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By Jeb Wright
If it were 1977 Don Airey would have no issues selling as many copies of his new CD titled One of Kind as it is a true hard rocking, keyboard flourishing masterpiece!
It is, however, 2018…that means it is hard to get people to buy music.
Fans of Classic Rock Revisited, however, are famous for our love of physical product…so read this interview then click over and buy this sucker.
If you love Deep Purple, Rainbow and others in that style then this really is an album that you must own!
In the interview that follows Don tells us about each track as well as his band. This chat is a unique look into both the mind and heart of an amazing musician.
I will say it once again…buy this album!
Jeb: As promised we are doing an album for the new release One of a Kind. Don…I am a fan of yours so I like all of your solo albums. This one…it is different. In my opinion this is an all-around total 1970s style hard rock Rainbow-ish album. Do you agree?
Don: The idea was to create an English rock album, with riffs, melodies, solos and good musicians concentrating on playing together. Added to that we used Headline Studios in the leafy countryside just outside of Cambridge where the resident engineer is called Piers Mortimer…you can't get more English sounding than that!
Jeb: When you did the writing sessions for One of a Kind did you predetermine this album was going to be done like this?
Don: No, you never really know what is going come out of rehearsals, but the modus operandi if you like was the one by which Rainbow's Down to Earth was made only in a much more compressed time space.
Jeb: Your vocalist is now Nazareth’s vocalist. Carl can sing. I think he really shines on this sucker.
Don: Carl is a very talented man and he comes up with a lot of the melodies, riffs, lyrics…he plays guitar too. He has transformed Nazareth into a force to be reckoned with over the last three years or so. He is really great to work with either on stage, or in the studio, or just sitting on a tour bus and having a laugh.
Jeb: Where did you find Simon? What’s his story? You’ve played with nearly every famous hard rock player in the world…how does he stack up?
Don: Paul Reed Smith told me about him and I booked him unseen for my local Blues Fest a few years ago and was impressed. We kept in touch and invited him to join the band on a couple of festivals back in 2015. He tore the place apart so we went straight in to a rehearsal room when we got back to the UK and with Carl wrote five of the songs that appear on One of a Kind.
The backstory with Simon is that he's from the same area of Belfast as Gary Moore, is obviously inspired by him…who isn't! Nevertheless he is very much his own man. He has a big following on the European Blues circuit with his trio. There is an amazing fluidity to his playing but unlike many modern banjoists, he doesn't let it run away with him. He leaves plenty of space, and always seems to be playing from the heart.
Jeb: Let’s just run through the tracks. I want the story behind the songs! Let’s start with “Respect.” This is no Aretha Franklin tune! BUT MAN…it would be great on a Deep Purple album!
Don: Not quite sure of the story behind the song, but Carl's lyrics are always based on personal experience. I suspect its about one of his early unscrupulous business managers over whom he feels he has now triumphed! The riff was the first thing we got together with Simon. I thought having a long instrumental passage in the opening album track would be the ideal place for a musical set-too between me and him. Honours even I would say.
Jeb: “All Out of Line” keeps the energy high. Was this a fun one to work out?
Don: It came together very quickly. I like it because it is reminiscent of "Love's no Friend" from Down to Earth…same key, same feel. Nice BVs (a la Graham Bonnet) too during the Hohner Pianet solo.
Jeb: On “One of a Kind” you remind me of current Uriah Heep on this one. Not that you’re copying…more like I could hear Bernie Shaw singing this song.
Don: More Journey than Heep. Again it came together very quickly in rehearsal, and we had it down in the studio by the third take. I take credit for humming Simon the idea for the first part of the guitar solo, but he takes the second half to a different plane. We beefed the whole thing up with Steve Bentley-Klein's string ensemble, which was a fun day out. Jon Finnigan's drum ad libs over the end section add a welcome hint of menace to the proceedings
Jeb: “Every Time I see Your Face” is a change of pace but still solid. Talk about this one.
Don: A beautiful lyric about a lost and now unattainable love, one of Carl's best. When we first came up with the tune and chords in my studio, we were doubtful it would work as a rock song. All doubts were dispelled when Simon overdubbed the guitar solo.
Jeb: “Victim of Pain” has a very theatrical opening that goes into a big riff. You get a big solo on this sucker. You are even playing with that little slider thing! Tell me how this came to be…
Don: The main riff was Simon's, I added the rest of the music around the riff. The weird intro was improvised in the studio and the keyboard solo was played on a Moog Voyager utilising a pitch wheel not a slider. I don't get to play much Moog with Purple so made the most of the chance on "Victim".
Jeb: I like how the album changes tones and tempos. “Running Free” is unlike any other song on the album. It is not the strongest or most powerful but it has a nice happy feel and fits nicely between two big tunes.
Don: It was made up in the studio at the end of a hard day recording backing tracks, just to try and calm the band (and myself) down. Nice relaxed groove with Jon and Simon overdubbing shakers afterwards. Wistful lyric and tune about Carl's son who now lives across your side of the pond.
Jeb: “Lost Boys” has a proggy metal feel to it to me. I like this one. Do you feel this is one of the stronger tracks? I like the part in the middle…to me it reminds of something off of Leftoverture by Kansas!
Don: I like the energy in the track - second take I think with the organ solo live. It kind of has a Bad Religion feel about it more than a Kansas one. Of course the synthesised choir in the chorus is an SOP for a metal track…corny as hell but I love it! The lyric is all about the undead and the trouble they can cause the not dead. Great drumming by Jon Finnigan, especially the fill into the reprise.
Jeb: “Need You So Bad” has parts that remind me of Rainbow… The opening part and verse I could hear Ronnie James Dio singing over Ritchie Blackmore. Then…it changes. It is more in your face. Killer guitar solo out of nowhere…when you build a song like this how much is orchestrated to be the way it ends up and how much is jamming?
Don: Ronnie?! ...Please don't tell Carl! It's an enticing ballad but just as you start to settle down into the folds of your armchair, in comes a big riff to turf you out onto the lounge carpet. Never underestimate the value of surprise in music. The guitar solo section was arranged in the studio, as was the riff that appears underneath the Moog solo, and that ends the song. That solo incidentally channels and is a tribute to keyboardist Jan Hammer and the solo he played on the Mahavishnu Orchestra's recording of "Sister Andrea" live in Central Park.
Jeb: “Children of the Sun” has a Rainbow vibe too. Was that on purpose? I was kind of hoping when I saw the title you were taking on the Billy Thorpe classic. When I heard your tune I was pleased though. In fact, I am really starting to dig this one. It gets fairly intense.
Don: Billy Thorpe? - really! I like the riff as it never really resolves and contrasts nicely with the Star Trek vibe of the verse, venturing into the unknown as it were. Again this one came together very quickly and is more reminiscent of Caravan or Genesis than Rainbow.
Jeb: “Remember to Call” is a cool tune. I total was ready for a moody guitar solo by track 10. I guess your guitar player gets all the credit for this one? Tell me the story behind the solo!
Don: There was a 20-second melancholy fragment on one of the jam tapes with Simon. Out of this came a little waltz song written for my son Colin and his wife Sarah when they moved away into their own house. This was expanded into an instrumental, and the first Simon knew of it was when he walked in to Headline Studios to do overdubs. Done and dusted nevertheless in an hour or so.
Jeb: “Stay the Night” ends the main CD. It has a lot of jamming. Was this one the last song written last or did it just end up last on the track list? It had to be fun to perform.
Don: It kind of had "bonus track" written all over it, and came from a jam Carl and myself had with Jon. I remember Jon saying how much he loved playing the rhythm of a strut, and off he went into one and we just joined in. The solos are live, Laurence Cottle's bass solo being worthy of note.
Jeb: How do you decide a track list.
Don: I put all the titles in a hat and get my wife to draw them out one by one as our immediate family cheer her on.
Jeb: The bonus disk is four tracks from a gig in Hamburg on March 14, 2017. Is there a live album ready to come out next?
Don: Not as far as I know. I was very surprised when I heard the tracks though - memories of the Hamburg gig were not great. Wrong again! Nothing has been added in the way of overdubs or sweetening; they are absolutely live.
Jeb: With so many awesome songs how did you choose these four? Let’s talk about each one. “Pictures of Home.”
Don: We played it with Ian Gillan on his orchestral tour November 2016, and it became a favourite with Jon, Laurie and Simon.
Jeb: The two Rainbow tunes… “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “I Surrender” are interesting choices. Why these two?
Don: To be frank, the record company chose to include them. They were big hits from my chequered past, and sometimes it is as well just to do as you are told.
Jeb: “Still Got the Blues” is just a killer tune. Compare this to the original.
Don: I think Simon McBride does the impossible and absolutely nails it. Beautifully sung by Carl too.
Jeb: I obviously love this sucker. What about you? When did you know you were striking gold?
Don: My accountant used to say to me, "Making things is easy, it's selling them that's hard". Time will tell. We'll have to run the album up the flagpole, and see if anyone salutes!
Jeb: You announced dates with Deep Purple and Judas Priest. The Don Airey band should open!
Don: That would be asking a bit much of this poor old keyboard player.
