Classic Rock Interviews

These are the classic rock interviews and rock music interviews from the most recent weekly episodes  of In The Studio with Redbeard.

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ZZ TOP- drummer Frank Beard dies, 77

The all-important breakthrough third ZZ Top album, "Tres Hombres", will focus on the all-around improvements in recording quality and songwriting reflected in such perennials as "Waitin’ for the Bus”, “Jesus Just Left Chicago”, and “Lagrange” plus the introduction of "the squank" to guitar vernacular. Squankmaster Billy Gibbons, deceased drummer Frank Beard, and the dearly missed Dusty Hill tell the colorful tales of the earliest days of ZZ Top here In the Studio for  the breakthrough 1973 third album, "Tres Hombres".
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Bon Jovi- Slippery When Wet 40th- Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora

Bon Jovi's third album "Slippery When Wet" has a worldwide sales estimate since release forty years ago : 28,000,000 copies. It is impossible to overstate how massively popular Bon Jovi's third album, "Slippery When Wet", was...Jon Bon Jovi and original guitarist/co-writer Richie Sambora are my guests.
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Metallica- Black Album 35th Anniversary- James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett

"Metallica" (affectionately known as "The Black Album" in the same way The Beatles had been dubbed "The White Album"), Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and lead throat James Hetfield show how the band sits atop the family tree of hard rock/heavy metal evolution.
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The Who- Who’s Next 55th- Pete Townshend

"Who's Next" by The Who, ranked by Rolling Stone  magazine as the #77 rock album of all time, this August 1971 absolute musical masterpiece is mated with an incredibly illuminating classic rock interview with its composer, Pete Townshend, here In the Studio including the songs "Baba O'Riley","Bargain","Going Mobile","Behind Blue Eyes","Getting in Tune", and "Won't Get Fooled Again"...
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Stevie Nicks- Bella Donna 45th Anniversary

In July 1981, Stevie Nicks already was in arguably America's most popular band, Fleetwood Mac, but her first solo album then, "Bella Donna", took her career to another level entirely, a fact that was by no means guaranteed and which came at some cost.  Stevie spells it all out quite candidly In the Studio while revealing the stories and characters behind "Edge of Seventeen", "Leather and Lace" with Don Henley, and the timeless duet with Tom Petty on his "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".
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Ozzy Osbourne 1st Anniversary of His July 2025 Death

Ozzy Osbourne first anniversary of his July 2025 death.
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Moody Blues- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour 55th- Justin Hayward, John Lodge, the late Graeme Edge

"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" was the Moody Blues' seventh album in a string of commercially and critically popular efforts. Singer/lead guitarist Justin Hayward, singer/bass player the late John Lodge, and departed Moody Blues co-founder drummer Graeme Edge take "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" to share here In the Studio insights into some of the Moody Blues' best of those early years.
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Journey- Escape @45- Neal Schon- Jonathan Cain- Steve Perry

Hard-charging San Francisco juggernaut Journey unveiled a defining album for the decade with "Escape"  in July 1981, containing "Don't Stop Believin' ","Stone in Love", "Who's Crying Now","Open Arms", and "Mother, Father". For the forty-fifth anniversary of this timeless effort, the Journey songwriting triumvirate of Steve Perry, founding guitarist Neal Schon, and new recruit then Jonathan Cain all recall their daring "Escape". 
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Foreigner- 4 @45- Mick Jones, Lou Gramm

Foreigner "4" interview includes band founder/ guitarist Mick Jones, original singer Lou Gramm.
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- Into the Great Wide Open 35th

July 1991's "Into the Great Wide Open", Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' first post-Traveling Wilburys/"Full Moon Fever" effort with his own band. First, Tom turned forty. "I'll probably look back at this as some kind of mid-life crisis album," Petty chuckled, "and go,'God, I should've just lightened up ! Should've had a drink and forgot about it!' ,,.It's very hard living your life as we have in tour buses and airplanes for all of this time... And you do kind of realize that ,' Gee, twenty more and I'm outta here!' So you do take stock of that, you do."
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Allman Brothers Band- Live Fillmore East 55th-the late Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts

The original Allman Brothers Band had to be seen and heard live to be fully appreciated, and in 1971 the band headlined four shows over two nights on March 13-14 at the Fillmore East that were recorded. My guests remembered it well: one of two original guitarists, Dickey Betts, & the late great Gregg Allman.
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Steve Winwood- Back in the High Life 40th Anniversary

"Higher Love", the #1 seller and winner of both the "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" Grammys for 1986, isn't about doing it in the top bunk. It's about love on a spiritual plane, not an airplane. By his mid-twenties, Steve Winwood already may have  been on a hall of fame career pace, singing and playing hits as a mere teenager with the Spencer Davis Group ("Gimme Some Lovin' "," I'm a Man"), Traffic, and Blind Faith. Yet Winwood told me in this  classic rock interview about 1986's "Back in the High Life"  that a 1972 bout with peritonitis almost killed him...
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Genesis- Invisible Touch @40- Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Phil Collins

Genesis' biggest album in their long fifty year+ career, "Invisible Touch"  (worldwide sales estimated at 15,000,000) turns forty, so we convened Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and Phil Collins here In the Studio  to discuss the blockbuster sales behind "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land of Confusion", "In Too Deep", "Throwing It All Away", and "Invisible Touch".
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Metallica- Load 30th- James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett

Metallica "Load" did not budge from the top seller position for a full four consecutive weeks in June 1996 because of such tender love songs as "Ain't My Bitch","Bleeding Me","King Nothing", "The House  Jack Built", and "Until It Sleeps". Guitarist/singer James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett are surprisingly unguarded, conversational, and open about this dizzying rocket ride into superstardom.
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Rod Stewart- Every Picture Tells a Story 55th Anniversary

When the Jeff Beck Group made their American debut at New York City's Fillmore East, no one in the audience watching  the young lead singer Rod Stewart hide behind the backline amps  due to major stage fright could have imagined that the raspy-throated rooster-haired Englishman would become an international star just three years later with his third solo album, 1971's "Every Picture Tells a Story".