Macca at 80
As Sir Paul McCartney turned 80 at the weekend, plenty of his famous friends took to social media to mark the legendary singerâs birthday with heartfelt messages and throwback photographs. Leading the messages was Ronnie Wood.
Ronnie shared a series of snaps which included the pair performing on stage, posing alongside Rod during Ronnie’s wedding to Sally, and with Paulâs late wife Linda. Ronnie wrote in the caption: âWishing Paul McCartney a very happy 80th birthday!!â
Fathers Day Sing A Long
Rod shared a sing a long clip of a Fathers Day duet with daughter Ruby on Sunday
The dad and daughter duo had their guitars out for a version of The Faces Ooh La La in the clip Rod posted to Instagram.
Tickets for NHS workers
Rod revealed this week that a select number of tickets across his UK tour will be donated to NHS frontline workers the gesture has gone down well on social media with many fans praising the gesture.
This Weeks Rod Art
This weeks Rod art was brought to our attention by Bill Smith who took this picture of Rod on the famous caricature wall in The Palm Restaurant in Las Vegas
The wall has a very interesting history, The Palmâs legendary tradition of caricatures originated in 1920s New York, when some of its first patrons â talented cartoonists from the nearby King Features Syndicate â virtually paid for their supper in original art on the walls of The Palmâs first restaurant; then a speakeasy. These artists would draw lively scenes of the restaurantâs clientele â neighbours, family as well as celebrity patrons â that came to be known as the hieroglyphics of New York City life at the time.
Rod’s amazing caricature was hand-painted by The Palm Las Vegasâ resident artist, Steve Spector, and can be found next to the likenesses of other world-class entertainers including Celine Dion, Donny Osmond and Jerry Seinfeld.
Speaking to SMILER this week Bill said “So in August 2017 my wife bought front row tickets to see Rod. The tickets included a signed soccer ball and dinner at Palm Restaurant at Caesarâs Palace in Vegas which is where this pic was taken .. She loves Rod and we have gone to his concerts a few times up front but she still hasnât got her hug but will keep trying !!”
Rod backs The Hunting Trophies bill
Henry Smith MP introduced a landmark bill to Parliament last week to ban British hunters from bringing âtrophiesâ of endangered and vulnerable animals into Britain. The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill would be the strongest of its kind in the world, and has the backing of the Government as well as from UK wildlife and animal welfare groups and a recent opinion poll found that 86 per cent of voters support a ban.
Rod has joined over 100 of Britainâs best-known public figures recently who signed a letter expressing their support for the ban. other signatories include Michael Aspel, Shirley Bassey, Frank Bruno, Michael Caine, Brian Cox, Sir Alex Ferguson, Hugh Grant, Tim Henman, Aled Jones, Felicity Kendal, Lennox Lewis, Gary Lineker, Michael Parkinson, Cliff Richard, Angela Rippon, Salman Rushdie, Philip Schofield, Jenny Seagrove, Delia Smith, Chris Tarrant, and Jonny Wilkinson.
Further information about British hunting trophy imports can be found in the report âShooting Up: Are Britainâs Hunting Trophy Imports and Companies Booming?â published in January, 2022 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Banning Trophy Hunting.
Raise The Roof
After the stick Rod got for the Royal Jubilee gig in social media he took to the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and produced a performance at the other end of the scale.
Wearing a metallic silver suit Rod performed with Jools Holland and his full band, and sang outstanding swing versions of “Pennies from Heaven” and âThem There Eyesâ
Rod joined acts including Paloma Faith, Paul Jones, Paul Weller, Ruby Turner and Van Morrison for the concert that was filmed by Sky Arts for broadcasting a later date.
Photos thanks to Mike Segall
Penny also posted a shot of Rod in his dressing room before the show
“Pennies from Heaven” is a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra in the 1936 film of the same name. But Rod’s version was more influenced by the 1957 Louis Prima version.
“Them There Eyes” is a jazz song written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, and William Tracey that was published in 1930. One of the early recorded versions was performed by Louis Armstrong in 1931. It was made famous by Billie Holiday, who recorded her version in 1939 for Vocalion Records. A version by Emile Ford & The Checkmates reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart in 1960.
Main photo posted by Rod’s social media and if you can’t wait to see the concert on Sky Arts you can see a phone recording sneak preview on The SMILER Cruel But Fair message board.
And Finally
Don’t forget this Monday is the celebration of the amazing life of Phil Chen. The link is below so please save it and pass it along to anyone who would love to join. See you there!
Monday, 27th June @ 1:30 PM PST (the ceremony will start promptly at 1:30pm so please log in a few minutes early.)