Al Kooper – Don’t ask me no questions
ND: Still plenty of musical culture but maybe a little more laid-back?
AK: Definitely. When I was really in the music business, it was primarily in New York and L.A., with stops in Atlanta, London, and Austin, Texas. I wanted to get away from the big music business thing. I always felt I didn’t really belong there. There was a certain amount of dishonesty that I didn’t take to. I’m actually the opposite [laughs] — some people really dislike me for that, and it is sort of a tough way to go.
Of course if you’re someone successful, they have to hire you whether they like you or not. So through little bursts of success I was able to keep going, but I always found it a tough environment to exist in, and I always knew I wanted to get out of there at some point while I still had a life to live. One has a window of opportunity, and one has to be very careful when the window shuts. They don’t really shut the window, the window just shuts.
ND: Creatively?
AK: No, I’m talking about acceptance of you and whatever you do. One of the things I did over the course of my career, which I think I just did out of boredom, was to focus on different aspects of the business. I didn’t really have a plan other than I knew I wanted to be in the music business, you know — that was my plan from the first time I saw Elvis on TV.
II. I DID GET TO DO SOME COOL THINGS IN NASHVILLE
ND: So it’s 1989 and you were living in Nashville, and before you knew it you were producing what many consider Green On Red’s best album, Scapegoats. How did you meet them?
AK: Years before, a guy from Polygram called me and said, “We want you to produce Green On Red,” so I said OK then. He said they are in town now and I want you to meet with them….So I called them and just told them to come over to my house that night; that was when I lived in L.A. And they came over with Jim Dickinson and said, “This is Jim Dickinson and he is going to produce our album.” [loud laugh]
So I just said “Okaaay” and I pulled out my Jim Dickinson solo album and got him to sign it. I went out and got a case or two of beer and we just had a great night, you know? I didn’t even bother to mention me producing the record, but it was a nice night and I had never met Jim Dickinson before, so that was great and we got to swap war stories and all of that. Then a few years later they called again, and this time it ended up working out.
ND: That period when you were in Nashville, you also played on some cool records like Billy Joe Shaver’s Tramp On Your Street album. How was that?
AK: Oh yeah, that was fun, and I did a couple live gigs with them and that was even more fun, playing with him and his son Eddy. What a team they were. I did get to do some cool things in Nashville when I was living there because there are still so many great players around.
ND: How did you end up producing Joe Ely’s Live Shots album?
AK: I moved to Austin in 1980-81 because I wanted to get out of England. Moving to England when I did was a mistake because it was at the height of punk and I really had no business there. So I moved to Austin and I was already familiar with Joe Ely and was thrilled I got to work with him because I thought he was the best down there at that time. Great artist, amazing live as everyone knows; then he was like a Texas Springsteen, just incredible performer and songwriter. I think he is a great guy too so I especially enjoyed working with him. It finally came out on CD a while back.
ND: Even though you did “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” on your first solo album, you don’t seem to talk too much about country music.
AK: Well, I don’t care for the new stuff, but I do love the old stuff — Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, and George Jones, who to me is like as good as Otis Redding in that he gets the same feel across. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is one of the all-time classic vocal recordings, period. And not too bad a song either!
III. THEY AIN’T SKYNYRD, NOT EVEN CLOSE!
ND: Since you don’t particularly care for the newer artists, don’t you think it’s ironic that half of the acts in modern country were probably influenced more by Lynyrd Skynyrd albums you produced than, say, Lefty Frizzell? They all want to be Skynyrd, don’t they?
AK: I don’t keep up with them, but they ain’t Skynyrd, not even close! Lynyrd was a great rock ‘n’ roll band that wrote and played great songs that are still being played everywhere. I can’t see any of the new stuff that I hear coming out of Nashville lasting five years, let alone 30 or whatever it has been now. But what you are referring to is nothing new, because I remember going to lunch with Bill Szymczyk, who produced the last four Eagles albums, when I was living in Nashville, and we had this very discussion. We had a good laugh because of how many people, country or so-called, were trying to make records that either sounded like the Eagles or Skynyrd, but none of them would hire us. [laughs] That’s nuts!
ND: Why is it when you talk about Lynyrd Skynyrd you downplay your contribution? Everyone knows your Dylan connection, but many don’t know that you discovered them in a bar in Atlanta and produced their first three albums.
AK: I don’t know, I don’t downplay anything, but I do like to say how great they were from the first time I saw them. They were a great band. I learned from them too, you know.