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Speaker 1: I found enough guts in my heart to bend over

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Speaker 1: and kiss that girl on the front row. There was

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Speaker 1: such a scream in this huge arena that the problem

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Speaker 1: the Commodore has had from that point on was Lionel

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Speaker 1: quit kissing the girls and sing the damn song.

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Speaker 2: Wow. Welcome to episode five point forty four with Lionel Ritchie.

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Speaker 2: We did this in a theater in Austin, Texas. Lionel

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Speaker 2: started in the band the Commodores. He was a saxophone player.

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Speaker 2: Originally didn't really want to sing or especially be the

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Speaker 2: lead singer, so and then he ended up kind of

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Speaker 2: becoming that, but still not fully. But that's where he started.

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Speaker 2: He graduated from Tuskegee University. That's where he met the

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Speaker 2: original Commodores, and we talked about in this you know,

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Speaker 2: how he ended up going solo a little different than

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Speaker 2: you know other stories of lead singers going solo. And

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Speaker 2: this was all because he's doing a book. He's got

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Speaker 2: a book out called Truly That It's really great. Hope

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Speaker 2: you check it out. You can go to Linel Richie

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Speaker 2: dot com slash book. He at one point headlined the

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Speaker 2: Super Bowl halftime show nineteen eighty nine. I did not

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Speaker 2: know that. He also performed at the nineteen eighty four

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Speaker 2: Olympics closing ceremony, singing all night long to a crowd

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Speaker 2: of two point six billion TV viewers worldwide. That's when

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Speaker 2: everybody watched the same channel. Michael Jackson and Lionel Co

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Speaker 2: wrote We Are the World. They did the whole documentary

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Speaker 2: on it. He sold over one hundred and twenty five

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Speaker 2: million records worldwide. He's won multiple Grammy's, Golden Globe and Oscar.

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Speaker 2: This was a fun one and I encourage if you

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Speaker 2: know you like this, you go watch the video because

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Speaker 2: we shot the whole thing multi camera. It's over on

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Speaker 2: the Bobby Cast YouTube page, which is at Bobby Bone's channel.

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Speaker 2: We can see that over there. He's still a judge

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Speaker 2: on American Idol. He's got a residency in Vegas and

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Speaker 2: let's go now here. He is the great Lionel Richie.

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Speaker 2: I'm very fortunate that we've known each other for a

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Speaker 2: long time and you wrote all this about your life.

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Speaker 2: What did you remember? Because you're having to dig deep,

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Speaker 2: what did you remember? And go, oh my goodness, and

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Speaker 2: it moved you emotionally.

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Speaker 1: That's very nice, mister Bones. You started right with the

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Speaker 1: straight to the gut. I thought the book was going

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Speaker 1: to be all the fun things that happened to me

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Speaker 1: along the way. We are going to talk about the Commodores,

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Speaker 1: We're talking about Tuskegee. We're going to talk about the peak.

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Speaker 1: We won this, we won that. And then they said, well,

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Speaker 1: what was the most exciting thing that ever happened to you?

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Speaker 1: I said, well, I was. I was in the Commodores,

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Speaker 1: but before that, I was a cup scout, and I

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Speaker 1: was a boy scout, got all my Merriat badges, and

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Speaker 1: then I uh, and the guy said, this is a

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Speaker 1: pitiful book. And then I met the Commodores in school,

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Speaker 1: and I knew I was on the right road because

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Speaker 1: my grandmother and my mother and my father came to

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Speaker 1: me and said, who the hell are these guys? I said,

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Speaker 1: you mean you don't like them? They said, well they

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Speaker 1: you know, are they going to be doctors and lawyers?

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Speaker 1: And I said, I don't think so them. And that's

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Speaker 1: when I realized I was on the right road, because

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Speaker 1: no one at Tuskegee could understand creative people.

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Speaker 2: You understand that seemed to be a theme with your

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Speaker 2: life though, because Tuskegee, the album when it came out.

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Speaker 2: They also told you that was not going to work.

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Speaker 2: And you talk about in the book how you would

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Speaker 2: know when things were going to be successful by the

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Speaker 2: pushback at times that it would get.

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Speaker 1: When I knew I was on the right road, it

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Speaker 1: was and I realized that no one could ever imagine

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Speaker 1: me doing it, including me. And I'm going to give

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Speaker 1: you a hint of what this story that you're reading

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Speaker 1: or about to read really happened. How it happened. And

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Speaker 1: that was the person I discovered after writing this book

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Speaker 1: was me. I had no idea that I could do

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Speaker 1: something like this in my life. I was the shyest

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Speaker 1: guy in school, painfully shy. If you asked me to

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Speaker 1: do a Easter speech, I had five people on the

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Speaker 1: front road going, you could do it, you can do it,

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Speaker 1: Come on. It was painful. And so it's a reluctant

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Speaker 1: story about a kid who had absolutely no idea that

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Speaker 1: this evening was going to happen, full of stories and

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Speaker 1: ups and downs and the craziness. And if you said

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Speaker 1: to me, how did you do it, the answer is,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Tell me about your mom and dad,

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Speaker 1: my mom. Well, let's start with mom and dad. Were

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Speaker 1: the co parents. The real power in the house was

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Speaker 1: Grandma Foster. Now, if you know anything about your grandparents,

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Speaker 1: they rule whatever your parents were thinking, and they can

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Speaker 1: overrule whatever your parents are thinking. So Grandma Foster Am Foster,

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Speaker 1: who was a I get this now. She was a

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Speaker 1: classical pianist. She taught classical piano and in nineteen thirty

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Speaker 1: something she decided she was going to make a career.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen teen thirty or something, she was going to

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Speaker 1: be a classical pianist when she grew up. Now, you

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Speaker 1: think being a commodore and being famous around the world

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Speaker 1: was ridiculous, being a concert pianist black in Nashville, Tennessee

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Speaker 1: was almost virtually impossible. So that's my grandmother. My father

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Speaker 1: was a systems analyst, was in the military when he

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Speaker 1: first did the army, and he was a part of

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Speaker 1: that wonderful squadron of Army and Air Force black guys

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Speaker 1: called the Tuskegee Airman. My mom, I don't know how

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Speaker 1: my dad talked my mom and to marry him. Why,

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Speaker 1: because he was the funniest guy I'd ever met in

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Speaker 1: my life. He was the only guy in the world

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Speaker 1: that would take my mother's refine aka Miss Tuskegee. My

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Speaker 1: mother was Miss Tuskegee. Can you imagine? All right? So

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Speaker 1: she would take all of that and say yes to

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Speaker 1: my father. And for the life of me, I kept thinking,

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Speaker 1: what did he say to get my mother? And finally

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Speaker 1: one day I asked her mom, what did he say?

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Speaker 1: And her answer was he made me laugh. We are

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Speaker 1: now at that point where my dad taught me something,

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Speaker 1: and my mom was the verifier of that. Mom was

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Speaker 1: by the book the rules, here's the etiquette, here's the

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Speaker 1: proper way to say things, the proper way to do things.

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Speaker 1: My dad taught me. He says, your mother's going to

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Speaker 1: teach you how to speak. Well, your mother's going to

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Speaker 1: teach you how to walk into a room and act

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Speaker 1: like you got some sense. I'm going to teach you

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Speaker 1: how to survive. And that's exactly what he did. Now,

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Speaker 1: you would think that course would be a very long course.

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Speaker 1: It was not a long course. My dad's line was

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Speaker 1: very clear, if you don't have a sense of humor,

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Speaker 1: they got you. And I realized at that point how

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Speaker 1: he survived, and my mother survived, and my grandmother survived.

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Speaker 1: There was nothing good about being black in the South

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Speaker 1: Jim Crow with all the degrees you could possibly ever

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Speaker 1: get and feel good about yourself. But for some weird reason,

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Speaker 1: the Tuskygee Airman my dad's squadron, not in the Air Force,

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Speaker 1: but in the army division of that my grandmother who

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Speaker 1: wanted to be the classical pianist. They didn't let us

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Speaker 1: know that that was the pressure. I heard laughter every

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Speaker 1: day on that campus in my house, and I never

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Speaker 1: knew that there was that much pressure on them. But

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Speaker 1: they were under a lot of pressure. But they raised

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Speaker 1: us with the possibility, just the possibility of hope, the possibility.

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Speaker 2: You talk about how back then there wasn't a lot

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Speaker 2: of diagnosis for ADD or ADHD and you were just different.

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Speaker 2: Do you think that ended up being a.

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Speaker 1: Superpower of yours?

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Speaker 2: More so because it obviously in ways because it was

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Speaker 2: it was kind of unexplainable at the time.

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Speaker 1: You were just a different kid.

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Speaker 2: But do you think that allowed you to get to

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Speaker 2: places creatively that maybe you wouldn't have been able to

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Speaker 2: get to?

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Speaker 1: That was so nicely said. When I was growing up,

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Speaker 1: I was labeled as strange. Why we didn't know what

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Speaker 1: add was or ADHD or they just said, can you

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Speaker 1: read can you write? And can you just sit still

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Speaker 1: in your chair and not move? So they added one

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Speaker 1: more to it, hyper sensitive. Now, if you know anything

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Speaker 1: about being on a university campus, they have more doctors

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Speaker 1: and more people to analyze your ass and I was

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Speaker 1: the one they were trying to analyze. And the most

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Speaker 1: important part about this was I started believing that there

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Speaker 1: was something wrong with me, and so I went through

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Speaker 1: life thinking, well, maybe I'm having a situation here where

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Speaker 1: maybe I can't track things properly. So then I tried

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Speaker 1: to read music and I know the notes, I'm looking

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Speaker 1: right at the notes, but I'm going that that that's

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Speaker 1: not working. And then I tried to read a passage

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Speaker 1: from the thing and it goes and the man walked

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Speaker 1: into the room. He went to the park lionel and

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Speaker 1: I froze. But then I took a speed reading course

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Speaker 1: and passed with honors. But they didn't give me credit

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Speaker 1: for getting the comprehension of the page. They gave me

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Speaker 1: credit for not They gave me the credit of not

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Speaker 1: being able to say word for word. So I had

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Speaker 1: a problem. The next thing was Bobby, this is first grade,

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Speaker 1: second grade, fifth grade, high school, college, to the point

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Speaker 1: where they would say, mister Richie, would you like to

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Speaker 1: join the rest of the class, And the answer was

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Speaker 1: I was not present. I was on the other side,

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Speaker 1: somewhere in my imaginary place, creating something. I'm on an

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Speaker 1: academic campus, get this, trying to create ate something when

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Speaker 1: all I had to do was read the damn thing

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Speaker 1: out the book and I can get a A. But I

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Speaker 1: liked what I was doing on the other side.

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Speaker 2: And that allowed you to do things to such a

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Speaker 2: bigger level on the other side.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know that at one point. I think it

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Speaker 1: got you there, right, you know, and it got me there.

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Speaker 1: But the story is so amazing because what I want

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Speaker 1: people to read from this book is not that I

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Speaker 1: made it, is how the hell did I make it?

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Speaker 1: Because there were so many things stacked against against my

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Speaker 1: conscious mind that I had to forget about what is

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Speaker 1: the proper thing to do? And so everything was going

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Speaker 1: well until I couldn't quite deal with it. I got

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Speaker 1: to I got to my university. Now I'm going to

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Speaker 1: Tuskegee University for college. But I met these guys. I

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Speaker 1: met these wonderful guys, and you know what I liked

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Speaker 1: about him? They didn't grow up with me, you know

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Speaker 1: who the hell I was. They only asked one question.

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Speaker 1: Did you bring your horn to school? I said, I

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Speaker 1: sure did. He said, would you like to join a band?

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Speaker 1: I said I sure would. I didn't tell him I

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Speaker 1: could read or write music, and they didn't ask me.

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Speaker 1: The second thing was, i can play the piano by ear,

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Speaker 1: and i can play the saxophone by ear. But I've

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Speaker 1: never been in a band before, and I've never been

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Speaker 1: a lead singer. I didn't tell him any of that,

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Speaker 1: but I wanted to be in this band. You got it,

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Speaker 1: and I thought, as a backup, I might just be

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Speaker 1: a priest. What see, y'all didn't believe it even and

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Speaker 1: neither did I. But I thought most of the people

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Speaker 1: that actually talked to me all day long were people

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Speaker 1: of the clergy. I'm an episcopalia. I would love to

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Speaker 1: God bless us. And by the way, we don't get

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Speaker 1: that loud in church. So you understand, church was basically

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Speaker 1: standard operating procedure of worshiping while being silent. There was

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Speaker 1: no emoting whatsoever. Here is there a ta in emoting anyway?

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Speaker 1: A strong one. So I am now faced with my

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Speaker 1: backup is priesthood. And then I decided, Okay, I like

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Speaker 1: these commodoes so much. We're going to go to the

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Speaker 1: We're going to do clubs, We're going to hang out.

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Speaker 1: I've never been in the club before in my life.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the club is right, and don't

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Speaker 1: have a clue as to what this is going to be,

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Speaker 1: but boy is it exciting. The greatest thing that ever

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Speaker 1: happened in my educational world was some lady on the

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Speaker 1: front row said say it, baby, say it baby, And

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Speaker 1: I went back to Father Caution and Bishop Murray Vernon

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Speaker 1: Jones looked across the desk and said, I don't think

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Speaker 1: I'm going to be priest material. I have discovered something

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Speaker 1: that I don't want to let go. I touched somebody.

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Speaker 1: Now wait a minute, now you have to understand this

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Speaker 1: is a guy that never I was invisible. Invisible, somebody screamed.

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Speaker 1: And then from there we went on to stand in

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Speaker 1: front of a stage and people were chasing me and

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Speaker 1: talking to me. And I had one problem though we

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Speaker 1: didn't have a record deal, and I'm in my junior

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Speaker 1: year in college and the Jackson five out of the

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Speaker 1: Cliblu Sky our manager at the time. We had a

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Speaker 1: guy in New York City. Every year we go to

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Speaker 1: New York, but every year we go to New York summer.

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Speaker 1: And this time, not knowing that, Benny had a lady

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Speaker 1: named a friend of his named Suzanne de Paz, who said,

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Speaker 1: I've got a new job, Uncle Benny. I'm going to

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Speaker 1: take this new group called the Jackson Five out on

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Speaker 1: their first tour across America. I'm looking for a front act,

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Speaker 1: an opening act. And Benny said, they're upstairs, under my

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Speaker 1: table and on my sofa and in my refrigerator in

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Speaker 1: my apartment. And we walked out on stage and we

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Speaker 1: were the opening act. And I don't know what happened

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Speaker 1: at that point, but the opening act for our first

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Speaker 1: show was Madison Square Gardens. Madison Square Gardens, which means

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Speaker 1: we missed the Childlen circuit and went straight to Madison

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Speaker 1: Square Gardens.

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Speaker 2: You talk about Michael Jackson, and he was a bit

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Speaker 2: younger than you, but being surprised that and he said,

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Speaker 2: we have sold this out.

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Speaker 1: You got that. Yeah, okay, Michael was about that tall.

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Speaker 1: But to this day I would have loved to have

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Speaker 1: done a DNA test to find out just how old

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Speaker 1: this kid was. This was a full grown man. And

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Speaker 1: he was doing stuff that I it was just stupid.

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Speaker 1: And we're backstage and he peeks around the curtain and

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Speaker 1: I peek around the curtain. He says, Lionel, Lionel, we

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Speaker 1: sold out Madison Square Guards And I said, you sold

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Speaker 1: out Madisine's great guy, I'm hanging with you. But what

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Speaker 1: did I learn backstage? What I learned was there was

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Speaker 1: there was limos everywhere, but the Jackson's only had one.

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Speaker 1: So I'm thinking to myself, Okay, let me figure out

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Speaker 1: who these other people are. First limo was the trucking company,

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Speaker 1: the people who owned the trucking companies. Second one was

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Speaker 1: the lighting company, sound company, the publishers, the writers, the

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Speaker 1: record presidents, mister Gordy. I realized at that point there's

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Speaker 1: a business here. So je in case. By the way,

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Speaker 1: I'm still the horn holder at this time. Because I

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Speaker 1: had no idea I could write a song. I had

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Speaker 1: two songs to sing in the show, and one of

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Speaker 1: them was little Green Apples. There is nothing, no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: there is nothing sexy about little green apples at Madison

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Speaker 1: Square Gardens. So I went out on stage and we

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Speaker 1: had to learn how to perform, and by midway of

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Speaker 1: the tour. We killed it from that point on. From

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Speaker 1: that point on, it became now clear to me this

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Speaker 1: is where I wanted to be.

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Speaker 3: Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor,

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Speaker 3: and we're back on the Bobby cast.

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Speaker 2: On this tour, you guys had gotten so dynamic. You

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Speaker 2: guys had had gotten so good. The newspapers were also

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Speaker 2: complimenting you guys, and they'd.

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Speaker 1: Be the jack to five. They were good.

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Speaker 2: But holy crap, the commodores so much so that I

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Speaker 2: feel like there was maybe resentment from Michael's dad.

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Speaker 1: You read the book, boy, Are you doing all right?

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Speaker 1: I like that? All right? So what happens is that

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Speaker 1: every thing that went it on at that time, you

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Speaker 1: have to understand it was all about protecting the Jacksons.

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Speaker 1: We were just trying to make sure we killed every

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Speaker 1: night and every time they schooled them on what you

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Speaker 1: properly should do. We will listening. If you have a

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Speaker 1: song that's going to be the highlight song of the night,

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Speaker 1: play that first. Don't wait till the end because the

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Speaker 1: crowd won't be there. Now we're playing top forty. We

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Speaker 1: have no hit record, so we get to pick any

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Speaker 1: record we want. Well, we hit them with sly Stone.

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Speaker 1: We hit them with the Tempted, but we were killing

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Speaker 1: it and they were little boys, and we didn't have

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Speaker 1: any respect for them.

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Speaker 4: That should good TMZ guard right right, okay, until they

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Speaker 4: walked out on stage, and those little boys turned it

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Speaker 4: into a machine that would scare you to death to

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Speaker 4: this day.

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Speaker 1: Don't let anybody fool you. They came out to slay everything.

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Speaker 1: And at that point I realized, we are the luckiest

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Speaker 1: guys in the world to be in front of this

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Speaker 1: little school of preschoolers. And whatever I had to do

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Speaker 1: to tolerate the abuse for a year, I will take it,

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Speaker 1: because this is my ticket to somewhere. And finally we

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Speaker 1: ended up in the Hollywood buld in Hollywood, California, and

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Speaker 1: those little kids walked us right into Motown Records.

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Speaker 2: One of the interesting things about your story of going

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Speaker 2: solo wasn't you going I Am going to go solo.

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Speaker 2: It was the awkward predicament of them saying to you

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Speaker 2: and your band, you guys are now just going to

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Speaker 2: follow Lionel, and it put you in a very weird.

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Speaker 1: Place, ladies and gentlemen. I was perfectly happy being a

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Speaker 1: member of the Commodores and had no thought in my

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Speaker 1: life to leave this band. In fact, I wrote, I

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Speaker 1: think somewhere in the book, thank God for the comic

323
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Speaker 1: because without them, I would never have been Lionel Richie.

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Speaker 1: That is a true story. These guys, It's not a

325
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Speaker 1: band now. This is a group of brothers I never

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Speaker 1: had before. A group of brothers that didn't grow up

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Speaker 1: on a university campus. These brothers grew up in real life.

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Speaker 1: Milon Williams Mississippi, Clyde the Drummer, and Tommy that's Florida.

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Speaker 1: I'm not talking about the ritzy side of Florida. I'm

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Speaker 1: talking about Florida, Okay. And so when I tell you

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Speaker 1: William King, Birmingham, Alabama. They taught me more stuff that

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Speaker 1: I had no idea what survival was until I heard

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Speaker 1: their story. But more importantly, they taught me that I

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Speaker 1: can be me. I heard terrifying words from these guys, Lionel,

335
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Speaker 1: bend over on the stage and kiss that girl on

336
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Speaker 1: the front row. And I said to them, in my grandmother,

337
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Speaker 1: mother and father's training, I don't know the girl on

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Speaker 1: the front row. And they said, fool, will you just

339
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Speaker 1: bend over and kiss that damn girl on the front row,

340
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Speaker 1: and so finally I found enough guts in my heart

341
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Speaker 1: to bend over and kiss that girl on the front row.

342
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Speaker 1: There was such a scream in this huge arena that

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Speaker 1: the problem the Commodore has had from that point on

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Speaker 1: was Lionel quit kissing the girls and sing the damn song.

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Speaker 1: I had this discovered sexy, you understand, So everybody thinks

346
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: for a moment, the Lionel broke out being the lover

347
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Speaker 1: he was when he was growing up and decided he's

348
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Speaker 1: gonna go solo. I did not want to go solo.

349
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Speaker 1: I had the band, I had everything I needed. All

350
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 1: I needed to do is just stay in the band.

351
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Speaker 1: By this time, I discovered I could write. By this time,

352
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Speaker 1: I didn't have to play the saxophone too long because

353
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Speaker 1: I had to be able to sing more than I

354
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,760
Speaker 1: could play the sacks. This is good news. Now came

355
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: the problem reviews. Everything was fine until Lady. Now they

356
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Speaker 1: know me as the writer, and they don't know the

357
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: rest of the guys, but they know Lionel Riches and

358
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,280
Speaker 1: the Commodores, and he wrote lady. So now you go

359
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: back to the band to do interviews on behalf of

360
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,320
Speaker 1: the band, and here are the questions. So Lionel, tell

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00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: us when you started the Commodoes, tell us how you

362
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 1: did it? Well, I didn't start the book. I mean

363
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:20,080
Speaker 1: we started with the com Lionel, how does it feel

364
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:26,120
Speaker 1: being the front man? This is not good? And then

365
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 1: finally the ultimate Madison Square Gardens, and then finally Lionel

366
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:43,400
Speaker 1: Richie set down to the piano and played his songs.

367
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Speaker 1: Here's the line that stabbed everybody in the in the chest.

368
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: What's the guy like Lionel Richie doing in the funk

369
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,399
Speaker 1: band like the Commodorees. Now try to go back to

370
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: rehearsal after that, and that is not where you want

371
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:07,719
Speaker 1: to be. So from that point on, I felt this okay,

372
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Speaker 1: And no matter what I tried to do, no matter

373
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Speaker 1: how I tried to do it, no matter if I

374
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 1: stay on the road longer. But also was coming at

375
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:20,240
Speaker 1: the same time was after three times a Lady, after Ceylon,

376
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:28,399
Speaker 1: after Oh got it, and then Lady came out, The

377
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: checks were coming in. You know what keeps a band

378
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 1: together The word equal. It was not equal, and so

379
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: it became And I believe me, I'm telling you I

380
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,280
Speaker 1: knew what was happening. I just was in denial. But

381
00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: it was the hardest thing, and I knew eventually that

382
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 1: something had to happen, and it did. I had to

383
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: leave the Commodore's.

384
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 2: I want to talk about songs specifically, and let's bounce

385
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 2: around through some songs and lay. He is so interesting

386
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 2: to me because I love Kenny Rodgers. Yep, that's It's

387
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 2: like I got to know him a little bit before

388
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 2: he passed away a few years. Loved him. And you know,

389
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 2: he's known for that song that you wrote, but it

390
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 2: really wasn't lady. You had it as like baby and

391
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 2: you and he was just telling you a story and

392
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 2: you're like, yep, it's a lady.

393
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: No, everybody, you have to understand something. You want to

394
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: be embarrassed and you want to get mad. Every guy

395
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: in the Commodos would bring in ten songs for the album,

396
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 1: and each one of us thought that their ten songs

397
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: was the ten that should be on the album. So

398
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 1: you do you don't need to finish the song totally,

399
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 1: because all you had to do is play and here's

400
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: the first song. Nope, all right, here's my second song

401
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 1: to them. You know, so you don't write, you don't

402
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 1: f crap, You just hit the head of it. Go

403
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:07,040
Speaker 1: to the verse, go to the hook. Then I get great.

404
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 1: Kenny Rogers said, called me on the phone one day

405
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 1: and said, I want one of those ballads. You got one?

406
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, I got one, and he said

407
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 1: I want you. How fast can you get me the song?

408
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 1: I said, well, I got a problem. I'm on my

409
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,959
Speaker 1: way on tour. We are just finishing up the album.

410
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 1: And now, of course I had a song called Baby

411
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: for the Commodore's album and they said to me when

412
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: I walked in, we don't want another love song. And

413
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 1: I said, okay, that's pretty clear. So I decided to

414
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 1: write a gospel song and I wrote, Jesus is Love?

415
00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: Now all right? I got Jesus Love. I am not

416
00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 1: going to be able to do this with Kenny because

417
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 1: we're going on tour. I said, when I get back

418
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 1: off a tour, ton Kenny, I'll call you. And we

419
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 1: got it, no problem. Two weeks later, we're about to

420
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:26,440
Speaker 1: go on tour. The drummer Clyde why he bought a motorcycle,

421
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: I'll never know his hope drummers and motorcycles. I'll never

422
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,720
Speaker 1: figure fell off of his motorcycle and now has to

423
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 1: be off the road for a month and a half,

424
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:41,720
Speaker 1: maybe two months. Tours canceled and pushback. I called Kenny

425
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 1: on the phone and said, you want that song, he says,

426
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: I do. I said, I'm available, because that's Kenny Rogers.

427
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: You returned his phone call, you see, And so he said,

428
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: meet me in Vegas. I get to bake, I guess.

429
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 1: And there he is in the dressing room, bigger than life,

430
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 1: and he starts telling me this story. He says, you know,

431
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: I just got married. I said, congratulations, I heard that.

432
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,719
Speaker 1: He says, you know I'm married a lady. I mean,

433
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 1: I'm from Houston, Texas. And I don't know why on

434
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 1: earth that. I mean, Maryanne is so refined. I have

435
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: no business being with a lady. This lady is so amazing,

436
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: linel she does things that I would have never has

437
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 1: taste I've never seen. He went on this lady, this lady.

438
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,800
Speaker 1: He said, By the way, what's the name of the

439
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 1: song you wrote for me? I said, lady, he ain't stupid.

440
00:32:52,520 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: The brother ain't stupid, baby, lady, same damn thing. Right now,

441
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 1: he's excited because it's right on the story. He wants

442
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:09,480
Speaker 1: to talk about it all right now, let me hear it.

443
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 5: Wow.

444
00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: Now this is commodore pitching one oh one. Lady, I'm

445
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 1: your nine and shining Ama, and I love you. You

446
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 1: have made me when I am I am.

447
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:41,480
Speaker 5: Your should have should have charged more money.

448
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 1: It's all right, it's all right. It was just that quiet.

449
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:57,000
Speaker 1: And Kenny said, what's next? And I said, you like it?

450
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 1: He says, I think it's brilliant. What comes next? I said,

451
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 1: what If you like it, I'll finish it. And that's

452
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:15,240
Speaker 1: the beginning of lady.

453
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 2: The places that songs come from could be purposeful or

454
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:22,560
Speaker 2: could be rare.

455
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,560
Speaker 1: Can we take up a collection something that happened? That's

456
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,120
Speaker 1: all right. The more you sing, the more. Yeah. Yeah,

457
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,319
Speaker 1: if I got it? Hey hey hey hey hey hey

458
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,240
Speaker 1: hey hey hey.

459
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:39,359
Speaker 2: Nothing felt as random to me as hello. How that

460
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:40,440
Speaker 2: song came to be?

461
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:46,759
Speaker 1: There are things what I love most about writing. It's

462
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:52,399
Speaker 1: got to be simple. If it ain't simple, you won't

463
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,680
Speaker 1: remember it, and neither will I. And when you have

464
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 1: a d D you need it simple. All right. Now.

465
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:05,560
Speaker 1: I was playing around with my co producer, James Anthony Carmichael,

466
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:12,600
Speaker 1: and he was late, and when he walked in, I said, hello,

467
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 1: is it me you're looking for? We need more money man.

468
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 1: We got to give my money anyway, He said, the

469
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:30,400
Speaker 1: damnedest thing I'd ever heard in life. Finished that song

470
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,160
Speaker 1: and I said, wait, wait, wait, wait wait, I said, James,

471
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: that's the corniest line I've ever heard in my life. Hello,

472
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:43,839
Speaker 1: Is it me you're looking for? Can't be a song?

473
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,239
Speaker 1: He says, I'm telling you. Finish the song, brother Richie,

474
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 1: you got something. And I went back and reluctantly I

475
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,319
Speaker 1: put some chords to it, wrote the damn song. He said,

476
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 1: let's record it. I said, James, I'll be laughed out

477
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,839
Speaker 1: of the business with Hello, is it me you're looking for?

478
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 1: He said, let's record it all right. We record the song, Lush, lush,

479
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:16,319
Speaker 1: lush strings. It was just it was just amazing. And

480
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:24,359
Speaker 1: then I loved it and he hated it. Why it's

481
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 1: too heavy? It's too heavy. So I went off somewhere

482
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:36,040
Speaker 1: and wrote a song to kick ladies ass. Excuse me,

483
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 1: Hello's ass, and wrote Truly. Now now wait now it

484
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,680
Speaker 1: gets it gets, it gets scared before it gets good.

485
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:56,880
Speaker 1: Now I'm sitting there and I have Truly, And we

486
00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 1: threw some more songs off the record. Do I throw

487
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:07,719
Speaker 1: off Hello and replace it with Truly? Or do I

488
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 1: keep Hello and put it out. At the same time,

489
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 1: we threw another song off because it was just too risque,

490
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:25,279
Speaker 1: call All Night Long. I ain't gonna sing that. It

491
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 1: takes too long, but the point was to show you

492
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:36,960
Speaker 1: the insanity was I was trying. You know. My whole

493
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,680
Speaker 1: concept was, how do I get people's attention. You have

494
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,200
Speaker 1: to do something crazy. I ain't taking off my clothes,

495
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,759
Speaker 1: so I gotta shock you with something that you ain't

496
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 1: ready for. And so I wrote this Calypso song and

497
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 1: it's got the feeling and that thought. Okay, it was

498
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 1: just too long and it was too much stuff, and

499
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,760
Speaker 1: it had too many layers. So we threw this off.

500
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,080
Speaker 1: I'm walking down this hall one day at the studio.

501
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 1: This music is playing in the second thing. Oh my god,

502
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,279
Speaker 1: it's just kicking and the thing is happening. And I

503
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 1: decided just to make sure I have that uptempo song covered.

504
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,839
Speaker 1: I wrote Running with the Knight to cover in case

505
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:27,319
Speaker 1: we don't need All Night Long. Okay, to make a

506
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: long story short, Truly was the first single. Truly was

507
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:41,799
Speaker 1: also my first Grammy Hello. We threw off the album

508
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,279
Speaker 1: the very last minute. We put All Night Long on

509
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,440
Speaker 1: and Running with the night, and that was the national

510
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:53,680
Speaker 1: anthem of my life story. Hello, all night long, Running

511
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:55,759
Speaker 1: with the night, Get out of town.

512
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 2: You mentioned a Grammy, and we look at you, Lionel,

513
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:03,080
Speaker 2: the guy that's had it all, has done it all,

514
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 2: has never lost. However, that is a bit revisionist history,

515
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,600
Speaker 2: because you had a tough run at first, in.

516
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:15,359
Speaker 1: The midst of all of this, and he won and

517
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:18,080
Speaker 1: he's doing this and Lionel and everything and he's this,

518
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 1: and Okay, the real life was things were falling apart.

519
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 1: The real thing was. What they don't teach you about success,

520
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:38,400
Speaker 1: but they don't teach you about growth is outgrowing. They

521
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,359
Speaker 1: don't teach you that. They don't teach you that your

522
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:51,719
Speaker 1: close friends, your family, your wife, your kids, your community,

523
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:56,799
Speaker 1: they don't teach you that. You come home one day

524
00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 1: and nothing makes sense because didn't have that flash. Nobody

525
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:08,239
Speaker 1: did anything wrong it. You came home one day and

526
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:13,760
Speaker 1: Uncle Bill ain't famous and Uncle Bill is not funny anymore.

527
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: And so Tuskegee, we got to get out of town.

528
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:24,960
Speaker 1: We got to go to LA because it's the studios

529
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:28,120
Speaker 1: right down the street and all the people I need

530
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:32,760
Speaker 1: to meet and know in the radio, television, movie business.

531
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,120
Speaker 1: They live out there. They don't live next door to

532
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:40,400
Speaker 1: me in Tuskegee. Now, when you commit yourself to that,

533
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,480
Speaker 1: hang on to your seat. When I first went to

534
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, California, I made a promise with my first wife, Brenda,

535
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,560
Speaker 1: we are not going to be like those idiots that

536
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,480
Speaker 1: I out here and they get married and divorced, and

537
00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,000
Speaker 1: then they do another movie. They get married and divorced.

538
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:04,440
Speaker 1: Get that's some LA stuff. We are not going to

539
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:11,960
Speaker 1: do that. That's exactly what we did. I found out

540
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:16,320
Speaker 1: the secret to LA. They don't come after the artists.

541
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 1: They come after your family. They honor your mother, they

542
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: honor your father. Guess who's showing up singing lady. They

543
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,879
Speaker 1: honor your kids, They honor your friends. And on top

544
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:37,040
Speaker 1: of honoring your friends, your new friends in the community,

545
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: they put a charity behind it and raise money on

546
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 1: your friends. I'm not used to that. So the things

547
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 1: that were happening was things were growing and things were

548
00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 1: falling apart. Things that I was trying to experience that

549
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 1: I thought was amazing. I couldn't fully enjoy it because

550
00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:03,000
Speaker 1: I'm losing stuff. Things are falling apart. And what you

551
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,440
Speaker 1: saw during the most amazing period of my life was

552
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 1: I lost the Commodorees lost, I lost Tuskegee, I lost

553
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:18,000
Speaker 1: my friends, I lost things that made sense to me.

554
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 1: And of course I knew something was wrong when I

555
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,279
Speaker 1: decided that I Brenda and I are going to break up.

556
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,840
Speaker 1: And I called Father Jones where you saw that acolyte

557
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,640
Speaker 1: picture of me as an altar boy? And I called

558
00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,279
Speaker 1: Father Jones on the phone and I said, I think

559
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 1: I think Brenda and I are going to get a divorce.

560
00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:45,520
Speaker 1: I'd like some counseling from you. And Father Jones said,

561
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,839
Speaker 1: I can't help you. And I said, I've never heard

562
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:50,760
Speaker 1: of such a thing in my whole life. You're the minister.

563
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,799
Speaker 1: You supposed to be able to counsel me on this

564
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 1: moment in my life. Why can't you counsel me? He said,

565
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:03,040
Speaker 1: because in the history of Saint Andrew's Church, no one

566
00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:10,680
Speaker 1: in the congregation has ever had a divorce that was Tuskegee.

567
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,000
Speaker 1: Your mom and dad were your mom and dad forever.

568
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:16,840
Speaker 1: In fact, everybody else's mother in town was called Mama.

569
00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 1: Everybody else's dad in town was called Dad. The idea

570
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:30,200
Speaker 1: that mister Boone and missus Boone were not together that's unthinkable.

571
00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:35,560
Speaker 1: I grew up like that in California. They leave every

572
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:41,279
Speaker 1: five minutes roll me. So I was a drift, and

573
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,480
Speaker 1: on top of that, not only a drift but completely.

574
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:51,279
Speaker 1: I never understood the word lonely, but more than that,

575
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 1: lonely and confused, because you go back to Tuskege to

576
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:00,879
Speaker 1: tell folks about your problems, and the answer was, now

577
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:04,360
Speaker 1: how much money you make? Boy, you ain't supposed to

578
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,600
Speaker 1: have no problems. The answer is money, power and fame

579
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:13,560
Speaker 1: does not change you. It only magnifies you. So if

580
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:18,520
Speaker 1: you got a big problem, if you got a little problem,

581
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 1: put money to that. And you got a big problem,

582
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:27,840
Speaker 1: you in pain. You confuse Add money to that. It

583
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:31,360
Speaker 1: ain't the same. And where's that village that raised me?

584
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:38,720
Speaker 1: There is no village in Hollywood, California. There's Westwood Village

585
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 1: where you can go to c UCLA, but there is

586
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:47,879
Speaker 1: no village of people to help figure out your thing.

587
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:50,640
Speaker 1: And you read it in the book one of my

588
00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:54,400
Speaker 1: dear friends, just to show you the casualness of it.

589
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 1: Didn't mean any harm. God bless Quincy Jones. But I

590
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:02,880
Speaker 1: went to Quincy and I said, Quincy, I got her

591
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: marriage problem. He said, line, how long? How many times

592
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 1: have you been married? And I said, this is my

593
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:17,879
Speaker 1: first marriage all live. We got plenty more, plenty more.

594
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,279
Speaker 1: And that's when I realized you can fall in love.

595
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:29,759
Speaker 1: You can't afford to fall in love, not the second time,

596
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:35,400
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, The first time is the hardest. The

597
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:41,000
Speaker 1: second time you get a lawyer to cover in case

598
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:44,200
Speaker 1: that doesn't work out. Am I talking to you down here?

599
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:48,040
Speaker 1: I need an amen? I need amen, give her a kiss?

600
00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:53,680
Speaker 1: I need no no, no no no no no no

601
00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:57,600
Speaker 1: no no no. See y'all, what's your bobby? You mess

602
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 1: him up? Now you're messing see. Let me just explain

603
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:05,399
Speaker 1: to you, when you're twenty three years old, you can

604
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:13,279
Speaker 1: bend over there to kiss. When you're ninety six, just

605
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: a squad alone. But anyway, I'm saying to you, I

606
00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:23,520
Speaker 1: had to get a lawyer. Now have you ever tried

607
00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:29,399
Speaker 1: to tell the person you're marrying? I need to get

608
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: a lawyer before we could do this. What made me

609
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:44,760
Speaker 1: paranoid of this thing called marriage? I got suspicious because

610
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 1: I was in divorce court and I said, but God said,

611
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:53,280
Speaker 1: and the man said, let me remind you, mister Richie.

612
00:46:54,000 --> 00:47:00,080
Speaker 1: God has no voice in my courtroom, I said, So,

613
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,680
Speaker 1: let me get this straight. It took one country preacher

614
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:07,560
Speaker 1: to get me in it and four Beverly Hills lawyers

615
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 1: to get me out of it. Wait, half of my estate.

616
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,160
Speaker 1: I won't talk about that too much more. But Bobby,

617
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 1: I got a listen. Here, I am being this love songwriter.

618
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:25,080
Speaker 1: Here I am people going Lilah's just the greatest lover

619
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:28,319
Speaker 1: of all times? How in the world could I be

620
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:30,200
Speaker 1: paranoid of love?

621
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:43,360
Speaker 6: The Bobby cast will be right back. This is the

622
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:44,560
Speaker 6: Bobby Cast.

623
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:47,800
Speaker 2: So I want to know because I love the documentary

624
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:49,680
Speaker 2: on Netflix. I thought it came together wonderfully. It made

625
00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:51,640
Speaker 2: me feel good. I thought you guys produced it. Well,

626
00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:54,920
Speaker 2: the song's amazing. We Are the World like it lives?

627
00:47:55,080 --> 00:48:00,120
Speaker 1: It lives. What story didn't.

628
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:03,640
Speaker 2: Get it told in that documentary, like a good one

629
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,319
Speaker 2: that we didn't see that. You're like, oh man, that's

630
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:06,799
Speaker 2: a good one.

631
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,799
Speaker 1: Well, We Are the World had so many twists and

632
00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,439
Speaker 1: turns and things that you don't understand. But I will

633
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:16,880
Speaker 1: tell you a backstory, and God bless them when I

634
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:20,000
Speaker 1: tell you this story. Now understand what I'm saying to you.

635
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:25,360
Speaker 1: We loved Algiero. Algio is one of the most talented

636
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:30,759
Speaker 1: singers in the world. And we touched on it just

637
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:34,000
Speaker 1: a little bit in the documentary, but we didn't go deep.

638
00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:39,279
Speaker 1: So here's the answer. Al wanted to celebrate the song

639
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:41,879
Speaker 1: We Are the World before we recorded a damn thing.

640
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:51,160
Speaker 1: So Al started drinking about nine o'clock. By the time

641
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:55,279
Speaker 1: we got the one o'clock, Al was ready to celebrate.

642
00:48:56,920 --> 00:49:00,720
Speaker 1: And so what you didn't know was it came down

643
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:05,160
Speaker 1: to his part in the show. And we got around

644
00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:12,960
Speaker 1: and it's Dion Willie Nelson and and it comes into

645
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:19,680
Speaker 1: Al and Al now opens his mouth, and what we

646
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:33,440
Speaker 1: heard from Al is why why why? Why? I was mh,

647
00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:44,520
Speaker 1: holy shit. Okay, oh no. So I look over at Quincy,

648
00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:47,040
Speaker 1: and Quincy looks over at me, and Diall is about

649
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:51,279
Speaker 1: to kill him because she's got to harmonize with with Al.

650
00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:56,759
Speaker 1: So Quincy said, let's take a break, let's figure this out.

651
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:02,160
Speaker 1: So I go over to coincident. He says, okay, what's

652
00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:06,200
Speaker 1: the problem. I said, he's getting some alcohol from somewhere.

653
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,920
Speaker 1: We don't have any alcohol in the room. So I

654
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:15,839
Speaker 1: went out in the hall and there in the hallway,

655
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:24,239
Speaker 1: his wife did not bring a bottle. She brought the

656
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:31,320
Speaker 1: damn case and he was on the second bottle. Okay,

657
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:35,279
Speaker 1: so we went back when we did, we out the

658
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:39,840
Speaker 1: world and took every take we could find to get

659
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:45,360
Speaker 1: his part right. It's not in sync exactly, but we

660
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:52,640
Speaker 1: found one. It was the early part of Bottle one.

661
00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:57,640
Speaker 1: But you will never hear that story except on Bobby

662
00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:02,440
Speaker 1: Boone's podcast. But the truth of the matter was he

663
00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:06,480
Speaker 1: was a sweetheart, a sweetheart and talented as hell. But

664
00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:08,560
Speaker 1: the point was that particular night we didn't need any

665
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 1: more surprises, and he was the biggest surprise of that evening.

666
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:18,960
Speaker 2: My final question, you wrote so much about your life

667
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:22,439
Speaker 2: and the book from the beginning up until basically now,

668
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:24,359
Speaker 2: I want to know what you enjoy now, what you

669
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:28,160
Speaker 2: love right now this version of Lionel Ritchie.

670
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:33,759
Speaker 1: I wasn't ready for that one. That's good. You know what,

671
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:44,040
Speaker 1: there's a there's a moment in time. There's a moment

672
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:48,160
Speaker 1: in time when you're so busy. Let me tell you

673
00:51:48,239 --> 00:51:54,680
Speaker 1: about this business. When the light turns green, it's like

674
00:51:55,360 --> 00:52:01,080
Speaker 1: a supermarket thing to give you a basket and how

675
00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:04,800
Speaker 1: much can you put in that basket before the light

676
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:10,160
Speaker 1: turns red? So you've for sake anything you know of

677
00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:13,560
Speaker 1: any kind of common sense, and you just work right,

678
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:17,239
Speaker 1: work right, work right, work right, as fast as you

679
00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:24,120
Speaker 1: can before the red light comes on. The red light

680
00:52:24,200 --> 00:52:31,040
Speaker 1: didn't come on. The songs stayed around. You can't guarantee that.

681
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:38,000
Speaker 1: Up until this book. There's a word that I've been

682
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:45,040
Speaker 1: constantly holding on to. It's called fear. Did I enjoy

683
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:48,560
Speaker 1: the ride? You better believe I enjoyed the ride? But

684
00:52:48,600 --> 00:52:55,440
Speaker 1: what was my companion? Fear? It wasn't I got this.

685
00:52:56,520 --> 00:53:01,520
Speaker 1: It was what am I going to do in case

686
00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:07,720
Speaker 1: the thing turns red? Not reeling lizing it's been forty

687
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:16,520
Speaker 1: years since the light turned green. And so what this

688
00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:22,080
Speaker 1: book did was it forced me to look over my

689
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:33,200
Speaker 1: shoulder behind me. I discovered Lionel Richie. I discovered that

690
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:37,279
Speaker 1: all the people that you are laughing at right now

691
00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:41,520
Speaker 1: and waving at and expecting to sing all night long

692
00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:48,879
Speaker 1: and we ain't gonna say all right out. But I mean,

693
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:53,799
Speaker 1: in other words, it's almost like the imposter syndrome. And

694
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:56,680
Speaker 1: what I want you all to understand, I didn't write

695
00:53:56,680 --> 00:54:00,760
Speaker 1: this book to tell you about the success. I wrote

696
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:03,640
Speaker 1: this book to tell you about the fear and then

697
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:08,080
Speaker 1: not trusting myself and hopefully finding a way to make

698
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:11,760
Speaker 1: this work because somebody just may find out I can't

699
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:15,640
Speaker 1: play the saxophone. They just might find out I can't

700
00:54:15,640 --> 00:54:19,160
Speaker 1: play from notes on the keyboard. I gotta make sure no, no, no.

701
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,880
Speaker 1: I was trying to keep everything in front looking real good,

702
00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:29,520
Speaker 1: and then I started talking about this book. I made it,

703
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:40,600
Speaker 1: I actually made it, but even better than making it,

704
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:49,200
Speaker 1: I lived through it. I lost. I lost Luther Vandros,

705
00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:58,600
Speaker 1: I lost Whitney, I lost Michael Rick James, I lost Sammy,

706
00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:04,640
Speaker 1: I lost my men, just lost Quincy. I would have

707
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:09,160
Speaker 1: loved for them to be here with me to experience

708
00:55:10,480 --> 00:55:12,520
Speaker 1: this crazy stuff, and then I could tell you all

709
00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:19,239
Speaker 1: a lot more because they wouldn't suit my ass. But

710
00:55:20,080 --> 00:55:28,279
Speaker 1: the truth is what comes with success a sacrifices. If

711
00:55:28,320 --> 00:55:29,960
Speaker 1: I had known it was going to end up like this,

712
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:34,640
Speaker 1: I'd have spend more time with my family. If I

713
00:55:34,719 --> 00:55:37,000
Speaker 1: knew it was going to be the end result like this,

714
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:42,400
Speaker 1: and then I realized they can't have both. What they

715
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:45,720
Speaker 1: give you is that moment in time when your mother's dying.

716
00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:51,440
Speaker 1: Here's the dilemma. Do I cancel the World tour to

717
00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:53,480
Speaker 1: go home to check on my mother? By the way,

718
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:57,799
Speaker 1: the World Tour was the all night long tour. Now

719
00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:01,400
Speaker 1: do I cancel that tour or do I stay on

720
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:04,760
Speaker 1: the phone to see how mom's doing? And of course,

721
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,880
Speaker 1: thank god she lived through the entire tour. But the

722
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:11,120
Speaker 1: point was your first concern is I gotta go home.

723
00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:16,279
Speaker 1: I didn't. And then you have friends that call you

724
00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:18,440
Speaker 1: on the phone, Lionel, I need to talk to you.

725
00:56:18,560 --> 00:56:21,840
Speaker 1: Is very important that we get on the phone and

726
00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:24,880
Speaker 1: I go, I'll call you. I'll call you what Okay,

727
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:32,480
Speaker 1: I'll call you back. And then you get home and

728
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:35,680
Speaker 1: you decide I'm going to return the phone call. Seven

729
00:56:35,719 --> 00:56:44,040
Speaker 1: months later and I said, let me speak to William, Lionel.

730
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:51,080
Speaker 1: William died about six months ago, I said, die. From

731
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:53,040
Speaker 1: what he said, well, he was trying to get in

732
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:57,000
Speaker 1: touch with you to tell you that he had cancer,

733
00:56:58,200 --> 00:57:07,640
Speaker 1: and that's why he was calling. Okay, I'm here. I'm

734
00:57:07,680 --> 00:57:11,640
Speaker 1: on stage, worried to death that I may not be

735
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:14,120
Speaker 1: able to How do I write a duet with Diana

736
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:17,120
Speaker 1: Ross when I've never written a do it? I was

737
00:57:17,160 --> 00:57:21,080
Speaker 1: definitely under pressure, and I was so busy being under pressure.

738
00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:23,320
Speaker 1: I let go of a lot of things that I

739
00:57:23,360 --> 00:57:26,840
Speaker 1: wish I could have been there for. But it's either

740
00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 1: or it's never both. And so tonight, what I want

741
00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,600
Speaker 1: you all to know about that book, it's not the success.

742
00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:39,959
Speaker 1: It's the things I had to overcome to get there,

743
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:46,360
Speaker 1: the commitment, the doubt, the fear, the worry to get

744
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:49,919
Speaker 1: on this stage. And I want every kid and every

745
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:55,479
Speaker 1: person to understand, everyone to understand, we're all scared to death.

746
00:57:56,480 --> 00:58:00,560
Speaker 1: As my dad say, what is the similarity between a

747
00:58:00,680 --> 00:58:04,959
Speaker 1: hero and a coward? They were both scared to death?

748
00:58:06,280 --> 00:58:11,680
Speaker 1: Is just one step forward and one step back in

749
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:15,320
Speaker 1: all of my fear, Thank you, In all of my fear,

750
00:58:16,480 --> 00:58:20,920
Speaker 1: I just kept hearing my father. Are you scared of death? Yes?

751
00:58:21,320 --> 00:58:26,160
Speaker 1: Step forward? Are you scared of death? Yes? Step forward?

752
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:33,240
Speaker 1: Are you in doubt? Yes? Step forward? Do you believe it?

753
00:58:33,440 --> 00:58:38,600
Speaker 1: Kind of step forward? Do you know who you are? No, sir,

754
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:44,680
Speaker 1: step forward. In other words, step forward.

755
00:58:45,200 --> 00:58:47,840
Speaker 3: Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor,

756
00:58:56,680 --> 00:58:58,880
Speaker 3: and we're back on the Bobby Cast.

757
00:59:00,080 --> 00:59:04,800
Speaker 2: We've got three audience questions. These will be quick hitting questions.

758
00:59:05,360 --> 00:59:07,840
Speaker 2: So tell the story of Stuck on You? This is

759
00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:09,680
Speaker 2: from Barr, But can you tell the story of stuck

760
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:13,000
Speaker 2: on You? It's the one that goes stuck on you?

761
00:59:13,080 --> 00:59:18,080
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, thank you, you know and by

762
00:59:18,120 --> 00:59:22,240
Speaker 1: the way you all are laughing. I wrote stuck on You.

763
00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:28,360
Speaker 1: There are moments on stage. Well, I'll start singing stuck

764
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:29,840
Speaker 1: on You, and for the life of me, I can't

765
00:59:29,840 --> 00:59:33,640
Speaker 1: think of stuck on You. I can't think of it

766
00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:38,160
Speaker 1: because it's that moment. Stuck on You was interesting. I

767
00:59:38,200 --> 00:59:43,560
Speaker 1: wrote the song for Kenny Rodgers. I wrote Truly for

768
00:59:43,680 --> 00:59:47,800
Speaker 1: Barbara Streisan, Truly. I wrote three Times a Lady for

769
00:59:47,840 --> 00:59:52,480
Speaker 1: Frank Sinatra. All right, so you have to understand. James

770
00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:58,400
Speaker 1: Carmichael found out that I had a stash, so after

771
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:03,840
Speaker 1: every group meeting he'd always go, Brad, MITCHI, now let's

772
01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:05,920
Speaker 1: go back to your house and play the songs you

773
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:10,800
Speaker 1: wrote for somebody else. And I played him stuck on You,

774
01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:14,919
Speaker 1: and the song is very clear. I like, you don't

775
01:00:14,960 --> 01:00:19,959
Speaker 1: have to ask the question, what's the song about? I'm

776
01:00:20,040 --> 01:00:23,800
Speaker 1: stuck on you. Now, I'll tell you something funny about

777
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:26,560
Speaker 1: while we're talking about stuff. There's no other story that

778
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:31,440
Speaker 1: goes along with that. But I didn't realize how special

779
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:42,760
Speaker 1: simplicity would be. I'm playing China. I'm playing China, and

780
01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:47,400
Speaker 1: the Minister of Education came backstage to me and said,

781
01:00:48,040 --> 01:00:54,160
Speaker 1: and I couldn't figure out I'm doing China Idol. And

782
01:00:55,960 --> 01:00:58,640
Speaker 1: I walk out on stage and they know every word,

783
01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:03,120
Speaker 1: the kids, they know every word. And get this. Now

784
01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:06,200
Speaker 1: you're ready for a number three hundred and sixty one

785
01:01:06,440 --> 01:01:12,600
Speaker 1: million people watching live. That's China Idol. And they are

786
01:01:12,640 --> 01:01:14,880
Speaker 1: going to do a medley. Excuse me, I'm going to

787
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:18,439
Speaker 1: do a medley of all of my songs at the end.

788
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:24,560
Speaker 1: They gave me this award. And then I learned what

789
01:01:24,600 --> 01:01:36,000
Speaker 1: they called me. I thought they called me Lionel Richie, Teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher,

790
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:41,560
Speaker 1: And I said, what the hell are they? I know

791
01:01:41,600 --> 01:01:47,840
Speaker 1: a little Chinese, but what's teacher? And they said teacher teacher. Okay,

792
01:01:48,520 --> 01:01:56,160
Speaker 1: why do they call me teacher because we teach English

793
01:01:56,280 --> 01:02:04,960
Speaker 1: in China. On your songs, easy like Sunday Morning, stuck

794
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:11,480
Speaker 1: on you? Hello? Is it me you're looking for? All right?

795
01:02:11,520 --> 01:02:15,120
Speaker 2: Two left Renee from Houston said, if you could sing

796
01:02:15,160 --> 01:02:17,120
Speaker 2: one song, and only one of your songs the rest

797
01:02:17,160 --> 01:02:18,120
Speaker 2: of your life, what would it be?

798
01:02:18,280 --> 01:02:23,440
Speaker 1: Oh god, well no, no, no, no, no, no no no,

799
01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:25,360
Speaker 1: Now what would you all think? What would it? Will? You?

800
01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:26,440
Speaker 5: All?

801
01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:29,400
Speaker 1: Right? God? You said? Zoom? Oh yeah, yeah, all right,

802
01:02:29,560 --> 01:02:38,800
Speaker 1: so it would be easy like Sunday morning. Yeah for me.

803
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:47,120
Speaker 1: It said everything it said. I walked into a room

804
01:02:47,120 --> 01:02:50,720
Speaker 1: one day. I wanted to be famous, and we're now famous.

805
01:02:50,720 --> 01:02:54,880
Speaker 1: The Commodos are famous. And the beauty of this was

806
01:02:55,320 --> 01:02:58,520
Speaker 1: it brought us a book with three hundred and sixty

807
01:02:58,600 --> 01:03:03,440
Speaker 1: six pages in it, and from one to three sixty

808
01:03:03,840 --> 01:03:05,760
Speaker 1: it told us where we were going to be for

809
01:03:05,800 --> 01:03:09,360
Speaker 1: the next year, every day for that year, because we're

810
01:03:09,400 --> 01:03:13,320
Speaker 1: going to play a world tour. And I remember writing down,

811
01:03:16,160 --> 01:03:19,920
Speaker 1: why would anybody put chains on me? I paid my

812
01:03:20,040 --> 01:03:22,920
Speaker 1: dues to make it. Everybody wants me to be what

813
01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:26,320
Speaker 1: they want me to be. I'm not happy when I

814
01:03:26,360 --> 01:03:29,080
Speaker 1: have to fake it or try to fake it. Leave

815
01:03:29,720 --> 01:03:36,920
Speaker 1: me alone. And I said, that doesn't sound like a

816
01:03:37,000 --> 01:03:42,200
Speaker 1: hit record. So I went back, took a break, and

817
01:03:42,280 --> 01:03:44,320
Speaker 1: came back and said, I just want to be easy.

818
01:03:44,600 --> 01:03:52,080
Speaker 1: I just want to take it easy. I'm easy. Easy,

819
01:03:52,200 --> 01:03:57,320
Speaker 1: Like what it took me three days to figure out

820
01:03:57,480 --> 01:04:02,400
Speaker 1: what you just said in five seconds. So what I

821
01:04:02,440 --> 01:04:04,840
Speaker 1: want you to understand, don't let anybody fool you about

822
01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:09,440
Speaker 1: this word called genius. It's called hard work and asking

823
01:04:09,560 --> 01:04:12,280
Speaker 1: God in the universe as many times as you can

824
01:04:12,280 --> 01:04:18,800
Speaker 1: think about it. God, I know you're busy, but you

825
01:04:18,920 --> 01:04:28,960
Speaker 1: made me famous and they're looking for easy like what

826
01:04:28,960 --> 01:04:34,760
Speaker 1: what is it? And in my midst of craziness, like

827
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:39,560
Speaker 1: Sunday Morning came out and that is everything I was feeling.

828
01:04:39,600 --> 01:04:41,320
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you that you said another song, which

829
01:04:41,360 --> 01:04:44,040
Speaker 1: is wait if you listen to Zoom. And I said

830
01:04:44,040 --> 01:04:47,600
Speaker 1: this in the book. I may be just a foolish dreamer,

831
01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:53,200
Speaker 1: but I don't care. Of course, I know my happiness

832
01:04:53,720 --> 01:04:59,400
Speaker 1: is out there somewhere. I'm searching for that silver lining

833
01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:05,000
Speaker 1: horizons that I've never seen. Oh, I'd like to take

834
01:05:05,200 --> 01:05:12,320
Speaker 1: just a moment and dream my dream Zoom. And what

835
01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:15,440
Speaker 1: has happened to me in this book and what has

836
01:05:15,440 --> 01:05:19,840
Speaker 1: happened in my life is that God was listening and

837
01:05:19,880 --> 01:05:20,520
Speaker 1: it happened to me.

838
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:23,280
Speaker 2: I think we end it right there, Ladies and gentlemen.

839
01:05:24,480 --> 01:05:37,960
Speaker 6: Lionel Richie, Bobby Bones, thanks for listening to a Bobby

840
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:38,760
Speaker 6: Cast production.