By Junkman
Recently, I had a chance to sit down and chat with one of my favorite vocalists, the great Paul Rodgers. It took place during my show on KNAC.COM in Hollywood, and he surprised me by bringing in his acoustic guitar and performing three songs. What a treat! He was promoting his latest CD and DVD entitled Live In Glasgow. I have been a fan of his for many years. The following interview was not only fun, but very informative. I hope you enjoy it.
Junkman: Paul, thank you for being here.
Paul: Thank you very much for having me, Mr. Junkman sir. It’s very nice to be here.
Junkman: If I seem a little bit nervous, just understand that I’ve been a fan — you probably hear this quite a bit, I would imagine, from people all over the world. Your body of work is just astounding; I mean you’ve worked for so long and everything is just amazing.
Paul: Thank you. You know I appreciate that because, for me, what it’s always been about, really is the excitement. I’m still a music fan. I still listen to the people I grew up on, and I still get excited about meeting those people and listening to that music. And really, the enthusiasm is really what it’s all about.
Junkman: Absolutely. You know it’s funny — you’re talking about the people you grew up on. I have one of the guys I grew up on right here. I don’t want to date myself or anything. In my first band we were playing Bad Company and Free songs.
Paul (laughs): Can you remember which ones?
Junkman: I do remember “Can’t Get Enough” and I do remember we played…
Paul: “Feel Like Making Love” maybe?
Junkman: We played “The Stealer,” we played “All Right Now”…
Paul: Oh, OK.
Junkman: And I know we played “Wishing Well” for sure.
Paul: Great, great, great (laughs).
Junkman: That was quite a band back then, bashing it out in the garage and everything. Trying to do your moves — that patented microphone thing.
Paul: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Junkman: I’m a drummer, bashing it out, but I would sing a couple as well.
Paul: Oh that’s good. That’s great.
Junkman: God, you’re here now, this is great. You have a brand new record, Live In Glasgow.
Paul: Yeah, Live In Glasgow. It’s a CD and a DVD. The CD has been out a couple of weeks, and the DVD is just out. And the booklets are different on each.
Junkman: Why Glasgow?
Paul: Well, Glasgow was a good venue to film in. We thought of doing it in Newcastle the night before. All the shows were great — it was completely sold out. We could have done it anywhere, really. We had 13 cameras, and I wanted to catch the show without the cameras getting in the way of what we were going to be doing. Clyde Hall has this nice wide stage so that we could bring in the cameras, and they wouldn’t be too intrusive. Also, the Glasgow crowds — bless them — have always been supportive.
Junkman: I’m a partial Scot.
Paul: Are you?
Junkman: So, I know they’re very enthusiastic.
Paul: They love their rock and roll, and they have from way, way back.
Junkman: Perfect. You’ve got a great band as well on this thing as well. I noticed our old friend Howard Leese is playing guitar.
Paul: Howard Leese, yes.
Junkman: And you also have Ryan Hoyle playing drums. Or is that Jeff Kathan?
Paul: Jeff Kathan is normally in my solo band. Ryan came along with me on the U.K. solo tour because I wanted to try him out. He’s such a great drummer. He normally plays with Collective Soul. I watched their DVD and was just knocked out with his playing, so I wanted to try him out. And he was absolutely fantastic, especially with the new songs. But Jeff is there and playing with me live now. We just do about 15 dates a year. I’m trying to pull back a little bit because I want to have a bit of a life. It’s just so busy because I’m proceeding on two fronts with the solo and with Queen as well.
Junkman: That’s the other thing. A lot of us who have been fans of your career for so long were completely flabbergasted when you went out and played with Queen. But, I’m telling you, it’s amazing. And we knew it would be. How did that whole thing come about with you singing for Queen? I mean, those big shoes to fill and being able to do it 100%…110…
Paul: We played together on a live TV show, and we had such a blast with it. They played my songs and I played theirs. We came off stage and said we have to do something. The enthusiasm was there from the start. Normally, I have jam sessions with people, and what often happens is: “Oh yeah, we gotta do something. I’ll see you later, man.” And you get busy and nothing happens. But with this, we really did follow it up. And then Brian (May) called me up and said, “How do you fancy doing a tour in Europe? Just a small tour as Queen plus Paul Rodgers?” And I was shocked actually for a second.
Junkman: We all were.
Paul: I had thought, “Oh, that’s kind of different.” I had thought that maybe just Roger, Brian and myself would get together and write some songs and do some shows just for fun. But this was different; it was somehow much bigger. And it really was. It grew from being a European tour into a worldwide tour, which took two years to get around. It took us all by surprise and it’s great.
Junkman: And people were just completely blown away. I’ve seen video of what you guys did together. I didn’t get to see it live, but I plan on it. What’s the future hold for that? Recording-wise, touring-wise…
Paul: I’m proceeding on two fronts. I’m doing solo shows and I’ve also been in the studio with Brian and Roger and we’ve been laying down some songs.
Junkman: Terrific.
Paul: We’re very excited, actually. Yes, we are very excited.
Junkman: Look at me — I’m shaking. We’re all shaking (laughs). We’re ready for it. Just bring it on. Any idea on when any kind of release would be for that?
Paul: Well, management would like us to record an album this year, then tour next year. And that would be sort of the perfect scenario. But we’ve let the thing develop naturally up until now. And I think that’s what we’ll do. The priority has got to be: Do we really like? Is this strong enough? Is this how we feel? Is this what we want? So, it depends, really, on how quickly it comes together in the studio. And so far, it’s moving along at its own pace, naturally, very well. There’s such fire when we play together. It’s very cool, actually.
Junkman: I don’t doubt that for a moment. With the solo thing that’s going on right now, I know you’ve played a few selected dates in the area and around the world. You’ve got a benefit I’m told you’re playing pretty soon. There’s two benefits coming up, right?
Paul: The first one is the L.A.P.D. — that’s for the fallen officer. That’s something dear to my heart, and I’d like to do that.
Junkman: Along with my good friend Stuart Smith and Heaven and Earth. How did you get involved with that?
Paul: Basically, they called and said, “Would you do it?” And I said, “What’s it all about?” And they said, “It’s for the fallen officers and that.” And I thought, “Wow, that’s definitely something I’d love to do.” I think I get to be an honorary detective or something for the day. It means I can go around and arrest all these people who have been bothering me all these years (laughs).
Junkman: Write a few tickets here, write a few tickets there. Get away with a couple of speeding tickets ‘cause you’re in the know.
Paul: Yeah, it’s a bit nervy because they do a background check on you. So God knows…(laughs)
Junkman: You do have a history, my friend.
Paul: OK buddy (laughs).
Junkman: That’s awesome. I believe that’s at the Avalon. It used to be the Palace over there on Vine in Hollywood. And you’ve got another one?
Paul: The Earth Day Jam. It just came in. They’ve asked us to do this. It’s an environmental benefit.
Junkman: Where is that taking place?
Paul: Al Gore is behind this.
Junkman: Oh, the great big show. Cool.
Paul: Yeah, again that’s a cause near to my heart. I think Al Gore has got a lot of good things to say. And I think it’s time that humanity woke up to what we’re doing to the planet. I mean, it’s really obvious, and we have to start doing something. So, it’s my little contribution.
Junkman: Can you imagine what it would have been like in the United States if he had just gotten a couple more votes? Just goes to show you — everyone counts (laughs).
Paul: You know it’s true — we actually have the power. You know, we put these people in power and then they go and do things in our name. So we have to be careful that we vote the right person in. Turn up and vote, yeah. Listen to me, I’m on my soapbox here.
Junkman: You know what, you can do it.
Paul: It’s true, isn’t it? When I was a kid, you know, it was, who cares? You know, politicians, blah, blah, blah…
Junkman: Well, growing up in England, I would imagine, you have your monarchy. It was all a different story back then and still is, compared to the United States.
Paul: We still do have the monarchy, and we sort of love them, deep in our minds, you know. But I just wish there was a way that human beings could transcend this need to have war. We’re all kind of sick to the back teeth about it, I think.
Junkman: You’ve got a new track called “Warboys”…
Paul: … it’s moving along quite smoothly…
Junkman: …that deals with this particular subject. That’s quite the segue, huh?
Paul: Yeah, that’s quite the segue, but it’s true. I called “Warboys” as a sub-title “A Prayer To Peace” because I wanted people to understand that it is a prayer for peace; it’s not a glorification of war in any way. I’m of the opinion, when you look back through the history of mankind, there always seems to have been hardwired into us this need for warfare. I wish, I really truly wish, we could transcend that. And live and work the earth as if it was a garden. You know what I mean? And share things. It would be so cool if we were more spiritually aware. In fact, maybe I’ll play it.
Junkman: Absolutely! Are you kidding me?
Paul: Let me just pull out a pick.
Junkman: I was going to play the one on the CD, but you’ve got the guitar. It’s not even a question. (To radio audience) Would you guys like to hear him play this live in the studio with his acoustic guitar? I’m talking about the brand new single — it’s called “Warboys” and it’s on the brand new CD Live In Glasgow. I think we’re gonna hear it here live.
Paul plays “Warboys”
Junkman: Paul Rodgers live in the studio playing “Warboys.” That was beautiful my friend.
Paul: Thank you, thank you.
Junkman: A thrill for me to witness this live from this close.
Paul: All right.
Junkman: How long did it take you to write that song?
Paul: You know what? It’s been on the backburner for a long time, actually. And I never really got it finished. There’s been a lot of wars, not just the current one. In between starting the writing of that song and its culmination right now, it just seems to be appropriate now. I was playing this for a wonderful lady friend of mine called Cynthia. And I was saying, “You know I’ve got this song, and it just needs a middle eight and goes something like this…”(starts playing and humming) and I said, “That’s what it needs.” And the song was finished right there, you know.
Junkman: I’m flabbergasted right now. That’s the word that I’m thinking of. If someone wants to know: “Do I need a Depends?” Yes, I do, I need an adult diaper right about now (laughs). It’s just beautiful. My God, there’s so many things that I want to talk to you about. For one, obviously you’ve got this big powerful, bluesy, beautiful voice. When did you first realize that you wanted to be a singer? Or that you had some talent? Or did someone tell that this is what you need to do? How did this all start for you? I know it’s been awhile ago.
Paul: Yeah, it’s been awhile now. It’s been like 30 years, I think. Thirty-nine (clears throat) I’m told. (sings) Lordy, lordy. You know, I got interested, let’s see, in the charts any way, because there was always a radio on in my house. And I used to listen to all the vocalists — you know people like Frank Sinatra, Elvis — when Elvis came out because my older sisters were way into Elvis, of course. And it was just something that I gravitated towards. The Beatles came out and that blew my mind actually. The Beatles were great; they really helped me through my teenage years.
Junkman: Likewise.
Paul: Yeah. Through the Stones, I discovered a lot of blues and people like B.B. King and Muddy Waters, and that got deeper and deeper. When the Stones sang (sings), I don’t want to be no slave/I don’t want to work all day/I don’t want you ‘cause I’m sad and blue/I just want to make love to you… When I heard that, I thought, oh that’s not (sings), She loves you/Yeah, yeah, yeah… No, it’s actually a little deeper, you know. So, that’s how I discovered Muddy Waters and those blues things. I also found out that if I imitated Otis Redding, of course…
Junkman: One of my favorites.
Paul: Yeah, and there was the Temptations and the Four Tops. Then there was Aretha Franklin — all these great singers coming out. Sam and Dave. I just started to imitate those guys. I had a bass player who used to say, “I’ll bet you can’t do what he just did there…” And I’d try it and it was a great way of learning. Because it was a challenge to go (sings), yea-a-a-a-a-a-ah… or whatever they were doing. And I learned from the masters, actually, in that respect.
Junkman: Awesome. I know that in the early 60s a lot of these blues pioneers were touring with a lot of the English rock bands in England because that’s where they could actually pick up a rock tour and get paid for what they were doing, as opposed to the United States — they were playing crappy places and over there, you actually had bands like the Stones that would have like Muddy Waters opening for them.
Paul: Yeah, that’s true. They were deeply respected over there, the blues guys.
Junkman: Sure.
Paul: I saw Muddy Waters at the famous Marquee Club in London. And I was completely blown away because up until then I bought his records and he existed on some other planet. But for him to be right there in front of me…
Junkman: Now you know how I’m feeling today. This is exactly what I’m feeling like today.
Paul: But you know what I loved about him was that he didn’t sit there and play to that glass window in front of him; he was there. And he was like talking to the people and he was reaching out and touching them. And it was, “Whoa!” You know?
Junkman: It’s happening now.
Paul: I love that. The fact that it was so much an ‘in the moment’ thing — he was there tonight.
Junkman: Right, approachable, too.
Paul: Absolutely.
Junkman: To actually come up to somebody and listen to them in a small club like that — just one of your heroes.
Paul: I said I learn from them, I’m still learning from those guys, I still put James Brown on and say, ‘My God, how does he do that? How did he ever do that?’ And Sam Moore. I actually recently recorded with Sam Moore and that was such a thrill. I was like a 13-year-old kid again. We both shared a mic; you know we had this song, we had the lyrics in front of us. I’m used to that, you know. Then Sam goes, “Who-o-o-o-oh!” or something. And I went, ‘Oh, my God — that’s Sam Moore!” And I was in shorts (laughs) and my school uniform, and I was 13 again.
Junkman: Looking like Angus Young.
Paul: (laughs)Yeah.
Junkman: So, basically, it was out of that, that made you say, “I’ve got to do this. This is just what I wanna to do…”
Paul: There was never any question for me. It was definitely what I had to do. In my hometown at that time, my father and the older generation would always say, ‘You have to get a trade.” It’s a heavy industrial area up there, steel mills, ship building, coal mining, chemicals.
Junkman: Are you talking about Sheffield?
Paul: Middlesbrook. It’s just up from Newcastle, which is a beautiful place. And you know you really have to get a trade because if you don’t get your trade, you’ll just be like…you won’t be nobody, you know. But I passed up on that opportunity because it was music that I wanted to do, and I’m still doing it.
Junkman: When was the first time somebody actually said, “You know what — you got something going — you’re good? This is what you need to be doing.” When was the first real support that you got? Was it someone you can remember who said, “You know, you have a talent at this and you need to continue”?
Paul: We had a class band and we were rehearsing in the living room and stuff like that. And it was OK. And then this guy came into the school called Colin Bradley, and he was really very good. He was playing all this stuff — Bob Dylan stuff and songs and things like that, and we had him in the band and his brother managed us — he had this older brother that managed us — and he was so knowledgeable. He was a long-distance driver and he really knew the music scene for some reason, He knew the world. He had a much bigger picture of the world itself. We lived in this small town, and that’s all everything was about. He opened our minds to a lot of music. He’s the one I should thank. Joe Bradley, my first manager, fantastic guy.
Junkman: He was the one that said, “Keep doing this kid, you know what you’re doing…”
Paul: Yeah, he stuck by us.
Junkman: And then through the late 60s, you hooked up with Paul Kossoff and formed Free.
Paul: Yeah, I did. I’d been down in London. The thing was in those days, everything happened in London. Nothing really happened outside; all the studios were there, all the record companies and everything. I went and lived down there, and I would see Paul Kossoff around town. And finally I got to meet him. I had a band called Brown Sugar and we were playing in this blues club, and he just came up and his hair was down to the back of his knees and he looked very cool.
Junkman: I know those guys.
Paul: Well, so was mine, so we had that in common, right? He says, “I’d like to have a jam.” And he got up and we played a couple of B.B. King songs. And I said to him, “Man, you and I are going to form a band.” And he’s like, “But, I’m with a band.” And I said, “Never mind about that — we’re gonna form a new band. And it’s going to be professional.” And that’s how Free was born.
Junkman: Such legendary music that came out of that. Like I said, “Wishing Well” was a part of all my bands. “All Right Now” — still it’s one of those ones that when I get together with friends and they say, “Hey, you want to come up and play some drums, let’s jam on something,” that usually is one of the first two or three songs I think about. It’s got that whole backbeat thing going.
Paul: It’s amazingly perennial, “All Right Now.” I didn’t play it. I left Free and formed Bad Company with Mick Ralphs, and went and wrote a whole new catalog for that — didn’t go near “All Right Now” or any of the Free stuff, except maybe “The Stealer,” which I think we may have done. So it was a completely brand new unit, and then the Firm. And it was not until 1992 that I was on a blues tour — I was touring in support of the Muddy Waters tribute CD — and actually the band was calling for “All Right Now” behind me. And I had the audience in front of me going,” Yeah, yeah, yeah — do ‘All Right Now’.” Then I started to do the song. I did it one night and it took the roof right off the place. You know, I thought, “Actually, it’s quite good.” (laughs) I hadn’t played it for some 20 years, and I then I played it and thought, “OK, this is going to stay in the set.” And it kind of did.
Junkman: His (Paul Kossoff’s) death must have been devastating.
Paul: Yeah, it was. You know, I still don’t think I’m over that because it was such a shame. I wish that he and I could have gotten back together in some way, shape or form. I was in the middle of a Bad Company tour when I heard about his death, and I was ready to go home. I was ready to quit right there and go home, but Peter Grant (Bad Company/Led Zeppelin manager) talked some sense into me. Basically, he said, “You can do that, but what will it do now? It’s too late. And you will let so many people down — you’ve got a sold-out tour and everybody’s waiting.” And I said, “You’re right. I should finish the tour.” But it was a terrible loss because you don’t know what we might have done, what might have been.
Junkman: Well yeah…could’ve, would’ve, should’ve — you know. Now, you mentioned Peter Grant, of course, he managed Led Zeppelin and you guys were on the Swan Song label. You were like the first band signed to Swan Song, if I’m not mistaken.
Paul: Yeah, we were. Maggie Bell was on there, the Pretty Things and somebody called Detective was on there.
Junkman: Michael Des Barres’ band.
Paul: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they were very good to us. It was one of the best labels you could have been on because you actually had the directors — Jimmy Page. Robert Plant, John Paul Jones.
Junkman: At the height of their popularity. The Gods of rock!
Paul: They were the Gods of rock! Yeah, and they picked us and it was a real honor. We were like school kids in their school. Talk about going to the school of rock and roll.
Junkman: It’s funny, we’re talking about Bad Company, the band after Free. A couple of weeks ago, I had Glenn Hughes on the show, and he was referring to when he joined Deep Purple. I had him and I had Ian Gillan both talking about when they had left the band, and then Deep Purple was looking for a singer and they actually wanted you. Ritchie Blackmore wanted you and you actually had the guts to say, “You know what? I’ve got a band,” meaning Bad Company. That’s huge.
Paul: Yeah, well who knows — again it’s would have been, could have been. We met those guys in Australia when Free actually did their last shows. I think I was on the plane, going back with them or going out from Japan or something. We were all sitting on the plane and we got along really well. I thought about it for a bit, but I was pretty keen on forming what became Bad Company at that time. And I thought, “No, I don’t want to switch horses at this point.”
Junkman: Can we touch on Bad Company? How that got formed and you and Mick Ralphs…
Paul: Well, yeah I was touring with a band called Peace. Three of us, three-piece —Ha ha.
Junkman: There you go.
Paul: And we were touring with Mott The Hoople, and Mick and I would get together in the band room. We just gravitated. And he played me “Can’t Get Enough” and “Movin’ On” and a couple of other things. And I said, “These are great songs. Is the band playing these?” And he said, “Nah, it’s not really their cup of tea, you know. It’s not really their style.” And I said, “Well, give it to me. I’ll do it.” I would play him a song, and he would say, “I’ve got something similar, that would go with this.” And we started writing songs together. The guitar player and singer writing songs was the nucleus of what became Bad Company.
Junkman: It’s history.
Paul: It is now.
Junkman: I’d like to touch on some of that. I was planning on playing something from the CD, but you’ve got the guitar in the studio, my friend. I’ve got to hear something, Can you play something from that era for us? From the Free/Bad Company, something…
Paul: Here’s something, because I started to write this with Free when I first came to California, and I didn’t finish it until a couple of years later with Bad Company. And it goes like this…
Paul plays “Feels Like Making Love” with Junkman tapping out a beat on the console
Junkman: Paul Rodgers live on KNAC.COM.
Paul: Hey, thanks for the nice drumming there.
Junkman: Absolutely, I get to do a little jamming with Paul Rodgers right here on the table. God, I wish my friend Jill was here, a good friend of mine down in Orange County. She’s a singer and worships the ground that you walk on. If she was here, she’d be singing background vocals.
Paul: That would have been cool.
Junkman: This room would have exploded.
Paul: Maybe next time.
Junkman: Absolutely. So, “Feel Like Making Love” actually started during the Free days?
Paul: Yeah, it was one of those. I do a lot of songwriting. I have a lot of ideas on the backburner, as it were, all the time. We got to do the album that we were recording at that time. Mick says to me, “What do you got? What do you got?” And I said, “Well, I’ve got this one (sings): Baby, when I think about you…but it needs like something else.” And he went, “Oh, I know what this needs: Ba-boo bow.” And I went, “Oh yeah (sings), and I feel like making love.” And that was born right there. It was all there.
Junkman: I’ll always remember the microphone stand thing. You’ve got a patented move, man.
Paul: (laughs) It turned out that way. It’s like the signature things you do. I think we all have them.
Junkman: Sure. I got my drum face.
Paul: (laughs) Yeah, and it’s nice, it’s part of your personality, it’s what you do, it’s what you’re known for, I guess.
Junkman: So, through Bad Company, you recorded six great records together. Unbelievable stuff. Maybe more, maybe less. I thought it was about six, correct?
Paul: I think six, and then maybe there were some ‘Best Of’s’ types, like 10 From 6 and that kind of thing.
Junkman: It’s classic rock, you hate to say it, but it’s classic.
Paul: It’s interesting, really, that it’s become classic rock. Classic rock is now a title of its own.
Junkman: We had a discussion on the KNAC chat room. I wish people would stop classifying rock music. Rock is rock. It’s good or it’s bad or whatever it is.
Paul: That’s so true. If you look back at all those albums, you’ll find that there’s an acoustic on every album. We always tried to get some dimension in it. It’s not wall-to-wall screaming-up-there rock and roll, although some of it is. And I try to make the shows like that. So that there’s a variety of light and shade. And I find that interesting — different things going on.
Junkman: Absolutely. During the 80s, leaving Bad Company to pursue other avenues, you did some solo touring, you were in the involved in the ARMS tour in 1983, which I attended. I actually have a T-shirt here with me.
Paul: Wow.
Junkman: Yeah, I wanted to show you it.
Paul: I should have kept some of this stuff. It’s there, and you don’t bother. But that’s great.
Junkman: The Ronnie Lane Appeal for ARMS, which actually was the first charity tour in rock that people had done.
Paul: I think it was. Actually, the first I knew of.
Junkman: Ground-breaking?
Paul: In a way, yeah. Actually, what I had done — I left Bad Company because I had a young family, I had two young kids who are now grown up. (Junkman hands Paul a shirt) There it is, look at that…Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton.
Junkman: The ARMS tour, which came from my Junkman archives. One of the reasons I’m called Junkman is because I collect stuff like that.
Paul: Oh, that’s why. That makes sense.
Junkman: Well, I collect stuff.
Paul: Only good junk, right?
Junkman: Oh yeah. Well, good junk like this (points to shirt).
Paul: It was a great tour because everyone was in the right direction, in a way, in the same direction. Everyone mucked in together, and did things together.
Junkman: And it was all to help out Ronnie Lane, with his affliction, which eventually — he got better…
Paul: Well, for a while there, when we started the tour, he was in a wheelchair. By the end of the tour though, he got so involved in the music that he actually walked across to the center of the stage and sang. Everybody was on stage and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was unbelievable. Right across the stage and he started singing “Maggie May” or something, and we all said, “OK, let’s hit it.” It was fantastic. Yeah, it was a magical tour.
Junkman: Like I said, he was actually feeling better from that. Right after this, you hooked up with your old mate Pagey (Jimmy Page) and decided to start a band.
Paul: The reason we were out there was because we were already in the studio, Jimmy and I. I had put studio together in my house in Kingston and I was making a solo album, which turned out to be Cut Loose, and Jimmy came around to see what I was up to. And we started writing songs together (handed a record) Oh look at that, That’s great. He’s got Cut Loose as well.
Junkman: I’ve got it all, my friend. I’ve got the Paul Rodgers solo album Cut Loose album, which is out of print right now for some reason.
Paul: Oh well.
Junkman: You can’t get it.
Paul: It adds to the rarity.
Junkman: Exactly.
Paul: So, we were already in the studio and we got a call from Ronnie Lane, and he said, “We’re doing this thing. And we heard you were in the studio.” We didn’t know how they heard. It wasn’t a secret, but we didn’t make a lot of noise about it. “And can you come out and put a band together and do something with us?” And I said, “Oh…” And Jimmy says, “Yeah, yeah, let’s go do it, let’s go do it…” He was very gun-ho to get on the road and do something, and I had just come off the road and wanted to stay off the road. Anyway, so we came to the conclusion, we said, “Ok, let’s go out and do this. ‘And the Firm was born from that, basically, to cut a long story short.
Junkman: You have a couple albums out — at least a couple.
Paul: Should we mention who was involved with the ARMS tour? There was Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Ray Cooper, Jan Hammer, Kenny Jones, Ronnie Lane — of course — Andy Fairweather-Low, fantastic, Jimmy Page, Simon Phillips, this guy here Paul Rodgers.
Junkman: Yeah, some guy named Paul Rodgers.
Paul: Fernando Saunders, great bass player, Chris Stainton, Ian Stewart from the Stones, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Great, what a lineup.
Junkman: What a lot of people were talking about with that tour was that this would be the first time that the three big guitar players from the Yardbirds had gotten on stage together at the same time.
Paul: Yeah.
Junkman: It was Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton all at once.
Paul: Yes.
Junkman: Refresh my memory — were you on stage playing with all three of those members at the same time?
Paul: What happened was, we each did a set.
Junkman: I remember you were playing “Boogie Momma.”
Paul: Do you remember that? What happened was we each did our little separate entities, if you like. Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer would do their thing together, and myself and Jimmy would do our thing, and Joe Cocker would come out and do his thing, and at the very end, we came on for a big jam and that’s when you would have seen the three guitarists. I don’t think it had ever happened on stage prior to that.
Junkman: Eric had a bright blue suit on.
Paul: Yeah. For the entire tour.
Junkman: Yeah.
Paul: It was a very nice suit.
Junkman: Every tour he’s done, he always looks completely different. He’s either got a different hair style or a different stylist. But he had this bright, shiny suit I remember. I can’t recall what you were wearing..
Paul: We wore different things for different nights. But Eric decided this was going to be it for the entire tour. It was good actually…instead of thinking, “What am I going to wear tonight.” It was gonna be the suit, you know.
Junkman: You had a few hits with the Firm, like “Radioactive,” which is on the new CD.
Paul: Well, we made some interesting music, I think. The first song that Jimmy and I wrote together was “Midnight Moonlight Lady.” He brought a little cassette along of this incredible piece of music. And he said, “Do you think you could write some lyrics to this?” And the chorus is in some weird tempo, like 9/4. There’s like an extra beat there, somehow. I hadn’t realized that until after I’d written the lyrics. I said, “You know, it’s very strange working on that, Jimmy. I had to put an extra line in there.” And he just smiled and goes, “Oh yeah, it’s kind of in 9/4.” Thanks for telling me, you know. But it was a beautiful piece of music. We did some good things, I thought.
Junkman: Along with Tony Franklin on bass.
Paul: Yes, Tony, great bass player.
Junkman: I see Tony every now and again, jamming with somebody, and he’s always got charts written up. And the rest of the band is just jamming away, and he has his charts written out.
Paul: Yeah, he’s a good bass player. Actually, we were gonna have Pino Palladino on bass. Tony was just there for rehearsals — bless him. And we got to the end of the rehearsal and were about to tour, and Pino couldn’t make it. So Jim said to me, “Look, Tony knows all the songs, He’s rehearsed with us, let’s take him.” And it was kind of a no-brainer, really, because he was very good.
Junkman: I’m looking at my list. I want to get everything in order. The Law. The Law was a one CD thing I think you guys did. I still have my copy. I don’t know where it is.
Paul: Yeah.
Junkman: : It’s in my pile at “Junk Land” (Junkman’s house) someplace, along with the rest of the stuff. How did the Law come about?
Paul: Well, it all came about when I met Kenny Jones in a nightclub in London and we had a couple of drinks — probably a couple of drinks too many — and we decided to put a band together, and that’s what became the Law. And we went to Atlantic Records and they said, “OK, let’s get behind it.” And we did a record and that was that.
Junkman: And this police benefit is taking the Law to a whole other level.
Paul: Yeah, I wonder if I should do something (sings) layin’ down the law, that’s what this badge is for….
Junkman: You can have that idea, my friend, Take it away, play it live.
Paul: I could actually wear the CD.
Junkman: Bad Company reunited briefly in 1999. You guys did a box set. Was that a record company thing? Or did you say, “You know what? It’s time.”
Paul: I think it was time. A lot of water had flowed under the bridge and the record company did want to put this out, the box set. And it seemed like a good idea, and we wanted to do some new things. The result of that was we got together in the studio, and we recorded a couple of new songs, which went Number One to radio. That was very gratifying. “Hey Hey” and “Hammer Of Love.”
Junkman: Unfortunately, this past year, Boz Burrell passed on.
Paul: Yeah..
Junkman: Another band mate of yours. You know, I don’t want to bring up bad things like that, but what are your thoughts on Boz Burrell?
Paul: They broke the mold when they made Boz. He was a unique person. He loved touring and all of that. But I think, in many respects, Boz regarded himself as sort of a jazz musician and really that’s where he wanted to be at, so we were kind of lucky to have him because he added such a great musicality to what we were doing. And I think in the end, that’s where he went off to do. The last I heard of him, before he sadly passed, was that he was playing jazz and having a great time.
Junkman: The Muddy Waters blues record was amazing. How did it all come about? Was it, “This is my roots, this is what I want to do. Can I do it?” Or was there someone who approached you and said, “Would you?”
Paul: I was approached by Victory Music, and they said, “We’d like to do a blues album. Would you like to do that? We’ll give you free rein. You can do anything you like.” And it sounded like a great offer to me because I do have strong blues roots. I fixed on Muddy Waters. I could have really have done a tribute to Howlin’ Wolf in many respects too, or Elmore James or Albert King. But I chose Muddy because in many respects, he’s the Elvis of the blues. I think Elvis was deeply influenced by him actually. If you look at some of the early footage with the boots and hips swiveling, it’s very Muddy Waters. I focused on Muddy to keep the thing under control, and just give it free rein. We had a great time. I had Pino Palladino on bass, Jason Bonham on drums.
Junkman: An amazing drummer.
Paul: Which is some rhythm section, and we just let it rip and had fun and invited all these great guitar players and everybody said, “Yes, love to do it.”
Junkman: You’ve played with so many great guitarists, and you play guitar yourself.
Paul: Like who? Jeff Beck, Brian Setzer, Dave Gilmore, Slash, Trevor Rabin, who’s fantastic.
Junkman: Sure, you got ‘em all, a veritable who’s who. Brian May…
Paul: My mate, Brian. Yes.
Junkman: You got em’ all. Steve Miller, bluesy.
Paul: Yeah, Stevie. Great.
Junkman: Lots of blues guys on there.
Paul: It was nice, really, because everyone was able to pay homage in their own way to the blues. It’s definitely there. I do feel that without the blues, there’d be no rock and roll.
Junkman: That’s a given.
Paul: Sure.
Junkman: You’ve worked with so many of your idols. Is there anyone you haven’t worked with but would love to one of these days?
Paul: He’s died now, but George Harrison would have been someone I would have loved to have worked with. Unfortunately, he’s gone from us. We owe so much to that guy, he’s so underrated in a way — if you can be a Beatle and be underrated. He was awesome, you know. He was so brave to bring up the sitar and all that kind of esoteric music from the East, and bring that to our consciousness. I would have never discovered it.
Junkman: Completely in the public realm in 1967 or something like that. Nobody had ever listened to a sitar, especially on a rock record before he came along. But somebody living, who would be somebody contemporary you’d like to work with?
Paul: Aretha Franklin. How about Aretha? That would be cool. She is the Queen of Soul…
Junkman: No doubt about it.
Paul: I have been on stage with Aretha, but we didn’t actually sing together except on the encore when everybody was there. The Four Tops were doing a 50 year celebration, 50 years in the music business, which is longer than the Stones, and they did it in Detroit. And everyone from the soul world was there. All my heroes — Sam Moore, the Temptations, the Four Tops, of course, Aretha — all these great people. I actually sang a couple of their songs (sings), I remember just before we met, when every night and day I had to live the life… “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever.” I love that song. And “Love Music,” (sings) we need music, love music…Those guys were writing thoughtful, deep music back then. We need more love music. It’s cool. Aretha — that’d be cool. (sings) Yeah, yeah…
Junkman: If Aretha Franklin’s people are listnening (or reading) to this, I really have a great duet for you, this is someone you need to record with. So, anybody out there who’s involved with Aretha Franklin, any which way you know how to get a hold of her, have her get a hold of Mr. Paul Rodgers.
Paul: That would be nice. That would be beautiful.
Junkman: We’ve been touching so much on this CD, and we haven’t played anything yet. I have you here in the studio with a guitar. Is there something else you’d care to play off the CD, or would you just like to listen to something?
Paul: I think it’s time to listen to a bit of the CD.
Junkman: You pick a track, my friend. I want to hear what Paul Rodgers would like you to hear, the listening public. He’s perusing the CD right now (laughs). Someone listening said you resemble Danny Bonaduce without the red hair (laughs). Not a compliment, OK. Some one else says you look like Sully from Godsmack as well.
Paul: He’s a great singer. Unfortunately, we can’t see these people to see what they look like. OK, let’s be different, I think it’s track nine, “I Just Want To See You Smile.”
Junkman: Could you give us an intro to that…
Paul: Well, actually, this is a song I wrote in Jamaica many years ago. I was out there with a friend of mine, Chris Blackwell, and he said, “Ah, let’s go down and record this with the Maytals in the studio.” So I recorded this as a reggae song originally..
Junkman: He (Chris) was the president of Island Records. He’s all about that.
Paul: Yeah, and we were on Island Records at the time. So, we went along and it was amazing, a different experience. It was very cool. This is more of how the song was originally written, with more of a Hendrixy vibe to it. (points to Junkman’s Jimi Hendrix T-shirt) There he is, the man himself.
Junkman: I’m wearing a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt today, by the way here in the studio. We’re touching on all the same things, my friend, and I’m thrilled to death about that.
Plays “I Just Want To See You Smile” from the CD
Junkman: You (also) have some new songs on Live In Glasgow, including (one with) your son.
Paul: Yeah, Steven’s on there. He came up to Newcastle and Glasgow, and opened the show for us with his acoustic guitar, so we included one of the songs on there. I think it’s called “Sunshine.” It’s not on the CD; it’s on the DVD.
Junkman: That’s got to be such a thrill for you. You also have a daughter who’s a musician.
Paul: I do, Jasmine. You know, they were brought up with music all around them and they were writing songs when they were very young. It is great to see them. But they have other interests as well. Jasmine has a degree in zoology, and Steve is doing other things as well. But actually, Steven is very, very keen now to make his solo CD. So I think you’ll be hearing from him very soon.
Junkman: And you can find him on a web site in particular or My Space? Steven Rodgers?
Paul: Yeah..
Junkman: So, Steven Rodgers, go look ‘em up. Outstanding, there’s so many things. Tell us what else you got going on. I know you got your people over here, and they’re feeding me a little information.
Paul: One of the good things to do is to check the web site. I’m very proud of the web site.
Junkman: Paulrodgers.com.
Paul: Yeah, there’s current pictures all the time. We like to take pictures of the current shows, so they’re all updated, and there’s shots of the fans and everything. And there’s a lot of things going on there.
Junkman: People here are dying to have you play some more stuff live. Would you do some more songs for us?
Paul: Oh, can you play something while I think about what I can do.
Junkman: Sure, let’s play another track off CD while he’s thinking about it over here, picking up the guitar. What should I play?
Paul: “All Right Now” maybe?
Junkman: Yeah, we can do “All Right Now.” You wanna do that live?
Paul: Well, I’ll need a second to tune this up. I’m gonna do a drop D.
Junkman: Paul Rodgers, in the studio, tuning for us.
Paul: We’re there.
Junkman: He’s there.
Paul strums a few bars and plays “Seagull”
Junkman: Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Rodgers live in KNAC.COM’s studio.
Paul: Thank you very much. I’d like to thank the Guitar Center for lending me this wonderful Taylor.
Junkman: We have some very good friends there. A couple of years ago at the NAMM convention, I saw you on a Sunday morning. I used to brag about this — the fact that I got there on a Sunday morning, a lot of people weren’t up — and over at the Dean Markley booth, they had a band set up, a little teeny set, probably about half the size of this studio.
Paul: Oh yes.
Junkman: And it was Anton Fig on drums, it was Will Lee on bass, it was Jimmy Vivino on guitar, Johnny Rivers on the other guitar, and you were singing.
Paul: Wow! You remember that?
Junkman: Are you kidding, I’ll never forget it. Now, up till now, that was greatest live performance I ever saw in a small place. Look at this, I got Paul Rodgers in my studio, right here singing “Seagull.” Oh my God. Going back to that first Bad Company record right there.
Paul: And again, that first album — we didn’t plan it or anything. It was just all the music we had. It was about passion and enthusiasm and into what you’re doing. We just did all our songs. I remember when we were getting ready and rehearsing and we finally found a bass player, which was Boz, you know. Our manager Peter Grant said, “Led Zeppelin have got a recording studio set up.” It was a mobile set up outside of a big old mansion in Hedley Grange. So he said, “Led Zeppelin is delayed so if you guys get in there, you can have 10 days, you can record a couple of songs.” So we said, “Right. In we go.” And we made the whole album, everything we knew, we weren’t wasting any opportunities because it was a great atmosphere. Strangely enough, it was Ronnie Lane’s mobile studio. The world is so small some times.
Junkman: Six degrees of separation.
Paul: It’s true. And there it was. It was a beautiful little mobile studio, and we had the guitar set up in the living room, the vocals on the veranda, and this, that and the other and it was great. We just put everything we knew down. Even the song, “Bad Company.” We played around with different ideas to get different vocal sounds. We took a microphone way out in the middle of this field. And stuck it out there and waited until a full moon at midnight and that’s where I sang the song to get that atmosphere.
Junkman: Really?
Paul: At the very end, there’s an ad lib that goes (sings), whooah…there’s a cold wind blowing… cause I heard the wind blow (makes a blowing sound) across the mic. I don’t know whether it picked up on it, but I heard it. Things like that — there were little magic things going on all the time.
Junkman: I’m never gonna listen to the song the same way ever. After a million years of playing that on my record player — like back in the day, smoking pot and trying to analyze every record like that. Now, I’m gonna listen to it like it’s the real deal. There actually was a cold wind blowing…
Paul: Yeah, it was very organic in that respect.
Junkman: Sure, it was the 70s, after all.
Paul: We finished the whole album. We got all the basic tracks, any way. We probably did some overdubs. There were some magic things going on. I remember when we did the guitar solo for “Can’t Get Enough” (hums). Mick showed me the harmony part. We just got together and there was this fantastic blend because there was this huge living room with a fireplace at the end of it. And these huge Marshall cabinets set up. And we were just blasting away, full volume. And we did it in one take..
Junkman: The live counting on that — that’s what gives it that (taps desk) 1…2…a 1, 2, 3 (hits desk). You know, that whole deal. You could tell right away — you can’t overdub that! Come on.
Paul: No, no, no. It’s got the atmosphere. We just left it on..
Junkman: Wonderful. Paul, I’m so absolutely blown away by the fact that you’re actually here. I can’t thank you enough, on behalf of your fans, everybody who’s ever listened to your stuff. Please keep it coming.
Paul: Thank you..
Junkman: Is there anything that you might want to add? Anything you want. You want me to go out and Simonize your car? I’ll do that for you, my friend.
Paul: Oh, that’s all right. I appreciate you having me on. It’s been really a pleasure because I love the enthusiasm that you have. And that’s really what makes the rock and roll world go around. Thank you for having me.
Junkman: Any time, my friend.
Paul: I want to thank all the fans for their beautiful support and all the great messages. Let’s keep together and we will rock the world.
This article was transcribed and reprinted by kind permission of Junkman and KNAC.COM.
E-mail Junkman at: junkman@knac.com
Visit Junkman on the web at: www.myspace.com/junkmanknac
