Donovan, Fitz and the Tantrums, John Cale, Joel Grey, Brian May, Lou Adler, and more as Off-Ramp rings in the new year with our best music interviews.
Happy 2011 from John and Kevin!
To celebrate the new year, we're bringing back some of our favorite music interviews from 2010. We hope you enjoy them, and wish you a safe, prosperous, and moderately happy new year. And thanks for spending time with us in 2010. -- John Rabe and Kevin Ferguson
Velvet Underground Co-Founder John Cale on Album Paris 1919
John Cale was a founding member of the Velvet Underground, then went on to have a prolific solo career and to produce the debut albums for Patti Smith, Squeeze, and the Stooges.
This Thursday, Sept 30, he's playing one of his most acclaimed solo albums -- Paris 1919 -- in its entirety, with the backing of the UCLA Philharmonia. Off-Ramp's Kevin Ferguson talked with Cale between rehearsals.
(Top photo by Yves Lorson via CC)
LA Record interviews Fitz and the Tantrums
Fitz and the Tantrums are a soul-revival band in the proud tradition of Motown legends like Marvin Gaye, the Jackson Five and The Four Tops, and even modern acts like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.
They sat down to talk with LA Record's Chris Ziegler about sweating, tambourines, and breakup songs. Fitz and the Tantrums' new album just came out and you can buy it online, just see the links below!
Lou Adler Part 1: Tapestry, Cooke, Wonderful World, Jan & Dean, and Talent
In the first part of Alex Ben Block's interview with Lou Adler, the entertainment legend talks about how he recognized Carole King's talent (easy) and won a Grammy for producing "Tapestry." Plus, Jan & Dean, Sam Cooke, and his association with Herb Alpert.
(Alex is a Hollywood historian, frequent Off-Ramp guest, and senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter.)
Female Impersonators of Male Rock Stars - an Off-Ramp Special Report
Elvis impersonators and Beatles tribute acts are just fine, if you walk into the room and close your eyes, you'll probably have a hard time telling the difference. There's plenty of them in Vegas. But here in LA, there's a different scene altogether: many female musicians here make a living performing music from some of the most famous male rock artists in history. Off-Ramp music correspondent Kevin Ferguson reports.
LANGUAGE WARNING: The name of one of the bands includes the B-word.
Joel Grey, Off-Ramp listener & guest, on his 60 years in film, theatre, and tv.
Monday, the Geffen Playhouse is hosting a staged reading of “The Normal Heart,” Larry Kramer’s wrenching play about the AIDS crisis. It's a 25th anniversary benefit performance for a clinic at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, and it's directed by Joel Grey, who played Ned in “The Normal Heart” 25 years ago. (COME INSIDE for a link to the production, a look at Grey many years ago, and info on Grey's new exhibit of celphone photos.)
This time on Off-Ramp, in a four-part interview, Joel Grey talks with host John Rabe about his decades in show business, including "Dallas," "Alias," "Cabaret," "Wicked," and even an appearance on Tom Jones' variety show in the 1960s.
It's About Time: Songwriters Get New Space at Grammy Museum
As Paul "Rainbow Connection" Williams put it, "now there's a place for all our stuff!"
The Grammy Museum cut the ribbon Tuesday night on its new Songwriters Hall of Fame Gallery honoring the likes of Hal David, Mac Davis, Lamont Dozier, Ashford and Simpson, and Paul Williams -- all of whom attended the inaugural and sang their most famous tunes at the event. Off-Ramp host John Rabe spoke with Dozier, Davis, and Williams before the concert.
CLICK THROUGH for more information about the unique new exhibit, which includes letting YOU write a song with members of the Hall of Fame.
FROM THE GRAMMY MUSEUM RELEASE:
... The SHOF Gallery will feature video highlights from annual SHOF Awards & Induction Dinners, as well as information on all SHOF inductees and honorees. There will also be interactive songwriting collaboration kiosks which will permit Gallery visitors to try their luck at writing songs.
... Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees performing their hits: Hal David (“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love”), Lamont Dozier (“I Can’t Help Myself,” “Baby Love”), Mac Davis (“In the Ghetto,” “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me”), Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”), and Paul Williams (“We’ve Only Just Begun,” “The Rainbow Connection”).
... Commenting on the SHOF Gallery at The Grammy Museum, Hal David said: “This is the start of the realization of our longtime dream of a bricks and mortar presence for our Hall of Fame. We are most grateful to our friends at The Recording Academy and The GRAMMY Museum for this opportunity to give physical expression to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, one of the country’s premier music cities and home to so many SHOF inductees."
... "As an institution that explores all genres of music as well as the creative and recording process, The GRAMMY Museum is a natural home for the Songwriters Hall of Fame Gallery," said Robert Santelli, Executive Director of The GRAMMY Museum. "We are privileged to showcase the many songwriters that the Songwriters Hall of Fame honors and celebrates who have written the soundtrack of our lives and of history, and this is a perfect addition to our existing exhibit that spotlights songwriters and their writing process."
... The Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates songwriters, educates the public with regard to their achievements, and produces a spectrum of professional programs devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships. Over the course of the past 40 years, some key Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees have included Desmond Child, Loretta Lynn, John Sebastian, John Fogerty, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Steve Cropper, Dolly Parton, Richard and Robert Sherman, Bill Withers, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Jimmy Webb, Van Morrison and Cy Coleman among many, many others. The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond.
Brian May (Queen guitarist) has a 3D photo obsession and a new book
UPDATE: Brian May will be speaking at the National Stereoscopic Association's 38th annual convention, which will be held July 25-30, 2012, in Costa Mesa, California.
Brian May and Elena Vidal have just published the first complete book of TR Williams's c. 1850 photos of an English village. But these aren't just any photos ... they're stereo cards, and Williams was a master of the art. "A Village Lost and Found" is the culmination of forty years of longing for May, the guitarist for Queen.
Here's the short version of the interview, and for true stereo(photo)files, the long version we released as a podcast Monday.
CyberFrequencies: Marching to Your Own Beat(Box)
This week, a look back at how a BeatBoxing champion was crowned...on the web, by the web.
Donovan Live at the Mohn Broadcast Center
Donovan is headlining a concert at the El Rey Theatre March 19th to benefit the David Lynch Foundation, which works to teach at-risk schoolkids to meditate. Donovan learned how to meditate with the Beatles and the Maharishi back in the 1960s. In our Off-Ramp interview, Donovan talks about the old days, reducing students' stress and reliance on ADHD drugs, and the benefits and drawbacks of fame. He also sings three of his favorites. (COME INSIDE for info on the concert, a link to Lynch's foundation, and to see who is taller -- Donovan or Off-Ramp host John Rabe.)
Here's engineer Tony Federico's post-interview video of Rabe and Donovan.
KPCC's John Rabe and Donovan mug and promote after their Off-Ramp interview from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.