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When did you know you wanted to
be a musician?
When I was very young,
probably 10 or 12... Music had a
magical effect on meFans
of rock’n’roll are
aware of your stuff with Tex
Rubinowitz in the early 80’s
but what kind of stuff did you
play before joining him?
Well my first love was rockabilly
and 50's R'n'R in general but
there was no opportunity to play
that in Albany, NY in the 1970's
so I did whatever I had to do in
order to play music... I played
in an oldies lounge band "Tino
and The Revlons" for a while.
Tino, the leader was later
murdered in Jamaica....in the mid
70's i played in a band called
"The Star Spangled Washboard
Band" which was a jug band/skiffle
band but was very successful
because it was very entertaining
and funny. We played clubs and
colleges and bluegrass festivals
up and down the east coast. that
indirectly got me into Tex's band
because we were very popular in
Washington, DC so in 1980 when
Tex was looking for a guitar
player I got the gig.
What
made you move to Nashville?
I was living in Albany,NY and had
a rockabilly type band with a
girl singer who sounded like
Wanda Jackson. So we thought
"lets go to Nashville"
it was the only place where they
still made records that featured
guitars... This was in 1986. I
was determined to make it in
music so I wanted to go to a
music center. I never thought I'd
live here permanently.
How
did you come with the idea of a
label ?
I never really wanted a label...
it was initially just an outlet
for some of my recordings ... we
started out just putting out 45's
. I was recording with The Planet
Rockers and The Neanderthals in
London at Toe Rag. Barney Koumis
was putting the stuff out on No
Hit Records....so he just gave me
some tracks to use for 45's. it
was 1994 and I started touring a
lot with Los Straitjackets and
surf bands were popping up
everywhere so we put out a few
instro comps....and then friends
would ask me to put out their
bands....thats how we did the
first Shack Shakers cd for
instance.
You once said that your
holly trinity of Rock’n’roll
was Elvis, The Beatles and The
Beach Boys. And Spinout really
seems to be a place halfway
between Liverpool and the USA…
well, for my money Elvis and The
Beatles are in league of their
own....iI hear a lot of groaning
out there cos there are lots of
wilder records than Elvis or The
Beatles made....and I agree there
are lots of artists who made one
or two more exciting,interesting
or rockin' record than The
Beatles or Elvis...but not with
the consistency or overall
quality. it was usually a one-off....some
hillbilly capturing lightning in
a bottle. I love The Sonics and
Charlie Feathers and their
records are wild but in the end
they seem human to me....The
Beatles and Elvis don't seem
human to me . The Beach Boys I
like a lot, but I don't remember
putting them in the same pantheon
as Elvis and The Beatles, but, I
think they might be the best
American "band"....again
taking into account
songwriting,recording quality,
consistency .
Of course you have to
cover fabrication costs and all
that stuff, but Spinout really
seems to be a labour of love,
similar in a way to Deke
Dickerson’s Eccofonic label…
well everything you do in music
has to start as a labor of love....it
doesn't make sense to get into
music to make money, there are
much easier ways to do that....if
you don't believe me,ask anyone
who does it for a living
In another interview you
said “I definitely think
rock music is way too serious. It
bores me to death”
Notice i said "rock"
music not rock'n'roll. i'm
talking about all the crap thats
been flying around for the last
20 years or so....and yes it
bores me when someone sings about
themselves....i'd rather hear
"Surfin' Bird" or
Chubby Checker.
Is
this why you did “Young At
Heart”?
I did "Young at Heart"
because I wanted to do a kids
record....it features Cindy Fee,
a friend of mine who has a voice
like Ella Fitzgerald
Tell us about the idea
behind “Meet The Beatles”…
I wanted to do songs that were in
The Beatles live repertoire
before they made it ....not
Beatles songs themselves.....but
what were The Beatles playing at
the Cavern or the Star Club....a
list exists of every song known
that the Beatles ever performed,
some of them i'd never heard like
"One Track Mind"....it
was the flip side of "Tossin
and Turning" or "Nobody
but Me" by The Lafayettes....again
a flip side to their hit single.
it was a fun and interesting
project and i came away with a
few thoughts....1. they were
genius in their choice of songs
and totally unorthodox 2. they
were a product of the twist era
You were approximately 10
when the Beatles “conquered”
the USA. Did you have the chance
to see them on the Ed Sullivan
Show?
Yes....i remember seeing them on
their first Ed Sullivan
appearance.....it put me on my
life's trajectory. I actually
remember the first time I heard
The Beatles. I was in the record
department of my local department
store and they would play the new
records over the PA system. I
heard "I Want to Hold Your
Hand" and I was knocked out....I
thought it was a black group,like
The Miracles....anyway I bought
the 45 on the spot and brought it
home to my sister who was
strictly an Elvis fan. She looked
at the cover, made a face and
sneered "ooh they LOOK like
beetles"
Some
discovered rockabilly and rock’n’roll
through the versions The Beatles
did of Matchbox, Rock’n’roll
Music, Honey Don’t, Words Of
Love etc. What about you?
Yes to a certain degree, but I
also had 2 older sisters who were
original rock'n'nroll fans....had
all the Elvis records, some Jerry
Lee,Little Richard, Everly Bros
etc....so I heard that music
growing up. But I don't think I
had heard much Carl
Perkins,outside of "Blue
Suede Shoes"....but I think
I play the guitar the way I do is
because my brain was wired at an
early age by the 50's R'nR
records my sisters played
constantly around the house.
R'n'R was the only music I heard
growing up, there was no
classical or pop standards played
in the house.
On
“Meet The Beatles” this
is the first time, to my
knowledge, you’re taking the
lead vocal part, at least on a
long distance. How did you
approach that?
Well,I have sung in bands over
the years, its just not something
I ever gave much thought to....I
never thought of myself as a
singer....but I'm not bad
A constant with Spinout’s
records and this one makes no
exception is the quality of the
covers design. It really seems
like it’s very important for
you…
I'm lucky to know a few very
talented graphic artists....Kaiser
George does most of the covers
and I think he's a genius.
Please
tell us more about Ray Wallace
described as a “Psychotic
Leonard Cohen on Ritalin”.
Add to this, songs like “Hitler's
Gone Surfin' with your Mother”
or “When The Partridge
Family Meets The Manson Family”
to name but two, it’s kinda
intriguing…
I first met Ray in 1980. Ray was
16 and a troubled youth,when his
mother brought him to see Tex
Rubinowitz and The Bad Boys....Ray
flipped out, went from being a
kinda Greatful Dead fan to a full
blown Rockabilly and Link Wray
fan. I began giving him guitar
lessons. He learned every Link
Wray song he could and then every
Bob Dylan song and started
busking.
Ray was kicked out of every
school he attended for violent
anti-social behavior....his
mother finally had to put him in
a school for nut cases. He later
moved to Denver and started
writing all these songs. I
thought they were great and put
the CD out. Ray is now back in
the Washington DC area and ....I
hope he stays out of trouble!
The
latest release on Spinout is
“Eddie Angel Plays Link Wray”.
How did you discover Link’s
music?
I hope I'm not boring anybody
with these long answers but your
questions are a lot of fun for me
......I met Link in 1973. I was
living in Venice Beach,CA trying
to make it as a songwriter. My
friend and songwriting partner
Dave Bloom came home one day and
told me he had gotten a gig
playing piano for some guy named
Link Wray. I have to admit,I had
never heard of him. Link had a
new record out on Polydor and was
putting a band together to tour.
I said "get me in the
band,I'll play rhythm!!....next
thing I know I'm jamming with
Link Wray in a garage in North
Hollywood. But really it was Tex
Rubinowitz that got me into
Link's music . Link was Tex's
favorite guitar player and he
turned me on to Link's early
stuff. We used to perform "Rawhide",
"Run, Chicken,Run" and
"Jack the Ripper". This
was in 1980, Washington,DC,
Link's old stomping grounds. I
took to Link's playing like a
duck to water....it was in my
blood.
Do
you have a special memory with
him?
One of my favorite memories was
doing "Rumble" onstage
in Minneapolis with him and Tony
Andreason of the Trashmen.
Another time when he played my
hometown Albany,NY, he invited my
mother onstage and sang a bunch
of songs to her!! I wasn't there,
but heard about it....
My fondest memories were just
hanging out with him and
listening to his stories. He told
me how he came to write Run
Chicken Run and how he and his
brother first discovered R'n'R at
Hank Williams' memorial service
in Montgomery, Alabama....they
heard a guy doing rockabilly, he
didn't remember the guy's name
but my guess is it was Curtis
Gordon. So after that he and his
brothers stopped playing country
music and started playing R'n'R.
How
did you choose the songs? Did you
intentionally make the choice
from the start to ignore “big”
classics like Rumble or Jack The
Ripper?
Yes.I wanted to stay away from
the obvious ones as much as
possible.
Another connection you have with
Link Wray is Robert Gordon. You
produced one of his album, tell
us about that
Hakki from Jungle Records in
Finland called me and proposed
the idea to me. He had seen
Robert and me together at Green
Bay. I put the band together of
guys I know in Nashville and we
recorded it in Nashville. The
bass player Dave Roe was Johnny
Cash's bass player. Robert has an
amazing voice,like an opera
singer.
Let’s
talk a bit about Los
Straitjackets. “Twist Party”
has just been released that
another one will be out soon and
it promises to be exciting. This
one has also some kind of concept…
Our next CD is "Rock en
Espanol" ....its all sung in
Spanish....our guest vocalists
are Big Sandy,Cesar Rosas (Los
Lobos) and Little Willie G (Thee
Midnighters). It was recorded at
Cesar's studio and he produced it.
The idea was to celebrate the
East LA sound and the obvious
connection to Mexican R'n'R
Over
the years you had a lot of guest
on album and on tour (Dave Alvin,
Deke Dickerson, Big Sandy, Peter
Zaremba, Kaiser George…). As
a heavy touring band is this a
way to always have something new
to propose to the audience and to
avoid you some kind of routine?
Yes, exactly....we try to keep
things fresh and entertaining for
us and the audience
Do you know what will be
the next release on Spinout?
We have a few things coming up....Ronnie
Costley a country singer from
Ireland. The Mezcal Brothers, a
rockabilly band from
Lincoln,Nebraska and The
Bellfuries a pop band from
Austin,Texas. So we're very
excited about the next year.Also
we'll be sponsoring a Spinout
Records Night at The Rockin' 50's
Fest in Green Bay in May and
doing The Exotica Festival in
Chicago in July.
One
last word?
"Trust your gut,even if its
a beer gut"
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