In The Studio with Redbeard

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  • Eric Clapton- Forever Man pt 2

    Eric Clapton- Forever Man pt 2

    This portion of my in-depth interview with Eric Clapton is  gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, yet ultimately life affirming. It finds the acclaimed musician successfully in recovery after more than twenty years of substance abuse, experiencing a spiritual rebirth that can only be described as miraculous; his musical career at an all time high; and then the most tragic of personal losses with the accidental death of his toddler, Conor, threatening to test it all like a modern day Old Testament Job.

    Additionally Eric Clapton reveals a surprising humility and lack of certainty when discussing his desire to explore the outer boundaries of the blues while respecting its core absolute values, and how his long storied list of artistic collaborations with other big-name artists clear back to Blind Faith with Steve Winwood, Derek and the Dominoes with Duane Allman, and more recently J.J.Cale, Tina Turner, B.B. King, Robert Cray, and others is by no means a no brainer.

    “It’s tough doing that stuff, it really is,” Eric Clapton divulged,”because there is no guarantee that it will work.” –Redbeard

  • Eric Johnson-“SRV”- Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute 10-96

    Eric Johnson-“SRV”- Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute 10-96

    “SRV”, originally from Eric Johnson’s Venus Isle  album and written as a tribute to fellow Austin-based guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, was performed absolutely live, NO OVERDUBS, broadcast live at Q102 Dallas TX October 1996. Live mix direct to two-track by the late Richard Mullen, house sound by Doug Hall, produced by Redbeard. Executive producer Andy Lockridge, & special thanks to Frank Palombi then with Capitol Records.- Redbeard

  • Boz Scaggs- Some Change- Dallas 5-94

    Boz Scaggs- Some Change- Dallas 5-94

    Here’s Dallas Texas native Boz Scaggs performing the title song to his album Some Change   live on my Q102 Dallas afternoon radio show in May 1994. As Nile Rodgers would say , “Smooth as a gravy sandwich …”. See Scaggs steal the show with Michael McDonald and Steely Dan‘s Donald Fagen all together as The Dukes of September   on DVD and Blu-ray, plus hear Boz duet with Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams on his  album A Fool to Care! –Redbeard

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  • Lynyrd Skynyrd- Best pt 2-Gary Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Ed King

    Lynyrd Skynyrd- Best pt 2-Gary Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Ed King

    For Lynyrd Skynyrd  Best part 2  Even as the band traveled abroad to London for the first time on the infamous 1975 “Torture Tour”, Lynyrd Skynyrd  guitarist Gary Rossington explains in my  classic rock interviews that lead singer/lyricist Ronnie Van Zant found it hard to outrun his own shadow. As eldest son of Van Zant patriarch Lacey, a truck driver and former professional boxer, Ronnie had a notorious reputation in the band’s Jacksonville Florida hometown as a street fighting, straight razor-toting brawler. As undisputed band leader, Ronnie dealt out intraband discipline in a similar manner and, according to lead guitarist Ed King, as the pressures of recording and touring increased after Lynyrd Skynyrd’s third album Nuthin’ Fancy, the violence escalated.

    “There was abuse in ‘the family’ “, Ed King (below right) explains on why he quit the band abruptly midway through that tour. And following their first UK shows, original drummer Bob Burns likewise bailed on the boys from the cabin in the swamps on McGurd’s Creek, leaving the remaining four to face their first major defections from more innocent times. LYNY-SKYN-ed-686a14b527633a6ccb96db7388d2776f

     

    This  In The Studio is particularly melancholy, as the interviews underscore the continued loss of dear hearts and enormous musical talents from Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as the pride and fierce determination of the survivors. For example, original bass player Leon Wilkeson appears here in what turned out to be his last radio interview before dying in late July 2001, teaming with Gary Rossington for insights into how Ed King’s departure plus a different producer affected the next album, Gimme Back My Bullets. And the late pianist Billy Powell makes a cameo here, as well, with his endorsement of our third guest, singer Johnny Van Zant. The story behind surprise hit live album One More From the Road, and the stopgap time it afforded them to integrate guitarist Steve Gaines into the fold whiles writing some of their strongest material ever for Street Survivors, concludes this part two. (Find  part one here ) –Redbeard LYNYRD-SKYNRD-RStarkey-10411884_10204036833214791_4566038257644978749_n

     

    (Ed King (l), Gary Rossington (c), Johnny Van Zant in Dallas 1991)

     

  • Lynyrd Skynyrd- Essential- Gary Rossington, Ed King

    Lynyrd Skynyrd- Essential- Gary Rossington, Ed King

    “Essential “. To this day one thing that has never been questioned about Southern Rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd is their unassailable authenticity. My guests, guitarists the late Gary Rossington and the late Ed King, along with the late guitarist Allen Collins, keyboard player Billy Powell, bass player Leon Wilkeson, original drummer Bob Burns, and singer/lyricist Ronnie Van Zant, were the real deal. It is in that spirit that the original six albums, including the 1973 debut Pronounced  and the breakthrough sophomore effort Second Helping, have all been meticulously remastered, pressed on premium heavy audiophile vinyl, wrapped in the original art work and inserts, and boxed in a handsome set.

    Lynyrd Skynyrd Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd

     

    Over the half century the perception seems to have become that Lynyrd Skynyrd had initial success because Pronounced contained the song “Free Bird”, of which all of us were keenly and immediately aware from its 1973 release. The epic-length song, which would one day define this album, this band, and to many fans the sound of Southern Rock itself, was buried as the last song on side two and, at over nine minutes in length, doomed forever not to be a single for Top 40 radio consideration. It is clear  that the band shared a collective vision even then, but it would be several more years before millions would share it after the release of Second Helping in Spring 1974.

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    The essence of Lynyrd Skynyrd always has been the ageless bond among boyhood friends from the wrong side of the tracks in Jacksonville Florida, who met on a baseball field, practiced under a carport, and made rock history. It’s all captured here in my classic rock interviews with Gary Rossington and Ed King, both gone now, In the Studio. Part one of two. –Redbeard 

  • Boz Scaggs- Lowdown- May 1994 Dallas

    Boz Scaggs- Lowdown- May 1994 Dallas

    Much to my delight, Dallas-via-San Francisco rhythm and bluesman Boz Scaggs has been quite prolific in the 21st century. One look at the superb Dukes of September   concert DVD confirms my impression from witnessing the actual 2012 tour featuring Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs, a recent musical manifestation of the New York Rock & Soul Revue which accompanied Steely Dan man Donald Fagen’s return to the stage twenty years earlier. My impression is that, quite innocently, Boz Scaggs stole the show with impeccable live renditions of enormously popular hits such as this performance of his “Lowdown” in May 1994  live in the studio on my Q102 Dallas/Ft Worth radio show. –Redbeard

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  • Damn Yankees feat.Tommy Shaw- Renegade Denver 6-20-92

    Damn Yankees feat.Tommy Shaw- Renegade Denver 6-20-92

    Nineties super group Damn Yankees featuring L-R Michael Cartellone, Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, and Ted Nugent live in Denver June 20, 1992 performing Tommy Shaw’s Styx song “Renegade”. Turn this one up!

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  • Todd Rundgren’s Utopia- Only Human- Boston 11-79

    Todd Rundgren’s Utopia- Only Human- Boston 11-79

    The release of the triple-disc live career set For the Lack of Honest Work   from Todd Rundgren is a joy for us TR fans, but as comprehensive and era-spanning as it is, there are still some “best of” songs that are not represented. Check out the stunning live chorus vocals here on “Only Human” in this Thanksgiving eve 1979 Boston performance with Utopia bass/vocalist Kasim Sulton, keyboards/vocalist Roger Powell, and drummer/singer Willie Wilcox. –Redbeard

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  • Supertramp- Bloody Well Right- 1975 Hammersmith Odeon London

    Supertramp- Bloody Well Right- 1975 Hammersmith Odeon London

    Here is just a sample of the spectacular deluxe 50th anniversary edition of Supertramp’s Crime of the Century  with bonus incredible-sounding live  material,  such as this mint version of “Bloody Well Right”. And get the full inside story right here In the Studio with Roger Hodgson by clicking the links below!

  • Chris Isaak- You Owe Me Some Kind of Love- Dallas 1986

    Chris Isaak- You Owe Me Some Kind of Love- Dallas 1986

    It never ceases to amaze me just how much entertainment some musicians can coax out of a tiny  ukelele and some brushes on a hand drum when you have a great song and a one-in-a-million voice like Chris Isaak. That’s all it took for him and percussionist Kenny Dale Gilmore to transform a dance club in Arlington TX into a “blue hotel” for about two magic minutes back in 1986.- Redbeard