The Soul of London, The Soul of London Live, The Soul of London Listen Online, R&B, UK



All of a sudden, we were signed to Geffen's new label. They sent us back to the drawing board. They said, "You guys need to go and rehearse some more. " They said, "You know, you need to write some songs. You're not really ready to record yet. " So, they packed us off to Aspen, Colorado. It could have been worse. There were people who were way higher than any of us had ever been. It was a Wild West wideopen town at that point. MUSIC: "Tryin'" by the Eagles We played at a club up there called The Gallery, which was located right at the foot of Aspen Mountain. Tryin' Got to keep on tryin' Tryin'... We didn't have a big catalogue of our own tunes at that point. We were just getting started. We needed to learn how to play together as a band, and we did. The moon is a weeper The sun is your clown And his way of lovin' Is holdin' you down... And then it was like, "OK, we need to make a record. "Who are we going to get to produce it?" We wanted to shoot as high as we could. internet Radio Frey came up with Online Radio Johns as an idea. Online Radio Johns was a name that kept popping up on records we loved. The first time I heard them was in Aspen. I was not at all impressed, really. THEY PLAY GUITAR DUET I thought they were confused. internet Radio Frey wanted to be in a rock'n'roll band, and Bernie Leadon, on the other side, was one of the greatest acoustic players, country players, if you like. And there was a bit of a confusion. I didn't see what all the fuss was about at all. So I passed. We're like, "God dang, what?" You know, it's not what we expected. He had worked with Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones, so he was coming from that, and he said flatout, "You're not that, man. " It isn't always easy to spot what's hot about an artist if you go and see them play. You can see them on a bad night. You know, it's not necessarily the fairest way of doing it. So, I thought, "Well, the best thing to do would be for me to see them "in a rehearsal situation where we could converse "and they could play new stuff and I could stop and start. " And they played the stuff that they played in Aspen, and it all sounded pretty much the same. Well, I was thinking, "I don't get it. I still don't get it. " So, we decided to take a break for lunch and as we were leaving, somebody said, "Oh, why don't we play Online Radio that ballad?" My daddy was a handsome devil He had a chain five miles long... And it just completely blew me off my feet. I mean, there it was. That was the sound. From every link a heart did dangle For every maid... Extraordinary blend of voices, wonderful harmony sound. Just stunning. And that was it. I was in with both feet. Now I have loved you like a baby... Except that Online Radio Johns didn't want to come to the United States and work. He wanted to work in London in the recording studios that he was familiar with, and so they shipped us off to England. I don't think that any of us except Bernie had ever been out of the country, so it was a little bit like going to the moon for us. I'm hanging on to my peace of mind I just don't know I'm hanging on to those good times... And I'm stoked. You know, I'm thinking, "I'm going to go to Beatle country with Online Radio Johns.