Inspired by the Rolling Stones latest album Hackney Diamonds, the bLUES bUSTERS band has taken to the studio for some rocking and rolling.
“When I heard the Stones album, it was kind of like: oh, yeah, rock ‘n’ roll, I remember this,” said bLUES bUSTERS singer, songwriter and guitarist Ron Campbell. “I remembered how fun it is to play this music. Like, it’s okay for guys our age to rock ‘n’ roll.”
bLUES bUSTERS bassist and guitarist Dennis Fox said if the Stones can do it at their age, into their 80s, his band could certainly give it a go again.
“I’m a rocker at heart,” said Fox. “I do like to rock, especially on the bass. It’s something I just gravitate towards.”
bLUES bUSTERS have recorded a 12-cut album called Alive & Kickin’ that took a collaborative approach. Campbell’s last album was a solo effort called Many Axes, Many Styles, but this time, he wanted to record live with a whole band, featuring songs that were often co-written.
The first single from the album, “Dream That Old Dream”, was written by Campbell and Ron Irving, who has been Campbell’s musical partner since they saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show when they were 12 years old.
“This song is about those early days, and all the adventures we’ve had since,” said Campbell. “Ron [Irving] is now in the BC Songwriters Hall of Fame, having written songs for everyone from Anne Murray to Michael Bublé. [Irving] plays a guitar solo on ‘Dream That Old Dream.’”
Campbell said it was great to get the band together and get some rock ‘n’ roll energy.
“All five of us were in the room together when we recorded,” said Campbell. “So that’s me and Dennis, and Walter Martella on keyboards. We also had Trevor Sytnick, our producer, playing guitar, and Neko on drums.”
Campbell said when he was struck with the idea of recording another album, he decided he did not want it all to be his own ideas.
“I went out to people I’d written with before, like Dennis and my daughter Laura,” said Campbell. “I also wrote with a former Powell River boy, Andy Rice, who also did a keyboard solo on the cut. He and I were talking one day and he said: ‘you know, we should write a song together.’ I said: ‘That's a great idea. Why don’t we just do it?’ It was really great to have a few other people’s ideas coming into the mix.”
Fox said the two songs he co-wrote with Campbell probably took an hour each.
“We worked hard on the lyrics because the musical arrangements came quickly,” said Fox.
With the out-of-town people, Campbell relied on Zoom to collaborate.
As for the recording itself, the musicians brought their own influences to the sessions. On one cut called “A Fifth of the Blues”, written by Campbell and Fox, Martella performed a keyboard solo and then asked if it was too jazzy.
“I said, nah, it’s good,” said Campbell. “The rest of the song is really bluesy, so putting a bit of jazz in there was cool.”
Fox said that song had a double meaning. Every chord in the arrangement had a fifth chord played alongside it, he added.
“Also, if you think of sitting down and having a fifth of booze to cure your blues, we got that in there,” said Fox.
“That was very clever,” added Campbell.
Campbell said the album’s basic tracks were laid down in four sessions, each running two to three hours. The difficult part was coordinating five busy people to commit to recording sessions.
Campbell said Sytnick was a great help in producing the record.
“I thought what we might need is a bit of youthful energy,” said Campbell. “Trevor is a few years younger than us and he’s got a ton of energy and enthusiasm. He also told me his favourite band is the Rolling Stones so I figured he would be on the right track.
“He brought a bunch of pretty groovy, high-end gear to my studio here and he kind of ran it all, as well as playing guitar. It was very cool to have him as part of the recording.”
While recording, Campbell said some of the players came up with exciting ideas on the spot and the band was open to experimenting. It often took three or four takes to get the songs recorded in a way that the band was happy.
“It was nice to have other people’s ideas, not just my own, because you know other people come up with things and you go, ‘oh, I never would have thought of that,’” said Campbell.
In addition to the core members of the band, part of the recording was to bring in background vocals from a vocal trio called PVC Pipes, featuring Pam Wadden, plus Vernon and Collen Currie. Campbell said it was so nice to have them as part of the recording and they added a great deal.
“When you count all the people who had a contribution to this album, it’s a lot,” said Campbell. “Not all of them are here in town but all of them are originally from Powell River. We all have a connection here.”
bLUES bUSTERS are planning a July 15 release for Alive & Kickin’ and were still in the mixing stage as of June 11, which was the time of the interview with the Peak.
“Trevor and I have been working on it,” said Campbell. “I’ve also done a lot of it on my own. It’s been nice to sit at the mixing board and kind of tweak it. It’s still a work in progress.”
The album is going to be released online, and the band hopes to put out CDs as well, because there are quite a few people who prefer to listen to their albums from an actual CD. Campbell said Alive & Kickin’ is available for pre-order and he’s hoping those sales can help raise enough money together to send the album off to the CD plant.
“Despite the fact we are selling these albums for money, at the end of the day, recording albums is not any kind of a big moneymaker,” said Campbell. “We’re doing this because it’s our gift to our fans and we do it for the love of it.”
bLUES bUSTERS have debuted some of the songs from the new album during their live performances around town. Songs performed included “Dream That Old Dream”, “A Fifth of the Blues”, and “Rocky Mountain Blues”, which was written by Campbell’s father in 1951, but had never been recorded until now. Campbell said at some point, the band hopes to have an album release party.
Alive & Kickin’ can be pre-ordered at roncampbell.bandcamp.com/album/alive-kickin.
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