The Rolling Stones will begin the musical part of their 50th anniversary celebration with four concerts -- two in London and two in Newark, NJ.

The shows start on Nov. 25 and 29 at London's O2 Arena, followed by Dec. 13 and 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark. The dates will be the band's first shows as a complete act in five years.

The dates come on the heels of "GRRR!," a greatest hits collection due next month featuring two new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot."

The Stones' last full tour for "A Bigger Bang" in 2005-2007 was one of the highest-grossing in a recent music, netting $500 million.

It's titled Doom and Gloom, and it's one of the two new tracks from their new album, GRRR! Greatest Hits, due for release a month from now.

The BBC premiered the hard-rocking tune this morning. It's reminiscent of Jumping Jack Flash and Gimme Shelter with a  21st century theme:

Doom and Gloom was recorded in Paris a few months ago, along with a second new song, One More Shot, which hasn't been released.

Earlier this week, guitarist Keith Richards revealed the Stones have been booked for concerts in New York or London, though he didn't say when. The band's sax player, Bobby Keys, says the shows will take place next month. But there's been no official confirmation.

The Rolling Stones are advising fans to stand by for a major announcement… perhaps a new record and/or a 50th anniversary concert.

The latest tease is posted on the group’s Facebook page and points to a mobile phone app. It pictures a growling animal whose eyes blink. As “Start Me Up” plays in the background, the app displays the message “Keep Your Eyes Peeled.”

Just a couple of days ago, Mick Jagger tweeted a photo of himself surrounded by what appears to be the Stones' music gear, in a Paris recording studio. This marks at least the third time the Stones have gathered recently. In April, they rehearsed in the New York area for an HBO documentary this fall on HBO. And last month, they celebrated their 50th year together with a photo exhibit in London.

At that time, Jagger told a British newspaper the Stones would perform live together this fall. And just before that, Keith Richards told Rolling Stone magazine that he's looking forward to writing songs again with Jagger and returning to the studio.

Stay tuned…

Maybe... if you believe  Paul McCartney's son, James.

The 34-year-old guitarist told the BBC that he's interested in creating a second-generation Beatles group. The younger McCartney says John Lennon's son, Sean, and George Harrison's son, Dhani, are also keen on the idea. But Ringo Starr's son, Zak, is not enthusiastic, according to James.  But he raised the possibility that Zak's brother, Jason, might want in.

But is it really a possibility?  "Yeah, hopefully, naturally. I don't know, you'd have to wait and see. The will of God, nature's support, I guess. So yeah, maybe."

The long 50th anniversary season -- celebrating the start of the British Invasion -- is getting underway. The Rolling Stones plan to mark their half century together with a documentary to be released in September. It will feature footage dating back to 1963, including film stashed in vaults and from personal collections.

Earlier this week, Rolling Stone magazine confirmed the band has postponed its 50th anniversary tour until next year.  The magazine quotes Keith Richards as saying they're just not ready. But insiders say Richards' health is one reason for the delay. The guitarist was on vacation in Fiji in 2006 when he suffered a head injury from which he's never fully recovered.

Also planned to mark the Stones anniversary is release of an album of 700 photographs.

 

 

While the Beatles trace their beginning back to 1960, it would be two more years before they scored their first hit, “Love Me Do,” in the Fall of 1962.

Their hometown of Liverpool is making plans to mark the occasion with a series of events running through the latter half of this year. It begins in August, the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first show at the Cavern Club. The city’s leading tour operator is organizing International Beatles Week, with bands from more than 20 countries. In addition to concerts, the sponsor plans exhibitions, memorabilia sales, guest speakers, video shows, sightseeing tours and a convention.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic will perform The Two of Us: The Lennon and McCartney Songbook in June, and the city’s Philharmonic Hall hosts a Beatles weekend in December.
In October, the “Love Me Do” weekend at Albert Dock will celebrate the release of the Beatles’ first single.

This is the start of what’s expected to be a wave of events around the world over the next two years, marking the British Invasion’s half century anniversary.

Earlier this month, Paul McCartney revealed the Beatles talked about getting back together while all four members were still living. But McCartney said they ultimately decided against re-forming out of worries they’d destroy their legacy.

McCartney told Rolling Stone magazine magazine that a revival “could have spoiled the whole idea of the Beatles, so wrong that they’d be like, ‘Oh my God, they weren’t any good.’”

The surviving Beatles are releasing albums within days of one another, but Ringo Starr says it's just a coincidence.

Ringo tells Spinner.com he had dinner with Paul McCartney just after Christmas and hadn't even realized Paul was releasing his own LP:

"No, there’s no rivalry. Paul is Paul, Ringo is Ringo and this is what we do. We don’t phone each other and say, ‘You can’t you bring your record out because I’ve got one!’. We live our lives, we make our music and pick a release date. This was the date we picked and that’s just how it is."

Starr’s new release, Ringo 2012, came out earlier this week. It’s believed McCartney’s new record, titled Kisses on the Bottom, will be released next week.

Ringo’s album features nine tracks, with guest performances from Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.
Paul’s latest is a collection of standards that he remembers from childhood, in addition to a couple of original songs. The album includes appearances by Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton.

More than 40 years after the Beatles recorded "Here Comes The Sun," they've found the George Harrison guitar solo that never made the final cut.

The Beatles' producer, Sir George Martin, along with his son, Giles, and Harrison's son, Djani, made the discovery at London's Abbey Road studios, where the Beatles recorded the song in the summer of 1969. Harrison recorded the short solo on electric guitar, in contrast to the acoustic guitar tracks on the version that was released.

Here's the video clip:

The video comes from Martin Scorsese's documentary, Living in the Material World, which has just been released on DVD.

Almost 50 years after the Beatles dazzled their first American audience, we're getting to see a batch of concert photographs never before published.

The photos are the work of Mike Mitchell, who was 18 years old when the Beatles performed at the Washington, DC, Coliseum on February 11, 1964. Mitchell -- who worked for a now-defunct DC magazine -- scored a press pass and had unrestricted access to the stage. He took full advantage, snapping scores of black-and-white photographs of John, George, Paul and Ringo, individually and together.

The photos capture the Beatles' energy and appeal. Mitchell -- who'd stored the negatives in his basement and forgotten about them for years -- digitized the images and transferred them back to gelatin silver prints.

Christie's auction house in New York is auctioning the photos at starting prices of between $1,000 and $6,000 each. The auction takes place July 20.

Click here for a peek at the Beatles concert prints and information on the sale.

We wonder what John Lennon would have to say about all of the hoopla surrounding the celebration of his 70th birthday on Saturday.

With just a few days to go, here are just a few of the hundreds of events scheduled to remember perhaps the greatest songwriter and performer ever:

• John's 70th will be highlighted with a time capsule ceremony which will preserve his post-Beatles recordings until 2040. Organizers asked Lennon fans to contribute birthday wishes and their own thoughts to the three time capsules, which will divided among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and locations in Liverpool and Iceland. The time capsules will also include newly restored prints of his album artwork and an essay on his John's life. Click here for more information.
• The three surviving members of the Quarrymen, the skiffle group that Lennon co-founded in the late 1950s, will play a special charity concert a few blocks from the late Beatle's Manhattan home. They'll play some of the early rock standards they performed with Lennon, Paul MCCartney, and George Harrison in the years before the Beatles formed. More on the Quarrymen's concert here.
• Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, wants everyone to join in celebration of his birthday by tweeting peace and birthday wishes to the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland. She'll be there on Oct. 9 to perform with the Plastic Ono Band and attend a lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower to mark the occasion. There will be a live feed of the lighting online at this website. Ono says, "We hope to create a shift in global consciousness for peace in John Lennon's memory. We are gathering all the wishes from Twitter and they are being sent to Imagine Peace Tower."
• John's first wife, Cynthia, and their son Julian will unveil the John Lennon Peace Monument created by Lauren Voiers at Chevasse Park in Liverpool. Click here for more.
• Also in Liverpool on Saturday, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra will present a special evening of Lennon’s classic songs with Claire Martin, Curtis Stigers and Mark McGann.
• At Liverpool's Cavern Club, there are special events taking place all month. Click here for details.
• Let's not forget the product tie-ins: Lennon guitar reissued: Gibson Guitar Co. is out with a limited edition version of the J-160E acoustic model that Lennon played. The guitar is being made available in three different versions: The first, finished in vintage sunburst and limited to 500 pieces, represents the guitar he used from 1963 to 1964. The second is a Custom Shop "Imagine" model. The third has a thin, natural finish and sketches of John and Yoko as was used during the bed-ins in 1969.
• EMI has released remastered John Lennon CDs, Signature Box and "Gimme Some Truth" sets, and "Double Fantasy Stripped Down."
• "Nowhere Boy," a film about Lennon's early years, hits U.S. theatres tomorrow; and on Saturday, the documentary "LennonNYC" will be screened in New York, where he was gunned down by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980. The 30th anniversary of his murder is expected to bring a new wave of Lennon tributes in December.