0:01

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode

0:03

of Inside the Studio on iHeart Radio.

0:06

My name is Jordan runt Dog. But enough about

0:08

me. I have so much to say about my

0:10

legendary guest. He's one of the most distinctive

0:12

voices in music. His ethereal

0:15

velvety vocals helped make his group The Zombies

0:17

one of the most unique bands of the British Invasion.

0:20

Their unmistakable blend of Beatles,

0:22

Bill Evans, blues and baroque can be heard

0:24

on sixties hits like She's Not There, Tell

0:27

Her No and Time of the Season. Now.

0:30

For years, those three titles basically

0:32

summed up their creative reputation, but

0:34

the band has experienced an unprecedented

0:36

popular resurgence and the New Millennium thanks

0:39

to an album that was basically ignored upon

0:41

its release. I'm talking, of course,

0:43

about the brilliant Odyssey and Oracle. It's

0:45

a kaleidoscopic musical vision spanning

0:48

cultures, genres and moods. Released

0:51

just after the band split in nine, the

0:54

album has risen from obscurity to be hailed

0:56

as a pop masterpiece, praised

0:58

by the likes of Tom Petty, Dave Grohl

1:00

and Paul weller many so

1:03

called lost albums oh the rehabbed

1:05

reputation to a film soundtrack or

1:07

a well chosen commercial placement. Not

1:09

so with Odyssey an Oracle. It's rediscovery

1:12

relies purely on the strength of the songs.

1:15

In two thousand three, Rolling Stone placed

1:17

it at number one hundred on their list of the five

1:19

dred Greatest Albums of All Time, and

1:22

in two thousand nineteen, the band themselves

1:24

were given a much delayed induction into the

1:26

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This

1:29

renewed popularity helped the Zombies rise

1:31

from the dead over thirty years

1:33

after they're split, My Guests reunited

1:35

with this bandmate, Rod Argent, the Zombies

1:37

organist and chief songwriter, and they begin

1:40

touring pretty much non stop, at

1:42

least until the COVID crisis put a stop

1:44

to live music. Undeterred,

1:46

they kept busy with work on a new Zombies

1:48

record, likely due out in My

1:51

Guests also helped oversee the fiftieth anniversary

1:54

reissue of his solo debut one

1:56

year, complete with a bonus disc of outtakes

1:59

and unheard ms that'll be hitting

2:01

shelves on November five, until

2:03

they can hit the road once again. The Zombies

2:05

are thrilling fans with their so called world

2:08

tour. In one night, a livestream

2:10

concert held from the floor of studio to London's

2:13

iconic Abbey Roads Studios, the

2:15

famous room where the Beatles recorded the bulk

2:17

of their work. It was a fitting choice

2:19

of venue. Odyssey and Oracle and one

2:21

year were recorded just a few steps down the hall.

2:24

Fans can watch the concert and the special

2:26

Q and A with veteran rock journalist David

2:28

Frick on demand through October three

2:31

via vieps dot com. I'm so

2:33

thrilled the welcome one of my rock and roll heroes, Colin

2:35

Bloodstone. We started our

2:37

talk discussing his return to Abbey Road.

2:44

It was really good fun and I mean it's

2:46

such an atmosphere there to be in studio

2:48

to the Beatles recorded the majority,

2:51

the vast majority of their tracks. Um

2:55

and and also of course I've

2:57

worked in there with the Allen Posson's project. Allan

3:00

was worked in that studio although the Zombies and

3:03

on my solo albums, we worked in

3:05

the studio just up the hall, Studio

3:07

three, which is the first studio you

3:10

come to when you when you walk through the front door

3:13

the Zombies never recorded in studio too.

3:15

That was our first time playing together

3:17

in studio too. Wow. I mean just

3:19

even just being in that studio album and it

3:22

must have just as you say, packed with so

3:24

many memories. I mean, what a special night for you

3:26

are. Absolutely, you know, I found

3:28

that when we first went there. I think we might

3:30

have gone there the day before we actually played. And

3:34

I was saying to all the guys who hadn't been in

3:36

Appy Road, I was saying, yea, this is studio to

3:38

where the Beatles recorded. This is Studio

3:40

three where we did honestly and oracles so much

3:42

Historildren and I had to stop because

3:45

I was becoming emotional

3:47

about the whole thing, and I thought, no, no, they're gonna

3:49

have to work with out for themselves, because this is

3:51

something that effects on me. I

3:53

don't know what it was doing to them, but it was certainly

3:55

having an effect on me. Oh,

3:57

I can only imagine me. I've been lucky enough

4:00

to stand in studio too, and there

4:02

is an energy. You're right, it's it's it really

4:04

envelopes you. Yes, absolutely,

4:07

it doesn't intrigue me because it's the only

4:09

studio I've ever known where the

4:11

control room is on the next floor

4:14

up, and so there's this flight of stairs

4:16

up the left hand side, and I've

4:18

always sort of it as the walk of shame when

4:21

you've been down there trying to do a vocal so

4:24

as I was with Alan Parsons, and

4:26

you know, he wants to say, oh,

4:29

you know, you haven't really got hold of this and

4:31

there's a problem here. Would you like to

4:33

come up and have a chat? And you know, you clip

4:36

clop up, trudging up the stairs.

4:39

There's nowhere to hide. You know. I've

4:41

never known another studio like that where

4:44

you have to go up this open staircase

4:47

too to be told where you're going

4:49

wrong. It's

4:51

such an incredible place. But one

4:53

of the details that I really loved about about

4:56

your your performance the other night was that you

4:58

had the stage crew dressed in the white

5:00

lab coats. And I don't know if that was intentional,

5:02

but I felt like a fitting nod to the days

5:05

when Abbey Road was treated like a laboratory

5:07

and they had the engineers dressed like scientists,

5:10

but they did. It

5:13

wasn't my idea, but you're

5:15

absolutely right they were dressed in like. What

5:17

happened was the engineers actually used

5:20

to be dressed in jackets,

5:22

collars and ties that are looking at

5:24

the pictures, it reminds me of old

5:27

sessions back in the day. They had

5:29

colors and ties. And then what we

5:31

would call the boffins of the technicians,

5:34

who would you know, once in a

5:36

while things would go wrong and in a flash,

5:39

these guys would be up there. You didn't you didn't

5:41

phone out for somebody, there's there's a whole

5:44

department that looks after any any technical

5:46

problems. They wore white coats

5:49

and then there was seemed to be an army

5:51

of guys who just moved things around um

5:54

sort of loaders, and they had

5:57

brown coats, so it was in

5:59

a way it was quite regimented. It was a

6:01

real contradiction at Abbey Row because

6:04

they made so many wonderful

6:06

records there and they had great,

6:08

great engineers. We worked almost

6:11

exclusively with Peter Vince and Jeff Emerick

6:14

and they were absolutely wonderful. But

6:16

they did have an old

6:18

fashioned side to it. They were very

6:20

strict rules and I think it changed

6:23

when probably after Sergeant Pepper

6:26

because the Beatles were recording all night, but

6:28

and before that there were very strict

6:31

rules. You started at ten, and you

6:33

must finish at one. That's your session.

6:35

Then you started at two and you went

6:37

to a five and you had to stop,

6:40

and then you went from seven to ten, and

6:42

particularly in Studio three,

6:45

you had to stop at ten because the

6:47

soundproofing wasn't very good in Studio

6:49

three, and it's built right next door

6:51

to an apartment block, and they used to complain

6:54

about the noise, so you had to finish

6:56

at ten o'clock. It was. It was

6:58

quite strange, really wow,

7:01

I mean, such a fascinating I mean, as you say

7:03

that to debt almost sort of regimented

7:06

mentality almost helped

7:08

the sessions in a way because it forced you to sort of

7:11

really have the songs down and

7:13

really get in and get out and know exactly what you wanted to

7:15

do. In a way, it does, and I

7:17

mean, particularly with them obnestly an Oracle,

7:19

we had a very limited budget. We had a thousand plans,

7:21

so I mean, you know, it's

7:24

not very much. It wasn't very much then and

7:26

it certainly isn't very much now, of course, But to

7:29

to have a thousand plans and try and do an

7:31

album in appy road, you're you're

7:33

up against it. So we rehearsed

7:35

really extensively before we went in to

7:37

do Odesty an Oracle, and

7:40

when we got to the studio, we knew what songs

7:42

we were doing, we knew what keys we're going to do, and

7:44

we knew the arrangement. We're just looking for

7:46

a performance and we recorded very

7:48

very fast, but there wasn't

7:51

there was that added element that we

7:53

knew we could record from center one

7:55

and that was it. And on one occasion, there's

7:57

a song called changes on Odyesty an Oracle,

8:00

and it's the only song that we're

8:02

all singing on. Everybody's

8:04

singing harmonies on that, and

8:06

so we were all around the piano, lovely

8:09

Steinway piano in Studio three. There's

8:11

a red light on at the door, but

8:13

because we're recording, we're singing, and

8:16

the hands of the clock just went past one

8:18

o'clock and these guys in

8:21

brown coats came in and we're singing

8:24

around the piano and they took the piano

8:26

art and took it to another studio in

8:28

the middle of a take. Yes, well,

8:31

and we just kept singing, but we didn't

8:33

dare stop because we just didn't have any money

8:35

to pay for those sessions. So

8:38

I've always liked to think that you can hear

8:40

the piano being moved out on

8:43

that particular track, but I

8:45

think we had to do it again because I think it

8:47

was a bit noisy. I've listened, I can't

8:49

hear the piano being moved, but

8:52

it did happen. It was It was

8:54

quite interesting. I was rather proud of us that

8:57

these guys I didn't know who they were. I've never seen him

8:59

before, and they walk in and take the piano.

9:01

They could have been stealing the piano for all I

9:04

knew, and we just kept

9:06

singing. So I was quite proud of us

9:08

in that respect. I was gonna say, that's professional

9:10

right there, even though the rolling pianos around you

9:12

don't miss a note, it's professionally. It's

9:14

also desperation when you when you

9:17

don't have any money and

9:19

the studio times running out, you just

9:21

keep going, you know. And so

9:23

that's what we do well, despite

9:26

the sort of over zealous movers.

9:29

Abbey Road then and

9:31

and now is such a technologically

9:33

advanced place. How did that the

9:35

cutting edge of technology at the time, help

9:38

faster out of see an Oracle? Well,

9:40

of course, they just literally finished

9:42

saga Pepper. I think the Beatles have left

9:45

two days before we went in, and

9:47

famously John Lennon left his melotron

9:49

in Studio three and Rod used

9:52

it. And if you listen to Odessy an Oracle, it's

9:55

melotron all the way through it. It would

9:57

have been a different album if John hadn't have

9:59

left his melo drown behind. And they also

10:01

left percussion instruments all on the floor

10:03

at tambourines, miracus and things, So

10:06

we were picking up the percussion instruments

10:08

that the Beatles had left from Sergeant Pepper,

10:10

which was a big thrill for us because we're

10:12

a huge Beatles fans then and

10:14

now. Um. But I

10:16

say that because just

10:19

before that, the Beach Boys

10:21

in America have been using an eight

10:23

track machine, but there was no

10:26

eight track machine in the UK. That

10:28

John Lennon said we wanted to use

10:30

an eight track machine, there wasn't one in the UK,

10:33

and he just left

10:35

the engineers to sort that problem

10:37

out. And what they came up with was they

10:39

actually attached

10:42

to four track machines. I mean they call

10:44

it sort of, I don't know, it's

10:46

quite rough. I think they just put to four track

10:48

machines together, which in effect

10:51

gave you seven tracks. It didn't give you

10:53

eight tracks. You lost one track

10:55

when you did this. But so the

10:57

Beetles have been using seven track recording

11:00

and we inherited that from

11:03

them because we have used to recording on four

11:05

tracks. In the UK, everyone recorded on four

11:07

tracks, and this game is a lot of

11:09

opportunities to try other things. For instance,

11:12

on time that the season the track was

11:14

recorded, and Rod got the idea of

11:16

putting a ah

11:18

and we've got an extra track, so he

11:21

just it was one take, you know, he just went into the

11:23

studio and he put that on

11:26

on on the track, and I mean it wouldn't

11:28

be the same song without that,

11:31

and we wouldn't have been able to do it if

11:33

we'd only had four tracks. So

11:35

it did. It really did help in many ways. It's

11:38

so interesting to hear how how you build these

11:40

tracks up. I mean you mentioned Brian Wilson.

11:43

Uh. In my mind, I've always associated honestly

11:45

and Oracle Pet and Pet Sounds as

11:47

just for their sonic scope and the rich

11:50

harmonies and the lyrical maturity. And

11:52

I think about Brian using a sort of modular

11:55

recording technique for something like good Vibrations,

11:57

where he would record segments of songs

12:00

and assemble them almost like movie scenes, because

12:02

they all had a very different and I listened

12:04

to tracks like something like Changes and Honestly

12:07

and Oracle or even Brief Candles, where

12:10

it's there's such distinct musical

12:12

moments and textures. How would you go

12:14

about assembling tracks like that? Did

12:16

you go instrument by instrument and build

12:19

it up or were the complete band performances

12:21

opposite. We didn't have the time to

12:23

do things like that. I don't think it even occurred,

12:26

but we were recording really

12:28

fast, and from memory,

12:31

all of those tracks would have all

12:34

four guys in the band playing at the

12:36

same time in the same room. That

12:39

would be the basic track, and

12:42

then I would put a lead vocal on and

12:45

Chris and Rock would put harmonies on afterwards.

12:48

That's as I remember it. Um

12:51

and occasionally then because we had

12:53

these extra tracks. Again

12:56

using time of the season as an example, there

12:58

are two keyboards on, especially on the playout

13:01

at the end, that's there's two keyboards

13:03

playing. They're both it's both Rod, but he's just playing

13:05

two organ solos at the end,

13:08

And there are probably one or two other instances

13:10

of that. And also we double tracked

13:12

some of the harmonies which we weren't able to

13:14

do before. So it wasn't

13:16

incredibly complicated the things

13:19

that we added. It's just that we were able

13:21

to sometimes overdub a keyboard

13:23

and overdub harmonies as well.

13:26

But it really did help. And then once or twice

13:29

we would put an effect on like the

13:31

time of the season, handclap and breath.

13:34

You just sopped a mystery that I've

13:36

been grappling with for years. I've tried to play

13:38

the outro solo. Never realized thing it

13:40

was for two keyboards, and I could never figure out why

13:42

I could never get it. Thank you for that.

13:47

But also another thing with our harmonies, which I

13:49

think it's probably puzzled

13:51

people a little bit. We didn't do

13:53

harmonism in a way that most people did, where

13:55

being the lead singer, I would just sing

13:57

the melody and then we would have somebody

14:01

sing a harmony above and somebody singing a

14:03

harmony blow. We didn't do things like that because

14:06

I was a fairly indisciplined

14:08

vocalist. I had no um classical

14:11

background or at all, and

14:15

Rod would always say to me, you sing

14:17

what you hear. This would usually be in a chorus I'm

14:20

thinking about more than anything else. He would sing,

14:22

say, you sing what you hear as

14:24

the melody, and because I've got quite a high voice,

14:27

I would often automatically go into the

14:29

top harmony. So having

14:31

established that's what I heard, we

14:34

would we would play that four or five times

14:36

with me probably just rodding me on

14:38

piano, and we played

14:40

that, did I've got that lot in my mind? And

14:43

then he would try and find a very

14:45

easy harmony for Chris, because Chris

14:48

has got to play bass at the same time as he's

14:50

singing, So we try and find a very

14:52

easy harmony for Chris.

14:55

And because of doing those two

14:57

things, Rod often would have an incredibly

15:00

complex harmony that he had to fill

15:02

in all the holes that

15:04

we weren't achieving in in

15:06

the harmony. So some of our

15:08

harmonies are really unusual. And if you just if

15:10

you tried to copy them, I think it would

15:12

be well, you'd be all right if you knew what I

15:15

just said, I've let the I've let the cat

15:17

out of the back, haven't. If you knew what I

15:19

just said, it would be a lot easier. But people

15:21

try to copy them, and of course they're

15:23

thinking of somebody singing the top harmony,

15:25

somebody singing the bottom harmony, and somebody singing the

15:27

melody. But that's not sometimes

15:29

that wasn't how we did it. A

15:32

few years back, you toured with with Brian

15:34

Wilson for the Something Great from sixty

15:36

eight tour. What was that

15:38

like, the interplay between between you

15:41

and m bri. I mean, that must have been like a master

15:43

class on harmony that tour. It

15:45

was incredible. I'm a huge

15:48

by a Wilson fan and and Beach Boys

15:50

fan, you know, and I always have been. I

15:52

just think they're absolutely fantastic. Is a master

15:55

It was wonderful to two with him, and of course he

15:58

has an incredible band who

16:00

we got to know quite well. And one

16:02

of the wonderful moments was they would

16:04

always have a warm up before the show

16:07

and they would usually they'd

16:09

usually sing in my room, just

16:12

acapella. It was mind

16:15

boggling beautiful. If ever, if

16:17

I had the chance, I would be there every night if

16:19

I could, and I'd just like

16:21

to listen to them sing. Absolutely

16:24

fantastic and you really

16:26

hear it when it's just voices in a room,

16:29

Um, you know it's not it's got up on the stage

16:31

with all acoustic problems and whatever,

16:33

You're right there in the middle of it. Absolutely

16:36

wonderful, great singers. And

16:38

there's a version that I've heard of you on stage

16:41

with Brian singing God only knows, and it

16:43

brought tears to my eyes and absolutely incredible

16:46

parts. I'm always going to remember

16:48

that I only did it twice. I

16:51

did it in Los Angeles and I

16:53

did it in Seattle, and I'll always remember

16:55

that. It was a wonderful

16:58

experience. But it was one of you

17:00

know, it's one of the greatest contemporary

17:03

songs that's ever been written. So to have the

17:05

opportunities to sing that with

17:07

the guy who wrote it, um,

17:10

it's a little intimidazing. It's a little

17:12

intimidazing, but it was. It

17:14

was a great thrill. It was. It was wonderful.

17:17

I encourage everyone listening to to go

17:20

go check that out online and also

17:22

check out the interview after

17:24

the Abbey Road live stream that

17:26

that you and Rod did with with

17:29

the journalist David Frick and he

17:31

he uh. During that discussion, which was so

17:33

illuminating and so interesting, he mentioned,

17:36

uh, you're singing parts

17:38

as a full performance and not sort

17:40

of camping in. You know, a chorus

17:42

here, redoing a line or two there, and

17:44

really wanting to to sing complete takes

17:47

start to finish. That's so interesting to me. I

17:49

wanted to ask you more about your your process of

17:51

completing vocal takes well,

17:54

and particularly when I'm working with Rod,

17:56

which pretty much now is exclusively

17:58

what I'm doing. It really come from Rod.

18:00

I mean, I would prefer to do it that way anyway,

18:03

but Rod is adamant. You know, we do a whole

18:05

performance and we'll

18:07

do four or five takes and

18:10

then try and try and pick a favorite

18:12

one and then just see if there's anything

18:15

better that we you know, we're not. I would

18:17

say to Rod, I'm not proud. You

18:19

know, we need to catch

18:22

something. That's fine by me, and

18:25

I'm more recently I'm quite pleased that.

18:28

Um. You know, as I've developed vocal

18:30

technique a little bit, the takes

18:32

will be very very similar, so almost

18:36

identical. So if he wants to double

18:38

track anything, it's there.

18:40

If we've done four or five takes, that

18:42

he can just take another take and

18:44

there's your there's your double track if you want

18:46

to double and if you want a trouble track, you know it's

18:49

there. If you want to do it. But yeah,

18:51

it's as simple as that. Really. We always do whole

18:53

performances, um,

18:55

and and then we'll do four or five

18:57

and then stop and see where. Or

19:14

on the topic of your incredible voice, I think

19:16

I'm correct in saying that you still perform

19:19

these songs in their regional key, which

19:22

and you sound just as rich and flawless

19:25

as fifty five years ago. I think I speak

19:27

for all singers and vocal coaches

19:29

listening right now. When I asked, how

19:32

do you do that? What is your secret? Do you

19:34

have a special tea or what have you? How do you protect

19:36

your voice? Well? I do do

19:39

singing exercises. Both Rod and I started

19:41

with a singing coach called Ian Adam in

19:43

London is sadly no longer with

19:45

us, but um, he used to coach

19:48

a lot of the singers in the West End, which would

19:50

be like Broadway in America. And

19:54

he never wanted to change your voice,

19:56

but he was trying to make it stronger

19:58

and more accurate because singers in

20:00

the West End have to sing night after

20:03

nights after night, and you

20:06

know you have to have a fairly strong voice to do that.

20:09

And he just taught me a little bit about

20:11

singing technique, and he gave me a series

20:13

of exercises, and when we're on the road,

20:15

I'll do those exercises before

20:17

sound checks, probably half an hour before

20:20

sound check, and then I do them again before

20:22

the show. So I will have sung in the

20:24

sound check itself, maybe quite long.

20:26

It just depends. It's more dependent

20:29

on technology

20:31

than anything else. If everything works,

20:35

but I will have sung for an hour before

20:37

the show starts, but not but in two

20:39

half hour bursts, one before sound

20:41

check from one before the show. So hopefully

20:44

my voice is warmed up. And

20:46

if I do it every day, it just

20:48

makes it stronger. I mean, I think

20:51

people who don't practice are very

20:53

prime to losing their voice, and you

20:56

often see that where a band goes

20:58

out on tour and then we lead

21:00

singer loses his voice after two or three nights,

21:03

and I just want to avoid that. And

21:05

another thing I often hear is singers will come off

21:07

and they'll say, you know, once my voice

21:09

had warmed up after the fourth office song

21:11

and it's really great, and I don't

21:13

say anything, but I'm thinking, well, why

21:16

didn't you warm your before you went on?

21:18

And then it would have been great from the first song.

21:20

I mean, I'm not saying it always works,

21:23

but it's it's worth a try.

21:26

Yes, that's

21:28

so. That's that's all I do. Really, I

21:31

try. When we're on the road, I do try

21:33

and eat sensibly obviously,

21:35

try and get as much sleep as possible. I

21:37

think you need to drink a lot of water. Will

21:39

always have water on stage. There's

21:43

one occasion when I thought I'd lost my voice

21:45

in the middle of the show. I honestly

21:47

I thought it had gone completely, and I

21:49

drank some water. It just came back.

21:52

Just like that. Said, I would always say, have

21:54

some water around. I admire people

21:56

who can do it, like a two hour set with not

21:59

drinking any water, but I'm

22:01

not quite sure how they do that. The

22:03

other thing that I've done is that I

22:06

was always always like to enjoy

22:09

a consert night and we'd always have

22:11

a few drinks and you know, make a

22:13

bit of a social of it. But four

22:15

or five years ago, it's four and

22:18

a half years ago, I gave up alcohol

22:20

altogether. And you know, that's

22:23

that's a big, a big thing

22:25

to do. But if you think you

22:27

perform better without alcohol,

22:31

it's worth considering. You know, if you're getting

22:33

you a bit sloppy. If you make mistakes and your

22:35

intonation is not on the button, it

22:38

might be worth looking at your alcohol

22:40

consumption. I'm

22:42

not saying people what to do. I'm only telling

22:44

you what I do. You know, actually I'm

22:46

going to have a drink. Talking about water are

22:50

amazing tips. I mean, you

22:52

know your voice is so distinctive,

22:54

but it blows me away how many different styles

22:57

you singing. I mean, I'm thinking about your first album.

23:00

You go from Groce Win tunes to Smokey

23:02

Robinson to Bo Diddley. When you

23:04

first started singing with their voice

23:07

voices that you wanted to emulate. Who are some of your

23:09

your your vocal heroes when you were first

23:11

starting out as a musician. Well,

23:14

I'll tell you in a minute that I only became a singer

23:16

really by chance. But I'll

23:20

explain that in a minute. But for

23:22

me, it was always the greats of rock and

23:24

roll, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard.

23:26

They were the people that I idolized

23:30

and then that encouraged me to

23:32

buy My parents bought a guitar.

23:35

And it wasn't easy for them, you know, they

23:37

bought the guitar. I was eternally grateful

23:39

and through that I got an introduction to

23:41

this band that was forming as

23:43

a guitarist, and I went along and

23:47

it was our first ever rehearsal, and

23:50

you know, I didn't know Rod at the time. I knew

23:52

one guy who was in this joining this band,

23:54

and he was late. So I kind of

23:57

turned up and there were all these strangers

23:59

there, and it wasn't helped by the fact that

24:01

I played a lot of rugby and I just broken

24:03

my nose and I had two black eyes and

24:05

taping across my face, so I actually

24:08

looked like a zombie when I turned up. I

24:11

think they're a bit afraid of me, actually, which

24:13

was lovely. Anyway, I

24:15

was a rhythm guitarist. Didn't

24:17

last long. I

24:20

was a rhymen guitarist and Rob was going to be the lead

24:22

vocalist. And at

24:24

this first rehearsal we played um.

24:27

We played a song called malaguenan instrumental

24:30

called Mala It's an old classic Guene

24:32

and Rob didn't because it was instrumentally,

24:35

didn't do anything because he was the singer. And

24:37

then we had a break and he went over that just

24:40

by chance, there was an old broken down piano

24:42

in the corner and he just started playing

24:44

nut rocker by be bumbling the stingers,

24:47

which is it's quite an accomplishment

24:50

for say a fifteen year old boy to play that

24:52

with authority. And I went

24:54

over to him, and, as I said, I didn't really know him,

24:57

so I probably I probably

24:59

didn't call him his name. I just said, boy,

25:04

you should play keyboards in this band. I

25:06

don't know, why aren't you playing keyboards? And

25:08

he was adamant, you've said, no, it's a rock

25:11

and roll back. We want three guitars, which

25:13

was the fashion at

25:15

the time, and the conversation ended. And

25:18

then at the end of that first rehearsal,

25:20

I was just going to put my guitar in its case

25:22

and I just sang a Rocky Nelson

25:25

song pretty much to myself, just in the

25:27

corner, which is having a bit of fun.

25:29

It was either Hello Mary Lou or It's

25:31

late. May would have been It's late. And

25:34

Rod came over. I wasn't singing to him.

25:36

He just heard it and he came over and you said,

25:39

look, I'll tell you what. If you'll

25:41

be the lead singer in the band, I'll

25:43

play keyboards. And that essentially

25:45

was how the Zombies came together. Wow,

25:48

maybe maybe he couldn't sing and play at the same time

25:50

back then, maybe he

25:52

couldn't. Yeah,

25:54

I don't know whether he could or not, but that

25:57

was the beginning of it. When we were always slightly

25:59

differ in that we were a keyboard

26:01

based band when that was not the fashion

26:04

at all, and we always did

26:06

three part harmony, you know, and

26:09

very few other bands we're doing three part harmony

26:12

at the time, but we always did it.

26:14

It's so interesting to think about how much R and

26:16

B you are played early

26:18

in your career and a lot of British bands to him.

26:20

It got my mojo working road Runners, Sticks

26:22

and Stones. It's funny to think the Zombies

26:25

re introducing this American music

26:28

two Americans in a lot of ways.

26:30

At one time, the Zombies were called the

26:32

Zombies R and B because that's

26:35

what we played. What we dropped

26:37

the R and B. And of course I'm

26:40

just before the first We won a rock

26:43

and roll competition which led to a

26:45

contract with Decca and we were introduced

26:47

to a producer called Ken Jennes who was going to produce

26:49

that first session. And about two

26:51

weeks before the session, he said to

26:53

us, you know, sessions coming up in two weeks

26:56

time. You could write something for this

26:58

session if you want. And then he went on talking the other

27:00

thing wasn't a big deal, and Rod

27:02

went away and he wrote She's Not There, came

27:05

back to us fourt year hours later and

27:07

played us a song. You know, we knew

27:09

it was a special song, and actually Chris

27:12

White wrote a great song as well, which was a B side,

27:14

You Made Me Feel Good. I didn't know either of

27:16

them could write songs. It was a huge

27:18

surprise to me and that changed

27:20

everything because up until then

27:24

we've been playing predominantly

27:26

R and B classics. But of

27:28

course we recorded She's Not There, and it was a

27:30

huge hit and people

27:33

wanted more songs like that week. We

27:35

also used to play quite

27:38

a lot of Beetles tunes as well, but once

27:40

we had a hit record, we couldn't

27:42

play Beetles tunes and people didn't really

27:44

want the R and B classics, so there

27:47

was there was a problem because Rod

27:49

and Chris didn't have a backlog of songs. They

27:51

were the first two songs. Actually, Robs told

27:54

me he had written two songs before

27:56

that um, but he didn't

27:58

have a backbob of some to Neither

28:00

did Chris White, and so it created

28:03

a bit of a problem for us, especially

28:05

as Decca always put

28:07

pressure on artists who had a chart record

28:10

to within six

28:12

weeks to have a follow up. It's six

28:14

weeks. It's just it's

28:17

just inviting me to fail. I mean,

28:19

we were working every night, we

28:21

were we were out ontour. There

28:23

was no opportunity to write. And

28:26

so when the sort of dreaded six

28:28

weeks came up, roughly speaking, we

28:30

had one song. Chris White had got a song.

28:33

It wasn't an aside. We all knew, it wasn't

28:35

an a side Leave me be, it was cool.

28:37

It was a very dark and depressing

28:40

song. It was all we had,

28:43

and so Deca put it out and of

28:46

course it was a dismal failure. And in the

28:48

States we skipped that, and the

28:50

follow up to She's Not There in America was

28:52

Telling Her Note, which was quite a big hit, and

28:55

it was a small hit in the UK as

28:57

well. But people away

28:59

seem to be so short sighted in these days.

29:01

You know, you have to have a follow up,

29:03

regardless of whether you've got a new material. They

29:06

were just forced this follow up,

29:09

and it just seems like they're almost willing

29:12

you to fail and so they can get

29:14

onto the next new band, And

29:17

in many cases that is what happened. I

29:20

mean, it's so I mean, you think about it, The

29:23

Zombies seem to fall prey to so

29:25

many really unfortunate music

29:27

industry practices in the sixties, both

29:29

creatively and financially. I mean, the

29:31

thing I think a lot of people don't understand now is

29:33

how could the Zombies break up when you've

29:36

just completed an album of spectacular as

29:38

artsy an oracle. In hindsight, it

29:40

almost looks like you broke up at

29:42

the top of your game creatively, but obviously

29:44

there were so many more factors

29:47

and forces of playing. Yeah, I

29:49

mean a hindsight, I completely agree with

29:51

you. But the fact is

29:53

that we were very, very poorly managed. And

29:55

it's difficult to say how poorly managed

29:58

without sort of getting into legal

30:00

terry blaming. Yeah, really

30:03

really poorly managed,

30:06

and particularly the three guys who weren't

30:08

writers. Thank heavens, the writers

30:10

income didn't go through our management

30:13

company, so One and Chris

30:15

were actually doing quite well, and

30:17

you know, and that's wonderful

30:19

because they were writing great songs

30:21

and they were being rewarded for it. But the

30:24

three non writers. We just weren't

30:26

earning any money. I mean, we were just broke,

30:29

and we've been three years on the road

30:32

playing all the time. We just had a

30:34

very challenging tour into the Far East

30:36

where we didn't realize

30:39

it, but when we got there we had sort of five records

30:41

in the top ten. We played at the

30:43

Arenessa Coliseum in the

30:46

in the Manila or just outside

30:48

of Manila, Cason City, and

30:50

we opened to twenty eight thousand people.

30:52

We had no idea this was happening. We did a

30:54

ten day residency. We played

30:56

to fifteen thousand the matinee on the Saturday

30:59

after the and on

31:01

the Saturday night we played to thirty two thousand

31:04

people. This basically went

31:06

on for ten nights. We

31:08

were being paid eighty pounds

31:10

a night, which is it

31:14

no and

31:17

our manager and our agents were

31:19

taking of that. I mean,

31:22

in a in a way it's funny, but

31:25

then we also think about it. You know,

31:27

we couldn't live. We just didn't have any

31:29

mind, and even we could see

31:31

that that was not right. And when

31:33

we came back, we left that manager and

31:35

that agent, and I think he more or less

31:37

gave up on us. Really, I think he

31:41

knew that we knew what was going

31:43

on, and so we were

31:46

free of him. But we couldn't find anyone else

31:48

who was interested. But we

31:50

got this deal with CBS

31:53

for a small amount of money. As I said, and

31:55

especially Robn Chris wanted to make an

31:57

album of their songs that

32:00

that that sounded how they envisioned,

32:03

envisioned them. Can't speak this aften

32:05

and I don't know why, and

32:08

and so that's what we did. And then at the end of

32:10

it, we released a single in the UK

32:12

called Care of Self Well Before. It's the first track

32:14

from the album, and I think it's

32:16

the most commercial song on there actually myself.

32:19

It's incredible. I still will never

32:21

understand why that was not a smash. That is

32:23

an amazing song. And at the

32:25

time, of course, the business was very

32:28

singles orientated, so just

32:31

a little bit later it was more albums the end

32:33

of the sixties beginning of the semence. But

32:36

the single was ignored, really

32:38

it did, wasn't played, and it

32:40

didn't sell, and it just

32:43

seemed as so we'd we'd

32:45

come to the end of the road. And then

32:47

actual fact, the band finished before

32:49

Honestly and Oracle was even released,

32:52

and in a way that that was

32:54

a little silly, but it's just it

32:56

was the it was because of the year

32:58

or so before, or it

33:01

just drained us, you know, and nobody

33:03

had any money. In particular Pull that conser a guitarists.

33:05

It just got married and he absolutely

33:08

had no money. And he'd been offered a job

33:10

in a computer phone, you know,

33:13

really good money, and he you

33:15

know, he didn't want to take it, but

33:18

there wasn't an alternative for him,

33:20

really, and so it just seemed that it would

33:22

be best that we just very amicably

33:25

that the band should should end. And

33:28

that was it. And then Al

33:30

Cooper was over in London and he

33:33

bought about two hundred albums and

33:35

he just said one of them just really stood out to

33:37

him. It was, honestly an oracle. He had just

33:39

taken a job with CBS as a

33:41

producer at CBS CBS

33:44

and on his first day he went to see Clive

33:46

Davis and he said, we

33:48

have to buy this album. It doesn't

33:50

matter what it costs. We've got to get

33:53

this album. Honestly an oracle. And

33:55

Clive Davis said to him,

33:57

we owned that album. We we

34:00

weren't going to release it, you know,

34:03

And our Cooper fought for it,

34:05

you know, we owe him so much. He

34:07

fought for it. And eventually the album

34:10

was released, and I think there

34:12

were either three or four singles released

34:14

before one of them

34:16

talk and that was Time of the Season, and

34:20

famously a DJ and Boise Idaho

34:23

would not stop playing Time

34:26

of the Season and gradually it spread from

34:28

Boise out and it took

34:30

months, you know, and then it got right across

34:32

the country and eventually it was a huge hit,

34:36

like that DJ

34:40

the cinema thank You code, I know,

34:43

Well absolutely changed our lives,

34:45

you know, as did our Cooper. But it's

34:47

a very strange story. And even when

34:49

Time of the Season was a hit, obnessly

34:51

an Oracle wasn't really in it. I think it went

34:54

into the bill Billboard top hundred once

34:57

for like two weeks, got to about

35:00

really a hit. But then ten

35:03

years later people started

35:05

talking about it, and in particular Tom

35:07

Petty in America and all

35:09

Well in the UK became

35:12

champions of this album and of

35:14

the band, and they

35:16

wouldn't stop promoting,

35:18

you know. I mean, it's a wonderful thing when you've got

35:20

two internationally wonderful artists

35:23

like that who are acting as your promoters,

35:26

you know, and they wouldn't start promoting the album,

35:29

and eventually it started

35:31

to really create a lot of interest.

35:34

And I think Rolling Stone and they

35:36

do these charts every five or

35:38

eight years or something, but certainly in one of the

35:40

charts, we were in the top hundred albums of

35:42

all time. They do a top five hundred, but we actually

35:45

just got into the top hundred, which is incredible

35:48

for an album that's never really been a hit,

35:50

although year on year it just

35:52

sells more and more. It's it's

35:54

a mystery. I cannot tell you how

35:57

this has happened. But really,

36:00

sixty years later we're talking about this

36:02

album. There was never a hit, and

36:04

and yet it's it's meant so

36:06

much to so many people as

36:08

a work of art. You know, people

36:11

are inspired by it and

36:15

constantly write about it and talk

36:17

about it. And it was never a commercial success

36:19

at the time, and most people

36:22

probably think it still isn't a commercial success,

36:24

but it sells quite considerable

36:26

numbers. Now, I mean, that's what's so precious

36:29

about it is that, you know, most people rediscover

36:32

these albums through a

36:34

movie soundtrack or a commercial or

36:36

something like that, but this just purely stands

36:38

on its own merit and word of mouth and

36:41

people who just pass it down and say

36:43

this is really incredible, check it out, and it just completely

36:45

sells just based on the strength of the songs and

36:47

the music. Well, Paul, if

36:50

if he talks to you about honestly an oracle, which

36:53

and he talks to a lot of people about honestly, and if

36:56

you haven't got the album where you don't know

36:58

what he's talking about, he will buy you with you even

37:00

do it to you. Also,

37:14

you just mentioned films, and that's

37:16

another I find quite intriguing

37:19

thing that zombie songs turn up

37:21

in films a lot. We

37:23

were we were in the Disney film

37:25

Cruella at the Summer

37:28

and the Canned Film Festival, a French

37:30

film one the can Film Festival

37:32

called to Tame t I

37:34

t A n E and she's not

37:37

there was in that. And there's

37:39

another film that's just come out called

37:41

Where do You Go To? Where do You Go to? Bernadette

37:45

with Cape and I always say her name

37:47

on Cape blanchard Um.

37:49

She's a very very famous actress and

37:51

that's got she's not thearing it. So there's

37:53

that's this summer, we've had three

37:56

songs and films. Plus there's a

37:58

department store in the States called colm

38:00

Ko l H. And they used

38:03

a Zombies song over the summer. It was

38:05

this will be our year. But

38:08

these songs, these songs are fifty

38:10

years old, sometime, some nearly

38:13

sixty years old, and people

38:15

are using them in contemporary

38:17

films and commercials. It's

38:20

it's I think it's fascinating. It's

38:22

a huge mystery to me. But

38:24

but I mean, I don't mind

38:26

about it now. It's a mystery. I don't understand

38:29

it, but it's wonderful that these songs

38:31

are being discovered after all this time.

38:33

I think they called that timeless. Do

38:36

you know what? I think A lot of zombie songs are

38:38

timeless. You know, people

38:40

sometimes saying it, how do you feel about singing? Time

38:43

of the season and she's not there every

38:45

night for years and years when you're on the

38:47

road. But they are the timeless

38:49

classics. And I love singing and

38:52

quite honestly, they're slightly different

38:55

every night when you play, and I

38:57

thoroughly enjoy its.

39:00

Speaking of absolutely incredible albums.

39:02

Just down the hall from where you performed

39:04

the other night at Studio too, at Abbey Road, you recorded

39:07

your debut solo disc One Year, which

39:10

is is absolutely staggering

39:12

album, one of my favorites, and I'm thrilled

39:14

to hear that it's getting a reissue with

39:17

a bonus disc of some unheard

39:20

compositions and demos. Uh,

39:22

can you take me back to those sessions? What was

39:24

it like during that that one year? Well,

39:27

I, you know, I think it's quite interesting

39:29

in that it's all there's

39:31

definitely a connection with Honestly and Oro because

39:34

that was Rod Argent and Chris

39:36

White co producing me

39:39

in Studio three with piece

39:41

of Vince Engineering, and he engineered

39:44

the majority of Odessy an Oracle, So

39:46

there was huge It was a huge

39:48

connection with Honestly an Oracle,

39:51

and it was great to get the old

39:53

team back together again and we introduced

39:55

a wonderful string arranger called Chris Gunning

39:58

into the mix, and that I

40:01

just think it was he came up with things that was just

40:03

so different what he was

40:05

saying to him. I think this came from Rod

40:07

more than anyone. Think Bartok

40:10

when you're doing think Bartok.

40:13

And boy did he come up with some great

40:15

arrangements so unusual, and

40:18

one of them a song called

40:20

say you Don't Mind which is a Denny Lane song,

40:23

was a huge hit in the UK. Really

40:26

took me by surprise because it's um it

40:28

wasn't actually a string quartet, but it's written

40:31

as if it was for a string caute. But

40:33

it's actually a twenty one piece string orchestra,

40:35

but no rhythm track, no other instrument,

40:38

just strings. And it

40:40

was a hit in the UK, but it

40:43

never it didn't make an impact at the

40:45

time in the States. It's a little bit

40:47

the opposite to the Zombies because the Time

40:50

of the Season was a big hit in America. The

40:52

Time of the Season was never a hit in the UK.

40:55

It was a hit everywhere else but not

40:57

in the UK. But from

41:00

my first album, Say Don't was a hit

41:02

in the UK but not in the States.

41:04

Exactly the opposite, but

41:07

an incredible track. I mean you mentioned

41:09

bar talk. I think of the string break

41:11

in Misty Roses, which I mean for

41:13

me, that's a definitive version of

41:15

of I know Tim Harden wrote it, but that's your

41:18

version of Misty Roses, the definitive version of

41:20

that song. For me, that is an incredible track.

41:22

Well, it's funny because I'm a huge

41:25

fan of Tim Harden and um,

41:27

I think he did an incredible version,

41:30

but so I would never say one was better than

41:32

the other. Hopefully people have been able

41:34

to both of them, you know, I think they're both

41:36

worth to listen. And you know, I'm

41:38

a huge fan of Tim Harden and

41:41

but particularly that song. It's

41:43

such a beautiful song. And

41:45

the original songs that that you wrote during

41:47

these sessions and Caroline Goodbye, that You're

41:50

Far Away, I mean, they're my

41:52

favorites on the album as well. I mean, I know you

41:54

contributed, um

41:56

just out of Reach to the Zombies can

41:58

and uh may to be with hearing

42:00

these songs that you've written more. I mean, did any

42:03

of the one year tracks date back

42:05

to the Zombie's era. I

42:07

don't think so. No, I think

42:10

I did write one other Zombie

42:12

Tunit's first song I ever wrote is

42:15

called how We Were Before. It's

42:17

very romantic, simple tune. Um.

42:20

But you know, I was sort of watching Rod

42:23

and Chris and seeing them developers writers,

42:25

and as I said before, I didn't

42:28

know they could write before She's

42:30

Not There and the B side you make Me Feel Good

42:32

We're written. I had no idea. I

42:34

thought songwriters came from a different

42:37

part of the business too. Performing

42:39

artists. I didn't realize. And I think there's another

42:41

thing that we owe the Beatles that

42:44

they made us realize that you could

42:46

write your own material. There seemed to be

42:48

an unwritten law that bands

42:50

didn't write their own material, but

42:53

they changed all that. And watching Rod

42:55

and Chris developers writers, it just encouraged

42:57

me to have a go and

43:00

I just developed slowly over the

43:02

years. And and also I

43:04

went to live in a flat with a couple of guys

43:06

who were in the music business, and

43:09

one was a manager. One

43:11

was a singer songwriter called Duncan Brown

43:14

and if you ever check out his stuff,

43:16

Duncan Broun. He had one hit in this country

43:18

called Journey, but he made

43:21

several really really good albums,

43:23

and he was also in a band called Metro, which

43:26

was really good as well. So

43:28

I lived in this flat with these two guys, and Duncan

43:30

was a wonderful classical guitarist, and

43:33

I just sat mesmerized by

43:35

his playing, and all three

43:38

of us played guitar. Duncan was by father best

43:40

and we would play through the night. And

43:43

they showed an interest in my writing

43:45

that I wasn't aware of before.

43:47

I wasn't aware that anyone was particularly interested

43:50

in my writing, and they encouraged me. And

43:52

that's why I called my

43:54

second album and as More because

43:57

we lived in this flat apartment

44:00

in a place called enns More Gardens in London,

44:02

which is right behind the Albert Hall, so

44:04

it's a lovely area of London, and

44:07

I thought that that's in some ways that's when

44:09

my songwriting started. In that flat in

44:11

Ender's More Gardens. I just started

44:13

to get the idea of of becoming

44:17

a writer as well as a

44:19

as a singer, and they

44:22

really encouraged me. So I always

44:24

remember Duncan Brown. Do

44:26

check him out. He's really really good.

44:29

And you have the album Journey too, right, I

44:33

think I think it was an album. It's called Journey

44:36

keep the Curtains Closed Today and the

44:38

gorgeous songs. I wish i'd recorded

44:41

more with him. In fact, I've got some demos

44:43

of me and him, and I mentioned

44:45

it's someone the other day and it's very you've

44:47

got but they're on a real to real tape. You know. I've

44:49

got to I've got to have it transferred

44:53

professionally because otherwise it might just disintegrate.

44:55

But when I mentioned that to someone

44:57

actually in America. You've got

45:00

to get that onto either CD

45:02

or or on you know, onto something

45:04

so that people would be really interested

45:07

to hear that. And we were just mucking around. But

45:10

it's funny how time sort

45:12

of makes it

45:15

changes how people view what

45:17

you were thinking of as quite a lighthearted

45:20

musical romp. It's just

45:22

having fun. And you know, after fifty

45:25

years, people are saying, man, this is history.

45:27

You know, you've got to do something

45:30

with this. So that's what's happened

45:32

with the One Year album. It's kind of strange.

45:35

Chris White's two sons. Uh,

45:38

we're working on all his black

45:40

catalog and Chris has written many

45:42

many songs and also he has produced a lot

45:44

of people, and so they're putting out a series

45:46

of CDs called Chris White Experience.

45:49

And they were going through his attic looking

45:52

at cassette cassette

45:54

real too real and what happened And they found

45:56

some real to reel of songs of mine

45:59

and sort of phone me up really excitedly,

46:01

saying, we found all these songs and

46:03

when I listened to them, it's the most extraordinary

46:06

feeling that because they're so

46:08

old,

46:10

I just certainly did not remember

46:12

the sessions at all and

46:15

some of the songs I don't well, I

46:17

didn't remember them then that they are a vague memory.

46:19

Now I've played them a few times. But most

46:21

of these are just me sitting down with a guitar,

46:25

and I would call them sort of rough

46:27

ideas of songs. They're almost sort of pre

46:29

demos a lot of them, really, but

46:32

they do they do show

46:34

what kind of area I was I

46:37

was writing in and the record company

46:39

got to hear of these tracks and then

46:42

it was sort of taking out of my hands then and

46:45

it's now a double album and

46:47

I don't My input in that wasn't very much

46:49

except I sang the tracks in the beginning.

46:52

Chris White's sons found the tape and

46:55

the record company took the tapes on

46:57

the on the CD. I hope people

47:00

and will enjoy them. I mean it they

47:02

I think they do have some some value. Oh

47:05

the song that that's out there now that I've

47:07

heard, I Won't Let You Down, which is available

47:09

for for for preview, is absolutely

47:11

stunning. It is I cannot wait

47:13

to hear the rest. It is gorgeous. I

47:16

mean, it makes me wish that it was a double album to start

47:19

with. It is an absolutely incredible song. Then

47:21

you've picked up on that and it's

47:24

so funny. I mean the Yeah, there

47:26

are thirteen other songs like

47:29

that, you know, some have a story and

47:31

some some don't. I mean, there

47:33

was there's one on there and it

47:37

was written because there were some phony Zombies

47:40

growing up and playing. I think there were three phony

47:43

Zombie bands. I think those guys in zz Tapper

47:45

and one of them. Yeah, that's true. Yeah,

47:48

And because the Zombies had finished

47:50

and sort of nearly two years later, time

47:52

in the season was a big hit in the States, there was

47:54

a huge vacuum. You know, there was all

47:56

this work and no band, and so a

47:59

lot of managers start thinking, well, listen, we

48:01

don't like black cubes. We've got to fill it. And

48:03

so they these bands started

48:06

playing. And on one occasion,

48:09

Chris White was in the offices of Rolling Stone

48:11

and they said, look, we've got the phone number

48:13

of the manager of one of these bands.

48:16

So we want you, Chris White, original

48:19

base baron the Zombies, to phone um up,

48:22

but pretend

48:24

that you're from Rolling Stone and get the story.

48:26

So you phoned up the guy and

48:29

the guy said, well, the thing is,

48:32

we wanted to honor the life of the lead

48:34

singer of the Zombes who was killed in a

48:36

car crash. And this

48:38

is why we put the band together. And this

48:41

is in Rolling Stone. Actually, I think

48:43

this article is printed

48:45

at least in part on the sleeve

48:47

of the double album that's coming out. And

48:49

so I wrote. One of the songs that I wrote

48:52

is Yesterday and Rolling Stone a

48:54

man said I'm dead, and

48:56

that's that's not the start,

48:59

because it was a very strange feeling to

49:01

have it in a major you know, a

49:04

major outlet. But you're

49:06

dead, You're dead, you know, I mean, news

49:09

of my death is rather

49:11

rather premature. I'm afraid

49:13

of famous statement, not

49:16

mine. Um. Yeah, it was

49:18

kind of weird, and that got me an idea for one

49:20

of the songs, sing your own

49:22

song. It is no

49:25

I haven't I've I've read. I'm looking forward

49:27

to hearing them, but I haven't had a

49:29

chance to hear him yet, so they are

49:31

quite rough. You know, what would be really exciting

49:34

if there was a general interest in these

49:36

songs and we could expand them,

49:38

and you know, there's enough material

49:40

there to to record an album. Wouldn't

49:43

that be extraordinary? After fifty or

49:45

sixty years, we take these

49:47

very primitive demos and make

49:50

them into actual tracks. That would

49:52

be a thrill. Yes, it

49:54

would, Yes that

49:56

that would I would

49:58

love that, and I know that that many

50:01

people would too. I mean, I know that you and

50:03

Rod and the band right now are are hard

50:05

at work on a new new Zombies album,

50:07

but perhaps perhaps after

50:10

that. Yeah, we're sort of halfway

50:12

through a Zombies album. We probably started

50:15

seven tracks, but some of them are not

50:18

finished, and hopefully

50:20

we can we can wrap that up certainly

50:22

before the end of the year, and I would hope

50:25

that we'll have a new album early next year.

50:27

It's just with the situation as

50:29

it is at the moment, it's difficult to get everyone

50:31

together. We the last album

50:34

and this album, we've decided we want

50:36

everyone in the studio at the same time playing.

50:39

You know, in some ways it's almost like a live

50:41

album within a studio setting.

50:44

But we find that people play differently

50:46

if they're all in the same room at the same time.

50:48

There's an energy that you don't get if

50:52

you record your parts separately

50:54

and layer the track. Um

50:57

So on the last album still got

50:59

that hunger. Everyone was in the studio at the same time.

51:02

We kept the solos from the

51:04

live versions and we kept the

51:06

lead vocals. We only over dubbed harmonies

51:10

vocal harmonies. Otherwise it's it's

51:12

like a live album.

51:15

That was a highlight of your concert

51:17

at Abbey Road. Just hearing some some

51:19

new some of the new songs that are coming

51:21

out soon with an incredible stringer company

51:24

meant they're absolutely gorgeous and when they're wonderful

51:26

players, really good, so

51:28

wonderful. I hope we can work some more

51:30

with that quartet. They're called Q Strings,

51:33

really really good. It

51:36

was, it was such it was such a treat to hear, you know,

51:38

get a tease of the the upcoming

51:40

album. I can't wait to hear the rest of it. I

51:43

think it's going to be good. I'm really

51:45

too ah well,

51:47

call your music has meant

51:50

the world demanded is touched me from

51:52

many, many, many years, has brought me

51:54

so much joy to me and my loved ones.

51:56

I am so grateful for that, and I'm

51:58

so grateful for your time today. Thank you so much,

52:01

thank you. It's been a pleasure. I've really

52:03

enjoyed having a chat. Thanks for having to be on

52:05

the show. We

52:15

hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio.

52:18

A production of I Heart Radio. For

52:20

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