A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Jackal on March 09, 2011, 04:19:28 PM
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Mentioned this in the Ron Eve thread. Thought I'd make a new thread of it. Mandel is writing a book about his experiences in the music industry called ""Famous A**holes I Have Known".. (or) I'll Never Work Again.. The Real Story of my life in the Biz...And what I've learned from it". Actually it's a working title, and you can email suggestions to him about the title.
Chapter 6 is called "Herr K", probably "Herr Knopfler". It's not active yet, as he writes "Tommy Mandel, keyboard sideman to the greats: Mark Knopfler, (whom we diss at a later date), Bryan Adams, (not bad for a boss,) ..." http://www.tommymandel.com/mybookch1.html . Chapter 7, Prince Charles and Lady Di, starts with "(this chapter continues, in a mellower vein, some of my Dire experiences with the Straits, 82-3!)". Seems like the guy had some serious issues with DS and MK ...
In chapter 7, he writes:
"Dire Straits played the Prince's Trust in 1983, a yearly concert in London, where Prince Charles and Lady Di used to invite their favorite artists to perform, the proceeds benefiting Charles' favourite (!) charities.After a "pep talk" from "the Prince's Roadie", probably Scotland Yard, or whatever James Bond's branch is, ("Don't address the Prince directly, wait to be spoken to," etc.), we all lined up in a reception line, and with Peter Townshend in his blue Bar Mitzvah suit as Presenter, met the couple. Prince Charles was jolly, interested in our work, and a fine conversationalist. "What exactly IS a synthesizer?" he asked me, the only obvious Yank in the group. "A combination of a computer and an organ, sir" was my answer. After the show, he excitedly complimented me on my stage energy. (Being on stage with a fabulous band, in front of a killer keyboard rig, and not being allowed to touch a key for the first four minutes of a great song like "Sultans of Swing", which originally had no keyboards on it, and now was supposed to support 2 whole keyboard maniacs, left me in a state of rhythmic frustration, which I used to soothe by jumping up and down in time to the beat. Townshend told me he found it distracting but that his wife quite liked it. After my first show with the band, Illsley had said to keep doing it; I guess the Straits tended to be a bit cerebral about the show, and a little visceral motion was a welcome addition.) So Prince Charles is ushered up to me and asks, "I admired your energy....how do you stay so fit?!" I just told him I ate a lot. It didn't seem right to burden his Royal Highness with my everyday band-generated frustrations. He was also amazed at how much like a real piano my synthesizer sounded. Apparently, from his royal box, keyboard player #1, Alan Clark's stage position was obscured from sight. Luckily, Alan happened to be right by me, and I graciously introduced the true Dire Straits pianist to his Prince and future King, bowing out of the picture.
Lady Di was a bit of a tease, and her eyes are among the most hypnotic that I have ever fallen into. They have a million silver blue sparkling pebbles, and one is tempted to count them all. Later one finds that he has been staring vacantly, oblivious to the rest of the world around him. On the other hand, she IS a big woman, and when her magnificent eyes are not trained on you, there is something equine to her appearance. So she goes to me, "How long have you been with the group?" When I, with what I thought was humility, told her that it had not been a long stint, and that I did not even merit a replacement, so insignificant was I, she took it as me saying that no one could ever possibly replace me; she raised an eyebrow, impressed with my self posession and cheek. "Mmmmm," she hmmed.
George Martin was at the Dominion Theatre as well, and looked very distinguished and silvery; I did not approach him. What could I say?
Actually, I should have asked him if the harpsichord solo on "In My Life" is really recorded one hand at a time, at half speed, which is my theory." http://users.rcn.com/tmandel/mybookch7.html
What do you think?
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"Famous A**holes I have known"...
Not a bad title for an autobiography. But why does Tommy Mandel pretend he is famous ?
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Well, I remember him fooling around at the keyboard rig during the Alchemy Video like a maniac and I can affirm: This guy had some serious problems, obviously! :lol
LE
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"Famous A**holes I have known"...
Not a bad title for an autobiography. But why does Tommy Mandel pretend he is famous ?
he doesn't pretend he's famous, he says he has known some famous people
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Of course he doesn't say he is famous.
Obviously he is the main character of his book, which means the title is wrong unless he considers himself as a famous guy. ;)
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chapter 6 Herr K. has no link to it, but based on what was written in chapter 7 i believe he has already written something.
can anyone check his site to see whether he may have "misplaced" that chapter??
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I used Google Customized Search to search his site, but it is not there.
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Seems fairly clear that right through the DS era, MK was at best a "hard taskmaster" and a worst a total bastard.
However, you can't really argue with the results - he knew what he wanted, he got it, and he was hugely successful in the process.
Like all of us he has no doubt changed in the last 20 years though and he is obviously a lot more laid back these days though.
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Seems fairly clear that right through the DS era, MK was at best a "hard taskmaster" and a worst a total bastard.
However, you can't really argue with the results - he knew what he wanted, he got it, and he was hugely successful in the process.
Like all of us he has no doubt changed in the last 20 years though and he is obviously a lot more laid back these days though.
Well said again, Mr V, you're keeping your mum busy these days!
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Has always interested me the way bands (in particular) work. It's impossible to have complete democracy. Someone's got to pull the strings and give directions. But I think it takes considerable leadership skills to lead, have your vision realized and at the same time maintain a healthy and friendly relationship within the band.
As for Mark, he probably was really paranoid, for want of a better term, back in the day. He had a vision and that vision had to be realized no matter what. And when people have other ideas that go against your artistic direction, that can cause a lot of frustration. I have experienced the same thing sometimes with some fellow players. To not be a complete schmuck, you go with what the majority want, but inside you're just thinking "this doesn't work, this doesn't work". It's a fine balance. Must be a lot easier for Mark these days, where there is no question that he is the leader, and all the guys know it. At the same time, he's eased up a lot, so everyone is happy I think.
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About Mandel's book though, and Jack Sonni's for that matter, it is kind of intriguing to get a peek into the early days of Dire Straits. But then I'm thinking, this is a bit like reading the glossy gossip papers. You're looking into something a bit dirty, something private in a way, at least this negative stuff. And I don't see anything that could come to light that either hasn't been told before or that would actually enhance my perception of Mark and Dire Straits, if you know what I mean. Particulary now that we see that Mark is a different guy than in those days.
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MK was definitely not easy at that times - just look at the turnover in band ::) - and Tommy Mandel is probably right to be eager.
I don't think TM's attitude is fair though, not because of MK but because he is spitting on every people who gave him a chance one day.
Can't just be always the other one's fault.
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Joop?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Mandel
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So Joop de Koorte is Tommy Mandel.
Double work and only paid once. I better understand his eagerness now. ::)
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MK was definitely not easy at that times - just look at the turnover in band ::) - and Tommy Mandel is probably right to be eager.
I don't think TM's attitude is fair though, not because of MK but because he is spitting on every people who gave him a chance one day.
Can't just be always the other one's fault.
Yes, there's a good phrase he may want to bear in mind here: "if you can't think of anything nice to say about anyone don't say anything at all."
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I would be very interested to hear Jack's story.
Very strange that MK goes from mentioning him in front of 20 billion people or whatever to ditching him altogether.
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Jack just had twins at the time of the Mandela show and probably would not cross the Atlantic for just one gig especially when at the same time Mark was playing alongside one of the best guitarist in the world.
If I remember well the interview I read a few years ago, the last time they spoke together was a phone call in september of that year.
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Jack just had twins at the time of the Mandela show and probably would not cross the Atlantic for just one gig especially when at the same time Mark was playing alongside one of the best guitarist in the world.
Of course. It just seems strange that MK obviously seemed close to him then and then he was written out.
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Jack just had twins at the time of the Mandela show and probably would not cross the Atlantic for just one gig especially when at the same time Mark was playing alongside one of the best guitarist in the world.
Of course. It just seems strange that MK obviously seemed close to him then and then he was written out.
According to Jack, they were close friends in the early 80's, not just a last minute recruited musician for the BIA recording and tour.
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Indeed, just makes it an even more interesting story of how he got dumped...
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Of course he doesn't say he is famous.
Obviously he is the main character of his book, which means the title is wrong unless he considers himself as a famous guy. ;)
well he is certainly famous here! ;D
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Well fame is a tricky thing. Tommy gained a place in the spotlight once again (to AMIT spotlight), thanks to his comments and not his actual work. It was the peculiar guy that kept dancing even during Private investigations! Come to thing of it, the camera was very shy on him. We never saw him from up close. And he was part of one of the most sickening songs ever "Everything i do i do it for you".
About Jack Sonny, I don't know what you say but from the last BIA show until the recording of OES it was almost 5 years. Life can surely change lanes in such a long period.After all DS were on a hiatus. I remember MK saying in 1989 that he doesn't even think of recording again with DS. He was always busy, touring with EC, charity, awards, divorce, producing and playing on other artists' records, writing film music and probably taking sometime off. He was doing a one man's work. Then he used Phil Palmer, from EC band because he probably had spent more time together playing, so the interaction and response between them would probably mean less time rehearsing, understanding and "getting in tune". I don't think that there is something more than that. Maybe after 20 years (just around the corner) he might do a gathering of all the musicians and do a record like the Noting Hillbillies. Come to think of it, it is too bad that neither Brendan or Steve ever made it international big.
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Mark and Phil played together only one time, at Knebworth, the rest of the time when one was part of EC band the other wasn't. Furthermore Phil was not a first though for touring with DS as he was recruited only after that Vince Gill turned down the offer, the later giving priority to his solo career.
Phil was not the only musician witnessed by Mark on Knebworth that would make on the OES tour : Chris Whitten, then playing for Paul McCartney and was asked as Jeff Porcaro would not do the OES tour.
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I am not sure if that is right. At Montserrat I am sure Phil was drumming during Money for Nothing?
I am at work now and have not the opportunity to check it, but I remember some other Prince's trust
shows for sure where they played together?
LE
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I am not sure if that is right. At Montserrat I am sure Phil was drumming during Money for Nothing?
I am at work now and have not the opportunity to check it, but I remember some other Prince's trust
shows for sure where they played together?
LE
Phil Palmer, not Collins ;)
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I am not sure if that is right. At Montserrat I am sure Phil was drumming during Money for Nothing?
I am at work now and have not the opportunity to check it, but I remember some other Prince's trust
shows for sure where they played together?
LE
Phil Palmer, not Collins ;)
Not Phil Palmer, Collins :D
Phil Palmer played rhythm guitar, I think?
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LovenExpresso was replying to ds1984, who was talking about Phil Palmer :)
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I am not sure if that is right. At Montserrat I am sure Phil was drumming during Money for Nothing?
I am at work now and have not the opportunity to check it, but I remember some other Prince's trust
shows for sure where they played together?
LE
Phil Palmer, not Collins ;)
Not Phil Palmer, Collins :D
Phil Palmer played rhythm guitar, I think?
Alongside Mark, Phil, Phil, Sting, Ray (but no Corvette!), a forty piece orchestra clapping in hand, a choir, inevitable Guy, a bassist whom I forget the name (I wonder if I have ever known who he is), and blitztering solo provided by the Man himself, Eric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL2Yo2GcLkQ
Phil had already drummed for Mark on the Prince Trust 1986 asthey were both part of the house Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFSZYIFNJfQ
Both show that were really poorly recorded by TV
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Mark and Phil Palmer are both on the John Illsley album 'never told a soul'. But not on the same tracks... So i don't
know if they met.... Phil played with John then...
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Mark and Phil played together only one time, at Knebworth, the rest of the time when one was part of EC band the other wasn't. Furthermore Phil was not a first though for touring with DS as he was recruited only after that Vince Gill turned down the offer, the later giving priority to his solo career.
Phil was not the only musician witnessed by Mark on Knebworth that would make on the OES tour : Chris Whitten, then playing for Paul McCartney and was asked as Jeff Porcaro would not do the OES tour.
Sorry, ds, next time I will read your post more properly. Of course you were talking about Phil Cunningham, who played with MK only once apart from the Get Lucky recording... ;D Didn't you?? :disbelief :disbelief :disbelief
LE
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So... MK played on the Phil Everly album then?
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No, he's on Easy Lover... With PHIL(lip) Bailey :lol
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Or is he playing darts with Phil Taylor? :disbelief
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Oh brother, all these word playing made me thirsty and my cup is empty. Phil it up :P. Now, isn't it peculiar that we seek so much the details? What i was trying to do, was not to give a logical explanation, but to show that there is one, that probably elude us. The musicians have a social life. Maybe Phil was having too much to drink and Mark offered to drive him home, only to realize that Phil had the rare recording of Hendrix with Miles Davis and the only way to listen to it was to hire Phil for the tour. But of course this is all a big joke, because we all know that Jimi never recorded with Miles (God rest their souls).
And since this thread is Phil infected, I will ask the deadly, irrelevant question to knock every Phil down: any Phil has an idea of how or where to buy the Lee Fardon's CD "Lost and found"? My emails to his address (the one i found at his official site) are not delivered and when i send them a post card, it came back 2 months later with the "Gone away" box ticked. Thank you .
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So... MK played on the Phil Everly album then?
But why worry then. After the rain, the rain - Brittany adage ;D
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Of course he doesn't say he is famous.
Obviously he is the main character of his book, which means the title is wrong unless he considers himself as a famous guy. ;)
Greetings from the real Tommy Mandel. My tour with Dire Straits was a great time for learning and growing. The dudes in the band were wonderful guys, and, yes, Mark was tough, but as someone here pointed out (as did I in the chapter you're salivating over) with such a big band and production, to a certain extent he really had to be. We all love his guitar playing and the scope of his music. If I ran into him on the street or at a session today, I'd be glad to seem him, and I like to think he would be too. You're wrong, famous was not supposed to refer to me, the author, or else I'd be calling myself an a****** too! Whoever posted, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" - I agree, and that's why you'll never see the chapter titled Herr K on the internet. Or in print. After playing with Straits, Adams, BonJovi, Chrissie Hynde, B-52's, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, David Johansen, John Waite, Peter Wolf, Little Steven, Cyndi Lauper and others, I had a lot of experiences to sort out. If you really want to know, that title was a tongue-in-cheek play on Gurdjieff's "Meetings With Remarkable Men" - a spiritual travelogue. And I've long ago changed the title. But I've realized (long ago) that ones privacy is more important than a few bucks, or some kind of weird satisfaction from slagging someone off, which I'm not doing, because you always end up regretting something like that, especially cuz you can never really 'take it back' in any meaningful way, once something nasty is said. So sorry that you're so clueless, author of the post I'm quoting, but now ya know. Life is Great. I can see things much more clearly now, and if there was pain, it's gone with time and understanding. Come check me out at Machiavellinyc some friday night.
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Greetings Mr. Mandel, great for us that you found this thread, although one tends to forget that the internet is not a village but a global village, and that we are not "only" discussing things here among friends, although it seems to be that way very often, and all the world can read and take part of it.
However, this link
http://www.tommymandel.com/mybookch1.html
is still active and at this place you are among the biggest lot of MK fans from all over the world for sure, and one or the other reader of that chapter is still waiting maybe for what exactly will come up to "diss" Mr. K., the Man who is still running and most of us have bought tickets to see him on his Tracker world tour, doing his thing still, for more than 30 years now..
So great to have you here, we already have had Jack Sonni visiting us, Guy Fletcher was also here if I remember correctly, so now it's you! Have a good time!
Will you contribute further on to this forum or was it just that one post you wanted to get off your chest?
EDIT: I had the "pleasure" to read chapter 10 about Marek Lieberberg and the "Teutonics" in general. So maybe I might not be among the people who would wait for the final "diss", thank you very much.
All the best,
LE
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Hi. . . :D
32 years is a long time ago, but I hope that between my post of today here, and Bruno's quotes and that little mini-interview I gave him I can make everyone here feel loved and happy. I'm still doing a lot of music in and around New York City, where I was born, and where I met Mark for the first time at Power Station recording studios.
I had been doing a lot of studio work there on other acts, acts you might not love or even know, but it was a real happening environment. Must have been, because Mark and Alan Clark and Neil Dorfsman had just finished Local Hero's soundtrack there. I was on the west coast tracking down a gig with Eddie Kramer when I got a call from MK on my voicemail (back then it was called an answering machine!) We made a date to meet when I got back to NYC. So a few days later, I came in and Mark had a smile on his face. We probably shook hands, I don't remember exactly, and he asked me to play him something on the piano. So I played this funky bit I had written for my first rock opera. So Mark goes, "Hey Alan, come in here and listen to this boogie that Tommy's playing!" (he pronounced it the Long John Baldry way, IYKWIM.) So I guess I was pretty much "in" after that. Or maybe it was when I saw his glimmering National Steel guitar and bent down to look at it with great respect. He goes "you like guitars, do you, Tommy?" Kind of like in the movie Airplane. It was hysterical, but subtle! We went back to his apartment and listened to Love Over Gold.
Sometimes the internet gives people an opportunity to get hung up, to focus on the negative. . . but why 'go there'? Especially after all this time. We all know that if Guy F. had been available, DS wouldn't have called me in the first place - I think he was with Bryan Ferry at the time, and the schedules couldn't be reconciled. Guy came to a Bryan Adams show in the 90's, maybe Newcastle on Tyne, and it was great to finally meet him too, along with seeing maestro Alan Clark again. And incidentally, Bryan Adams has some pretty awesome songs, he's not just about Everything I Do. Someone made a snide comment about that, and well, that just made me lose some respect for the commenter.
Check out Bryan A in "I Need Somebody" "Tonight" "Thought I'd Died and Gone To Heaven" "I Ain't Gonna Cry Over You" "Fits Ya Good" "Long Gone" - great songs. And Keith Scott, Bryan's all time guitar player may not be Mark Knopfler (noone can be!) - but Keith is worth a listen too. Check em out!
If you want to hear what I'm up to, try http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/tommymandel and http://www.holidelic.com and http://www.nalanisarina.com but let's live in the NOW ok! Rock On!!
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So Joop de Koorte is Tommy Mandel.
Double work and only paid once. I better understand his eagerness now. ::)
Nope, sorry Tunnelman, Joop is Joop and Tommy is Tommy. We were both on that tour, but Joop's association with the band pre-and-post dated mine. Great guy though, really awesome. Intelligent, talented, rhythmic, friendly and humble. Good combination, eh?
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Glad to have you on board, sharing stories of the past and giving them a much needed personal perspective. As LE said we are fans that some time forget that this is not just small talk among fans but actually a public place. Everything you read is of course personal opinions. The fact that some things are already dated (the last post before you joined was from 2011) also means that people who wrote them are usually not the same anymore. Or can't remember the context in which they wrote something. Anyway, welcome!
(BTW, I like some songs by Bryan Adams, I have several of his albums-including Waking up the neighbours- but "Everything I do" still makes me sick. I guess it is not a bad song either, but back then it was playing everywhere 24/7 and the overexposure created those effects. Same goes for some Dire straits songs, as well. So, no disrespect, I am sorry if it gave out the impression of a snide remark, just a personal feeling)
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Tommy, welcome!
It's an honour to read you in this forum, you played on my favourite band in my favourite era...
I also like Bryan Adams and you are not the only link between Knopfler and Adams, Bryan also had Danny Cummings in his band!
Her K chapter could be rewritten in a most adequate way. We appreciate a lot any source of knowledge about our favourite era of Dire Straits.
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a big welcome also from my side to mr. Mandel.
so after Jack he is now the second straits member (not in the legal sense, i know) to visit our little village, sweet!
and we all assume a mr. Fletcher lurks every now and then, maybe i should stop the forum now, you know, go out with a bang!
any little anecdotes to share with us mr. Mandel? (no matter which artists, just live on the road stories..)
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Thank you so much for coming to talk to us Mr Mandel.
From reviewing the "famous" post that annoyed you, I think it may have partly been down to the poster not having English as his first language... no excuse for being rude though.
I went to see Bryan Adams live a few years back and it was a great show. So , any hits that I'd forgotten about to be honest (I mean that in a good way).
Can I ask you about the equipment you used in DS, ie keyboards, synths etc?
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Glad to have you on board, welcome!
(BTW, I like some songs by Bryan Adams,... sorry if it gave out the impression of a snide remark, just a personal feeling)
Thanks for explaining, vgonis. You're right - Everything I Do (not my favorite BA song either, but I grew to like the 'don't tell me' section, and also when I saw, night after night, how it meant so much to many people in the audience) but like many 'big' hits, it was way overplayed, you're so right. I had to even play it with the local band at my sister's wedding!! Oh well ;) I had many favorite Dire Straits songs back then, but I really liked the words to Industrial Disease, some of the orchestral parts I had to play on Private Investigations, and my string part on Romeo and Juliet's bridge into Love Over Gold - I had a small hand in inventing that! I really liked Love over Gold too, and R&J, I think I know the girl whom it's about; Solid Rock was a lot of fun, Terry was such a great drummer to play along with, and I kind of got to start that one with him.
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Tommy, welcome!
Adams, Bryan also had Danny Cummings in his band!
We appreciate a lot any source of knowledge about our favourite era of Dire Straits.
Thank you jbaent! Yes it was really cool reconnecting with Danny Cummings when Bryan A. did our Unplugged concert and tour to support it. Oh wait, I think that was when I first met Danny, because we were in Straits at different times?
Rather than re-edit that old book, I'll be happy to just answer any questions that I can here, it's a whole new century now, and it's 15 years old already! wow.
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a big welcome also from my side to mr. Mandel.
any little anecdotes to share with us mr. Mandel? (no matter which artists, just live on the road stories..)
Thank you, Mr. Pottel, great board you've got here. :clap
An anecdote? oh OK. Back in the 90's my friend, Jim Gregory, great lefty bass player from West Virginia (US) who got me many gigs when I was first getting started, and sadly passed away around 10 years ago :'( - well Jim's wife and Patti Hansen were best friends, maybe from the same modeling agency. Somehow, either Jim or Little Steven got me a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, or it may have been Madison Square Garden in NYC; It could have been either dude, 'cause I had played on LS's Freedom No Compromise CD and then we went to Japan (with Little Steven) for a gig (fine funky rock band with TM Stevens,Steve Jordan and Pat Thrall) & he had and good tunes too, and is a really sweet guy - saw him last year when he came to our Holidelic gig (check out Holidelic!) Anyway, Little Steven never got rattled by anything, which was very cool - now he's a tv personality too, but still has a Garage Rock radio show, check it out!) - Peter Gabriel was on that gig in Japan too, and we shared an electric razor in the dressing room. Random!! Well, so Steven, Jim Gregory and maybe Nils Lofgren and me are sitting around the dressing room before the show, it was like a locker room for sports - not where Bruce was or anything...and in comes Keith Richard. He was funny and friendly. But here's my anecdote, the whole point of all this name dropping! so Keith goes (to Jim and maybe Nils or Steven) - "Call me! Why doesn't anyone call me? What am I - a pariah?!" I thought that was a great use of an interesting word.
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From reviewing the "famous" post that annoyed you, I think it may have partly been down to the poster not having English as his first language... no excuse for being rude though.
Can I ask you about the equipment you used in DS, ie keyboards, synths etc?
Thanks, Dusty - that's a very good point. I could have been more understanding. 8)
On my riser with Straits, there was Mark's Synclavier controller keyboard (i believe the massive rack of computer equipment and Winchester drives that produced the beautiful sounds of that top-of-the-line-for-its-day instrument, were either under or to the side of my riser so that the Incredible Ron Eve could access it to work his considerable magic were it necessary at any point during the show...)
There was also a Prophet Five (either mine or Mark's or Alan's or Ron's) and a Korg CX-3 clonewheel organ, which was a very early example of that concept. It may have been routed through a real Leslie speaker, as was Alan's Hammond B-3 (the Real Thing!) But I might just have used the CX-3's built in Leslie effect and switch.
There was a lot of time when I wasn't supposed to play anything, given that we were recreating some sparse tunes that were recorded by only 4 guys. For example Sultans of Swing, which was 7 minutes long by then; Telegraph Road had many parts, but up to a certain spot it had to be empty also. So I guess I played an air-keyboard that was up there too, but invisible to all but me and Mark. He told me where not to play. And by the way, in the Twisting By The Pool video, I was supposed to look dumb! Wasn't I? Crimey, I wasn't? oops. In it, I was imitating the way this great actress girlfriend of mine used to dance in one of the plays she did, when she played a rabbit.
The hardest part was getting the string swells to come in just right - for that we tried Morley volume pedals but they just didn't feel right - so i picked up a couple of excellent Ernie Ball stereo volume pedals in NYC. But I still couldn't get that part of my performance perfect. :disbelief
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Funny reading a Dusty Valentino post about not being rude..
LE
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Thanks for the info Tommy, having to sit and play nothing must be tough.
Funny reading a Dusty Valentino post about not being rude..
LE
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Tommy, you mentioned playing with Mick Ronson earlier? Have you written anything about him? He is a hero of mine and it would be interesting to read some stories :) !
Welcome!
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Funny reading a Dusty Valentino post about not being rude..
LE
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Sorry, Dusty, I take that back, you got pm.
LE
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a big welcome also from my side to mr. Mandel.
any little anecdotes to share with us mr. Mandel? (no matter which artists, just live on the road stories..)
Thank you, Mr. Pottel, great board you've got here. :clap
An anecdote? oh OK. Back in the 90's my friend, Jim Gregory, great lefty bass player from West Virginia (US) who got me many gigs when I was first getting started, and sadly passed away around 10 years ago :'( - well Jim's wife and Patti Hansen were best friends, maybe from the same modeling agency. Somehow, either Jim or Little Steven got me a ticket to a Bruce Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, or it may have been Madison Square Garden in NYC; It could have been either dude, 'cause I had played on LS's Freedom No Compromise CD and then we went to Japan (with Little Steven) for a gig (fine funky rock band with TM Stevens,Steve Jordan and Pat Thrall) & he had and good tunes too, and is a really sweet guy - saw him last year when he came to our Holidelic gig (check out Holidelic!) Anyway, Little Steven never got rattled by anything, which was very cool - now he's a tv personality too, but still has a Garage Rock radio show, check it out!) - Peter Gabriel was on that gig in Japan too, and we shared an electric razor in the dressing room. Random!! Well, so Steven, Jim Gregory and maybe Nils Lofgren and me are sitting around the dressing room before the show, it was like a locker room for sports - not where Bruce was or anything...and in comes Keith Richard. He was funny and friendly. But here's my anecdote, the whole point of all this name dropping! so Keith goes (to Jim and maybe Nils or Steven) - "Call me! Why doesn't anyone call me? What am I - a pariah?!" I thought that was a great use of an interesting word.
lol, amazing. and amazing to read about the names you've played with.
ever been starstruck? (and if multiple times, then pls all stories...)
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From reviewing the "famous" post that annoyed you, I think it may have partly been down to the poster not having English as his first language... no excuse for being rude though.
Can I ask you about the equipment you used in DS, ie keyboards, synths etc?
Thanks, Dusty - that's a very good point. I could have been more understanding. 8)
On my riser with Straits, there was Mark's Synclavier controller keyboard (i believe the massive rack of computer equipment and Winchester drives that produced the beautiful sounds of that top-of-the-line-for-its-day instrument, were either under or to the side of my riser so that the Incredible Ron Eve could access it to work his considerable magic were it necessary at any point during the show...)
There was also a Prophet Five (either mine or Mark's or Alan's or Ron's) and a Korg CX-3 clonewheel organ, which was a very early example of that concept. It may have been routed through a real Leslie speaker, as was Alan's Hammond B-3 (the Real Thing!) But I might just have used the CX-3's built in Leslie effect and switch.
There was a lot of time when I wasn't supposed to play anything, given that we were recreating some sparse tunes that were recorded by only 4 guys. For example Sultans of Swing, which was 7 minutes long by then; Telegraph Road had many parts, but up to a certain spot it had to be empty also. So I guess I played an air-keyboard that was up there too, but invisible to all but me and Mark. He told me where not to play. And by the way, in the Twisting By The Pool video, I was supposed to look dumb! Wasn't I? Crimey, I wasn't? oops. In it, I was imitating the way this great actress girlfriend of mine used to dance in one of the plays she did, when she played a rabbit.
The hardest part was getting the string swells to come in just right - for that we tried Morley volume pedals but they just didn't feel right - so i picked up a couple of excellent Ernie Ball stereo volume pedals in NYC. But I still couldn't get that part of my performance perfect. :disbelief
am surprised to read mark has/had not one but multiple keyboards..pls tommy (can we call you tommy now?) keep em coming them stories
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Tommy, i've read some of the chapters and i was amazed by your honesty when playing for Bon Jovi, when you recognized that youn didnt have anything to add to their songs so you left the recordings. Others would had did whatever to stay and to get the money for thevsessions.
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thanks, jbaent :) I guess I'm not that good at playing along with pretense, (or couldn't think quick enough, hah) so I just gave Johnny an honest answer to his question. But at that point I wasn't all about the money - making ok money doing music was a great new development for me, but I was confident about the future, and not too greedy. Plus i had a manager for that! if he'd asked her - i might have been back for another day or two, whether I liked it or not lol.
re: was I starstruck? Kind of, yeah! that's exactly why I wrote the 'book' - i was kind of starstruck. I had met and played with all these famous people (and very few were a******, that part was for a laugh!) and I didn't know what to think of it. Why me? What was it about all of them - the quality they shared that led them 'to the top' ??- That part is still a bit mysterious, so I just tried to tell my little stories and end each one with a lesson i thought i'd learned from each encounter.
But again, that honesty of ours may have left some rough edges, and rough edges are fine in real life, that's how life is, but they can be misunderstood, and blown up in today's internet and media. When we're not face-to-face, sometimes the 'human-ness' gets lost in translation. Some things better left unsaid.
re: Mick Ronson - Yes, what an awesome, wonderful, natural, gifted yet down to earth guy. More about him later. He came to my wedding!
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re: Mick Ronson - Yes, what an awesome, wonderful, natural, gifted yet down to earth guy. More about him later. He came to my wedding!
Thanks Tommy, that's wonderful to hear! I look forward to it :)
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let me rephrase, what was the most starstruck you got?
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let me rephrase, what was the most starstruck you got?
Definitely Steve Winwood, Pottel. I got called to audition for his band, and he met me downtown, took me up to a borrowed loft in an old manual elevator - a "lift" you might say - you know the kind with the gate? He said 'play me something' - was very smiling and modest, but I could see he was tickled by my extreme hero-worship vibe. So I started playing this piece, called Vanilla of mine for him on the piano - one that i'd spent a lot of time deciding on. . . and. . . he walks out of the room! (to make us some tea, it turns out.) Eventually he came back, but I didn't notice until I heard his Prophet V doing the bass line (to Oh Happy Day, a gospel classic, which I had eventually come to be playing. . . ) more later - my students R here!
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wow, Steve Winwood, for me he will always be the one that majorly shaped the Blind Faith album, one of EC's finer moments.
great voice. great musician, and suprising choice :-)
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His work with Traffic is great and lets not forget his earlier hits with the Spencer Davis group or his solo career. I would love to be around the shooting of Blues Brothers 2000 final scene where the two bands compete. A who is who of the musicians I like! Many of them already gone. Steve is there as well!
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wow, Steve Winwood, for me he will always be the one that majorly shaped the Blind Faith album, one of EC's finer moments.
great voice. great musician, and suprising choice :-)
I agree, Pottel. and vgonis too! - Winwood is so cool! and now, here's the least :disbelief starstruck i ever got: Madonna -!- No, she was not an a****** - she was nice enough, pretty normal actually, when we met (1980) after a David Johansen Band rehearsal, in the back room at Gotham Rehearsal Studio, in the unlit room where they store all the road cases, etc. Her manager, Camille, said, "there's someone I'd like you to meet..." so i went into that back room, and a girl, just like the ones I used to play for at my College gig in the 70's, says, 'here listen to my tape and tell me what you think, k?' - hah- it was like my bon jovi story. I listened with her earbuds - hey!@! I had madonna's earbuds in myears, WOW! As far as the music, I didn't think it was great - neither did I think it was bad. I asked her, "Who's playing on it?" She said "Frank Vilardi drums, (I had played a bunch of local gigs with him, nice guy) and David Frank on synths (he's awesome, went on to great things, in fact I got him some early gigs when he came to NYC from Boston...) so I said, "Well I guess you don't need me then!" and wished her luck, and walked away.
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lol, at least you did not go all "decca" on her....amazing story still :-)
what was your favorite song(s) to play live with Mark? and why?
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Hi Tommy,
amazing to read your history here. I always love to know from the musicians that make our "heros" shine on stage. Thanks to the internet we have contact with many of you so thanks for sharing those memories.
And talking about memory, and maybe following Pottel previous post, I have a couple of questions for you.
The Love Over Gold Tour set list was the most static set list in MK
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The bridge from Romeo and Juliet into Love Over Gold was always one of my favorite pieces to play. The intro to Solid Rock, actually that whole song, was also right up my taste alley. Private Investigation was challenging with its orchestral moves. The Theme from Local Hero is so beautiful that I still find my hands playing it to this day, sometimes without me even thinking of it first! Those are a few of my favorite musical moments in the Dire Straits sets of my short period with them.
As far as a static set list, perhaps it was because there were 2 new players in the band (Terry Williams and myself) - and especially with all the detailed lighting cues, Knopfler and Chas Herrington may have felt it had to be what it was. With all the hard work and attention to details that Mark put into his arrangements, even though we practiced for weeks before we went out on the road, perhaps he felt that that this rehearsal time would be better used getting real comfortable with the set, as opposed to learning a bunch of tunes that we'd only do occasionally. I don't really know, just guessing.