EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Michael Des Barres (Part Three)...

So, we have come to the third and final part of my interview with Michael Des Barres the other day. I was quite surprised how it ended up as three parts, because it was only meant to be a quicky. However, when Michael and I get chatting, we talk for ages. And we talk about Bob Dylan, Damon Albarn, John Lennon and what killed Elvis, as well as all the stuff that we were supposed to be talking about.

If you have missed the rest of the interview check out  Part One and Part Two...

MICHAEL: Well my aim in life is to piss of the moral majority because the moral majority is an oxymoron – more moron than oxy.

JON: No, but you know what I mean.

MICHAEL: I do.  But I just wrote electronica song for this Irish girl called `Jesus was my boyfriend, our love will never end`.

You know, I write a lot of electronica, I love it. It’s not my personal taste but I love to write pop songs and I’ve been doing a lot of that, and will be doing a lot more. And because of the sound of Carnaby Street a lot of people at the Recording Academy of which I am now a member contacted me to produce them which I will do eventually when I have time. In all types of music, country music, I love.  You know I’ve written a lot of songs in the last few months.  I must have 30 songs waiting.

JON: Well I still really like Chequered Past.

MICHAEL: Well Jonesy called me the other day and said let’s do one gig. Let’s reunite Chequered Past and do one gig.

JON: Hell yeah

MICHAEL: And you know, you know we might. If he wants to do it, I’ll do it obviously and make time to do it. That is a band that is, you know, live?  Oh my God, Clem Burke and Steve Jones. Unbelievable power.

JON: There are a couple of videos on YouTube that are absolutely awesome.

MICHAEL: Yeah, it’s great.  I mean they’re much better than the record.  The record has a couple of cuts on it. Live... sometimes I felt like I was in The Who or some massive rock band

What are you listening to right now?

JON: The new Bob Dylan album.

MICHAEL: Me too. 

JON: That and... have you heard Damon Albarn’s album? You know, the guy from Blur.

MICHAEL: I have not.  Is it a solo record?

JON: He’s written an opera about... you know John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s court magician?

MICHAEL: Yes...of course...the great alchemist

JON: He’s written an opera  called Mr Dee. No, Dr. Dee. It’s absolutely brilliant. That and the Bob Dylan album are my two favourites at the moment

MICHAEL: I’ve been trying to get into Tempest. It’s Bob Dylan so it transcends all critique, no question but I swear to God, Jonathan, listening to it gives me nodules.

JON: Really?  I think it’s the most accessible thing he’s done in years

MICHAEL: Yeah, his voice is all crunchy to me...it hurts my throat when I hear him sing

JON: I tell you what, Michael, I think I’ll go as far as to say it’s my favourite of his albums since Blood on the Tracks.

MICHAEL: I think that you are not alone. I mean, people adore it  – it’s the only CD I’ve bought in years because it’s Saint Bob, you know. But I listen to it and sometimes I’m so swept up in the experience and age of his voice, and then other times as a singer, I think Oh my God, he’s ripping his throat to shreds but lyrically it’s ridiculously clever and hard core... Roll on John. I listened to in the car and I literally sat at wept – I pulled over, parked my car and listened to the fucking song and it’s just unbelievable – what is it, your light is still shining – you know just beautiful.

Two slices of the new Bob Dylan album; his tribute to John Lennon which made Michael cry and his post-apocalyptic rewrite of the old folk standard Barbara Allen which is my favourite..

JON: I tell you another album which is out this year which is so much better than I thought it was going to be is the new Public Image album. The first one since about 1990 I think.

MICHAEL: I’m going to go see them on Saturday.

JON: Oh you lucky man. Their guitarist, Lu Edmonds, who I’ve known of, I’ve met him a couple of times, he’s been around for years.  He was with The Damned – he became The Damned’s second guitarist in 1976 or something. He’s absolutely extraordinary. He plays this weird Turkish thing and he makes Hendrixy noises out of a Turkish mandolin called a saz – it’s absolutely wonderful, a stunning record.

MICHAEL: Yeah, Lydon is something else man. How a kid from the East End of London could come up with this brilliant, you know this perception of the world it’s so fantastic, brilliant.  I’m going to see them on Saturday at the ?? Steam ballroom, Manhattan, New York city.

JON: Well you’ve got to tell me all about it. The record’s wonderful and I’ve seen them on television doing a couple of songs from it.

MICHAEL: And you know what?  He did it all himself.  I am sure you know the story.  He’s financed it all himself. He’s got no label, he’s got no management, he’s doing it all himself.  Very similar to me, although
I’ve got Rob and you guys, you know, but in essence I have no manager. You know, I’ve managed this whole thing.  I just don’t trust anybody.  I don’t trust management because I do this all day, and all night. Rehearsing, writing, playing or selling, it’s all the same organism and I just think that I work harder for me than anybody else could

JON: Well yeah, it’s the 21^st Century business model isn’t it? The music business as a business, is dead.

MICHAEL: But the music is very much alive.

JON: Exactly, music is alive, and it’s up to people like you and me celebrating the sort of liberation of having got rid of the music business.

MICHAEL: That’s it man and you know, it’s good. It’s so healthy – you might not sell as  many records, but how much money do you fucking want? I mean do you want to be autonomous in your life- do you want to own your own life or do you want to give 60% of it away?

JON: You’ll probably make just as much money because you’re not having an enormous fucking entourage

MICHAEL: There’s no question. And entourages are so...they’re a bit like cigarettes, you know they are so uncool.  What is this the Memphis mafia? That’s what killed him.....

JON: That is the perfect place to stop Michael. When your life calms down a bit, we’ll talk again and you can tell me all about how the weekend went and...

MICHAEL: I’ll look forward to it.

If you have not done so already, check out Michael's Gonzo Artist Page

IVRY GITLIS, JOHN AND YOKO, CLAPTON AND KEEF OH MY

Amongst the stuff in the latest pile of goodies that Anne-Marie has sent me from Gonzo HQ is a DVD about famed violinist Ivry Gitlis; a documentary directed by Tony Palmer.

I am looking forward to watching it, hopefully over this weekend, but in the meantime here is a clip of the man himself playing with an ensemble called The Dirty Mac featuring Messrs Clapton, Lennon, Richards and Mitchell, with a Japanese Chanteuse called Yoko on vocals.

It was recorded in December 1968 for an abortive TV Movie called The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus which was eventually released decades later. The song is called Whole Lotta Yoko, and I have always been quite fond of it.

To buy the Palmer documentary check out This Link

PS. As a card-carrying Fortean, I like to follow the lexilinks and other eddies in my particular space-time continuum, and this is the third - totally disparate - time this week that Mitch Mitchell has turned up on this blog. What does this mean? Where will it all end?

Delaney Bramlett had a fascinating career playing as he did with some of the biggest names in popular music over a long and successful career. Starting his career in the house bandfor Shindig the American music programme Delaney was considered a mover and shaker in the mid sixties;of course many will remember him as being half of the duo Delaney and Bonnie. With his wife Bonnie and a group of musicians labelled Friends Delaney and Bonnie enjoyed worldwide popularity between 1967 and 1972 with a period round 1969 1970 when people like Eric Clapron George harrison and dave Mason joined the band. Delaney and Bonnie and Firends continued until 1972 when they seperated bth professionally and personally. Delaney continued through the seventies to make solo albums and produce artists.

Taking a sabbatical of over fourteen years to spend time with his family Delaney re emerged with the release of the album Sweet Inspiration.
This album has recently been re released however when the original album was released in 2004 fdelaney took time out to talk to Jon Kirkman about the album and his illustrious past.

Sadly Delaney Bramlett died inlate 2008 however his daughters are now organising a campaign to have him inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Hopefully the organisers and board of the Rock n Roll Hall of fame will recognise the worth of inducting Delaney Bramlett a musician who more than most deserves the resepct and his place in the Hall of Fame!

Delaney Bramlett: Talking Sweet Inspiration
May 2004

Delaney Bramlett is probably best known for his partnership with his former wife Bonnie. The duo first met up in the sixties when Bonnie was a member of the Ikettes singing backing vocals for Ike and Tina Turner. The couple were married within seven days and recorded an album for Stax Records. “The Friends” aggregation drew some of the best musicians together and toured heavily including a tour supporting Blind Faith. Eric Clapton was so enamoured of the band that he subsequently left Blind Faith and toured with Delaney and Bonnie and recorded a live album with them in Europe in 1970.

Following the tour Eric went back to America with Delaney and recorded his first self titled solo album in Los Angeles with much input from Delaney. Other high profile musicians attracted to the Bramletts were Dave Mason, George Harrison and John Lennon. The duo recorded a number of albums before divorcing following which Delaney began making solo albums. This continued until the late seventies when Delaney dropped out of view to concentrate on his family. Sweet Inspiration was recorded in 1989 but remained unreleased until 2004 when Delaney spoke to Jon Kirkman about the album.


Jon Kirkman This album was recorded in 1989 but it had been a while since you had a deal. Why has it taken so long to be released?

Delaney Bramlett Well I don’t know really. In all that time I didn’t have a record deal with anybody.

JK Was that through your own choice or was it because you couldn’t get a deal at that time?

DB I was really concentrating on my family although during that time I wrote about 400 songs a lot of which people haven’t heard yet but may do in the future. So while I was concentrating on my family situation all I was doing was writing.

JK The title track which is the opening track of this album is Sweet Inspiration which of course was written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham who were responsible for some incredible material, presumably this must be one of your favourite songs?

DB Oh yeah, I wouldn’t have recorded it if I had not loved the song.

JK How did you come to work with Spooner Oldham because he plays on the album as well?

DB We met many years before this and he was one of my favourite piano players and writers and he moved out to here (California) and he was in my band for about three or four years. We also wrote some songs, one of which is on this album (Funky) and a few others that may see the light of day on other albums yet to be released. So that is how that came about. We have been basically friends for so many years.

JK In my opinion the album is a really good mix of rock and soul, would that be a fair comment to make?

DB Yeah, that’s pretty fair.

JK Another interesting track on the album that a lot of people will recognise is Let it Rain, which of course you co wrote and recorded with Eric Clapton for his solo album in 1970. The version on here is quite a radical reworking however. There are two versions on the album, one of which is an alternative mix, the other, as I have said is a pretty radical arrangement. Where did you get the idea for that?

DB You mean the version with steel drums on it?

JK Yeah that’s right.

DB Well that is the way I heard it when I first wrote the song. I wanted steel drums on it and that is the way it is on my version but when Eric did his version we didn’t really disagree but Eric just wanted it more rock ‘n’ roll. So that is what we did.

JK The alternate mix contained on the album is a little more rock ‘n’ roll, presumably you put that version on so people can make their own mind up as to which version they like?

DB That’s what I had in mind you’re right. You’ve hit the nail on the head.

JK With regards to some of the people who play on the album, in addition to Spooner Oldham on keyboards you have Chuck Findley on trumpet, Clydie King on backing vocals and your daughter Bekka Bramlett on backing vocals; presumably the remainder of the musicians are your regular band?

DB Oh yeah, I have a great band that I play with and in my opinion, it’s the best band I have ever played with. Obviously Chuck Findley is one of the best trumpet players in the world; he played in the band on the Tonight show. I have got Hank Barrio on guitar and Peter Klimes also on guitar alongside me.

JK The album has taken a long time to come out so you must be happy that it has finally been released.

DB I am, I always thought that when we first recorded it it deserved to be heard but you never know about these things and rap music was popular at the time. I do not like rap music.

JK Do you think the time is right now for an album like this then?

DB Yeah I think the time is right for this album and also for my new album, which I have just finished.

JK With this album getting a general release and another album about to be released, things must be pretty good for Delaney Bramlett at the moment?

DB Yes things are very good for Delaney Bramlett thank you very much. We have done a few concerts and they have sold out and we had a lot of fun. Like I said I have got the best band I have ever played with.

JK That must be saying something considering the amount of talent that passed through Delaney, Bonnie and Friends including Eric Clapton, Dave Mason and George Harrison.

DB Oh yeah and remember I played with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the Plastic Ono Band. You have no idea how special that was for me. To me he was the Beatles. I have never played with Paul McCartney but I have played with Ringo and George became a very good friend but for me, oh I don’t know I may be wrong, but John Lennon for me was the Beatles and I was thrilled to do that.

JK Well having played with all these incredible people and you still consider your current band to be the best you have every played with, I think that is the ultimate accolade for the members of your band.

DB Well it is but I really mean it, they are great.

JK Thanks for talking to us today and best of luck with the album

DB Thank you Jon and you take care.

At the end of the interview Delaney was going off to play on a session with Ike
Turner. After almost fourteen years away from the business and a general
release for Sweet Inspiration and another new album in the pipeline, it would
seem that Delaney Bramlett is back in the thick of it, which I am sure will
please his many fans the world over.

©Jon Kirkman May 2004 and again 2011

Sweet Inspiration can be ordered directly from the Gonzo website here:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/site.php?s=2&action=list_table&t=products&filter_id=152&dbf_search_for=Delaney+Bramlett+%28artist%29&image.x=9&image.y=14