Tag: overdrive

Whether coughing up the #2 talk-box lick of the ’70s, kicking the Eagles into overdrive, or wryly expressing his views on subjects ranging from rock-and-roll excess to lawn mowers to a good ol’ set of double Ds, Joe Walsh has earned a rep for delivering a message.

The guitarist/songwriter/ producer/actor who gained fame in the James Gang and as a solo artist before joining the Eagles, has just released Analog Man, his first solo album in two decades.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, Walsh’s family lived in Ohio and New York City before moving to Montclair, New Jersey, where he attended high school and began playing guitar in bands. He went on to study at Kent State University, where his free time was spent playing in bands like The Measles.

The James Gang gig started in ’68, and he soon became star of the show for his innovative rhythm playing and creative guitar riffs. The band scored several minor hits before Walsh bailed in late ’71 to help form Barnstorm, which recorded two albums – Barnstorm in 1972 and The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get (’73). The latter served as the band’s commercial breakthrough and included that catchy talk-box solo on its first single, “Rocky Mountain Way,” which reached the U.S. Top 40.

After Barnstorm disbanded in ’74, Walsh became a true solo act, releasing So What and the single “Turn To Stone.” In late ’75, he was asked to replace Bernie Leadon in the country-rock band the Eagles. There, his presence lent the group a distinct rock bent, and its first album with him onboard, the 1976 release Hotel California, included two Top 20 hits on which Walsh played vital roles; he composed the famed guitar riff on Glenn Frey’s “Life in the Fast Lane” and brought to the band a song called “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” which he co-wrote with Barnstorm drummer Joe Vitale.

In the wake of the huge success of Hotel California, the Eagles experienced their share of fame-derived drama, including having members fall into the very traps their songs warned against. The followup, The Long Run, took nearly three years to record and produce – an enormous span at the time. Walsh used the time between to record But Seriously, Folks… and the single “Life’s Been Good,” which parodied rock stardom. He also recorded “In the City” for the soundtrack to Walter Hill’s 1979 cult film The Warriors.

Through the latter half of the ’80s and into the ’90s, Walsh stayed busy performing with a variety of bands in Australia and the U.S., exploring rock, blues and other styles; his 1994 single “Ordinary Average Guy” was originally recorded in 1990 by Herbs, the New Zealand-based reggae legends.

Analog Man reflects on his life over the last decade. Produced by Walsh and Jeff Lynne, the disc sees him working with co-writer Tommy Lee James and features his brother-in-law, Ringo Starr, on drums for one track.

One of the album’s overriding themes is Walsh’s battle with alcoholism, which at times kept him away from music.

“I went out and explored [sobriety]. I just didn’t want to mess with creative stuff or writing or anything because there were still a lot of triggers, until I had enough sobriety to be able to do music that way,” he said. “The other thing that happened was, in 1994, the Eagles decided to get back to work. We did Hell Freezes Over, and have been touring pretty regularly since, been around the world a couple of times. I just never got any momentum going to really go in and do an album.”

When did you start a serious run at making the new album?
That was about three years ago. I’ve been married 31/2 years, and my wife, Marjorie, is the missing part of me.

I have a little attention deficit disorder left over from when I was a kid; I have great ideas, and I get ’em started and I’m excited about ’em. But when it’s time to finish ’em up, I don’t do so good because by then, I have a new idea. But Marjorie… she’s a closer. She has helped me get organized and round everything up. She said, “Look, I really believe in you and you ought to get this done… and by the way, here’s Jeff Lynn’s phone number!”

That had a lot to do with me focusing on it and getting it done. In the last three years, I’ve really worked at it and worked with people on it, doing what needed to get done to make a complete statement.

How did the songs come together? Did you sit with a guitar, at a piano, or what?
Well, some are definitely keyboard songs and some are definitely guitar songs. It’s amazing for me to watch, too. I don’t know what happens. Usually, I’ll play guitar for a while and then find myself playing some chords over and over and I maybe get a verse or a couple lines of a chorus. I don’t really hear the words right away, but I get a theme, get a couple key lines that are good enough to believe. And I do really well when I write with somebody like Jeff Lynn or bounce it off somebody else. Some songs are real painful births, some just pop out.

The new record offers some social commentary, some politics…
Yeah, a little bit of everything. Well, I’ve got a lot to say, and rather than write protest songs or radical stuff, I kind of slip it underneath what the song’s about. One, “The Band Played,” on its surface is a vision of the Titanic going down, but its underlying message is about how we’re standing around like ostriches with our heads in the sand, pretending nothing’s wrong with the world. Meanwhile, the ship’s starting to sink. You know, between the economy and broken government and all, everybody’s kind of gotten complacent, putting up with the status quo. Rather than doing anything about it, we’re just waiting for it to get better, and that’s risky business, because it may not. So I just slipped that message underneath.

I was also thinking about how, even when it was obvious they were doomed, the orchestra on the Titanic went on deck and played until they couldn’t play any longer. That really hit me in the heart – and gives me shivers. All of that with the underlying theme of a social statement I thought made a pretty good, complete song.

Does the song suggest any answers?
I don’t know, it does suggest re-tooling the government and everything. It’s pretty embedded, and that’s part of the problem. In touring and stuff I’ve seen how, between the coasts, it’s pretty bleak. It’s scary to go play a place like Detroit, because I remember Detroit in the ’70s, and it was jumpin’. Now, there’s nobody home. It’s scary.

So I don’t know… I could probably get into a political rant (laughs), but we don’t have enough time! I could run for President, but I’d rather answer some of your questions (laughs)!

Which songs do you think long-time fans will appreciate most?
I think “Wrecking Ball” came out really good. “Analog Man,” I think, is a pretty good Joe Walsh song. “Lucky That Way,” though it wasn’t intentional, ended up being kind of a sequel to “Life’s Been Good,” with a little Nashville theme underneath it. I’m especially happy with those three.

Did you do “Funk 50” because there’s some sort of expectation fans have when it comes to your music?
That’s an interesting story. At the beginning of the last football season, ESPN called me. They have a show called “Sunday NFL Countdown,” and it airs Sunday mornings at 9 o’clock – Chris Berman and the guys. They said, “We want some new music and we’re James Gang fans, so we love ‘Funk 49.’ But we don’t want ‘Funk 49.’ Could you write us something like that?” I thought it would be fun, so I dug out my James Gang albums and studied them, and initially, the song was about a minute long, with no words. It was just for the intro of the show, then coming in and out [of commercial breaks].

They used it all last season, and I thought it came out really good. It was too short and needed some words, but I had a good time with it, so I put it on the album. It’s still too short – I should’ve written more words. But at least it’s something. And of course, when someone tells you they want “Funk 49,” but not “Funk 49,” what else could I call it? “Funk 50.”

Which guitars did you use on the album?
Well, let’s see. There’s some new guitars being made, that Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s band introduced me to – Duesenbergs. I have a couple of ’em – a Double Cat and a DTV Outlaw. They’re like a Les Paul, but a hollowbody with their own vibrato tailpiece. I’ve got one of the radical ones, and it’s pretty nice. They wind their own pickups, which are great, and record great.

I also used a Gretsch 6120, I’ve got an old one. Those are great guitars. Something good comes out any time I pick up one of those. I’m superstitious; I think guitars have songs in ’em. I pick one up and something comes out that I hadn’t planned on playing.

I also used Les Pauls, a smattering of Rickenbackers, Teles and Strats, and a lot of acoustics – mostly Gibson acoustics.

How about amplifiers?
Amp-wise, I came across a couple good things. The jury is still out about amp modeling and plug-ins and that sort of stuff, but I’ve plugged direct into the computer and got some okay results. But my favorite amp lately is a Dr. Z Maz 8, which I’ve been playing for a long time. Mike Zaite really makes some great amps, and they’re also great for recording. The Maz 8 is a single EL84 – not two of ’em. And he found these monster EL84s from Russia, one sounds like two! They’re really souped-up.

The other thing I found is a little Fender modeling amp called an SM-15. It’s got a 10″ speaker. I don’t like modeling amps for recording – they sound good in a room, but when it’s playback time, they sound digital. So I came out of the headphone jack and went into an ART tube preamp and pushed that pretty hard, then put that into the computer, so the computer actually sees tubes, like a buffer. I had really good luck with it.

Going back to the James Gang days, there’s a bit of folklore about how you tweaked your pickups. What were you doing to them?
I’d take the covers off… I went back and forth a lot about whether it made any difference or not, and in the end, I decided it did. I also tried screwing the poles all the way down and bringing the pickup as close to the strings as I could – just a quarter-turn below where it would cause the string to ring.

But you didn’t dig into them at all?
No, I didn’t re-wire them or anything. Back in those days nobody was, really. Seymour Duncan hadn’t surfaced yet, so whatever was out there was what you got!

I always felt with a Les Paul that getting the covers off and soldering a little and getting the pickup right up under the strings gave you the most signal.

This is the first chance we’ve had to let you tell our readers the story about how you sold Jimmy Page his number one guitar, the ’59 Les Paul Standard.
Well, when Led Zeppelin’s first album came out and was just starting to get airplay, Jimmy was really known predominately for the Yardbirds. But when Led Zeppelin came over to tour, the James Gang opened for them on five or six shows. It was a hard sell because the only thing anybody knew was the Yardbirds, and that Jimmy had a new band. I got to know him better during those shows, and he told me he was kind of tired of playing Telecasters and stuff, and was looking for a Les Paul. In those days, Les Pauls weren’t godawful expensive, they were just kind of hard to find. You had to go into the basements of music stores and pawn shops. I happened to have two, and one I liked better than the other, so I kept my best one and gave him the other, which had a slightly smaller neck.

What did you get for it?
I don’t know, 1,500 bucks or something, and I had to fly to New York with it to give it to him, so that was kind of expensive. Anyway, he liked it a lot, and it became, I guess, the one he played on a lot of Led Zeppelin’s music. His number one.

Turns out it was a good idea to get him one (laughs)!

This article originally appeared in VG August 2012 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Mott was a ferocious quintet, and one of the most highly-underrated bands of that era. Ralphs’ six-album experience in the band was followed by his tenure in Bad Company, a supergroup that formed in ’73, and was signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. The membership also included vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex-Free) and bassist Boz Burrell, formerly of King Crimson.

Bad Company scored numerous mega-hits, but also went through various personnel changes over the years. The original foursome regrouped in 1999 for a limited tour, after which Ralphs and Burrell opted to get off the road.

“After the ’99 tour, I recorded a bunch of songs at home, playing all the instruments which were subsequently released on two albums, It’s All Good and That’s Life – Can’t Get Enough, on Angel Air Records,” Ralphs recently told VG. “After that, I toured with (former Mott vocalist) Ian Hunter, which was great! I have a lot of love and respect for the man – he’s such a great writer, and a wonderful person.”

A heart attack claimed Boz Burrell in 2006, and the remaining members of the original Bad Company regrouped for a 2008 concert in Florida. A DVD documented that effort, and while they noted the memory of their former bassist, his death wasn’t the primary reason for the reunion.

“It was a means to re-establish the name Bad Company with the remaining three members, to avoid any other versions of the band trading as Bad Company,” the guitarist explained. “Obviously, Boz was dearly missed by all of us… and I still miss him terribly.”

Supplementing the original threesome were guitarist Howard Leese (formerly with Heart) and bassist Lynn Sorensen, both of whom have played with Rodgers for a number of years. The reunion gig went so well the members decided to tour. However, Ralphs had another reunion to coordinate, as the original fivesome of Mott the Hoople was slated for a series of performances in England in late 2009, so he quickly worked into that project, as well.

As it turned out, the Pretenders’ Martin Chambers played drums at the Mott the Hoople shows, due to original drummer Dale “Buffin” Griffin’s health problems. Griffin sat in for the encores.

“It was well-timed,” Ralphs said of the Mott reunion. “I had just finished a U.S. Bad Company tour and went straight into the Mott rehearsals!”

A 2010 Bad Company tour of England offered an opportunity for a first-ever live recording by the remaining original members (with Leese and Sorensen still onboard), and the documentation took place on the tour’s final stop, at Wembley Stadium.

“It seemed appropriate to record the band live in the U.K., since we never put out a live album in the day,” said Ralphs.

The result was Bad Company Live at Wembley (Eagle Rock), a tour-de-force document of a veteran band in fine form. The CD proffers 15 of the band’s classics, and the DVD includes “Burnin’ Sky” and a bonus feature of interviews with band members.

Some things don’t change over the decades…

“I still love my Gibson Les Paul and my old Fender Esquire, so why change?” he said. “I have been using a ’58 (reissue) chambered Les Paul for about four years now, and it’s the best-sounding Les Paul I have ever played, including some of the vintage ’58 and ’59 guitars! The ’57 Esquire is used on the songs with open-C tuning, like ‘Movin’ On,’ ‘Can’t Get Enough,’ ‘Honey Child,’ etc.”

“Seagull” is an acoustic presentation featuring just Rodgers and Ralphs, who plays his Yamaha LLX16, which he describes as “a very nice guitar.”

Ralphs is upbeat about the way Bad Company Live at Wembley turned out, but further tours by that aggregation aren’t in the offing. He does, however, plan on continuing to perform.

“There are no plans for BadCo at present,” Ralphs said. “But I’ve put together a blues band – called the Mick Ralphs Blues Band, amazingly (laughs) – and it’s great, playing the blues with a great bunch of guys. There’s Dicky Baldwin on bass, Sam Kelly on drums, Jim Maving on guitar, and Stuart Maxwell on harmonica and vocals. We’ll be doing gigs in the U.K. in the fall.”

This article originally appeared in VG December 2011 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

In deciding who to hit up to play on his new album, Unusual Suspects, Leslie West put a lot of thought into his musical and personal connections. And he’s justifiably proud of the recruits; decades-long friend Steve Lukather, Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde, who affectionately refers to West as “Dad,” and labelmate Joe Bonamassa, who so dug the West, Bruce and Laing version of the Willie Dixon/Eddie Boyd blues standard “Third Degree” that he asked West to cut it again for Unusual Suspects.

“These guys don’t show up to play on just anybody’s albums,” West notes. “They’re all stars in their own right and fantastic players – each with their own sound and style.”

What’s the deeper story behind the crew you lined up to make the new album?
Well, when I signed with Mascot’s label, Provogue Records, they wanted me to play with Buddy Guy. I don’t even know Buddy Guy. I thought, “I wouldn’t know where to begin.” Then he mentioned some other guys. But I had in my own head who I would like to play with. Slash was one, but I didn’t know how that was gonna come about. Funny enough, my wife one day said to me, “You got a message on Facebook from a guy named Peter Merluzzi, who says he’s Slash’s tour manager. He gave me a phone number and e-mail – says Slash has been a fan of yours for years. He wants you to call him back.” I asked her, “Do you think it’s bulls**t?” And she said, “What do you have to lose?” So I e-mailed him, and he told me Slash was playing New York and wanted me to stop down and watch. But I had just undergone surgery on my leg, so I couldn’t go. I was really disappointed. But I wrote back, and said, “I’m working on a track called ‘Mud Flap Mama,’ and I’d love to have him play solos with me.” I sent him the track, and about a week later, Peter sent an e-mail saying, “He loves the track.”

So, I was going to L.A. for the N.A.M.M. show last January, and to do some recording. We rented a studio in Hollywood, a couple of blocks from where Slash was working. I’m sitting there, and I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and Slash says, “Here I am.” No roadies, no entourage, just him and his guitar. It was incredible. The way he played on the track… I mean, his guitar sounded like a harmonica! After the session, I gave him one of my Dean signature guitars. He was thrilled.

So that worked out, and the other things seemed to fall in place, too. I’ve known Zakk for years, and knew I wanted him to play on “Nothin’s Changed” – a frantic song that would go with the way Zakk plays and the unfrantic way I play. I thought it would sound good.

How did you connect with Joe Bonamassa?
I played on one of his early albums – a track called “If Heartaches Were Nickels,” with Greg Allman. So I told Joe, “I’m doing an album and I’d love to jam with you.” So, one of his favorite tracks of all time is West, Bruce, and Laing’s “Third Degree.” He said, “If you ever want to re-cut it, I’m in.” I said, “Consider it done.” So I had Kenny Aronoff on drums on the whole album, we cut the track and went right to the studio again. The two of us sat in the control room, and played opposite each other – amps in the band room.

And the Reverend Billy Gibbons?
Billy was friends with my producer, Fabrizio, but I knew Billy from when ZZ Top did their first tour. I even knew his parents.

So, all these things seemed to work out… Then Lukather came to the studio one day, to see Zakk. I said, “Listen man, on this track there’s a boogie part that I cannot play. You could play it.” He played it on acoustic, and it made the whole track, right off the bat! It’s so subtle, but man, he plays it so smooth and evenly.

A lot of people ask, “How did you know which guy should play on what?” Well, it just seemed to fit, you know? I didn’t have to think too much about it. It just worked out.

How did the players play into the album’s title?
I called it Unusual Suspects because it’s… You know when you’re doing an album and the label wants you to get guys? You get this guy, you get that guy. Let’s get this guy to play organ, let’s get this guy to play piano, let’s get this guy… I just wanted four or five really great guitarists who, in their own right, stood up like an eagle on the top of a mountain, you know?

What stood out in your mind in the process, watching those guys play?
Seeing how easygoing Slash was. He walked in wearing a baseball cap and a shirt that says “guitar zero” on it! And the way he played – right on my tail. And Bonamassa, too; I’m running the session during “Third Degree” and at the end of the session, I said, “You’re playing so f***in’ fast but you don’t miss a note!” You know some guys play really fast, but they’re sloppy, but he’s so clear and clean, and he’s a guitar geek. He looks like he’s about 20 still. I really enjoyed the whole experience. I did all the pre-production here in New Jersey, then flew out to L.A. twice to finish the recording. And Fabrizio Grossi, the producer, even came here once to finalize the last couple of mixes.

When you were a kid, you lived in the same building as Waddy Wachtel?
Yeah, I just got off the phone with Waddy (laughs)! We grew up in Forest Hills; he lived on one side of the building, I lived on the other. After two years, we met. He was so talented; he played drums with my band, the Vagrants, until we found a drummer. I remember, as soon as the Beatles would come out with a new song, like “I Feel Fine” or “Ticket to Ride,” he would figure it out so fast that in the time it took me to go down my elevator, go to his side of the building, go up in that elevator, he knew the song already! ’Cuz he’d been listening on the radio, I think WABC, where they were, “First to play the new Beatles song!” And he learned it so fast.

I remember he bought a Rickenbacker 12-string after George Harrison started playing one, and he had sold me his Les Paul Junior. In fact, he just today told me, “You know, it’s really funny. When I first moved out to L.A., I didn’t have any money and we were in the studio recording, Steve Stills had this Les Paul that I liked. I didn’t have any money, so I called my father.” And I remember his father – he was a real business guy, you know, with a suit and tie. And he said “Dad, you gotta lend me some money.” He says, “For what?” He says, “There’s a guitar I gotta get.” He says, “Whadya mean, a guitar?” “It’s a Les Paul.” His dad says, “You have a Les Paul.” He says, “No, I don’t. I sold it to Les.” His father asked, “What did you sell it to him for? (laughs)”

I swear, less than an hour ago, we talked about it because he’s doing something with Kenny Aronoff. But Bob – that’s his real name – taught me every lick the Beatles had, and he was playing Beach Boy stuff. I don’t know how he figured this stuff out so fast. Some guys have the gift. Even when he was taking guitar lessons, the teacher said to him one day, “You’re not reading this stuff, you’re playing by ear.” And he says, “Yeah, I hear it and I can play it.”

So, the Junior he sold you was the one you used in the Mountain days?
No, I’m not that smart (laughs)! The lead singer of my group, Vagrants… I sold it to him, and he spray-painted it white because, I’m sorry, but the sunburst finish on it was all scarred up and it had scratches on it. And I wanted a nice shiny… so I figured, “I’ll sell it to the lead singer of the Vagrants.” And he painted it white – ruined the damn thing! And of course I wish I had it now…

Do you know where it is?
No idea. The reason I started playing a Les Paul Junior was, when we started the group, I had a Hagstrom, and it wouldn’t stay in tune. So Felix Pappalardi one day says to me, “There’s a guy downtown, Matt Umanov. He works on guitars, and he’s got this Gibson Les Paul he got from Clapton and in place of where it would say ‘Gibson’ on the head in mother of pearl it says ‘Clapton,’ but it was cracked. Let’s go down there and if it’s ready, get that.”

So I go down there, and Matt doesn’t know where that guitar is. He lost it, probably somewhere in his vault! So he says, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you this one until I find it,” and he gave me a Les Paul Junior.

With a TV finish or sunburst finish?
It was the sunburst. But the pickup was so powerful. It just happened to be the right guitar at the right time. And then, all the English groups, when they came over – Mott the Hoople, Martin Barre with Jethro Tull – we’re all friends, we all toured together. They said, “Wow! Where’d you get that?” I said, “Felix gave it to me. But, you know if you go to a pawn shop you can buy one for a hundred bucks.” So while we’re on tour in Texas, that’s all Mick Ralphs would do, was go to all the pawn shops and buy up all the Les Paul Juniors.

I used to call it a tree with a microphone on it. It was the most basic guitar made. I think it was probably the cheapest Gibson.

Do you still have the original one?
No, I gave it to Pete Townshend when they were doing Who’s Next. I used it in the studio and I gave it to him. I saw his brother years later and he told me that Pete had a flood at this house and all his guitars were damaged.

What other music and guitarists caught your ear when you were a kid?
The funny thing is, people say that I play a lot of blues. I didn’t know one blues guy! All I knew was The Who, the Stones, the Beatles. That was my schooling. The John Mayall Bluesbreakers [with Eric Clapton] album, I must have listened to that 3,000 times! I’d listen to that tone, wondering, “What amp is he using?” So I went into Manny’s Music and saw they had Marshall amps – the first store in New York to have Marshalls. All I knew was that it was an English amp and [Jim Marshall] used to work for Vox… The first Marshall I got was a 50-watt head and an 8×12 cabinet, which really had the best sound of all, but just didn’t have a lot of power. So later on, I would slave it through a 100-watt head. I just couldn’t get over the sound of it.

To this day, tone is the most important thing to me, besides being in tune. I don’t play that fast, I only use two fingers, really, on my left hand, to do all the fingering. I never learned how to use the pinky, I never learned how to use all the fingers like a real pro does. So I had to teach myself, and because I couldn’t play that fast, I wanted to make sure the notes really rang true. I didn’t want it to sound like a mosquito, like a fuzztone, I didn’t want it to sound like I was just driving the s**t out of it. I wanted to feel the air from the speakers – you see air being moved and you see that speaker moving… When I’m on stage and first plug in, and I feel a rush of air in my balls… That’s when I know my guitar is sounding good!

But the tone was the most important thing, getting a really great tone that I can listen back to six months or a year later and say, “That really sounds great.”

Did the Les Paul Junior become your favorite because of the way it sounded through a Marshall?
You know, when I first started, I didn’t use a Marshall. Our management got us a deal with Sunn and I wasn’t so thrilled with that – I didn’t like their guitar head. What happened was, we were playing the first gig for Mountain at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, and they said they would deliver the amps from the airport. Well, the boxes arrived, and I’m expecting to open up these Marshalls. But instead, I see these Sunns, and not only that, they sent me a P.A. head and two 4×12 cabinets, and it had these two other things that you put on top of the speakers that looked like air conditioning louvers, for the highs. It was a small P.A. So I was stuck playing with Albert King and Johnny Winter using these amps that I’d never played before. But, it had four mic inputs and a master volume. So I plugged into one of the mic inputs, got a good sound out of that, then turned the Volume to maybe five or six. It was really funny because you could turn the Bass all the way up and you got more treble. If you turned the Treble all the way up, you got more bass. I remember Albert King, he used to use these Acoustic amps. Well, his amp blew, so he wondered if he could use my amp. I said, “Yeah, but I don’t know how they work.” I had just gotten them. So he had to play out of them and he was having a terrible time because it certainly wasn’t his sound.

But those Sunns were the beginning of my sound. I used them on Mountain Climbing. On the first solo album, Mountain, I used Marshall, but after that it was Sunn. Then, the guy from Sunn said, “I’m going to get them to make a guitar amp.” I said, “You don’t have to. Just take the guts of this head, make a new box that says ‘guitar head’ or something.” They already had it, it was such a great-sounding amp.

Most of the time, a P.A. head is gonna be very clean-sounding…
It was clean, but the thing is, the mic inputs distort when you turn them all the way up. There’s your drive. If I was in mic channel one and wanted it clean, you put the Volume at two or three. But I would crank that sucker up to get to the volume I wanted. So it wasn’t that it was a dirty amp – I made it dirty. I’m sure that wasn’t their intention, I mean imagine somebody’s voice coming out of that!

What’s your current rig?
I’m using Dean guitars now – I have four different models – and I use Blackstar amps. The Deans were great because years ago somebody would say, “Why don’t you have your own guitars?” I’d say, “You know, it sort of would look funny, putting my name on a guitar.” What, are you gonna have the Leslie West Les Paul Junior? It’s already a Les Paul! So when Dean came to me and said they’d like to do a guitar, I said, “Well, I want it to be a one-pickup, and I want the V of the neck to be shaped like my hand, and it slots so perfectly. And it has a little cutaway on the top. It looks like, I guess a updated version or like Ferrari made a Les Paul Junior. I play all different ones – there’s the USA Custom, the limited edition, a 40th Anniversary they did with a big headstock with my logo on the bottom of the body, it looks like a peace sign, but it’s really an LW logo. And then there’s an import, and I use them all because they all sound great. And we just came up with the Mississippi Queen model.

I’m thrilled because it took a long time for me to say, “Okay, I have my own guitar.” I waited for like 40 years!

I remember, it debuted at one of the summer N.A.M.M. shows in Austin. So I went down and the president of Dean, Elliot Rubinson, gave me a guitar. So here I am, playing my signature model, and I’m so f***in’ proud. And right across the aisle from Dean is Gibson. So a guy walks over while I’m holding the guitar, and says, “You know, we were thinking of making a Leslie West signature model.” I said, “Well, when? You had 40 years!” Timing is everything, you know (laughs)? But it is what it is.

When I’m testing a new amp rig, I like to hook it up in my garage, which has cement walls that make it so dry and loud, I can really tell if the amp is performing. Anybody can go into a studio or a great room and plug in an amp and have it sound great – like when you go to a N.A.M.M. show and plug in a guitar on that big floor. You don’t really know if the amp’s good. You imagine it sounds good because you want it to. But I put my amps through an acid test every time I get the opportunity. I turn them on just by themselves, no pedals, no nothin’. Just to hear the amp sound and what can I do to make them sound better. Not so much the volume, it’s the tone.

You’re planning a tour, right?
Yeah, with Uli John Roth and Michael Schenker. I’d just gotten out of the hospital [Ed. Note: West, who is diabetic, underwent surgery in June to remove his right leg above the knee after complications.] and I had to consider all of the things that go into a tour, plus how I’ll get around. I’ll probably sit down when I play, but I’ll be on a riser. I can play in a chair really well, and I don’t think I’ll be confident enough walking with a prosthetic – it’s not just snap on and go! I don’t want to worry about my balance while I’ve got to play and perform and sing. Maybe in a year or so I’ll be used to it.

This article originally appeared in the December, 2011, issue of VG. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Frank Gambale has had an amazing career playing the music he loves. From being the go-to guy for sweep-picking, and later replacing Al DiMeola in Return To Forever, Gambale drops jaws wherever he goes, and whether playing straight jazz, instrumental rock, or contemporary fusion, he plays from the heart and head.

Gambale’s current project is a collaboration with singer Boca, who just so happens to be his wife. It’s called Soulmine, and it’s a vocal record bridging the sounds of pop, funk, smooth jazz, and spiritual music. It’s a return to Gambale’s vocal roots and the romance that can blossom with the collaboration of two accomplished artists.

What’s it like to write an album with your wife?
It was incredible. She’s a real inspiration to me in a lot of ways. She’s a huge talent. She had a record out before I met her, and when she first played it for me, I was like, “Wow, that’s really good!” She’s got an amazing voice.

I’ve always done vocal tunes on my records, but for this one I wanted to do a record where it’s all vocals. I love vocal music. I was waiting for the right voice to come along. When I heard hers, I thought, “We really have to do something together.”

It was a wonderful collaboration. We wrote 10 songs together and we’re already starting to plan the next one. We’re just enjoying the process. I won’t say it wasn’t without a few tussles, but we’re both very passionate about music. The end result was what was important.

It’s a positive, uplifting record with a strong sense of spirituality.
She writes incredible lyrics with beautiful, positive messages. It’s really a romantic record. Generally, I would give her a song with a melody and she would write the lyric to it, but we both did a lot of arranging together. We spliced and diced it until it was what we wanted.

Even though it’s a vocal record, the guitar playing is distinctly you.
Boca isn’t a regular singer, because she’s a musician. She has played piano since she was seven, so she’s okay with the guitar weaving in and out of the voice like that. I really like it because in most of the tunes, it’s like a dialogue between the guitar and voice.

It worked well on “Forbidden Kiss.”
I like that approach, and it really keeps the guitar in the forefront. I’ve always liked that style of guitar filling in and around the voice. Some singers are afraid of that, or feel that it gets in the way, but I just love the way it sounds.

Is this a Gambale crossover record?
I don’t think of it as crossover, though that’s fine. I’ve always liked this kind of music. In my car you’ll hear me listening to everything from Earth, Wind & Fire to Steely Dan, Sting, George Benson, as well as Chick Corea, John Coltrane, The Eagles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. I’ve lived it all. Back in Australia, I was in vocal groups. I was even one of the singers.

My path went a little differently when I came to the States; I got really headlong into guitar and went down that fusion path. But this other stuff has been such a desire for a long time to finally do it like this. So, yes, I guess it can be seen as a crossover record. I love vocal music and I like groove. I always thought of my instrumental music as vocal tunes. It’s just that the guitar was there instead of the voice.

Your instrumental work has always stressed a lot of melody.
Melody is very important to me. I don’t want to be esoteric; I always like to consider the audience and what the people want to hear, especially on this one. We spent a lot of hours crafting this one.

Your Carvin FG1 signature model has a great presence on the record.
I’m very happy with it. I think it’s about as great as you can make a guitar. The main difference between the FG1 and my other signature models is that it’s a semi-hollow. I wanted a guitar I could string with flatwounds and get a great jazz tone from, then put .009-gauge strings on it and play blues, rock, and R&B as well. It’s kind of along the lines of a mini 335, but I would say it’s more refined. On the front pickup, we spent quite a while finding the right number of windings to get it to be a little bit less muddy. Sometimes, those front pickups on a hollowbody can sound kind of muddy, especially with distortion. So we wound it a little bit lighter. It’s a beautiful-sounding pickup.

What kind of amplification are you using?
These days, I’ve been developing a line of amplifiers with a company called DV Mark. We designed a 1×12 combo, which is a hybrid of a tube preamp and solidstate power. I’ve always loved tube preamps, so I’ve always bought them as separate items. What’s great is that this little combo has both. It sounds great, and they make their own speakers. It’s extremely light.

What effects are you using live?
I use a MIDI pedal and a volume pedal, mostly, and I’ve been using the TC Electronics G-Force for a long time. I’m hoping to be able to just use the DV Mark amp head for everything.

Any chance you’ll be returning to some of your group projects like Vital Information or Gambale, Hamm & Smith?
I’m really on this other track right now and into playing my own music. That’s not to say it wouldn’t happen, as I’m always open to suggestion. But this year, I’m focusing on Soulmine.

This article originally appeared in VG June 2012 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

When Luther Dickinson isn’t writing and performing with the North Mississippi Allstars or on the road with The Black Crowes, he plays the acoustic guitar – and lots of it. He recently released an acoustic instrumental record called Hambone’s Meditation, a project called The Wandering featuring female singers from North Mississippi and Memphis, and the latest from the South Memphis String Band – an album called Old Times There, which features Dickinson, Jimbo Mathus, and Alvin Youngblood Hart. He’s also releasing a 78-rpm record on the Tompkins Square label with the songs “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”/“Beautiful Dreamer” on the A-side, and “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen”/“Peace in the Valley” on the B.

These projects are all deeply linked by Dickinson’s love of acoustic instruments and his deep affinity for his Southern roots.

How is it you’re releasing four acoustic records at the same time?
It wasn’t planned. In 2009, I started concentrating on acoustic projects, and they’ve accumulated. At home, I don’t even have an amp; I don’t unpack my electric guitars. I have a house full of acoustic guitars, and they’re really my love.

Even when I play with the North Mississippi Allstars, what I’m trying to do is get across an acoustic-guitar country blues aesthetic in a rock setting. That’s what I started the band to do, trying to play Fred McDowell acoustic with a trio.

On Hambone’s Meditation, it sounds like you just couldn’t wait to get back to that sound.
(Laughing) I grew up on John Fahey because of my father, but he used to freak me out. That bizarre personality of his comes through in his music. But Jack Rose is the one who inspired me to do Hambone’s Meditation. Those first couple of records just killed me. He was from Virginia, but he had a kind of a Piedmont/ragtime feel that’s unique. He was such a strong force and you could really hear his personality in his records. He inspired me, and I grew up with a more-natural affinity for writing songs and the creative process than I did for actually playing or singing. That was really what got me going; I had to learn how to play. Singing was a constant tightrope. It never dawned on me to do an instrumental acoustic record until I heard Jack Rose. Then I said, “Wow! I can do this.”

How did you meet the ladies on The Wandering?
I’ve known all of them off and on for years. I’ve known Valerie June only by reputation. We weren’t friends, but I’ve known Shannon McNally for years, playing around in Mississippi; my dad produced her. Amy LaVere and I grew up on the scene together, and I’ve known Sharde Thomas since she was nine. She’s the secret weapon. Her drumming is so funky. My wife and I saw Valerie playing her banjo, and that led me to thinking this could be a cool little combo.

I play mainly guitar and mandolin. I didn’t originally want to play; I was just going to produce, but it was so much fun. There’s nobody playing melodic instrumentation, so I couldn’t resist once we got set up.

It’s great Sunday-morning listening…
Yeah (laughs)! I like records you can listen to first thing in the morning or late at night.

With the South Memphis String band, how do you decide who plays what?
We work around whoever brings a song in. Whoever is singing is usually playing a guitar. Jimbo has a beautiful handmade fretless banjo and also a tenor banjo. His banjo playing on the new record is really the secret weapon. Alvin and I do a lot of de-tuned guitar work, and we all play mandolin. We just kinda pass the instruments around depending on which tunes are going on.

How did the Tompkins Square 78 Series come about?
We recorded that a couple of years ago and it has taken awhile to get the vinyl situation right. We’ve been waiting to get the packaging just the way we want it. It was a rare opportunity and I could not decide what I wanted to put behind my name on a 78. The original idea was to do it with an acoustic guitar and a small Walt Disney/cartoony orchestra, but I couldn’t get it together.

I’m very happy with it, and practiced a lot on it. I’ve played songs for solo guitar but never done an arrangement like “Beautiful Dreamer.” It was really fun.

Any plans for another North Mississippi Allstars record?
I’ve been writing like a fiend. I’m working on two Allstars records right now. One is kind of more rock and roll, the other is a more traditional North-Mississippi-style.

Any word from the Black Crowes?
Hey man, if they call me up I’ll consider it. I don’t know what they’re up to. They’re a great band and so much fun to work with. I love the songs and love the musicians.

Have you bought any new toys lately?
I’m trying to quit (laughs)! But I just got a Harmony Rocket, an old Ludwig bass drum that’s been a lot of fun, and an old four-knob Princeton. I finally found the perfect guitar for the Allstars. It’s basically the Gibson 335. It has an acoustic quality, but it can also take the volume of the environment. Chris Robinson gave me my first 335 and I’ve been hooked ever since. Gibson and I are working on a signature 335 that I’m really happy about. It won’t be a Custom Shop model. It’ll be affordable, and I’m really excited about it. For solidbody guitars, I got hooked on the SGs. It’s my favorite solidbody sound.

This article originally appeared in VG September 2012 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.