New York (Top40 Charts/ Now Forward Music) - LOU REED, PHILIP GLASS, JOHN ZORN, GARY LUCAS, RICHARD BELZER and SONIC YOUTH will join THE FUGS for a benefit concert for TULI KUPFERBERG, the Beat poet and original member of THE FUGS, at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn on January 22, 2010. Mr. Kupferberg, 86, has had two strokes over the last year, which have left him blind. The tickets for the concert, produced by HAL WILLNER, will help pay his medical expenses.
Others performers include singer John Kruth; and
Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders (who also played on early Fugs albums). Tickets are $75 to $125 and are available at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7900805 or (718) 254.8779.
Rock pioneers THE FUGS - the world's first major underground/punk group - will release their final, and arguably best-ever studio recording - BE FREE! FINAL CD (PART 2), on February 23, 2010.
BE FREE! delivers 14 tracks of pure sonic joy, from the opening psych-rocker "Be Free", to the transcendent, chill-inducing closer "Greenwich Village of My Dreams". Featuring the band's 25-year-strong lineup of Steve Taylor (guitar and vocals), Coby Batty (drums and vocals), and co-producer Scott Petito (bass and keyboards) - this is a monumental recording of two great American poets and songwriters: founding Fugs Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. Tuli, unable to join the band in the studio, recorded his parts on remote equipment from his Manhattan home.
BE FREE! is a fitting bookend to a remarkable 45-year career. THE FUGS have had a significant impact on the evolution of rock music, their influence was apparent in their Village contemporaries Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention and The Velvet Underground, just as it is in today's indie rock and freak folk.
Last November, THE FUGS released five rare concerts and studio recordings to digital retailers. Ed Sanders will publish a new memoir covering his time with THE FUGS with Da Capo Press in 2010.
THE FUGS - BE FREE! FINAL CD (PART 2)
Fugs Records - UPC: 188666000463
In Stores February 23, 2010
