|
CWE Interviews Interview with Judy Henske, "Queen of the Beatniks" August, 2002 CW: In the 1960s, did you live in New York City's 'Village' and how did you arrive there from Wisconsin? JH: I came
to The Village from California.... I came to California with my insane
boyfriend in his old wrecked MG TC. We lived on his sloop in Shelter
Island, San Diego. CW: What originally brought you to Hollywood, California? JH: I came
to Hollywood because I wanted to be an artist of some kind. My first
work was as a singer. I was a failure at regular work. CW: How did
you get included in "Hootenany Hoot"? JH: I got
included in "Hootenany Hoot" because the producer, Sam Katzman, saw me
on TV and everybody else was out of town. CW: Why are there so many successful 'musicians' with very little actual musical skill today? Aren't we being bombarded with 'homogenized' watered down art? JH: "Video
Killed the Radio Star", right? It matters more [about] what they look like today. CW: Was "Tin Star" about a specific place? I love that tune. JH: "Tin Star" was written about a very funky and dangerous club in Mission Beach called The Mantiki. I played there when I was in The Nick Woods Three... when there were horrible drunken brawls, beer mugs used to go sailing through the air, we used to just lie down on the stage, giggling. ...to be
continued Interview
with Graham Nash
of Crosby Stills Nash & Young,
April
1999
CW: Hi Graham, thanks for taking the time... I'm really interested in those formative years of Graham Nash's music career. Put on the "way-back hat" for this one... when recording the song "On A Carousel" did you guys [The Hollies] use a 12 string Rickenbacher? GN: No, it was a twelve string Vox, which was English. CW: As a young lad touring with the Hollies, what was your first impression of the U.S.? GN: My first impressions of this country were varied. The phone sounded just like they did in the movies, one could order food and it would be delivered (unheard of in England), and generally it seemed like a place that I could love and be a part of. CW: While on an American tour in 1967 you informally sang with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. What was that "informal" session like? Did you instantly recognize the potential of this new group? Were the main elements political and/or musical? And if so, were these elements in the forefront or interwoven into what you were expressing? GN: David and I believe that it was in Joni Mitchell's living room that we first sang together. Stephen and David wanted to show me a song that they had worked on in two part harmony. The song was "You Don't Have to Cry" written by Stephen. They sang it once, I asked them to sing it again, they sang it a second time, I asked for another performance. On the third attempt I put my high harmony on and it sounded awesome. I knew in my heart that this was something I wanted to do for the next few years. The musical, social aspect of combining these three voices with the words that we had come up with was very exciting to all three of us. We knew that we could sing, that the sound was unique and that what we had to say was worth saying. And here we are 30 years later still doing it with all the energy of teen-agers! CW: I fully understand the grueling schedule of a musician. Graham, you've traveled this earth time and again... and we've heard about the "Marrakesh Express"... what's the most remote place you feel that you've ever been to? GN: Iceland was the most remote place I've ever been, also, playing golf inside the crater of a 4500 ft. volcano in Bali. CW: Mac Holbert told me about the journey to East Berlin - do you have any particular memories of that trip? GN: I remember asking three local musicians to join us for a drink in an East Berlin restaurant. They had to refuse because the table was "for four" and there were already four of us at the table. They got very uncomfortable and actually left. CW: so... how did CSN put the Y back into CSN&Y? GN: Neil came down to the studio in LA to play on one of Stephen's songs. He heard me playing a track of "Heartland" and wanted to play on it. Then he played on the Stephen Stills song called "Acadienne" then 14 songs later the album was done. CW:
Thank you Graham, see ya on the road! |