Interview by Leanna Brittis

“Rock and Roll Joe“ is quite a unique concept for an album. The album invites your fans to step into an archive of each of the band member’s memories and reflections on various facets of the rock ‘n’ roll world. Welcoming your fans into your world seemed to be the initial inspiration for the album. Did you and the band find yourself inspired by anything else during the album process?

First of all I should point out that R&R Joe is Chip Taylor’s concept. He wrote most of the songs. There was some collaboration with the other band members but it is, for all intents & purposes, a Chip Taylor album. But the inspiration for the concept came from the musicians while we were on tour in Norway a couple years ago. The band would hop into the van on route to a show & we would invariably talk & reminisce about mostly obscure musicians that influenced each of us. Chip would be kind of fascinated by our conversations. Long story short those road conversations inspired what ultimately became R&R Joe. And to answer your question as to whether we were inspired by anything else during the album process I’d have to say not as far as the band was concerned. But Chip certainly was. It inspired his own reminiscences of unsung musicians & songwriters.

“Rock and Roll Joe” also shares your recollections of players and singers throughout the decades who influenced rock ‘n’ roll immensely but never really got the fame they deserved. Do you hope this album educates your fans on these rock ‘n’ roll figures?

Yes. Also, there’s an interactive site associated with the CD www.rnrjoe.com where I – or anyone else for that matter – can continue to add names of other unsung music heroes & where fans can visit & learn about these indispensable but unknown musicians who contributed so much to music. By the way, the musicians aren’t limited to just rock ‘n’ roll. There are jazz, blues country & folk “heroes” as well.

A couple of the songs on the album, “The Van Song” and “Monica (These Fingers Move for You)” are based on your experiences with Van Morrison. One about an unused guitar riff in “Domino” and another about being called upon to tour with Van. The stories behind these songs are short memories that stood out in your career. Why’d you choose to share these stories?

Actually Chip chose to share the stories since he’s the primary songwriter here. Anyway, regarding “The Van Song” it was only after Chip had written the song & it was recorded did I voice my hesitancy to have it included in the album. Van is quite sensitive about what’s “written” about him. So in light of that I asked Chip to change a couple things before I agreed to its inclusion on the CD.

And as far as “Monica”, the unused riff story gives a little insight into how various versions & arrangements of songs develop during the recoding process; and in the case of Domino, how the signature riff that’s been heard over the years came about. I think Van’s decision to choose the one he did over the one you hear on “Monica” was the right one. I mean the rejected one is okay but the one that made the cut is unique. It seems simple, but most guitarists who attempt it don’t quite get it right.

“Rock n Roll Joe” is also tied to a web project where underappreciated artists are recognized. As a big Rolling Stones fan I was so happy to read and learn more about Nicky Hopkins. Besides educating the fans, what do you hope they will take away from bringing notice to these lost souls of rock and roll?

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Joe site is probably what I like the most about the project. It’s just a great way to give these great musicians some exposure. I believe that educating the younger generation – even those of my generation for that matter – about the contributions these artists made is a noble endeavor. Perhaps one’s curiosity will be piqued to the point where people will be inspired enough to delve into their music a little more deeply. It’s a fun thing to do. I still do it myself.

The bottom line is….these are artists in the truest sense of the word & like any other kind of art it touches all of us on many levels.

By the way, speaking of the great Nicky Hopkins, a friend of mine, Julian Dawson released – just this year – a wonderful biography about him. “Nicky Hopkins”…the extraordinary life of rock’s greatest session man. It took Julian about 10 years to write the book – a true labor of love about a HUGE Rock ‘n’ Roll Joe.    

Lastly, what’s your favorite song on the album?

My favorite song on the album is “Live and Die For Rock’n'Roll”. The byline of this newsletter quotes a line from it…”I played guitar I had no choice”…

Buy the Rock and Roll Joe album here!