Abbey Road Turns 57, Americana Crowns Its Winners, and AM Radio Gets a Win in Washington
Written by Jarvis Prime on September 26, 2026
This week in music: a landmark Beatles anniversary, fresh reissues for the turntable crowd, Americana honors for Dolly, Petty and Plant, and good news for the AM dial.
Good morning from Pretoria Fields Radio. Today's a big one on the rock calendar: on September 26, 1969, the Beatles released Abbey Road — the last album all four of them recorded together, and 57 years on, still the record that makes a Saturday morning feel like a Sunday drive. That famous crosswalk photo never gets old, and neither does side two.
September 26 has been kind to rock and roll more than once. On this date in 1964, Roy Orbison's 'Oh, Pretty Woman' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for three weeks. Ten years later, in 1974, John Lennon released his fourth solo album, Walls and Bridges. And on a sadder note, this was the day in 1986 that Metallica played their final show with bassist Cliff Burton, who was lost in a tour bus accident just hours later. Forty years gone, never forgotten.
At the record store, this past Friday brought a stack worth flipping through. Europe — yes, the 'Final Countdown' fellows — released a new studio album called Come This Madness. The reissue shelf is where the real treasure is, though: King Crimson's Islands is back, the Mothers of Invention's Freak Out! got a 60th-anniversary edition, there's a T. Rex box covering 1974 through 1977, Ratt's Dancing Undercover returns, and Todd Rundgren fans get a live set recorded at the Ritz in New York City in 1989.
Down the road in Nashville, the Americana Music Honors & Awards celebrated their 25th edition at the Ryman Auditorium on September 16. Molly Tuttle took Artist of the Year, Tyler Childers won Album of the Year for Snipe Hunter, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were named Duo/Group of the Year, and Brandi Carlile's 'Returning to Myself' earned Song of the Year. Lifetime achievement honors went to three names that need no introduction around here: Dolly Parton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Robert Plant.
In radio news, the House of Representatives passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act on a voice vote, sending it to the Senate — a bill broadcasters have championed as a public-safety measure 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.
That's the news from our corner of the dial. Keep it tuned to Pretoria Fields Radio — where the classics live in south Georgia.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
