Stuart Epps Toured America with Elton John, Produced and Engineered Records for Led Zeppelin and Paul Rodgers and is Now Focusing on the Next Generation – Part 2 of 2
November 7, 2009 by Barbara Pavone · Leave a Comment
… Continued from Thursday, November 5th
Q: Over the years has there been one artist that’s particularly stood out as the best or most interesting to work with?
A: Definitely the main one is Elton: the most amazing songwriter and singer and all around artist and performer that I’ve ever met. But I’ve been very lucky; I’ve worked with lots of great bands. Jimmy Page was another one I learnt a lot from and Paul Rodgers is probably the best singer I’ve ever worked with [...] he made an album with Kenney Jones, the drummer from The Who, and they had a band called The Law and he’s definitely one of the best artists I’ve ever worked with. Not the easiest [but] usually the best artists aren’t the easiest to work with. Chris Rea who I worked with and sang with, I sang on backing vocals on his album [...] I’ve been very lucky. I have worked with Oasis, and I worked with Robbie Williams and, you know, I worked with some pretty big artists and it’s always, even if you’re not into their music, it’s always interesting to see what makes them the way they are.
My big hope now is to be able to [...] come across an artist for myself who’s in the early stages of their career that I can then use all my experience to help fulfill and hopefully make into a similarly big recording artist, which is what we’re trying to do with Kendal Sant at the moment. [...] You know I still love making music with people, still love making records, still good fun. Which is a bit surprising really because you think it’s something you might grow out of, but it’s still good fun.
Q: As you mentioned, now you’re focusing your attention on up-and-coming artists, how do you find them?
A: I don’t really look. I’ve got a twenty-four year old son and he told me about MySpace and initially I couldn’t work it out at all, I thought “This is really peculiar”, but it’s been brilliant for me. Bands just come, you know, it’s a way of people getting in touch with me who wouldn’t be able to normally. So I don’t actually do much looking. It’s mainly people just coming to me and that’s how I met Kendal and I probably worked with twenty bands or so from MySpace.
Intense Nick checks out John Wilkes Booth
November 6, 2009 by Intense Nick · Leave a Comment
John Wilkes Booth are a four piece band , these are the players – Kerry Merkle (Vocals), Christian Horstman (Drums), Jason Beickert (Guitar) and Harold Vrooman (Bass). The result of the combined efforts of these guys rocks in an awesomely dirty and slightly sludgy, a bit punky and with a hint of metal all combined in a uniquely John Wilkes Booth fashion. If you are into bands like Clutch and Kylesa then these guys will surely hit the spot for you. John Wilkes Booth’s music is packed with wicked riffs and stupendously energetic rhythms delivered imaginatively and perfectly finished with great vocals. Once heard there is no escape, John Wilkes Booth will have you gripped.
John Wilkes Booth has just completed their first full length release Sic Semper Tyrannis. Booth fans, whose numbers are ever increasing, have eagerly been awaiting the fulfillment of promises for new tracks from the latest recording sessions. They will not be disappointed. Since the formation of the band in 2005, the band has consistently recorded and played live shows while continually escalating their fan base.
Stuart Epps Toured America with Elton John, Produced and Engineered Records for Led Zeppelin and Paul Rodgers and is Now Focusing on the Next Generation – Part 1 of 2
November 5, 2009 by Barbara Pavone · Leave a Comment
What do Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Twisted Sister, Kiki Dee and Chris Rea all have in common? Yes, this wide array of superstars do share one thing in common: they’ve all, at one point in their careers, worked with Stuart Epps.
Since 1967 Epps has immersed himself in the music industry, stating out as an office boy at Dick James Music at the age of fifteen and going on to become a praised producer and engineer. He even toured America with Elton John in the early 70s as his personal assistant.
Mr. Epps was kind enough to call in to The Rock and Roll Report from his UK home for a retrospective chat about his marvelous 40+ year career.
Q: Going back to the very beginning, how did you get involved in the music industry?
A: I was in bands from about the age of eight or nine and one guy who I was in a band with, and I also went to school with, [...] got this job working for Dick James as an office boy. That was probably about 1965 or ‘66 and he use to come home with all these stories [...] that he just went to Paul McCartney’s house, he got the new Beatles album [...] all these stories were just magnificent about him and the music business and how exciting it was.
A year passed and he said that he was looking for his replacement so that he could be promoted and I was just starting school, I was only 14 back then [...] but I just thought, “Wow, this could be an opportunity.” So, I mentioned it to my parents who I just thought would say, “You must be joking, you’ve got to start school,” and my dad said “Well, you know, if you want to do it then go and do it.” I just didn’t need any more encouragement than that.
I went for an interview and got the job as office boy. It was an amazing time. It was 1967 in London, it was flower power and hippie time, and I was earning $10 a week, which was about $9 more than I’d been getting, so I was like a millionaire and getting these incredible jobs: go to Paul McCartney’s house, go to Abbey Road Studios. It was a great way to find out about the music business really. Even though it was the lowest of the lowest jobs, to me it was absolutely brilliant. Everyday was great and I could probably talk about that period for about six hours and we can’t really do that! [laughs]
The 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time?
November 5, 2009 by Mark Boudreau · Leave a Comment
Amazon has a list of what they consider to be The 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time which has touched off a lot of debate.
What do you think of the list? And what the hell is Indie Rock?
Lita Ford Talks 15-Year Hiatus Spent on a Secluded Island, Ozzy Osbourne, Songs From the Heart and Crotch and Her New Album
November 3, 2009 by Bill Sullivan · Leave a Comment
Lita Ford has often been called the “Queen of Hard Rock”, and with a career as successful as hers, it’s no surprise. On the scene since her teenage years, Lita played with legendary Runaways before embarking on a successful solo career.
She’s best known for her 1988 commercial smash hit, Lita, which spawned hits like Kiss Me Deadly and the famous Ozzy Osbourne duet, Close My Eyes Forever.
In the late 90s Lita exchanged her musical career for quaint family life on a secluded Caribbean island and it wasn’t until October 6th of this year that she released her first studio effort, Wicked Wonderland, since her 1995 Black album.
The rocker was kind enough to chat with The Rock and Roll Report about all things Lita Ford. From the new record, to personal life, to the future of rock – nothing was left off limits.
Q: It is such a thrill to see you back on the scene after all these years. What was the driving factor to make a new record after a 15-year hiatus?
A: Rock n’ Roll is in my blood. Always has been and always will be. I was just waiting until my kids were ready and now they are totally ready. They have as much fun as Jim [Gillette] and I do!
November’s Triple R Girl -Women Who Rock is Soul Punk Rocker Kitana Andrews
November 2, 2009 by Allegra · Leave a Comment
Introducing our Triple R Girl for November: Kitana Andrews, a.k.a. “Pink Chocolate,” is the ferocious and sexy front woman of Brooklyn Soul Punk band, Sister Anne!
What exactly is “Soul Punk” you ask? Kitana describes Sister Anne’s special sound as a potent mix of punk rock, a lil’ melodic metal, and rounded out with the soul that comes naturally when your singer grew up in the high-energy gospel church.
PIGSHIT by Gary Pig Gold – HARVEY KUBERNIK in his CANYON OF DREAMS
October 30, 2009 by Gary Pig Gold · Leave a Comment
I certainly tend to agree that, in the infamous words of no less an authority on all things Laurel Canyon, California as F. Zappa, most rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.
Which makes a book such as the one I write of today even more special, and without a single doubt worthy of your very own careful study.
True, in a market already too glutted with Fortieth Anniversary re-servicings of everything from Woodstock to the Stones’ Altamont misadventures, one would hardly be blamed in passing by yet another study of Los Angeles pop culture from its equally distant, if Golden age. Somehow though, veteran SoCal rock historian Harvey Kubernik’s bountiful new Canyon Of Dreams book is the joyous exception to the patchouli-drenched rule: It is both lush in layout and deep in detail, of not only the musicians, but the arrangers, club owners, publicists and even architecture behind an era roughly stretching from Art Laboe to Slash. Or, as the author himself tells me, “We needed a print ride from 1914 to 2009. I took the challenge.”
“I knew my highly passionate writing style and implementation of the oral history structure could really bring readers into a real/reel world from my native viewpoint.” And Kubernik’s approach, like a spin off the Strip itself, is one perfectly chaotic, wildly colorful concoction wherein Donovan rubs coffee table-sized pages with the Firesign Theatre and Eric Burdon, only to find Glen Campbell bumping lazily into Andrew Loog Oldham by way of Rick Rubin and the Mamas and Papas.
Punk-Rockers ‘Limozine’ Compare Recording to Murder, Survive the Unbearable U.K. Smoking Ban and Get Set to Release Their Second Album; ‘Evil Love’
October 29, 2009 by Barbara Pavone · Leave a Comment
One would think that recording studios would be more likely breeding grounds for competition rather than collaboration. However, when it comes to West London’s Limozine, it all started in Coventry at the Cabin Recording Studios where Dean (Vocals) and Johnny Zero (Guitar) met through a mutual friend.
It is also not often true that drinking brings about brilliant ideas, but Limozine, once again, makes the exception. After some late night drinking Dean and Johnny discovered their shared passion and respect for acts like The Cramps, ACDC, The Stooges and The Ramones. Using their idols for inspiration they began Limozine in the effort to bring about their own version of a punk rock album.
Writing their 11-track debut, Car Crash Casino, in 2005 and recording and mixing the album in eight days, it wasn’t until 2007 that they saw it’s official release. A year later, Johnny’s close friends, Tim (Drums) and Karl (Bass), saw Limozine live and were so gripped by the project they couldn’t help getting in on the action. And so, the two-piece doubled and today’s Limozine was born.
Rock and Roll Report Podcast #63: More Loud Rock Fun and a Tribute to Greg Shaw
October 28, 2009 by Mark Boudreau · 1 Comment
This week on the Rock and Roll Report Podcast I again play music from bands that have yet to be played on the show. I don’t know why I make a big deal of this all the time as there are so many amazing bands that I should never technically repeat but let this be a lesson to you all that rock and roll is far from dead but living and breathing under your very own collective noses!
On this week’s show I also play some tracks from Bomp Records’ excellent tribute to the late great Greg Shaw CD He Put the Bomp in Bomp: Greg Shaw as I wax nostalgic a bit on the passing of the legendary founding of Mojo Navigator Rock and Roll News, Bomp! magazine, Bomp! Records and too numerous articles, liner notes and production credits to his name. Greg Shaw inspired directly or indirectly every one of us who started a fanzine or website or blog or podcast dedicated to rock and roll and it was fun playing some of these songs in tribute to the man who I consider an important influence on my rock and roll upbringing.
Rock and Roll Photo Essay: The Rebel Reviewer Goes Back in Time with Helix
October 27, 2009 by Mike Forbes · Leave a Comment
Twenty-four years ago I walked into the Prince George Coliseum in Northern B.C. to take in one of the few shows being hosted in the venue that year. Prince George is a very “out of the way” city of about 77,000. Not exactly at the top of any band’s list of places to tour, we found ourselves with only a handful of Canadian acts who would venture to the deepest, darkest, coldest reaches of Canada.
In 1986, Helix was one of those bands. In support of their latest album “Long Way to Heaven”, they blew the doors off the coliseum with an explosive, high energy show fired up with another of my favourite bits of Canadiana at the time, Headpins, featuring the kick ass vocals and distinctive axemanship of none other than the late Brian “Too Loud” McLeod.
Last summer I checked out the Headpins for the first time since that 86’ show and afterwards mentioned to both original members Darby Mills and Ab Bryant, bassist, that it was the first time seeing them since that show. Now I don’t EVER expect a band who’s been around the block that long, to ever remember any single show but BOTH of them remembered the show saying the exact same words. “Man, it was COLD that night.”
