Review: Frampton Comes Alive!35 Interview:Bassist Stanley Sheldon

By Ray Shasho



REVIEW: Prodigious Classic Rock artist Peter Frampton and his top-notch band performed the entire Frampton Comes Alive! masterpiece on Saturday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. The event celebrated an amazing 35th anniversary of his multi-platinum double album that still remains as one of the best-selling live albums of all-time.

The three hour performance was interrupted only once by a twenty minute intermission. And if you ventured out of the Hall during the show you had to wait until after the song was over to return to your seat. The rule was set in place because the show was recorded and a live CD of the concert was made available to purchase after the show had ended.

I was a junior in high school when Frampton Comes Alive! was first released and just about every house party during that time melded the album into its ambience. Saturday night’s Ruth Eckerd Frampton Comes Alive alumni were at yet another house party to relive the good times when the album was first spun.

The first set of the evening included most of Frampton’s big hits and the packed Ruth Eckerd house was unyielding. Throughout the show there were outcries of enthusiasm perhaps to eclipse the audiences from the original concert recordings of 1975. Even during Frampton’s solo acoustic segments as in “All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)” there were bursts of exuberance initiated from every direction of the Hall.
Peter Frampton is 61 now and although he makes fun of losing his symbolic rock star head of locks, Saturday’s show proves that his performances stand the test of time. I’ve witnessed Peter Frampton concerts since 1974 and he’s never disappointed devout fans or concert goers who are there simply as advocates for rock and roll.

The most memorable moments of the first set were an electrified shootout between Sheriff Peter Frampton and Guitar Slinger Adam Lester during “I’ll Give You Money” that blew its audience away.

Frampton’s trademark anthem “Do You Feel Like We Do” followed and generated an ovation of epic proportions. In all the year’s I’ve watched Frampton’s concerts it always appeared like he wore a painted smile on his face. I never witnessed Frampton not smiling. But during a thunderous ovation from an appreciative and galvanized Ruth Eckerd audience, that painted smile metamorphosed into sheer elation.

The eclectic second set enhanced the range of talents in the band. Many of the songs featured muti-instrumentalist Bob Arthur who captured his own fans on Saturday night. Then of course Adam Lester’s mastery on guitar, remarkable bass licks generated by veteran rocker Stanley Sheldon, and the impressive drumming of Dan Wojciechowski completed Frampton’s proficient line-up.

The second set was tight and performed brilliantly with every song accompanied by an awesome screen and light show. An unexpected surprise was a Humble Pie classic called “Four Day Creep.” The tune performed with footage of Frampton’s old bandmates projected on a screen behind him. Vocal efforts although noble could never mirror Humble Pie’s legendary frontman Steve Marriott.

The evening wound down with Frampton’s rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Whole Sun” followed by a huge ovation and encore of friend George Harrison’s tune “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Undoubtedly Peter Frampton will be back, especially after receiving a response like the one he received at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Saturday night.

“The Clearwater crowd was the best I’ve seen on this tour,” says bassist Stanley Sheldon. I chatted with Stanley after the show and interviewed him prior to the Ruth Eckerd engagement.

INTERVIEW:
Prior to the concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall I had the pleasure of chatting with Stanley Sheldon the original bassist of Frampton Comes Alive! since its fruition in1976. Sheldon also played on the album’s “I’m In You,”  “Where I Should Be” and contributed his extraordinary talents as co-writer and bassist on the Grammy award winning instrumental album Fingerprints.

Sheldon is an early advocate for the fretless bass.

The Kansas native spent most of the 90’s devoted to Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas and traveled extensively throughout Latin America with studies focused on slave society of the nineteenth century and how its influence on past music continues to affect the transformation and hybridization of world music today. Sheldon often played Salsa and Son music with various players to huge dance crowds during his journeys.

Sheldon shared an amazing relationship with close friend and guitar virtuoso Tommy Bolin. Bolin played guitar on Billy Cobham’s renowned Spectrum album before joining legendary Classic Rock Bands -The James Gang and Deep Purple. Tommy Bolin died of a drug overdose in Miami, Florida in 1976.
Before his untimely death Sheldon played on Tommy Bolin’s critically acclaimed debut album Teaser. Sheldon also appears on varied Bolin archival appearances.

Stanley Sheldon has also recorded with Lou Gramm (Foreigner’s original vocalist) and has toured as bassist with Warren Zevon and the Delbert McClinton band.

Here’s my Chat with Bassist/Songwriter/Musician/Scholar /Stanley Sheldon.

Stanley, thank you very much for joining me this afternoon. My mother was born and raised in Cuba so naturally I’m fascinated about your studies of Latin American culture.

“That’s very interesting because it was the Cuban song the music from Cuba that really enticed me because that’s what later on became Salsa. I was playing at the University of Kansas with some Venezuelans who I’d met there while I worked on my undergrad degree that same decade and I was doing environmental studies for that degree and when it was time to select a Masters program I had been playing Salsa with these Latinos and I just fell in love with the Cuban rhythms especially Cuba and Puerto Rico. So it was that great love of the rhythms that brought me to Latin American studies.”

I grew up in an eclectic household and half of my parents listened to Celia Cruz.

“Celia is one of my idols too and also like Hector Lavoeand all of the great ones Willie Colon and Reuben Blades all the Salsa stuff the Venezuelans that I was playing with they really gave me a crash course on Salsa 101 man I learned from experts of who to listen to it was great.”

Do you have Latino blood?

“You know I do not but my Uncle my dad’s brother went down to Cuba right before the revolution because he had a heart condition and my dad traveled there and they were only in their early 20’s my dad was even younger and my uncle Frank married a Cuban and brought her home right after the revolution so I’ve always felt kind of close to Cuba.”

Did you learn the language?

“My Spanish is getting pretty good I was teaching classes to Spanish speakers for the EPA and now I have my lady interest who is a Mexican National so I’ve been there four times this year to Mexico. I’m in love with a Mexican. So my language skills are pretty good. And she’s very beautiful.”

You know it’s funny we find out much later in her career that Linda Ronstadt had Mexican roots.

“Man she really sang that Mariachi stuff so beautifully. Well you know I kind of knew about her roots because I had done some tours with her when I was in a band called Ronin and playing with Warren Zevon you know she was connected with. So I kind of knew about her Hispanic heritage but not very many other people did.”

After the show on Saturday in Clearwater, a live CD set recording of the show will be available to purchase?

“That is correct it’s a three CD set and it takes three CD’s to fit the entire three and half hour show. What happens is during the show as they’re recording it the first CD get’s finished and they start packaging it and it looks just like the CD you buy at the store wrapped and everything. But the third CD the fans will   line up and wait ten minutes only after the show and they can purchase the whole three CD set.”

That’s really cool; it’s like being part of rock and roll history.

“Yea and a lot of fans are really appreciative you know because it’s another Frampton Comes Alive! And the quality of the recordings is getting better and better throughout the tour and the most recent ones just sound spectacular. I think Peter’s among the first to be doing this. We have a staff out on the road with us from Abbey Road that’s recording each night and then packaging it up for us.”

You joined Peter Frampton at the onset of Frampton Comes Alive! I guess that would be in 1975?

“I joined in 1975 right before the live album was recorded and I was kind of the last piece of the puzzle. He was looking for a bass player and my timing could not have been better.”

You played with the great Tommy Bolin prior to joining Frampton?

“It was the fact that I was playing with Tommy that got me to LA and where I needed to be positioned to capitalize on the Frampton thing. If I had never known Tommy I wouldn’t have been there. He was such a great player and my best friend and he went on to play with Deep Purple about the same time that I got the gig with Frampton. And we were out there together looking for a singer for our own band and we were struggling and times got tough so we both had to take gigs and we could’ve picked worst gigs I guess." (Laughing)

Yea, I saw Tommy play with both The James Gang and Deep Purple. He was just such a great guitarist.

“You know he was in Florida the night he died.”

I believe at the Newport Hotel in Miami.

“Jeff Beck who I just recently met told me the story. About two or three month ago I went to see Jeff because the great Narada Michael Walden is playing drums with Jeff Beck now and he was also Tommy’s drummer so there was a connection there. Jeff was a huge fan of Tommy and the Tommy Bolin band was opening for Jeff Beck when they were playing in Miami that night. So Jeff Beck is standing there and this was just back in May I went to see him play and he was telling me the story of how he and Jan Hammer walked in and found out that Tommy was dead. Just imagine that I’m standing there and talking with Jeff Beck and he’s telling me how he found my best friend dead in a hotel room.”

Everyone I’ve ever talked too about Tommy Bolin always said he was just such a nice, sweet man.

“You couldn’t meet a nicer and friendlier guy he’d make anybody smile and laugh. So if it hadn’t been for him I would have never met Peter. We were in LA together and Tommy’s earlier bass player Kenny Passarelli who I came in and replaced because Kenny had started playing with Joe Walsh. We all lived in Boulder Colorado right before all of this happened. So all these musicians are living in Boulder. Joe Walsh had moved there and had put his band together Barnstorm and Kenny Passarelli was the bass player in that band and Peter was a fan of Joe’s and Kenny’s playing and Kenny played a fretless bass like I did. Peter wanted someone that could play fretless bass so when he found out Kenny couldn’t do the job because he was too busy and I think Elton John was about to hire him but he said you should try this guy Stanley.  So I was in LA with Tommy at that time and I got Peter’s number and called him up.”

And the rest is history as they say. Did you have any idea after completing Frampton Comes Alive! that it may turn out to be a commercially successful giant?
Laughing! 

“Come on how could anybody know that. I tell the story that my advice to Peter was not to do a live album that he should get in the studio and make a highly polished studio record. And that’s the joke and my advice to Peter.”

Well I’m glad that he didn’t take your advice on that one.

“Yea me too.”

You played on the critically acclaimed Teaser Album with Tommy Bolin.

“Yea I played on just about every track. Yea I love that record and that’s how I met Narada Michael Walden who is Jeff Beck’s drummer now and Narada went on to produce Whitney Houston and kind of sculpted her career and he stepped back from playing drums after Mahavishnu to start producing and so a lot of people don’t really know about his playing ability and he’s just an unbelievable and unparalleled drummer. It’s incredible to see him with Jeff Beck now.”

Have you picked up any session work recently?

“No I have not been doing a lot I spent a decade working on my scholastic stuff you know and I took a lot of time off. I didn’t stop playing I was doing the Latin thing you know so I feel as a player I grew more then -then I would playing Coke commercials and jingles and stuff like that. But I don’t do a lot of sessions I never did but I wouldn’t mind at this late date getting a few more calls to do different types of music. I’m starting to get my feelers into the Nashville scene because Peter’s  base of operations is Nashville and two of the guys are from Nashville that are in the band. And I went on the road with Delbert McClinton two years ago and he’s in Nashville too. I’m starting to feel a kind of closeness with Nashville and yea there probably is some work there if I could get there and move there or something.”

I just got to ask you about working on the soundtrack of Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke.

“That’s going to be something to talk about till the day I die because everybody loved the movie so much. It was a lot of fun to do that. That’s when I was played with Waddy Wachtel Warren Zevon and those guys. We did most of the soundtrack I mean they used songs from other artist but all the background music was what we recorded for that movie. When they’re driving around in the van you hear the music in the background could be a reggae song or a rock song. I don’t think the songs we did really had names or anything we were just providing music for the background.”

So back to Frampton any plans for a new album once the tour is over?

“I think Peter is formulating what he wants to do and hopefully I can make some contributions on whatever they might be I’m planning on that we’ll see what happens. I hope to be touring with Peter for a long time.”

“Some other things The Tommy Bolin Foundation they’re always looking for someone who can step in and try and represent Tommy's skill as a player maybe as a tribute band we talked about putting something on the road to commemorate Tommy’s music. You know we do a thing in Sioux City Iowa every summer I mean I don’t always go every year but it’s like a tribute performance for Tommy and they get different players each year. But I know some people involved who would really like to see something go out on the road and play some major cities and put a really great band together so I’ve been talking with some people about that. So that could happen.”

“But other than that we’re going to continue on this 35th Anniversary tour even through 2012 and we’re going to come back and do more U.S. dates and we’re going to Europe in November and I imagine South America. I think in 2012 we’ll be playing but not quite as much as we did this year but certainly quite a bit.”

“Peter’s work ethic is really impressive and we’re all just in awe that he can get up there every night and play three-three and a half hour shows we’re all being inspired to follow suit. When he’s on stage man it’s a sight to behold.”

Stanley, thank you so much for taking time out from your busy tour schedule to speak with me. Good luck with the rest of the tour and I will be seeing you in Clearwater on Saturday night.

“Thanks Ray I look forward to meeting you at the show.”


Setlist
Something’s Happening
Doobie Wah
Line On My Face
Show Me The Way
It’s A Plain Shame
Wind Of Change
Penny For Your Thoughts
All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)
Baby I love Your Way
I Wanna Go To The Sun
I’ll Give You Money
Do You Feel Like We Do
Shine On (Humble Pie Song)
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Rolling Stones Cover)
Break:
Asleep At The Wheel
Restraint
Float
Boot It Up
Double Nickles
Vaudeville Nanna and the Banjolele
All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)
Four Day Creep (Humble Pie song)
Off The Hook
Black Whole Sun (Soundgarden Cover)
Encore:
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles Cover)

Stanley Sheldon official website http://www.stanleysheldon.com/
Peter Frampton official website http://www.frampton.com/
Tommy Bolin Archives http://www.tbolin.com/
Ruth Eckerd Hall official website http://www.rutheckerdhall.com/

Special thanks to Cami Opere for arranging this interview and some great tickets.
And as always the entire Ruth Eckerd Hall staff. Especially Katie Pedretty.
Bobby Rossi you the man!

Order Ray Shasho’s new book Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com, iuniverse.com, barnesandnoble.com or borders.com.

“I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray.  So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book!  It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are.”~~Pacific Book Review


Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

Ray Shasho with Frampton Bassist Stanley Sheldon

Stanley Sheldon on stage

Interview: Tommy James (Shondells) talks about 'Me, the Mob, and the Music'

 Tommy James signing a management agreement with Leonard Stogel far left. Roulette Records President Morris Levy looks on.

 By Ray Shasho

I had the unique privilege of speaking with legendary hitmaker Tommy James of The Shondells recently about his infamous and often intimidating association with Roulette Records and the “Godfather” of the music business Morris Levy.
After Tommy James and his family moved to Niles, Michigan he assembled what became a very popular local act called The Tornadoes. A local deejay asked the band to sign with his new label called Snap Records. One of the tunes recorded was a catchy rock and roll ditty written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich called “Hanky Panky.”

The song quickly became a local hit and then rapidly faded away into oblivion.

Two years later an improbable occurrence unfolded when “Hanky Panky” was discovered in a record bin by a nightclub deejay in Pittsburgh. He began playing the newly discovered 45 at weekend dances and the response was beyond overwhelming. A local record distributer bootlegged it and sold 80,000 copies in just ten days. By May of 1966 “Hanky Panky” became a number one hit in Pittsburgh. Later a promoter hunted down Tommy in Niles, Michigan and urged him to come to Pittsburgh where he was already a huge sensation.
A young and impressionable Tommy James would soon be trying to sell “Hanky Panky” to the largest record companies in New York. With an original copy from Snap Records and a bootleg copy in hand the executives from all the major labels positioned themselves to sign the rock and roll Boy Wonder. Strangely the next morning Tommy received a phone call informing him that all those record companies that were so eager to sign him had decided to pass. A disconcerted James then received a call from Jerry Wexler of Atlantic records who informed Tommy that he received a call from Morris Levy president of Roulette Records. The message was made crystal clear to Wexler and all the other record execs.

Levy said, “This is my F’ing record! Leave it alone.”
(Hanky Panky became number one on the charts in America and the biggest summer hit of 1966.)

Thus began the infamous relationship between Tommy James, Roulette Records and music mogul/gangster Morris Levy. After every crime family member connected to Roulette Records had passed away, Tommy James was compelled to profess his incredible story. So with help from author Martin Fitzpatrick, James confessed his story into a book called Me, the Mob, and the Music which became a Simon and Schuster best seller.
At 64, Tommy James may be entering an exciting second leg of his life. A movie is forthcoming by Goodfellas, Casino, The Color of Money and Cape Fear producer Barbara De Fina. Also a Broadway musical will be scripted by Oscar- nominated actor Chazz Palminteri along with brand new Tommy James compositions in addition to all of his greatest hits.

Tommy James has sold over 100 million records and was awarded 23 gold singles plus nine gold and platinum albums. Some of his legendary hits include “Hanky Panky,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Mony Mony,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Sweet Cherry Wine” and “Draggin’ The Line.”
During 1968-69 Tommy James and The Shondells sold more single records (45s) than any artist in the world, including The Beatles.

Here’s my interview with legendary singer/songwriter/performer/musician/'60s icon… and just a great guy Tommy James.

Tommy how are you doing?

“What’s going on?”

Right off the bat, I want to say that I loved the book, as an author myself; I noticed the story get’s right to the point, no filler and no fluff. I hate fluff in a story.

“So do I.”

Martin Fitzpatrick did a fantastic job with the story.

“Thank you very much I’ll tell him you said that. And you know it’s a story that I’ve been waiting to tell for a very long time and couldn’t. It was very therapeutic for me I’ve been carrying this around for a long time.”

What’s the status of your movie deal and Broadway musical?

“Well they’re both going to happen. The musical is going to come out about six months to a year before the movie that’s the schedule. Basically what we’re talking about is Chazz Palminteri by the way the great actor from you’ve seen A Bronx Tale; he was Sonny the Gangster in A Bronx tale and he was in Analyze This and so many great movies, a lot of mob movies actually, is going to write the actual Playbook -he and I will write the dialogue and the script together and he’s going to play Morris Levy. He’s perfect he even looks like Morris.
"One of the things I love about talking to Chazz Palminteri is he grew up in the Bronx right where Morris did. You know thirty years younger but he knew these guys. You know the movie A Bronx Tale the little kid (Cologero ‘C’ Anello) that’s him when he was little. He played ‘Sonny the Gangster’ but those were all real characters.
"Plus there are about nine new songs that are going to be in it in addition to the greatest hits. Well let’s put it this way we’ve written nine new songs if we get five or six that will be great. There’s going to be a lot of new music mixed in with the old music and so it’s going to be a true musical. We’re slated for about 18 to 24 months and that’s pretty ambitious but that is the plan so far.
"And then the film is going to be produced by Barbara De Fina who produced Goodfellas, Casino, Cape Fear, The Last Temptation of Christ and The Color of Money with Paul Newman. She’s going to be producing the film and we’re going to be selecting directors and doing all that fun stuff over the next month or two.”

Wow, what a resume.

“Oh just incredible her movies are all over you know you see them every week on TV somewhere.”

Who are they getting to play Tommy James in the musical?

“That’s a great question that’s above my pay scale. I’m going to get quite an education over the next two or three years that’s all I can say.”

How long of a contract did you sign with Morris Levy and Roulette Records?

“Well it was a standard form contract but the problem was it didn’t matter. The contract was fine. When we signed with Roulette 'Hanky Panky' exploded out of Pittsburgh. And we went to New York to sell the master and I still got hayseed in my mouth from the Midwest -- I’m eighteen years old and first trip to New York and 'Hanky Panky' was number one in Pittsburgh and you know the story.”

It’s amazing that someone had dug that single out of a record bin in Pittsburgh two years after you recorded it in Niles, Michigan. 

“It’s really a miracle! So when I went there and sort of grabbed the first bar band that I could find and called them the Shondells because I couldn’t put the original band back together. So we all head to New York and we get a 'yes' from everybody. From Columbia, Epic, RCA, Atlantic, remember Kama Sutra Records and so the last place we took the record to was Roulette. And I go to bed that night feeling great because everybody wanted the record and we were probably going to go with Columbia or RCA. So all of a sudden the next day I start getting calls about 9AM from all the record companies saying listen we got to pass. And I said what do mean we got to pass I thought we had a deal. Finally Jerry Wexler out of Atlantic leveled with us and said Morris Levy called all the record companies and said, 'This is my F’ing record, back off!' He scared everybody and they backed off and that’s quite literally how we ended up on Roulette. And once we got up there it was pretty obvious what they were. We started recognizing people from TV very notorious gangsters you know.”

The real Soprano characters use to hang out at Roulette Records right?

“Absolutely, well Morris was Moishe. Moishe was Hesh. Of course Morris was a lot scarier than Hesh. But the point is the head of the Genovese family was his business partner up there Tommy Eboli and oh man we’d meet somebody in Morris’s office and a week later we’d see him on TV doing the perp walk in handcuffs with police out of some warehouse in New Jersey … 'Hey isn’t that the guy we just met at Morris’s?' And so what it all boiled down to was that Roulette was used from everything from a social club to illegal bank accounts to drug deals and strange boxes showing up and disappearing.”

Besides Roulette Records, do think there were other shady dealings going on in the music business back in the '60s?

“Oh no, let’s put it this way Roulette Records was ground zero for all that crap. And no doubt about it Roulette was a front for the Genovese crime family. And you know the top mobsters from the Genovese family were all partners up there -- I don’t know if I want to say partners they all just showed up. And Morris although he was Jewish was definitely a mobster he may not have been a made guy but he was everything else. And you know they’d use Morris’s office for sit downs and it was a very notorious bunch of people up there.”

In the book you talk a lot about working the phones at Roulette to help promote your records.

“Definitely with Red Schwartz. Red Schwartz taught me the radio business -- when I say work the phone’s he was the head of national promotions and Red taught me the industry and we literally worked every station in the world. He’d call the station and get the PD (Program Director) on the phone and talk crap to them and then say, 'Hey guess who just walked in the office?' So I’d sit down and talk with them and meet them on the phone and there’s no doubt about it that personal touch was why we got so much success and Morris cracking the whip.

We ended up with 23 gold singles at Roulette and nine gold and platinum albums and about 110 million records sold. And the main thing I want to say is if we had gone with one of the corporate labels Columbia or RCA or even one of the subsidiaries like Epic or something I could tell you right now we would have been lost in the numbers especially with a record like “Hanky Panky” starting out it would have been handed to some in-house A&R guy and we would have been a one-hit wonder.

At Roulette they actually needed us and left us alone and allowed us to be in charge of our own career. And allowed us to mores into whatever we wanted to become. And thankfully we had the public’s attention long enough where we could do that. We were involved anywhere from radio promotion to album design and then producing the record and writing the songs we were allowed to do it all. That would have never happened at any other label. I got an education that would have never happened anywhere else but getting paid was just not going to happen we were just not going to get mechanical royalties.”

So the only way you really made any money was from on the road?

“We made money on the road, we made money from BMI, we made money from commercials there’s a lot of revenue sources other than the mechanical royalties but the royalties were huge we ended up getting cheated out of between 20-30 million dollars.”

Even though they cheated you out of millions there were positive impacts as a result of signing with Roulette Records and dealing with those guys although scary as they were also exhibited a sort of charisma.

“Plus the fact that nobody is ever going to mess with you and secondly from a creative standpoint we couldn’t have made a better decision because we were king of the castle and we were given keys to the candy store and anything we wanted we got except our royalties. And I guess what I’m saying is I had a constant decision whether to take my life in my hands and try to leave and get out of that or go along with it and just play ball. And I think we made the right decision because in the end I get to tell the story and this story is probably going to be the biggest project that I’m ever going to be involved in. So there is universal justice.”

In the book you actually kept Frank Sinatra waiting downstairs in a hotel lobby and you never showed up to meet with him. That could have been worse than working for Morris Levy.

“Yes, that’s a true story. I just can’t believe some of the things that got overlooked and some of the things like not going to Woodstock and oh God the mistakes you make because you don’t think it. You don’t think of your life as being a story when you’re living it it’s just happening so fast.”

You know I couldn’t write a fictional story as good as your nonfictional life events.

“I know you can’t make this crap up. But you know whenever I go to say something really nasty about Morris Levy and Roulette I got to stop myself because the truth is if it hadn’t of been for Morris Levy there wouldn’t have been a Tommy James. And that’s the truth.”

Ironically Chapter 10 in my book is titled The Newport – Miami Beach. And you also talk about the Newport Hotel in your book.

“Well you know my second wife had a relative his name was Red Pollack had an uncle who ran the Newport and he was very mobbed-up. I mean the Newport was a Mob front. And the Miami Mafia basically developed Morris Levy and sent him back to New York. But I always loved going down there.

You know Morris could really shake the universe if he really wanted to. He could get up and get things done they didn’t call him the Godfather of Rock and Roll for nothing. The two songs in the show where I’ve got Morris talking not singing and one of them is at the signing and it’s called 'A Hell Of A Ride' that’s the name of the song and it’s almost like a rap thing but he’s talking over drums. We can’t actually get a hip hop beat but it’s over drums and 'He’s talkin’ like dis you know' (gangster voice) and the other one is up on his farm and this is later on like in Act II. We’d get loaded up on his farm and I actually asked him why he hung out with these people? And he looked at me like what the hell you asking me a question like that for. And he said (in Tommy’s gangster voice), 'These are the people I came off the streets with this is who I am' and I thought what a great moment for a song so I wrote a song called 'That’s Who I Am' and that’s the second song Morris is going to do. He had a reach like you can’t believe I mean if you wanted to get something done you called Morris and it would get done.”

Morris Levy fled the country during the mob wars and you were basically a sitting duck.

“My lawyer Harold Orenstein had me go down to Nashville. And you know I ended up doing an album down there with Elvis’s guys. The front cover of the book was taken right during that time and right after 'Draggin’ the Line' was released in 1971 when the gang wars was going on and I snuck back to New York and they had a party for me up at the Persian room at the Plaza Hotel where I got something like eighteen gold records and that was that night. And then I had to go back to Nashville and snuck into town and that’s when that picture was taken.”

Did you ever collaborate with Elvis while you were down there?

“I would have loved to. While I was down there he was going to come over from Memphis and take us all to dinner and he got stoned and couldn’t make it over. And he invited us to Graceland and I never went I just put it off and I was doing other things and pretty soon he was gone.”

It didn’t seem like Elvis collaborated with many other musicians outside his circle.

“He was very paranoid of his own little circle and nobody really got into that. And it’s too bad because I’m sure that if he had a few more friends and there’d be a Betty Ford Center he might have been alive today because he really did himself in. I loved Elvis too. Elvis was the reason that I started playing.”

So many people feared your boss Morris Levy.

“It wasn’t that they were just afraid of him he actually knew people I mean Cardinal Spellman would come by isn’t that incredible? Then Morris got arrested in the late '80s and he died of cancer before he could serve a day.”

Didn’t Morris Levy go after John Lennon?

“He threatened John Lennon. May Pang told me that she and John were up at Morris’s farm and she told me that Morris flat out threatened the both of them. Morris didn’t have respect for anybody. How it started 'Come Together' sounded too much like a song Chuck Berry wrote. So Morris sued him and won. And so the settlement was Morris had John do a bunch of songs and he was going to put them out. Morris jumped the gun and put out the demos and Capitol came down and said you can’t do that and sued him. Morris lost that case but Morris never loses so he threatened the two of them and it got very serious. And that’s when Lennon died a lot of people suspected Morris. But I don’t believe that happened that was pretty much a one man show.

Listen he was doing business with the guy up in LA that the kids killed the parents -- the Menendez and he was doing business with him and so people suspected him of that too before they found out that it was the kids.”

When was the last time that you saw Morris Levy?

“When he offered me a record label. I went up in the late '80s to Roulette and I don’t know what possessed me to go up there and see Morris. I went up and he was looking like an old man just fifty pounds heavier than I’d seen him and he was only in his 50s and he was 62 when he died so he was like 56 or 57. And I went up and he was still on Broadway but it was really kind of a crummy looking office and Art Kass was up there Art ran Buddah.

And so I played him a couple of demos that I was working on and he said, 'That’s a F’ing hit,' it was a song called 'Distant Thunder' that I had written and behind Morris was this needlepoint sign in a frame saying 'Oh Lord give me a Bastard with talent' and it’s been there since as long as I’ve known him. The FBI had put a camera and a microphone in the ‘O’ of Lord. And that’s the camera and the microphone they nailed him on. They had a bird's-eye view of everyone sitting in front of Morris.

So this whole experience of playing him 'Distant Thunder' and him reacting to it and by the way he offered me a label not just a record company I told him I wanted a label but he wouldn’t allow me to collect my own money. So I would have been right back to where I was before and thank God not being able to do it. So anyway that was the last time that I saw him and that was the camera that got him arrested along with Vastola who went to jail and Morris died. You know the thing that got Morris arrested finally caught and convicted was his relationship with MCA. MCA was very mobbed-up.”

You got your royalties back when Roulette Records was sold right?

“I got a lot of them. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we were going to lose a lot of money. And so when they sold the company it was kind of a birthday present. They sold to Rhino which is part of Warner Brothers. But originally it distributed actually Rhino by EMI for Sultan and then they went with Warner. And so the publishing company Big Seven Music is now with EMI and the masters are with Warner so you’ve got the two biggest companies in the world with the music.

Now we have started our own label and I have my own publishing company and we are putting out our own product you know we put out our own DVD we’ve got the greatest hits all over the world now and we  license to movies but we’re doing as well in many respects as we were doing in the '60s. I really can’t complain about how much we lost now.”

I know you’ve gone through the ups and downs at Roulette records and of course with Morris Levy, but it  seems to me that you got some really good breaks throughout your career too.

“I’ve certainly have had my share of ups and downs but the truth is I have had so many miracles in my life happen -- just the way I got into the business to the way I stayed in the business and you know I’ve been doing this for forty-six years now and actually if you tally it up from before that it’s close to fifty and I’m just very, very thankful to the good Lord and the fans for the kind of longevity that we’ve had its been really remarkable. I was very fortunate to make it when I did because you know every block had a cover band on it. Especially back in the early '60s when being a rock musician was a job opportunity.”

I really think there was a greater opportunity for garage bands to make it big back in those days too.

“I do too. There are so many young bands that are busting their ass and are trying to make it. Radio is really no more and getting new music in front of the public is the greatest challenge in the world right now. Just making it into the entertainment business you’re talking about a business by definition is -- a desperate industry by the people in it are just desperate to make it. There’s so much error and very few people who show you how to make a straight line in show business. And the thing that makes it even tougher is that there’s so many different ways to make a straight line and so many of them are a matter of being lucky. When I talk to young bands we do a lot of seminars in addition to with the new book I do a lot of talking to people and face to face about it. And there are a few ways a few things you can do right now that make sense. We’re in such a weird moment right now and especially in the music business.”

I guess our horrendous economy has taken its toll on the entertainment business as well. 

“It sure has but not only that but because of essentially the economy the radio industry has really folded. When I came up about two dozen Top 40 AM stations blanketed the United States with 50,000 watt stations. The average hit record was heard by 150-200 million people. Today there’s nothing. There’s really no way other than the internet of course and as fun as it is has never really taken the place of those kinds of numbers.”

You’re preaching to the choir, brother. When I was on the radio as a Top 40 deejay back in the late '70s and early '80s -- radio was still radio. But I agree wholeheartedly that the radio biz has lost its direction and basically has folded.

“I’m actually seeing some light at the end of the tunnel as far as what we call the record business if it can be called that anymore. I really believe once Hi-Def TV comes into its own that is a melding of computer technology and TV technology. I really think the whole music industry is going to move to television and I don’t mean like MTV. I think we’re going to have like the Sony Channel, the Warner Channel and of course they’re going to premiere new music but more than that I think we’re going to have networks of video radio stations and what I mean is you know the stations are already there. Remember what Don Imus did about twelve years ago when he put digital cameras in his radio booth and became the number one show on morning television.

There’s no reason you can’t do that with music radio. And my belief is that we’re going to see digital cameras put in the broadcast booth and you’re going to have networks of stations – somebody is going to have to program it it’s going to have to be sort of a total entertainment format like the old Top 40 was. Top 40 back in the '60s was a combination of new music, oldies you’d be on one radio station and get Frank Sinatra or Led Zeppelin. You’d have five different stations today you’d have Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, oh God Walter Brennan had a hit back in the early '60s I mean that’s how crazy it got and today that would be five different radio stations.

So my point is that if you had a sort of total entertainment format with let’s say thirty or forty stations flying a network and you call it 'Spins' or something I don’t know and you’d have a central location like New York and they’d be saying, 'Hey let’s go out to Seattle what are you guys doing out there and ... blah blah blah' and they’re playing six or eight songs and they’re showing around the town or maybe videos made by the groups or maybe around the radio station who the hell knows. But if you give these jocks face time they’ll love you and you can break new music and probably bring the charts back. You can probably make a chart based on downloading … I’m getting really fanatical here I’ve got to stop myself. But I’m very serious I really believe having a downloading capacity of the music you’re playing and creating charts based on the downloading.”

So you’re watching TV and a new song comes on that blows you away and so you download it using the remote, something kind of like Pay-Per-View?

“I mean they’ve already got your billing information. You can either do it right from your TV which will probably be available soon or you could go on their website. Now you can have advertisers but essentially this is a huge revenue stream. I use to talk with Pat Clarke when XM was up and running and I said, 'Why the hell don’t you have on your boomboxes a button to push for downloading you’ve got everybody’s billing information and you’ve got every song in the world digitized?' Well I never got a straight answer. But I mean somebody’s going to do that.”

Unfortunately, we don’t have innovators like Don Kirshner or Dick Clark around anymore to get the job done.

“What you got to do is you’ve got to have somebody that can hook up with like a Comcast somebody that can really make a network on television and it will be done I’m telling you. I have great confidence in greed.”

Speaking of innovators in the world of entertainment Ed Sullivan screwed up your name when you appeared on his show.

“We were on three times; the third time we didn’t get on because Nixon gave his Cambodia speech. But it’s actually kind of a compliment now to have your name screwed up by Ed Sullivan. It’s something to tell your grandchildren.”

He made mistakes all the time; why didn’t he do a little research about the bands before introducing them?

“By the end of the show he was tanked. He was loaded. If you were the headlining act you never knew he’d have you on twice during the show the first time he’s pretty okay and the second time you’d be lucky if he remembered who you were. Plus he’d do things like you’d hold out your hand to shake his hand and he wouldn’t see it. He’d just stand there looking like an idiot.

The second time we were on I didn’t even talk about this in the book but we did 'I’m Alive' and 'Ball Of Fire' and we headlined again and I’m standing on a four-foot riser and he comes running at me and he’s going to jump up on this thing and no way because Sullivan wasn’t big he was small and he gets one foot up there and slides and he’s falling backwards and I grab him and this is while we’re on camera and I’m posing with my arms above my head you know 'Ball Of Fire' and he jumps up on this thing and I grab him and I pull him up on stage and if I hadn’t he would have killed himself. And he said, 'Tommy my boy there’s only one thing left to say' and I’m looking at him like what-what-what? So I figure he’s saying good night and so I said, 'Good night everybody!' and it wasn’t time to go off the air. And so I’m standing with him and they fade to black and showed a commercial and then come back and we’re still standing there. So all the miscues that could happen you could blow your cool a hundred different ways doing Sullivan and that’s if you made it through the song.”

Didn’t they tape the show a couple of times in front of two different audiences?

“Yes they would record at five in the afternoon that was a dress rehearsal and they’d run that simultaneously and then they’d do it at seven o’clock, Sullivan came on at eight o’clock. They would run the five o’clock show and the seven o’clock show at eight o’clock the show was videotaped but it was videotaped as a live show. So if you screwed up it stayed on. And there were two different audiences.”

A lot of those performances were also lip-synced right?

“Usually what they would do is they would have the lead singer singing live and everything else would be prerecorded. On my case I actually talked them into letting me do 'Crimson and Clover' as a lip-sync because there’s no way they would have gotten the fade right or anything. So I begged them to let me lip-sync but they wanted a four track recording so they could mess with the mix and it didn’t sound like the record. So I gave them four tracks of mono.”

The Brits copied American rock and roll during the British invasion and of course American teenagers went crazy over the Brits. But rock and roll was invented right here in the U.S.A.

“I’ve always viewed it as America and the Brits riding this gigantic song called rock and roll together. And that’s why it is so sad to see the damn thing fall apart because the rock and roll industry was typically an American industry and to see it dissolve like this is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.”

You were one of a few bands from the '60s that came from Top 40 singles AM Hitmakers and were able to cross over into album rock FM radio.

"'Crimson and Clover' did that for us. There was this mass extinction in 1968. I equate this with the Humphrey presidential campaign in '68. We went out with Humphrey and when I left in August the biggest acts on the radio were The Turtles, The Rascals, The Association, Gary Puckett, us, and I come back ninety days later and it’s Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Blood Sweat and Tears all album mix. That is how quickly the world turned upside down in the record business.

And none of those groups that I just mentioned ever had another hit after that. There were a few acts that went on like The Doors, Sly and the Family Stone and us and a few others like Neil Diamond but honestly and I mean American acts, the British acts kind of went on and of course The Rolling Stones. But there was this mass extinction and nobody talks about it and somehow it got unnoticed. Thankfully we were working on 'Crimson and Clover' at that exact moment. And 'Crimson and Clover' was the only single I could think of we ever did that would allow us to make that move from AM Top 40 singles to FM Progressive Album Rock. And also let’s start selling albums we had never sold albums before. We were all about singles.”

I covered Joan Jett in Tampa this year and even liked her version of “Crimson and Clover.”

“There are almost 400 covers of our stuff. She’s been one of the more successful ones but we’ve had everyone from R.E.M. to just last year Prince and of course there’s been a bunch of hip-hop artists sampling 'Draggin’ The Line' for some reason.”

Didn’t Morris Levy place “Draggin’ The Line” on one of his infamous cut-out albums while it was still on the charts and classified as a hit?

“I tell the story in the book when 'Draggin’ The Line' came out I’m sitting in LA ready to do American Bandstand that’s what I went out there for. And by the way that was the day of the famous earthquake of 1971. Anyway so I’m sitting there in LA and all of a sudden on TV I see 'Draggin’ The Line' advertised as a cut-out and that devalues the song from about 90%. So it goes from being worth a dollar to being worth about a dime when it’s on a cut-out. And I just flipped my lid the song is number two and it’s a cut-out … just incredible.”

Tommy, thank you so much for spending time with me today. I can’t wait to see both the Broadway musical and the movie, they’re going to be great!

“Ray, it’s been a pleasure talking with you thank you very much.”

Special thanks to Carol Ross- Durborow for arranging this interview.

Tommy James and the Shondells official website https://www.tommyjames.com/
Order Tommy James' book -- Me, the Mob, and the Music at amazon.com

Order Ray Shasho’s new book Check the Gs -- The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com



“I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray.  So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book!  It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are.”~~Pacific Book Review

Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

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INTERVIEW: Billy Sherwood discusses the Progressive Rock of CIRCA… ‘And So On’

 By Ray Shasho

Remarkably this article fits the criteria for both Classic Rock and Classic TV.

CIRCA’s latest release is a powerful musical deliberation constructed by four gifted artists. CIRCA’s YES affiliations have not restricted their creativity and willingness to develop their own sound. And So On is the band’s third release and greatest innovative achievement to date.

The band was formed by Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood in 2007. Kaye was the original Yes keyboardist from (1968-1971) and Sherwood was asked to replace lead vocalist Jon Anderson when he and Trevor Rabin left the band but was uncomfortable with the idea. After Engineering/Producing the Keys to Ascension albums, Sherwood was asked to be an official YES member and played on three albums. The multi-instrumentalist Sherwood played guitar and keyboards on stage with YES on tour.

CIRCA features the alluring lead vocals and Squire-like bass playing of Billy Sherwood, Tony Kaye’s masterful execution on organ and keyboards, Johnny Bruhns licks of complexity on guitar and Scott Connor’s barrage of reason on drums. CIRCA’s debut album originally featured Alan White of YES on drums.
Their latest collaboration is how I describe, “The more you listen to it -The more you want to listen to it.” There are delightful YES similarities on the title track “And So On” and "'Til We Get There” with astonishing parallel to Chris Squire and Steve Howe.
But for most of the tracks it’s pure CIRCA magic. “Cast Away” is a bewitching masterpiece capturing lyrics of life’s mysteries and the bands artistry performing in progressive conformity.

“Halfway Home” is a tune that should definitely find its way on the playlists of contemporary radio.
The haunting “In My Sky” is a beautiful heartfelt composition. Sherwood’s voice is breathtaking with delightful connotations to Peter Gabriel and Steve Winwood’s John Barleycorn.

“True Progress” is an incredible compilation showcasing the ingenuity of what defines CIRCA and their track “Each To His Own” will soothe the psyche with inspirational messages dealing with the puzzle of life.
And So On by CIRCA is a breath of fresh PROG. An incredible composition performed by gifted instrumentalists.

Billy Sherwood was born in Las Vegas Nevada and into a showbiz family of talented musicians. His father was big band leader/musician/actor Bobby Sherwood -his mother Phyllis was a singer and a drummer and his brother Michael a singer and keyboardist. Now if that hadn’t convinced anyone that they were indeed a showbiz family how about the fact that his Godfather was legendary comedian Milton Berle.

I had the opportunity to chat with Billy last week.
Here’s my interview with record producer/engineer/songwriter/vocalist/muti-instrumentalist/musician Billy Sherwood.

Billy, thank you so much for being on the call today.

“Right on Bro and I appreciate the time.”

It’s ironic and I really didn’t plan it this way but I just published an article regarding the collaboration of Tony Levin, David Torn and your ex YES and CIRCA bandmate Alan White. And several weeks ago I interviewed Jon Anderson, so it’s been EVERYTHING YES. 

“You’re on the YES Roundabout.”
(All laughing)

I’ve noticed a lot more collaborations like that between seasoned musicians as of late. Are they trying to mesh and see if they’ll produce a hit album or just doing it for fun?   

“Musicians all want to play and the kind of musicians that we’re talking about here are always looking to push the envelope and to do something different and unique and not get into a rut and play the same stuff every night so I think that always sparks the interest to do something different and explore other areas and obviously when you get guys that who we’re talking about something unique and great is going to happen.
I think it’s just the act of being a musician wanting to push forward in your music you’re always trying to look for the next thing and keep going. That’s how I feel about it and I’m sure others do as well because it’s happening as you said.”

What bands influenced you into becoming a musician?

“Well my first real memory of getting into bands or following music was kind of R&B rooted stuff like Earth Wind & Fire, The Ohio Players and kind of what was grooving on the radio in Vegas at that point when I was a kid and I fell in love with the rhythms and the styles and got way into it. Earth Wind and Fire was the first concert that I saw and then my musical horizons expanded and I started exploring YES music and fell in love with that and obviously out of all the music I loved growing up that was the most influential and the most closest to my heart as a fan long before I joined the band.

Then through friends and the like minded musical friends discovered Genesis and Peter Gabriel, UK, Return to Forever and Mahavishnu and you know the list is ginormous. And that’s what my roots are founded in that kind of stuff and for me now and at present I draw on those emotions and those musical memories to pull things now and use right now and present and I’m glad that I have that Well to draw from because music today is not designed nearly at all like the music was designed in the past some of that stuff is just remarkably musical and great.

And it’s funny playing this kind of music Prog as we do -we just got back from Mexico where we did some shows had some fun playing our new album and in the crowd were some kids from the university there. They had no idea really who we were and what this was about and they were way too young to even know. But by the time it was over they were just devout and into it and we’re with you we’re telling all of our friends and it just illustrates the point that music is timeless and ageless and you know if you can get the music in front of a generation that normally you would be told they’ll never like that well they actually ended up liking it and it changes their whole world. It’s cool to know that it still can happen that way and it can happen that way and it is happening that way.”

Musicians nowadays have to basically promote themselves over the internet and become entrepreneurs to have any chance of being noticed, any words of wisdom for musicians trying to make it?

“I get asked all the time by younger musicians and this guy in Mexico asked me after the show turned on to CIRCA and you know was really freaking out over it he said “What would be your best advice to me growing up and trying to be a musician?” I said don’t listen to what anyone tells you about the kind of music you make. Just make it! Be yourself, make your own music and be totally true to your art because it’s kind of a selfish thing to be an artist I mean you lock yourself in a room you want to make your music and you don’t want to be bothered and it’s a selfish act and then you release it to the world which is the most unselfish act but when you do that you have to be prepared for the good the bad and the ugly and you have to let your music be true and then people who want to adopt it as that they take it on and they love it and it changes their world and then of course you get people who aren’t buying in but at the end of the day if your true to yourself you can move forward you can succeed you can start gaining your own ground and the internet has totally allowed people to do that.”

I know you’re a multi-instrumentalist but what was the first instrument you first learned to play when you were a kid?

“I started playing drums at a pretty early age because my parents were musicians. My dad was an amazing multi-instrumentalist and I can play a lot of instruments but my dad actually played all the instruments I could play and then added another twenty five or thirty five different categories on there he was incredible. He got an act actually in Vegas my parents Bobby and Phyllis Sherwood.”

Yea, your dad was a famous guy didn’t he work on the film Pal Joey with Frank Sinatra?

“He was bandleader on Pal Joey and he’s had many-many albums out and you know I’ve got this amazing set of 78 wax records battle of the bands with my dad’s band and Dizzy Gillespie and Artie Shaw so it’s very cool to see all that stuff and that’s a whole other thing and a whole other kind of music that is amazing. My mother by proxy of working with my dad she was an entertainer, she was a singer, dancer and an amazing drummer and she played drums with my dad’s act and by virtue of watching her as a little kid I started sitting behind the kit and she sat behind me and explained that the foot goes on one and three and the snare on two and four and off we went. So I learned to play from her and drums have been my first instrument and are a passion of mine and have been ever since.
But it was an interesting way to grow up seeing that lifestyle and it kind of became my lifestyle by virtue of continuing on the same path.”

I read somewhere that your Godfather was the legendary Milton Berle?

“Yea my Godfather was Milton and he was a really good friend of my dad’s and my dad actually has a star on Hollywood and Vine here in Hollywood from whatever year it was when television was first born and the Milton Berle show was one of the first shows on TV and my dad was one of the costars on the show and they became friends and Milton became my Godfather by virtue of that relationship.”

Did you get to see Uncle Miltie very much?

“That’s Godfather Miltie to you.”
  (All laughing)

“At the time of my growing up a lot of my youth growing up was in Vegas because my parents were working there during that heyday I don’t know if you ever saw the movie Casino but that was the era that my dad and mom were kind of there it was a crazy time. Anyway I would see Milton when he came into town and of course my parents would see him and I’d be coming along but I hadn’t seen him in a long-long time and so I think it was 1984 or something like that I was rehearsing at a studio working on trying to get a record deal and we were working on some demos at a studio called The Complex here in LA so we had amazing recording facilities and then had a huge video film shoot production sound stage.

Someone came in and said, “Dude your Godfather is down the hall he’s making a TV Special.” So me and my brother went down the hallway and we see his dressing room and we knock on the door and he says, “Come on in!” and we open the door he turns around and goes, “Guys how are you?” and he’s in full drag with red lipstick, the hair, the eyeliner, the shoes and he was just such a wonderful dude and just gave us a big hug and just extremely warm obviously he and my father were extremely close. But I’ll never forget that image and that was the last time that I saw him.”

I’ve followed Progressive Rock bands since I was 13 years old, I’m 52 now. CIRCA’s latest rendition And So On has all the components of a classic Prog Rock album. You knew there would be YES connotations but CIRCA definitely reinvented itself on And So On.  I thoroughly enjoyed the CD and to be perfectly honest can’t stop listening to it. 

“When we started this thing CIRCA many years ago now the obvious comparisons were going to come no matter what we did because we had me Tony(Tony Kaye) and Alan(Alan White) in the same band. At the time we may have outnumbered the real YES members in their band. (Laughing)

So the obvious comparisons are really common and I understood that and it’s cool it is what it is and I explained then the idea is not hey here we are let’s write YES music –no, the idea is let’s write music that flows. And the result of being who we are and doing what we do it kind of comes out in that vibe.
The second album with Jay Schellen adding a different twist and everything like that it sort of evolved into a different level of CIRCA and now with this new third record it kind of found its own and I kind of feel the same way about it that others do including yourself and other people I’ve spoken to where its really clicked into its own sound as a CIRCA sound now and I’m quite happy about that and very proud of the record.
I’ve been trying to make records you know I describe it almost like a movie for your ears where it’s a little unconventional in its shape and form but there’s something that’s intriguing in keeping you wanting to wait and see the next frame of film except in here what’s coming around the corner for your ears.”

Talk about the origins of the song “Castaway.”

“I lost a very-very close dear friend of mine who I’ve known for 30 years and it hit me quite hard. Usually I’m not getting into that in my music I kind of keep it in a different place but it started seeping into some of these lyrics and concepts and I just started thinking about life and we all do as we get older but when something like that happens it really makes you stop and take the count. And the song is just a reflection it’s a metaphor for life is like a rollercoaster you know and at the start it’s a fun adventure and it looks like it’s going to be really exciting you get to the top where you’re peaking and you’re doing your thing and then there’s the back half of life that comes at you. And so I started thinking about all those things in a way where it really seeped into all of the lyrical content. At the end of the day that whole experience I just described for me personally it’s a beautiful thing because that’s what life is about it’s the whole thing.

So the song reflects the idea that eventually we come in alone we take the journey and we go out alone and it’s kind of its own serene sort of beautiful thing and along the way the other metaphor the castaway is always someone who is alone on an island somewhere and that is the metaphor for the song that even though we are all interrelated closely we actually come and go alone and that’s the idea.”

And positivity is definitely the only way we can make it through the journey.

“That’s the whole theme of the album really the title itself basically means just keep going as I said don’t pay attention to what anyone is telling you about your personal journey just keep going because that’s what it’s all about. It is a positive message in that regard.

I’ve got to say the song “In My Sky” from the new album was my personal favorite, it really blew me away.

“It’s funny you mention that because “In My Sky” was the precursor to writing “Castaway” I mean when I spoke to this friend of mine he knew he was going and he kept telling me, “I’m going” and I kept being in the denial thing you’re not and finally as it got near its end I started realizing no he is and it freaked me out. It’s hard to even talk about now. That song is a result of that easing stone call and it’s very heavy.”

It’s a very special song and I definitely felt the vibes. I can’t help but hear a hint of Steve Winwood and John Barleycorn in the song.
I definitely hear Chris Squire when you’re playing the bass on other songs on the album.

“Well that’s going to be in there, I had the luxury of looking over his left shoulder if memory serves for several years and picking up a few tricks.”

I understand you and Chris Squire had a great relationship?

“Yea, we were friends and very tight for a long-long time. We had a lot of great laughs and great times and serious times and taking care of business times and all those things that go with a relationship that I never imagined that I’d have quite frankly because Chris was one of my heroes growing up. And then life is life and you know you go through things and your business ties into what you’re trying to do and things happen. He found himself moving back to England and reforming a different band and I found myself staying here and reforming CIRCA and one thing leads to another but we definitely had some great times that I’ll never forget.”

You mentioned CIRCA played some dates in Mexico is CIRCA officially on tour?

“We’re on tour as gigs are coming out; we are in a live mode. We just did two shows one in Mexicali September 3rd and the next night in Ensenada on September 4th and we now have a little string of shows here for the Southern California area on October 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. There’s some other gigs coming in November Tony Kaye and I have this two man show that we’ve kind of created that’s accidentally you know been asked to come back for a second round in Japan we went there not too long ago and the promoter called us and asked do you want to come back in November. So we’re going to take that back to Japan in November and when we come back I think CIRCA’s got some stuff brewing on the east coast in December. So I can’t say it’s the world tour but it’s more like yea we’re getting gigs which are a good thing. I’m cautiously optimistic that it looks like we’re gaining the momentum that I’ve been trying to get going here for awhile. So with the support of the fans it will start building more momentum.”

Don’t forget about Florida when you guys are touring.

“One of the interesting things that came about this year was working with John Wetton who is amazing and making the Raised in Captivity record here with him and you know he’s getting ready I believe to do some shows with his band playing that stuff. And so I’m hoping in a perfect world perhaps we could join forces and maybe have CIRCA and his band play some shows back east. It’s nothing official but I’m definitely putting it in people’s ears as an idea.

About John Wetton’s record (Raised in Captivity) there’s a lot of cool lyrics on there that are very deep that are written by him and very personal and everything and there are also a lot of amazing guest artists Eddie Jobson, Steve Morse, Tony Kaye is on there, Geoff Downes, bunch of cool guys.”

You and Tony Kaye seem to also have a great relationship.

“Tony is my Bro we’ve been buddies for a long time I mean literally since I met him and we’ve never had a cross word or a conversation that hasn’t been like I hear you I know what you mean. So very much kindred souls I guess. And I’ve always respected his playing immensely and when we toured with YES I got to tour with them the first time on the Talk tour I gained an even deeper respect for him and we just became friends. And I dragged him as he will tell you out of retirement to play on a few tribute records and he said, “I don’t know man” and I said I’m coming over I don’t really care. And he did it and smoked it. And then one thing led to another and I said are you inspired to do anything and he said, “I’d love to.” So the inspiration took over and we started CIRCA.

Tony Kaye was so important to the foundation of YES.

“We do this medley man in the CIRCA set as a homage to his early YES moment where we play this chronological instrumental thing that starts with 1968 and goes all the way to 1972 and it’s got some great T. Kaye Hammond moments in it and people dig it, it’s really cool so when we do get back to Florida you’ll see that and it’s a very cool piece of the show.

Billy you’ve got a new solo album coming out as well?

“My new solo album will be out really soon it’s called What Was The Question? and that will be my fifth solo album. It’s basically a totally surreal musical kind of adventure and it plays around with the themes of constantly asking the question of things. All the songs relate to that theme in a matter of speaking. There’s a song called, “Counting The Cables” and it’s about the WikiLeaks situation and it kind of plays with the question of is it a good thing that we actually do know everything or is it maybe a better thing in order for something to become stable and peaceful we leave that closed door and negotiation to happen that don’t intrudes but it can happen where are the balances between the two and what is the right course it plays with that concept.

I know you’re a workaholic so what else is going on beside’s new CIRCA (And So On) and your new solo album (What Was The Question?). 

“There’s so much going on, I’m working with the Sonic Reality/Sonic Elements Company and doing all sorts of recordings over famous drummers stuff. I just recently played bass over Neil Peart’s drums from RUSH and doing demonstration stuff with them which is really fun to do.

 I’m working on a new band called Breed right now not the Breed of old but a new band called Breed. And that record is really Progressive and really adventurous it reminds me somewhere between a modern take of an old Genesis Wind & Wuthering or something it’s very cool I like it a lot.

And I’m always open to working with other people I recently sort of opened my studio if you will –I’m on Facebook with thousands of friends and I’ve said to all of them look if you’re out there and you need assistance with overdubs, mixing, production, don’t be shy in other words everyone I work with doesn’t have to be a rock star. If you need a guitar overdub I’m a work for hire musician call me. And I’ve actually ended up on six or seven records this year by virtue of doing that and they’ve all been fun projects to work with.

And I would say the same thing if everyone out there in the audience needs anything from bass, drums, guitar to mixing you can find me on Facebook because I really do enjoy working with people and I find interesting relationships from there that go to unique places.”

Billy the new CIRCA album And So On is awesome and I’m looking forward to listening to your solo effort as well. Thank you so much for being with me today it was a lot of fun.

“Thank you and take care Ray.”

Special thanks to Billy James of Glass Onyon PR for this interview.

CIRCA official website http://www.circahq.com/
Billy Sherwood official website http://billysherwoodhq.com/Store/
Billy Sherwood on Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/people/Billy-Sherwood/752104140

Order Ray Shasho’s new book called Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com or iuniverse.com.
 
“Normalcy is a myth and anyone who tells you differently isn't very normal."Check the Gs" is a memoir from Ray Shasho who tells of his own offbeat upbringing working in the family business art gallery, from a young age. Of Cuban and Syrian descent, he tells a very American story of coming from everything, seeing everything, walking the line of the law and much more. A fun and fast paced memoir, "Check the Gs" is a worthwhile addition to many a memoir collection." ~~ MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Contact author/classic rock music reporter Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com