Welcome to the Archives

This is my personal collection of classic interviews, favorite photos, and memorable moments in radio history. With over thirty five years on-the-air at WNEW-FM, WFUV and SiriusXM I’ve worked with an amazing group of musicians, artists and friends.

Take a look around, listen in and come back again to see what we’ve added.

Audio & video archives below. If you're interested in pictures only, click here to view the Gallery.

For more information regarding the complete interviews and/or use of the materials please contact archives@denniselsas.com

Rock 'n' Roll Never Forgets is a live multimedia presentation of the archives. Click here for a preview and details on our next show.

John Lennon – The Walrus and Number 9

Dennis Elsas with John Lennon

Dennis Elsas with John Lennon

Without question, my most memorable interview and on-air experience to date, was on September 28, 1974, a Saturday afternoon I spent with John Lennon. I’m very honored that the interview plays a very prominent part in the new PBS American Masters film, LENNONYC .

I had met him just a few weeks before at the Record Plant recording studio and casually asked him if he’d like to come up to the station to talk about his forthcoming album Walls and Bridges. I doubted anything would come of it, since none of the Beatles had ever visited our station before.  When he showed up eager to talk, bringing with him some obscure 45’s he wanted to share with the audience, I didn’t know what to expect.

What began as an opportunity to promote the new album, turned into two hours of rare Beatle stories, insights into his immigration struggles, and John as the DJ, introducing and commenting on all the music, commercials and weather.  Highlights from the interview were used in the Beatles Anthology and various documentaries.  The complete show is part of the permanent collection of the Paley Center For Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio).  Here are some favorite moments.

Gregg Allman

Dennis Elsas with Gregg Allman

Dennis Elsas with Gregg Allman

He’s always been an Allman Brother. Together with his older sibling Duane they evolved from the Allman Joys to The Hour Glass to the band that would define Southern Rock. Their signature sound blending rock, blues, country, jazz and jam was a staple of the early progressive FM airwaves and remains just as popular today. It hasn’t always been easy for the band to stay together, but forty plus years later they’re still performing sold-out shows to an ever-growing fan base.

In June 2010 it was a surprise to learn that Gregg had just undergone a successful liver transplant after suffering from Hepatitis C. He returned to limited performing in October and just a few months later released his first solo album in fourteen years Low Country Blues. It’s primarily a collection of covers originally done by his early blues heroes.

The album had been recorded with producer T Bone Burnett before his operation and we spoke about it in January 2011. Gregg told me how a radio station had turned him on to the blues when he was a kid and how he had selected the songs for this new collection. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to ask about those legendary Allman Brothers NYC shows captured on Live at Fillmore East and he shared a surprising secret about that classic album’s artwork.

Ringo Starr

Dennis Elsas with Ringo starr

Dennis Elsas with Ringo starr

He was the last to join the band and it felt like he was the last to leave. His songwriting and musical skills were overshadowed by the others and yet it was his steady backbeat that kept them moving forward.

Richard “Ringo” Starkey turned 70 this year, but you’d never know it as you watch him perform on tour with the “All-Starrs.”

Since 1989 he’s toured with an impressive and ever-changing group of musicians (including Edgar Winter, Levon Helm, Clarence Clemons and Rick Derringer) that serve both as his back-up band and co-stars. Playing their own classic hits and supporting Ringo on his, the show is a joyful experience filled with positive energy and great memories.

I caught up with Ringo in July 2006 backstage at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut just before a show. We talked about his latest group of “All-Starrs,” his most recent solo album and of course that other band, the Beatles

Almost two years later in January 2008 we sat down in a New York Hotel room across from Central Park as he reminisced about Liverpool, the music that influenced him as he was growing up, and possibilities of a reunion with Paul McCartney.

Click here to listen to the full interview.

Elton John

Dennis Elsas & Elton John

Dennis Elsas & Elton John

Elton John was a frequent and welcome guest at WNEW-FM in the 1970’s.  One of his most historic visits happened November 29, 1974, the day after Thanksgiving, when he stopped by to co-host my show.  The night before he had performed at Madison Square Garden and welcomed a “surprise” guest on-stage.  Though no one could have imagined it at the time, it would turn out to be John Lennon’s final concert performance and we discussed how it happened.

Jerry Garcia – The Grateful Dead

Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

When I met up with Jerry Garcia for a PM Magazine TV interview in a NY hotel room in late Fall 1984, the Grateful Dead were about to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The band had already begun to attract a second generation of Deadheads — extremely loyal fans who may have been too young to experience the 60’s firsthand, but were determined to embrace the experience in every way possible.

Jerry was in town to play a show with John Kahn at the nearby Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. It was just one of several side projects he would often pursue. Relaxed and happy, it was surprising and sad when just a few months later he entered a difficult period that lasted nearly two years plagued by drug and health issues. Happily he and the band recovered to record 1987’s In the Dark, the album that would provide them with their first (and only) Top 10 single “Touch of Grey” (and the introduction of Cherry Garcia ice cream). “The long strange trip” would continue for almost eight more years until his untimely death in August 1995.

 

Memo From Scott Muni Regading The Grateful Dead

Memo From Scott Muni Regading The Grateful Dead

My first Dead working experience (not just as a listener) was as part of a historic broadcast on December 5, 1971, from New York’s Felt Forum a mid-sized theatre within Madison Square Garden. As was often the case that year, The New Riders of the Purple Sage were the opening act for the Grateful Dead. A Bill Graham production, it was the first live radio broadcast of the Dead in New York City and one of their earliest ever. We had the broadcast at 102.7 WNEW-FM and as the new kid on the staff, I was back at the studio to handle the station ID’s and be ready in case anything went wrong. In his role as Program Director, the legendary Scott Muni outlines the evening’s events as they are expected to unfold in this wonderful memo.

The Who – Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey

Dennis Elsas with Pete Townshend

Dennis Elsas with Pete Townshend

Meeting Pete Townshend in the 1970’s, I was pleasantly surprised when he told me he often listened to my nighttime show.  I wondered how that was possible, as he was living in England at the time. Pete explained that he had tapes of WNEW-FM sent to him regularly and that he often listened to my show while driving his daughter to school.

Being a huge Who fan, that was a great image to enjoy.

We’ve met up again several times since then and it was on his June 16, 1993 visit to promote his solo project Psychoderelict that he recalled his first NY appearance and the secret behind all those smashed guitars.

I interviewed Roger Daltry in 1985 for PM Magazine while he was promoting his newly released solo album Under a Raging Moon. It had been just three years since the Who had broken up and Roger was reflecting back on “his generation” at the age of 42.


The Beatles Invade America

Meet The Beatles

Meet The Beatles

America met the Beatles for the first time on February 7th, 1964 and from that day on, the music world and my life were never quite the same. Beatlemania erupted that chilly afternoon as they arrived at New York’s Kennedy Airport, and continued to build momentum as the next week’s events unfolded. I was glued to my AM radio following their trip to the Plaza Hotel, their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, on-the-air with Murray the K, traveling to Washington DC and Miami, and performing at Carnegie Hall. It was a story I always wanted to revisit in detail complete with rare broadcast audio and exclusive interviews. I had the opportunity to do just that with the award-winning documentary I created: It Was Forty Years Ago Today – The Beatles Invade America. Here’s the opening segment:

Listen here for the complete one-hour show.

Crosby, Stills and Nash

Crosby, Still & Nash

CSN

I knew CSN were talking about doing their first “covers” album with premiere producer Rick Rubin, but wanted to know exactly what songs they were doing. So I asked them on Oct 29th, 2009 backstage at the first night of the two-night 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden.

It turns out they plan on recording songs by everyone from Dylan to the Dead to the Stones.

Click on the video below to see them tell me all the details.

In early January 2o11 CSN announced they had parted ways with Rick Rubin (and Columbia Records) having grown impatient waiting for him to finish other projects and resume work with them. The future of the “covers” album has not been announced.

Jorma Kaukonen – Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane

Dennis Elsas & Jorma Kaukonen

Dennis Elsas & Jorma Kaukonen

As a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen has long been an important and respected figure in rock and roll history.

Though the original Airplane disbanded in 1972 and Hot Tuna has been through various changes of personnel and status, Jorma has never stopped performing and recording. His unique fingerstyle guitar playing has been heard in numerous solo projects and together with Jack Cassady he’s often back on the road as Hot Tuna.

Jorma and his wife Vanessa own and operate the Fur Peace Ranch, a music and guitar camp in the hills of Southeast Ohio. Aspiring musicians from all over the world travel there to study with Jorma and an amazing array of guitar masters.

When he visited with me along with fellow musician Barry Mitterhoff, in January 2008 he shared some early Airplane/Tuna history.

To listen to the full interview, click here.

Ronnie Wood – The Rolling Stones

Dennis Elsas with Ron Wood

Dennis Elsas with Ron Wood

There are a lot of different ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but I’ll always remember 12/31/82 as the one I got to spend with Ron Wood. Stopping by my show to promote an upcoming appearance, Ron and his entourage were clearly in a holiday mood. With a rock ‘n’ roll lineage that includes the Jeff Beck Group, the Faces, and the Stones he had some great stories to share, plus a comment about their upcoming album Undercover that made me hope the FCC wasn’t listening.