From 1984 through 2015, Phil Campbell was the guitarist in Motörhead, and for the last 20 years of the band’s existence was its sole guitarist, appearing on classic releases such as Orgasmatron, 1916, and Bastards, among others. With the 2015 passing of Lemmy Kilmister, the band came to an abrupt end.
Instead of retiring, Campbell has continued with music, forming Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, which actually includes his three sons and recently issued a self-titled debut EP.
The new band is mostly family…
Yes, it’s my kids except the singer. My son, Todd, has been playing since he was four or five and knows my playing back to front. All my kids have played drums and guitar and a bit of bass since they were four, five, or six years old and they’re all very musical. Playing together is just one of those good-chemistry things, so it’s great. Apart from my wife and my dog, I’m the worst musician in the family (laughs).
How does it compare or contrast to Motörhead?
Recording-wise, it’s a little bit quieter. Musically, I have my son, Todd, on the other guitar, so we can do a few more things. We’re experimenting with stuff at the moment, and it all seems to be going down really well. The concerts have been good and we’re really happy with the EP.
Motörhead was just a unique thing. It’s difficult to put it into words, actually, but it was something special. This is special, but in a different way. It’s the same soul and the same feeling at heart is definitely there with the music. My kids grew up coming to Motörhead shows and hanging out with Lemmy.
Which amps and effects do you use?
I’ve been using Marshall amps, a Bogner as well in the studio, and Laboga amps. I also use Gurus amps, which are made in Italy.
Effects-wise, I use delays and wahs. I just jumble them together and see which one I fancy playing. Some stuff is better for live work, and some you don’t want to throw in a van.
Of your guitar collection, which is your favorite?
My wife bought one for me for our anniversary about five years ago – a ’57 Les Paul Custom Fretless Wonder with a Bigsby and Alnico pickups. That’s my favorite guitar, but I can’t take it on tour because it means too much to me. I’ve donated a lot of my guitars to charities, but still have 20 or 30 vintage guitars, about 100 in all.
One of your main guitars is an Explorer-shaped model from LAG.
I was at Frankfurt Music Fair… must have been in the late ’80s, when one of the guys from LAG showed up. He took the guitar out of the trunk of his car and said, “Check this guitar out, Phil.” It was a one-off for some guy who ordered it; it was either that he didn’t show up or didn’t like it. I tried it and said, “Nobody’s going to get this one back.” I’ve been playing it ever since. It’s a workhorse, and they’ve done a signature model for the last eight years.
Which Motörhead album are you most proud of from a guitar-playing standpoint?
Bastards was pretty good – that’s my favorite. I remember using a Nashville tuning on the acoustic ballad, “Don’t Let Daddy Kiss Me.” Howard Benson was producing and he showed me that tuning. To this day, I’m still not quite sure what it is. On the second and third verses, if you listen to the bits in between, you hear me blasting away.
I tried my best on all the records. I’m not a heavy-metal player, never have been. I’m a rock-and-roll player and a blues player, basically, but I like to play it loud.
Who are a few of your favorite players?
My favorite players… You’ve got Satch and Vai and everyone, and Pagey is amazing, and Iommi. But I kind of lean towards Alvin Lee – fast blues. And Johnny Winter. Stuff like Billy Gibbons on “Thunderbird” is what gets me off. I can’t play it as well as those cats, but that gets me off much more than playing a doom riff. I try to achieve some way up to these guys. I get close on a good night. It’s fun trying to get close after all these years.
This article originally appeared in VG March 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Marillion has been playing thought-provoking neo-prog since its 1983 debut album, Script for a Jester’s Tear. Along the way, the group has issued classic releases of the genre including Misplaced Childhood, Seasons End, and Marbles, among others. Recently, it unveiled an 18th studio album, FEAR (F**k Everyone and Run). Guitarist Steve Rothery has been a member of the band since its inception – the only original member still in attendance.
Which guitars do we hear on the new album?
It’s mainly three – my Blade RH-4, which was one of the first Blades made in 1988/’89. It has two single-coils, a humbucker, a switchable mid-boost, maple neck, and a tobacco sunburst finish. It’s my normal go-to guitar, live, and I’ve used it since the Anoraknophobia album in 2001. One other is a guitar made by Jack Dent, who has made me a range of guitars, all beautiful instruments. The last one he made, which I used on my solo album, The Ghosts of Pripyat, is called the Raven and its pickup configuration is modeled after the Blade, including the switchable boost. It’s got a great sort of chimey, rich, deep sound.
The only other electric guitar on the album was a 12-string Italia on “White Paper.” It has a Rickenbacker-type of approach, but the neck’s a little wider. It’s got this white finish, which is not usually my style, but it’s a great-sounding guitar and it records really well.
How do you approach solos in Marillion?
Most of what you hear on this album is what happened in the room at the time. For one of the sections in “The New Kings” we jammed for several months, then used the best of the ideas, where the first part was from three years ago, and then it goes into a section that was jammed around in January of this year. So it became like a montage – a patchwork of ideas from different times. But because everything is recorded into ProTools, we have that facility. So I guess if the music inspires me, it kind of carries me along, really. I just tried to not play the obvious thing. Which is always difficult, especially when you’ve made 18 albums; there’s the fear of repeating yourself. So I try and find something fresh each time.
Guitar-wise, which Marillion album is your favorite?
Each has great moments. Apart from obviously the new album, which is always your favorite at the time, the classic album for me probably would be Afraid of Sunlight. While recording it, we were faced with having to make an album pretty quickly and were under the threat of being dropped by EMI at the time. It was the first album recorded at our own studio, and it’s just a great collection of songs with some really cool sounds in there. There’s a Steinberger doubleneck 12-string played through Rockman modules and a Quadraverb, which creates this really bell-like sound on the track “Gazpacho.” There are some classic Marshall sounds, as well, on “King.” My main live guitar from the old days is a black Squier Strat – one of the Japanese ones, with a Kahler-looking vibrato and EMG pickups. That, with the Rockman modules, I used quite a lot on that album.
Back in the ’80s, Marillion toured with Queen and Rush. What do you recall about sharing the stage with Brian May and Alex Lifeson?
A couple of months ago, I saw Brian for the first time in about 25 years, actually. We did a festival together in Switzerland, and he came over, said hello. In the ’80s, our band played one of the festivals and he actually joined us for a song. I’ve never heard a guitar sound so loud! He had a wall of AC30s cranked, and it was like a jumbo jet taking off. It was phenomenal. Alex Lifeson… Rush has always been a fantastic live band. The thing that most impressed me was just the speed of the guitar changes he does on some of the tracks where he’s playing an acoustic, then it’s whipped off him by a tech and within three or four seconds he’s playing a power chord on an electric. I envy that dexterity!
This article originally appeared in VG February 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
The worlds of metal and jazz guitar couldn’t be more opposite – one specializes in volume and riffing, the other on restraint and strumming. As guitarist for thrash metallists Testament and leader of a trio, Alex Skolnick has carved niches in both.
What’s the story with the latest Testament album, Brotherhood of the Snake?
It happened after a lot of touring with the band, so everybody’s chops were well-oiled. But there was a sense of it being rushed; we didn’t get to jam on the songs. It was done when Eric [Peterson, guitar] and Chuck [Billy, vocals] found tiny windows of time and the rest of us were involved in different projects. Some tracks have riffs Eric and I had worked on together. “Neptune’s Spear” just didn’t make it on to the previous album, but it’s got a Baroque counterpoint section I came up with. Even though it was done in a rush and a slightly different direction, it sounds really good. Production-wise, it’s one of the stronger records.
Is it difficult to switch gears – play metal, then jazz?
Not anymore. It was when I dove into jazz for the first time: I had to take a sabbatical from most other music. Once I re-entered the metal world, when Testament reunited [in 2005], I was doing more of it. I never stopped it entirely, but it wasn’t my focus. Once I started again in the 2000s, it took a while, but when shows were scheduled, I gave myself months to review, then after the first day thought, “I’ll have this in a week.” Maybe 72 hours later, it came back and never left.
The tones I use for each are very different, the volume is different. With jazz, I’m not playing through a wall of amps, next to a bass that’s so loud I have to wear earplugs. When I play jazz, the whole band is not as loud as one instrument in a metal situation. So you’re going to play different. When I play metal, I don’t have a hollowbody or a semi-hollow acoustic with this clean, natural tone that brings out chord melodies. I have this very crunchy sound. Each lends itself to different playing.
Alex Skolnick: Tom Couture.
Which guitars do you use?
It depends, but my one overlap is my ESP signature model, which is handcrafted. There’s also the LTD version. To me, it captures everything I want and feels effortless for moving around the neck and its fluidity. And, it has many tones. It’s my go-to guitar for Testament and other heavy projects like Metal Allegiance. But it’s been finding its way into other work, as well. I do a lot of jazz-rock; I’ve been touring lately with Stu Hamm, and the guitar sounds great. I’ll find different tones. Or the Jane Getter Premonition… she’s a great artist and has Chad Wackerman on drums and Adam Holzman, from Miles Davis’ band [on keyboards]; that brings out a whole other side of that guitar.
With my Trio, I split between that guitar and one called the Montreal Premiere, made by Godin. It’s a semi-hollow; for the longest time, I never saw the point of the semi-hollow because I always thought the sound is closer to an electric than a full jazz box like a 175 or an L-5. But this one, I flipped out over because it has the elegance of a hollowbody yet doesn’t feed back much. I can distort it and it still sounds great. I can do a screaming solo in the same song as an elegant chord melody, which I actually do in “Dream On” by Aerosmith, which that I’ve revamped and put on the new Trio album, Unbound. It’s very inspired by McLaughlin and Hendrix.
This article originally appeared in VG February 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Few ’60s rockers have had the lasting influence of the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, whose 12-string Rickenbacker “jangle pop” sound influenced the likes of Tom Petty and REM, and helped blaze the “country rock” trail later perfected by the Eagles, Poco, and others.
McGuinn is still making a difference, as evidenced by his recent four-disc release, The Folk Den Project: Twentieth Anniversary Edition, which sees the singer/guitarist covering folk tunes written/performed by others in an effort to keep the material in the spotlight.
Since 1995, McGuinn has been recording traditional folk material offered via his website, mcguinn.com, and he re-recorded 100 tracks from The Folk Den Project: 1995-2005, before doing the same for the Twentieth Anniversary set. Beyond tunes renowned (“Yellow Rose of Texas”) and obscure (“South Australia”), both include compositions updated lyrically by McGuinn to fit the times. For example, “Last Payday at Coal Creek” is reworked as “No Payday in Detroit.”
In a discussion with Vintage Guitar, McGuinn discussed his career, his instruments, and his approach to recording.
The Martin D-7.
Who influenced you to start playing guitar?
My original influence was Elvis Presley. He really didn’t play guitar – just hung one over his shoulder. But Scotty Moore was one of my influences.
How about later, in the realm of folk guitar?
Bob Gibson. He was kind of a student of Peter Seeger, whose 12-string guitar was a great influence. I got my first 12-string in ’57 or ’58 and it influenced my later work with the Byrds because I’d already been playing it.
How did you first choose the Rickenbacker that became so important to the Byrds’ sound?
We saw A Hard Day’s Night, and George Harrison had a Rick 12 in the movie. So I went to the guitar store and traded an acoustic 12-string and a five-string banjo to get a Rickenbacker 12-string. It was an amazing improvement.
What makes the Rickenbacker 12-string unique for you compared to other guitars?
There’s something interesting about its hollow body. It’s only about 2″ thick, but it’s got a ring to it – the pickups they use and the way they string it, with the high string last. On a 12-string, the high string is usually first when you pluck down. But the Rickenbackers were strung with a high string last, so you hit the low string and the high string, which gave it more of a ring.
Would you say your guitar playing affected the Byrds’ sound and direction?
Well, I would say the Rickenbacker electric 12-string created what they call “the jingle-jangle sound” the Byrds were known for.
How would you chart your progression as a guitarist?
I just kind of play folk music – fingerpicking and some flatpicking. One of the most unusual things I did was “Eight Miles High,” which was more flatpicking where I was emulating John Coltrane on the saxophone.
The HD-7 Roger McGuinn signature model.
How has the Folk Den project affected or influenced your guitar playing?
It kept me in the studio, kept my chops up. We took about a year to re-record the songs, and I had to go back and do guitar parts on most of them. They’re all multi-track recordings that we put down to CD-quality.
As you see it, which of your albums were most pivotal in regard to advancing your songwriting and guitar playing?
Songwriting – and I think guitar-wise – probably Cardiff Rose (from 1976) and Back From Rio (’91).
Back From Rio is particularly underrated. You were backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. How did that develop?
It started in ’87, when Tom was in Florida and we went to visit him at his hotel. His daughters, who were young at the time, were flying kites on the beach. He said, “In a couple of weeks, I’m going on tour with Bob Dylan in Europe.” I said, “Oh man. You’re going to have so much fun!” Because I remembered the Rolling Thunder Revue and how much fun that was. Tom said, “Well, I’ll ask Bob if you can come along.” The next day, he said, “Bob said, ‘Yeah, bring him along’!” So I got to be the opener, and Tom and the Heartbreakers backed me on some Byrds songs, then did their set before backing Dylan on his.
While on tour, Tom and I wrote “King of the Hill,” which was about John Phillips – we were both reading his autobiography, Papa John. Randy Gerston took that song to Clive Davis and said, “Hey, this is pretty cool. You ought to sign Roger to a record deal.” And they did. So, Tom and I did the song, Stan Lynch played drums on the album, Mike Campbell came in and did a lot of guitar, Benmont Tench did a lot of keyboard work, and they brought in John Jorgenson to play multiple instruments. That’s how Tom got involved in Back from Rio – it was a natural progression of events.
“The Byrds were incredibly good as a live band with Clarence.”
Your primary instruments these days are a banjo, a Martin seven-string, Martin 12-string, and the Rick 12-string…
Yeah. I got the banjo from Bernie Leadon, who was in the Eagles at the time and needed a Scruggs-style banjo. I had one, so he came to my house and traded a banjo he had made. It is really wonderful, and I still play it.
The seven-string is a Martin HD-7; I asked Martin if they would put the best part of a 12-string on a six-string so I could play leads up and down the G string. It has that high string and low string on the G, like a 12-string, but the rest is like a six-string. My idea was to make the one guitar that would kind of do everything. I play it a lot – love it.
The Martin 12-string is another signature model we came up with some years ago.
McGuinn (right) onstage with Clarence White.
How did you come up with the idea for the Martin seven-string?
My wife, Camilla, and I came back from Paris on the Concorde. They told us they’d handle our luggage “with kid gloves” – wrapped it in plastic and everything. We flew to New York and stayed in a hotel at the Trump Towers. I opened the 12-string case and was practicing. I didn’t notice that the back had been damaged, but Camilla, who was behind me, suddenly screamed when she saw that the end of the guitar was caved in! They must’ve dropped it. I thought, “Maybe it’s not a great idea to carry a 12-string acoustic and a six-string acoustic on the road. I’d love to have a six-string that had the best part of a 12.” So I went to Martin, and Dick Boak and I worked out on a napkin exactly how we wanted the peghead and the bridge to be – we basically designed this Martin HD-7. And we kind of had to fight for it, because Martin had a hard time tooling it. But they made several hundred, and it’s my favorite instrument to play these days because it has the ring of a 12-string with the beauty, ease, and flexibility of a six-string; you can bend on it, and you can play bluegrass runs on the bottom strings. It’s really fun to play.
McGuinn with his Rickenbacker 360/12 in 1972.
What other instruments have you played throughout your career?
I play some mandolin. I bought one maybe 10 years ago and have been using it on Folk Den albums. I also have a bandolin, which is like a banjo body with a mandolin neck, strung like a mandolin.
Do you still own all three Rickenbackers you played in the ’60s with the Byrds?
No. I’ve got one. The other two were stolen.
Which amplifiers do you use?
Onstage now I use a Roland Cube 80, but I used to use a JC-120. In the studio, I used to plug in direct; I’d go into the control room and plug into the board, because I had more control that way.
What about effects?
I don’t use effects other than compression, and that just happened with Columbia Records, when we recorded “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and Ray Gerhardt was the engineer. He put us through two compressors, piggybacked. That’s the only effect I ever used in the studio. Later, on the road, I brought a phase shifter when that was the new thing. But I think the Rick sounds better without it.
Martin’s D-42RM.
You play with a flatpick and wear picks on your middle and ring fingers. When and how did you devise that approach?
When I started in the Byrds, I had to play lead guitar with a flatpick, but I also wanted to fingerpick, so I moved the fingerpick over one finger and used the flatpick between my thumb and index finger as the thumb pick. My picking style developed simply to work for both fingerpicking and flatpicking.
Do you still use .010-gauge Pyramid Gold strings on the Rick?
I do, and I love them. They’re kind of expensive, but they last a long time. I mean, like a year.
You also have a home studio. What’s in your setup there?
It’s a MacBook Pro with Protools, and good microphones. It’s everything you need. It’s like a project studio.
How do modern home studios compare to studios in the ’60s?
In the ’60s we had a four-track, and now I have 96. So that’s better. And we’d record to 15″ IPS reel-to-reel machines, in real time – so you couldn’t pop in and fix something. So it’s better now that you can go in and move a part and copy and paste, and all these wonderful advantages of Protools. I think it’s better now. The only thing is if there is thunder or lightning outside or the gardeners are outside with a buzzing machine, you might hear some of that. So, you have to quit for a minute. That’s the only advantage of the real studios – soundproofing.
We went to Dolly Parton’s studio in Nashville, and she had a Neve mixing board – hundreds of thousands of dollars – and a 24-track tape machine in the corner covered in dust. She was using two inputs of the Neve to go into a Macintosh, and the engineer sat with a mouse, controlling the tracks. They didn’t have faders or anything. I recorded “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with Dolly, and it was amazing. I got into it because Terry Melcher invited me to the West Coast to play on a Beach Boys album. I went to his house in Carmel and was sitting in the living room with him, thinking that at any minute we were going to get in a car and go to the studio. Instead, we walked into the den and there was his engineer with a Macintosh and a beta version of Protools. It was a Mac Quadra and he had 12 gigabytes of optical storage, and that was all he had (laughs). He recorded this whole Beach Boys album on a Macintosh. I came back home and said, “I’ve got to get this.” But back then, Protools was something like $10,000. And you had to get these modules that went to a tower computer, because normal computers weren’t fast enough. Now, a MacBook Pro is fast enough to do 96 tracks.
It’s interesting to ponder what some ’60s artists would have done if they had access to more than four tracks.
We had to be pretty creative to get “Mr. Tambourine Man” on a four-track. I mean, the band was probably on two tracks, with everything live in the studio. Harmonies and lead vocal went on the other tracks, along with a tambourine or something. You had to bounce things from one track to another, and when you did that, you’d lose its original sound. And at the CBS Studio on Sunset and Gower in Hollywood, they had an eight-track, but the engineers were scared of it because they had to rewire the console! So they had a sign on it that said “Big Beast” or something. They didn’t want to deal with it, so they were still working with a four-track when we started.
Let’s discuss the Byrds’ guitarists, starting with Clarence White.
Clarence was amazing. He was the guy Jimi Hendrix came backstage to say hello to. It was like having a loaded machine gun when you had Clarence White out there. The Byrds were incredibly good as a live band with Clarence.
Was Jimi a Byrds fan, and did you ever hang out with him?
Yeah. He came backstage at the Whiskey a Go Go and I shook his hand, then he went right over to Clarence and congratulated him on his great playing. Another time, I was in the Village when Eric Andersen saw me on the street and invited me to his loft. He said, “I’ve got Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix up there – we’re having a jam session. Do you want to come up and play?” And I said, “Yeah!” Of course, they were playing all blues-based stuff and I just kind of tagged along behind them. But it was quite an experience.
Which songs contain your favorite solos by Clarence?
He did great work on everything we ever did, like “Chestnut Mare” and “Old Blue.” He was incredible. He was unpredictable. He was always syncopating and coming out of places you didn’t expect.
What about Gene Clark?
Gene was not a great guitar player. He was a good songwriter and singer, but he just kind of strummed and played rhythm.
David Crosby?
David was a really fine rhythm player – influenced by jazz, so he had the ability to really do great rhythm parts in the background.
Gene Parsons played a bit of guitar, too.
Yes, Gene played, but he was not known for his guitar playing.
Gram Parsons was briefly a member of the Byrds, as a guitarist and pedal-steel player.
I don’t think he was a great guitarist. He was a strummer – wasn’t a picker. He just used it to accompany his vocals. He was a pretty good singer and he really had a passion for [country] music. That was his strength, really.
What do you recall about Gram being in the band? Did he help steer it in a country-rock direction?
He didn’t really start out as a country artist, he was in a Kingston Trio kind of group at one time. He was influenced by Elvis Presley, like most of us were. And I remember Jim Stafford grew up with him in Florida. Jim asked Gram about country music, and he wasn’t really into it at the time. So there was some development that happened later in his life.
He was in the Byrds as a sideman – like a musician for hire. He wasn’t really a group member or a partner. But he was enthusiastic about country music – loved Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and all those artists – and brought that enthusiasm to us. He was the catalyst for us going to Nashville and recording Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
Was there trepidation from the record company when they first heard Sweetheart?
Columbia Records was really easygoing – they never ever told us what direction to go, never said, “No. You can’t do that.” Once we submitted a record, we said, “This is where we’re going to go,” and they went, “Okay,” and they got behind it. They used a Jo Mora poster for the cover… they had to license it from his estate or something. But they were very lenient with us – let us go any artistic direction. So there was never any hassle getting it done. We had most of the songs written by the time we got to Nashville, so we mostly hung around the hotel and played poker (laughs).
Why do you think that album was not fully appreciated when it was first released?
It came out of left field. Most people who were rock enthusiasts back then did not like country music, because of its political ramifications – it was considered fascist/right-wing music. And rock-and-roll was left-wing communist music. So the two camps didn’t get along. I remember people saying, “The heartbreak of Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” And 30 years later it kind of became the best Byrds albums ever.
This article originally appeared in VG January 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
One of the most original-sounding guitarists to emerge from the post-punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s was Gang of Four’s Andy Gill. While he didn’t take many solos, his slashing, funky playing on classic albums like Entertainment! stood out – and inspired acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Gill produced that band’s debut album). Gang of Four recently released Live… In the Moment.
How did you develop a guitar style?
“It’s complicated yet simple” is the sort of dumb answer, because there were so many types of music I loved. When I was young, Hendrix was a big obsession, with his flowing, soloing, colorful, expressive style. But there were more groove-orientated things that got me quite excited – a lot of Motown things which are not guitar-driven at all. With Motown, the way the grooves were put together really got under my skin. And people like Steve Cropper, who is an amazing, underrated rhythm guitarist. Nile Rodgers is a descendent of Cropper in a way – someone who totally knows their chords but has got an incredible rhythmic feel. That very-rhythmic thing, abstract feedback, and those drones, again – a bit on the Hendrix side of things; if you like, a very “paint-ily” approach to making noise on the guitar. And then reggae and that feeling for space – it’s the antithesis of all those rock guitarists who are throwing as many notes as possible in their solos. Reggae is the kind of antidote for that. I didn’t really like any punk guitarists at all, but the great pre-punk Dr. Feelgood – Wilko Johnson was an enormous influence on me. Listen to “Damaged Goods” and you know where that kind of vibe comes from. It’s all over the place.
Gang of Four remains a unique-sounding band.
The guitar within Gang of Four is very unlike traditional rock, where there’s a hierarchy where you have the lead vocal at the pinnacle, and under that are the guitars, then the keyboards, and below that you’ve got the bass and the drums. The way that I put together Gang of Four was the opposite – everything was side-by-side. So the vocals worked around the guitar, the guitar worked around the bass and drums… it was in a horizontal line where everything relates to everything else.
I think of the Gang of Four approach as the band is the instrument. The guitar isn’t the instrument; the band is the instrument being played. Many of the guitar parts in those songs, if you try and play it on its own, for the most part, it doesn’t make a whole heap of sense. It’s completely dependent on a symbiotic relationship with the other elements.
What are your go-to amps, effects, and guitars?
I’ve always had a bit of a love for transistor amps – basic solidstate amps of the ’70s. People have forever gone on about the warm sound of valves. I used to find it ever so slightly irritating, so I was instinctively drawn a bit to transistorized amps – there’s a brand in the U.K. called Carlsbro. It’s a 2×12 combo, and it had a very detailed, pristine, clear but aggressive sound. I’ve had various models, but I’ve still got one from the early ’80s, the time of the second album (Solid Gold) and I still use it. The other amps I really like are Peavey – I like the 4×10 open-back combo. When I play live, I usually have one of each.
I’ve never been big-time into pedals. I sometimes use the built-in tremolo on the Carlsbro, but in more recent years I was using a Peavey rack unit for a while. These days, I’ve been using a laptop; basically, the guitar goes in the interface, through some stuff in the laptop – various plug-ins – and into the amp.
The guitar I return to again and again is a Strat, and the one that I use most is from the late ’80s with Lace pickups I particularly like because they tend to be less buzzy than some Fenders can be. I also have a Gibson 335 I used a lot in the ’90s. It’s a different sound, very cool character. I also had a Burns, but it got stolen, and there’s a guitar I got fairly recently, a Reverend that I really like. I’ve been doing some songwriting at the moment using that, and I’m pretty impressed with it.
This article originally appeared in VG January 2017 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
It’s difficult enough to be a member of one metal band, let alone two. But Pepper Keenan is pulling double-duty as a member of both Corrosion of Conformity (as singer/guitarist) and Down (as guitarist). The former’s reunion certainly makes sense, as the Keenan-fronted lineup enjoyed the biggest commercial success.
We spoke with him about how CoC is going about picking up where it left off in 2006.
How did the idea come up to reunite with CoC?
Just being on tour and hearing a lot of people asking, “When are you going to get back together?” That kind of thing. It had been a long time since I’d spoken to Reed [Mullin, drums] and then they started doing the three-piece thing. People just kind of kept the band alive and were really curious about the possibility of us playing again. We talked about it. We said, “Let’s just go to Europe, play some shows, and feel it out.” It was like riding a bike. It was really fun. And the songs really do stand the test of time. It was awesome to play them – some we hadn’t played in 20 years. It went great, so it just started rolling from there, and everybody seemed to dig what we were doing.
How is it playing in the band now compared to the first time around?
We’ve all matured a bit. We’re not necessarily better (laughs), but we’re playing better. It’s just really fun. It’s bizarre when you go back and play songs you wrote a long time ago, and you wonder, “How the hell did we write this thing?” It’s always fun to go back and do that. Playing-wise, it’s been a blast.
What can fans expect from the forthcoming CoC studio album?
It’s a tall order, because the last record I did with CoC was In the Arms of God, which in my opinion is about as good as I could do it. That was us at the top of our game. So, our standards are very high and we don’t take this opportunity lightly, so we’re putting a lot of energy and time into making the correct record for where we’re at right now, but going backward a little bit, too. We’re not scared to do that. I know which parts work – and how – for us. We just want to make what’s in our head – a killer classic CoC record. And with John Custer working with us, who produced all those records. He’s super-excited, too.
How would you say your guitar playing differs from when you play with CoC compared to Down?
Down is a little more ham-fisted, if that makes any sense. The CoC thing, obviously, I’m singing. It’s just two different animals. The Down stuff, I’m more focused on ripping guitar stuff because I don’t have to sing. And the CoC stuff is really more song-oriented.
Which guitars, effects, and amplifiers do you use?
Right now, live, I am using two Orange Thunderverb 50-watt heads, Orange cabinets, and minimal pedals. I got your wah, delay, a Phase 90, and an overdrive, and I can pretty much get anywhere I need to go with that small setup. And then I’ve got two ESP custom-made guitars that are like SGs. I’ve used them forever, they’re bulletproof and beat to s**t, but still play great. They’re based on one of my favorite Gibson SGs, just made thicker – as thick as a Telecaster. There are only two of them.
What does the thickness add to the instrument?
It’s just sturdier, and I really wanted to put the jack upside-down on the side of the guitar, so it came up by the strap. I had them use a Strat-style input jack, so it goes up and over the strap. On some of the Gibsons, it comes out the front, and I break them all the time. I played SGs so long and thought, “How can I make it better for me?” We also moved the pickup selector out of the way and put the Volume knob in a different spot – closer to the strings, like a Stratocaster.
Which album of your entire career is your favorite from a guitar-playing standpoint?
It would be two of them. In the Arms of God, guitar-playing-wise, is pretty damn epic. And the Down stuff… Down II has some pretty crazy guitar s**t on it.
This article originally appeared in VG December 2016 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Lance Lopez is a guitar-slinging blues machine that burns like Texas hot sauce in August. He has scorched the festival circuit for years with an enviable body of work and inspired musicianship. His latest project brings together bassist/producer Fabrizio Grossi, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and Billy Gibbons. The band is called Supersonic Blues Machine and the name of the album is West Of Flushing, South Of Frisco. It’s packed with rootsy compositions, stellar playing, and some of the finest guitarists in blues.
How did this all come together?
Fabrizio Grossi and I have mutual friends in Europe; I’d been touring there like crazy. A lot of cats there were saying, “You guys need to hook up and work together. He’s a killer producer and engineer.” They kept going on about it and after touring slowed down, I reached out to Fabrizio.
When I got out to L.A., we started recording. I had written some songs and Fabrizio and I started working on them. We blocked out two or three days and, lo and behold, the next day, Billy Gibbons called Fabrizio about working on a project. Billy asked, “What are you doing?” He said, “I’m working with this cat, Lance Lopez.” Billy was like, “What?! I’ve known Lance since he was a kid!”; I’ve known Billy since I was 15. Billy said, “You guys should form a band. Let’s do something and I’ll be on it.” So that’s what we did.
How did the songs come together?
“Running Whiskey” was a track Billy had been working on for the La Futura album with ZZ Top. It was never finalized. We had other songs from Nashville that we took and made our own. It was easy for me because I spend so much time writing, producing, and doing everything on my own for my solo albums. This was a freeing opportunity to sit back, play guitar, and sing. I could play and sing on great songs that I’d gathered from great writers from Nashville, New York, and L.A.
West Of Flushing, South Of Frisco has a lot of variety.
I wanted to work with great songwriters. For me it’s usually balls-to-the-wall ripping. I’m used to playing Texas roadhouses for four hours of straight shredding. So it was nice to be in a band with great songs as opposed to me standing in front of a trio all night.
How did Kenny Aronoff become attached to the project?
I met him through Fabrizio. They worked with Steve Lukather and did the Leslie West record together. When Billy said “Put something together,” the first person Fabrizio thought of was Kenny. He loved the tracks that we’d been working on.
The album has guests Robben Ford, Warren Haynes, Eric Gales, Chris Duarte, and Walter Trout. What’s your response to what they brought to the record?
I’m in absolute awe of everything! I would cut several guitar solos to choose from, then leave holes for them. With Warren, I played a Stratocaster because nine times out of 10, he’ll be playing a Les Paul. I wanted something to contrast the track. “Remedy” has that smooth, creamy, Les-Paul-neck-pickup sound. I needed something that didn’t sound identical.
With Robben Ford, we knew he was going to have epic God-like tone (laughs). What are you gonna do there? Eric Gales and Chris Duarte and I have been friends for a long time. We’ve recorded together so many times that we know how to play together and make it work. We played Stratocasters. Billy, Chris, and Eric and I go back 20-plus years. We’re long-term friends. That was the great thing about having them on this album. Chris is such a big guitar hero here in Texas that there was no way not to have him on the record.
You and Billy Gibbons have great chemistry on “Running Whiskey.”
I’m playing rhythm and singing all the backgrounds. Billy and Tal Wilkenfeld wrote the song. Billy is playing all the leads and I’m using a Fender Esquire through a Deluxe and playing a Keith Richards/Ronnie Wood style. Billy played an SG through a big, hot-rodded Marshall.
Any shows to support the record?
We’re going to have as many guests from the record as we can. We’ll have some dates and prep to go to Europe. We’ll be doing some playing and really growing as a band with our guests. Aside from that, I’ll be out with my own trio, playing blues festivals and clubs. I’ll be doing the same thing I’ve been doing – beating down roadhouses here in Texas (laughs).
This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Manhattan native Paul Nelson has been influenced by many great guitarists – some of whom gave him lessons, gigs, and/or recording opportunities. But that hasn’t kept him from recording two solo albums on his own terms.
While attending Berklee School of Music intent on a career in the field, Nelson focused on expanding not only his skills, but his knowledge of music in all forms.
“I knew I’d have to listen to as many guitarists as possible, including jazz, country, rock, and pop artists, and everything in-between,” he said. He also took lessons from Steve Vai, Steve Khan, and Mike Stern. His 2001 solo debut, Look, was a nod to fusion.
“I love players like Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, and Jeff Beck,” he said of it. “I was very pleased with how well it was received. I tried to create a fusion record with song structure and melody, along with stretching the technical boundaries of the guitar.”
His recent group effort, Badass Generation, is full of straight-on rock guitar.
Given his serious attitude from an early age, he developed a preference for serious guitars.
“My first real instrument was a Telecaster, followed by a Firebird,” he recalled. “Soon after, I made an effort to play everything I could get my hands on. Plus, I’ve always been fascinated by the construction of a guitar and the elements that go into it. That has helped me get the tones I look for.”
His career has included work with many of his heroes; a 10-year affiliation with Johnny Winter is the highlight of his sideman ventures. And yes, he recognizes the irony in the fact that he, a Texas guy in a blues band, has an affinity for – and capabilities within – fusion.
“My role didn’t change at all,” Nelson said of his tenure with Winter. “He was a fan of my playing, as well, and let me do my thing. Johnny appreciated my ability to complement his playing in such a way as to not conflict with how he played. On several occasions, he told me how it was ‘a constant guitar battle’ with his past players. He told me, ‘I know you can play as well, even better than them. But I really like the way we play together without stepping all over each other.’”
These days, Nelson counts on numerous guitars to ply his trade.
“Right now, I play everything under the sun, depending on the recording situation; I’m involved in so many projects,” he said. “I mostly play Stratocasters and Les Pauls, along with Taylor acoustics. I really like the guitars sent by GJ2, and I’m very excited about my new signature model that Delaney Guitars is building.”
Badass Generation is credited to the Paul Nelson Band rather than being presented as a solo effort, and he described the difference between it and his ’01 album as “night and day.” Also, its direction away from straight blues was very intentional.
“It’s a mix of many influences from blues to rock, jam, pop, Southern rock. I feel we’re at a good point in music now where one can mix it up more on a single recording and not just be stuck in one style. I think it shows the diversity of an artist or band and gives the listener more.”
Unusual tones include what sounds like a slide on “Please Come Home.”
“Many times, I play slide style without a slide; it’s kind of my own invention. I’m a big fan of the Duane Allman and Johnny Winter style of slide playing, as well, so that might come into play now and then.”
As for personal favorite solos on Badass Generation, Nelson was ambivalent.
“I was really happy with all my solos, as I really tried to make them part of the song,” he said. “Even songs within themselves. If I had to pick one, it would be in ‘Goodbye Forever.’ There’s a little nod to Johnny in there, as well.”
Nelson and the band began touring in May, and in addition to its efforts, Nelson has more than one collaboration on the horizon.
“My good friend Jimmy Vivino and I are on a Paul Butterfield project coming out soon,” he said. “I’m also producing and playing on a Junior Wells album with a great list of artists.”
This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Storming the stage like King Conan The Biker, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde was one of the highlights of the Tony MacAlpine Benefit Concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles last December, laying waste to screaming guitar maniacs with a ferocious onslaught that included Black Sabbath and Allman Brothers classics.
Wylde has been stunning audiences for years with his inimitable combination of fretboard intensity and classic-rock musicality. His new album, Book Of Shadows II, continues this tradition with acoustic singer/songwriter compositions that explore the depths of his artistry.
What made you finally decide to do a sequel to Book Of Shadows I?
It’s been almost 20 years, but I was like, “Chinese Democracy took 15 years. Let’s break that record (laughs).” So that’s why when we got to 18 years, I said, “Let’s go two more and make it 20.” This way, the record will be secure. The only other person that can possibly beat this 20-year mark will be maybe Richard Branson if he was going to make a record (laughs).
I still can’t believe it’s 20 years. When we’re on tour with Black Label Society, people always ask, “Hey Zakk, you ever going to get around to making another Book Of Shadows record?” I’m like, “Oh yeah. In between putting together world peace, splitting the atom, cleaning the dog, and changing diapers, I’ll get around to that (laughs).”
We did a short run and it was definitely cool. We’d been supporting Catacombs Of The Black Vatican for the last two years – doing the heavy thing. So I thought, “Why don’t we see if we can knock something out to coincide with the 20-year anniversary?”
What was the motivation behind Book Of Shadows?
After doing Ozzmosis with Ozzy, I was in limbo. We’d track all day and then I’d go out drinking all night. I’d end up at this one bar and the jukebox would be playing The Band, Bob Seger, The Allman Brothers, The Stones, Elton John, The Eagles, Van Morrison, Percy Sledge, and Sam Cooke. I’d be hearing all that and just get inspired. At 6 or 7 o’clock in the morning I’d be rolling into my room. I’d take out an acoustic guitar and start writing stuff in that vein. I had all these songs, so I tracked it. That’s how that record came about.
Most people think of you as a wailing metal guitarist, but acoustic singer/songwriting is a big part of your repertoire.
It’s always been there, even with Ozzy – “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Road Back Home,” and “Time After Time.” The mellow stuff has always been around, and it’s been there with Black Label since the beginning, like “Spoke In The Wheel.” The last album had “Angel Of Mercy,” “Scars,” and stuff like that.
Book Of Shadows II sounds very personal.
The lyrics have to have depth and weight. They’re either things that have happened to me or things that I’ve seen happen to friends. Sometimes, I approach the same topics in three different ways. I’m of the whole process of songwriting from the beginning of starting a song, where it’s going, and writing the lyrics using different metaphors and words of how you’re going to say something. I just sit and start writing until I get what I like.
Were there specific guitars that inspired the writing?
I’m using some of my buddy Garren Dakessian’s Loucin guitars. He made me two – one with a bullseye finish, one with a buzzsaw. I used his guitars and the new prototypes that my company, Wylde Audio, makes. Those are the acoustics on the record. All the electric guitars were Wylde Audio.
What’s your philosophy in regard to designing guitars?
Just make things good. If you’re making a cheeseburger, just make it good! It’s the ingredients that you’re using, too. If it’s s**t, it’s going to be terrible. Same thing goes with the amps. You gotta use good components. Don’t skimp, just make it good. And make it affordable. Don’t make it if you have to be in a seven-figure tax bracket to buy the thing. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make something good. There’s no excuse for making s***ty anything.
You recently finished the Experience Hendrix Tour. What’s next?
After the Generation Axe tour, I go to London, then I’ll be touring until 2017, when we’ll make another Black Label album. Then we’ll be out doing festivals. We got pretty much the next three years wrapped up.
This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Cummings with his Les Paul Special and Peavey T-60.
George Cummings is best known as the original guitarist for Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, his father’s amateur picking set a course.
As a teenager in the late ’50s, he was playing clubs along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and into Mobile, Alabama. In the early ’60s, he began attending college on a football scholarship, earning a degree in ’64. Afterward, he continued gigging and within a few years gained regional notoriety as a member of the Chocolate Papers, which ventured as far as Chicago and Charleston, South Carolina. Perhaps its important gig was a residency at the Gus Stevens Supper Club, in Biloxi.
“We backed many of the acts Gus booked,” Cummings remembered. “Lavern Baker was one of the most famous. Her shows were the most challenging – and the most fun.”
That band evolved into Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, which became protégés of songwriter Shel Silverstein and broke through after appearing in (and on the soundtrack of) the 1971 movie Who Is Harry Kellerman And Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? Fame and fortune with hits like “Cover of the Rolling Stone” and “Sylvia’s Mother” allowed Cummings to acquire instruments including a Gretsch Chet Atkins Nashville and a four-neck Fender Stringmaster.
Remembered today primarily for “Cover of the Rolling Stone” and its goofy guitar-lead break, Cummings recalled how the band presented it onstage complete with a “freakout,” noting, “Some nights, I’d jump off the amps, get super feedback and sustain… the crowd would go wild.” The song’s “wolf whistle,” he added, was done with the Gretsch’s pickup selector in the middle position.
Fatigue, egos, and finances frustrated Cummings, and the band crumbled.“I stayed on the road for five years until severe bronchitis almost did me in, (but I) never missed a show,” he said. Still, he has remained active and recently played the New Jersey area in a blues band called Mudbelly.
Cummings (right) in the Chocolate Papers. A bandmate (left) holds the Gibson lap steel that was on loan from Hartley Peavey.
“I’ve made trips to Germany, working with good bands there, and when I’m back in Meridian, I hook up with good players and we do local gigs.”
As a kid in Meridian, Cummings befriended a young tinkerer named Hartley Peavey, and spent time helping building speaker cabinets and exploring electronics.
“I just helped him glue and screw things together,” he noted, relating how he once traded a Fender Strat for a mid-’50s Les Paul Special that Peavey had refinished white; it remains in his collection today.
The same can’t be said for a lap steel that’s now at the Hard Rock Café in Berlin. “I wish I still had that Gibson Hartley loaned me… that I forgot to give back to him,” he chuckled. Other guitars in his stash include a Yairi gut-string, a National lap-steel, a ’52 Gretsch, a Gibson acoustic, Peavey Wolfgang, an ESP, and a Vega seven-string lap steel, but his go-to instrument these days is an early Peavey T-60.
“I was living in Biloxi in ’77 when Hartley sent it, and I still play it more than my other electric guitars. It sounds great, stays in tune, and looks good.”
This article originally appeared in VG August 2016 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
