It's time for our fourth annual check-in with masterful mastering engineer Kevin Gray as he comes off yet another crazy-busy year. What new did he and Doors engineer/producer Bruce Botnick think they could bring to the instant-sellout Rhino High Fidelity box The Doors 1967-1971? Which Rhino High Fidelity album doesn’t make sense to him as an audiophile release? Among Rhino, Blue Note and Craft’s Original Jazz Classics, which label works far in advance, and which one keeps him rushing? Is he still learning anything after all these years? How does he plan to balance his mastering work with his own Cohearent Records label— and what key role did his granddaughter play in the upcoming album from saxophonist Cory Weeds? And which expensive type of release does Gray consider to be “an absolute scam foisted on the buying public”?

Redd Kross, a band overdue for massive appreciation, is having a moment. There’s a new page-turner of a memoir, Now You’re One of Us, co-written by brother bandmates Jeff and Steven McDonald with Dan Epstein. Their narrative rocks to life in Andrew Reich’s new documentary, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story. The movie, in turn, inspired the 2024 double album Redd Kross, a candy-colored collection of irresistible hooks, massive riffs and sharp reflections, all wrapped in a cover that one brother thought shouldn't be red. Steven McDonald, the younger bass-playing brother, opens up here about what it’s been like to work with Jeff (a previous Caropop guest) since the age of 11, his abduction at age 13, his increased songwriting role in Redd Kross, how he juggles his many Redd Kross duties with playing in the Melvins and other bands, what Kurt Cobain said to tick him off and why he takes Redd Kross's commercial struggles personally.

Beatles author Bruce Spizer wrote the liner notes for the new vinyl box The Beatles U.S. 1964 Albums in Mono, and here he digs into the history of these reconfigured U.S. Capitol albums, from Meet the Beatles! through Beatles ’65 and The Early Beatles. Spizer is a New Orleans tax lawyer and CPA, and that expertise has helped him untangle the Beatles’ early dealings with labels such as Chicago’s Vee-Jay. Capitol executive Dave Dexter passed on the Beatles four times before being put in charge of their U.S. releases, and Spizer details how Dexter added singles and cut out other songs to create the albums that introduced millions of listeners to the Beatles. Then there’s the sound of this all-analog-from-the-original-masters collection, with Spizer discussing how the U.S. mixes were different and sometimes more exciting than their U.K. counterparts. (Photo by Zach Smith.)

Steve Conte became lead guitarist in one legendary band, the New York Dolls, and co-wrote half of his latest album, The Concrete Jangle, with the main singer-songwriter of another one: Andy Partridge of XTC. Conte is a longtime New York working musician who has played with such artists as Paul Simon, Peter Wolf, Phoebe Snow and, in a great story, Chuck Berry. Now he has released two solo albums on Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label and has two songs vying for the Coolest Song of the World 2024 on Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Here he recalls what it was like to join the New York Dolls and to work with David Johansen—and with guitar in hand, he tells how he got connected with Partridge and demonstrates how the two of them wrote some very catchy songs together. (Photo by Anja van Ast.)

Don Was may be an accomplished performer and producer, as covered in Pt. l, but he’s also got quite the day job: president of Blue Note Records. How did this rock-funk musician become the top executive at one of the most prestigious, influential jazz labels? What was the Blue Note album that turned him on to jazz when he was 14 years old? What early mistakes did he make at the label, and how did the Tone Poet reissue series factor into the solution? How much does Was prioritize new artists? What have been the most significant releases of his tenure? How much of Blue Note’s business is catalog vs. new releases? Which legendary performer is he producing right now? And what is Bob Dylan like to produce? (Photo by Myriam Santos)

His ‘80s band Was (Not Was) scored a top 10 hit, “Walk the Dinosaur,” but Don Was has had an even greater impact on the music world as a producer. In 1989 he produced two big comebacks: Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning Nick of Time and “Love Shack” and other songs on the B-52’s Cosmic Thing. Then came work with Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson and—in a long, fruitful collaboration—the Rolling Stones. He’s got amazing stories detailing his Stones job interview and the origin of Cindy Wilson’s cry of “Tin roof! Rusted.” He also relates how he helps artists get to the essence of what they do best. Then there’s his own return to performing in Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble and how playing live helps him as a producer and as president of Blue Note Records (the subject of next week's episode).

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for listening to Caropop since our launch in the fall of 2021. We’re now 157 episodes and more than three years in, and we can’t wait to share more great conversations about creative work with you. Please enjoy this brief message from the Caropop team, and take this opportunity to catch up on any episodes you may have missed, and we'll be back with another fantastic guest next week. Thanks!

Graham Gouldman already had written classic ‘60s hits—including the Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul,” the Hollies’ “Bus Stop” and “Look Through Any Window” and Herman’s Hermits’ “No Milk Today”—by the time he and Manchester schoolmates Lol Creme and Kevin Godley plus ex-Mindbender Eric Stewart formed one of the '70s’ most tuneful, innovative bands, 10cc. These four singer-songwriters made four distinct, head-spinning albums, with Stewart and Gouldman’s hypnotic “I’m Not in Love” providing the commercial breakthrough. After Godley and Creme split off, Gouldman and Stewart continued on as 10cc, scoring hits with the ebullient earworm “The Things We Do for Love” and the island misadventure “Dreadlock Holiday,” on which Gouldman sings lead. Now Gouldman is the only original member touring under the 10cc banner, and he reflects here on songwriting, collaborating and relationships among ex-bandmates.

“It felt like I just stepped into a rodeo, and they shut the gate behind me.” That’s how Grant Achatz describes his first day of working in the kitchen of Charlie Trotter’s, then considered one of the world’s finest restaurants. The future 3-Michelin-star Alinea chef was just 21 in the summer of 1995 when he convinced Trotter to give him a shot at his namesake Chicago restaurant. But Achatz did not have a positive experience and left after a few months, moving on to a longer tutelage under Chef Thomas Keller at the French Laundry in Napa Valley. When Achatz returned to Chicago to run his own kitchen, he and Trotter had what Achatz calls an “aggressively competitive” relationship. Trotter closed his restaurant in 2012 and died from a stroke the following year at age 54. Now Achatz—who appears in Rebecca Halpern’s documentary about Trotter, Love, Charlie (as do I)—is presenting a lavish Trotter’s menu at his restaurant Next and reflecting on his relationship with the late chef, whom he thinks hasn’t received proper credit for all the innovative ways he changed fine dining.

Susan Cowsill was the kid sister of the family band the Cowsills, and she made an indelible impression singing “and spaghetti’d!” on the Cowsills’ 1968 hit version of “Hair.” Jump to the 1990s, and she was singing and, for the first time, writing songs in the indie supergroup the Continental Drifters, which also included her friend Vicki Peterson of the Bangles and Peter Holsapple of the dB’s. With the Drifters having a resurgence with a new book and compilations—and with Susan still performing with the Cowsills and on her own—she takes us on a lively tour of her long, colorful career. Did she want to join the family band at age 7? How close did the Cowsills get to starring on The Partridge Family? How is singing other people's songs "like having an amusement park in your body?" And can we expect new Continental Drifters music?