Farm Aid Turns 41, Coverdale Turns 75, and New Music Rolls In
Written by Jarvis Prime on September 22, 2026
September 22 is a big day on the rock calendar — plus fresh releases from Neil Young and Bob Seger's vault, and word from Washington that AM radio's fight for the dashboard just cleared the House.
Forty-one years ago today, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and Bonnie Raitt took the stage at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, for the very first Farm Aid — a concert built to raise money for American farmers. Broadcasting from farm country here in south Georgia, that's an anniversary we'll always tip our cap to. That same afternoon gave rock fans a bonus: Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen sharing a stage for a Led Zeppelin cover.
September 22 has more history where that came from. On this day in 1969, The Band released their self-titled second album — the beloved 'Brown Album,' home to 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.' In 1972, David Bowie opened the North American leg of his Ziggy Stardust tour at the Cleveland Music Hall. In 1975, George Harrison put out Extra Texture (Read All About It), the final studio release on Apple Records. And in 1992, Bruce Springsteen filmed his MTV Unplugged — then famously plugged back in with a full electric band.
It's a birthday-cake kind of day, too. David Coverdale — Deep Purple's voice from 1973 to 1976 and the man behind Whitesnake — turns 75 today. Joan Jett turns 68, and Nick Cave turns 69. Somewhere out there, 'Here I Go Again' is playing on cue.
On the new-release front, Neil Young is staying busy: Second Song, his latest with the Chrome Hearts, arrived Friday alongside an expanded edition of Bob Seger's Face the Promise and David Bowie's The Shel Talmy Recordings. Kansas fans get something for the bookshelf today with The Voice Inside. This Friday brings Europe's Come This Madness, a 60th-anniversary box for Frank Zappa's Freak Out!, and an expanded King Crimson Islands. Americana listeners had a good week as well, with Rhiannon Giddens' Hope Is the Thing with Feathers and Katie Pruitt's Fools for the Fleeting landing Friday — and Riley Green released That's Just Me while putting tickets on sale for his 2026 Cowboy As It Gets Tour.
In radio news, the House of Representatives passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act and sent it on to the Senate — broadcasters are calling it a public-safety win in the fight to keep AM receivers in new cars. And mark your calendars: FEMA and the FCC have scheduled the first nationwide Emergency Alert System test since October 2023 for November 17 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern. If your radio squawks that afternoon, it's only a test — and we'll be right here on the other side of it.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
