The Banana Convention Gaining Momentum and Catching a Wave

The BC franchise has been around for almost twenty years, with various assemblages and souls, poking fun at the punks while playing bubblegum music for the masses. It was a wild ride that wasn’t totally focused or even aware that bubblegum was the new punk. It hit big in 1968 with the 1910 Fruitgum Company converting a children’s game into a bonafide top ten hit with a bullet. Frank Patrick, the owner of Daniel’s Den, booked the band while they were still bubbling under the top 100. According to the Gavin Report, this was a band to watch. On the basis of Gavin’s mystical insight, Patrick bought them dirt cheap. But when Simon Says went screaming to the top of the charts, our hapless bubblegum lads wanted to renegotiate the contract. Nope. Patrick’s contracts were ironclad. The Fruitgum Company had to settle for a grand instead of their current rate of $3000. No matter – the Kasenetz & Katz stable of acts (including the Ohio Express, Shadows of Night, and of, course early Tommy James over @ Roulette Records) continued to share the charts with the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, Byrds and the Who throughout the late sixties and early seventies. It seemed to suggest a very diverse lineage of musical appreciation. And it’s all good.

The Banana Convention got the message loud and clear, cutting against the grain of current trends, doing a bubblegum smack down and smiling out loud. They were poking fun at the punks, not knowing they were punks themselves. Punk and bubblegum are part of the same genetic code - the Clash meets the Ohio Express – Should I Stay or Should I Go versus Down At Lulu’s. The biggest difference was that bubblegum was more lascivious than punk – Yummy Yummy Yummy, 1, 2, 3 Red Light, and I Think Were Alone Now were all about teenage lust. It was the eroticism of youth and it’s always been a part of our culture from pre-teen beauty pageants to Disney TV depicting pre-teens romping with just a hint of G-spot frenzy; an apical ancestor to the musical culture of our times.

From their modest bubblegum beginnings in 1993 to the post-millennium girl group frenzy of the double bubble girls The Banana Convention has continued to evolve into a guitar oriented rock band, less hooks; more riffs. It started in 2007 with the addition of the phenomenally talented Ray Torres and the ascendance of vocalist Shar Molina who seemed to grow more confident with each passing year. She found her voice and developed into one of the most soulful and sexy singers in the game. 
The BC continued write compelling original material and released their first CD Dirty Negatives to critical acclaim. The setlist changed with the addition of such great original songs as Preplan, Prognosis, Grand Illusion and I Wanna Be Hans Solo. The re-energized band captured the moment with a live disc recorded @ White’s Bar. It had humor, rock-hard guitar, sensual vocals and a ton of good vibes!

Alas, Torres left the fold to be a cool rocking daddy and The BC Five moved forward with newcomer guitarist Jake Voisine. It proved to be the deal of the century; in line with bringing Sean Drysdale into the fold as the bass player, house musicologist and seeker of truth. The band got right and tight, dropped the bubblegum ruse, and rocked their asses off. 

The Sean Drysdale Interview

Sean tell me about the new CD L.E.A.P.
There are a few things I want to say about these songs as a whole. Each member of the band tore down the house to make these songs the best they could be. Jake is a modern day riff master, a true musical mind. Shar is stellar and power and took her voice to a new level. Monte's percussion and energy shines through and his vocals on New Guy are nothing to over look. Chris our drummer is one of the best rock drummers today. Listen to his drums on this EP and you will see why. As the bassist I was able to craft melody and counter melody work on this album; making it feel more than just one bass one guitar and drums.

What does the acronym L.E.A.P.  mean?
The album art is an early 1900's map of Los Angeles and the faces are old movie stars. The idea for the name was the L.A. E.P so we moved the e and the a – LEAP. It’s a perfect fit for the album itself. It is a leap in sound, song styles and performance. You have never heard us sound like this or sound this fantastic. That is not hyperbole in my opinion. It is the best we have ever been and it is a huge leap in the right direction for us. Where did you record L.E.A.P.
We recorded at Castle Oak Studios in L.A. It was a all day one day session. The most amazing thing about it was the fact that Shar woke up that morning sicker than sick could be. Barely a voice and no energy Shar struck magic in that studio. The band tracked each song while she slept on a couch in the back only getting up every little bit for tea and water. When it came to her singing we didn't think it was going to happen. Then she sang. It came out perfect. She only sang each song twice through and that was all we needed. As a band we have never seen anything like it. It was as if we were in a surrealistic movie. She was so sick, and we never thought she could to it - courageous! The best part is we had a film crew with us and they captured it all. So expect to see the documentary in the future. You simply have to see it to understand how incredible she is! I heard that Andy Reed was part of the project
Yes. For the second half of the album we had to fly in parts and mixing that was recorded at Andy Reed's Reed Recording Studio in Bay City. Andy is a true producer and engineer. He always has an idea or a way to make something better. He talks to you like a friend or even a family member. There was nothing greater or more pleasurable than working with him.Andy worked very hard and made the entire Castle Oak stuff sound perfect for us and our vibe. We are thankful to him, his talents and time for letting us do this EP there. 
Do you have any plans for the future?
We are planning several tours right now and are ready to do a full length album. We have a lot of momentum right now. Our music video for "Jessica Fletcher" has been a major hit with our fans and has had a lot of internet success as well. We have a documentary coming out within this year and now a full length album too. We need to focus on this album and the up coming tours. Right now it feels we are not upstream anymore. We are not on the crest of the wave but we are damn close and when we hit it we are not getting off.

This brings us to the new 5 track CD L.E.A.P. Can you describe each track?

Two Houses
This is kind of a modern day Romeo and Juliet. It is about a girl in love with a good guy who is viewed as the wrong boy from the wrong side of town. She wants to be with him but he splits town on the night they were supposed to run away together. I wrote the song in 2006/7 on New Years Eve after TBC played Whites Bar. After an entire bottle of Bison Wheat Vodka a demo was born but was not completed until almost four years later.
Jessica Fletcher
The song name was born while the band was goofing off at practice. None of us could think of a title until Jake and Chris came up with a name and it just stayed that way. The song itself is about the struggle to be in a rock band - pouring all of you heart and soul into something you love; something that is more than a hobby. It helps sustain you in the face of people and venues that could care less about what you do. It is an anthem for the rockers and musicians who feel the same pain and struggle every day. Jake Voisine came up with music and lyrics. The night he first played us the chorus riff we knew he took lightning out of a bottle, strung it on his guitar and created one of the freshest and hottest guitar hooks since T-Rex's Twentieth Century Boys.
New Guy
This song was written and sung by Monte. We did at least five different versions of this song. In an early version it was a ska song; there was a Weezer-like version and one reminiscent of an old local band The Rugby Mothers. It is a fun little rocker about your girl dumping you for a much "hotter" guy. He has money, good looks, been all over the world and is a really cool dude. It is about heart break set to a wonderfully crafted Weird Al sounding song. Essentially the girl left for the BBD (bigger better deal).

New Day
Is a summer pop hit sensation if you ask me! Similar to the lines and parallels that Jessica Fletcher draws, New Day is a song about wanting to be heard. It is about wanting people to see the work and the talents of the singer and the band. It's a road song, a nose to the grind stone song. The idea of not knowing where you are going while in the pursuit of musicianship on the road, on the stage and at the end of every day is the message of New Day. It was an acoustic song Shar used to do on her own. She wrote the chord structure
and all the lyrics. The first time we all heard it we knew that we had to jump on this song and make it happen. This song is a true showcase of the skills of each member of this band. 

Safe and Sound
Similar to Two Houses this was an old demo I wrote many years ago. I found the original demo of this on Type 2 tape in an old Tascam 4 track recorder dated "2006 Safe Home Demo". Last year I brought a rough music idea and lyrics to a practice session and after a few times trying it out the song hit. It was ready; it was lean, powerful and anyone and everyone could/should love it. It is a ballad. When things go astray, when you feel at your darkest and lowest someone is there for you. It could be the person you love, your family or your favorite band. You fill in the blank with your life and this song sings you the message that it will all be ok. I worked the hardest on this song from playing the string section you hear to the final mixing. It is my baby and the band really let me take over. We also think that this is one of Shar's greatest vocal performances ever recorded. Her soul is in those vocals. 

Not Only Women Bleed

Not Only Women Bleed

By Dick Wagner

Let me start by way of disclaimer. I am not a disinterested observer of Dick Wagner’s career. We’ve known each other for several years and in that time we’ve spun the karmic wheel and embraced some level of acceptance for each other’s foibles. I have a gut feeling whenever he’s hydroplaning sincerity, “I love you brother.” At times I Imagine Wagner sees me as a rabid fan that squeezes him into a corner just to say “I really like you work with Alice Cooper – what’s he like?” But there’s no avenue of escape and he averts his eyes, and shifts his weight from one foot to the other until he spies another annoying fan and makes his exit by introducing us. It is clever and protective especially when you are the mystery man.

 The book is carved into vignettes that contain several short paragraphs with cohesive themes. It creates a sense that it’s a quick read – it is. But it also leaves me with a feeling that Wagner is sometimes skimming surfaces and leaving things out, cocking the bow but not releasing the arrow.  This is somewhat true in the vignettes about the Bossmen and the Frost. From 1964-1972, Wagner’s learning curve was incredibly high. He was a quick study who seemed to grasp and assimilate more sophisticated into his various projects whether it was the Frost, The Cherry Slush, Count & the Colony or the Pack. He was all over the map with a boundless source of creative energy. These were formative years for Wagner and his cohorts. Like a smithy bending hot iron with a hammer and anvil, Wagner pounded out sturdy little ditties that were both charming and durable. Listen to Here’s Congratulations,  I Cannot Stop You, Say What You Think, Wide Trackin’ and you might agree. They have stood the test of time. These early garage masterpieces were the building blocks of his craft. The caterpillar spins the cocoon and the butterfly emerges.

Wagner opened the book with a brief statement about his birth on December 14^th, 1942. The first vignette skips over six decades to Wagner’s 60^th birthday celebration at the State Theater in Bay City Michigan. I was there. I walked into the theatre late, near the end of the show; as I passed through the first set of doors I noticed Edgar Winter furtively gliding up the stairs to the balcony. I was happy for Dick. The place was packed. 

The book really started to cook when he wrote about meeting and performing with several of his rock & roll heroes. He recalled when his first band, the Invictas, backed Jerry Lee Lewis at a roller rink on Ortonville, Michigan. He drove up in an emerald green Cadillac, a fifth of Jack in his hands and yells out “The Killer has arrived.” Wagner was only seventeen years old. It wasn’t too long after that when he backed Roy Orbison at a gig at Devils Lake Pavilion near Adrian Michigan and accompanied him back to the hotel. Orbison asked young Wagner if he’d like to listen to a couple of new songs he was working on. He proceeded to play Candy Man and Crying. In the late sixties Wagner played with his rock & roll idol Little Richard at the Grande Ballroom. It was an unexpected appearance that also included Johnny Winter, Mitch Ryder and the Frost. Little Richard was in full camp wearing a suit made of mirrors.

 It was a baptism.

Wagner described his first live performance in Union Lake Michigan during a Paul Bunyan Days celebration. He was just a freshman in high school but had the pluck and courage to sing a current radio hit Sugaree in front of 500 people and pull it off without a hitch. It was the moment when he found his voice.

Wagner described an incredible cauldron of characters that seemed to emerge from a cloud, an ancient time when a person’s quirks were embraced instead of medicated. Teep Wicker was a huge Elvis fan, perhaps the first Elvis impersonator - though he couldn’t sing worth a hoot and bore no resemblance to his idol. Wild Bill Emerson was an extraordinary guitarist in the Mac Vickery and the Driving Band. He played left handed and had to turn his guitar upside down to play it. He would attach a little monkey on a string to his guitar and set it on fire, years before Hendrix became a pyromaniac. Emerson taught Wagner about using banjo strings on his guitar so he could bend the strings more easily.Wagner continued working with Vickery in a travelling gypsy caravan called Dr. Silkini’s Magic and Horror show. It’s a great story, a definite hoot.

In 1962 Wagner joined the Eldorados, a great Detroit show band that included Warren Keith on piano. This was a fortuitous event that created the opportunity for Wagner to enter the next phase of his musical journey.

The Playboys were the first rock band in Saginaw, Michigan. Butch White was the lead singer and guitarist, an enormous talent and unsung hero of the early rock & roll scene. The other members included Pete Woodman (drums), Lanny Roenicke (bass) and the aforementioned Warren Keith. As circumstances would have it, White was married and needed a day job to provide for his family. He was a weekend warrior. He left the Playboys at the request of his wife, leaving a gaping hole in the band’s lineup. Warren Keith had been impressed by Wagner’s skills in the Eldorados and recommended him. So Lanny and Pete fetched Wagner from his home in Waterford and brought him up to Saginaw. Under Wagner’s leadership a good band became a great band that set attendance records at the Village Pump in Bridgeport. This was only the beginning.

Wagner gave full credit to the Bossmen in helping to establish his rock & roll credentials. He also gave credit to Bob Dyer and Dick Fabian, starmaker Deejays who championed the Bossmen and were instrumental in advancing their career. Each of the Bossmen 45’s reached #1 on the Saginaw charts. They were our Beatles. Massive crowds followed them from Daniel’s Den to The Y  A- Go-Go, the Village Pump,  and Mt. Holly. They had a fan club that issued Christmas cards and “Bossmania” buttons as well as regular newsletters. Wagner’s future business manager, Mary Anne Reynolds-Burtt was a member.

The vignettes that detail Wagner’s influence in Saginaw provide a road map of memories for any of those early fans who came under the spell of his musical adventures.  The Frost expanded Wagner’s vision. Each stage of his career involved an evolution to greater artistry and a broader perspective. The Frost sounded like the Beatles on steroids but by their last LP, Through the Eyes of Love, they had developed a hard rocking sound that set the stage for Wagner’s next project.

Wagner described Ursa Major as a milestone in his songwriting, production and arranging. The band hit the road opening for Jeff Beck and Alice Cooper. Wagner acknowledges that though the music was a huge step forward Ursa Major “was destined to be a single, great, seminal rock album”

 Bob Ezrin’s influence on Wagner’s career cannot be overestimated. He was responsible for linking Dick to Lou Reed and helping to re-establish his relationship with Steve Hunter. The vignettes that cover this stage of Wagner’s career are an excellent read. It takes you on a high speed chase with hairpin turns. It’s exciting, almost breathtaking. It leads the reader step by step to the upper stratosphere of rock & roll – the music, fame, money, adulation and all the excess – culminating with the Welcome to My Nightmare Tour.  By all accounts it was a landmark event that was well conceived and executed - the biggest grossing tour ’75. The music was superb, fantastic. They were “the best band in the land.” They were Hollywood Vampires. All this glory set the stage for the next phase of Wagner’s life.

The Richard Wagner album was a great showcase for Wagner’s skills and could have been a springboard to a successful solo career. But things started to go wrong almost immediately. It started with a battle over the title. Wagner wanted Dick Wagner: Nights in The Heartland but Atlantic Records insisted on Richard Wagner.  It flopped.

Wagner had a tendency to go down a few side roads in the book as when he mentioned his IQ score, The Girl Rule or having six partners in one night of Dionysian excess. I felt that the details his sexual experiences were mostly unnecessary. I’m less interested in those adventures than what underlies them – the root cause, the core wound. He reveals his early abuse and the invalidating family environment that caused him to internalize negative messages such as “you will never amount to anything” or “you are worthless.” Later, as a young aspiring musician, he was sexually assaulted by the Invictas manager. He kept this toxic event secret, hidden away in a compartment of his mind where it festered and quietly undermined his capacity to trust and to love. It appears that these early wounds set stage for Wagner’s later sexual behavior that, by his description, contained elements of hostility and exploitation e.g., having sex with a woman and pushing a slice of blueberry pie in her face. His insistent numbing through the use of drugs, his high level of arousal, and buried anger were symptoms associated with those early experiences. This is the perfect storm of shame and doubt that led to a spiral of failed relationships, addiction and a stalled out career. This book could be titled “The Healing” because Wagner brought these memories back up to the surface after years in hiding. It’s called exposure - revealing dark secrets and past trauma by writing (talking and thinking) about them. It is the substance and process of recovery.

  It is courageous

The book is a must read for anyone who has followed Dick Wagner’s career, especially for people who came of age in Michigan during the sixties and seventies The casual fan may not know about Dick Wagner so the link to Lou Reed and Alice Cooper is critical to the overall success and sales of Not Only Women Bleed. The book is as entertaining as it is revealing. Some may wince at the graphic detail of Wagner’s Dionysian fall from grace but will also applaud his honesty and willingness to take ownership of his wrongdoing and to seek forgiveness.

Not Only Women Bleed is available @ Amazon.com. It is only $9.99 but you need to download a Kindle in order to format the book so you can read it. It’s a good read, accessible, hilarious and graphic. Any fan of classic rock & roll would love this book. Pass the word brothers and sisters.

Peace

Bo White

Kansas - Numinous Mind and Music for the Soul

Rich Williams, the extraordinary riff-meister of Kansas, sat down for a deep collar interview with Review Magazine.  Kansas is preparing for another extended tour in 2012 that will include a stop at the historic Temple Theatre in Saginaw.

Kansas has been a musical force of nature since the mid-seventies with such enduring hits as Carry on Wayward Son, Point of No Return, and Dust in the Wind. The music is incredible with ornate and complex arrangements, unusual signature changes, and poetic lyricism. They have underwent enough lineup changes that rock writers sometimes refer to that various incarnations as  Kansas I, II, III - though founding members Rich Williams (guitar), Phil Ehart (drums), and Steve Walsh (keyboards, vocals) have remained a strong stabilizing presence.

Kansas has released over 65 recordings (including compilations) in various formats - vinyl, CD, and DVD. They have toured relentlessly with only a few down moments in the past 38 years. They have grit and creativity to keep it going as long as love and oxygen wash over their spirit.   Kansas music is a strange and wonderful brew of folk, hard rock, and orchestral, almost operatic music. The musicians embrace a stubborn eclecticism that follows its own shadow and frustrates the critics. They have been criticized as overwrought and pretentious but the critics be damned, Kansas has survived and flourished despite their mixed reception. The band has retained a legion of loyal fans that are more than happy to sing songs of praise in the name of Kansas!

Kansas recently released a DVD Kansas: There is No Place like Home and a Special Edition 35^th Anniversary Dust in the Wind Book.  2011 was a big year for the band and the energy is building for more concerts and recordings in 2012. The momentum is strong and Kansas is on the move. Come to the Temple Theatre and witness a great band that paints grand canvases with heavenly baroque music.

The concert is at the historic Temple Theatre on Thursday February 16^th 2012 @ 8pm. Tickets are priced @ $79, $59, $39, $29. Call 877-754-SHOW 10am-6pm to purchase tickets. There isn’t a bad seat in the house!

You recently completed the 2011 Collegiate Symphony Tour to raise money and awareness of college music programs. It sounded like a fantastic project. How many concerts did you put on? Did you reach your goal?

We are still doing those events actually. We did them last year and the year before and we have dates set for this upcoming year too. It’s an ongoing process. We’ll do it until no more colleges will want to do it anymore (laughs).  Ever since we did the DVD There No Place Like Home, we wanted to do more orchestral work so we did an album with the London Symphony Orchestra and we wanted to get it filmed and we eventually did it with the Washburn University Symphony in Topeka Kansas. Once that came out we could present it to colleges and they could see it – that this is what we do. It answered a lot of questions for them. One thing led to another and we got a sponsorship from D’Addario  and it took on a life of its own. Now we’ve done over 40 colleges. The doors been kicked in and it’s a lot easier now. It’s been very successful; it’s in part a benefit for the music departments at the colleges. D’Addario has also donated a lot of equipment, funds and scholarships for students. It’s been a lot of fun so we hope we can continue doing it.

It seems like a massive commitment. Was it difficult to teach the orchestra musicians?

Some songs we do only with the symphony because they seem to fit well with that genre. We’ve always been very symphonic by nature, it’s not a shoehorn, and it works really well. Scores are advanced to the colleges so they have plenty of time to learn the music. It becomes part of the curriculum and they have an opportunity to work on it long before we get there. Larry Baird, our conductor, scored the music and he shows up and does a rehearsal with the musicians, sometimes the day before, sometimes just the morning of, or even in the afternoon. It’s really more of a sound check, get the levels set, smooth out the rough spots and then it’s show time.

 It seems your actions match the poetic and spiritual lyricism in many of your songs. Your music seems to reflect a message of hope, is that how you see it?

Well, yeah, a lot of the lyrics Kerry wrote (Kerry Livgren composed the biggest Kansas hits. He left to form AD, and focus his writing on a Christian worldview) were ambiguous and hopeful- inspirational and seemed to mean something different to the individual. Inspirational is a good word.

Kansas seems very active as far is touring. How do you prepare for the emotional strain and physical crunch of touring?  How is it that you are able to keep it up without becoming depleted in some way?

Well, we figured it out a while ago. To continue to do it we have to keep it fun. Riding in a bus, playing five nights a week stops being fun in a hurry. The hope that we aim for and never quite reach - it is sort of what we do…basically I leave on a Friday morning and come back on a Sunday afternoon. That’s basically how we work throughout the year. That’s the rough framework of it. It works very well for us; everyone has a home life and a family life. We are rarely in a bus, we fly to gig and stay in a nice hotel. It keeps everyone healthy and happy.

Right now I’m going stir crazy because we took January off - we’ve been off since the first of December and we don’t start up again until the middle of February so these are the confusing times for me. It took me a long time to figure out what to do with myself. The rest of the year I’ve got the weekend to prepare for and it works very well for us. Once you make peace with the travel and just kind of relax it’s actually fun. It’s just not tough…I had a real job once and it’s just not like that. We do eighty shows a year

You have released several albums and CDs since 1974. That is an incredible body of music. What sparks your creativity?

Some of it is the record company decides to re-wrap something, slap a different cover and then they put it out. The last thing we did was the DVD. It was a hands-on experience in our control. The decisions of the record company are beyond our control like re-mastering of old product. Recently I saw they did something with the early Kansas stuff when we were on CBS.  They did a real nice package of that. What our focus has been on since we did our DVD There’s No Place like Home, artistically, has been college dates - reinventing ourselves in that way. Playing with the college kids - they bring an enthusiasm to the table that you don’t necessarily get when you are playing with a professional city orchestra. It’s new to them, they are not getting paid and they really appreciate it. There is nothing planned at this time to go back into the studio to record new material.

It is said that your progressive music -complex orchestral arrangements and heavy rock & roll guitar riffs were inspired by groups such as King Crimson, Yes…Emerson, Lake and Palmer – even Frank Zappa. I can hear it. But what do you say, who inspired Kansas?

All of those – King Crimson, Jethro Tull Gentle Giant…early Genesis. They were all an inspiration to us. We grew up playing the hits of the day. We listened to Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and a lot of soul music so we grew up as a rock & roll band. As we grew up we began to take it in another direction so underneath it all, this is what helped give us a heavier sound. We are pretty heavy handed; we don’t have a light touch

Rich, you are a brilliant guitarist that can rip and soar and yet play very melodically. Did you learn from a master? Who inspired you as a guitarist?

No. I just took a few lessons when I first started playing in high school. I loved Eric Clapton - early Eric Clapton. I was influenced by his work with John Mayall. Before that I played a lot of soul music, Ike & Tina Turner stuff. I liked Ike’s style. But Eric Clapton with the Bluesbreakers…that Les Paul through the Marshall really cranked. I heard blues before but not with that tone and intensity. It was really eye-opening to me to hear such a strong voice coming from a guitar…and all the early Yardbirds stuff was incredible - Jimmy Page was in the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck was in the Yardbirds… Eric Clapton. They influenced everybody.

You are excellent musicians but the vocalists are integral to the Kansas sound as well – they sing their asses off – the lead and harmony vocals are exquisite. Who arranges the vocal parts?

Steve Walsh is the main vocalist, always. Billy Greer is the new guy on bass and vocals. He does a lot of the singing. He’s the new guy but it’s his 26^th or 27^th year with us. And then on violin Dave Ragsdale does a lot of backup singing. He’s been with us since the nineties. The new guys aren’t even new. We’ve been with them forever. They’ve been with us longer than some of the original members.

I read that in the early “broke and starving” days of Kansas,  Phil Ehart told an interviewer, “We were going to play this style of music and not compromise, even if we had to f***ing starve.” It seems like an inspired comment. How do you view that comment now, does it still resonate with you?

Well, that is the exuberance of youth, when your life is all ahead of you and you stand firm on a principle -   all for all; one for one. You live in a stinking band house and make decisions. You know, I’m glad we did. That type of a determination is a young man’s game

When did you get your lucky break?

As a group we were kind of the last man standing in the area (in our age group, anyway) that wanted to play music professionally. We did not want to play the hits of the day in a Holiday Inn. We did not want a day job and we wanted to do original material. For a lot of people it’s too risky. If we do that we can’t play the prom. Well, fuck the prom. Even more than that we wanted to do stuff that’s outside the box. We made a demo tape – we mailed out four reel to reel tapes and one ended up on Don Kirshner’s desk. He was our benefactor. He listened to part of the tape not knowing there were six or seven songs on the other side, so basically he liked one song on the tape, What Can I Tell You…it ended up on our first album.  So he sent a scout out to see us. We were playing in a small town in western Kansas. The gig was at the Ellenwood Opera House. We played there a lot. We wanted to impress this guy - he didn’t know it but it was free to get in and the beer was free. It was packed and people we standing in line waiting to get inside. So the scout reports back to Kirshner – “There’ something going here.” When we got the record deal we asked Kerry Livgren if he would join. Once we had a great songwriter onboard we started to gain momentum. The rest is history.

Kansas has created several classic songs/albums that stand then test of time. Can you describe the creative process – writing, arranging, producing?

It was not always the same. Steve would come in with a song a lot of times or Kerry would show up with a song. Sometimes it would be written completely, other times it might be an idea. Then what happened is that everyone would put their own little twist on it. It was kind of painful. I think that is why Kerry would like to do things on his own now, like Steve did. They would create this thing which is their child and then they’d bring it to band practice where we would just rip it to fucking shreds.  We would tear it down, reassemble it, and put it back together and then change it again. We self-produced all the early songs. It wasn’t until later that we worked with Bob Ezrin on In the Spirit of Things on MCI. It was the second LP with Steve Morse. It was the first time we ever allowed a producer to come in -in that capacity. He was a cool, guy. Bob was a great guy to work with. We got to trust someone outside of the group. He was kind of the seventh member of Kansas. It was hard but he really got a lot out of us – he had so many great ideas.  It made a big difference in the outcome of the album. It was one of my favorite recording processes we ever did working with Bob Ezrin!

Can you talk about each of your stone classic megahits:

Carry On Wayward Son

The album before we recorded in Bogalusa Louisiana and we found that going to this remote spot was just what we needed - the album before that was done in Los Angeles – too many distractions – and so we found this great studio in Bogalusa so we went there and did the Masque LP. We planned on going back to the same studio for Leftoverture. We we’ve been in rehearsals working on the new material for several months and we were winding down. It was the last day or next to the last day before we were going to pack up the truck and head south. And then Kerry walks in and says, “No, no, I’ve got another song” and we go …”oh fuck.”   We just weren’t in the mood. We had enough but we said,” Ok let’s see what you got.”  We listened and we knew it was a pretty cool song so we worked it out. We finally made it down to the studio and started laying down basic instrumental tracks. The songs are generally assembled in the studio. Then we started working on that new song - Wayward Son. Basically we learned the song in the studio. We had never played it live before. We really didn’t know it well in rehearsals. It came down to the first time that we did it right – take 20 was good. It was just a cool song with the great guitar riffs, from half time to double time, in out between a straight beat and a shuffle. It was interesting to listen to and fun to play. We had a great song. Of course I had no idea that I’d be talking about it thirty some years later.

Dust in the Wind

Next album; same situation. Kerry comes in with a reel to reel tape. But the story of this song goes back several years ago. We were playing at this small club and Kerry and I met a guitarist who was older than us and more accomplished. He was showing us a finger picking style but neither one of us had done any acoustic playing or finger picking. A few years later Kerry wanted to remember how to do it a few years later so he wrote a finger picking exercise, just a pattern just to practice it and it became the chord pattern for Dust in the Wind. As the story goes his wife heard it and said “that’s really pretty – you need to do something with that.” He was reading a book on Indian philosophy which is where the lyric came from. We knew instantly that it was a great song. It was odd as we’d never done anything without drums. At the time there was nothing on the radio that sounded like it.

Point of No Return

The only thing I can relate to it is that we were out on the road, the album was out everything is going great. Our manager wanted us to do a video for markets in Australia and parts of Europe. They sold more music by featuring these commercial videos. They would play it on television and I was thinking. “Like that’s going to catch on.” So we did these videos – a cutting edge, psychedelic attempt at using modern technology. I was stunned when I saw the Point of No Return video. It seemed like it was just a parody.  I couldn’t watch it for years. Now in retrospect I think it’s funnier than shit, it really captures that era.

There seems to be a lot of energy around Kansas. Do you feel it? Can this be another big year for Kansas?

Oh yeah, we have a lot of symphony dates coming up, we have concert, casino dates, fairs and festivals. In the Midwest I love the fair atmosphere and the smell of funnel cake in the air. I’ve always enjoyed that. We are working on 20-30 dates with a solo act called That One Guy. He’s a cross between Frank Zappa and Weird Al. It’s very strange to watch this guy. He’s a trained oboe player - funny but serious. We will do another eighty shows this year. I’m really looking forward to being up there in Saginaw. We are all restless and ready to play!

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.