Nils Lofgren - The Rock Guitar Daily Interview

Nils Lofgrens' latest solo record, Old School came out in November, and I called it maybe the best album I had heard in a year of great releases. In a year that has seen classic rock artists such as Leslie West, Glenn Hughes, and many others put out work that matched or even eclipsed their past glories, this is no faint praise. Old School is imbued with great songwriting, singing, and of course, heaps of tasty, brilliant guitar playing.

When the opportunity to speak with Lofgren came up, I was excited to hear his thoughts on the record - what I wasn't prepared for was being so impressed with the artist as a person. Not that I really should have been shocked - you don't get to work beside the best writers, and musicians of your day without having not only great musical skills, but also exceptional social skills. This interview turned out a bit different for me. Instead of being my usual semi-over chatty self, I was more than happy to allow Lofgren to speak with free reign, and I attempted to let his comments lead me to my subsequent questions. It was only when I listened back over our chat that it became apparent that I had followed the correct path. Nils Lofgren is a huge talent, but he has managed to remain humble. His 43 years on the road with the biggest names in rock, and as a leader of his many solo endeavors has made him a truly wise sage. He wouldn't use those words, but I feel perfectly free to do so. As I listened back to my recording of the interview, I realized that as I listened, I had learned, and for the I am always grateful.

I'll keep my editorial comments to a relative minimum, and let Lofgren's words elegantly speak for themselves.

RGD: Nils, congratulations on the new record. I've spent a lot of time with it, and it is one of my favorite releases of 2011.

Lofgren: Oh, thanks so much, Tony. I really worked very hard on it. I took my time, and felt like I really did something I could feel good about!

RGD: I had read some reviews before I heard the record, and it seemed that many were focusing on your angst, anger, and concerns over the state of the world, and your personal issues (Nils had both hips replaced several years ago, and had suffered through the deaths of close friends and bandmates Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons). However when I heard the record, I was most taken, not so much by any sense of vitriol, but rather a lot of resilience and hope, both in the writing and your voice. Was this your intention?

Lofgren: Yeah, I think that's very accurate. I just wanted it to be a very emotional journey through all the things that I was feeling at 60 years old. So I've got a little wisdom, a surprising amount of fear, anger, and concern about my planet and what's around me, but a lot of hope about the human spirit. I just wanted to write honestly about all of it. I'm very grateful to be in good shape - after two great tours with E-Street to come home, and I was excited to jump into my next batch of songs. I really feel good about how it came out.

RGD: The record has a great sound, very sonically satisfying and cohesive. How long did you spend writing, recording and mixing it?

Lofgren: Man, I chipped away at it for over a year, but it wasn't until the last four months that I really started getting into the twelve hour days - the focused tunnel vision, to get it done. Part of the record, the theme of it, is that I've been on the road for 43 years, and I do leave home too much. My family understands, but it does get harder as you get older, so I'm finding a balance between touring, keeping sharp musically, and just working -  staying at home, and helping my wife, Amy, with our six dogs, and being in the studio, but with the doors open. I always told her, like, 'Look, it's not like don't bother me, I'm busy being creative.' It's like, 'Bother me! I'm home, I'm here to help. If a dog needs to go to the vet, interrupt me - I can turn the machines off, it's not a public studio, it's my own homegrown room.' So, I could just do whatever needed to be done, I can run errands, I can go out with my wife. If I felt like turning the machines back on and working a couple of hours, I could just pick up where I had left off.

It was a very balanced purity making this record. I wanted to keep it emotional, so I set out to not even try recording anything until I could sing and play every song as a performance piece, not a work in progress to be crafted later. As a result, I got a lot of live vocals - 10 of the 12 vocals are live in the studio with the main guitar. It was a lot more fun to fill in the blanks and produce around it when I felt like I had a really good performance as the core.

RGD: Historically, your reputation has been as a tremendous live performer, and as a remarkable guitarist, yet it is a subtle album in terms of guitar histrionics - there are lots of amazing and tasty licks, but they never intrude on the songs, or your vocal performances. Is this a result of having worked with so many great artists and songs?

Lofgren: Well, thank you. As grateful as I am for my reputation as a guitarist and instrumentalist, I feel like I originally fell in love with music through The Beatles, The Stones, and songs. I still feel that I am a song player first, rather than a lick player. When I play music, I listen to the song and it kind of helps me to stay out of the way of the singer, and what's being said. There's always plenty of room to get to get licks in, but I think that is my main attribute, as opposed to being an instrumentalist looking to embellish the singer/songwriter - I'm a singer/songwriter playing an instrument.

RGD: You've said that Dylan, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen are your favorite songwriters. What have you been able to take from each of them?

Lofgren: Well, it began back in the '60s, really before I had heard those guys. I was listening to the whole explosion of the sixties - The Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, the British Invasion, Motown, Stax/Volt, Holland, Dozier, and Holland, going back even to Burt Bacharach, all those great songs and songwriters, show songs even. My mom and dad danced and played big band show music as I was growing up. I studied and played classical accordion for ten years, and entered contests and competitions. I studied accordionists, and the best instrumental and classical pieces ever written - I got really inside of them as a musician, so I had a great background.

At this point, you want to do something that is authentic for yourself, but just the act of listening to the great songwriters in history, and certainly working in bands with Neil Young - doing records, crafting shows, and then performing them in front of people. Just by osmosis you get a very inside look at how a great writer presents his song. A lot of times, along the way, dealing with Bruce - he might have a song in progress, and you get to watch that from an inside track. But, it's no longer a thing of emulating or imitating. That's all gotten to be a part of my experience and inspiration, and just as a natural thing you look for stuff you like to go by, and you grab on to something you can be proud of.

RGD: Let's talk about a song on Old School, that you must be proud of, Dream Big. How did this one develop? The arrangement is brilliant, utilizing electronic sounding beats, a harp, strings that bring to mind Philadelphia soul via Gamble and Huff, and the mantra, "dream big, work hard, stay humble."

Lofgren: Yeah, thanks. That's an unusual piece! It all started when my wife, Amy, got me a harp - a lever harp, for Christmas two years ago. I was just picking out some early stuff on it, trying to find my way around a few simple licks, and you lean it against your shoulder and you play the harp with two hands. I was standing in our guest room, watching NFL football, and it just stands there, so I started picking it backwards - just plucking out notes, and I came up with that little riff. It's a very dark and haunting riff, and I just noodled in my brain, 'you gotta dance a lot....sing a lot,' you know, work hard, be humble. It developed into a song, and then it got a bit more ominous in the sense that, from my perspective it's not extracurricular anymore - I need to keep dreaming big, and try to find a way to stay humble and work hard. Even if you're crippled, dance in your head, dance in your heart, find a way to feel like you are still growing and learning. Otherwise, at 60, I'd be screwed. This was just a somewhat ominous presentation of these themes.

When you get older and you're an adult, you keep looking at the childish things, and they can really hurt or kill you - but child-like things, things that are joyous, that don't hurt anybody, and on the contrary engage people of any age are beautiful. To keep your head and heart open for experiences - especially as you get older.

RGD: Let's stay with the theme of aging. Since your hip replacements, are you able to still enjoy a little basketball?

Lofgren: I can go out and shoot around, and play horse, I just have to accept that I can't play the violent three on three games that I used to play. My new hips just can't handle that. I mistakenly thought that when I got my new hips that I had ordered the ones with Flubber, and that I'd be able to leap and fly, and dunk, and be good to go, but the doctor told me that the trampoline has to stay in the closet - no more flips off of drum risers, and I can't play basketball like I used to, unless I wanted to be a cripple. I was hobbling around for years with the pain, so I'm going to take good care of them. I'm jumping around and dancing onstage, I just can't do the violent impacts that I used to do - but, yeah, I can shoot around and re-live the glory days as I look for new and less harmful ways to use my new hips.

Actually, this new song, Dream Big, that we were just talking about, I'm playing harp with my right hand, I'm tap dancing - the percussion you hear is me tap dancing through a gated reverb and an octave divider. It's a very unusual piece that I do live - then I pick up the guitar, play a solo, and then I go back to the harp. There's a lot of stuff going on there - it's all along the lines of dreaming big, Tony.

(In an unintentional demonstration of his abilities as a multi-tasker, Nils sent me a link to the excellent Youtube video of the song, shot by Rose A. Montana at a Lofgren solo show in New Jersey back in October, as he gave his commentary on the song. I was not surprised, but I was impressed. He's one graceful cat.)

RGD: Speaking of plucking out notes, Nils, could you tell me how you developed your unique right hand technique of playing guitar, in which you utilize a thumb pick, fingerpicking, and touch/tap harmonics?

Lofgren: Sure. When I picked up the guitar as a hobby, my brother started showing me chords, and then I took a few lessons from some great local musicians. One in particular, Bill Singer, had me learn a piece by Chet Atkins, doing The Beatles song, Can't Buy Me Love. It was months of hard work, learning to play a bassline that was static and never changing ( he hums the part to demonstrate), and while that doesn't alter rhythmically - it just moved through the chords, the different bass notes, and to pick the melody up on the higher strings, it was very difficult. One of the hardest things I ever did, and once I got to the end of the piece, I had a whole new key to the kingdom of fingerpicking that I still use to this day! To kind of keep some low grooves going while I do different rhythms with the higher notes - and to this day it is a huge part of my technique. I picked up a thumb pick one day out of a guitar case, and I didn't know any better, so I got the hang of the thumbpick down. My local players said I had to play rock and roll with a flat pick - I said, 'Look, I can't stand stinking up the joint for ten more months with a new pick, I'm gonna stay with the thumbpick. It's really more of a country thing, but I've applied it to rock and roll and harmonics, and just found a style that worked for me.

RGD: Last night, as I was doing some prep for this interview, I stumbled upon an old video clip of you jamming with Roy Buchanan, and as I watched, I noticed Roy was watching you play, and he was just smiling away. He seemed fascinated by your technique.

Lofgren: Well, I have a different perspective on that from some people, Tony. I think Roy, knowing he was my hero, realized that he had invited a 19 year old guitar player on to the stage who was so excited and over-amped that he couldn't shut up. All I did was to play hard and fast, and I was just too immature to even think, and too nervous to think, 'Oh, why don't you shut up, and let Roy play something.' Finally, near the end, I think you can see Roy just smiling at me, realizing that I don't have any maturity, and he just starts de-tuning his guitar like a sound effect - 'Well, there's no room for my licks, so let me just make some noise to accompany him, since I've only been playing rhythm.' That was a great honor, but when I watch that I just cringe, because I was just like, 'Man, you're just too young and stupid to shut up and to trade licks with Roy,' and I have to accept that. Yeah, that's right. I still do stupid things, hopefully less than I did back then, but it was still a great honor to be asked to participate with one of my heroes.

RGD: Going back to the new record, let's continue on the theme of maturity. 60 Is The New 18 is one of my favorite tunes on the record, but it sounds to me as if you're playing the role of commentator more than as the subject of the song, who seems to be having a rough go of things, am I correct?

Lofgren: I'm surprised at 60, how much hope and naivete I've still retained to survive, and that's mixed with some angst, fear, and anxiety about my planet. There's this vision when you're a child that when somebody makes it to 60, they're in a recliner watching TV, the kids are bringing the soup and drinks, and you are this revered character, when in fact, you're like a Rodney Dangerfield, and nobody gives a shit! You have to have a sense of humor about it, but the character in the song is, of course, having a much rougher time with it than I am. I took the liberty of expressing this for people that are struggling with an older age. The thing is, there's a lot of wisdom, but there's also a lot of fear and anxiety that comes with it, and you have to work really hard to temper it all - the guy in the song is not doing such a good job of it at the moment.

RGD: Another poignant moment on the record is the song, I Miss You Ray - dedicated to Ray Charles, but it also has become a tribute to your friend and bandmate Clarence Clemons. You've been including mention of the big man in  the lyrics at your recent solo shows. Had you written this tune before, or after the death of Mr. Clemons?

Lofgren: That was written months before Clarence passed, and again, in keeping with some passionate topics. Ray Charles was one of my heroes, and it was a rough loss a couple of years back, so I used it as a metaphor for that. If you stick around long enough, you start having to say goodbye to family and friends, and it's really tough. You have to realize, and I hope that some of us have family and friends left, that life can be grand, but you really have to once again temper the two. I used the loss of Ray as a metaphor for that, and certainly the great loss of losing my friend Clarence - I've been singing, 'I miss you, C,' in my live shows and unfortunately it's a very appropriate song in which to tailor the lyrics that way.

RGD: Old School features performances by three of the greatest vocalists in history, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Lou Gramm (ex-Foreigner), and Paul Rodgers. You still sing the lead on the songs, but they contribute tremendously. How did you go about arranging their parts, and putting the songs on which they sang together? 

Lofgren: Sam Moore and I, we sang together here in the studio in Arizona, which was one of the highlights of my performing career as a singer. Paul and Lou did their own tracks, and I was so honored that they were game to do it. What I did was just send them the music - I sent them some ideas and encouraged them to come up with anything they would hear that would be different than my ideas. I can't sing like either one of them, so fortunately, they did just that. They took some of the groundwork of what I may have initially heard - coming and going, they came up with their own ideas in addition to mine, they crafted parts they were comfortable with, and the end result, to me, was just beautiful. I was thrilled and honored to have the help of three great singers like that, and they are good friends - they were very open to helping me, and I could call them up directly and ask for their help with my project. It really speaks volumes about the classy people they are, and they are three of the greatest singers of all time. It even surprised me when I got the tracks back, but that's what you want, isn't it?

RGD: That is so cool. So, with the record now out, what does 2012 hold in store for you, Nils? More shows to promote the album? (This interview was conducted before today's announcement of shows this summer by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band)

Lofgren: Greg Varlotta and I have two dates booked in February, on the 18th and 19th at The Birchmere Theater in Alexandria, Virginia. In the next few weeks I'll see about booking some more work - we'll get out next year and do our own shows wherever we can, and try to spread the word about my new record and keep playing.

RGD: Nils, it's a great record, and I'll do what I can to help you spread the word - thanks for making such a wonderful album.

Lofgren: Hey, thank you so much, man. I'm really very thrilled that you feel that way - I'm proud of the record, so it's heartening to hear that. It's great when what you're trying to do gets through. I appreciate your letting people know about it, because that's what I'll be doing for the next year!

RGD: Hey Nils, just one more thing before I let you go. What with you being right there in Scottsdale, why on Earth has Fender not yet done a Nils Lofgren signature Stratocaster?

Lofgren: You know what? They are always so very helpful. The Fender plant is just up the road from me, and they are all really, really nice guys, but that's a lot of bureaucracy and politics, and I'm not here to twist anyone's arm! If they want me to do it, I'd be happy to, but I'm not into....I'm into writing the next song and figuring out my next gig, but I would do that when they felt it was appropriate. All right, man, thanks a lot, and take care, Tony.

Nils Lofgren - dreaming big, working hard, and staying humble....

Much thanks to Nils and Jeff Allbright at The Allbright Entertainment Group.

Layla Zoe - Sleep Little Girl - Five Big Stars

I spent a few minutes trying to give this piece a clever title. I kicked around Whole Lotta Layla, then I considered The Autobiography of a Blues Singer, but then I decided to get the hell out of the way, and let the record speak for itself.

Sleep Little Girl is a firestorm of a record - the sixth solo release by the self-titled firegirl, and one that will greatly increase the Canadian singer's already international fanbase. Zoe is joined by German blues guitarist Henrik Freischlader, who not only composed all the music, but also played almost all of the instruments, save for the song Let's Get Crazy, which has bass and organ supplied by Moritz Fuhrhop.

I'd been listening to this record almost constantly for two days, and being very impressed by the cohesion of the band, the first question I asked Layla was who was in the band. I about fell out of my seat when she told me that Freischlader has played them all himself. The man is amazing - from the slinky groove of Give It To Me, to the high octane Zep-a-like stomper Rock and Roll Guitar Man, Henrik is world class on every instrument, and you would never know it was a one man show were you not told.

It is to Layla Zoe's everlasting credit that Henrik's performance is not the album's strongest point, for as brilliant as the one man band may be, it's clearly the sultry songstress's album. Everything I've ever read about her included the inevitable comparisons to Janis Joplin, and while that's rather obvious, she is a serious student of music of all types, and her stylings far surpass any sense of mere imitation. I asked about influences, and as I had imagined, she gave me a very impressive list.

"I'm really a guitar girl!" she laughed, "I listen mostly to artists like Roy Buchanan, Frank Zappa, and Peter Green, but I'm quite sure that Billie Holiday, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Susan Tedeschi, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Eva Cassidy, and Joni Mitchell all had an influence on my vocal stylings."

Sleep Little Girl is full of autobiographical musings. Zoe wears her heart firmly on her sleeve, and you can tell by listening that she doesn't have to look far for inspiration. She reaches deep, and tells deep truths. She doesn't spare herself, or her audience - this is the blues, and this is how they were meant to be sung.

Layla said, "Pretty much all of this album comes from personal experiences - my observations on current and past experiences. Sleep Little Girl is a lullaby to myself, as I suffer from mild to extreme insomnia on the road sometimes. Singing My Blues - a true belief that I will be sing the blues until the day i die. Black Oil is about my true belief that the world was coming to an end during the news coverage of the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast. Rock and Roll Guitar Man, well, that's about a guitar player I fell in love with, and so on and so forth..."

Zoe may be the consummate blues singer, but there's a huge dose of rock and roll strewn across this platter, and her melodic abilities and expressive phrasing imply that there was a healthy dose of Robert Plant next to her turntable somewhere down the road. Freischlader's tunes are seldom twelve bar basics - he's a sophisticated composer who covers an amazing amount of stylistic territory, yet manages to keep it between the ditches, and the album never sounds anything but cohesive.

Zoe described the process of their collaboration as such: "I had written many lyrics and poems, as I write often. Henrik gave me demos of a bunch of music he had written. I took the songs I liked from the demos, added melodies with my voice, and out of my words to the songs I thought best suited the lyrics. It was a very organic thing - it was not thought out. It just happened that these were my favorite pieces of music he had written, and my words seemed to fit perfectly! We both had a part in the sound and the feel of the record. Working with him was so natural, it really felt as if it were meant to be."

That it does, indeed. In fact, so much so that her saying that this collaboration was meant to be almost seems an understatement. The music is married to the words in a way you seldom see, as if the moods of the melodies somehow existed only to serve these songs. It sounds like a band that has been working together for years, not like a paste up Pro Tools job. Made with love by a couple of pros at the tops of their games.

I've Been Down is a thick slice of proto-metallic/blues the likes of which Beck and Page were producing in the late 60s. As muscular as Freischlader's backing track is, it's Zoe who nails you up against the wall with a wail that harkens the very gods of blues rock. An auspicious beginning, which primes the pump and revs up the record. For a fellow known primarily as a lava hot guitarist, Henrik Freischlader's bass playing is as good as anyone you'd care to hear.

Straight away from the heavy rock onslaught of the opener, Give It To Me brings a fancy, funky strut that features fatback drums, skronky wah'd guitars, and a rubber band bass line that makes dancing an impossibility. This is as sexy as a song can get - Layla Zoe makes no bones about the mission she's on - she's not begging for it, she's demanding it. And most likely getting it. Her vocal power will knock you out of your seat.

Shimmering tremolo guitars against a very loose, open rhythm track makes Singing My Blues sound like it was constructed for a David Lynch soundtrack - very atmospheric and heady. Zoe's phrasing is sophisticated as the track, and when she goes for the low notes, you will swoon right along with her. Freischlader's guitar solo is a textural playground that suggests there's little in the lexicon that he's not absorbed. A primer for any want to be soul singing sister, this is a proud proclamation of Layla Zoe's mission statement.

Let's Get Crazy is the closest the record comes to the heart of the blues, as Henrik is joined by Moritz Fuhrhop, who plays some soulful Hammond organ and some nice walking bass. Zoe's vocal acrobatics save this one from being a bit predictable, and she delivers a sizzling performance.

I'm guessing that if you stripped Layla Zoe's incredible vocals off of these tunes, you'd still have a helluva record, and you may even get the gist of the titles without the words. Black Oil is another cinematic trip down soundtrack lane, as the chanteuse solemnly sings her hymn of pain, and black rain that is sure to follow the tragedy of the BP oil spill. This song speaks to one specific situation, but also covers the ground of a multitude of sins perpetrated against Mother Earth by ruthless profiteers. Henrik Freischlader milks this tune for every drop of emotion he can muster - it lasts over nine minutes, and you're still sorry to hear it end. If this song had come out in 1971 instead of 2011, the Layla Zoe would be the name of a jet airliner.

Another Bonham-esque piece of drumming rings in Pull Yourself Together, and yet as big and blustery as the arrangement is, it's still Zoe who commands the ship from the bridge. As a guitarist, the German six stringer is incendiary - pulling every bend, slur, and run he has in his vocabulary out on this one. His solo is a blinder, and it's very clear that Layla gave him full reign to ride - I hear a lot of blues band leaders keeping their sidemen on leashes, and it's a thrill to hear when someone is given license to strut his stuff.

I Hope She Loves You Like I Do would have been a huge soul single in the late 60s, and while it offers no surprises, it does exactly what it is supposed to do, and the performances keep it from bogging down in familiarity. My least favorite song on the album, but it's still damned good. 

A modulating bass line and some shimmering, chorused guitars gently introduce Hippy Chick, and Zoe is at her autobiographical best as she lays out her mantras of freedom. The blues always wears a little psychedelia well, and this waves its freak flag high, and proud. This makes me miss Free, back when Paul Rodgers and Andy Fraser were still seeing eye to eye, and Rodgers was not yet seeking bad company. Feisty redhead? Yeah, Zoe describes herself better than we ever could - she knows herself and has no shyness, hesitation, or compunction about spelling it out. 

Rock and Roll Guitar Man delivers the big rock in spades, as super saturated pentatonic guitar licks, a loping bass line, laid back beat, and a singer barely tethered to this planet take this one to the time of Led Zeppelin's first tours of America. Zoe and Freischlader joust from beginning to end, as each seems able to take it as high as it needs to go. This one will have audiences going wild this month as the pair cross Germany on their Fall tour. This is great rock and roll, and boy do we need it. 

After the extreme onslaught of Rock and Roll Guitar Man, it's time to relax and ride this record off to the stables, and Zoe does it with a proper lullaby. The album's title song is a gentle good night - Layla can purr as well as she can roar, and accompanied by only an Appalachian acoustic guitar track, she brings us down gently, and bids us good night.

Sleep Little Girl is one of the finest rock and roll records I've heard all year - it's also one of the finest blues records I've heard this year. No matter how you slice it, it is the best record Layla Zoe has yet delivered, and if it doesn't make her a big star, well then, there's little right in the world. I asked her how she felt about the record, and her plans for 2012.

She said, "I plan to keep gigging, and promoting the heck out of Sleep Little Girl, as I personally feel it is the best thing I've ever done. I'm very excited to share it with as many music lovers as possible. I hope to get over to America at some point, and I believe I will. The US is hard to cross into for musicians, with the border and the small money to be made in clubs if you're name is unknown. I'm just waiting for the right time and opportunity. Until then, I'm mostly focused on Canada, and parts of Europe. Someone contacted me online for a German gig in 2009. I have been there ever since - they have a great blues scene, and they really appreciate what I am doing. I met Henrik at that first gig in 2009, he was hired to be my back up band. The rest is history.

"I was struggling so much to survive when I was sixteen years old. I don't think I would have believed then that I would be here now. I would not have believed it"

I'd like to thank Layla for answering my questions before heading out for a month long tour of Germany - she is a trooper.

Nils Lofgren - Old School

"Dream big, work hard, stay humble." Nils Lofgren.

As I peruse the public relations blurbs, and early reviews, I'm reading a lot about Nils Lofgren's new release, Old School, and while everyone is talking edgy anger, and vitriol, I don't see it. What I do see is a consummate song stylist who is looking at a couple of rough years and singing some world weary tunes in a very hopeful voice. Lofgren is in great voice, his guitar playing is as jaw droppingly brilliant as ever, but it's his songwriting that has drawn me deeply into this record. This is a great record that will stay in your head through many listenings. It hasn't been off my screen for a week, and it's still growing on me.

Lofgren is coming through a difficult double hip replacement just three years ago, and the deaths of longtime E Street Band members, Clarence Clemons, and Danny Federici. He's also had enough time off of the road to take a long look at the tough shape our country is in. He may be reflective, and at times edgy, but as I listen to this disc, I hear tremendous resilience and hope in his voice and in his melodies.

Conceived and recorded in his home studio, this record sounds great and I was surprised to hear that Lofgren recorded it mostly live, without a lot of overdubs or layering. Years of live performance have honed the singer/guitarist's skills. The guitar work on Old School is nothing short of brilliant - he somehow manages to fill every nook and cranny with lyrical, and tasty forays that never sound forced, or self indulgent. It's no small wonder that Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen have kept Lofgren employed for over forty years.

Lofgren kicks it off with the title tune, and Old School is a great way to start - Lofgren's state of the union message. Greasy, slip sliding guitars strut from front to back, and some killer horns keep things moving as Lofgren is joined by ex-Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm on the first chorus and the remainder of the song. Lofgren proclaims, "Oh no, ain't no old school anymore," but I beg to differ. This is very old school, and it flat out rocks - it reminds me of the days when Aerosmith still had their groove.

60 Is The New 18 sees Lofgren waxing on the inelegance of growing old without grace. I suspect that Nils is telling this tale as a wry observer more than anything autobiographical here. Sonically, this sounds like a lo-fi dub take on the 80s school of intelligent and melodic guitar pop as practiced by The Police, or The Fixx. This should have a whole generation of indie rockers realizing that homegrown, handmade records needn't sound that way. Lofgren and his band sound like they spent ages working up these arrangements, but they are mostly live basic tracks, some guitar overdubs, and a few vocal fixes. The instrumental breakdown sounds like the love child of Andy Summers, and Billy Gibbons - it will have you scratching your head, and wondering where such brilliance can be bought.

Paying tribute to the voice of Ray Charles, I Miss You, Ray is a song that you know is a classic the minute you hear the first notes (think James Taylor's Fire and Rain). Nils Lofgren's guitar playing is as tremendously identifiable as ever - his touch and tone are sublime, whether he is playing electric, or as on this tune, acoustic. The rolling, laconic notes remind me of many Paul McCartney classics, as the moment you hear them, their intent and meaning are abundantly clear. As a vocalist, Lofgren is in fantastic form - his smoky resonance is endearing, as if a friend was singing to you in your living room.

It turns out that during all those years of incendiary guitar solos, and trampoline flips, Lofgren was listening very closely to the wordplay of his notably poetic ex-employers. Throughout this entire record, Lofgren assumes the position of wise bard, writing lyrics that are heart felt and compelling. Love Stumbles On is a look back over a life of broken dreams and hearts, yet love soldiers on bravely, and one never gets the notion that Lofgren is anything but hopeful.

Amy Joan Blues kicks the energy up  a notch - it's a cajun-esque romp that features one of the greatest voices to ever grace rock and roll, Paul Rodgers. Throwing lines casually back and forth, Lofgren and Rodgers sound like they've been singing together all their lives - a couple of old pros just doing what they do. Lofgren plays some amazing slide guitar from beginning to end and never seems to repeat the same lick twice.This is a somewhat standard piece of roots rock that is tremendously elevated by some superb performances.

Nils has been featuring Irish Angel in his solo shows for years, and has now recorded what will be the definitive version of the Bruce McCabe written ballad. Maybe one of the best ballads you've never heard, it's a tearjerker that has Lofgren lamenting that he'll have two drinks, one to forget, and one to remember his Irish angel. Beautifully played and sang, this one will stay on your mind long after listening.

Rock and roll Hall of Fame inductee Sam Moore (Sam and Dave) joins Lofgren on the autobiographical Ain't Too Many of Us Left. This makes me wish that somewhere along the line the six stringer had served as musical director for Bob Dylan. A very deceptive, and Stonesy rhythm sounds simple until you listen close and hear the interplay going on between the band on this cut. Yeah, they're old school as hell, and razor sharp, as Lofgren bemoans too much B-ball, too many flips, and artificial hips, all the while noting along with Moore that there ain't too many of us left.

If I had to pick one word to describe this album, I'd say that that word would have to be soulful. When Lofgren sings, "you were mine, when you were mine," it evokes memories of country ballads, haunting loss, and graceful resignation. Words sung by a less skilled vocalist could sound trite, but when Nils sings them you don't doubt that they are straight from the heart. This is another song that has a subtly beautiful arrangement with some nice synth pads, and Lofgren's beautiful acoustic guitar fills.

It takes Lofgren nine songs to finally uncork one that will have you saying, oh yeah, he has played with Springsteen for a quarter of a century. Straight Jersey shore rock with an upfront organ and a loping guitar line, Just Because You Love Me is a heartfelt paean from a man to his wife. This is a cut that lets you far enough into the artist's world to know that the hope he conveys in his voice is well placed.

Dream Big unfolds against sample laden electronic rhythms, and some sweet Philadelphia soul strings that keep getting cooler, and cooler as Lofgren lays down an impassioned rap that contains the most important message I've heard in a song for a very long time. This is street music circa 2011. With lines like, "love like a work of art," this song is an instruction manual on how one must live in perilous times. The angst comes flying out when Nils straps on his '61 Strat and knocks down walls with a stunning solo that is half emotional outburst and half technical wizardry - Lofgren's style is completely unique. His sound is tailor made and handcrafted.

Another heart on his sleeve ballad follows, with Let Her Get Away. It tells the tale of a man who just can't find the way to let go of a lost love. Lofgren's gentle, wispy acoustic guitar is the perfect accompaniment for the song, as Nils describes what dooms him to lose all love subsequent to losing the one he let get away. A beautiful prayer of contemplative resignation.

After evoking the spirit of Neil Young with a tasty bit of guitar squawk in the intro of Why Me, Lofgren is again examining his psyche as he wonders if there is "any hope in my catastrophe." I'm guessing that anyone who gives this a listen will be able to relate to this on many levels. Incredibly personal, but also universal, Nils's lyrics sing to and for every man.

Nils Lofgren's legend is based on guitar histrionics, vaulting into somersaults off of drum risers, being a dependable sideman, and occasional solo artist. Old School may be his most well realized solo foray, and is a marvelous album for our times, as well as his - the pains and woes he sings of are those of all of us in these turbulent times, but it is his sense of hope and perseverance that has kept me listening to this record repeatedly, and digging it more with each subsequent listening.

Old School is one of the finest records I have heard this year, and it's been a pretty good year. A great album for our times - it is a bit sad and reflective, but willing to do the work to make things right.

You should buy this record today.

Joe Walsh - Long May He Run

My buddy Joe Kroger calls me about a week ago. Asks me what I'm up to next Thursday evening. I tell him I have no plans - and he tells me not to make any, he has something lined up and I'll like it. I have this thing about first names. I always trust guys named Joe. Kind of like the way guys named Charlie are generally good eggs. So, when I get the word from Joe, I know I'm good.

Turns out he had grabbed a couple of tickets to see the sold out Joe Walsh concert at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati. Like I said, You can trust a cat named Joe.

The first time I had seen Joe Walsh in concert, he hadn't even yet joined the Eagles. He was still blowing folks away with his cadre of Colorado killers, Barnstorm. That was probably around 1975.

The years were good to Joe, often times better than Joe was to himself.

The next time I saw Joe, well, it was kind of funny. I worked as guitar salesman at the Guitar Center store on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. A glamorous gig, indeed, but not without its tribulations. At least a couple of times a day, some poor unfortunate derelict would find his way into the store and become a nuisance. Working on the guitar floor, we were the sentries, assigned to remove these vagrants, and to keep the scene safe and secure for our shoppers.

I'm working the floor one day, and my boss comes up and nudges my shoulder - "Hey Tony, you've got a cleanup by the vintage wall." We called them cleanups, short for supermarket talk, as in, you've got a cleanup on aisle four.

It was one of those days when I wasn't in the best of moods, and probably hadn't made a sale that day, so I may have been a bit surly.

This guy was reeling - wobbling from side to side, doing the back and forth shuffle at two in the afternoon, and smelling like a distillery. I strolled up, grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, preparing to say, "Hey man, you can't be in here."

I spin the greasy haired blond guy around, and sure as shit - it's Joe Walsh.

Joe says (slurs), "Hey man, how you doin'?"

Well, I'm just a bit shocked, and just a bit starstruck. We dealt with pros every day at GC, but this was a rare sighting. Walsh was a connoisseur's connoisseur when it came to vintage guitars. He had given Jimmy Page a '59 Gibson Les Paul Standard, and gifted Pete Townshend with the Gretsch Pete played on Who's Next. Joe himself was rarely seen playing anything except very nice old Strats and Les Pauls.

He looked up at the guitar wall and pointed to our current centerpiece, a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard - this is back in the days when you could buy one for what we thought was an astronomical price, but seems like spare change in retrospect.

I grabbed a ladder and fetched the prized relic. It wasn't the greatest example you'd ever see - it wasn't highly flamed and it had been well played over the years, but it weighed next to nothing, and the PAFs were as sweet as could be.

Joe said, "I'll take it!" Mind you, he hadn't even played it, he had simply held it, and smiled widely.

I told him that with tax, it would be just under $14,000. Walsh said, "That's cool. Somebody from the office will call you later, OK?"

I said that would be fine, and wondered if I'd hear back from anyone at all, as Joe was well into the wind at that point - about three sheets, as they say. But, sure enough, a little later that afternoon, I get a call and was given directions for payment and shipping.

I learned something that day about judging books from covers, or some such....

The next time I saw Joe Walsh, he was even more intoxicated than he had been that day at the shop. This was perhaps 1990, and Walsh and The Who's John Entwistle were literally laying on the floor at the Yamaha Guitars booth at the NAMM show in Anaheim. They were drunkenly jamming in their nearly supine positions, and in no condition to speak, but they were still playing quite well. It was great for a giggle, but also a trifle sad to see them legless at eleven in the morning.

I saw the guitarist once more, this time in 1998 at Konocti Harbor Resort in Clear Lake, California. Talk about big changes, Walsh was now a practicing Buddhist, and completely sober. He played a blinder of a set, as always.

Fast forward to 2011 - Walsh is on his first solo tour in some time, and playing with a new set of musicians for the first time in many years.

Fast forward to 2011, and a night out with a couple of Joes in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The cheers went up with the dimming of the lights, Welcome To The Club started the set, and that is exactly how it felt. The club was open, and the audience was dialed up and tuned in for the Joe Walsh experience - blazing guitars, catchy classic tunes, the customary dose of humor, and if you noticed some good production values.

Walsh's band was tight, and each member shined when they had their moments in the spotlight. The lineup featured two drummers, and their interlocking rhythms sounded fantastic. Joe even gave his co-guitarist several solos, and they were elegant and tasty. Three backups singers supported Walsh's vocals beautifully, and they received a huge ovation for carrying a splendid cover of Dylan's, I Shall Be Released.

The hits were flowing like a river as Walsh stepped through his career with tunes from The James Gang, to his long solo career, and straight on through to his Eagles days. He even played a new song, Wrecking Ball, off of his soon to be released album Analog Man. The record was produced by Jeff Lynne, and this song sounds like another Walsh classic, and it bodes well for the new record. You can hear the Lynne influence in the thick rhythms and lush backing vocals, but the tune itself is right from the canon of Joe.

Nobody goes to see Joe Walsh without expecting some great guitar playing, and the six stringer gave the crowd exactly what they came for. He's playing as well, if not better than ever. Once again he has rearranged the intro to Turn To Stone, but the audience was keyed in from the first chord as Walsh strummed some lovely passing chords, along with a select few incredibly melodic single note lines before squaring off with his duo of drummers to bring on the classic chords that signal the song's body - throughout the entire tune Walsh's frequent solo forays kept raising the bar higher and higher as he showed once again that he had digested completely the English lexicon of rock and roll guitar as prescribed by Drs. Page, Beck, and Clapton before he ever left Kent to ride with The James Gang. His stock as a guitarist has suffered over the years due to his job with the Eagles, and his comedic bent, but make no mistake, Joe Walsh is, was, and shall always be a guitar hero, first and foremost.

The crowd went completely bonkers when Walsh's tech made his way to the mic to attach the famed Talk Box, and we were treated to a lovely and lengthy rendition of Rocky Mountain Way. He revisited James Gang hits Funk #49, and Walk Away, and his voice and guitar sounded as vital as they had all those years ago. Several Eagle's smashes showed up in the set, with the classic guitar riffage of Life In The Fast Lane being exceptionally incendiary. Walsh then gave another nod to his Northern Ohio roots with a pretty rendition of the Michael Stanley penned, Rosewood Bitters. A few nuggets, a whole slew of huge hits, and an always ample dose of great Walsh guitar work left the sold out audience ecstatic.

Like I said, you can always count on a guy named Joe, and my friend Kroger, and Mr. Walsh proved the point splendidly.

Is it too early to nominate Walsh for another run at the Presidency? I mentioned production values earlier - all through the night, Walsh played before some extremely cool films being played on huge backdrops above and behind the stage. From huge processions of Buddhist monks, to many scenes depicting in stark reality what is happening in this country, Walsh made some great points without ever saying a word. He creates jobs, he pleases his constituency, he does what he promises to do, and he doesn't overstay his welcome. Yeah, both Joes have my vote for 2012, they'd make for a hell of a ticket.

Joe Walsh's new album, Analog Man, will be out in February, 2012.

On Meeting Michael Schenker - A Rock Guitar Daily Remembrance

I remember the first time I met Michael Schenker. Strolling down Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood one afternoon, I looked up to see a very familiar face walking towards me. I had heardthat he was in town recording, but I was still surprised to see him walking towards me on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I said hello, he nodded and we went our respective ways.

A month or so later, and as I was walking through the Guitar Center store I'm managing in Sherman Oaks, and I notice one of my salesmen was having a rather animated discussion with a dapper Englishman. I sidled up, poked my nose in, and asked what was up. It seems the Englishman was wanting to rent a four track recorder - something we didn't do. The salesman was very courteously explaining this when I decided to ask the rather well-to-do looking chap why he didn't just buy one. He claimed to only need it for a night or two, and it wasn't even for him, but rather his employer. That piqued my curiosity, so I asked, "Who is your employer?" I'll never forget how he said it, "A certain Michael Schenker."

I arranged for the store to memo loan him the recorder, and told a certain Mr. Treadwell that if there was anything at all we could do for him, or his employer, to not hesitate to ask.

Two weeks later, being a man of his word, he promptly returned the recorder, and asked to speak to me personally. I ventured down to the front counter to see what he wanted. He asked me if perhaps I might know someone who would be interested in joining the band's entourage as a guitar technician. I asked him what the job would entail, and what I could tell someone it paid. After he revealed the details, I responded that, in fact, I knew just the man for the job. Treadwell asked if a meeting could be arranged - I told him it already had, and that I was his man. We talked a bit further, and I accepted the job. I arranged for a leave of absence the next day.

My first day on the job, I was instructed to meet the band at the Santa Monica Civic Center - they were performing a brief set at a benefit show, but I was to speak with no one except the band, and I was instructed to simply meet all the fellows, and to not talk about exactly why I was there.

When I arrived I parked my car and started looking around for a familiar face. Sure enough, Michael himself pulled up and parked right beside me. I briefly introduced myself, and told him that Mick Treadwell had told me to come meet the band. I asked him if he would like me to carry some of his gear, and he looked at me very suspiciously, when suddenly someone spun me around, picked me up, and gave me a huge bear hug.

"Motherfucker, how the Hell are you doin'?" Ted Nugent was never a subtle man, but he is always extremely friendly, and not a shy person. "Michael," he said, "You know this motherfucker? He's a good man!"

Honestly, I had only met Nugent several times - he was formerly the employer of a guitar tech named Bobby Oberdorsten, and through Bobby, I had done the Nuge a minor favor, or two. Still, he never forgot a face, or a good deed done, and he was always graciously appreciative.

However, this was enough to relieve Mr. Schenker of any apprehensions about the stranger who had just barged into his space. We made our way into the arena, and we both got past the guard who took Ted's word when he said, "They're with me!" Ted's band, Damn Yankees, were the evening's headliner.

Once inside, I met the band, and rather uncomfortably avoided the topic of just who the hell I was, and what I was doing there. There are two funny details I remember, however, about the end of the night when the band had left the stage. When the band came off, they were pretty ecstatic - they had played a killer set, and left to a huge roar from the crowd. Schenker, however, seemed a bit miffed. First, he somewhat disgustedly said that he had missed four notes. Mind you, he had hit another several thousand dead on, but he wasn't happy about the four he had noticed missing. The other thing was that he looked at his guitar tech and growled that he had told him not to change the brand of batteries in his Cry Baby wah pedal. The tech demurred, but Michael insisted that a change had indeed been made, he could clearly hear the difference.

The next day, I appeared at the band's Burbank rehearsal studio only to be told to wait in a broom closet while the battery changing guitar tech was discharged of his duties. Several days later, I was relegated to looking after everyone onstage except Michael - his management had decided that the guitarist's stature was such that they hired Zeke Clark to look after Michael. Zeke Clark, of course, was Eddie Van Halen's tech for many years, and had also worked for Prince during the Purple Rain years. A guitar tech superstar - my feelings were not damaged, as the fact still remained that no one touched Michael's Flying V besides Michael, he even changed his own strings. Actually, he didn't even have a back up guitar - he only had his long time black and white companion, until Clark arranged the loan of a back up Flying V from Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo.

So you may be wondering why a suit and tie music store manager would up and leave a job that paid scandalously well to basically join the circus?

Because I was a fan. Michael Schenker's amazing musicianship had captured me at the age of 16, back in 1975, when I discovered an album called Force It, by a group named UFO. His melodic, incendiary way of playing lead guitar was something I had never experienced, and I was instantly enthralled. By the time I was 18, I could play the entire UFO catalog, and played in a cover band that featured a good handful of nuggets from the band that later went on to become poor via making Columbia rich.

The opportunity of having the pleasure of hearing my guitar hero play every night was too much to resist. There would always be music stores to manage, but this was a once in a lifetime offer. My favorite part of every day on that tour would undoubtedly be sitting on the tour bus, and listening to Michael play for a few hours each morning.

It is my opinion that Schenker is the finest hard rock guitar soloist to ever walk the planet. I also know that this is very subjective, and simply a matter of taste and one's own views.

Michael has dedicated his life to the art of the solo - the lead guitar breaks in many Schenker songs are generally very strong compositions of their own, and quite often uniquely different from the body of the tune. His solos are incredibly melodic, and filled with musical passion, prodigious technique, and fiery chops. He has been revered by a huge variety of rock guitarists over the last 30 years, many who claim him as a major influence. One of his signature guitar fueled anthems is a classic UFO cut off of their Phenomenon album, entitled Rock Bottom. Rock Bottom is a one of a kind treasure, much like Schenker himself. The wicked ricochet of a riff that services the intro and the verses is unlike any in the pantheon of heavy rock. When it's time to solo, the German whiz unleashes a thrilling roller coaster ride that remains a sonic signature to this day. Throughout his years with UFO, Schenker and the band's live shows became legendary, and eventually resulted in the recording of their seminal live album, Strangers In The Night. After leaving UFO, the guitarist became a high charting, festival favorite around the world with his own band, the Michael Schenker Group.

There is, of course, another side to the legend of Michael Schenker - it reads like a supermarket tabloid, filled with debauchery, drunkenness, unreliability, and train wrecks. Unfortunately, to varying degrees they are all true. I don't feel a need to re-hash or revisit this, as it is well known and it remains part of the story, but not so much the story I'm writing. We're here to talk about music, and music making.

Michael is a very fascinating character. He is easily misunderstood, simply because he is much less complicated than you'd gather from the stories. He is above anything else, a guitar player - he has little, if any interest in discussing the past, or even the future for that matter. Schenker is an artist, he is given to his art and lives very much in the moment.

I recently caught up with Michael, and I can't much argue with the claim made by a friend, who happens to be one of the country's best known guitar journalists, that Schenker is the worst interview in rock. What may be more important, however, is to realize why this may well be true. The interview is a part of show business - not a part of creating, not a part of being an artist. It is a sales tool used for purposes of business. This process is of little to no interest to the guitarist. Think of it like this - Rembrandt would have been a lousy interview - the man was an artist, not a public relations person.

Unfortunately, Michael Schenker's handlers have often been much more aligned to what Michael could do for them as opposed to what they could do for his career. I vividly remember hearing the tale of UFO returning home after a typically long drawn out tour of the United States, only to find that when they were dropped off at their homes by the limos that their houses had been sold, and there were new families having dinner at tables once belonging to the band members. Same thing with their all of their cars, vehicles, and possessions. Or the tour of America set up for MSG that had to be canceled when it turned out that their manager had failed to obtain the proper work documents for the band to enter America.

I asked Michael about the trials, tribulations, the missteps, and the consequences.

"I think that happens to all of us. We need hurdles in life, for exercise and development. I think it is easier when you believe, and realize this. Recently, out of the blue, I suddenly started to enjoy playing live shows. I have no idea why, after all these years. I guess it is my development! I also started to understand that metabolism slows down as you get older, so I eat what I need to keep me in good shape."

Keyboardist and guitar player Wayne Findlay has been working with Michael Schenker for over 13 years - I asked Wayne to comment on the ups and downs over the years:

Wayne Findlay, "Yeah, there have been some ups and downs over the years. I always try to stay calm and to defuse any situations, as they occur. I'm pretty laid back, so that really helps. Michael is a perfectionist, and so am I, so I can absolutely relate to him. It has given me great inspiration, both as a musician and as a person. It has enabled me to make many of my dreams come true - such as traveling the world, and playing in front of huge audiences. There is so much that Michael has given me on deeper levels, it is really hard to express in words. We have the same birthday, so we are similar in some respects. He is a great person, and is sometimes misunderstood. He also has a great sense of humor!

"Plus, I don't try to out step my boundaries. I never forget who's the boss. Which is really easy not to do - I'm playing on stage with Michael Schenker! A true legend, and my biggest mentor!"

Michael Schenker now appears to be in the best shape of his life. He is thin, clear eyed, and is actually smiling on stage, something that rarely happened in the past. For many years he dealt with a combination of stage fright, career pressures, chemical dependency and the frustrations of reproducing an accurate depiction of the sounds he hears in his head within the constraints of arenas and clubs. I can remember overhearing many discussions between Michael, and sound engineer Davey Kirkwood, regarding Michael's desire to hear the sound he captured on record, and the very different sound he was hearing on stage in large theaters. His sole concern was being able to play what he felt without being disturbed by added ambience, anomolies, and noise.

Temple of Rock is Michael's first album of new material since 2008. He is joined on the record by an all star cast that includes his brother Rudolf, Leslie West, Doogie White, Robin McAuley, Herman Rarebell, Carmine Appice, Elliott Rubinson, and singer/producer Michael Voss. The record contains some of the sharpest riffing, heaviest guitars, and sizzling solos to grace a Schenker album in many years. Once again, Michael has refused to rely on old formulas and is pushing himself into new territory as a player. 

For the recording of the album, Schenker was also reunited with one of rock and roll's truest stars, bassist Pete Way. Way also joined Schenker's band on stages across Europe this past summer, sharing the bass playing duties with Elliott Rubinson. Years of overindulgence in the rock and roll lifestyle of drink and drugs have wreaked havoc on the man many consider to be one of the best bassists and songwriters in the history of hard rock. I asked both Michael and producer/singer Michael Voss about Pete, and how he is doing these days:

Michael Schenker, "Pete is an amazing spirit, with a very pure expression. It shows in his playing and performing when he is clear. I very much hope that someday he will be able to find enough peace in his life to shine once again. He has been taken advantage of a lot, due to his generous personality, but I think he is getting better step by step."

Michael Voss had this to add about Way, "Yeah, when Pete hits it, he hits it! He is a wonderful person, and he has loads of ideas and great hook lines - it is nearly like he is singing with  his bass. It was amazing to have him join us on the album. What a sweetheart."

Voss has joined the Schenker entourage in a big way, by producing Temple of Rock alongside the guitarist, writing most of the album's lyrics, and singing the lion's share of the vocals on the record.

"Well, I've known Michael for a few years now." Voss stated, "It all started with the acoustic album, Gipsy Lady (a Schenker/Barden Acoustic Project record from 2009). We stayed in touch, then he asked me to book some time in my studio for recording new demos for a project with Herman Rarebell, and Pete Way. We started recording, and I offered to sing Michael's vocal ideas. He liked it, so we kept the ball rolling!"

I asked Voss how it was to wear hats as both the producer, and vocalist.

Voss said,"Mikey produced me and my vocals, and I took care of his performances. After that, we concentrated on the mixing and mastering. Recording Michael's guitars was a great pleasure! We searched a long time to find a good guitar sound that suited Michael, and then we collected and recorded guitar solos - some of the ideas were improvised, and others were worked out and composed by the master himself. It all went pretty easy!"

  

Temple of Rock is an interesting album. It may be the heaviest and most complex album that Schenker has ever recorded. Every tune is filled with interesting twists and turns, and the maestro is simply on fire. That being said, it is not that immediate - it took me several listening sessions to acclimate myself to some new territory and surroundings. Voss's production is excellent, and captures a vast amount of players, singers, and sounds in a very coherent fashion - something occasionally missing on projects with multiple cameos, and rhythm sections.

The record also has the guitarist joining forces with several vocalists, including long time band-mate and business partner Robin McAuley, on the track, Lover's Sinfony, and ex-Rainbow belter Doogie White, on what may be the album's standout cut, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Doogie White is one of the best and busiest hard rock singers in Europe, and graciously took my call to answer some very last minute questions, which goes to show you why he gets the calls to work with so many acts - he is a pro's pro, and a classic voice:

"Chris Glenn (Ex-MSG bassist) is a mate of mine, so he and Micheal asked if I would sing with MSG in London. I did Doctor Doctor, and that was that. Then Michael's management asked if I would be interested in writing and singing a song on the new album.

White said, "Michael Schenker, on a train ride, wrote the music for Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," as he wanted me to be on the album. I just really felt the music and wrote the song in 25 minutes. Both Schenker and Voss thought that it worked very well, and that is the tale of the song!

"Michael Voss sent me the backing, and I added my vocals and harmonies, working them into the tracks. He is a splendid producer with very cool ideas, and he gets great sounds! The song itself just came out. Sometimes it just happens like that. The vocals on the song were done with a Shure SM58 hand held microphone, with me dancing around my vocal studio in London. I later re-did them on an over-priced mic, but they went with my original take, and I sang my backgrounds around that one. Michael has pulled amazing performances from everyone on the record, and put it all together - plus, he sings very well!"

I asked the veteran about the interesting lyrics to the song:

"Well, I never believe in giving an explanation of lyrics. Different day, different meaning. Take what one will from them. Just remember to be in Heaven before the Devil knows you're dead. Let's face it - we all sold our souls at some point for rock and roll."

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is one of the album's best cuts, featuring some epic keyboard work by Wayne Findlay, and a brutally good rhythm track provided by bassist Elliott Rubinson and Whitesnake drummer Brian Tichy, but it's White's vocals and Schenker's careening guitars that sell the track so effectively.

Herman Rarebell plays a very key role throughout the record - the ex-Scorpions timekeeper is featured on half of the tracks, and his instantly recognizable style gels wonderfully with Schenker's lockstep rhythms. Maybe it's all those years of working with the Schenker bloodline, but these guys sound very good together.  I asked Herman about the record, and I'll simply print exactly what he said:

"We met in Brighton, and decided to do a band with Pete Way, and Michael Voss - out of this came one song, called Saturday Night, and we were going to call the band Strangers In The Night."

I asked the drummer about playing with Pete Way.

Raraebell said, "It was great fun with Pete. We are old friends, and that's how it felt, like two friends getting together once again."

I asked the drummer several other questions, and here is how Herman summed it up:

"In regards to playing with Uli, Matthias, Rudolf, or Michael? It depends on what I get offered on a song, and I play to that. Really, I just had fun playing - I think they are all great songs."

I asked how working with Michael was different than it may have been twenty years ago:

Herman, "Well, right now he is completely straight, and that is the first time I have seen him like that, and he is playing better than ever!"

Producer Voss did an excellent job fitting some excellent keyboard tracks into the songs, and it's great to hear Schenker reunited with such great players as Don Airey, and UFO/MSG band-mate Paul Raymond. Wayne Findlay does his usual great job on the four tracks that feature his ivory touch.

So....what can I tell you?

For close to 40 years, I have been a huge fan of Michael Schenker. So much so that I once left an amazing job, just to have the opportunity to listen to him play every day and night. I have taken the whole ride, as all of Michael Schenker's fans have done.

Temple of Rock is a very good record that may require a few listens to completely sink in. But I have found the investment very worthwhile. Schenker is playing extremely well, and continues to expand his considerable horizons. After 40 years of recording, he is still developing as a player and a writer.

Everyone who worked on this record is very anxious to talk about it. Why? Because they feel that they have done good work (and they have!), and they want to support this musical genius who has given us all so much pleasure. So should you.

Michael himself sums it up very well: 

"The Temple of Rock is within me where I create since I was introduced to the amazing invention of the distorted Guitar which is for me the most enjoyable and the best possible way to express myself. The Rock Guitar Sound that I fell in love with, mostly expressed as Lead break, is what I have nurtured and treasured all of my life. Combined with the infinite spring from within and the amazing musicians around me I keep expressing an ongoing development of my Art(Being). With Temple of Rock I am entering a new stage of my life, a new level of existence enjoying life more than ever, reaping the joy of all sorts of developments from the past.

Also, it seems to me that collectively, with true expressive makers of Rock Music, we have been building the external Temple Of Rock for many years and have now come to the point of putting on the roofing and celebrating the almost completion of the Temple. All generations of this period are meeting all over the world on one stage it seems celebrating an Era of 'Hand Made Rock' which will never be the same again due to invention of new technology but of course New Temples and New Wonders will arise to enjoy expressions in new ways."

I would like to thank Michael Schenker, Herman Rarebell, Michael Voss, Doogie White, Wayne Findlay, everyone at Inakustik records, and Clint Weiler at MVD Entertainment Group for all their kind and generous help.