Quick Takes: Robert Plant, Van Halen, Mick Fleetwood

Robert Plant told Mojo, the album he's currently grooving to is Bob Dylan's latest, Rough And Rowdy Waves. He explained, “From Judas to Jehovah — beatified and crucified comes the Ragged Phoenix. This is vital stuff. From the richest vein. . . reflections at sunset from the Voyage of Sinbad.” When pressed about his all-time favorite record, Plant revealed: “(Love's) Forever Changes — no surprise here. Through all my zig-zag times I run for shelter to this incomprehensible masterpiece.” (Mojo)
Van Halen's original bassist, Mark Stone, died of cancer on September 26th. Stone, who played in such pre-Van Halen outfits as Genesis before changing the band's name to Mammoth, which eventually rebranded itself Van Halen in 1974. Stone, who was replaced by Michael Anthony, played on early band demos of “Glitter,” “Gentlemen Of Leisure,” “Angel Eyes,” and “Believe Me,” popped up to jam with several Van Halen cover bands in recent years. (Loudwire)
- Wolfgang Van Halen — the third bassist for Van Halen — tweeted: “Heartbreaking news to hear of Mark's passing. Met him a few times and he was a wonderful man. My heart goes out to his family.”
Just released is a new recording and video for Mick Fleetwood’s Da-da-ism's “These Strange Times.” The track was originally released on Fleetwood Mac‘s 1995 album, Time, with the song was recently re-recorded adding 30 seconds of the late-Peter Green‘s early-Mac classic “Albatross” tagged on to the end of the song.
- Fleetwood said in a statement: “This is something I wrote many years ago and I want it to be nothing more than thought provoking. I want people to see and hear what they will in it. My hope is that by sharing these thought-provoking moments in my world that I can somehow open the eyes of others to things in their world and to the existence we all share, which is more and more endangered with each passing day.” (Press release)