classic rock interview Archives

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The Late Ozzy Osbourne- Tribute to Randy Rhoads

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored posthumously guitarist Randy Rhoads during 2021 annual induction ceremony ....My guest Ozzy Osbourne paid tribute In the Studio in my classic rock interview.

Medium Rare

Boz Scaggs- Silk Degrees 50th Anniversary

It is the golden anniversary of Boz Scaggs "Silk Degrees", one of the albums which musically defined America's bicentennial year 1976. More accurately this Boz Scaggs interview falls under "Ultra Rare", as the Dallas Texas native, long residing in the San Francisco Bay wine country, has led one of the more private lives in contemporary music.

Jethro Tull- Aqualung 55th Anniversary- Ian Anderson

Few albums from any time in the Rock Era continue to satisfy quite so well as Jethro Tull's masterpiece "Aqualung". Ian Anderson smartly wrote songs for all seasons for a superb band, including the timeless rockers "Aqualung","Cross-Eyed Mary","Locomotive Breath," and "Hymn #43", but perfectly paced the album with tasty acoustic classics like "Wond'ring Aloud"and "Mother Goose". On "Aqualung" 's 55th anniversary, Ian Anderson is my guest In the Studio.

Medium Rare

David Gilmour- On an Island 20th Anniversary

David Gilmour joins Redbeard In the Studio for Gilmour's March 2006 solo album "On an Island".

Medium Rare

Alice Cooper- Love It to Death/Killer 55th Anniversaries

"Love It to Death" in March 1971 may have been the third album by the band Alice Cooper, but that doesn't change the fact that nobody bought the first two. By December of that same year, EVERYBODY had heard "I'm Eighteen" off of Love It to Death , and Alice Cooper had written and recorded a soon-to-be-classic additional full album, "Killer". And it was. Alice proves in my classic rock interview that you can project practically any fringe, edgy, sociopathic image in rock and get away with it - as long as you deliver the hits.

Beard's Blog, Classic Rock Interviews

R.E.M.- Out of Time 35th Anniversary- Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills

It is clear on the 35th anniversary of R.E.M.'s "Out of Time" album that the song from it, "Losing My Religion", has weathered the time in between exceedingly well. "Pop culture, particularly in the US, everything comes and goes in cycles, as things do," points out R.E.M. singer/ lyricist Michael Stipe, "which we all realize as we all grow older and wiser, whether it's politics or music or pop culture...I always wanted to have a song that would be considered 'the song of the Summer'. As it was, that song kind of became the song of the year," he chuckled. Ten million copies sold and three Grammy Awards later, nobody could argue the case.

Medium Rare

38 Special- Wild-Eyed Southern Boys 45th- 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, on the 45th anniversary of "Wild-Eyed Southern Boys".

Beard's Blog, Classic Rock Interviews

Rush- Moving Pictures @45- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, the late Neil Peart

"Music was changing," Rush lead singer/composer Geddy Lee tells us in this In the Studio episode, and without Lee, guitarist/composer Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist the late Neil Peart embracing the fresh musical ideas in the crosswinds of the early Eighties on "Moving Pictures" with songs "Tom Sawyer","Red Barchetta","Limelight", "Vital Signs", and "Witch Hunt", it is doubtful that a path to mainstream success would have been cleared for later major bands...