The Record Player

Send us Fan Mail

Legendary producer Tom Werman joins Jeff and Matt to talk about one of his favorite albums, Who's Next, by the Who.

Tom is one of the best kind of people you can hope to meet in the music industry, because not only is he very talented as a producer, but he also is a music fan at heart. That's something that comes through again and again as you're reading his new memoir, Turn It Up:  My Time Making Hit Records In The Glory Days Of Rock Music (Featuring Mötley Crüe, Poison, Twisted Sister, Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, And More).

Yes, that's a very long title, but the good news is that if you needed a refresher course about Tom Werman and his life's work, you just got it! One of the great things about Turn It Up is that you get the stories about Werman's experience working with the mentioned artists (and more), but you also really get an inside look at what a producer does -- and how they do it. It's a valuable fly on the wall perspective on a number of levels, but Tom is able to explain the very technical job he did -- without getting overly technical in the way he illustrates that process.

As it happens, the roots of the book began with a column that Tom wrote, The Producers, which ran at Jeff's website, Popdose. It's an interesting prequel that Jeff and Tom talk about as the interview begins. Tom has long been one of our favorite people when we think back to all of the albums we own that have his name in the liner notes, so it was a real joy to get a chance to dig in with Tom and discuss his career.

P.S. Are you reading Jeff's words at Jefitoblog yet? Goodness gracious, get on over there and become part of the discussion!

P.S.S. Here's a link to the Who's Next / Lifehouse box set that Matt mentions during the conversation with Tom. It's essential if you're a fan of the album.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Andy Timmons is one of our favorite folks to talk about music with and he returns to the program -- with his guitar once again in hand -- to discuss his love for Peter Frampton's fourth studio album, 1975's Frampton.

Andy tells Jeff and Matt why Peter has been such an important influence on his own career -- and he shares the story of how he came to write his newest single, "The Boy From Beckenham" as a tribute to Frampton. Happily, Frampton himself joined Timmons to play on the track. It's a heartwarming look at how a musical friendship deepened between the pair as a result.

We discuss a lot of different things with Andy on the Frampton tip, including the Sgt. Pepper movie -- and yes, as you might expect, there are some side topics as well, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. and Andy's surprising connection to the late, great Louisville record store, ear X-tacy. We're up to our usual BS, in other words. But in all seriousness, it was a wonderful hang with Andy, which wrapped up with each of us dashing out the door to go get Thai food. A perfect start to the weekend!

Our thanks to Andy for the time. You can see the music video for "The Boy From Beckenham" right here. Make sure to visit Andy's website to stay in tune with everything that he has going on. Thanks for listening!

Related Links:

Andy's GuitarXperience
Andy's Electric Truth album.
The Shout! Factory reissue of the Sgt. Pepper movie.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The Reverend Shawn Amos is our guest today on the podcast. Matt has had a conversation with Shawn in the past, so he knew that Jeff would love speaking with The Good Reverend.

Shawn opened up right away, getting deep and personal with Matt and Jeff about a wide variety of sociopolitical topics surrounding his latest album, Soul Brother No. 1, including the reckoning with past traumas that informs the music making up the album. But don't let us give you the wrong impression — much like many of the songs on the record, this was an honest, joyous exchange rather than a truly heavy conversation.

Long story short, we really loved talking with Shawn — in fact, it was so satisfying to talk about Soul Brother No. 1 that we almost didn't have enough time to get into his love of Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Ain't That a Bitch. (Never fear; we did get there eventually.)

Soul Brother No. 1 is out May 3 on Immediate Family Records. You can find more info via Shawn's links here.

Here also is a link to his book, Cookies & Milk, which we discussed during this episode!

Our thanks to Shawn for spending the time with us!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

UCR's Allison Rapp is back with Jeff and Matt for another episode of The 1974 Project. This time, they're talking about On the Border by Eagles and digging into a bunch of related (and yeah, sometimes, unrelated topics). For instance, why do so many people hate the Eagles? Why do people get worked up about calling them "the Eagles" instead of "Eagles" when the band is discussed.

What was it like covering the recent trial regarding the allegedly stolen Hotel California lyrics and being in the presence of Don Henley? Allison shares details about that experience. For those of you who take a drink every single time that Jeff says, "It's fine," you're in luck once again this episode.

Because this is The Record Player, there are also stray references to Michael McDonald and Chicago. P.S. Make sure that you read Michael's upcoming memoir, because it rules.

Our thanks to Allison as always for joining us. You can catch up on her latest work at Ultimate Classic Rock by following this link. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Some of our favorite lists from Allison -- including a couple mentioned in this episode:

55 Times Albums Shared a Name
Shelved Songs: 22 Songs That Took Years to Complete
24 Songs About Managers and Record Executives

Oh yeah, please don't forget to read Jeff's stuff at Jefitoblog. The universe thanks you.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

We couldn't miss out on the chance to post a new episode of The Record Player on a rare Leap Day!

As one of our comrades said very recently, "Happy Leap Year, to all who celebrate!"

We're back with the latest installment in The 1974 Project, our ongoing collaboration with Ultimate Classic Rock spotlighting a variety of albums that were released, as you might have guessed, in 1974.

UCR's Nick DeRiso joins Jeff and Matt to discuss What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits by the Doobie Brothers. The wide-ranging conversation touches on a number of topics including a Doobies song that was once compared to both Chicago and Eagles, bands with two drummers, the Doobie Liner and five-time Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald.

There's more, but those are the dubious highlights of our discussion. Nick also shares details regarding Journey: Worlds Apart, his new best-selling book about Journey and its many eras and side projects. Our thanks to Nick for taking the time!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Mike Duquette of The Second Disc and Duque's Delights is in the hot seat with Jeff and Matt to discuss The Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears.

Matt has been waiting two years and several days to have an in-depth conversation with Mike. But he's also been waiting since the early '90s to find someone to have a similarly long conversation about The Seeds of Love. On this day, two dreams came true at one time.

For only the fifth time in the history of this podcast, Jeff and Matt agree on an album. (Okay, now you can really tell that Matt writes these dumb episode descriptions.) We celebrate some important life happenings for Mike and in general, have a great conversation about Tears for Fears.

Our thanks to Mike for joining us.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The latest episode of The 1974 Project finds Jeff and Matt teaming up with Matthew Wilkening of Ultimate Classic Rock to discuss the self-titled debut album by Kiss, which was released on February 18, 1974. But the conversation covers a lot of territory involved with just being a music fan. Sneaking out of the house to go buy albums. Parents putting their foot down regarding bands/music they find to be objectionable. How the albums that you're hearing can change your impressions (positively or negatively) regarding a band/genre. Rogue school bus drivers helping to facilitate further musical education.

On the subject of Kiss, we talk about the merits and stereotypes surrounding the first album. The album cover that could have been (but unfortunately, was not). The underrated Kiss record that more fans should embrace. Should you listen to the entire Kiss discography from top to bottom? What is "Nothin' to Lose" really about? How do you feel about '80s Kiss? An alternate reality where Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons follow through with Wicked Lester and Kiss never happens.

Our thanks to Matthew for joining us!

Related:

Were Kiss Really Asked to Dress Like Clowns on Their First Album: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-clown-album-cover/

'Detroit Rock City' Movie Pretty Much Ends Kiss Reunion:
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-detroit-rock-city-movie/

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Van Halen's self-titled debut celebrates its 46th anniversary this month (today in fact, as this is being posted). Jeff and Matt celebrate by welcoming journalist Steve Rosen to discuss this legendary album.

Steve brings unique insights to today's discussion as someone who was covering Van Halen from the moment that the album hit the shelves. He became friends with Eddie Van Halen, kicking off a series of conversations that lasted more than two decades. Those discussions have now been collected into a book, Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen.

Now entering its third printing, Tonechaser is not just a collection of interviews -- Rosen has gone far beyond that, taking the original conversations, adding in additional context and details. Folks who love a fly on the wall perspective, you'll love this book.

Our thanks to Steve for taking time to hang out and talk VH with us!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Our second entry in The 1974 Project focuses on Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell's sixth studio album. UCR's Allison Rapp once again joins Jeff and Matt to discuss a number of topics related to the album.  We talk about the impact that Court and Spark had on Joni's career -- and why it stands out when compared to the rest of her discography. How challenging is it to navigate Joni's overall body of work? How was it received by some of her peers, then and now?

Allison also shares her experience seeing Joni's live performance at the Gorge ("near" Seattle) in 2023 -- and her own origin story with Joni's music.

P.S. -- here's some more information on the Gorge documentary that's mentioned during this episode.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

The wonderful Bill Lloyd returns to The Record Player nearly two years after he stopped in to discuss Paul and Linda McCartney's RAM with us.

This time, we're talking Todd Rundgren with Bill and the conversation spirals in a lot of different directions -- including plenty of record collector nerd chatter. We also discuss Look Into It, Bill's latest solo release, which has a really cool music video for the initial single, "This Ain't My Parade."

Our thanks to Bill as always for taking time to converse about music with us! We had a ball.

P.S. Here's a link to the absolutely essential Rundgren book from Paul Myers that we mentioned during our conversation.

P.S.S. Don't forget to check out the newly reborn Jefitoblog.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show