For Michael and Johnny: Bryan singing on a gig

[gerardpdaily]

How many songs would Bryan sing on a gig? Also, all the pictures I see of him playing live he is using the big hollow-bodied Gibson Barney Kessel model guitar. Did you guys have problems with his guitar feeding back a lot or did you play at low-enough volume to eliminate that problem?

[MichaelStuart-Ware]

Before I joined up, Bryan would always sing "Softly To Me" at every single gig the band did, at least once, (every time I saw them, anyway) and Arthur would always hand his tambourine to Snoop and play drums, as he did on several of the tunes off the first album. "Softly..." was an important part of the group's repertoire.

On Da Capo, of course, Arthur sang "Orange Skies" so Bryan had no vocal responsibility on any song on Da Capo.

On Forever Changes, Bryan sang one of the three vocal parts on "Alone Again Or" (Arthur and I sang the other two) and he sang "Old Man" by himself, but we never performed any of the cuts off Forever Changes in concert, that I can remember, and after I joined in Late-August/early-September of '66, we didn't play "Softly To Me" at every gig... (in fact we rarely played it). So, bottom line, Bryan didn't sing much in concert after Da Capo. Almost never, actually.

I don't remember Bryan ever having feedback problems. If the Barney Kessel model he used onstage was subject to feedback, I guess he had figured out how to circumvent the predisposition early on. We played loud.

[silentseason]

How loud in comparison to say the Sons of Adam or other contemporary groups (Leaves, Doors, Turtles, Seeds et al)? Also how well did the band's equipment work; were there ever gigs with either an instrument or amps problem that you can remember?

[MichaelStuart-Ware]

The Doors, The Leaves, and The Seeds all played about the same decibel level. I think Love definitely played louder than those bands.
The Sons of Adam? Insert earplugs and find a place to brace yourself against like a post or a wall or something.

Can't remember ever having any equipment problems while I was with Love. Randy in the Sons of Adam used to occasionally blow a speaker on his Fender Duel Showman and I broke sticks a lot, a snare head once in a while, and then oh yeah, when we (The Sons of Adam) played The Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco (with Bo Diddly) I broke a bass drum pedal beater smack in half on the last song of the night. Felt strange... all out of balance.

[The Freedom Man]

Did you have any roadies who replaced the broken stuff, or sat things up before a gig?

[jamestkirk]

The Doors, The Leaves, and The Seeds all played about the same decibel level. I think Love definitely played louder than those bands.
The Sons of Adam? Insert earplugs and find a place to brace yourself against like a post or a wall or something.

Can't remember ever having any equipment problems while I was with Love. Randy in the Sons of Adam used to occasionally blow a speaker on his Fender Duel Showman and I broke sticks a lot, a snare head once in a while, and then oh yeah, when we (The Sons of Adam) played The Longshoreman's Hall in San Francisco (with Bo Diddly) I broke a bass drum pedal beater smack in half on the last song of the night. Felt strange... all out of balance.

I remember reading that Randy took the volume louder than anyone....ever louder than Blue Cheer.

His efforts with Population II (1969), which was a super group of TWO!! ...Unheard of!!!....Randy, and the drummer (CHris Lockheed) who also played bass at the same time!!...was the loudest EVER!!

Randy was sponsored by SUNN amps and employed his legendary SIXTEEN 200 watt amps for his guitar!!

Fruit and Iceburgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUKlnRvd9gY

I have a nice signed vinyl of Population II from Randy. And like you, Michael, Randy is a great guy and we have written back and forth...

Randy is also a great artist/painter and his works can be viewed at his home page.

[MichaelStuart-Ware]

No Ed, actually the Sons of Adam took care of all the transport and setting up of our equipment and also any fixing of any equipment breakdowns. Even when we went to San Francisco, we always drove and took all our own equipment.

With Love, we brought and set up our own equipment for all our "in town" (L.A.) performances, as well, and of course dealt with any equipment-failure issues ourselves. On the road, we usually took our own guitars but (to the best of my recollection) amps and drums were usually provided by the concert promoter.

We didn't really have a "roadie"... even the second time around, after "Four Sail," when I played with the Frank Fayad-Gary Rowles line-up, I remember the group didn't have a roadie.

One night at a gig in northern California (I think,... or it could have been Vegas) Gary had a problem with his guitar and he and I went in search of a guitar shop that might be open, because it was like about six or seven in the evening. We found one, but there was no repair person on the premises, so Gary talked the clerk into letting him go into the back room and try and fix the problem himself. He had his guitar all apart on the workbench in the back room and was in the process of soldering something back in place, when suddenly the owner came in got all irate and kicked us out. I remember on the way out the door Gary turned and virtually slammed the glass door as hard as he could behind us and yelled the F word. I guess he had it all fixed though, because we played the gig and his guitar worked.

[silentseason]

Michael, Overall how would you rate your experiences on the road touring? Were you a "road warrior" (a person who lives to tour)? I hear and have read alot of the negative aspects of touring: dishonest promoters, uncomfortable living conditions, lack of sleep, lousy food...

Also, how were the audiences overall? Did you ever reach a point where fans were too....fanatical?

Thanks for the previous answers in this thread. I always find the unglamourous, minute aspects of a job interesting.

[MichaelStuart-Ware]

Yes Scott, Absolutely right concerning Sons of Adam frontman, Randy Holden. A multi-talented individual, there's a method to his madness. He feels strongly that proper volume is necessary to convey the message in its purist form. Low volume just doesn't hack it. No argument from me there. Other guitarists with similar styles, like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, seem to have the same opinion.

[MichaelStuart-Ware]

I actually kind of liked the hotels and the food and the travel... and besides, it goes with the territory if you're a recording artist. It's fun, man! It's like a vacation but you get to play music. Nothing wrong with that.

If you're a musician and you don't like the travel (and all that's associated with it), it's like saying you don't mind having a job, it's just you don't like having to get up early and leave home.

And when you're in your twenties especially, touring is a piece of cake. Even when you're older...heck man, I saw Robin Trower recently. He's in his late-sixties and he's still rockin on the road, no problem.

Audiences were cool, not fanatical and I never ran across any unethical promoters. They all seemed like nice people who were just so delightfully surprised when we actually showed up.