Earl Slick
 |
Comeback Kid:
Earl Slick Zig Zags His Way Back to Music
By David Chiu
In the late Nineties, guitarist Earl Slick
was ready to put rock and roll behind him forever. Although having
played with David Bowie and John Lennon in the '70s on their
most memorable albums, Slick kept a low-keyed profile through
the '80s and '90s with varying degrees of success. Disenchanted
with a music scene that passed him by, this Brooklyn-bred musician
retreated to the Sierras to take a break and reevaluate his career.
"I just hit a brick wall from a creative
point of view," Slick remembered. "It wasn't fun anymore.
It was becoming a chore. I promised myself that it if it ever
got that way I would either take a break or get out."
That was when he got the call in
late of 1999-from an old friend and former boss, David Bowie,
who invited him to be on his tour. It was the first time Slick
and Bowie have worked together musically in 25 years, although
the two have kept in touch on and off. "He just decided
he wanted to get me back in the band again," he said. The
guitarist was also called on to play on Bowie's recent album
Reality and is currently on his A Reality tour, expected to finish
in July. "It's been a breath of fresh air, it's been very
inspiring, and it has been a hell of a lot of fun," he said
of the experience.
The move also rejuvenated Slick's enthusiasm
for making his own music again. Soon he started writing and set
the wheels in motion for a new album-the first one in 12 years.
The recording process became very spontaneous and organic. "The
original thing was that there was really no plan. I have to give
[Bowie] credit for the reinspiration. I just started to write
for the first time in a long time."
The result was Zig Zag consisting
of half instrumentals and half vocals. The guitarist employed
several musician friends to co-write and sing on some of the
tracks: the Cure's Robert Smith ("Believe"), ex Motels
singer Martha Davis, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott ("Psycho
Twang"), Spacehog's Royston Langdon, and of course David
Bowie ("Isn't It Evening"). Unlike most instrumental
albums, Zig Zag emphasizes not on pyrotechnic guitar (although
it showcases Slick's distinctive rock auteur playing) but on
melodic tunes. "I did have in mind that the idea of showcasing
the guitar was the least I wanted to do. I was listening to a
lot old '50s and '60s instrumentals from Link Wray to Duane Eddy
to the Ventures. I wanted to get back to a think where I wasn't
showcasing the chops. My last solo album I had done that and
it even bores me."
Zig Zag
is forward sounding with its drum loops and atmospheric textures,
while complementing a contemporary hard rock sound, almost like
futuristic music. "I approached it more ethereal, more melodic,
and more moody," he said. The idea was to do it in such
a way where it didn't sound like a bunch of guys in a room doing
rock stuff. I wanted to get more experimental. There are five
tracks with drummers and five tracks without drums. I thought
some of it would sound better with drum loops. Doing stuff like
that and the way we did the arrangements all adding up to what
you're feeling the album."
Slick credits the overall sound to producer
Mark Plati (who had previously worked with Bowie and Duncan Sheik),
who also played bass and keyboards. "Mark was able to make
real what I was thinking. So when I explained to Mark on what
I wanted on such and such tune I'd like to get this kind of thing
going. Mark was able to realize what I was thinking. Plus he
was organized as hell and an amazing digital recorder. He's a
good inspiration."
Slick's life, to quote from the Dead, has
been a long strange trip. As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, Slick
was one of the millions who tuned in to watch the Beatles on
the Ed Sullivan show 40 years ago. The performance sent him on
his rock and roll odyssey. Starting with Danelectro guitar his
father brought him, Slick taught himself to play. His evolving
musical education also came from listening to the records of
his heroes and inspirations. "I really wanted to be Keith
Richards for a pretty long time," he said and later joked,
"And I actually accomplished that then I had to go get clean.
I wanted to be all of that: Beatles, Stones, Jimmy Page, Jeff
Beck, and Eric Clapton."
In the early 1970s while still in his early
20s, Slick was in a band and gigging away when he met a musician
named Michael Kamen. Kamen, who recently passed away, would eventually
become a famous composer and arranger for rock bands like Queen,
Metallica, and Pink Floyd. "Michael took to me. He was helping
me out producing demos for my band. He brought me into a couple
of recording things. He was still going with this band way back
and I was playing guitar with him." The meeting proved fateful
for Slick because Kamen knew David Bowie, still at the apex of
his fame as the androgynous Ziggy Stardust. "He met David
and he suggested to David that he should audition me. So in large
part Michael put me here."
Slick ended up playing on the chameleon's
finest Seventies albums Diamond Dogs (1974), Young
Americans (1975), and perhaps his greatest album Station
to Station (1976). One of the songs off the latter album
the rocking "Stay" showcased the brilliant interplay
between him and another great guitarist in Bowie's band Carlos
Alomar. "I do know when me and Carlos worked together it
was pretty obvious who was going to do what because the styles
were so different. Carlos was very much the R&B/parts player
and I was always the loose cannon rock player."
The association with Bowie also led Slick
to be in the employment of John Lennon (who co-wrote Bowie's
first number one song "Fame" in 1975). It was almost
the realization of a dream for Slick who played on what would
turn out to be Lennon's 1980 farewell album Double Fantasy.
The experience according to Slick still seems like from a bygone
era. "It's not something I think about unless I'm in the
middle of what I'm doing now because it gets brought up. It's
surreal at this point."
The guitarist kept a low profile for the
rest of the '80s and '90s although he had played with Whitesnake's
David Coverdale and Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter, and formed
the bands Phantom, Rocker, and Slick (with members of the Stray
Cats) and Little Caesar. He also recorded several albums Lost
and Found, Slick Trax, and In Your Face. During his down period,
he headed out west to the Sierras. In fact, Zig Zag was
named after the town in Oregon where he lived for several years.
Now with his new album and on tour with
Bowie, Slick is entertaining the idea of playing his own gigs
in the Northeast although it is not likely to happen soon. "First
I have to write another album," he explained. "[Zig
Zag] came out last December. We won't finish this tour until
July. What I do want to do is at the end of the tour, if I have
a break, is to go out and do some gigs. Not necessarily a full
blown tour, I'm more interested about doing writing for a while."
Throughout the conversation, songwriting
has been brought up several times and remains Slick's current
focus and priority. No doubt he wants to record another album.
"I'm really more interested in spending more time writing
with people that I really love," he said.
The guitarist is on a second wind in composing
music and is especially interested in scoring music for films.
Originally that was how Zig Zag started. "In fact
it wasn't supposed to have vocals on it," Slick said. "That
all happened because Bowie volunteered to do the vocals and I
don't know what happened."
Regardless of Zig Zag's commercial fate,
Slick has seemingly caught his second wind. "It's fun. Because
I finally have enough confidence to sit down on my own and write.
Practice makes perfect. The more I'm doing it the more I'm enjoying
it. It's been a revelation."
When asked however if it would take another
12 years for his next album, he said. "If the next album
comes out in 12 years, forget about it. I'll be doing it in a
fucking nursing home."
http://www.earlslick.com
|
