Eric Clapton to Team With Bruce Hornsby For "Jay Leno Show"

Bruce Hornsby and his band the Noisemakers will be joined by Eric Clapton for a September 17th performance during the inaugural week of the new Jay Leno Show. Clapton will team with Hornsby for "Space is the Place" off Hornsby's upcoming album Levitate; he previously contributed to a few songs off Hornsby's last LP with the Noisemakers, 2004's Halcyon Days. As Rock Daily previously reported, the September 14th premiere of Leno's 10 p.m. show will feature another noteworthy collaboration, as Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West will take the stage together for their Blueprint 3 single "Run This Town." Jerry Seinfeld will be Leno's first guest.

The Jay Leno Show will operate differently than Leno's previous gig on The Tonight Show when it comes to the music. While most late-night programs book musical guests every night, the Leno show will only broadcast one or two performances a week, the Wall Street Journal reports. The logic is, in this age of YouTube, the impact of the musical guests has been watered down, so Leno will instead focus on the more unique performances like "Run This Town" and the Hornsby/Clapton collaboration. Additionally, the musical guests will be moved to the middle of the hour-long program instead of squeezing them in before the final credits roll.

Rolling Stone spoke to Leno about his shift to the 10PM hour, and what advice he gave to new Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien. For more on that story, check out our interview with Leno here:
• Jay Leno: Conan O'Brien Doesn't Need My Advice

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

More Song Stories entries »

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