Post by classic rock revival on Apr 30, 2011 14:51:36 GMT -6
This is an interview I did with Al Kooper in 2005.
Jim: Your new album "Black Coffee", is your first solo release in 30 years. Why the long wait?
Al: Various reasons. I quit making solo albums 30 years ago because they weren't selling well. By 1995 I was ready but couldn't get a deal cause I was over 50. Steve Vai signed me to his label, Favored Nations, when I was 60. Ya gotta love THAT!
Jim: "My Hands Are Tied", is a great song. How did it come about?
Al: I started doing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in 1994 live and really enjoyed singing it. Thought I should write something like that so I could enjoy singing my own song. It owes a lot to the Stones "Sticky Fingers" era and my band, The Funky Faculty, played it just right on the album.
Jim: Another one of my favorites is "Am I Wrong". Tell us a bit about it.
Al: That's a Keb Mo song from his very first album sometime in the early '90s. I went nuts over his recording and played it so much that people stopped coming over to the house! So I recorded it in my home studio back then and here it is now.
Jim: Your covers of the Temptation's "Get Ready", and Booker T & the MG's "Green Onions", are two more highlights on this album. What made you decide to do these two songs?
Al: "Green Onions" is just fun to play - period. This version was cut in Norway on a live gig and my guitarist Bob Doezema had himself quite a night. I put it on the album about 50% for Bob and about 51% for everyone else. "Get Ready" was a pretty bizarre arrangement I came up with and kept to myself for years. I cut it in my home studio about eight years ago and then added Anton Fig on drums when I decided to include it on Black Coffee.
Jim: On "Comin' Back In A Cadillac", (one of the two live tracks ), you talk to the audience about soul clapping. What is soul clapping?
Al: Better ask Mavis Staples. She's more qualified than I am to answer that question. Or take the course in the middle of that song - you'll probably get good grades.
Jim: You actually formed Blood, Sweat, & Tears in 1967, it was your band. Why did you leave after B,S,&T's debut album "Child Is Father To The Man"?
Al: Ahhhh - but it wasn't my band. I thought it was too, but Bobby Colomby & Steve Katz wrested it out of my hands and I decided it was too many against one, so I left as they desired. Then they put out music I never could have stood behind and made millions. I put out Super Session, was happy and made nothing.
Jim: Your resume as a legendary record producer and session musican is mind-boggling. What sessions have you done that you feel are true highlights of your career?
Al: Like A Rolling Stone, You Can't Always Get What You Want, All Those Years Ago, and Blonde On Blonde.
Jim: I heard you did a guest appearance on keyboards with John Kay and Steve Cropper a few years ago in Nashville and performed "Sookie Sookie", is that true? Are John and Steve friends of yours?
Al: Cropper is, I barely know John Kay.
© classic rock revival. all rights reserved.
Jim: Your new album "Black Coffee", is your first solo release in 30 years. Why the long wait?
Al: Various reasons. I quit making solo albums 30 years ago because they weren't selling well. By 1995 I was ready but couldn't get a deal cause I was over 50. Steve Vai signed me to his label, Favored Nations, when I was 60. Ya gotta love THAT!
Jim: "My Hands Are Tied", is a great song. How did it come about?
Al: I started doing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" in 1994 live and really enjoyed singing it. Thought I should write something like that so I could enjoy singing my own song. It owes a lot to the Stones "Sticky Fingers" era and my band, The Funky Faculty, played it just right on the album.
Jim: Another one of my favorites is "Am I Wrong". Tell us a bit about it.
Al: That's a Keb Mo song from his very first album sometime in the early '90s. I went nuts over his recording and played it so much that people stopped coming over to the house! So I recorded it in my home studio back then and here it is now.
Jim: Your covers of the Temptation's "Get Ready", and Booker T & the MG's "Green Onions", are two more highlights on this album. What made you decide to do these two songs?
Al: "Green Onions" is just fun to play - period. This version was cut in Norway on a live gig and my guitarist Bob Doezema had himself quite a night. I put it on the album about 50% for Bob and about 51% for everyone else. "Get Ready" was a pretty bizarre arrangement I came up with and kept to myself for years. I cut it in my home studio about eight years ago and then added Anton Fig on drums when I decided to include it on Black Coffee.
Jim: On "Comin' Back In A Cadillac", (one of the two live tracks ), you talk to the audience about soul clapping. What is soul clapping?
Al: Better ask Mavis Staples. She's more qualified than I am to answer that question. Or take the course in the middle of that song - you'll probably get good grades.
Jim: You actually formed Blood, Sweat, & Tears in 1967, it was your band. Why did you leave after B,S,&T's debut album "Child Is Father To The Man"?
Al: Ahhhh - but it wasn't my band. I thought it was too, but Bobby Colomby & Steve Katz wrested it out of my hands and I decided it was too many against one, so I left as they desired. Then they put out music I never could have stood behind and made millions. I put out Super Session, was happy and made nothing.
Jim: Your resume as a legendary record producer and session musican is mind-boggling. What sessions have you done that you feel are true highlights of your career?
Al: Like A Rolling Stone, You Can't Always Get What You Want, All Those Years Ago, and Blonde On Blonde.
Jim: I heard you did a guest appearance on keyboards with John Kay and Steve Cropper a few years ago in Nashville and performed "Sookie Sookie", is that true? Are John and Steve friends of yours?
Al: Cropper is, I barely know John Kay.
© classic rock revival. all rights reserved.