00:00 I'm Alistair Haley and you're watching Life Minute TV.
00:10 Lawyer by day, musician by night, Al Staley is the only person on the planet who has both
00:15 played Carnegie Hall and provided legal services for Stevie Ray Vaughan.
00:19 The Austin-born singer-songwriter got his start in L.A. when he and his brother John
00:24 were asked to join the critically acclaimed band Spirit.
00:27 After that, he and his brother went on to form their own band, the Staley Brothers,
00:31 before Staley returned to Texas and dusted off his law degree in 1980.
00:37 Back in Texas, he still continued music performing with the likes of Roy Orbison, Jefferson Starship,
00:42 Emmylou Harris, and two European tours with John Cipollina and Nick Gravinitis of Quicksilver
00:48 Messenger Service and Electric Flag, respectively.
00:51 He even did a show with Rodney Dangerfield.
00:54 And just as he was beginning to build his law practice, the record companies came calling,
00:59 and in 1982, he released his first solo record, Staley's Common.
01:03 And the rest is history.
01:06 Staley's latest, Somewhere in West Texas, is an Americana album where his Texas roots
01:10 really shine.
01:12 He stopped by the Life Minute Studios to tell us all about it and perform a few songs from
01:16 the new record.
01:17 This is a Life Minute with Al Staley.
01:20 Ah, the new album, Somewhere in West Texas.
01:25 This all came about sort of by accident.
01:28 I kind of refer to it as my accidental album because even though I live most of the time
01:33 in Houston, we have a place out by Big Bend National Park.
01:36 So we're out there for a month, kind of during the pandemic era.
01:39 I was thinking, you know, I have all these songs that I keep saying I'm going to record
01:44 and I haven't done them.
01:46 And I've heard there's one studio in Marfa, and I know two really good musicians there.
01:52 Fran Christina, the drummer from the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who lives there with his wife
01:58 Julie Speed, she's a real successful painter.
02:01 And then the guitar player named Scrappy Judd Newcomb, he plays with Ian McCloughan's Bump
02:08 Band, he's played with and produced Slade Cleaves, who you may know of, who works up
02:14 in this area a lot.
02:16 And at any rate, he's been around Austin a long time.
02:20 So I called him up and said, "Hey, I want to get some songs down."
02:24 And I've heard there's a studio there.
02:27 He said, "Yeah, we'll hook you up."
02:28 We're doing a session in a couple of days.
02:31 Chris Marish is coming in from Austin to play bass.
02:34 I know Chris and how great he is.
02:36 He used to play with Eric Johnson and has played with Michael McDonnell.
02:42 He's played with all kinds of people.
02:44 I said, "Well, look, ask Chris if he wants to play bass."
02:48 Because even though I'm sort of known as a singing bass player from the spirit, I don't
02:55 want to play bass because I wrote these songs on acoustic guitar.
02:58 So Chris came to town.
02:59 We had one rehearsal at Fran's, ran through some songs, went in the studio the next day,
03:06 recorded six basic tracks in one day.
03:08 It was really the musicians who talked me into doing an album.
03:13 They said, "Look, you've got some really good songs here.
03:16 Come back with five or six more and you'll have an album."
03:18 Okay, so I went back six or eight weeks later, five or six more songs, and we did some more.
03:26 And then of course there were some overdubs after that.
03:28 But it was pretty, if you've listened to any of it, it's pretty direct and certainly not
03:36 overproduced.
03:37 Scrappy was so involved in it that I made him producer.
03:42 He's the credited producer.
03:44 You know, if we would have said we're going in to do an album, probably wouldn't have
03:50 turned out as, sound as much fun as it does, you know, because then it would have been
03:56 serious.
03:57 You know, songs have come about in every way imaginable.
04:03 Like that second song on the album, "What's Wrong With You For Loving Me," it was with
04:09 my girlfriend at the time and I thought I was in love with her and I told her so and
04:14 she turned to me and said, "What's wrong with you?"
04:17 And she was smiling but I wasn't sure what - at any rate, suffice it to say that didn't
04:24 work out long term but I thought, "Wow, what a good song title, 'What's Wrong With You
04:28 For Loving Me.'"
04:30 And so that's where that one came from.
04:33 This was some time ago.
04:34 This was like, I don't know, 20 years ago but I'd never recorded this song.
04:39 "Something Good Is Gonna Happen," the first song on the record.
04:42 I wrote probably 1978 or - it's just been sitting around because I wasn't doing that
04:47 kind of music at that time and I - it was a nice little song but I brought it out and
04:52 everybody loved it and I'm still loving it.
04:54 It seems to be getting some of the most radio play and the most love.
04:59 That's the story of my accidental album.
05:02 I work two ways.
05:03 I'm comfortable working acoustically.
05:06 I did several acoustic solo shows on this little jaunt on the East Coast and then just
05:13 two days ago I did a show with a band in Rhode Island.
05:18 They're a great response.
05:19 I come from a rock background so even though this is more of an Americana style album,
05:26 there's plenty of rocking going on too.
05:29 I want to get out and play more to promote this album.
05:32 I'm really enjoying taking this music to the people.
05:36 It's been very satisfying to see it be embraced by people who've never heard it and many people
05:44 didn't know who I was and I'm just having fun doing it and want to keep doing it.
05:50 Maybe I can be like Tony Bennett.
05:51 Maybe I can be doing it for another 20 years or something.
05:55 I grew up in Austin and played baseball, played golf as a kid, caddied.
06:02 I was out in the sun and apparently got a dehydrated kidney and the doctor said you
06:07 can't go out for football.
06:08 I was kind of, can't do any strenuous sports until next summer.
06:13 I said okay.
06:14 My cousin had an acoustic guitar and he came over and he taught me a Ricky Nelson song
06:20 called "Poor Little Fool."
06:22 And I took some guitar lessons and then going forward in high school I had a band.
06:28 In undergraduate school I had a band.
06:31 I was in a band with two law students.
06:33 I was undergraduate.
06:35 I was supposed to go to med school.
06:37 It was time for me to graduate and they said no, you can't go to med school yet because
06:44 you'll have to leave Austin.
06:46 And we got one more year of law school and we were making good money playing on weekends
06:50 and they already were married and had a kid.
06:53 They said go to law school with us just one year and then you can do whatever you want
06:59 but just until we graduate.
07:02 And Vietnam was going on so if I didn't stay in school I'd get drafted.
07:07 After the first year I realized I'd been tricked because if you finish the first year of law
07:12 school you might as well finish because that's a killer year.
07:15 So that's how I got in music and then after law school I took the bar, passed the bar,
07:23 but promised myself I'd do music full time and give it a try.
07:27 So I went to L.A., got lucky at first and joined that band Spirit when two guys left.
07:34 I joined as lead singer and bass player and wrote seven of the songs on an album called
07:41 Feedback that came out in '72 and we headlined Carnegie Hall right down the street from here.
07:50 And it's been a long and winding road.
07:54 Well I got two granddaughters and a wonderful son.
07:59 That's why I took about 20 years off from performing when I became a father and concentrated
08:05 on the law.
08:06 And then once he went off to college, he went to Princeton, I'll go ahead and brag a little
08:11 bit, and played baseball and then got drafted by the Mariners and was also a great musician
08:17 and songwriter.
08:18 But right now he's a full time dad and gave me a couple granddaughters.
08:23 They take up a little time.
08:25 And I like going out to west Texas, our places out there, that big bend area.
08:32 And if you or your friends and fans have never been out that way, you really should.
08:38 You don't really get it until you go out there.
08:41 Oh, best life advice?
08:43 If I have someone, a young singer, songwriter, musician come to me and they say, "Well, you
08:50 know I've done this CD or I've done this and I'm not sure if I should continue in this
08:58 or maybe go in another direction that's not music related."
09:03 I'll say, "Look, if you can do something else besides the music or acting or whatever it
09:11 is you're interested in and know that you're not ever going to regret it, then go do that
09:19 other thing.
09:20 Because this is hard.
09:22 You got to love it and you got to feel you have no choice."
09:27 I felt I had no choice.
09:29 When I got out of law school, if I didn't go try it full time, I would have started
09:35 some real bad band when I was 45 years old and embarrassed myself.
09:40 So I got to go for it.
09:43 And if it doesn't work out, then I'll do something else.
09:45 So I never had a midlife crisis.
09:48 That's what I tell people to do.
09:50 Okay, this is the first song on the album, "Somewhere in West Texas" called "Something
09:54 Good is Gonna Happen."
10:05 Something good is gonna happen.
10:10 I can feel it in the air.
10:16 Something good is gonna happen.
10:21 When it does, I'm gonna be there.
10:26 'Cause I can feel my luck a-changin'.
10:31 Even though it ain't changed yet.
10:36 My heart is like that wheel of fortune.
10:42 Step right up, I'll take all bets.
10:47 I hope that I find a girl who loves me.
10:52 We can't stand to be apart.
10:58 We're gonna fly away together.
11:03 Wing to wing and heart to heart.
11:09 Something good is gonna happen.
11:14 I can feel it in the air.
11:19 Something good is gonna happen.
11:24 When it does, I'm gonna be there.
11:40 Well I bet I'll find a girl who loves me.
11:46 We can't stand to be apart.
11:51 We're gonna fly away together.
11:56 Wing to wing and heart to heart.
12:02 Something good is gonna happen.
12:07 I can feel it in the air.
12:12 Something good is gonna happen.
12:17 When it does, I'm gonna be there.
12:23 Something good is gonna happen.
12:28 When it does, I'm gonna be there.
12:33 I can feel it in the air.
12:42 Oh, thank you ladies.
12:44 Okay.
12:53 I'm at the mercy of the moon.
13:01 She can take me where she will.
13:09 Run me ragged, stand me still.
13:14 Turn me cold and make me swoon.
13:18 I'm at the mercy of the moon.
13:26 And tonight I see the light.
13:35 Pouring down all over you.
13:42 And as the dew begins to fall.
13:47 And your lips begin to call.
13:51 I'm going too deep now to refuse.
13:59 You say you love me and I know.
14:08 That tonight you really, really do.
14:16 But tomorrow comes too soon.
14:21 And you'll sing another tune.
14:25 And you'll find somebody new.
14:32 But tonight we're at the mercy of the moon.
14:43 She can take us where she will.
14:51 Run us ragged, stand us still.
14:56 Turn us cold and make us swoon.
15:00 We're at the mercy of the moon.
15:29 [Guitar playing]
15:41 And if I could freeze this frame.
15:50 This shows your body close to mine.
15:58 I would give up this fight for fame.
16:07 And forget that your last name.
16:15 Is his instead of mine.
16:25 I'm at the mercy of the moon.
16:33 You're at the mercy of the moon.
16:41 We're at the mercy of the moon.
16:55 To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast,
16:58 Life Minute TV on iTunes and all streaming podcast platforms.
17:03 [Music]
17:05 (thud)
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