Whilst not normally the subject of a story on Brain Damage, the upcoming Rod Stewart release does sound interesting. "The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998", which is released in the US on September 22nd, 2009, takes a deep delve into the vaults that results in a boxed set of unreleased recordings.

Spanning more than 25 years, the collection's 63 songs, outtakes, and ephemera provide extraordinary insight into the studio work of one of rock’s legendary figures. Many of these performances are more stripped-down and works-in-progress versions of songs so that the set becomes an illustration and showcase for Rod’s creative process. Few major artists have allowed such a look behind the scenes.

Of particular interest to us is the final disc in the set. One of six songs recorded in the summer of 1992 is a remake of the 1969 Python Lee Jackson song (originally also sung by Rod) "In A Broken Dream", which features David Gilmour and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

Preorders are now being taken by: Amazon US/International, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, or Amazon France. Amazon.com are offering it as a domestic product, the rest as imports only currently.

Buoyed by the success of his previous shows in the country (tying in with the release of his unmissable book "My Bass and Other Animals") and appearances on talk shows and popular TV programmes such as Spicks and Specks, Guy Pratt is now back in Australia eager to start his mammoth, nearly 20-date tour. This kicks off tomorrow (July 10th) and sees him take in much of the country - big cities and small towns alike.

The show, "Breakfast of Idiots", whilst based on the original "My Bass..." performances has a lot of new material in it. Guy told us recently that he has been heavily updating it, so for those who have seen it before, there'll be loads of stuff you won't have heard before. The original show, chock full of hilarious stories about his times with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour, and a whole bunch of other top musicians, has thrilled audiences all over, so it is great news that Guy has been working on this new take on his life on the road and in the studio...

Tickets for the shows are on sale NOW and selling well - more details are on the SpokenWordAustralia.com.au website.

To get into the swing of things, you can order his excellent, hilarious and at turns mind-boggling book (our review here) through the following special links: Amazon UK, Amazon.com (US/international), Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, or Amazon France, purchases through which help towards the costs of running this site and are very much appreciated...

Leaders of the richest economies of the world have been quick to bail out the banks. The total of bank bailouts to date is $18 trillion. Yet pledges of aid to developing countries are now under threat as some of these countries slash their aid budgets.

In an open letter in The Times and The Guardian today, high profile personalities (including Peter Gabriel, Sir Roger Moore, Dustin Hoffman, and David Gilmour) and businessmen and women called on G8 leaders not to renege on their promises of aid to developing countries and announced the launch of their fundraising appeal, which, along with ActionAids around the world, aims to raise £54 million over three years.

Click here to read the open letter in full, and visit actionaid.org.uk/nogoingback for more details of the campaign, and to make a donation.

This evening (July 4th) attendees of Jeff Beck's sold out show at London's Royal Albert Hall received a little extra treat for the first of the encores... the appearance of none other than David Gilmour.

With David's guest slot being a closely guarded secret, the audience were shocked when he strolled out, ready to play the first of two songs with Jeff. Some of them knew something was up, when they spotted someone (Phil Taylor) uncovering some additional amps and moving them into position to the side of where Jeff had been performing during the evening. With David picking up the original black Strat, the band continued the instrumental theme which ran the length of the show, playing an extended version of "Jerusalem", William Blake's poem that became a hymn.

Then, giving a much needed bit of interaction with the audience, "Hi Ho Silver Lining", arguably Jeff's best known song and always a crowd favourite - this time, with David singing and taking lead guitar duties! Both songs had the crowd on their feet and eager for more.

Of course, some of you will recall that they appeared together previously at the Royal Albert Hall - back on April 1st 2004, when they both participated in the Teenage Cancer Trust concert...

Update, July 5th: If you want to see and hear some of David's performance, unsurprisingly you can currently catch both songs on YouTube:

• JERUSALEM (version 1)
• JERUSALEM (version 2; better sound but behind David)
• HI HO SILVER LINING (version 1)
• HI HO SILVER LINING (version 2; better sound but behind David)