Interview: GREG LAKE of Emerson Lake & Palmer reveals: I really am a ‘Lucky Man’

By Ray Shasho

Greg Lake was the voice and guitar for two of the most recognizable progressive rock bands in music history. King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer were archetypes for British musicians transforming rock and roll into labyrinthine musical arrangements influenced by classical and jazz. Progressive rock groups devised “concept albums” revealing epic stories, fantasy and life’s truths. Perhaps progressive music is rock and roll’s answer to Mozart and Chopin, and rightfully so, as many artist considered the Sgt. Pepper’s album to be the innovator for progressive rock’s forthcoming.

Greg Lake took guitar lessons at an early age under the tutelage of Don Strike, who also taught Greg’s schoolmate Robert Fripp (King Crimson) and Andy Summers (The Police). Guitarist Robert Fripp invited Lake to join a band that he played in with Michael and Peter Giles, Ian McDonald and lyricist Peter Sinfield. The band known as King Crimson released their debut album on Island Records in late 1969.


In the Court of the Crimson King became a masterpiece and evolved into cult status. The album reached #5 on the British charts and certified gold in the U.S. The album is considered one of the most substantial albums of the genre. With Greg Lake on vocals and bass guitar, the album featured the sublime self titled track, “In the Court of the Crimson King” and “21st Century Schizoid Man.” The original lineup played their last concert together at the Fillmore East in December 1969. Shorty thereafter, Greg Lake left King Crimson to join, Emerson Lake & Palmer.

Emerson Lake & Palmer’s self titled debut album was released in 1970 with Keith Emerson on Keyboards, Greg Lake on vocals, bass, electric and acoustic guitars and Carl Palmer on drums. The album featured, “Lucky Man” a medieval story penned by Greg Lake when he was only 12 years old. The song was originally used as filler on the album but surprised the group when hearing it being played on the radio. “Lucky Man” reached #48 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song was rereleased in 1973 hitting #51 on the charts. ELP’s electrifying performance at the Isle of Wight Festival delivered the band into superstardom.


Tarkus, the band’s first concept album was released in 1971, described as a story about “reverse evolution.” Pictures at an Exhibition a live album recorded at Newcastle City Hall in England was also released that year. ELP’s third studio album, Trilogy featured Greg Lake’s alluring acoustically performed composition, “From the Beginning.” The song became Emerson Lake & Palmer’s highest charting single #39 in U.S. The album also featured, “Hoedown” a live performance crowd pleaser. 

In 1973, ELP released Brain Salad Surgery. The lyrics were co-written between Greg Lake and fellow ex- King Crimson collaborator Peter Sinfield. The album featured another Greg Lake acoustical classic, “Still… You Turn Me On” and “Karn Evil 9” featuring one of the most recognizable opening lyrics, “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.” 

In 1974, ELP was top billing for California Jam I. The concert featured Rare Earth, Earth Wind and Fire, Eagles, Seals and Crofts, Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Emerson Lake & Palmer. The concert attracted over 250,000 music fans.

The album’s Works 1 and Works 2 were released in 1977. Emerson Lake and Palmer disbanded in 1979. Emerson and Lake reformed in 1985 with ex-Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell. In 1991, ELP rejoined forces once again issuing the comeback album, Black Moon and began touring again in 1996.
Greg Lake toured with Ringo’s All-Starr Band in 2001. The lineup included Roger Hodgson of Supertramp and Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople.

After more than a decade, Emerson Lake & Palmer embarked on a North American tour in 2010. ELP celebrated their 40th anniversary by headlining The High Voltage Festival at Victoria Park in London.
Greg Lake recently announced the ‘Songs of a Lifetime’ 2012 tour. The show is an intimate solo performance featuring Lake’s greatest accomplishments with King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer and his solo efforts. Lake will also be sharing stories with his friends (the fans). The tour kicks off April 11th in Quebec City.
Just Announced, Greg Lake will be performing April 28th at the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida. Tickets go on sale soon. Check for availability at www.rutheckerdhall.com or call 727-791-7400 for ticket information.

I had a rare opportunity to chat with Greg Lake last week from England via Skype.
Here’s my interview with King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer legendary songster/ songwriter/guitar virtuoso/progressive rock pioneer/ GREG LAKE.
Ray Shasho: Greg, thank you so much for chatting with me today.
Greg Lake: “Hello mate!”
Ray Shasho: I haven’t done a Skype interview since chatting with Jim McCarty of TheYardbirds from Provence, France back in May, but I really like using Skype.
Greg Lake:  “I’ve started to use Skype extensively. I’m doing a lot of work preparing this tour and it involves a lot of audio pre-preparation and doing a lot of it intercontinentally using Skype while I’m working. It’s unbelievably good. The other great thing is, I work a lot with music software and the beautiful thing is that you can share a screen. You can share your screen with the person on the other end. So they can see your screen on their screen. So if you’ve got pictures or something and want to flip through and show them… quickly share the screen and bang! ...Up comes your screen on their screen.”
Ray Shasho: Greg, can you give us a snapshot of what we can expect to see on the, ‘Songs of a Lifetime’ 2012 tour?
Greg Lake: “How the idea for it came about was, I’m two thirds revising my autobiography which is going to be called, ‘Lucky Man’…surprisingly. (Laughing)  It’s the story of my life, and I have been lucky you know. But as I’ve been writing it, it became obvious to me that certain songs have been very pivotal in my destiny. Not only the songs that I’ve written but other songs by other people that have influenced me or made me feel a certain way artistically. The idea occurred to me to put all these songs into one show. And that’s really how ‘Songs of a Lifetime came about.’ Along with most of the songs comes a story, because that’s how they became important to me. So that was another element to this show. I think the other thing is the audience that I lived my life with and shared my life with. We’ve grown up with this music together and shared the journey together. What I envision is having an intimate sort of evening with the audience and sharing a night with them. Most of my career has been about standing on a stage performing music to an audience, and once the show is over, they go home and I go on to the next show. I thought it would be really nice to be able to sit in a room, play a song to the audience and tell them why I wrote it, or why it was important to me. Have the audience make some comments or ask a question or whatever they want to do. So there is this exchange taking place. I want them to tell me what their memory is of that and when it happened. So they’ll be a sort of an interaction going on some of the time. The show will not be just me sitting on a stool strumming guitar and singing folk songs. I think there will be some surprises in the evening for anyone that’s expecting Greg Lake just come along and sing ballads; they’ll be some severe shocks. (All laughing)”
“It’s going to be different for me, and certainly a challenge, but I don’t feel alone or exposed up there because these are my friends. These are the people who have made this journey possible for me. They’re my family really.”
Ray Shasho: You have so many great stories to share too. Your guitar teacher Don Strike also taught Robert Fripp and Andy Summers how to play the instrument. And you wrote, “Lucky Man” when you were only twelve years old. Truly amazing! 
Greg Lake: “It was the first thing I ever wrote. When I wrote it, it was just a silly little medieval fantasy folk song. Of course when it becomes a hit record it takes on a whole other dimension. And that’s the beauty of songs; they become interpreted by the listener. In many cases the listener actually makes them what they are. It’s certainly true in the case of “Lucky Man.”
Ray Shasho: I recently asked Norman Greenbaum who wrote and sang, “Spirit in the Sky”… what was the trigger that got you to write that song? He told me it was from watching westerns on TV, the varmints would always say that they wanted to die with their boots on. He thought that was a spiritual thing to say. What was the trigger that got you to write, “Lucky Man” when you were twelve years old?  
Greg Lake: “I think it was that I was feeling really lucky about getting my first guitar.”
“Or it was more to do with the fact that I just reached that age when you realize that you’re coming out of childhood and you’re about to enter the freedom of adulthood. And it’s that anticipation and excitement of leaving the shackles of youth and entering into this new freedom. I think that was probably the spirit in which it’s been written. No intellectual thought involved in it …God forbid (Laughing) it was pure innocence. I mean, there was no thought of it becoming a record. There was no thought of me even becoming a professional musician. It was just for my own personal pleasure.”
“It’s very strange… I remembered every word of it and I didn’t write it down. Nine years later, when it came to making the first ELP album, nobody wanted to make the record, it was only because we were short of one track on the record that it ever got made. Keith didn’t even want to play on it. I actually made it on my own, that record is all me except for Carl Palmer doing the drums and the solo right at the end with Keith. I’m all the voices, all the guitars; we just thought it was filler. We never had the faintest idea that it would become a hit record. The first clue that we had was when we arrived at JFK, got in the limo, and heard the song coming over the radio.”
“That’s the funny thing about hits, they’re often accidents. When I was doing a tour with Ringo, I said to him one night, “You know what Rich… I’ve been lucky; I’ve had a couple of hits, but tell me something, how on earth do you have two hundred… which is what The Beatles had really. He said, “Greg, I can only tell you that every day, John and Paul would walk into the room and both would have a song and they were both hits. Some day’s there would be more than two.” And he told me about one night when he stayed at John’s flat in London. John had not been there but came back the following morning. He came in to see Ringo and said, “How was your evening?”  Ringo said, “I had a Hard Day’s Night.” And John said, “That’s a fantastic title!” He went into the next room and came out ten minutes later and had written it.”
Ray Shasho: I think writers in general have a special gift. We’re all visionaries.
Greg Lake: “I think the mistake that people make is believing that there is some divine inspiration. It’s true when they say songwriting is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. In truth, what happens is… song’s comes through you. There’s nothing new under the sun. There’s something about an idea or a name or a word or a feeling that passes through you and you interpreted as some musical event. It comes out as a line of a song.”
Ray Shasho: I think progressive rock lyrics have a way of inspiring the mind and the soul, sort of like a religion. I had this same conversation with Jon Anderson while interpreting “Soon” from the ‘Relayer’ album.
Greg Lake: “What most people identify what is Prog rock is essentially rock music with European roots. As opposed to rock music with American blues, and country, and gospel blues. And that’s the difference essentially I think. And the best of progressive music, I would say for example is Sgt. Pepper. I would call that a progressive album. It involves the imagination and there is a kind of a universal truth about a lot of things that are said in there, and almost anyone can identify with. And there just not literal they can also be impressionistic, it is an art form I think. It’s not just an attempt to sell a commercial record. There is sort of an artistic contingent in there which I rather personally like.”
Ray Shasho: What was the origin of “From the Beginning?”
Greg Lake: “It was just a good concept. The song unfolded in such a natural way, one line after another. Some songs have very strong meanings, other songs strengths lie in the poetry of the sound. It’s not always the literal meaning.”
Ray Shasho: Emerson Lake and Palmer is such a great band. But I really enjoy watching a Greg Lake solo performance. You are indeed a one man band. My favorite Greg Lake performance was at the California Jam playing acoustic and singing solo, “Still, You Turn Me On” and “Lucky Man.”
Greg Lake: “There is something about an isolated solo performance. It’s a funny thing, and I’ve learned this because ELP of course was a three piece band. What I learned then was there is a certain power in a three piece band. The more people you put on that stage, the more diluted it becomes. The less people that are on the stage, there’s more drama. You start living the music with each individual. When you see a band with ten people on stage, just a huge ensemble, you don’t know who’s doing what. And when you take that to the extreme, when you’ve just got one person doing one thing on stage, anything they do is dynamic. If they stop and do nothing, there’s a huge hole. And then in the middle of that, if they play one note … it’s a big note.”
Ray Shasho: How far did you take guitar training with Don Strike?
Greg Lake: “Not far enough. I stopped after a couple of years of lessons. The pull of rock and roll was just too great. There I was practicing, “Red Sails in the Sunset” when I wanted to be playing, “Great Balls of Fire.” And the two didn’t really mix. I was playing great rock and roll on the guitar, but I just couldn’t go in there and start playing him Chuck Berry. It came to a point where the two had to separate really. I very much regret it because every day spent with Don was a tank full of fuel. His musical knowledge was staggering. He was actually a banjo player and was in a big band and he really understood music. He also taught Andy Summers. It’s funny, if you listen to, “Every Breath You Take,” by The Police and you listen to, “From the Beginning” and you listen to Robert Fripp’s solo in, “Schizoid Man” you’ll hear exactly the same technique … crosspicking, very fast up and down stroke … but done masterfully, because he comes from the banjo.”
Ray Shasho: California Jam I and II were phenomenal concerts back in the 70’s. What do remember the most about California Jam I?
Greg Lake: “The few things that I remember apart from the show… which you kind of do and don’t remember. When you play it you live it. You haven’t got time to memorize it, you’re doing it. So in a way the show is a sort of blur. Of course when I watch the video, I can identify with every split second of it. But if you’re really talking about objective memory, I really remember that we flew in there to Ontario in a Learjet and I remember the pilot bringing the plane down and said to us, “Good God, look at that!” And it was the audience down there. I don’t know how many people there were, there were varying figures …three hundred thousand… but there was an unbelievable amount of people. They had multiple PA systems going back with delays on them so the audience could hear the sound. It was the most incredible site that I’ve ever seen. You would never see that many people amassed in one place, other than if there was a war. It was an incredible site that was one thing.”
“And the other thing was watching Ritchie Blackmore putting his guitar through a sixteen thousand dollar TV camera. I think he’d become annoyed over the fact that we were headlining. I think they got angry because they didn’t want to be playing in the support. I think possibly someone had lied to them. You go along and go along and the terrible thing is you find out on the day that actually you’re not the headliners, and people get very angry. That was most of their gig money gone in one fowl swoop, because he bought the camera.”
Ray Shasho: I heard Deep Purple left the venue rather quickly after their set because they thought they might be brought up on charges.
Greg Lake: “It wasn’t just throwing a microphone down this was a really expensive camera. I only remember that because it was so stupid you know. But it was a once in a lifetime show and probably never come again. And it was a show of the very pivotal of the bands career. We were better, faster, the show was together, and we were in great shape… it was the best of ELP right there.”
Ray Shasho: There seems to be a resurgence of prog rock. There are some incredible collaborations and great new music being released as of late.
Greg Lake: “It’s a funny thing; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame won’t recognize it. (Progressive rock) They don’t want to accept it. It’s silly really because it’s one of the things that nourished rock and roll. You look at a lot of bands now in retrospect, like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, they were heavily influenced by ELP. And I was by a lot of American bands, there’s nothing wrong with this exchange of cultural nourishment. I think prog rock has been denied its proper place in the history of rock music. I’m not asking personally for a medal or to be recognized, but I think to deny a whole credible genre of art is really silly. It’s like the French in the early 1900’s wouldn’t accept impressionistic art, pretending that Renoir didn’t exist. I think there is a suppressed feeling that there is some unfinished business with progressive music. There’s no need to shut the door. The American people recognized it but the institutions don’t.”
Ray Shasho: In a recent interview with Roger McGuinn, he said rock music will never be what it once was in the 60’s and 70’s. It will be around but more of a sub genre. Do you think rock and roll can make a comeback?
Greg Lake: “Everything has an era and when you have the original moment in time, when these things happen, there is freshness and an excitement, and in the case of rock and roll you could call it a mania. It reached levels of fanaticism that would be almost religious. So will it ever return to that, no I don’t think it will. Because you can’t relive something, you can’t make it new again. You can’t make it the first time you heard it. It can’t be fresh because it’s been done.  But if you were to ask the question differently, Will there ever be another form of music that would excite people again; I’d say there very well could be. It won’t be rock and roll. You know rock and roll was also part culturally inspired, partly to do with the times, that post war baby boomer generation, the style of the 50’s.The initial cultural cross pollination between country music, gospel, blues country music, blues rock and roll… these cross pollinations brought about all these hybrids which were flourishing with all this energy and that could only happen once.”  
Ray Shasho: When do you think the rock and roll genre started losing its impact?
Greg Lake: “I think somewhere around 1980, perhaps a little before 1980. I would say you could certainly mark the end of the era. Punk was not part of rock and roll. Punk was a fashion for fools. I mean if you really talked punk you’d be talking about The Who. They really are punk rock you know. Forget Johnny Rotten and all that… that was all crap. I think real rock and roll, that teenage rebel thing was over way before Johnny Rotten got to the party. After that music took on a different form.”
“I’ll tell you what really changed music. When you bought albums or records they would come in album covers. You would sit around together; you and your friends, one of your friends would buy the new Jimi Hendrix record and you put it on and all listened to it together, and enjoy it together, and then study the album cover together. Then one day somebody invented the Sony Walkman. This changed from being a shared experience to a solitary experience. From then on people put on their headphones and they were alone with their music. That was another part of the end of the era, the shared music experience which was rock and roll.”
“What an unbelievable thing to have happened in the world. I don’t know if there is anything that could compare to it. It changed the world; it changed how the world behaved. It broke down barriers that not even war could break through. It’s a privilege to be part of that great era. It was the unconscious participation, the feeling that you were part of something great. And that’s what I’ve come to know. I want to share looking back at that with an audience saying … you know what, look how lucky we were. How lucky we were to share that moment in time.”
Ray Shasho: I really enjoy your onstage performances with Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull). The both of you mesh nicely together musically. Are there any plans for future collaborations?
Greg Lake: “Ian and I are old friends of course, we go back a long way. Basically for some reason we got into this habit of doing each other favors and it’s fun because I like Ian, he’s a lovely man, and usually we do charity stuff together that’s what we do. This year I did Salisbury Cathedral with him. That was a funny experience, standing in a Cathedral playing rock and roll. And a Cathedral is really where people whisper you know. I don’t know how much we raised… maybe forty-fifty thousand dollars to help with the roof; they have on-going repairs.”
Ray Shasho: Greg, I’m a huge animal lover and it breaks my heart when animals are abused. Thank you for all the work you do with, ‘The SSPCA Animal Rescue Funding Appeal.’
Greg Lake: “I find it hard to even talk about it. The thing with animals is they’re defenseless. When I see a human being cruel to a defenseless animal I see white, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to stop it. I think it’s one of the most cowardly acts on earth. So anything that we can do to prevent cruelty to animals then I would definitely support it, and if you ever need my support just know that you can count on it. It’s one thing and a very noble thing to help look after individual cases of neglect or cruelty, more important though is to try and alter the law and politics to prevent it happening on a global scale, or at least on a national scale, so that people that are cruel or neglectful towards animals start to feel it bad. If you’re cruel to animals it’s not just being banned from keeping animals, you need to do an away day in prison and feel what it’s like to hurt.”
Ray Shasho: Greg, thank you so much for spending time with me today and more importantly for all the incredible King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Greg Lake music over the years. We all look forward to the ‘Songs of a Lifetime’ 2012 tour beginning April11th and arriving in Clearwater, Florida on April 28th.
Greg Lake: “Thanks Ray, it’s been lovely talking with you.”

Greg Lake‘Songs of a Lifetime’ 2012 tour is coming to the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida on April 28th. Contact the Ruth Eckerd Hall at www.rutheckerdhall.com or call 727-791-7400 for tickets and information.
Greg Lake official website www.greglake.com
Emerson Lake & Palmer official website www.emersonlakepalmer.com
SSPCA Animal Rescue Funding Appeal www.seychellesrescue.org

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Shasho is open and honest in his depiction of his family and their business practices. He describes the closeness of family members and the dissension that ultimately led to the original family store being sold and transformed into one and then two stores. As the story progresses, Shasho offers firsthand accounts of the D.C. riots following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, the murder of John F. Kennedy, and meeting celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Chuck Norris, and Sugar Ray Leonard.  After seven years of running one of the businesses himself, Shasho closed the last family store and walked away with a full appreciation for what he had learned from the work: “Over the years, the business taught me to be many things—a salesman, an entrepreneur, a diplomat, an actor, and a clown. But more important, it taught me to be a man… (274).”
Check the Gs is a delightful, heartwarming portrayal of an American family that lived the dream in their own animated, humorous and bazaar way. Melissa Brown Levine for Independent Professional Book Reviewers

Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

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INTERVIEW: HEART original guitarist Roger Fisher ‘Getting voted out saved my life!’

 

By Ray Shasho

Seattle, Washington native Roger Fisher was the hard driving electric fury that established HEART as a rock and roll powerhouse in the 70’s. Originally known as Hocus Pocus, Heart was formed by guitarist Roger Fisher, bassist Steve Fossen, and Roger’s brother Mike Fisher who became the band’s manager. They met Ann Wilson at one of the bands gigs. Soon thereafter, Roger, Mike, Steve and Ann Wilson moved to Canada. Heart was officially formed in 1973 with their new songstress and songwriter Ann Wilson. The following year guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and sister, Nancy Wilson joined the band.

With the help of producer Mike Flicker and session guitarist/keyboardist Howard Leese (who became a full- time member of Heart in 1975), the band recorded a demo tape. Heart’s debut album Dreamboat Annie was subsequently recorded for Mushroom Records in Vancouver, Canada. The seductive album cover featured a bare shouldered Ann and Nancy leaning up against each other.

The singles, “Magic Man” and “Dreamboat Annie” quickly gained notoriety over Canadian airwaves. Dreamboat Annie was released in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day 1976. “Magic Man” became the band’s first Top 10 hit. “Crazy On You” reached #35, and the single, “Dreamboat Annie” reach #42 in the U.S. on Billboard’s Hot 100. The album sold over 1 million copies and became a mainstay on AOR radio stations worldwide.   
Heart became instantly identifiable as a rock phenomenon. A band fronted by two beautiful and multi-talented women, backed by hard rock virtuosos. It was that very combination which gave the band its true identity. Brothers Roger and Mike Fisher became romantically involved with Sisters Nancy and Ann Wilson, and “Magic Man” was written about Mike’s torrid love affair with Ann.
After the success of Dreamboat Annie, Heart left Mushroom Records due to a publicity stunt that stated the sisters were actually lesbian lovers. The group signed with Portrait Records and later released the album Little Queen in 1977. The album featured, “Barracuda” a tune that would become recognized as Heart’s signature song. Roger Fisher’s pivotal hard rock thrusting intro to “Barracuda” will forever be glorified in rock and roll history. Ann Wilson penned the tune out of sheer anger over Mushroom’s lesbian publicity stunt. Roger Fisher was a co-writer on “Barracuda” and on many other tracks on Little Queen. “Barracuda” reached #11 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Another preeminent arrangement on the album was Roger Fisher’s co-written masterpiece titled, “Love Alive.”

In 1978, Heart re-released their third album, Magazine. Originally released in 1977, the first release was unfinished and unauthorized by the band. Magazine went certified platinum. The album included three cover tunes, “Without You” by Badfinger, “I’ve Got the Music in Me” by The Kiki Dee Band and “Mother Earth Blues” penned by Chatman, Simpkins and Dixon. Magazine also produced their Top 20 single, “Heartless.”

Also in 1978, Heart appeared on stage at California Jam II, a music festival held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. The concert featured Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Heart, Bob Welch (with special guests Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood), Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush and Rubicon. More than 300,000 people attended.

Later in 1978, Heart released Dog and Butterfly on Portrait Records. The album spent 36 weeks on the charts and peaked at #17 on Billboard’s 200 -highest selling albums. “Straight On” was the first song released from the album reaching #15 on the charts. The title track, “Dog & Butterfly” reached #34 on Billboard’s Hot 100.  Dog & Butterfly spawned several profound arrangements including, “Minstral Wind” an incredible rock measure co-written by Roger Fisher, and “Nada One” a beautiful and mesmerizing  piece sung by Nancy Wilson.

In 1979, Roger’s romance with Nancy Wilson ended. Later that year, Roger Fisher was voted out of the band. Mike Fisher also left the band after breaking his relationship with Ann Wilson. Heart lost their rock and roll backbone when Roger Fisher was asked to leave the band. And although the group made a huge comeback in 1985, they never recaptured what was the essence of Heart.

After leaving Heart, Roger Fisher joined the band Alias alongside mates Steve Fossen and drummer Mike DeRosier. The group’s self-titled debut release went gold. Their biggest commercial hit was, “More Than Words Can Say” climbing to #2 on the Billboard’s Hot 100. The band disbanded shortly after.

Roger Fisher still plays gigs here and there with his former Heart buddy Steve Fossen. He’s even joined Queensryche onstage recently. Roger’s latest endeavors include a great new version of Heart’s, “Love Alive” and a new single called, “Dear Friend” that will be included on an upcoming album. He’s also got a movie project in the works about his life. Roger is back living in his home state of Washington after an incredible journey in Prague, Czech Republic.

Roger and I became Facebook friends and had the opportunity to speak with him last week before his morning bike ride. Here’s my interview with Heart’s founder, songwriter, guitar virtuoso and pioneer … Roger Fisher.
Ray Shasho: Good morning Roger, it’s really cool to be able to set up an interview with a Facebook friend. You’re living in Monroe, Washington?
Roger Fisher: “Yea, it’s right outside of Seattle.”
Ray Shasho: Talk about living in the Czech Republic.
Roger Fisher: “I lived there for a year. It was really great and really difficult at the same time. The reason I moved over there was because I loved the people so much. I married a lady from Czech Republic and was very close with her family. Living over there was really an adventure. I was hanging out with the country’s most popular rock musician, and he was also the head of Parliament in the brand new Czech Republic when they split from Czechoslovakia. When Vaclav Havel helped overthrow communism back in 1989, he was a playwright. And just because he cared about doing things right for the new country and had the best ideas, he was pushed into the presidency. He didn’t really want to be president but he accepted the job because he wanted things to be right. So a playwright as the new president had to elect his Parliament and choose all the people who would surround him. So it ended up being a bunch of artists and rock musicians, actors and actresses. So my friend was one of the heads of Parliament. So I got to meet Vaclav a few times and hung out with him, and I was very fortunate.”
Ray Shasho: I took a peek at some of your Facebook photos from over there and it looked like a charming country.
Roger Fisher: “Oh yea, it’s a beautiful place. We had a flat in Prague and we had a house in the second largest city Brno. I had such strong feelings for Prague; it was like a second home.”
Ray Shasho: What made you move back to the U.S.?
Roger Fisher: “My wife and I had been together for eight years and we realized we’re not supposed to be together. It just didn’t work. So we decided to get divorced and I decided to move back. I had met up with my brother and sister on a trip to Norway, and while we were up there in the midnight sun, I expressed to my brother that I had the desire to work with him again on music and he said he’d like to also. So that was part of the reason for moving back too so we can do that.”
“Shortly after I moved back and met a lady in Seattle who I fell in love with, I wrote a love song to her. And at a family gathering I played this new song and my brother heard that and it tipped him over the edge to say absolutely we need to be working together again. So since then we finished two songs and a couple of music videos. The two songs are now available on iTunes, and the first one is a remake of Heart’s, “Love Alive” and the other song is called, “Dear Friend” and it’s a really good love song.”
Ray Shasho: I really enjoyed the video you created called, “The making of Love Alive.” And you did an excellent job of developing such a wonderful and diverse remake from such a great tune. 
Roger Fisher: “The intro and the outro are completely new music. I really don’t like it when people do covers of songs and do them pretty much exactly like the original. So I made sure to put a real obvious music spin on the song and I’m happy with it.”
Ray Shasho: Are those (2) new releases going to be part of a new album?
Roger Fisher: “Oh yea, the new album is called, ‘All Told’ and it’s kind of an overview of a really big project that we’re doing. But once the album is finished and out you’ll be able to go to our website and see what we’ve got going on and have an idea what it is. But what we’re doing has never been done before by a rock group and it’s pretty big. So we’re really excited about it.”
“But each song on the new album is going to have a music video with it. And that’s a lot of work. (Laughing) It’s funny because it’s one thing to be a musician, you’ve got to put in a lot of time and work just to be a musician, but if you’re going to be the audio engineer and in charge of your own recording, and your own videographer and video editor, then it’s really a lot of work. But I think these days it’s going more towards the norm where the artists are wearing so many different hats.”
Ray Shasho: I’m certainly glad that you’re back in the circuit and we’d definitely like to see Roger Fisher on the road again, especially making a few stops here in Florida. 
Roger Fisher: “I get emails from people all over the world asking, why don’t you come and play, and I sure want to, and this is the year. As soon as I get this album done we’ll be setting up tour plans.”
Ray Shasho: I followed the original Heart since its beginnings. The first performance that I saw was actually at a club in Baltimore called The Hollywood Palace in 1976. Then within a year or so the band was selling out almost 19,000 seats at the Capital Centre near Washington, DC.
Heart was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year but somehow didn’t make it. So naturally I was disappointed. Why do you think Heart was snubbed in 2012?
Roger Fisher: “I know that was kind of an odd deal. I have a feeling of what goes on is that they want to keep one of the more popular groups out and then hold that for next year to create controversy. And to make sure that there is a bone of contention to draw people there next year. It kind of makes sense if your part of the process.”
Ray Shasho: Well I hope they know what they’re doing because there are tons of bands that aren’t even considered for the Hall yet and they should’ve been inducted a long time ago. Then there are bands that I think shouldn’t have even been considered. I think the first bands in should be the pioneers of the genre. I think Heart was somewhat of a pioneer band, in that you had two multitalented women backed by rock and roll virtuosos.
Roger Fisher: “The thing about Ann and Nancy is that they were more into like folksy rock and my brother played a large part in Heart’s direction before we ever started recording. And he really insisted that we go hard rock. So that was one thing having two beautiful women fronting a really hard rock group, but they had such incredible depth in their lyric writing, their songs were so good, and I think that’s what made it so groundbreaking. They were really high quality songs, but done with angst and energy that was unprecedented. It really did open a lot of door for female vocalist.”
Ray Shasho: I think many of the early Heart fans were drawn to the stage presence of Ann and Nancy and their incredible songwriting, but they were also equally drawn to that hard rock presence of some amazing and talented male musicians that became the bands roots. I never really felt that the guys in the band got their fair share of credit, especially you Roger.
Roger Fisher: “A lot of people have said that we never got enough credit and I think that’s true, but who deserved just as much credit as any of the guy members was my brother. He was behind the scenes; we played nightclubs four and five days a week, five and six hours a night and my brother would come back and give us input all the time. And a lot of that input we didn’t want to hear, it was not easy to get told what you’re doing wrong, but it really made us grow, so Mike Fisher was a really big part of what made Heart so good. It was the result of playing clubs so much that we had a well-oiled machine by the time we went out and toured. The band was really good but the crew was really good too. We would go into a place… do the show… and tear down more efficiently than any other rock group out there. It was a great team.”
Ray Shasho: What was it like signing your first recording contract with Mushroom Records?
Roger Fisher: “Signing with them was interesting because Mushroom Records had been turned over to Mike Flicker and Howard Leese who had moved up from California. It had been turned over to them to run the studio. At first Mike Flicker only wanted to sign Ann and she refused because she insisted on the whole band being part of the signing. The only people being signed was Ann, Nancy, Steve Fossen and myself. It was really difficult finding musicians up in Canada; we were living in Vancouver, British Columbia at the time, but difficult to find musicians with just the right vibes that we were looking for. So a mutual friend in the Seattle area said I know a drummer that you guys may like… you should audition him. So we all went down to Seattle and auditioned Mike DeRosier and within twenty seconds of listening to him we all knew he was the guy. He sounded so much like Bonham and we loved Led Zeppelin.”
Ray Shasho: I’ve always known that Ann and Nancy were heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin, is that also true about you?
Roger Fisher: “Jimmy Page and myself have interesting parallels. I used a violin bow and a Theremin before I knew he even existed. And I’m a real pioneer of guitar techniques. These days there are several guitars you can buy with Piezo pickups in the bridge, so you can use the Piezo pickups and the magnetic pickups. But that’s only been within the last ten years that that’s come out. But I was using that setup in the 70’s. There’s just a lot of little things about changes in guitars that I’ve pioneered back then, which brings up the point …soon there will be a Roger Fisher signature guitar. And there’s also going to be a Roger Fisher signature guitar amp. And to me, it’s the best guitar amp design in the world. I started making prototypes in the 80’s. It’s designed to sit at the front of the stage like a vocal monitor and aim right at your guitar, so you get that excellent relationship of air moving strings. Instead of some sort of electronic attempt of getting better sustain you’ve got the vibrations from the speaker coming right up your guitar to move the strings. That’s the most pure kind of sustain you can get. It sounds just fantastic! The amp is going to be put out by Jet City.”
Ray Shasho: Roger, do you do all your recording from your home these days or travel to the studio?
Roger Fisher: “My recording has a real interesting history. In 1993, we finished a really nice studio in my home in Woodinville, Washington and used that for seven years. But before and after that I’ve been recording in various studios, but I amassed over one hundred songs, and most of them were pretty much finished as far as being recorded. So what we’re doing now is drawing on those forty years of recording and carefully putting together four albums of this material. Its part of a four- album package called, ‘One Vision.’ The cover art from each album fits together to make a single big picture. And that big picture is a website portal that takes you through the history of all the work that I’ve done. So it’s a really unique way of looking at reinventing a musical project. It should be out in May.”
Ray Shasho: What came first when creating all those classic Heart tunes, the melody or the lyrics?
Roger Fisher: “I think it was different for each one, in the case with Ann and Nancy they were really big on lyrics so they would really pay attention to those. I think it was different for every song. I remember when they were writing, “Crazy On You” we were living in an A-framed house in Point Roberts, Washington and Ann and Nancy were working on this song and they said, “You know Rog, we’ve got this acoustic guitar part that goes like this… we want something on top of that, what would you do?” So I listened to them play it. And I said here… this is what I hear… and I played (Roger started singing to me his famous opening guitar lick to, “Crazy On You”). (All laughing)  Just like that. So that’s how we would write, they would come back from a writing trip where they would get together with their dear friend Sue Ennis, and they would have a song or two or three to present to us and then we would take those and give them our treatment. In some cases when our treatments turned out to be a very key element of the song, I was fortunate to be co-writer to a lot of that stuff which translates to … royalty checks!”
“In the case of a song like, “Barracuda” now that’s a turnaround where the guitar licks came first. Actually it was at the same time, we had met this guy in Detroit, Michigan who was the record companies A&R guy, our liaison with the record company in Detroit. And he really insulted the girls, and Ann was so pissed off that she went up to her hotel room and started writing, “Barracuda.” And right at around that same time me and Mike DeRosier were doing soundchecks everyday and getting there before everybody else so we’d have some time to practice. And we were playing the “Barracuda” lick and my brother came up and said whose lick is that? I said that’s mine and he said you guys should make a song out of it. And if he hadn’t said that we would have just gone by it like so many other licks. But we said okay and so we started working on this music and then Ann is all fired up and she hears that guitar lick and says this is perfect … it’ll be a great song.”
Ray Shasho: It’s amazing how the pieces began to fit together like a musical puzzle, and then… voila there’s a hit song.
Roger Fisher: “When we were in the studio recording that, it was getting closer and closer to being perfect. The band is running over it and running over it, changing a little thing here and there and the risk is that you work it to death. You take it beyond its original inspiration to the point where it’s no longer fresh and live but it’s beaten to death, it’s lost its spirit.  But with this one, we kept going and going, because it was like we were riding this train that was out of control. We knew that we had to do it as best as we possibly could because it was such a strong song.”
Ray Shasho: “Magic Man” was written about your brother Mike right? There were so many silly rumors regarding that song.
Mike Fisher: “Yea, that’s a love song to my brother Mike.”
Ray Shasho: Another classic tune that you were instrumental in its creation was, “Minstral Wind.”
Roger Fisher: “That’s another one of those songs that was born at soundcheck, me and Mike DeRosier coming up with great licks. That opening guitar line was Nancy’s creation, and then when it kicked into that high energy click in the middle… that was my creation. The music is really special but the lyrics are so great!”
“It was a beautiful marriage of musicianship between Ann and Nancy and I. Ann and I stayed in touch via email since the late 90’s. Just the other day I reminded her of the incredible synergy that she and I had together in Heart.”
Ray Shasho: Why did you leave Heart in 1979?
Roger Fisher: “It kind of boiled down to the fact that with the help of a certain someone that we won’t name, they found out that I was unfaithful to her and she was crushed. When that happened her very protective older sister was infuriated obviously and so we broke up. During the breaking up process I was really depressed because I was in love with Nancy in a very deep and spiritual good way but I was also entangled with her in a very indulgent way and a kind of addiction. Many of us are with our significant others and we don’t necessarily know it, but as we get older I think that gets less and less. I was completely entangled with her on every level. To break up with her and to still be on tour with her was so incredibly difficult. It was just a bad scenario and I had to leave the group. I was voted out on Halloween night 1979 by the rest of the band. I think there was only one band member who didn’t vote that I should be out. But it was a mercy decision, because I think if I would have stayed in the band, I don’t think I’d be alive today. I was on a course that was not healthy. At the time when I got the call from Ken Kinnear our manager I said wow thanks! It was a huge relief. And I’m really glad things happened the way they did because Ann and Nancy were raised by a Marine Core officer father, but their mother was more the opposite. They were taught to take charge and to take power and to be in control and that’s the way they were raised and that’s the way the band started to be run. And I didn’t like that because decisions were made for not the right reasons. I remember very clearly the first time I saw that happen… I felt the band was finished and that was way before I got voted out.”
“So now the work that I’m doing is representative of me and all my projects and relations with other musicians and I’m completely democratic except the final decision is mine. But it’s a really fair working situation. I’ve encountered so many other artists that are arrogant a-holes and I vowed many years ago that I would never become an arrogant a-hole. I can’t stand that.”
“And another thing about the musical situation that I’m part of, people will say, “So what do you want on this part?” The first thing I’ll usually say is I want you! The reason you’re here is because you are who you are and I want to hear musically what you bring to the table. I don’t want to hear an extension of what I want.  But generally, I like the artist to be the artist, and don’t do what I want, do what you want. Because of how good they are that’s usually a really good thing to do. So that kind of attitude was quite different than what we were experiencing in Heart and I didn’t like that.”
Ray Shasho: Would you ever consider rejoining Heart if the opportunity was there?
“I’ve toyed around mentally with the idea of the possibility of Heart getting back together and right now it’s just way more important to me to be working on my own stuff. Right now, Heart would be a big distraction. I would want to do it but there would certainly be things holding me back.”
Ray Shasho: Roger, thank you so much for the interview. For me …Heart has always been Roger Fisher on lead guitar. I look forward to your latest endeavors. See you on Facebook and …Happy Birthday!  
Roger Fisher:  Thanks Ray, I’ll keep you updated on my latest projects.

Roger Fisher official website www.rogerfisher.com
Roger Fisher’s great new singles, “Dear Friend” and “Love Alive” are available at iTunes.com and amazon.com http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-alive-single/id484820759

Order author/columnist Ray Shasho’s new book called Check the Gs- The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at iUniverse.com. Buy the E-BOOK version for ONLY .99 CENTS!

Shasho is open and honest in his depiction of his family and their business practices. He describes the closeness of family members and the dissension that ultimately led to the original family store being sold and transformed into one and then two stores. As the story progresses, Shasho offers firsthand accounts of the D.C. riots following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, the murder of John F. Kennedy, and meeting celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Chuck Norris, and Sugar Ray Leonard.  After seven years of running one of the businesses himself, Shasho closed the last family store and walked away with a full appreciation for what he had learned from the work: “Over the years, the business taught me to be many things—a salesman, an entrepreneur, a diplomat, an actor, and a clown. But more important, it taught me to be a man… (274).”
Check the Gs is a delightful, heartwarming portrayal of an American family that lived the dream in their own animated, humorous and bazaar way.  -Melissa Brown Levine for Independent Professional Book Reviewers

COMING UP NEXT An interview with GREG LAKE of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

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Interview: Ex Judas Priest Metal Master: Atkins May Project 'Serpents Kiss'

By Ray Shasho


 Al Atkins is best known for originating Birmingham, England’s heavy metal band Judas Priest in 1969. Atkins was lead singer of Priest until 1973. It was Atkins who named the band after the Bob Dylan tune, “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest.”
Black Sabbath’s guitarist Tony Iommi managed the early Judas Priest, landing the band higher profile gigs, even playing with Black Sabbath. But the group struggled financially and still hadn’t landed a record deal. Al Atkins had a young daughter to support, so in 1973 he relinquished his duties as Priest’s frontman and landed a regular 9 to 5 job. Rob Halford replaced Atkins.
In 1974, Judas Priest released their debut album, Rocka Rolla. The album was produced by Black Sabbath’s Rodger Bain and Halford sang many of the tunes originally penned by Al Atkins.

Judas Priest has sold over 50-million albums and continues to sellout stadiums and arenas worldwide. Priest’s notoriety has since earned them the nickname “Metal Gods.”

Al Atkins has recently joined forces with internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso, songwriter, and producer Paul May to form the Atkins May Project. Paul May has appeared on over 50 albums.

The Atkins May Project recently released a preeminent prog metal proclamation called, Serpents Kiss. One of the most surprising tracks on the CD is an incredible metal version of “Cold Gin” by Kiss.
The CD is an awesome amalgam of exceptional songwriting, predominate vocalization, and mind-blowing guitar licks, the dynamic metal duo of Atkins and May scores huge on Serpents Kiss.

I had the opportunity last week to chat with Al Atkins and Paul May about their recent collaboration.


Ray Shasho: Thank you both for chatting with me today about the Atkins/May Project. Would you say, ‘Serpents Kiss’ is classified as a prog metal album?
Al Atkins:“I think the opening track, “The Shallowing” and the last one, “Theatre of Fools” are very much like prog metal but the album twists and turns from hard hitting rock like the, “Fight” track to more modern sounding metal with each song.”
Ray Shasho: When would you say prog metal music first originated?
Al Atkins: “It's been around for a while but came to life in the 90's with bands like Dream Theatre and Queensryche, some people may argue with me but even some Metallica songs are very prog metal.”
Ray Shasho: Who were the pioneers of the genre?
Al Atkins: “Probably 'Cream' who fused jazz, blues and rock together and took the road away from short pop songs to 15 minute adlib solo epics. Even Judas Priest were classed as a prog rock or hard rock band in the early 70's with my style of writing with songs like, “Caviar and Meths” which was a very long track and sadly only a very short piece of it made their first album, 'Rocka Rolla'.”
Ray Shasho: Unfortunately, dance, hip-hop, and country music are the nucleus of American music nowadays. Many experts are considering rock and roll a subgenre, much like jazz was in the 60’s. Would you say the Atkins/May Project is sort of a statement suggesting that prog metal is alive and well?
Al Atkins: “I think the trouble with metal music is that it has taken a lot of different avenues over the years with being such a progressive animal that it is, like how fast can I play it, how high can I sing it, Black Metal , Death Metal,Grunge, Goth, Power, Prog, call it what you want and all the kids like their own styles. It's never happened with Melodic Rock, Country, Jazz or Blues music so it all gets split up and eventually it will maybe become a subgenre. The main core of metal to me is still old school like Sabbath, Maiden,Motorhead, AC/DC and Priest style bands which is a path Paul and myself follow down and try to keep the flag flying sort to speak.”
Ray Shasho: ‘Serpents Kiss’ has an awesome album cover, what does the serpent represent?
Al Atkins: “The serpent represents the English pound sign and was created by the artist Rodney Matthews. Paul commissioned him to do it with the word 'Betrayal ' in mind. (This is what Rodney has to say about it) ......“Money has become the God of the city of London and the shining towers, cathedrals of Mammon,'Serpents Kiss' is my own take on the essence of betrayal, selfishness and lies.” Rodney has done artwork for many bands going back years and you can check out more of this talented artist by visiting www.rodneymatthews.com."
Ray Shasho: Al, you’ve got the perfect voice for singing, “Cold Gin.” Awesome cover tune and you guys nailed it! Has Gene Simmons heard your version yet?
Al Atkins: “Not to my Knowledge??”
Ray Shasho: Have you received feedback from the KISS Army yet?
Al Atkins: “Yes we had a great response from them.”
Ray Shasho: Who selected the song for the album? I think your version is great!
Al Atkins: “Well thanks Ray. I suggested to Paul that we should feature a cover song and he came up with, “Cold Gin.” Paul having been a massive fan of theirs over the years I half expected it.....he did a great job on the arrangement and a cool middle eight solo section. It gets more air play than any other song on the album so it was a good move.”
Ray Shasho: Birmingham, England is such an important hub for musicians, especially rock music.  Why do so many important artists hail from Birmingham?
Al Atkins: “Black Sabbath started the metal scene off in Birmingham and bands like Judas Priest followed, Robert Plant teamed up with Jimmy Page to form Led Zep and the floodgates opened......Birmingham and the Black Country were Industrial areas in the UK and a lot of families struggled to make a living and this heavy, loud music was a way of letting out your demons and feelings.(You will never see an old photo of Black Country bands sitting under palm trees playing acoustic guitars with flowery shirts) It was also a way to make money ....it was like....playing music or working the foundries or down the mines.”
Ray Shasho: Do you regret leaving Judas Priest?
Al Atkins: “I was the only one in the band that was married with a kid to feed and without a record deal and the backing we needed I just couldn't survive anymore so I decided to get a haircut and a 9 to 5 job. Yes I did regret it but was happy for them to eventually get that deal and climb the ladder to succeed and they much deserved it.”
Ray Shasho: What would have been different with Judas Priest if you were still in the band?
Al Atkins: “Well when Rob came in he took them to another level with his style of high range vocals and then stepped in Glenn to add that harmony impact on guitars, both were writers too so they made their own mark and a great job too....if I would have stayed with them we may have taken a different road? Maybe more like AC/DC but that's not a bad thing is it? (A lot of your readers will disagree? LOL)”
Ray Shasho: Do you still keep in touch with your fellow band mates?
Al Atkins: “Yes especially with Ian who I met just last month after being invited to his Birthday Bash.”
Ray Shasho: When did your friendship with Robert Plant first begin?
Al Atkins: “Robert and myself are both more or less the same age and was both born in West Bromwich, a town just outside Birmingham. We drank in the same pubs and would always talk about music...we once played on the same bill, he was with 'The Band of Joy' and I was in the 'Bitta Sweet' it was around 67'. A year later teamed up with Jimmy Page and formed 'Led Zep' and I formed 'Judas Priest' in 69' ....returning from a successful first tour of USA he came to watch me and Priest at a local venue and it was great to see him later hit the big time.”
Ray Shasho: I haven’t interviewed Robert yet but I’ve heard from other artists that he’s a great guy?
Al Atkins: “I don't see him anymore and thought he would have forgotten me after all these years but when I wrote to him for a photo of his old band for a book I was writing (Dawn of the Metal Gods) he willingly obliged and wished me all the best with it (top bloke).”
Ray Shasho: Are you friends with Tony Iommi?  Do you know how he’s doing? …We all wish him the best!
Al Atkins: “Tony managed the early 'Judas Priest' around 73' getting us some higher profile gigs, even with us playing with Black Sabbath but alas I don't see him anymore. Sad news on his cancer scare and I wish him all the best with a hopefully speedy recovery too.”
Ray Shasho: Who were your favorite artists growing up?
Al Atkins: “'Cream', Pink Floyd’,'Quatermass' Black Sabbath', 'Deep Purple' Led Zep'...so many.”
Ray Shasho: What inspired you to sing metal?
Al Atkins: “Watching 'Deep Purple' at a 'Marshall Amplification Exhibition' in 68'… Ian Gillan’s vocals totally blew me away.”
Ray Shasho: Do you think rock and metal can regain the popularity it once had in America?
Al Atkins: “Hopefully, they say what goes round comes round?”
Ray Shasho: A metal voice has to be difficult to sustain. How do you keep your voice so strong?
Al Atkins: “Well I stopped smoking 20 years ago and I think that helped, but your voice changes over the years and now mine is like a screaming growl.”
Ray Shasho: What other projects are in the works? Other collaborations,concert dates?
Al Atkins: “I am currently working with USA guitarist Andy Degiselmina on a metal opera called 'Lyraka 2' which will be released at the end of this year. Other vocalists on board this project are Liz Vandal (Uli John Roth), Rob Diaz, Mark Boals (Ywangi Malmsteen), Graham Bonnet and Veronica Freeman (Benedictum). So I’m very privileged indeed to be named in the same breath has these top artists....Also Paul and myself are putting together a live band for some shows this year, so really looking forward to a great 2012.”
Ray Shasho: Paul, how did you know collaborating with Al Atkins was a good idea?
Paul May:  “I’ve had the privilege working with Al over the past twenty years or more. I played guitar, wrote and produced alongside him on all five of his solo albums: namely “Judgment Day,” “Dreams of Avalon,” “Heavy Thoughts,” “Victim of Changes,” and guested on “Demon Deceiver.” So, we both kind of know how each other “tick” so to speak, and are aware of each other’s skills and abilities. I personally think that Al’s voice has actually got stronger and more powerful as the years have gone by which proved perfect for the new, “Serpents Kiss” album.”
Ray Shasho: When did you both first meet and start working together?
Paul May: “I was first introduced to Al at a local gig that I was playing at in West Bromwich, (Black Country). We hit it off pretty much immediately, and he asked me to play on some demo tracks he had written at that time. Those songs eventually evolved into the tracks that would be used for his first solo album. And onwards it went from there really.”
Ray Shasho: Talk about the origin behind writing, “Dream Maker,” and “Signz.” Great tunes!
Paul May: “Cheers, thanks for that! “Dream Maker” was the original contender for the opening track on the “Serpents Kiss”album. One of my personal favorites. I think lyrically it’s fairly blatant in its content, in as much as, it’s a modern day Psalm and Prayer that’s calling on God for a plan and purpose, the guts to see it through and for deliverance from the darkest trials that we may face. As far as the feel of the song goes, I wanted it to have that kind of “Classic” Hard Rock sound like old school metal. I think I got that.”
“Funnily enough, “Signz” was originally meant to be the second track on the album, and was originally a track intended for my band A.N.D co-written with another good pal of mine Dave Rowley who now fronts that band! You picked up on a song with a more serious edge to it! It’s actually a warning to test and weigh what we hear and see nowadays and not get ‘suckered’ in by every wave of false doctrine that we constantly get bombarded with on TV! Classic Hard Rock style in its delivery with some Chunky guitars and class vocals from Al.”
Ray Shasho: Paul, talk about the origin behind writing, “Judge,” and “Betta Than Twisted.”
Paul May: “I wrote, “Judge” in the very interesting time signature of 7/8, which gives it that sense of urgency. Classic NWOBHM style with a twist! It’s an obvious Christian Track! However, “Betta than Twisted” is a much darker and sinister affair. It’s about the betrayal of trust, the malice that is inflicted from that bitterness and the legend that is created when that story is embellished and retold over and over until the lies become ‘truth’ in a twisted mind! Ha, not for the faint hearted! But apart from that it’s a commercial rocker with a good riff! Lol.”
Ray Shasho: “Theatre of Fools” is such a great song! I could easily hear the song being played as a soundtrack for a movie. (Long track) Awesome guitars … What inspired the song? It’s my favorite track of the album!
Paul May:  “Yes, “Theatre of Fools” is my favorite track too for several different reasons. It is a big track no doubt, clocking in just under 9 minutes!! It’s a very passionate song, in many ways, and covers a very emotive and controversial subject! Musically, there’s loads of light and dark elements, building continually as the song progresses. When all of the elements of the song were put together in my studio, even the rough mix made the hairs stand up on my arm! Al’s vocals were fabulous and exactly as they should be and the whole atmosphere of the track left us in no doubt that this had to be the finishing track on the album! It does retain all the qualities of an “epic” soundtrack, which is in keeping with the huge subject matter it tries to communicate. Which, in retrospect, was quite “prophetic” in its nature.”
“It’s a song about dictators, tyrants and the fall of their regimes! It was written with the Iraq situation and conclusion still fresh in the public’s heart and the media’s eye, but I just felt that there was much more to come. And sure enough this proved to be true! Even over the past twelve months or so we’ve seen the further demise of several tyrants and world dictatorships! The song tells about the role of madness that causes devastation, by men who try to act like they are "gods", with their only eventuality being their own destruction! Sadly, it’s still happening as we talk! I pose the question in the middle of the song “Have all the heroes been honored now?” ..... Let’s not forget!!! So, basically this track had to be huge to cover such a subject. It’s my vote for best track on the album. Mine too! Cheers Ray!”
Ray Shasho: Paul, you are a genuine guitar virtuoso. What artists inspired you into playing the guitar?
Paul May: “Wow, I loved so many ... Believe it or not the artists that inspired me to get up and do it weren’t really guitar heroes!! Elvis, Bolan, Slade!! But as I was learning guitar the likes of Clapton and Hendrix were obviously essential listening and inspiration! Boston & Thin Lizzy for their harmony lead work, Black Sabbath for their amazing riffs and Motorhead for their raw edge! Kiss for their commercial rock ’n’ roll, Eagles .... the list is just way too long!!!”
Ray Shasho: What artists do you like to listen to today?
Paul May: “Massively varied, as I love to play all types of music, and produce many different styles! I’m actually enjoying listening to everything from Biffy Clyro to Alison Krauss ... from Adele to AC/DC at the moment. I recently caught live Jools Holland (Fab pianist) and the legendary Deep Purple! Old school but very cool!”
Ray Shasho: I noticed you play Warrior guitars, are they your favorite guitars to play and why?
Paul May: “For many years I used Gibson, Steinberger and Fender ... which are all great tried and tested guitars! Particularly the Steinberger’s, But I was looking for something a little different and special. I was actually at the NAMM show in Anaheim LA and I’d been looking around at literally thousands of guitars and couldn’t find what I was looking for. I stumbled across the Warrior stall. I checked out their guitars on show and instantly fell in love with the prototype they had on display. I spoke with JD the maker to see if we could cut an endorsement deal and he was very kind to me and allowed me to buy his prototype. I found out that he himself was a Christian and he had the desire to make the best guitars the world had to offer! He not only made these superb guitars but he actually put his faith in action too, which at the time was very important to me. The guitars are all unique and custom made and I would recommend them to all! And some of the people at warrior have become good friends Bobby and JD both sound guys!!”
Ray Shasho: I believe Rick Derringer plays Warrior too, he lives down the road from me here in Bradenton, Florida.
Paul May: “Yes, Ricks got his own Warrior Model guitar, another fab guitarist I used to listen to in my early years!! Be great to catch up with him and have a Jam at the NAMM for Warrior! Now that would be cool!!”
Ray Shasho: How was Christian Metal first received?
Paul May: “I’ve actually had the privilege of meeting many of the ground breaking Christian Metal artists the likes of Glen Kaiser, Michael Sweet, Oz Fox, Michael Bloodgood, Ted Kirkpatrick etc via a ministry weekend that I Pastored on behalf of Meltdown Ministry here in the UK for several years, and they are all great musicians and vocalists! Really! However they are the cream of the crop! and other Christian Metal artists, particularly here in the UK were possibly not as accomplished as they were the majority of the time, even though they were sincere! So, for the out and out rockers that appreciated good metal they accepted the Christian genre regardless, but for others that were used to hearing pretty much dark lyrics about dark things it was a bit of a shock and they even found it offensive!! Lol!”
Ray Shasho: Paul, what other projects are in the works? Collaborations, Producing, concert tours?
Paul May: “Well, I’m already currently writing and recording for the next ATKINS MAY PROJECT album which is lot heavier than the last CD, and hopefully going to be collaborating with Al on some of the tracks too! Both of my other bands Temple Dogs and A.N.D are intending to release new albums this year, Temple dogs being a rock n roll affair, no guitar hero stuff on that, and A.N.D is a more metal encounter! I have a couple of things I need to produce and record too and Al and myself are in the process of putting a band together for some live dates ... looking forward to that one.”
Ray Shasho: Al and Paul thank you so much for spending time with me today. ‘Serpents Kiss’ is a great metal album; I look forward to many more Atkins/May collaborations in the near future.
Al Atkins: “Big thanks Ray!”
Paul May: “Cheers Ray, take care man!”

Atkins May Project official website www.atkinsmayproject.com
Order the Atkins May Project’s latest CD ‘Serpents Kiss’ at www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8611575
Al Atkins official website www.alatkins.com
Paul May official website www.paulmay.biz

Many thanks to the great Billy James of Glass Onyon Publicity for arranging this interview.
Official website www.glassonyonpublicity.wordpress.com

Don’t forget to purchase Author/Columnist Ray Shasho’s new book Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com or iuniverse.com.

 
Pacific Book Review says… 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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