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Britains Best Kept Secret?
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By Troy Wells
Glenn Hughes:
I'm working on a song with Audley Freed, the guitar player
from The Black Crowes. He sent me a song, which I'm actually working on
at the moment. You never know, it could make the new album. At some
point do something together on an album.
Ballbuster:: He's great, I saw him once with the Crowes.
Glenn Hughes:
He's incredible, man.
Ballbuster:
It's teasing me to know you're working on all this cool stuff, man!
Glenn Hughes:
A lot of crazy things going on at the moment.
Ballbuster:
Your wife's a lucky woman to come home and be able to hear
all that stuff going on...or is she sick of it by now?
Glenn Hughes:
You know, when we met, she hadn't heard my music. My
wife's a producer and music is what she does. Funny enough, she got into
it very quickly. She went on Amazon.com and bought everything I ever did
and then brought it in the car one day...all the fuckin' CD's, all my
stuff and she really likes it. I guess it's a plus, ya know? She
produces music for TV commercials, a lot of the things you probably hear
on the Super Bowl and everything else like Budwiser and Coke. She does a
lot of live music. My drummer introduced us. So, Gab does a lot of TV
work. We've been together a year...she's the best thing that ever
happened to me.
Ballbuster:
For those who might not know, tell us about your latest
releases such as "Return Of The Crystal Karma" and "Voodoo Hill." That
covers the last three months, doesn't it?
Glenn Hughes:
I did "Crystal Karma" and "Voodoo Hill" about a year ago.
They came out in June and September. I personally love both of them. I
think for the classic rock/hard rock fan, they're both good. But, they
both offer something a little different. I think my album is a bit
funkier, funky rock. Basically, I live in that funky place, which is
great. To tell you the truth, I can't play unless it's kind of groovy
anyway. But, the "Voodoo Hill" thing is a classic rock album. Much more
of a Deep Purple sounding record than anything else I've ever done. The
guitar player is a really great classic rock player.
Ballbuster:
Well, it actually has the Purple cover on there as well.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah.
Ballbuster:
My favorite off of there was "24."
Glenn Hughes:
Isn't that great?
Ballbuster:
Great song. Any story behind that?
Glenn Hughes:
Yes, there is a story behind that.
Ballbuster:
Is there a young lady running around somewhere?
Glenn Hughes:
No. I wrote that song when I was dating Gabby and, to tell
you the truth, it's kind of personal. I guess that a lot of guys that
are rockers, especially when they become elder statesmen, have the
opportunity to meet a lot of girls and a lot of younger girls. And what
I was saying in this song is, "I can't be running around with young
chicks anymore!" and that song really is a farewell, for Glenn Hughes to
say, "you're much too young, you're not what I'm looking for." It really
is a beautiful song and I really fucking love that song. The chorus is
so melodic.
Ballbuster:
It's so different from the rest of the song. There's such a
dynamic build. The begining is sort of like this ominous dark metal
thing.
Glenn Hughes:
Right.
Ballbuster:
Then the chorus has such a resolve and it's so lush.
Glenn Hughes:
I love it. I'm glad you like that because it's my
favorite.
Ballbuster:
Well, I guess that sort of follows up the sentiment of
"Golden
One."
Glenn Hughes:
That's gabby's song. I wrote that for her. Funny enough,
Dario Mollo sent me some music and I didn't tell Gab that I wrote a song
for her until I actually came home from Italy. I'd written the song six
weeks before. I sent it to her office by Fed-Ex from Italy. She was
blown away. I don't normally write songs for my girlfriends. But, with
Gabby, it's just a different thing. She's my soulmate. It's a beautiful
song.
Ballbuster:
"Crystal Karma," which is the latest Glenn album, "State I'm
In" and "It's Alright" are my favorites.
Glenn Hughes:
Once again, I love the album. I chose to play and write an
album like that. I wanted to make more of a crunchier guitar sounding
record than the previous album. It's all done pretty much live. We
overdub a few things. The nucleus of my band is J.J. and Ferg. We're so
tight. We've condensed down to a trio now and it's such a great band.
Ballbuster:
So you're playing bass full time then?
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, God yes! I can't not play bass. For awhile there, I
decided not to play bass to concentrate on...I don't know what I was
thinking. I think I made a mistake. It's okay to tell people that. I
really love playing bass. In fact, at the NAMM show, I just picked it up
a fretless bass. I had a fretless before. But, this one that Vergier
gave me is so amazing. I'm gonna take some lessons and learn how to play
fretless.
Ballbuster:
I've dabbled. It's tough. The intonation has to be so
precise.
Glenn Hughes:
You don't play in the middle of the fret, you play on the
top of the fret. I'll tell you, man, it's a little gruesome. I couldn't
play "Burn" on it cause there are so many notes. I could play certain
things.
Ballbuster:
Are you into Tony Franklin at all?
Glenn Hughes:
Very much so. I'm also into Marco Mendoza.
Ballbuster:
Both John Sykes alumni.
Glenn Hughes:
They're both really good friends of mine. Very good
friends.
Ballbuster:
Do you know Sykes as well?
Glenn Hughes:
Very well.
Ballbuster:
That guy is another like you, sort of a best kept secret
over
here in the U.S. that people aren't aware of like they should be.
Glenn Hughes:
Well, you know, now that I'm coming out to play live, I'm
hoping that's going to change. The beauty of my whole career has
been...when I was young, in Trapeze, Trapeze made it basically because
of strong word of mouth and there was hardly any press. But, because the
band was so awesome, we got a great reputation in the club circut for
being really, really good. And in Europe, the far East and South
America, we have a reputation now with my group. Now we're gonna do it
in America.
Ballbuster:
Yes, it's long overdue.
Glenn Hughes:
And you know, I'm not chasing the dream I had when I was
21. I've got 80 plus gold records and, you know, it's like I've done it,
I've been there. Why I do it now is because I really fucking enjoy it.
Ballbuster:
You can tell big time.
Glenn Hughes:
The beauty of playing the club tour I'm going to do in
America in March is that I can connect to my really
die hard fans. It's really important for me.
Ballbuster:
I don't see this as chasing the old dream. It's a whole
other
market that should be exposed to you and plus, you live over here.
Glenn Hughes:
It's difficult. You know Troy, you probably know what it's
like to tour. You've probably met a lot of bands that tour across the
nation. It's difficult to do it. You've gotta make some money. Unless
you're making money, I'm not talking about me per se, I've gotta make
enough money to pay all my crew and my guys and it's gruesome cause it's
such a big country. But, I'm going to pull it off. I decided that I
waited long enough. I got myself an agent that really believes in me,
so, we're going to do it properly. We've got a few Northeast gigs booked
and we're obviously moving into the Midwest through Ohio and I'm
presuming the Detroit/Chicago area and then down to Texas and stuff.
>From what I can see, we should be entering the Michigan area around the
second week of April. Man, I've gotta tell ya, Detroit was a great city
for Deep Purple and for Trapeze. This is really horrible to tell you,
but, i haven't played Detroit since 1976. So, that's kind of strange,
isn't it?
Ballbuster:
So you played with Tommy Bolin here?
Glenn Hughes:
I believe we did. We played Cobo three nights in a row
with Purple on two tours and then we played another venue with Tommy, it
was like a really old bloody place.
Ballbuster:
Maybe it was Olympia?
Glenn Hughes:
It was old, man. It was horrible.
Ballbuster:
I can't wait for that. Speaking of the new band, Joakim is
amazing. Every album, I get more and more into him.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, he's great.
Ballbuster:
Now tell me "Ode To J" isn't Jeff Beck.
Glenn Hughes:
It is.
Ballbuster:
I think I'm going to call him 'Lil Jeff and I don't mean
that
in an imitation sort of way, it's a genuine influence showing.
Glenn Hughes:
When I wrote that, I wrote the guitar melody. I don't know
if you know the story of Jeff Beck and I. In 1972, he stood on the stage
at Hammersmith Odeon and said, to Ronnie Montrose funny enough, "I'd
love to play with Glenn." Years later, in 1994, Epic Records, Sony in
New York, called me and sent Jeff's manager to see me. play in Trapeze.
We did some gigs in London. They decided that Jeff was going to have me
sing on Jeff's next vocal album. That was seven years ago and it still
hasn't happened. You know Jeff and I, I sent him "Ode To J" and he loved
it. But funny enough, on this next album there's another instrumental,
which is probably more like that vibe. So...
Ballbuster:
So, like a hint...nudging Jeff a little?
Glenn Hughes:
Well, I write instrumentals like that. I have this voice
that's very melodic. So, I write those things for guitar and bass as
well. The first thing I did last year, which was "Ode To J," I thought
was great. The next one is more dreamy. But, it's very, very cool.
Ballbuster:
"Ode To J" is sort of like the "Ode To G" with you and Jon
Lord.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah, it's kind of a joke. Someone said why don't you just
call it "Ode To J?"
Ballbuster:
I saw the thank you's in "The
Way It Is" that you mention Jon
Lord. Are you still friends with him?
Glenn Hughes:
We did a tv show together in Switzerland. I was on the
panle first, he came on and joined me and I had no idea he was there. He
had no idea I was there. I hadn't seen him in 20 years. The camera
rolled and we both got very emotional. I haven't spoken to him since.
But, you know, people ask me, "Do you hang out with the guys in Purple?"
Not really, cause I never see them.
Ballbuster:
I heard that you and David Coverdale recently did "Burn" for
the first time in 25 years.
Glenn Hughes:
We did.
Ballbuster:
How was that?
Glenn Hughes:
That was incredible.
Ballbuster:
I bet.
Glenn Hughes:
You know, I didn't ask him to do it.
Ballbuster:
did he guest at your show or did you guest at his?
Glenn Hughes:
He was singing on Mark & Brian's Christmas show. On the
last week before I got into town, before Christmas, Mark & Brian called
me to see if I'd sing a song with Ronnie Montrose. I heard David was on
the show and the night before the gig, he came down and they asked him,
"You know Glenn's going to do the show, why don't you guys sing "Burn?"
He thought about it and the next day at rehearsal he called me and said,
"Let's do it." we struck up a great friendship again too. And you know
the most important thing about my life is, it's all about spirituality
and friendship. I'm not really pushing the envelope to play with David
again or Ritchie Blackmore or whatever. There are things probably being
talked about in rumors, but...
Ballbuster:
It's the connection.
Glenn Hughes:
The connection has been made and I think that David and I
have really hit it off as men and we dig each other. We both laugh at
each other's jokes, we like each other a lot. We just haven't spent a
lot of time together the past 10 to 15 years.
Ballbuster:
He's a very charming man. A very cool guy.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh yeah, he's very sweet. We get along really well. I
think we really needed to spend some quality time together, which we
did. And I think it was very good for the healing of anything that may
have gone on in years gone by. It was very cool.
Ballbuster:
I know you did backup on
Whitesnake's "Slip Of The Tongue."
Glenn Hughes:
Right.
Ballbuster:
what songs in particular?
Glenn Hughes:
If I can remember correctly, it was "Fool For Your
Lovin'," but the other two songs, I can't remember because it was very
high. Super, super duper high and I can't remember what they were. It
was the title track I think. I don't know the other one.
Ballbuster:
I was just curious because a lot of times with backups, they
tuck them in and bury them in the mix.
Glenn Hughes: Well, they were very buried, I know that. But he took care
of me and he was really instrumental...see, I got clean and sober around
that time. David was instrumental in helping me get through that period.
So, I want to thank him for that.
Ballbuster:
One thing I think worth mentioning on the two latest Glenn
albums, "The Way It Is" and "Crystal Karma," one thing that impressed
me, beyond how great the songs were and how versitile, particularly "The
Way It Is," is how modern it sounds. And I don't mean that in a trendy
way, I mean that it has a very fresh, forward thinking sound to it.
Every time I hear something great of yours, it frustrates me cause I'm
like, "Why is all this other crap on the radio getting all these
accolades?"
Glenn Hughes:
I know.
Ballbuster:
Here's this guy who is just unbelievable. It's not like this
sounds like, "Oh, he's some old Purple guy rehashing." I mean this is
very vital, current sounding stuff.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, I believe it is. When I make records I really take it
seriously. It's not like I'm just going to write eleven filler songs. I
try and make each song different and I try to give it a new spin. I
really have been given that gift. I'm pretty sure if I had an incredibly
huge manager, it'd be different. But you know, I've worked with a bunch
of assholes in this industry. I don't wanna work with them anymore. I'd
rather just keep on doing what I'm doing. I have been very fortunate to
make money so I don't have to worry that much about things. But, I do my
albums because I like playing music. I just hope a lot of people feel
the same way you do.
Ballbuster:
There's a few friends of mine that I've been trying to turn
on
to you and that's a difficult task in a way because you've got such a
large body of work. I don't quite know where to go to give them their
introductory taste. If you could pick one album, we'll exclude "Burning
Japan" because it's so varied...
Glenn Hughes:
Oh yeah.
Ballbuster:
If there's one solo album I could give them, which should it
be?
Glenn Hughes:
I'd say to them, get the last album, "Crystal Karma." You
know, cause it's kind of rock. The next one comes in July and it's going
to be even better. I really believe that from my gut. The next one, it's
going to be different. It's going to be more acoustic than the last one.
There's many different sides of Glenn as you know. The very hard rock
side, there's very, very funky and there's the cross of those two.
There's also poppy and jazzy and it's all very different. If I don't
perform those songs, if i don't perform what God's given me, I'm not
giving the listener of myself or their money's worth, I guess. I've been
cursed and blessed with this gift to sing and write in many form. I
think Sting does it really well, hence he came from The Police and he
had a huge following. If I'd have stayed in Trapeze and got famous in
Trapeze, I would have been able to do a lot more, but, i can't go on
coulda, woulda and shoulda's. I'm very happy where I am. I don't do this
to chase the last album sales to make them better. Obviously, I'm hoping
things do remain good, but I do this because I really do love working
with my group. I'm in heaven right now, writing another album. Writing
music is the best thing I can do. I just finished a new song called
"Cry" when you called me up. The next thing I'm working on is the one
with Audley. It's different. More Trapeze sounding. We'll see if it
makes the album.
Ballbuster:
There's two people I want to ask you about that I've heard a
little about from you in interviews that I've read. One being Ray
Gillen. I heard that as part of your recovery, you had to call some
people that maybe you were angry with back when you were struggling with
your addictions and that ray was one that you called up because of the
animosity towards his replacing you in Sabbath. Did that call happen?
Glenn Hughes:
No, there's no animosity. When Ray got the gig, I think we
were in Rhode Island or something. I had been really suffering with this
condition. The truth of the matter is, I'd had an altercation with the
tour manager on the night before the tour. Regardless of what happened,
I got hit in the face and my nose, there's a bone in the eye socket that
went through the nose and caused a lot of blood to go into the throat
causing a blockage. What happened was, I couldn't speak, let alone sing.
I wasn't that screwed up at the time, it was just that something bad
happened. Something in my life at that moment, that caused them to get a
replacement.
Ballbuster:
I'm glad we cleared that up because it has been widely
reported
that drugs were the thing inhibiting your
singing.
Glenn Hughes:
No, I'll tell you why. Although at the time I was not
clean and sober, Doug Goldstein, who is now Axl's manager, was my
bodyguard at the time...and I'm going to tell you the truth. If you've
met Doug, he's a fucking ox. He fuckin' followed me everywhere. You know
something, there was no drugs involved on that tour. There was a lot of
drinking going on. I think there always was in the 80's. I'm the kind of
guy that will own up to anything I've ever done bad and, let me tell
you, I've done some bad things to myself. One thing I didn't do was
deliberately try to hurt Tony Iommi or the Sabbath family. It just so
happens I got into a fight. I guess I might have caused it. But, the
lead singer of the band being hit smack straight in the face is not
something you should have done. So, consequently, I had to go to the
hospital. Funny enough, Ray was hanging out with the band at that time,
so, he obvioulsy was going to be brought in. When I found out, I wasn't
very happy, but, I didn't blame Ray. In fact, Ray and I spoke about it
when we did the Phenomena together in 1987. He and I were very good
friends. There was never a problem with Ray Gillen and Glenn Hughes. I
was kind of happy that they got someone else. but, they did it in a way
that they never told me. They fucking told Doug to just take me to the
airport. So I never got to speak to Tony before I went. It really wasn't
a matter of "can Glenn sing tonight," Glenn couldn't speak.
Ballbuster:
I saw the Detroit show.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh my God, well, you see what happened. I don't know if
you could tell, I wasn't fucked up. I might have looked nervous,
overweight and bloated. You know, I wasn't well back then, but, I was
not fucked up. I just couldn't sing. Isn't it weird, six weeks of
rehearsals were brilliant. The night before the tour, this happens and
on the very first fucking night in Cleveland, my voice started going.
The singer doesn't lose his voice on the first night. I mean, my voice
is like elastic, I never really have any problems with it.
Ballbuster:
Well, I guess I can kind of verify that. I don't know how
you
feel about the bootleg thing, but, as a fanatic I can't resist. I do
have a bootleg called "Turn To Glenn."
Glenn Hughes:
Got it! Somebody sent me that.
Ballbuster:
That's a Sabbath rehearsal and your voice is fine on that.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah. Oh my God Troy, if I could erase something in my
career, it would be that moment. Those 5 shows I did in Sabbath, I'd
absolutely have to erase those because it was...can you imagine playing
in front of 17,000 boys and girls, not knowing what was going on cause
you couldn't sing. It was horrific. It was almost like, is this really
happening to me? And let's just say that a good three quarters of these
people had never heard me sing before thinking, my God, this guy sucks.
But, you know something, I couldn't help it. Tony is a very good friend
of mine. I think we're okay about it now, I mean, it was something I
didn't plan on doing. Although I must say, in the 80's for me, I wasn't
firing on all cylinders. When I got clean and sober that's when my life
changed.
Ballbuster:
Was the John Norum album the first album you did after
Sabbath?
Glenn Hughes:
The first album I did in '92 that came out was Norum. I
did it in October '91.
Ballbuster:
And then the blues album.
Glenn Hughes:
The blues album was in September '92.
Ballbuster:
And that brings us up to "From Now On."
Glenn Hughes:
And "Burning Japan Live."
Ballbuster:
That's one of my favorites, "From Now On."
Glenn Hughes:
I love that one.
Ballbuster:
There's some phenomenal ballad type of things. I keep going
back to your ballads. That's where you
really show off your voice.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah, on the next album, there's going to be a couple of
killers. In a very classic rock sort of way, not in like Glenn does his
black thing way. It's going to be very, very almost AOR-ish classic
rock-ish cause all my fans in japan freak out when I don't give them
enough rock, they love that stuff.
Ballbuster:
That's a difficult thing that you have, speaking of a
blessing
and a curse. Not only can the talent be a blessing and a curse, but, the
versatility is a blessing and a curse big time because it's like you
listen to your stuff and the big powers that be at the label, they don't
want somebody who can do everything. They want to be able to pigeon hole
you in this little box so they can market you.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah, they definitely do. The trouble I've had in Japan is
they really want me to just be totally Purple sounding.
Ballbuster:
A lot of people do. A lot of my friends, when I tell them
there's a new Glenn, they're like "Well, is it rock enough?" It's like,
man, if you're only listening to the rock Glenn, you're missing most of
it as far as I'm concerned. I love the rock stuff, but, I think where
you really shine is on the ballads.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, absolutely. It's from the soul.
Ballbuster:
Even stuff like "Coffee & Vanilla" is a favorite of mine.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, I love that.
Ballbuster:
I like when you have an album with variety. Sometimes you do
a
rock album, sometimes you do a funk album. But, I like when you do
things like "The Way It Is," where it's like a Queen album. Every song
could be from a different artist because the album is so versitile. It's
all very different yet it's all very Glenn. Variety is a tough thing to
sell on people. Do you have that frustration?
Glenn Hughes:
Definitely, it drives me nuts. If I listened to everybody
that's got an opinion on Glenn, I'd be scared to write. I have a huge
fan base of people that really like...there's two camps. It's almost
like there's a younger audience in some markets. A lot of girls in some
markets. In some markets, like East Germany, it's all men. When I go to
do South America, there's a lot of young girls. One set like the
ballads, one set likes the very intense songs. It's different. I'm just
blessed to have a different quota of fans. I really do believe that I'm
still making great music and I'm making even better music as I go along.
Ballbuster:
I really believe that. Purple was great, but, I'm fine with
it
that it's done because I think you're blazing a trail in so many
different directions. It's very exciting.
Glenn Hughes:
I just wrote a new song, this "Cry" song on my album. It's
really funky, almost like...I don't know, it's sorta nasty, almost like
the Gap Band. I said to myself, "I can't put this on my album." I played
it around the house for a couple of days, Gabby came in and said, "You
gotta put this on your album." So I said "Fuck it, I'll just write some
lyrics to it." So, there you go...the reason I started the last album,
"The State I'm In," was that I wanted to let people know who were
listening to this at Virgin Records or someone putting the headphones
on...oh my God, this is a rock record. Cause "The Way It Is" started out
with thatradar submarine thing and the people in Japan didn't get it.
Ballbuster:
But "Crystal Karma" gave them what they wanted.
Glenn Hughes:
And "Feel" : "Too Funky - No Rock!" I was just over there
with Joe Lynn Turner, which was a huge classic rock thing.
Ballbuster:
I heard about that, has that been recorded?
Glenn Hughes:
I guess, yeah. I mean, there's bootlegs going around. But
Joe and I are making an album in the summer.
Ballbuster:
So you'll both be singing?
Glenn Hughes:
Oh yeah.
Ballbuster:
Have you heard his latest album?
Glenn Hughes:
Yes, it's fabulous. Joe made a very Japanese classic rock
record.
Ballbuster:
The Japanese guitarist, Akira, on there is smokin'.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah, he's playing on the album with me and Joe. we're
bringing him in in May.
Ballbuster:
He's a real Yngwie/Blackmore kind of guy.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, I'd say Richie Blackmore. The reason I'm going to use
Akira on the album is because Joe and I have a vision that we're not
gonna step outside of the mark III, mark IV Rainbow/Purple box. We're
gonna give the Japanese...well, basically, the classic rock Glenn and
Joe fan exactly what they would want. So here I am trying to rewrite
"Mistreated" or "Burn" or...who know's.
Ballbuster: The other person I wanted to ask you about, I've heard you
mention him, but everyone is always barraging you with the rock
questions, is Stevie Wonder. Is that his harmonica bit at the end of
"She Wants Your Money?"
Glenn Hughes:
No. It's a mouth box played on a keyboard. I produced it
in a way that I told my keyboard player that I wanted that Stevie Wonder
thing. I thought it was appropriate.
Ballbuster:
I heard that you not only know him but that you've played with him?
Glenn Hughes:
It was on the "Stormbringer" sessions. I was at the Record Plant and
he was next door. I met him, funny enough, in the toilet taking a piss.
And his cousin, Calvin, was there and I said, "My God, I wanna meet
him." Check this out, I brought him into Studio B and I played him
"Can't Do It Right With The One You Love." I ripped him off so bad. He
came up to me and could not believe I was white. He touched my face and
said, "I can't believe you're not a brother." He took me under his wing.
I stayed and hung out with him for two days. I sat on his organ bench
while he was playing some keyboards and we became real good friends. He
called me his favorite white singer, which I thought was brilliant.
Ballbuster:
Wow, I can't imagine you two jamming on something. That
would
be amazing.
Glenn Hughes:
I must say, I never actually played with him but I watched
him record. He was making "Songs In The Key Of Life." So, I was watching
that and we were doing "Stormbringer" at the time.
Ballbuster:
Holy shit! To have seen that! Well George Lynch definitely
titled you appropriately, he called you the white Stevie Wonder.
Glenn Hughes:
You know something, I gotta tell you a funny story. In our
studio with Stevie, David Coverdale was doing a vocal track and he
couldn't see cause David's like half blind, he couldn't see. He was in
the control room. He could just make out it was me and he said, "Who the
fuck is that there with you? Tell him to fucking get out." And it was
Stevie Wonder.
Ballbuster:
Did you tell him right then?
Glenn Hughes:
Oh God, he freaked.
Ballbuster:
What a great story.
Glenn Hughes:
Isn't that funny? Dave and I laugh about it.
Ballbuster:
One more Stevie thing. Hypothetically speaking, there is
going
to be a Glenn Hughes tribute album and Stevie's going to be on it and
you get to pick which song of yours he's going to sing...
Glenn Hughes:
I'd have to say, probably "This Time Around."
Ballbuster:
Let's play word association. Just some song titles and some
people. "Blue Jade."
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, I love that song. It's one of my favorite songs that
Glenn Hughes has ever written. It's deep and emotional. It's very real.
It's even visual, isn't it?
Ballbuster:
"Talk About It."
Glenn Hughes:
I love this song. Mark wrote the music. I finished it in
the car on the way home. Give me a piece of music that stands out like
that and it's immediately...I just start writing like crazy. The best
songs are all written like that.
Ballbuster:
"In Your Eyes" from the John Norum album.
Glenn Hughes:
Oh, that's another good song. I blew him away. When he
played me that, once again I went, "Okay, I know where this is going." I
just like the freedom of what he allowed me to sing. He's very cool.
It's very, very pop.
Ballbuster:
"Stoned In The Temple."
Glenn Hughes:
I love that track. It just moves great. The song is about
a guy who can't get sober. He's always fucked up. Wasn't about me. I
can't say who it was, it would be telling. Some of my songs I wrote
about people. But, I can't really say. I write about issues that involve
the heart and flesh and bone. I don't write about goblins and weasels
and dolphins.
Ballbuster:
Speaking of someone who can relate to sobriety, Steven
Tyler.
Glenn Hughes:
I met him when they opened for me in Purple in 1973 and I
may have been rude. Elf was the opening act and Aerosmith was second and
we were third. And they didn't allow any room for Elf and I actually was
really mad. I think I did something bizarre but, I didn't see Steven
again until 1994. I was introduced to him by their guru, Bob Timmons,
who is a friend of mine. So I went backstage and met them and they were
very nice. We had a great talk. He's a genius. He's a rock god. He's an
ego maniac, but, he gets the shit done. He's an addict, so, I know
exactly where he's coming from.
Ballbuster:
Prince.
Glenn Hughes:
A genius. I think he's gone a bit too far as of late.
Early Prince is ungodly. Even some of the new stuff is good. He's just
amazing, he's unbelievable man.
Ballbuster:
Have you met?
Glenn Hughes:
I'd prefer not to. I'd prefer not to meet anyone that I
thought was going to be difficult. I'm an admirier of many musicians,
especially the real good ones. But, if they are known to be difficult, I
would not like to meet them.
Ballbuster:
"Double Life."
Glenn Hughes:
Which one? Which version?
Ballbuster:
The "Incense & Peaches" version.
Glenn Hughes:
I love it. It's a great vocal performance, isn't it? It
sounds like a girl in some places.
Ballbuster:
"Welcome To The Real World."
Glenn Hughes:
Song I wrote with Mel Galley for the Trapeze reunion that
never happened. I wrote it in his living room in 1984-85.
Ballbuster:
There's a great version of the live disc.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah.
Ballbuster:
What happened to his hand?
Glenn Hughes:
He broke his arm. They were jumping over some cars in
Munich in a car park before the gig. And Mel fell and Sykes...you know
Sykes wears these big army boots. He fell on his arm with his boot and
broke it. It went septic inside with the splint and it paralyzed his
arm. So he has to wear a special brace to put his fingers in.
Ballbuster:
And the last song, even though it's the most obvious song to
comment on, it just continues to get bigger and better and it takes on a
life of its own year after year, which is "Coast To Coast." Every time I
hear it, you continue to add cool extra things to it.
Glenn Hughes:
It's great, isn't it? I keep adding bits at the end of the
song. I don't think I can play it in the trio with keyboards. Although,
we did it in London in November. But, it's a song that, I guess, my
signature song.
Ballbuster:
So you won't do it on this new tour?
Glenn Hughes:
I might. There's so many songs lining up here. When you
have a trio, you have to play trio sounding stuff.
Ballbuster: Richie Kotzen.
Glenn Hughes: Love him. My wife just had him in a session. He's very
shy. He's not a cocky boy. What he was doing in Poison, I have no idea.
He was so un-Poison. because you know, Richie is a fucking great guitar
player/singer/writer. We're not done yet. Him and I aren't done. We are
gonna do some work.
Ballbuster:
Do you totally hate bootlegs? Or do you understand our, the
fans, want for them?
Glenn Hughes:
Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em. Can't stop 'em. Keep
bringing them on.
Ballbuster:
Except the Tony Iommi one.
Glenn Hughes:
Except that one. Cause that sucks because I never actually
got to sing on his record. I've been known to say at concerts, "Get your
tape recorders out, it's going to be a good show." It doesn't bother me.
Except the Tony thing. I lost a bunch of money because I never got to
perform with him on his album, because of that shit that happened. But
Tony and I, once again will make more music. Tony and I love each other
and we love working together. So, I don't know when we'll work together,
but, I think we'll work together again.
Ballbuster:
Was the "shit that happened" the reunion?
Glenn Hughes:
Funny enough, in 1996, he asked me to go back to Sabbath
before Ozzy went in and I refused. I said, "I'd like to make an album
with you." And we started to make the album and then he went back to
Sabbath. That's why. And then of course, when the producer was producing
the new Iommi album, Tony was in Sabbath and he wanted to go back to the
real dark stuff. They told me that my vocal duties would not be needed
on the album because I wasn't the right singer for the album. I said,
"Fair enough."
Ballbuster:
Do you have that bootleg, "Eighth Star?"
Glenn Hughes:
No I don't.
Ballbuster:
There's some things on here, just as a boot fan, I'd like to
clear up. They've got the song titles all wrong.
Glenn Hughes:
I can tell you the titles. "Not The Same," "I'm Gone,"
"Real World," "Don't You Tell Me," "I'll Be Fine," "From Another World,"
"Through The Rain," "I'm Not The Same Man," "Gone," "Don't Drag The
River," "Don't You Tell Me," "Fine," "From Another World," "What The
Fuck Is That." Tony loved that stuff. They were only demos, we were
gonna add things to it. But, Tony loved working on that. We had such a
ball.
Ballbuster:
You know what they put on this boot?
Glenn Hughes:
Jethro Tull song?
Ballbuster:
Yeah, that's just off the tribute album "Cry Me A Song,"
right?
You didn't play that with Tony?
Glenn Hughes:
No, God no.
Ballbuster:
Was there only seven original songs?
Glenn Hughes:
No, there's one more song, "Time Is A Healer." Just to
prove it wasn't me who bootlegged it, I have a tape with that on it.
When the tape got out, I'm going "Fucking hell! Did I give anybody a
copy?" Cause you know you have to think about that and I went, "Nope."
Ballbuster:
Let's talk about the new making of the "Days Of Avalon"
video.
Glenn Hughes: It's beautiful man. It's about 25 minutes. It's a video
plus behind the scenes. It's me at the house, it's me in the studio,
it's me having fun with Gabby at the beach. It's a behind the scenes
look at what goes on. And the video is a motherfucker , man. It's a
beautiful video. I shot it at the sound stage and at the beach. It's
like a $175,000 video. It's a big fucking video.
Ballbuster:
Did you see Niacin at NAMM?
Glenn Hughes:
Yes.
Ballbuster:
Wasn't that insane?
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah. I saw a couple of songs and then I left.
Ballbuster:
Dennis Chambers is just completely out of hand.
Glenn Hughes:
Yeah, he's incredible.
Ballbuster:
I thought I had seen everything Billy Sheehan could do but,
he
was whipping out shit that was blowing my mind.
Glenn Hughes:
He was amazing.
Ballbuster:
Speaking of Billy...
Glenn Hughes:
I love Billy Sheehan.
Ballbuster:
Do you like Mr. Big at all?
Glenn Hughes:
I'm not a big fan of technical playing, you know that.
But, you've gotta take your hats off to people like Billy who was great
that night.
Ballbuster:
Getting back to your voice, do you have a regimen or a vocal
workout that you do?
Glenn Hughes:
When I perform, I really do honestly take care of myself.
It's very important for me to get eight hours of sleep. I do warm up's
before the sound check, just very casual. I have to sing for about 20 to
30 minutes. I've gotta sing not full boar, but, I've gotta be warming my
voice at sound check. That to me is my warm up tape. All these guys have
the tapes and I think it's great. I haven't done that yet. If I feel
that I need to do that, I'll do it. But, i haven't had a problem yet
with my voice. I'm singing four nights a week, it's been okay. I just
don't smoke or drink or do drugs. It's just a healthy lifestyle.
Ballbuster:
As a last question, you said there was gonna be another
"Archives" release.
Glenn Hughes:
We are now mastering a new one. I haven't gotten the title
for it yet. But, you can expect it in the summer.
Ballbuster:
What period is this from?
Glenn Hughes:
1994 upwards. There are other "Archives" releases coming
next year that are older periods. The next release is very melodic. It's
definitely a lot of vocals.
Copyright 2001, BallBuster, The Official Int'l Underground Hard Music Report |
In today's world of overexposed and expertly marketed artists, it is
unsettling to learn that one of the greatest talents of the last 30
years has remained one of Britian's best kept secrets, especially here
in the United States where Glenn Hughes is often shrouded in obscurity.
Glenn has graced the ranks of such archetypal bands as Deep Purple,
Black Sabbath and Trapeze. He has also recorded dozens of albums on his
own and with name talents such as Gary Moore and Pat Thrall. Glenn is a
prolific songwriter, exceptional bassist and is at the very top of his
field as a vocalist. His versatility alone puts him in a league with the
likes of Prince, Freddie Mercury and Stevie Wonder. Glenn's future
notoriety is ensured by his constant recording activity and quality of
work. In this exclusive ballbuster interview, Glenn sets the record
straight on past rumors, recent activities and future projects.
