Author: Bret Adams

Traditional heavy metal is still a thriving beast thanks to bands like Accept, whose latest studio album, Too Mean to Die, is full of rugged songs with wicked guitars commanded by lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann.

Accept roared out of Germany and gained U.S. popularity with 1983’s Balls to the Wall as its blistering title track became an MTV favorite. Hoffmann is the lone original member, joined by longtime vocalist Mark Tornillo, guitarist Uwe Lulis, bassist Martin Motnik, drummer Christopher Williams, and new guitarist Philip Shouse. The three-guitar attack pushes an already potent lineup.

“That’s a new experience for Accept, having three guitar players. It’s really a powerhouse of guitars on stage. Killer! I love it!” Hoffman said.

“It allows us, for instance, to have twin-guitar leads and still have rhythm guitar in the background. It also allows us to play overdub sections when two guitars are jamming on the main riff. You can still have the third guy do something usually left for just the recorded version – additional guitar, arpeggio guitar, whatever.”

Tightness and groove in the rhythm is vital in heavy metal, and especially in Accept’s style.

“The rhythm guitar has to be super-tight in metal,” Hoffman said. “You don’t want any looseness.”

Getting the guitar riffs, rhythms, and solos down is a painstaking process, but technology has simplified matters. Hoffmann thinks it’s easier to write alone or perhaps with one other member.

“(Songwriting has) evolved over the years. Now that everybody has home setups, computers, Pro Tools, or whatever software – in my case it’s Cubase – everybody has stuff at home they can work with. For most people, that’s the most-comfortable environment. You sort it out yourself until you present it to the other guys.”

“Back in the ’80s, of course, none of us had that opportunity, so we’d usually sit together in a room and bounce ideas off each other. I’ll tell you, sometimes that was dreadful, especially when there’s more than two or three guys, and especially when the whole band was involved. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth. Five people don’t necessarily think alike. I’ve found, over the years, I like working with one guy at a time, mostly.”

Too Mean to Die is the band’s 16th studio album, and fifth with producer Andy Sneap, who’s also received praise for his recent work with Judas Priest, one of Hoffmann’s favorite bands and biggest influences.

Except for a short reunion of the classic lineup, Accept didn’t exist for a long period. The heavy-metal scene had changed and Hoffmann didn’t think Accept was wanted. Happily, he was mistaken.

“Accept is a totally old-school metal band. In the late ’90s to the early 2000s, I lived here in America and had pretty much given up music; I was no longer playing, there was no band. We’d gone our separate ways. Personally, I thought, ‘Nobody wants to hear this stuff anymore. It’s all about grunge, nu-metal, and hip-hop, and God knows what else.’ Nobody wanted to hear old-timey ’80s metal… I thought. But then I went to Europe and saw these huge metal festivals like Wacken, with 50,000 kids all dressed like it’s 1986. That’s when I caught the bug again. The only sticking point was our singer (Udo Dirkschneider) didn’t want to be part of it.

“By pure luck, when we found Mr. Tornillo 12 years ago, it changed everything. That’s what started this whole new chapter of the band.”

Late in 2020, Hoffmann sold a lot of gear he hadn’t used in years, including Hamer, Charvel, and PRS guitars, Marshall amplifiers, and more. He kept guitars with sentimental value, including a ’62 Stratocaster and the Flying V he used in the “Balls to the Wall” video.

These days, Hoffmann’s setup is simple.

“I used a Framus WH-1 and a Kemper amp with Marshall and EVH 5150 profiles, and that’s pretty much it,” he said. “The Framus has everything I need. It’s built to my specs. It’s basically a Flying V with a lot of the features of a Strat. It’s got a vibrato, a single-coil in the neck position, and a contoured body – the things that make a Strat so playable – and a Fender scale, too. It’s a hybrid.”

Though his noteworthy career with Accept launched in 1976, Hoffman prefers to look forward, and that attitude is reflected in the Too Mean to Die song “The Best is Yet to Come.”

“It really is how I think,” he said. “I honestly believe the best Accept album isn’t done yet. I believe the best Accept show hasn’t been played yet. So, I just roll forward. I don’t dwell in the past.”

This article originally appeared in VG April 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Few bands warrant a career-retrospective box set, let alone two. Then again, most don’t keep going after 50 years. America is an exception. Their new eight-disc collection, Half Century, compiles archival material including alternate mixes, demos, rehearsals, unreleased tracks, in-studio performances, radio interviews, and home movies.

The trio of vocalists/guitarists Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek (1950-2011) formed in London in 1970 and their debut album, America, was released in 1971. The #1 single “A Horse with No Name” was added to a re-release of the album, which then topped the charts; “I Need You” hit the Top 10.

America won the 1972 Grammy for Best New Artist and followed with a string of best-selling albums and hit singles including “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” and another #1, “Sister Golden Hair.” 

After Peek left in 1977, Beckley and Bunnell carried on and in the early ’80s scored hits with “You Can Do Magic” and “The Border.” Their first box set marked the group’s 30th anniversary in 2000. 

“I can’t remember who first mentioned the idea (of another box set), and though you obviously wouldn’t want to do one yearly, 50 years is a true milestone,” said Beckley.

“(Producer) Jeff Larson did all the heavy lifting – going through old hard drives, transferring old analog tapes, cassettes, ADATs. We had multi-track stuff on eight-track from home studios and things like that,” Bunnell added. “We also had a lot of Super 8 footage on these three-minute reels. I kept a lot of stuff – posters from the gigs, backstage passes, itineraries from the road. I have graphic-y stuff and the visuals. Gerry, on the other hand, because he’s a studio guy, had a lot of the audio stuff. We tapped into his hard drives and boxes of tapes.”

Going through their archives brought back memories for both guys. Beckley is especially partial to the demos recorded in London in 1970, but Bunnell also loves those tracks.

“I do remember virtually all the songs we’ve ever recorded,” Beckley said. “My favorites are usually the unreleased demos. I’m reminded of the spark that ignited the song.” 

“Most artists have a soft spot for the earliest demos of a song,” Bunnell added. “There’s something lost when you take the demo into the studio and re-cut everything with better mics and technology. You’re tainted by that demo that locked the song into your brain. You can never exactly repeat it.” 

Those demos highlight the primal power of just human voices and acoustic guitars. How did they come up with their guitar arrangements?

“I always was simply a six-string rhythm player,” said Bunnell. “Gerry and Dan would decide who’d play 12-string. Most of the licks, like the very important lick in ‘Ventura Highway,’ was Gerry, with Dan playing harmony. Gerry plays the solo on ‘Riverside’ and those earlier songs. We’d jam and do things where we all played single-note stuff. I sing a lot of the leads, so I always concentrated more on vocal parts including harmonies if I didn’t sing lead. That was the formula. It really was about the songwriting and getting the songs, the choruses, and lyrics locked in.”

Over a five-decade career, Beckley and Bunnell have played countless acoustic and electric guitars.

“That’s a much longer topic,” said Beckley. “We’ve used countless models in the studio and onstage. For the last 20 years or so, most of the stage guitars are made for us by Taylor. They’re beautifully made and also durable, which is vital for road instruments. Electric guitars are also numerous, though Dewey and I are now often playing Gretsch Duo Jets. I have quite a few Bill Nash custom six- and 12-string electrics, which I also love. My personal locker has over 70 guitars, and I do love to mix it up. None of that could happen without the talents of Travis Jamison, our tech who works endlessly keeping them all playable.”

“I’ve had some nice guitars over the years, and stayed abreast to a degree, but I’m not a super-collector,” Bunnell noted. “We made the first album on Yamaha acoustics – FG-180s, I think. Relatively inexpensive, but they sounded good. For acoustics on stage over the years we’ve gone through Ovation and I played a Guild D-55 for years when we were just miking guitars. Gerry had a beautiful Martin. We had to move on to electrified acoustics and for awhile used Alvarez. Now, we play Taylor Grand Auditoriums, and we’ve been endorsees for them since they were introduced.”

This article originally appeared in VG April 2021 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Unleashing pent-up creativity is a gratifying experience for a band, as Kansas guitarist Richard Williams can attest. The band known for the prog-/hard-rock hybrid exemplified by “Carry On Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind” recently released Leftoverture Live & Beyond, which included the 1976 classic Leftoverture performed in its entirety along with material from 2016’s The Prelude Implicit.

Original members Williams and drummer Phil Ehart today lead a rejuvenated lineup that includes longtime bassist Billy Greer, violinist David Ragsdale along with three new members – vocalist Ronnie Platt, keyboardist David Manion, and guitarist Zak Rizvi. Their collective excitement is palpable on both Leftoverture Live & Beyond and The Prelude Implicit.

Leftoverture Live & Beyond is 19 songs recorded at 12 shows in early 2017.

“The only song we’d never played live from Leftoverture was ‘Questions of My Childhood.’ And we didn’t re-record anything or go back in and do overdubs,” Williams said.

“Traditionally, we’ve done a lot of rearrangements of Kansas songs – sometimes for good, sometimes for not so good. With this new lineup, we’ve gone back as much as we can to the way the songs were written and recorded. We’re trying to lean more on the original arrangements.”

Before they started work on The Prelude Implicit, the band toured, and it went so well, he said, “…the restraints were off of us, musically.” At first, doubts nagged about their ability to write new songs because former vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh and guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren had always been Kansas’ primary songwriters; Somewhere to Elsewhere was Livgren’s material with the original members performing, but Williams said it was “an assembly-line thing” with parts recorded separately.

“It’s not the same as sitting in a room with a bunch of guys, developing ideas. That ebb and flow is really where some of our best stuff came from – not just from one person but by the combination and effort of everybody. We didn’t have that on Somewhere to Elsewhere. That’s what we had on The Prelude Implicit again,” he said. “We made the album for us as much as we made it for anything else. We didn’t know what it was going to be going into it. We had never done it this way before. We wanted to be quintessentially Kansas from the artwork to the lyrics to the music to the variety within the music – very well-thought-out to be as Kansas as we possibly can.”

Williams’ main concern has always been about what’s best for Kansas as a whole.

“I’m a team player. There’s no Richard Williams solo album. I’ve never had a desire to do a solo album,” he said. “In my opinion, Kansas has always been the sum of its parts, not so much the talent of any one person. I’ve always just been very comfortable in the role of a team player.”

His attitude applies to working with other guitarists in Kansas, whether it’s been Livgren, Steve Morse, or Rizvi.

“In our early days, we were doing an interview and they asked Kerry, ‘Who’s your biggest influence?’ He said, ‘Probably Rich, because we play together all the time.’ We were working on equipment together and guitars and guitar tones and different things. You’re not in competition, but constantly working together. That’s all very positive,” said Williams.

For more than 30 years, Williams’ main electric has been a PRS Custom from ’84 or ’85. Early in Kansas, he played a Gibson L-6S that’s still part of his collection of about 30 guitars. He also plays a Martin D-28 based on the one he used on “Dust in the Wind.”

The uncertainty nipping at Kansas’ heels in recent years has been replaced with forward-thinking confidence; pending is a tour during which they’ll perform 1977’s Point of Know Return in its entirety, and they’re set to record a new studio album.

“The quality of the shows and the performance level of the band is at an all-time high,” said Williams. “The energy level, the crowd enjoyment – everything – is greater than it has been since the early days. It feels much like it did on the second, third, and fourth albums,” said Williams. “It’s that type of focused energy. It’s been a tremendous experience. None of us are looking back, remembering when. Our best days are in front of us.” – Bret Adams

This article originally appeared in VG‘s June 2018 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

The Cars transcended the new-wave movement of the late ’70s by creating a never-duplicated sound. The band’s self-titled debut album is a masterpiece; almost 40 years after its release, nearly every song still receives radio airplay.

Rhino recently remastered it and the band’s pivotal second and third albums, 1979’s Candy-O (with “Let’s Go”) and 1980’s Panorama, which was highlighted by “Touch and Go.” The new editions include alternate mixes, demos, B-sides, and unreleased songs.

Easton spoke with Vintage Guitar about the reissues and recounted the gear he used to help create the band’s first music. His setup for The Cars was simple – a Les Paul Standard, Telecaster, and a D-35. He plugged the Les Paul and Tele into a Fender Twin and one of three Ampegs – a VT-22, V2, and V4 – and recalls how at the time there was a limited aftermarket for hardware and pickups.

“DiMarzio’s Super Distortion pickups had just come out and I put them in the Les Paul,” he said. “My Tele was a new ’77, but I changed the neck pickup to Hi-A Bartolini Firebird mini humbucker.”

The commercial success of those albums allowed Easton to expand his arsenal.

“Dean brought me an ML during the Candy-O sessions and I put it right to work,” he said. “The first song I used it on was ‘Since I Held You,’ and I liked it a lot. Now, people kind of laugh about the pointy headstocks and funny-shaped bodies, but the Dean was a really good guitar, and I really enjoyed playing them. They had fantastic tones, felt great, and had great necks.

“I was still using Les Pauls and Teles on Candy-O and Panorama; it wasn’t like I eliminated them. I just added other things. In ’79, I got a real good new Les Paul Custom and played it a lot. I still have it. It’s just a great guitar. The only thing is it’s so darn heavy that I still have a chronic crick in my neck from standing onstage for two hours with it. I don’t know why Customs are so much heavier than Standards, but a lot of them seem to be. I started to embrace the SG because it was lighter. They even made my signature model, which was basically a two-pickup SG Custom.”

Panorama was notably different from the Cars’ first two releases.

“Ric Ocasek was writing batches of songs every year with new attitudes and new approaches,” he said. “Obviously, Panorama was a bit of a departure. There was no group discussion about how it was going to be an experimental record, more edgy, or anything like that. Maybe Greg was listening to Kraftwerk or we were listening to Suicide and things like that, so some other influences were creeping in. We’re very eclectic in our tastes.”

“On ‘Touch and Go’ and a B-side called ‘Don’t Go to Pieces’ there’s a lot of Rickenbacker 12-string. Also, during the Panorama period, I started working with Fender. They had just come out with the new Lead I and Lead II series, and they made me a couple of those and put me in their catalog. The Lead I is what I used for the solo in ‘Touch and Go.’ If I remember correctly, I played that through a Mesa-Boogie head through a Marshall cab. It was just one of the go-to amps during that time. We had Fenders, too – Twins, Deluxe Reverbs, stuff like that.”

One of Easton’s main guitars from that era was a ’61 Strat.

“I used it quite a bit; it’s on the solo for ‘Dangerous Type’ and ‘It’s All I Can Do’ (from Candy-O). I think I used it on ‘Panorama.’ I can’t always remember what I played on the deep cuts, but I do remember those.”

These days, he’s recording a second album with the Empty Hearts, featuring Romantics vocalist/rhythm guitarist Wally Palmar, Blondie drummer Clem Burke, and Chesterfield Kings bassist Andy Babiuk. In December, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the Cars were part of this year’s class of inductees.

“I’m pretty excited about that,” he said. “Lots of bands feign disinterest, but I think, deep down, it’s an honor. Now we have to figure out what we’re going to play!”

Easton estimates he has been through “probably 1,000 guitars” though now has a relatively modest collection.

“I’m afraid to count!” he laughed. “But I think it’s somewhere around or just over 100. Certainly enough! I have Gibson, Fender, Martin, Larrivée, and Rickenbacker guitars. I think some of that comes from wanting to cover myself because when you’re a lefty, you can’t borrow someone else’s guitar. No one asks to borrow your guitars either, which is nice!”

This article originally appeared in VG March 2018 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.