Gutbucket is Back

Ten Years in the Making The Original Gutbucket is Back Dave Kellan, Brett Mitchell, Jake Krull

I’ve known Dave Kellan since Hector was a pup. First time we talked on the phone he was a 19 year old upstart practicing a deep cigarette voice and sounding like he was rode hard and put up wet. I hired him on the spot. But when I finally met him during his first show @ White’s imagine my surprise when I see this skinny young upstart with a moist face, a smooth smile and smelling like milk. Damn. But he won us all over that night. All I heard was “This kid can play.” Sure enough. This was the beginning of my affection for all things Gutbucket. I remember Kellan celebrating his 21st birthday @ White’s – eleven years ago. I bought him a shot and dared him not to drink it. I was mean that way. After a few years passed Kellan hosted a regular Wednesday Night jam that featured some of the best musicians on the planet. We recorded several of then performances – pure magic. I was able to talk with Dave recently as he was driving back to Saginaw with Mitchell and Krull. It was a great interview…

The Gutbucket CD is ten years in the making. What took so long?

The geographical distance was a big factor especially after I moved to New York 5 years ago. We essentially went our separate ways in 2002 when we pursued different forms of music. It’s funny that after all the changes we went through, 10 years later we are still doing the same groove. It was a natural progression. I started coming home for the holidays or during the summer and we’d jam or do a few shows. The passion was still there and it all came together so we contacted Andy Reed and got him involved. I had already put together PK (Paula Kellan) studios as a tribute to my mother. She passed away 7 years ago

What did you want to convey with the more blues-based material?

Well, we are a blues band, that’s what we always wanted since our high school days. I was influenced by Jimi Hendrix and his use of sound. I heard an interview with Hendrix’s drummer Buddy Miles and he talked about the Gutbucket style. We really see ourselves as a blues-based band with all those early influences like Hendrix, and Stevie ray Vaughn

You've picked up some jazz riffs as well. Do you see it as a natural progression in your craft?

I’ve seen so many world class jazz players in New York – it’s like the Mecca for Jazz musicians. I would sit close to the station and watch their hands and their fingering techniques – John Scofield was one influence. Bryan Rombalski is a big influence

What was it like to perform with your old mates again?

It’s all about friendship. We’ve actually been playing together on a fairly regular basis for the past three years or so. I’ve played with Jake since we were 14 years old. We had a cool Nirvana inspired punk band in high school called Everslacking. As juniors and seniors we gravitated away from punk and got into the blues. We would go out to see Larry McCray and Matt Besey. They inspired us. It’s great to have Brett back. He’s a great drummer with good instincts plus he is an excellent songwriter. He contributed several tracks to our new disc. After all is said and done, we grew up together – it’s natural.

You recorded at PK studios in Woodside, New York and Reed studios in Bay City. What was the advantage in recording at both studios? What was it like working with Andy Reed?

Andy is a mellow guy, nothing ruffles his feathers. He has a great ear for sound and he works fast. He gives concise instructions and advice – I could tell he had a lot of experience. He just set everything up and we went for it. We did everything live. The CD has a great natural sound – it’s really like hearing our stage show.

It's been a few years since I've last seen you perform. How would you rate your guitar playing now? In what way have you evolved? any New York influences?

It has been a few years since you've seen me. I am definitely more comfortable now than I ever was taking risks harmonically speaking with the instrument. I think my chops are a bit more refined and I'd like to think that when I make a mistake it just opens up another door to be more creative. I read the book "The Music Lesson" by Victor Wooten and it changed my life. Not to say that I'm making that many mistakes, but it’s fun to have the freedom not to care if you're in the groove improvisationally speaking. New York has obviously changed me because I am now surrounded by world class musicians that I have the opportunity to hear any time and in some cases now play with. It is an incredible city to live in and I continually embrace the culture. If you are bored in New York you have issues. At this point in my life I can't see myself living anywhere else You've always had a unique soulful syncopated vocal style, often singing in unison with the notes you are playing. How was it that you discovered that style? How would you rate your singing?

The Band of Gypsies influenced me to sing in unison with the guitar. Hendrix and Buddy Miles changed history by the simplicity of a pentatonic phrase being repeated in a soulful unison manner. I noticed that it really thickened the groove when in a trio situation. The vibrations of the string and voice can have a very strong impact of the note being played. George Benson's "Masquerade" also blew me away. The album Breezing' is also a huge inspiration as far as listening to Benson's amazing legato technique.

You are more thematically concise with the lyrics on this disc. What inspired you?

These songs are all over ten years old. I was really in a spiritual place back when I was 20 and I was heavily influenced by Hendrix at that time, and always will be. Also, Robert Johnson was painting pictures with his lyrics and I was trying to incorporate both, to somehow create a visual aspect to my music.

Do you remember the first time you played Whites? It was an older crowd - you were 19 years old. You won them over. Was it at this point that you realized you had something special going on?

When I played at your bar, we loved the crowd’s reaction and could feel the energy in the room. We were getting similar reactions back in Midland but it was cool to feel inspired in a real music bar with a crowd we were unfamiliar with. In my Mother's living room (who was my biggest fan), Brett, Jake and I knew we were getting good and we just needed to get in front of an audience. We were hungry to play for an appreciative music loving crowd. Your bar was that crowd.

How long have you lived in New York. Can you contrast the scene in NY with Saginaw in terms of original music and opportunities to perform?

Come August, I will have been a resident in New York for 5 years. Man, time flies. Exponentially speaking New York has limitless possibilities as far as venues to both play at and meet and hear other artists perform. It seems like one gig eventually leads me to another. It's kind of a mecca for the cultural renaissance of art and music. It's funny to think that in a two week span I went to see Sting, Chick Corea and John Scofield on the nights I wasn't playing. If you are a jazz fan, New York is your city.

Saginaw, being the historical city that it is, still has an old soul and I still feel it is a breeding ground for talent to blossom. I mean come on, Stevie Wonder is no slouch. You also have to factor in that Motown is not far from Saginaw and that seems to be in everyone’s musical subconscious. When hosting the jam sessions at Whites Bar I learned a lot from guys like Bruce Crawley, Mark Miller, Matt Besey, and countless others who were either living there or passing through. Working with Noel Howland also was a huge influence. If Michigan can get out of its economic slump soon I see Saginaw being on the forefront of its own renaissance.

Gutbucket opens the disc with Everything to Me, a Funk Brothers-inspired blues workout. It has a jazzy groove with an economy of expression and enough space between the notes that gives the music an unexpected punch. It has a guitar riff that is reminiscent of Peter Green’s Oh Well. Kellan sketches out an extended jam near the coda with a brief chord progression that channels Radar Love

Down in the Delta is an up-tempo blues with heavy syncopated beats. Kellan sings in unison to each note in the verses giving the lyrics an emotional valence that resonates like an electrical shock. Gutbucket pays homage to the black artists that inspired them to play the blues and go ”down to the Delta and get a gutbucket mop.”

Find your Soul is a spectacular tour de Force for Gutbucket. Kellan’s soulful singing is simply brilliant and the rhythm section of Krull and Mitchell carve out a rock solid framework for Kellan to stretch out and show his stuff. He’s all over the map with powerful yet nuanced vocals and nimble guitar work. He can punch out more notes in 12 bars than most cats pick in an entire set

St Mary’s River is a mid-tempo tone poem with some gorgeous country blues licks. Kellan delivers tasty full bodied notes that carry the message forward. Kellan’s guitar work is exquisite – perfect tone, phrasing and execution. His guitar is like another voice being heard. He’s smooth as silk and twice as soulful

Kellan hits the e-string with a vengeance on the fourth track, Gutbucket. Like the title suggests this is the bands calling card, straight up 12 bar blues with an echoed call and response between Kellan and Mitchell. As a drummer, Mitchell’s a bull, tough and durable. He pounds the skins like a heated up teen, holding his own and loving it. He’s not tricky, jazzed up or complex, he’s just rock solid – along with Jake Krull, the rhythm section gives Kellan plenty of space to stretch out with his trademark funky grooves, electrifying speeded up guitar workouts. Kellan is an expert in singing with each note he picks, hits, bends or stretches.

Cinema is a hard-edged funked up groove that is the perfect platform for the message in the lyrics. Gutbucket is giving the sermon. We are the flock. They are rocking their asses off on this track

No relief is a punk rock at its speeded up best. This is a tribute to their high school band Everslacking and they take no prisoners. Mitchell pounds out a frantic 4/4 beat like a heat seeking missile looking for a place to land. The frantic vocal performance is perfect. Gravitational insecurity sets in and the song ends like a crash. In the context of a disc that reveres 12-bar blues, Gutbucket sure took a chance. It was reassuring to me that these three great musicians could add-in an early influence even if it doesn’t seem to fit the format. It was a refreshing and honest.

.End of the Tunnel has a raucous rock & roll intro that segues into another Kellan funk fest. The band is tight as a vise, the timing is impeccable and they stop and start on a dime. Lyrically dark, Tunnel seems to be speaking to the general malaise in our country, our world. It’s a powerful statement

Sea of Jealousy is down home John Lee Hooker 12 bar blues. You just need to pound your foot in time, keeping it simple with sophisticated notions. Kellan’s guitar is ringing with an ancient sound like Robert Johnson at the crossroads. It feels like a clarion call to calm the fight, the inner turmoil.

FIAA is an acronym for Funk is all around. Kellan unleashes a supernaturally charged guitar trill that takes you into another dimension, a twilight zone of pyrotechnical sound, music and rhythm. The big beat nearly explodes in the grooves until Gutbucket transforms it with a stylish syncopated beat. The quiet chemistry between Krull and Mitchell is perfect foil for Kellan’s excursions. Their musical economy is brilliant. This is great stuff. I hope to hear more following this unexpected resurrection of one of my favorite bands

Peace

Bo White

Dennis Tufano - The Voice of the Buckinghams

Dennis Tufano
The Voice of
The Buckinghams

The Buckinghams may be just a footnote to the history of Rock & Roll but in 1967 they stormed the Top 40 Charts with a vengeance. The first hit was a teen pop R & B breakup song entitled Kind of a Drag. Before the end of the year they had four more hits in quick succession- Don’t You Care, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song) and Susan. Dennis Tufano’s cool as silk tenor provided the perfect vehicle to cause the girls to swoon and the guys to pick up a microphone. They were influential like other pop bands that created great music yet remained somewhat anonymous despite their hits. These now obscure bands were often the backbone of top forty radio when the Beatles or Stones took a break, bands like Orpheus, The Cryan Shames, the Shadows of Night, Question Mark & the Mysterians, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Gentrys, New Colony Six, The Blues Magoos and many more – just google sixties/seventies rock and you’ll find a list that stretches out for miles.
Dennis Tufano is part of a tribe of great musicians and singers that break all the rules by continuing to work their craft into their mid-to-late sixties. They are our traveling minstrels. We need them.

Dennis Tufano is performing all the hits and more @ Nouvel High School on Sunday January 22nd, 2012. Tickets are $18. Show time is 2pm. The proceeds support Saginaw County Crimestoppers. For tickets call 1-800-205-7174 or 989-667-0073. The following is a conversation with Dennis Tufano via the magic of telephone. It was a lot of fun!


Dennis, let’s start with the Buckinghams first LP on USA Records. I have a used copy of it and I love it – Kind of a Drag was the big hit. Can you talk about those early sessions?
We went into Chess Records at 2120 S.Michigan Avenue, a legendary studio where all the blues greats hung out and recorded. It became very popular after the Rolling Stones recorded there. When they went there it was like Mecca to them. Ron Malo was the engineer and he recorded a Stones instrumental entitled 2120 S.Michigan Avenue.
We went down there because it was the hot place to be in Chicago at the time – 1965-66 and USA Records had their offices right next door and it was kind of a little music scene within a one block area. Chess was a small little funky studio with a great warm sound and Ron Malo was an extraordinary engineer. He did the Stones there as well as the Yardbirds, and then we did it. It was amazing to watch him work. In those days we had only 8 tracks and it was like a reel-to-reel recorder with only a half inch of eight tracks
So there was not a lot of signal there. It was amazing the sound he was able to get by combining all of the tracks and making everything right. It was a great experience.


The Buckinghams had a nice warm soulful sound
That’s because Dan Bellec and Carl Bonafede. Carl was our first manager in Chicago and Dan was a big bandleader in a heavy fifties jazz scene-guy. He’s the one who played saxophone on the hits and Frank Tesinski played trombone. They were on Kind of a Drag, I’ll Go Crazy - the whole first album. We performed for a year and a half before we ever recorded. We really just brought our live sound into the studio. It made a big difference because we knew how we sounded live. We wanted to make everything clear so we could always hear each instrument

How did you recreate your sound on stage? I don’t recall that you took a horn section during your tours
No, we didn’t. When we started to tour we had Marty Grebes play keyboards and sax. He’s an incredible musician. He left the Buckinghams in 1970 and he joined up with Leon Russell for six years, Bonnie Rait for seven years and then Eric Clapton. He did amazing things. With the Buckinghams he was a great B3 organ player and he would play the keys and the sax at the same time. He’d do voicings on the organ with the sax that filled out our horn sound. So for the 3 & 1/2 years we toured we could recreate our sound without having to carry a horn section

What was a typical setlist at the time?
Well, we did all the hits as well as funky things like I’ll Go Crazy, In the Midnight Hour, Come on Home from our first album. We did Walking the Dog – our drummer John Poulos sang that one. He get up and sing and I would go back on the kit ad play the drums. We had a real R&B kind of base to our music – that city sound.


I always thought of you as a great singer, your trade off duet vocals on Mercy, Mercy, Mercy were soulful and salacious. Who sang it with you?
It was Marty Grebes. He was really soulful - our version of Ray Charles. We were doing our first Columbia album and when we got back to LA to record there was a demo from Johnny “Guitar” Watson. It was Mercy, Mercy, Mercy with lyrics. He and Larry Williams had just recorded it. So we listened to the demo and Marty and I just looked at each other and knew we had to record it. It was initially just an album cut, it was never intended to be released as a single. But Columbia pulled it and put it out. It was a big hit – Top 5. To this day when I do the song people go crazy – it’s really a good song. The lyrics are great.

Do you have a favorite Buckinghams song?
My all time favorite is Don’t You Care because it was our follow up to Kind of a Drag. It had a jazz R&B feel to it and it was a nice range vocally to go to. It was just a comfortable song to sing and the arrangement was good, John Poulos drum riff set the song up perfectly. So Don’t You Care comes in first then Mercy, Mercy, Mercy…Kind of a Drag. I really enjoyed most of the songs I’ve done with the Buckinghams.

Can you talk about your relationship with James William Guercio when Kind of a Drag took off?
As a producer he was really good. We did Kind of a Drag without him and when brought him Kind of Drag it was already #1 with a bullet. We had just been dropped by USA - this was the last side we were contracted to and they didn’t like it. They thought it was too slow, it wasn’t a hit. They held it for a whole year. Then they had to release it because it was the contractual ending. So they released it and released us. Radio picked up on it and it took off. In November 1966 it was released and by February 1967 it was #1 with a bullet
We needed a manager so we signed with Guercio.. But we soon discovered he had his own agenda. We started to find out that his agenda was moving himself up by stepping on other people’s backs. He signed us to Columbia and he produced some good records for us. During that time we were constantly touring - for a 1 ½ years. We made good money on the road but when we met with our accountant we learned that the money was gone. It ended up in court. From 69-70 we were in court over this. It is one of the reasons that the band stopped. We dissolved Buckinghams Inc. in 1970

Did you make any money from Kind of a Drag or any other of your hit records?
Well, we thought we were … the artist royalty is a very small percentage of the money coming in. Publishing is where the money is but we didn’t write the hits so we weren’t involved with the publishing. The artist royalty is very small, to this day it’s maybe $600 a year for each band member because it is based on sales. We were victimized in the late sixties. Everybody got screwed. There are probably just a handful of acts that went unscathed. It seems like it was part of the time period. We were all nineteen, basically and we didn’t have a business sense. I have no regrets. We made some mistakes, we learned a tough lesson.

You were the original lead singer of the Buckinghams and you sang on all the hits – Kind of a Drag, Susan, Don’t You Care , Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song) but there is some confusion about Carl Gimmerese being the lead singer
I was the lead singer on all of the records. But there are several You Tube videos featuring Carl Gimmerese as the Buckinghams lead singer – Carl often tours as the Buckinghams so I can understand the confusion. Actually Carl only sang on one cut from our first LP entitled You Make Me Feel Good, a song written by the Zombies.


In 1967 you played over 300 dates? How were you able to hold up to that kind of grueling pace?
In 1967 I was 21 years old. We had hit records, it was easy and we were carried along by the wave of popularity of the band. It was non-stop back then we couldn’t turn around without getting on another tour, play colleges and then jumping on a Gene Pitney Tour with six or seven other acts. It was constant work, we were flying every other day and then sometimes we would fly and stop, drive out of a hub for two or three gigs and then fly again.

Did you become close to any of the bands you toured or performed with in the sixties/seventies? Do you still stay in touch?
The one’s I’ve kept in touch with, I’ve tried to stay in touch with but everybody got kind of scattered after the seventies. Some of the people that I’m still in touch with are Bobby Miranda, the lead singer of the Happenings and Paul, Bob and Susan of the Cowsills. We work with them a lot. I also keep in touch with the Easybeats of Friday on My Mind fame. Great band. They were on the Gene Pitney tour with the Buckinghams and we became good friends. They were expatriate Australians that moved to England – like the Bee Gees. Steve Young went on to produce his brother Angus in AC/DC. We were in awe of them, they were so together as a band. I keep in touch with Tommy James through email. Mostly it is the Chicago musicians I stay in touch with – Jimmy Sohns, the singer of the Shadows of Knight, Ronnie Rice of the New Colony Six, Jimmy Pilster and Tom Doody from the Cryan Shames. We used to be very competitive but nowadays 40 years later we laugh about it.


The 1980’s tour with Olivia Newton John sounded like fun. What was it like for you?
It was pretty exciting, a left field kind of thing. I had been working with Tom Scott when he became the musical director for Olivia’s tour and at the time I was mostly acting and developing a screenplay with another guy. I got a call from Tom and he said they’ve been in rehearsals for eight days but the male singer they got was not working out on the duets with Olivia. Tom said that the singer didn’t know how to relate to her - he just wanted to sing. She was a little upset and Tom knew I could sing and act at the same time. So I came down to audition. The show was supposed to hit the road in ten days so time was tight. I auditioned with the song Suddenly from the film Xanadu. At the end of the audition her choreographer/director Kenny Ortega told me I got the job, that he saw the chemistry. Olivia is one of the nicest persons I ever met, very professional. We did a little jitterbug dance during the song You’re The One That I Want from Grease. There is a DVD of the concert


How did you end up collaborating with Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin?
In the mid-seventies I was hanging out at Lou Adler’s bar on Sunset Boulevard having a good time, listening to music and stuff. This girl came in that I knew from Chicago. She was dating Bernie at the time and she introduced us. So we started to hang out and talk about making music. I took some demos over to Bernie and he gave me set of lyrics for a song, two pages long with no repeats – he’s the rock & roll poet. Bernie writes a lot of stuff. His stories are very vivid and tight. The song was entitled The Whores of Paris. I came back with the music and I played three minutes of music. Bernie was lying on the floor, head down, eyes closed. After it played he looked up and said, “That’s it, that’s what I hear in my head." Anyway we completed it. It was a great little album called He Who Rides the Tiger. Elton John actually sang back up on the album and I had the pleasure of asking Elton to do another take. Whew.


I’m a huge Bobby Darin Fan from Splish, Splash, Multiplication, If a Man Answers to Mack the Knife as well as Simple Song of Freedom, If I Were a Carpenter, Amy etc I believe he was a misunderstood genius. How is it that you decided to develop a tribute to Bobby Darin?
I started out with a 110 songs that I wanted to do - it’s amazing that he recorded over 300 songs. As a singer I was looking for something to do, you can’t just walk into a club and sit in. You have to pick your moments to find work – to find another way to enjoy singing. I found the whole repertoire of Bobby Darin to be incredible. He did rock and roll, folk, blues, country, standards. What he did in 37 short years was just amazing – he even had his own record company. He was my inspiration to start singing in the first place. The Darin Tribute is an expensive show to put on. Besides my band, I use a minimum of three horns and two background singers. You can find a few clips of the show on You Tube.


What is your fondest moment of your career?
There’s so many of them – each collaboration I’ve had, carries the essence of some treasured moment in it - Tom Scott, Bernie and Olivia. But the biggest fondest moment was the look on my parents face when Kind of a Drag went to #1. Those early days with the Buckinghams when my parents were so supportive, seeing the look on their faces when our records hit – those were fond moments. My parents were always very happy with what I did in my entertainment career. For me the fondest moment is to have that blessing from my parents.


Any last comments?
I’m just very grateful to still out there singing and performing for people. You know after my thirties I thought it wasn’t feasible for a man in his sixties to be out there performing. But what I realize now is that we are going out there performing with people like Gary Lewis, Bobby Miranda {the Happenings), Eddie Brigati (the Rascals), the Cowsills and everybody acts like they are 30 years old. And they sound great. It is amazing to me because it feels so good. It’s a process. I take care of my instrument so my voice is in good shape. I work out every day. The fact that I can still go out and sing for everybody surprises me. I thought I’d be in a boat in Lake Michigan. Instead I’m up on the stage sweating into the mic – which I love to do. It’s odd, years can go by and you don’t become a millionaire and you wonder if what you did you made an impact on people. I go out on tour now and people come up to me and talk about how my music created a timeline in their life. They tell me these great stories that involved my music and what it meant to them. After the shows, Vietnam Vets have come up to me and thanked me for the music. I thought it should be me thanking them. Back in the day when we were doing it, I never had the chance to talk and get to know the audience. Back then we had no stories to tell. Now we do and after the show I can walk through the audience and make real connections.

Peace
Bo White

A Great New Book on the Life & Times of Mickey Mantle

THE LAST BOY
MICKEY MANTLE
AND THE END OF AMERICA’S CHILDHOOD

Mickey Mantle’s sweater hangs on the door of my office.
I put it there the day I decided to write this book. It has
Followed me from closet to closet and house to house since
He gave it to me twenty-seven years ago. I packed it away
In an old garment bag right after I said goodbye to him.
I thought I was done with the Mick.
- Jane Leavy, author

The Last Boy is hailed by many as a masterpiece and an uncommonly thoughtful sports biography that goes beyond the myth to a deep examination of one of our greatest sports heroes - a man who was both generous and deeply flawed. Leavy carves out her narrative in five parts that are preface by an interview she conducted with Mantle in 1983. Each section begins with a first person account of the interview that sets the stage for a year-by year, blow-by-blow, examination of Mantle’s life and times. She spares no punches and does not shy away of uncomfortable truths. But her writing is fair and balanced and she’s able to convey Mantle’s uncommon humanity and generosity. In Leavy’s sensitive hands Mantle receives a fair shake that neither vilifies nor idealizes him. Leavy achieves a skillful dialectic in her analysis that makes Mantle more human. He comes off as a tragic hero who ultimately self-destructed. Most of Mantle’s outrageous behavior was kept from the public by a worried Yankee management and protective press corps. Leavy excavates the real Mickey Mantle starting with his 1951 breakthrough to his retirement in 1968 and his post baseball decline in 1969 and his death in 1995. It is an incredible piece of history.
The book runs 387 pages and contains another 33 pages of Appendixes and Acknowledgments that are worth reading.
The sentinel event that forever changed Mantle’s destiny is examined in fine detail in Chapter 2. It is entitled “When Fates converge.” The year is 1951 and baseball was changing. Babe Ruth had died three years ago and Joe DiMaggio was aging out of baseball. Mantle was ascending to the throne. He was stronger than most players and was considered the fastest runner in the Majors – plus he was telegenic, even beautiful and he had that big boyish grin. It all took place in the 1951 World Series between the Yankees and the New York Giants. DiMaggio was in center and Mantle was in right field. Willie Mays, an up and coming rookie stepped up to the plate and hit a pop fly, not very deep. It’s a tweener that splits the difference between DiMaggio and Mantle. DiMaggio called for it at the last minute as Mantle was running full-tilt to make the catch. Mantle can only try to put on the brakes to avoid a collision. In a twist of fate Mantle’s cleats became caught in a hidden four by four inch sewer drain. The injury was immediate and it forever changed the trajectory of his career, his life. At that same time Mantle learned of his father’s cancer. As Leahy writes, “In less than twenty-four hours all the supporting structures of his life imploded. His father only had months to live; his potential was irrevocably circumscribed; his knee and heart were never the same. That October afternoon was the last time Mantle set foot on a baseball field without pain.”
He was 19 years old.
Dr. Feelgood is the title for Chapter 12. It is a masterful revelation of what actually occurred in the 1961 MLB season. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were going head to head in pursuit of Baseball’s Holy Grail - Babe Ruth’s longstanding record of hitting 60 home runs in a season. Leahy debunked a few myths in an almost heroic effort to reach some semblance of truth. Myth #1 Mantle and Maris hated each other and were openly feuding; Truth: Mantle and Maris were supportive of each other and became lifelong friends. Myth # 2 Maris was coveted breaking Ruth’s record; Truth: Maris did not enjoy the limelight and tried to avoid playing in the last game of the season. This is the game in which he broke Ruth’s record. Myth # 3 Maris made a ton of money after breaking Ruth’s homerun record; Truth: Maris never profited from this Herculean feat. In fact it almost ruined his life. Sportswriters (as well as owners and baseball historians) criticized his accomplishment. It became a source of torment. He was never considered for the Hall of Fame – an egregious slight.
By the way, the “Dr Feelgood“ title refers to Dr. Max Jacobson who treated athletes and a long list of celebrities -even President Kennedy - with a highball cocktail of amphetamines, vitamins, human placenta and eel cells guaranteed to make you feel …well - good.
Leahy weaves a tale of startling clarity and purpose. She built an impressive interview list consisting of ten full pages. She talked with everyone who was close to Mantle or knew him in a particular way including: Merlyn Mantle, his ever suffering wife and their children Mickey Jr., Billy, David and Danny; Greer Johnson his longtime business partner and lover; Yankee teammates and business partners.
It is a tragic tale that is also redemptive and oddly uplifting. It is a testimony about the enduring strength of the human spirit
It is clear through Leahy’s vivid narrative style that Mantle was a reluctant hero who flinched at the spotlight and found it to be ultimately demeaning - especially after his retirement and the ascendance of the baseball cards and the memorabilia industry. He became a trained mouthpiece, recycling the same old stories and selling his autograph. He knew what he was doing and helped many of his friends and colleagues by gifting them personalized Mantle photos. It was unsatisfying at best. He even became a shill for Maypo Breakfast Cereal – because he needed the money. Mantle’s loss of meaning and purpose contributed to his raging alcoholism and womanizing. It was a death wish passed down from father to son – for at least three generations. It was a self-inflicted, unkind fate that would not be avoided in Mantle’s days and times.
Mantle never wanted to be an American Hero and he reacted strongly to the false images portrayed by the Yankee Organization (and major league baseball as a whole). Leahy tells the story of Mantle’s alternate rebellion. It was 1973 and the Yankee Organization was celebrating the fiftieth Anniversary of the House That Ruth Built. The public relations department sent a questionnaire to past Yankee players.
It read:
I consider the following my outstanding experience at Yankee stadium:
Mantle wrote:
“I got a blow job under the right field bleachers by the Yankee bullpen”
This event occurred on or about; (Give as much detail as you can)
It was about the third or fourth inning. I had pulled a groin and couldn’t fuck at the time. She was a very nice girl and asked me what to do with the cum in her mouth. I said don’t ask me I’m no cocksucker.
Signed
Mickey Mantle
The All-American Boy
This document was sent to a minority team owner and memorabilia collector who eventually sold his collection for 30 million dollars. Its existence is well known in the memorabilia circuit and excerpts have emerged through the years. The dark scatological humor in the document seemed to suggest something more than locker room crudeness. Leahy quotes Robert Pinsky, a former poet laureate of the United States, “That may be the best thing I’ve ever heard about him. He’s saying, “I am not going to be your all-American boy.” It may have been a cry for help; it is apparent that very few heard it
Mantle died in 1995. Leahy writes; Mantle is interred in a crypt illuminated by flickering sconces and graced with plaster angels whose wings shelter cards and letters left by his fans. Fixed to the wall is a plaque. It reads:

MICKEY CHARLES MANTLE
October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995
A magnificent New York Yankee,
True teammate and Hall of Fame Centerfielder
With legendary courage
The most popular player of his era
Loving husband, father and friend for life

Peace
Bo White

American Mars Invades Saginaw

American Mars
Core Wounds and Existential Reality


American Mars is another great Detroit band that dodges fame effortlessly like Robert Bradley or the Forbes Brother. It seems as if these great musicians struggle between hope and despair while looking for the space between spontaneity and discipline. The answers are elusive but the truth is they need to stop and take a breath and smell the air in the house they were born into. American Mars is to roots music as Pink Floyd is to pensive atmospheric rock & roll.
American Mars consists of Thomas Trimble (vocals, guitar), David Feeny (pedal steel, guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Garth Girard (upright bass, electric bass, backing vocals) and Alex Trajano (drums). They are all superb musicians who know how to play economically and appreciate the spaces between the notes. Trimble’s lyrics are reflective and convey a sense that the divine can be experienced. This is modern spiritual music that you won’t hear on the radio. It’s just that good. David Feeny is an incredible pedal steel player and his well-placed grooves create an atmospheric soundscape that is irresistible, Their 2008 release Western Sides may be one of the best albums released in the new millennium.



American Mars has so much going for it. Great songs, great playing and a distinct vision. What are your roots?
I think the foundation of the band comes from a love of two distinct bodies of music, the first being the rich body of American roots music, from Hank Williams and T-Bone Walker to Elvis, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Charlie Rich, and Bob Dylan. The second stream comes from some of the great post-punk groups that had such a big impact on us growing up, groups like The Clash, Joy Division, the Chameleons, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.


Did you have a mentor? an inspiration?
I can't say that I have a mentor, but I guess that Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Cave, and PJ Harvey have the most impact on my sense of what I'd like to be in terms of a songwriter and an artist. They all represent unobtainable ideals of course, but that's the point, isn't it?


Did your musical vision coalesce around Western sides?
I've always liked the idea of groups periodically reinventing themselves so while I would agree that Western Sides is the most cohesive collection of music we've made, I'd like to think that we'll continue to experiment with other things as we continue to make music together.


Did it feel like you found your unique voice?
I do feel like we found a voice on that record, both in terms of the kinds of sounds we were trying to make and in the different kinds of stories we were trying to tell. The song "Western Sides," which ended up giving us the title of the record and the cover art that our bassist Garth developed for the record really helped focus our thinking about the record as an album rather than a collection of singles. It felt good to see that vision come together.


Personal experiences become universal themes when laid down in a song structure. Did writing about everyday life touch you in a personal way?
Personal experiences are usually at the heart of how songs begin but it's interesting how the meanings of songs change over time. A good example is the song on Western Sides called "Long Walk Home." That was written about a very specific time in my life but when we play that now, three or four years after it was written, it seems to have taken on a different context, at least in my mind. On the other hand, there are other songs that I've written about specific experiences that I tend to forget about and it's only when we play those songs that those memories come back. When those memories happen to be painful or intense, the experience of singing those songs can be jarring.


Do you find that you enjoy writing more when you can tell a story that you are personally or emotionally connected to?
Yes, but the challenge for me as an adult with adult responsibilities is that the bounds of my everyday experience tend to narrow around a set of routines, getting kids to soccer practice for example, that make coming up with new ideas difficult. I struggle to find things to say that I think other people will find interesting. I guess that's why I'm so impressed by songwriters who can write about adulthood in new and interesting ways. For the last few days, I've been listening to David Bazan's new record and I'm just blown away by what he sees in everyday life. My friend and fellow songwriter Karla Richardson is also amazing in that regard.




How would you describe your music on Western sides?
On Western Sides, we focused on presenting well-crafted songs featuring sounds and textures that would resonate with roots-oriented audiences while also incorporating some of the more textured, experimental sounds that had characterized some of our earlier work.



What is your strength musically?
I'm a very limited guitar player but I can usually carry a tune. I think my biggest strength is the ability to get out of the way, out of the way of the songs, the ideas, and what the other guys in the band are doing.
What is your achilles heal? Are they different sides of the same coin...the paradox of opposites?
I have two nearly ruptured Achilles heels. The first is an innate lack of natural talent. The second is a lack of time to practice and improve. My goal now is for people to see that there is something rewarding about doing the best with what you have at hand. Thankfully, the rest of the band is really, really good so a lot of my shortcomings are obscured.



What do you think about the Detroit music scene?
I'm inexcusably uninformed about the Detroit music scene. I've never been much of a scene person so it's hard to say. I do know that there is very good music being made here. I really like the Blueflowers, Legendary Creatures, and I'm a big fan of everything that Ryan Allen does. I hate the fact that he's so prolific but that's all about to change so I'm very happy in a twisted kind of way.



Do you thing Detroit can ever recover its former glory?
I don't know but I am very proud of the fact that as a people, Detroiters just seem to have an incredible capacity to keep going. In spite of the poverty, violence, and segregation, Detroit also continues to be a place of exceptional creative potential. I think the same can be said of the whole state of Michigan.


American Mars has been at it a long time. How do you keep going?
We're not worried about anything other than making music we feel good about so the fact that we've never attained the level of recognition or success as other bands we've played with doesn't smart anymore. We don't tour so there's rarely time to figure out we don't like each other.



Any last questions or comments?
These are great questions. I really like the idea of adults finding ways to continue to be creative despite all the things in our lives that work against that. There's a heroism in that that I really admire. The exuberance of youth and the ability to be relevant has it's place but there's something about the doing that endures.

Ex-Studiotone Frontman Comes Back to Michigan

Sir Orchid & the Magnificent
The Search for Identity
And
Imperfect Connections


Anonymity or stardom – Arthur Autumn isn’t sure which road to take. He could be another Vincent Fournier hiding behind the mask of Alice Cooper. He could become a heavy metal overlord…or he could become Brent Nuffer. It might pay less but at least he could just be himself instead of skulking in shadow of his forefathers. Brent spent a good part of his youth fronting the Detroit/Lansing-based band Studiotone. This was some tasty hard driving rock & roll that not only had the beat but also included melody and harmony. Go figure. These cats released two spectacular CDs on Not Lame Records and opened for such notable acts as Sponge, Bowling for Soup, Blessid Union of Souls, and 7 Mary 3. It was a good start. At the end of Studiotone’s seven year run, Nuffer was shifting gears to a more introspective sound. Nuffer became Arthur Autumn and in 2006 StrofoamPillsHeartbreakShaker was released to rave reviews and several well attended CD release parties. The game is on and Nuffer has never looked back. Sir Orchid the Magnificent is a phenomenal piece of music. Its themes are cohesive and the music is gorgeous. The sound exudes a warm tonality as everything was recorded on analogue tape. Nuffer and producer Andy Reed created a rich musical landscape. The music comes alive in colorful overtones like an old well-tuned piano.

In a recent interview Nuffer revealed the inside skinny on his life and times in California;

How long have you been in California?

I have been in California for just over 4 years now. I always told myself I can't claim to be Californian until at least 5 years spent here, almost there! It's absolutely wonderful, and I am thrilled to spend my time here. I've been fortunate to live near the Ocean, which is quite a gift. I live in Topanga Canyon now, which is rich with art history, and creative folks roaming about. Down the street is Neil Young’s old place, where he had a studio, and wrote After the Gold Rush .I walked down to his old place one day, and kind of just stood & stared @ the place. Pretty wild standing there, being just a boy from the Midwest, it humbled me.

What's it like for a transplanted Michigander to settle into the sunshine state?

It took a bit to adjust, but I tried to just jump right in and get to work. Did not really have time to think about it much. I told myself I would just surf, adjust, and take a break from music for a bit. Well, that didn't quite work, seeing as though I am a terrible surfer!! I am really proud of my upbringing in the Midwest, in Michigan. It is always near & dear to my heart. I have some wonderful fellow Michigander transplants out here as well who I try to see as much as I can. Good folks. They keep me grounded. It took me a bit of time to gather up songs for Sir Orchid, maybe because it was just a natural process of adjusting, you know, taking it all in, letting it soak into the soul a bit. I constantly meet people who say "you’re not from California are you?" I say, "No, I'm from Michigan." They say, "Well, we can tell, cause your much too kind." I always appreciate that, it means a lot to me. I like the idea of the hard working, down to earth, kind folks of the Midwest.

Is there a particular West Coast culture that fits well with you?

Well, I certainly adore the feel of the ocean & the canyons. Which is where I wrote most of Sir Orchid, right here in Topanga Canyon. I'm not really the Hollywood type but need to be there to do shows & such – but the town makes me anxious! The idea of the West to me is the canyons, the desert, the ocean, the feel of the warm dry sun on your skin. It heals, in a holistic way I guess. The BARBARIAN OVERLORDS shot our first video in the Desert last week, so amazing.

What have you been up to the last few years?

It took a bit of time to adjust to the new surroundings artistically, find the direction I wanted to go in...I am glad I was patient, and let it flow naturally. It seems as though the last year has been a whirlwind with Sir Orchid coming out, and the BARBARIAN OVERLORD album coming out on the heels of Sir Orchid. So much of it has been spent writing, recording and now an intense show schedule with the band .All of which I am so Grateful for, but it is a lot of work. I have had the opportunity to meet some of my favorites musicians/actors, of whom I never thought I would meet. So it certainly feels like a dream sometimes.

Sir Orchid appears to be a bit of a departure. You have an almost Tom Waits musical verite' that includes biographical material wrapped around elusive lyrics and obscure references. How do you see it?

I always try to same something in the lyric that makes people think, without just handing them the answer - that way people can be a part of the song, in their own way. They may read something into it that I had not intended at all. They become a part of it, it is no longer mine, it becomes theirs .I appreciate photographs that say a thousand words without saying one. I appreciate abstract paintings that challenge the mind to see whatever they'd like to within the image...not so neat and tidy, like here is the answer, this is what it means! So I see songwriting the same way, there is no answer. We got into art to get away from correct and exact answers! I like art to be elusive and obscure.
The lyrics are incredibly important and fundamental to the disc as if it drives the music. How do you compose? What comes first music or lyric?

I would agree that the lyric drives Sir Orchid, as it properly does in much of my work. I see myself more of a writer than a musician .I am a melody/and lyric guy. I don't really have a particular method of writing. I guess whatever decides to flow out of me, if I can be so lucky to grab it as it passes by the window. I would say generally a song title that seems to be thought provoking comes first, like the skeleton of the song, then build around that and tell the story from there, figure out a few chords and try to put the words/melody and chords where they belong.

How does your creative impulse work? Do you consciously decide to write a song with a particular theme or about someone you know? Do you set aside time each day to write?

Ya' know, it's really all when it feels right. If I tell myself I am going to have dinner at four, a cup of tea at 4:30 and begin writing at 5PM, chances are the material that comes out would be dreadful! I am just not that kind of writer who can just pick up a guitar on a schedule and come up with something worthwhile. I see myself as working best upon feel, not craft. So it just happens naturally, again no right or wrong way to do it. When the muse arrives you feel it, you know to get behind a piano or find a guitar, a pen and some paper fast, My best songs come quickly. It has happened a few times where the "meat & potato's" of the song is discovered within 10 minutes...It's a lovely feeling when that happens. Every song is different, different feelings, different themes. You get a basic idea of what you want to say, you think about it, and you say it. I think ya' gotta have some sort of conscious idea of what story you are telling, where it leads from there one can never tell. I have gotten off track of the original theme a few times, and just went where the wave took me.

What was it like to make an album with Bay City super producer Andy Reed?

Working with Andy was absolutely a thrill & amazing! He is such a gifted cat .I would send him very raw versions of the songs on guitar from California, sometimes on piano with the chords and the structure of the song. When I was thinking up the direction I wanted to go in, and had some core songs for the record I would send them to Andy. The first few songs I sent him were a bit of a test to see what he could come up with. I wanted to do a Sgt. Peppers/White Album type record, and who better to tackle that then Andy Reed!!! The first few songs we worked on were "Goodbye Miss Audrey Rose," and "Hold On To That Rose." He was absolutely brilliant on them. I remember listening to his work on them for the first time...I had a huge smile, and tears streaming down my face. I knew then we would come up with something special. Once the songs were mapped out and the band was around them, I flew into Michigan and tracked the vocals over a few days. I learned a lot from Andy. I find that we worked well together. Sometimes I seem to take a Lennon approach to songs, and Andy takes a McCartney approach to songs. So it seemed natural. For instance, Andy wrote the coda at the end of "Training To Bee A Boxer," it's really great. It happens to be one of my favorite moments on the album.

How did you decide which instruments to employ? How would you decide about tempo changes and rhythmic patterns?

I knew that I wanted a handful of different sounds on this record...Instruments that I had never used on record in the past...All of which would naturally create a different sound from previous work...We got a bit of sitar on the album, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, horns, and plenty of piano...Andy played all of the instruments on the record, aside from drums, which were performed by Donny Brown...I was really Grateful to Donny for playing on this record. He's a good man. Randy Sly from the Verve Pipe played piano on a few songs and Steve Haberland played horns as well - .a big honor, they knocked it out of the park indeed!!! I believe the tempos stayed pretty much where they were on the raw demos, in some cases the demos were used to set the tempo. Andy certainly explored new rhythmic patterns that helped take a few of the songs to a better place musically. He was instrumental in the creation of Sir Orchid. We never had any musical hang ups, or problems deciding how the songs would go .I would describe the vision I had for them, send the basics for the song, and Andy would nail it .Simple as that.

Are you influenced or inspired by any particular artists?

.Lately, over the past year or so, I've been listening to a lot of the really old school blues recordings… Leadbelly, Son House, Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, stuff like that - so raw and so pure. When I feel like I wanna clear my head of all the modern jive, I put on a record by one of those mentioned and it seems to clear & purify my soul. There is just so much truth in the voice, the sound of the needle on the record, it's just so lovely. Those cats had real stories to tell, real pain within them and you can hear it.

You are currently fronting BARBARIAN OVERLORDS. How did you happen to join together?

I had answered an ad that they had posted on craigslist, I believe it was...From there we got in a room and bonded as people and musicians by learning some songs by artists we really appreciate...After a few months we began composing songs that would make up our first record, which comes out next week!!!It is a long ways from anything I have ever done in the past. I have never really wore the spirit of ROCKANDROLL on my sleeve like I do within this band. There is certainly a deep root within the blues as well, which is a lot fun exploring. We produced the record on our own, which was new to me, not having a producer around. Well, Brandon Kachel (Drummer) and Joe Spadaro (Guitar) most notably produced it. GK Via plays bass on the album, and he joined the band early in the year. I wanted to learn to use different textures within my voice, that I knew were there, I just had to figure out how to get to them. It has been a really challenge, and still growing. We are all learning from each other, defining our sound, and working out the live show. We are still a very young band at this point...

I listened to the songs and I'm very impressed. The music is a little heavier, with a soulful groove and great energy. You have a great sound .Are you gigging/touring?

Ahhhh...well thank you ever so kindly Bo! I think energy is ROCKANDROLL, it is essential to any great ROCKANDROLL band, and their recording - gotta have soul! I think most folks forget that rock & roll was born from soul, from the blues. It's got a lot of energy, and a lot of growl. It is a nice feeling not to have boundaries musically. I feel like it is an empty canvas for us, and we have a handful of paints to pick from. There is a lot of feel within the songs, both musically & emotionally. There is a theme running through the lyric of the debut. .It helps document my journey coming out West, all the trials, the adjusting, all the feelings I had, the beauty, and everything around. We just finished shooting our first video in the Desert last week, and we are currently in post- production. We have a handful of shows in California, about 15 this month!! I can't keep track!!! That's what's so great about living in Southern California you can do a whole tour in just one state! We are having our Record Release Party @ The Roxy on December 3rd!!! Pretty exciting stuff indeed!!!

The Sir Orchid review follows:
Heartkid is a short little ditty that sounds like Joplin-esque ragtime. The old time honky tonk piano gets your feet tappin’ and before you know it you’re smiling and doin’ the two-step. Autumn’s grizzly nuanced vocal is mixed up front and center. He’s a vocal gymnast that can stretch and bend his voice like Mary Lou Retton working the parallel rails. He is a gifted vocalist with a voice that spans several octaves. He’s singing down low and in a father’s crusty voice.

Goodbye Miss Audrey Rose is a psychedelicized blues number. It opens with some tasty acoustic slide work. The insistent tempo creates a sonic tension that makes the vocals seem out-of-sync. There is a sense of urgency that washes over Autumn’s understated and quietly nuanced singing. :
The minor chords and the E-string riff create a tonal landscape that suggests the something is not quite right.
Autumn is a seeker and his inner work reveals both joy and sorrow. It is a resolution of a brief love affair and an acceptance that comes from living life without prescription. He appears more in tune with himself and more confident to get up close and personal with difficult themes. Autumn’s idiosyncratic vocal is reminiscent of Sal Valentino of The Beau Brummels:

I met you Baby way down South, the Gulf Mexico
We talked about Sylvia Plath; you never want to end up that way
But soon you said, you gotta go, you gotta get home to the boys
I’d best get on my way

Ghost in the Night is incredible exercise in vocal gymnastics. Autumn sings the first verse deep and low like an alpha male – the great protector. His falsetto emerges in the second verse - the ghost. The ancient waltz-time tempo is a perfect backdrop to the ensuing battle between good and evil. All the clichés are included. The Raven signals danger with a tongue planted firmly in its beak.


Autumn wears the cloak of the singer/songwriter on Hold onto that Rose. It’s a quiet contemplative ballad with a minimalist arrangement and an economical use of slide guitar. In Andy Reed’s masterful hands the slide sounds more like a pedal steel. It’s a song about a doomed long distance romance with a man who carries a heavy load of regret and longing. It is a compelling image that sticks with you long after the song ends

I know I’m a hopeless romantic
Yeah, I’m the kind nobody can love
Cause how do you pull from dried up well
That don’t love itself
I left with fondness in my heart
Now all I got is a handful of ache
I guess that’s the way life goes, when you live it the way I do


Somedays You Just Don’t Like has a cool pub sing-a-long vibe and a working class hero ethos. The dark images in the lyrics are balanced by an impertinent humor and more than a little acceptance of things you just can’t change. Autumn and producer Andy Reed add-in some Al Kooper organ, complete with Dylan references. Autumn’s mature dialectical lyricism is first-rate. He snatches hope from the grip of despair Listen…

Some days you feel like you’ve been had
Like you’ve been had by the man
And he’s making you feel like your two foot tall
Well, some days you just don’t like
Some days you feel the sunlight on your skin
It’s warming you to the bone
And it’s making you feel you could change the world
And those are the days that count

Some days you find a rock in your shoe
It’s better than in your soup
So you drink it down like it was meant to be
Some days you just don’t like
Some days your doctor comes in with bad news
And baby doll you got the blues
But hold on tight a cure’s coming soon

And those are the days that you count

Autumn has learned a vocal subtlety and understated emotional cadence that conveys a growing maturity. He’s a confident singer who s willing to take chances. His voice can smile and grouse. Autumn’s capable of just about anything. When Sylvia Sings is a sultry piano ballad that recalls McCartney in is his Beatles days. Lyrically he holds both love and regret. His lyrics are stark, elusive yet beautiful. Whispering Beach Boys harmonies capture the melancholy in the back of the musical canvas.

Oh, when Sylvia sings, she comes to me like a dream I can’t shake, no I can’t ward off
When Sylvia sings, she holds my hand just like rosary beads, she shuts my eyes

Maybe you can watch me sleep
You can watch me sleep
And just turn when you’re ready to let me down
Just turn when you’re ready to let me go

Autumn sits back and watches the drama unfold in Where the Canyons They Hug You. It’s a type of rock & roll celebrity expose’ with a rollicking 2/4 beat that snaps off an irresistible rhythm. California sunshine, the luscious Pacific Ocean, migrating whales and Sana Ana winds are the soundtrack to the lives of the beautiful people that inhabit luxury mansions. No one is immune in the golden state. The nouveau rich and the old moneyed mafia embrace the god of excess in equal measures of narcissism and ennui. It’s a rollicking Dionysian stew. There are hints of the Band and Badfinger in this incredible opus. This is Autumn at his best. It has an autobiographical feel and seems to capture the tension between light and darkness in the mythical California culture. He reveals the truth about west coast cool. It’s not that bad. Autumn sings…

You take your fancy cars up the Hollywood Hills
I take my cup of coffee in the Canyons where I can breathe
You take your designer pills, ain’t nobody can afford
I take my sleepy town where nobody knows my name

Cause up here Darling-Where The Canyons They Hug You

The Company You Keep is another musical travelogue of the Golden State where “everyone hear wants your drugs and your money.” The cool fuzz tone guitar and 4/4 beat of the tom/toms give the song a psychedelic vibe that evokes the ghosts of Big Brother & the Holding Company and recalls a brief time in our history when the counter culture had a voice in our national consciousness. I can see Janis Joplin standing on the corner of Haight & Ashbury. But it was only a dream and the nightmare soon followed. Autumn is singing about the downside of California Dreaming. This is a totally realized piece of music. Autumn’s gritty vocal is a highlight.

Yeah well I know the truth babe don’t give me no lies
I said I know the truth babe don’t give me no lies
Yeah well maybe it’s you babe, or maybe it’s me
I had an unsteady hand and fear in my eyes

Cause everybody here wants your drugs & your money
Your drugs & your money & your indie fame


Wiseman’s Name is quiet and contemplative. It’s a perfect vehicle for Autumn’s weathered voice. This is a song about searching for one’s roots and a deep longing for identity. This search touches Autumn in a profound way and it involves core wounds, primal betrayal and parental love. It is the most powerful and personal statement on the CD
Maybe my daddy was a folk singer
Or maybe my daddy, well he worked in the fields
Maybe my mama was a dancer
Maybe my mama tended her garden

Maybe my momma had nothing to say, oh lord
On that June morning she gave me away
But I don’t blame you for the choice you made, No
But upon my soul-I’ve had a price to pay

Maybe one day I’ll see my Mama again
When I see the beauty of my own child’s eyes
I promise you doll. I’ll never give you away No
You can stay with me, until the end of my days



Despite the obscure title, Training to Bee a Boxer shares several well-known 50’s references such as Peggy Sue, knickers, and boarding school, and the Blue Canary (Dinah Shore). It’s a majestic anthem of love and forgiveness layered by heavenly Beach Boys harmonies. Autumn sings of passion, never getting used to those damn knickers and losing your way. The coda contains a seething organ trill and a major chord statement on the piano.

You never meant no harm
You never meant to hurt no one
And everything that you’ve ever done, was designed to have some fun

The outro is almost another song. It’s a perfect ending

All you ever wanted was to feel Love around you
But no one saw the message that you scrawled No, No, No

In the auditorium you lost your way
Your scars will guide you through
In your tin cup bedroom, Well you dreamed all alone
All those feelings made you feel so blue

In this Universe there is a place for all to Bee
Let Love in & you will see


Peace
Bo White

Dick Wagner Returns to Michigan

Dick Wagner
A Pod Returns to the Ship
Full Meltdown

Dick Wagner is a reluctant icon. He wants your attention but he prefers the shadows. He will write great songs yet never reveal his true self. His strengths are in composing and arranging but his lyrics will always be “universal” - never personal. I suppose there is too much at stake – as if a soul deep inner journey would propel him into uncharted territory and he would lose his way. It is a primal fear; a core wound
So, Wagner is destined to always be a mystery man. How could it be otherwise?
Richard Allen Wagner was born in Iowa and developed his chops as a teenage phenomenon in Detroit. He practiced his craft daily much to the chagrin of his no-nonsense old school father. Wagner’s obsession with the guitar amused and annoyed his father to the point where he famously bellowed “Lay of that E-string Richard.” And like any dutiful son, Dick totally ignored his father and locked himself in his bedroom and played guitar until his fingers were bloody stumps. Wagner made his first big splash in mid-Michigan when Pete Woodman and Lanny Roenicke convinced him to join The Playboys their massively popular band in Saginaw. Soon afterward Dick re-christened the band the Bossmen. And they were…
In 1967 Wagner formed the Frost with Donny Hartman, Jack Smolinski and Bobby Rigg. It was rock engine hitting on all the cylinders, melodic rock & roll with a punch, intelligent lyrics and great singing. When Gordy Garris replaced Smolinski in 1968, industry cognoscenti took notice – the Frost were the Beatles on steroids. Wagner’s career kicked into high gear with legendary gigs with Lou Reed and a long term collaboration with Alice Cooper. The rest is a history that includes ups and downs, heroes and villains and a whole lot of rock & roll
Dick claims that he has warm memories of Saginaw. As a budding sentimentalist, Wagner claims (with fingers crossed) he has fond memories of mid-Michigan, “I miss the cold winters, the snow storms, the vibrant economy… and I want a chance to play my music in front of friends and fans at least one more time.” Wagner has formed a spectacular super group just for the occasion. The band features Al Bondar and Brian Bennett on Keyboards, Prakash John (Alice Cooper) on Bass, Jordan John on Drums, Robert Wagner on vocals, Ray Goodman (Mitch Ryder, SRC) and Dennis Burr on guitar and a special guest appearance of Bobby Rigg (The Frost). Wagner took a deep breath and ratcheted up half a smile, “I will be playing guitar, singing and reminiscing - the set list is more or less a retrospective with hopefully a couple new songs included”. He’s a bit tight-lipped about his latest collaboration with Alice Cooper, Welcome to My Nightmare II project, “You know about as much as I do. I haven’t heard it yet, but I supplied the hit ballad and played guitar on the brilliant “Underture”. It was my first recording session in 4 years, after my heart attack and a series of strokes.”
Wagner is fired up by his latest release from 2009, Full Meltdown. A complete review follows:
Although Full Meltdown was released in 2009, many of Wagner’s closest friends and fans, a group of Wagner loyalists known as the YES Team, were privy to several cassette tapes of his unreleased songs, many of which appear on this spectacular trove of buried treasures. As Wagner and I forged a closer relationship I realized that my favorite-son icon was only human. It was a coming of age discovery that was as liberating as it was revealing though it caused considerable gravitational insecurity when my feet hit the ground.
Wagner developed a unique melodic style that was all his own - inverted chords, rapid fire E string notations and economical use of sustain and tremolo. One needs to give a listen to the Best of the Frost LIVE at the Grande to astonish at his unencumbered talent. Wagner is at his best arranging songs that could hold melody and harmony alongside masterful guitar playing. Years later Eric Clapton understood this lesson quite well when he dropped the guitar-god hype in favor of a deeper song craft with such great songs as Promises, Bell Bottom Blues, Let it Rain and Tears in Heaven
Full Meltdown is a compendium of lost and forgotten songs that were excavated by a crack team of musical archeologists at Rhino Records in 2009. A Rhino executive called Dick to discuss releasing them. Wagner was puzzled by this as he never had a Rhino record contract and no one could explain how the tapes ended up in the Rhino vaults. Dick requested them back and they were returned forthwith. Dr. Gil Markle may be the unsung hero of this disc. An internet search located Markle and the two friends were thrilled to catch up with each other and renew their friendship. Markle volunteered to master the songs from Wagner’s 1979 Longview Farm Sessions as well as other songs that made the cut for inclusion on Full.Meltdown. Longtime Wagner webmaster Don Richard helped collate several tracks recorded in LA 1988-1991 as well as tracks recorded in Michigan in 1995. The circle was complete and the songs were restored to their optimum glory. This is the Holy Grail for a Wagner completest. Take a listen…
1. Still Hungry - A majestic power ballad from 1991 that sounds like an outtake from an Flo and Eddie LP. It is intricate tempo changes, piano trills and a great Wagner vocal. The song gets a needed boost when Wagner unleashes a nuclear barrage of guitar virtuosity at the coda that signals a primal hunger - an urge that goes deeper than libido to a merging of souls through a deep sensual love. Mind, body and spirit. The soul does not need to be fixed; it needs to be heard
2. Blue Collar Babies - A Hot Rocker and an almost screamed vocal with organ thrills, pumping bass and a heavy guitar over top of it all. He's up and down the vocal charts - going down low like Fats Domino and screaming like Little Richard. Wagner is at his best displaying a McCartney-esque vocal range that he perfected with the Bossmen – check out Help Me Baby from 1965.
3. Insatiable Girl - a popping 2/4 Beat and Kinkified riffs. Wagner sings in a lower register on the verses - it's a song about sexual frustration. On The Bridge Wagner promises he will give her everything she wants - but nothing seems to satisfy the insatiable girl - even Arnold Schwarzenegger. Wagner hits the E String hard and fast - conveying his frustration with a wall of guitar sounds not meant for the weak of heart.
4. I'd take the Bullet for You. A sad-eyed ballad filled with regret and longing. It is a soul-deep altruism that sustains Wagner as he faces a moment of truth. War is the metaphor for love in the Big City. I'd take the bullet is about sacrifice in the name of love. It’s not so easy in the fast paced life of a New York Rocker. Wagner's economical guitar work is simply brilliant. It adds to the subtleties in the musical landscape that cannot obscure the pain in Wagner’s vocal. It is like a mantra that has a hidden plea. It takes your breath away. This could be a father/son song or an ode to a lost love.

5. Another Twist of the Knife has an insistent straight up 2/4 beat that gives the song a thumping urgency. This is a break up song filled with anger and colored by a sense of betrayal, The singer keeps a brave face that can't quite hide the pain. This is Wagner at his most vulnerable - another gem. The punched up guitar work provides the musical landscape that holds competing emotions - love, anger, pain and doubt.
6. Stagger Lee. Wagner’s vocal is echoed and up front in the mix. It hardly sounds like him. The raucous arrangement barely allows Wagner to catch his breath. This is nothing like the Wilson Pickett or Lloyd Price R&B versions. It’s a nuclear powered and idiom defying soul shaker that won’t let go. Wagner blistery solo is an astounding statement of purpose. He remade Stagger Lee into a savage rocker. Stamp It – Wagner!
7. Ecstasy is a power ballad of the 1st degree with several tempo changes, sophisticated arrangements and chord progressions. This powerhouse is from the 1991 the Music Grinder sessions. Wagner is in good voice and hits the higher registers of his impressive range and chorus "I need a little ecstasy.” The bridge is exquisite.
8. She Said is a gum chewing, finger popping pop song recorded in LA in 1988. This is Wagner’s one man show. He plays all the instruments and sings all the leads and harmony vocals. The synthesized backing gives it an orchestral feel
9. These Days. This song appeared to have a difficult labor and delivery. It is one of Wagner’s most naked and honest songs. It is a stark lonely ballad with Wagner accompanying himself on piano. This song was birthed during the 1979 Longview sessions. Wagner seems to sing from his heart. The undiluted vocal is soulful ode to lost love. "It's hard living without you these days". It's a sad broken hearted tale. Wagner brave vocal soars and cracks. You can almost hear him choke out the lyrics through his tears. This is Dick Wagner’s lost masterpiece, a song of truth and pain.
10. Modern Times - Guitar is prominent. Vocal is up front and hot. It's a prayer of deliverance from the past and a vow to live in these "modern times". Wagner's guitar speaks as loudly as the lyrics. Love doesn't come easy for a tortured artist. Wagner is all over the charts on this time. It's as disjointed as the era in which it was created.
11. I Might as Well be on Mars - Wagner composed with Alice Cooper in 1979. This is Dick's "one man band" version from 1991. This is a great unrequited love, perfect song no matter which way you cut it. I prefer a full band treatment I've heard Wagner perform it live several times -- always a highlight.
12. Steal the Thunder is another song from the 1991 music Grinder Session. This is a mid-tempo Brontosaurs - with a powerful chorus. Wagner's guitar work salvages this song from a musical black hole.
13. Darkest Hour - is the 1995 version of one of Wagner's greatest songs from his stint with Ursa Major. This version s a one man tour de force. A great song no matter how you wrap it.
14. Motor City Showdown made its debut on a 1979 solo release entitled Richard Wagner - it was the highlight in an otherwise industrial LP. This is a soulful version from Wagner's lost Longview Farm sessions. He’s cranking it out with all the cylinders firing.
15. Feel it all over - is a perfect finish to Full Meltdown. A spare piano regales into a full frontal assault that hits you like a hard slug to the chest – vocals are mixed up front and shouted out above pounding drums and a rocking guitar. Wagner’s vocal is amazing he goes from talkin' blues, to a low register to a high falsetto. It showcases how amazing Wagner was as a vocalist. He has incredible range and he sings sweet and low or he screams and shouts - whatever is needed or unexpected. Sometimes Wagner’s vocal gymnastics are jaw-dropping unbelievable, as evidenced on this superlative performance. Feel It All Over is another uncovered gem from 1979 - it was a good year for Wagner, musically speaking. It was a time when he reached out for autonomy and a chance to create music through his own unique perspective. In this case his vision was 20/20. These songs should have been released 30 years ago. It's a dirty shame that best music ever created is sometimes never heard. These lost treasures reveal Wagner’s genius song craft and his ability to create music for the soul and for the heart. This was Wagner at his youthful cock sure best. He deserved better than he got.


CODA:
For Dick Wagner, it had been quite a journey, from watching life from his window to responding to what he’s observing and finally to attempt to see life as it really is; to move from being the “Mystery Man” to being Richard. As a young man, just barely into his twenties, Wagner was regarded amongst industry insiders as an incredibly gifted talent, a musical prodigy of sorts that could do it all. He seemed to possess an uncommon mixture of talent and desire in what would become his calling, his fate. But instead of predestined superstardom, Wagner’s career became a series of fits and starts, early promise and lost opportunities. And though music provided the vehicle to experience his own nature in action, Wagner always seemed to step on the head of his shadow at those critical moments. But on December 16 2003, the clear frosty night seemed to illuminate the silence in is mind. Dick knew from experience that things happened to him when he is quiet, reflective. He recalled his very first professional gig, just in his teens, Dick put on a brave face but had to turn away from the audience during a solo when stage fright ratcheted his anxiety to almost an intolerable level, as it coursed through his body, his knees weakened, his mind became mush, and his fingers were paralyzed by millions of supercharged electrical impulses that tingled and snapped. He just knew it - he was about to pass out or panic. Instead he turned his back on the audience and somehow found the courage to recover and play the solo, spot on the mark. Wagner was never able to escape this performance anxiety, though he developed a routine to calm his fears. He would imagine each song, each performance and what he would say to the audience, an internal rehearsal of sorts that most public speakers or performers practice in some manner. But in accessing the womb of his feelings and emotion, Wagner’s memories would always surface sometimes welcome, sometimes not but always without invitation. They seemed to mirror his longing. Like his father’s complaints about his exuberant and noisy guitar playing,” Lay off that E-String Richard”! He would remember the high school sweetheart that he left behind. Her parents didn’t approve. He wondered if she knew how successful he was and if she ever thought about him.
Dick was celebrating his 60th birthday at the historic State Theater in Bay City
Michigan. Located on the corner of 1st and 3rd, the storied venue had undergone a series of renovations. Like other clubs across the state, the theater was built in the mid-forties and was intended to bring in the most popular films of the day. As the market changed and robust corporate expansion created huge multiplexes, little gems like the State Theater, became passe’ and folded quietly only to resurface in the sixties as teens clubs and concert venues. The State was no exception, booking the best of local and national acts throughout the sixties and seventies, until the rot set-in and the appreciation of live original music became more and more of a cultish-like pleasure. The idea for the birthday show was cooked up between Wagner and his wife Sandy and his manager Mary Ann Reynolds-Burt. They took great pains to invite Dick’s family and friends, his colleagues and fans, through hundreds of mailings, emails, phone calls and print advertising. Dick was proud of his music and of his band yet he agonized over his losses. “Damn, he thought, it’s a bitch to be sixty”.
He began to envision a time of reckoning when he would no longer play his music onstage, maybe that’s what motivated Dick to offer his birthday up to a public display. It seemed out of character but it signaled another phase in his life, a healing that allowed him to touch his longing and mirror it back to us as love and awareness. Yeah, Dick was ready for this night and he was prepared to open up his life for anyone who cared to take a look – to honor his impressive body of music from the Bossmen to Alice Cooper and beyond. It was a gift to the people he loved most. It was an act of courage, a glorious night indeed.

Peace
Bo White

Juice Newton In Concert

Juice Newton
The Queen of Hearts Revealed
Juice Music


Juice Newton penetrated the dharma and found that still point between inertia and action when she formed what proved to be a long-term collaboration with guitarist/songwriter Otha Young. Together they penned Sweet Sweet Smile intended for their band Silver Spur but picked up by the Carpenters who rode it to the top of the charts. It put Juice Newton on the map. By 1978 she went solo and never looked back. Her first solo release Well Kept Secret was a rock & roll album of the first degree that put Newton’s versatility on display and hit you like a punch. Though it didn’t chart, it created a buzz that persisted even as she shifted her focus to country music. In retrospect it was a clever strategy as evidenced by the success of her one off single Let’s Keep it That Way. It was a great song and climbed up to the Top Ten in the Country Charts.
The release of the LP Juice in 1981 proved to be a sentinel event for Newton as it spawned three consecutive Top Ten Pop Hits: Queen of Hearts; Angel of The Morning; The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known). The LP sold more than a million copies in the U.S. and went triple Platinum in Canada. In 1982, Newton received Grammy nominations for Best Female Vocalist in both the Pop and Country Categories.

And the hits kept on a coming.

The exquisitely arranged Loves Been a Little Bit Hard on Me reached #1 on Billboards Adult Contemporary Charts. Newton’s vocal was playful and note-perfect. Her stoned immaculate remake of Break It to Me Gently won her a Grammy for Best Female Country Performance. She continued to chart Top Ten Country hits throughout the eighties with songs such as You Make Me Want to Make You Mine, Hurt, Tell Me True, and What Can I Do with My Heart. In October 2010 she released Duets: Friends and Memories with guest appearances by such luminaries as Willie Nelson, Melissa Manchester and Frankie Valli.

It’s been quite a ride. I first saw Juice Newton perform in the eighties. She was long and lean with hair down to her waist and enough energy to fill up a stadium. She had spunk and a bit of the devil in her eyes but she sang like an angel. She didn’t take crap from non-believers, rack jobbers or the press. She was nobody’s fool. Juice Newton is an original who walks her own musical path whether it’s rock & roll, country, or pop. She’s a rebel with a cause who is stubborn enough to keep on singing with just enough spark and strut to heat up a stage with some of the best music in the business. Juice Music.


Juice, I first saw you in Saginaw opening for Mickey Gilley in the 80’s. You stole the show. What was that tour like for you?
We worked with Mickey a few times but luckily I was able to play with a whole litany of artists over the years. Each time you go out you feel happy to be on the stage and everything seems to come together and come alive. So every tour is always fun. I always look forward to working.


So you enjoyed working with Gilley? He was a country artist and I thought of you as kind of a rocker at the time? You had all those hits that spanned genres.
If the music is compatible it works out fine. I personally play a variety of music - a bit on the pop side or pop rock then we were fortunate enough to cross over from that side to country…so if its good music - you have a good audience.


You had a lot of spunk at that show and you sang your heart out. I loved your response to a TV interviewer who asked you to describe your music, you simply said, “Juice Music” – can you describe “Juice Music”

I think I can – I try to pick songs that I really like that speak to me, if I didn’t write them, I choose them because they speak to me as an interpreter. And I think that’s the key – if you pick those types of songs or write those types of songs it just translates into your energy level and your commitment and if you really love performing then it works its way to the surface. So I think Juice Music would be the same in a sense as Springsteen Music or Beyoncé or Justin Timberlake Music. They like the music they create and it all translates into your own particular musical identity

What is your favorite type of music?
There isn’t just one genre. If the song touches you then it’s your music so I don’t think you should be afraid of any genre you can do well and related to. For me I was fortunate - still am – to be drawn to crossover material that appeals to me and seems to appeal to other people. I don’t focus on just one type of music


The first time I saw you I felt you had some rebel blood – like a countrified Kid Rock – Did you see yourself as outside the mainstream?
Well, yeah. I’ve kind of have always been …over there. I’m doing necessarily do music that a label or Program Director wants – you can’t second guess it. You need to be true to your self. I’m just trying to do music that I can live with for a long time


I thought you were a great rock & roller. You leaned in that direction a few times. Why did you let it go?
Radio changed and the songs I was writing changed a little bit but it didn’t change my insides. I think that if anything I’m back in that direction again now because I truly like to do the music I like if it’s a little rock or pop that’s what you do. You write it and you like it and you own it, so to speak, then that’s your music.




Juice, you have some great pipes. How do you rate yourself as Singer?
I don’t necessarily see myself as a great singer. But what I do see myself as someone that commits - every time I step onstage I commit and I think that translates to the audience. Like Kid Rock – he may not have a great voice but he commits and though he doesn’t sing as well as Justin Timberlake, for instance - it doesn’t matter because he has soul.


What was your lucky break?
I believe that hooking up with Richard Landis who produced those first big hits on the Juice LP (Queen of Hearts, Angel in the Morning) was my lucky break. I actually think that the timing was just so lucky as we were both available at the same time – doesn’t always happen. We sort of interviewed each other and did a few demos to see if we really liked the way we worked together in the studio. I consider that excellent timing.


What happened when you first went out on your own? Were you accepted right away?
People liked the music and liked my voice but we didn’t have a breakout tune at that point. It didn’t matter we just kept going. We had a great support system – a great producer, personal management – sometimes it was just our families. Your support system can sustain you emotionally and morally and keeps that energy moving forward


You’ve had a long prosperous career. What are your most precious memories, proudest achievements?
Well, I’m really proud of the fact I’ve been noticed by my peers – that’s more on the inside. I’ve had Grammy nominations and I’ve won a Grammy; In the Bay Area - an Emmy award. I feel really blessed by having all those accolades and recognition – that’s not what really keeps me going – but it is a way to measure how all that hard work has paid off. One time I brought my dad to the Grammys - it was a thrill of a lifetime!



You did a great version of Hank Devitos’ Queen of Hearts right around the time Dave Edmunds released his LP version. Did you hear it? Were you inspired by Edmunds?
Edmunds is a very cool guy. I didn’t hear his version of it until much later. I started doing the song live and I did it live for about a year before I recorded kit. Then I brought it to Richard Landis when we started the Juice album. He wasn’t convinced at that point that it was a breakout song but I told him I think it this is a real cool song… so we cut it.


Do you have favorite road story…that you can talk about?
Hmm…no. Weird stuff happens. It’s not for everyone. You travel across country and you go to the wrong hotel. You have no place to sleep and nothing to eat. You would get lost or go to the wrong venue. It’s grueling and it’s tiring. Years ago one of the roadies told me, “The music just gets in the way of setting up and breaking down.”



How did you hook up with the County Sheriffs?
Well, it is a great organization. They help bring music to the area and they have a dedicated volunteer staff. The people have a good reason to go out. The audiences are very welcoming and it’s a cool thing to do. I’ve also done shows for the military folks.
I’m very much looking forward to be back in Saginaw. I hope the weather cooperates, it’s so unpredictable. I guarantee we’re gonna have a good time and can’t wait to see all the people in the audience.

Juice Newton will be performing in Concert at the historic Temple Theatre on Monday September 26th @ 7pm. Tickets are $22.00. For information please call (989) 607-9125This concert is presented by The Saginaw County Sheriff Support Division.

Peace
Bo White