Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.
You guys been at thirty Rocket fall along right for for a while?
Pretty much? Yeah, pretty much.
That's pretty cool.
We made it through the story.
I can't believe it. You know, it's like everybody has everybody has a story for the last.
Year, exactly exactly.
You ready?
Yeah? Oh, I thought I hate Slart video. My bad? What's up here? I was up? Everybody?
What's up? I made good up?
What's up? Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Quest Love Supreme. I'm your host, Questo. We have Teams Supreme with us right now. Well, I can't assign myself another moniker.
It just took you a second. I wasn't sure if you knew as.
Guy who I was, because you know, whenever we're in the presence of greatness, I just I understand my thinking goes the other wise. Dude just played on every record ever. I wish, I truly wish we had like James Brown's intro, just so I can right right start naming it like literally dud tears in Heaven, get lucky? Uh whatloose? Saving all my love for you? I just can't stop loving you. Oh morning, algebral morning, Steve Steeves about to fit.
This stuff?
Easy, lovers, there you go through the fire. I mean even even underground classics like smooth Sailing by the eyes of I got freaking who has any work with Tina Marie Dion Warwick, like Whoever the Weekend? Justin Timberlake, BB King, Mary J Blise, Fish, ladies and gentlemen, the most used session musician of Wait, I'm kind of saying this is just but anthanist. Are you the most used session musician of all time?
You know what? A mayor? I'm not exactly sure how to verify that, but we can say that I've been busy.
Book and busy gentlemen. I love it. A great Philadelphian is on the show. Welcome East to Quest Love Supreme.
It is a pleasure, a joy, and an honor to be here. I mean, you've had everybody from Michelle Obama to.
We're working on him and now Nathanist Yeah. How how how are you right now? Where Where are you? Okay? I know that we can't see you because this is an audio show, but I should say that in the land of zoom, when you're watching like news pundits sit behind their library collection while the book Nah Nathan is stunning. Like I'm certain that all those guitars and basses hanging on your wall have a story to tell, correct.
You know, they really do. There was there's the one that was on some of those early Barry White records that was like the white pea bass in the background is my Like.
That's your Barry White? Was your first client as a professional bass player?
Yes?
Yes, late, Wow, Jesus Christ, let's start. This is the thing, Like I've known you for the longest and of course, like you know, you've come to the tonight show and you've sat it in and all that stuff. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you're a Philadelphian. What is your and at that, like I'm really elated
to speak to someone. Usually all the musician musical luminaries from Philadelphia that I talked to are are kind of from a certain like my dad's range, like born in the late thirties, early forties, and really can't give me a lay of the land of what Philly was like to grow up in Philly as as a youngster in the seventies when all this magic was happening. But what is your Philadelphia story? Where in Philly were you born?
Well, actually North Philly Doctor's Hospital roughly sixty five years ago. And my my, that's the that's the we're supposed to give away those things.
Yeah, when you like that, you are actually.
Rop the skincare routine, Nick, I need a skincare regimen.
That's a renting all at least at night.
I don't know. Even as you said that, I was like, oh, he might be like five years older than me, right, born in the Wow, Yeah, you know, in nineteen sixty.
Six, nineteen thitty five, you know. And you know, b my dad went to Cheney Cheney State in Cheney, Pennsylvania. He had the world's record in the fifty one hundred yard dash beat Jesse Owens in nineteen forty made the Olympics, but due to the war, the Olympics were canceled, So I didn't have that bragging right, but he was the world's fastest human. My daughter is now keeping it going.
She runs track for UC Berkeley on their D one Pactael twelve track team there in Texas A And then this weekend, you know, for the for the regional finals. So you know, there's a lot, but Philly I left early when he had an aerodynamics aviation job in Convert, San Diego, where he moved the family. But we would go back to Philly every summer and kind of just jam and I a lot of great musical influences. And I don't know what's in the water. There's so many
bass players, Anthony Jackson and Eddie Henderson. It's just like what it's base heaven over there.
You know. So was your family immerged in music as well or just like how what was your first musical memory that you had?
Yeah, there was there was always a piano kind of around the house that uh, pops and moms both would play. But you know it was like, you know, music, music filled the neighborhood and and you know, so you'd hear Glutys Night, Marvin Gay Out, you know, blasting through the homes of this of the neighborhood. But it was really I'll never forget My first forty five was More Love by Smokey Robinson. We were just always gathered around the
radio and listening to music. And I remember when I played cello for three years and then I discovered the bass and it was it was actually in church. My brothers and I were doing. They were doing like these folk masters back in the day when all that started and uh, and then there was a bass on the altar and I went up picked it up, and nobody claimed it and I picked it up and I said, oh.
Lord, you take yourself out of play.
Yeah, I mean I just started playing, just just out of my love for music. And it only had four strings, so it wasn't it wasn't that difficult.
But you played the cello before.
But I played the cello before anyway, I was in the range of the bass cleft, so that that kind of got me got me going.
Okay, this is interesting because usually anyone that we interview on the show that's an axe men or an ax woman, nine times out of ten there's like a the thirty dollars Sears guitar thing story that happens, like with Sears having these affordable instruments and you know, people teaching their getting their kids lessons and whatnot. But you started on the cello and then worked your way.
To the base, right, and the weather is the thirty actually forty nine dollars story story from from the pod shop where my mom got me. My first base was about that long. You know, it was a you know, a short scale, no name, but you know that that was my uh, you know, ticket to ticket to everything, you know. And then I started playing in all the bands and uh stage band in high school and okay, you know the drill. One thing leads to another, next thing.
You know, you're doing a couple of gigs I learned. I learned the A string, the eastring, and then I had a gig already.
Oh okay, you know.
And then the first gigs were in church and obviously, you know, I always say that's the best place to have your first gigs because if you make a mistake, they're ready forgiving. You know, you don't get it, you don't get it.
I see. Do you remember, well, at the time when you're learning your craft, were there any other notable musicians that you grew up with or or artists that you were kind of hanging with during your your formative the years as a.
Teen or yeah, you know, well, as a team, we It's funny because we backed up. We had a band called Power and there was a staxed review that rufus Thomas Barry White, a bunch of people came and played and we were the house band for everybody. And after that gig, Barry White invited us all to his office up in Beverly Hills. We went up there and he hired our whole band on the spot to go tour with him. And so, like, my first gig was at the Apollo Theater. Then we did Madison Square Garden, we
did Cobo Arena and Detroit. You know, I'm like sixteen years old.
Wait, what year is this?
This was like a let's see, seventy one maybe.
Okay, so at the very beginning of Barry White's career.
Yeah, seventy one two, and he started, you know, he had all these hits.
And were you lying about your age? Like anybody you know.
I didn't volunteer my age. It was just one of those things where you know, you're saying, opportunity, Knox, you got.
To go, you know, and how do you propose this to your parents? How did that conversation?
Well that was another thing that they were, you know how parents are. They're they're always a little reluctant about that, but they they went along to it because I was with my brothers, you know, my and all my my homies and from the neighborhood. So we were all together in this and it was it was really special to to be with an act like that, you know, an arena act where you're you know, selling out arenas, and it was unbelievable.
So did you ever do the Philadelphia circuit that would have maybe eventually landed you in MFSB Or was that already Anthony's gig?
And yeah, that was that was already done and dusted, and that would have been been his gig. And I would have been already out on the West coast by then. But those those were the you know, those were the dream gigs that everybody wanted, you know, gambling, huff and and those tombs are very near and dear to my heart. But by that time we were out on the West coast. And then so so Barry was kind of he was
kind of it. And and then you know, I played with him live before before I started recording, but then you know, started doing all those records, and and he would, you know, most people don't know, he'd drive up from from Watson a stuts bear cat with gold emblems on it, and then he'd get out with the three fifty seven magnum. You knows, twirling it like like he's in like he's in the country Western movie. It would sit on the console, you know, like this thing.
No special occasion special.
I wanted. I wanted to ask you. So you're you're the you're the third guest of the show that's had Barry White interactions. But I've heard, you know, through throughout my coming up in the industry, like some gangster Berry stories, but can't ever get like what was he like to deal deal with? Ray Parker Jr. Told the story of like, you know, he actually dently crashed Barry White Mercedes trying to play him the demo for one of those songs.
Won't let the music play. And then his former tour manager, Alan Leeds had a few stories about you know, Barry's whole modus operandi, and you know I knew of the gun always there. Like in general, was he I don't want to say sugar nitish, Like was he fearsome or was he cool to get along with or.
You know, in general he was he was very cool. We had a we had an amazing relationship, and he was just always he was always very supportive, I mean, especially if he liked you. You know, he was one of those guys that that you know, if he liked you.
And then you know, Gene Page was the arranger for all those sessions, and you know, the great Gene Page and and so there was always just when it was happening, it was it was incredible, Like you know, Barry was just he loved the fact and you know we're making some some hits in there, so I mean, he was he was gracious and appreciative. We wrote a couple of things together. I had a song on the Love and
Limited album called Easing Okay. And you know he would always end up with his name on everything, you know, the write a word, get a third concept.
Right exactly the side note, does anyone ever remember the bridge to Jay Z's New York New York song? Do you remember New York which one exactly exactly jas New York song? Do you remember the bridge that's New York state of Mind? H Do you remember the bridge exactly? So you know, I teased all the time that, oh okay, because when Jay won the Grammy for that Alicia one two and I was trying to figure out what I was like, she insisted on adding that bridge. So that
she too can get right as good for it. I never knew if that song had a bridge. I knew the who exactly exactly there's a bridge going, there's a bridget it.
But conversely the bridge that Don't got Don't stop till you get Enough, which was written by Greg philin Games.
Greg Philing Games, Yes, now that's the.
You know, we know that story. And conversely, now that was something that that was worthy of you know what five percent.
So it happens, it goes down with those sessions. Ray told us that very tracked everything at the same time, with multiple I mean, at least for Ray, you know, he would say like sometimes it'd be two sometimes four guitarist playing at the same time, and that he didn't do a lot of post mixing and none of that stuff.
Like So, I'm just trying to figure out the one question I never got to ask him about that in doing it, is if Barry doesn't do any post mixing once the song is cut, how long do you guys have to play a song in the studio before the engineer captures the right EQ, the right compression, the right sound. Like someone has to play over and over again while they're like okay, getting levels.
Right while you're while you're playing over and over again and you're learning the tune, and Barry's given everybody a part. Like if you're looking in the studio, literally there's three guitars there, there's Ray Parker, There's Wah wah, you know, it could be Lee written hoor sometimes Parks, Dean Parks, I mean, David t. And so you'd have those guys. He had like a touring band at the time and they were not really known. So his name was Willie C. Straut,
but another bass player because he was on there. Is the thing I remember about is he was always so nervous. He was sweating from the palms of his hand, you know, because when Barry came around you there was a force to be reckoned with, you know, and he'd starts singing a part to you. Okay, you play bowl, boul bowl, you know, and so he would he would so literally you got a room full of musicians Barry. There was
a roads in the middle of the room. Jean was in there, Ed Green was over on drums, and then he'd go around and sing the part to every guy and and you would literally start to hear a hit being just developed just right before your very eyes, and pretty soon you're playing this thing like like for hours. And next thing, you know, when you add all those parts and bits and pieces, you know, they hit record.
Oh Barry White didn't read or write music.
No, no, he would if you said you said, here's play me middle c he wouldn't. He would not know where to go.
Really really, as many times as I thought, you know, seeing the piano and all that stuff, even.
Though he was the maestro, you know, but but I mean, but at the same time, he knew. You know. That's that's what I love about music anyway, because you don't really have to, you know, be schooled for those notes to come out, you know. And we we all have the same twelve notes, like Quincy says, you know, we got the same twelve notes fort to work with.
So are you on the do you know the the stretch of the very White discography that you were on at the time.
Or yeah that I think one of the first ones that I was on was called The Messages Love, and it had just the way you are, A bunch of those tunes I had, you know, there was whichever album had ecstasy when you lay down next to me.
Just casually that baseline, you know, and and those you know.
That was my first kind of heartbreak in the business, because you know when when you're in the studio every day all day and then you get that album and you crack it open and you look for your name and it's not there. It was like produced by Barry Wright, written by Barry White. Album, all songs and no musicians. And I said, what's what's up with this? Oh, he doesn't want anybody to steal his sound, you know, so you were surprised.
You didn't know ahead of time that your name ain't I.
Had, Your name is not gonna be on the record.
And so really, guys, see, that's why I always thought that like rhythm arranger and all those other like made up credits is for you know, we won't give you right his credit or production credit, but we'll just say that you did rhythm arrangement or you're right, you know, just another auxiliary credit.
I mean, love theme was was a gene arrangement to a song, and the arrangement was so bad that it was so powerful that they took the lyrics off the song and they didn't even finish the tune, you know, exactly. That was ABC Wide World is fos every Saturday.
I mean it was like watching the guy fall down. Dude, Yeah, no, I remember it. How does one I'm not saying, I'm not asking, like how does one stay territorial? But okay, so your Barry's go to guy in your mind if you don't say how high when he says jump in terms of like all right, we got a session next week, can you make it? Can you make it? Who are you worried about that's right around the corner that might take your gig? Like were you territorial? Like, okay, I
got Barry White? Now do you start sifting for other people so you can go higher and keep Barry White? Or because I'm trying to figure out, like if you're in LA and you're competing against like Chuck Raney and Louis Johnson and all those things. I know that mainly producers have their main guy that they always stick with, right, but you seem to be the main guy that everyone
always sticks with. So how do you how do you want like your territory to make sure that the next guy behind you doesn't take it in case you get sick one day or.
Well, while still being a teenager.
Well, the only way to really mark your territory is is what you leave on the tape, you know, in the studio, the notes you play are your marketing. And and like Quincy used to always say, if he to get the call is one thing to get the call back is uh is the other part of the equation that like and and uh. And I never really was too territorial. I was. I was always just so appreciative because I said, man, with all these bad cats in this town, Lewis Johnson and Abe La Boya, I mean
just I mean an a list of players. So whenever I kind of got a gig, I was just going, oh man, either they weren't available or you know, just just bring your bring your a game, you know. So that for me, it was just like just just leave it, you know, leave leave your mark on the on the tape.
Right. So I want to ask this hypothetic speaking all right, let's say ed Green does not exist, and it's nineteen seventy four and I'm Barry White's studio drummer. How much am I getting paid? How do I get paid? Is it? Are you getting paid by the hour? Is it by the song or just by the session.
Those sessions usually had a contractor, and as we all know, there's a lot of politics in this, you know, but the contractor was the he was actually the one getting paid, so he was like on double scale. And then because he was, he would put himself as the leader.
Okay, so you had to be afm.
You had to be AFM.
Yeah.
And then so there were two sessions to day. There was ten to one, two to five basically, so I see.
So there was always someone there to make sure the musicians got paid. So it wasn't like Barry was just like reaching in his pocket like all right, here's forty five dollars.
You know, you didn't get an envelope. It was it was all. It was all very unionized and and people like Gene Page was there. He was there to make sure that happened too, you know. So you you got paid, you know. And then back in the day, everybody would show up at the union and you'd have a stack of checks waiting for you.
Right, and by the way, are you on are you on Gene Page's Love Look record?
Love Look?
It came out in Atlantic seventy five, nineteen seventy five.
You know, in all honesty, i'd have to look, okay, of course I'm thinking no, because I wouldn't forget that, you know. Okay, but there's you know when when there's been quite a few, you know, they start to they start to ba hard to keep trying.
Yeah right.
I always kind of go to AllMusic dot Com when I went, wow, well even they forget stuff too, yeah, exactly. So what was your next pivot after Barry White? And I can remember when I had to because I started getting calls from Hubert Laws and and Ronnie Laws and some of the guys in the sort of in the jazz idiom. And I can remember having a call where
it landed on the same day as Barry. And I can remember asking him because theoretically the way you go from single scale or double is if you have so much work that you that you have to charge double in order to keep so, so you could say no to somebody else, you know. So I can remember going to Berry and asking, you know, I said, man, what should I do? And the guy said, well, if you ask him, it's been nice knowing you, you know, there
just like giving me their blessings. But I pulled them aside and I got up the guts, and I said, I was just wondering if I could just ask for double scale because I'm getting some other offers and if I say no to you, you know, then it'll help me say no to them if I get double here. So he looked at me. I saw the three fifty seven sitting there on the on the count wow, and he put he put his arm, he put his arm around me. Said, Nate, if you want that, you got that.
I mean, it gave you a big smile. And it was like, I mean, these are the moments and music that like people don't know about, you know, are you stay? So that was the that was the first time. And then then then I was like a double scale cat, you know, which was cool.
You know, that's what's up?
All right?
Are you one any of the Running Loss stuff or oh yeah, I want to know if you're on the pressure Sensitive album. But that's with uh, that's the that's the what you call it sample? Yeah, well tidal wave.
Is but always there, oh always, that's.
Uh with uh. That's on friends and strangers, correct, that's on friends say yeah, okay, I see again.
I'd have to look because it's it's it's enough decades. It's it's longer than four decades ago. So i'd have to look quite.
All right, quite all right? When you are booked, uh for a session, do you least get the courtesy of hearing the song first to see if this is something you might be into or you just kind of jump into it and not know what it's going to wind up being.
Yeah, no, no, courtesy of the song. It's it's it's you get there and it's baptism by really or fire wow and you.
So you have to learn these songs on the spot, on the spot.
Yeah, wait a minute, a mere. Let me ask Nathan this what kind of music did you want to make? Like when you started out? Like what was the dream?
Oh? Yeah, no, the dream was was all these guys. I remember reading an article that sha Ka Khan was talking about. She said, Anthony Jackson is my favorite bass player because he laid down the gauntlet on all those recording. Now it was the bible of bass. You know what he played, and I studied it. But when I read that article, I thought, oh man, I would like to be everybody's favorite bass player. Like that was my.
Dream and.
I'm still living the dream. I mean, you couldn't you couldn't make it up, you know, once it started hitting in January. I remember January second, nineteen eighty I did it Hurts Rent a card jingle commercial. Gene Page was
a composer. James Gatson was on drums, Ray Parker and Lee written Aragon guitar, Sonny Burke at the I mean, I'm up there writing in my diary all these guys, you know, And and I worked every day since then because then it was kind of like once these guys hear you, they start going telling people about you, and it was just like stepping zones and and it was crazy that way.
And that's your tribe. So that's even crazy exactly.
So for the musicians that listen to this podcast. And I'm gonna try and ask this in a way so doesn't alienate or offend them. Already knows where I go, where I'm going, No, But I think this, I think this is important, and you know, this is this is a battle I always work with because we live in we live in a time now where musicianship is just
in the wild wild West, right and again. And I've talked about gospel chops for a long time where like the gospel chop community sort of sci I mean, like, yo, man, why are you always coming down on this and playing on But and you know, I don't know if the rules that apply then apply now now I'm just I'm I come from a place where, you know, the musicianship of the sixties and seventies and some of the eighties, you know, that's my bread and butter, because you know
it's it's you know, it's undeniably classic. However, you know there's a new generation that sort of feels like the need to go from one from zero to sixty and four seconds and kind of show you everything you know they have. But it's it's almost like in your opinion, where do you feel that that script got lost in or is this just a natural evolution? And now we just live in a time where you got to do everything but the kitchen sink to impress and keep your
job right. Whereas you know, all the time I tell musicians like, dude, just play. You know, in the beginning I used to take their music their stuff away and just like play this one thing and this one thing only. But like, does someone have to tell you that? Like what's I guess what I'm asking is what stopped you from trying to showboat, to let people know like I'm the shit and just do what's called for. That's it.
Yeah, you know, it's it's very seductive to to want to in certain instruments. I think, like like piano like this this like crazy Olympic fast chops, you know they it kind of lends itself to to people wanting to really it. But but I never wanted somebody to walk away from a gig, said while he was the fastest guy ever ever heard.
Right.
What I actually like to do now is I go down the Instagram feed with the sound off, you know so, and then you know, you see everybody playing and and you try to figure out who's playing something that's worth listening. And very rarely do I you when when I turn it off, you know, like very few notes. But I learned early on too, just play the play the groove and the ink and the and and let it, you know, play that funk.
Does that? But does that truly matter? And like I think all of us in this room right now like agree with you. But then it's also like does that matter anymore? Does it truly matter? Yeah?
I think it will always matter and The only thing that I base that on is that I'm still I'm still fairly busy, like like like really really busy, you know, where every day there's something to do. After we finish here, I'm running the studio and uh, I got about four
songs waiting. So to me, it's the same concept. And I remember when Barry said when the Lynn drum Machine came, he said, it's over for drummers, you know, and and so like, it can't be over for drummers that can play, you know, because this is a machine and it will not come up with something that God put in its head by itself, you know. And so I I think that regarding it. But it's tempting. It's seductive when you hear a machine to think that that's going to be
the way of the world. But when it when it gets right down to it, just like you, you know, you play every day of your life, and and that's what you do, you know, and that's what people that's what I think the humans want to hear, you know, they don't necessarily want to hear a machine. And I don't think they want to hear a person playing like a machine.
But that in that proof and like certain new artists putting like they still have to dip back like Bruno Mars still got to dip back like Anderson, and you still gotta dip back like there's just there are some artists that see, I'm gonna need this if I'm gonna be funky.
And when they dip back, everybody, Oh, man, if you heard this is the most amazing thing I've heard.
Exactly it. It's new y'all. Remember Childish Gambino's.
That I'm playing Donald, I'm playing for you. Though, what personally, what do you prefer? Do you prefer studio rats or do you prefer like being a road dog?
Which is a great question, you know, because some people are either either or I've enjoyed being both. You know, I've enjoyed my life on the road. It comes with experiences and and something that you know, when it's live, there's nothing like that, you know, especially if you're playing. You know, we did live aid two hundred fifty thousand people in Philly. You know, there's no feeling like that,
you know, and to look out and see that. But then there's nothing else like being in the studio and here in your instrument, just like being recorded pristinely by one of the top engineers, and then when you hear that playback, it just sounds like heaven, you know. And and so those are those are the two kind of sides of the coin of a music of a musician, you know, and I think it's important to have both of those qualities.
How did COVID change, you know, do your workflow in terms of you know, how did you have to shift once the pandemic hit?
Yeah, you know, the I watched and I had some very significant touring set up. You know, Airic Clapton had three months in the summer and we were going to do like six Royal Albert Hall shows and then go to Europe, and we had all that.
Planet and we've seen his tweets, I.
Don't I had a Russian tour, you know, lined up and uh, playing with this Russian orchestra. So I was looking for that and so I watched. I watched, like literally the revenue for the whole year that would have tightened me up go right out the window, you know. And uh when when when COVID hit, It's like you are instantly becoming an entrepreneur.
Now you got some merchandise.
Let's talk about it.
You get to see how to deal with lamb, you know, and then what you're going to do, whether that's whether that's uber driving or which I have some friends that had to hit, you know, or or coming up with a way you know, never let a good pandemic go to waste. You know.
So are your voice work because like when you said that, I was like, yeah, you are a voice actor, dud I hear and that's what you did.
I was blessed. I did some voiceover working, and since I have a studio, it really came in handy because people send me songs and files and so I could I could do that till four in the morning. I end up doing a lot.
Have you written a book?
You know what? I have a book in the works, and definitely there's some there's some fun stories. So that's that's in the works at the moment. No.
I was just gonna say, I could probably just lists all the albums you played on. That would be the whole book. Right. Have you have you had a session that you were kind of not satisfied with your performance and you're shocked that like oh I got away with that or that sort of thing, or you.
Know, it's funny because are you allowed are you allowed to like I'm certain that you're being hired because it's like, Okay, Nathan will be you know, Nathan will knock this out in one or two takes.
Won't be that hard, let's go through it. Or you know, have you had a moment where you felt like I could have did better and they were like, no, no, I'm fine with that. It's good. And then.
You know what's funny is every everything that I ever hear back, I always think I always hear something that I said, Oh man, if I did it again, I would have I would have made that little hipperode or just put a little something extra on that note or something. I mean, everything I hear that I do, I always feel like there's there's a room for, uh, for some
kind of improvement. But however, you know when the guys, like when when Daft Punk, they did get lucky and they were mixing the bass part and I actually had the chance to redo that because we recorded the track and then they sent it back and then Nile put his guitar on. And when Nile put the guitar on, that's where the funk just like it just it just pulled the funk out of the thing. So I asked the guys, I said, you know, if I could have another shot at the base and I kind of went
from my Bernard Edward impersonation. And I was actually happy because they edited everything to the team, but they said, hey, your basebar. We ended up just using most of the one same take, one whole take. Oh cool wow, which was cool, and you know it was funded. Now that was a fun one to hear, and my kids thought I was cool because I played the.
Right a question. Okay, So I guess for most bass players, especially bass players that are coming of it, sort of coming of age in the seventies. You being born in fifty five, you would have been fifteen years old in nineteen seventy, and I'm certain by this point you were playing. Yeah you were, you were a fully realized bass player by a nineteen seventy correct.
Yeah, I think I was. I was like just jumping getting into the realization.
Okay, So that said, can you describe to me what you're what the reaction or what the feeling was when you first heard Thank you for letting me be myself again? Because okay, so I have this thing with Christa McBride about my disdain for songs and E minor because, like I, I have an obsession with collecting really horrible funk songs in E minor because you know, it's like when you're playing E minor that that's the easiest key for a
beginner and base to play. And of course my thought is that you're trying to top the mount Rushmore of E Minor, which is basically thank you for letting me be myself again music that's in there. But no, that's I wouldn't even consider that the mount Rushmore. I mean I was definitely not. I was just trying to think was that the same thing all songs in the kV so thank you for letting me be myself? Shining Star
could be in there. I would think, Well, it's kind of weird because I don't know if I can let Larry in twice. I mean, he he's already the alpha. So anything that comes after, thank you for letting me be myself, no matter what song it is, release yourself, hair right, all those things. So but for you, though, did you have a like come to Jesus moment when
you heard that? Like, what did you make of the sound because I always wanted to ask a bass player that was of age who knew what bass playing was beforehand, which I'm certain that you know, James Jamerson was the leader of that. Yeah, but what was thank you for letting me be myself for you in terms of hearing that.
I mean, I'd have to say that was that was one of the wheels, you know what I mean. It was like and I can remember the guys in my back and you know, as I said, man, have you heard this cat Larry Graham? You know, and so they came in with Graham's Central Station and they came in with that, and like you're listening and you're just going, I mean, to be that innovative at that time period where there wasn't too much before that that that said
that much, you know. And I love those youtubes now where you can see Slide in the studio listening to listening to those tracks, you know, just going wow, this is crazy, you know. And so it was. It was
a it was a big revelation. I mean, I'm not gonna lie and e Minor, I mean, you know, as a bass player, it's always funk any you know, everybody Lewis Johnson doubt it's drunk and he you know, I get I get asked to judge these Battle of the base bass contest sometimes, you know, almost I'd rather have a root canals. I mean, I walk out of there and everybody comes walks in the room with their thumb out, and you know, they don't they don't check the tuny,
they don't check the volume. They just start whacking the bass, you know, and it's like funk and e and it's like, please, guys, it's like.
How many ways can they reinvent the will?
So?
But for you it's okay. Well, I mean, is there still challenges that have yet to be discovered or or just in terms of the sport of bass playing.
Well, if you if you think about baselines, like for the Love of Money, when Anthony Jackson walked in and saw a D minor on the paper, and then he came up with that baseline, you know, right, and and and then when you think about till you come back to me, Chuck Rainey, you know, these these are to me where the bass really caresses the song, you know. And and if there's one thing that I that I would tell and I have students at my online school
of base, and I say, make every single note count. Don't. Don't just go in there and start playing. You first, you have to listen and know what the song is all about, you know, and and and we're just part of a big picture. So you know, when everybody goes in whacking and smacking the bass, it's like, really, guys, you know. And I remember Anthony Jackson used to say, if you if you want slapping and popping, you got
to call Marcus, you know. He said, he said that cost me two hundred and fifty grand a year, but he would he refused to do it.
Really, Yeah, Evan, he never played with his thumb at all.
You have not heard if you find it, if you can find it, please.
Did he always play? Did he always play with a pick at least? Or he used a pick?
Yeah, a pick in his fingers. But but I think for the love of money is what you can hear?
The pick? Yeah? For you, though, what is your what is your preferred weapon of choice? Your thumb?
What I do is I grew my I grew my name just long enough so that I can switch between. If I need a little extra percussive sound, I'll hit it with the nail And actually that came from an article I read about Chuck Rainey said he did the same thing, So he would you'd use the meat, the meaty fleshy part of your finger, you know, and get that big fat Jamerson sound. But if you wanted to have a little more percussive like a pick sound, instead of using a pick, I just used my fingernails.
And what is your preferred weapon as far as your your bass collections?
And one of the basses, like all those songs you named, it's it's my U. It was the predecessor to my signature Yamaha bass, but it's called a motion bass and it's just we we had like this bass that they had made for me, and then this box that I used to carry around and it has it was like an EQ box that would shave the mid frequencies. And that's that's been the bass I've played on, you know,
like countless. I need a bakerrect, I mean everything. You know, all those dudes name change the world, you get lucky And so that's my my fire string. It's it's the equivalent to my five string signature, but it's like a prototype.
What was your okay, So you know, there's over two thousand credits you have, and at least two hundred of those songs are like life changing songs. So you know, I won't even pick your brain about each and every song. But what was the first song that you recalled out
of your comfort zone that you played on? Like there's a difference between Barry White's as Ecstasy when You Lay next to Me and Footloose by Kenny Loggins, so like, or was it just a gradual thing where it's like, oh, rock gig today or a pop gig or a yacht rock gig or but what was the first like, Okay, this is out of out of my normal my out of my normal realm of client clientele.
Well, well, one of the one of the most challenging records was Wayne Short joy Rider and Trease Russian played on that. Robin Ford I think was on guitar. And it's one of those things like Wayne's writing, it doesn't it doesn't take into account like how the stuff lays under your fingers. It just it's just these notes that are that are in a uniquely random order that are
that are amazing. But you really, I mean, I remember all of us having our heads buried in the music thinking and I think somebody said, hey, would it be cool to take this home for a couple of days and then come and shed it back, And they were kind of because you don't want to. You you want to make it sound like you own it when you when you're playing the music, you know. The song Footloose was was a bassline that we had. I had the benefit of playing on the road every day like for
months with Kenny. We'd go practice the tune and by the time we recorded it, that was like one take, you know, but it was cool. Early on with Hubert Laws, there was an album called Family.
Yes, that's that's my joint.
Bobby Lyle Chik Korea was on there and.
His sister was singing Devor sang.
And and that that was one of the more kind of challenging I wrote a song that I played with the electric bass and piccolo where played the melody together and it was kind of a little bit of a chopbuster. It's called wild Fire.
And the piccolo together.
Yeah, so piccolo and.
Or separate tracks.
And that the separate tracks, you know. I was like, wait a minute, yeah, and so uh it was. It was one of those that you know, required a little bit of shedding before going into the studio. But for the most part, you go in the studio like sight Unseen, and they you know, they either throw this music in front of you or play a demo like you know, of the many ways to articulate what they want you to play, and you go from there.
I was just going to ask things that you need for your session, that you have to have, you.
Know, normally, it's it's not a one of the the last things we did and and we I got to congratulate John Fatist because we did the music for Soul and we were in Capitol. Yeah, congratulations, Yeah, and we're over there January twenty twenty, like like the first week of January twenty twenty. We were in Capital Studio A and uh that was interesting because he I had my upright bass, I had my electric upright, my electric bass, and we kind of auditioned all three and we ended
up using my my my upright bass. You know, the real wood bass engineer got a fantastic sound out of it. And I was I was just so proud to see him walk away with the statue. You know. That was amazing.
Yeah, that was awesome.
You always bring a choice with you at every session, and.
If I can, a lot of times they if they just say, you know, they may just say bring the electric bass, you know, and for Babyface, you know, probably not going to be a lot of upright playing.
Right, all right. So when you're when you're doing sessions, for instance, with all Right, let's let's say Through the Fire, do you mostly do you have good relationships with the producer that chooses you for the session or is it just all right? So what was it like working with I don't hear stories about h. R If Martin. It's hard to pronounce his name. Reef Martin, Yeah, a Reef Martin.
Because you know, Shaka's album was such THEE I Feel for You album is such a landmark album which was sitting somewhere between uh, the past and the future that was to come, you know them, uh sort of exploring new sounds and new new technology. Were you on that entire record or were you just on Through the Fire?
See? I was on a few album, a few cuts on that I'd have to look. But Through the Fire was actually produced by, written and produced by David Foster and my buddy who I share a studio with Tom Keane wrote it as co writer on that song. Okay, that was a cool song because David Foster, years before he had he came up with this kind of like a solo album of all instrumentals, and that tune was
actually on it. I don't know if I didn't know that, Okay, Yeah, And so I was familiar with the tune, loved the tune, and so again, you know, to get to play on it, I was I had a my heart was already connected to it, and then David was a friend, and so we were we were having a great time in the studio. John Robinson on drums, I think, Mike Landau on guitar, David on keys, and so the tune kind of played itself like that. Every song is unique, as we all know,
like a song like Tears in Heaven. I always say that that that I didn't play that song. It played me because I knew Condor clapton Beautiful Little Boy, and just the emotion of going in the studio and recording that knowing what it was all about, you know, I mean I don't even remember the notes I played, and you know, like I say, the song kind of just plays you.
Are there two versions of Is there a studio version of Tears in Heaven and the unplayed version or is it just one definitive.
The other two? The studio version is on a soundtrack called Rush. Yeah.
It was Jefer Jason Lee Joints.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and you did both versions.
Yeah yeah, so you play with Okay, I see, yeah, when I I think when I first met you. I'm sure that we met before, but the first time I really got to talk to you, we were in a Carousel and it was one of the most surreal gigs of my life because it was at the time you were playing with Toto correct, right, Yeah, yeah, so it was it was Toto, Dinah Ross the Roots, Prince wow right and oh and Los Lobos and uh yeah.
The one the one fest in London or.
Something they be No, it was it was it was Okay, what's what's what's the event? What's the festival in Rotterdam.
It's the North Sea Jazz Fest.
Okay. It was like because Carousel is sort of occupied by uh yeah, the Netherlands, like it's it's the North Sea Jazz Festival before Carousel, like.
I knew where that was. Ill kept staying out.
And is is it slightly between like South America and it's somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It's not Europe and it's not South America. It's like that, you know, like it's like way below Cuba.
Okay, so they brown, they're brown there, Yeah.
They're kind of brown. Was on that Yeah, there was, Yes, there was a lot, but just that was the one time because we were there for I think four days before the gig even started. Like I thought, it was weird that we all came out early. Yeah, me too, to hang, I've never done that. Usually I get there the day of the gig, do the gig, and I'm out and hit it and then I'm like, wow, one, you'll you'll never catch me swimming or in the beach.
But yet here I am swimming in the beach like and I'm talking to you know, to Toto, and you know, like everyone everyone's there. So yeah, wait a minute, was Journey also on that gig as well?
God it may have been on that gig as well. Yes, Okay, so I'll bet you I could find the poster or something of that gig because I try to save you know, all the yeah, all the information. But I mean, it was like all these people and I sat next to Diana Russ on the flight back home. It's crazy. Really, yes, we got to talk. It was it was incredible.
It was a very it was a very surreal, surreal gig. Even like the fact that Prince was so accessible.
It was like, wow, let everybody stayed up to see Princes. I mean, it was unbelievable.
Prince. Prince was so killing that he did an additional two hours. That was the roots time. So so on Prince's side of the stage, there's like sixty thousand people warm more so so, and then on our side of the stage, it was like three hundred people.
I mean, we just told them what promoter is going to get mad at him? You know what I'm saying.
We told the promoter, what do you want us to do because Princeton took our time. He's just like, uh yeah, just do the seat and go home. So literally, like we did, Wow, we did three songs, we did the next movement. You got me. The scene was like, all right, good night people. You literally are like a golf clap.
Like the promoter's dream, like Prince will not get off the stage, you.
Know, right, dude, that would. We were over there watching him and there was like, oh shit, we got to go on stage, like and I'm asking I'm literally asking him backshas like are you doing another encore? Because I gotta run to the other stage and I'm gonna do one more. I was like, okay, well there's no more routsho. But but when you're in that situation, like especially with legacy bands and whatnot, how often, like with TOTE, I'm certain that you're not just doing it for that gig.
But do they hire you for like a year duration or is it just like for this particular tour.
And yeah, that that particular tour was they they actually called me and said, you know, Mike Pricaro, who's who was the bass player this suffering with the als, and what we would like to do is go on tour and raise some money to help him with his medical expenses.
So so this this was the tour where it was just from the heart, you know, and these guys I know thirty years and and those are all my boys, and so we we got together and proceed from the tour was going to his family to help him because he at that point he was you know, he was off the circuit.
Well, okay, speaking of like Toto, can you can you explain the sort of the somewhat stranglehold that they had on just a particular sound and sonic Like I know, I'm not insulting when I say, like, oh, yacht rock or whatever, because like I'm a really big fan of all that Michael master Yamaha d X seven right, fretless bass sound like I like, you know, easy match, Like
I love that yacht rock stuff. But I mean at the time when you're doing it, when you're doing it in real time, like between that period of like eighty one and eighty seven, when this new sort of la glossy sound sort of takes over, Like are you realizing that sonically it's a little bit different than what was kind of like with with the with the grid of the seventy sound, Like did you notice.
A change or yeah, I mean it it and they got they got beat up for oh they're so slick.
They got beat up in the beginning. But now it's like, in hindsight, I love the shit out that sound. So it's like, yeah, it's almost like revision of history, Like yeah, I always loved Africa and for example, all those things, right, but like what were they? Were they the the who was who was the And it's always like some up for debate, like who's technically the first yacht rock smooth LA sound? Like people say like whoever the producer was of a captain in to Neil's leve will keep Us Together?
Like many will cite that as the the first moment in nineteen seventy three where it's suddenly like that Neil Sedaka does it. And then but you know, at the time when you're gigging in LA, like what was the basic perception of like the Percaro guys, Like Oh, they's some badass motherfuckers.
Or like absolutely, and you know, and and and back in the day too, like you had A and M studios, you know where the carpenters, you know, and they were there were all these like very very lush kind of sounding record It's funny. I was over there the other day. We were doing a Mary Clayton Tiny Desk concert. Nice yeah, and it was it was, it was really cool. But every time I go in there, it just takes me back because I mean I was in there. I did Johnny.
I did Johnny Mathis with a fifty piece orchestra. I did Dion Warwick. A lot of people in there, uh you know Don Henley, I mean so many. They say the ten thousand hours, like like we we all have ten thousand hours and a lot of studios, you know, and the total the total project. If you think about every one of those guys has such a powerful individual voice on their instrument. I'm Steve Percaro Man wrote he wrote Human Nature from Michael Jackson, and you can hear
in those chords that's Steve Pacarl. You know, one guy plays like that. David Page, same thing, very powerful personality. And and those guys were like all of us, you know, students of music. They studied, they studied sly and and everything, you know, so when they went in the studio there, those were the standards that they kept. You Jeff Picarl, you know these there were some bad they're La finance basically,
you know. And so they they went in and you listened to you listen to Africa Now and and those songs like hold the Line, and so it was fun for me because as soon as as soon as they asked me to play, you know, it was like playing in the top forty band. He played great songs and Rosanna and and you know, I couldn't ever really figure
out why they were getting such a bad rap. Oh they're too slick, and you know, I mean what you're getting punished for trying to have a good sound and come up with some good tunes, you know.
Okay, So oftentimes if I get asked to do a gig nine times out of ten, on ass like, well, if I think they're hiring me because of a certain sound that I had, then I'll recommend them, Well, you should go to this studio because this is where I recorded this particular record that I and where you'll get the sound. Yeah, right, you'll get the sound that you want.
How much control do you have over like the sound and the texture of what you want or you just got to trust the engineer and the producer and that's it.
You know, Al Schmidt who we just lost and worked a capital a lot, and we the Warner Brothers, used to have a studio and that we did when we first started four Play. The first real four Play album was was a Bob James album called Grand Piano Canyon and that was what he called me. Harvey Lee Lee written Hour and actually Harvey Mason and Lee Written and I Are both recommended me when he asked about who should I get on bass, you know, so the four
of us got in that quartet. There's a song called Restoration. I call that the first four play songs on that album.
And Al Schmidt recorded that. And I used to take that recording around to all the Stay and Sunset sound Oceanway and say, guys, my bass sounds like this, you know, because you know how like your drum you could play in ten different studios and it'll sound like ten different guys, you know, And I can't ever figure out, like how does the same instrument translate so differently in different studios, you know, So whenever possible, yeah, I'll recommend in one
of my favorites spend tons of time and was ocean Way Studio. Oh okay, we did the first uh well, we did so much stuff there, but first four play record. But we used to record there with the Lionel Richie. We did, We did Kenny Loggins level will follow, I mean ton because I did. One of the things I'm most proud of is we did a song called if you Think You're Lonely Now Bobby Womack.
Yeah, I was going to say you were on the Monster.
Yeah, the ocean Way Studio. And as funny as all these tunes I can remember, I could kind of just remember being there. It's almost like the day and so that being one of my favorites. You know, when I went to go do my solo album, you know where did I go? Ocean Way which is now called United Studio back in the day.
Record Yeah, yeah, yeah, we did podcasts there.
Yeah, we did like three of the studios he dropped so Far, A and M Yeah, yeah.
Okay, those are the big ones Capital Record.
I have a question, Nathan, at any point in your career did you mess with key bass, you know, playing bass on a keyboard?
You know, there was a there was I was sorry. There was a time in the algia days that he had a couple of tunes that had key base on, like uh, boogie down Down. There was one I can't right quite remember the name, but it was that this like really funky key base and.
So so I got darked in the roof.
Yeah, I loved him so much. I loved him.
I loved him so much I couldn't even like him.
But I'm trying to get that in Milwaukee. Yes, I used to call me.
Wait, Nathan, can I ask have you ever worked with Tommy Lapuma?
Yes, many, many, many times.
Okay, have you have you worked with him between? Like the era that you worked with him was at least between seventy five and eighty five. Yes, Okay, Tommy Lupuma
has such he has such a distinct sound. He has a very distinct sound with his production for all this stuff, for his Algebro stuff, for any record that he produces that I'm almost under the impression that whatever studio he used, he kept it on one setting and never ever adjusted because it's to me, it's it's so like even with the stuff they he did with, like Brenda Russell and oh my God, there's a sound that he gets in his base and his Spender Rhodes where I instantly know that's a Tommy Tommy.
Well, first of all, Tommy Lapuma would start every session off with lunch at beach a you know, like you would like. He was more concerned about taking everybody to lunch and get the best bottle of wine in the place. And then once you got that, then you were cool, Let's go make some music.
Is just another Quincy fake out. Do you know Quincy's theory about this? No, So Quincy Quincy does the same thing. He wants the sessions late at night, and he wants the guys to have the itis and to be a little tipsy and somewhat sleepy. And then he'll start usually at one in the morning because he knows that any yeah, yeah,
you're not thinking, you're tired and all that stuff. So he he purposely will track important things between like one and six in the morning because like you're not as alert and you won't challenge him on something and overthink and overplay.
I've had many Sunrise services with Quincy, by the way, and and Algero for that matter. But you know, it's it's it's funny because Stevie is the king. You know, he he called.
You his time.
He marches to a different I mean we recorded the last record. It was me, Ricky Lawson and him in the studio and he got to take it four am. And I remember thinking, oh, man, I got I got a ten am with Jay Graydon on someone he doesn't care. And but but yet, you know, getting back to Tommy, he he was that guy that he wasn't the kind of producer that told you, hey, I need an a flat on the third bar, the the you know, of the of the bridge, you know. But he he just
knew how to put people together. And to this day, Anita Baker will tell you that the record she did with him is sonically her favorite record.
Giving you the best that I got. No, it was was it Rhythm of Love or.
I think it's Rhythm of Love? I'll have to check.
It was the one that I apologize and body and soul. It was the one that came out in ninety four. I think you Fronte went on record and say that was his favorite. It's not a favorite. I think my favorite was Compositions.
But I was just going to say we we had the most fun on compositions and Fair Tales being one of my favorite, two eleven minutes long, going acting a fool at the end. And for Ronnie, you know what it is, Okay?
Well one her entire discography is not available for streaming, so I really I can't even lay judgment. I mean, I have a cassette somewhere, but it's like I haven't touched my cassettes and eons, so you know, for me, I'm just like no rapture, nothing else.
But you're well, I mean songstress was was? That was our first time in the studio together, and that the song as.
Your own songstress? Oh yeah, that's your own angel. Yeah of course you Oh my gosh, from day one, you know, I love it? Wow? Yeah? What was her producer? The guy Michael J.
Powell? What was he like?
Because I've always you know, stuff about it.
Michael, the gentle giant and the greatest, I mean, one of the greatest producers ever. We speak, we speak from time to time and again a producer's producer. It's really really soft spoken, but knew what he knew what he needed and got the best out of everybody, you know, and put some great cats together, you know.
All right, So without naming names, because I know there's always two sides to a coin, right. Have you ever been in a situation where it's kind of like amateur hour with the producer like he didn't know what he's doing or not too communicative with you know, they wanted.
Every now and then you get those guys that you say, how did they get to be the producer for this important project? You know? And one of the things those kind of producers do, and I have to give it to their credit is they'll they'll call the cats, you know, and one guy who will remain nameless. But we were in and Jeff Pacara was playing drums and after every take he would look to Jeff and Jeff would either say.
Yeah or nay.
It either was the take or wasn't, you know, And that's how you would determine if you do another take again. But I mean, for the most part, and a lot of people say, oh, have there been some some session that you've hated, But for the most part, I've enjoyed all of them and been blessed with some really talented, gifted producers.
How do you know if a session is bad, Like if you have to spend more than an hour on a particular song, or.
Yeah, they're beating up on a song and next thing you know, everybody's looking up at their watch and you don't have a take, and like you keep trying, and then the takes just get worse. I mean, for whatever reason, maybe it wasn't in the song, but uh, you know, even even up till recently, you know, sometimes people bring a song in and somebody'll say, oh, man, this isn't really a great song, but they'll have like if you got filling gains on keys, he's gonna make the first different.
Yeah.
And and I was telling David Foster the other day, I'll never forget. And of course Quincy, Quincy's the you know, one of the top guys ever. But we were doing uh Patty Austin, James Ingram, how do you keep the music playing?
Dropping? Nathan dropping?
But but we were in there and we don't have it, just like Quincy said, well, we don't have an intro for this, and and anybody and David Fosterer literally he has his legs closed and he says crossed, and he goes, what about this? And he plays the intro exactly what you hear on the record.
Yes, yes, David Foston, Lord, thank you.
Okay, speaking of which, and I'm sorry, fantee you, I feel like I'm about to steal your question, but I gotta ask the intro to after the dance. Oh that's my question for play after the dance the barge. Yes, that intro to me is probably the first thing that I think of if I start thinking of like smooth Jazz FM. Yes, yes, it's such an earworm. It never leaves you. So it's not like I have an opinion on it. It's not like, oh that's my favorite or I hate that intro, but it's like it lives in
my head. Rent Free, that was my favorite? Who came up with that intro? And by? Because I can't get rid.
Of vibe James? You know what? And that's the same thing. That's what he he just said, how about you know he always writes everything else and he says, stand by and he writes this, how about this? And you play it? And now I'll go on record saying that's probably my favorite intro. Of course you can't gave it it's too only second to minute by minute Michael McDonald, Nathan, can you tell.
The story of Nathan East and Bob James, because like, how did that marriage come together?
And when did y'all know?
It was like like we we knew we had something special on Bob's record and he was an an R. He was an executive at Warner Brothers Records when we did his solo album. So he said, guys, I could I could propose this to the Warner Brothers. He said, I think we could get a deal right away. He came back, he and and you know what, they didn't even have to hear a demo or anything. They said signed. And when we did our first session, we showed up at Ocean Way and and there was Mo Austin, Michael Austin,
Lenny Warnker, I'm in the big Warner Brothers. Would they beat us to the studio?
They were excited? That excited Dan.
How was more Austin as an executive?
Man?
I've heard like a lot of stories about him, But how was he?
You know, the last of the Mohicans. You know, he was record When you look up record executive, there's his picture right there, you know. But that that was like our first you know, and it's it's it's here. It is nineteen ninety nineteen ninety one. And we go in the studio and when Bob wrote that intro, I just said, bro And but of course, like he wrote, you know that crazy arrangement of feel like making love and matter of fact, he had a hit with that instrumentally and ROBERTA.
Flack had a hit with it. I mean it was like a hit time on two different formats, right, And so it's been you know, and believe it or not, we're having our thirtieth anniversary right now.
Yeah, in my mind, my child mind, you're like the best of friends and y'all you'll have Sunday dinner and that's all.
No, we're brothers. We're brothers without a dit from another mother, and and you know we we've had a chance to go around the world together and and just have you know, have the best time. And so he's he's actually he and Greg are actually godfathers to my son Noah, who plays keys. I'm I didn't know what, uh we want to do a record because we we've been playing a couple of gigs over the weekend. We played in Omaha for Walter Scott Junior's ninetieth birthday celebration and we had
the best time ever. And you know, David Foster was there and all the guys and and he's he's turned into one of my favorite musicians.
Man the four play catalog. Man that for me, like the Between the Sheets album and the Alixa album. Those came out when I was in high school and so I used to do my homework of those records and like chant was my joints. I love those joints and y'all like I noticed like leave written now he was on those records and then the guitarist y'all switch?
What was the reason for the changing personnel?
Yeah, I think after three records Lee Lee really got into the more of executive branch of the of the record record business series in one of his friends and he and Dave Gruson and and g r P g r P Larry Rose, he started getting busy with kind of doing doing records on the executive level level, and so that takes up so much time too.
Yeah, y'all record the joint the Phil Collins the why can't it wait till morning?
Man? Y'all tell me about that session?
Man? You know we sent that over to Phil. I called Phil's manager and uh, you know, it's great when these guys are your friends too. But I called Phil's manager and uh secretary answers and she said, she said, what what's this regard? And I said, it's far regarding
for play. They said, well, I don't know if he can help you with that, but I'll get But I mean, he we said, and we wanted to do something obscure, so we we kind of found this song that wasn't necessary, like it wasn't the number one hit, but I can't wait till morning. It was a little obscure, and we we sent him over and again, Bob came up with this this in arrangement. We sent it over and he went into his studio put the vocal arm. When he sent it back, we all sat in the studio cried.
You know, it was just like, what is this na, That's a gorgeous song man. Yeah, there was a singer that There was a singer that Lee used to work with the lot, Eric Tagg. Did you ever get any sessions with him?
Yes? Dude, what was he like?
Man?
Because he's like one of my favorite singers everybody's solo key. I don't even know if he's still making music now.
Yeah.
He sang like Stevie Wonder too.
You know, yes, yes, real big Steven Floydce.
He was from Uh, he was from Texas mm hm. Really great guy and he was in Lee's band. I remember when I Lee's band was one of the first ones I was in. Uh. First time we went to Japan was with Lee and you know Eric was in those bands. You know that. That's the thing I love about music. There's so many great people out there that a lot of people hadn't even heard of.
But you know, it was something about the way y'all pulled stuff out of People were talking about that earlier, about the Michael McDonald record. I was like, the way that Michael was singing on that record, but just felt different.
Michael's different.
Yeah, yeah, we know that different.
If I could, if I could have a voice, it would be his, you know. And then I really enjoyed his his h Quest Love Supreme podcast too. He was he's so, he's so down and he sang on my first solo album, we did that version of moon Dance, you know, like a big band version came in and crushed this record.
Yeah, I was, what's the process of picking the songs to reinvent? Because I was just listening to a song you did with Bob It was uh oh and Vince gil Oh crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy Yeah from crazy everybody do that.
But I was singing, this is supreme your homework.
You guys are unbelievable.
But yeah, how do y'all decide which songs to reinvent? Which in your mind are you thinking this is how I always heard it? Or or man if I could only touch it a story and if you can apply.
It and if you can apply that answer to your arrangement to Sir Duke, I would appreciate that because we still haven't forgive you were still are not forgiving you for that. It's some genius shit to this day, we we've studied it so much that it never moves us.
First of all, you can't, like you can't touch a steviee song, Like if you're doing a Stevie song, it's it's it's already the Bible, you know, so you do that. But then for some weird reason, like right in the middle of the studio, I said, what if we when we got to this this part, we just changed like every four bars.
Wait, let me let me explain to put in perspective.
And I got it because I forget.
Yeah, like you you know, he's taken. He's taking songs, you know, and sort of putting a new spin on it. So the song that he really did that too, was there's an arrangement of Sir Duke, of which that horn part is very intricate, just as is anyway, And what he decided to do was to just modulate and in some sort of non secutor way modulate the key into
keys that aren't supposed to fit. So, in other words, instead of regularly to another key and then and then another key, so you you basically have to transpose every four bars a new key that's not related to what you did before.
Stevie song.
So there's no rhyme or reason. Literally, it's it's kind of random, just like pulling him out of there and saying, oh, well that works, and then okay, we got to get back. So what would we end? Which one? You know? So the first one you know is, you know, the last one has to lead you back, and then the other two heaven nose with it.
I'll put it this way. I'll put it this way. Hip hop heads, if you're familiar with uh most y'all seen bays Cassy song, Yes and ye constant switching, Ye done this? This has nothing on that song. We I mean, we practiced Cassa Bay like maybe as a whole song an hour straight. But this one part of that Stevie Wonders song. Oh god, that that was almost like a two hour nightmare thing. Sorry, but I'm glad we survived it, and it was it was fun hittinged with it.
No rhyme or reason. There was no song that y'all picked, and y'all were like, yeah, no, this is this is why I want to.
Do, you know Stevie. And and I realized that every everything I've ever recorded, I I had Stevie. I've done like at least two or three Stevie. We did Overjoyed, which came out of I do these sting Rainforest benefits. We do them at Carnegie Hall every year, and Stevie was on one, and I was just fooling with the changes of uh over Joyed on Basi's kind of like at rehearsal when nothing was happening, and I'm kind of
trying to figure him out. And next thing, you know, I hear harmonica and now he's playing, and now I look up their sting Elton, John Bonnie Rait. They're all just standing there looking like looking on and I'm going, oh Lord. And as I'm learning the changes, Stevie's playing and we get to the end, and you know, they all give they all start clapping, and then Stevie comes over and says, if you ever record that, call me. I want to play on it. So that was my next question.
Some of the responses from these revisions, can you share like what have been those like?
I wish I would have done that, Nathan, I wish you was suggested that.
Well, I mean, if Stevie offers to play on your record, you have to do it right, right, right, right, right, man. I could have had Stevie on my record, you know. So he came and blessed the record. And the way we what we did was we recorded a track and then when I played on his record, I brought the track over and then he you know, two in the morning, he he popped it on one take see you later because he wrote it.
Really all right? We a former quest Love Supreme guest that we just had was out the barge. I know your name is on the In a Special Way album, but do you recall anything from that the barge session? Do you know what songs you played on? Are you going to Stay with Me? Are you on time Will Revealed? Are you on a dream?
You know? I'm embarrassed.
This is don't many records.
It's called great It's called greatness of.
An album called did you do an album called Gemini?
Yes?
Do you know?
Yes?
That that when we did the whole thing and there are a few songs that really like stand out in my mind, like Broken Dreams, Okay and Turned Away, I mean, chick out these tunes, these and these are El Debars at his finest writing style, you know. And and and I'd have to look on the on the other one because back in those days, you were just ripping and running in and out of Motown studios and these studios,
and literally everything was like a machine, you know. And I know Freddie Washington's on on at.
Least the Yeah, the reason why I asked was because the other two names on bass were already Freddie Washington, but then James Jamison Jr.
And jameson I did.
I didn't realize that James Jamison Junior had a career as a professional basis on records, you know. I didn't know that. So I was trying to figure out like what songs were yours and what songs.
Were Yeah, he was getting called and sometimes it's it's a little unfair because the way they listed they just they was a bass and they'd have three names, you know, so you wouldn't really know who played what in that you were very familiar with their their style. But speaking of James Jamison at that very studio that that we used to record at Motown. One day somebody asked me
to replace the Jamison part. And that's the only time I've ever refused to play a part because I am not going to replace James Jamison, you know, right, please?
Are you the type of can you shape shift your sound? So if I say like, okay, I want to go for something more bestore sounding, and you're like, okay, well I know exactly how to approximate that sound.
And absolutely it's like, you know, it's like drawbars on the Hammond. You know, you can go from church to to jazz, you know, and everything in between, you know. But but on the base, if I want to go for the jackal signd, I go for the back pick up, you know, which is what he used to do. And then of course I have I offender jazz bassis yamaha, I mean I have I have a lot of basses that we can just get different sounds on. So yeah, that's and that's one of the fun things to do.
You know, you listen to the song, figure out you know what what is this song called for? Oh?
I was gonna ask who were some of your favorite players, Like who were the guys that you learned from and that you learned from as you know, when you were younger, and some of the guys that you still pick up stuff from now.
Yeah, I mean the guys I mentioned and early on it was like verding White from Mirth Wind, you know, Rocko from Tower Power, James Jammerson, Chuck Rainey, Ron Carter, Charlie Mingus. I mean it was like just the best, so many yeah, only the best, so many great guys. Anthony Jackson, Marcus Marx Miller Aby you know, you know, Jocko of course.
So excluding excluding your four play guys, who would you pick in your your starting five lineup? Like career retrospective? Who's on drums? Well, who's on drums? And you played with the best?
Dead or live?
Yeah, dead or alive? Who who did you gel with the like what drummer brought brought the best out of you?
I'll tell you. I have to say, Jeffrey picarl If you listen to a song called Lady Loved Me by George Benson, Reef Martin produced it, I think.
So yes, I know the song.
Yes, okay, another song, Yes, listen to the fade and what you hear in me and Jeff. It sounds like two kids playing in the sandbox, you know, I mean it was like it it was, and he was just every time we walked in the studio and saw each other, we just started smiling and we did We did everything for Maurice White's solo album, BG's Barbara streisand we did Randy Newman, I Love La all that kind of dude.
Wow, Okay, I was going to ask you next, love it and doing and doing? Why do I feel like you're more or less ear to what's her name's video of that as opposed to the actual song?
Right?
Oh wait, no, Chris Jenner made a You're allergic to that name?
Original?
I Love l A Right, But I'm only asking because that's one of my favorite Randy Newman albums ever. And Real Emotional Girl is like one of my all time favorite songs.
Uh, idiot, that's not David Lee Roth the original. I'm an idiot.
Yeah, now, people, Randy, Randy was first. But yeah, what were your memories of doing that? The Randy Newman album.
You know, the Memories was basically that was that was the entire total band, you know, Luke Lenny Castro was playing Cushion, Carl you know, I mean it was like Jeffcarl, it was. It was literally and and those guys were the go to guys for for everybody. You know, when when they're Clapton came to record his first uh you know when it's it's called behind the Sun in l A.
The Warner, the Brothers guys. Okay, use our guys and there you go again, Jeff Carl Hill and Gaines Lucather, Michael Omarty and I mean it was like the the the session aces of that time. So that was the Randy Newman record was just amazing because he we'd sit around the piano and he showed up the tunes and then we just start go cutting.
There's there's two guys that often see their names on credits, but they're not in the total circle because of course the page the page cats. But did you work a lot with uh like Bill Wolfer or Michael Bodkick Michael Bodkerker, Yes at all.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. And Michael Botaker was another one of those names. You'd look on all these records and there's Michael Bodaker. George Benson, give me the Night, There's Michael Bodaker, you know, like all these records, and I and I did several several things with him, including the Academy Awards. Yeah, he was down, we were down underneath the stage.
Wait a minute, guys, I knew, I know this is going to be an episode. We always have like a pors Mo post mortem thing where we finished an episode and then we start getting mad because we forgot. Oh, I forgot to askhole, We forgot.
To ask place with Nathan. That's gonna happen recorded.
I believe. I was trying to sit here and figure out, like, what is the ultimate signature based performance you've given on a record. I'm praying this is you. Are you playing bass on Dennis Edwards? Don't look any further. Yes there, Yes, indeed, I can't believe that's the one thing I did. That's the one thing I need to do my homework. I was just like, get paid in full without that songo, dude,
I totally forgot. I was like, I know, he has a signature song that is like a tattoo that's we're forgetting about.
You know that is such you know, that is just incredible to me.
This is a musicologist, but it's it's such an iconic bassline that Did you write that baseline or was it just like like it's such a base led thing. Did you get writers credit for it or did they tell you this is what you're playing. The baseline is the hook of that song.
It's a combination and that's one of my favorite lines. It's a combination of what was already it was basically already there. Uh and so I was I was the executioner of that line.
And wow, so did you how many times did you work with because you mentioned Dennis Lambert, did you work with them at all after that?
Or yeah? Lots? Yeah, and Dennis So, I mean, you know, it was it was a very fertile period. I mean we're talking you know. I'm just thankful that we were born at a time like the seventies, eighties, nineties where music was just it was so fertile. I mean, there was so much music.
Now.
I had somebody sent me a picture of a piano with two keys on it the other day, and the they used to write, you write it too now, you know, like and like you almost get penalized for having too many cores. Now you know where this you had lines, baselines, you had chords, you had melodies and and so uh you know another one of those baselines that it was the at the barge do Doom.
That's what I'm saying, a dream okay, that is you Okay, good right, but all of these.
Dud I mean. And I'll never forget, you know, being in the studio that day, knowing that you know this one is special, very special.
Okay. I was gonna ask you win all right? Good Steve asked the question to hit it.
It's your question.
He never answered it. The dream lineup. We only got to the drummer. We didn't get to the other.
Way to go Steve way to referee to go yeah, Greg feeling games.
Okay, that's your keyboard player.
That's your keyboard player.
So who's your guitarist?
We got guitarist, I have to say, And this is you're gonna You're gonna you may you may laugh at this one, but Pat Metheni is my favorite guitar player.
Yes, yes, I wouldn't. I'm not mad. Wait a minute, I Spring isn't here, not even how many how many Athenie albums are you on?
None? You're not okay, I'm not a single Mathenia that's that's that's my bucket list. Yeah, wow, story really yep. We uh, we played a we played a concert for we had to sing at at Dodger Stadium. It was Elton John and Airic Clapton and and METHENI came and Steve and I quoted one of the songs that Steve's playing on it's in seven four and Steve and we started playing that during the solo and Pat went crazy. You know, it was like, you know, fifty thousand people
out there. We saw Pat giving his wife a high five when we played this tune. You know, But you know, Pat's he's just he's just a consummate musician. And I've always he's always been one of the guys on my bucket list to play with, you know, to record with. We've played together, kind of jammed up at his place on the Upper West Side, but I've never had the
pleasure of being on one of his records. Of course, Georgia Man saying, I mean and then you know, as bands go, you know, if you look at you know, we lost four play lost, Chuck Lobe, Who's oars. You know, the guy could do no wrong for I mean, he could play funk, jazz, rock and uh. And on top of all that, he was the sweetest guy. So you know, check I think about him every day.
When did he pass? When did Chuck pass?
Twenty seventeen?
Yeah, okay, they think.
Can I ask what musicians or music you and Noah talk about? What is what does he put you onto? Since he is like an amazing musician.
H Well, you know he's amazing because well, of course everybody's you know, onto Jacob Kayer, So he's like, he's like phenom of phenoms. But we you know, we we go with Herbie and he's I look at his you know, because he goes to the not only does he go to University of California b at Berkeley, but he goes to YouTube University.
And so yeah, you started him there and.
He studies you know, Billy Preston Goat Yeah, and people like Billy and and Herbie. Uh, you know, he he's kind of all over the map, you know, with with everything, and he loved we we do one of our favorite songs to play, Sunny Side of the Street, you know, which is a sixty year old song that that Louis Armstrong sang back in the day. So he he knows everything. But then we we love Algiou and you know, kind of kind of a z. I mean, he's just a musical musical guy.
Yeah by the looks of YouTube, but like you had a baby music genius.
Well, you know, he has perfect pitch and he not only does, he's not one of these guys that like, if you look, you're gonna hear a million Olympic chops, you know, but he's got heart and soul and the choices. You know, it's the it's the it's what you don't play. It's a space you leave that makes makes it specially, you know. And that's what I'd like to see a lot of the younger guys kind of understanding, because you know,
now I just he starts scrolling. It's like you just hear everything a Z in the first bar.
Right, Steve, do you want to ask the question? Should I go?
Well, actually, I'm curious about you said you played at Live A in Philly.
Was that with Phil Collins? That was with Kenny Moggins. Kenny Logins, Yeah, you're.
Also very well known.
For playing fifteen nineteen eighty five and.
Mmy said at Ulliot Live. Yeah, yeah, but you're I guess you're you're you're applying my obsession with easy Lover and your association with with Phil How many Phil Collins?
That was a Philip Bailey album that that song was on.
Yet you know it was a Philip and and my relationship with Philip is what got me on the gig phil Phil Collins. He was going to be the producer and Phillip said, hey, I want to bring I want to bring Nate Nate East over to London with me and so yeah, you know, so we went to London, recorded that in.
Wrote that song.
Correct, Yeah, we wrote that song. It was the last song that we recorded. It was like after two weeks of recording and Philips said, man, we still need like an undeniable single, and we went over the piano and about twenty minutes later that came out.
Wow, just twenty minutes later.
Yeah, And what it was was we kind of like had the we had all the parts and we said, let's make a demo over the track and then tomorrow we'll listen to the demo and come back. And so we made the demo. The next morning we put it up and George Masenberg was the engineer. He recorded, we played it and everybody, Hey, everybody liked it. Was wrong with that? Let's go with that. And then I heard Phil Collins kind of singing these choosy lover was the name,
you know it was. It was the lyric and singing. But as he was singing, I said, manage voice sounds and I said, man, wy, don't you guys just do it as a duet? Okay?
Really yeah, Nathan, everyone it.
Was it was a Phil Bailey record, you know. But then you could hear like Phil's voice, and at that particular week, the song Against All Odds was number one, Phil's first number one, and it was like number one on the charts. So it was like, this is a no brainer. The two of them has to do it. And man used to hear it on like three radio stations at once.
It's still one of the greatest.
So that is I love that song.
That was that that allowed me to kind of solidify my my standing with the folks. I bought my house and finally they said, you know, because you know, your parents were saying, yeah, but you should have something on.
Your dad had a whole job. I still can't repeat arrows something.
So he was in the air space business that design engineer aircraft. Yeah, he designed the F sixteen swept wings and the C five a tail, you know, and he used to always bring these rocket pictures home of these rockets and silos. So that's where we got our kind of We had four pilots in the family fly my brother's fly.
My dad was a rocket scientist.
Is there is there a session or song that you had to pass on that wound up becoming like like did you get the call first for like we Are the World or something like that, and you had to pass on it because you were already doing a gig somewhere.
Well, fortunately I can't tell that story because because no is one of the words that I have not been able to say. And I don't turn down anything but my collar.
No, no, no, no, talk about it.
That's not possible.
So I should take all the gigs, all right, thank you?
You know. I mean I learned early on, like my accountant said, nobody's following you around with a pension plan. And we got to you know the career, well a studio musicians careers four years, so we got to figure out what to do with your money. And he told me that in nineteen eighty. You know, wow, So you know you're always thinking, you know, is this is this it a man the peak? And is it gonna? Am I going to be on the other side? You know?
They say that the four stages of a musician's career is who's Nathanist, Get me a get me Nathanist, get me a young Nathanist. Who's nathan Who nathan How do you get that?
One more time? I've read that before, one more time, say.
Who's Nathanist, get me Nathanist, get me a young Nathanist.
Who's Nathanist?
I hate that. David Foster told me that that Hurtrillian.
I've read that in one of my voice over books.
They the U right of that has kept me going for forty years.
Now, Wow, I've never heard it put that way, and now that that totally.
Don't don't you start feeling all the part and the other part they say, The only other part I've heard of that same saying only other verision I've heard is the additional stage of get me Nathan East at any price.
So like that's kind of before, you know, I mean, I.
Like that to this day. My brothers called me and they always and soon as they answer that get me
a young Nathan Eist. You know, they always you know, but but it's good to kind of have a little bit of that fear because especially back in the day, there was always the new guy, you know, like in the eighties, you know, like especially young guitar you know, you had you had like Larry Carlton, and then you had Lee Written Hour and on these guys coming and Luca Third and so there was always like this this heavy hitter waiting in the wings, you know, to be
the next guy. You know. So now I think we can we can rest a little easier because there's not a million studios and a million gigs going on like they were back then.
Well, who who in your in your eyes was uh kind of uh who who do you admire of that? Well, I guess like young lions to you are now established musicians. But I mean, if I'm talking to mid nineties Nathan Ese, like, who who are the musicians that were coming up that you were like, okay, I messed with them? Or you know, like who's do you feel that the future is safe with?
Yeah? I mean when because I remember, you know, first here in s browns Espaldine and she was one of these like she was young, new newcomer, and then next thing, you know, she had Album of the Year, you know, the Grammys. And then again there's people like Jacob Kaier and and Justin Lee Schultz. Now that are that I think are very very promising that I feel comfortable leaving them with the with the torch, you know, because they they seem to be putting in some serious time. And
then they're there. There are quite a few, and and I'm I'm excited by my son Noah too, because I think he's he's becoming a student of music and really like a sponge, you know, just absorbing everybody from Keith Charott to Bill Levin's too, you know, to Herbie and uh, everybody in between these. But now he's playing Hammond Oregon B three and so he's listening to a lot of the lot of the cats there, Jimmy Smith, Joey, It's crazy all right.
Before we wind up, I just I'm still thinking of the post mortem talk.
It's no way you can avoid it.
No I just okay, are you I know you play with the Pointer sisters. Are you on? I'm so excited, I'm on, I'm so excited.
Jesus I played the posters of my Cousins by Marriage. So we actually uh, we actually re recorded all the hits and they asked me to produce it because a lot of times, you know, like PEPSI will say hey, we want to use I'm so excited, and the record labels say, okay, give us something master and give us something crazy, and so they they hired me to produce it.
So it was so easy because then I just called Greg and John Barnes and all the guys that played on the original and we went in and recruit recreated all those songs oh wowow and used them on you know now when you see them on a Pepsi commercial, those are the ones and they're they're benefiting from it, which is great, so cool, And that's.
What Prince did you know, Yeah you can re recall.
Yeah yeah, yeah, because you you know, the label onto the Masters and you know that's when Prince put slave on his right head and he just went in and recut him.
But sometimes it backfires, like you know before, think, thank you Sylvia Room for finally releasing the heat Wave discography for streaming, because I don't know if I could have taken another like Boogie Nights twenty twenty. You know, some acts like re recording it not really quite nailing it the way that you know in some cases it doesn't work, but in this case it does work. Another dance classic of yours is that your base work on Wolmack and Womack's Baby I'm Scared of You.
I'm on Womack and Willmack, and I'd have to I'd have to look and remember if I could the particular tune. So let me look that up and I'll get back to you on that one.
That's a great problem to have fully accept it, I except.
Start stacking them up, you know, after after a ten thousand tunes, it's just crazy.
Yeah, Fante, he's on another iconic hip hop bass sample? Which one? So you you're you're you're playing on uh Flack and Bryson's Born to Love album? Correct? Oh my god, they're they're there duet right yeah, yeah, second Childhood Primo boo b B boom.
You know, you reminded me of stuff that I that I completed. And you know this happens in Japan because they pay attention to everything, and sometimes I'm walking down the street, they come up with a big armful of vinyl records that you completely forgot that you played on the side and everything.
But see, that's and that's what I I wish that you know, the powers that be and and the Red Tape the red Tape people and the lawyers and whatnot would realize that the beauty of sampling is that cats like us will see what gets sampled, and now not only will we purchase the the ROBERTA. Flack and people bryceon album, but then we're gonna read the credits and see who played on it and then purchase everything that they played on and so on and so the rabbit hole p s.
I would like to tell the masters who are listening to this, there's an app for that, and it's called Deeper.
Just saying black owned, go get it deeper. It's an app called Deeper.
Like if you find a song you like the bass player, you touched the bass player's name and you can see everything that the bass player did.
Wow, okay, are yeah deeper?
And well you know it's it's it's like Aaron Schwartz did with Reddit. He he wanted to make available legal documents that usually people that are in MT studying, they have to pay thirty five bucks to get a legal thing. So so he kind of he started making those things available and that's where he got in trouble. He got
sued by the government. But oh, it's it's one of those things where you are we gonna are we gonna keep it going, moving forward so that people can know what would happened before, you know, because we don't want them to forget about Natalie Cole and you know, Ella Fitzgerald. You just don't want you know, Billie Holiday and and you you want our youth to really have access to that. You know, So if we put too many restrictions and and again, you know, they'll they'll figure out a way
to monetize and get it. But I think to to kind of put so many restrictions on everything, it's just it's just rough, you know.
Okay, warmer thing. Okay, give me three more because there's too many, man, because be remiss.
And I would hate how long I'm trying to remember because those are two.
I'm gonna have this. I'm gonna in the whole. But you've also worked with NARDA. Michael Walden of course doing his magic streak with Aretha and Whitney and whatnot. That's you on saving all my love for you? Yes, dude, that okay, what kind of base are you play on on saving all my love for you?
Because that white base, right, it's this white base right behind me. It's a BB three thousand yamaha bass. Wow, it's uh, Gene Page wrote, listen. Gene Page wrote all those those notes too. Michael Masser was producing. We were at Devonshire Studios. We you know that the greatest love of all.
Right behind me. But my question about saving all my love for you though? And is that a five string bass?
It's five string bass.
Okay. That explains everything, because the thing is is that even though I didn't, I didn't. I mean when when when I don came out, I was fourteen years old, but was it was in the eighties, yeah, eighty five.
And so for me though, when you get to the last bridge, because the night is the night, good Field and all right, you played in such a low register there that I was like, there's no there's no base that can actually pay like he's playing below uh an e right, you were, and I never heard that, like normally someone would would go to the upper register to play it. But you went low with it and okay, you played on a five string and I.
Was I was actually shocked that because that was the first kind of some of the first five string records I was playing on, and I was kind of saying, as is this really going to be cool? Or am I going to get away with this?
You know, because it was that was a risk. It was unusual to hear because I just never heard a base go that low before.
Yeah, and okay, you know, I have to say, and by the way, congratulations. You did an amazing job as musical director for the Oscars and I appreciate that you have. You know, to me, you brought the show into into the current statement.
Let's talk about something beyond nineteen fifty. No, but I'm gonna tell you it seemed like on paper, it just seems easy, like oh, quest love dj' di it. But man, oh, the only reason why I know those three letters AFM. Yes, of course we have an AFM here at the tonight show,
and we deal with the rigamarole of whatever. But yo, they do not play in Los Angeles, and I thought everything was going to be gravy, and then the AFM rep came and was like he wanted to know every song I was playing, and I guess the deal they made was like, basically, if these are AFM Orchestra members, then you have to pay a certain rate for this
and that. So it's it's really the night before I had to redo and clear a whole bunch of songs because you know, I plan on just playing like movie themes and John Williams scores and not like do the normal thing. And then the AFM guy was like, nope, there are FM union members. We got to pay them all like we were trying to find our way to safety in a pandemic. And then like the last minute,
the guy's like, no, you must play. You must pay all seventy members of the people who played the theme the Rocky in order for you to play the song out there. And I was like, no, we're not doing that. So I had to get super super creative and it was just like, Okay, I'm just going to play regular songs.
Are most young musicians in the union, well, those those particular things that you mentioned are going to be a lot of the strength players that you know had had recorded.
Those, right, That's what I was thinking.
A lot of them aren't even living right, So the generation do they know that money on the money goes to the FM.
But but it's it's great that if it's possible for it to get to the people that they're a state deal. But but they yeah, they will, they will come and and check on you now. And you had access to the tracks, right, I mean you yeah?
Well for uh for as as was great by the way. I took a risk and I was just like I hit up Stevie. It was just like can I can I get the master please? And you know wow, had to explain like what I wanted to do and all that stuff. And when he heard it, one, I didn't know that Dean Parks was playing acoustic guitar on that. And what's even funnier was you think you're bad? Stevie didn't know that, and so he was sort of like, you know, how did you make this? It's it's like
a country song. And I was like, no, that's that's just Dean Parks. I just left you and Dean Parks singing alone. He felt like we redid and did a whole nother arrangement to it, and I'm like no, I just I took what was there and just accented some things and that sort of thing, but that's literally you know.
It was really a beautiful person. And how great is it that you can get the original master from Stevie and be able to do that. You know, that's that's impressive.
That's that's the perky. That's the perk of the job. I enjoyed that.
And I was with Dean Parks over the weekend and it's we were playing. We went to a club and sat in and I said, Man, it's not every day we get to hear Dean Park stretch out like this, you know. I mean he was he brought it and here he is, you know, still doing it after all these years.
But he's another dream of mine. Yeah, he's I got to meet him two years ago at the Oscars and he's such a such a.
Cool cat, very cool and but yeah, the original open I'm going wait a second, I think A Mayor got the track. Oh this is incredible. Yeah, yeah, I got lucky work about working your magic.
No, it was really great, Thank you, Thank you. Yo. I know there's like forty nine other songs that I can nerd out on and albums that you've played on. But you know, the whole thing is that you. You You're the You're the magic touch. And I really appreciate you for coming on the show and man, talking to us.
I was so excited that last night I kept looking at my watch. Oh man, okay, it's only twelve more hours. I'm so excited to come because listen, I mean, you've you've met everybody. Come on, Michelle Obama.
Man, I'm excited about it.
Wait now now that you mentioned it, yo, you should really because when I'm closing my eyes I thought I was talking to Donnie Simpson for half a second. You you really have you you have a future in voice over, working it, but really have a future like that should be your your your your pivot, Brenton.
But it's a lot of fun. You know. I was friends with Don la Fontaine, who was the Yes who is the guy? Yes? Yes, family and I are still very dear and very close. But he he's you have great pipes. Wow, he had the voice of god. You know. Yeah.
Well, I thank you very much for doing the show.
And thank you guys, and no thanks man, this is music.
Thank you for the music on what you're doing.
It's it's very relevant. It's not irreal relevant very much, so thank you very much, thanks for everything you do, and congratulations on everything Disney collaboration and you know, thank you everything.
We're looking forward to the next generation of East shout us and.
Noah, okay, now right, yeah, well listen, it's been a joy, pleasure and a honor and uh let's uh, let's keep it going a show.
Well you heard it from the horses, mount ladies and gentlemen. That was Nathan East and on behalf of Fontillo. Like, my name is quest Love and this is pust Love Supreme and we'll see you on the next go round the next episode of Love Supreme. All right, yoh, what's up?
It's is Sponte. Make sure you keep up with us on Instagram at QLs and let us know what you think and who should be next to sit down with us. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast, all right, peace.
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