Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning. Hello there, Lance, how are you, buddy? I'm
good, Chris, what's going on? Very happy to be talking to you.
We are so excited about this entireconcert series, but Orleans kicks it
off and let me I'm getting aheadof myself. So Lance is with Orleans,
one of the greatest bands of theseventies, with all those great hits,
(00:21):
and you guys are still together.You will be at the George Washington
Hotel. We're celebrating all year long, their one hundredth year in business serving
Winchester, and they're doing this littleconcert series intimate in the ballroom. You
guys are going to be here Aprilsixth, and we are so excited.
So I don't even know where tobegin. Larry, so many of us
(00:42):
have known your songs for so manyyears, but you were there with the
band from the very beginning. Tellus what that was like. Well,
let's see. So the original bandwas John Hall, who he was the
person that everyone gathered around. Hewas the driving force to start to think.
He stole wells Kelly from my brotherLarry's band, which broke it up,
(01:07):
and then they eventually got Larry in. So they were a trio in
February seventy two. That's when itstarted, and I was still in high
school and then and I went tosee them a couple of times. They
were amazing, and come the fallthey were ready to expand. And I
got the audition and didn't fail.So then the quartet proceeded to seek a
(01:32):
record deal and we started recording inJune the following year, and the rest
is kind of history. As Isay, so, you were like nineteen,
right, I was, Yeah,did that tail end of my eighteenth
year in January turned nineteen when wecut our first record. I was twenty
twenty one when Dance with Me cameout. Holy smoke, you know.
(01:53):
I think right now, and Ithink of the folks who are listening,
and I think, how many ofus were in a band in high school
and everybody, I don't care whoyou are, if you were in a
band, you had that dream,but you got to live at lands.
I think that's insane, right,and even today, like they're at the
format now I think is called yachtrock. We've got yacht rock on iHeartRadio
that is incredibly popular, and youguys are a mainstay. You're a staple
(02:16):
of that. Your music still beingheard and sung and danced to. How
could that possibly feel? Well?Actually, you know, I just got
back yesterday from the rock and Romanceseventies Crews, which which was a hole
basically a whole oatful of yacht rockplus and yeah, people love this.
(02:38):
I mean our generations, particularly thosesixty to eighty and I don't know.
We were just making music, youknow, this is what we This is
how we interpreted all the various influencesthat came our way, and there were
many, and geled it into athing that became Orleans Ma Sure and those
(03:00):
hits you know, dance with Me, Dans When it was an anomaly,
we were doing nothing like that withall funky R and B rock and roll,
and then that tune emerged to puta different spin on the band,
and then still the one with moremain more main, you know, like
like us mainstream. But that thing, we had no idea that would become
(03:22):
like an anthem or like a pieceof Americana for its ubiquity and commercials and
movies and TV and ABC TV themesong, and you know, all those
things are unpredictable. They just happened, you know. So it was good.
It was a good ride. Imean my ride, the ride up
was quick and first five years andthen oh boys, all hell started to
(03:46):
break loose, and you know,things were not so great, and then
they were good and then and butnow they're really good. And it's a
long, fifty two year story I'mtrying to condense. I'm the last last
I'm the last original guy still toowere in. Two of us are deceased,
and John Paul himself is retired fromthe road. You know, age
takes its toll and it's not easyto travel. That's the problem. But
(04:11):
the bad we have now is superb. I'm really, really, really pleased
with it, and I think peoplewill be when they hear this show.
I can't wait. So how dothe audience? I already know they love
it, right, But how doyou when you get there and you're performing
for the audiences. I'm sure thereare people who have probably seen you maybe
once before, or there are peoplewho certainly grew up with your music.
(04:33):
But do you have young folks atthe at the crowds as well? Actually,
you know, not only the childrenof the boomers, but the grandchildren.
Some of them come out and theydiscover this stuff and then they love
it, so it has lasting appeal, which is nice. It transcends generations
(04:57):
and not all of the music fromthe seventies can do that, but and
not all of our stuff can dothat. There's some failure records, but
I think on a whole our catalogstands up, as you know, very
listenable and enjoyable today, not justthe hits, but like the depth of
the catalog. That's really fantastic.Do you do any covers that we might
(05:18):
know when you do your show?Well, here's the story. So the
band that Larry and Wells were inbefore or Leeds, they were also the
writer of the Dancing in the Moonlightwas in that band and he was Wells's
brother, right, So that bandplayed Dancing in the moon recorded the very
(05:38):
first version of it actually, andso when Orleans started, that was a
thing that we played from day one. But the other spin off from that
broken up band was King Harvest.Some of the other alumni and the writer
Sherman Kelly became King Harvest and theyhad to hit on it in seventy three,
so we put it away, buteventually in two thousand and five recorded
(06:01):
our own version. So we havea longstanding history with that particular cover.
And the other thing that we've beendoing lately is like a medley of some
of the West Coast seventies songs,because because even though we were an East
Coast band, our most popular albumis the two albums was Dance with the
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Instill, the one on them wewere cut in LA in the mid seventies,
and we were on Asylum, whichis the hit this label to be
with Joni Mitchell and the Eagles andJackson Brown and we worked with Linda Ronstad
and Andrew Gold and you know,so we put together like an amoudum of
that stuff that people they really likethat too, So you know, not
(06:44):
a lot of covers, but sprinklingthat makes sense. So you know,
you have been doing this. Youjust said it fifty two years, which
is just almost impossible to believe thatis enduring. That's something that struck a
chord and continues to and I think, you know, of all those years,
it would be completely unfair to sayask you, like, what's your
favorite moment or you know, butdo you have any any moments that just
(07:11):
suddenly come back to you and youthink that was really incredible? I can't
believe we did that, yeah,you know, and a lot of it
is a blur and people come upand say, I saw you at blah
blah blah. Well if you sayso, I don't remember being at blah
blah blah, right right, Idon't remember specifically that. But certain things
can stand out, like performing atWoodstock ninety four, which was the twenty
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fifth anniversary, which took place inSaugerty's, New York, which is right
next to That's like where we lived. We man grew up in Woodstock,
which is the next town over fromSaugerty. So we played our hometown basically
on this stage in front of onehundred and fifty thousand people. Had of
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rotating stage right, so as oneact was playing, the other was setting
up behind the curtain, and thenthe whole thing, The whole thing spins
around and suddenly you see the seaof people. And then when you start
playing, the sound was so humongouslybig. It was like wow, it
was overwhelming, and then twenty fiveminutes later we were done. So things
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like that stand out. Touring withLittle Feet, touring with Jackson Brown,
you know, touring with Chicago StephenStill's, all these things kind of stand
out when did do you have grandkids? Excuse me, do you have grandkids?
I have three grandkids. Yeah,two daughters and the one gave me
(08:41):
three grand kids. Wow. Okay, So when did your grandkids figure out
oh my god, granddad's famous andhow that happened? I don't know that.
I think maybe my the oldest onewho's pushed in fourteen, I think
she got that at some point amongher among her friends' parents, they started
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to like grab onto that, youknow. But I mean it's not a
big deal that, you know,grandpa is a is a musician. It's
like, yeah, okay, Iget it, but it's not there,
you know. I don't think sobig wow for them. My daughter's you
know, they've they've grown up withit, so they get it and they
appreciate it. But again, it'sjust I'm just dad. I'm not like
(09:28):
mister rockstar. Right, You're notTaylor Swift granddad. But it's pretty cool.
So so Lance. You know,some folks in the band have have
retired from the road, and youwere saying, and that happens, right,
age does take it it's place inyour life. How long are you
going to be touring with the band? Have you thought about that. I'm
(09:50):
sure you have. I have.You know, I've just turned seventy myself,
and looking around, I'm relatively inpretty good shape. So I have
more years in me. And whereasI was the kid when we started,
as people have left and been replaced, I'm now the oldest. I'm the
(10:13):
elder. My younger brother Lane hasbeen with me since two thousand. Actually,
he's spent a couple of years inthe eighties with us, and then
permanently since two thousand, so he'sgot twenty five years under his belt.
He's only a couple of years youngerthan me. And of course our older
brother Larry, who passed in twentytwelve, was for the first forty years
(10:37):
of the band. He was theradio voice that people recognize. He wrote,
He wrote Love Takes Time and SpringFever and a bunch of other hits,
and was a great harmonica player,by the way, yeah, thank
you, and he played anything toget his hands on. So, you
know, John and Larry were kindof the driving force, the yin yang
(10:58):
attention that is good for creativity,and I was I don't know if you've
seen spinal Top, but I wasthe the lukewarm water you know, I
was the the piece, the peacemakerfor all that time. So since then
(11:18):
there have been so many different versionsof the band. Maybe it doesn't or
more basically helmed by either John,Larry and me, or Me and Larry,
or after Larry, me and John. And now that John's retired,
I get to carry the torch.And who I've gathered around me I'm really
super pleased with. So so we'llkeep going as long as people want to
(11:43):
hear this music. We are thrilled, We're really thrilled that you're coming to
what we call Shenandoah Country, uhfor the one hundredth anniversary of the George
Washington Hotel, which is the jewelin the crown of our old town here
and again. Tickets are on saleright now at event bright dot or Leans,
performing on April sixth, and it'swill Call, and it's it's just
(12:05):
going to be a great, greatshow. I do have a question,
one more question, and then i'dallogic. And I know I'm taking so
much of your time, but soyou are the last of the original members.
What happens when you decide, Okay, this is it, I'm done.
What happens to the band, Doesit continue in some form or is
that that's it? And often tothe sunset we go. It's funny.
(12:26):
I was having this discussion just yesterdaywith the lead, the main guy in
a band called Hotel California, whichis an Eagles tribute band, and they're
very, very successful. They workall the time all over the country.
So he was saying, yeah,well, if I retire, then I
could just you know, clone me, like put someone as me. And
I'm saying, no, that's notreally going to work because it's one thing
(12:50):
too for him to replace himself inan Eagles tribute band. You know,
that's interchangeable stuff. But I'm kindof the link to the autit authenticity.
Yeah, the legacy, right,So if I were to pack it in
at some point, I do notsee I would not even want to have
it continue with nobody original. Havingsaid that Foreigner who was also on the
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cruise, there's nobody in that bandfrom the original band, but they're really,
really, really good at being foreigner. Well that's great, but I
had no idea. And I feellike you feel when you say that you
are the authentic connection to all ofthe creativity, to the legitimacy. Of
the band, and I mean,it's great to see really perform, really
(13:37):
great performers performing the songs, butthe connections just and I don't want to
mean this in the wrong way becauseI'm very excited about seeing you, and
I know you picked great, greatperformers that I'm excited for. That you
are there is great. But afteryou're gone, if it kept going,
Okay, it's a wedding band,right, I mean, really a good
(14:00):
wedding band. But you know,just I just that's kind of where I
am with some of these groups.I went to one of the Motown I
love Motown, and I took mydad to go see a Motown band.
I won't say which one, butthere wasn't a single person still in the
group from the original days and itjust was okay, well you yay,
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but I just didn't have the samespecial feel. That's one of the reasons
I'm so excited that you are goingto be part of this group that we
are going to see at the bigcelebration for the George Washington Hotel. So
that's very interesting. Have you madeyour decision? Is that your decision then,
or you still thinking, yeah,that's the way I see it.
I'm not even entertaining the thought ofit being over yet. I figure,
(14:46):
you know, I got another fiveyears maybe in me and if the market
wants it. But we'll cross thatbridge when it comes to it, I
would. I want to mention thatthis show is kind of unique in that
it an acoustic show. We're notbringing our drummer or and his voice because
of the size of the venue andproduction and such, but so it's a
(15:09):
quartet acoustic guitars, bassed keyboard forsingers, and so the intimacy really works
that in that setting, the twohundred seater, it'll be like a big
living room and we'll tell some stories. And again, nobody can tell the
stories I can tell because nobody butme was there, right. So that's
(15:31):
another point of why I don't seethis continuing once I'm out of the picture.
So I just you say that now, and I think I know that
room very well. I can't waitto hear all those harmonies together, all
four voices, just in that intimatesetting. I think of Dance with Me
and the chorus and the incredible harmoniesthat you had there. So thrilled to
(15:56):
talk to you, lance upon sincenineteen seventy two. Just still on the
road. I can't believe it.Orleans is going to be right here in
Winchester. Get your tickets now eventbright dot com and we hope to see
you April sixth, Lance, thankyou so much for joining me. Man,
You're very welcome. Chris, thankyou, and is there anything else
(16:17):
you wanted to say before we go? That people can find us at Orleans
Online dot net, Orleans online dotnet or Facebook at Orleans Music and we
can see you there or we'll seeyou at the Merchant merch table after the
show. Excellent buddy listen. I'mso genuinely serious, can't wait for this,
(16:37):
and thank you so much for takingtime to talk to us. It's
a thrill for me. I've beenin radio for thirty five years. This
was a thrill for me and Ireally appreciate it. Well, thank you,
Chris, appreciate it. Have agreat day. We'll see you in
April. Bye bye bye,