CD Reviews: November 2020

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020
Images from the Internet

CD Reviews: November 2020

Dalia Davis
Keep a Clean Engine
Teal Power Records / daliadavismusic@gmail.com
Davis is a Boston-area veteran singer-songwriter who has released this collection of mostly original multi-genre tunes. When she sings, what she brings up to me is the solo singers from Britain during the 1960s, like Celia Black, Lulu, and a bit of Dusty Springfield. This is especially true for her cover of the standard, “When Sunny Gets Blue,” which is a highlight here, with its lite jazz tones. For some reason, this comes across to me, especially on the bridges. Speaking of which, one of my fave cuts is “Beatles Bridges,” which is exactly what it claims to be, a bunch of bridges from Beatles classics into a bluesy, mostly cohesive song, even though the content is all over the emotional map. She starts of strong with “The Power of One,” sliding into the gospel-tinged “Don’t Give Up the Fight.” The harmony vocals enhance the sounds nicely as they are right up front, often equal to Davis. The title track is a nice, almost Jacque Brel-ish type melody that swirls around the sound, without going dark. Another highlight is the gospel and doo-wop infused “Wash Away.”

 

Jack Phillips
Night and Day
Magnolia Group Records
Jack has a nice musical sound that is somewhere between Billy Joel and Elton John, as in the opening original “I Love New York,” mixed with a bit of New Orleans jazz, especially on the likes of “The Old Grey Hat,” and maybe even some soft Southern Rock with “No One’s Home.” The second half of the CD (aka “the flip side”) is mostly jazz/standard sounding, such as “Let’s Drink to Us” and “Take Them to Manhattan.” A more commercial rockin’ sound is given in “No More Waitin’,” one of the better cuts here. The album concludes with a I-IV-V instrumental that relies on a ragin’ guitar by Caleb Quaye on “Down in the Jungle Room” (assuming that’s a Graceland reference). Phillips’ voice is a bit rough at times, but it is unique and actually works really well with the styles he brings forward, which I would say is a highly boogie, almost Cajun-focused sound, with a deep southern tone. It’s an enjoyable listen, especially when he gets his soft jazz boots on.

Various
The Boston Rock & Roll Anthology Chapter 21
Valrulven / joeviglione.com
Joe Viglione has been putting out compilation albums, generally for bands coming out of the Boston/New England area (although this one is more far reaching), for decades, in various forms, such as his Anthology and The Demos that Got the Deal series. And with this, his documenting rock’n’roll history continues. The 21 tracks start off with heavy rocking duo (guitar and drums) 3D that originated in the 1980s (not to be confused with New York’s 3-D from the same period), with the anti-drug song, “Anything But Peace.” Pamela Ruby Russell’s first cut, “Space and Time,” has almost a hymnal tone with a military-paced back beat that works together beautifully. Her voice is sweet and the overdubbing with itself works, to give it a powerful punch; her second cut shows off her voice even more. Here she has a Judy Collins intonation, which really operates for her. The production is also quite enjoyable, being full without feeling over-kneaded. Working with the likes of Peter Calo and Andy Pratt certainly give her an extra zing. Karmacar – Heidi Jo Hines and Nico’s “As It Is” has a bit of a 1970s New Agey feel to it, though I believe it would have been stronger without the self-overdubbing and just let Heidi’s voice be by itself; their other cut on the CD, “Who’s Foolin’ Who?”, gives a better example of her voice, and is superior of the two, with a catchy melody and improves on the catchy harmonies. On a more esoteric note is the next two cuts – “Downtime” by the Complaints and “Faraday” by Phil DaRosa – which use a bit more electronica to posit their songs, especially the latter, which is kind of long in the tooth at nearly 6 minutes. The former has a mild Beatleseque tone. Kitoto Sunshine Love spreads the smooth ‘70s soul sound in the beautiful “Proud Soul Heritage.” Worth checking out; her second track, “Love You,” is equally as strong and arguably shows off her voice even more than the first cut, which was thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah, I would buy an album by her. Fittingly, Slapback follows with its lite funk “Guardian Angel (Radio Mix)” that is cheerful and fluffy in a good way. Hard rockers Empty County Band have been reviewed on this blog before. Their first track, “Until the End,” is a slow grinder and burner, but the vocals need to be a bit more up front in the mix; “Skeptical” is much stronger all around and a better listen, but both are good. Joe Black leads a guitar-centric metal group that wails with “Blackenstein.” If you like the guitar god sound, this mostly instrumental screamer is for you; for “Monster,” Black is joined on vocals by Jeffrey Baker. This cut is a more traditional rocker that switches between slow burner to a wild ride, which should please any metalhead. The lyrics are a bit silly (especially the chorus), but the guitar makes up for it. Tom Mitch, Jr.’s soulful “Table Scraps” reminds me a bit of Joe Tex, which is a compliment. Harmonious pop rockers Greg Walsh’s New Ghosts presents “Counting Down to Zero (From 1),” which has a late ‘60s sound mixed with early ‘80s echoey production styles. Mad Painter’s exuberant “The Letter” (not to be confused with the Box Tops song) has a bit of a Mod sound mixed with Ian Whitcomb’s bounciness, especially in Alex Gitlan’s vocals. As a note, a personal fave of mine from the Boston scene, my pal Kenne Highland, plays bass. Next up – and rightfully so – is a cut by the man himself, Joe Viglione, with his original “Thought About You.” Backed up by Jay and Scott Couper (who played with Denny Laine in the ‘80s), Joe presents one of the better songs I’ve heard from him in a while (and I like his stuff). It’s light without being sophomoric, and has a harmonious catch that could easily play on the radio and have people singing the chorus with him. Following is Boston musical veteran Dalia Davis, with “Eleven and a Half.” Reminding me of Harriet Shock here, Davis shines in a song about reminiscences. Fire in the Field’s “Bossman,” has a bit of an ‘80s rock sound that works, but somewhat harmless and generic, with harmonies and a cowbell sound. Concluding is “The Ballad of the Rock Star,” by Matty O’. This is a nice way to end, with a smooth Irish rock sound that fits well into the collection. Matty gets a couple of opportunities to show off his voice, which is appealing. Overall? This is a pretty damn decent collection of different styles, from singer-songwriter to heavy metal wailing, and it all works together. You can tell Viglione worked hard on the order of presentation of the songs, and he has a nice flow going so there isn’t an equivalent of a film’s jump cut. Everything flows pretty smoothly, and as a collection, it all meshes well. And if that wasn't enough, there is a really well thought-out glossy booklet that comes with it that is full of artist and song info and nice color pictures. Stunningly done.

An Interview with JOE VIGLIONE: A BANG! Magazine #7 Reprint [Late-1980s]

Text by Robert Barry Francos / BANG! Magazine

Intro and photos by RBF / FFanzeen, 2020

BANG! cover from the Internet © Rocco Cipollone

During the first half of the 1980s, twice a year on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, I would take a sojourn up to a Boston suburb known as Woburn (Dragon Ct., specifically), to visit Joe Viglione and he would generously let me stay on his couch. While it was great hanging out with Joe and talking music, life, etc., I also took a number of solo trips out to Boston to see bands play at such venues as the Rat, Chet’s Last Call, and the Paradise, and hang out with other Boston-local personalities, such as Kenne Highland, Donna Lethal, and the publisher of BANG!, photographer Rocco Cipollone. Through Joe, I got to meet the likes of Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller [d. 1994], Willie Alexander, Jon Macey, and JoJo Laine [d. 2006], among others.

During that time, Joe had an alter ego, or a pen name at least, by the name of Janis Reed, mixing the names Janis Joplin and Lou Reed, two musicians close to Joe’s heart. As Janis, he wrote a gossipy-news back-page column for the glossy Musician magazine.

We have remained friends over the decades, as Joe has dipped his fingers into local politics, cable television (both in front of the camera and behind) with his interview program “Visual Radio,” as well as keeping involved in music, most notably lately with his “Demo That Got the Deal” compilations.

Sometime after 1985, I interviewed Joe for Rocco Cipollone’s fanzine, BANG!, which is reprinted below. – RBF, 2020

* * *

Back in 1977, when I first joined the fanzine scene, there was a fraternity of editors, among them Mike McDowell of (Ballroom) Blitz, Nancy Foster of New Age, Joe Viglione of Varulven, and myself, of FFanzeen.

Through the years, I am still in contact with many of the editors, including all of the above, and am lucky enough to call them friends. Of all of the above, the one who has been around the longest and probably the most successful in his field as far as a career and influence goes, is Boston’s own self-titled aristocrat, the Count, Joe Viglione.

There’s no phase of “the biz” that Joe Viglione doesn’t or hasn’t had his hand in. His magazine is but a memory, but his music expertise is very much alive and active.

First, there’s the performance end. There have been many versions of his band, from the first recordings as Auguste Phenomenon, through is band’s last recording as The Count.

Then there is the producer, putting out a prolific number of records by his and other bands on his label, originally named Varulven (yes, same as his magazine), evolving into VAR Records, and finally VAR International. Most of note are the series of compilations by local bands.

He also produces records of bands other than on his label.

There are also his caps as production director, record distributor, club booking agent, etc.

Interviewing friends is never easy, but here goes:

* * *

BANG!: Before you got involved in music, you published a magazine called Varulven.

Joe Viglione: When I was sixteen, we decided to get together a fan magazine for fantasy and science-fiction. I was a big fan of Castle of Frankenstein and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Then, of course, there were the BosCon Convention and the NorEastCon.  It went to those, but we had already established the magazine then. It was just the thing to do. It was something I had to do. It’s just a calling. You don’t know why you’re doing it, you just know you have to do it.

BANG!: And slowly but surely it included music, like the last issue had an interview with Jonathan Richman.

Joe: Yeah, the last issue did have an interview with Jonathan Richman. We were doing science fiction, fantasy and rock’n’roll, and that was something. Castle of Frankenstein was very interested in pick up, so the whole premise of our magazine was to go beyond what a fanzine was, and to start picking up writers that would be picked up by major magazines, such as Famous Monsters. So, I wanted to develop people, but I was always into music, so I made that my focal point.

BANG!: Is that why you stopped putting the magazine out?

Joe: Yeah, it was just too costly and it became too diverse.

BANG!: You write for other magazines now.

Joe: Yeah, I write for The Beat. I was writing for Preview (which closed), and I’ll write for FFanzeen when I have nothing better to do. [Laughs] Not true!

BANG!: When did Janis Reed come into the picture?

Joe: Janis Reed had produced a Willie Alexander album called Sperm Bank Babies. It took a lot of production expertise. She sat at home with her Advent recording deck and taped it off WEBS. It had Barb Kitson [d. 2006 – RBF, 2020] of Thrills as the MC, who was just a DJ at that point in time. I had let her write for the Auguste Pages, which is our house fanzine for the record company and the band. And then Janis went from the Auguste Pages to Musician magazine, which hired me to do a local Boston column. I did one column and gave it up, and gave it to Janis. From then on Janis Reed wrote it. That’s where Janis came from.

BANG!: You’ve had the title “The Count” since high school, I think it was.

Joe: Yeah, it went way back and it was fun, but it was kinda dumb to keep tagging it along.

BANG!: But won’t you ever miss it?

Joe: Nope.

BANG!: What is your new image?

Joe: My new image is my old image, Joe Viglione. I consider The Count thing something like Myra Breckinridge. When Myron woke up and found out he was Myron, he said, “My  God, I was Myra?”

BANG!: When he woke up back as Myron, in the book, what he actually said was, “My tits. Somebody stole my tits!”

Joe: My cape. Somebody stole my cape! [Laughs]

BANG!: Your new release, “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” on the last anthology album (Boston Rock and Roll Anthology, Volume 4) has a (writing) collaboration with Nancy Foster from North Carolina. How did you get together with her?

Joe: First, Nancy and I started having long distance sex. We were the originators of phone sex. She started writing me some lyrics and sent them up to me. She sent me 10-15 poems, and I thought they were all great. And two of them – “Oh Love, Frustrating Love” and “Run Wild with Me” – were really super. I put them both to music and I was happier with the music I wrote for “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” so that’s become a staple of the band, just as “Guitarmaster” has been. It was also The Count’s MOR trip. While all the bands in turn were doing techno-pop and this-and-that-pop, we were fusing punk and rock and roll with MOR music. And people did not like it, but we were being original and we kept doing it.

BANG!: Is this when you were doing “Lejandemi”?

Joe: Yeah, “Lejandemi,” “Oh Love, Frustrating Love,” “Of Yesterday,” and “I Thought You’d Be Mine,” and that pop stuff that you could definitely hear.

BANG!: Why did you release “Oh Love…” now, since you recorded it a few years ago?

Joe: I really loved it, and I still love it. I’m aware that it wasn’t a wise move to put it on Anthology Vol. 4, ‘cause it’s gonna kill any chance of airplay. In fact, it hasn’t gotten one spin and the album’s been getting a lot of airplay up here. The reviews on it so far by the critics have been the best. It’s one of the best cuts on the record. I think the people in Europe will think so too, because Europe’s back into pop.

BANG!: Don’t you think it’s harder to sell a million-unit album if it’s a compilation?

Joe: A compilation won’t sell a million. I mean, it could – you should never limit yourself – but with compilation albums, I don’t use them for that purpose. The reasons I’m using these compilations first is to develop my relationship with the bands, beyond just the club scene, and beyond promoting their records and reviewing them. I wanna get to know what it’s like getting into a contract with the bands for one song, seeing if they’ve got the attitude that I have toward marketing and promoting something. You’d be surprised the gung-ho attitudes you get from certain bands, and then, when they actually realize how much work is in it, they drop out. And then the band breaks up because they don’t want to do all the work. We’re just gonna find the cream of the crop, the real hard workers who are really talented, because those are the bands I think I can bank on.

 

 Dimension 10: Jeff Hill is squatting in front

BANG!: Who’s in your new band, Dimension 10?

Joe: Well, my band right now is my drummer Jeff (Hill), and what I think we’re gonna do is have a revolving door of guitar players, and maybe even a revolving door of bass players, who work on different aspects of Dimension 10.

BANG!: Doesn’t that make it a little confusing for touring?

Joe. No, because we’re going to be going out with people that have the sound – the real sound – that we want!

* * *

Reproduction of the original article on Joe’s blog HERE.

A Royal Look at Boston R’n’R: Parts I and II [1977-1978]

Text by Count Joseph Allen Salvatore Viglione / FFanzeen 1977-1978

Introduction by Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2020

Images from the Internet, unless indicated

These articles were originally published in FFanzeen, issues 2 and 3, dated October 1977 and Winter-Spring 1977-1978, repectively. It was written by Joe Viglione, a Boston-based musician, band and record promoter, and scenester. His bands have included the Count, Auguste Phenomenon and Dimension 10. Currently, Joe still manages a bunch of bands/musicians, books clubs such as the Cantab, and has a podcast called “Visual Radio” where he interviews some pretty big named acts that is worth checking out.

For a few years, mainly in the early 1980s, I would go stay at Joe’s house on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, and tour around Boston, seeing multiple bands at the Ratskeller (aka, the Rat), the Paradise, Chet’s Last Call, etc. In this way, I got to meet so many great people, like Kenneth Highland, Donna Lethal, Rocco Cippilone, JoJo Laine, and one weekend even Stones’ producer and fellow Brooklynite, Jimmy Miller. However, I got to befriend Joe earlier thanks to my ‘zine and his, Varulven. We had a pen-pal correspondence going until I drove up there…I believe it was 1980.

A lot of the bands mentioned in this piece are still amazing when one looks back on their catalog. When these articles came out, I wasn’t familiar with many of them, but would do so, over time. – RBF, 2020

 

Photo by RBF

PART I: Issue 2 (October 1977)

Boston: 8-15-77

Contrary to popular belief, Boston is more than just an album and group on Epic Records. Boston is also a city. The capital of a state! Massachusetts, in fact. Boston also churns out a great deal of real good Rock & Roll. There’s lots of people here and these people like to rock out! This is a vampire’s eye view of the Rock and Roll Universe…

There are three good ways of hearing your favorite bands in this town, or finding out about new ones. One is “clubbing”: hitting the local nightspots which house rock music, or the parties where a band is at, or a boat cruise featuring a decent band. I put these under the heading of clubbing obviously erroneously ‘cause what I mean is live music, but who cares. I’m the Count and royalty can do whatever it wants.

Willie Loco Alexander at the Paradise
(photo by RBF)

We used to have only the Rat and the Club to frequent with occasional good bands at K-K-Katy’s (across the street from the Rat) ‘till it went disco; and dynamite bands (like Third Rail, Willie Loco, myself, the Bonjour Aviators, etc.) at a place called Dummy’s, which was an incredibly large club with wax museum figures for décor and plenty of breathing space, and a beautiful stage and a beautiful sound system, and it only lasted about 3 months. That’s life in the big city, so they say, but now a new club has opened its door to R&R, so things are looking up again. Cantones, in the Financial District, hosts the Real Kids, Willie Loco, La Peste, Baby’s Arm and many more really special people, and the Rock & Roll audience is responding very well to this new venue.

The Rat still reigns as the place to go even though no one really likes it all that much. It is a dive; one would think an excellent place for the Count to hang out, but I do consider myself a bit sophisticated and would really rather hear rock within the antiseptic confines of something like the Playboy Club. The Rat is a cellar: smoke and bad air is as plentiful down there as fish in the sea, so why does everyone go, you ask?? Despite the atmosphere, people still flock to this demonic camber so there is the friends aspect of it, and the music is good, for the most part.

This weekend we caught the Cars at Rat City. The Cars are one of the very best bands in Boston. They have taken the place which once belonged to Susan (since Susan split to New York) as the best band who plays in tune, sings on key, got a lot of great songs and excellent musicians, not to mention management which wants to get them to the top. The Cars feature Ric and Elliot on guitars, Ben on the bass, Dave on the drums, and Greg working on various assortments of instruments from synthesizer to saxophone and rhythm guitar. Songs like “Just What I Needed,” “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight,” “Come Back Down,” and so many more, are becoming big underground hits via live performances and the studio tapes floating around local radio stations.

Baby’s Arm is another new band which is causing some excitement. Frank Rowe writes the songs and plays a nice lead guitar with some very original work. Richee Johnson is the undisputed star of the band and slams away at the drums (he’s known as Sam Slam in certain circles of Boston rock); Billy Cole plays rhythm and sings the Lesley Gore tunes; and John Schriver rounds out the band on bass guitar. John is the third bass player to join this young band, replacing McGregor McGee (bassist on Peter Vallis’ single, “Marrying for Money”) who replaced Randall (ex-Auguste Phenomenon 4, which lasted all of 2 months). He also played bass on the record Randall sang on, “The Fury in Your Eyes” b/w “Boston City Limits” by the Bonjour Aviators, being a member of that band from its inception. Randall is now in a new band called Rawk.

John Felice of the Real Kids at the Rat
(photo by RBF)

Easy Action features KC Lindstrom on guitar, Mike Johnson on drums, Bob Papalado on bass, and Chas on lead vocals. They’re busy gigging around town, having just completed four songs in the studio, may do more studio work, and like Baby’s Arm, have a record in the offing.

Third Rail features the great Richard Nolan on vocals. Richard is one of the most original front men of all Rock. He can mesmerize by just standing and staring. His voice is soft, deep and distinct. Chilling may better describe it. It’s no coincidence that they played with the film Night of the Living Dead last Sunday (8-8-77) at the Rat. Fred Pineau (from the Count and Bonjour Aviators’ records) does the lead guitar along with Gary Soprano (now engineer on the Count’s upcoming LP). Rick rocks out on the drums, and TB Pleyer is the bass player.

Willie Loco is, along with the Cars, the best band in Boston at the moment. Willie is a true Rock & Roll genius. Period. His performances are striking, always entertaining, and abundant in Rock & Roll revelations. His records are treasures, and the tapes of studio work current circulating prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man encompasses everything that is Rock & Roll. There is a bootleg album of a performance recorded in December of 1976 about to be released on Varulven Records. This is the ultimate Rock & Roll concert. Willie & the Boom Boom Band (Billy, Dave and Sev) go through nine of their big numbers, including a super triple medley of “Hit Her Wid de Axe,” “You Looks So Pretty When,” and “Hair.” It’s called The Sperm Bank Babies, featuring Al Lorenzo Drake, and will be available as soon as the money is got together... All proceeds go to Willie and the band after pressing and mailing costs. There will only be 300 of the first pressing released [yes, I still have mine – RBF, 2020] so act now!!!

A guest appearance on this LP is made by Thundertrain. They do an old Chuck Berry number called “Around and Around,” and you can hear Mach Bell, infuriated by the injustices of the industry in Boston overheating to the maximum. Mach Bell is one of the best front men in all of Rock and Roll. Really. Thundertrain is a superb live band; one of the few bands around that can crank up and get everyone excited. Their performances are events with Steven Silva blasting the walls apart with frantic leads, and Mach swinging from the ceiling like a Rock & Roll Tarzan.

PART II: Issue 3 (Winter/Spring 1977-1978)

Reddy Teddy, along with Thundertrain, is my fave live band. They create an excitement few other bands can ever hope to achieve. Their performances are superior excursions into Rock & Roll, which don’t quite carry over onto their records (like Thundertrain). We need these guys on a 3-D film. Till then, make it a point to catch them in concert!!! When Matt & John Rose start doing their simultaneous leaps, watch out!

Fox Pass has just re-emerged and is also up there with the elite “best” bands. Jon Macey, Mike Roy and John Jules, along with new members Steve Couch and Max Camfield create some of the best Pop Rock songs this side of the Hollies if they were infected by a severe case of Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground. Their record is a classic.

The Count, at the Rat
(photo by RBF)

There are many more bands, also superb, some not as suburb, some actually awful, but you find that everywhere. If I missed a good band, sorry ‘bout that. It’s about 3:30 AM, so you can see why it’s getting hard to think.

I was talking about ways of hearing your fave bands. The second method employed by Rock and Rollers in the ‘70s is the homemade record. After slamming my music against empty walls for too many years I got the inspiration to put out an EP and viola, instant infamy. My fave local records are Pastiche’s “Flash of the Moment,” Fox Pass, Willie Loco, Thundertrain, Marc Thor, Reddy Teddy, some stuff on the  Live at the Rat EP (Susan, Willie, Marc Thor and Thundertrain, to be specific), the Avatars, and you can be sure there will be many more soon. Inside info tells me Lord Manuel got a great EP due very shortly, and comedian Paul Lovell got Blowfish in the New Wave (EP) due shortly on Varulven Records.

The third formula for getting underground music into your head is via the Rock & Roll radio show. The best underground station in the Boston Rock Nation now is WCUW-FM in Worchester. These guys play underground stuff like it’s the only music in the word (well, it is, isn’t it??). Main New Wave DJ Brian Goslow is the guy to send your records and tapes to. The Count does a half hour radio show called “Auguste Hour of Destruction” for WCUW each week, as does Paul Lovell with his “Boston Groupie News Report.” Brian’s show is called “My Generation PSV (Patti Smith Version)” and is incredible.

[This paragraph redacted]

Leslie got the Boston Beat on WCOZ, Boston’s best rocker. Her show leans more towards the folk side of things, but on good nights you’ll hear the Atlantics, Fox Pass, the Cars, the Count, Piper and what more could now ask for? Debbie Frost has a great show on WHRB during the school year, and Peter’s got a very fine program on WBRS. WERS (not to be confused with WBRS) has recently begun playing New Wave and are publishing their Top 10 New Waves on a chart.

A good way for out-of-towners to keep up on the Rockin’ side of Boston is via the publications produced by many devoted people [aka fanzines – RBF, 1977].

Got to run. Rock on. Love yas…

ROBBY KRIEGER: Beyond the Doors [1983 Interview]

Text by Joe Viglione and Eric Brown / FFanzeen, 1983
Images from the Internet
www.robbykrieger.com

This interview was originally published in FFanzeen, issue #11, dated 1983. It was written by Boston-based musician, music historian (and so much more) Joe Viglione and Eric Brown. – RBF, 2015

Robby Krieger, guitarist / song-writer for the Doors, was, and still is, one of the most influential and creative guitarists in rock’n’roll.

The 1982 Robby is a mellower, wizened musician, not content to stay within the safe boundaries of commercial pop which he helped establish, and which in 1982 – more than 12 years later – is suddenly chic and very popular.

In the heat of the Doors revival, Robby Krieger has emerged with a hot band, a surprisingly different direction for those unfamiliar with his post-Morrison works, and a new album on Passport Records, entitled Versions.

We caught Robby’s soundcheck and show at the Channel Club in Boston, on October 23, 1982, and again at the Peppermint Lounge in New York, on the 28th. Along with some instrumental originals, jazzy versions of Doors songs like “Crystal Ship” and “You’re Lost Little Girl,” there were rocking versions of “Love Me Two Times” and “Roadhouse Blues.” At the Peppermint Lounge, Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult jumped onstage for “Roadhouse” and got the place jumping with his earthy vocals. Thankfully, someone at the Peppermint had the good sense to videotape the night.

Despite the zillion interviews (in fact, MTV bumped this interview up a day and a half) and hectic schedule (like speaking at the College Media Brainstorm 2 Convention at the Sheraton up the street); and being, along with David Johansen, the most interesting guest at that otherwise boring affair, Robby proved to be one of the more easygoing and polite musicians around. Despite that, I was a nervous wreck conducting this interview: talent and legend are hard to take in one sitting.

Special thanks to Robby’s manager, Richard Linnell, for making this possible.

-  Joe Viglione, 1983

FFanzeen(* = Joe Viglione): When did you decide to put a new band together and to tour?

Robby Krieger: Well, after I finished the album, I decided to – to get the album going. I’d get out and tour. That was about a year ago, I guess. It took a while to find the right guys for the band.

FF*: How long did it take to conceive Versions and put it out?

Robby: To do the whole thing, about a year. I took my time doing it. I had a bunch of other stuff I was doing at the time.

FF*: I see you’re still playing slide guitar onstage.

Robby: Not a lot of slide. I play as much as I can. Unfortunately, my slide guitar broke that night [at the Peppermint Lounge, October 28 – JV] or it was broken. The neck started to get a crack on it.

FFanzeen(# = Eric Brown): That’s the black Les Paul?

Robby: Yeah, the Les Paul. It’s too bad. It held up last night. I hope it’ll be okay for the rest of the tour, but there’s a definite crack in it.

FF*: Why did you produce Versions by yourself?

Robby: If I could’ve gotten someone like Tom Dowd [d. 2002 – RBF, 2015] or somebody, I would’ve gone ahead with that, but I’d rather not do it myself ‘cause it’s a lot of work and it’s – you don’t get the perspective that you really need when you do your own thing. But I’m happy with the way it came out.

FF*: How do you choose your guitars? Why a Les Paul?

Robby: Les Paul I use for slide and the reason I chose that is ‘cause it’s real heavy; it’s the oldest one they made, which is a ’54, I think. It’s like a big tree. It’s a Black Beauty. The neck is like a tree trunk. For regular playing, I use the 355 guitar, which is a Gibson. And it’s a mono 355; most of those are stereo. For some reason I found this mono and they’re a little heavier than the 335, so…

FF*: What do you use for effects?

Robby: For effects I’ve got a Chorus, a Digital Delay, Analog Delay, a Distortion, and a Slow Gear, which makes it sound like you’re using a volume pedal; kinds of cuts off the first part of the note.

FF#: Yeah, I kind of noticed that.

FF*: What kind of amps?
Robby: Twin reverbs, pretty much. I was going to try this Acoustic. They’ve got a new amp out that’s comparable to a twin reverb, but I couldn’t get it working right before the tour.

FF*: How long do you see this band staying together? Another LP?

Robby: It’s hard to say. It’s going real good right now. It could last for a long time.

FF*: You’ll be planning another tour?

Robby: Well, when we get back to L.A., we’re going to start going out again for the rest of the year.

FF*: How did you find your manager?

Robby: Well, I’ve known Rich Linnell for a long time. He went to school with my brother. He ended up promoting some Doors concerts when the Doors were playing. I’ve just known him for a long time.

FF*: What is his function as a manager? And what do you see as the role of a manager for Robby Krieger?

Robby: He’s got to work with the record company, with tours, promoters, agents – he’s the buffer between me and all these types of people. Plus he has to be creative in thinking of different ways to get me working.

FF*: How about the creative moment with Robby? Do you have to put yourself in the right frame of mind to create a great song, especially songs like the old Doors hits of which you wrote a major portion?

Robby: You can’t put yourself in a mood. It’s pretty hard, unless you have the right drugs [laughs], but usually it doesn’t happen that way. You have to be in the mood.

FF*: Do you turn the recorder on?

Robby: Usually I don’t ‘cause I figure anything that’s good enough to be a song I’ll remember when I play it. Although I think I have forgotten a lot of good songs so I have started using a recorder lately.

FF*: What do you think of the stage of the art of recording today? Do you have the same feeling that you did about production when you approached a record in the ‘60s as you do now?

Robby: It hasn’t really changed that much. The tape recorders are basically the same. I haven’t tried the digital stuff yet. That’s more gimmicks now, but you can only use them in certain instances, I think. In fact, I recorded this album 16-track, which I hadn’t – I’ve always been using 24 for years. Everybody has but – I figured I could get better sound by going with a 16-track with two-inch tape because you have more space on each track. Since I wasn’t having vocals I know I wouldn’t need that many tracks anyway. We did it on an Otari 16-track machine.

FF*: You produced the Tan, a Californian band?

Robby: They’re from Santa Barbara, actually. They’re sort of like a New Wave surf band. They’re really good.

FF*: Did you see them in a club or did they approach you?

Robby: …I played with – I had this group, Red Shift, in L.A., for a while, and we played opposite them on a bill in Santa Barbara one time. It turned out my friend was managing them, so I happened to get involved with them.

FF*: I’ve got a couple of albums here that you might remember [two Butts Band LPs on Blue Thumb Records – JV]

Robby: A-ha!

FF*: I remember you guys played the Performance Center in Harvard Square, Cambridge (MA). It no longer exists; it’s now a shopping mall.

Robby: Really, that’s too bad.

FF*: How long did the Butts Band last? I know there were two different albums.

Robby: Well, it lasted for two albums; two or three years. As you said, there were two different bands, one with some English guys. John Densmore [The Doors drummer] and myself were the nucleus of the group. Then we decided that was too hard to keep together so we went ahead and formed an American version. And we got caught up in record company bullshit. Blue Thumb got sold to U.A. or something like that, and we just sort of got lost in the shuffle over there. It’s too bad; we had some pretty good songs on both those albums.

FF*: I really like the Other Voices and Full Circle albums by the [post-Morrison] Doors. What are your feelings on that material?

Robby: I think there’s some good stuff on those albums. I think we probably shouldn’t have come out so soon after Jim’s death with those. Maybe the public wasn’t ready for it yet or – probably should’ve waited about five years or so.

FF*: Maybe, but you were great on the Boston Common in the 1972 Sunset Series [August 17 – JV].

Robby: Oh, yeah.

FF*: That was just wonderful

Robby: Yeah, when we were in Boston, I walked through that place.

FF#: I remember reading somewhere that when you first started, you used to play Flamenco. When did you get involved with jazz?

Robby: Well, I always liked jazz, so I’d say around ’74 or ‘5. I got real interested in playing jazz. I met a bunch of jazzer-type guys in L.A., and started learning about it. I didn’t really know enough about playing guitar to play jazz when I started out, ‘cause I was only – I started when I was only 16. And when the Doors hit, I was like 19, so I just was playing the Doors’ stuff for a couple of years; about five years there. But then I deicide I wanted to get into it.

FF#: That’s great. On your earlier albums, you could hear the influence. And now it’s really blossomed out. I watched you on TV in Boston, 5 All Night Live [the night previous to the Channel gig on October 23 – JV]. I didn’t know what to expect from you, but liking jazz fusion myself, it was a pleasant surprise.

Robby: I get kind of tired of it after a while, y’know. Just people soloing for hours and stuff, but I think – my approach is being a rock’n’roll player going into jazz, which not many people do. Most of your fusion players are like jazz guys, and they try to play rock’n’roll, and it doesn’t come off too great a lot of times.

FF#: There’s a difference. You use real heavy rock’n’roll rhythms under the melodic stuff.

Robby: Right.

FF#: The way you use the harmonies with the two guitars, it’s very –

Robby: Yeah, Barton [Averre, former guitarist with the Knack – JV], our other guitar player, he can play. Anything you tell him to play, he can play.

FF#: You guys seem to work with a lot of communication. The harmonies are real different. The off meds and the off notes are really – you end up on certain notes, not harmonies. It sounds terrific.

Robby: We use a lot of sixths in our harmonies.

FF*: It seems like you’re heading in a direction started with Full Circle. It was starting to get jazzier.

Robby: Hmm, a little bit, I guess.

FF*: With songs like “Mosquito.”

Robby: “Mosquito,” that’s true. You know that “Mosquito” was a giant hit in Europe.

FF*: Really.

Robby: Yeah, and South America, ‘cause I guess it was, y’know – I spoke Spanish a little bit in there, and people loved that.

FF*: You spoke Spanish in the song?

Robby: Yeah: “no mes moleste mosquite.”

FF*: “Get Up and Dance” [Full Circle] was a minor hit in Boston, and “Tightrope Ride” [Other Voices] was a big hit.

Robby: yeah, “Tightrope Ride” was good. Yeah, it’s too bad it didn’t really – there were some good songs on that. “Piano Bird” also was a good kind of jazzy one. “Piano Bird” has two basses on it [The LP credits only one, to Carole King’s ex-husband, Charles Larkey – JV]. It has one played by Willie Ruff – who’s like a jazzy guy. He played the upper register – and this Wolfgang Metz played the lower bass.

FF#: Wolfgang!

FF*: [To Eric] Yeah, Wolfgang, he’s great. He used to play with Gabor Zabo. He’s this little German guy with this really thick accent.
Robby: I liked the souped up version that that (the) Knack song, “My Sharona.”

FF*: [To Robby] It was a blessing for you that the Knack broke up.

Robby: Yeah, really [laughs]. Well, I knew Bruce Gary [d. 2006 – RBF, 2015], the drummer, before the Knack ever started, in L.A. So it was kind of natural when they broke up. I’m sure some super group will probably snap him up one of these days.

FF*: Someone like ASIA. Hey, thanks a lot for your time, Robby, and good luck.