Happy Together Tour draws another packed house at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater

By Ray Shasho

Happy Together 2012 Concert Review

Your hometown “Boss Jock” excitedly babbled over the airwaves about the latest hit record to enter his hot “Stacks of Wax” while you listened impatiently on your pocket-sized AM transistor radio held close to your ear. Your next move was to rush down to the nearest record store and grab a 45 rpm copy for less than a buck before the store sold-out. Then you dashed back home or over to a friend’s house where it was played over and over again on a portable record player and practically wearing down the enduring stylus beneath the pivoting tone arm. There were no MP3s or Smartphones, just an uncomplicated time when the music meant more than the technology.

 The Happy Together concert brought it all back in a single evening of personal gratification and appreciation for some of those artists that helped mold a very important generation. For about three hours last night, a packed Ruth Eckerd Hall rekindled its youth and stopped the proverbial clock from ticking.

The evening began promptly at 7:30 p.m. with the introduction of The Buckinghams. Original bandmates guitarist/vocalist Carl Giammarese and bassist/vocalist Nick Fortuna performed one of the tightest performances of the evening and their vocals were superlative. The Chicago band was often mistaken for a British group in the 60s because of their name, led off with their 1967 (#6) Hit “Don’t You Care.” In 1967 The Buckinghams were dubbed “The Most Listened to Band in America,” by Billboard Magazine. Their set continued with (#12) Hit “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song)” and (#5) Hit “Mercy, Mercy Mercy.” Giammarese romantically singled out a woman sitting in the front row during “Susan” (#11) Hit. The Buckinghams concluded their set with their number (#1) Hit single “Kind Of a Drag” followed by a well deserved standing ovation.

Immediately after The Buckinghams exited the stage the PA announcer introduced The Grass Roots. The Roots are an interesting story, spotlighted by guitarist Dusty Hanvey and bassist/lead vocalist Mark Dawson. There are no original members of The Grass Roots in the band remaining. The heart and soul of The Grass Roots was frontman and leader Rob Grill who passed away in Orlando, Fl before last year’s Happy Together Tour. But nevertheless they are still a very good band. Dusty Hanvey’s guitar solo is definitely a highpoint on the tour, as it were last year. Hanvey is an exceptional guitarist who could probably match licks with most classic rock virtuosos. The Grass Roots opened with their (#16) Hit “Two Divided By Love” and (#9) Hit “Sooner Or Later.” Probably the biggest moment of the show came when the band harmonized a beautiful and haunting arrangement to all the veterans which quickly integrated into their (#8) Hit “Let’s Live For Today.” You could almost feel Rob Grill’s presence smiling down from the heavens. Dusty Hanvey’s solo during the song was remarkable and Dawson’s vocals were admirable. The band concluded their set with (#15) Hit “Temptation Eyes” and the bands biggest Hit (#5) in 1968 “Midnight Confessions.”

Without skipping a beat Gary Puckett arrived on stage. Puckett won the most youthful-looking prize for the evening and was remarkably fit. Puckett opened with one of many of his 1968 chartbusting hits “Lady Willpower” (#2) Hit, followed by “Over You” (#7) Hit. Puckett schmoozed the audience as a seasoned entertainer should. The Union Gap frontman lives in the Clearwater area so he had family and friends in the audience. Puckett mentioned that he was introduced recently at a Martin Short show at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Puckett’s next selection was “This Girl Is A Woman Now” (#2) Hit in 1969, followed by “Woman, Woman” #4 Hit in 1968, which Puckett said has reached the 16-million mark in total sales. Gary Puckett’s most memorable moment of the evening came with his performance of “Home” a tune dedicated to all the men and women defending our country. The song was accompanied by a heartfelt tribute film to the vets and received a huge standing ovation. Prior to the song, Puckett asked all the veterans in the audience to stand up and be recognized, and he thanked all of them while the audience applauded their accolades. Gary Puckett ended his set with “Young Girl” his #2 Hit from 1968.
Ray's interview with Gary Puckett can be found here www.examiner.com/article/an-interview-with-music-legends-micky-dolenz-ga...

After a short intermission it was time to bring out a Monkee. An exhilarated Micky Dolenz bounced out on stage as if he were still performing on The Monkees hit TV show. Dolenz definitely had the loudest crowd reception of the evening for an introduction. Wearing hat and sunglasses Micky belted out the Boyce and Hart penned 1966 tune “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (#20) Hit, followed by “She.” Dolenz proclaimed to the audience that the next tune was the one that started it all for The Monkees, then Micky performed a marvelous rendition of “Last Train To Clarksville” The Monkees (#1) Hit in 1966. Dolenz dedicated his next few selections to his former bandmate and close friend Davey Jones who passed away in February of this year. The Ruth Eckerd audience became fixated on a slideshow of Jones while Dolenz sang a few of Davey’s trademark tunes “Daydream Believer” (#1) Hit and “A Little Bit Me, and A Little Bit You” (#2) Hit on the Billboard charts.
Dolenz also thanked all the great writers of Monkees songs including Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart, and on his next song, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” a Carole King penned composition. Micky Dolenz concluded his set with “I’m A Believer” The Monkees (#1) Hit in 1966.
Ray's interview with Micky Dolenz can also be found here www.examiner.com/article/an-interview-with-music-legends-micky-dolenz-ga...

After Micky Dolenz finished his set “Flo and Eddie” of The Turtles were introduced on stage. Professor Mark Volman (Belmont University) and Howard Kaylan repeated the Lady Gaga skit of last year and then opened their show with “She’d Rather Be With Me” (#3) Hit, followed by “You Baby.” “It Ain’t Me Babe” a Top Ten Hit in 1965 penned by Bob Dylan was performed next and always a crowd pleaser. The strongest tunes of their set were “Elenore” 1968 (#6) Hit and “Happy Together” (#1) Hit in 1967 knocking The Beatles “Penny Lane” from the number one position. The Turtles are always an exciting act to watch.
Ray's interview with The Turtles Mark Volman www.examiner.com/article/the-turtles-profound-witty-professor-mark-volma...

For the evening’s music finale, each artist was brought back to the stage one by one to sing their biggest hit song with the rest of the performers.
The Happy Together Tour has been delighting audiences since 1984, and last night’s packed house made it evident that there is a continued need for nostalgia entertainment. And after all, how can you go wrong when you’re featuring five of the greatest bands of the decade singing over 25 hit songs. It was a fun and entertaining evening for all.

Special thanks to everyone at Ruth Eckerd Hall and especially Katie Pedretty.
Also very special thanks to Jeff Albright of the Albright Entertainment Group.
For future Ruth Eckerd Hall and Capitol Theatre events go to www.rutheckerdhall.com
Contact author/columnist Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

Order Ray’s great new memoir called ‘Check the Gs’ and relive those magic memories of your youth. The book is also available for download on Nook and Kindle for ONLY .99 CENTS at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.
~~Pacific Book Review says… Ray Shasho is a product of the second half of the 20th century, made in the USA from parts around the world, and within him is every trend in music, television, politics and culture contributing to his philosophical and comically analytical reflections collected in his fine book of memories. 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.

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An interview with music legends Micky Dolenz & Gary Puckett -Happy Together 2012

By Ray Shasho

Happy Together Tour 2012
Micky Dolenz the unmistakable and charismatic lead singer of The Monkees along with Gary Puckett pop/rock troubadour for The Union Gap will be performing together on the Happy Together Tour 2012. The tour launches June 8th in Columbus, Georgia and arrives at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fl on June 15th.

View slideshow: An interview with music legends Micky Dolenz & Gary Puckett

This year’s Happy Together Tour spotlights another who’s who of Top 40 Chartbusters including- The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, Gary Puckett of The Union Gap, The Buckinghams and The Grassroots. Last year’s similar lineup was a sell-out for Ruth Eckerd Hall’s 2180 seating capacity.
 
Micky Dolenz began a career in show business as a child actor in the 1956 TV Series Circus Boy. Micky played Corky; a 12-year old adopted by the traveling circus who eventually becomes a water boy to Bimbo the baby elephant. The TV series ran through 1958.
Los Angeles, California native Micky Dolenz auditioned for a TV series in 1965 called The Monkees. He won the role as the impetuous singer/drummer for a fictitious rock and roll band that mocked The Beatles but would never become successful. But in reality, The Monkees became pop/rock superstars and Monkeemania was born.

The Monkees debut single “Last Train to Clarksville” was an instant smash reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The tune had similarities to The Beatles “Paperback Writer.” The Monkees were led by Micky Dolenz on lead vocals and drums, Davy Jones on vocals and tambourine, Mike Nesmith on guitar and Peter Tork on bass and keyboards. The band was profoundly supervised and produced by Don Kirshner. Many of The Monkees songs were written by legendary artists like Carole King and Gerry Goffin (“Pleasant Valley Sunday”), Neil Diamond (“I’m a Believer” #1 Hit) (“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”), Boyce and Hart (“I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”), (“Theme from) the Monkees”), (“Last Train to Clarksville”#1 Hit), and John Stewart of The Kingston Trio (“Daydream Believer” #1 Hit). The Monkees became one of the most lucrative acts of the 60s.

After The Monkees impassioned breakup with Producer Don Kirshner, They released a psychedelic theatrical project called Head. The movie featured cameos by Jack Nicholson and Frank Zappa. Both the movie and soundtrack were shunned by the critics only to become a cult classic. Micky’s vocalization on The “Porpoise Song” written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King were sublime and surreal.
Micky Dolenz chatted with me about Happy Together 2012, The Monkees, his relationship with The Beatles, and the passing of his dear friend Davey Jones. Dolenz continues to tour and sing all The Monkees classic hits. He also acts in various musical stage productions worldwide.

Clearwater, Fl resident Gary Puckett began his trek to Top 40 superstardom with the release of the 1968 Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne penned “Woman, Woman.” The song was a smash hit during one of the most spectacular years for Top 40 radio history. The tune hit #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Like so many bands of the decade, every group seemed to need a visual gimmick. Under manager Dick Badger, the band wore Union Army Civil War uniforms. Gary Puckett and The Union Gap churned out hit after hit throughout 1968 and 1969 chalking up six consecutive gold records. “Young Girl” #2 Hit, “Lady Willpower”#2 Hit, “Over You” #7 Hit, “Don’t Give Into Him”#15 Hit, and “This Girl Is A Woman Now” #9 Hit. Legendary Songwriter and Producer Jerry Fuller wrote (3) of those classic hits.

The Union Gap disbanded in 1971. Puckett has performed on more than thirty network Television shows and prime time specials in his career. In 1986, Puckett was invited to tour with The Monkees for their reunion tour.
In 2001, Gary Puckett released In Europe and a critically acclaimed Christmas CD entitled At Christmas. In 2002, Puckett released a collection of hits called Gary Puckett "Live" featuring the single “Home” and dedicated it to all of our troops around the world.

Here’s my interview with (2) legendary pop/rock artists. First we’ll chat with Gary Puckett of The Union Gap followed by Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.

Ray Shasho: Thanks for being on the call today Gary. We’re only about 53 minutes apart from each other, you in Clearwater and me here in Bradenton.
Gary Puckett: “We came here in 2000 from Southern California. We’re happy to be here, we love the gators and all the wildlife, birdlife, the turtles… and all that in our backyard.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, we’re all excited about Happy Together Tour 2012 which kicks off June 8th in Columbus, Georgia and arrives in your backyard at Ruth Eckerd Hall on June 15th.
Gary Puckett: “I was actually on the very first Happy Together Tour that went out in 1984. It was The Turtles, The Association, Spanky and Our Gang, and me. That was the first one that went out there as an oldies tour, and the promoters were not really sure how to do it, to make it profitable. But we ended up touring about eight months of the year. It was just amazing; we were constantly on the road. We all ended up buying vehicles of our own to get around and through it. There were some fly dates of course but generally we were in a big black Ford that held 15 passengers which I bought for my bunch … and we called it the Puckett Bucket. (All laughing)”
“It was one of those things …Happy Together became very successful in ‘84 and ‘85… then in 1986; it turned into The Monkees 20 year reunion tour which I was invited to be on. It was wildly successful; I think it was the biggest tour of that year. Then years later… they find out that these package tours really do work, giving the concertgoer their bang for the buck. And they get lots and lots of hits in one evening and there are five acts on the bill now … and great memories.”
Ray Shasho The nostalgia and karma these types of shows generate is so important for so many people … especially the Baby Boomer Generation.
Gary Puckett: “Mark Volman of The Turtles said to me years ago, “You do an interesting thing when you walk out on stage.” I said what’s that? He said, “You take off your wristwatch.”
Ray Shasho: So I guess Professor Volman is on summer break from his classroom so he can go out on tour again?
Gary Puckett: “They had to plan the tour around his school schedule. But he’s tenured I think. He’s got a great class that everybody loves, in fact when we spoke just last week he said we’ve got to get you into my class to chat with the students and let them in on your experience.”
Ray Shasho: Talk a little bit about your relationship with Producer Jerry Fuller; was that a similar relationship as with Don Kirshner and The Monkees?
Gary Puckett: “Well yea in a way …but Jerry and I to this day we now have a good relationship. We had some rocky times but Jerry is a talented, songwriting, producing guy. He was an artist and had some regional successes on the radio, things that he had written and recorded. He wrote “Travelin’ Man” for Ricky Nelson and to this day is probably responsible for about 120 million record and CD sales etc. He worked with everybody from me, Johnny Mathis, John Davidson to others. He wrote and produced Al Wilson’s “Show and Tell.” Jerry was extremely talented but was also a¬ ‘my way or the highway’ kind of guy. And if you disagreed with him …tough! But on the flipside to that he was given responsibility to have control of the budget he was given by the record company and to find talent to make hit records. So we did really well for a couple of years together and then got to loggerheads for some stupid reason and it’s probably me. Who knows at this point in retrospect… so there was a parting of the way at some point. But we did a concert about a year ago now at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and Jerry and his family live in Southern California. I invited him to come up and for the first time in our entire career we sang “Young Girl” together on stage and it really was terrific. So the relationship is good.”
Ray Shasho: And you also had a couple of other great songwriters working with you in Jim Glaser and Jimmy Payne.
Gary Puckett: “Yup… “Woman, Woman” was written by those guys. Jerry had the song in his hand and he knew what to do with it. He said, “This is a hit song, we just got to take it out of the country genre and put it into a pop genre.” And so we did. In any case it was a huge hit and sold a million and half records. To this date, I found out from a publisher some time ago, that it’s on its way to 16- million copies.”
Ray Shasho: I always believed that 1968 was one of the greatest years of all-time for Top 40 radio. What was it like after “Woman, Woman” became a huge hit?
Gary Puckett: “It was a huge whirlwind of activity and experience and we got to work with all the great groups from The Beach Boys to The Human Beinz. Memories that sort of pass by me …I remember an evening at Yale Bowl with 12,000 people sitting there and waiting for a concert. And we were down on the grass with The Association throwing a Frisbee around waiting for them to say okay its time.”
“Things like that … and working with Junior Walker & The All Stars to Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels to being booed off the stage. We were the closing of the first half of a show that really featured Mitch Ryder. We only had the one hit record at that time and for the twenty minutes we were on stage we heard nothing but 20,000 people in the Pittsburgh Arena booing until we got to “Woman, Woman” and then they quieted down.”
Ray Shasho: You also performed on countless Television programs.
Gary Puckett: “Ed Sullivan (3) times, The Red Skelton Show, and all those variety comedic- type of shows, even Virginia Graham pops into mind and Mike Douglas.”
Ray Shasho: FM radio and the arrival of album rock led to the demise for many of the 45 singles ‘Hitmakers’ of the 60s. Tommy James was able to extend his longevity with “Crimson and Clover.” What was it like for Gary Puckett & The Union Gap?
Gary Puckett: “I didn’t work publicly from 1970 through 1980. It was very difficult. I kind of made the decision to not to go back in the studio when I should have gone back in the studio. I should have just let Columbia Records continue to drive the bus. I wanted to have a little more control over my recording career. My foresight was not what their foresight was and my ability to find hit songs wasn’t what there’s was. So it really was the decline. Unfortunately for me making the decision that I made to take a year off to write songs and come roaring back didn’t work.”
Ray Shasho: Do you still talk with any of the original Union Gap band members?
Gary Puckett: “Yea, from time to time. I spoke a couple of months ago to Dwight Bement, he’s up in Colorado Springs, spoke recently with Kerry Chater he’s in Nashville. The other guys I haven’t talked with in quite some time. Gary Withem is up in Indiana retired, Paul Wheatbread is down in San Diego still with his family, and I haven’t talked with Paul for many years.”
Ray Shasho: Do you have children …grandchildren Gary?
Gary Puckett: “Our oldest daughter just got married and she’s returning from her honeymoon. She was married on a Disney Cruise on the private island. It happened a week and half ago. Saturday night we were having her reception out here at the house. So there was a lot of physical labor around the house … everything from weeding and planting and mulching to cleaning the roof and sealing the pavers and all that stuff to make it beautiful for her reception.”
“But she just got accepted into USF Medical School, so we kind of think that grandkids with her are down the road a bit. But the younger one who is going to turn 23 has just fallen in love and we think that this might be the guy for her. So we have a feeling that she’ll be the first and a grandchild.”
“They were both Florida Gators … Michaela the older one was the drum major for three years for the Gator band. The younger one Sydney played clarinet in the band at that time. We got to go in 2006 when they beat the Ohio Buckeyes and Michaela was the first one out on the field of course because they come out in that high stepping routine.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, recent recordings you’d like to talk about?
Gary Puckett: “I have the “Lost Tapes” CD which is a snapshot of Gary Puckett. In the mid 70s, my brother David and I, he wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music then I produced it and played most of the guitar. It’s a great, sensitive, beautiful album and you cannot get it anywhere except from my website or in the merchandise line after the show. And my Christmas album that everyone seems to like a lot.”
“All you troops out there that are reading this column go to my website and on the opening page it says veterans please click here, click on the link it’s called maggivets.com (MAGGI Veterans Solutions) and if you qualify you can receive benefits from the U.S. Government that you may not know about. So please go there if you are a veteran.”
Ray Shasho: Gary, thank you for spending time with me today. But more importantly for all the great music you gave to us over the years. We’ll see you at Happy Together 2012 in Clearwater, Fl on June 15th.
Gary Puckett: “Ray, it’s really been a pleasure talking with you and you’re welcome. And thank you for being interested in me today. See you at the show.”
A few hours after I hung up with Gary Puckett, I connected with Monkees legend Micky Dolenz. Micky was doing a solo gig in Illinois that evening.
Ray Shasho: Hello Micky, thank you for being on the call today.
Micky Dolenz: “Hi Ray, I actually just left your part of the world at Epcot in Orlando.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, we’re all excited that you’ll be performing at this year’s Happy Together Tour and making a stop at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.
Micky Dolenz: “I love that venue too; I’ve played there so many times on different shows and had a great time.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, I lost a dear friend unexpectedly recently, and he was only 52 years of age, so I can somewhat relate to how you must have felt when you heard of the passing of your dear friend Davey Jones.
Mickey Dolenz: “Yea, it was tough, and it hit me a lot harder than I even realize that it would. We had just been on the road together on tour and he seemed to be in pretty good shape, and it really came out of the blue. These days you never know.”
Ray Shasho: Besides the Happy Together Tour what else have you got going on?
Mickey Dolenz: “I tour as a solo of course like tonight and the last few days at Epcot. I won’t be doing too many of the solo gigs in June or July because of the Happy Together Tour, it’s pretty constant and a lot of cities. I’ve also been doing an awful lot of musical theatre; in fact I’ve been at Ruth Eckerd Hall a number of times doing musical theatre. Shows like Aida, an Elton John and Tim Rice musical and the revival of the 70s show Pippin. Last year I was in England doing Hairspray in the West End. So that’s kind of what I do when I’m not on tour as a solo act.”
Ray Shasho: I heard a rumor that you auditioned for a role as the Riddler on the Batman Forever movie in which Jim Carrey actually won the role.
Micky Dolenz: “(Laughing) I heard that rumor … I was never asked or never went on an audition or interview for it. They may have been thinking about it but I would have no way of knowing. But I’ve heard that rumor and I don’t know if it’s true.”
Ray Shasho: Besides reporting on classic rock music, I’ve added a segment to my column and have begun interviewing classic TV icons, so I ‘m getting the best of both worlds by chatting with you today Micky. I never had an opportunity to watch Circus Boy before, but because of today’s modern technology, I can finally watch you on that great TV series. How did you land the role of Corky on Circus Boy?
Micky Dolenz: “My parents were both in show business. My father was an actor, my mom an actress, and both singers, dancers and actors. They met in Los Angeles doing a play together and so I grew up in a show biz family. My father was working as a working actor and I guess his agent one day said, “Should we have Micky go down and audition for a show?” I must have said okay, I don’t remember ever being pressured into it or anything like that, but I do remember going to some interviews when I was younger. And one of them was this show called Circus Boy. Obviously I screen tested for it and got it.”
Ray Shasho: Were there tons of other kids at the audition?
Micky Dolenz: “No, I don’t recall being around a whole lot of kids. It wasn’t like the cattle call audition, but it wouldn’t have been because I had an agent and my father was an actor. It might have been if there was dancing involved, a big dance call or music call for singing or something.”
Ray Shasho: Do you regret not continuing in an acting role as a kid, maybe landing another TV character role or perhaps as an actor in a motion picture right after the Circus Boy series ended?
Micky Dolenz: “No I don’t at all. What happened was, my parents after Circus Boy decided to take me out of show business for two years to go back to normal school. It was the smartest thing they ever did. Because those are the years …after you have a hit show and you’re young, those are the tough years trying to make it, people think you’re too old for this part or too young for that part and you’ve already had a show so you’re kind of already a has been at 12. And those are the years that could cause problems. My parents very wisely took me out of the business. I just went back to school …and by the time I got out of high school, I kind of decided what I wanted to do. I wanted to be an architect. And so then I went back and started doing a little bit of acting jobs in some of the shows in the early 60s like Mr. Novak and Peyton Place, and I was in college studying to be an architect and along came The Monkees interview.”
Ray Shasho: The documentary Making the Monkees from 2007 was actually on television several nights ago. The thing that stood out the most about that documentary was Mike Nesmith’s animosity with Producer Don Kirshner.
Micky Dolenz: “He was … Mike wasn’t getting his music, and his songs, his influence …none of us were. None of us were really consulted … in the early days that is. We were never consulted about the music.”
Ray Shasho: That situation reminded me of the movie Rock Star, where a tribute band singer is called in to play for the real band but just as a hired singer. He wants to add his songwriting talents to the band but is rejected, so he walks off the stage, quits, and does his own thing.
Micky Dolenz: “In our case, it was a slightly different kettle of fish because The Monkees was a television show. And we were cast in the television show to play this imaginary band. Because that’s what The Monkees was …it was a television show about a band. And they must have had in mind that we were going to sing and play because they cast us like that. We had to be able to sing and play, act, and do everything to get through the audition so I played guitar, Johnny B. Goode on the guitar for instance, and Mike would have played something, Peter would have played something on the banjo, and you had to be able to sing, act, and improvise. So they had in mind that they wanted us obviously to sing and play, but then the mechanism of RCA, NBC, and Screen Gems television … the mechanism was pretty powerful and when the ball started rolling it was very difficult to stop it.”
Ray Shasho: Did you guys know that you may be actually touring as a real band?
Micky Dolenz: “I think they implied that because we started rehearsing immediately. So I think that was in the master plan absolutely to go on the road and play. Otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered to hire people who could play. The closest thing these days to what The Monkees was as a paradigm is Glee, which is a TV show about an imaginary Glee Club. But they can sing, and they can dance, and they can act, and I heard they went on the road.”
Ray Shasho: I read a quote from Michael Nesmith in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine after Davey’s passing that read, "For me, David was The Monkees. They were his band. We were his side men.” I don’t mean disrespect in anyway … Davey was a great talent, and Mike may have been just caught up in the moment after Davey’s passing, but I was really shocked over that statement. I’ve always believed you were the true voice of the Monkees and I hope most of the fans would agree.
Mickey Dolenz: “Well … thank you and I really appreciate that.”
Ray Shasho: What was it like for you after The Monkees went out on their very first tour?
Micky Dolenz: “It was pretty crazy and I don’t remember a whole lot about it, and not for the reasons people might thing. But it was just because there was so much going on so fast and also because it was 45 years ago. It was a harrowing experience …the whole thing, including the tour. You move so fast and are constantly in motion. I have glimpses of massive crowds and limos and cars and stuff like that. But I couldn’t tell you if you asked me where I was or what I did on any particular day, time, city, or venue because I’d have no idea.”
“And it happens today when I’m on tour, even when I was doing Hairspary in England recently and we were in ten or twelve cities in twelve or fourteen weeks. You’re moving in and out of hotels and apartments and then doing eight shows a week and having time to just sleep and eat and move on to the next one. It’s very difficult … for me anyway, to keep track of where I am and what day it is. (Laughing)”
Ray Shasho: “Micky, you had a special relationship with The Beatles and actually hung out with them at the Sgt. Pepper’s sessions.”
Micky Dolenz: “Yea, I was just visiting. I was lucky to meet all The Beatles and as you say … to get into some of the Sgt. Pepper sessions and had a great time. And over the years spent some time with all four of The Beatles … I would say mainly Ringo and John out in LA. And I just saw Ringo a few weeks ago.”
Ray Shasho: What were the Hollywood Vampires all about?
Micky Dolenz: “(Laughing) Alice Cooper organized it and had some shirts made. It was a weekend softball team and get together. We’d play softball on weekend out in the valley and decided playing at some charity gigs. It was a lot of fun and went on for quite a while.”
Ray Shasho: Was that also part of the infamous lost weekend that everyone seems to talk about?
Micky Dolenz: “Not the Hollywood Vampires … that was John’s lost weekend, but he was around. I don’t recall him playing a lot of softball because he would have probably been playing soccer. But I remember seeing him during those months …yea.”
Ray Shasho: Mickey, as a critic, I really liked the Head soundtrack. I think the time was right for that release. After all music was about to go through the transition into FM Album rock anyway.
Micky Dolenz: “I’m very proud of that album. Last year when we went out as The Monkees, David, Peter and I, we did that whole album in its entirety and in order … and it was really great. That was a great tour and I had fun on that.”
Ray Shasho: I know Carole King was a contributor on the Head album, and I Frank Zappa appeared in the movie, but did he contribute to the album in any way?
Micky Dolenz: “No, he didn’t. Carole wrote a couple of great songs on that album …“The Porpoise Song,” “As We Go Along,” and “Swami -Plus Strings.” I’ve always loved her material; in fact I did a tribute album to her called King For A Day.”
Ray Shasho: I was a radio deejay back in the late 70’s and you became a morning deejay on WCBS-FM in New York in 2005?
Micky Dolenz: “Yea I was. I had a great time. It was very-very hard …it was tough. People don’t realize what a tough gig that is. Especially that early morning thing like I did. It’s a lot of work and you can’t use all of your senses, just your voice and ears.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, do you believe The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Micky Dolenz: “Oh …it’s not for me to say. I’m very flattered that people, fans, and even the press have gone out there, signed petitions and stuff like that. I’ve never been one to chase awards or anything like that to be honest. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not a public democratic organization; it’s a private club basically. It’s like a private golf club and they decide who they’re going to let in the club. Like I say, it’s not a democratic decision it’s a very private -one. Like a golf club … like Augusta deciding if they’re going to let women in the club. It’s their business and they can let enter or keep out anybody they want. But it’s a great organization too; I’ve done some charity work for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame foundation. They do a lot of great charity work but like I say it’s a private club. There’s really no rhyme or reason, it’s just the musical preference of a few people there.”
Ray Shasho: Micky, I want to thank you so much for being on the call today and especially for all the great music you gave us over the years. I’ll see you at Happy Together 2012 in Clearwater on June 15th.
Micky Dolenz: “Thanks very much Ray, I’ll see you at the show…bye-bye!”

The Happy Together Tour 2012 KICKS OFF June 8TH in Columbus, GA. and arrives at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL on June 15th. Buy your tickets now at www.rutheckerdhall.com or call 727-791-7400.
Micky Dolenz official website- www.mickydolenz.com
Gary Puckett Official Website- www.garypuckettmusic.com
Happy Together Tour 2012 schedule- www.theturtles.com/documents/tour.html

Special thanks To Jeff Albright of The Albright Entertainment Group -Official website http://rockstarpr.com
Contact columnist/author Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com

Order Ray Shasho’s incredible memoir called ‘Check the Gs’ The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com and available to download on Kindle or Nook for Just .99 cents!

A teacher in Miami, Fl says… Original, Entertaining and Hilarious-- This book has all the elements of a classic in the making. The novel is centralized around Raymond, a boy growing up around the family store in Washington, DC ...but that is just the tip of the plot. The dynamic characters really make this memoir. Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding ...but with "Cuberians" the families made up name for what you get when you mix Cubans with Syrians from Brooklyn.
http://greatnewmemoir.blogspot.com

  
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Exclusive: Frank Marino legendary guitarist “I can’t play guitar without severe pain”

 By Ray Shasho

Frank Marino is an invigorating virtuoso and champion guitar slinger who is also considered to be among the greatest players of all-time. The Montreal native and his assiduous band Mahogany Rush were one of the elite monster rock acts throughout the 70s.
The band performed on several prestigious television music shows including Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special hosted by the notorious Wolfman Jack. Marino jokingly stated in this interview that Mahogany Rush was mysteriously omitted from the Midnight Special DVD collector video library released to the public.
Mahogany Rush also played for more than 300,000 people at California Jam II in 1978. The televised concert featured Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Santana, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Heart, Bob Welch (with Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood), Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush and Rubicon.
Mahogany Rush was managed by Steve Leber and David Krebs, who also handled Aerosmith and Ted Nugent. Some of the bands most significant releases include, Maxoom, Child of the Novelty, Strange Universe, Mahogany Rush IV, World Anthem, Live, Tales of the Unexpected, What’s Next, From the Hip, Dragonfly(The best of  Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush), Eye of the Storm, and Real Live!(double live album).
The Sicilian -Syrian Marino captured the essence of Jimi Hendrix early on in his career. Rock and roll urban legend suggests that when Marino was a teen he was visited by an apparition of Jimi Hendrix after a bad LSD trip, which led to the spirit of Hendrix entering Marino’s body and bestowing his ability to play the guitar. Marino renounces the fabrication and says Hendrix was still alive while he was in the hospital recuperating from the LSD trip. But he did learn to play the guitar while recovering.
Frank Marino was widely recognized throughout his career as a master for performing Hendrix cover tunes. Marino’s cover versions were impeccable and audiences globally would ultimately embrace them. His cover tunes were commercially successful (“Roadhouse Blues” The Doors, “All Along the Watchtower,” “Purple Haze” Jimi Hendrix) but Marino was never pleased about his original material receiving virtually no airplay on FM radio.
Marino retired from the music business but returned in 2001, largely galvanized by his fan base. Most recently Frank Marino has been suffering from adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) and gradually recuperating. The condition usually resolves itself within one or two years but restricts mobility and can generate intense pain. Marino is receiving extensive physiotherapy. The condition began after Marino spent tedious immeasurable hours in his studio editing a meticulous task.
I had the great privilege of chatting with Frank Marino recently from his home in Montreal Canada about his current physical condition, the future of Mahogany Rush, and since it’s the NHL playoffs … a little hockey.
I found Marino to be fascinating, sociable, sympathetic, righteous and profound. He’s also just a genuine, down to earth, nice guy.
Here’s my interview with legendary guitar wizard/ singer/ songwriter/hockey aficionado/theology writer /Frank Marino.
Ray Shasho: Frank thank you for being on the call today. The tape is rolling … (Laughing)
Frank Marino: “I’m glad you’re doing this on tape because I can’t stand emails.”
Ray Shasho: Being from Montreal are you a big hockey fan?
Frank Marino: “I’m an extremely big hockey fan! I’ve been a fan since 1955. I was a Montreal Habs fan until 1989, then stopped being a Habs fan and started becoming an everything hockey fan. I just love the game and it doesn’t really matter who’s playing as long as they’re playing it right. You can play hockey right and you can play hockey wrong and I don’t like teams who do it the wrong way.”
Ray Shasho: Frank, what do you consider playing hockey the wrong way?
Frank Marino: “The wrong way would be not paying attention to the details of the game. Not having passion for playing the game. I’m not a big fan of east-west style hockey, when you’re not going directly north and south to the net. Growing up in Montreal … the way to play hockey was to drive the net and you check … basically football on ice.”
Ray Shasho: You’re half Syrian? My father’s family was Syrian Jews. And of course they had to get the heck out of Syria and finally came to America in the early 1900’s via Ellis Island.
Frank Marino: “My mother is Christian Syrian and my father was Sicilian. Believe it or not my grandmother had to get the heck out of Syria because she was a Syrian Christian. It wasn’t just the Syrian Jews who had the problem. But we’re Orthodox Christian from Antioch. My mother actually speaks Ancient Aramaic … we’re a very biblical family. Our original church is in Antioch Syria, the first church established outside of Jerusalem over a thousand years ago.”
Ray Shasho: A lot of rock bands have incorporated Arabic rhythms into many of their songs; Led Zeppelin was a good example.
Frank Marino: “I do a lot of music like that myself. I use to play Arabic music for my grandmother when she was alive. When I was very young I was a drummer … from the time I was five years old into my teens, and then picked it up again later on after my 30’s. But being a drummer you can’t help being attracted to that type of music, it was all beat related. And there are nuances to that kind of drumming. Often times in a pop tune we go very clearly from a verse to a chorus with a big change. In Arabic music they also go through changes but they’re very subtle changes in the tempo and timing and as a drummer I find that very interesting.”
Ray Shasho: I heard that you write Theology?
Frank Marino: “I’m a Religious guy; into Theology and study it quite a bit including Hebrew and Judaism.”
Ray Shasho: What led you towards that direction … was there a calling at some point in your life?
Frank Marino: “It was a long time ago, don’t forget we grew up as hippies in the 60s and after that culture we have to find ourselves. And a lot of people from the 60s will tell you, I spent a lot of time to try and find myself … well that’s what I found… I found that. It’s been forty years now that I’ve been doing this. But I live it and not just write about it. I live it on a very daily basis and have done so for decades. But the stuff I write is somewhat philosophical and mostly related to my understanding of ancient scripture including Hebrew scripture.”
Ray Shasho: How do you find the time to write and study Theology and then play rock and roll?
Frank Marino: “I’m a bit under pressure right now because I damaged my shoulder and really badly actually. It’s called adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder. Mahogany Rush did a show in Cleveland on December 12th and 13th at the Agora, and I’d never done a DVD, I waited ten years to finally do a DVD. The reason I waited was because I didn’t like or believe in them, and just don’t like the way they’re done. It’s too much selling and not enough art. I always wanted to do a different kind of DVD and finally found my chance to do it. The video crew for Bruce Springsteen just happened to be fans of mine and they offered their services to come and shoot this thing for me. We shot a twelve hour concert and basically we booked the place for two nights. One night was the Soundcheck, the next day from noon to midnight was the show… and we played everything. We didn’t stop, only had two breaks, but pretty much played all day. We filmed it all on seven cameras and very professionally on a really good looking DVD, which I had to assemble on some form of condensed show.”
“When I got home on the fourteenth of December … that was in 2010, and when I checked on the multitrack audio… the drums was damaged, the audio was damaged, because of a problem in the recording that no one had noticed. So I was left with a magnificent video shoot and no audio. So the only answer was to go into and find each beat that was damaged and replace them one by one. So that’s what I started doing on the fourteenth of December… and it’s like changing every blade of grass on your lawn one by one with a fork. So I started on the fourteenth of December and was so determined to do it that I sat for almost fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, until the next August. And what happened was I froze up my shoulder on the right side and didn’t realize what I was doing. I thought well… my shoulder is hurting me because I had a hard day but it got worse and worse.”
“It’s called frozen shoulder and what happens is the whole shoulder freezes up and you lose all your motion and the pain becomes unbearable. Then the rest of your muscles in your neck and back try to compensate and they become unbearable. Really the only way around it is to stop doing what you were doing and go to physiotherapy and restretch it out until it goes back to normal, but it can take one to three years to come back. I’m a year removed from it now, I stopped working on the video in September and I’ve only got five songs left. (Laughing) I’m hoping to get back to it by this summer. Only five tunes left and there’s like sixty.”
“Now I’ve restored motion to my arm and at least I can move it. I’ve got 50% movement in the arm. I can’t play guitar …I can’t put my arm around the body of the guitar. To play the guitar your elbow has to extend out from your body and that’s one of the motions I can’t do without serious pain. I get physiotherapy four days a week. The doctors say it will take one to three years to fully recoup the shoulder …it’s been a year now. Although I have movement … I haven’t lost the pain. I’m in constant pain 24/7.”
“Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to work soon, and once I finish the DVD… somehow package it, get out on the road again and do a few gigs.”
Ray Shasho: Frank, is there a way to hire a producer to finish the editing?
Frank Marino: “To tell you the truth Ray, there’s not a human being in the world that can do the kind of editing that I do. And I mean that sincerely and not giving myself credit. The system that I practically invented to do this kind of replacement  … there is nobody that can do it, in fact I did speak with a bunch of people who are professionals at doing these things and every one of them said, forget it throw it away you’re not going to be able to do this. But I did, and probably because I’m an editor and a drummer and I really understand what I’m hearing. But you have to understand the drum tracks that we’re dealing with here …it’s not as if we simply have a drum track that sounds bad, we have a drum track that in some places it has completely disappeared. And when it hasn’t disappeared it sounds like an iPhone. So I have to basically discern exactly what the drummer is playing on every single strike and then I have to discern how hard he hit it, which drum he hit, and with which nuance, and I have to redo that and fix each piece one by one. I’m not improving anything just resurrecting it, kind of like restoring a painting. If it was just an album, I could just get the drummer to come back and play it again, but we can’t because he’s on video.”
Ray Shasho: When do you think the release date of the DVD might be?    
Frank Marino: “I had hoped to have it done by last December and that’s why I was working like a maniac. Now it could take till next December or longer. But I can tell you this …the video looks magnificent. And I hope people like it because it’s the only DVD I’m ever going to do. (All Laughing)”
Ray Shasho: I loved those late night music shows in the 70’s that spotlighted the greatest artists of the decade … ABC’s In Concert, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. And I remember a particular episode of The Midnight Special that featured Dickey Betts, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Daniels Band. Then this hard rock band appeared and completely blew away the audience. I’ll never forget the look on their faces when Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush took the stage.
Frank Marino: “I remember that very well and I’ll tell you why… they had this host called Wolfman Jack and we did our version of Johnny B Goode, and my version of Johnny B. Goode  is anything but the 50s rock and roll style, and it’s really unpolished, fuzzy, and distorted, and it’s got guitar solos in it. And after we did that he wanted to sing a verse of Johnny B. Goode while they went to commercial, and we had to go back to the tune and play Go Johnny Go, Go, Go  while he stood there and sang Go Johnny Go, Go, Go and I thought it was really hokey. It was really weird…. I thought I was in some strange dream; normally I wouldn’t do something like that.  Did you ever notice something Ray… they came out with this Midnight Special DVD package set and I’m the only guy not on it? I’m not on it man …everybody else is but me. (Laughing)”
“Well … I guess I never joined the party and sort of marched to my own drum. I don’t care about money, don’t have any, and don’t want any. And I certainly don’t care about fame… I really don’t like it. It goes against my religion to be famous. I’m just a guy who plays music and I got lucky, and people happened to see me, and people happened to like what I do. I certainly don’t take it seriously as if I’m saving the world with my music. I mean for crying out loud we’re not curing cancer here we’re just playing guitar. The only difference that I make by making a record, a video, or playing live, is that some people for the duration of that song or live show … have a good time. And that’s really the best way to make a difference. I think we’re all in this to have fun.”
Ray Shasho:I watched an interview you did that talked about commercial radio not playing any of your music unless it was one of your cover tunes.
Frank Marino: “As far as radio was concerned …it never really liked me. I had one #1 hit on the radio and it was called “Strange Dreams.” Then on the very year that I had the #1 hit, and after twelve years of the record company telling me… if you’d only get one hit everything will work … I left the record company and quit the business. Then I decided not to work with a major again and never did. My old band members got mad at me and they all ended up quitting because I wasn’t going to pursue it. So that’s just the way I am. I’m very happy that way, no regrets and I’m not bitter. And I thank God every day that he didn’t make me rich.”
“In 1989, I bought myself a studio. I went to the old studio that had all my old 24 track masters of all the records that I had done since Maxoom, all the way through Juggernaut. I went to get all my tapes over 600 of them and I found out that day some girl at the studio had been selling those tapes at night to bands to record on. My entire catalog of everything that I ever recorded was wiped out and does not exist. After I’m long gone there will be no history of my work except whatever was on the vinyl. That has never happened to a musician in the history of music. There isn’t a single musician in the history of rock music that hasn’t got their masters. My whole life was wiped out.”
Ray Shasho: I grew up in the Washington DC area and rock stations would religiously play your version of “Roadhouse Blues.”
Frank Marino: “See what I mean … another cover. “I’m A King Bee,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roadhouse Blues,” “Purple Haze,”  “All Along The Watchtower” and that’s what was on the radio…it’s unbelievable and I think we had a lot of other stuff that could have done really well …even on that radio format.”
Ray Shasho: How was your relationship with Columbia Records?
Frank Marino: “The business people who found me and said oh boy we can make money with this kid …they would have liked me to be more proactive in terms of selling and caring about marketing. I was always at odds with them, always at war with them, because they wanted me to act like I wasn’t me and I wouldn’t do it …and I’m stubborn so it created problems. I got out of there as soon as the contract was over; it was just not for me. I once said to one of the big honcho’s at Columbia, you’re always boasting that you have 162 artists, because that’s how many they had, but all of our industry is based on the Top10. So if you’re happy with your artists being in the Top 10, that means there are 152 guys you don’t care about. Why are you signing with them just let them go. The thing that was wrong with our industry was Top 10 …Top 10 ...Top 10 to the exclusion of all else. Just because something is the Top 10 seller it’s not the Top 10 best. So a lot of guys with a lot of dreams got short shrifted by these people who basically paid all the attention to the Top 10 and in fact took the money from the lower 52 to boost the Top 10.”
Ray Shasho: Do you have children Frank?
Frank Marino: “I have three daughters … 18, 16 and 13. They’ve been on the road with me and involved in music with me since the day they were born… all three of them. They all became musicians and just on their own. My oldest daughter does classical voice, piano, clarinet, and writes symphonies. The middle one is the guitarist and the youngest one is going to be another guitarist. I was a cool dad. I was the type of dad that would say don’t go to school today. I’d take them on the road, take them all over the world, and they still got 90s and are honor students. This was the rule in my house Ray … when the kids came home from school I’d say no homework till you had fun. I’ve always had a kind of loose outlook about it and they turned out really good. I always joked that God brought up my kids and I didn’t because I would have failed miserably.” 
Ray Shasho: Are you friends with fellow Canadian rock musicians?
Frank Marino: “I’m friends with everybody … but the only one I speak with on a call up basis is Myles Goodwyn of April Wine because I go back with him since 1971, and also the guys who were the original musicians in that band. Anybody else …Rush or other Canadian bands, certainly if I bump onto them it’s “Hey Frank how are you, are you working?” and that kind of thing. But I wouldn’t say that we’re on the telephone or anything.”
“But I’m kind of recluse, not because I’m paranoid or anything, I’m just not interested in going anywhere. (All laughing) I’ve got three daughters that love me and I love them, a wife that loves me and I love her, my mother lives next door… why do I want to go anywhere. I’m surrounded by females that cater to me and there’s nothing better in the world then that. Ask any guy that question.”
Ray Shasho: You were one of the first guitarists to start playing Hendrix style music after his passing.
Frank Marino: “I was the first guy in history literally to take public what Jimi Hendrix was doing other than Jimi Hendrix. There was no other guy before me… and I was only 16 years old… and I was Canadian …and I was white …and I played an SG. So it was like no, no, no, no. Then they invented these stories about reincarnation.”
Ray Shasho: Frank, talk about how Jimi Hendrix visited you as an apparition and entered your body … urban legend?
Frank Marino: “This stuff was invented by Circus Magazine and Creem Magazine. I went to the hospital in 1968 and Jimi Hendrix didn’t die till 1970. I told them where are you getting this reincarnation thing, where was he if he was supposed to be in my body for two years. So this story filtered when we started to get known and every single show I went to …I’m telling you Ray… with the exception of two or three bands …I was completely shunned. No one would talk to me. I had the same management as Aerosmith and Nugent for seven years and those guys didn’t start talking to me for three years. In 1971, one year after the death of Hendrix, I played on a float, a parade to commemorate his death. I played for three hours on a float across the city doing nothing but his tunes. And it was almost like … how dare you? You can’t do that. I use to say this …I even got the old article… "You’re condemning me for doing this now, but one day this style of guitar will be the way that everyone will be judged by." And it is. It became true.”
Ray Shasho: What did you think about playing at California Jam II?
Frank Marino: “I hated Cal Jam. It was the complete microcosm of everything I thought was wrong with the rock and roll concert. All the bands there had a great time, I know they did I watched it, but I was backstage just feeling like I want to go home. Because from my point of view it was Entertainment Tonight, I hated it. I didn’t hate the gig …I hated leading up to the gig. I played at one o’clock in the morning and had to play after Aerosmith. At the end of Cal Jam when I did my encore (I played for ninety minutes) … what do you think was shown when they finally put it on TV?  …“Purple Haze!”  I played for ninety minutes and they showed “Purple Haze” which was my second encore. At the end of “Purple Haze” I played the Mickey Mouse theme. And that’s what I thought of the show. It was anything but the highlight in my life.”
Ray Shasho: I realize you’ve been more or less sidelined and in serious pain … but what’s next Frank?
Frank Marino: “I did a song for this local singer, she’s actually American but she’s become very famous here in Quebec, her name is Nanette Workman. She asked me to play guitar on one of her tunes in which she did a cover of “Wild Horses” by The Stones. So she asked me to play in Quebec City at a big show and come play the song. So I told her yea even though I’m not in shape to do it. So I’m hoping by July 15th I’ll be okay to just play one song. I think I can probably play one song. So there’s no plan right now until (A) I get better (B) I finish the DVD and then will see what’s going to transpire.”
Ray Shasho: Thank you Frank for being on the call today and for all the great music you gave us over the years. We wish you well and a speedy recovery! We’re also looking forward to the DVD and future concert dates from Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush.
Frank Marino: “Thanks Ray … please stay in touch.”

Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush official website www.mahoganyrush.com
Purchase Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush music at www.mahoganyrush.com/albums.htm  or amazon.com

Coming up next… Happy Together Tour 2012 including recent interviews with Micky Dolenz of the Monkees and Gary Puckett of The Union Gap.

Contact Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com
Order author/columnist Ray Shasho’s amazing memoir ‘Check the Gs’ The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. Download on Kindle or Nook for Only .99 cents!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

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Chris Squire Interview: Squackett, Jon Anderson and ‘Yes’ on Broadway

By Ray Shasho                                   Chris Squire 1948-2015 RIP

Chris Squire (Yes bassist) and Steve Hackett (Genesis guitarist) have conceived a remarkable progressive rock amalgamation entitled SQUACKETT. The CD A Life Within A Day will be officially released on May 28th and available for preorder at www.hackettsongs.com or amazon.com.
Heavily influenced by The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, Chris Squire and Jon Anderson formed the band ‘Yes’ in 1968. Squire remains the only original member since the bands commencement. The distinguished bassist became a paragon for a legion of preeminent recording artists. Eighteen musicians have since been part of a perpetual brand name known as simply ‘Yes.’
Some of the bands many studio classics include Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans and Relayer. The album 90125 spawned the bands first and only #1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and became their most commercially successful album.
Chris Squire recorded his first solo album in 1975 entitled Fish Out Of Water, and it quickly became a progressive rock masterpiece. Fans and critics alike had hoped for a follow-up release but it never transpired.
The current lineup of ‘Yes’ features new frontman Jon Davidson (who recently replaced Benoit David), Steve Howe on guitar, Alan White on drums, Geoff Downes on keyboards and Chris Squire on bass. ‘Yes’ begins their American tour on July 13th with a show scheduled for Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fl. on July 29th and supported by Procol Harum.
Steve Hackett is the guitar virtuoso for the legendary progressive rock group ‘Genesis.’  Hackett joined the band in 1971, a line-up that featured frontman Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks on keyboards, Mike Rutherford on bass and Phil Collins on drums and vocals. In 1976 Collins replaced Gabriel as lead vocalist. Some of the bands most innovative classics are Selling England by the Pound, A Trick of the Tail, Wind & Wuthering, Duke and Abacab.
As with Chris Squire, Steve Hackett’s style of play has been emulated over the years by the finest musicians in the business. Genesis has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2010.
SQUACKETT’s premier release A Life Within A Day is certainly a stunning blend of progressive rock matrimony and a magnificent duo of virtuosity. The harmonization of Squire and Hackett are inspiring and reminiscent to Crosby & Nash.
I had the great pleasure of chatting with Chris Squire on Friday. Chris was on a well-deserved R&R break in Hawaii. We talked about Squackett, a possible follow-up to Fish Out of Water, and working with Jon Anderson again.
Here’s my interview with legendary bassist/songster/songwriter/and YES co-founder/ Chris Squire.
Ray Shasho: Chris, thank you for being on the call today …are you on the west coast? 
Chris Squire: “Right now I’m in Kona in Hawaii and the weather is as it always is… 85, sunny and gorgeous. And it’s like this every day of the year.”
Ray Shasho: Are you living in Hawaii now?
Chris Squire: “Oh no, we just did a Pacific Rim tour of New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Jakarta, and on our way back we did two shows in Honolulu and Maui. So I decided it was time to stay on and get some R&R at the end of our tour.”
Ray Shasho: Chris, not only are we promoting Squackett today, but also the upcoming YES American tour which arrives in Clearwater, Florida on July 29th.
But I must say two of my favorite albums have always been Fish Out Of Water (Chris Squire) and A Trick of the Tail (Genesis), so it would probably take an act of God for me not to like the new CD.
Chris Squire: “Have they sent you a copy yet?”
Ray Shasho: I received a raw copy, no credits or front cover art work … which I really missed because YES and its member’s solo efforts have always generated the best artwork in the business.   
Chris Squire: “We’ll make sure you get a proper copy once it’s available. Did you like it?”
Ray Shasho: The collaboration between you and Steve Hackett was magnificent and I thoroughly enjoyed the CD. It seems to me that you guys also had a chance to spread your wings a little bit on this one too?
Chris Squire: “The thing is about this project, it was really about just two guys getting together, there was no pressure about needing to make an album for a label or anything like that, it was just the two of us getting together and in collaboration of course with Roger King who was also part of the project. He’s been Steve’s longtime keyboard player and co-producer/co-writer on various projects of Steve’s. So he’s involved in this as well, and done a great job with the sound and the mixing. So I can’t tell you how happy I am with the way the whole project turned out.”
Ray Shasho: Who played drums on the album?
Chris Squire: “Jeremy Stacey. I’ve done three albums with him now. He’s a friend of mine, lives in London, and spent the last five or six years playing with Sheryl Crow. He’s also played with Tom Jones and currently playing with Noel Gallagher from Oasis. He’s always busy and very sought out for his drumming, and hopefully he’ll be able to come and play with Squackett when we eventually get some live dates scheduled. He’s a great player.”
Ray Shasho: Chris, I wanted to discuss a few tracks from the new album. The opening track “A Life Within A Day” is a powerful progressive rock opening statement. The song includes Arabic overtones and perhaps thoughts of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”
Chris Squire: “It wasn’t written with that intentionally in mind but obviously when we’re putting it together I saw it had the element in it, and of course I’ve always loved “Kashmir” so I don’t have a problem with that. And also if we’re talking about Zeppelin, the “Stormchaser” track also has a ‘Zepp’ element to it as well. So there is some of that hard rock kind of style.”
Ray Shasho: I also liked that sort of race car engine rev effect on the track …how was that created?
Chris Squire: “That’s a guitar and I’m sure it’s Steve with the whammy bar.”
Ray Shasho: The harmonies on many tracks from the album were also reminiscent of Crosby and Nash.
Chris Squire: “Definitely a bit of an element to it. One of the bonuses to this project was when Steve and I started singing together and we both realized how good our voices sounded together. I have to be honest going into this project at the beginning; I didn’t really know that Steve sang, so that was a big plus for me. What sounds really good is when we actually sing quite a lot of the lines in unison. A lot of the lead vocals are both of us singing.”
Ray Shasho: The tune “The Summer Backwards” is a beautifully blended composition accenting both of your amazing voices.
Chris Squire: “It’s really cool isn’t it … I’m really happy the way that turned out. And once again I’ll have to say thank you to Roger King because of the way he mixed it, and the echo’s he used etc. It’s really good and very well produced.”
Ray Shasho: At the very end of “Divide Shelf” there’s an interesting melody that sounds like an old movie or wartime tune?
Chris Squire: “(Laughing) Yea … it does, it sounds like an old Moviola. And once again that’s Roger’s contribution to the record. He’s quite an expert with keyboards and he threw that little bit in.”
Ray Shasho: What is the origin behind “Aliens” in which you say (Are only us from the future).
Chris Squire: “That’s something I’ve thought for a long time because if you’ve considered that the human race is probably going on to progress through this century and the next one … it wouldn’t surprise me at all if in the future, when we’re not eating steak dinners anymore, that we look probably like the idea of what aliens are and by then have developed time travel. Look how far the human race has come in terms of air and space travel in the last hundred years. So in the next couple of thousand years you’ve got to believe that we’re going to be able to do all kinds of amazing things. So I really believe that the aliens are us from the future. It seems to me a very plausible reason that explains a lot of phenomena as opposed to green men with one eye from outer space.”
Ray Shasho:  I’ll admit Chris, when I was in high school; we all thought the members of YES may have been extraterrestrial.  I told Jon Anderson this when I chatted with him too.
Chris Squire: “In his case …you may have a good excuse.”
Ray Shasho: Chris… Jon said good things about you guys in the interview. And I did ask him about not being in the band anymore.
Chris Squire: “When was the interview?”
Ray Shasho: Back in August of 2011.
Chris Squire: “That’s nice to hear, I’m glad that’s his attitude.”
Ray Shasho: I was heartbroken when Jon Anderson was no longer a part of YES.
Chris Squire: “Well unfortunately Jon had some medical problems and he really couldn’t commit to that level of touring anymore. It’s a shame but the rest of us wanted to carry on and so we had to make the adjustment. YES to me now is evolving like a sports team or an orchestra. It’s not beyond the possibility that there still could be a YES in 200 years time… of course with different members, unless the medical profession comes up with something extraordinary (All laughing). But Jon Davidson turned out to be really-really good on the Pacific Rim tour.”
Ray Shasho: Back to Squackett and the new album …my favorite tune on the CD is “Can’t Stop The Rain.” Vintage Squire… sort of reminded me of Fish Out Of Water.
Chris Squire: “I brought that tune to the project. It has a sort of 60s flavor, almost like a Burt Bacharach type of tune and all those great songs he wrote for Dionne Warrick and artists like that in the 60s. I’m really happy with the way that track turned out.”
Ray Shasho: The track fades into “Perfect Love Song,” the final cut on the album and a perfect ending to a superlative album.
I know we’re running short on time …Fish Out Of Water was an absolute masterpiece. I was really surprised there wasn’t a follow-up release?
Chris Squire: “Here’s the deal with that. A lot of the reason that album has a good vibe about it, and I’m not boasting because it’s my album, but it was also because of the involvement with my lifelong friend Andrew Jackman who did all the orchestral arrangements and worked with me preparing the album and writing it. Unfortunately he is no longer with us and had a brain aneurysm. But that hasn’t stopped me over the years from wanting to do a follow up to it. What seems to happen is every time I’ve sat down and been disciplined with myself and written new material, I’m thinking it’s going to go in that direction and then something else has come up, like the Squackett project. The songs on that album were designated for a solo album for me. But then as soon as I got involved with Steve and realized how exciting it was, I turned over the best material I had at the time for that and also when we do a YES album. So it might be best that there will never be a follow up to Fish Out Of Water… never say never… but we’ll see what happens . I do want to say that Andrew Jackman and his arrangements had a lot to do with the appealing of that album.”
Ray Shasho: Speaking of never say never … can Jon Anderson ever return to YES?
Chris Squire: “I don’t close the door on that possibility… it’s just how that will happen. There’s been talk of YES possibly doing something on Broadway in New York. People have approached me with that idea and there are discussions about that. A possible project like that and you might see Jon re-involved as you would other ex members of YES. Once again there’s nothing concrete about that yet and now that we have Jon Davidson on board, our next project will probably be making a studio album with him. But we won’t close the door on other possibilities in the future …we’ll see what happens.”
Ray Shasho: How about Relayer II? That was recorded around the same time as Fish Out Of Water.
Chris Squire: (All laughing) “Yea it did, in fact they were both recorded in my studio in the countryside in Surrey England.”
Ray Shasho: Chris, thank you for being on the call today but more importantly for all the great music you gave us throughout the years.
Chris Squire: “Thanks Ray!”

Chris Squire and YES will be performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fl. on July 29th with Procol Harum. Purchase tickets at www.rutheckerdhall.com

The new CD by SQUACKETT called A Life Within A Day is available for pre-order at www.hackettsongs.com or amazon.com. The official release is May 28th.
Chris Squire official website www.chrissquire.com
Steve Hackett official website www.hackettsongs.com
YES Official website www.yesworld.com
Special thanks to Chipster PR & Consulting for this interview Official website www.chipsterpr.com 

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