As Rock Daily has reported, Britney Spears recently sat down for an in depth interview that will air on MTV two days before the release of Circus — and now we’ve got a clip from the show where Brit imitates her dad, Jamie (a.k.a. the guy in charge of her conservationship, and therefore all her legal matters) in costume on the set of the “Womanizer” video. “I wanted to make this film because I started to feel like I wasn’t being seen in the light that I wanted to be seen in. This is an opportunity to set the record straight and talk about what I’ve been through and where I’m headed,” Spears has said. Britney: For the Record airs on MTV Sunday, November 30th at 10 pm ET/PT.

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In 1951, at the age of 12, Paul Mawhinney bought his first record, Frankie Lane’s Jezebel. His collection has grown quite a bit since: Mawhinney has dedicated his life to acquiring every recording issued in the U.S. His now 3 million-strong archive is organized alphabetically and cataloged in his Pittsburgh warehouse. It is the world’s largest record collection, and growing every day.

Mawhinney, who ran the RecordRama store for 40 years until it closed in February, has recently put the $50 million dollar collection up for grabs at a mere $3 million because the economy scares him — he’s got bills to pay, and three kids to help out. “My goal is to find a home for the history of music,” the 69-year old Pittsburgh native says.

He opened his 16,400 square foot warehouse, the RecordRama Archive, in 1968, when he had 160,000 records. In the mid-’70s, he started cataloguing the music on his computer, making him not only a vinyl connoisseur, but a pioneer. “I created the Music Master database, which is the largest database in the field of popular music,” he explains. Custom built shelves, temperature and humidity control keep his 6 million-plus song titles secure and organized — search for a track (or any keyword) in the electronic database, and it will direct you to the record on the shelves. (more…)

Six decades of six-string greats gathered for the American Music Masters Tribute Concert honoring Les Paul at Cleveland’s State Theater on Saturday. The sold-out show was the climax of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s week-long tribute to one of the top guitar performers and innovators. Even Guitar Hero poster-boy Slash was wide-eyed and humble like a freshman glad to be at a seniors’ party.

(Click above to watch Slash open up about his four Les Pauls — including the one he used on “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — plus interviews with Billy Gibbons and Richie Sambora.)

Backstage before the show, Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye neatly summarized Paul’s contributions: “Before Les, guitars were only amplified. Les made them truly electric.” Born in 1915, Paul had a string of hit singles from the 1940s through the ’60s. As an engineer, player and technician, he pioneered solid-body guitar construction, the lead guitar position, multitrack recording and effects from delay to phasing. He designed a family of heavy guitars for Gibson, the most famous of which might be the 1988 Les Paul standard from Guns n’ Roses’ “Sweet Child” video. Said Paul during his acceptance speech, “Everybody thought I was a guitar until I played here tonight.” (more…)

Selecting the 100 Greatest Singers wasn’t just an internal decision. Rather, Rolling Stone assembled a panel of nearly two hundred rockers, writers and industry icons to weigh in on who they thought were the best singers of all time. Click below to take a look at some of the ballots, including the second thoughts that Courtney Love had and how Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen and James Hetfield rank their favorites.

• Photo Gallery: Handwritten Ballots From Our Expert Panel, Including Courtney Love, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen and James Hetfield

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• The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time

• More From Issue 1066

• What Makes a Great Singer? By Jonathan Lethem

• Legends at Work: Behind the Scenes With Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Brian Wilson and Others

Photo: Getty

It’s T-minus six days until Guns N’ Roses‘ Chinese Democracy hits Best Buy shelves, and the next taste is live online. “Better” is the second official single from the long-awaited album, and like it’s predecessor “Chinese Democracy” it has been floating around in unfinished versions for years. Also like the first single, “Better” feels like classic Guns N’ Roses — Rose’s growling croon in the verses could have floated out of the Use Your Illusion sessions. (more…)

The Black Keys‘ guitarist Dan Auerbach has announced his solo debut, Keep It Hid, will come out February 10th on Nonesuch. Auerbach steps outside his comfort zone, tackling drums, keyboards and six-strings on the disc, which is a bit of a family affair — his uncle James Quine contributes guitar to “Street Walkin,” and his father originally wrote “Whispered Words.” “This record is a mixture of things I like to listen to, psychedelia, soul music, country harmonies,” Auerbach says in a statement. He worked on the album while recording and touring behind the Keys’ Danger Mouse-produced Attack & Release, ultimately recording at his Akron Analog studio. “I wanted a live, organic sound,” he adds. “Nothing was too plotted or planned, just a lot of spontaneity.” (more…)

Photo: Retna

The release of Guns N’ Roses long-awaited (more…)

The rumors were true: Columbia Records has confirmed that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Working on a Dream will be released on January 27, 2009. The 12-track LP — Bruce’s 24th — was produced and mixed by Brendan O’Brien, who last helmed the band’s 2007 Magic.

“Towards the end of recording Magic, excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing,” Springsteen says in a statement. “When my friend producer Brendan O’Brien heard the new songs, he said, ‘Let’s keep going.’ Over the course of the next year, that’s just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year’s tour. I hope Working on a Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we’ve ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end.”

The album features two bonus tracks: “The Wrestler” and “A Night with the Jersey Devil.” As promised, the NFL premiered a bit of the title track during last night’s Cowboys-Redskins half-time (see above). Keep reading for the full track list: (more…)

Photo: Getty

• The Roots will reportedly take a break from their regular touring schedule in favor of a stint as Jimmy Fallon’s house band when the comedian’s late night show debuts next March.
• Two years after hitting it big with a track on Grey’s Anatomy, the Fray will be premiering new music on the show this Thursday during a one-minute promo for the upcoming season of Lost. The band will also be performing on a slew of other ABC shows, including the American Music Awards.
• Trent Reznor has announced Lostprophets‘ drummer Ilan Rubin will be joining Nine Inch Nails‘ touring lineup next year. Dates for the band’s next trek will arrive soon.
• Kanye West has blogged about his arrest last week, wondering “who’s winning, me or the media?” In an all-caps post, West calls the incident a “publicity stunt by the photographer.”

Photo: Getty

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Paul McCartney revealed that he is trying to release a Beatles song that some swore didn’t exist. “Carnival of Light” is supposedly a 14-minute improvised psychedelic jam the band recorded in 1967 and was left off of the Anthology releases because it was “too adventurous.” “The time has come for its moment,” said McCartney, who is looking into getting approval from Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison to release the track. “I like it because it’s like the Beatles free.” McCartney didn’t provide a time frame for the song’s release or whether it would be included on a compilation or exist as a stand-alone song.

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• The Beatles Teaming With Rock Band Makers For Video Game

• Paul McCartney Plays Historic Concert in Tel Aviv

• Album Review: The Beatles, Anthology 3

Tonight, MTV bids farewell to one of its longest-running franchises: the after-school video and chat party Total Request Live. Rock Daily is blogging at you live from MTV’s Times Square studios, where network honchos have managed to wrangle Christina Aguilera, Fall Out Boy, Justin Timberlake, Carson Daly and Jesse Camp (yes, really!) for a blowout finale. So join us, won’t you, as our on-the-scene reporter Christopher R. Weingarten and couch correspondents say peace out to the show that brought us Mariah’s ice-cream meltdown and millions of high-pitched squeals. (more…)