Archive for category: Beard’s Blog

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Styx- Pieces of Eight- Tommy Shaw, James”JY” Young

focusing on the  1978 release of "Pieces of Eight", former Styx member and co-founder Dennis DeYoung  confesses that, in spite of his major conceptual songwriting role on the band's 1977 breakthrough three million seller "The Grand Illusion", the highly-anticipated follow-up "Pieces of Eight" was not his finest hour. Styx guitarists/ songwriters/ singers Tommy Shaw and James Young stepped up creatively to fill the void on "Pieces of Eight", again selling triple platinum with the muscular "Blue Collar Man","Renegade","The Great White Hope","Queen of Spades", and "Sing for the Day".
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Coverdale- Page 30th Anniversary- David and Jimmy

By Summer 1993, "Coverdale-Page" had debuted at #4 sales in the UK and Top Five sales in America. In the Studio we are pleased to share my rare classic rock interview with my guests David Coverdale and Jimmy Page to mark its thirtieth anniversary year.
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The Band’s Robbie Robertson

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Robbie Robertson has died at age 80. As an elder statesman of twentieth century rock, as well as 21st century film soundtracks, we were blessed by his stories, wit, and wisdom multiple times here In the Studio.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd- Pronounced- the late Gary Rossington, Ed King, Leon Wilkeson

Over the fifty+ years the perception seems to have become that Lynyrd Skynyrd had a date with destiny, an almost Shakespearean drama of dreams, aspirations, triumph, and tragedy to which all of us were immediately and keenly aware from the moment of "Pronounced" 's release. The late Gary Rossington dismissed that assumption as no more true than imagining Will Shakespeare did not toil, struggle, and starve in relative obscurity in his time.
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Boston- Don’t Look Back- Tom Scholz

The band Boston had by August 1978 sold seven million copies on its way to becoming the top-selling debut (now over 17 million ), and the follow-up "Don't Look Back"  was being rush released to North American rock  radio stations. Boston, led by my guest here in this classic rock interview, guitarist/composer Tom Scholz
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George Thorogood and the Destroyers- Move It on Over

I have interviewed literally hundreds of the greatest rock musicians , but George Thorogood is the only one who told me that he was planning to be a professional comedian, not a musician. The best-selling album by bare-knuckle electric bluesrocker George Thorogood with July 1982's Bad to the Bone. George marks the occasion here In the Studio  with his unlikely journey featuring all of his biggest hits including "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer","Move It On Over", Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love", "I Drink Alone", Chuck Berry's "It Wasn't Me", and of course "Bad to the Bone".
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Queen Best pt 2- Brian May, Roger Taylor

By the time the credits roll concluding the four-time Oscar winning Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody", a casual music fan might assume that the royal rockers' career must have peaked with that July 1985 Live Aid London benefit concert performance which climaxes the film. In fact, the story portrayed in "Bohemian Rhapsody" is only the first volume of the five decade Queen saga whose final chapter is being writ large in real time even today with Queen + Adam Lambert North American Tour. Brian May & Roger Taylor return In the Studio for part 2 .
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Queen 50th Anniversary, pt1- Brian May, Roger Taylor

Meanwhile Brian & Roger  give us the backstory on such early Queen songs as "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Doing All Right" from the debut ;"Now I'm Here", "Stone Cold Crazy", and "Killer Queen" from Sheer Heart Attack; and some amazing early live performances from the London Hammersmith Odeon. Queen's golden jubilee, part one, with Brian May and Roger Taylor here In the Studio.
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Foreigner- Double Vision- Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, Kelly Hansen

The song that ignited the immense popularity of the parent album Double Vision   was "Hot Blooded", which boiled over to reach #3 on Billboard and quickly became Foreigner's first million-selling single. In this classic rock interview, Mick Jones recalls that Foreigner was invited to kick off the massive California Jam 2 festival in March 1978, based purely on the popularity of their debut album, and the band interrupted the recording of "Double Vision"  to appear.
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The Police- Synchronicity- Sting, Stewart Copeland

Arguably the finest, yet the  final, fifth studio recording by the Anglo-American trio The Police, "Synchronicity" put the cuffs on an arresting recorded legacy left by the band...Cops of Rock Stewart Copeland and  Sting open this Police inquiry with me  In the Studio  for the definitive classic rock interview regarding the making  of  "Synchronicity" four decades ago.