- 2 years ago
After seven years, rock and blues legends Foghat have dropped their brand-new 17th studio album, Sonic Mojo , an eclectic blend of originals and iconic covers by some of their favorite musicians. Their founding drummer, the legendary Roger Earl, and his wife and manager Linda stopped by the LifeMinute Studios to tell us all about it, including what makes him keep turning out the goods over and over again. Whether you've been a fan since their 1971 beginnings or discovered them through Guitar Hero , in movies such as Dazed and Confused , or on TV -- their legacy is written in Rock & Roll history with eight Gold records, one Platinum record, and one Double-Platinum record. Through ups and downs, tragedies and triumphs, one thing remains constant: their unwavering passion and dedication to the music. If you get to see them live, it's even better. Earl says Foghat is all about the live experience. Check out tour dates at foghat.com/tour . Sonic Mojo can be had on CD, digital, and an awesome purple vinyl. And if you're lucky, you can catch them on tour.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 This is Roger Earl of Foghat and you are watching Life Minute TV. It's really, really cool.
00:07 After seven years, rock and blues legends Foghat have dropped their brand new 17th studio
00:21 album Sonic Mojo, an eclectic blend of originals and iconic covers by some of their favorite
00:27 musicians. Founding drummer, the legendary Roger Earl, stopped by the Life Minute studios
00:32 recently to tell us all about it, including what makes him continue to keep turning out
00:37 the goods over and over again. Sonic Mojo can be had in CD, digital, and in awesome
00:43 purple vinyl. And if you're lucky, you can catch them on tour right now. This is a Life
00:48 Minute with Roger Earl. I play drums in a rock and roll band. I'm
00:52 having the time of my life. I'm really excited about this album because I came to the South
00:57 States the first time in '68 or '69. I was in a band called Savoy Brown. That was the
01:02 first time I came. It felt like I was coming home. America, it gives music to the world.
01:08 Without you, there would be nothing. No blues, and the blues is a foundation of all contemporary
01:14 music. Jazz comes next, and bebop, rock and roll, country, hillbilly music, folk music,
01:23 gospel music. This is the land of music. America gave music to the world, in my opinion. This
01:29 is the land where all these beautiful mixtures and pieces of stuff from all over the world
01:35 came here, and we're part of that glue. And on this record, I think it shows all those
01:42 aspects of what we're, basically what the band's about or what the musicians are about.
01:49 Scott Holt, our lead guitar player, he was with Buddy Guy for 10 years. You know he can
01:55 play. Brian Bassett, our lead and slide guitar player, who is also our producer and engineer.
02:02 He's been with us for 27 years now. He was in a band called Wild Cherry in 1976, I think
02:10 it was. Played that funky music, White Boy. Our bass player, he's been with us eight years,
02:18 I think. Now Rodney O'Quinn, he was hand-picked by our previous bass player, Craig McGregor.
02:24 That was a sad day when we lost Craig. He was my brother in every sense of the word.
02:30 We didn't always see eye to eye like brothers should, but we were really tight as musicians
02:37 and as brothers. I mean, I loved a man as much as you can love a man and so, you know,
02:43 keep things okay. But he did pick our bass player, so I'm grateful for that. Thank you,
02:50 Mac.
02:51 You've been through a lot, a lot of members, but you still play with that huge smile on
02:56 your face. The passion is still there, the vigor's still there, the sound, obviously,
02:59 is still there. It's amazing.
03:01 Yeah, it's like, careful what you wish for. I started playing when I was, going back when
03:06 I was 11 or 12. I would work three days a week after school and on weekends, on Saturdays,
03:13 I would work in a bakery and Saturday afternoons, I'd take drum lessons. So I had my own money,
03:18 but I was about 12 years old at the time and I said, "Dad, I want to get a motorbike."
03:23 And he said, "Well, I'm not helping you with that, son." I said, "Oh, you had one?" He
03:29 said, "That's different." So I said, "But I want to learn to play drums." He said, "Okay."
03:36 And he was friends with a fantastic drummer in southwest London. I started taking drum
03:43 lessons, which was probably one of the better moves I made. I also wanted to play piano,
03:47 but my older brother, Colin, who's four years older than me, was playing piano by this time,
03:52 like in Jerry Lee Lewis sort of mode, Little Richard mode. Dad played piano as well. There
03:58 was always music in our house, so actually I had a really cool childhood. I know I didn't
04:04 appreciate my parents anywhere near as much as I should. "Sorry about that, Mom and Dad."
04:11 They say, "It's okay."
04:15 Did they see you become famous?
04:17 Yeah, they... Actually, that was one of the highlights of my life, actually. 1976, I think
04:24 it was, '77, we did the Blues show at the Palladium here in New York City. It was Foghat's
04:31 tribute to the Blues.
04:33 Tonight, from the New York Palladium, Foghat is proud to bring you a very special event
04:38 created to bring together a galaxy of Blues superstars on one stage.
04:42 "Well, I'm torn out. I'm almost level with the ground."
04:47 We got to play with all our musical heroes, like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, beautiful
04:52 man, Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield. The list sort of goes on, and it was pretty heady
04:59 because here we are playing with our musical heroes. We were basically the house band.
05:05 My mom and dad were there. It was my dad's 60th birthday. I brought them over here, got
05:10 them a hotel on Park Lane. I had more money than sense. Actually, my wife says if I had
05:15 a dime, I'd have more money than sense. I don't think that's entirely true. What do
05:19 dimes look like? No, it doesn't matter. Anyway, Mom and Dad were here, and we were backstage,
05:25 and I got to introduce Mom and Dad to Muddy Waters, who is, as far as I'm concerned, is
05:31 a musical giant. One of my favorite records was Muddy Waters at the Newport Jazz Festival
05:37 in 1960, I think. I wore this record out. I probably had a couple of them, but Mom and
05:42 Dad knew who Muddy was, so I introduced my mom and dad to Mr. Muddy Waters. Mr. Muddy
05:48 Waters is my mom and dad. No, that was a highlight because their youngest son, who was always
05:55 a bit of a pain. I think if you don't upset your parents a little bit, you haven't really
06:00 achieved much, have you? Just a little bit. I was always upsetting Mom with something.
06:07 Dad was a bit cooler about it. Meeting Muddy and my parents meeting my musical heroes.
06:13 How old were you when you started? How old was that?
06:16 31.
06:17 So you were older. You were older. But you always knew you wanted to play drums?
06:21 Yeah. I started on the piano. I wasn't very good at it. My older brother played piano,
06:26 my father played piano, like I said before. I can play a 12-bar blues in the key of C.
06:33 No, that doesn't really work. Most of the guitar players play in A or something else,
06:39 E. Unless I can transpose. All right, let's change the subject now. We don't want to do
06:44 that. Do you play piano, Joanne?
06:46 Yeah, not well. Not well.
06:48 We should have a piano in there. Then we could like, you know, sort of duet maybe.
06:53 Well, next time. You're only in Long Island.
06:54 Next time. You're going to invite me back?
06:56 Of course.
06:57 This is great.
06:58 Maybe next week.
06:59 Where's the camera? They have the most fantastic chocolate chip cookies here. Any of you musos
07:06 out there, you get a chance to come up here. She's really nice. Everybody's really friendly
07:11 here. The chocolate chip cookies are like sensational.
07:14 I love it.
07:15 And they offer you champagne.
07:17 What other influences? Buddy Guy, who else? Chuck Berry, obviously, right?
07:24 Chuck Berry. Of course, we'd all be out of work without Chuck Berry.
07:26 There's a Chuck Berry song on this album.
07:28 Yes, there is a Chuck Berry song on this album. One of his lesser known ditties. It's got
07:34 a real country kind of feel about it.
07:45 Actually, it started out because we were at the studio down in Florida and I was sitting
07:50 there talking with Scott and his mother took him to see Elvis Presley when he was young,
07:57 I guess. I never got to see Elvis, but all Elvis's early stuff on the Sun label, that
08:02 was just absolutely brilliant. I was probably only about nine or ten when I first heard
08:08 them. Elvis Presley's early stuff was like, was magic. He was probably influenced by the
08:13 same sort of folks that I was. My father brought home a Jerry D. Lewis single one time when
08:19 I was, I think I was about 12 years old, just started getting interested in music. And the
08:24 B side was a song called Mean Woman Blues.
08:31 Dad at the time was working at Aston Martins. He was a panel fitter there. That was in their
08:43 old place in Feltham, which is about two miles from where I lived. He said, "Have a listen
08:49 to this boy, son. He can really play the Joanna." And I did. And Dad was right. Jerry D. Lewis
08:56 can really play the Joanna. So about four months later, Jerry D. Lewis, around 1960,
09:03 I think, came to England. He played in a theater in southwest London. Dad took me and my best
09:12 friend Dave and a few other folks. And I was never the same. Mum said it addled my brain.
09:19 I'm not sure what addled brain means. But it addled my brain. I was never the same.
09:26 It just, like Bugs Bunny took a left turn at Albuquerque. I took a left turn somewhere
09:32 and I saw Jerry D. Lewis and I heard this rock and roll magic. So I've been a fan ever
09:38 since. I've got to see him a couple of times over the years. A number of times, actually,
09:43 over the years.
09:44 I got to see him once.
09:46 Yeah? Did you see him once?
09:48 One time.
09:49 Where was that?
09:50 In New Orleans.
09:51 Oh yeah? Wow. A jazz festival?
09:54 No, it was at the blues club there. House of Blues.
09:57 Oh, House of Blues. All right. How was he?
10:00 Excellent. Amazing.
10:01 Because sometimes he used to do things like, he'd play like three or four songs and he'd
10:05 go and walk off. But he's been noted to do that. But when he was on, he just sits there
10:12 and plays anything and everything he wants. And if he's enjoying himself, look out.
10:19 And just this morning, you were named one of the top ten blues drummers of all time.
10:24 Stick around long enough and people start taking notice. They say, is he still here?
10:29 Is he still wailing away on the drums? Yes. And he's been glued together with duct tape
10:36 and band-aids. Everything's working.
10:40 It's working just fine. It's working just fine.
10:47 You're 77 and you're in great shape.
10:55 Yeah.
10:56 So what do you do? How do you sing?
11:00 I married a younger woman playing drums in a rock and roll band. I walk, I exercise.
11:07 I don't run anymore. The knees don't like it that much. I ran pretty much all my life
11:12 up until about 20 odd years ago. The knees just said things like, excuse me, what do
11:18 you think you're doing? But I exercise. I work out with light weights when I can. I
11:24 practice most days on a pad and I have pedals everywhere. An electronic drum kit upstairs.
11:30 I have my other drum kit out in the shed, out in the garden. I have a practice pad.
11:36 I shouldn't really tell them, should I? Should I tell them? I'm allowed to have a practice
11:40 pad in the bedroom. Did I marry well or what? That's usually because Linda is working downstairs.
11:47 That's the only time I do it.
11:49 So you do have to practice?
11:50 Yeah, it's up here with arrangements. You're remembering stuff that comes out your hands
11:56 and your feet. If I'm not on top of my game and I can't sort of transfer all this stuff
12:02 out into playing, the real thing is you enjoy it. When you're on top of stuff and everything
12:09 you can play well, that's when the real joy comes. It's easy and everything you think
12:14 about and feel comes out and flows. Tempo is a call. Everything is right. You hear everybody.
12:21 That's the magic of music.
12:23 Do you ever get nervous when you go on stage?
12:25 When I'm on stage, no. Not at all. Before I walk out, yeah, I do get a little. It's
12:30 like chills. You get these tingling things. The four of us always, we have a thing where
12:37 we get together before we go on stage. But as soon as I count the first song off, it's
12:42 fine. Everything's fine. We always make sure that we have a real sound check. There's no
12:48 guarantee that everything will work fine. I'm one of those fortunate people in this
12:52 world. I get to earn a living doing something I love.
12:55 There's a song on here, "I Don't Appreciate You."
13:02 Don't appreciate the way you walk. Don't appreciate the way you talk. Don't appreciate your self-entitled
13:09 attitude. I don't appreciate you. I'm not singing this to you. You seem like a really
13:14 fine young woman.
13:15 I came up with the title and some of the basic lyrics. Actually, it was inspired by our old
13:22 manager, our ex-manager. I'm sure some of you have had a girlfriend or a boyfriend that
13:30 you didn't like too much or a politician or two that you're not very keen on. So it's
13:37 basically about that. But Scott describes it as the most polite F.U. song out there.
13:44 I don't appreciate the way you walk, the way you talk.
13:49 That's good. Very aggressive. Okay. And you're touring. Where are you headed to next?
13:54 Gary or is it Bobby?
13:56 Who cares? Just say you're in.
13:57 The hard-rocking Gary, Indiana. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, you Indianans out there poking
14:03 fun at you. It's horrible, isn't it? Well, I'm in New York City. It's a real city. Wrote
14:08 Fall For The City about this town, actually. We wrote the song Fall For The City about
14:12 New York City.
14:13 Yeah, of course. Fall For The City.
14:20 We were missing it. We were stuck on a mountaintop in Sharon, Vermont. That inspired it. Yeah,
14:28 New York City is the greatest city in the world.
14:30 All right. So your fans. You have a loyal fan base. But I'd say old fans and new fans
14:37 because of Guitar Hero and you're in the movie, one of my favorite movies. What was that?
14:44 Days In Confuse.
14:45 Days In Confuse. Yeah, slow ride.
14:46 You've been in a bunch of movies, the soundtrack shows.
14:48 And TV shows, too. Yeah, fine.
14:50 It's great. Actually, our fans usually take note when we're in a sitcom or somewhere they
14:55 play one of our songs. It's great. We're a rock and roll band and rock and roll is here
15:02 to stay. There's a song in there somewhere. I think somebody already did that. I remember
15:06 we did Guitar Hero. At the time, I remember like young kids, they bring their plastic
15:12 guitars for us to sign. Six, seven, eight, nine year olds. It was like, that's really
15:17 cool. And in films and car commercials, hamburger commercials. No, I mean, it's great. You can't
15:26 like pay for that kind of publicity. In fact, they usually give you some money. Where was
15:31 I?
15:32 We're talking about Guitar Hero.
15:33 Oh, right.
15:34 I know you're a young fan. When you go out and play.
15:36 Can I have some more champagne, please?
15:39 Geez, it's lightweight this morning.
15:42 I mean, adverts and all that stuff. We were in a car commercial. They didn't give us a
15:48 minivan, but it was on a minivan and a Honda Odyssey.
15:53 A lot, a lot. But do you think when you're playing, are the new fans receptive to your
15:59 new stuff?
16:00 I know when I heard other bands, or bands that have been around for a while, and they
16:05 play a new song on stage. I can't remember a time where I've gone, "Wow, that's really
16:12 good." It's like, I don't know. Why did they do that? They ruined the whole evening. And
16:18 it seems to be working. The fans seem to love it. And they seem to tolerate us having fun.
16:26 This is our 17th studio album, and we've made numerous live records. Probably a live
16:37 record from '77 was probably our biggest selling record. But Folkhead has always been a live
16:43 band. We could always play. We can play. And though we've had a number of people in the
16:51 band, and a number of people have passed on, but it's all about the music. It's all about
16:57 rock and roll, blues. That's what we play, with a little bebopping on the side, just
17:05 for good measure, and maybe a little bit of country, a little bit of jazz. It's music.
17:12 And I also think one of the reasons this band has had such longevity is there was always
17:17 a passion. Everybody who's been in this band has been passionate about it. Our original
17:22 lead singer, Lonesome Dave, was very passionate about music. Very quiet, but he had the most
17:29 incredible record collection. He was also, I think, a closet drummer. He knew every single
17:35 drummer that was on every record. Every blues record, every jazz record, every rock and
17:39 roll record. And the business has changed so much. You guys engineered this, you produced
17:44 it, you have your own label. Do you think it's a good thing, a bad thing, a different
17:48 thing, how the music business has changed?
17:50 I think music has to change anyway. It shouldn't stay the same. As much as it's fun and it's
17:57 probably nice selling millions of records, but actually vinyls come back, which is really
18:02 cool. We have purple vinyl, somewhere between these two, I think. It shouldn't stay the
18:07 same. And music should change. I think different generations have their own songs, their own
18:13 noise, their own beats, if you want a better word, their own lyrics. Stuff that is a moment
18:20 in time for them when you're growing up, when you're a teenager, when you're 20, or even
18:25 when you're 30. That's what music's about. It's a moment in time when it reminds you
18:31 of stuff, I think. I think I broaden my outlook and taste as far as music goes. Sometimes
18:37 when I'm on the plane, I'll put on the classical stations and click on them and put my cans
18:44 on and I'm like, "Wow, there's some beautiful sounds out there that you haven't heard before."
18:51 Yeah, that part of music I enjoy. There's lots of new places to hear stuff. Actually,
18:58 there's a couple of bands I've heard in recent times. It was a band, Empty Pockets, I think
19:05 they're out of Chicago somewhere. We met them through somebody else and they had all their
19:11 gear stolen, so I gave them some equipment that I had just laying around, wasn't using
19:16 it. Then I got to listen to their music. This band's really good. Music, it's great. I'm
19:23 so fortunate to be in it.
19:24 What inspires you as an artist?
19:27 Music does. I love what I do. I'm so fortunate that I play in a band. The guys I play with
19:34 are bandmates. Nobody moans. Sometimes, just because of the way that flights are, to get
19:43 from A to B, you've got to take three flights and you might not get there until seven o'clock
19:48 at night and you're playing at four. Sometimes we have to drive three, four, five hundred
19:54 miles overnight in a van or a sprinter or something. Nobody moans. I'm fortunate with
20:02 the guys I play with because they're bandmates.
20:06 A friend of mine gave me a new record player. The one that Linda and I had was in a corner
20:15 crumpled up. We live in a very small house, it's a houseboat, so it gets crowded. But
20:22 Scott Holt, he has a record store in Columbia, Tennessee. For my birthday, he bought me a
20:29 record player and a couple of records as well. It was a real revelation because I hadn't
20:34 really sat down and listened to vinyl in a number of years. It was a real revelation
20:40 putting records. Actually, the first record I played on was a Johnny Cash record. I've
20:45 always been a Johnny Cash fan. That was one of the joys of growing up as well, listening
20:51 to records. I remember we would sit around the record player and if any time we got a
20:58 new record, we'd sit and listen to it, two or three people, maybe more sometimes. That
21:05 part of listening to music, I think some people miss out on. I guess that's one of the joys
21:11 of going to festivals and shows and stuff. There's a camaraderie there. Listening to
21:18 vinyl records, sitting there with two or three people and turning it up, pushing some air
21:25 in the room, you go, "Yeah, this is why we're here." That I think a lot of people miss out
21:32 on, with wandering around with their buds in their ears, which is another way to listen
21:37 I guess. There was a time when I think they tried to put vinyl record players in cars.
21:43 That didn't work very well, did it? CDs, I thought CDs were actually brilliant in cars.
21:48 Now they've stopped putting them in cars.
21:49 I remember the big 8-track tapes.
21:51 Yeah, they were horrible though. They used to get eaten. Also the worst part about the
21:59 8-track tapes was that the song would go, "Goomp." Then it would finish the song a few
22:06 seconds later or half a moment later or maybe even 30 seconds. Then you would hear the end
22:12 of the song. It's like, "No, that's not how you're supposed to listen to music." Now it's
22:19 all on these tiny little thing. You go, "Pfft," and you have 500 of your favorite songs. Maybe
22:27 in some ways things do get better.
22:29 Maybe. Any drummers of today you think are good?
22:33 New drummers? Yeah, of course there's a bunch of great drummers out there. Drummers that
22:37 have changed the world, Buddy Rich of course, Louis Bellson, John Bonham. He was an incredible
22:44 drummer. He turned the whole world around, the drum world. He started playing stuff and
22:49 people were going, "What is he doing with his feet? I can't do that." And then Ginger
22:57 Baker probably. He's another one who turned things on its head for actually playing in
23:03 a band when he played in Cream. I met him before that when I was growing up in London.
23:07 I did some shows with him in the first band I was in. But it's like those two drummers,
23:12 Ginger, John Bonham. In fact, I met John Bonham's son the other day, Jason. He was playing with
23:20 Sammy Hagar. I hadn't seen Sammy in how long? 30? 45 years? No, it was only 30. Wow. Sammy
23:29 Hagar has put the most incredible band together. They were just absolutely brilliant. I had
23:36 a blast. And actually we went there as guests of George Thurgood. We only had to drive an
23:40 hour and a half there, but some real rock and roll. I mean, that's not very far at all,
23:44 is it? So George Thurgood and Sammy Hagar. But Sammy's band was just fantastic. Sammy
23:50 was playing and singing. He's what? 76, I think? But Jason Bonham. Wow. The kid could
23:56 play. I didn't get a chance to really hang out too much. It was like moments before they
24:01 were going on stage and I went in and I asked Sammy, I said, "Sammy, can I meet your drummer?"
24:06 Because I knew his dad, of course, but he was fantastic. Jason was like a monster. He
24:12 was just... There, there. That's a great drummer. There we are. Drummers love to share their
24:19 knowledge. It's like, "Yeah, you ever...?" No, no. Drummers just like, would sit down
24:34 and talk to other drummers. I love playing with another drummer. In fact... No, no, no.
24:40 That's not allowed. We can't have two drummers in Foghast. We actually do have a percussionist
24:44 who is actually a drummer, Eddie LaFave. He's also a percussionist. He's my drum tech and
24:50 really good friend too. Drummers just share the knowledge. You know, guitar players will
24:55 say, "No, you can't see what I'm playing." Drummers say, "Ah, yeah. You know this one?"
25:05 And your wine business. Where does one get the wine? Foghast Cellars. Go to foghast.com.
25:13 All things wine, you know, buy t-shirts and records and all that stuff. Foghast.com. Foghast
25:19 Cellars is the wine brand. We have a 2014 Chardonnay from Central Coast of California
25:26 at the moment. 2013 Pinot Noir from the Central Coast. Foghast. And who came up with the name
25:32 Foghast? Lonesome Dave, our original lead singer, came up with the name. In fact, we
25:36 were actually going into... We finished the record. They'd taken a picture of us outside
25:42 the studio where we were recording in Rockfield, Wales. We still hadn't decided on the name.
25:48 And I think that, as I recall it anyway, that was... We were driving into London. I was
25:53 driving. Dave was with me and Rob Price, our guitar player. And what were we going to call
25:59 ourselves? We had some names, but we didn't like any of them. I mean, how do you... What
26:04 do you pick a name? Dave came up with the name. It was something he'd made up as a...
26:10 Like a Scrabble game when he was playing with his younger brother. He came up and he said,
26:15 "Okay, Foghat." What does it mean? Some people think there are like sort of drug connotations
26:22 to it, but nothing about that. Nothing to do with drugs or anything like that. We don't
26:26 do drugs anymore. But you did back then? You're all like, "Slow ride." Like that's what you
26:33 think, right? Actually, before we played, we don't imbibe with anything other than water
26:38 and coffee, or if you want to eat. But we don't do anything... Except when he comes
26:42 here. Before... Yeah, right. Well, we're not playing. We're off now. Before we play, we
26:47 don't. I have played with a couple of hangovers and that's no fun at all. Not anymore. No,
26:53 the music is enough. Afterwards, we know how to have fun. We're a rock and roll band, but
26:59 before we get up and play... You know, playing music is like... We are... I don't know, we're
27:06 in rarefied air. I mean, we actually earn a living doing something we really enjoy.
27:10 In fact, I don't think I've said this today, but we were playing El Dorado in Arkansas
27:17 and they were a terrific audience. And afterwards, we're sitting backstage and Scott and I are
27:23 having a glass of wine and Scott says to me, he says, "Isn't this great, Rog?" He said,
27:28 "How many jobs do you have where when you've finished working, people stand up and cheer
27:33 and clap for you?" They don't. Most jobs, people will go, "Oh, I don't think you did
27:41 a really good job here. You're fired." No, people stand up and clap. I mean, that's a
27:47 really good job. We get paid as well. You're a beautiful, wonderful person. Thank you.
27:53 We enjoy having you here. I've enjoyed it, Joanne. It's been great. Yay! Roger Earle,
27:59 Sonic Mojo out November 10th. Thank you. Congratulations.
28:03 To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all
28:08 streaming podcast platforms.
28:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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