"I'm With You" leaves new Chili Peppers guitarist stewing (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The big worry for Red Hot Chili Peppers fans leading into "I'm With You," their 10th album, was whether new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer could possibly measure up to the legacy of departed axeman John Frusciante, who'd been with the Chili Peppers for most of their career and all their most popular recordings.

Actually, Klinghoffer has no problem fitting in, despite, at 31, being about 17 or 18 years the junior of the other three members. If anything, the problem is that the young addition isn't featured nearly enough, since his all-too-infrequent, all-too-fleeting solos are the reddest and hottest thing about the under-baked "I'm With You."

Other members have described the newcomer's guitar work as "subtler" than that of predecessors Frusciante and Dave Navarro, and maybe the fresh recruit needed to be encouraged to come out of his shell more. Or maybe the subtle tag was a self-fulfilling prophecy meant to keep Klinghoffer in his place while they doled him out slowly to suspicious fans.

Whoever's responsible for the reining-in, Klinghoffer is used more for accents than prominent riffs, let alone soloing, and as much as modesty can be a virtue, reticence isn't, at least for this band. You want to nudge Anthony Kiedis out of the way and beg for an instrumental freakout in lieu of that superfluous third or fourth chorus.

If there's a glass-half-full take on "I'm With You," it involves wonderment that the album works as well as it does, given the high mortality rate for bands that have been around since the 1980s.

A couple of the best numbers prove the Chili Peppers can straighten out their herky-jerky rhythms enough to produce a nearly straightforward dance track, starting with the terrific opener, "Monarchy of Roses," which transforms itself from near-psychedelia into sheer, shimmering disco every time the chorus comes around. The equally charming "Look Around" ups the dance ante with actual, bona fide handclaps while making greater use of the crew's trademark funk.

"Did I Let You Know" offers Klinghoffer's best solo -- think George Harrison on steroids, and possibly other stimulants -- while adding an unexpected trumpet to the tropically flavored mix. The fun renders lyrical groaners like "I want to get lean on you/Get Jan and Dean on you" and "I like you cheeky/So Mozambique-y" nearly forgivable.

"Happiness Loves Company" is pure, piano-fueled power pop, and has Kiedis inexplicably name-checking the Mothers of Invention, even though it's the Monkees or Turtles that come to mind. In contrast, "Goodbye Hooray," the punkiest number, is the one rocker to make effective use of the new guitarist throughout -- not just for textures and interjections, but as part of the central riff, a prominent duty more often left solely to bassist Flea.

Other tracks get more frustrating, like "Etheopia," where a potentially great Klinghoffer jam is cut short so we can hear Kiedis sing yet another chorus of "E-I-O-I-E-I-A," in apparent homage to the farmer in the dell.

Next album, when it comes time to determine how stingy to be with the new guitarist's talent: give it away, give it away, boys.

Yahoo! News

Toxicology leaves Winehouse death riddle unsolved (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Toxicology results released to the family of singer Amy Winehouse this week raised almost as many questions as they answered, experts said Wednesday, keeping the cause of the "Rehab" singer's death a mystery.

The Winehouse family issued a statement Tuesday saying no illegal substances were found in the 27-year-old's system following her death at her north London home on July 23.

The absence of banned drugs may come as a relief to her father Mitch, given Winehouse's history of drug and alcohol addiction and rampant speculation about the role narcotics may have played in her shock passing.

"This doesn't make me feel the loss of my daughter any less, but we are pleased to be able to set the record straight to a certain extent," he told British tabloid, The Sun.

Yet the statement did not specify whether there were any legal drugs found and said "alcohol was present, but it cannot be determined as yet if it played a role in her death."

Adding to the confusion was the fact that the toxicology results were given to the family and not made public in their entirety, allowing them to protect her legacy.

Addiction experts and toxicologists said the information released Tuesday did little to solve the riddle of Winehouse's death. While the cause could become clearer at a full inquest to be held on October 26, even then it could be assessed as "undetermined."

"Combinations of perfectly legal substances can be lethal," said Jeremy Clitherow, a community pharmacist based in Liverpool, northern England, who specializes in addiction.

"You would have to look at the wording (of the toxicology report). You'd have to see the report rather than the paraphrased version. We can't speculate."

DEATH BY WITHDRAWAL NOT NORMAL

Mitch said during his funeral address that he believed Winehouse had conquered her drug addiction three years ago but was trying to deal with a drinking problem.

One early report, quoting unnamed family sources, suggested the singer's relatives suspected alcohol withdrawal was the cause. Rather than quitting drinking gradually, it said, Winehouse suddenly stopped.

However, the presence of alcohol in her system when she died, coupled with stories in both the Sun and Mirror tabloids that she had been drinking in the days before her death, have led to doubts that she died from quitting.

Clitherow believed that while possible, the "cold turkey" theory was improbable based on his experience.

"It is very unusual for people to die from alcohol withdrawal," he said. "You can get delirium tremens (DTs), but normally you survive."

Moreover, the Winehouse family statement did not specify how much alcohol was in her system and what sort of impact it may have had on her overall health at the time she died.

"It seems unusual to say that alcohol was present but not be able to say what sort of effect that quantity may have had," toxicology expert Graham Mold said, adding that the confusion may be caused by different levels of alcohol at different "sites" in the body.

Adding to the uncertainty, Winehouse had suffered health scares in the past which could have worsened her condition.

Mitch said in 2008 that his daughter had developed the lung condition emphysema "in its early stages," and that Winehouse had been warned she would die if she continued to smoke drugs.

"If she doesn't go back to drugs, then she can lead this magnificent life," he said at the time, when Winehouse was 24. "We are praying that that's what Amy really wants. She seems resolute."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Yahoo! News

Reluctant heiress leaves million to arts, nurse (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A reclusive American heiress, who for decades chose to live in hospitals instead of lavish homes in New York and California, bequeathed her fortune to the arts, a hired nurse and a handful of close associates.

Huguette Clark, 104, died last month. Married briefly in 1928, the heir to a copper, timber and railroad fortune had no children, shunned the social limelight and the trappings of wealth, preferring to tend to her extensive doll collection said to be worth millions.

Clark's estate was valued at about $400 million when she died, according to the law firm Holland & Knight.

"Despite her substantial wealth stemming from the same gilded age that produced the Rockefellers, Astors and Vanderbilts, Huguette Clark lived a remarkably quiet and understated life," said John D. Dadakis, the New York Chair of Holland & Knight Private Wealth Services group.

"Her final will reflects that modesty, as well as her great generosity and empathy for those who took care of her in her later decades," he added in a statement.

In the will Clark stipulated the establishment of a foundation to promote and foster the arts, to be called the Bellosguardo Foundation after her 24-acre oceanfront home in Santa Barbara.

Clark had not been to the home since 1963 when her mother died, but kept it well-maintained for nearly 50 years.

The estate, estimated to be worth over $100 million, will become a museum, housing her collection of art, which included Renoirs, books, musical instruments and other fine objects.

Clark left nothing to any members of her family. Instead she lbequeathed more than $30 million to Hadassah Peri, a nurse assigned to her in 1991 who became Clark's closest companion.

Beth Israel Hospital in New York, where Clark was described as having been a "semi-permanent resident" for 20 years after leaving her lavish, 42-room New York apartment, received $1 million.

She also made bequests of $500,000 to her lawyer and accountant, both of whom are being investigated by Manhattan's district attorney over the handling of her financial affairs.

Monet's seminal "Water Lilies", unseen publicly since 1925 and valued at about $25 million, will go to Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art, where a gallery bears the name of her father, U.S. Sen. William A. Clark, who died in 1925.

Another home in Connecticut, exquisitely maintained and unseen by its owner for decades, is on the market for $24 million.

Yahoo! News

Clemons' death leaves void for Springsteen (AP)

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Entertainment Writer David Bauder, Ap Entertainment Writer – Sun Jun 19, 9:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – E Street will never be quite the same.

The death of saxophone player Clarence Clemons ripped a hole in Bruce Springsteen's music and onstage life, taking away a figure who had served him loyally for decades and never failed to add joy to the E Street Band's epic performances.

Clemons died Saturday at age 69, about a week after he suffered a stroke at his home in Singer Island, Fla.

It's not the first loss for the rock world's best-known and most accomplished backup band. Keyboard player Danny Federici died in 2008 of melanoma. Steve Van Zandt, Springsteen's youthful friend and closest partner, left for several years in the 1980s and was replaced on guitar by Nils Lofgren. When Van Zandt returned, Lofgren stayed.

Yet Clemons' loss cuts deeply into the soul of the band. His importance was acknowledged whenever Springsteen performed "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out," when he sang, "We made that change uptown and the Big Man joined the band," inevitably followed by a wail of Clemons' sax and a roar from the crowd. The two men met in 1971 on the New Jersey bar band circuit, and when Springsteen released his debut album two years later, Clemons left a more successful outfit for a new Boss.

Inevitably Clemons' introduction was the climax every night when Springsteen presented the individual band members to the audience, accompanied by a variety of regal nicknames like "Master of the Universe" and "King of the World."

"Do I have to say his name?" Springsteen would shout to the crowd.

"No!" came the roar back. He did anyway.

A makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and photos grew outside of the Stone Pony nightclub in Asbury Park, N.J., home turf where Clemons and Springsteen made frequent stage appearances through the years.

At the Clearwater music festival in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. on Sunday, the Drive-By Truckers took the stage for their show with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" playing over the public address system. Singer Patterson Hood looked skyward and dedicated the band's set to Clemons.

Last fall's release of "The Promise," which included a DVD of a 1978 Springsteen concert performance, underscored the central role of Clemons in the act. The two men were a marked physical contrast: a bedraggled, slightly scrawny white guitar player and a 6-foot-5-inch, 270-plus-pound black man with a sax — known simply as the Big Man _who would be intimidating if he didn't so often carry a smile.

They would stalk each other on the stage, staring with ferocious eyes, and play their instruments as they stood back to back, leaning on the other for support. They'd even kiss, their relationship sending a message of brotherhood, family and — given racial undertones — tolerance and respect for all.

The relationship was captured memorably with a giant photo of the two men on the cover of Springsteen's "Born to Run" album.

Clemons was musically vital, too, particularly given the longer, structurally ambitious songs Springsteen was writing in the 1970s, a potent mixture of rock, soul, jazz and folk. Clemons' sax kicked "Born to Run" into overdrive, and his solo was a key moment in the majestic "Jungleland." He had a deep, booming voice not often displayed, although he added hearty "ho-ho-ho's" during seasonal renditions of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

Truth be told, Clemons' role in the E Street Band diminished as the years went on. Springsteen's simpler song structures left less space for the sax, and the instrument competed to be heard in a dense wall of sound anchored by three electric guitar players. Clemons would add maracas or tambourines to some of Springsteen's compositions.

Clemons' physical ailments also made him a less active presence onstage. He underwent spinal surgery last year after many years of back pain and spent time in a wheelchair after double knee replacement surgery.

Springsteen generously made accommodations for the ailments, installing an elevator on the stage set for when Clemons couldn't negotiate the stairs, according to Caryn Rose and Glenn Radecki of the Springsteen website Backstreets. A throne-like golden chair was placed onstage for when Clemons needed his rest.

Clemons' death is unlikely to bring an end to the E Street Band, which Springsteen alluded to in a statement posted on his website Saturday announcing the death.

"We are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 years," he said. "He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band."

But the loss leaves Springsteen with a real challenge moving forward. While Federici's contributions were valued and respected, he was a back bencher, tied to the shadows of the stage and his replacement not a major issue for the casual fan.

Clemons was different, and his loss will inevitably change the onstage dynamic. The saxophone is such a major presence in Springsteen's music that it's difficult to imagine many of his songs being performed without it. They will be big shoes for anyone to fill.

"As long as we tell the stories, as long as we play the songs, the Big Man will always be with us," Rose and Radecki wrote on Backstreets following Clemons' death.

Yahoo! News

Michelle Obama leaves for Africa, second solo trip (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – First lady Michelle Obama left for Africa on Sunday, embarking on her second official solo journey abroad with a goal of advancing U.S. policies on education, health, and democracy.

The first lady will arrive on Monday in South Africa, where she will make stops in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Later in the week she will visit Botswana.

Her trip will be rich with imagery.

As the wife of the first black U.S. president, Mrs. Obama's travel on the continent adds a different symbolic heft than previous first ladies' trips there have had.

In South Africa she will meet Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela. She will also visit the island where Mandela was imprisoned under apartheid.

In Botswana she will meet with President Ian Khama and with women leaders. She will also see a nature reserve.

Her trip comes as the United States starts gearing up for the 2012 presidential election, when her husband, President Barack Obama, hopes to hold on to the White House. Pictures of Mrs. Obama in Africa could appear in the campaign to appeal to black voters, a critical voting bloc for Obama's Democrats.

White House officials said her visit would advance her husband's foreign policy goals.

"This trip by the first lady is very directly connected to the president's agenda in Africa and the Obama administration's foreign policy in Africa," Ben Rhodes, President Obama's deputy national security adviser told reporters last week.

"It's no coincidence that she would be visiting countries that have embraced democracy, (and) in many respects, have shown that not only does their democracy deliver for its citizens, but it can provide a positive example for the neighborhood that these countries are in as well."

The first lady's previous official solo sojourn abroad was to Mexico.

She is joined on this trip by her two daughters, Sasha and Malia, as well as her mother.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

Yahoo! News

Clemons' death leaves void for Springsteen (AP)

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Entertainment Writer David Bauder, Ap Entertainment Writer – Sun Jun 19, 12:05 pm ET

NEW YORK – E Street will never be quite the same.

The death of saxophone player Clarence Clemons ripped a hole in Bruce Springsteen's music and onstage life, taking away a figure who had served him loyally for decades and never failed to add joy to the E Street Band's epic performances.

Clemons died Saturday at age 69, about a week after he suffered a stroke at his home in Singer Island, Fla.

It's not the first loss for the rock world's best-known and most accomplished backup band. Keyboard player Danny Federici died in 2008 of melanoma. Steve Van Zandt, Springsteen's youthful friend and closest partner, left for several years in the 1980s and was replaced on guitar by Nils Lofgren. When Van Zandt returned, Lofgren stayed.

Yet Clemons' loss cuts deeply into the soul of the band. His importance was acknowledged whenever Springsteen performed "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out," when he sang, "We made that change uptown and the Big Man joined the band," inevitably followed by a wail of Clemons' sax and a roar from the crowd. The two men met in 1971 on the New Jersey bar band circuit, and when Springsteen released his debut album two years later, Clemons left a more successful outfit for a new Boss.

Inevitably Clemons' introduction was the climax every night when Springsteen presented the individual band members to the audience, accompanied by a variety of regal nicknames like "Master of the Universe" and "King of the World."

"Do I have to say his name?" Springsteen would shout to the crowd.

"No!" came the roar back. He did anyway.

Last fall's release of "The Promise," which included a DVD of a 1978 Springsteen concert performance, underscored the central role of Clemons in the act. The two men were a marked physical contrast: a bedgraggled, slightly scrawny white guitar player and a 6-foot-5-inch, 270-plus-pound black man with a sax — known simply as the Big Man _who would be intimidating if he didn't so often carry a smile.

They would stalk each other on the stage, staring with ferocious eyes, and play their instruments as they stood back to back, leaning on the other for support. They'd even kiss, their relationship sending a message of brotherhood, family and — given racial undertones — tolerance and respect for all.

The relationship was captured memorably with a giant photo of the two men on the cover of Springsteen's "Born to Run" album.

Clemons was musically vital, too, particularly given the longer, structurally ambitious songs Springsteen was writing in the 1970s, a potent mixture of rock, soul, jazz and folk. Clemons' sax kicked "Born to Run" into overdrive, and his solo was a key moment in the majestic "Jungleland." He had a deep, booming voice not often displayed, although he added hearty "ho-ho-ho's" during seasonal renditions of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

Truth be told, Clemons' role in the E Street Band diminished as the years went on. Springsteen's simpler song structures left less space for the sax, and the instrument competed to be heard in a dense wall of sound anchored by three electric guitar players. Clemons would add maracas or tambourines to some of Springsteen's compositions.

Clemons' physical ailments also made him a less active presence onstage. He underwent spinal surgery last year after many years of back pain and spent time in a wheelchair after double knee replacement surgery.

Springsteen generously made accommodations for the ailments, installing an elevator on the stage set for when Clemons couldn't negotiate the stairs, according to Caryn Rose and Glenn Radecki of the Springsteen website Backstreets. A throne-like golden chair was placed onstage for when Clemons needed his rest.

Clemons' death is unlikely to bring an end to the E Street Band, which Springsteen alluded to in a statement posted on his website Saturday announcing the death.

"We are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 years," he said. "He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band."

But the loss leaves Springsteen with a real challenge moving forward. While Federici's contributions were valued and respected, he was a back bencher, tied to the shadows of the stage and his replacement not a major issue for the casual fan.

Clemons was different, and his loss will inevitably change the onstage dynamic. The saxophone is such a major presence in Springsteen's music that it's difficult to imagine many of his songs being performed without it. They will be big shoes for anyone to fill.

"As long as we tell the stories, as long as we play the songs, the Big Man will always be with us," Rose and Radecki wrote on Backstreets following Clemons' death.

Yahoo! News

Mark Rylance wins Tony, leaves everyone confused (AP)

NEW YORK – Mark Rylance won his second Tony Award. And, for a second time, left people baffled.

The British-born actor won the leading actor Tony on Sunday for playing Johnny "Rooster" Byron, a charismatic leader of a band of social misfits and outcasts squatting in the English woods, in Jez Butterworth's "Jerusalem."

He strode to the podium and then began talking about walls and molecular structure. "Unlike flying or astral projection, walking through walls is a totally earth-related craft, but a lot more interesting than pot-making or driftwood lamps," he said matter-of-factly.

It was a repeat of three years ago when Rylance similarly confused the Tony audience when he went on stage to collect the top acting prize for his work in "Boeing-Boeing."

"If you go into the woods, the back country, someplace past all human habitation, it is a good idea to wear orange and carry a gun," he told the crowd in 2008. "Or, depending on the season, carry a fishing pole, or a camera with a big lens."

It turns out that both times Rylance was quoting works by Louis Jenkins, an obscure poet from Minnesota. At the 2008 Tonys, Rylance was citing "The Back Country." On Sunday night, the Jenkins poem was "Walking Through a Wall."

Why did he do it? "I feel kind of sad when I win things, to be honest with you," he said backstage before being whisked away. "I always think you should prepare something to say."

Rylance, who was the first artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe in London from 1995 to 2005, told The Associated Press in the days leading up to his second win that sowing confusion is part of the point of the poems.

"I bet most people understood it in many different ways, which was kind of the point of it anyway," he said. "It was the contrast of the poetry of Louis Jenkins and that system of awards — of winners and losers — that intrigued me as a piece of theater, really."

He said he had been preparing three or four things to say if he won. He had been told he had only about 90 seconds to speak, including the walk up the stage. He had definitely ruled out the traditional listing of peoples' names, finding it unengaging.

"No one else will ever do the poems that I do because they're my thing. So it's tempting to give them another wonderful poem," he said. "It won't be a surprise but I don't think that matters."

___

Online:

http://www.tonyawards.com

Yahoo! News

West Pointer who sued diva LaBelle leaves academy (AP)

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The U.S. Military Academy says a cadet who is suing R&B diva Patti LaBelle over a scrape at a Houston airport has left the academy at West Point.

A West Point spokeswoman says Richard King left the academy Monday. Lt. Col. Sherri Reed cited privacy laws that prevent her from saying if his exit was related to the lawsuit or the altercation.

The academy acknowledges it investigated the March 11 incident. King says he was in his hometown airport standing near LaBelle's luggage when three of her bodyguards attacked him. In court papers, he says LaBelle thought he was standing too close to her bags.

Video shows King on the phone and a shoving match ensuing, with three people pushing and punching King. His lawyer says he suffered a concussion.

Yahoo! News