April 14, 2021 • 44 mins
With one of the longest running “sideman” gigs in the industry, Davey Johnston shares his first meeting with a young, shy Elton John, how early trust propelled them into playing together for 50 years and what it was like watching the rise of a super star throughout that time. Davey takes us through it all, his early days playing the pubs in Scotland to his surreal and terrifying transition playing in Los Angles with his idols, as well as unbelievable backstage, on stage and after party stories with John Lennon.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
On tour as a production at I Heart Radio and
Black Barrel Media. I'm your host, Brian ray On. This
show will take you behind the scenes of the music
business to give you the most raw and real tale
as you've likely never heard before. We'll share the wildest,
most unbelievable and yes, most embarrassing moments while on tour.
It was such a joy sitting down with my longtime
(00:30):
friend Davy Johnstone is beautiful home. Starting as a teenager
in the pubs of Edinburgh, Scotland, it seemed British folk
was Davy's path. Thankfully for us, he made the transition
to rock and roll. For fifty years, he's brought unforgettable
music and moments to stages across the world with Alice Cooper,
Meat Loaf, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seeger and most notably with
(00:52):
Sir Elton John. In this conversation, he takes us inside
his first meeting with a very young shy Elton John,
the rise of a superstar and their genuine friendship, along
with surreal moments backstage and on stage with John Lennon.
Here's my conversation with Davy Johnstone. Davy, welcome to my show.
(01:21):
It's such an honor to have you with us today.
Thank you, Brian. I'm thinking about it, and you probably
have one of the longest running sideman gigs in the industry.
You've been with Elton for nearly fifty years, You've played
well over two thousand shows together, and you've been the
one constant member of his band throughout that entire career.
My god, yeah, indeed, and I think to myself, you
(01:46):
must have built such a strong bond to have been
with him all of these years. And I was just
wondering if you can recall any one challenging moment in
the early days which bonded you guys that may have
explained while you're together for all of these years. He
could be Actually, I'm thinking of the very first time
that I met him, which is a tried and studios
(02:09):
in one he was doing Mad Mere Across the Water
album and I was asked by Gus Sudgeon, his producer
and my dear friend at that time, would you like
to come in and play on this guy's records. His
name is Regg. He's a he's a singer songwriter, and
he's doing some really good stuff. And I didn't know
who regg was. So I show up at tried and
with my acoustic guitar, mandolin and sitar. This little guy
(02:32):
sitting behind the piano, very nervous, very quiet, and obviously
quite shy. So you know, I just said hi now,
and over his hand, I said, want to play me
one of the songs you want to do? And he
played Tiny Dancer Wow, and I thought, oh, nice song. Okay,
that's good. And then he played leave on and I'm going, okay,
(02:52):
this is a fun session. I'm really enjoying this already,
i haven't played a note. And then he played a
song called Holiday in which she was also from Madman
Across the Water and it's one of the tracks that
I was booked to play banjo on. And he played
the song and the first thing I said to him
as well, I think, actually mandolin is going to be
better than banjo on. This is a bit lighter, a
(03:13):
bit area, a bit more atmospheric, and I think it
will work better. And he was like okay. So he immediately,
I think, felt good because somebody was having rapport with him,
because he tends to be quite shy, and it doesn't
really automatically open up to people. You know even today,
you know, fifty years later, and I remember when we
were just about to cut the track and there was myself,
(03:35):
Barry Morgan on drums, Herbie Flowers on base, Ray Cooper
on percussion, who's still around with it, and uh and
Paul buck Master was arranging and watching the whole thing
as far as what he was going to do with
the strings. And we had a problem how we're going
to start the song. Well, you know, Elton didn't have
an intro for it, and Gus was saying, well, how
are you going to start this? You know? And I said, well,
(03:58):
why don't we just started? Don't have the intro, just
come straight in with the vocal and the music straight in.
And he tried it and he said, oh great. So
automatically he felt comfortable with me, and that kind of
vibe has stayed to this day where he trust me.
That's what I would suggest to him musically. That's probably
why I'm musical director and I adore his music and
(04:19):
he knows that right. So I think that was the
moment that kind of solidified, Okay, we're buddies and were
musical buddies, and this is going to hang on. That's great.
Establishing a trust early on and having some input, yes,
obviously wasn't threatening or difficult for him. He was actually
asking and yeah, you had a couple of suggestions right
off the bathroom And there was another track on that record,
(04:41):
the title track, madn Across the Water, that I was
actually brought in to play because they tried it with
a few other guitar players and they hadn't been able
to get the sound or the just the vibe they
wanted on this riff Elton had, so he played me
the riff on piano and I said, well, something like this,
and I played what I thought and he said that's
what I want. So right there we had two things
(05:02):
that happened in the space of the first hour of
me meeting this guy that we're really just kind of
locked us in as musical friends. I saw straight away, Okay,
this guy's massive talent. And then somebody told me, oh, yeah, John,
and you know this guy is going to be huge
and I'm gonna really because I was a total folky,
I did not really have any clue about who was
doing what in the rock scene per se. So it
(05:22):
was really lovely doing that session. Amongst all this all
this stuff that I had been doing, you know. Yeah,
so he must have seen in you the dream guitar
role the guy, because you know some of those big
songs Saturday nights all right for a fight, and Madmen
are so guitar driven. They start with very important copyrights
of guitar lecks you're responsible for, you know. So from
(05:46):
the very beginning you saw Elton on TV. I imagine
you loved his music and saw what we all saw
on him. And a year later you were off touring
with him. How old were you then? Um? I did
my first session with that. I was just talking on
Madman record, uh, when I was twenty. And then I
got the call the next day saying he wants you
(06:07):
to join his touring band of Nigel Austin d Murray
and you and that's going to be at the four
piece And I went great. But you know, the whole
first year with him was completely mental. On more than
one occasion I called him up and said, you know,
I don't know if this is for me. I don't
know if I can do this. Is that right? Oh? Yeah?
I was? I was. In fact, the first time we
played the Forum, there was like Dylan and Joni Mitchell
(06:28):
and you know who I idolized, and Danny Hutton and
you know Nilson, people that were just like ship. You know,
these are my idols and they were our first gig
and I was just not ready for that, having never
been to l A before either, and it was just
the whole thing. So I called him at one time
after the Forum show, which I think was ruining about.
(06:49):
It was running about mayor June of nine seventy two,
and I said, look, I don't think I can do this,
and he completely taught me down. He said, don't be stupid.
This is what we do and this is what's going
to be. But all these big name people, don't you
want to have more of a rock and roll kind
of guy? And he said, no, I want you, and
that's why I wanted. So suddenly I went from being
this folky who loved rock and roll. I mean, my
(07:10):
idols were the Beatles. Obviously, that was why I was
growing up, I mean, and then later led Zeppelin. I
love Jimmy Page because that whole acoustic electric thing, yeah,
that he had obviously mastered both sides of it. I
found that to be a really interesting aspect of early Zeppelin.
Two with the acoustic stuff, going to California and all
(07:32):
that stuff. Just amazing work. Were you a fan of
like Fairport Convention and Pentangle and bands like this? Huge?
Were you? That? Was another thing that Elton and I
were able to converse about was our love of British
folk rock. Yes, and it was a really cool thing. Yeah.
I get a picture of you being a multi instrumentalist
when you were young in the folks scene, the British
(07:54):
folks scene, which was quite big, and so that is
there's a lot more humility and and sort of a
humble nature to those performances and those records that is
not about show biz at all. And here you are
suddenly finding yourself on a literally on a rocket and
playing at the Forum with Rocket Man. It's like amazing
(08:16):
sort of juxtaposition of what you first saw yourself as.
Was there a band that just to jump back and
foreshadow all this. What was the band that you were
playing in when I read somewhere that Gus discovered you
at some gig or something like that. Oh, the band
that I was in was called Magna Carta, okay, and
they were like the folk rock type of thing. It
(08:38):
was very very fashionable very happening at that point. So
Magna Carts have got me into play on one of
their albums, and they were just the best guys and that.
So I showed up and there's all these like heavy
cats you know on this date who had read you know,
like Chris Bedding and people. I'm jesus, what am I
doing here? You know. I consider myself very fortunate to
(08:58):
be around at that time. I had a lot of
exposure to the folk rock days. My sister and her
husband were a folk rock duo called Jim and Jean,
So they were in the village playing alongside of you know,
all the big ease, you know, and it was just
a different headspace. It's like the folk generation really came
out of the beat generation and out of thinkers and
(09:21):
people like, you know, everyone we've come to know and
love from the early folk scene. Uh. And it was
a very different scenario in a different lifestyle than you
would find in the rock scene that came later. But
Elton's interesting because it is sort of like the melding
of those times. You know, he was definitely influenced by
some of that, and I'm sure that what you brought
(09:43):
in was more facilitating the folk vibe into his music,
kind of infusing that. Yeah, you know, the band's obviously
going through a lot of different changes our years and
d we lost in which was just so tragic, Way
too young to love such a talent as that. Amazing
I remember, Yeah, amazing bass place and those basslines are
(10:04):
just iconic and noseel his birthright was to be Elton's drummer.
Is that sound the Nigel Lawson thing? It's what it
is if nobody else can play that. There's so many
amazing drummers in the world, and great drummers have been
in this band, but nobody can play those films like Nigel. Yeah,
their hooks, you know, in the same way that your
guitar intros and sell Those are hooks, those big drum
(10:26):
fills and these bass parts are very much part of those.
You can't really lay those songs out there without including
those hooks, and I'm sure you guys still include those
hooks to this day. Yeah. People like to hear their
memories absolutely brought back to them. Yeah, and then obviously
to get a nod from John. For example, John Lennon
(10:47):
would call us up in the middle of doing Goodbye
Yellow Road. We got a call and it was early
nine and seventy three and Elton came back from the
telephone looking white and shell shocked, and it was like,
what's happened? He said, that was John Lennon, you know,
and he really likes what we're doing. So when you
get that kind of validation, that becomes something that's like wow, okay,
(11:07):
well the one we must be on the right track,
I guess. And then in the seventies we decided, instead
of flying over to America, would take the s S
France and it's like a four day, five day voyage
from Southampton to New York. So Alton and myself and
I think Nigel came on it. I'm not sure. Afraid, yeah,
(11:28):
Raid did come, but he never came out of his cabin.
I think he got a he was c sicky phone
out and that was But on that trip we actually
helped Cynthia Lennon bring Julian out because Julian was coming
out to meet his dad. We became great friends with Julian.
He was only like maybe eleven or twelve at the time.
(11:48):
So yeah, after the voy he ended, the ship pulled
into New York Harbor. Long behold John is there to
meet us and to meet his son, and so we
all say hi, and he's is, Okay, I'm gonna come
out and meet you guys at Cariber Ranch where you're recording.
Great John came out for like a week and played
on Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sang on it
(12:10):
as well. And I never forget because I was like, going,
this is John Lennon and he's going to play one
of my guitars. You know. I gave him my gold
Top I think a guitar from like like a nineties
sixties gold top, really nice guitar, and he said, well,
were you tune it for me? Because you're the guitar player,
you know. And I was like, oh god, you know,
said you're John Lennon. He's going, well to the guitar side,
(12:33):
turned the guitar. Now. Little did I know that little
thing about tune my guitar was going to come up
six months later. I'll get to that story, which is
a good one. So you know, he did Lucy in
the Sky a song called One Day at a Time
I think it was called, and there was a couple
of thoughts songs that he played on and it was
just so cool to do that with John, and he
(12:55):
had fun just hanging out in the studio with us
and we got to know him and it was just
a comical time, lots of great fun and we're all
hoped on oxygen, believe it or not. There's other things
that were a mile high high as well. Yeah, behind Boulder,
right is it? Studio? Way up there Boulder, and then
there's Netherlands, the last town, and then there's Cariber Ranch.
(13:19):
So we were having a blast up there. During that tour,
Alton had played on one of John's singles and I
(13:40):
was at the session. It was called whatever gets You
through the Night, and there was an engineer on the
session that was at one engineer Jimmy Ivan. It was
the engineer. Whenever I see him now days, I tease
him about it. So on that session, Alton played some
piano and sang harmony to John. And when he was
(14:00):
playing the piano track, John was like going, oh, this
is perfect, and he's got all that say he's got
it in one take, and I said, let him do
one more. It'll be even better, trust me, you know,
you know, Okay, So we did one more take and
it was awesome. I mean it was like through the
roof just Elton's piano, it's rock and roll p really
going for it. Yeah, it was only the second tape
(14:23):
and it was perfect. So um Alton said, okay, I've
done that for you. If he gets the number one,
you've got to come on stage with us. And John
was like, well, I'll do that happily because he never
thought it was going to be a single. He never
thought it was gonna be number one. It was hit
number one in like October that year, huge record. So
(14:44):
Elton said, okay, we'll live up to your promise. So
we knew were playing Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving, so
the idea was to get John up on stage with us.
So he said okay. Now he was very nervous because
had played on stage for maybe six or seven years
and nothing big since the Beatles, so he was terrified.
(15:07):
So we're backstage at the Garden and John comes into
the dressing room looking green. I mean he was like green,
and I looked up. It was like, are you okay?
He said, now I think I'm going to throw up
and I said, oh, you'll be fine. He said, so
how long before we go on? I said about fifteen minutes.
So again I'm tuning his guitar and he's saying fifteen minutes,
(15:30):
fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes, and he says, we used to
get a bit of Fanny round about now. And I
was tuning up the guitar and I flat he said,
we used to get a bit of Fanny round about now.
I'm girl, I thought you said that. He said, yeah,
But fifteen minutes before we were going to go on
the stage, they bring girls in, you know, And I
(15:53):
went the Beatles rock, gave a big hug and I said,
rock and roll. It doesn't get any better than That's hilarious.
I love that. That great story. And he came out
on stage and it was awesome. We did, like I
don't know, I think we did four or five songs
and went out and announced him. It was right in
the middle of our set. I've never heard a roar
(16:15):
like that in my life. It was ridiculous, and it
was wonderful for John when he came on because automatically
to get that kind of reception, well, surely you were
expecting that kind of reception. What was the first of
the you said, four songs? You did, But I'm standing there,
So did that put him at ease a little bit,
just a little rocker that he could do. And he
said something like, here's a song by an old fiance
(16:39):
of mine, I meaning Paul obviously, And it was so
sweet him saying that, and it was just great, so sweet.
Oh I didn't know that story. That's yeah, okay. So
was there a point there where you got emotional just
from that moment there? I mean you have to hold
back tears because that's a big deal. You're suddenly going like,
(17:01):
you know, well, number one, I'm in Madison Square Garden.
It's insane. What's happening? And John Lennon's on stage standing
next to you singing Beatles songs and you know, we're
all getting chills and it was completely nuts. In fact,
I remember being on stage when all this is happening,
and I could feel, because you've played the Garden, you
(17:23):
know what it's like. The stage starts to move when
people are getting louder and they're moving and stomping their feet.
Stage moves and I really thought it was going to
collapse because it was moving so much. So it was
it was insane, and uh, we were all on such
a high for the rest of the gig, and then
after the gig there was a wonderful party that we
(17:45):
had for Uri Geller, remember him. People room keys and spoons,
spending spoons and room keys, and everybody was getting locked
out of their room. And I remember later on I
was back at the Plaza in my suite that I
shared with d Murray. We were in there and we're
just going what was all that? That was insane? The
(18:06):
phone rings and it's Alton and he says, what a
gig right on? An amazing gig, And I'm going, yes, insane.
He said, listen, John's here and he wants to come
over and hang out with you guys. Is that okay?
And I said, no, tell him a funk off. That
was a stupid of course, turn them over, you know,
(18:29):
like many other recollections of John or or any of
the Beatles. You think you know it's because I'm sure
it was the same for you growing up. I mean,
those guys were were ten years older than me and
my growing up, and that was who I listened to
her and first started playing guitar too, and learning their
parts and stuff. And now I'm going like, I'm one
(18:51):
of these guys exactly. It's insane. Yeah. Well, I was
eight years old when I first heard the Beatles. I
want to hold your hand and please please me, and
in such quick succession all of those records, and then
just after I turned nine at Sullivan and I wouldn't
for a minute admit to my friends at one day,
(19:11):
I'm going to do something like this, because they'd like,
punch you, get the hell out of here. I guess
some part of me hoped that would happen. I was
always already so enamored with rock and roll, the whole
thing as a whole thing. I just after I saw
the Beetles, I literally didn't have a plan. B that's
what I wanted to do exactly. But must have that
(19:33):
to somebody, right, somebody can't admit it. Somebody at that
age you say you want to get beaten up, or
they'll say, as they said to me many times, don't
be so stupid. You know, yeah, you get a job,
get a trade, learn a trade, and get a real job.
And you know, and it was like, well, say what
you want, that's what I'm gonna do. Hey, when you're
a kid, you don't want to stand out or stick
(19:53):
out or have a big dream because they will beat
you down. I hate to say it, but it's just true.
So you had to hold a dream like this a
little close to your vest, but even you couldn't believe
that it was happening to you. Yeah, but you know,
I think because I was so determined from a very
young age, because when I turned like fourteen fifteen, I
(20:15):
was already playing folk gigs on the weekend when I
wasn't at school. One of my big heroes was Barney McKenna,
who played with a band called the Dubliners. The Doubliners
were just a really great Irish folk band and they
were just hilarious. They were great musicians and great singers,
(20:35):
but they were very funny and they drank copious amounts
of guinness, So I I love them for their guinness
consumption because that's why I love dropt guinness and uh
and other things. I would show up knowing they'd be
in a certain pub in Edinburgh after one of their shows,
because that was the thing in folk music especially, that's
(20:57):
where bands met up the local pub, you know, and
then hang out and they might even start playing sure,
So I would show up there knowing that this might happen,
bring my banjo and being a pub totally illegally Drincky
Guinness really underage, and then I'd say, well, I want
to play with the banjo player, because he'd be having
a session and he'd be playing. After a pint or two,
(21:18):
you're ready to go, and I was ready. Well, I
mean i'd be I knew that's what I wanted to do,
but I'd have to work my way to the front
of all these big, sweaty irishmen in Scotsman. Then go, okay,
I want to play with this guy, and they'd go,
you know, piss off, you know you're way too young. Look,
let me play with him. The first time I did that,
and I'd be again, fifteen, not quite sixteen, and I
(21:41):
played and I helped my own with this guy on
a couple of really crazy fast Irish reels, one of
them called the Mason's Apron, which is a very famous
Irish piece that my friend Barney McKenna at that time
my absolute idol, and I helped my own with him.
So we became friends. They realized that all right, he
can do this, so well I'm hanging on, Well, I'm
(22:03):
hanging out with us you know, so I was hanging
out with people twice my age at a very young age. Yeah,
I was as well. And it's back to that thing
where you know, for me, folk music is influenced by
Pete Seeger and Woody Got three and all the grades
that came before them was very much sort of political,
and it was very of the head and the heart,
(22:26):
and then here comes rock and roll that's from the
heart and the balls. You know, it's like, yeah, I
suddenly here's this lower chocolate thing that's all about sex.
You know. But and Elton was right in that point
where those two were sort of one influence and right,
and a lot of what you brought to that was
your own influence of being a part of the folk scene.
(22:48):
Thanks Brian roll Man. But you know, I really touched
on something. They're about rock and rolling, about sex and
all the rest of it. Absolutely the image ry and
all the rest of it. One of the cool things
was that we had a secret weapon that we were
aren't really aware of. Elton obviously was aware of it,
and that was Bernie Taupin. Sure you have somebody writing
lyrics like that, and suddenly this guy will bring a
(23:10):
lyric that has already done, so you're not writing songs
after you've made a riff that's really cool and you're
trying to write a song around it. This guy brings
your lyric. Oh, this one's called rocket Man. Okay, well
that sounds that's a great idea, so you've already got
the finished lyric. It became something that was like, oh,
(23:32):
this is awesome because not all the songs were necessarily
about sex. You know, you still had enough songs that
were about sex, but there were also other songs that
were about you know, dodgy love affairs. There was a
song called All the Young Girls Love Alice. It's very
current today with that whole gender thing that's going on,
you know. So Bernie was just the most amazing, amazing
(23:57):
part of our band to have somebody bringing the rings. Yeah,
that's really true. His lyrics are so evocative and such
a great story and they pull you in so well.
Do you remember your very first concert with Elton and
the feelings that came with that, the looks on the
faces of the people out in the ground, Yes, I do.
It was pretty scary because of two aspects, Because there
(24:22):
was gonna be two halves for the show. One half
was going to be Royal Festival Orchestra at the Royal
Festival Hall, but we were going to open the whole show.
The first half was going to be the new band
debuting the next album, which was Honky Chateau, and I
think maybe the album had just come out, so the
only thing that anybody knew from the album was rocket Man,
(24:44):
which should instantly become a smash. So thank god we
had at least that, you know. So I was terrified
when it got to actually walking out on stage. I
suddenly thought, this is weird because I can see all
these rockers in the audience and different pople who are
showing up to obviously check us out. What it was
going to be like on your very first gig, very
(25:05):
first gig, very off put and you know, and it's
not just going out there and just doing a set
of you know, balls to the ball of Rocker. We're
doing this album, you know, which they don't really know either.
A little risky they the rocket Man and thankfully there
was a few rockers on that record, so we were
able to get them at it. But it went fine,
It went really good. But there was another thing coming
(25:27):
up because the second half of the concert was going
to be the orchestra with Elton, but I was the
only band member playing in the orchestra because you see,
in those days, d and Nagel were never part of
the recording. They were his tour band, but they never
played on the records. So I just met them for
(25:47):
the album. We've never done a show together. And I'm thinking,
oh God, help, we never really had a rehearsal for it.
Really remarkable, and to be totally rudely honest, they didn't
like me. So I'm going ship, how do I deal
with this? And and I remember after the gig, which
(26:09):
went down brilliantly. It was great because the orchestra conducted
by Paul Buckmaster, who has also passed away a year ago,
who I adored Paul, who were great friends and a
brilliant musician. And this concert was brilliant. It was amazing,
and the audience are loving it. And okay, we have
a hit. We know what it is. Elton's relaxed. He
(26:30):
came up to me, brilliant job, thank you so much.
And I said, this is the first time. I said,
I said, I don't know about this. These guys hate me.
It's not gonna work. He's going, Oh, fuck them, it's
gonna work. Great. I say, what's gonna work? And it's
gonna work, you know. So I was like, Okay, whatever
you say. And so it was very difficult that whole
(26:52):
first three or four months. So interesting do you do it?
Was there ever a time in you're early touring where
you were really stuck into a pan or what were
your earliest tours like together? Were you immediately in the
fourth dimension? I know I wasn't that I was well,
because that's the way it was. But you've got to
remember as well, those early tours were still holiday ends
(27:14):
and stuff like that, so there was no private planes
or no. The most private we got was renting a
greyhound bus and sitting in that, you know, through Texas
for six hours or something. So it was all holiday
inns and greyhound busses and that kind of ship. So
very much that. But De and Nog you'll never really
(27:34):
let me forget through those early tours that they were
the main guys, and I was really an intruder, you know.
I remember getting to Amsterdam once I felt a bit
better about this because I was kind of suddenly on
my turf. I played in Europe with Mgnakara and different people.
So I knew Amsterdam really well because that's where all
(27:55):
the hippies went, and that's basically a folky hippie kind
of guy. We played in Amsterdam, um and after the show,
we're back in the room and they're starting to accept
me a little bit more, but there's still, you know,
this thing of you and the new guy. And they said, okay,
we need some food, but room services closed. You have
to go out and get us some food. So I go, Okay,
these guys are a couple of assholes, but I'll do it.
(28:17):
I'll show them. So I went out, like this is
to me about eleven thirty at night, almost midnight. We've
done a show and we're in Amsterdam, and I take
off and I know where I'm going. I'm heading to
this place that I know it's got best tie stte.
So I go and I get like four tubs of
chickens and beef satte with all the peanut butter, sauce
(28:39):
and all the good stuff. Because see, that's where we
used to eat. All the folks and hippies would find
these great places because they were so stolen after us.
They have to find good food cheaply, you know. So
I knew this place and brought back this food and
they had to accept straight ar Okay, he's one of
the guys because he knows how to do this ship
(29:01):
as well, you know. So I was immediately I was
brought into the fold, as it were at that point.
That's a great story. I remember early bonding with Edna James,
with whom I got my start, and she loved barbecue,
so early days, I'm in talking nineteen seventy four, she
would have these barbecues out of the house where she
would get she would clean the kitchen sink and put
(29:24):
all the sauce and all of the meats and this thing.
And I remember saying to me an hour into it, Brian,
you could go, you know, you could really go. You know.
I was just a little skinny white kid from Glendale
that I think that was a bonding thing, much like
you and Die and Nigel. It's so funny. Food is
a bonding thing, always has been. Well it is any
(29:46):
kid food or any kind of thing like that. You know,
there is more of like the Okay, this is who
we are and we're all on the same level. I
(30:14):
just wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration. It's
often said that it takes about ten hours of dedication
and preparation to achieve the kind of success that you
know you were able to achieve. Is there any advice
that you can offer to musicians that are just starting
out now who would love to be in your position? Well,
I mean I can only tell people what I did,
(30:37):
and that was I did my ten thousand ears, for sure,
And I know, for example that Paul and the Beatles
did their ten thousand in Hamburg and all the places
that they worked. There's no such a shoot for sitting
in your room and learning to play properly by listening. Well,
nowadays nobody listens to records, but that's why I did.
(30:59):
I took my one or two Beatles records that I
had and learned to play every single track on the album.
I took my one or two Shadows records and did
the same thing. I took a couple of my sisters
Elvis records and did the same thing to Brian and
learn everything that Scotty Moore did. And you know, so
I knew everything that the Stones and the Beatles and
(31:20):
the Kinks and all those bands that we had records
in the charts. That's why I did. I learned what
they did. And subsequently, when I decided to go back
in time a little bit, or not back in time,
but get into the guitar more deeply, I learned to
play everything that people like John Renburne and Bert Yange
and John Martin and Jimmy Page later on playing acoustic guitar,
(31:44):
you know, I learned to play properly. There is no
substitute for having the whole thing down. If you learn
to play all these instruments, well, you know you've got
something behind you before you walk into a him and
say yeah, I can do that. I mean, there's no
my bullshit ever gets you know. They can never substitute
(32:06):
for having the knowledge before you walk in there. And
it helps to sing a bit as you do. That's
a big, huge, big consideration when you're looking for a
gig and they can hire someone who plays really well,
and then another guy who plays really well and sings well, well,
you're right, Brian, and the other one apart. And that's
a very good point. The other thing is not being
(32:30):
such a great lead singer. Be a great background singer,
but don't be too good don't don't challenge the lead singer.
Do it a little bit. They know you can come,
you can bring it. But yeah, don't you know, don't
ever challenge the lead singer. Don't do that, right, So
who are you listening to now? Is there any great
music that you're listening to? The you know it's more current. Well,
(32:51):
I get subjected to great music, always have done by
listening to my kids music. I always you know, I
have any children, and they've always turned me on to
create music. My fourteen year old right now, Elliott has
turned me on to Billie Eilish, who I love. I'm
just great. It's just this is so different and so original.
(33:16):
That's why I think I like most about it. Um
So that's from my fourteen year old. From my twenty
one year old, who's my next eldest. He turned me
onto like lamar Uh and a lot of the hip
hop guys I normally maybe wouldn't have listened to, but
the fact that there was a lot of jazz influence
(33:37):
going on there that I listened to. That My twenty
four year old daughter John Mayor, although I turned the
tables on her on our sixties birthday in New York City.
When John came along to our gig, My daughter Juliet
was having her sixteenth birthday that celebration that night, and
I brought her into a room where John Mayor was
and she had no clue she was going to meet
(33:57):
John Mayor. She burst in the years and started crying.
But I've turned around to the Beatles and the Stones
and Hendrix, and she in turn turned me onto John
Mayor in more ways than you know. I love John's music.
Is a great guitar player, good great songwriter, and good singer. Yeah,
so you know all that stuff. I tend to go
(34:19):
for that kind of thing because of my I think
because of my generation where I come from. Um, I
don't try and hang with people from my from this generation.
Like if I would never walk into a room where
Billie Eilish was, for example, and say, oh, Hi, Billy,
I love you ship because she probably started laughing or
throw up or one of them or both. I don't know,
(34:40):
but you know it's uh. I've always listened tried to
listen to current stuff just because I want to hear
what's going on. I don't always love it, but some
of it's great. I adore people like Eddie Vetter because
he's become a close friend as well. And I love
bands like Metallica because Kirk hamis become a friend of
mine and I listened to his music because he's become
(35:01):
a good buddy. Bet it's a great variety, from Billie
Eilish to UH to Metallica there. Yeah, But I don't
think you can necessarily say, well, I like that, but
I don't really like that. I think if you like
one thing, because I mean, I think the Beatles really
taught me that to appreciate all kinds of music, to
not to not have barriers, sure, because they suddenly introduced
(35:22):
folk music to people. They were folky and then they
were sort of metal, and then they were you know, pop,
and they ran the whole gamut. Yeah. Yeah, and to
my mind, not a lot of people have ever done
any better than them. To me, it doesn't get any
better than that, you know. And I've been fortunate to
be involved with a songwriter, singer, performer who's as talented
(35:46):
as those guys. Yeah, just a huge career. Your music
will live on, of course forever, and be appreciated for
generations to come. It must be surreal for the Elton
era to come to an end. What are you going
to miss most about this band in this incredible career
you've had. Um, have you missed his joke? I'll miss
(36:06):
his sense of human He's a funny guy. He's hilarious.
Oh my god. I mean he's probably the funniest person
I've ever met. Partner Billy Connolly, and he's so fast.
So I will miss that because we play a lot
of word games together. I'm sure you do with you
with and he need stimulation exactly, and we have great,
(36:28):
great word games which nobody in the room they're looking around.
What are you guys talking about? I mean he came
up to me one time and said wasp wasp monarch
and I find him and said, oh b B King
And right there started this whole new word game. You know,
musicians with other things in their name, And that's how
(36:50):
it started, right. It's just a bit of a Cockney
rhyming slang taken to another to another area. So I'll
miss that. I'll miss the whole friendship thing that happens
within ans. But um, we've certainly played enough gigs. I
don't know. There are certain gigs that we still play
now where we go. That was an amazing gig and
that still blows me away that that can happen because
(37:12):
we're not jaded in the least, will never be jaded.
Thank god. He's not that kind of performer. Um, he
always gets out there knowing he's going to kick somebody's
ass and I love that. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, Yeah,
he's a fighter. Is there anything you'd like to say
to those fans that have been in your corner for
these five decades? Oh my gosh, I'm so grateful to
(37:32):
all the people that have come up and said so
many nice things to me over the years about the
role that you know, guitars have been in in the
area of you know, piano basically a piano driven band,
and because there have been some big guitar songs and
uh and some big guitar parts, and I'm very grateful
to have been able to contribute those. But I'm also
(37:55):
just grateful that people still love music enough to notice
that stuff. That's the thing that guys like you and
I notice that stuff. For me, sometimes you think, oh,
nobody will notice that. I don't notice that little thing
that I threw in there, But people do, and it's
it's a wonderful thing that there are still music lovers
(38:15):
out there who adore what we do and ship. I'm
grateful for that. We're grateful too. I mean, what an
amazing opportunity and honor to have sat where you've sat,
and stood where you've stood for all these years, to
be witness to it and be a participant in it. Man,
we're all aware of it, you know, we've all been
(38:35):
watching you all these years. Oh thank you. I just
watched you and Rusty up there doing one of the
coolest gigs. I mean that we told you earlier, we
had a last watching that the love that you guys
have spread around comes back in buckets, it really does.
You see generations of people endowing it. Yeah, we're gonna
wrap it up to the lightning round we'd like to
(38:56):
call the encore. So it said that tragedy plus time
cools humor. Tell us, what is the most embarrassing thing
that's ever happened to you on stage? The most embarrassing
thing by far. It happened very early on, actually, which
could have destroyed my entire confidence forever. There's a track
(39:18):
from Goodbye Yellow Bick Roads which has become very famous
called funeral for a friend and love lies bleeding. It's
a epic song to all the Altum fans and too
many other rock and roll fans and people who like
classic rock. And what happens is there's long dreamy, you know,
intro with guitar sounds and and wind sounds and all
(39:40):
this kind of creepy ship going on. And from there
it goes into a beautiful, little, beautiful theme with again
very ethereal guitar sounds and wonderful sounds and a great
piece and everybody knows what's happening with the guitars, and
they love it, and people have come up and said
over the years, loved this thing. And then there's a
big long pause and you were just waiting for this
(40:05):
argango in guitar so to come in, and I'm ready,
just ready to come in. At the light comes on me,
I go like that and nothing comes up, nothing, not
even a sound. And you gotta remember in those days
there was Elton and me, a bass player and a drummer.
That was it. So it wasn't like anybody could go
(40:28):
or there's a mistake here or something. It was fucking
obvious that I'm doing this, Like the classic one of
Pete's windmills, you know, and I'm doing that nothing comes
out of it. And I looked right at my ROADI
and he was a roady at this point. I'm going
fucking roady and I looked around and he kind of
goes and I go, okay, this is your worst moment ever.
(40:51):
And I was I was like deer in the headlights.
There was nothing I could do. So I basically turned
around and went tambourine and he threw Tame Marine and
I caught it, and I just started playing Tame Marine
for the rest of the song. And some people in
the audience actually thought that that was supposed to happen
that way, so I was able to bullshit it, but
it totally killed me. And you know what, they never
(41:15):
even mentioned it in in the reviews the next day,
so I kind of went dudge the bullet, but somebody
didn't mention it. About two years ago, some guy came
up to me and said, you know, I saw that
thing that happened at the Forum, and I'm a guitar
player and I saw that must have been terrible. I
was like, oh God, here it comes again. Well, we're
happy to bring that back up for you again. So
(41:38):
is there one thing that you cannot live without on tour?
It used to be a lot of things I couldn't
live without on tour. I thought I've given all those.
I think I know what you're talking about. I might
have some experience that I probably do. I've given up
each one of those things, remarkable something I well, there's
definitely one thing I could not live without on tour,
(42:01):
and that is my guitar tech, Rick Salazar. He is
He's been with me since nineteen six and I stole
him from Madonna, and he's a brilliant guitar tech. And
in fact we I always say that he is fift
what I do on stage and in the studio because
(42:21):
he knows what I like. And you know that there's
no substitute for that to have somebody who knows the
way you like to play a guitar and the way
you like it's set up and etcetera, etcetera. You know,
I don't even have to go anywhere near the stage
when I arrive at a gig or a venue, I
just have to, you know, do what I do. I
have some food at catering and then walk over and
(42:42):
you know, he plugs me and even I don't even
have to plug in. He plugs me in, and I'm
ready and I walk on stage and bang we go
very good. I trust him that much. Well, listen, Thank
you so much for joining me and our listeners. Has
been such a pleasure to have you. You've made a
great impact on the world of music and we look
forward to seeing what's coming next for you. Thanks Brian,
(43:03):
you more than welcome anytime. Thank you everyone for listening,
and thank you to my dear friend Davy Johnstone for
those incredible stories and for his contribution to rock and
(43:24):
roll that will outlive us. All On tour as a
production of I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media, this
show is produced by Mandy Wimmer and executive producer Noel
Brown and I'm your host, Brian Ray. For more information
about on tour, visit our website black Barrel Media dot com.
Behind the scenes photos from these interviews, and to interact
(43:46):
with us, visit our social media at ontour pod on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter. For more shows from My Heart Radio and
Black Barrel Media, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple
pod Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. M
On tour as a production at I Heart Radio and
Black Barrel Media. I'm your host, Brian ray On. This
show will take you behind the scenes of the music
business to give you the most raw and real tale
as you've likely never heard before. We'll share the wildest,
most unbelievable and yes, most embarrassing moments while on tour.
It was such a joy sitting down with my longtime
(00:30):
friend Davy Johnstone is beautiful home. Starting as a teenager
in the pubs of Edinburgh, Scotland, it seemed British folk
was Davy's path. Thankfully for us, he made the transition
to rock and roll. For fifty years, he's brought unforgettable
music and moments to stages across the world with Alice Cooper,
Meat Loaf, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seeger and most notably with
(00:52):
Sir Elton John. In this conversation, he takes us inside
his first meeting with a very young shy Elton John,
the rise of a superstar and their genuine friendship, along
with surreal moments backstage and on stage with John Lennon.
Here's my conversation with Davy Johnstone. Davy, welcome to my show.
(01:21):
It's such an honor to have you with us today.
Thank you, Brian. I'm thinking about it, and you probably
have one of the longest running sideman gigs in the industry.
You've been with Elton for nearly fifty years, You've played
well over two thousand shows together, and you've been the
one constant member of his band throughout that entire career.
My god, yeah, indeed, and I think to myself, you
(01:46):
must have built such a strong bond to have been
with him all of these years. And I was just
wondering if you can recall any one challenging moment in
the early days which bonded you guys that may have
explained while you're together for all of these years. He
could be Actually, I'm thinking of the very first time
that I met him, which is a tried and studios
(02:09):
in one he was doing Mad Mere Across the Water
album and I was asked by Gus Sudgeon, his producer
and my dear friend at that time, would you like
to come in and play on this guy's records. His
name is Regg. He's a he's a singer songwriter, and
he's doing some really good stuff. And I didn't know
who regg was. So I show up at tried and
with my acoustic guitar, mandolin and sitar. This little guy
(02:32):
sitting behind the piano, very nervous, very quiet, and obviously
quite shy. So you know, I just said hi now,
and over his hand, I said, want to play me
one of the songs you want to do? And he
played Tiny Dancer Wow, and I thought, oh, nice song. Okay,
that's good. And then he played leave on and I'm going, okay,
(02:52):
this is a fun session. I'm really enjoying this already,
i haven't played a note. And then he played a
song called Holiday in which she was also from Madman
Across the Water and it's one of the tracks that
I was booked to play banjo on. And he played
the song and the first thing I said to him
as well, I think, actually mandolin is going to be
better than banjo on. This is a bit lighter, a
(03:13):
bit area, a bit more atmospheric, and I think it
will work better. And he was like okay. So he immediately,
I think, felt good because somebody was having rapport with him,
because he tends to be quite shy, and it doesn't
really automatically open up to people. You know even today,
you know, fifty years later, and I remember when we
were just about to cut the track and there was myself,
(03:35):
Barry Morgan on drums, Herbie Flowers on base, Ray Cooper
on percussion, who's still around with it, and uh and
Paul buck Master was arranging and watching the whole thing
as far as what he was going to do with
the strings. And we had a problem how we're going
to start the song. Well, you know, Elton didn't have
an intro for it, and Gus was saying, well, how
are you going to start this? You know? And I said, well,
(03:58):
why don't we just started? Don't have the intro, just
come straight in with the vocal and the music straight in.
And he tried it and he said, oh great. So
automatically he felt comfortable with me, and that kind of
vibe has stayed to this day where he trust me.
That's what I would suggest to him musically. That's probably
why I'm musical director and I adore his music and
(04:19):
he knows that right. So I think that was the
moment that kind of solidified, Okay, we're buddies and were
musical buddies, and this is going to hang on. That's great.
Establishing a trust early on and having some input, yes,
obviously wasn't threatening or difficult for him. He was actually
asking and yeah, you had a couple of suggestions right
off the bathroom And there was another track on that record,
(04:41):
the title track, madn Across the Water, that I was
actually brought in to play because they tried it with
a few other guitar players and they hadn't been able
to get the sound or the just the vibe they
wanted on this riff Elton had, so he played me
the riff on piano and I said, well, something like this,
and I played what I thought and he said that's
what I want. So right there we had two things
(05:02):
that happened in the space of the first hour of
me meeting this guy that we're really just kind of
locked us in as musical friends. I saw straight away, Okay,
this guy's massive talent. And then somebody told me, oh, yeah, John,
and you know this guy is going to be huge
and I'm gonna really because I was a total folky,
I did not really have any clue about who was
doing what in the rock scene per se. So it
(05:22):
was really lovely doing that session. Amongst all this all
this stuff that I had been doing, you know. Yeah,
so he must have seen in you the dream guitar
role the guy, because you know some of those big
songs Saturday nights all right for a fight, and Madmen
are so guitar driven. They start with very important copyrights
of guitar lecks you're responsible for, you know. So from
(05:46):
the very beginning you saw Elton on TV. I imagine
you loved his music and saw what we all saw
on him. And a year later you were off touring
with him. How old were you then? Um? I did
my first session with that. I was just talking on
Madman record, uh, when I was twenty. And then I
got the call the next day saying he wants you
(06:07):
to join his touring band of Nigel Austin d Murray
and you and that's going to be at the four
piece And I went great. But you know, the whole
first year with him was completely mental. On more than
one occasion I called him up and said, you know,
I don't know if this is for me. I don't
know if I can do this. Is that right? Oh? Yeah?
I was? I was. In fact, the first time we
played the Forum, there was like Dylan and Joni Mitchell
(06:28):
and you know who I idolized, and Danny Hutton and
you know Nilson, people that were just like ship. You know,
these are my idols and they were our first gig
and I was just not ready for that, having never
been to l A before either, and it was just
the whole thing. So I called him at one time
after the Forum show, which I think was ruining about.
(06:49):
It was running about mayor June of nine seventy two,
and I said, look, I don't think I can do this,
and he completely taught me down. He said, don't be stupid.
This is what we do and this is what's going
to be. But all these big name people, don't you
want to have more of a rock and roll kind
of guy? And he said, no, I want you, and
that's why I wanted. So suddenly I went from being
this folky who loved rock and roll. I mean, my
(07:10):
idols were the Beatles. Obviously, that was why I was
growing up, I mean, and then later led Zeppelin. I
love Jimmy Page because that whole acoustic electric thing, yeah,
that he had obviously mastered both sides of it. I
found that to be a really interesting aspect of early Zeppelin.
Two with the acoustic stuff, going to California and all
(07:32):
that stuff. Just amazing work. Were you a fan of
like Fairport Convention and Pentangle and bands like this? Huge?
Were you? That? Was another thing that Elton and I
were able to converse about was our love of British
folk rock. Yes, and it was a really cool thing. Yeah.
I get a picture of you being a multi instrumentalist
when you were young in the folks scene, the British
(07:54):
folks scene, which was quite big, and so that is
there's a lot more humility and and sort of a
humble nature to those performances and those records that is
not about show biz at all. And here you are
suddenly finding yourself on a literally on a rocket and
playing at the Forum with Rocket Man. It's like amazing
(08:16):
sort of juxtaposition of what you first saw yourself as.
Was there a band that just to jump back and
foreshadow all this. What was the band that you were
playing in when I read somewhere that Gus discovered you
at some gig or something like that. Oh, the band
that I was in was called Magna Carta, okay, and
they were like the folk rock type of thing. It
(08:38):
was very very fashionable very happening at that point. So
Magna Carts have got me into play on one of
their albums, and they were just the best guys and that.
So I showed up and there's all these like heavy
cats you know on this date who had read you know,
like Chris Bedding and people. I'm jesus, what am I
doing here? You know. I consider myself very fortunate to
(08:58):
be around at that time. I had a lot of
exposure to the folk rock days. My sister and her
husband were a folk rock duo called Jim and Jean,
So they were in the village playing alongside of you know,
all the big ease, you know, and it was just
a different headspace. It's like the folk generation really came
out of the beat generation and out of thinkers and
(09:21):
people like, you know, everyone we've come to know and
love from the early folk scene. Uh. And it was
a very different scenario in a different lifestyle than you
would find in the rock scene that came later. But
Elton's interesting because it is sort of like the melding
of those times. You know, he was definitely influenced by
some of that, and I'm sure that what you brought
(09:43):
in was more facilitating the folk vibe into his music,
kind of infusing that. Yeah, you know, the band's obviously
going through a lot of different changes our years and
d we lost in which was just so tragic, Way
too young to love such a talent as that. Amazing
I remember, Yeah, amazing bass place and those basslines are
(10:04):
just iconic and noseel his birthright was to be Elton's drummer.
Is that sound the Nigel Lawson thing? It's what it
is if nobody else can play that. There's so many
amazing drummers in the world, and great drummers have been
in this band, but nobody can play those films like Nigel. Yeah,
their hooks, you know, in the same way that your
guitar intros and sell Those are hooks, those big drum
(10:26):
fills and these bass parts are very much part of those.
You can't really lay those songs out there without including
those hooks, and I'm sure you guys still include those
hooks to this day. Yeah. People like to hear their
memories absolutely brought back to them. Yeah, and then obviously
to get a nod from John. For example, John Lennon
(10:47):
would call us up in the middle of doing Goodbye
Yellow Road. We got a call and it was early
nine and seventy three and Elton came back from the
telephone looking white and shell shocked, and it was like,
what's happened? He said, that was John Lennon, you know,
and he really likes what we're doing. So when you
get that kind of validation, that becomes something that's like wow, okay,
(11:07):
well the one we must be on the right track,
I guess. And then in the seventies we decided, instead
of flying over to America, would take the s S
France and it's like a four day, five day voyage
from Southampton to New York. So Alton and myself and
I think Nigel came on it. I'm not sure. Afraid, yeah,
(11:28):
Raid did come, but he never came out of his cabin.
I think he got a he was c sicky phone
out and that was But on that trip we actually
helped Cynthia Lennon bring Julian out because Julian was coming
out to meet his dad. We became great friends with Julian.
He was only like maybe eleven or twelve at the time.
(11:48):
So yeah, after the voy he ended, the ship pulled
into New York Harbor. Long behold John is there to
meet us and to meet his son, and so we
all say hi, and he's is, Okay, I'm gonna come
out and meet you guys at Cariber Ranch where you're recording.
Great John came out for like a week and played
on Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds sang on it
(12:10):
as well. And I never forget because I was like, going,
this is John Lennon and he's going to play one
of my guitars. You know. I gave him my gold
Top I think a guitar from like like a nineties
sixties gold top, really nice guitar, and he said, well,
were you tune it for me? Because you're the guitar player,
you know. And I was like, oh god, you know,
said you're John Lennon. He's going, well to the guitar side,
(12:33):
turned the guitar. Now. Little did I know that little
thing about tune my guitar was going to come up
six months later. I'll get to that story, which is
a good one. So you know, he did Lucy in
the Sky a song called One Day at a Time
I think it was called, and there was a couple
of thoughts songs that he played on and it was
just so cool to do that with John, and he
(12:55):
had fun just hanging out in the studio with us
and we got to know him and it was just
a comical time, lots of great fun and we're all
hoped on oxygen, believe it or not. There's other things
that were a mile high high as well. Yeah, behind Boulder,
right is it? Studio? Way up there Boulder, and then
there's Netherlands, the last town, and then there's Cariber Ranch.
(13:19):
So we were having a blast up there. During that tour,
Alton had played on one of John's singles and I
(13:40):
was at the session. It was called whatever gets You
through the Night, and there was an engineer on the
session that was at one engineer Jimmy Ivan. It was
the engineer. Whenever I see him now days, I tease
him about it. So on that session, Alton played some
piano and sang harmony to John. And when he was
(14:00):
playing the piano track, John was like going, oh, this
is perfect, and he's got all that say he's got
it in one take, and I said, let him do
one more. It'll be even better, trust me, you know,
you know, Okay, So we did one more take and
it was awesome. I mean it was like through the
roof just Elton's piano, it's rock and roll p really
going for it. Yeah, it was only the second tape
(14:23):
and it was perfect. So um Alton said, okay, I've
done that for you. If he gets the number one,
you've got to come on stage with us. And John
was like, well, I'll do that happily because he never
thought it was going to be a single. He never
thought it was gonna be number one. It was hit
number one in like October that year, huge record. So
(14:44):
Elton said, okay, we'll live up to your promise. So
we knew were playing Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving, so
the idea was to get John up on stage with us.
So he said okay. Now he was very nervous because
had played on stage for maybe six or seven years
and nothing big since the Beatles, so he was terrified.
(15:07):
So we're backstage at the Garden and John comes into
the dressing room looking green. I mean he was like green,
and I looked up. It was like, are you okay?
He said, now I think I'm going to throw up
and I said, oh, you'll be fine. He said, so
how long before we go on? I said about fifteen minutes.
So again I'm tuning his guitar and he's saying fifteen minutes,
(15:30):
fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes, and he says, we used to
get a bit of Fanny round about now. And I
was tuning up the guitar and I flat he said,
we used to get a bit of Fanny round about now.
I'm girl, I thought you said that. He said, yeah,
But fifteen minutes before we were going to go on
the stage, they bring girls in, you know, And I
(15:53):
went the Beatles rock, gave a big hug and I said,
rock and roll. It doesn't get any better than That's hilarious.
I love that. That great story. And he came out
on stage and it was awesome. We did, like I
don't know, I think we did four or five songs
and went out and announced him. It was right in
the middle of our set. I've never heard a roar
(16:15):
like that in my life. It was ridiculous, and it
was wonderful for John when he came on because automatically
to get that kind of reception, well, surely you were
expecting that kind of reception. What was the first of
the you said, four songs? You did, But I'm standing there,
So did that put him at ease a little bit,
just a little rocker that he could do. And he
said something like, here's a song by an old fiance
(16:39):
of mine, I meaning Paul obviously, And it was so
sweet him saying that, and it was just great, so sweet.
Oh I didn't know that story. That's yeah, okay. So
was there a point there where you got emotional just
from that moment there? I mean you have to hold
back tears because that's a big deal. You're suddenly going like,
(17:01):
you know, well, number one, I'm in Madison Square Garden.
It's insane. What's happening? And John Lennon's on stage standing
next to you singing Beatles songs and you know, we're
all getting chills and it was completely nuts. In fact,
I remember being on stage when all this is happening,
and I could feel, because you've played the Garden, you
(17:23):
know what it's like. The stage starts to move when
people are getting louder and they're moving and stomping their feet.
Stage moves and I really thought it was going to
collapse because it was moving so much. So it was
it was insane, and uh, we were all on such
a high for the rest of the gig, and then
after the gig there was a wonderful party that we
(17:45):
had for Uri Geller, remember him. People room keys and spoons,
spending spoons and room keys, and everybody was getting locked
out of their room. And I remember later on I
was back at the Plaza in my suite that I
shared with d Murray. We were in there and we're
just going what was all that? That was insane? The
(18:06):
phone rings and it's Alton and he says, what a
gig right on? An amazing gig, And I'm going, yes, insane.
He said, listen, John's here and he wants to come
over and hang out with you guys. Is that okay?
And I said, no, tell him a funk off. That
was a stupid of course, turn them over, you know,
(18:29):
like many other recollections of John or or any of
the Beatles. You think you know it's because I'm sure
it was the same for you growing up. I mean,
those guys were were ten years older than me and
my growing up, and that was who I listened to
her and first started playing guitar too, and learning their
parts and stuff. And now I'm going like, I'm one
(18:51):
of these guys exactly. It's insane. Yeah. Well, I was
eight years old when I first heard the Beatles. I
want to hold your hand and please please me, and
in such quick succession all of those records, and then
just after I turned nine at Sullivan and I wouldn't
for a minute admit to my friends at one day,
(19:11):
I'm going to do something like this, because they'd like,
punch you, get the hell out of here. I guess
some part of me hoped that would happen. I was
always already so enamored with rock and roll, the whole
thing as a whole thing. I just after I saw
the Beetles, I literally didn't have a plan. B that's
what I wanted to do exactly. But must have that
(19:33):
to somebody, right, somebody can't admit it. Somebody at that
age you say you want to get beaten up, or
they'll say, as they said to me many times, don't
be so stupid. You know, yeah, you get a job,
get a trade, learn a trade, and get a real job.
And you know, and it was like, well, say what
you want, that's what I'm gonna do. Hey, when you're
a kid, you don't want to stand out or stick
(19:53):
out or have a big dream because they will beat
you down. I hate to say it, but it's just true.
So you had to hold a dream like this a
little close to your vest, but even you couldn't believe
that it was happening to you. Yeah, but you know,
I think because I was so determined from a very
young age, because when I turned like fourteen fifteen, I
(20:15):
was already playing folk gigs on the weekend when I
wasn't at school. One of my big heroes was Barney McKenna,
who played with a band called the Dubliners. The Doubliners
were just a really great Irish folk band and they
were just hilarious. They were great musicians and great singers,
(20:35):
but they were very funny and they drank copious amounts
of guinness, So I I love them for their guinness
consumption because that's why I love dropt guinness and uh
and other things. I would show up knowing they'd be
in a certain pub in Edinburgh after one of their shows,
because that was the thing in folk music especially, that's
(20:57):
where bands met up the local pub, you know, and
then hang out and they might even start playing sure,
So I would show up there knowing that this might happen,
bring my banjo and being a pub totally illegally Drincky
Guinness really underage, and then I'd say, well, I want
to play with the banjo player, because he'd be having
a session and he'd be playing. After a pint or two,
(21:18):
you're ready to go, and I was ready. Well, I
mean i'd be I knew that's what I wanted to do,
but I'd have to work my way to the front
of all these big, sweaty irishmen in Scotsman. Then go, okay,
I want to play with this guy, and they'd go,
you know, piss off, you know you're way too young. Look,
let me play with him. The first time I did that,
and I'd be again, fifteen, not quite sixteen, and I
(21:41):
played and I helped my own with this guy on
a couple of really crazy fast Irish reels, one of
them called the Mason's Apron, which is a very famous
Irish piece that my friend Barney McKenna at that time
my absolute idol, and I helped my own with him.
So we became friends. They realized that all right, he
can do this, so well I'm hanging on, Well, I'm
(22:03):
hanging out with us you know, so I was hanging
out with people twice my age at a very young age. Yeah,
I was as well. And it's back to that thing
where you know, for me, folk music is influenced by
Pete Seeger and Woody Got three and all the grades
that came before them was very much sort of political,
and it was very of the head and the heart,
(22:26):
and then here comes rock and roll that's from the
heart and the balls. You know, it's like, yeah, I
suddenly here's this lower chocolate thing that's all about sex.
You know. But and Elton was right in that point
where those two were sort of one influence and right,
and a lot of what you brought to that was
your own influence of being a part of the folk scene.
(22:48):
Thanks Brian roll Man. But you know, I really touched
on something. They're about rock and rolling, about sex and
all the rest of it. Absolutely the image ry and
all the rest of it. One of the cool things
was that we had a secret weapon that we were
aren't really aware of. Elton obviously was aware of it,
and that was Bernie Taupin. Sure you have somebody writing
lyrics like that, and suddenly this guy will bring a
(23:10):
lyric that has already done, so you're not writing songs
after you've made a riff that's really cool and you're
trying to write a song around it. This guy brings
your lyric. Oh, this one's called rocket Man. Okay, well
that sounds that's a great idea, so you've already got
the finished lyric. It became something that was like, oh,
(23:32):
this is awesome because not all the songs were necessarily
about sex. You know, you still had enough songs that
were about sex, but there were also other songs that
were about you know, dodgy love affairs. There was a
song called All the Young Girls Love Alice. It's very
current today with that whole gender thing that's going on,
you know. So Bernie was just the most amazing, amazing
(23:57):
part of our band to have somebody bringing the rings. Yeah,
that's really true. His lyrics are so evocative and such
a great story and they pull you in so well.
Do you remember your very first concert with Elton and
the feelings that came with that, the looks on the
faces of the people out in the ground, Yes, I do.
It was pretty scary because of two aspects, Because there
(24:22):
was gonna be two halves for the show. One half
was going to be Royal Festival Orchestra at the Royal
Festival Hall, but we were going to open the whole show.
The first half was going to be the new band
debuting the next album, which was Honky Chateau, and I
think maybe the album had just come out, so the
only thing that anybody knew from the album was rocket Man,
(24:44):
which should instantly become a smash. So thank god we
had at least that, you know. So I was terrified
when it got to actually walking out on stage. I
suddenly thought, this is weird because I can see all
these rockers in the audience and different pople who are
showing up to obviously check us out. What it was
going to be like on your very first gig, very
(25:05):
first gig, very off put and you know, and it's
not just going out there and just doing a set
of you know, balls to the ball of Rocker. We're
doing this album, you know, which they don't really know either.
A little risky they the rocket Man and thankfully there
was a few rockers on that record, so we were
able to get them at it. But it went fine,
It went really good. But there was another thing coming
(25:27):
up because the second half of the concert was going
to be the orchestra with Elton, but I was the
only band member playing in the orchestra because you see,
in those days, d and Nagel were never part of
the recording. They were his tour band, but they never
played on the records. So I just met them for
(25:47):
the album. We've never done a show together. And I'm thinking,
oh God, help, we never really had a rehearsal for it.
Really remarkable, and to be totally rudely honest, they didn't
like me. So I'm going ship, how do I deal
with this? And and I remember after the gig, which
(26:09):
went down brilliantly. It was great because the orchestra conducted
by Paul Buckmaster, who has also passed away a year ago,
who I adored Paul, who were great friends and a
brilliant musician. And this concert was brilliant. It was amazing,
and the audience are loving it. And okay, we have
a hit. We know what it is. Elton's relaxed. He
(26:30):
came up to me, brilliant job, thank you so much.
And I said, this is the first time. I said,
I said, I don't know about this. These guys hate me.
It's not gonna work. He's going, Oh, fuck them, it's
gonna work. Great. I say, what's gonna work? And it's
gonna work, you know. So I was like, Okay, whatever
you say. And so it was very difficult that whole
(26:52):
first three or four months. So interesting do you do it?
Was there ever a time in you're early touring where
you were really stuck into a pan or what were
your earliest tours like together? Were you immediately in the
fourth dimension? I know I wasn't that I was well,
because that's the way it was. But you've got to
remember as well, those early tours were still holiday ends
(27:14):
and stuff like that, so there was no private planes
or no. The most private we got was renting a
greyhound bus and sitting in that, you know, through Texas
for six hours or something. So it was all holiday
inns and greyhound busses and that kind of ship. So
very much that. But De and Nog you'll never really
(27:34):
let me forget through those early tours that they were
the main guys, and I was really an intruder, you know.
I remember getting to Amsterdam once I felt a bit
better about this because I was kind of suddenly on
my turf. I played in Europe with Mgnakara and different people.
So I knew Amsterdam really well because that's where all
(27:55):
the hippies went, and that's basically a folky hippie kind
of guy. We played in Amsterdam, um and after the show,
we're back in the room and they're starting to accept
me a little bit more, but there's still, you know,
this thing of you and the new guy. And they said, okay,
we need some food, but room services closed. You have
to go out and get us some food. So I go, Okay,
these guys are a couple of assholes, but I'll do it.
(28:17):
I'll show them. So I went out, like this is
to me about eleven thirty at night, almost midnight. We've
done a show and we're in Amsterdam, and I take
off and I know where I'm going. I'm heading to
this place that I know it's got best tie stte.
So I go and I get like four tubs of
chickens and beef satte with all the peanut butter, sauce
(28:39):
and all the good stuff. Because see, that's where we
used to eat. All the folks and hippies would find
these great places because they were so stolen after us.
They have to find good food cheaply, you know. So
I knew this place and brought back this food and
they had to accept straight ar Okay, he's one of
the guys because he knows how to do this ship
(29:01):
as well, you know. So I was immediately I was
brought into the fold, as it were at that point.
That's a great story. I remember early bonding with Edna James,
with whom I got my start, and she loved barbecue,
so early days, I'm in talking nineteen seventy four, she
would have these barbecues out of the house where she
would get she would clean the kitchen sink and put
(29:24):
all the sauce and all of the meats and this thing.
And I remember saying to me an hour into it, Brian,
you could go, you know, you could really go. You know.
I was just a little skinny white kid from Glendale
that I think that was a bonding thing, much like
you and Die and Nigel. It's so funny. Food is
a bonding thing, always has been. Well it is any
(29:46):
kid food or any kind of thing like that. You know,
there is more of like the Okay, this is who
we are and we're all on the same level. I
(30:14):
just wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration. It's
often said that it takes about ten hours of dedication
and preparation to achieve the kind of success that you
know you were able to achieve. Is there any advice
that you can offer to musicians that are just starting
out now who would love to be in your position? Well,
I mean I can only tell people what I did,
(30:37):
and that was I did my ten thousand ears, for sure,
And I know, for example that Paul and the Beatles
did their ten thousand in Hamburg and all the places
that they worked. There's no such a shoot for sitting
in your room and learning to play properly by listening. Well,
nowadays nobody listens to records, but that's why I did.
(30:59):
I took my one or two Beatles records that I
had and learned to play every single track on the album.
I took my one or two Shadows records and did
the same thing. I took a couple of my sisters
Elvis records and did the same thing to Brian and
learn everything that Scotty Moore did. And you know, so
I knew everything that the Stones and the Beatles and
(31:20):
the Kinks and all those bands that we had records
in the charts. That's why I did. I learned what
they did. And subsequently, when I decided to go back
in time a little bit, or not back in time,
but get into the guitar more deeply, I learned to
play everything that people like John Renburne and Bert Yange
and John Martin and Jimmy Page later on playing acoustic guitar,
(31:44):
you know, I learned to play properly. There is no
substitute for having the whole thing down. If you learn
to play all these instruments, well, you know you've got
something behind you before you walk into a him and
say yeah, I can do that. I mean, there's no
my bullshit ever gets you know. They can never substitute
(32:06):
for having the knowledge before you walk in there. And
it helps to sing a bit as you do. That's
a big, huge, big consideration when you're looking for a
gig and they can hire someone who plays really well,
and then another guy who plays really well and sings well, well,
you're right, Brian, and the other one apart. And that's
a very good point. The other thing is not being
(32:30):
such a great lead singer. Be a great background singer,
but don't be too good don't don't challenge the lead singer.
Do it a little bit. They know you can come,
you can bring it. But yeah, don't you know, don't
ever challenge the lead singer. Don't do that, right, So
who are you listening to now? Is there any great
music that you're listening to? The you know it's more current. Well,
(32:51):
I get subjected to great music, always have done by
listening to my kids music. I always you know, I
have any children, and they've always turned me on to
create music. My fourteen year old right now, Elliott has
turned me on to Billie Eilish, who I love. I'm
just great. It's just this is so different and so original.
(33:16):
That's why I think I like most about it. Um
So that's from my fourteen year old. From my twenty
one year old, who's my next eldest. He turned me
onto like lamar Uh and a lot of the hip
hop guys I normally maybe wouldn't have listened to, but
the fact that there was a lot of jazz influence
(33:37):
going on there that I listened to. That My twenty
four year old daughter John Mayor, although I turned the
tables on her on our sixties birthday in New York City.
When John came along to our gig, My daughter Juliet
was having her sixteenth birthday that celebration that night, and
I brought her into a room where John Mayor was
and she had no clue she was going to meet
(33:57):
John Mayor. She burst in the years and started crying.
But I've turned around to the Beatles and the Stones
and Hendrix, and she in turn turned me onto John
Mayor in more ways than you know. I love John's music.
Is a great guitar player, good great songwriter, and good singer. Yeah,
so you know all that stuff. I tend to go
(34:19):
for that kind of thing because of my I think
because of my generation where I come from. Um, I
don't try and hang with people from my from this generation.
Like if I would never walk into a room where
Billie Eilish was, for example, and say, oh, Hi, Billy,
I love you ship because she probably started laughing or
throw up or one of them or both. I don't know,
(34:40):
but you know it's uh. I've always listened tried to
listen to current stuff just because I want to hear
what's going on. I don't always love it, but some
of it's great. I adore people like Eddie Vetter because
he's become a close friend as well. And I love
bands like Metallica because Kirk hamis become a friend of
mine and I listened to his music because he's become
(35:01):
a good buddy. Bet it's a great variety, from Billie
Eilish to UH to Metallica there. Yeah, But I don't
think you can necessarily say, well, I like that, but
I don't really like that. I think if you like
one thing, because I mean, I think the Beatles really
taught me that to appreciate all kinds of music, to
not to not have barriers, sure, because they suddenly introduced
(35:22):
folk music to people. They were folky and then they
were sort of metal, and then they were you know, pop,
and they ran the whole gamut. Yeah. Yeah, and to
my mind, not a lot of people have ever done
any better than them. To me, it doesn't get any
better than that, you know. And I've been fortunate to
be involved with a songwriter, singer, performer who's as talented
(35:46):
as those guys. Yeah, just a huge career. Your music
will live on, of course forever, and be appreciated for
generations to come. It must be surreal for the Elton
era to come to an end. What are you going
to miss most about this band in this incredible career
you've had. Um, have you missed his joke? I'll miss
(36:06):
his sense of human He's a funny guy. He's hilarious.
Oh my god. I mean he's probably the funniest person
I've ever met. Partner Billy Connolly, and he's so fast.
So I will miss that because we play a lot
of word games together. I'm sure you do with you
with and he need stimulation exactly, and we have great,
(36:28):
great word games which nobody in the room they're looking around.
What are you guys talking about? I mean he came
up to me one time and said wasp wasp monarch
and I find him and said, oh b B King
And right there started this whole new word game. You know,
musicians with other things in their name, And that's how
(36:50):
it started, right. It's just a bit of a Cockney
rhyming slang taken to another to another area. So I'll
miss that. I'll miss the whole friendship thing that happens
within ans. But um, we've certainly played enough gigs. I
don't know. There are certain gigs that we still play
now where we go. That was an amazing gig and
that still blows me away that that can happen because
(37:12):
we're not jaded in the least, will never be jaded.
Thank god. He's not that kind of performer. Um, he
always gets out there knowing he's going to kick somebody's
ass and I love that. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, Yeah,
he's a fighter. Is there anything you'd like to say
to those fans that have been in your corner for
these five decades? Oh my gosh, I'm so grateful to
(37:32):
all the people that have come up and said so
many nice things to me over the years about the
role that you know, guitars have been in in the
area of you know, piano basically a piano driven band,
and because there have been some big guitar songs and
uh and some big guitar parts, and I'm very grateful
to have been able to contribute those. But I'm also
(37:55):
just grateful that people still love music enough to notice
that stuff. That's the thing that guys like you and
I notice that stuff. For me, sometimes you think, oh,
nobody will notice that. I don't notice that little thing
that I threw in there, But people do, and it's
it's a wonderful thing that there are still music lovers
(38:15):
out there who adore what we do and ship. I'm
grateful for that. We're grateful too. I mean, what an
amazing opportunity and honor to have sat where you've sat,
and stood where you've stood for all these years, to
be witness to it and be a participant in it. Man,
we're all aware of it, you know, we've all been
(38:35):
watching you all these years. Oh thank you. I just
watched you and Rusty up there doing one of the
coolest gigs. I mean that we told you earlier, we
had a last watching that the love that you guys
have spread around comes back in buckets, it really does.
You see generations of people endowing it. Yeah, we're gonna
wrap it up to the lightning round we'd like to
(38:56):
call the encore. So it said that tragedy plus time
cools humor. Tell us, what is the most embarrassing thing
that's ever happened to you on stage? The most embarrassing
thing by far. It happened very early on, actually, which
could have destroyed my entire confidence forever. There's a track
(39:18):
from Goodbye Yellow Bick Roads which has become very famous
called funeral for a friend and love lies bleeding. It's
a epic song to all the Altum fans and too
many other rock and roll fans and people who like
classic rock. And what happens is there's long dreamy, you know,
intro with guitar sounds and and wind sounds and all
(39:40):
this kind of creepy ship going on. And from there
it goes into a beautiful, little, beautiful theme with again
very ethereal guitar sounds and wonderful sounds and a great
piece and everybody knows what's happening with the guitars, and
they love it, and people have come up and said
over the years, loved this thing. And then there's a
big long pause and you were just waiting for this
(40:05):
argango in guitar so to come in, and I'm ready,
just ready to come in. At the light comes on me,
I go like that and nothing comes up, nothing, not
even a sound. And you gotta remember in those days
there was Elton and me, a bass player and a drummer.
That was it. So it wasn't like anybody could go
(40:28):
or there's a mistake here or something. It was fucking
obvious that I'm doing this, Like the classic one of
Pete's windmills, you know, and I'm doing that nothing comes
out of it. And I looked right at my ROADI
and he was a roady at this point. I'm going
fucking roady and I looked around and he kind of
goes and I go, okay, this is your worst moment ever.
(40:51):
And I was I was like deer in the headlights.
There was nothing I could do. So I basically turned
around and went tambourine and he threw Tame Marine and
I caught it, and I just started playing Tame Marine
for the rest of the song. And some people in
the audience actually thought that that was supposed to happen
that way, so I was able to bullshit it, but
it totally killed me. And you know what, they never
(41:15):
even mentioned it in in the reviews the next day,
so I kind of went dudge the bullet, but somebody
didn't mention it. About two years ago, some guy came
up to me and said, you know, I saw that
thing that happened at the Forum, and I'm a guitar
player and I saw that must have been terrible. I
was like, oh God, here it comes again. Well, we're
happy to bring that back up for you again. So
(41:38):
is there one thing that you cannot live without on tour?
It used to be a lot of things I couldn't
live without on tour. I thought I've given all those.
I think I know what you're talking about. I might
have some experience that I probably do. I've given up
each one of those things, remarkable something I well, there's
definitely one thing I could not live without on tour,
(42:01):
and that is my guitar tech, Rick Salazar. He is
He's been with me since nineteen six and I stole
him from Madonna, and he's a brilliant guitar tech. And
in fact we I always say that he is fift
what I do on stage and in the studio because
(42:21):
he knows what I like. And you know that there's
no substitute for that to have somebody who knows the
way you like to play a guitar and the way
you like it's set up and etcetera, etcetera. You know,
I don't even have to go anywhere near the stage
when I arrive at a gig or a venue, I
just have to, you know, do what I do. I
have some food at catering and then walk over and
(42:42):
you know, he plugs me and even I don't even
have to plug in. He plugs me in, and I'm
ready and I walk on stage and bang we go
very good. I trust him that much. Well, listen, Thank
you so much for joining me and our listeners. Has
been such a pleasure to have you. You've made a
great impact on the world of music and we look
forward to seeing what's coming next for you. Thanks Brian,
(43:03):
you more than welcome anytime. Thank you everyone for listening,
and thank you to my dear friend Davy Johnstone for
those incredible stories and for his contribution to rock and
(43:24):
roll that will outlive us. All On tour as a
production of I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media, this
show is produced by Mandy Wimmer and executive producer Noel
Brown and I'm your host, Brian Ray. For more information
about on tour, visit our website black Barrel Media dot com.
Behind the scenes photos from these interviews, and to interact
(43:46):
with us, visit our social media at ontour pod on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter. For more shows from My Heart Radio and
Black Barrel Media, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple
pod Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. M
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