Among the Heep faithful there are 3 albums that tend to stir up the most controversy and conversation, and often one of them is cited as the band’s ‘worst’ album by many fans or rock historians. I’ve already written previously my support for Conquest and for Equator, both albums that land at the bottom of any Heep album ranking, and the 3rd in that trilogy would be 1976’s High and Mighty – the last to feature original singer & founding member David Byron. Frankly, none of these 3 land in the bottom 3 for me, in particular High and Mighty, an album I rank in the top half of the band’s catalogue.
High and Mighty came at the end of a very busy period for the band. In ’75 – the band had changed bass players, adding John Wetton in place of Gary Thain, who had been fired, and the band got down to releasing Return To Fantasy in the summer of ’75. Ken Hensley also had his 2nd solo album Eager To Please released not too far off from that. A huge world tour followed the release of that Heep album, followed by David Byron’s solo album Take No Prisoners, and a Best of Uriah Heep issued in most markets (except for North America). So, to say High and Mighty might’ve been rushed soon after is more than likely. Despite Return To Fantasy being a huge success in the UK, the band’s last few albums were selling less in North America, and with this perhaps was the motivation to ‘fire’ Gerry Bron as the new album’s producer and produce it themselves. But, where as RTF had many more band co-writes and member contributions, High and Mighty would consist of entirely Ken Hensley penned tracks, with Wetton getting 2 co-writes. Ken has stated in the past the album felt more like a solo album, and both he and Wetton noted that not much of the band were around at the time, leaving the 2 of them to take on most of the production, aided by engineer Ashley Howe.
John Wetton’s presence is felt immediately on the opening track “One Way Or Another”, in which he takes the lead vocal. A fantastic beginning to this album with the opening guitar riff coming in with a fresh new strong sound, before Wetton’s bass, then drums and organ join in. This is a standout track, and a shame it never got a proper single release. There would be no global single from this album, with this song being issued in the UK (limited), and nothing in North America. David Byron was apparently off with chicken pox at the time of recording this track, so that was the reason given for Wetton’s lead vocal. John recalled in an interview that when David did come back he went in to sing the song, part way through stopped, saying that it was fine the way it was. “Weep In Silence”, a heavy guitar driven ballad, with Hensley’s distinct guitar sound throughout and a great vocal from Byron remains a fan favorite from this album, though it was never played live. “Misty Eyes” starts out gently with Byron singing the opening lines alone before the band comes in softly with acoustic guitar, organ and drums. A good lighter pop song that would’ve made a catchy single, IMO. The first side ends with “Midnight”, the longest track on the album, and most progressive,. An often overlooked epic in the band’s catalogue, and although Wetton didn’t get a co-write on this Or on “One Way Or Another”, his performances (bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals or backing vocals) make these 2 tracks his greatest contributions to his time with the band.
Side 2 opens with the anthem “Can’t Keep A Good Band Down”, a response and dig at the band’s critics. A good upbeat rocker that would’ve (again) made for a fine single. A shame the song would never feature in the band’s live show back then or ever. Next up was the pop-rock of “Woman Of The World”; a good tune, tho’ a bit on the lighter side. Might’ve made a decent single, but like a number of tracks here it lacks an extended solo or something unique as the song merely fades out quickly after the last chorus. “Woman Of The World” would include the band’s message to Bron in the harmonies – You can stick this contract up your flue “Footprints In The Snow” is a favorite of mine on this album, co-credited to Wetton. Love the mix of acoustic and electric guitars organ, and harmonies. An underrated classic from the Byron era, IMO. From here, despite how much I love this album, I can see how critics might disagree with my enthusiasm, as the next 3 tracks drop off a bit, especially the funky keyboardy “I Can’t Stop Singing”. I never ‘got’ this song, and listening to it now, I still don’t. . tho’ it’s not bad, and David sounds convincing on the verses, but the chorus… meh…. “Make A Little Love” is a guitar blues n boogie number, featuring slide guitar. Sounds like it could’ve been a good old school jam rocker, but it ends too early, like a few tracks here, sounding rushed . This one did make it in to the live set on the High & Mighty tour, but like the rest of the album was never played again (aside from Ken resurrecting a track live with John Wetton). The album ends on a high note, but a sad one with “Confession”, with David delivering an apologetic lyric on Ken’s piano ballad. It’s an excellent, moving ballad that sits behind the band’s previous ballads “Rain” and “The Easy Road”. A shame it ends so soon.
In 1995 I interviewed John Wetton and he recalled no leftover tracks being recorded, but sure enough 2 outtakes would eventually be released. “Sunshine”, a good upbeat number; love Lee Kerslake’s intro and playing here. The other cut is the guitar heavy “Name Of The Game”. This song appeared in another version on Ken Hensley’s From Time To Time album in ’94 (an album of solo outtakes and demos), as Ken had recorded the track in the late ’70s with members of Bad Company. A great heavy riff to open this song, fantastic delivery from David and slide guitar from Ken. To me, this sounds like it wasn’t totally completed or mixed well enough, hence it’s lack of inclusion on the album, but a crying shame this wasn’t totally finished and cleaned up and included – could’ve made for a very different outcome of an album that is often brushed off as “lightweight”.
High and Mighty received a huge press bash at the time in Switzerland, where James Bond was filmed. But after that the album dropped – with no worldwide single, and little push. As the band toured the US before it’s release – with no single on the radio or record in the shops, High and Mighty was kinda doomed. The tour saw Ken Hensley leave the band and return, and David Byron fired at the end of the European tour. John Wetton had already made up his mind due to the internal conflict, and and left as well. Many fans wrote the band off after David Byron was dismissed, and the band’s profile and album sales would continue to sink in North America.
But really, I kinda love this album. I realize it may be seen as lightweight or too much of a Ken Hensley solo project by many old Heep fans, but to me it had a new fresh approach and sound following Return To Fantasy and Wonderworld. The band experimented, did something new, and High and Mighty offered up a number of tracks that would’ve made fine singles. With John Wetton having a major hand in it, it sounded much more modern in tune with UK nd Asia, and a forward step from the band’s previous albums. Heck, I even think the album cover art is pretty cool!
It has been a lengthy journey for John Sloman, once seen as a rising star, after stints with Uriah Heep and Gary Moore, along with his unique voice and wide range, his talents on multiple instruments, his songwriting, and his looks then that drew comparisons to Robert Plant. But after 1989’s Disappearances Can Be Deceptive solo album wasn’t a huge hit, not much was heard from John for years until he resumed making solo albums in 2003, mainly by himself. One thing that is evident on John’s latest creation, Two Rivers (on Red Steel Music) is that there is no one like him. John does write formatted pop-rock songs, or produce with any commercial approach in mind. There’s no simple 10 tracks of riff / verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ solo/ chorus/ fadeout. What you get on John’s journey in time dealing with his childhood and past (I haven’t grasped all the lyrics, so I can’t be precise on the entire concept) is a very atmospheric, very different type of album. everything flows together nicely with John often having a few words between songs or during the intros. It makes more sense and more enjoyable listening to the whole album as opposed to picking out single songs. But, if I had to pick out highlights – the title track, “Scenes From An Old Biscuit Tin”, “Charing Cross Moon”, and “Walking Along The Taff”. Much of what is enjoyable about this album is listening to the stories John tells in the songs. Again, if you’re expecting any kind of conventional rock type album, this is not it – this is 14 storytelling tracks put to John’s unique musical approach. This is all acoustic guitars, piano, bass ,vocals [lots], choirs [all John], keyboards, etc….. no electric guitars, no big solos or riffs. Influences of Zappa, acoustic Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd.
Best listened to on headphones -with an open mind, without any ‘rock’ expectations, and enjoy the journey. Love the artwork, btw, and am told the packaging is excellent (might we see a vinyl release?) .
Red Steel plans to follow up Two Rivers with a compilation containing tracks from John’s previous solo albums to be titled Conspectus.
Legendary drummer Carmine Appice really needs no introduction. The guy has done so much from bands VANILLA FUDGE and CACTUS to playing with Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, and hundreds more. For over 50 years he has been one of the busiest, in-demand, and best known drummers in the rock world. More recently he’s seen the release of the latest Cactus studio album (last year) and currently the Cactus live release – The Birth Of Cactus. He’s also working on a number of new projects. I’m sure my conversation does not cover all that he has on the go, so check out the links below.
I want to talk about the new Cactus album. That was your first show – who thought to record it and where was it all these years that it was able to come out now?
Well, basically what it was our manager found that somewhere, I don’t know where the heck he found it. He’s not only our manager, but he’s also a really big Cactus fan. so he finds collectables, and he found that, I guess on a cassette tape that somebody had and he said that he could get that released on Cleopatra, because he said they were interested….So I listened to it initially, and I said ‘wow, the energy on that record is unbelievable’. Ya know, it’s our first gig, but the energy’s flying off that performance like crazy. And it was at a small stadium called Temple Stadium, in Philadelphia, and Jimi Hendrix was the headliner and we were all friends with Jimi, and Grateful Dead – we knew them, and Steve Miller, and you gotta remember The Grateful Dead and Steve Miller weren’t big yet, so the only one that was sort of big was Jimi Hendrix, and even he wasn’t the icon he is today. It was kind of really a cool gig, and we hung out backstage with Jimi. and then we went on and tore it up. … I was 24 years old at that point, and I was just a fireball , ya know… “Parchman Farm” on our record was pretty fast, and this one is faster than that. It was quite an experience. And they remastered it and it actually don’t sound too bad. It doesn’t have to be unbelievable sound, but you can actually hear everything that’s going on. And if you look at it that it’s a collectable classic, and not a polished – ‘go in and re-do…you know like when you do a live album, like BBA – Beck Bogert Appice, we had a live album from 1974 coming out , and we had the 24 track and we went in and fixed the vocal, and a couple of things that needed to be fixed, but with this we didn’t have the opportunity to do that – what you hear is what you got.
Was that everything , was that the full show that’s on the record?
That was the full show, we only had like a 40 minute set. And I think the first song we played titled “One Way Or Another” wasn’t really “One Way Or Another” yet , that became a song on the 2nd album, but it was always a cool jam, so they just titled it “One Way Or Another” because that’s what the song ended up being. out of that riff. It was a brilliant jam on that take. When I was listening I just ‘wow I can’t believe it!’ It’s the “One Way Or Another” riff that started it and then we’d go off jamming on it.
So, was the (first) album out at that time?
I don’t think so, I think it was just coming out or just came out. And my manager was a concert promoter at the time, so it could’ve even been his gig. His company did gigs all around over the east coast of North America. So that could’ve been his show. Again, it’s not like a stadium we have today selling as a stadium that sells out, that’s huge, there could not have been 8000 people there, maybe. We did a tour with Vanilla Fudge we played some stadiums with Hendrix, it was like a 60000 seat stadium or a 30000 seat stadium and we played to like a quarter of it, the rest of it was empty seats. So I think it was like that too. It’s just the fact that it was an outdoor gig and an outdoor gig to maybe 8000 people, maybe a bit more – but not much more.
I want to talk about leading up to that gig. you and Tim had left Vanilla Fudge and you were going to work with Jeff Beck, and that didn’t work out, so..
What happened was we were planning to work with Jeff and Rod Stewart and Rod didn’t want to work with Jeff – OK, that was cool, so we said ‘Jeff you come on over and we’ll figure out a singer later’. And Jeff got in a car wreck just before that, and that put him back 18 months. He couldn’t come over. And we’d just broken up Vanilla Fudge, that was making big money; you know we were drawing, 5,6, 7000 people everywhere we went. So now, I don’t want to do nothing for 18 months – ‘what about you Tim?’ ‘No, I don’t want to do nothing either.’ So, let’s see what else we can put together. We already knew the band name – with Jeff or without Jeff – it was going to be ‘Cactus’! Because we saw that name in Arizona and said ‘Wow’; it was on top of a drive-in theatre – The Cactus Drive-In. So, I said ‘wow – what a cool name for a band.’ It was really strong, the presence of it was strong. So we knew it going to be Cactus. So when Jeff couldn’t make it we had a singer who was __ , we tried him for a couple of weeks and he didn’t work out. Then we had another guitar player named Terry Kelly, he didn’t work out. So, a friend of mine – Duane Hitchings, who was working with a band called Steel, who my manager managed, and we said ‘Look does anyone know where to get ahold of Tim McCarty from Mitch Ryder.. He plays with Buddy Miles now.’ and Duane had played with Buddy Miles, and he said ‘yeah, I know how to get ahold of him.’ So he got ahold of McCarty and so McCarty came up and played and that was great. So we said ‘well now we need a singer’, so McCarty recommended Rusty Day from The Amboy Dukes. So we had sort of a ‘supergroup’ because that’s what we were trying to do. At that time Blind Faith was a supergroup, and West, Bruce & Laing were just getting together, and there was other band’s like that – Crosby, Stills & Nash; so we were trying to do the same kind of thing, because that was the new cool thing to do. So when we got this band together, and we brought Rusty in, and Rusty was great . And the thing I never knew was that “Parchman Song” was a cover song. We were recording it and rehearsing it, and only when the album came out I found out that it was a cover song; I thought it was Rusty’s lyrics because he was great writing lyrics, as we would play stuff he would start singing lyrics and melodies, and that’s how most of our songs were written. So really that song could’ve been our own song because it wasn’t about the lyrics and the fact that it was “Parchman Song”, it was what we played, that double bass – drum shuffle, which was the fastest double bass-drum shuffle recorded at that time, 1970. So, it could’ve been any song, it was the fact that it had so much energy and the way we played that. That groove was what made the song happen. So that’s sort of a weird little story I tell about that first album. And then we put it all together, and we had a deal on Atlantic Records, which was Vanilla Fudge’s label. And we had a really powerful lawyer represent Vanilla Fudge, and Cactus, The Rascals, Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits, all the powerful bands because he was a real powerhouse. He got us an immediate good deal on Atlantic. And it was kind of easy once we got the band together. But we never got the single that we needed to break-through to make it like Led Zeppelin or Grand Funk Railroad…
Where did the ‘American Led Zeppelin’ tag come from and did that put a lot of pressure on you guys?
It didn’t put pressure on us because Led Zeppelin weren’t that big yet, you know they had 1 or 2 albums. It came from the press, somebody labelled it that and then it stuck. Even today they label that. The last album we did with Cactus ‘Tightrope’, on Cleopatra, I think was one of the better albums we’ve ever done. Unfortunately anything coming out today doesn’t sell, nothing because of Spotify and all that.
I thought it was a good album. I think Paul Warren’s a great fit.
Paul’s great. Paul’s from Detroit. Paul played on ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’, so that’s why we did it. We did it live first, just for fun, to tell the audience ‘we’re going to play a song Paul played on when he was 17.’ And when we played it they all went crazy and we said ‘we definitely got to record that.’ And it came out fantastic. And we were planning that release for 2020, which was our 50th anniversary, and we went to Europe before that and we dates in America and some dates in Canada, but we never got to do the dates saying ’50th Anniversary’, so the dates we have coming up, we’re going to sell the merch we have from 2020, the t-shirts, the album, and everything.
You guys did the 3, 4 albums in the ’70s, then you broke up and went off to other things.
Me and Tim finally had the opportunity to play with Jeff, and that was what we wanted to do in the first place.
Was that the reason for breaking up or was it more that the band didn’t have that single?
No, that was reason, because that second Cactus band that we put together was more like The Faces, and I think we would’ve eventually had a single because there are some songs on that Hot ‘N Sweaty album that could’ve been hits. But at that point we were already starting to go with Jeff Beck, so the label didn’t want to put money in to it. And then when that broke up we gave the rest of the Cactus name to Duane Hitchings, who was the keyboard player in Cactus, and who later on co-wrote ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy’ and ‘Young Turks’ with me and Rod. We’d been friends a long time, so gave him and Mike Pinera Cactus and they did an album for Atlantic called ‘Son Of Cactus‘, and they went out on tour and must’ve grossed through the year like 7-800000 thousand in a year, which was big money back in the ’70s. Cactus did quite a few major tours, and were on a lot of good bills… We toured with everybody. We toured with The Faces when they were big doing arenas, we toured with Hendrix, we toured with Uriah Heep, we toured with Badfinger back in the day. And we did a lot of shows where bands opened for us. And big fans of Cactus were people like Eddie and Alex Van Halen. I’ve got cassettes of those guys playing Cactus songs, and on their albums they use some of our stuff, like “Eruption” was the beginning of our song ‘Let Me Swim’, and Alex told me the template for “Hot For Teacher” was “Parchman Farm”, based on that double-bass drum shuffle. They were big Cactus fans, they did a song with Sammy that was a middle section of our song called “Evil”. And King’s X were big Cactus fans, and Ronnie James Dio was a big Cactus fan. We’d go to Memphis and sell-out to 5000 people, and Long Beach Arena we did 5000 people, England we did 3 or 4000 thousand people, so we had a pretty good following worldwide. We went to Europe and do pretty good size crowds in Europe. We played the Isle Of Wight, which is a video that’s going to be coming out at some point. We played in front of 600000 people!
You mentioned Uriah Heep and Badfinger, 2 bands I’m a fan of. Do you have any recall on those tours?
We used to be pretty wild in those days. One time we were on stage on they (Badfinger) hit us with whipped cream pies on our faces, so we retaliated by bringing this – they a 50 gallon metal barrel that they used to put ice in and all our drinks in it – so we filled it up with all kinds of crap, and not realizing we could’ve electrocuted these guys – we just went up and threw it at them on stage, the 3 of us picked it up and threw the whole thing at them, the audience went crazy — that was the same night. Uriah Heep, I don’t remember many stories with Uriah Heep. I can tell you a great story with Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath had just came out, and they had one their first gigs on the east coast at Asbury Park, it was Black Sabbath and Cactus, it was an equal bill thing and we went on first, and just before we went on, we had a very small roadie and somebody stole a bag of pot from him, and I think they punched him in the face, and it was one of the Black Sabbath guys that did it, so just before we went on we were face to face with Black Sabbath and ready to have a rumble backstage, and luckily the promoter broke it up. Those guys were from Birmingham, which is a working class town – like Detroit, and we’re from Brooklyn, New York, and Detroit which is both working class towns that had gangs, I grew up with gangs and stuff. So we were ready to kill each other before either one of us went on. And they broke it up, and so happens that Circus magazine was there that day, so they later on did an interview with us and printed it in Circus magazine about that almost they’re going to hands and fighting with Black Sabbath and Cactus.
You resurrected Cactus in the 2000s, Tightrope is the newest (studio) album, and you’ve got some shows coming up . You and Paul both played with Rod Stewart at different times, so what did you knoew about him that you got him in to the band?
I knew of him playing with Rod, because I went to see Rod a few times. And I had this show called the Rod Experience, which had bandmembers from Rod’s band in it – I had Jimmy Crespo, Phil Chen, myself, and Danny Johnson, all 4 of us out of 5 played with Rod. And we had a guy that looked like Rod, and he sang like Rod. And we went out and did shows, we went to China , Mccow, all over this country. we did 30-40 shows, and then Jimmy Crespo couldn’t play any more and he had to leave, so I was looking for somebody, and somebody said ‘why don’t you get Paul Warren? He played with Rod’ So I got Paul in, and while playing with him in the Rod Experience I realized he’s great player and he’s from Detroit.??.. And we became good friends. So, when Jim McCarty said that he really didn’t want to travel any more, he just wanted to play his own gigs around Detroit, I had a choice of with ?? band, (because Tim was already out of the band) or keeping the band going, and I did, I changed guitar players. So, I started talking to manager, and he said ‘why don’t we do that?’, and I talked to the band, and they said ‘yeah, we want to keep it going’. So we did, we got Paul in, and then I realized Paul was like Jim McCarty on 10. Paul is amazing. He’s a great songwriter, and on stage he is really great. And we went to Europe with him, and at home we did a whole load of gigs there, and people loved him, and even when we went to Detroit JIm McCarty came, and he knew Paul, and Jim got up and played with Paul, it was awesome. So, he’s well respected from the people, well respected from the audience, and well respected from McCarty. So then we got the ?? deal and we started doing Tightrope, and that was the last record I did where we were all a band in one room. That was great because we started writing songs together from scratch, Paul start doing a riff and I’d start playing drums, then we’d say well let’s go somewhere else – let’ go here after these ten bars, something like that. So we wrote the songs as band – mostly me, Paul, and Jimmy Kunes. And I think in the end Jimmy had some sort of problem with that, because Paul was a much more powerful entity in the band than McCarty because McCArty didn’t get involved in production and that, and Paul was involved in the production, the songwriting, and the guitar player. Me and Paul were the co-producers of it, and I don’t know if Jimmy Kunes likes that or not. And Paul was a really good singer too. He sang on “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, he sang a verse. So after we did all that Covid hit and all that, then we started getting more dates, and we found out Jimmy Kunes didn’t want to do it any more. So as of now we’re just getting a new guy in. He’s an English guy , named Jim, and he played with Jimmy Jones [?] and a few people like that. He plays guitar and he’s a great singer. So Paul is working with him in Nashville. We’ll have a rehearsal in March with the whole band for a couple of days, then we’ll go do 3 shows to warm up, then we’ll do some more shows in June. And you know I haven’t toured yet with this new album, so it keeps us going. And I met with Foghat – Roger Earl, who’s the only original member in Foghat and he’s been going, and they’re doing great! And he said ‘don’t give it up, that’s your advantage, your legendary band Just keep doing it.’
One thing I’m always interested in is the album artwork. So I wanted to know what kind of say and input you’ve had over the years in the albums covers…
We always have influence. The first album was the most notorious because it looked like a penis and testicles erect, it looked just like that. We found this good art guy that was doing shows, and we said that is so cool, it’s so phallic , it’s so manly, and in Cactus – it really tells you what the band is about. So we showed it to Atlantic and they said ‘we can’t release that!’ Back in the day Macy’s and EJ Korvettes, and all the chains like that won’t stock the album if they see that. So we changed it a little bit; it still had the idea but it didn’t look exactly like one. So what we did was we made stickers out of the original one, thousands and thousands of stickers and whenever we went, like on planes – we’d go to the bathroom, pull the seat up and sticker on the cover! So when the stewardess pulls the seat up they see a Cactus sticker. Haha. We used to do crazy, wild things, like bring women out on stage and have them wearing like 5 Cactus stickers! It was pretty crazy days back then, you know – the hippies, the pot smoking generation, the nudity, free sex, all that stuff. I Can’t believe I survived it, to tell you the truth. The 2nd album, One Way Or Another was – one way was the beautiful Grand Canyon with the sunset, another way was a beautiful sunset in the back was a Hawaiian sunset. And inside was to be all other things that were to be not as cool. And then the third one – Restrictions, the cactus breaking through the concrete, with the drawing of a guy, and I believe there was clouds of pot smoke and you couldn’t see the rest of his body. So we were always involved… Hot N Sweaty we recorded live in Puerto Rico, it was a festival, so it was a very tropical type of artwork, because it was Puerto Rico. And the next one was Cactus 5. And then for the artwork for all the different stuff Atlanta put out, they always sent us stuff to approve and we always had our comments and they fixed it. We were always very much involved in the artwork in Cactus.
I had done a piece on Tightrope cover,…
Susan ….and Paul Latimer. We told them what we wanted, because you know Cactus is always been associated with pot smoking and rebellion and restrictions and all that. So we said ‘let’s just incorporate all that and make it like society’s own fuck {?] ‘the government fucked me’, and put a tighrope on there with somebody walking the tightrope. and that’s what they came up with and we immediately like it, we had 2 comments, we did. Then we had it animated so there’s video we did, that’s the title song. And Paul Warren’s not in that video because he was sick as a dog, before Covid, he had a cold and all these other ailments he had going on, but thank God he’s OK now. So the guitar is a young kid from a band I was producing called Kodiak. It’s like a new Van Halen, the kid sounds just like Van Halen. And I asked him to do it, and that’s why you don’t see his face.
Who did the artwork for the new archive live album?
Actually Cleopatra did it. They said do you you guys want to be involved, and I said Let’s see what you come up with. And they came up with that, and I said you know what – we didn’t have a lot to do with recording it, so go for it. I’m the only one, me and McCarty that knew that was coming out. So our manager Bruce just let McCarty knew recently that’s coming out, and sending him a copy ( I haven’t got my copy yet).
Do you keep up on all the vinyl variants and albums colors and stuff? Do you keep a copy of everything you’ve ever done?
I pretty much try to, yeah. I got the Tightrope album on vinyl, I got Cactus V, any one that we did on vinyl – I got. But they didn’t do vinyl of, you know – The Best Of Cactus is a double CD, and they did all that live stuff and studio stuff, and they didn’t do those. But my Guitar Zeus I’ve got all the vinyls now, they’re just released before Christmas a 4-LP, 3-CD, with a booklet Guitar Zeus box-set for the 25th anniversary, which is really good. We put 3 extra (new) tracks on there that were never released. I actually found them on a 24-track, and we actually worked on them, finished them. I put Tommy Thayer from Kiss on one of them, I put Derek Sherinian (keyboard player from Sons Of Apollo and Dream Theater) playing like a guitar solo on his mini-moog. And I had that kid again, (who was in the Cactus video – the guy from Kodiak) on one of the songs, to give him a break. We have 39 tracks, there’s also some tracks with no vocal, no guitar, so people can play along with it and everything. And then there’s a bundle where you can get a Carmine face-logo – like a silver metal, a photo of me, and booklet, and a t-shirt. So, I’ll keep one. If people want to buy it, it’s on my merch list at my website.
Did you have much of a collection growing up? did you buy much?
I have a lot of albums, but right now most of my albums are with my drums in a locker in LA. And I live in Florida now, and I have a locker in New York and a locker in LA, and a small locker here for the house. And I’ve got drums, I try and sell the drums because drums are not made to sit in a dark locker, they’re made to be played. I’m actually going to put a thing on Facebook saying that if anyone is interested in buying a couple of sets of drums I have, that I used on records – go to my website and look for Booking information and let us know. Again, I got rid of a lot of drums, and I’ve got drums I played with in the lockers, and I’ve got some real collectables. They’re all in there, I’ve got boxes on vinyl, and I’ve got boxes of vinyl here.
Do you still have a residence in New York?
We have a place in Manhattan, [?] I lived in LA for fourty years, I lived in Long Island for 2 years, more than 2 years, I have 2 houses on Long Island, one of them I turned in to a drum studio and gave lessons, and had 3 teachers working with me, and that’s when I started writing my drum books and all that and became an educator. I had lots of houses in LA. Then I moved to Florida in 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, and I’m so glad I did because I have the studio here, which I’ve recorded the new King Kobra album, I recorded that here. I recorded The Energy Overload record, that’s on Cleopatra also – myself and Fernando Perdomo, who’s a producer and a muti-instrumentalist. We did this instrumental album that’s getting amazing reviews – 5 out of 5 on VintageRock.com and Classic Rock gave it 9 out of 10. So we’re working on a new record, and we’ve got 6 or 7 songs for that all at my studio. I was telling my wife yesterday I’m so glad we moved here and I got the studio, otherwise I would’ve lost my mind during Covid, because I didn’t have anywhere I could play my drums, you know, I had a house in Connecticut and I could just play my drums but no way to record, the room there was like a gym, it was too echoe-ee to record it. So I’ve done so much work here; I’ve produced this singer name Lisa G ee, I did some some stuff for Cleopatra, I played on Arthur Brown’s new single with Brian Auger. I also did a Pink Floyd tribute, I did that with them as well. So I did a lot of recording here. I did a Modern Drummer Festival here, I recorded it live. I recorded Nico McBrain from Iron Maiden, I did his Modern Drummer festival video here and recording here. And I engineered it which I thought was really funny – Carmine Appice the Engineer now, right!? Ha.
So, who is on the new King Kobra?
We did 2 King Kobra records – one in 2010, one in 2012, and I had Johnny Rod, the original 2 guitar players – Mick and Dave, and our original singer Marcie Free didn’t want to do it, so I got Paul Shortino who sang with Quiet Riot and Rough Cutt, so he did those 2 albums. Now we’ve got a new deal on Cleopatra to do a new King Kobra, and the 2 guitar players didn’t want to do it. Mick works as a union painter in LA for movies, and Dave works for Live Nation – he does all the computer tech stuff for them, so he said ‘nah we don’t want to do, it’s so much work and nobody buys it anymore…’ , I said ‘yeah , but your keeping your only legacy going, and you’re creating music’. So I ended up getting Rowan Robertson that played with Dio, and Carlos Cavazo from Quiet Riot. So those are the 2 new guitar players with me, Paul, and Johnny Rod. And I gotta say this album kicks ass! It’s really really good.. It’s kinda leaning more towards that ’80s metal , but it also has 70s hard-heavy rock. It’s really a good record. But still you’ve got a limited audience who buy for sales, you know most people don’t buy records any more they head to Spotify and bands don’t make any money off of Spotify . So we’re just making it and doing it to get new music out, keep the legacy going, and do music – that’s what I do, I love it – that’s my hobby, my wife, you know!? And the album is called “Music Is A Piece Of Art“. Isn’t that a cool title!? And the lyric in that song is “music is a piece of art, through your ears and straight to your heart”. I think that’s really clever.
I like Johnny’s work, I’m very familiar with him in WASP….
Yeah, Johnny is a great bass player! We just finished his bass parts. We actually flew him to Vegas to work with Paul Shortino in Paul’s studio. Me and Carlos worked from our home studios. We flew him [Johnny] there, put him in a hotel, and he spent 4 days with Paul and did all the bass tracks And Paul called me and goes “Johnny Rod is a motherfucker!” He said he was so good, he made the songs come to life even more than they were actually. And that’s why I put him in King Kobra because he’s a great bass player! He’s got the look, he’s got the image, and he’s a wild guy , he fits the band perfect!
Over the years have you had much contact with John Sykes from the Blue Murder project?
I saw him In 2010 he’d left Thin Lizzy to go out and do Blue Murder. We had gigs booked, the management from Thin Lizzy was going to manage it, we had gigs booked in Europe for big money and something happened between him and the management and they cancelled it all. And since they cancelled it all, nothing’s happened for many years, and then maybe 3 years ago, when I still lived in California me and Tony and John got together at John’s house, just screwin’ around – we got together and played, and it sounded amazing. Then we did it again, then we talked ‘let’s go out – let’s get a manager and an agent’, people are dying to hear Blue Murder all over the world. And we were going to do it, and after the last jam we had John wanted to do like a John Sykes history tour combination with Blue Murder, me and Tony. And we said ‘they want to hear Blue Murder, if you want to do a John Sykes tour – we can do my history too, you know, which is pretty strong, and we can do Tony’s history which is pretty strong too.’ People want to hear Blue Murder I don’t care about doing my history, I want to play Blue Murder. So the last time I saw John was 2020, January, at the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame, at the NAMM show, and he was there and he had put together a drummer and Tony said he was going to go out and that John history tour. And John said ‘oh my drummer is dying to meet you, can you come and meet him?’. I said ‘sure’, so I met the kid and everything. And we left it at John would go out and do this tour in 2020, and when he’s done with that we’d go out and do Blue Murder. And unfortunately Covid hit, so he never did the tour. And I texted him and never heard back from him, I don’t know if he changed his number, but I haven’t talked him in 3 years now.
I want to touch base on a session you did a long time ago, a band named Ursa Major – Dick Wagner’s band.
Oh my God! I did. I don’t even remember the song, but I remember Ursa Major, and Dick was a good friend, and I saw him the last time about a year before he passed. I did a solo album in ’77 called V8, which Dick played on 2 songs
I want to talk a bit about Vanilla Fudge…
Did you hear that new song we did? It came out last year, and it’s the only song from a band from 1967 come out with all 4 members of the original band. It was done before Tim Bogert passed away, it was called “Stop In The Name Of Love”, it’s on youtube, and it’s pure Vanilla Fudge! It’s really good. Tim was sick as a dog, he had stage 4 cancer, and I got him to do it, and it was great.
Is there any plans to do any more recordings as Vanilla Fudge?
Well, we were supposed to do, this was part of what was going to be an album called Supreme Fudge, which we were going to do 5 Supreme songs, 3 other R n B songs, and 2 originals – something like that. So we recorded this one first in December of 2019, that was about the time we got the deal sorted out. So went in the studio and started recording, even though we didn’t get any money yet, because we didn’t have any budget, but we had a studio and we were in the New York area doing some shows, we had some days off so we said why don’t we go in and put that arrangement down that we had of the song. OK, so we did it. And then in the next month, January, I was going to the NAMM show, I talked to Tim, and I said ‘we got a new deal with Supreme Fudge, can you play on 1, 2 or 3 tracks?’ and he said ‘yeah as long as I’m physically able to I’ll do it.’ So, since we had that track recorded I went to the NAMM show, and I sold my house in LA, and went in and recorded Tim at my friend’s house, that was 2020 just before Covid. And when I got back I realized I had to re-do the drums, because the drums had all kinds of leakage on it, for some stupid reason. So I had to re-do the drums. So I said ‘OK when I go back maybe February or March I’ll re-do the drums and maybe we can get together then and start arranging more stuff.’ I had gigs going in February with my brother so I couldn’t do the Vanilla Fudge then, and then Covid hit and that was the end of that. But I did have Tim on that track, so when I moved to Florida and developed my drum sound, and I thought I was ready I put new drums on it. So I did those drums here too. And the rgeat thing about having the drums here in my studio is I can walk in there any day and today I can go in there and put a drum track down and tomorrow or next week I can go in there and say ‘I don’t like that drum fill, let me fix it’, and I’ll still have the same exact drum sound because the drums are in the same exact place, same room, it didn’t change. But when Covid hot we never got to record any more because the other guys don’t have studios, I’m the only one who has a studio . So our manager said ‘well since you’ve got Tim on that and everything else is done why don’t I just work out a deal for that!?’ So he worked out a deal with the same label that released the Zeppelin record and they released the song on digital. So, the manager made the deal for the digital version of that because they didn’t want to release a real version, which they should’ve, a vinyl version. So that’s what happened, and we never got to do the Supreme Fudge album.
Hopefully there’ll be a way to come back to it…
No. Not unless the business changes. And not unless this Covid thing goes totally away where we can actually go to a studio. I mean, my brother is in the studio right now with Last In Line – all together, in Vegas, so…
You also put out your autobiography a few years ago. I’m curious – you’ve done so much with so many bands, how would you narrow something down in to one book?
It wasn’t easy. There should be a volume 2. The next book is going to be called “Guitar Zeus – The Book“, and I’m going to talk about all the guitar players that I worked with in my life. That’s an interesting concept that ties in to my album. And I’m going to put 2 CDs in the book. And I’m talking to this guy, there’s a new book on Led Zeppelin, a biography that was just released recently; and the guy that wrote that wrote The Beatles biography, and he’s just been contracted to do the Rolling Stones over the next 5 years, and he wants to do this book with me. So, as soon as he gets his contract figured out and he’s able to do it – we’re going to write that book. And he’s going to get me a deal, which will be a big deal, and it’s going to be all of the guitar players, I’ve got a list, it’s pretty impressive, and I’ve got stories of everybody. And I’ve got pictures… I can do a Stick It : Part 2, you know…
American country-rock band Poco have a long history, dating back to 1968. The band ceased touring in 2014 when lone founding member Rusty Young retired (in 2013). This recording from 2004 also featured longtime member Paul Cotton, who’d left a few years previously. Sadly, both Young and Cotton passed away in 2021.
Now available on CD & blue vinyl, from Purple Pyramid Records, One Night In Nashville features the artwork of Angelika “Angel” Ciesniarska . Like a number of Poco covers, this release features a horse, as created by Angel.
About the artist
“I was born in Poland in 1977, I settled in UK in 2005. I am a self taught artist, doing art in my free time. My other big hobby years ago used to be aviation photography as well”.
About the Art Used On One Night In Nashville
“I created this particular watercolor in 2014. It was my attempt to create nice horse tattoo art. It was nice to see imy image being used as this album cover”.
This image would’ve been chosen for the by someone at the record company, and added with the classic Poco logo.
“This painting was always one of my most popular images online so I ended up uploading it on my Alamy account ant that’s how it ended up on Poco’s album”.
Angel’s artwork was used with the famous Poco logo, which first appeared on Poco Seven, from 1974. That cover & design were created by Phil Hartman (RIP, 1998). He had been credited on over 20 album covers throughout his career, including a number of Poco covers. The Canadian artist later became famous as a comedian on Saturday Night Live, and as a voice actor on The Simpsons .
*For more on Angel Ciesniarska’s art, as well as ordering prints check out the links below.
John Verity marked 50 years as a performer & recording artist with 2020’s album – Passion. The British guitarist/singer/songwriter was a part of Argent and then Phoenix in the ’70s,, and since 2001 has been releasing his own albums pretty regularly. Passion features Verity delivering 8 new blues rock, and blues ballads tunes. The first 2 tracks jump out right away – “Higher”, a great driving rock tune, followed by “Wise Up” with a cool guitar riff opener and a heavy drum sound (this one being in that Zeppelin / Bad Company class), love the organ throughout this one (courtesy of Jamie Pipe of The Mentulls), lyrically dealing with frustrations of worldly issues. “Sand In My Pocket” is a mid tempo blues number, a nice groove, fantastic playing and vocals. Next up is a bluesy ballad dealing with global environmental issues, delivered in this rather laid back and sad feeling tune “Broken Heart”. John pays tribute to Ginger Baker in the heavy blues cut “Red Devil”, while doing the same to Chuck Berry on “Bad Boy”. “Passion” ends with another heavy blues number titled “Big Stick”. Also included is the slowed paced, reflective guitar piece “The Open Road”; love the playing and the feel on this.
What I like a lot about this album is, aside from the fantastic playing, singing, and songs, is that Passion is kept to a solid production, without any excesses of added instrumentation, guests, and pieces that detract from the flow of it all, simply letting John (and company) deliver an appropriately titled album. Now to start working my way backwards through John’s more recent solo releases….
Line-up: JV – guitars & vocals / Bob Skeat & Roger Inniss – bass / Liam James Gray – drums / Jamie Pipe – keyboards.
Passion was issued on CD and Limited vinyl, and can be ordered at John’s site > http://www.johnverity.com
A band I am not so familiar with, but I do remember buying the cassette single of their big 1989 hit “Call It Love”. What a great song! And I have picked up a number of Poco albums over the years, but never gave them the time, I guess. But checking out this upgraded version of their 2004 Nashville show, originally released as the CD/DVD Keeping The Legend Alive is an eye opener to the band’s catalogue, not to mention their flawless performances of their hits and classics. “Call It Love” is here, as is their biggest hit, 1978 top 20 hit “Crazy Love” [from their biggest album – Legend] , and their classy rendition of JJ Cale’s “Magnolia” (originally a single from 1973’s Crazy Eyes). I could go on, but this is just an excellent live concert. Poco may have been a slightly less rockin’ act in the same ‘country-rock’ category as The Eagles (their was a few personnel connections too), but they definitely had their own brand of classic rock with great melodies and harmonies, and this is a great intro (or reminder) of the band, who at the point of this show, had 18 studio albums. *This is the first time this is on vinyl (and a nice shade of blue!), tho’ I’m not a fan of condensing these down to fit on 1 LP, but oh well… Classic album art that’ll look great alongside the rest of the band’s albums.
Brand New Vinyl Reissue of “One Night In Nashville” From Country Rock Icons POCO!
Los Angeles, CA – Long before Wilco or The Jayhawks or Ryan Adams, there was one country rock band that towered over all others. Founded by former members of the brilliant Buffalo Springfield, Richie Furay and Jim Messina, along with multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young and drummer George Grantham, Poco pioneered a blend of sounds that would come to dominate singles charts and radio for years to come. Indeed, some of Poco’s most beloved tracks are still treasured by fans today including “Crazy Love,” “Heart Of The Night,” “Call It Love” and “Rose Of Cimarron.” These songs as well as the nearly 20 studio albums the band released over the years have ensured that the Poco legend endures.
While Poco’s recording output is well-known and widely celebrated, the band’s live performances are the true treasures for longtime fans. One very special concert occurred one night in Nashville, TN in 2004. Original members Furay, Young and Grantham all participated as well as longtime member Paul Cotton. Together, the group offers up fantastic renditions of their biggest hits and most beloved songs. Now this special live performance is being released on glorious vinyl in a limited-edition TRANSLUCENT BLUE as well as on digipak CD. It’s a superb package that fans old and young will not want to miss!
TRACK LIST: CD 1. Where Did The Time Go 2. Keep On Tryin’ 3. Crazy Love 4. Pickin’ Up The Pieces 5. Bad Weather 6. Call It Love 7. Let’s Dance Tonight 8. Magnolia 9. You Better Think Twice 10. Spellbound 11. Indian Summer 12. Kind Woman 13. Rose Of Cimarron 14. Ride The Country 15. Good Feelin’ To Know 16. Heart Of The Night
VINYL SIDE A 1. Keep On Tryin’ 2. Crazy Love 3. Bad Weather 4. Call It Love 5. Magnolia 6. You Better Think Twice
SIDE B 1. Indian Summer 2. Kind Woman 3. Rose Of Cimarron 4. Ride The Country 5. Good Feelin’ To Know 6. Heart Of The Night
PHOENIX formed after ’70s classic band ARGENT disbanded, as it consisted of John Verity, Jim Rodford and Bob Henrit. Verity had joined Argent for their last 2 albums, replacing Russ Ballard; the band took on a change of direction, but Verity wanting to get back to a more straight ahead rock band came up with Phoenix. The band debuted in 1976 with their self-titled album. Not sure how well it did, but it is a classic ’70s hard-rock album, full of great guitar, Verity’s distinctive vocals, and a killer rhythm section., and stand outs like “From The Ashes”, “Woman Like You”, and “Easy”. Highly recommended ’70s rock listening, with Verity putting out a 30th anniversary CD edition some years ago.
Anyway, the band went in to record a 2nd album (which is the topic here), which was shelved as the record company at the time wanted the band to take on a more American radio friendly sound, hence 1979’s flop – In Full View. The band would release 1 more single before disbanding.
Now, nearly 43 years later that 2nd ‘lost’ album has been rediscovered and mastered for release by John Verity. Titled Out Of The Sun, with a cover that resembles that classic album cover for the Phoenix debut album, featuring 8 tracks individually penned by each band member, as well as a track from Chris White (Zombies).
Upon first listen through, it is safe to say if you liked that first Phoenix album – you will really like this! A great mix of rockers, ballads, a bit of funk, blues… Out Of The Sun opens with “Are You Ready”, an upbeat heavy rocker, very fitting musically and lyrically here. (Can’t help but be reminded of Grand Funk’s song of the same title). There are a couple of piano based ballads [featuring Rod Argent] – “Fallin'”, which is highlighted by Verity’s vocal, harmonies, and a smokin’ guitar break, as well as the cut “When My Boat Comes In”, again with a great high vocal,, a bit of synths, – this one would’ve made a fine single. “Loser” is a rocker, with a good bit of attitude; this song really makes me think these guys were really having a blast recording this stuff. “Spider Woman” is a cool sounding slower number, a bit funky, great groove, one of my favorites here, as is “Take My Music”, a bit more of an uptempo rocker, complete with some nice backing harmonies, a few changes, killer guitar sound; too bad this one fades out so soon. “Winds Of Change”, followed by “You Got Soul” close out this disc, both strong cuts, a bit of blues, soul, funk, and solid rock.
It is a shame this album was lost for so long, because it is a fantastic follow up and equally as impressive as the debut. Not a dodgy cut here. Just a very cool sounding guitar rock album of the 70s, from a tight sounding band that ended too soon.
Davey Johnstone is the Scottish born guitarist, most known for being a key part of Elton John’s band, for the most part, since 1971. There was a break in the late ’70s where he joined Alice Cooper’s band for a few albums, and has worked with a number of other acts over the years. Deeper Than My Roots is just Johnstone’s 2nd solo album (tho’ this is labelled as a ‘band’ album) since 1973’s Smiling Face, which featured fellow members of Elton’s band. His new album is made with his offspring, who all contribute to the playing, vocals, and even the awesome artwork! The artwork alone got my attention, wish there was a vinyl version of this! It goes with the music within, which has a definite ‘early ’70s vibe with great vocals (most of which supplied by Johnstone’s youngest son), harmonies, acoustic guitars, keyboards, nothing really hard rockin’, largely ballads, but plenty of cool guitar work and a few classic solos, atmosphere, and great songwriting, all wrapped up in a sweet production. Favorite tracks include the first video-single “Melting Snow”, opening cut “Go Easy On My Heart”, “Boxer In The Corner”, and the instrumental “Walt Dizney”. Deeper Than My Roots also includes 2 ‘bonus’ tracks, one being a cover of The Beatles’ “Here, There, And Everywhere”, and the other being Davey’s 2020 single “All The Time In The World”.
*See the press release below:
Elton John Guitar Legend Davey Johnstone To Release First Single ‘Melting Snow” From Forthcoming Solo Album!
Davey Johnstone has been Elton John’s guitarist for 50 years. He has also played with Alice Cooper, John Lennon, Stevie Nicks, Lenny Kravitz and many, many more! In his role as Music Director he will resume the hugely successful Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour with Elton and the band in January 2022.
Davey is releasing the first single “Melting Snow” from his forthcoming solo album “Deeper Than My Roots”!
Watch the video for “Melting Snow”:
During the COVID-19 recess, Davey has recorded an album utilizing the incredible talents of his children, plus a few close friends. The album has a wide range and crosses genres.
Elliot, the youngest Johnstone, is lead vocalist on the record, with Davey supplying one lead vocal himself. Charlie Johnstone recorded many of the basic tracks at their home in California. Charlie also supplied keyboard and background vocal parts. Jesse Johnstone played drums remotely from his home in L.A. Jesse also joined his father and eldest sibling Tam Johnstone, on writing, recording and producing the album’s two instrumentals, “Black Scotland” and “Walt Dizney”. The beautiful artwork for the sleeve was conceived and designed by Juliet Johnstone.
Denny Seiwell, the legendary drummer from Paul McCartney and Wings helped out on three tracks, and Nigel Olsson supplied drums on “Melting Snow”.
Much of the recording was done by Major Wynn at Marlon Hoffman’s Kenrose Studio in California.
Davey Johnstone’s forthcoming full-length album titled “Deeper Than My Roots” will be available on Spirit of Unicorn Records in January 2022.
Many years back I had written to John Verity (ex Argent, Phoenix, Charlie). I really dug that first Phoenix album, and had picked up one of his solo albums, his albums with Argent, and Charlie. But I still had a lot to get, so many of my questions were a bit of ‘fishing’ as I wasn’t familiar with a number of projects. We also didn’t have youtube back then or Discogs to research on…. Anyway, I tried to get a good account of John’s career, and he replied with lots of information and stories. With the recent news of a new release – the ‘lost’ Phoenix album, I decided to re-post this (w/ a few edits), and links and tracks put in.
John Verity has been in the rock business since the late ’60s, but his name came to prominence in 1975 when he replaced Russ Ballard in ARGENT. After 2 albums with Argent, Verity formed the band PHOENIX – who released 2 albums, before releasing a few solo albums, recording an album with US aor band CHARLIE, and getting into production work. John Verity still records and gigs to this day, and is currently readying a new album as well as re-releasing some things from his own catalogue. For more on the man check out>http://www.johnverity.com
What can you tell me about your early days — bands? – people of notoriety you played with? earliest recordings? breaks? etc…
I Started in the 60’s with groups in my home town, Bradford, Yorkshire. Played R&B, Pop & Blues. Got my first real break when I was asked to play guitar for 60’s R&B/ Pop star ‘Dave Berry’ – great experience as we gigged solidly & toured heavily until the band was asked (without DB) to go to the Bahamas for a stint at the ‘Jokers Wild’ club in Freeport, Grand Bahama, in 1968. We stayed for almost a year – I did my first singing then ( I was never allowed to sing before, but we did so many sets, 7 nights a week that our main vocalist needed a break!). In ’69 a promoter from Miami spotted us playing at Jokers Wild and invited us to Florida to do some serious gigs. The band didn’t last long, but I stayed behind & formed the first JV Band with US musicians, gigged with Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Mountain, Canned Heat, PG&E, and others before moving back to UK. Got my first record deal with ABC / Dunhill on my return to UK in 1970/71.
What do you remember of this album? who produced it? any ‘name’ people involved? how did it do? read ‘was recorded late ’72 for Probe/ ABC Dunhill’.
Sorry.. No names on the album. Produced by Steve Rowlands who produced the Herd, Family Dogg, and other pop bands in the UK around that time.
Who was in the first Verity Band? any stories from Hendrix , Mountain, or Canned Heat? what kind of music were you doing back then?
The US JV Band was a three piece – Teddy on drums & Mark on bass. No surnames I’m embarrassed to say – its a long time ago! Nothing earthshaking to report on the other bands I’m afraid. Hendrix was kinda unhappy because people were shouting for the old stuff – he was into the Band of Gypsies thing — line-up was Billy Cox & Buddy Miles. The gig was in Miami – I believe it could have his last in the US.
How did you come to join Argent ?
My first album ‘John Verity Band’ was released on Probe/ABC Dunhill late ’74 and I went on the road touring as support to Argent. Russ Ballard decided to leave on that tour, and recommended me as his replacement.
You played on just ‘Circus’ and ‘Counterpoint’ albums? anything else? [live or unreleased?]
There are unreleased tracks, also we ‘reformed’ to do some sessions in ’77 – the line-up was Rod, Russell, Bob Henrit, Jim Rodford & Me. The tracks were never released & and the ‘reformation’ never happened. I ended up spending quite a lot of time in the studio with Russell working on his songwriting projects during that period – ’78 to ’81. Russell was also involved in the final ‘Phoenix’ recordings in 1980. The lineup was me Bob & Ray, plus Dave Wintour on bass and Russell on piano. We recorded two songs that Russell had written – ‘Juliet’ & ‘I Surrender’. The record company Charisma didn’t like ‘I Surrender’ – said it wasn’t a commercial song! & released ‘Juliet’ as a single instead with no success. B side was ‘I’m In Love’ from “In Full View”. Russell used our version of ‘I Surrender’ as a demo, and ‘Rainbow’ picked up on it. The rest is history…
Were you familiar with Argent prior to joining them? what band did you [and John G.] come from?
I wasn’t really familiar with the band prior to the support tour – but the sheer quality of their musicianship just blew me away.. I think I’ve covered my background prior the Argent. John G was much younger with little band experience – he was a truly natural, gifted musician though, but never liked the touring aspect – well, he hated it really!
Did you feel any pressure/criticism having to fill in Russ Ballard’s spot, baring in mind he wrote a lot of the earlier classics? [did you write songs in these days? ]
I did feel pressure – I just wanted to be good, and make my mark. I did write songs (I had written the John Verity Band album), but there was no chance of writing songs for Argent with someone with pedigree of Rod around!
What was the plan or direction / aim of the new line-up when you joined?
The band was getting into Fusion/ Jazz Rock which I didn’t really like, and anyway they were such a great rock band. I think we lost our way really… musically.
Was Rod the musical ‘director that lead the band away from more rock stuff?
Kind of. The rest of the band seemed happy enough at the time, to go along with this ‘new’ direction. I suspect Robert was a little unhappy at the change but probably I was the only one who felt really uncomfortable with it. I was quite shocked when the new songs were first presented to me, but I didn’t have the confidence to speak out at the time…
How do you feel the 2 Argent LPs you were on compared to previous Argent LP? Were there any successful singles? Why did the band split?
I didn’t feel that the later albums were as successful musically as the earlier albums, though they had their moments. There were singles, but no success. The band split because (a) we weren’t making any money! (b) Rod & John G were sick of touring. (c) Rod wanted to move in a different direction musically (I was agitating to move back to Rock & Roll) (d) I wanted to form a straight ahead power trio with Bob & Jim – ‘Phoenix’.
How much of the drums did Phil Collins play on Counterpoints?
About half. Some tracks are half Bob & half Phil!.
Were you happy with this radical shift away from the anthemic early 70s heavy rock in the Free vein towards spacey jazz-rock, and if so, were you instrumental in this switch?
No, hated it!
How did The John Verity Band [1974] come about, who were the members, where from (which bands)?
All the members of the JV Band were from local bands in my home town (Bradford). We met when I returned from US early ’70’s. The earliest sessions for the album in ’72 were done with session musicians, but I wasn’t happy & formed a ‘normal’ band line-up with Geoff Lyth (guitar & keyboards). We had various bass players & drummers, and the line-up finally settled at Jerry Smith (bass), & Ron Kelly (drums) in time for the album sessions which began at Advision studios in London late ’73. Album produced by Steve Rowlands.
Any singles released? much success, tours, breaks…? How did that one album do on the market?
Lots of gigs – toured with Argent, the line-up changed. New line-up included Biff Byford (Saxon) on bass, and guitarist Paul Quinn (Saxon). I produced the first Saxon album a couple of years later.
What happened afterwards – why did it break up? [anything recorded after the 1974 album that didn’t get released?]
We were rehearsing for a new album when the Argent gig was firmed up. Biff, Paul & the guys gigged as the John Verity Band without me! before forming ‘SonOfABitch’ which became Saxon.
You formed Phoenix with Jim Rodford and Rob Henrit [from Argent days]. How did this band begin? Was it intentional to make it a heavier sounding band than Argent?
Yup. [See above] – during the final Argent US tour, I had the feeling that we should be moving into a more straight ahead direction. I knew that there was a niche for us & Bob & Jim agreed. We signed to CBS though, and it took too long to get product out, by which time the UK music scene was being swamped by New Wave/ Punk. We were Dinosaurs in the UK by then.
You all contributed to the first Phoenix album, which was a classic LP IMO. What happened with the first album — much success, etc… ?
We did well in some areas. Lots of great response to gigs – we toured UK/ Europe & Scandinavia with Aerosmith, but I decided to get into Production.
Who else did you produce of note?
Saxon, Tank, Motorhead, Searchers, Marseille, BlackSlate, Brian Connelly (Sweet) – plus lots of bands’ ‘first albums’.
Can you explain the change prior to the 2nd Phoenix LP in which Jim left and was replaced by Ray Minhinnett – who played guitar, while you doubled on bass [guitars, vox…], and also added Ronnie Lee Cunningham on keys?? [where did Ray and Ronnie come from?]
Ray was/ is a buddy of mine. He was with Frankie Millers Full House. Fantastic guitar player, and we wrote songs together. Jim was offered the gig with the Kinks & went with our blessing, but we decided not to replace him – I played the bass parts & then added my guitars later. The other guys were brought in as session players by our American producer. Great musicians but I didn’t feel the album worked – no ‘Band’ vibe.
In Full View also featured a few outside penned tracks — “I Don’t Mind” [Walden] – where did this come from? as well it included Russ Ballard’s “Just Another Day” – why did you do this song?
I’m always open to good outside material and we felt ‘I Don’t Mind’ was a strong song (sent to us by the Publisher). I had engineered & played/ sung on Russell’s demo of ‘Just Another Day’ and asked him if we could do it for Phoenix.
What happened on the 2nd LP that would explain the change from the debut? Was there outside interference, recording company, etc.. ?? How well did this LP do?
The record company was responsible for the change of direction which I felt was a disaster. It didn’t do well.
Any examples or stories pertaining to this?
Not really – the business was in real upheaval at that time, and the UK scene was particularly screwed up, so Charisma decided we should go to America to record. I was thinking New York – they were thinking LA. We went to LA. WRONG!
I presume Phoenix split after the 2nd LP!? what were the highlights of this band for you? what happened in the end?
The highlight was the early period when we first came off the road with Argent. We were all match fit and playing well. Bob, Jim & I have great respect for each other as musicians & people. I loved that band, but it should never have been allowed to change direction musically, or be interfered with by outside producers & record company personnel!. Bob & Jim are good friends to this day and often form the current JV Band line-up for gigs & recording. I love them both like brothers.
What did you do in the years following Phoenix and the first “Verity” LP? any other bands, recordings, ..?
Mostly production & writing/ session playing. Russ Ballard, Ringo Starr, Colin Blunstone, Bowowow, Tank, Motorhead, Saxon etc.
You auditioned for Uriah Heep. were you disappointed this didn’t pan out ? What do you recall of the auditions? Have you had any other contact or association with an Heep guys?
Not too disappointed as it was only intended that I fill in until the band found someone permanent – which they did with Pete Goalby. All good players – Mick’s an excellent guitar player. Pete G’s a fantastic singer & good friend today.
What’s Pete up to these days? Ever worked with him?
Never worked with Pete – just jammed at a gig one time, but we’re buddies – been through a lot of the same music biz bullshit. He’s well, but having a break from it for a while.
Interrupted Journey was a very classy ’80s HR album, and still stands up pretty good today. You produced and engineered the album, as well as guitar & vocals, and had a long list of guest players,..Was it really a solo album? and who exactly was in the band? Who toured with you, etc.?
Yes, it was a solo album initially, which I began recording in ‘down time’ at Livingston Studios in between production projects. As recording progressed I began to ask my friends to sing & play on it. The touring band had Steve Rodford (son of Jim!) on drums, and my old mate Terry Uttley (Smokie) on bass, who became my partner in crime for some time until Smokie re-formed.
What can you tell me about how the guest-list became on this album > Rutherford, Argent, Ballard, Terry Uttley… ?
Mike Rutherford contacted me because he’d heard that I was doing a solo album. He wanted to produce or participate in some way. I went to Genesis’ studio where we recorded 3 songs with just me, Bob Henrit, & Mike playing. I added all the extra stuff at my own studio. Dave Wintour was doing lots of bass sessions around that time, including Russ Ballard & Leo Sayer.
Why did you re-do “Just Another Day” – the Ballard song that you had recorded with Phoenix? and what can you tell me about some of the other outside penned tracks, such as the Mike Rutherford song, “Love Is Blind”, “Stay With me Baby”, “Chippin Away At The Stone”… ?
I re-recorded ‘Just Another Day’ because I felt that we had screwed it up on the Phoenix album. The other songs were just great pieces that I wanted to do my own version of. Mike wrote some stuff especially for me which was nice. ‘Stay With Me’ is my favorite song (I’m re-doing it on my new album!)
What were your favorite tracks on that album? Any singles? much success, etc.. ?
I don’t have a favorite track. It’s my best work to date, with the exception of the first ‘Phoenix’ album.
What can you tell me about your association with CHARLIE? Did you only play on the 1 album? What happened with this gig?
I was brought in to ‘rough up’ Charlie’s sound in a production sense, and Terry was going to get involved in the production of a new Phoenix album. In the event, I ended up singing & playing on the Charlie album, and I brought in Bob Henrit on drums. The Phoenix album was abandoned. I thought the Charlie album was good, but I didn’t enjoy the ‘painting by numbers’ approach so I left to start ‘Interrupted Journey’.
What can you tell me about the 3rd Verity album Rock Solid? [who played on it? how well did this LP do?]
Rock Solid was done in my own studio. I did a lot of the work myself, with my usual guests dropping by. Unfortunately the label went broke soon after release, but I hope to get it re-released soon.
What have you done since the last Verity album? Recordings? Bands? [what can you tell me about such albums as Hold Your Head Up, etc…?]
Hold Your Head is a compilation of various JV Band stuff. The title track is an un-released track which I originally recorded for Interrupted Journey. I’ve continued to gig & record/ do production & try to help young musicians develop their careers. I’m currently working on a new album & preparing older material for re-release.
What are you involved in outside of music? hobbies, interests… ?
Music Music Music – boring old rock fart!
Can you give me a few of your favorite guitar players, influences, singers, songwriters, ? What do you listen to these days?
My influences are wide – Hendrix, Beck, Clapton, Aretha, BB King, Beatles, Dylan. I listen to whatever takes me.
Interview – Kevin J. 2000. / *top photo from Johnverity.com
Phoenix was a short-lived 70s trio consisting of ex Argent members John Verity, Jim Rodford, and Bob Henrit. The band’s debut was the excellent 1976 self-titled album that featured great guitar rock and vocals, featuring such stand-outs as “Easy”, “A Woman Like You” and “From The Ashes”‘. After a few years the band returned with 1979’s In Full View. This album saw Ray Minhinnett (ex Highway) added on guitar and American Ronnie Lee Cunningham (ex Law) on keyboards, while Rodford had left with Verity also playing bass. Rod Argent and Russ Ballard also made guest appearances. American producer was also brought in to work with the band in LA. But the album was softer, more mainstream, and lacked the feel of the first one. Frankly, I just never got in to this one. However, we now come to learn that a 2nd Phoenix album, with the original trio was recorded in ’77, and recently mastered and released by John. Below, John gives details and the story behind the ‘lost’ Phoenix album which can now be ordered through his website – http://www.johnverity.com
An amazing piece of news is that just a few months ago we rediscovered the ‘Lost’ Phoenix album. Back in 1977 Bob Henrit, Jim Rodford, & myself went into Trident Studios in London to record the follow up to our first album “Phoenix’. The new album was to be titled ‘Out of the Sun’.We really felt we had pushed the envelope both technically and creatively with this one, and I was proud of what I had achieved as a producer using the tools at my disposal. Sadly our record label CBS did not agree. Punk/New Wave had really taken a hold and almost overnight we were simply unfashionable…The album was put on ice, and somehow the masters were lost – until now.
By a twist of fate I got the opportunity to look again at these recordings with a view to releasing them over 40 years after they were recorded. A copy of the last set of mixes I had done resurfaced and I was able to get them restored, and then I remastered the tracks at home in my studio. We secured funding from fans and had the CD manufactured for release after all this time. I think the result is stunning. Transform yourself back to the ’70’s!!’
*Some years ago I interviewed John Verity (via email), and I be re-posting that here soon.
Outsider Rock 