WEBVTT - Simon Kirke 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.640 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Search podcast. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.360 My guest today is that one and only Simon Kirk, 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:21.599 drummer of Bad Company and Free. Simon, how do you 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.079 feel about Bad Company not being in the Rock and 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:25.040 Roll Hall of Fame? 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.680 You don't hang around, Bob, do you know. I think 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.640 it's such travesty. Quite honestly, I mean not just that, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:39.919 but Free Free certainly should be because you know, I mean, 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.040 Free has been around since nineteen sixty eight and we've 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:49.320 the two bands have been responsible for influencing a lot 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.920 of a lot of bands who are already in the Hall. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.680 So it's you know, I feel pretty bad about it, 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.960 but I'm not going to go on too much about it. 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.680 It's just I think we should be in, certainly, Free, 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.200 and I think Paul Paul Rodgers should be in on 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.600 his own merits. I mean, as one of the great 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:14.880 rock vocalists of all time. You know, if Eric Captain 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.560 and Rodge Stewart and Jeff Jeff Beck and be inducted 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:24.119 as solo artists, and certainly Paul Rodgers should be in there. 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.720 So that's my two cents. 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.880 I completely agree with you, certainly in both bands. I think, 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.000 you know, the focus has become the Music Hall of 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.520 Fame because you can't have a rock I've been back 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.240 and forth with the members. I'm not a voting member 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:43.560 or anything, but it's a travesty, as you put it. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.000 So what's the status of Bad Company today? Are they 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:48.639 going to ever be any more live dates? 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.440 I honestly I doubt it, and I'll tell you why. 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.200 I think a lot of people now already know that 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:01.320 Paul Rodgers has had health problems. He went public with 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:05.440 it a couple of weeks ago on CBS. They flew 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.400 him out to New York and he came out with 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.080 the fact that he has had some severe health problems 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:15.840 in the last couple of years, a couple of strokes, 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:20.919 quite a few mini strokes and heart troubles. And I 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:25.920 honestly think that our Bad Company's days are pretty much over. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:31.720 Okay, Just on this same point, there have been conversations 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.120 or talking about Mick Ralf's health. How is his health? 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.200 Oh, Mick, we'll mix uffered a stroke about six or 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:43.679 seven years ago and it's paralyzed his left side, as 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.600 most strokes do, so he's really out of commission. He's 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:52.280 in a home in a nursing home in England. Several 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.320 people have seen him recently. I'm going to go over 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:00.960 next year, so he's really health is not good and 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:05.240 it's certainly his playing days are over. So you know, 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.680 we had a good run and I think we're going 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.880 to lay the old bad company to rest pretty soon. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.839 Okay, this begs a question, how's your health? Well? 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:23.120 Touch would? I'm great? I am cleaning sober quite a 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:27.520 few years now at last, and I don't smoke, I 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.760 don't drink, I eat well, I do yoga and I 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:35.480 have smoothies and my wife make sure that I'm living 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:40.160 another twenty four hours. So thanks for asking. I'm in 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:41.040 pretty good shape. 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.840 So tell me about getting sober well. 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.280 I think it's common knowledge that you know, I had 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:53.880 troubles with substance abuse for many years, and back in 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:55.880 the day, you know, in the seventies and eighties, it 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.120 was something that was kept. Yeah, you didn't really broadcast 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:05.160 in whereas nowadays you know it's part of one cv 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.280 as it were, that you know you're in the program 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:12.040 or you're clean and sober. It's something that is something 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:16.760 that is to be congratulated rather than hidden under a rock. 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:23.280 So I've been I hadn't done blow for twenty seven years. 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:28.640 I gave up drinking about eight years ago. Finally I 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.400 had a little sip down again, La la la. But really, 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:34.920 to be totally clean and sober, you've got to give 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.200 everything up. And it's the best thing I did. I mean, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.719 I you know, back in those days, the seventies and 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.680 eighties were really crazy days, but I was a lot younger. 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:49.479 I could get away with it and it didn't never 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:55.560 really impeded my drumming. You could just sort of get 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.480 away with that shit, you know. But now, Nah, I 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.520 don't miss at all, Bob. Quite honestly, I wish I'd 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:04.640 done it sooner, but you know, better late than never. 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:07.799 Well, let's talk about the drugs. How did you finally 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.280 decide to stop? Oh? 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.640 I nearly died, to put it in a nutshell, I mean, 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:20.240 I was on a tour bus and we pulled into Nashville, 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:25.760 and I've been taking ativan with swigging it with Jack 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.960 Daniels and doing blow and all sorts of stuff. And 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.960 I was passed out in the bunk, one of the bunks, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.640 and they left me there. I mean, everyone was out 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.560 of it. We sort of staggering into They staggered into 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.440 the hotel to get their rooms, and I was left 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.120 with this girlfriend of mine, who God bless her. I mean, 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.280 she saved my life. And she dragged me out of 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:54.480 the bunk and walked me around, slapping me, and I 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.680 nearly died that night, and that's when I thought, Okay, 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:01.400 now you know this has got to stop. So it 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:07.799 really took a near death experience to give the hard 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:12.240 stuff up. And I say this only as a personal thing, 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:20.200 but coke exacerbates drinking and drug taking because if you 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:22.880 do a line, you want to drink five times as 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.480 much as you normally would. If you want to sleep, 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:27.440 you've got to take valume or you've got to take 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.920 something to come down. In the morning, you're sort of groggy, 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.080 so you do another line and the whole thing starts again. 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.320 But I was at that stage. This is in nineteen 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:43.520 ninety six. I was forty seven, and I was a lunatic, 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.680 a functioning lunatic, because I went to the gym every 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.120 day and I jogged, you know, and then I'd come 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.600 back and do a line. It's stupid, really. 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.240 So you have this near death experience, did you stop 0:06:57.360 --> 0:06:59.080 cold Turkey. Did you go to rehab? 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.400 Nose. I went to rehab. I couldn't have done it 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:07.560 without rehab. I've been to several and now I'm on 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.160 the board of you know, I help kids with addiction. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.840 I'm on the board of a foundation called Road Recovery, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:21.440 which helps teenagers and adolescents with drug addiction. And I'm 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.400 on the board of Right Turn, which is based in Boston, 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:30.080 and we help musicians people in the theatrical business with addiction. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.920 So I'm just passing it on, you know, I'm helping it. 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.840 And I see kids, Bob. I mean, there's kids in 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.640 seventeen or eighteen, They've got three years sober. You know, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:47.640 they are sidestepping all that ridiculous black hole that waits 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.920 for people who get hooked, and they're getting sober in 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.880 their late teens. And I thank people. I have to 0:07:55.920 --> 0:08:00.200 thank people like Eric Clapton. Elton Alice Cooper was one 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.560 of the first people in my business that got sober. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:08.000 You know, he's been sober like forty five years. Because 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.280 you know, we were all lunatics. Everyone dragged it la 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:15.000 la la la. And then suddenly someone puts a hand 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.840 up and says, you know, I'm Vince, Vince Fernier with 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.960 Alice's real name, and I'm an addict. Eric puts his 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:26.200 hand ups. I'm an addict, and without people like that 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:33.040 to help people like myself, I probably would have been dead, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:37.120 quite honestly. So I'm just passing it on to the youngsters. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.320 Saying don't go down the road is a waste of time, 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:41.559 complete waste of time. 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.719 Well, let's go back to the beginning in the sixties 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.440 and then seventies, when did mean, yeah, everybody was smoking 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:54.560 marijuana or whatever, But when did your drug increase intake increase? 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.800 Oh, when I started doing coke, no question, because yeah, 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:03.680 the sixties, you know, we didn't have grass in England. 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:07.880 We had hash. It would come over from Amsterdam and Germany, 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.000 so grass was very very rare. But we did hash. 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.079 So we all smoked, we dragged beer. You know, we 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:19.880 were teenagers. That's what teenagers did. But when I met 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.959 some people from Brazil in nineteen seventy two, there was 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:27.840 a little enclave of Brazilians living in London, and I 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.080 got very friendly with one of the ladies. She became 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.160 nearly became my wife, and they turned me on to 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.480 blow and it was fuck me. It was pure. It 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:42.720 was amazing. I mean it really was amazing. But once again, 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.800 once I did a line instead of you know, a 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:51.120 bottle of beer would last one minute, whereas before it 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.679 would last maybe a couple of hours. So suddenly I'm woh, wow, 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.719 where is the stuff? Well drumming, Yeah, come on, let's go. 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.680 Boom boom boom. Everything was ramped up. It was like 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:08.360 a Keystone Cops movie. Everything's sped up, and pretty soon 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:10.960 I was I was doing a lot of it. And 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:15.400 then I went to Brazil and I got really really 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.400 screwed up, but I still managed to function. You know, 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.200 there was still there was still a part of me 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.000 that was like, this is ridiculous. You know, you've got 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.920 to stop this, or at least put it on a 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.520 back burner. You got a career ahead of you, and 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.600 no one wants to hang out with druggies except other druggies. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:41.240 And I started getting isolated from the general the sober 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.120 population I would have. I would avoid people who were sober. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.560 I got to meet Derek Clapton at the Alba Hall 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.199 backstage right, and I was so nervous because I had 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.760 a glass of wine in my head and I opted 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.480 out not to meet one of the great musicians of 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:02.160 all time, you know, because I is embarrassed because I 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:08.360 was drunk, you know, just stupid things like huh so, yeah, 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.800 that's what That was the turning point doing the blow, 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:16.240 and I did blow for twenty years. You know. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.880 The average person has no idea of what it's like 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.720 being on the road. You have the same group of 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.560 people you've known for years in the band, you're kind 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.680 of tired of them. You go on on the stage 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:32.840 to vast applause and it's a high that people who 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.520 haven't done it have no idea. Then you go back 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.840 with the same people in the bus. You can't fall asleep, 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:43.280 and then the sun comes up. To what degree did 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:44.880 drugs help you cope with that? 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.800 Well? What it was, Bob, That's a very good question. 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.360 It was pouring gasoline on a flame because you come 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:57.600 off and most of Bad Company shows were great. I 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:03.000 mean we came off to being bay in this applause encores. 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.640 I mean the group is the whole adulation la la lah, 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.199 and we didn't want it to stop. We're in the 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.600 dressing room like brah whoh man. That was great enough. 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.560 Get the lines out and suddenly you know, we're like, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:23.160 we've gone to another level of euphoria. You get back, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.360 get on the bush. It's a four hour bus, like, 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.920 oh god, all right, come on, get the guitars out. 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:35.040 Another line, la lah lah. You know, just stupid, stupid 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:41.640 stuff really but a bit nothing really, nothing compared with that. 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.720 A good show. And it should have stopped right there. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.680 You know, that should have been enough. That should have 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:52.280 been the reward in itself, going down so well in 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:57.240 ten thousand people applauding you. But as we know that 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:58.280 it wasn't enough. 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:00.800 Okay, So how did you decide give up drinking? 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.440 Well, when I stopped doing blow, everything else tape it off, 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:12.360 and I still I always loved drinking wine. I love wine, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.480 but I have an addicted personality. And even though I 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.560 managed to stop blowing, it was the best thing I 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:23.880 ever did. I still like drinking wine. And one glass 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.920 was never enough. Two was never enough. And when I 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.840 when I remarried, I had been sober for a couple 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.480 of years, and I remarried and I thought, well, he's 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.320 a lovely lady, and maybe I can And I told 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.360 her up front, you know, look, I've been in several 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:46.120 rehabs La la Lah. So well, I experimented and thought, well, 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.400 you know what, and you know what, for a couple 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.760 of couple of months it was okay. And then I 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:57.160 went to two glasses and then three and it just 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.440 started going as we say in England, it start going 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:07.960 pair shaped and it was really affecting my life and 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:12.120 my relationship. And I had a new wife and I 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:17.480 didn't really want that to impinge and effect this lovely 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:22.600 lady and my relationship with this lovely lady Maria. So 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.560 I said, that's it. And I've been going to meetings 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.680 for many, many years. They ow meetings. I don't mind 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:33.000 telling people about my drug use and drinking if it 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:37.880 helps other people, you know, because the landscape has changed. 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:40.560 As I said, you know, fifty years ago to say 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:43.400 you were an addict or an alcoholic was like whoa, 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:48.640 But you know nowadays, yeah, it's no big deal. We're 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:49.600 just helping each other. 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:55.080 To what degree did drug use and other substance abuse 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.680 affect the ending of your previous marriage? 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:05.960 Oh? I mean it was a sledgehammer, because well it was. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.000 It was cyclical. I would get out of it, and 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:12.920 I was not the faithful husband. It was a terrible husband. 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.320 Then I get found out because drunks are not very 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:20.120 good at hiding their you know, their trail, so I 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.560 get found out. So then I'd leave the house and 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.680 go on some binge and it would all start again. 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:31.640 So it ruined my marriage, no question. And it's something 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.120 that I regret to this day. And I've been trying 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:38.360 to make amends to my daughters. I have three girls, Domino, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:43.360 Jamiah and Lola, and you know, I've apologized to them 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:49.200 and it's just an ongoing thing. But no question of it, 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:55.280 it dealt a body blow to my marriage throughout throughout 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.240 the marriage thirty three years. 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.720 Okay, I have three daughters. All of them were successful 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.160 the arts of the role. Right, how did that happen? 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:08.840 I don't know of I'm very proud of them, I 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:13.200 have to say. I mean, we've got Jemima who's film actress. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.840 She was in Girls and she's been in quite a 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:21.720 few movies. Lola who's done several quite a few movies, 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:27.120 but she's now a country and Western artist and very successful. 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:32.760 And Domino, who is she had a career, a singing career, 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.360 but she became a mum very at a young age 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:39.440 and that kind of sidelined her career. But she's a duela. 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:45.920 She delivers babies, and I'm so proud of her because, 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.280 you know, to bring children into the world man that is. 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:56.000 I think she's delivered about two hundred kids. So yeah, 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.760 I'm just knocked out with all of them. I love 0:16:58.800 --> 0:16:59.440 them to bits. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.360 How did you come up with the names with them? 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.960 They're sort of unique names or names that hadn't been 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:07.960 in use for a while. 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:15.040 Ah. It was obviously a two way street with me 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:21.360 and my previous wife, Lorraine Domino. There was a movie 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:27.879 called Shark's Machine with Burt Reynolds back in nineteen eighty 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.360 and Domino was born in eighty two, and I think 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.200 my ex had a little crush on Burt Reynolds and 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:39.920 the star of that film her name was Domino, so 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.080 she said, oh, that would be a lovely name. I 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.879 wanted to call her Emily. I don't know why. It 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:52.360 was a very English name, but no, Domino came out 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.280 of a hat, and that's what we settled with. Jemima. 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:01.080 There was an English series of books called mi'ma Puddle Duck, 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.920 and there was something that me and Lorain agreed on. 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.680 No Jemimah. But it's a lovely name. And of course 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:12.320 we didn't know about the big fat black lady over here, 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:19.040 Aunt Jemima so and when we moved over here in 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.360 ninety seven, permanently everyone was like, oh, you don't look 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.360 anything like Aunt Jemilah is Who the fuck's aren't Jamala 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.240 and Lola? I don't know. I think maybe the Kinks 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:38.000 song Lo Lo Lo Lo Lola. So, yeah, they're cool names. 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.280 Okay, how'd you meet your new wife? 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:47.399 Okay, good story. I'm a good friend of Ronnie Wood 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.040 and I was over in England and he said, look, 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.439 I'm coming to New York. We're doing a tribute to 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.320 Jimmy Reid the Cutting Room, which is a great club 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.199 in New York City, and I lived in New York. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.240 I was just visiting. The said you want to play drums? 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:05.119 I said, well, I'd love to run it. You know, 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.600 she's our cooper on Hammond. We got a great bass 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.960 player and a couple of guests. Mick Taylor's on guitar. Yeah, 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.000 I'm in. So I went down to the Cutting Room 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.640 for a sound check and as I walked in, there 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.639 was a lady, a greeter, you know, taking the names 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:29.160 on the door, and this was Maria, Maria Figuretta, and 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:34.240 my jaw just dropped because she was so beautiful, and I, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.720 you know, I mean, I didn't say anything. I was 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:40.480 so tongue tied, and I just went down into the 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.200 dressing room, got ready, and I couldn't get her out 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.200 of my brain. And then blur and behold she walks 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:52.399 in the dressing room was the manager's office. She needed 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.800 to get something from the office, and my first words 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.879 to her were hallo, hello, Hello. That was the first 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.560 words to my future wife. And she got all flustered 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.600 and said, oh, I've just got to get some and 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.560 kind of fled the office because she said later, I've 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:16.280 kind of embarrassed him. We were kind of mutually smitten, 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:19.000 and at the end of the show, you know, I 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.280 got a number and I was still married. I mean 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.560 I was, but it was on the rocks. So we 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:29.399 started this love affair. Really that lasted for a couple 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.199 of years until we finally got married and the divorce 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:40.760 came through and we married six years ago. 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:48.680 Okay, now, with Nick indisposed, Paul having his health problems, 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:50.160 what does that leave you? 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.879 Aha, Well, I'm like a dog without a tail at 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:01.720 the moment. I'm but what I am doing is I'm 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:06.480 co writing a rock opera, a rock musical about addiction 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:13.320 called rock Bottom, and we're putting it together and yeah, thanks, 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.600 So everyone I say is that's a great name, and 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:20.960 it's about addiction, and it's I'm writing it with an 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:27.280 interventionist drug counselor and he's a drummer with the Delf 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:32.320 Fegos up in Boston. His name's Woody Geeseman and a 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:37.240 comedian called Tony Viveros. And we've done the script. We've 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:42.239 written about fifteen songs and we're honing it as we 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:47.520 speak with We have bi weekly writing sessions. The songs 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:51.240 are pretty much recorded and it's really shaping up nicely. 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:53.840 It's taking up a lot of my time. But that 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:58.360 being said, you know, I do miss playing. I love playing, 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:02.400 and you know, plays some shows with g Smith, great 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:09.399 guitar player who lives in Long Island, and we do 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.800 the occasional show together. I would never start a group again. 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:15.560 I'm too old. I don't want to go through all 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:21.440 that rigmarole. But I would happily do shows with other 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:24.600 people if they want me around. You know, I'm seventy four. 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:28.080 I don't know how much time I've got left actual playing. 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.680 But you look people like Ringo who still plays well. 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:36.240 I mean, he's another example. I should have mentioned him 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:40.719 back in the sobriety section. Ringo is a huge example 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.840 of getting me sober and he still plays well. So 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.440 he still plays great. Actually, So I'm around and I'm 0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:53.480 getting into film scoring. I really love I've scored a 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:57.000 couple of independent movies. I really love doing that. I've 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:00.959 got a studio here, I've got all the you know, 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:04.359 all the toys, and I'm a big, big fan of 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.719 movie scoring, So that's what I want to do. And songwriting. 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:10.160 I love writing song. 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:17.000 Okay, you talk about all this drug use and that 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:20.959 eats up a lot of cash. So where does that 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:22.320 leave you financially? 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:27.000 Well, not just that, but also the rehabs and I 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:31.560 you know, I've written a lot of songs about about 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:35.880 getting sober and the most expensive songs out of the road. 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.920 Where does that leave me? Well, rehabs about fifty grand 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:42.280 a pop. Now, you know, so I've been to seven. 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:46.560 So do the math. Where does it leave me financially? 0:23:46.880 --> 0:23:51.440 I'm okay, uncomfortable. I'm not rich by any stretch. I'm 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:55.680 square over the irs, that's the main thing. I mean, 0:23:55.680 --> 0:23:59.600 a lot of my contemporaries and Beata Grant, my old manager, 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:03.200 I mean he and I found out that. I mean, 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:07.240 he was well in hock to the the Vatman the 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:12.480 VAT in England, which is pretty pretty much allied with 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:15.639 the irs. He was in hock for millions. He had 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:18.760 to sell his houselah la lah. So I always remember, 0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:23.600 keep square with the irs, because they are piranas. They 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:27.520 will come after you. So I'm okay. I mean it's 0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:30.560 you know, money is like sleep and sex. You can 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:32.880 always do with a little bit more. But I'm quite 0:24:32.920 --> 0:24:33.920 happy with what I got. 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:42.480 Okay, in the seventies, you're recognizably famous now years later, 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.480 anybody ever recognize you when you say who you are? 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:49.640 Do they realize who you are? What's it like being 0:24:49.760 --> 0:24:51.600 a rock star at this point in time. 0:24:52.280 --> 0:24:55.320 Well, I'm not a rock star anymore. I'm well known 0:24:55.560 --> 0:25:00.760 in the industry. I've had a good run. And oddly enough, 0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:05.320 here's the weird thing. I got recognized in two places. 0:25:05.400 --> 0:25:07.840 You would not believe. I was walking in the jungle 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:11.639 in Brazil, right on a hike while I was staying 0:25:11.840 --> 0:25:16.000 with one of my daughters at a camp, some adventure camp, 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:18.080 and we're doing a hike through the jungle and there's 0:25:18.080 --> 0:25:22.040 another four or five people coming the other way towards us, 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:26.520 and as we drew abreast, the guy says, you'll signing, Kirk. 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:30.000 You've got to be kidding. I swear to God. He said, 0:25:30.080 --> 0:25:32.960 I love you playing man, Thanks God bless and off 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:35.800 he went the other direction. And then I was in 0:25:35.960 --> 0:25:42.200 Cuba with my wife, whose father is Cuban, and with him, 0:25:42.600 --> 0:25:45.080 and we were in this little village and we were 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:47.320 having a couple of coffee somewhere. It's about one in 0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:51.040 the afternoon. They sitting around a table, and these guys 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:54.160 were walking carrying a guitar case and a little drum 0:25:54.280 --> 0:26:00.000 case and they started. I said wow, and they said, 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:03.439 look with rehearsing, you want to come and play with us. 0:26:04.119 --> 0:26:08.240 I couldn't say no. So it does happen very occasionally, 0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:12.080 and it's nice. But you know, being in the drama, Bob, 0:26:12.440 --> 0:26:16.480 you're always hidden by behind the symbols and the rat Tom. 0:26:16.920 --> 0:26:20.320 No one really knows. Yeah, it's not like I'm Paul 0:26:20.400 --> 0:26:23.600 Rodgers or Mick Row. It's okay. 0:26:24.359 --> 0:26:27.800 So at this point, do you only play drums when 0:26:27.920 --> 0:26:31.080 someone calls you, like gee, whatever? Or do you ever 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:34.240 play for your own fun? Oh? 0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:36.920 Yeah, I mean I I still have a kit next 0:26:37.000 --> 0:26:41.320 door in my my, my basement. I'm speaking to you 0:26:41.480 --> 0:26:44.560 from a little room next to the basement where I 0:26:44.640 --> 0:26:48.240 have all my keyboards and guitar. But I'll put on 0:26:48.400 --> 0:26:51.320