Ian McLagan on Green Day: “If I had a gun, they’d all be dead”

Ian McLagan has a great new CD, and amazing tales of the Rolling Stones, Dylan, Rod Stewart, Otis Redding and more
RICK MOODY



I want to talk first about the title, “United States.” Is it possible you are not talking about the place?

It’s not anything about United States. It just seemed to be a great title. It’s also an anagram of nudist estate. I do crosswords, you know. The thing is, it’s about relationships, really, and I just thought “Ah, that’s funny; I bet no one’s used that.”

So the United States in the sense of coming together in a relationship.

Literally and figuratively, yeah. Any of my albums could be called “United States,” because I tend to write about relationships. That’s just how it is.

What about if one were to think that it was called United States in part because of your love for American music?

I never thought of that. My love for American music and American movies is from an early age. I was 10 or 11 when I heard Fats Domino and Little Richard and Buddy Holly. And the movies, my dad used to take my brother and I to the movies every Friday. It was incredible, we got to see just about every movie that came out for a period of years. I saw the last two Marx Brothers movies when they came out. That’s how old I am. They weren’t the best movies.

It was always my dream, getting to America? Honestly, I couldn’t figure America as being real. Because it was on discs or in the movies. I was shocked when I first went to Detroit. I thought everybody was rich. Everybody had green lawns, no fences because everyone has a hedge, you know. Of course the movies are always shot in California. Detroit was a shock.

When were you first there?

That was 1970. Same time as my first trip to New York. We all bought cameras, Ronnie Wood and I did. We bought single reflex cameras. I photographed all the bums, and all the fire stations. Actually that corner [gestures out window to Ninth Avenue], there’s a pub there. I took a lot of shots, just standing on the corner, shooting. All of the fashion, the way people are dressed, it was so 1970s, so different.

What happened to those photographs?

My wife used to collect all the photographs and the negs. There’s a closet full of them and I just kept putting photographs in. I have loads of them, like a hall of shame going into my bar. It’s full of photographs. Kim would get those big things you put the photographs in. Then when I wrote the book [his memoir, "All The Rage," 2009] I took some out, and she tells me “You gotta put them back!”

So the band on the new album, “United States” — the same Bump Band as in recent years?

Different drummer. Conrad Choucroun. He sings; all my guys sing now. I’m not saying I don’t need Patty Griffin on my records; she sang on the last couple but not on this one because my guys are doing the singing. It’s all of us, on the whole record, except for the violinist, who I just use on one track, she multi-tracked. It’s nice that it’s just the band. When we go on stage we can recreate the songs really good, especially the harmony parts. It’s a real sweetener for me to sing over that stuff. We’ve got like nine or ten instruments now, with the voices. There’s four of us, I play piano and organ. So that’s five. And four voices.

What organ are you carrying around on tour these days?

B3. Same one I used with Faces. Same one on “Maggie May.” You don’t want to settle, do you? Once you’ve got the right one. And it’s my beast, you know. She has a name, too: Betsy. I’ve had it since 1969. It’s pretty much a Ferrari compared with what comes out of the factories. It’s loud as @#$%&. I defy any guitarist to compete. Finally, I’m the king. It’s my band! I’ll be renting when we play the Iridium [June 16]; I’m renting a B3.

“Scrappy” [Jud Newcomb] is playing guitar for you?

With Scrappy for 20 years now. In fact, 21 as of next week. I do solo gigs or duo gigs with my bass player. If Scrappy’s not about I don’t do gigs. Teaching a guitarist all of these songs, it’s hard work, and then you want to throw another song in and he hasn’t rehearsed it. I just did a gig last night with one of my two relief drummers. I can deal with that, because drumming is a question of counting in and knowing where to break.

The record has a real soul feel to it, with the clarity of great recordings from the ’70s, not like you fixed it all in ProTools.

Right. Although it’s digitally recorded. But it’s recorded well. I have this big sofa, I’ve had since the early ’70s, late ’60s. It’s a big, orange, uncomfortable sofa. I decided I’m not taking it out of the room, because then it becomes a studio. It’s my home too. And the guys are recording there three or four days a year, four or five days a year. It’s my home. Darwin [Smith, engineer] came over the day before we recorded; we were setting up. He said “What are we going to do about the sofa?” I said, “Nothing.” He said it would be better sound to get the drums in the middle of the room. I said no. A) It’s my home, and I don’t want to change it like that. The drums will be near the piano. I already have to cover the piano up. I hate to do that. When I recorded ”Troublemaker” in L.A., Jim Keltner was on drums, and when we got to the studio, he said, “I don’t want to be in a booth, I want to be this far away from you.” I said, “Okay.” So he was this side of me [making motions], the piano lives here, and they covered it over of course, and he’s right there so I could make eye contact.

What about these new songs? The last album is sad, “Never Say Never,” it’s a beautiful, soulful record — but it’s also sad.

It wasn’t really intended to be. I get that. When I saw our performance, my performance on Letterman, I thought “Oh, @#$%&, it does sound sad.” I wasn’t thinking sad, really. Maybe I was, I was just thinking of my wife. I don’t think this album — although a couple people have mentioned “Love Letter” — is in the same vein. But I don’t think it’s necessary to know all of that. I never told the guys that song was about Kim. We never discuss any of that shit.

They’re just songs.

It’s songs, exactly. It’s a question of us going through all the songs. They’ll say “What do you want to do?” “Let’s do this one, that one. Cut that.” Then we’ll go on to the next one. There’s never a question of what they’re about and [pause] and “Love Letter” came up early. It was a difficult one to record, I mean there’s a twelve-string on it. There’s guitar, there’s piano, there’s a lot of organ. I didn’t know quite how to record it. I hadn’t figured out the arrangement. I really rearranged things. The twelve-string was an overdub, I’m really glad of that. The guys are all involved in that business. But once they’re done I work for months then, doing vocals, organs, maybe pianos.

How would you describe your process as a lyricist? Are lyrics the last thing that happens in the song?

Sometimes lyrics first. Every possible combination. Like “He’s Not for You,” the last song, I had some of the lyrics first.

I love that song, by the way.

Thank you.

I feel like the narrator’s talking about himself. True or untrue?

I could picture the scene. It’s some sort of a function, like a wedding or some sort of celebration. It’s a big deal. There’s a terrace, everybody’s dressed up. There’s a big terrace outside and I’m talking to this girl . . .young girl, yes, it’s me, I’ve never acted, it’s not like it’s fiction, but I’m trying to give the young girl advice and the guy I’m advising about really is me. Because that was the original thing, that someone else was telling her about me. “He’s too old for you.”

With that song, and elsewhere on the album too, the lyrics are complex. They are sort of deviously simple on the surface, but then they turn out to have a lot more kind of, subliminal layering.

“He’s not for you,” the guy’s talking to this girl, and she’s been dancing with this guy, which is me, in a way. Then I’m the guy saying to her, “He’s too old for you.” Originally it was kind of a country song; I don’t know what it is now. The band at the wedding are playing, “Runaround Sue.” Originally, I had that title, and it just scanned right. Then I thought “Runaround Sue,” what the @#$%&? I’m trying to suggest that it was kind of a seedy dance, it’s guys trying to pull at this girl and this wiser guy’s saying “No, come on. When you wake up the sun will shine. It’s another day, you know. He’s got a girl, he’s married…” I figured the band was not very good. Why would they play “Runaround Sue?” It’s a great song, but it’s not something you’d hear, unless . . .

It’s oldies night or something.

Yeah, exactly. So I tried all kinds of titles. I would throw “Maybe Baby,” every kind of title in there, and nothing fit. Even something that scanned right didn’t make any sense. So I thought, “@#$%& it,” I’ve got it already. Sometimes that happens.

Do you always write at the keyboard?

That one was on guitar. Then, as I developed the song, I figured, “I better be playing piano.” Sometimes I write the songs and I don’t get to play the piano until the day we record, which is odd. Because then I’m just playing pads, pumpin’ away, trying to figure it out.

Wouldn’t that change the feel a lot? If you wrote it on guitar?

I don’t play guitar well enough; it’s just chords. “Never Say Never” was written on guitar. I used a capo.

So you’re just playing like first-position chords?

Nothing complicated. That’s why I write on guitar more often. If I’m on the piano, I get clever, I start playing the piano. And you really don’t want that.

How about “Mean Old World?” on “United States”? It’s got that amazing walk-up left-hand part where the piano and guitar are both playing…

Scrappy plays so simpatico, doesn’t he?

Was that written on guitar first? It sounds like, it’s got like a gospel-y feel on the arrangement.

That’s the piano, yeah.

Can you talk about that song, how you came to that one?

I’d been let down. I’ve been let down three or four times since my wife died. I’m 69, just turned 69. It’s hell to date at that age. It’s horrifying. I haven’t dated in 33 years. We were together 33 years. To suddenly find yourself out there, you make the stupidest mistakes. I’m ignorant. I was asking advice from the girls I was dating. Now, you know, I’m trying to give up, then something might happen. Everyone says “You’re looking, stop looking.” How the @#$%& do you do that? I’m always looking. You don’t stop thinking about women just because your wife dies. It’s terrible, but you know. I just want the hugs, the kisses. A kiss! To me a kiss is so [whispers] precious. It means . . . a woman gives herself to you. A guy’ll kiss anybody. A guy’ll kiss a dog. When a woman kisses you it actually means something. Some people will only kiss on the lips, but . . . On a date, if you get a kiss on the lips [whistles]. Anyway, it’s been nothing but misery [laughs].

The way you’re talking about it is really honest, and that honesty is on the album too. There’s a way, for example, that the Rolling Stones still have to write songs about chasing girls and all that kind of stuff, but it’s not telling the truth anymore. It’s out of phase with where they are in life.

Mick, God bless him. He’s going through grief. I didn’t know he had this longtime girlfriend. It never occurred to me until recent years it must be weird for some people to look at me and think, “He’s talking about girls as if he’s 25 or something.”

No, but this song is about an adult going through this process, and that’s perhaps what’s making it more emotionally rich.

Okay. Thanks.

And it kind of has an Armstrong vibe to me, like the way you’re singing it.

Little Walter and Louis Armstrong are two of the finest @#$%& singers in the world. Not to mention, they’re great instrumental players. And it took me a while to realize that. I was playing New York with Billy Bragg. We played in a park down by the World Trade Center. Battery Park. He had some friend’s wedding to go to the next day, it was Saturday I think. So I stayed the night in this hotel, a very nice hotel, they had a limousine for me to take me to the airport. It was Sunday, I think it was in the early spring. Crisp and sunny and beautiful. I’m in this huge limousine, a stretch. The driver said “Radio’s up there,” and I hear nothing but Louis Armstrong. I’d never heard “Kiss to Build a Dream On” until that day. I @#$%& love that song. I got all @#$%&’ goosebumps. I saw Rod Stewart some years ago, and he’d already had three of those American Songbook albums out. I asked did you ever do “Kiss to Build a Dream On.” I think he said no. I went “Thank God,” ’cause I really wanted to do it. Then he did it on his next one!

Can we talk about singing a little bit? For me, that’s one of the blessings of this record, but you weren’t really noted as a singer, early in your career.

The very first record I was ever on, I sang on the B-side. It’s a long story, but we changed singers. I don’t really remember too much about it [pause], somebody gave me the single. “Backdoor Man” was the A-side. The B-side, I can’t even think of the title but it’s @#$%&’ horrible. My singing, I mean [laughs].

Is that Muleskinners?

Muleskinners, yeah. I was trying to sing like a blues man. A lot of people when they start to sing the blues, being white, you try to sing old, you put on a voice. So I sang like that. Ronnie Lane and Stevie Marriot [in The Small Faces] encouraged me to sing. I wanted to write songs for them, but they had that kind of closed down. When I played something for Ronnie, he said “Oh we should record it.” I only cut two songs during the Small Faces years where I sang.

The thing is I wanted to have a band. The only way to have a band is if you sing, really. I sang and sang, I had this band since 1978 in L.A. And one night we were in Austin. I had a residency at the Saxon Pub and my wife worked during the day; she had a salon, a skin care salon. She had to get up early. I said “Are you coming to the gig tonight,” She said no, and I said “You haven’t been coming to any of the gigs recently.” She said “You’re not having any fun.” I said, “What? Yes I am!” [laughs] Denial. She says “I could see you’re struggling up there.” She was dead right. I hadn’t realized it. I was trying to play the organ and piano, lead the band, and remember the lyrics. I’m terrible remembering lyrics. Before a tour, I have to remind myself, I have to go through the songs. I still @#$%& up on lyrics.

Anyway, she was right. She suggested I have singing lessons, just to know how to warm your voice. Stretch it. I have more range now than I ever did. I don’t think there’s any reason for that not to keep going on, if you treat your voice right. Rod gave me good advice once: Always warm up before sound check, as well as the gig. You get the sound check, you think “I’m only gonna sing half a song,” and that’s when you @#$%& it. It’s just a muscle. You wouldn’t run without doing a warm-up.

What about the phrasing, because your phrasing is intuitive and beautiful, I think.

Well it’s phrasing with my lyrics, so it’s not complicated for me. I’ve loved singers. I love Rod Stewart, Steve Marriott, Little Walter, Mick Jagger. I’ve been behind all these singers. Bob Dylan, the man of a million voices. Thank you, I really love to sing. After the lessons, I learned my parts, I learned the lyrics. She knew I was doing better. My guitarist, Scrappy. I’d phone him up sometimes, over the 20 years, I’d say “What are you doing, Scrappy?” He’d say, “I’m practicing.” I’d say, “No, you’re rehearsing. You practiced when you were young. Now you know your instrument.” Actually, he does practice, he plays guitar all the time. I don’t do that on piano, I’ve never done it. Sometimes it shows in my playing. I just don’t know what to play other than the songs. I don’t know any scales. I had piano lessons when I was a kid; I hated them. My mom wanted me to have piano lessons. I only did them for two or three weeks.

So what accounts for the soul vibe on this album?

It may be because there’s more organ. On “Never Say Never,” I don’t think there was any organ. Or just a couple of places. I played pianos. I didn’t think it needed it. When people say, “Oh you’re in a band, what kind of music?” I go “Well, old school rock ‘n’ roll. Rock and soul, soulful rock ‘n’ roll.” Booker T. is my organ idol. Him and Billy Preston. Booker first of all with “Green Onions.” Once I heard him I knew what I was doing with the rest of my life. I have such a debt to pay him.

So you saw Stax/Volt Revue shows in the mid-’60s. Were Sam and Dave really better than Otis Redding?

The thing is there were two of them. There were these two risers came out from the stage. Otis closed the show and he was @#$%& fabulous, you can’t take anything away from him. But there were two of them, and he was just one. That was the difference. They went out on the risers, and all the women, you know. They played it. Otis was more about singing. He was fantastic.

There’s one recording, I think it’s Paris, a recording of “Try a Little Tenderness” live.

That’s how he closed the show. It’s an old song. 1933. It was actually written by Campbell and Connelly, who formed their own publishing company. I knew that name, Campbell Company songs.

Did you meet Booker T., Mac?

A few times. He’s such a gentleman, and a gentle man. “Oh really, pleased to meet you.” To me, I’m struck dumb, I don’t know what to do. I’d hate to be stuck somewhere where he’d say “You wanna play something for me.” I’d run off. We toured around England and Belgium and Japan with Faces a couple years ago. The organ they brought to the studio sucked, basically. I said, “You have to get something better than this; it’s distorted.” They brought another one. “No it’s not good enough.” So they used another company. I used this company before, with this guy named Tiny, he’s a huge guy. He said “You’re gonna like this one. Booker’s been using it.” “Get the @#$%& out!” “He used it last week. He said ‘You’re going off, I’m in Belgium, he takes it again for awhile, then you go to Japan, I use a rental there, you’ll come back and have it back.’” So I wrote a letter to him and stuck it on the keys. Then when we played the last gig after Japan, Tiny came in, he said “You’re gonna like this.” The envelope is on the keys, and it was his set list, he’d written on the back. It’s in my safe, my file safe. I’m like a giggly girl around him.

Did you meet Billy Preston ever?

I played with Billy. We actually had a night in the studio, jamming. He was very kind to me. He’s younger than me, but very sweet. He was on the piano and he said, “Come on.” Later on he said, “Let’s switch.” So we switched back and forth. John Lord was there, and he came over, and Billy said, “No, no! It’s me and Mac.”

He’s the only guy to have played on a Beatles session and a Stones session.

And Mahalia Jackson, Ray Charles, Little Richard. Unbelievable. He’s the fifth everything [laughs].

So what’s next?

I’m dying to get to the next album. We’ve had a two-year wait. We cut the tracks for “United States” in April 2012, just waiting for Yep Roc to get on board. I have songs I’ve been working on. I have these songs, some of them are finished, some of them are half-finished. Once this album is out, it’s over. I can move on.

Do you write every day?

No, but I’m thinking about it. I write ideas, sometimes in my phone, come back to it a month later, “What the @#$%& is that?” Seems like someone else wrote it, you’re hearing it fresh, or reading it. I often forget the melodies. Now I record if I’m in the car. John Mellencamp in an interview was asked that question, Do you write every day, and he said “Yeah, I keep the doors and windows open.” I thought, “That’s a good @#$%&’ way to think about it.” And I wasn’t keeping them open, so now I do.

How about the keyboards? Mostly you play when you’re writing a song. Do you just sit down and play?

For a while I had a keyboard in my sitting room, but it’s just in the way. I keep a guitar and an amp in there all the time. I’ll get an idea on guitar quite often, and then I’ll go to the piano. Once I get some words I move to the piano, figure out what the key is. It’s the constant.

I would be a bad interviewer if I didn’t ask about the Faces reunion tour. Going to happen, maybe? Are you excited about it?

No. I’m excited about this album. I’ll be excited about that around about Christmas. There are gigs I’m gonna do in a week or two. Faces is going to happen, though. It’s the first time Rod’s real positive about it, and his manager is too. I want to do it.

And how was that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show?

[Pause] How do I say this? I’m not a fan of Green Day. Never thought much about them until that night. I’m not a fan of Guns N’ Roses. I don’t really get it. It’s too young for me. It feels like kids making a lot of noise. I had a migraine that day, it was a bad one. I got it about two hours before the show. I’d ordered a meal, it was an hour late, it got to me just before I was supposed to leave. I was angry and I had a migraine. I get there, I’m 15 feet from the front of the stage, right in the middle, second table. Green Day come on. If I had a gun, they’d all be dead. And I’d be happy about it. Horrifyingly loud and bad, two things you shouldn’t be. Especially if you’re at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was as much ’cause of the migraine as anything. I wanted to kill Guns N’ Roses as well. Apart from that, it was nice to be inducted, it was a big honor. Means a lot to me. I still think we should have two awards though, for Small Faces and Faces.

They seem to @#$%& up one thing every year at least. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Well, KISS is in.

[www.salon.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-08 23:41 by Cristiano Radtke.

Quite a nice interview with Mac in Salon magazine here

[www.salon.com]

Little a bit about the Stones (not much) Perhaps more interesting are his views on bands like Green Day and Guns n Rose- unflattering.

USA Today is streaming Ian McLagan & The Bump Band's 'United States' ahead of the June 17 release.



Album premiere: Ian McLagan's 'United States'

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY June 10, 2014

United States could seem like an odd title for a relationship album, but for Ian McLagan, it just made sense.

"You're always looking for something different," he says. He Googled around to see if any other albums had the same title, "but of course, I just got the post office and the government. I didn't really find anything."

The soulful, unbridled effort, premiering at usatoday.com ahead of its June 17 release, is the first new album from the Faces/Small Faces keyboardist (and onetime Rolling Stones sideman) in five years. While his 2009 album Never Say Never was a journey through grieving (McLagan's wife, Kim, died in a car accident in 2006), United States is a "journey into relationships, which has proved to be interesting, if not successful," he says. "There's always something to write about, it seems."

McLagan, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, recorded United States at his home in Austin in 2012 with his own Bump Band (which includes a new drummer, Conrad Choucroun). They will play a handful of shows in the States and U.K. in support of the record, which includes the previously released Love Letter, dedicated to his late wife and "muse."

As a whole, McLagan believes this album is stronger than his last because they were able to play most of the songs live first, which "makes a big difference because you get a reaction, whether you're aware of it or not," he says. "This is just pure us."

Listen here > [w.soundcloud.com]

Quote
bye bye johnny
USA Today is streaming Ian McLagan & The Bump Band's 'United States' ahead of the June 17 release.

I'm listening to it right now and enjoying a lot. Thanks for sharing!

It's still up. Sounds awesome

Ian McLagan's Rock 'n' Roll Life

He talks about the Mods, the Stones and the Who

By Steve Dougherty
June 12, 2014


Jim Chapin

Since the mid-1960s, when his Hammond organ provided the British Mod band the Small Faces with much of its soul and swagger, keyboardist Ian McLagan has backed some of the biggest acts—and egos—in the business.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 with another band, the Faces, he toured the world with Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Artists from Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen to Bonnie Raitt and Paul Westerberg have called on him to punch up their sound in recording sessions and on tours. He hung out with Keith Moon and Pete Townshend of the Who.

In 1998 he published "All the Rage: A Riotous Romp Through Rock & Roll History," an often hilarious, sometimes tragic sex-and-drugs tell-all—now out of print.

Mr. McLagan, 69 years old, makes his home near Austin, Texas. "Mac" keeps his Hammond organ in a van outside his home, ready for club dates. His ninth solo album, "United States," is due out Tuesday (YepRoc). "It's not really about America at all," he says of the album. "It's about relationships."

One song, "Love Letter," is about his own lost love, his wife Kim, whom he married shortly after the death of her ex-husband, Mr. Moon. She died in a traffic accident in 2006. The song, he says, "is just my way of saying that I'd send you a love letter, but I can't find you anywhere." Edited from an interview:

WSJ: In the early '60s, kids in the U.S. were obsessed with all things English— In England was it the reverse?

It's a funny thing, as much as we loved American music it was hard to find; we had to scour record stores to find these records by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson. They were our gods. With my first band, the Muleskinners, we actually got to back some of them later on.

Did you always play the Hammond organ?

I was the rhythm guitarist in the Muleskinners. But I realized that everyone's playing guitar. If I played organ or piano I'd get a different sound. When I heard [Booker T and the MG's] "Green Onions" it was all off. I had to get a Hammond.

Was there a blues scene in London then, in 1963?

We'd never seen anybody live playing that music other than us. A few of us had the records and we played guitars and we had our little band but that was all. There was no scene that I knew of. Then I heard about a blues band that played Sunday evenings at the Station Hotel in Richmond [a London suburb]. I showed up early and there was already this throng of people waiting to get in. I can still remember the smell of the place and walking in before I could see anything there was this great throb of a bass and then I saw the band, the Rolling Stones. I was so amazed that they were English guys and that they were my age.

How did you manage to get the Muleskinners to open for the Rolling Stones?

There was a club on Eel Pie Island [in the River Thames] where they would play occasionally. The only way to get there was across a footbridge; you couldn't drive a van to the club so all their equipment had to be carried or wheeled over this narrow footbridge. So I'd help 'em and one time I just decided to jump on the opportunity. I was so full of it, I said to Mick,`So who's your manager then?' He gave me his agent's number and I went up there and booked 'em for our end-of-term dance at art college. And I got the Muleskinners to open the show—200 pounds I paid 'em; probably cost me 2 million now.

When you joined the Small Faces in 1965, the Mod scene was in full flower. What made a Mod?

It was all based on the music—American R&B and blues—and the clothes. Until Mod, we were all wearing the clothes our dads wore. The exact same style, only smaller. And very dark: brown, dark blue, black. It was all very dark and England was very, very dark back then. Especially when you played shows up in Liverpool and in the Midlands; those towns were black with coal smoke; it was all pretty grim. Then the Mods came in with Italian shoes and colored shirts and smart tailored jackets.

How about yourself? Did you have to undergo a makeover when you joined the Small Faces?

[Bassist] Ronnie Lane took one look at my hair and said it needed some work. He blow-waved it up a little bit at the back. In the Muleskinners we all wore the same thing, a uniform: seersucker jackets, black pants and shoe string ties. When I joined the Small Faces, the day after I joined them we went down to Carnaby Street and I was kitted out. I could pick anything I liked.

The Who's Keith Moon once drove his Rolls Royce into a swimming pool. Anything you can add to the lore?

It wasn't a swimming pool actually but a little bit of a pond that was just next to the driveway of the house [he and Kim] had together. He never had a driver's license and he didn't know how to drive but that didn't stop him. Usually he had a driver. I was chauffeuring him once when he was dressed up as @#$%&; he had all the Nazi regalia, even the moustache. It's horrifying to think of it now, but he was totally in character. I was driving him and we stopped at a little village antiques store and he would browse and grunt in a German accent and give 'em the salute. Oh my God. I knew Keith from when he was 16; of course we fell out a little bit when Kim came to live with me. What can you do?

You once wrote that Keith paid somebody 200 pounds to break your fingers and Pete Townshend paid the same guy another 200 pounds not to.

I only heard about it through Pete; otherwise I would have had my hands broken. I knew the guy Keith paid. He had actually been a driver for us some years before. He was a nasty bit of work. Thank God Uncle Pete helped me out. Keith was a very unhappy man at that time.

What was your neighbor Steve McQueen's reaction when you and Kim moved into Keith's old house in Malibu after you married [in 1975]?

I'd always been a huge fan of his and it was very sad because he wouldn't even look me in the eye. It turned out because he had such bad problems with Keith, and here I was, another British musician. One night [Keith] walked over to Steve's house and appeared at his bedside, naked. Another time he recreated "The Great Escape" scene and drove a motorbike into his house. He was the worst possible neighbor.

You've also written about Keith Richards ' carrying a gun—did he react?

When I was writing the book at one point I was in Paris with the Stones. We were up in Keith's suite and I said 'Look, Keith, I'm writing a book and what I'll do is I'll send you every part where you're mentioned and you can edit it.' He looked at me close, eye to eye, and he said 'Print the f---in' lot, Mac.'

There's talk of a Faces reunion with Rod Stewart. What do you think of his Great American Songbook albums?

I don't like 'em. [long pause and laughter] Nah. That's all I'm gonna say. He won't be doin' them [if] we tour. That's another side of him. He's always been a mixture of Sam Cooke and Al Jolson. When he's with us he's more Sam Cooke.

You've said that of all the people you've toured with, Bonnie Raitt is tops. Why?

Bonnie's a true star because she shines on others. When my wife died, lots of dear people called me and Bonnie was one of the first. But she kept calling to make sure I was all right. I love her dearly.

[online.wsj.com]

deleted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-13 15:12 by Stoneburst.

(MPR / Leah Garaas)

Mac's doing a good bit of press for 'United States', and sounds more certain about a Faces reunion with every interview. From CBS Radio:

"Kenney, Ronnie Wood, myself and Rod Stewart all got the same idea now. We should all get back together. I know Rod has said it many times, but apparently he is serious this time. We're waiting."

He also talks about a Small Faces one-off show in London, saying that 2015 will be big for both the Small Faces and Faces - "with Rod...finally."

Listen > [cbswomc2.files.wordpress.com]

[womc.cbslocal.com]

_____

Interview with Mark Wheat of Minnesota Public Radio, including performances of:

"Shalalala"
"Don't Say Nothing"
"I'm Your Baby Now"

Listen > [www.thecurrent.org]

[www.thecurrent.org]

Mac & Jon Notarthomas' UK/Ireland tour starts July 1 in Birmingham.

Ace still putting smiles on Faces

Jun 27, 2014

Faces and Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan is on the road again. He talks to Michael Wood about plans for a reunion with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart next year.


AP Photo/Jack Plunkett

“The first time I played Birmingham was around 1964,” Ian McLagan recalls.

“I was in my first band The Muleskinners, and we played The Whiskey Au Go Go, which was an old building on the edge of the Bullring, and long gone now I’m sure. I remember the trouble it took us to get my Hammond organ up the many flights of stairs. And a hefty bouncer carried my Leslie cabinet on his back.”

Since then the keyboard player, who has been singing and playing for almost half a century, got together with Steve Marriott, Kenney Jones and Ronnie Lane to form Small Faces, which was later renamed Faces when the rather taller Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood joined the band.

Although the band split up in 1975 as Ronnie began working with the Rolling Stones, Ian has carved out a successful career with his own band and is touring with new material – including a gig at Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath on Tuesday.

“I’ll play a few songs, tell a few stories, answer questions, play a Ronnie Lane song, a Faces song, a Small Faces song, but mostly new songs from my new release, United States,” he explains.

But he suggests a reunion of the Faces next year is on the cards.

“Ronnie (Wood), Kenney and I would love to tour as Faces with Rod again, and it seems more likely to happen next year than ever before. Also 2015 will be perfect timing for the Small Faces too, as it’ll be our 50th anniversary. We’ll do something big to celebrate.”

As a member of two of the most seminal bands of the 60s did he imagine at the time that the music he was making would have such a lasting appeal and influence?

“We never gave it a passing thought, as we were always looking forward to the next record and the next tour,” he says.

“It’s extremely gratifying to know our music still hits the spot with our fans, but then I still listen like a teenager to the records that opened my ears, like Little Richard, Muddy Waters, Fats Domino, Little Walter, etc.

“The Small Faces were having the best fun of anyone at that time. We loved playing together and the audiences kept coming so it was party time all the time. It’s odd to think how some fans would see a show maybe once a week, but we played every night, so the joy never stopped for us, and on days off we played and worked out new songs. We were the luckiest boys in the world.”

Ian has also worked as a sideman for the Rolling Stones and has performed with many musical legends including Chuck Berry, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

“I’d love to play with The Stones again because they’ve been a favourite of mine since 1963, but that’s very unlikely now,” he says. “I really enjoyed working with Bonnie Raitt and love her dearly.”

He also suggests he would like to work with newcomers The Strypes. “They have everything going for them, they don’t need a keyboard player, but if they ever did, I’m packed and ready to fly,” he says.

Meanwhile his new album, United States, is his first for five years and he insists he is in no mood to retire yet.

“This album is not as reflective as the last one, and all the songs are about relationships, hence the title, United States. It’s the ups and downs of falling in love.

“There’ll be no retirement for me, unless injury or sickness prevent me from making music. I’ve always been driven. I’m working on songs for the next album right now and look forward to recording them later in the year after we get back from the UK tour.”

But there are a few gripes he has about the business he is in, especially the music sharing websites.

“Spotify. Pandora. They are greedy b******s, and don’t pay the artists properly. People are getting used to listening without paying and Spotify and Pandora collect and pay such a small percentage. They are a blight on the artists and the music business.”

[www.birminghammail.co.uk]
_____

Live version of 'All I Wanna Do':

From Mac's interview with Dave Swanson, posted by Ultimate Classic Rock.

Ian McLagan on 'United States,' and His Life in Rock N' Roll

by Dave Swanson July 5, 2014


[www.facebook.com]


You guys (Small Faces) had a brilliant run of singles from ’65 through ’68, and the albums more than hold their own against any peers. It seems like the appreciation has grown over the years for things like ‘Ogden’s’

Yeah, well a lot of that has to do with Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. You know, they talked us up a lot. Young fans were hungry for more music, and they really got people interested in our music.

It’s safe to say, that you’ve worked with two of the gretest white soul singers that ever existed.

Three! You gotta put Jagger in there!

True! What were the major differences between working with Marriott and [Rod] Stewart in terms of how they approached the music?

Well, Steve, being a guitarist as well, he had the arrangements. Steve was more of a blues belter. Phenomenal, at the age of 18, he was phenomenal. Just incredible, yeah. Rod had that as well, but Rod was more soul. It’s difficult to compare them.

If everyone steps up to the plate, is there still a chance for a Faces reunion?

There is! I’m convinced Rod is definitely on it. He’s convinced me that this time he will and Ronnie, Kenney and I are eagerly awaiting that moment. And next year, is also the Small Faces 50th anniversary, so Kenney and I will do something. Maybe Ronnie Wood might be involved, I know Paul Weller’s gonna be involved. We’re not sure what it’s gonna be yet, maybe just one show. We’ve gotta honor Ronnie and Steve big time, you know.

You and Ron Wood seem to have a deep bond.

Yeah, he’s just such a lovely guy, such a clever guy, and a brilliant guitarist. Just a brilliant guy, and he’s healthy and happy too! He’s married, he just had his wedding anniversary. I call him young Ron now, cause he looks younger every time I see him!

And you did, what, two tours with the Stones?

Yeah, ’78 and ’81.

And then there was the New Barbarians as well.

Really, we should rehash the New Barbarians! Lots of fun. I love Keith, and obviously I love Woody! Zigaboo’s [Modeliste] fantastic, always a lovely guy. I just saw Stanley Clarke, funny enough, last week. I was doing some sessions in Santa Monica and he was in the same studio, and he was on the phone outside as I walked in, and he looks at me, and I looked at him. I hadn’t seen him in like 30 years! Bobby Keys I see all the time when I go to Nashville. I think we all should do that! We should definitely do that! It was great, cause Keith could do some songs he’d never done before like ‘Apartment No. 9.’

Full interview > [ultimateclassicrock.com]

_____

In-store performance at NJ's Vintage Vinyl Records for the release of "United States":

Rod's been doing some press around his current tour with Santana. Some comments from recent interviews with Jon Bream of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Timothy Finn of The Kansas City Star:

Who should play Stewart in a biopic?

“If Ronnie [Wood] is still around, he’d have to wear a blond wig.”

Who spends more time on his hair — Wood or Stewart?

“We cultivated it with the Jeff Beck Group. That’s when we both discovered that drying it upside down gives it extra volume. You’d be surprised: Mine takes like five or six minutes. Then it’s ready to go. There’s product. I get mine cut every two weeks. I don’t care where I am. I don’t care what it costs. I fly my hairdresser in and we cut it. Because it’s a wonderful privilege to have a head of hair at my age.”

Speaking of Wood, talk of a reunion of the Faces — that great working-class bar band of “Stay With Me” fame that included Wood, drummer Kenney Jones, keyboardist Ian McLagan and the late bassist Ronnie Lane — has been going on for years.

“Woody and I spoke the other day. He said, ‘Let’s go out for a drive.’ I said, ‘No, I’m on holiday in the south of France.’ He was in London. He said, ‘OK, I’ll see you when we’re 78.’

“We’re kicking the flag around. I want to do it. If we could just keep Ian McLagan quiet for a little while. Every time I say something, he says just the opposite. I can’t see an album happening. It used to take a long time to make albums in the old days. It would take us years now. We’re too old for that. We can do a tour.”

[www.startribune.com]

_____

There’s still talk of a Faces reunion, Stewart said, but no firm plans yet.

“Ronnie (Wood) and I keep trying to get together,” he said. “He emailed me the other day and said: ‘I’ve got a few nights off. Let’s get dinner.’ I said, ‘I’m on holiday in the south of France.’ He said, ‘OK, let’s wait until we’re 78.’

“It will happen. But the ball is in Ronnie’s court, because when (the Rolling Stones) stop touring, they stop for a long time. So whenever he’s finished, I’ll be available. I know Kenney (Jones) wants to do it. And if we could just keep (Ian) McLagan quiet for a bit, we could get on with it. But he seems to come out and say the most negative things about me. But Ronnie and me want to do it.”

[www.kansascity.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-08-13 01:22 by bye bye johnny.

Ian McLagan Says The Faces Will Reunite for a Tour "and Then Who Knows?"

September 5, 2014

Ian McLagan is busy promoting his recently released solo album, United States, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer insists that a long-hoped-for reunion of the surviving members of The Faces will indeed be taking place in the not-too-distant future. The 69-year-old keyboardist tells ABC News Radio that most likely sometime next year, "The Faces will get together, we'll tour and then who knows?"

Before that happens, however, McLagan says he has a couple of other projects he wants to focus. The first is a follow-up to United States, which he's planning to record "later this year or early 2015." Ian explains that because he finished United States about two years before the record was released this past June, he had plenty of time to amass songs for a new album.

In addition, McLagan tells ABC News Radio that he and Faces drummer Kenney Jones are planning to organize "a gig or some gigs in the U.K. to celebrate" the 50th anniversary of their old group The Small Faces, the band that transformed into the Faces after Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood replaced founding singer/guitarist Steve Marriott.

McLagan says the proposed anniversary show or shows will feature him and Jones performing with a variety of guest musicians, including ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller.

"We've got a bunch of friends who wanna [play with us]," notes Ian, "and we need friends for that, as there's only Kenney and me remaining out of the band." The other members of Small Faces' classic lineup, Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane, died in 1991 and 1997, respectively.

Meanwhile, McLagan reports that there's an unreleased archival live album The Faces recorded that he hopes will be released to coincide with their reunion. He adds that when the band does get back together for new shows, "we should make a live album and a video, a DVD, of our fun and frolics backstage and front stage."

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

Rod's already got tour dates booked for 2015. Solo tour dates.

Yes, Rod's touring Down Under in March/April.

If the rumors are true, Ronnie will be busy around that time as well.

Still leaves 8-9 months TBD.

When Stewart's got a new album to promote,he'll start bleating about a Faces reunion.He is the biggest bull!!!! artist in rock!

Quote
tatters
Rod's already got tour dates booked for 2015. Solo tour dates.

Why am I not surprised?

What do people think the chances are of a reunion next year? As the Stones do not have any definite plans and Rod has no dates after Australia in March/April.

Could we finally see the Faces (my second favourite band) back together?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-11-23 13:41 by FeelTheFire.

Mac says there's a long lost Faces live album that the band will "hopefully" support with a tour.

“The Faces sell a little bit but Warner Bros. are such a bunch of idiots because they didn’t realize if we haven’t got records out we can’t make any money,” McLagan says. “It’s taken a while, but there should be a Faces live album … out next year.”

The album was recorded in the States during the Faces’ heyday.

“We’ve just discovered this recently,” McLagan says. “We recorded it and completely forgot about it. I heard a couple tracks and it sounds really good.”

McLagan then reveals an enticing possibility.

“Hopefully we’ll tour behind it,” he says. “Rod’s keen, I’m keen, Kenney’s keen and Ronnie Wood is keen, so I don’t see anything in the way of it.”

[citybeat.com]

I hope the live album in 2015 is better than Overtures & Beginners.

Faces on tour would be great !!!! I book a ticket!

everything's turning to gold

Kenney, Ronnie & Rod - London, December 17

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

This thread reminds me how much I'm missing Mac and how much I dislike what Rod has done for the past 30 years...


peace

Quote
bye bye johnny


Kenney, Ronnie & Rod - London, December 17

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Any more info about their meeting?
The link doesn't do.

Quote
Phil Good

Quote
bye bye johnny


Kenney, Ronnie & Rod - London, December 17

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Any more info about their meeting?
The link doesn't do.

Try this one:

[www.dailymail.co.uk]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

Sorry to sound judgemental but it's hard to look at that picture and not be a little pissed at Rod. Seems pretty obvious that Mac really wanted a Faces reunion, even if just a brief one. Rod's spent the last years making horrific cover albums instead of returning to the thing that gave him the most musical credibility of his career and now Mac is gone.

Quote
CMH516
Sorry to sound judgemental but it's hard to look at that picture and not be a little pissed at Rod. Seems pretty obvious that Mac really wanted a Faces reunion, even if just a brief one. Rod's spent the last years making horrific cover albums instead of returning to the thing that gave him the most musical credibility of his career and now Mac is gone.

I'm not sure Rod has the spirit left in him to play Faces type Rock and Roll. He's been playing such schmaltz for so it's pretty easy to see where his heart lies with respect to the music.

peace

Quote
Deltics

Quote
Phil Good

Quote
bye bye johnny


Kenney, Ronnie & Rod - London, December 17

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

Any more info about their meeting?
The link doesn't do.

Try this one:

[www.dailymail.co.uk]

As awesome as this picture is...(just look at the shoes!)
It makes me all kinds of sad.

It's the second time in a year or so that the three of them have been pictured together but the press haven't mentioned Kenney Jones.

Thanks for the new link, Deltics.

And yes, the press didn't notice Kenny.

Quote
CMH516
Sorry to sound judgemental but it's hard to look at that picture and not be a little pissed at Rod. Seems pretty obvious that Mac really wanted a Faces reunion, even if just a brief one. Rod's spent the last years making horrific cover albums instead of returning to the thing that gave him the most musical credibility of his career and now Mac is gone.

A valid point. But I believe I read an interview with Rod somewhere recently where he said something like he hadn't been feeling very happy in later years. As if he was saying that he wasn't focused on the things he really loved. But that may have been me reading in things he wasn't saying.


“They’re all my friends. Even Mac. I mean I was getting a lot of aggravation from Mac in the end, but I’ll be getting aggravation from Mac as long as I’ve got a hole in me ass.” --Rod Stewart, Rolling Stone magazine 1976