NEWS NOTES: The richest man in America...

NEWS NOTES: The richest man in America rocks! Sam M. Walton, chairman of the board of the Wal-Mart chain of dime stores, jammed with Wayne Toups & Zydecajun on a hot Cajun version of Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” at a recent Wal-Mart stockholders weekend. In a letter thanking the band for its appearance, Walton exclaimed: “I don’t know when any group of associates and financial analysts enjoyed anything more.” . . . Actress/New-Age spiritualist Shirley MacLaine was instrumental in the creation of the cover art on Jamie Michaels’ New-Age/folk album, “Bouquet.” The art was “channeled” by Brazilian medium Luis Gasparetto during a private session with MacLaine, which she recounts in her current best seller, “Going Within.”

Aerosmith is in town to shoot a new video for an upcoming single, “Love in an Elevator.” The song will appear on the group’s next album, “Pump,” due Sept. 12. . . . The Beach Boys’ “Still Cruising” album, due in late August, features such film-score hits and misses as “Kokomo,” their No. 1 smash from “Cocktail,” and “Let’s Go to Heaven in My Car,” a lesser-known Brian Wilson gem that was on the “Police Academy IV” sound-track album. . . . The first album from Bonham, a new group fronted by Jason Bonham, the 24-year-old son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, is due in September. Title: “A Disregard for Timekeeping.” . . . Crowded House’s new four-song maxi-single, “I Feel Possessed,” features new versions of three Byrds oldies that were recorded--with the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn in the lead at the group’s April concerts at the Pantages Theatre. . . . Having already given the pop world the Carpenters and the Blasters, Downey might appear depleted as a musical resource. But the city is also home to Mellow Man Ace, a black Cuban rapper whose bilingual debut album, “Escape From Havana,” is due next month from Capitol Records.