WEBVTT - Paul Anka 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:12.879 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to Bob Let's That's Podcasting. My 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:17.600 yesterday is being running over Haul anch Haul. Good dab 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.840 you on the podcast, Bob. It's great to be on 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.159 the podcast. I've been looking forward to this. Okay, you 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:28.360 have a new album Making Memories just came out. What 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.040 motivates you to make an album at this lead date? 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.120 Pretty much the same when I was a kid, when 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.840 I had to do three of them. Because I love writing. 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:39.400 I love what I'm doing. I never stopped. I don't 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.600 have a rear view mirror when I keep writing as 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:44.640 I've been doing, I want to get it out there. 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.720 Certainly times are not what they used to be, but 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.440 you know, with COVID, i'm locked up. The reality sets 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:54.960 in that what are you gonna do with yourself? So 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.040 now you're gifted with writing, and you say, I'm gonna 0:00:58.040 --> 0:00:59.440 sit down and write. It's what I love to do. 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:01.560 So you you're right. And then when you're done with 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:05.720 about thirty songs, you say, well, I like what I'm hearing, 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.480 Let's make some choices and let's just get it out there. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.640 So it's an ongoing process, Bob. For me, I never 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.760 stopped writing, and as age means nothing to me. You know, 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.360 they throw dirt on you if you stand still. I'm 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.839 just doing what I do. I'll have a tour going out. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.280 But the album was very important this year, and we're 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:26.119 producing a documentary. We're starting on that in a couple 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:30.480 of months. Okay, need Let's just say that the business 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.280 is completely different from when you started in its sixty 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.480 plus years ago, and in addition, in the last twenty years, 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:41.520 it's changed for everybody. So first you you write the songs. 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:46.440 Who paid to make the record? Well, I paid for 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.320 most of it because I really didn't have an outlet yet. 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.840 Then I have a deal with primary Wave, primary Wave 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:57.440 and my partners in publishing, copyrights, etcetera. And I said, 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.080 let me get him the first crack. So I called 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.400 Larry Mistell. Love Larry. He's doing a great job over 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.960 there with his team, and I said, here's what I got. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.720 You know, I had my buddy Hervey's off. We talked 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:10.720 about it, and we talked about where we'd want to 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.320 go with it, and I said, let's go to Larry. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.480 You know he's in that business. We went, They loved 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.160 what they heard, gave me some money back, not all 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.639 of it such as the record business, and that was that. 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:24.840 How much money did it cost to make the record? 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.600 Cost me about a hundred dollars Okay, so this is 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.560 an old school budget. This is not done on the cheap. 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.040 So you write the songs, how do you then go 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:40.040 about actually making the record, especially during COVID, Well, the 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.480 process with the new technology is, you know, kind of 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.760 the same, and that the technology dictates. You know, I'll 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:48.840 do most of it in my studio here at the house. 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.880 I'll ship some of the files over to guitar players 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.040 and drummers. The big question was what do we do 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.919 when we want strings and orchestra, et cetera. We find 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:04.880 out that in Budapest, Hungry, they have a symphonic orchestra 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.040 that meets five times a week and if you want 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.200 music done, you just plug it in and they'll give 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.400 you what you want from Budapest. So we shipped all 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.120 the arrangements over. We had great talk with the conductor. 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:22.480 They did everything from Hungary. Wow, that's really amazing. Were 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.600 you supervising everything or did you have a producer? No, listen, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.600 I have a team. I have a team of people. 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.680 I got good arrangers, good engineers. We were. It's a 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.480 team effort, you know, success as many fathers, Bob as 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.480 you know. And we sat down and looked at everything 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.600 and uh I said, okay, take it, you guys, give 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.520 m a call, see what you want, what we want where? 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:48.400 And the team just dictated everything. I produced it all 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:52.680 myself with them, with them. Okay. Now, the old days, 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.360 even in the somewhat recent days, to cut basics, everybody 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.440 would get together in a big studio. On this album, 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.880 did everybody ever just get together like that? No, we 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.400 didn't go near a big studio. We we couldn't with 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.520 COVID even when it was proposed. We didn't want to 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.120 take the chance. I thought that, well, why we don't 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.320 have to as long as we can go to Budapest. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.840 And if I need a guitar player over here, great 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.760 keyboards are all done here, great h J R R drummer. 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.640 He's at home and like myself, many people you know, 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:28.640 ship everything over to him and he does it. So 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:33.039 we don't all meet unless we have to. Okay, And 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:34.680 you have a studio in the house so you can 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.279 cut your parts. I have a studio in the house. 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.359 We have the technology here to put down a core, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.279 put down a base of everything. UM pretty simple. I 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.000 mean the last time I was in a studio with 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.760 a full orchestra was with UM when I was doing 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.280 rock Swings. You know, I wanted to be very authentic. 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.080 It was career threatening, so I wanted to get the 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.200 best of everything. We went to Capital, We used all 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.279 the best mikes we could get to get the sound, 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.159 best orchestra, and put all our money in being in 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:06.880 a studio. But that's the last time I've been in 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:12.919 a studio. Okay, are you yourself technologically savvy or you 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.120 were of a you know, you know there are people 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.840 who are whizzes on their iPhone whizzes in the studio, 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.800 and other people are more conceptual. How about yourself. I'm 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:26.080 not a multiple whiz expert. I'm a whiz and maybe 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.840 one or two things. I have an understanding of what 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:30.919 it is. I don't really want to do it, Bob. 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:32.840 I want to sit home. You know, I'm out a 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.240 keyboard all day and you know I'm you know, I 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.440 do everything I used to on a typewriter because I 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.880 was going to be a journalist. But more than that, 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.040 I'm not interested in doing you know, I pay people 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.800 that know what they're doing. They're on a day to 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.440 day and I have really no interest to do that whatsoever. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.719 I'm not even a prisoner in my phone. You know, 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.640 people text me, you may hear from me three or 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.080 four days later. I don't jump to it because if 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.120 it's an emergency, they find you. And other than that, no, 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:59.080 I don't want to be a prisoner to that stuff. 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.679 So now, now that the album is done and out, 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:08.599 what are your expectations? None? Uh, the way the business 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.919 is today, you know, Look, I plan on on on 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.159 house money at this age and everything I've been through 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.599 in this business. I don't sit there and chew my 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.000 nails off. I'm not chewing my nails. But in my 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.039 number one, number three, I have enough friends and young 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.360 artists that I talked to that they can't sleep at night. 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.040 Not interested what I'm interested in. It's all about the music. 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.120 You put it out there, whatever happens. You know, I've 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:36.400 got my core following. However they respond. It sets you 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.279 up for the tour and lets you know you're still running. 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.599 You've got a historical moment, whether it's with Olivia Newton 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.400 John because of this TikTok bou blay and uh, Bocelli. 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.560 That's enough for me. Now, whatever happens to what happens. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.520 But outside of this box of show business, I don't 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.320 live with expectations. I think it's a dangerous mindset to 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.800 be in. Have you always in that way, or you've 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.479 learned that over time? I've learned most of it over time. 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:06.359 In the beginning, when I left home with a hundred 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.760 bucks and you know, at fifteen and a few songs 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.360 in my pocket, you know, I had the dream, I 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.280 had the expectations. I bought into all of that stuff, live, breathe, 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.240 rock and roll. And then I realized that everybody that 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.960 I was dealing with, everyone around me, they weren't sophisticated. 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.440 You know, none of us, most people in our industry, 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.360 they're not sophisticated. They get lucky with something and then 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.520 they start crawling along this journey trying to deal with 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.840 the success and hoping that ultimately down the road to 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.320 get some wisdom has to deal with it. But that 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.640 ended for me maybe twenty years in or I just said, 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.520 no more expectations. I'm done with that, okay. Staying on 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:46.000 the album just for a few more minutes. The opening 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.680 track Fool for Love, Yes, if it didn't have your 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.920 name on it, it would fit right in on Serious's 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:57.000 yacht rock channel. It sounds very rock and it's very good. 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:58.760 Can you tell me the story on that record? On 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:02.720 that track, Yeah, I purposely on a couple of the tracks, 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.640 just you know, I wanted to sound different. Not that 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.080 it was tough, but I have a songwriter's voice and 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.040 then I've got, you know, in aclectic kind of way 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.840 I sing different things. I wanted to make it very 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.920 rock that Ariana. There's a few on there that I had, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.440 how already done all of that pop kind of sounding 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.720 stuff and the way that I wrote it, in the 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.040 way that I heard it, you know, I wanted to 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.680 surround it with that kind of rock attitude, which you 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:30.840 know I did, you know, years ago, and I've been 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.559 a fan of it, and I purposely just said I'm 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.200 not going to do the typical kind of anchor batted 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.040 approach to those and it all came easy. So we 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.000 laid it down, felt good and even the sound, you know, 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:44.839 the way that I was singing it, I felt that 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.520 that really fit was indigenous to the song. Okay, there's 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:52.000 also a track Power to the People, which seems somewhat political, 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.560 although it doesn't really take a side where you take 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.920 a steam politically or is that too dangerous? Why did 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:04.640 you cut that track? Good question? I um, I've always 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.120 shunned from getting myself up there politically because you're gonna 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:13.200 lose half or more. Um, I'm just and further one 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.880 I would ever step down. So the politics and what 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:21.640 I've seen in politics very dangerous game. But I wanted 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:23.920 to write about it. There's three tracks on there where 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:28.000 I was very you know, moved and emotional about the 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.600 fact that where we are right now in the world, 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.560 where we are in this country, I wanted to make 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.360 my statement, thus, crazy world, if everyone could sing one 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.839 song and power to the people. Now, if you go 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:46.280 back maybe two years and one of your columns, you've 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.640 obviously done so much great stuff that we all love. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.840 For the most part, you had a you had a 0:09:55.520 --> 0:10:00.760 a column about, uh, the state of the country. There 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.280 are words that you used, et cetera. Well, if you 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.280 listen to that again, there's about four instances in there 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:14.960 where I lifted, I was moved, where I used and 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:17.520 if you listen to it, you're gonna you'll go and 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:23.920 find the piece you said people know the power no no, uh, 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:28.520 voice of voices, voices just a voice unless it's heard. 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.079 There's about four times and then you that you moved 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.360 me and I used it in the song. Now don't 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.320 get irving to come after me for royalties. You know, 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.319 your open game for all of us. But I used 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.040 I used a lot of your stuff. That's great, it's 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:47.679 great to be the inspiration. Let's talk about the writing process. 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.440 You say you're a writer. How do you do it? 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.760 Do you sit down at the piano at ten am? 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:57.160 Or you wait to get inspired? How does it come together? Well, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.680 all of us are right, um, were the same, but 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.880 we're different. I think for me, the way I wrote 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.320 in the fifties were it all started. I wrote all 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:09.440 the time, had a hundred bucks a month, and I 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:12.120 sat in a room that the record company locked me 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.280 away and I had to give him, you know, three 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.680 albums a year or more. And that process was just 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.200 right right right live rock and roll through the years. 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:26.160 What's happened is depending on how I'm motivated to what. Uh. 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:28.800 You take something like The Longest Day, which I wrote 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.000 for the film The Longest Day, You know that was 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.559 a lot way out of my Bailey Wick in terms 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:37.360 of the film historical day in our country. You know, 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.400 I'm with Darryl Zank and I'm at lunch with this guy, 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:42.600 and I'm saying, God, you know, thank you for having 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.160 me this film. I'm twenty, etcetera. I'm saying, who who, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.000 who does? Who's doing the music? He says, no music, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:53.080 no love story. It's a documentary type film. Okay, I 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.560 go home. I got the melody in my head. I 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.800 got it half finished on the way home on the airplane. 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.800 I went in the studio after maybe about two weeks 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:03.520 refining it and doing what I want to make a demo. 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.160 I send it to him, gets back to me in 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.760 two weeks, as there will be music. Now I'm off 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:13.080 I'm off point, but it just shows you when that's 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:15.959 totally on point, you're inspired and you're literally writing it 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.520 right away while you're inspired. Right So the point is 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:22.440 when I get inspired like that, you sit down. I 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.000 like to do it at night because there's no distractions. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.640 I like to sit down when I really feel I'm 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.680 in a good kind of frame of mind. I don't 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.479 like to force anything because as you evolve as a craftsman, 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.240 which many of us are, uh, you know, good becomes 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.800 the enemy of great, especially today where everybody does it. 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.240 Everybody writes, everybody sings, everybody everybody. But to get it 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:49.640 to where you want it to be, I need to 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.520 be totally alone. I need to be totally in a 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:56.040 great frame of mind without any baggage. And you're right 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.040 away and you just hope, you hope you get it 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.560 to the place where you want it, where you like it. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.000 You know, if it's something like She's a Lady. You know, 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:06.000 I knew I had to write for Jones because we 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.319 were buddies. I flew to England did his TV show 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.760 and he said, to write me, you write me a 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.120 song because I've never been number one in the United States, 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:17.200 which he wasn't. And uh, I said, yeah, sure. So 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.080 I jumped on t w A flying home and you 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.520 know we're on planes. Is not paper around when it 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.600 moves you, you know you need paper, You need something 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:27.560 on the back of a menu. I wrote, She's a Lady. 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.840 Put the words down first, which is not part of 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.080 the regular process. You usually like to get the structure 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.559 and the note, and the word is as good as 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.559 the note under it. So with with She's a Lady 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.040 and knocked that off in just maybe a couple of 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.120 days because I was inspired by this guy. You know, 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.880 it's all about sexuality. I really put myself in his place. 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.720 It was no different than Buddy Holly. He was my friend, 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:55.880 we were we were bus mates. We're going to start 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.439 a music company together. And he said, Paul, you know 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.079 I'm getting fleeced by my man. You're I want to 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.320 change my style. He said, you know, write me something. 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.199 I want strings. I want to do what you're doing. 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.439 And I wrote, it doesn't matter anymore on a ukulele, 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.720 And the process was always the same inspiration. Now, when 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.080 you're writing for yourself like this album, you know, love 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.280 is the strongest emotion and it's what I've always dealt in. 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.400 That's a different thing because I'm kind of I know 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.880 the parameters. I know pretty much what I want to do, 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:28.880 how I should be doing it, and I just sit 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.840 and write and write. I continue to write even when 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.480 I get down to doing the vocal, because once that 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.200 comes together, if there's a line or a rhyme or 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:42.680 an attitude line, I'll rewrite it and I'll keep rewriting 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.480 until I get what I want. So it's just eclectic 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.400 it's all over. As to the approach, now, you say 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.760 you're writing all the time, Yeah, let's just talk in 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.000 the last seven days. If you're written in the last 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.840 seven days, I started, uh one song in the last 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.320 seven days. And then I've been working with a young 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:05.840 rapper type pop singer who's sixteen working with him. So 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.680 I put a lot of energy into that. And uh. 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:10.600 Other than that, I'm on the phone from six in 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.400 the morning with radio all over the country, you know, 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.080 promoting the record company want me to talk to these guys, 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.440 which is great, and that eats up my time. So 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.440 I'm dedicated to that, and I'm dedicated to sitting here 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.680 through boxes and boxes of photos and film they'll go 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.480 back sixty years, trying to get ready for what's going 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.760 to go into this documentary. Okay, let's talk a little 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.600 deeper on the writing process recovered when you're rawly inspired 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:40.960 with Buddy Holly and Tom Jones, etcetera. But are there 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.360 other days where you'll literally just say I want to write. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.680 I'm sitting down in front of the piano. I got nothing. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:52.360 Oh yeah, oh yeah. Uh more So let's say on 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.320 the second half of my writing life, Um, where I'm 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.400 much more of a critic to myself. And there's other 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.560 things around ound you in your life, you know, which 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.000 will go nameless for the moment. Yes, you're absolutely effect 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:06.800 and I don't force it. I just don't force right. 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.200 There's times I've sat there for an hour and I said, 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:14.120 it's just not happening. It's just not happening, yes the answers, Yes, well, 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.200 tell me about what it is happening. Well, when it 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:21.680 is happening, there's a certain feeling that you get. You're 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.280 just you know, you're walking around the house, you're driving, 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:28.640 you're out, you're doing you can get this sense because 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.000 you're coming up with lines and you're writing them down 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.760 and you're recording them into your phone. You've got this 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.640 vibe happening where it's that that once in a what 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:41.240 where you go, wow, I gotta get the pianos. It's happening, 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.920 and you sit down and it flows and flows and 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:48.640 you just keep writing, keep writing, keep melody, lines going, 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:52.280 getting your structure, and it's just one of those moments 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.120 that you know you're given a gift. I feel, and 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.360 I think that for for a lot of guys. You know, 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.560 Bert backrock, He said, dear buddy of mine. I octobert. 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.640 You know many times a week he's still writing. You know, 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.359 we talk about when he's moved as I am, and 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.439 when he's not well right now last week he wasn't. 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.359 So we we understand the process of when we get 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:17.440 excited about something that we internally here or a lyric 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.000 that's turning us on, that it's time to sit down 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.879 and nail it. But don't force it. It just can't 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.280 force it. You know, we're not building a house that 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.920 has to be done by October. Let's say you're really hot. 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.080 You say, man, I'm in the mood. Yeah. Do you 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.879 find that you almost have to disconnect because otherwise you're 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:39.639 self conscious and you go off the rails? Say that again, Well, 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.720 I guess what I'm saying. I'm talking about writing. Sometimes 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:45.800 I'll write something and I go I'll realize, I go, whoa, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.040 this is really good. And if I realize it's really good, 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.240 it's hard to stay that good. Whereas other times, if 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.920 I just stay in the zone, don't worry about reaction 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.919 and just let it flow, it's easier to stay on 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:03.840 point with the great stuff. Wow, how do I answer that? 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:09.040 That's um? No, If if I'm really on it and 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.880 and you know, throwing the dice with it because it's 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:13.760 so good and reaching out and trying to do it. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.640 I just stay there. I get disciplined when I get 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:19.439 the sense that I've kind of done well, you know, 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.439 the ready process. When I went to school, I was 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.280 typing seventy words a minute. I was going to be 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.200 a journalist, as a cup cup reporter. You know, you're 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:27.679 sitting there for a minute. You don't know how to 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.600 start the piece. You don't know what that first line is, 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.760 you know, and you get hung up. It's a very 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.440 lonely existence when you're all by yourself there and you're 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.200 looking at it and waiting for it. But when it's 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.240 flowing you you just jump right on. You keep going 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.679 with it. I'm not afraid of it in either area, 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:48.080 not at all. Okay, So, how do you, with so 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:57.399 much experience and so much success, separate good from great? Yeah? Tough, 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:03.560 it's tough. You you're really hard yourself. Um for the 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.880 most part, when you're really done with it, Uh, you 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:15.720 can separate it. Uh. Functional has some appeal? Is it great? 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.560 You know none of us have that magic wand and 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.960 the music business. We don't know. Nobody sits there, says 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.040 this is number one, this is this, this is this. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.720 But you know, within the scope of what you're capable of, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.199 that you've written something that's just not okay, you know, 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.120 because I I hate just being good, because I think 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:39.119 that you've got to really go beyond that, way beyond this. 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:42.040 Too much of that around today in music that's just 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:43.800 too much. Let alone the fact you don't know where 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.440 you're gonna go with it. It's it's just a very 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:55.720 tough landscape to deal on. Okay, let's talk a little deeper. 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:59.440 You start on the piano, Yeah, to what degree? Will 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.320 that be locked? And we'll be locked before you do 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:06.000 the lyrics or will the will the music sometimes change 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.520 as you're writing the lyrics or when the lyrics even finished. 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:14.159 All of that. I think first, once I get the 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:18.080 title or the concept of the song, which will set 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:24.040 in motion the melody base. Uh, it all morphs out 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.639 of that. You know. If I'm if I'm adding on 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:29.320 a structure five more words, I've got to change the 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.040 melody under it. So it's all back and forth between 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.479 the two. Unless I really have a melody that I know, 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:39.920 it's a lock it's like my way. That was a lock. 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.560 There was no way I could change that melody, not 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.080 not a bit, but the way the lyric came out 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.679 of me at you know, one in the morning. You know, 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.600 I sat with that melody for a long time. And 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.240 it was only because I'm in Florida, I'm at the 0:20:56.280 --> 0:21:00.440 fountain Blue. Frank Sinatra was my guy, my enter. I 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.520 hung with him, Sammy, don't forget Dean Martin, great singer, 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.840 great guy. And these were my guys. And all through 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.880 the years I hung with them. From Vegas Sinatra and say, 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:11.440 when you're gonna write me a song, When you're gonna 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:13.959 write me a song? Kid, well as intimidated. I mean, 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.320 I couldn't give a popularve or lonely boy would have 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.920 thrown a chair at me. It was in Florida when 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.680 he said I'm retiring from Chopez, I'm quitting. I'm gonna 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.280 do one more album, one more album, and I'm out 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.440 of here. I'm gonna do it with Don Costa. Well, 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:31.960 Don Costa was my producer. I introduced him to Frank 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:34.840 in the sixties and they did a great album called 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:40.960 Sinatra and Strings. And after dinner, I sat there and 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:43.520 I just said, you're you're really quitting. I'm done, he said, 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:46.280 you know, the FBI is all over me, the rat 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.000 packs over, but I gotta do one more album for 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:52.200 the company. I go back to New York and I'm 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.399 sitting there at my typewriter. It's one of the morning, 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:59.159