| John Oates at Iridium |
| Written by Derek Harrison | |||
| Friday, 07 October 2011 08:47 | |||
 John Oates, well known as one half of Hall & Oates, the best selling rock duo of all time, has shifted his focus to a burgeoning solo career. As Hall & Oates faded from view and put their studio days behind them, John Oates, already a co-writer of eight Billboard Number One hits, released his debut solo album, Phunk Shui, in 2002. Now in his 60s, Oates is touring in support of his third solo album, Mississippi Mile, released in April 2011. The album is an exploration of the roots (pun intended) of Oates' early influences and of American pop and rock music in general. Featuring only two original tracks, the bulk of the album is reimaginings of classic songs such as Elvis' "All Shook Up" and Curtis Mayfield's "It's All Right." John Oates spoke to me about his new album and the upcoming run of three consecutive shows at the Iridium Jazz Club.
TimesSquare.com: Have you played at the Iridium Jazz Club before?
John Oates: No, never. Not only have I never played there, I've never been there before. Last time I played in New York was a BB King's in April when the album came out.
TS: Have you ever lived in New York?
JO: I've been living in Colorado for the last 20 years, but I was born in New York and I grew up in Philadelphia, so I know my way around.
TS: You're touring in support of Mississippi Mile, which is your third solo album. Give me a little of the background to that album, and what makes it different from the previous two. JO: My first solo album was released in early 2000, and that was very much a first album. There was a lot I was getting off my chest. It was a hodge-podge of songs from the past, it wasn't very focused. The second album was the first that I recorded in Nashville and it kind of turned the corner for me. I was working with these great session musicians, it was really focused, but it was also very personal. A lot of stuff about family, about people who have died, it was mature, somber and serious. Very singer/songwriter. So for the new album I wanted to have some fun, to go in a new direction. It's very much a musical autobiography about all the things I was interested in when I was first learning to be a musician, about what was important to me before Hall & Oates. People don't know much about me, about my influences and what I brought to the table. So this album is a tribute to the songs and artists I loved as a kid. But it's also a balancing act between treating these classic songs and classic musicians with respect while still making them my own.
TS: Have you always had a desire to make a roots album like Mississippi Mile?
JO: It seems like something I would have always wanted to do, but no, I never intended to make this album. My wife and I got a place in Nashville and started building these great relationships with the people and the musicians there, so I decided I wanted to cut a few tracks with friends, really casually. What started it all was the song All Shook Up, an old Elvis song. I was just fooling around and I came up with the unique version of the song which became the key to the whole album. I thought – well if I can do this with this song, I can do it with a lot of old songs. So I hooked up with Mike Henderson, a great slide guitarist, great multi-instrumentalist. We started working on the material in the studio and a lot of deep stuff came together. We cut the album live in four days with hardly anything overdubbed, with all the musicians playing together at the same time. Eighty percent of the vocals you hear are the vocals I sung while we were all playing together. It was really excited to have this go-for-it attitude in the studio. I had never made an album like that before.
TS: How did you get involved with Mike Henderson?
JO: I thought he would be great to work with. I was a fan of the Steeldrivers and his own blues band, but I didn't really know him. I asked Sam Bush to recommend a slide player and he brought me to a show at the Blue Bird Café, and within 15 minutes I knew that Mike was the guy I wanted. And Mike wanted to do it. I told him that his biggest job as a co-producer was not to let me screw this up, to keep it real and keep it raw.
TS: Have you had a particularly bad experience with "over-thinking" during the making of an album? JO: It's a common trap, especially in the modern era where you have so many tools at your disposal. Paralysis by analysis. You can get so hung up on the technical side of things that you suck the life out of the music. That's not what these songs are about. They're about spirit, rawness, the roots of pop music. I wanted to preserve that. TS: Are you planning another album of originals? JO: I'm sure I'll make another one, though I don't know when. I'm still in the middle of all this right now. I'm on the road developing a great solo band, playing shows and supporting the new album. It's hard to go back and forth between those two things because they're so different. One is extroverted, bringing music to people, getting it out there. The other is so introverted, writing songs is solitary and personal. I'm just not there right now. TS: Will you make another album with Mike Henderson? JO: I'll work with Mike any time, any place. He's incredible. Of course it depends on the style of the album. I'm getting to know a lot of people in Nashville and it's great to have this pool of talent I can draw from. TS: Will you be playing with a backing band for the three shows at the Iridium Jazz Club? JO: I'll be playing in a five-piece band, with myself on the guitar, another guitarist, keyboards, and the bassist and drummer I've been playing with for 12 years. And they all sing. It's also a band within a band, because the bassist and the drummer have another band together and those two have both played with the keyboardist and the guitarist before. They've all played together, and it all came together really fast. We're having a great time preparing for these shows. The drummer is John Michel and the bassist in Mike Jude, both from Aspen, Colorado. They both sang backup on the new album. The lead guitarist is Mike Newman, from New York. The keys player is Kevin McKendree, from Nashville, who played on the album. I'm also very excited to be playing with the Les Paul Trio on Monday night. A lot of great people have played with them and I'm excited to see what we come up with. Live October 8, 9, 10 at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York For more articles like John Oates at Iridium please visit the Music Interviews Section of TimesSquare.com
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