Medium Rare Interviews

Rare classic rock interviews by Redbeard from the vast In the Studio archive

The Pretenders- Pretenders II @45- Chrissie Hynde

We had never met anyone in rock music quite like The Pretenders bandleader Chrissie Hynde, and honestly in the  forty+ years since, I still haven't...I have Ms. Hynde here to speak for herself In the Studio  about The Pretenders/ Pretenders II, one of rock's most important one-two Post-punk punches.

Al Stewart- Year of the Cat 50th Anniversary

Al Stewart joins me In the Studio in a rare interview about his breakout 1976 album "Year of the Cat". But being witness repeatedly to rock history apparently accounted for nothing when Al Stewart's seventh album, "Year of the Cat", was unceremoniously turned down by every major UK record label 50 years ago.

Bryan Adams- You Want It, You Got It 45th Anniversary

Bryan Adams was startled to find his impressive second album You Want It, You Got It was about to mark a significant anniversary in July. So we asked Bryan to point out his favorites still from that impressive second effort which clearly pointed to greatness forty-five years ago, including "Lonely Nights", "One Good Reason", "Tonight", and the rocker "Fits Ya Good".

Bonnie Raitt- Luck of the Draw 35th Anniversary

Bonnie Raitt in June 1991 released "Luck of the Draw", her biggest-seller album ever. Bonnie Raiitt is my guest In the Studio.

Def Leppard- High ‘n’ Dry 45th Anniversary- Joe Elliott, Rick Savage

Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Ric Savage, & Phil Collen join Redbeard "In the Studio" for the 45th anniversary of "High 'n' Dry".

Pat Benatar- Precious Time 45th Anniversary

"It went platinum (1,000,000 sales ) in thirteen days," Pat Benatar states matter-of-factly while she and hubby/ musical director Neil Giraldo reminisce In the Studio about the explosive third album,"Precious Time", as it headed rapidly to the top-selling perch in America in Summer 1981...

Dave Matthews Band- Crash 30th Anniversary

After meeting and interviewing Dave Matthews during the 1996 Horde Festival tour just as their second studio album, Crash, was being released, none of the subsequent successes of the Dave Matthews Band since then has surprised me. Impressed ? Absolutely, but not surprised...

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer- Tarkus @55

Listening now to the epic title song to "Tarkus", the second studio album in June1971 which followed quickly after their stunning 1970 debut, with Greg Lake's voice delicately yet nimbly bounding along to Keith Emerson's piano runs, it's clear that Emerson Lake and Palmer were much  less "Be Bop a Lula" in their melodic grandeur and much more "Andrew Lloyd Weber". Here In the Studio is the story in their own words of progressive rock's first supergroup.

Bryan Adams- 18 ‘Til I Die 30th Anniversary

Bryan Adams joins me on the thirtieth anniversary of his seventh studio album, “18 'Til I Die”, a #1 seller in the UK and Top Five sales in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. The international popularity was driven by hits "The Only Thing That Looks Good on You is Me", "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman", and the title song.

Deep Purple- Fireball 55th- Ian Gillan, Roger Glover

Deep Purple's "Fireball" is the under-appreciated entry to "Machine Head"., with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover In the Studio.

AC/DC- High Voltage @50- Angus Young

AC/DC's lead guitarist Angus Young is my guest, with priceless memories from the In the Studio archive by the late AC/DC rhythm guitarist/riffmaster Malcolm Young, for the 50th anniversary of "High Voltage".

Doors- L.A. Woman 55th- the late Ray Manzarek

"L.A. Woman" by The Doors released 55 years ago is one of the greatest albums ever made by an American band, one of the first great albums to usher in the Seventies decade, the last album ever by the incomparable Jim Morrison, and a personal "desert island disc" for me that never ages; with the late Ray Manzarek In the Studio.

Alan Parsons Project- Tales of Mystery and Imagination @50

"Basically he signed a blank tape," Alan Parsons chuckles about 20th Century Records President Russ Regan greenlighting a concept album "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", based on the books of Edgar Alan Poe, composed by the young Abbey Road studio hound and songwriter Eric Woolfson as The Alan Parsons Project.

Eric Johnson- Tones 40th Anniversary

Eric Johnson joins me here In the Studio to recall the Spring 1986 debut "Tones" forty years ago;...Eric Johnson joins me here In the Studio.

Steve Earle- Guitar Town 40th Anniversary

"Guitar Town " Steve Earle shares here In the Studio for his #1-charting Country debut in March 1986: "I'm a straggler from what was going on in Austin and Nashville in the mid-70s. I had good teachers, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, B.W. Stevenson...when I first got to Nashville on any given night, you could go to Guy's house. And he'd have everybody, from the street level where I was to Mickey Newbury and Neil Young, with the guitar going around. So it was a good place to learn. Then, basically cocaine sort of created a caste system  and killed that real fast!"