For the generation that came of age during the emergence of the folk-rock singer-songwriters, Joni Mitchell has always been one of the most influential and admired performers. With legendary songs like “The Circle Game” and “Woodstock”, defining albums including Clouds, Blue, and Ladies of the Canyon, and genre breaking excursions into jazz and beyond, Joni has never stopped evolving as an artist.
We spoke in the fall of 1985 as she was promoting her latest album Dog Eat Dog. She was gracious and open and happily receptive to my questions regarding some earlier Joni classics including “Both Sides Now” and an obvious DJ favorite about the radio
I didn’t realize that I was listening to Graham Nash when I first heard his voice coming out of my AM radio as part of The Hollies.
It was the mid 1960’s and his group was yet another one of those hit-making English bands that was part of the British Invasion. Their songs, including “Bus Stop,” “Look Through Any Window,” and “On a Carousel” stood out with their soaring harmonies and crisp production. However, just a few years later in 1969, I would become very familiar with Graham’s name as he joined with David Crosby and Stephen Stills to create an amazing debut album – Crosby, Stills and Nash. Its unique sound from a magical blend of voices and a diverse collection of original songs helped to define the new FM radio sensibilty and the beginnings of a musical genre.
Graham and his mates were joined within a year by Neil Young and over the next forty years they would continue to perform, record, break-up, and re-unite as a quartet, trio, duo, or solo act. Embracing political activism and making social commentary became an important part of their musical statement, but their songs never lost their universal appeal and timeless quality. Though each of the group’s members created a separate and strong individual profile, a CSNY identity remained and it was Graham that made sure they never drifted too far apart.
I sat down with Graham Nash in the summer of 2014 just shortly after he had overseen the production and release of CSNY 1974 – a beautiful audio/visual collection capturing the band during one of their most memorable tours. He had also recently completed his fascinating autobiography “Wild Tales” chronicling his historic musical and personal journey. We covered a lot of ground and began our conversation with the opening of his book.
I sat down with David Crosby in early May 2015 during the final week of a spring tour with long-time band-mates Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. He was preparing to go out on a strictly solo tour: “no band” as he explained to me. It would be just him and his guitar without the “safety net” of CSN.
I had just seen Crosby Stills and Nash (CSN) a few nights earlier at a beautiful venue, the recently restored Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. The group was in top form, and the audience totally engaged. David was very enthusiastic about how it had all unfolded.
We had a great conversation touching on a myriad of subjects including the legacy of CSN and their fans, the recent controversy centered on David’s criticism of long time bandmate Neil Young’s girlfriend, his positive feelings about his time in The Byrds and his relationship with Roger McGuinn, and how pleased he was with his most recent solo album Croz. He was even quite open about giving up pot (at least for the time being) to meet the challenge of writing more new songs over the last few months as “the creative muse” was consistently paying him a visit.
These days it’s seems unlikely that we’ll ever see another CSN or CSNY reunion or album. Longtime friends David Crosby and Graham Nash haven’t spoken to each other since 2016 and Crosby and Neil Young had a falling out several years before that.
However back in 2009 CSN were talking about doing their first “covers” album with premiere producer Rick Rubin. I asked them about it 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.
They were planing 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 2011 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. When I spoke with David Crosby in May 2015 he said it was still a possibility that they might release some of the songs they have since recorded, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country”.
Robert Plant keeps moving forward with his musical choices, without abandoning or ignoring his glorious past. Since Led Zeppelin ended in December 1980 (following the death of their drummer John Bonham) Plant has recorded numerous solo albums, reunited with Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page for several projects, and ventured into Americana and world music. He successfully and surprisingly teamed up with bluegrass star Alison Krauss in 2007 and then joined Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller for Band of Joy in 2010 and took up residence in Austin, Texas.
In 2014 Robert decided it was time to return home – the West Midlands region of England. His latest album lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar was recorded there with his current band The Sensational Space Shifters. I spoke with him from a studio in the English countryside not far from where he grew up and currently lives. We talked about the new album, his upcoming shows in the area, his love for soccer and why despite all the musical and personal changes, there’s still a part of his song that remains the same.
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.
Sadly Greg passed away on May 27, 2017 due to complications of liver cancer.
The first time I met Clarence Clemons was backstage at New York’s Bottom Line in August 1975 during his historic series of performances with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
In 1985 I did a TV profile about him for PM Magazine spotlighting his solo career. When we sat down again in Feb 2004 he was working on some solo projects, but still very much a pivotal member of Bruce’s band and firmly established as one of the defining saxophone players of rock n’ roll. We talked about all of these things and he shared the wonderful story of the night forever immortalized in “Tenth Avenue Freezout” when “the Big Man joined the band. “
If the name Jake Clemons is familiar to you, it might be as one of the newer members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. He’s also the nephew of Clarence Clemons, the legendary and charismatic saxophone player for Bruce’s band.
When Clarence passed away in June 2011, it was not only a great loss for fans, friends and family, but a major challenge to somehow try and fill his role in the group. Jake was already an established musician pursuing his own career, but when Bruce called him in for an audition he knew he had to go. It didn’t start off well, but ultimately he “passed the audition” and made his debut with the E Street Band at the Apollo theatre in Harlem.
Jake shared the complete story with me when he visited WFUV to promote his own new album Fear and Love.
Mel Brooks is truly an original, a one of a kind, and one of the few entertainers to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy. I had the opportunity to talk with him at length on March 27, 1978. He was promoting an album that featured both the soundtrack to his latest film High Anxiety and musical highlights from his earlier movies billed as his “Greatest Hits.”
What a night – spending the evening as the straight man with the original “Two Thousand Year Old Man”, creator of Get Smart and the director/writer of Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and so many more. Of course we talked about The Producers and it’s interesting to hear what he thought the future of it might be, more than two decades before it became one of the most successful Broadway shows ever. As the interview began, it was obvious he had gotten some background information on me that still makes me (and my Mom) smile.
When Elvis Costello visited with me at WFUV in April 2002, it was the day before the official release of his then latest album When I Was Cruel. It was already the nineteenth album of his career that began in the mid 1970’s; and in the years since he’s released six more.
In addition to his own work, he’s also participated in numerous other collaborative efforts and was commissioned to compose an opera and a ballet. He’s hosted a critically acclaimed television music interview show “Spectacle” and continued to tour extensively. His 2015 memoir Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink offers almost seven hundred pages discussing many of these subjects, and is a thoughtful perspective on his career. In this interview we talked about his return to an earlier “sound,” while still moving ever forward in exploring different stylistic approaches. He was charming and witty and related how appearing in a brief cameo in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” provided a new opportunity to attract fans.
