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Circling The Drain is a show about the current state of the music and radio businesses as well as culture in general!
Hosted by John E. Bozeman and Jay Harper along with Jim McCarthy as Co-Host/Executive Producer.
John has had a storied career in music and talk radio, most notably as the Executive Producer for the late and legendary Phil Valentine.
Jay also has has a long career in radio as Announcer, Play-by-Play, Voice and On-Camera Actor. He was also an Artist Rep for MCA records.
Jim McCarthy ALSO has had a tremendous career in radio since 1996 and has since brought his consulting/producing skillset to the podcast world.
Circling the Drain is produced by ItsYourShow.co
Unknown: I saw a video of Ringo,
and it was Paul's gigs, and they
did helter skelter together. Oh
my gosh. I just thought I want
to be there. That would be so
fun to watch these two together.
Or what if they just combined
with the stones?
Well, they, they,
hasn't there been
a little
perfect here guys? Well, they
did the stones last album, the
most recent one, they did acne
diamonds. There's a great cut on
there that Paul McCarthy plays
fuzz bass on, and it is funny.
They sound like they're stones
and Paul together, they sound
like a young punk band. You
can't believe these are 80 year
old men.
Welcome to a podcast about music
and entertainment before it all
goes down the disposal. This is
circling the drain.
Hey, welcome back into circling
the drain. The podcast that
well, tries to keep these
stories alive before they go
down the drain. Nobody better to
keep them alive than Jay.
Harper, Jay, how are you doing,
my friend? I'm okay. I thought
maybe you were going to say,
nobody better to put them down
the drain than the Jay. But I'm
fine, Johnny, I'm okay.
And we have Jim McCarthy, who
flies the ship and does so much
more. Thank you. It's good to
have you guys aboard. And we've
been talking about groups that,
well, they change members, and
some people get upset when the
groups try to go out and keep
making, you know, music and
money by touring without the
original member. Yeah,
and you also have these bands
where maybe one member will
leave the band but try to pass
themselves off after having
other artists join. You know,
other musicians join them pass
themselves off as the original
band. Yeah, you've had that
conflict a time or two. Oh,
well, this ended up in in
courtrooms.
Oh, yeah. Deep Purple is a great
example. There was a their first
lead singer was rod Evans. He
was the one that did anyway.
They got rid of him. And when
Deep Purple disbanded in 1976
and kind of became inactive, Rod
Evans put together this faux
group of musicians that weren't
even involved in deep purple,
and took them on the road, and
they were selling out. Wow. And
the original members of Deep
Purple, of course, went to court
and sued him and stopped it.
Yeah, like that. Wait a damn
minute, yeah, we're not in
there.
Yeah, that was the well, the
whole reason why we're talking
about this is, as of earlier
this week, yeah, we found out
Rush is going back out on the
road. Yes, they are Attica Niles
on drums.
I think that's going to be
exciting. I think so too. But
there are some out there that
are complaining about it. Yeah.
They're saying, Oh, it's purely
a money move,
yeah, so what's wrong? Yeah,
they've got to make money.
I don't think it's purely it's
Well, yeah, sure. You know, the
guys haven't toured in 10 years.
It's not like they need the
money.
Guys. No, no. I mean, but it
does help. Sure, you know, it
does help for, and I don't
understand people that you know,
get mad at these groups,
especially the ones that do it
for nostalgia. Yeah. I mean,
they, they've got to make money.
Everybody's got to make money.
How are they going to do it? How
are they? How are they going to
fill those coffers up? They've
got to do what they do
best. I'm a huge brush fan. Have
been since 1991 because I'm a
drummer, and Neil was a big
influence on he was the best.
One of the things that I've kind
of taken away from it is that
they, I don't see Alex and Getty
living lavish lifestyles. I'm
sure they're very comfortable,
but I appreciate their approach,
because if you watch the video
they did, they're like, We
don't, it's not really rush.
It's, it's a different version
of Rush, even to the point where
Getty talked about, I'm bringing
a third, a fourth person on
stage to play the keyboards,
because I'm done, yeah, and it's
like, know what, dude, good on
you. You deserve it exactly. Do
it? Do you? Yeah, it's he
understands. It's like, it's not
really rush, because Neil's not
there. So it's kind of a
tribute. Oh yeah, he just says
it, you know?
Well, look at Leonard Skinner. I
mean, there is not one surviving
member in Leonard Skinner. Now,
they're all different musicians,
but they still go out and play
the Skinner tunes. Yep, they're
basically a tribute band, but
there's nothing wrong with that
good journey. Oh, yeah, you
know, when does it does? Okay,
here's a good question. When
does it become a tribute? Is it
when the singer is replaced, you
know, was
he with Van Halen? Van Halen? It
would be the guitar player. I'm
sorry, but
yeah, I think it really does
depend on the on the personality
of the band, and what, what made
them most popular, whether it be
their lead singer or the, you
know, certain musicians that are
just iconic with their guitar
playing, you know, or whatever
instrument it happens to be,
right? I mean, you, you know,
you look at the band Chicago,
how many lead singers have they
had? Oh, man, you know. And
still, people think Peter So
Tara is, you know, is the guy,
but they've had a lot of success
with with other lead singers.
Take the Doobie Brothers. Is it
Michael McDonald? Exactly, you
know. I mean, you can still be
the band. I mean, I have seen
it's been a while. Heck, it was
at Starwood. To tell you how
long ago it was, when I saw
Chicago and Earth, Wind and
Fire, they were on the same
bill. Oh, cool show. Yeah. You
know, they played separately,
and then they played together to
finish the show. But, you know,
even by that time, Chicago had
different lead singers and
stuff, oh, yeah, but boy, the
essence in the heart of the band
was still there. That's, that's
maybe the thing, you know, with
Robert Lamb and you know that
those all the horn players that
was Chicago. To me, yeah, okay,
you know, so Tara and the other
lead singers they had are, are
certainly, uh, part of their
their essence and all, but it's
that just kick ass horn section,
yeah, oh yeah. That is the
essence in the personality of
Chicago. It to me. I know others
may feel different no matter who
their lead singer is, as long as
those, as long as they're good,
I guess, but Yeah, as long as
that, that, you know, Wall of
Sound with the horns is there.
That is Chicago.
I agree. I would agree with that
as well. And I would say too
with Van Halen. I'm glad that
they decided to just in the
group, because without Eddie Van
Halen, I think you've pretty
much taken the heart and soul
out of
that band. Did you see when it
came by last summer with Hagar?
I
saw some of the clips. I didn't
go see them. I
went to that show. Did you?
Yeah, it was it was good. I love
the fact that, you know, you 77
Oh yeah. He's still freaking
rocking, still got a great
voice. You know, Michael
Anthony's up there doing his
thing. But you had Kenny Aaron
off on drums, yes, who actually
was the second night, because
Jason Bonham was going to take
care of his
mom. He was in the Elton John
band for a while. Was Kenny
Aaron off? Yeah, I believe
so he was it was it melon. Camp
was melon.
Yeah, thinking that he played
drums on on an could have, when
Nigel Olson had split,
he could have, because Kenny
Aaron off played with Waylon,
yeah, I'm sorry. Oh yeah.
Kenny Aaron off played with
Smashing Pumpkins, Avril Levine,
I believe Michelle Branch. We
saw him. We saw him in Vegas
with Michelle Branch. He got
more of applause, and she did,
wow. First I've ever saw that he
came walking out on stage and
like people, like standing
ovation.
Well, the guy's, I mean, he's
phenomenal drummer. He's
legendary, yeah, just phenomenal
colorful language. He is
colorful linguist. But you're
not wrong. I mean, it's like, it
was weird to see Satriani. You
know, doing, you know, Satriani
is, like, he's got to feel like,
to it. This is Eddie, yes, you
know, I mean, this is, I'll do
my best.
This is the king, yeah, would be
like, somebody going out and
doing Elvis. You've got to be
really, you got to feel really
good about yourself and self
confident to go out and cover
Elvis, yeah, all these Tribute
Artists of because I have, I
have a friend of mine that does
that, and I think you, you've
got cojones inside of Texas if
you want to do that right now.
But to me, like Journey is a
their cover band.
Well, they really are without
Steve Barry, Oh, yeah. I
mean, that is such an iconic
voice. I mean, there are certain
voices though, that just can't
be replaced.
Well, it'd like The Rolling
Stones if something happened to
Mick Jagger, yeah. Well, the
stones wouldn't be the stone,
yeah, and bad company without
Paul Rogers. I mean, oh, no way.
That's just
not gonna work. No, it's not.
Now, I will
say something that's probably
gonna be very unpopular,
especially amongst drummers.
Especially amongst drummers. I'm
afraid I think Annika is going
to do a very good job and
tribute to Neil. But as a
drummer studying the two camps,
technique wise and feel wise,
she's got it all over him. She's
good, really. She's that good.
Wow. He was like, he was, like,
a trailblazer, yeah, he was, and
he was like, I call him the
common, common man's drummer. He
was good. But, I mean, there are
drummers out there that could
smoke him, you know, he just
got, he was first in the mind,
from a marketing perspective, he
got that, that kind of position
everyone, like. Know, well, Neil
Peart, he's the best, yeah, I
get that, you know, you may, he
got that that first in the mind,
because he was so groundbreaking
with his
parts. Yeah. I mean, is Carl
Palmer in that discussion? I
would
say, so, yeah. Carl Palmer, I
don't think gets his due. I will
think he can pace from a deep
purple, gets his due. Carter
Beaufort, from Dave Matthews,
yeah, and Alex Van Halen really
freaking lutely, that dude was
phenomenal.
He is, he was, he still is, he
just won't. He walks with a cane
now. But had he auctioned off
all this stuff?
Yeah, it was kind of like what
Sammy said. I don't think he's
gonna be joining us, because he
got rid of all of his stuff. And
while we're thinking of stuff,
and I brought up Waylon
Jennings, and we'll get back to
our story. But this is, this is
to shooter Jennings, who I love.
I love shooter Jennings, but I
ordered this new Waylon Jennings
songbird album I ordered. I pre
ordered it months ago. I still
haven't gotten it, and it's been
out how long now? It's been out
for a couple of about a week.
Yeah, that's what I thought. And
I'm thinking it shouldn't take
over this time to get a Waylon
Jennings,
well, especially if you pre
ordered it. Well, yeah, I
even checked on the on where it
was at. It's still in Fort Worth
Oh, really, yeah, it's getting
ready to put the label
on it. That's probably something
he can't control.
Yeah, it's, you know, a bunch of
people smoking dope in your
warehouse.
But I seen people on eBay and
and Amazon that order already
got it. So that's where I
probably should have done it.
But anyway, I digress. We're
talking about, I just had to get
that out because I, I just
wanted to bitch. Thank you. But
you know one guy that was
notorious
new segment, hey,
grinds my gear. Anyway.
Richie Blackmore, you know deep
purple fame. You talk about a
guy taking changing members of
bands, he's the king because you
had deep purple. They got rid of
their as we were talking
earlier, Rod Evans and Nick
Semper, who were the lead singer
and bass player. They got rid of
them because Blackboard wanted
more of a Robert Plant type
voice. And they got Ian Gillan
and Roger Glover. And that was
the that was the mark too deep
purple that everybody kind of
fell in love with, with Smoke on
the Water woman from Tokyo, you
know, space truck and highway
star. And right at the height of
their success, they were like
the number one selling album
Band and billboard, they get rid
of Ian Gillan and Roger Glover,
and they bring in David
Coverdale and Glen Hughes. And
after he does that, then
Blackmore splits deep purple to
do his own thing with his band.
Rainbow, right, right. Rainbow
did not have a solid lineup
their entire life of the band.
Every album had different
members. Wow. I mean, there was
not one album that had, oh, it's
the same group of guy. No,
somebody would always get sacked
and and he said, basically he
looked at musicians like he
said, I'm like a vampire. I want
new blood.
And that's the thing is that,
what does that benefited him?
How did that pay off?
Yeah, see, I even though I love
rainbows, I did love Blackmores
playing and I loved rainbows
albums, all of them at the same
time, I would kind of go, dang.
And I kind of missed that
drummer, yeah? Or I miss, you
know, Ronnie James Dio got, you
know, they split up, yeah, it
was like, there's no continuity
in this band. It's hard to get
an allegiance. Well,
it's, I think it's fatiguing for
the audience too, because they
audiences? I think people are
typically attracted to culture.
Good culture. Yes. You know the
E Street Band, Love him or hate
him. Bruce Springsteen, he's got
a following that's fervent, that
you have passionate following of
people. Oh, yeah. He kept the
same lineup. Yes, he did. He was
loyal to
Yes, okay, well, even the
stones were that way, right? You
know, in some of your country,
bands have been, well, you know,
Merle, haggard, the strangers,
yes, those guys. I mean, it was
the same band, the same band
members for 60
years. Oh yeah, white one and
the Wailers. Even though there
were some people that came and
went. You had Richie Albright
and Ralph Mooney, as long as you
had those two in the band with
Waylon
hag it was norm Hamlet on steel,
Roy Nichols on guitar, Biff Adam
on drum, Dennis romack on bass.
And I forget the name of the
guy. He had a sax play a country
band with a sax. Max play, yeah,
you know all those years, you
know Jimmy Belkin on fiddle, and
he had gimbal with him for a
while. I mean, but you know,
it's when you become a fan of a
certain artist. You kind of
relate to the band members. Oh,
you do? You know Elton John has
had Davey John Stone on guitar,
Nigel Olson on drums, Dee Murray
on whatever. You know, Dee
passed away a number of years
ago. In fact, one of the
greatest shows that I ever saw
there was a benefit for Dee
Murray's family at the opry
house in Nashville, and it was
Elton John by himself. You know,
I'd sat, you know, 10 rows away
from the guy, yeah, and it was
just him solo, you know, on the
on the piano for that tribute
for a couple of hours. Talk
about a magical night. But, I
mean, but again, you you know,
especially those of us from a
certain generation that sat
there and looked over those
vinyl album covers and you read
everything on it who all the
players were, and, you know,
relevant, yeah,
oh, I remember the news, the new
record smell. Oh, I loved it.
And I love the Elton John
albums, because he would had all
the lyrics were in that, and not
every artist did that. No, yeah,
it was such a treat to be able
to open all that stuff up and
read the lyrics along with the
stuff and see who the artists
were. Well, I remember the
positions were the
Beatles. I remember when the
Beatles first did that was on
Sergeant I think that's why
Sergeant Pepper became such a
such a phenomenon, because it
was the first time there were
lyrics on the back of the
record, I was like, This is
phenomenal. I wish every group
would do this,
yeah? Because, let's face it, so
many rock things, he knows. What
the hell are they saying?
Yeah, especially Mick Jagger.
What do you say?
That's another topic we could
cover. Yeah, exactly. But, I
mean, that's you bring up a good
point to your point, especially
in the country genre, people
love loyalty. Yes, they do. So
when you take a Tim McGraw and
all of a sudden he starts
changing up the dance hall
doctors, like he did. What
happened? Like it literally,
like he fell off the face of the
map when that happened? Yeah. I
mean, he didn't, I mean, he had
it. He still had a couple of
hits here and there, but not
like he used to. Yeah? Keith
Urban just did it. Changed up
his band, longtime guys, 20 plus
year guys, because he wants to
stay relevant. Yeah? And it's
like, dude, yeah, you do that.
No. Well, it's like, David Allen
Coe, I loved he had a band that
had that's where I first saw
Warren Haynes, the guy that's
with a government mule now,
great guitar player, also with
the Allman Brothers at times,
but I saw him. He had him. He
had Mickey Hayes on bass. He had
just this great band. And right
in the in the middle of all,
like when he was getting success
with the ride and all that, he
changed it up and brought in
more bluegrass players. And I
thought bad, bad move, bad move,
because everybody got into that
sound. You had a great country
rock sound with. He should have,
he should have paid Warren
Haynes. I mean, whatever Warren
Haynes wanted money wise. Give
it to him, because he gave so
much and added so much to your
stage show. And some people just
don't get it. Their egos are, I
think, too out there.
And it's the same thing with
Billy Joel when he Yes,
jettisoned liberty. Joe Vito,
dude, what are you thinking
here, man? Guys, been with you,
with you, since the get go.
But yeah, as you say, Jim, I
mean, I again, I'm just kind of
going through my head a lot of
these country artists. And, you
know, George Strait, he's had
the same group of guys forever.
Aldean, yeah. I mean, Willie
Nelson, I mean bill,
tell us, with the state side
another thing too. A lot of
those country acts had huge
bands. Gosh, the state siders
had two fiddle players. I mean,
just phenomenal sound. And
what's happened to that? Man?
I don't know. I think a lot of
the you know, as you were
saying, Jim with, you know,
McGraw, changing a lot of his
members. I think it gets to a
point where, as you say, they're
trying to stay relevant. And I
guess they figure the optics at
times, you know, you got a bunch
of players that are, you know,
60 year old, fat guys that look
like me, you know me back there.
And that's just not, not the
look. And, yeah, you know,
McGraw got really fit, yeah, and
he shaved his head. Have you
seen him? Did he Yeah? He did,
yeah, shaved his head. Oh yeah,
he's got the Mr. Clean
thing going. Thank God. Faith
Hill didn't
do that. Kenny Chesney, I mean,
again, Tim could pack a stick.
Stadium right now. Kenny
Chesney, I think he's kept the
same band members. He thought he
does his big studio or stadium
tours every year. I'd love to go
see him, because apparently it's
a great time. He's like, really
kind of take it picked up the
Jimmy Buffett, Exactly, yep.
Zach Brown has kind of done that
too. You know, Caribbean kind of
sound, too.
And I was happy to see Alabama,
bring back Mark Herndon. Mark
Herndon, because I felt like I
couldn't believe the way they
were talking about him. It's
about like with Van Halen, with
Michael Anthony, yeah, you know,
there's no sense in treating
somebody like that. They were
saying, Oh, he was never a true
band member.
Well, that that was the rub,
apparently, is that Teddy
Gentry, Jeff Cook and Randy
Owen. You know, they're all
cousins, and that was the
corporation. Mark Herndon was
just a hired hand.
That's why they put Yeah, and I
wouldn't even have put that out
if I were them, even if it were
the truth, because all it did
was make fans kind of go. But my
God, that's the way we looked at
you guys kind of crap. Yeah,
Mark was part of the band. A lot
of women like Mark, and I
thought that was a bad move, but
they recently had him come back
on, and I thought, you know,
that's class. You should have
done
that. It's funny. There's
another band that goes through
drummers like they go through
underwear, Slipknot, they're
constantly it's like, you know,
if I'm a drummer, they just
hired. They got rid of Jay
Weinberg, and Jay luckily landed
in a good spot with suicidal
tendencies, and he's an
incredible drummer. His first
big gig was playing his father's
Max Weinberg, yeah, with the E
Street Band. So I guess Max
couldn't play a gig. And one of
Jay's first big gigs was backing
us, taking his father's spot.
Oh, wow, backing up Bruce. You
know, obviously he's known him
all his life and whatever. But,
you know, he loved the gig. The
ad was Slipknot, and they just,
you're done,
dude, where is the loyalty?
Yeah. It's like fans pick up on
this. Oh, yeah, they do. They
really do. Yeah. It hurts you
when you do this. Well, it's
like, you know, to a lot of
fans, and it's really this way
more in country, I think, than
in rock and roll. But fans, you
almost become, like, these
people become a part of your
family. That's what it feels
like
bigger loyalty factor in
country. I think, Oh, I think
there is
too, and, and, man, if you, if
you really screw with that.
That's why, even though I was a
big fan of Waylon, I thought it
was a big mistake of his to play
rock star when he was so big,
because he would not be
available for fans and with
country music fans. That's
that's a mistake. That's a death
nail. That
is a huge mistake. Yeah.
What are the bands that are like
they become known for just
having so many interchangeable
members? I can't, I know we've
mentioned some of them, but
there's one that's at the tip of
my tongue that like they're just
known. Like, okay, well, which,
which iteration,
which version are we getting?
Gosh, there's a bunch of there
is it might be foreigner, yeah?
Foreigners. Another one, yeah.
And I never have liked them
without Lou Graham. I just it's
not foreign, not foreigner. No.
That dude has such a great
voice.
He did. I mean, you have, like,
bands in the punk genre, like
Bad Religion, they've gone
through, they've had mainly the
same core of guys. I mean,
they're one of the godfathers of
punk. Going back to the early
80s, their drummers have been
interchangeable, but mainly
because the drummers just left.
You know the Bobby, I can't
remember his last his last name,
but he he hurt his shoulder. He
got injured, so he had to leave.
They replaced him with Brooks
Wackerman, who's a monster. I
mean, the dude is so good. What
a great name. Oh yeah. Well, his
his brother's Chad Wackerman,
who's who played with Zappa and
everything. Yeah, that so a
family of drummers. The guy is
an amazing player. He was on
probably, he was with them for
15 years. And, you know, I
remember when they were looking
for a drummer. I was in Vegas at
the time, and I'm going, well,
maybe I'll try out. You know,
it's just hard. And then I heard
they got him, and I said, No,
I'm good, nope.
Not gonna go there, nope. Well,
it's kind of like AC DC, you
know, when Brian Johnson had to
drop out. I remember everybody
just when they when they when
they said it was gonna be Axl
Rose. I remember so many fans
just raising hell, but watching,
watching the videos that I did.
I thought Axl Rose did a great
job on the bond Scott material,
really the Brian Johnson stuff.
I think this is just me. I
thought he kind of fell flat on
but the bond Scott material, you
know, like Riff Raff and Highway
to Hell. I thought, Man, he's
nailing it. How can you
have you ever tried to sing,
like, Yeah, like that, yeah.
Well, I did. I actually got up
with a few bands and yeah and.
Actually pulled, I kind of
pulled it off, really, yeah, I
was actually in little town
south of Nashville, here called
Shelbyville, or as a shovel,
shovel, shovel, yeah. But there
was a great man down there
called,
oh gosh, now I'm drawing a
blank, bittersweet.
Is what they recall. They played
a lot of Southern rock, and they
did TNT one night, invited me up
and I sang it, and the crowd
went crazy, and it was really
cool. I was like, I would kind
of like to do this.
I would like to do rock. You
know,
it's like you're singing that
music. You're in a perpetual
state of Hawking up a loogie.
It's basically like you're,
you're, you know, it sounds like
you're gargling with Jack
Daniels and razor razor blades.
Yeah, and von Scott, that guy, I
just pictured him just non stop
drinking and Non Stop screwing.
That's all I thought. That's
this guy's life
until he's on stage. You know,
that doesn't sound too bad,
quite a gig,
doesn't it kind of tapers off as
we get older. Yeah, it
does. But he's one of them does
assault with a dead weapon. But
anyway, Brian, I thought Brian
Johnson. I didn't think Brian. I
When, when Bon Scott died. I
really wondered about ac dc, dc
future, because I thought that
dude had such a unique voice,
great front man, yep. And I
didn't know much about Brian
Johnson. I did watch a video of
what Jordy, that was one of his
first bands, and I'm like, Oh,
this isn't gonna work. But, man,
when they came out with I heard
you shook me all night long on
FM radio, and I went, Yeah, this
could work. This sounds great.
Sammy, hey. Hagar replaced Roth,
yeah.
Now that when I I was excited
about because I like Sammy Yeah,
and I knew he could sing, yeah,
yeah. David Lee Roth was a great
lyricist, great showman, not a
great singer. He
had that, that, like Tibetan
monk, multiple, multi faceted
vocal thing going on when he was
on, like you could hear like
several different tones, yes,
you know what I mean, yes. And
that was cool. That thing with
Van Halen, Van Halen with Roth
was like a circus act. It was
like the circus had come to
town. It was an event when, when
Hagar joined the band, they
became a good band.
Yeah, they became very radio
friendly. Oh gosh,
you're not kidding. I mean, and
and friendly with the parents
too. Because when you have songs
like when it's love, love walks
in. Oh well, we can get behind
this. Guys. I got
another song about love. Oh
gosh, here we go.
How many songs about love? Do we
need Sammy?
But then they'd hear something
like black and blue by him. Oh,
all that is, is about, you know,
yeah, just sex. When I first
heard that song, so I was like,
I was still getting into playing
the drums. I must have been 11
or 12 years old. Is that right?
That came out in 88 so I was
probably 1314, 15. I didn't
listen to lyrics all that much
back then, because I was always
listening to music and the drums
and stuff like that. I as an
adult, I went back and listened
to that song and I'm going, I
was blushing. I'm going, Oh my
god.
Oh yeah. His lyrics, man. They
also have one of their same
album, sucker in a three piece.
Yeah, I like man. These lyrics,
you go from when it's love
to this, Emmy's just in
perpetual horniness. Boy.
He really is. If you ever heard
up for breakfast, off their best
in both worlds. This is, this is
so blatant. It's so obvious,
yeah, it's like, I kind of dug
David's lyrics a little more
than I did sammy's.
Well, Sammy, yeah, I mean, he
was a great singer, a little one
dimensional when it comes to
lyrics,
yes. And really, as far as being
a front man, after you've had
David Lee Roth, I just thought,
well, I can't see the girls
really getting into Sammy as
much as
that opening salvo in
what is the song? The first song
off of 5150, oh, good enough.
Good enough. Yeah, hello, babe.
That was a middle finger. Oh, it
was, that was like we're coming
out roaring, yes.
And they did. But then Roth came
out with a great album, yeah,
and he was another one. If he'd
have kept that band together,
the eat it and smile, eat them
and smile. Band
we need, we need to have, oh,
talk about stories. If I can get
them on here, I'd look. That
would be amazing. Ray Luzia, who
plays for corn, right? Yeah,
he's a drummer for corn. He
played with David Lee Roth for
seven years.
We need to get Billy Sheehan. I.
Yeah, Billy Sheehan never get
them both. Yeah, yeah, because
Billy Sheehan, you talk about a
bass player that is phenomenal.
I mean, he's Eddie Van Halen of
the bass guitar, but yeah, if
Roth would have kept that band
together, because I remember
when that album came out,
because 5150 came out first, and
it was more radio friendly, eat
them and smile was, I mean, rock
and roll. And it was in the Van
Halen, the classic, oh yeah, and
Billy Sheehan and Greg
Bissonnette, yeah, when that
came out, because I was such a
huge Alex fan at the time,
getting at the drums. And I'm
like, Who is this guy, Greg
Bissonette. And then Greg
Bissonnette put I had no idea of
his pedigree, none. Greg
Bissonnette is a an accomplished
drummer. I mean, he's done he
was in the one o'clock lab band
and North Texas State
University, very highly
educated, big jazz guy and stuff
like that. So he put out a VHS
tape back in the late 80s called
private lessons, and it was just
him with his blonde hair and
stuff like that, you know, his
neon colored drum set that he
had from the Roth years. Yeah, I
watched the crap out of that. I
learned so much, you know,
because it's like, Alex wouldn't
do that. You wouldn't put out an
educational product. No, but all
of a sudden I'm like, Oh, this
guy, this dude's formidable.
He's a he's a good player.
Oh, he has a good player. And if
he, like I said, I just wish
Roth would have kept it when he
came back out with skyscraper
next Yeah, and then eat him. And
smile wasn't even smile, eat
him. And smile was the first
one. And then the third one was
the one with the devil on it.
Yeah, little ain't enough, or
yes,
yeah, that's right. In fact,
right? Roth made a great Shy
Boy, I think was on eat him and
smile, was it? Yeah? Because
that's Billy Sheehan wrote that,
okay. But Roth actually came out
with a great rock album that got
no traction at all in 96 it was
DLR band had Betty page on the
cover. Yeah, and, I mean, a
great I think John five was the
guitar player on
there. Oh, okay, yeah. Well,
when they brought Gary Sharon
in, I think that actually kind
of proves my point, that the
fans were like, Okay, enough.
Stop changing singers.
Well, and on top of that, Eddie,
on that album, played almost
every instrument, like Alex is
only playing on a couple of
cuts. I don't think Michael
Anthony's playing on much of any
of that album. Eddie was doing
everything, yeah, and that,
that's why the and that, that
piano piece they did at the end
with Eddie singing lead and Gary
Sharon trying to sing, yeah,
what is called the harmony?
Which was not good? Oh, it was
awful. It was just pure awful.
What are their what are their
least? And I know we're at a Van
Halen tangent here, yeah. I
think one of the one of their
most underrated songs as humans
being, that was a good song.
I even took my son to
see Van Halen as bad as her
Sharon album was. I mean, it
wasn't totally all bad. There
were some good cuts on it. It
was a jump the shark album. It
was, it was too, it was too off
the charts from what Van Alen
was famous for, but the live
show was phenomenal because
Sharon was singing everything
both both eras of the band. He
could do it, and he did humans
being, and that was one of my
son's favorite songs. And he was
10 at the time, and I talked to
his mother in to let me because
we were divorcing at the time,
and I took him to the concert.
And this is my son at the
concert. There were two girls in
front of us that were, you know
as rock shows are. These girls
are wearing what halter tops,
and they're cute. And we're
about halfway through the
concert, and I get a tug on my
shirt. I said, Yeah, buddy, what
was he said, Dad, does this
happen in every concert, rock
concert? And I said, pretty
much, we go back to listening.
And couple songs later, I get
the tug again. Can we go to
Aerosmith? Speaking of that's
another band that went through a
there was a point where Joe
Perry and Brad Whitford, both
the guitar players from
Aerosmith, left. It was after
they it was after they did draw
the line that album did, didn't
do much of anything, right? And
then they, they had two
different guitar players. Man,
they sunk like a rock without
Joe Perry, it was just the
magic's gone. Yeah, because the
magic was Steve Steven Tyler,
Joe Perry.
But you know, a band that has
managed to survive and still
touring and has had a number of
personnel changes due to various
reasons, the Eagles. Yes, yes.
And, you know, I saw them the
last time they were here in
Nashville, you know, with Vince
Gill. And he just, course, Vince
is so, oh, he's so amazing, and
could sing and fit in with
anything and play Yes, but he
sang a lot of the of the Glen
fry vocals, if you will, and
some of the Randy Beisner stuff
and but, you know, they've had a
number of people lead, Don
Felder, you know, left and
whatnot, sure. But you know, as
long as you have Don Henley and
Joe Walsh, well, in fact, that's
Timothy B Schmidt, yeah, that,
you know, as we're talking about
Chicago before. I mean, those,
those guys, are still the
essence of the Eagles well,
and when I got into the Eagles,
I really didn't get into the
Eagles when they first came out.
You didn't like that country
rock well, that thing, Bernie
Lenton was their guitar player,
and it's when they got Joe
Walsh, yeah, I thought now
they've got an edge. I like it.
And it wasn't that I didn't like
the earlier stuff, because I did
like take it easy and some of
those tunes, but I got more into
them because I love Joe Walsh,
and I thought he added so much
to that band, yeah, and when
they did the Hotel California
with him and Felder doing the
twin guitars, my gosh, man, that
was just that was
nirvana. Yeah, I saw, I've seen
them live a couple of times. The
first time, when I was in
college, they played LSU 1980
the long run tour.
Yes, the one they weren't
getting along, yeah. But
from a from a musicianship
standpoint, I mean, I was just
totally blown away at how good
those dudes, oh, you're not.
Dudes were alive, especially,
you know,
well, Don Henley singing while
playing the drums, yeah, yeah.
And, and he, you know, and he's
not a, he's not a crooner, you
know, he's a guy that, you know,
he really lays it out there
vocally, yeah? And to not be
totally out of breath, you know,
there's a, there's a skill to
that. I mean, you know, he
wasn't Karen Carpenter, you
know, you know. And she was a
fine drummer, you know, she is
kind of underappreciated, but
you know, let's face it, you
know, her vocals, you know,
which were pristine and perfect,
but still, anyway, so yeah, I
mean being, you know, the rock
singer that Henley can be, oh
yeah, and still play the drums,
but you know, he, he gets out in
front and plays the guitar a
lot. Now, I know when they were
just been a couple of years ago.
Now, when Vince Gill was with
him in town, he didn't play
drums the whole, the whole show,
really, yeah, you know, he's in
his 70s, you know, mid 70s now,
yeah, so, hey, I get it.
Well, it's like Ringo Starr.
We've talked about Ringo Starr
on here, and I've heard, I've
heard people, you know,
criticize Ringo is playing. And
I don't get that because Ringo
really fit the Beatles. And that
drum solo you hear, if you
listen to the side too, of Abbey
Road, there's a drum solo. A lot
of people thought that was Paul.
No, that's Ringo.
Well, that's he does. He does
one in
Oh, yeah, that's what I'm
talking
about. Yeah, it's tasteful. Oh,
it's very well. Listen to his
drumming on let it be. There are
some fills in there that are
just he.
He really like people who throw
shade at him. It's like guys, he
was a musical drummer. He is.
I'd love to see like when they
come around and they do the all
star Yes, I so badly want to go
see it. I keep on missing them.
I see I would too. I would love
to go see
this. I
have seen. Well, this was about
10 years ago. I saw Ringo in the
All Star band in Atlantic City.
And by far, and my wife agrees,
it's the greatest show we've
ever been to. It must be a lot
of fun. It was. I mean, some of
the band members the Gary Gosh,
dream weaver, Gary Gary Wright,
yeah, Gary Wright was part of
the band. Luther Edgar Winter,
wow, was part of the band, rock
and roll. Hoochie COO, Rick
Derringer, Rick Deringer. And of
course, he sang that and
absolutely ripped it up. Oh, I
bet. And also, Richard page, the
lead singer from Mr. Mister,
yeah, and it's saying broken
wing. And just, I mean, wow, it
was fantastic. And of course,
you know that what the cool
thing about that is, all those
guys got to do their songs, you
know? And Ringo, he's just, I
mean, have you ever seen an 80
some odd year old man look more
relaxed? And more just living
life than ghost star having
fun. Well, I liked his shot. I
saw a video of Ringo, and it was
one of Paul's gigs, and they did
helter skelter together. Oh my
gosh. I just thought I want to
be there. That would be so fun
to watch these two together.
Or what if they just combined
with the stones?
Well, they they,
hasn't there been a
little perfect here, guys. Well,
they did the stones last album,
the most recent one, they did
acne diamonds. There's a great
cut on there that Paul McCarthy
plays fuzz base on, and it is
fun. They sound like they're
stones and Paul together, they
sound like a young punk band.
You can't believe these are 80
year old men. Yeah, it's
unbelievable.
But if there's any a band that's
that's got permission to
interchange members, it's going
to be the all star band. Oh,
yeah. But if Ringo, you know,
the event inevitabilities
happen, or whatever happens.
He's the heart and soul of that
man. Yes, he is. He cannot. It
still be tough for that band to
keep on going. I think
I agree with you. I don't recall
them doing and maybe I just
don't remember, but, you know,
they did a lot of Ringo stuff
photograph and, you know, but I
don't recall them doing any
Beatles stuff during the during
the maybe they did, but, yeah,
it was just an absolutely
fabulous show. Lot of fun. Oh,
Toto
is another one that's been mixed
up. A lot of Yes, of course,
they've had members die. But
does anybody really know what
the heart and soul? I don't
think they do. I don't think
they do. They're kind of like a
nerd band. Yeah, they are, yeah.
They really, Toto is kind of a
nerd band.
They're a yacht rock, yeah,
yeah, Duran,
Duran. But, I mean, it's one of
those things that they,
I mean, talk about some amazing
songs they put out. You know,
they did. They were all just,
they were music nerds, yeah, in
the Luther you had the per Caro
brothers. I love lucather. I
love hearing interviews with
that guy. Yeah, he's the kind of
guy I'd love to meet.
Yeah, he'd be a good interview,
a good, good hang, yeah?
Because, I mean, he and EVH did
a lot together as well. Yeah,
they did, you know, well.
And thing I like about Luther is
he seems like, he seems like a,
you know, just a down to earth
guy, guy you could have a beer
with, yep, you know. And no ego.
I mean, I'm sure he's got an
ego, but it's not overwhelming.
Like, you know, I would look at
David Lee Roth and think there'd
be no way
of hanging out with this guy.
He's got to be the center of
attention. He's
too into Dave,
you know, after Phil Collins
left Genesis, I mean, they had a
replacement singer, yeah, but, I
mean, let's face it, Genesis was
Phil Collins, Oh, yeah. And
before him, there was Peter
Gabriel, yeah, exactly
before. I mean,
isn't it, isn't it heartbreaking
to see Phil Collins now. Oh, it
is, you know, that poor man is,
you know, he was still
performing, but, you know,
sitting in a wheelchair, and now
he's not even able to do that.
See, I hate seeing artists, and
I've seen a couple, especially
country artists, that are they
should have parked the bus A
long time ago. Yeah, CO was one
of them. He was Johnny. Paycheck
was one of them. Yeah, Johnny
got to where he couldn't
breathe. I know it. He would
literally had his oxygen tanks
on stage with him. Well, it's
kind of like Ernest Tubb. Ernest
tub was that way. It was really
weird because I went to see
Linda Ronstadt. This was in 1980
I did a gig in Birmingham,
Alabama, up front and close
Linda, no, I know it wasn't on
the front row like the one girl
suggested to me. I was up in the
nose, believe. But I went to see
Linda Ronstadt. Then two nights
later, I went to this little
club in Birmingham, outside
Birmingham, and went to see
Ernest Tubb. It was close to
just before he died, and he
couldn't breathe
well, much like paycheck,
lifelong smoker, you know. And,
yeah, good enough. Yeah, he used
to play a lot of lot of little
clubs around Baton Rouge all the
time. And just Justin would be
with him quite his son would be
with him quite a bit, you know.
And I will say this, there was
nobody nicer than Ernest Tubb. I
mean, what a genuine, nice, nice
man, you know, Gary Gentry, you
know when he was with us, yes,
told, you know, the story about
when he was little, how? Oh,
yeah, Ernest, Ernest Tubb sent
him to Hank's house, to Hank's
house when he was 13 or 14 years
old. Boy,
someday, I've got to tell you
guys the stories about my
parent, my dad, my stepmother,
bought Hank Williams house. And
you talk about an interesting
place. Oh my gosh, just it had
this huge ballroom, and there
was a. Bar, and it had this
heart, and it said Williams, it
was in red, and you could light
it up. And it was so cool. And I
found out later on that they
sold that to Randy Travis,
really, and he put it in his
house in Hawaii.
I was heartbroken. You know,
when we were I wanted that, when
we were talking about singers
that tried acting, yes, I
actually stumbled across a video
on social media yesterday. It
was an episode of Matlock and
Randy Travis was, was a guest,
really. And naturally he, you
know, he sang a song, yes, but,
and he wasn't bad. He knew
pretty
well. I saw him in some movie,
and I was shocked at how good he
was. I thought he was very good
actor.
And I think he was on the show
with Roma Downey. What was that?
Something Touched by an Angel.
Yes, I think he had a friend of
mine posted on after we aired,
aired, after we put out that
episode of the podcast, she had
commented that Randy Travis was
on that touch by an angel as
well. But yeah, an episode of
Matlock, he did, did pretty
well, well, and we also, we were
talking about people that you
know changed vocations. As far
as you know, singers becoming
actors. I had forgotten about
Terry Bradshaw recording an
album in Nashville.
Yeah, Johnny Bench, yeah. You
know, Hall of Fame baseball
catcher. He too, was a singer.
Well, I found a video, and I put
it up on my Facebook. If you go
there, you can see it. But Don
Imus was playing Bradshaw's
album on his show. Bradshaw was
losing it. He said, quit playing
my album. I think the song was,
I want to say plastic Jesus, or
I forget what the name was. I
miss ripping them one oh, they
were just having and Bradshaw
was going, I'm losing my
friends, my dogs won't even have
anything to do with me. He said,
There's a picture of a woman on
the back of that she left me. I
know. I hope she dropped off a
cliff somewhere. Quit playing
the album. It was hilarious.
That's funny.
It makes me think of jelly roll,
you know, that you were talking
about, you know, just
discovering Randy Travis on
Matlock. And, like, for some
reason, like, because, of
course, he had to play a song.
And I'm like, they had Jelly
Roll on an episode of Tulsa
King. Yeah, they did, yeah, just
randomly, oh yeah, just out of
the blue. And it's like, they in
a store, like the whole scene is
set in a cannabis store. Yes,
that has a recording studio in
it. Anita, so happens to be
there. He's like, Oh, you know,
he's played himself, yeah, and,
you know, so I goes up to him.
He's like, Oh, I thought you
were the bouncer, Jelly Roll,
man. You know, he goes, I'll be
right back. I gotta go cut this
track. I'm like, Yeah, cuz
that's how it works. Yeah,
they're calling me in, or you're
all partying out here. I gotta
go lay down a track of a song
that's already been recorded
in a Weed Shop in Tulsa.
I gotta hand it to Jelly Roll
with the weight loss. Oh, yeah.
I mean, he's Eclair now. He's
not even no longer Jelly
Roll. He's really, you know, I
think he's dropped like 200
pounds, yeah, you know. And for
those of us that have, you know,
had tried to lose weight, you
know, you really got to admire
that, whether he's using ozempic
or what, you know, so what. But
yeah, it's amazing what a
personal chef and a yeah, oh
yeah, personal trainer will do.
Yes, this is true. You sound
like my wife. You know? It's
like, yeah. Jane Seymour, I
could look like that if I had
personal trainers and all the
money in the world,
we'll get there, Jay
and all those folks that would
like to be a part of our podcast
by helping sponsor things. We
are certainly open. Oh, we're
very open to that, open to
discussing that. You know, we
got a nice, reasonable, we got a
nice email yesterday, I copied
you on the response. The guy
goes by the name hurricane, I
believe, yeah. And, you know, he
sent us an email about how much
he enjoys the podcast and stuff.
And when he was especially
commenting the episode with Gary
Gentry, and I know we keep
bringing that up, because we've
gotten such fabulous response,
oh yeah, because Gary is such a
great storyteller. Yes, he is,
but he had sent us along his
version. He's also an artist in
a race. Radio guy. He had sent
us links to his version of the
ride. He had recorded the ride
and actually said he was new
Gary from performing at some
Hank Williams
events. Oh, yeah, down at the
Hank Williams museum Museum,
yeah.
But anyway, my point is, we love
to hear from folks. Yes, we
know, whether it be through
messaging on social media or
email, podcast at circling the
drain.net,
is how you can get us an email
and you can find us on Facebook.
You can become a member there,
yeah, yeah, follow us around.
Yeah,
we got over 600 of them, which
ain't bad, considering we've
only been at this over 600 Yeah,
yeah. Considering we've only
been at this a few weeks, you
know, so very, very happy at the
support.
Well, keep them coming and we've
got more episodes on the way. We
got special guests coming your
way. Very interesting people.
More interesting than us, trust
me, maybe a little bit, maybe a
little bit, but I appreciate
you. Know, I couldn't ask for
two guys to do this with, better
than you two. You two are just
phenomenal to work with. Like, I
mean, it's
been fun. It's been a lot of
it's just gonna keep getting
funner,
yeah, we'll get on her. And
hopefully one day, you know,
we'll all be so rich that we can
lose weight like Eclair. I mean,
jelly.
There is life after radio.
Yes, there is. And you were the
one that told me that, and you
were exactly right, and we'll
have more life after radio on
the next episode of circling the
drink you.