WEBVTT - Colin Blunstone of The Zombies 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.480 Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Inside the 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:07.480 Studio on iHeart Radio. My name is Jordan runt Dog. 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.080 But enough about me. I have so much to say 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.920 about my legendary guest. He's one of the most distinctive 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.599 voices in music. His ethereal velvety vocals helped make his 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.079 group The Zombies one of the most unique bands of 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:23.400 the British Invasion. Their unmistakable blend of Beatles, Bill Evans, 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:25.920 blues and baroque can be heard on sixties hits like 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.840 She's Not There, Tell Her No and Time of the Season. Now. 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.760 For years, those three titles basically summed up their creative reputation, 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.920 but the band has experienced an unprecedented popular resurgence and 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.479 the New Millennium thanks to an album that was basically 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.640 ignored upon its release. I'm talking, of course, about the 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:48.800 brilliant Odyssey and Oracle. It's a kaleidoscopic musical vision spanning cultures, 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.919 genres and moods. Released just after the band split in nine, 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.560 the album has risen from obscurity to be hailed as 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.880 a pop masterpiece, praised by the likes of Tom Petty, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.200 Dave Grohl and Paul weller many so called lost albums 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.240 oh the rehabbed reputation to a film soundtrack or a 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.000 well chosen commercial placement. Not so with Odyssey an Oracle. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.440 It's rediscovery relies purely on the strength of the songs. 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.000 In two thousand three, Rolling Stone placed it at number 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.400 one hundred on their list of the five dred Greatest 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.560 Albums of All Time, and in two thousand nineteen, the 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.520 band themselves were given a much delayed induction into the 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.479 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This renewed popularity helped 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.640 the Zombies rise from the dead over thirty years after 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.120 they're split, My Guests reunited with this bandmate, Rod Argent, 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.480 the Zombies organist and chief songwriter, and they begin touring 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.880 pretty much non stop, at least until the COVID crisis 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.400 put a stop to live music. Undeterred, they kept busy 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:49.800 with work on a new Zombies record, likely due out 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:54.880 in My Guests also helped oversee the fiftieth anniversary reissue 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.400 of his solo debut one year, complete with a bonus 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.840 disc of outtakes and unheard ms that'll be hitting shelves 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.080 on November five, until they can hit the road once again. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.280 The Zombies are thrilling fans with their so called world tour. 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.440 In one night, a livestream concert held from the floor 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:15.600 of studio to London's iconic Abbey Roads Studios, the famous 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.800 room where the Beatles recorded the bulk of their work. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.160 It was a fitting choice of venue. Odyssey and Oracle 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.480 and one year were recorded just a few steps down 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.680 the hall. Fans can watch the concert and the special 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.560 Q and A with veteran rock journalist David Frick on 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.160 demand through October three via vieps dot com. I'm so 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.200 thrilled the welcome one of my rock and roll heroes, 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:39.320 Colin Bloodstone. We started our talk discussing his return to 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:46.079 Abbey Road. It was really good fun and I mean 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.760 it's such an atmosphere there to be in studio to 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.360 the Beatles recorded the majority, the vast majority of their tracks. 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:58.240 Um and and also of course I've worked in there 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.720 with the Allen Posson's project. Allan was worked in that 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.760 studio although the Zombies and on my solo albums, we 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.040 worked in the studio just up the hall, Studio three, 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:10.760 which is the first studio you come to when you 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.880 when you walk through the front door the Zombies never 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.079 recorded in studio too. That was our first time playing 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.160 together in studio too. Wow. I mean just even just 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.760 being in that studio album and it must have just 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.080 as you say, packed with so many memories. I mean, 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.920 what a special night for you are. Absolutely, you know, 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.119 I found that when we first went there. I think 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.560 we might have gone there the day before we actually played. 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.760 And I was saying to all the guys who hadn't 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.440 been in Appy Road, I was saying, yea, this is 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.600 studio to where the Beatles recorded. This is Studio three 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.360 where we did honestly and oracles so much Historildren and 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:47.720 I had to stop because I was becoming emotional about 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.560 the whole thing, and I thought, no, no, they're gonna 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:51.720 have to work with out for themselves, because this is 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.360 something that effects on me. I don't know what it 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.160 was doing to them, but it was certainly having an 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:59.400 effect on me. Oh, I can only imagine me. I've 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.119 been lucky enough to stand in studio too, and there 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:06.880 is an energy. You're right, it's it's it really envelopes you. Yes, absolutely, 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:09.760 it doesn't intrigue me because it's the only studio I've 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.400 ever known where the control room is on the next 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.520 floor up, and so there's this flight of stairs up 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:19.160 the left hand side, and I've always sort of it 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.440 as the walk of shame when you've been down there 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.440 trying to do a vocal so as I was with 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.200 Alan Parsons, and you know, he wants to say, oh, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.440 you know, you haven't really got hold of this and 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.800 there's a problem here. Would you like to come up 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.920 and have a chat? And you know, you clip clop up, 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.880 trudging up the stairs. There's nowhere to hide. You know. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.280 I've never known another studio like that where you have 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.360 to go up this open staircase too to be told 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:53.160 where you're going wrong. It's such an incredible place. But 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.040 one of the details that I really loved about about 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.600 your your performance the other night was that you had 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.400 the stage crew dressed in the white lab coats. And 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:03.440 I don't know if that was intentional, but I felt 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.120 like a fitting nod to the days when Abbey Road 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.400 was treated like a laboratory and they had the engineers 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:14.080 dressed like scientists, but they did. It wasn't my idea, 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.800 but you're absolutely right they were dressed in like. What 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:22.000 happened was the engineers actually used to be dressed in jackets, 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.680 collars and ties that are looking at the pictures, it 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:29.240 reminds me of old sessions back in the day. They 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.080 had colors and ties. And then what we would call 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:36.479 the boffins of the technicians, who would you know, once 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.000 in a while things would go wrong and in a flash, 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.400 these guys would be up there. You didn't you didn't 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.719 phone out for somebody, there's there's a whole department that 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.760 looks after any any technical problems. They wore white coats 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.960 and then there was seemed to be an army of 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.920 guys who just moved things around um sort of loaders, 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.560 and they had brown coats, so it was in a 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.800 way it was quite regimented. It was a real contradiction 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.279 at Abbey Row because they made so many wonderful records 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:11.400 there and they had great, great engineers. We worked almost 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.840 exclusively with Peter Vince and Jeff Emerick and they were 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:19.599 absolutely wonderful. But they did have an old fashioned side 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.640 to it. They were very strict rules and I think 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.760 it changed when probably after Sergeant Pepper because the Beatles 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.400 were recording all night, but and before that there were 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.400 very strict rules. You started at ten, and you must 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.680 finish at one. That's your session. Then you started at 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.520 two and you went to a five and you had 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.240 to stop, and then you went from seven to ten, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.040 and particularly in Studio three, you had to stop at 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:50.000 ten because the soundproofing wasn't very good in Studio three, 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.040 and it's built right next door to an apartment block, 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.800 and they used to complain about the noise, so you 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.719 had to finish at ten o'clock. It was. It was 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:03.160 quite strange, really wow, I mean, such a fascinating I mean, 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.320 as you say that to debt almost sort of regimented 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.080 mentality almost helped the sessions in a way because it 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.040 forced you to sort of really have the songs down 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:14.720 and really get in and get out and know exactly 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:16.960 what you wanted to do. In a way, it does, 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.440 and I mean, particularly with them obnestly an Oracle, we 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.679 had a very limited budget. We had a thousand plans, 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.040 so I mean, you know, it's not very much. It 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.760 wasn't very much then and it certainly isn't very much now, 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.560 of course, But to to have a thousand plans and 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.120 try and do an album in appy road, you're you're 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:37.280 up against it. So we rehearsed really extensively before we 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.360 went in to do Odesty an Oracle, and when we 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.840 got to the studio, we knew what songs we were doing, 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:44.640 we knew what keys we're going to do, and we 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.760 knew the arrangement. We're just looking for a performance and 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:51.560 we recorded very very fast, but there wasn't there was 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.800 that added element that we knew we could record from 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.320 center one and that was it. And on one occasion, 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.240 there's a song called changes on Odyesty an Oracle, and 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:04.480 it's the only song that we're all singing on. Everybody's 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:08.080 singing harmonies on that, and so we were all around 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.680 the piano, lovely Steinway piano in Studio three. There's a 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.920 red light on at the door, but because we're recording, 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.480 we're singing, and the hands of the clock just went 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.160 past one o'clock and these guys in brown coats came 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.880 in and we're singing around the piano and they took 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:28.600 the piano art and took it to another studio in 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.840 the middle of a take. Yes, well, and we just 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.360 kept singing, but we didn't dare stop because we just 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.920 didn't have any money to pay for those sessions. So 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.800 I've always liked to think that you can hear the 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:45.480 piano being moved out on that particular track, but I 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.480 think we had to do it again because I think 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.040 it was a bit noisy. I've listened, I can't hear 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.920 the piano being moved, but it did happen. It was 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.720 It was quite interesting. I was rather proud of us 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:58.839 that these guys I didn't know who they were. I've 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.120 never seen him before, and they walk in and take 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.600 the piano. They could have been stealing the piano for 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.360 all I knew, and we just kept singing. So I 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.520 was quite proud of us in that respect. I was 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.040 gonna say, that's professional right there, even though the rolling 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.920 pianos around you don't miss a note, it's professionally. It's 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.760 also desperation when you when you don't have any money 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.959 and the studio times running out, you just keep going, 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.400 you know. And so that's what we do well, despite 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:31.439 the sort of over zealous movers. Abbey Road then and 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.280 and now is such a technologically advanced place. How did 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.040 that the cutting edge of technology at the time, help 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.120 faster out of see an Oracle? Well, of course, they 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.360 just literally finished saga Pepper. I think the Beatles have 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.600 left two days before we went in, and famously John 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.520 Lennon left his melotron in Studio three and Rod used it. 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.800 And if you listen to Odessy an Oracle, it's melotron 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:57.680 all the way through it. It would have been a 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.600 different album if John hadn't have left his melo drown behind. 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.840 And they also left percussion instruments all on the floor 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.959 at tambourines, miracus and things, So we were picking up 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.520 the percussion instruments that the Beatles had left from Sergeant Pepper, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:12.720 which was a big thrill for us because we're a 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:17.240 huge Beatles fans then and now. Um. But I say 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.280 that because just before that, the Beach Boys in America 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.840 have been using an eight track machine, but there was 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.960 no eight track machine in the UK. That John Lennon 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.719 said we wanted to use an eight track machine, there 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.560 wasn't one in the UK, and he just left the 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.600 engineers to sort that problem out. And what they came 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:43.280 up with was they actually attached to four track machines. 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.560 I mean they call it sort of, I don't know, 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.440 it's quite rough. I think they just put to four 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:52.680 track machines together, which in effect gave you seven tracks. 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.480 It didn't give you eight tracks. You lost one track 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.400 when you did this. But so the Beetles have been 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:03.400 using seven track recording and we inherited that from them 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.720 because we have used to recording on four tracks. In 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.840 the UK, everyone recorded on four tracks, and this game 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.960 is a lot of opportunities to try other things. For instance, 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.240 on time that the season the track was recorded, and 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.880 Rod got the idea of putting a ah and we've 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.920 got an extra track, so he just it was one take, 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:23.880 you know, he just went into the studio and he 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:27.560 put that on on on the track, and I mean 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.199 it wouldn't be the same song without that, and we 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:33.440 wouldn't have been able to do it if we'd only 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.720 had four tracks. So it did. It really did help 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.839 in many ways. It's so interesting to hear how how 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.520 you build these tracks up. I mean you mentioned Brian Wilson. Uh. 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.120 In my mind, I've always associated honestly and Oracle Pet 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.320 and Pet Sounds as just for their sonic scope and 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.840 the rich harmonies and the lyrical maturity. And I think 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.080 about Brian using a sort of modular recording technique for 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.160 something like good Vibrations, where he would record segments of 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.679 songs and assemble them almost like movie scenes, because they 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.240 all had a very different and I listened to tracks 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.920 like something like Changes and Honestly and Oracle or even 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:13.719 Brief Candles, where it's there's such distinct musical moments and textures. 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.600 How would you go about assembling tracks like that? Did 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.400 you go instrument by instrument and build it up or 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.000 were the complete band performances opposite. We didn't have the 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.000 time to do things like that. I don't think it 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:30.760 even occurred, but we were recording really fast, and from memory, 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.000 all of those tracks would have all four guys in 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.360 the band playing at the same time in the same room. 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.800 That would be the basic track, and then I would 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.520 put a lead vocal on and Chris and Rock would 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.559 put harmonies on afterwards. That's as I remember it. Um 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.840 and occasionally then because we had these extra tracks. Again 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.000 using time of the season as an example, there are 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.800 two keyboards on, especially on the playout at the end, 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.679 that's there's two keyboards playing. They're both it's both Rod, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.120 but he's just playing two organ solos at the end, 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.720 And there are probably one or two other instances of that. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.720 And also we double tracked some of the harmonies which 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.600 we weren't able to do before. So it wasn't incredibly 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.600 complicated the things that we added. It's just that we 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:25.520 were able to sometimes overdub a keyboard and overdub harmonies 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.520 as well. But it really did help. And then once 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.280 or twice we would put an effect on like the 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.319 time of the season, handclap and breath. You just sopped 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:37.920 a mystery that I've been grappling with for years. I've 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.559 tried to play the outro solo. Never realized thing it 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.520 was for two keyboards, and I could never figure out 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.880 why I could never get it. Thank you for that. 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:49.440 But also another thing with our harmonies, which I think 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.360 it's probably puzzled people a little bit. We didn't do 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.960 harmonism in a way that most people did, where being 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.200 the lead singer, I would just sing the melody and 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:02.439 then we would have somebody sing a harmony above and 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:04.600 somebody singing a harmony blow. We didn't do things like 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:09.280 that because I was a fairly indisciplined vocalist. I had 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:15.680 no um classical background or at all, and Rod would 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.079 always say to me, you sing what you hear. This 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.080 would usually be in a chorus I'm thinking about more 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.920 than anything else. He would sing, say, you sing what 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.160 you hear as the melody, and because I've got quite 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.640 a high voice, I would often automatically go into the 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:34.160 top harmony. So having established that's what I heard, we 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.480 would we would play that four or five times with 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.560 me probably just rodding me on piano, and we played that, 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.320 did I've got that lot in my mind? And then 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:47.520 he would try and find a very easy harmony for Chris, 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.560 because Chris has got to play bass at the same 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.160 time as he's singing, So we try and find a 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:57.360 very easy harmony for Chris. And because of doing those 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.160 two things, Rod often would have an incredibly complex harmony 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.200 that he had to fill in all the holes that 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:08.480 we weren't achieving in in the harmony. So some of 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.760 our harmonies are really unusual. And if you just if 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.440 you tried to copy them, I think it would be well, 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.560 you'd be all right if you knew what I just said, 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.040 I've let the I've let the cat out of the back, haven't. 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.000 If you knew what I just said, it would be 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.040 a lot easier. But people try to copy them, and 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.680 of course they're thinking of somebody singing the top harmony, 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.120 somebody singing the bottom harmony, and somebody singing the melody. 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.920 But that's not sometimes that wasn't how we did it. 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.960 A few years back, you toured with with Brian Wilson 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.520 for the Something Great from sixty eight tour. What was 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.520 that like, the interplay between between you and m bri. 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:43.480 I mean, that must have been like a master class 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:48.040 on harmony that tour. It was incredible. I'm a huge 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.880 by a Wilson fan and and Beach Boys fan, you know, 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.520 and I always have been. I just think they're absolutely fantastic. 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.480 Is a master It was wonderful to two with him, 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.400 and of course he has an incredible band who we 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.800 got to know quite well. And one of the wonderful 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.520 moments was they would always have a warm up before 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.400 the show and they would usually they'd usually sing in 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:17.320 my room, just acapella. It was mind boggling beautiful. If ever, 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.320 if I had the chance, I would be there every 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.280 night if I could, and I'd just like to listen 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:26.840 to them sing. Absolutely fantastic and you really hear it 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.440 when it's just voices in a room, Um, you know 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.640 it's not it's got up on the stage with all 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.200 acoustic problems and whatever, You're right there in the middle 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.920 of it. Absolutely wonderful, great singers. And there's a version 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.240 that I've heard of you on stage with Brian singing 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.040 God only knows, and it brought tears to my eyes 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:49.000 and absolutely incredible parts. I'm always going to remember that 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.520 I only did it twice. I did it in Los 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.200 Angeles and I did it in Seattle, and I'll always 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:59.200 remember that. It was a wonderful experience. But it was 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:03.520 one of you know, it's one of the greatest contemporary 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.440 songs that's ever been written. So to have the opportunities 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.960 to sing that with the guy who wrote it, um, 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.800 it's a little intimidazing. It's a little intimidazing, but it was. 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.640 It was a great thrill. It was. It was wonderful. 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.600 I encourage everyone listening to to go go check that 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.919 out online and also check out the interview after the 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.600 Abbey Road live stream that that you and Rod did 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.560 with with the journalist David Frick and he he uh. 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.720 During that discussion, which was so illuminating and so interesting, 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.480 he mentioned, uh, you're singing parts as a full performance 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.640 and not sort of camping in. You know, a chorus here, 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.520 redoing a line or two there, and really wanting to 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.760 to sing complete takes start to finish. That's so interesting 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:50.160 to me. I wanted to ask you more about your 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:55.000 your process of completing vocal takes well, and particularly when 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.240 I'm working with Rod, which pretty much now is exclusively 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.760 what I'm doing. It really come from Rod. I mean, 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.119 I would prefer to do it that way anyway, but 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.000 Rod is adamant. You know, we do a whole performance 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:11.200 and we'll do four or five takes and then try 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.760 and try and pick a favorite one and then just 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.879 see if there's anything better that we you know, we're not. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.960 I would say to Rod, I'm not proud. You know, 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.680 we need to catch something. That's fine by me, and 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.879 I'm more recently I'm quite pleased that. Um. You know, 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:32.879 as I've developed vocal technique a little bit, the takes 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:37.600 will be very very similar, so almost identical. So if 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.880 he wants to double track anything, it's there. If we've 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.320 done four or five takes, that he can just take 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.560 another take and there's your there's your double track if 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.480 you want to double and if you want a trouble track, 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.080 you know it's there. If you want to do it. 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.760 But yeah, it's as simple as that. Really. We always 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:57.480 do whole performances, um, and and then we'll do four 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:14.119 or five and then stop and see where. Or on 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.359 the topic of your incredible voice, I think I'm correct 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.200 in saying that you still perform these songs in their 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:24.879 regional key, which and you sound just as rich and 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.679 flawless as fifty five years ago. I think I speak 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.960 for all singers and vocal coaches listening right now. When 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.199 I asked, how do you do that? What is your secret? 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.080 Do you have a special tea or what have you? 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.960 How do you protect your voice? Well? I do do 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.040 singing exercises. Both Rod and I started with a singing 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:45.600 coach called Ian Adam in London is sadly no longer 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.600 with us, but um, he used to coach a lot 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:50.439 of the singers in the West End, which would be 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:55.679 like Broadway in America. And he never wanted to change 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.560 your voice, but he was trying to make it stronger 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:01.480 and more accurate because singers in the West End have 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:06.240 to sing night after nights after night, and you know 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.360 you have to have a fairly strong voice to do that. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.040 And he just taught me a little bit about singing technique, 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.920 and he gave me a series of exercises, and when 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.640 we're on the road, I'll do those exercises before sound checks, 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.480 probably half an hour before sound check, and then I 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.959 do them again before the show. So I will have 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.920 sung in the sound check itself, maybe quite long. It 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:32.399 just depends. It's more dependent on technology than anything else. 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:36.760 If everything works, but I will have sung for an 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.760 hour before the show starts, but not but in two 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:42.760 half hour bursts, one before sound check from one before 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.440 the show. So hopefully my voice is warmed up. And 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:49.840 if I do it every day, it just makes it stronger. 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.000 I mean, I think people who don't practice are very 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.840 prime to losing their voice, and you often see that 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.840 where a band goes out on tour and then we 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.000 lead singer loses his voice after two or three nights, 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:05.600 and I just want to avoid that. And another thing 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:07.760 I often hear is singers will come off and they'll say, 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:10.639 you know, once my voice had warmed up after the 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:13.760 fourth office song and it's really great, and I don't 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.680 say anything, but I'm thinking, well, why didn't you warm 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.080 your before you went on? And then it would have 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:21.719 been great from the first song. I mean, I'm not 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:26.480 saying it always works, but it's it's worth a try. Yes, 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.800 that's so. That's that's all I do. Really, I try. 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:33.720 When we're on the road, I do try and eat 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.200 sensibly obviously, try and get as much sleep as possible. 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:39.160 I think you need to drink a lot of water. 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:43.840 Will always have water on stage. There's one occasion when 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:45.600 I thought I'd lost my voice in the middle of 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.960 the show. I honestly I thought it had gone completely, 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:52.159 and I drank some water. It just came back. Just 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.080 like that. Said, I would always say, have some water around. 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:57.680 I admire people who can do it, like a two 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.359 hour set with not drinking any water, but I'm not 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:04.520 quite sure how they do that. The other thing that 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.439 I've done is that I was always always like to 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.920