RINGO STARR -- "IT DON'T COME EASY"

Writer: Richard Starkey and (uncredited) George Harrison
Producer: George Harrison
Recorded: March 8th and 11th, October 1970, at EMI and Trident Studios (?), London
Released: April 9th, 1971

Players:
Ringo Starr -- vocals, drums & percussion
George Harrison -- guitars, vocals
Klaus Voorman -- bass
George Harrison and Badfinger's Tommy Evans & Joey Molland -- backing vocals
Gary Wright -- piano, organ
Ron Cattermole -- saxophone, trumpet

Album: Blast From Your Past (Apple, 1975)

Also On:
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (Rykodisc, 1990)
Ringo Starr & His Third All-Starr Band (Blockbuster, 1997)
VH1 Storytellers (Polygram, 1998)
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band: The Anthology...So Far (Koch, 2001)

• Ringo Starr's first solo hit (and second single), "It Don't Come Easy" reached Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number Five in the U.K.
• The song, like all of Starr's songwriting credits, is attributed to his given name of Richard Starkey. Starr has said that George Harrison in fact co-wrote the song, but did not ask for credit.
• Multiple versions of the song were recorded at the time, including an early version produced by George Martin which featured Stephen Stills on piano.
• "It Don't Come Easy" sold more than a million copies in its first four months of release, earning a gold record.
• It also outsold his former Beatles bandmates' singles of the same period, including John Lennon's "Power To The People," Paul McCartney's "Another Day," and George Harrison's "Bangla Desh."
• Released solely as a single, it didn't appear on an album until Starr's 1975 greatest hits set Blast From Your Past.
• A nearly complete version of the song featuring Harrison on lead vocal has made the collectors' rounds. On the Harrison-sung version the backing vocals feature Harrison and members of the Apple act Badfinger singing a brief chant of "Hare Krishna" during the guitar solo, which was mixed down on the finished master.
• One of the most memorable performances of the song came in Harrison's Concert For Bangla Desh on August 1st, 1971 at New York's Madison Square Garden. On the live version, Starr forgets some of the lyrics.

FAST FORWARD:
• The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 20th, 1988. McCartney did not attend because of prolonged litigation with his former bandmates.
• Starr is married to actress Barbara Bach and splits his time between homes in Monaco, England, and the U.S.
• Starr has regularly toured with his All-Starr Band, which includes the best, most interesting players he can think of that are available in a given year.
• Starr and Spider-Man creator Stan Lee are working on a project for a super-hero based on Starr's personality. Starr will provide the voice for animated uses.
• Starr released his latest album, called Liverpool 8, in January.
• Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band kick off their summer tour on June 19th in Niagara Falls, Ontario at the Fallsview Casino Resort. Joining Starr on the road are All Starrs Colin Hay of Men At Work, Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart of the Average White Band and Paul McCartney's band, Edgar Winter, and first-timer Gary Wright. Starr will be joined on drums by Gregg Bissonette.

DAVID BOWIE -- "REBEL REBEL"

Writer: David Bowie
Producer: David Bowie
Recorded: December 1973 at Olympic Studios, London
Released: February 1974

Players:
David Bowie -- vocals, guitar
Herbie Flowers -- bass
Mike Garson -- keyboards
Tony Newman -- drums
Aynsley Dunbar -- drums

Album: Diamond Dogs (RCA, 1974)

Also On:
Changesonebowie (RCA, 1976)
David Live (RCA, 1974)
Sound + Vision (Rykodisc, 1989)
Changesbowie (Rykodisc, 1990)
The Singles 1969-1993 (Rykodisc, 1993)
The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974 (Virgin, 1998)
Singles Collection (EMI, 1999)
Singles Collection, Volume 1 (EMI, 2000)
Best Of Bowie (Virgin, 2002)

• "Rebel Rebel" was the first single released from David Bowie's 1974 album Diamond Dogs.
• A shorter version of the single came out first, featuring very different instrumentation and lots of phased vocals. It was withdrawn and replaced by the version that became a hit, and the short version can now only be found on the Sound + Vision box set.
• The song hit Number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a popular rock radio track. It reached Number Five on the U.K. chart.
• Diamond Dogs was one of Bowie's biggest releases -- it was his first album after splitting up his band the Spiders From Mars (though keyboardist Mike Garson and drummer Aynsley Dunbar appear on the album), and he also took on the role of playing lead guitar on the album.
• With its hooky power chords and glam production, "Rebel Rebel" was a deliberate choice for the album's first single, a song that would display Bowie's guitar acumen as well as a crunching rocker to assure Bowie's fans that he could still kick it, even without the Spiders.
• The song also advances the gender-bending Bowie was known for in the early '70s, with lyrics such as "You've got your mother in a whirl/She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl."
• The Diamond Dogs album cover also stirred some controversy. The Guy Peellaert painting depicting Bowie with a male dog's hindquarters was anatomically correct.
RCA had to recall the initial shipment of the album in order to airbrush the offending image.
• Diamond Dogs hit Number Five on the Billboard 200 -- his best showing in the U.S. to that point -- and was certified gold. It was a Number One album in the U.K.

FAST FORWARD:
• Bowie has continued to record and perform, with occasional forays into acting.
• He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 but didn't attend the ceremony.
• In 1997, Bowie offered "shares" -- or "Bowie Bonds," as they came to be known -- backed by his projected future income for past projects. The move, which was the first of its kind in rock, was a huge success.
• Bowie's latest album, called Reality, came out in 2003, and he toured the world to support it.
• He had to cancel the last couple of shows on the tour after having an emergency angioplasty to repair a blocked artery. However, a source told the U.K. tabloid The Sun that Bowie actually had a heart attack. He has reportedly made a complete recovery.
• A mash-up of "Rebel Rebel" and a track from Reality called "Never Get Old" was released in 2004, called "Rebel Never Gets Old."
• Bowie also recorded a stripped-down version of the song in 2003, which was released as a bonus track on Reality.

THE EAGLES -- "HOTEL CALIFORNIA"

Writers: Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey
Producer: Bill Szymczyk
Recorded: 1976, Criteria Studios, Miami; The Record Plant, Los Angeles, California
Released: March 12th, 1977

Players:
Don Henley -- lead vocals, drums
Glenn Frey -- guitar, vocals
Don Felder -- lead guitar
Joe Walsh -- lead guitar
Randy Meisner -- bass, vocals

Album: Hotel California (Asylum, 1976)

Also On:
The Eagles Live (Asylum, 1980)
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (Asylum, 1982)
Hell Freezes Over (Geffen, 1994)
The Eagles 1972-1999 Selected Works (Elektra, 2000)
The Very Best Of (Warner Strategic Marketing, 2003)

• The fourth of the Eagles' five Number One singles, "Hotel California" stayed in the top 40 of the Billboard chart for 15 weeks, the longest of any Eagles song.
• After four generally optimistic, sunny albums, this tour of the dark underbelly of the peaceful, easy California lifestyle signaled a new outlook for the group, which was continued on one of the other hits from the Hotel California album, "Life In The Fast Lane."
• Singer-drummer Don Henley said of the song, "I was a little disappointed with how the record was taken, because I meant it in a much broader sense than a commentary about California. I was simply using California as a microcosm for the rest of America and for the self-indulgence of our entire culture. It was, to a certain extent, about California, about the excesses out here. But in many instances, as California goes, so goes the nation. Things simply happen out here or in New York first... and then work their way toward the middle of America. And that's what I was trying to get at."
• Henley and Frey wrote to song around an instrumental demo Don Felder had assembled, which he called a "Mexican Reggae" track.
• The song's closing guitar jam announced Joe Walsh's presence in the group to the world. He joined in 1976, replacing original member Bernie Leadon.
• In 1984, singer-guitarist Glenn Frey said, "We had Don Henley to sing the rock-and-roll songs, why should I screw around with it at all? I love the way he sings -- he reminds me of (Bob) Seger, Wilson Pickett, the real thing. I think emphasizing his voice really helped push us over the top."
• About Henley's songwriting contribution, Frey said, "He was the lyrical genius, the English Literature major who could help us put these stories together."

FAST FORWARD:
• The Eagles broke up after Frey left the group in late 1980.
• Henley's solo career got off to an unfortunate start due to a November 1980 incident where a 16-year-old girl was found drugged and naked in his California home, an event that produced a lot of bad publicity. He recovered to become the most successful of the band's solo artists.
• Frey's solo career gained a major boost from his acting on the TV series Miami Vice, and the show's use of his song "Smuggler's Blues."
• Walsh has continued to release albums and also saw fit to nominate himself for vice president of the U.S. in two separate campaigns. He's also toured in recent years with his pre-Eagles band the James Gang.
• The group reunited in 1994 for an MTV special, a live album called Hell Freezes Over, and a world tour that lasted two years.
• Henley and Frey are among the leaders in the ongoing battle between artists and record companies to reform accounting processes.
• Hotel California has sold well over 16 million copies.
• The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Lead guitarist Don Felder was fired from the Eagles in early 2001. He sued over what he claims was his wrongful termination from the group and its associated businesses.
• The Eagles have continued to work steadily in recent years, and in 2007 released Long Road Out Of Eden, the group's first set of all-new material since The Long Run.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND -- "HUNGRY HEART"

Writer: Bruce Springsteen
Producers: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, and Steve Van Zandt
Recorded: Early 1980 at the Power Station in New York City
Released: October 1980

Players:
Bruce Springsteen--vocals, guitar
Roy Bittan--piano
Clarence Clemons--saxophone
Danny Federici--organ
Garry Tallent--bass
Steve Van Zandt--guitar
Max Weinberg--drums
Flo and Eddie--backing vocals

Album: The River (Columbia, 1980)

Also on:
Live/1975-1985 (Columbia, 1986)
Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1995)

• "Hungry Heart" was Bruce Springsteen's first bona fide hit single, peaking at Number Five on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at Number 44 in the U.K.
• In the liner notes for his Greatest Hits album, Springsteen reveals the origin of "Hungry Heart," and how he almost gave it away: "I met the Ramones in Asbury Park and Joey asked me to write a song for 'em. I went home and that night I wrote this. I played it for (manager) Jon Landau and, earning his money, he advised me to keep it."
• "Hungry Heart" was the first Springsteen song to be used for a movie soundtrack -- Risky Business, which was Tom Cruise's breakthrough film.
• The song became a concert favorite, and Springsteen started a ritual by letting the crowd sing the first verse and chorus before he joined in.
• The B-side of "Hungry Heart" was a short rocker called "Held Up Without A Gun," which didn't appear on The River. This began a tradition of Springsteen using non-LP tracks for his B-sides.
• The success of "Hungry Heart" pushed The River to Number One on the Billboard 200.
• The arduous recording for The River album went through 1979 and much of 1980. One version of the album, titled The Ties That Bind, was abandoned, and the final double album was culled from an estimated 90 songs that Springsteen and the E Street Band had recorded.
• Production costs for The River were said to top $500,000.

FAST FORWARD:
• Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.
• In 2006, Springsteen released a new, non-E Street Band album called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, and toured Europe and North America behind it. He recently released a live CD and DVD from the tour.
• Springsteen dismissed the E Street Band in 1989, although he reunited with them, briefly, in 1995, and for world tours in 1999-2000 and 2002-2003. In 2007 they released a new album, Magic, and are now on tour again.
• E Street band keyboardist Danny Federici, whose organ playing was showcased on "Hungry Heart," died April 17th, 2008, at age 58, of cancer.

QUEEN -- "FAT BOTTOMED GIRLS"

Writer: Brian May
Producer: Roy Thomas Baker
Recorded: July-September 1978 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland and SuperBear Studios in Nice, France
Released: November 1978

Players:
Freddie Mercury -- vocals
Brian May -- guitar, vocals
Roger Deacon -- bass
Roger Taylor -- drums, vocals

Album: Jazz (Elektra, 1978)

Also On:
Greatest Hits (Elektra, 1981)
Greatest Hits (Hollywood, 1992)
Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl (Hollywood, 2004)
Return Of The Champions (Hollywood, 2005)

• "Fat Bottomed Girls" was released with "Bicycle Race" as a double A-sided single from Queen's Jazz album.
• The single was promoted with a video featuring nude women in a bicycle race. Sixty-five women, many with "fat bottoms," were recruited for the video, which was filmed September 17th, 1978, at Wembley Stadium in London.
• The bicycles for the video were provided by the manufacturer Halfords, which made Queen pay for replacement seats following the shoot.
• The bicycle race also resulted in a poster that was included in the Jazz album. After initial pressings, it was discontinued in the U.S. and replaced by a form allowing buyers to mail-in for their copy of the poster.
• During their performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the fall of 1978, Queen reenacted the bicycle race onstage.
• The single hit Number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Number 11 on the U.K. chart.
• At the advice of their accountant, Queen recorded the Jazz album in two countries in order to avoid falling under taxation laws in any one nation.
• The Jazz sessions were marked by two band birthdays -- drummer Roger Taylor's 29th and frontman Freddie Mercury's 32nd, both of which were celebrated with lavish parties, which involved swinging from a chandelier (at Taylor's) and swimming nude (at Mercury's).
• Queen was so taken with Mountain Studios in Switzerland that they decided to buy the facility from its Dutch owners.
• The Jazz album was launched at a Halloween party in New Orleans, which featured naked female mud wrestlers, dwarfs, fire-eaters, steel bands, Zulu dancers, jazz bands, voodoo dancers, strippers, drag artists, and unicyclists.
• Jazz peaked at Number Six on the Billboard 200 and Number Two in the U.K. It was Queen's second consecutive million-seller, following 1977's News Of The World.

FAST FORWARD:
• Mercury's death from AIDS on November 24th, 1991, brought an end to the band, though not its success. "Bohemian Rhapsody" became a Number One hit in the U.K. shortly after Mercury's death, and it was a hit again in the U.S. after it was used in the soundtrack for the 1992 Mike Myers film Wayne's World.
• Taylor and guitarist Brian May continue to pursue solo careers. In addition, they've overseen a stage musical called We Will Rock You that features Queen's music. It continues to play in London, and productions have been staged in Australia, Germany, Russia, Spain, the U.S., and Canada.
• Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
• May and Taylor toured in 2005 and 2006 with Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, performing songs from all of their bands.
• Bassist John Deacon is no longer active in the music business.
• Queen's Greatest Hits package from 1981 has sold over 5.4 million copies in Britain, making it the biggest-selling album in U.K. history.
• May, Taylor, and Rodgers have begun recording new material, and an album and world tour have been announced for the fall of 2008.

NEIL YOUNG -- "HEART OF GOLD"

Writers: Neil Young
Producers: Elliot Mazer, Henry Lewy, and Jack Nitzsche
Recorded: Late 1971
Released: Early 1972

Players:
Neil Young -- guitar, vocals
Ben Keith -- pedal steel
Jack Nitzsche -- piano, guitar
Tim Drummond -- bass
Kenny Buttrey -- drums
James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt -- backing vocals
Album: Harvest (Reprise, 1972)
Also On: Decade (Reprise, 1977)

• "Heart Of Gold" was Neil Young's first big hit single, and it brought him mainstream success as well as international stardom. The song "put me in the middle of the road," as Young recalled.
• At the time of its release, many critics felt Harvest was too lightweight and sentimental, showing a dip in Neil Young's standards.
• While his earlier, better-known songs like "Mr. Soul", "Down By The River," and "Cinnamon Girl" were quirky and dark, "Heart Of Gold" was distinctly laid back and warm in contrast. The overall mellow mood of the song, and the album in general, played a large role in gaining a wider audience for Young.
• In order to ensure the good vibes in the song, Young brought James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt along to provide backing vocals.
• A bad back just might make for easy-going rock: Young might have been shooting for a more commercial sound on Harvest, but he also had a back injury at the time, which prevented him from doing any strenuous electric guitar rave-ups -- hence the album's acoustic feel.
• Harvest was the first album Young worked on with the Stray Gators, a group he was to work with again with great success.

FAST FORWARD:
• In 1992, Young reunited with the Stray Gators to make the "follow-up" to Harvest, which was titled Harvest Moon.
• Like its predecessor, the pastoral mood of Harvest Moon can at least partly be traced back to medical reasons. After a thrashing tour with Crazy Horse to support the rocking Ragged Glory album, Young's hearing was damaged and he literally needed to make quieter music.
• However, Young spent a good part of the '90s reaffirming his thrasher roots with garage-rock albums and live efforts such as 1990's Ragged Glory, 1991's Weld, 1994's Sleeps With Angels, and 1997's Year Of The Horse.
Young also reclaimed his status as a guiding light to younger acts with 1995's Mirror Ball, on which he was backed by Pearl Jam.
• Young continues to do charity work for the Bridge Foundation -- a group his wife founded that benefits a special education school in San Francisco -- and participate in the annual Farm Aid benefit concerts.
• Young has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice: in 1995 as a solo artist, and in 1997 with Buffalo Springfield. He's also been inducted into Canada's Prairie Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
• Young inducted the Pretenders into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2005, and he also performed with them. While in New York City for the event, he had some vision problems, and when he went to the doctor, it was discovered that he had a brain aneurysm. Young then traveled to Nashville to work on his album Prairie Wind, before returning to New York City for a successful operation. He's since made a full recovery.
• Young reunited with Crosby, Stills & Nash to record new material and tour in 1999, 2000, and 2002, and they toured in 2006 behind Young's album called Living With War.
• He recently released a new album called Chrome Dreams II, a follow-up to an unreleased collection from 1977.

ELTON JOHN -- "FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND/LOVE LIES BLEEDING"

Writers: Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Producer: Gus Dudgeon
Recorded: May 1973 at Strawberry Studios, France
Released: Fall 1973

Players:
Elton John -- vocals, piano
Davey Johnstone -- guitar, vocals
Dee Murray -- bass, vocals
Nigel Olsson -- drums, vocals
David Hentschel -- synthesizer
Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (MCA, 1973/Rocket, 1995)

• Although never released as a proper single, the "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" combination is one of Elton John's most popular album tracks. He's often used it to open his concerts.
• Of "Funeral For A Friend," John said, "(Producer) Gus Dudgeon had always said I should do an instrumental. One day I was feeling really down and said to myself, 'What kind of music would I like to hear at my own funeral?' I'd always liked funeral music anyway. I like very sad music of any kind."
• John and his band began recording the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in Kingston, Jamaica, but were unhappy with the facilities and left after laying down an early take of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting." John said, "We stayed at a hotel called the Pink Flamingo or something like that. I was afraid to go out of the room, because it was pretty funky in downtown Kingston." Lyricist Bernie Taupin added, "If I remember rightly, the studio was surrounded by barbed wire, and there were guys with machine guns."
• John says that once back in France, the album was recorded in about 15 days: "The amount of work we did... We used to record three, four, five tracks a day."

FAST FORWARD:
• Bassist Dee Murray died of a stroke on January 14th, 1992.
• Dudgeon and his wife were killed in a car accident July 21st, 2002.
• Guitarist Davey Johnstone has remained a constant presence in John's band, while drummer Nigel Olsson rejoined John for his 2001-2002 concert dates.
• Despite periodic highly publicized "retirements," John has continued to record and perform.
• He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
• Since coming out as gay, John has become increasingly active in promoting AIDS research and tolerance for AIDS sufferers, including an annual post-Oscar party to raise money for his own foundation.
• He's branched out into film and theater work, including soundtracks and scores for successes including The Lion King, The Road To El Dorado, and Aida, as well as Lestat, which closed after dismal reviews. In fact, John and lyricist Tim Rice won an Oscar in 1995 for Best Original Song for The Lion King's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight."
• His reworked version of his hit "Candle In The Wind,'' in memory of the late Princess Diana, was recorded to raise money for the Princess Diana Of Wales Foundation.
• John received the Grammy Legend Award at the 2000 ceremony and courted controversy at the 2001 ceremony by performing with rapper Eminem.
• John celebrated his 50th birthday on March 25th, 1997, and Britain's Royal Academy Of Music named John an honorary member -- the 175-year-old school's top honor. John studied piano at the Royal Academy in the '60s, when he was considering a career in classical music. The Academy termed John a "prodigiously gifted child" who would have progressed to the senior level had he continued.
• John has taken the British government to task for its record in AIDS prevention and awareness. He told the Sky News service that he's "disgusted with the way the health service in England is operating. We (in Britain) had a great record on AIDS when we started, but that record is now not as good as it was under the (conservative Margaret) Thatcher government. You should be ashamed of yourselves -- you're socialists, or supposed to be. For God's sake, we live in the 21st century -- the trains don't work, the health service doesn't work, people are dying from AIDS, what are you doing? Get your act together, it's a disgrace."
• In 2004, John launched a long-running show called The Red Piano in Las Vegas.
John played the Live 8 show in London on July 2nd, 2005, then flew to Philadelphia to headline the Philadelphia Freedom Concert And Ball two days later to raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Philadelphia-area HIV/AIDS provider organizations.
• John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin released a sequel to Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy in 2006, titled The Captain & The Kid.