Posts

Jimi Hendrix- Are You Experienced?- Mitch Mitchell, John McDermott, Eddie Kramer
Jimi Hendrix mutated rock’s DNA & we have been trying to decode the Hendrix genome for more than half a century ever since "Are You Experienced?" was released in the UK May 1967. Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer the late Mitch Mitchell, Hendrix recording engineer Eddie Kramer, & expert Hendrix biographer/ archive producer John McDermott are my guests In the Studio..

38 Special- Special Forces- Donnie Van Zant, Jeff Carlisi
Former singer/ songwriter co-founder Donnie Van Zant and original 38 Special lead guitarist Jeff Carlisi recall band headquarters in an abandoned auto parts garage in a swamp to work up songs, all paying dues that would result in their fifth album,"Special Forces", selling multi-platinum in May 1982. Donnie Van Zant & Jeff Carlisi recall "Caught Up in You","You Keep Running Away","Back Door Stranger", & "Chain Lightning" In the Studio.

Foghat- the late Lonesome Dave Peverett, the late Rod Price
It's that first self-titled Foghat album containing their electrified version of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You".. This is a bittersweet edition of In the Studio as both of my guests, Foghat co-founding guitarist/singer/songwriter Lonesome Dave Peverett and slide guitarist/songwriter Rod Price, have since passed away.

The Cult- Electric- Billy Duffy
It was the latter-Eighties, and rolling the streets of Dallas/Ft.Worth at night felt less like a big-block muscle car and just right in a fire-engine red BMW M3, moonroof open, with The Cult "Love" cassette alternatelyly jammed in the dash player blasting "She Sells Sanctuary"and "Rain" with the follow up in April 1987, "Electric", slamming "Love Removal Machine","Wild Flower", and "Lil Devil". The Cult guitarist/songwriter Billy Duffy is my guest In the Studio.

Supertramp- Even in the Quietest Moments- Roger Hodgson
The wonderful music on Supertramp's "Even in the Quietest Moments", peaking at #16 on Billboard and #12 in their native UK, sounds to my ear as vital today as ever, somehow frozen in time like the snow atop the grand piano on the album's cover. One of the Supertramp singer/ songwriters, guitarist Roger Hodgson joins me here In the Studio for a rare classic rock interview while sharing spectacular live performances from transitional album “Crisis? What Crisis? “ plus sublime songs "Give a Little Bit","From Now On","Downstream" and "Even in the Quietest Moments".

Scorpions- Blackout- Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schenker
‘Blackout”, the March 1982 big breakthrough in the US for the irrepressible Scorpions. Over the decades I've had countless famous musicians claim that rock & roll had become their life, but only John Kay of Steppenwolf and the members of The Scorpions knew that playing rock music could COST them their lives...

Joe Cocker- Heart and Soul
No less than four of Joe Cocker's many albums have significant anniversaries: "Joe Cocker (1972)","Sheffield Steel"('82),"Unchain My Heart"('87), & "Night Calls" in 1992...By way of a "best of" these, here is my 2004 interview with the late Joe Cocker at the time of his excellent "Heart and Soul" release.

Jo Jo Gunne 50th Anniversary- Jay Ferguson
When artist manager-turned-media mogul David Geffen started his first Los Angeles-based record label Asylum Records, his first signing was Jackson Browne and his third deal was with the Eagles. Who was Geffen's second signing? Hometown heroes Jo Jo Gunne. marking the golden anniversary of that first ( and in songwriting, their best ) 1972 album Jo Jo Gunne, singer/songwrite/pianist Jay Ferguson reveals all kinds of influences when he told me, "If Sly and the Family Stone and Little Feat had a love child, it would have been Jo Jo Gunne!" Here In the Studio Jay tells the innocent tale of "Run Run Run","Shake That Fat","Babylon"," 99 Days","Barstow Blue Eyes", and"Take It Easy".

Whitesnake ‘87- David Coverdale
For the story of one of the best-selling hard rock albums in history, "Whitesnake ’87", here are some of the questions we posed to Whitesnake king cobra David Coverdale.

Bryan Adams- So Far So Good/ So Happy It Hurts
"So Happy It Hurts" is the Canadian rocker's fifteenth (!) studio album, and he's not even old enough to get the Early Bird Special down at Denny's. Adams became a star way back in late 1984 with "Reckless", one of the Eighties' biggest sellers, then in 1991 absolutely crushed it with "Waking Up the Neighbours", an all-time biggest selling album in history. Bryan Adams' seventh studio album, "18 'Til I Die" , was a #1 seller in the UK and Top Five sales internationally. But when "18 'Til I Die" came out in June 1996, US rock radio programmers decided, in spite of the music actually on the album to the contrary, to brand Bryan Adams a love song balladeer, not rock enough, not alternative enough, not cool enough. Adams finally addresses the issue with tongue firmly in cheek on the song "Kick Ass" from "So Happy It Hurts" with the help of the brilliant British pillar of Python humor, John Cleese, who has been skewering pompous pundits for half a century. Also listen to the infectious "Never Gonna Rain Again" which could be Bryan Adams' next big hit.