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(return
to part 1)
Many of the songs on the new
album continue the same "soulful" blues sound as your
previous work. Which artists contributed to your interest in
soul music, and which artists do you seek to emulate - whether
in your vocals or in your guitar playing? Does that alter the
dynamic of your band?
I can name several right off. Wilson Pickett.
Otis Redding. James Brown.
All my band members idolize the MG's. There's a lot of influence
from that Stax/Volt era. My guitar playing's influenced by Steve
Cropper, especially when it comes to R&B. Not exact copying,
but just that feel. And Randy (McDonald) will tell you that his
favorite bass player is Duck Dunn. Billy (Lee Lewis) will say
his favorite drummer is Al Jackson. The only change we've ever
made in this band was from Shad Harris to Billy. I'd been talking
to guys, and when Billy told me his favorite drummer was Al Jackson,
I said, "You got the gig."
We all do this together. Unlike a lot of other artists like myself
- people who are blues guitarists, singers, and frontmen - my
band is really, really involved in everything. They all take
part in writing, they all get royalty checks, and we work up
all the music as a group. We've been together since the early
days in North Beach when we were passing the tip bucket.
Your fans often cite the passion
they hear in your music. Where do you find that passion? After
being in the business for a while, do you find that you have
to work harder to keep the flame burning?
I feel like I work at it all the time. I write
songs about my life, I'm performing with my best friends every
night, and I have a great deal of affection for my audience,
so I want to give them a good show.
We've just never stopped moving forward in our music, and that
helps keep things fresh. We change the setlist when possible.
Passion is easy when you're surrounded by great people like B.B.
and Buddy Guy and John Hiatt. And Delbert McClinton, whose Blues
Cruise I'm getting ready to go on.
John Lee Hooker's vocals on
the new album are billed as the last things he recorded. Whose
idea was it to ask him to participate?
We'd done a number of shows together in California,
and we hit it off pretty well. When I started working up the
song "Guilty of Love" in the studio I found I had kind
of a phrasing going on, vocally, that was like his. I said, "Hey,
the John Lee influence must be rubbing off on me." Then
I was listening back to the tapes in rehearsal and said, "Wait
a minute - he's been known to do a guest spot from time to time."
The recording took place at his house. We took a small ADAT setup
and I sat on the couch and he sat on the couch, and we bullshitted
for a while, had a good visit. A friend of mine who used to play
bass for John Lee in New York, Johnny Acerno, came along and
took pictures. We just sat down and cut the song. It was exactly
how I expected it to come out - in fact, he did exactly what
I had imagined he would do. There's nothing like John Lee ad
libbing! I was listening on the headphones and was having a ball
just hearing him.
He didn't seem like he was sick that day; he hadn't been in pain
or anything like that. He hadn't been in the hospital. Nobody
knew what was happening to him.
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