Info
MP3 News Breakers: Dylan, J-Lo, Willie Nelson, LL, Oasis
Dylan alleged to have borrowed lyrics; Lopez salsa movie scores big in Toronto; Willie and crew cited for drug possession; LL Cool J hooks up with CSI creator for CBS show; Oasis brothers at it again.
Bob Dylan
On his latest album, Modern Times, Bob Dylan gives a shout-out to Alicia Keys, but not to Civil War-era poet Henry Timrod. That omission is unfortunate, according to Timrod biographer Walter Cisco and radio DJ Scott Warmuth, both of whom claim that Dylan lifted some of his lyrics from Timrod. The pair cites Dylan's song "When the Deal Goes Down" as an example. The track includes the line, "Where wisdom grows up in strife," and closely resembles that of Timrod's poem "A Rhapsody of a Southern Winter Night," which reads, "There is wisdom that grows up in strife." Cisco says of the similarities, "It's amazing. There is no question that is where it came from. It's too much to be a coincidence. I'm just delighted that Timrod is getting some recognition."
Warmuth told the New York Times that he found 10 instances of similar wording on Modern Times. "I think that's the way Bob Dylan has always written songs," he said. "It's part of the folk process, if you look from his first album to now." But Warmuth isn't ready to tag the rock icon as a plagiarist. "You could give the collected works of Henry Timrod to a bunch of people, but none of them are going to come up with Bob Dylan songs."
Salsa biopic from J-Lo and Anthony wins big
Hector Lavoe
Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony are coming to an art-house movie theater near you. El Cantante, the couple's biopic about the drug-fueled life of the late salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, was one of the big winners at last week's Toronto Film Festival, landing nearly $6 million for North American distribution rights from Picturehouse, an art-house distributor co-owned by HBO and New Line Cinema. The film, in which Anthony stars as Lavoe and Lopez his tough-talking wife Nilda (Puchi), tracks Lavoe's life as he migrates from his native Puerto Rico to the United States in the early 1960s. Lavoe became known as the godfather of modern salsa, but fought addictions to both cocaine and heroin and eventually died of AIDS-related illnesses in 1993. Lopez was one of the film's producers, while Cuban filmmaker Leon Ichaso directed.
Willie Nelson busted for weed possession
Willie Nelson
This just in: Willie Nelson smokes weed. Allegedly. The legendary country singer was cited, along with several members of his band, for misdemeanor drug possession after Louisiana state troopers found nearly two pounds of marijuana and two-tenths of a pound of psychedelic mushrooms during a traffic stop of their tour bus. The bus was pulled over on Interstate 10 near Lafayette, Louisiana, and officers said they smelled a strong odor of marijuana when the driver opened the bus door. Nelson and four others were cited. The 73-year-old singer has long been an advocate for the legalization of marijuana.
LL to play "high-octane hustler" in TV show
50 Cent and LL Cool J at the 2006 VMAs.
As he preps his upcoming, 50 Cent-produced album, LL Cool J is also heading back to the small screen. James Todd Smith is teaming up with the creator of the hugely successful CSI series to develop The Man, a CBS drama about an undercover Los Angeles cop with a busy domestic life. LL plays a cop who goes undercover as a "high-octaine hustler" during the day and raises his three adopted children at night. The show marks the first foray outside of the CSI franchise for creator Anthony Zuiker. To create the main character, Zuiker said he was inspired by LL Cool J's real story of a man with a double life--a famous performing artist and family man with four children. For Zuiker, working with LL Cool J is a "childhood dream come true," he said. "I remember going to his concert when I was 14 years old, wanting to be as famous as him." The Man marks LL's return to the small screen after turns on feature films like Last Holiday and S.W.A.T.. Smith starred on the sitcom In the House from 1995-1999.
Oasis' Noel Gallagher sick of doing interviews
Noel and Liam Gallagher
As Oasis preps the release of its first greatest hits collection, the brothers Gallagher are at it again. Guitarist Noel Gallagher told MTV News this week that he's sick of doing promotional interviews for the set Stop the Clocks, a double CD of hits, B-sides, and Oasis' "finest moments ever." He also said that he would have quit the band a long time ago if it weren't for the money. "Because I'm so eloquent and Liam is the opposite of it--whatever that is--I always get nominated to do all the press interviews," Noel said. "I'm working from 11 in the morning 'til four in the morning and it's a pain in the ass for me. He gets to walk around in stupid clothes, swearing and getting pissed. I'll be frank, if we didn't get paid as much as we do I probably wouldn't f***ing bother. I love performing and getting up on stage for an hour and a half, but being on tour with our kid is not a walk in the park."
Just added
