Jim: Your resume as a legendary record producer and session musican is mind-boggling.

I put out Super Session, was happy and made nothing. Then they put out music I never could have stood behind and made millions. I thought it was too, but Bobby Colomby & Steve Katz wrested it out of my hands and I decided it was too many against one, so I left as they desired. Why did you leave after B,S,&T's debut album 'Child Is Father To The Man'?Īl: Ahhhh - but it wasn't my band. Jim: You actually formed Blood, Sweat, & Tears in 1967, it was your band.

Or take the course in the middle of that song - you'll probably get good grades. She's more qualified than I am to answer that question. What is soul clapping?Īl: Better ask Mavis Staples. Jim: On 'Comin' Back In A Cadillac', (one of the two live tracks ), you talk to the audience about soul clapping. I cut it in my home studio about eight years ago and then added Anton Fig on drums when I decided to include it on Black Coffee. 'Get Ready' was a pretty bizarre arrangement I came up with and kept to myself for years. I put it on the album about 50% for Bob and about 51% for everyone else. This version was cut in Norway on a live gig and my guitarist Bob Doezema had himself quite a night. What made you decide to do these two songs?Īl: 'Green Onions' is just fun to play - period. Jim: Your covers of the Temptation's 'Get Ready', and Booker T & the MG's 'Green Onions', are two more highlights on this album. I went nuts over his recording and played it so much that people stopped coming over to the house! So I recorded it in my home studio back then and here it is now. Tell us a bit about it.Īl: That's a Keb Mo song from his very first album sometime in the early '90s. Jim: Another one of my favorites is 'Am I Wrong'. It owes a lot to the Stones 'Sticky Fingers' era and my band, The Funky Faculty, played it just right on the album. Thought I should write something like that so I could enjoy singing my own song. How did it come about?Īl: I started doing 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' in 1994 live and really enjoyed singing it. Jim: 'My Hands Are Tied', is a great song. Steve Vai signed me to his label, Favored Nations, when I was 60. By 1995 I was ready but couldn't get a deal cause I was over 50. I quit making solo albums 30 years ago because they weren't selling well. Jim: Your new album 'Black Coffee', is your first solo release in 30 years. This album includes the participations of Koshi Inaba and Tak Matsumoto from the Japanese band B'z on 'Asian Sky'.This is an interview I did with Al Kooper in 2005.

The Ultra Zone is notable for its tributes to two legendary guitarists: Frank Zappa (on the track 'Frank'), and Stevie Ray Vaughan (on the track 'Jibboom').Īlso notable is the fact that this was Vai's last studio album of original material until 2005's Real Illusions: Reflections in the years in between, he released several compilations of his material, as well as a live album.

Singer blood and tear steve vai