Greg Lake - The Rock Guitar Daily Interview

"Songs of a Lifetime is a celebration of the age of shared music. That's what it is. I spent a long time preparing the show, I recorded all the music from scratch to build the show into what it is. I was determined that it should not be one of those, 'legend in his own lunchtimes,' sitting on a stool boring everyone rigid. I wanted it to be entertaining, and I wanted it to be emotional." ~ Greg Lake

Well, he certainly made it that - if you've not yet seen, or heard Songs of a Lifetime, it is a tremendously well done overview of the musical journey of Greg Lake. He covers his life from an early adoration of Elvis and The Beatles to the high flying private jet days of ELP to what he considers the necessity of reconnecting with his fans in a return to the 'shared music' experience, and he's done it in an extremely entertaining and emotional package.

I wasn't sure what to expect from my time with Greg, but whatever I hoped for was greatly exceeded by the man's generous and charming demeanor. We managed to keep the ball afloat for over an hour, and ended with an agreement to get together soon for more talk, and a glass of wine - this conversation definitely primed my desire to read his soon to be published autobiography, which he expects will be out by summer's end. What you'll find here is that Greg Lake is a great storyteller.

Our conversation, unfortunately, started with my informing Greg of the passing of guitar legend Alvin Lee. I asked Greg if he had yet heard the news:

Greg Lake: "No idea, no....no I didn't. Good lord. Very sad, very sad. Thank you for letting me know - I wasn't close to him as a friend, but obviously he was there as I was growing up, and a big part of the rock scene in England during my formative years. 

"It just makes you realize that we have to be grateful for every day we've got. Because you never know. I suppose everybody, when you get older, you start to value your time more. When you're a young man, you just don't think about it, do ya?"

Getting that bit of rough news out of the way, we move on and I asked Greg if there had yet been a release date announced for his upcoming autobiography:

Greg Lake: "No, there hasn't but it will certainly be out before the fall. It's one of those things where, I get to a point where I think I've finished it - I can't do anymore. And then somebody will say something and I'll think, 'Oh crap! I've left it out, that's gotta go in,' so I go back. 

"Sooner or later I'm going to have to close the door, and say that's it. Because, literally - anybody could go on for years, just carrying on with the writing, because it's an endless book, isn't it?"

Knowing when to end a project and say enough is enough is something that must be terribly familiar to Greg Lake - he produced King Crimson's first album at the age of 22, and has since produced a great many more - so is it harder to know when to end a book than a record?:

Greg Lake: "I think in a way, it is more difficult, because there's always something you've left out. And the horrible thing is that some of the stuff is real important in terms of an autobiography. You realize that you've left someone really important out of it, no matter how hard you try. You know, life is strange - there are so many things, and so many people in my life that I have to be grateful to for having played a part in the success I've had."

Knowing that Greg is a fervid book collector, I had to wonder if any classic autobiographies from history had influenced the writing of his own:

Greg Lake: "No, actually, no. For some reason, I'm not an autobiographical collector, not for any real reason, but I'm into, I suppose, literature - English literature, 18th/19th century and also, I'm into voyages and exploration, that kind of thing."

I realize the logic of a man like Lake being into travel and adventure, given his chosen profession as a poet and troubadour:

Greg Lake: "Well, of course - that was the beginning of the touring musician, I suppose."

Looking back at his early days with King Crimson, I asked if their sophistication, and grandiosity was an intention, or just the sum of the musicians who made up the band:

Greg Lake: "I think what you refer to as grandiosity was probably the fact that the music, instead of being influenced by the blues, and American music - soul, gospel, country and western, as almost all rock and roll was up to that time, we took our influence from European music, which was classical, medieval, folk, but certainly European in its form. 

"I think that's what gave you, and other people the feeling that it was somehow designed to be grand. It wasn't designed to be grand. It was designed to be good and feelingful. 

"You know, there's a lot of feeling in songs like Epitaph, or In The Court of the Crimson King. It's a different feeling to the blues, you know? It's a different passion and so it may have come across as being 'grand' in that sense, but really and truly the intention was not so much that - it was an unconscious by-product of what we were doing, really. 

"We needed....you see, in those days it was very important to be original, and there was a premium on being original - in fact, if you weren't original, it was very difficult to get noticed, because there were so many incredible, original artists around at that time. You only have to look back at the record charts in those days to see how many acts there were that were stunningly different. 

"If you played a record by the Pink Floyd, or Hendrix, The Who, Zeppelin - you'd know within three seconds who that was. They sounded so individual, so unique, and the challenge was when King Crimson began was, 'How are we going to be unique?"

I interrupt to congratulate and thank him for his part, and his success in turning a European rock band back to their European roots:

Greg Lake: "That well of American music had been visited so many times, as great as it was, it was becoming very hard to find any new way to approach it! 

"I think it was an interesting thing to do, and I think, actually, now looking back on it, I think it had a good influence on music. It opened up music, so that instead of it just being, sort of that narrow bandwidth, as great as it is, as great as soul is, the blues is, and all American music is - it actually opened up the palette, the whole spectrum of music, and a lot of new music came about as a result of that influence."

Looking back at the late '60s and the early seventies, I asked Lake if he felt that music had somehow stagnated since - was it my imagination, or had the creativity of that era wained in the ensuing years?

Greg Lake: "I think that was a golden era of creativity - in the art, in music art. I think as with all golden eras - they come, and go, frankly. 

"The same as with Hollywood movies, there was a golden era where these great classic films were made with these great classic actors, and it isn't the same today - it's more manufactured, more processed. You get the sense that it's more processed, and less natural. 

"So that's my perspective on it - that isn't to say that there aren't great musicians around, because there certainly are. I think it's just that times have changed - when music doesn't play as big a part in culture, it's not as relevant to our culture as it was during the late '60s, and early '70s."

Being different, and original - that's an idea that never grows old, and in that regard it always struck me as fascinating that before Greg Lake and Robert Fripp decided to partner up in King Crimson, they had been taking guitar lessons, literally the same lessons from the same teacher, and yet as guitarists they are stylistically light years apart.  I asked Greg how they ended up so different as players, coming from such a similar background:

Greg Lake: "Look, all musicians are different - it's just what's inside of you, really.  

"I would say that Robert is more, sort of, his approach is more academic and technical - mine is more feelingful, and because I sing, my interest in the guitar was not being a soloist, it was being an accompanist for myself singing. I suppose that's the directional difference. 

"Although we both learned exactly the same lessons from the same man, a guy named Don Strike. So did Andy Summers, incidentally, he went to Don Strike, as well. There was the three of us there - so, that'll just show you. 

"Andy is very different from myself, or Robert - however, the one thing we do share in common is this cross-picking technique. We do share a technical similarity, but that's where it ends, really. As you grow older, you become more yourself. Your whole playing and motivation in music becomes very personal."

I noted to Lake that his acoustic guitar work is especially distinct, that I could recognize his playing in just a few chords, and this lead to a discussion of early guitar influences:

Greg Lake: "Well, that's quite nice of you to say - again, I think it's the approach, the cross-picking. And, of course, the other thing is the use of chords - European music has got more variety in terms of musical structure. A lot of guitar players play their music based around the blues effectively, and as good as it is, it can be a bit limiting. 

"As far as influences, there are two sides to it, really. The one would be people like Django Reinhardt in the early days when I was in guitar lessons. Segovia was another great guitar player that I was kind of in awe of.  

"But later, of course, it became people like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, people who were outstandingly good who I admired, and still do to this day. Their guitar playing has never ceased to amaze me! 

"I should also mention a guy called Hank Marvin, who played for a group, The Shadows. He influenced pretty much anybody and everybody. You talk to any great guitarist - they'll all tell you that they respect Hank Marvin, because he had a wonderful way with melody, and a great guitar sound. 

"The thing I tire of now is, I tire of hearing the blindingly fast guitar players ripping through thousands of notes a second, and it really doesn't say anything! All it says is that they can move their fingers very quickly.  

"Music's not about that - it's about feelings, it's about the transference of feeling from one soul to another."

Greg Lake is a man who knows the difference between technique for technique's sake versus true musicianship. When he decided to tour as a solo artist in the early '80s, he immediately hired a man with staggering virtuosity and a ton of soul, Gary Moore:

Greg Lake: "Strangely enough, some of the most beautiful and feelingful things Gary ever played were not on record, and were not on stage. As you know, Gary was Irish, and he had this beautiful lyrical playing - we'd sit and play back and forth - if you're at all familiar with the music of Riverdance, he would play things like that, just sensational Irish music.  

"I miss Gary a lot. Somebody asked me just the other day about him, and I said, "You know, I still don't really think of him as being dead. Not in a musical way, but almost in a physical way - he's one of those people I can still see as clear as day. I can actually hear him speak, and it's really as though he's never really passed away. Very strange."

Any fan of Greg Lake will never forget the sight of him at the California Jam back in 1974. Sitting on a stool with only an acoustic guitar in front of 250,000 people - I had to ask just how that felt?

Greg Lake: "It's a strange thing - on any of those really large events with hundreds of thousands of people, you start to become in a way detached.  

"When you play a thing like the Cal Jam, it is like looking out at the ocean, or across a big carpet, haha! You don't pick out individual people, you're just playing to this field of humanity - it's awe inspiring. I mean, it's almost biblical by proportion, and you just get lost in that moment of being awestruck, and realizing that you'd better get it right, because that's going to go down in history. 

"The nervousness about it is to be sure that you don't make any stupid mistakes and you do as well as you can. In another sense, it is an overwhelming thing to experience for anyone. To get up on a stage and to play for that many people is a strange experience."

Lake is no stranger to large stages, one of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's first shows was at the legendary Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before over a half million people. ELP was a force of nature, known for their incredible live performances, and according to Lake, this was no accident:

Greg Lake: "In ELP, we practiced a lot - we worked very hard, so that the performances were very consistent. It wasn't that we were good one night, and not on another - you could see ELP most any night, or anywhere, and we'd hit the same mark pretty much all the time. I think we prided ourselves on that. When we came off the stage, we'd given it everything we had, absolutely everything. 

"The other interesting thing about the ELP shows was that they always ended within - and I'm not exaggerating - 30 seconds. Over a two and a quarter hour show, they always ended within 30 seconds of each other. It's incredible, because you would think somewhere, somehow, there would be a difference, but that's how locked up they were."

Given the obvious brilliance of a band such as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, I asked Greg how it was that the critics and the press attacked the band with such gusto at times?

Greg Lake: "They saw the band as being pretentious - but, we never said to anyone that we were classical musicians, or classically trained, or anything. We - all we said is that we were using these inspirations, those roots, really, as a source of inspiration.  

"I think that some people thought that we were trying to be smart asses! That really wasn't it - we were trying to be original, we were trying to be different, and we were trying to be ourselves. I mean, if you look at albums for example - Trilogy, Tarkus, Brain Salad Surgery, these are, I think, truly unique and innovative records. 

"Everybody is entitled to an opinion - you don't have to like ELP, and I think that's fair enough, if someone doesn't like it, or it's not for them, that's fine. I don't like every music I listen to, it's people's free choice, and that's never bothered me. One thing I can say, luckily, is that the audience was always with us."

Moving back to current events, I asked Greg if after all his planning and preparation for his Songs of a Lifetime Tours, the shows and audiences lived up to his expectations and hopes:

Greg Lake: "Yes - they exceeded them, really! I spent a long time preparing the show, I recorded all the music from scratch to build the show into what it is, and so I put a lot into it. I was determined that it should not be one of those - legend in his own lunchtimes, sitting on a stool, boring everybody rigid! I wanted it to be entertaining, and I wanted it to be emotional. 

"I really wanted it to touch people, and I realized what it is - it is the audience that I grew up with - we were all bonded by the same thing. It was the age of shared music. 

"It was when you used to go and buy a vinyl LP, and sit around with your friends and you listened to it, and in some way you were connected by this music. And, I think what made a lot of these great events like the Cal Jam you just mentioned - it wasn't that people were going to see ELP, or Deep Purple, they were going along because they felt bonded, and they joined - it was a gathering. Joined by the event. It was a communal belonging, and that was the age of shared music. 

"That really ended with the invention of the Sony Walkman - when music became a solitary experience. You would put on the earphones, and you'd listen alone. So this really is a gathering of a family of people who were joined together in some way, bonded by the age of shared music. 

"Songs of a Lifetime is a celebration of the age of shared music - that's what it is."

Sticking with Songs of a Lifetime, I asked Greg how he selected songs for the tour, and how audiences have responded:

Greg Lake: "The set list really developed from the autobiography! As I was writing it, these songs would pop up with a story attached to them, you see. 

"I do Heartbreak Hotel, and I tell a story about Elvis, because that was just a fascinating story - and all these songs have got some story behind them, but really, what interested me were not so much my stories, I mean, I tell them because I want people to be entertained, but what fascinates me more is the people that stand up in the show and tell me stories that they've experienced connected with these songs! 

"Some nights you'll have everybody in tears, because there will be some story that is really tragic, and then some nights it'll be funny, and some nights it's tragic and funny. It's like a roller coaster, and that's part of the value of the show is that when people leave, they really have been on a journey. 

"They've been on a journey they know, in a way - a journey they've been on before. But they haven't lived it recently, and so there is that sense of going back to a beautiful place where, when you were young, I suppose, and it gives people a sense of reflection over their life, as music does.  

"Music becomes a tapestry against which we live our lives. In a way, that's what it's all about. It's sharing and celebrating our life that we shared in music. I have to say, I've never been more satisfied with a show than these - I find it very gratifying. Some nights, after the show, I'll be there at the venue until 1:30 in the morning talking with people, because they've got something they want to say and they didn't want to say it during the show - they come backstage, and they talk to me. 

"It's really like a huge family gathering. I realized that it's important for them to say what they need to say - it is important - so therefore, that's how it is. I'm very happy with the show."

One of my personal favorite moments on Songs of a Lifetime is hearing Lake recant his time playing with Ringo Starr in the drummer's All Starr Band. As I had recently with guitar great Steve Lukather, I had to ask Greg, what it was like to look back from the front of the stage to see that your drummer is a Beatle?

Greg Lake: "Hahahaha! It's a strange feeling! Especially when you're playing a song like Boys, or Act Naturally, or With A Little Help From My Friends - all these songs!
"Ringo is a great drummer - he's got a great feel, and when you really do feel what that energy was - that rhythmical energy that drove The Beatles in the way that it did. I mean, I don't know if you've ever done it, but I have - and that is I listen to Beatles records, and they're unbelievably good, the drum parts are really, really well thought out, well played - they're flawless. 

"There's no slack in them, there are no gratuitous drum fills - it's all in the right place. He's an incredible player, Ringo, and the other thing that shocked me is that he is a tremendous disciplinarian. Most people, their impression of Ringo is probably this sort of floppy haired guy at the back of The Beatles, loose and happy-go-lucky, but he's not! He's a very disciplined person. He'll stay there rehearsing until his fingers bleed! Not only for his songs, but mine. He's just like that, he has to have it right, and so that taught me something about The Beatles - that he was actually a driving force for making stuff - for perfecting the music.  

"He was not just a drummer, he was a motivator, and a catalyst in that sense - for getting that stuff absolutely perfect in performance. I don't know if you ever saw The Beatles, but they were impressive - they played, and it sounded fantastic! 

"When you look at them as individuals they were incredibly talented, it was a wonderful chemistry of four talented guys coming together to make this band, The Beatles - the perfect cocktail. The exact ingredients to make the perfect drink were right there. 

"I asked Ringo, I said, 'How on earth do you have that many hit records?' I mean, I had a couple, but not 200! He just told me that everyday, John and Paul would come in, no matter where they were, on tour, or in the studio, wherever they were, they'd both have brought a song, and they'd both be hit songs, and that's just how it was!"

Given that Greg's experience was so overwhelmingly positive, I had to ask if there had been any other run-ins with Beatles over the course of his travels:

Greg Lake: "I did have one experience a couple of years back, I went to Ringo's 65th birthday party in New York, and we all got up on stage at the end and played Give Peace A Chance - Yoko was there, and unbeknownst to anybody, as a complete surprise, Paul McCartney suddenly ran up on the stage and started playing - and the scream that went up from the audience was truly frightening. As you know, I've played in a lot of arenas, and in the hey day of ELP it was pretty screamy, but nothing like this! It was shrill and it was frightful - that's what people called Beatlemania, that shrill, out of control thing. I heard it for myself, and it was a shock to my system."

For a man of such stature, Greg Lake seems to be above all, a humble man. He wrote one of rock's enduring classics, Lucky Man, as a twelve year old boy and he's always been very subdued in blowing his own horn. But I was curious - if one can be understated about the writing of Lucky Man (the name of the autobiography, incidentally), what would one consider to be one's crowning achievement as a songwriter?

Greg Lake: "Ooooooh, I don't know! Hahahaha! 

"You always polarize to the one's that are more successful, I suppose, but I'm very proud, and very fond of one called Closer To Believing - that I wrote with Pete Sinfield. We wrote it together, and it was a labor of absolute love. We decided that every single line in it should contain a perfect rhyme - no half rhymes, no close rhymes - and each line should contain some element of what we felt, or described as being 'universal truth.' So, that was a bar we set for that song, and it took us three months to write - every day - day in, and day out.

"Eventually we finished it, and I suppose in that sense, from the sheer quality standpoint, it would be difficult to beat - but songs are....the ultimate sophistication is simplicity, and some of the best songs that anyone ever writes are the most simple - instant and thoughtless - 'Oh, there they are.' 

"Lucky Man was one of those that literally, I can't even remember, I didn't even think about it - it was out."

Knowing what I know about Greg Lake, I had to ask what he thought of the idea of ghostwriters - had he considered help with telling his tale?

Greg Lake: "No, no, no, no....I don't see the point in that, really. I mean, if you can't tell your own story, then you shouldn't tell it! 

"In fact, the only reason I wrote the bloody thing was because all artists sit around dinner tables, and tell their stories, right? And I'm no exception - I'll tell all these stories, and all rock 'n' rollers do it. People always say, 'Greg, you should write a book,' and I'd say, yeah....But one day, my manager came up to me, and he said, 'You know, Greg, you really ought to write it, because if you don't tell these stories they will get lost, and no one will ever know about them' - and the thing is, and why I thought about it, and in the end what persuaded me to do it was - everybody knows what happens about ELP, they bought the records, went to the shows, but what they don't know is what happened behind the scenes. 

"I'm not talking about the gossip, or fights and arguments, although there were the occasional ups and downs, as there are in all great bands. You show me a band that doesn't fight, and I'll show you a band that's rubbish. They all fight, because they are all passionate about what they do, they all want their own way. And I suppose it was the same in ELP. 

"We were all forceful characters. It isn't a book of kiss and tell - it's just the intimate details about how the band worked behind the scenes, and how my life worked behind the scenes. It's the same with King Crimson."

So - there you have it. Greg Lake is a superlative storyteller, and I'm sure his autobiography will be not just a best seller, but on a lot of best book lists this year. Wrapping things up, I asked Greg if after the completion of his Songs of a Lifetime shows, and the book release, would the world perhaps see some electric Greg Lake shows again?

Greg Lake: "Funny you should say that, but I think the next thing I want to do is to come back out playing guitar. Strangely enough, in the show I get asked if I've any regrets, and I mean, on one level, how could I? 

"I've lived an incredible life, a privileged life - and I came from nowhere! I was born in an asbestos pre-fab, and grew up in a very poor family. I was just incredibly lucky. But, when I came to reflect on it, there is a regret I have, and the regret is, when I was young, I used to play the music from the charts, and part of that was I used to play a lot of soul music - James Brown, blues things, and once I came to this sort of 'progressive music.' I don't like that term, but the progressive music world, I kind of became detached, and cut off from soul music. 

"So I've got a kind of yearning to get back to that style, that flavor of music with more soul in it - I suppose with a more black influence, really, because it's music that I love! 

"I don't know how I'm going to do that quite, but that's what is in the back of my mind, and I'd like to try, and do at least some of that."

Given Greg Lake's track record, I can't imagine he won't find a way to do this, and do this successfully.

My thanks to Greg Lake, and Billy James at Glass Onyon PR.

http://www.greglake.com/solotour/fans/index.html

Whitesnake - Made In Japan - Do Not Go Gentle Into This Good Night

"First off, I completely disregard the fact that I'm 61 years old" ~ David Coverdale

You're damned right he does. Whitesnake's Made In Japan will wake the dead, and remind them that things change, but they never really end. David Coverdale and company are still amongst the handful of giants who can put on an exhilarating show and not nearly make it through their catalog. Drawing heavily from their last two studio sets, the Snakes wisely choose to avoid repeating live sets of old, and while there are still precious nuggets from the past that can't be ignored, this lineup sounds fresh, and reinvigorated.

Whitesnake is perhaps the hardest working band on the classic hard rock circuit. There's not a second of sitting back, or the proverbial resting on one's laurels. Led by longtime teammate Doug Aldrich who is a vastly underrated six stringer, Coverdale has always filled his band with the best and the brightest - Reb Beach is still on guitar, Michael Devin is a brutally powerful bassist, and then there's Brian Tichy. Tichy has now left to seek his proper due as a bandleader in his own right, but he leaves his mark by thundering the band through this 90 minute set. Keyboardist Brian Reudy does a great job of supplying the melodic tapestries that keep things sweet, and not overly metallic.

Best Years is a great opener, as it is easily on par with the band's best - coming off 2008's Good To Be Bad, it crosses the tundra like a precision military operation. Whitesnake suffers from the brilliance of its leader's past - we've heard the old standards so often that they are imprinted upon our musical DNA, but if you came to this album without the baggage of history, you would not know which was early, middle, or present. You'd quite simply dig it.

The condition of Coverdale's vocal cords are always a question, and while I'm sure that every step has been taken to insure that this product is as high quality as it can be, I'm hearing more in the way of lower tunings than after the fact doctoring. The whole band sings, and sings well - no apologies are due - these guys work harder than hell to make what they do the very best for their audience. Detractors be damned.

David Coverdale is the one of the last standing rock god vocalists. He's singing a step lower, but his phrasing is still devastatingly passionate, and effective - Give Me All Your Love Tonight is a great example. You know how I work, I'm toggling back and forth between this record and the original, and while it's obviously in a lower key, the melody is delivered with power, passion, and precision. The band is blasting, and Reb Beach throws down a great solo - and any band that has Brian Tichy behind the kit is probably the tightest in the land that night.

Doug Aldrich keeps getting better, and better, and he was always damned good. His solo on Love Ain't No Stranger puts him firmly in league with Gary Moore and John Sykes as masters of the right hand - listen to the authority with which he picks - he's devilishly accurate and his wide vibrato is wonderful, from quick shakes to long bends, he's a master.

Michael Devin's pumping bass and Tichy's heavy backbeat are perfect on Is This Love - they're standing in the shadows of Neil Murray and Aynsley Dunbar, and they are more than up to the task. Aldrich's heavily sustained woman tone solo is a stunner, and anytime a guitarist can make me not miss John Sykes, I am immensely grateful. Thanks, Doug. His cohort Beach also does a great job of providing some sleek harmonies throughout.

When I talked to Doug Aldrich yesterday, he kind of downplayed his slide guitar technique, but I think he's being to modest - while he may be no Sonny Landreth, or Derek Trucks, neither is anyone else. That being said, he squeezes out exactly what you want on Steal Your Heart Away, a song that does a masterful job of marrying early Whitesnake circa Lovehunter to the more muscular riffage of the band's golden era. However - when Aldrich and Beach trade solos, this is now. Did I mention that Coverdale is sounding amazing on this?

Forevermore is the first song in many years that has made me remember the promise of Coverdale/Page. Amongst the finest songs in Coverdale's huge catalog, this is worthy of that over used word - epic. The acoustic guitar is held afloat by some wonderfully supportive synths, and the band is supplying some great harmonies - this bunch is busting their asses. Tichy is as heavy as a battleship, and it's perfect as the Middle Eastern motif is unfurled and Aldrich takes things into the stratosphere. Coverdale and Aldrich are a great writing team - give this a listen, and it's all there.

David takes a mid-set break, and the guitar players take over for a bit of the old back and forth. This is heaven for the fans of the Vai/Vandenberg era Snake - heavy guitar heaven, and this might be the best tandem team David's fielded yet. They've been on the field for ten years now, and they are an awesome team. When they go into the Ace Frehley approved dual bending shredfest, I'm in heaven. They leave Ace behind when they go for the throat, but their roots are showing.

Love Will Set You Free is as good a rocker as Coverdale has ever penned. His ability to keep mining gold from a familiar vein never fails to impress me. It's not easy to write great riffs, or effective lyrics that escape cliche, or trod upon the past, but he and his writing partner Aldrich have it figured out. They both say that their writing is amazingly organic, and this is surely proof.

Brian Tichy electrifies with a seven and a half minute drum excursion that serves to seal his fate as one of the great drummers to occupy the throne for the mighty Whitesnake - standing tall beside Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Aynsley Dunbar, and the now returning Tommy Aldridge is no small achievement, and while no one can kick Tichy's decision to move on, any band would miss his fire, power, and precision.

Rounding out the show, it's time for the band to climb to the very top of the mountain, with the classics Fool For Your Loving, Here I Go Again, and Still Of The Night - you have to love and admire David Coverdale. He's stuck to his guns - even to the point of walking away for a few years when the world wasn't hearing it, then coming back stronger than ever, and delivering. Are there happier, more satisfied fans than Whitesnake's? I don't think so. They've stuck with their guy through thick and thin and he has given them back all he has to give. Can you ask for more? He and his band work as hard, and maybe harder than about any band you could name.

There's not a weak moment to be found here, and if you'd have played this for me in 1990, and told me this is where the band would be in almost 25 years, I could not have been more pleased. Great, great guitars, thunderous drums, a bass line that propels things through it all, silky smooth keys, and the words and vocal chops of one of the finest singer/songwriters to ever walk onto a stage,  Mr. David Coverdale.

Disc two is made up of outtakes from sound checks, and some acoustic treats - this is both fun and instructive. We hear the band working through the songs, and maybe it's greatest value is that it shows that what we have here is a band - not just a superstar and some hired hands. These guys have fun, and they work together very hard to produce this music that we love so much. Fun, fun, fun, and it's a great chance to hear just how well David is singing - that's a constant thing I see, and I cannot congratulate him too much, or too often for his hard work, passion, and efforts.

Especially good are the acoustic numbers - it shows a direct link to the past, reminding that Rod and The Faces may have been a strong influence in the Whitesnake template, and these nuggets are golden.

Thanks to David Coverdale, Doug Aldrich, Whitesnake, Frontiers Records, Carise Yatter, and Peter Noble at Noble PR for all your generosity and passion.

Release Dates: Europe April 19th, North America April 23rd

Whitesnake - Made In Japan - Official Press Release

David Coverdale - "Whitesnake: The Armani of Bands, There's Your Headline!"

I hadn't actually planned on speaking with David Coverdale, but I'll tell you, it's an opportunity that's not to be missed, should it ever arise. I casually mentioned to a friend that I'd soon be talking with Coverdale's longtime guitarist, co-writer, and sergeant-at-arms, Doug Aldrich, and my friend insisted that I should speak with the head Snake as well - and who am I to disagree with a friend?

Coverdale and his fellow Snakes are preparing to embark on another season of intense touring, this time to support their latest live offering, Made In Japan, in the company of Journey, and English legends Thunder. Made In Japan is a dynamite package - Coverdale has wisely chosen to highlight selections from Whitesnake's two most recent studio records, Good To Be Bad, and Forevermore, alongside a fine selection of the band's classics, and it's obvious that great effort has been made to make this much more than just another season's offerings.

David Coverdale: "Tony? Hello, man! I understand we have a bit to engage with one another!" 

"I don't know why you'd want to talk with me, maybe you should have called it Rock Vocalist Daily! Hahaha."

I told David that Glenn Hughes had just raved to me once again about his love, respect, and admiration for his ex-bandmate, and that anyone who's OK with Glenn is OK with me:

"Glenn....Oh bless his heart. And it's mutual - we are the original unrighteous brothers! We speak most every day."

Getting down to the business of Whitesnake, I ask the man how he's managed to keep his company growing at a time in which the business seems to be shrinking daily?:

David Coverdale: "Well, we have an incredibly consistent and generous foundation, in terms of a fan base. I've got a kind of emotional agreement with the people who love Whitesnake, and support us - that we will do the very best we can, if you support us and not bootleg it. 

"I think there's a lot of mentality with younger people these days that they're ripping off the record companies if they download stuff. Because record companies are seen as publicly greedy, haha - and sadly they don't see that that can be very compromising to the survival of their favorite artists. 

"So, we have the luxury of people who do support us - you know, we still sell hundreds of thousands of records, which is fantastic! And, we have the bonus that it gives us new material to mix in with the classics that people know and love, like Here I Go Again, Give Me All Your Love Tonight, Still of the Night, so it's a great balance. 

"We're proving that creatively we're still relevant to the point where we're going out on a super-extension of the Forevermore Tour that we started in 2011."

He's absolutely right - if you didn't know which cuts were the classics, and which were new material on Made In Japan, there'd be little to indicate what was what - every song on the record is top notch, and some material such as Steal Your Heart Away, off of the band's 2011 release Forevermore could easily have fitted quite well upon any of the band's early, pre-MTV albums such as Lovehunter, or Ready an' Willing:

David Coverdale: "Ha! Don't you think - you're a player, don't you think - to me, and I didn't arrange it this way, but when me and Doug finished it, I said, 'Wow - this is such a musical bridge from early Whitesnake to current Whitesnake!' 

"With the fire and passion of now, and the virtuosity of now, with that filthy, dirty, underbelly of the blues groove."

One listen to Aldrich's snarling slide guitar intro, along with some heavy rhythm riffing, and one is reminded just how well Coverdale has taken his history with the more metallic side of Deep Purple, and married it to his early Whitesnake take on rhythm and blues:

David Coverdale: "Thank you for spotting that, it's funny, y'know, because I don't normally play comparisons, I leave that to other people, but when Glenn and I were talking, he said, 'Man, I just heard Love Will Set You Free - we could have done that on Stormbringer!' I said back to him, 'Wait until you hear the album, wait until you hear this track called Tell Me How - this could have been on Come Taste The Band, man!' 

"Basically, I look at Whitesnake - I try to think of metaphors, or whatever. It's like certain elements that we favor that are always consistent in a Whitesnake song - your hard rock, your melody, the blues element, your R&B, in the sense of the '60s R&B stuff, the sweaty backs of Sam and Dave, Otis Redding. All of these things come into play with Whitesnake. 

"Listen - I'm not bothered if people don't get it - I know it's in there! It's this whole elemental thing with Whitesnake. 

"It's like if I buy a fucking suit - if I buy it from Armani, I want an Armani cut! 

"There's your fucking headline, dear. Whitesnake - The Armani of Bands! Hahahahaha! I'm just trying to think of an analogy, but if you buy a Coca Cola, you want the familiar taste of Coca Cola." 

"With Whitesnake - particularly the albums I've worked on with Doug and Reb, and the songs I've worked on with Doug, there's no sitting down, trying to evaluate a particular timeframe, or song.  

"Doug, my writing partner, is absolutely more familiar with the early Whitesnake material than any other American guitarist I've worked with. He worked with a kid back in his early days, a group called Lion - and Kal Swan introduced Doug to all these, you know - Ready an' Willing, and Lovehunter, that kind of stuff, so Doug came to this with an amazing treasury of awareness. 

"To me, we brought a lot of people back into the fold with Good To Be Bad, and Forevermore, because it embraces elements of that earlier period."

While giving a nod backwards into the distant past, today's Whitesnake also keeps moving forward - Forevermore may be the furthest reaching album in the band's catalogue. In fact, it has opened new stylistic doors to an old snake:

David Coverdale: "It reminds me of the transition we made from Saints & Sinners into Slide It In - with Slide It In I wanted to electrify Whitesnake more. I was talking to Bernie Marsden yesterday, and we were just chatting about different bits and pieces - and I can honestly say, and it's no disrespect to my former colleagues, I felt that I'd read all the books that were in that series. 

"I'd finished, and I wanted to finish on a high note, and the guys that I talked to about taking Whitesnake more electrified? They weren't really so keen. They weren't comfortable clothes for them to wear, and that's when I started to look at guys like John Sykes and Cozy Powell, people who were prepared to take a risk."

I mention that I'd recently spoken with Micky Moody, who seemed to me to have long since come to peace with his departure from the Whitesnake camp. Coverdale had a slightly different impression, but agrees that life is too short to hold on to past disagreements, and maybe more importantly, that we must value our time here, and always attempt to put one's best foot forward:

David Coverdale: "Well, Micky was very unhappy when we were doing this - it's funny, Tony - I put Whitesnake on hold at the end of 1981, and Micky didn't even bother coming to the meeting we had. He had a more important engagement - a darts match at the local pub.  

"Then, a couple of months later, I get a call from him saying, 'Look, I've seen the error of my ways, can I come back?' and I said, 'Absolutely!' 

"Because, I had literally - I was starting a sold out UK tour in three weeks, and I didn't have a band! I had Cozy - and that was it! 

"So, he came back in, but he really wasn't invested or engaged in the writing process for the Slide It In album, as you can see on the writing credits. Then, when we were doing the actual album, you could see that he wasn't having a good time. When his manager called me, and shared the same information, I said, 'Well, you guys do what you want, I'm moving forward with this. And that was the end. 

"In fact, Tony, recently I reached out to Micky Moody through his manager - to shake his hand, but he feels there's still too much water under the bridge, and presumably he would rather not shake my hand. 

"It's disappointing, but after the last year in my life....a beloved aunt who was like a sister to me, and all of this within a month....My God, Jon Lord, and a brother-in-law, and just when I was processing all this grief, it was just kind of....it's just not worthwhile carrying the excess emotional baggage of grudges, or negative energy - there is just no room for it in my life. 

"I'm reaching out - Ritchie Blackmore and I are communicating in the most positive way - and I truly appreciate that. 

"I'm doing it with not only the people I've been involved with in the music business - life is too short to hold a grudge. 

"It's so weird, Tony - every time, and I see quite regularly pictures of the Slide It In band, it's still breathtaking to realize that 50% of the band is no longer with us. We're planning on doing our musical tribute to the guys on this tour."

Moving from the past back into the present, I ask David what he thought about the realization of looking behind him and seeing the legendary Tommy Aldridge on the drum stool once again:

David Coverdale: "What a driver he is! It's so funny - nobody, I repeat, nobody in 35 years of Whitesnake has been invited back, and this is the third time! It's unheard of, it should be in the Guinness Book of World Records! 

"And I said to him, I said, 'Tommy - when Tichy went to pursue a career as a guitar player/singer, and believe me Tichy had all the ammunition I needed, I thought, 'Who in the hell are we gonna get? Who do you get? Tommy Aldridge. 

"I asked my band, I didn't say anything, but I asked my band for their wish list of whom we should approach, because once the word got out, you'd be astonished by the amount, the well known musicians who want to be a Snake, which is very flattering, but Tommy was on the top of everybody's list. 

"And that's making it very exciting, because when Doug and I wrote the songs for Good To Be Bad, they were arranged for Tommy. When we called Tommy to say let's go, he wasn't available and it was kind of, it was a conflict of interest, so he didn't get to play on the record. So, for me, the idea of having the opportunity to play the songs that were arranged for his drumming will be an extra bonus!"

Overcoming challenges seems to be one of David Coverdale's stocks in trade. Whether it's fronting the loudest rock band in history with Deep Purple as a rookie in 1973, coming back from difficult surgeries and health risks in the mid '80s to the inevitable headaches of keeping a huge enterprise such as Whitesnake on the road and in the black for 35 years, I was curious to hear how David has managed the attendant fears, worries, and anxieties of his chosen profession, and how perhaps his voyage may be valuable as a lesson to others:

David Coverdale: "Well, to me, being a human being is a challenge, not an excuse. We only have one run at it, and for me, I learned a long time ago that at times you have to have the bullocks to let go of the riverbank, and see where the river takes you! 

"It's based on a very simple premise, Tony - if you're not happy, you've got to do something about it. 

"That's a scenario you'll hear with which I sign off show's - 'Be safe, be happy, and don't let anyone make you afraid.'  

"Stop giving yourself excuses - change it. This is reality, it's not a fucking audition. Get out there and do it."

And getting out there and doing it is just what David Coverdale is doing - jumping back into a serious year of touring, I ask how he manages to stay fit, healthy and sane on the road:

David Coverdale: "I completely disregard the fact that I'm 61 years old, and I double my cardio! Because these are the parts where I won't take risks - if I was doing a free tour it'd be a different story, but if people are paying to see me, then I want to be the very best that I can be at this time in my life. 

"I'm married to an extraordinary and beautiful woman, and I must say, that's an inspiration for me to stay in shape. I don't have a very lucky metabolism. It's very easy for me to just sit back and drink a bottle and a half of some fine burgundy.  

"There are certain disciplines I have to undertake, but they're all things that are great, and it's a small price to pay for the big picture!"

Indeed, it seems to be a story I'm hearing more and more these days - musicians in the autumn of their years who are not just working harder than ever, but they are doing work that is as good, or better in some cases than at various times in their careers. I congratulate David on his passion and on his continuing success:

David Coverdale: "I've got to tell you, and I was just telling this to Tommy, because it's been five years since he's worked with us, and I'm happy to be welcoming him back for the tenth anniversary of the re-vamped Whitesnake - I said, 'Every time we do something, Doug and I say, we have to take it to the next level. And the next level doesn't have to be unreachable, it's steps - like climbing a ladder.' Nobody wants to stay on the same rung. 

"It's absolutely important for me. I have a great playlist, like a Best of Whitesnake, which ties in Deep Purple, Coverdale/Page, etc, etc....and I delight when I hear the more recent songs from Good To Be Bad, and Forevermore, because not only do they stand up, but at times they kick the ass of some of my classics, and I was involved in writing them too, so it's not a matter of diminishing the past. 

"Yeah, I thank you for that, because you would never hear it if I felt it wasn't as good as the stuff we've done before." 

"Listen, I have to run, dear brother - is there anything else you've got for me?"

No, I think we've covered a good deal for the time being, and we'll cover more ground at a later date, but I did want to ask him if anything had come of the project my old boss Michael Schenker had mentioned that he wished to get David involved with over the last summer. It was Michael who had first introduced me to the King Snake over twenty years ago at a show in New Orleans:

David Coverdale: "Ah well....Michael got in touch with me and we spoke, but honestly, I'm booked solid for the next three years, unless something very special comes up. 

"I'll probably be back in the studio next year, so you'd better, what you'd better do is get out there and get your tickets, because this is a show you will want to see right now! 

"Tony, thank you so much. I'm glad we got a chance to talk - be well."

www.ticketmaster.co.uk
www.livenation.co.uk

Frontiers Records releases “Whitesnake: Made In Japan” on Deluxe 2CD/DVD, Blu-ray and DVD on Monday April 22.

Don’t miss “Journey” and “Whitesnake” with very special guests “Thunder” on tour in the UK during May 2013. 

Order tickets online from www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.livenation.co.uk

Glasgow SECC (May 18)

Sheffield Motorpoint Arena (May 20) 
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (May 22)

Manchester Arena (May 23)

Nottingham Capital FM Arena (May 25)

Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (May 26)

Birmingham LG Arena (May 28) 
London Wembley Arena (May 29)

www.ticketmaster.co.uk

www.livenation.co.uk

Thanks to David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Carise Yatter, Peter Noble at Noble PR, and my dear friend Richard Reese-Laird for the direction.

Andy Powell - Zen and the Art of Wishbone Ash

Andy Powell doesn't rattle easily - he's driving down the highway to his first gig of the year in his adopted home land of America, and he sounds as relaxed as if he were driving to the South of France on a holiday, even though he's left his bassist of 15 years, Bob Skeat, behind in Britain.

Andy Powell: "Yeah, well....That was a last minute thing - it's unfortunate, but we've got a great stand-in for him for the next five shows." (Longtime bassist Bob Skeat will soon re-join the tour)

Mind you, Powell says this with the nonchalance of a man who's deciding which jeans to wear, but I know that Wishbone Ash's material is, to say the least, a bit tricky - there are more twists and turns in one of their classic fifteen minute songs than there are in most bands's catalogs, but over the next hour, I discern that there's little Powell hasn't already seen and dealt with in his 44 years as the band's only continuous member.

Wishbone Ash is kicking off their latest US tour, and while Powell may be the only original member, this lineup has been together for six years (longer than most bands's careers), and judging by their latest studio effort, Elegant Stealth, it may be the strongest since the band's original roster. I ask Andy what it felt like to be starting yet another American tour:

Andy Powell: "Well, we're right at the beginning, the first show is tonight! I'm just glad we missed the bad weather in the North East a couple of weeks ago, as we were in Germany. Another year comes around and everything changes ever so slightly, so I don't have a truly clear picture of how it will be, as yet. 

"The area we have the most experience in is probably what some musicians would find a grind, and that's touring. The endless touring thing (Wishbone Ash maintains a schedule of approximately 150 show a year), and that's the biggest difference - if you're a gigging musician, and you go out every day.  

"We just really go out in blocks of shows, and the thing is just to get into the mindset. It's not the music that is that much of an issue, it's probably the schedule that you must adjust to. Using a lot of patience, and just going with the flow."

I ask Andy how he manages to keep himself healthy and sane with such a demanding workload:

Andy Powell: "I do a bit of yoga - stretching and stuff on the road, because you're traveling a lot and you just need to loosen up. I try to eat right, and to get my seven, or eight hours of sleep a night.  

"That's really important, and to really ration out your stress level - that's the biggest thing, to keep your stress level under control, and not let things phase you too much. It's hard to do sometimes, with these distances and with such tightly scheduled tours (Ash are currently doing some twenty dates in just over three weeks). If you give yourself plenty of time, and plenty of leeway, you'll be OK. 

"Another big thing is thinking ahead - try to visualize the next day as you're already halfway through the previous day, then you can kind of get through it. Physically, it can be quite challenging. A big thing is food - trying to eat the right food on the road isn't always easy."

Wishbone Ash has just released Live In Germany - Road Works, Volume 3, the latest edition in a series of live performance recordings, and it provides a tremendous glimpse at just how powerful this outfit is in concert - it features an incendiary seventeen minute workout of the band's classic, Phoenix, and many other tunes from their long history. I asked how the series was working for the band, and their fans:

Andy Powell: "It's copacetic, really! It's for the fans - if we weren't doing it, there'd be tapeheads doing it at the shows. The technology is such that it's very easy to record everything on the fly. People love it, they love that we're doing it. 

"We'll give the people what they want - people can walk out of the show with almost a recording of that show. We can't quite go there yet, but we're getting close to it. 

"People are getting more and more accustomed to getting access to a band. One of the things we did on the last album was before we actually recorded the album, we recorded a documentary of the making of the album. People love stuff like that, if you're a fan , you want to know how they come up with stuff, what it might sound like in different venues, they want to hear a slightly different take on a song. For the diehard fans, something like the Road Works series is just great, you know?"

Stepping back from current events, I wanted to hear Andy tell the tale of the beginnings of Wishbone Ash. Though you may not know it, the band was perhaps the first to regularly employ twin lead guitarists (Powell and Ted Turner) who featured harmonized solos, and lead figures. Without question - without Wishbone Ash, you don't have Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, UFO, and Judas Priest, just to name a few. Indeed, Andy was there at the creation:

Andy Powell: "The band was formed in London, under the aegis of Miles Copeland, who was our manager - of course, he went on to help The Police, and starting up his own label. 

"We were the first band he managed - auditions were being held, and on the short list were myself, and Ted Turner, the other guitar player. The story goes that they couldn't really decide between the two of us, and then there was some talk about having a guitar player and a keyboard player - some keyboard player came by.... 

"I think it may have been myself who said, 'Look, if you can't decide what the lineup should be, then why not let's try jamming together as two guitar players. I'd already been in a band with another guitar player, and we'd done some rudimentary twin lead stuff. The four of us got together in London, and we hit it off. 

"We started to experiment with a few things, and one of the first songs we wrote, Ted and I, was Blind Eye, which featured a rather epic twin lead and riff. It really just went on from there. We decided that if we were going to have two guitar players, we shouldn't squander the opportunity to make something more out of it than just a lead and rhythm, or jamming. We just decided - we verbalized it, that we wanted to utilize the guitars like a horn section. I'd already had a lot of experience playing in R&B, and soul bands with horns, and working out horn lines, so it was a natural progression from that. You couldn't afford a horn section, even if you'd wanted one, but we certainly wanted to do more with the guitars than just solos. From the outset we developed those lines that produced our signature sound."

Obviously a fine story teller, I asked Powell if there was an autobiography somewhere up the road:

Andy Powell: "Well, I enjoy doing blogs on our website. I've certainly got a lot of anecdotes - at some point there is a book in me, for sure. I love books, I love reading, love biographies, but I'm still living a life here!  

"I haven't really put my feet up and sat back to reflect upon it. I'm still productive, so I don't think the time's right, yet. But certainly, it's something I've thought about."

After all these years and years of coming up with new material, and playing with different guitarists, I was curious as to how Powell went about devising interesting new songs, riffs, and leads with his co-guitarist of the last nine years, Muddy Manninen, who's fiery playing brings a lot to the Wishbone Ash table:

Andy Powell: "There are many different ways, really. A couple of schticks that we use - obviously, if we're trying to come up with new riffs and hooks, we'll jam together at sound checks, or if we're really lucky, we can actually devote some rehearsal time somewhere on the planet. 

"Whether it's in the UK, or over here, we'll rent out a rehearsal room and do it, or we might just doodle about independently, on our own. We come up with ideas for progressions, and we just throw them in the pot. A typical conversation will go, 'Well, what have ya got?', and we'll come up with a few lines, or a chorus. I may have written down some lyrical passages. 

"I keep a notebook with me while we're traveling, there's some of the inspiration I get for the lyrics when I'm moving around and observing people, and situations, or whatever. I'm an avid consumer of culture! I just throw that back at the music, and that's how the songs come about, really."

2012 saw the release of Wishbone Ash's 23rd studio album, and it may be my favorite from the band since Argus came out in 1972. Filled with not just heaps of great musicianship, it is a great collection of songs, and Andy Powell seems to be getting better and better as both a singer and a songwriter. I asked Andy to talk about how the album came together:

Andy Powell: "We sat down, and we really thought about how we wanted to do it. In that situation, we decided that we wanted to almost write collectively in the rehearsal studio. So we took over a house in the North of France, and we just created an environment where we could just throw material into the pot.  

"I suppose that album, it started right there in those initial sessions. So, the backing tracks, the music, came together in the time we spent up there. Then the actual recording took place over the best part of a year, because we were adding to that block of work, we were refining it. 

"Then we took the material into a studio in England and recorded the backing tracks. I did some guitar tracks in Connecticut, Muddy did some guitar overdubs in Helsinki, we sent stuff back and forth over the Internet, and we just kept building it up. The initial tracks went very quickly, but the refining of it took the best part of a year. Really, in between tours, to be honest with you."

Reason To Believe is the lead track on Elegant Stealth, and it's one of the most commercial rockers the band has ever recorded. Filled with tons of melody, an irresistible chorus, and of course, some great guitar work, it's also a bit of a defining moment - I asked Andy to explain:

Andy Powell: "The phrase came, and we have a gentleman we work with, Ian Harris, who's sort of like....he's participated in the band over the years with album sleeves - he's a great artist, and he's also a lyricist, so he came up with the meat and potatoes of the verses, and Bob Skeat came up with the title. It's just one of those kind of looks at life, you could almost say it's a comment on being in a band like ours. It gives you a reason to believe!"

One can't talk with Andy Powell, and not expect to talk about guitars and amps, as once again, he's something of an innovator - his use of a Gibson Flying V kickstarted that guitar's road to fame as the twin leads and Flying Vs were heard and seen by many, and imitated by a large portion of the '80s metal movement. I wanted to know how the Flying V came to Andy, and how it's managed to stay in his hands for over four decades:

Andy Powell: "I used to make guitars back in the '60s. The first decent guitar I got was a Gibson SG, I used that for the first year in Wishbone, and then it came to my attention that there were two Flying Vs in a store in London, on Denmark Street, which we knew as London's Tin Pan Alley.  

"The Flying V was in no way, how can I say it, a popular guitar. These guitars were already five, or six years old - but they were brand new. I picked one up, and I made a decision. I was ready to get a guitar, but I never thought I'd get a Flying V!  

"I was aware of Albert King playing one. I just immediately related to it. It was very different sounding.  It was a very vibrant guitar. At that point, it was either a Les Paul, or a Stratocaster that people wanted. So, I became instrumental in making the Flying V probably the third most popular guitar. It had been around since the '50s, but it had never caught on. It was Gibson's idea to kind of combat Fender, who had the Telecaster, and the Stratocaster, and they were kind of futuristic guitars at the time. I think everyone just thought the Flying Vs were a little, 'too far out,' hahaha! It was really the sound of the thing that got me."

I mention having spoken in the past with my old boss, Michael Schenker, about the influence of Wishbone Ash, not just musically, but also in the choice of the Gibson Flying V:

Andy Powell: "Oh, that's so cool, I've heard that! He's such a brilliant player. I also think that his brother Rudolf of The Scorpions was involved in that - he's actually bought a few Flying Vs off of me, that I owned - he's got a huge collection!"

I've noticed that recent photographs reveal Powell playing a sharp V, but it's not one of the '67s:

Andy Powell: "Well, in the studio, it's still the '67, you know, the original one I first bought. I've bought many more since then, I've got several late '50s models, and a few prototypes. 

"On the road, a friend of mine in Wales made three clones of that guitar (the 1967), and they use a guy named Kevin Chilcott - we call this guitar, The Angel, which is pretty much a clone. So, I use one of these on the road. 

"It really is, with a few refinements, a very similar guitar. Honduras mahogany, matching components - the one thing I have done is to add a piezo pickup on the bridge, so I can bring in an acoustic guitar sound as well, which I quite like."

Photo by Bob Greaves 2007

Moving on I asked if there was a particular amplifier that he favored:

Andy Powell: "Yeah, I generally, in the studio, I'm going to be using something like a '59 Fender Bassman. I used old Fender Concerts back in the day, I used them a lot on the classic albums. The Bassman is the one I pull out in the studio, but it depends on the song. If I need something really dirty, I'll go to an original Mesa-Boogie from the early '70s. 

"Onstage and occasionally in the studio, I'm using Fender Prosonics - a discontinued Fender. I have a bank of four of them onstage, and I love that amplifier. They're very flexible - amazing what they produce through two 10" speakers! Of course, those were designed by Bruce Zinky. I've actually got one of his new amps, as well.  

"I like a sound that is really between a Marshall, and a Fender, and the Prosonic kind of gives me that."

Sticking with gear, I asked what was in his signal chain these days between the guitar and amp:

Andy Powell: "My main effect for overdrive is the AnalogMan. I live in Connecticut, so Mike, who is the owner of AnalogMan products is there, so I can just buzz down to his workshop. I'll use one of his pedals, then I'll have an Ibanez Tube Screamer and he'll tweak it for me, kind of scoop the mids, or do certain things to any of the pedals I buy - it's like having my own custom shop just up the road! 

"I also use his Chorus pedal, I use the overdrive, and for Leslie effects I use a Rotosphere by Hughes & Kettner. I have all sorts of things, it really depends on my mood at that moment, what I'm going to pull out of my bag, and take on the road with me."

Andy Powell's guitar voice is singularly his own - ultra melodic, and unconventional, his playing style and tone define musicianship. When I hear him play, I don't easily identify his influences, so I thought I would ask him just who his guitar heroes may have been:

Andy Powell: "Really, early on I think, one of the first guitarists I ever heard was Django Reinhardt - I think that was the case for a few guitar players in England. I know Peter Frampton was influenced by him. I think there must have been a period in the '50s on British radio where Django was being played, and I still remember that sound. 

"And, of course, you couldn't avoid The Shadows. Hank Marvin really influenced so many British guitar players. If you grew up in the '50s in England, you would have been influenced by Hank, and that very, very clear tone he always got. A Fender Strat, a wonderful player, even now I listen to his stuff, he was a big influence! 

"Then, in the mid '60s, like everyone else, I got into the blues. Albert King was probably the most prominent blues guitar player that grabbed me. He was so muscular, and so powerful - and I liked his songwriting, too. Born Under A Bad Sign, Personal Manager, some of those songs with that sardonic wit about them. That was very impressive to me. 

"But Django - that gypsy flair. I loved that!"

OK - now we know the early influences, what are you listening to today?:

Andy Powell: "Well, you know, I listen to everything! 

"Black Country Communion, some of the heavier bands that are coming out in that classic mold. I mean, you can't escape Joe Bonamassa, he's everywhere! He used to open for us on tours. Certainly people like that, Michael Schenker, I listen to those kind of heavy guitar players. 

"For my own listening pleasure, I probably listen to more songwriters than anything these days. The new Dylan album - it's amazing, but I'm listening to stuff right across the board, not just rock. 

"People think that rock guitar players go back home, and listen to rock music all night, but not really! Our drummer, Joe Crabtree, and me, we were listening to classical music before we left the house. That's just the way it goes, picking up things wherever I go!"

So - when can we expect a new Wishbone Ash album?:

Andy Powell: "We're thinking that perhaps this summer we might well get back in the studio, because we have a fairly low key summer. Our busy touring time seems to be through the winter, spring, and fall - maybe some festivals in the summer. So, we might take some time and start laying down some tracks again. 

"Some new material in the studio! That's what we really need, because at the end of the day, the songs are what drive it forward. Coming out with new songs is inspiring for us, and for our audience!" 

"I think we've all got stuff we want to express. We've got material - riffs, song ideas, lyrics, and I think it'd be a great time to put some new material down."

I mention that I am seeing more and more artists who seem to be discovering new wellsprings of inspiration and productivity - I mention my friend, Glenn Hughes:

Andy Powell: "I have a huge admiration for Glenn. He's kept it real - he's been through some rough times, but he's out there really, really just putting out. Guys like that never fail to inspire." 

"I think it was a watershed period in the late '80s/early '90s, I was kind of burned out a bit at that point. I had to just step back a little bit. I never really considered doing anything else, because music is what I'd spent my life doing, but I did re-evaluate how I was doing it. 

"I just cut the influences of people out of my life that weren't doing me any good. I started listening to my own instincts more, and more, and that was a real eye opener, because very often you're looking and you're reaching around you for help, and what you need is close at hand. It's actually within you, you just stop underestimating your own skills, whether it be musical, or self management, or promoting yourself - just taking the bull by the horns. 

"I started looking really squarely at the people and the influences around me, cut the crap out of it, and got down to basics. I really dropped the worst aspects of my lifestyle, get rid of those. I was a parent, I had three young kids - you just start to get real, and you start to smell the roses, and stop blaming everybody else for your problems or whatever, and start to make it all work. That was a very real time for me, and I'm glad I went through that phase, because it put me in good stead. It really set the canvas for what we've done over the last twenty years. 

"The music gives it back to you. The business has changed massively, how you do things - but there's lessons to be learned every day, and the day I stop learning will be the day I stop doing it, really.

And there it is - as easy as crossing the street. When you've done it as many times, and as well as Andy Powell, you start to get the gist of it.