The Stones at the kickoff of their 50th anniversary celebration in July.

“Sorry to keep you all hanging around but the waiting is over,” guitarist Keith Richards said in a statement, referring to months of rumors and gossip in the music press about an anniversary tour.
“I’ve always said the best place for rock and roll is on the stage and the same is true for the Stones,” he added.

The group will perform on a stage designed around the band’s trademark tongue and lips logo, and organizers have promised a high-tech live experience.

During an interview on the BBC shortly before the concerts were confirmed, Jagger suggested that the four dates could be a prelude to a longer tour.

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.

Mick Jagger in a Paris recording studio, August 12

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 was looking forward to writing songs again with Jagger and returning to the studio.

So stay tuned…

James McCartney

James — who’s 34 and has played guitar on two of his father’s albums — says John Lennon’s son, Sean, and George Harrison’s son, Dhani, are also interested. But he adds that Ringo Starr’s son, Zak, is not.

The younger McCartney is playing today at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where the Beatles rose to fame almost a half-century ago.

He says it’s difficult living up to his father’s legacy. “I’m not sure if I can do that,” James told the BBC. “I would love to be equal to the Beatles — but even that’s quite tough.”

The performance was part of a weeklong series of benefits for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

McCartney’s set covered 30 songs, including Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’ and 20 Beatles tunes. During the encore, he brought out Daltrey, Wood, and Paul Weller. Weller’s new album, Sonic Kicks, recently debuted at No. 1 on the British album charts.  Weller played rhythm guitar, Wood got a solo, and Daltrey sang harmony.

Here’s the video:

The Stones, vintage 1962

The Rolling Stones say they’ll mark the occasion by releasing a documentary and a photo album. But they’ve delayed their planned 50th anniversary tour until next year.

The film will be released in September. It’s directed by Brett Morgan, who promises to “create a sonic tapestry to transport viewers into the world of the Rolling Stones.” The documentary footage dates back to 1963 and includes some rarely-seen clips recovered from vaults and personal collections.

The photo book features 700 pictures, 300 in color.

Rolling Stone magazine confirms reports of the tour postponement, saying the delay is out of concern for guitarist Keith Richards’ health.  Richards has not fully recovered from a head injury he suffered in 2006.

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.’”

In an interview with Spinner, Ringo says it’s strictly a coincidence:

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 out 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. Stevie Wonder and Eric Clapton make guest appearances.

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.

Photographer Mike Mitchell with one of the Beatles 1964 Washington concert photos.

It was February 11, a few days after the Beatles arrived on their first U.S. tour, and the band was playing its first North American concert at the Washington Coliseum in the nation’s capital. Mitchell had unrestricted access to the stage that night and snapped scores of black-and-white photos. He put the negatives in a box, stored it in his basement, and forgot about them for almost 20 years.

Now the photos from that historic evening are going on the auction block at Christie’s New York. And they’re a sight to behold.

Mitchell photographed the Beatles individually and as a group, catching the essence of their appeal in sharply-focused, backlit images that he digitized years later and copied back into gelatin silver prints. Christie’s is offering each of the prints individually — only one per negative — at starting prices of between $1,000 and $6,000. Officials at the auction house say they expect the photos could fetch far more.

To see the photos and get more information on the auction, click here.