ltd. company.
“All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him, but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man,” the statement said.
It did not say exactly when Aspinall died. But Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper on Sunday reported McCartney had flown out to see him.
Aspinall stepped down last year as chief executive of Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ commercial interests.
A Liverpool school friend of McCartney and Harrison, Aspinall was The Beatles’ first road manager and would drive them between gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant, and in 1968 was given a management role at Apple Records - the band’s own record label.
As head of Apple Corps, Aspinall was executive producer of the hugely successful Beatles Anthology album and was behind other successes, including the Beatles One album.

 CNN selects their top five rock documentaries for the silver screen. Interesting and subjective, although I might have made it a top 10 and included the Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” or Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.”

Thanks to Frank Mayeran for the link. 

Queen announce a world tour and new album to be released this September. This will be their first new studio material in 13 years.

Now this is fun. From Blender magazine, “The 20 Biggest Record Company Screwups of All Time” featuring a cast of characters including Wilco, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Berry Gordy, Neil Young and the famous phantom Guns N Roses album; “Chinese Democracy.”

Several weeks ago I wrote a post about No Depression magazine folding and now Harp magazine has hit the skids. Too bad, they did a great job covering the music scene. Same story as No Depression, no advertising, no magazine. Dave Grohl gets the honor of being the last face to be featured on the cover. The current issue is their last.

I gotta quit posting all of this sad news . . . somebody point me at some good news quick. Is Paul McCartney’s divorce trial over?

From Frank Mayeran for Revolving World:

Ola Brunkert, the drummer for the Swedish supergroup ABBA dies in accident at his home in Spain.  Brunkert appeared on all of their albums and toured with them throughout the 70s.

Sheryl Crow announces plans to collaborate with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to create a re-tooled Fleetwood Mac.