"We started out as fans and then we got into the business and then sometimes the business can be an interesting experience and then you just deal with it and move on and you find out that you really are a musician and this what you're supposed to be doing."
Bassist Rudy Sarzo is best known for his work with metal acts, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake and time spent with Ozzy Osbourne but his current role as bassist for legendary rock pioneers The Guess Who may have caught more than a just few people unaware.
"I actually took over for the original bass player Jim Kale," he said as he recounted how he joined the group. "We released our record, "The Future IS What It Used To Be" and Jim had started the record but it was about a two year process or more to finalize. So he wanted to take some time off and then the first sub that came into the picture was Michael Devin of Whitesnake and then I got into the picture because I guess Michael was busy with Whitesnake; so I became the new sub. By the time that happened, Jim was pretty much ready to fully retire but he wasn't fully off the road and I believe it was at his last show that he introduced me to the audience as the guy who was going to take over for him; by then I had been subbing for about eight months"
Wait a minute; a new album? Yes you read that correctly, a new album from The Guess Who was released in September and the band launched a small tour of the western states; in essence to get their feet wet but according to Sarzo, they've never really stopped touring over the last four decades.
"The band has been touring all this time, in addition to Garry (original drummer Peterson) being the founding member and drummer and Jim being a founding member and bass player, our keyboard player Leonard Shaw has been in the band for over 20 years. Then you have Derek Sharp who is our singer songwriter and front guy who also shares guitar duties with Will Evankovich; he's been in the band for over 10 years now. Will joined the band maybe five years ago and they're both producers, as a matter of fact, Will co-produced and co-wrote the last Styx record, "The Mission" with Tommy Shaw. Will is a frequent collaborator with Tommy Shaw which is how Will Evankovich got into the band because Derek is really close friends with Tommy so when it came time to look for a guitar player Tommy recommended him. We have the cream of the musicians, it really rises to the top and they're all good people.We kicked off our album promotion tour out west and we've been touring non-stop whether we have a new album out or not."
"The Future IS What It Used To Be" is their first new studio album in decades and as "New" as it is, Sarzo says that they purposely created it as close to the sound of The Guess Who as possible and the same thought process accompanied the release of several videos; so far their fans are pleased with the effort.
"It's 10 tracks and most of the material was written by Derek with collaboration from Will and they are both producers so the band didn't have to go outside and hire someone. Some writers and producers, they can't help but to create so a lot of these songs were being written without having a specific home at the time. So they approached Jim and Garry and said, listen instead of us giving these songs to someone else; why don't we record these as The Guess Who? So it was a very organic process and one of the things that we really concentrated on was keeping it in the vein of the legacy sound of the band. We do four songs from the record live and when we put them in the sets a lot of people don't even realize that they're new songs because they fit right in with the rest of the hits.
We also have three videos from the album, "In America," "Playin' On The Radio" and "Haunted" are the three that have sprung from this record and so far our audiences love it."
Being veteran rockers can be both a blessing and a curse at times, so with the release of this new disc; what kind of help have they received from their label and are there any plans to go the licensing route for film and television as opposed to the traditional sales and touring efforts? Sarzo couldn't help but look back on past options and empathizes with the frustrations of trying to get on a label in today's music business environment.
"Usually the label does that," he explained, "We're on Cleopatra Records who were also the label I was on with Quiet Riot and they're very good at placing music in movies and on TV shows and The Guess Who gets a lot of placements from their catalog like the TV show, "American Woman" and that is the theme song; then there's the Lenny Kravitz version out there too.They (record companies) don't nurture the artists like they used to, there's no artist relations department and things like that. I can't blame the musicians for this because it's a whole different industry now. Basically with The Guess Who, the record was finished and we gave it to the label. Where as back in the day you worked with the label and they assigned you a producer and an artist relation guy to make sure that the album was complete and the material was well rounded and promotion guys to get you a hit on the radio; it was a whole different machine."
Widely considered by many to be one of heavy metal's premier bass players; was it a challenge for Rudy to adapt his style to that of The Guess Who?
"Musical styles," he started with a chuckle. "I've been playing bass in bands from like the late sixties before metal became a staple; what we used to consider metal back in the day was actually just rock'n' roll. The founding fathers of metal such as Hendrix and Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on and the whole evolution; so I was playing in "Top 40" bands back then. We didn't have tribute bands back then, we had "Top 40" bands playing in clubs and stuff. So whatever was on the radio back then; I played that. You had to if you wanted to get through so it was part of our set list, whatever was on the radio we played that whether you were a party band or in clubs."
"To me what differentiates styles of music is the foundation, which to me is the rhythm section. I didn't really start playing metal and hard rock until I moved to L.A. and started playing with the Randy Rhoads version of Quiet Riot and then of course I joined Ozzy. Tommy Aldridge is one of my favorite drummers so to get to play with him in Ozzy was an incredible experience because he did not approach it exactly like the record; he leans forward when he plays which is something I think he developed from playing live with Black Oak Arkansas and playing a lot of shuffles. So he's not your typical English drummer who is either a little bit on top of the beat or behind it; he was always pushing forward. So to play with him in Ozzy and then again in Whitesnake was an incredible experience. So what I'm getting at is; playing with Garry Peterson, the original drummer on all of those Guess Who records is really a treat. He plays it the way it should be played, it's not a tribute it's the legacy drumming and boy what a treat to play with him."
Now that they've toured in support of the new album; will they go on a solo jaunt of any length or will they bundle with other classic rock bands with similar appeal like many of the acts do today? Sarzo thinks that it's advantageous to the concert goers when bands group together because they're getting to hear greatest hits sets, yet at the same time he sees value in trying to attract new fans with every show.
"I think the audience gets a bigger bang for their buck because all of these bands just lay out their catalog which is all of their hits. It's interesting because I agree that many of the songs are really appreciated now because, well I hate to use the word nostalgia but those songs really push a certain sentimental button in people's memory. It could've been a friend who has passed or a love that's passed on or they're still with you and you celebrate that but the way things are going, we're adding a whole bunch of dates already for next year and I can see us doing something that The Guess Who hasn't done in a long time; which is actually go out on a regular tour. I mean, getting on the bus and just co-headlining or as a support band on a package tour. Right now we've been doing a lot of casinos, fairs and civic centers which is great but we want to be able to branch out and reach a whole younger audience."
The Guess Who had a string of hits, many of which are still staples in every bar band's repertoire and with the original members all still viable music makers; has the new line up heard any feedback either positive or negative?
"Randy (Bachman) has not been an official member of The Guess Who since I think it was 1970 and he went on to form Bachman Turner Overdrive and he had huge success and Burton (Cummings) hasn't been in the band since the 70's either when he went on a solo career. It would be very nice if we had their blessing but they've not said anything to my knowledge but I can tell you this much," he said with a laugh, "Jim and Garry own the name The Guess Who; I am just the bass player."
To discover more about The Guess Who, please visit www.theguesswho.com.
That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!
