|
|
Sheena Metal Interviews Peter Beckett
on LATALKSHOW LIVE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PETER BECKETT INTERVIEW 2005
By Patricia Marshall-Myers
PM: Who owns the Player name?
PB: Peter Beckett
PM: Who are you managed by?
PB: No current manager
PM: Was there ever any talk of a Player reunion?
PB: No
PM: Do you still keep in touch with any other members besides Ronn?
PB: No
PM: What was your reaction the first time you heard "Baby Come Back" on the radio?
PB: Excited!
PM: After "Baby Come Back" became a #1hit, did you ever hear from the girl that you wrote it about?
PB: No. Thank God!
PM: Are you self-taught on guitar and keyboards?
PB: Yes
PM: Were you ever in the school or church choir?
PB: No
PM: Why did The Thoughts record the single "All Night Stand", but never put out an LP?
PB: In those days, if the single died the LP was never born.
PM: Did you ever record with your 60's bands, Whip or
Winston G and The Wicked?
PB: No
PM: What was your involvement with Tin Tin? You wrote a few songs(I'm Afraid/Handle Me Easy) for the band, and your voice can be heard on these tracks.
PB: I replaced Steve Kipner when he went to the US.
PM: What made you decide to change from playing bass to lead guitar?
PB: A job offer
PM: I read in a teen magazine from 1973 that you were in a band called Zed. Was that incorrect info?
PB: ZED!
PM: What was your involvement with Steve Kipner's band 'Friends'. You wrote a song for their LP called "Applecart". Were you ever part of Friends?
PB: Yes, they evolved into Skyband
PM: Are you still in touch with Steve Kipner, and do you think there will ever be a third 'Think Out Loud' LP?
PB: Yes, and No
PM: Did you ever tour as 'Think Out Loud' ?
PB: No, we never really had a band. It was just Steve and I.
PM: Do you feel the timing was bad when you joined LRB as you had your solo CD out at
PM: Why did Skyband disband?
PB: Skyband broke up and Player began.
PM: Is it true that Skyband opened up for the Jackson 5 and Peter Noone?
PB: Yes, it's true.
PM: Did you touring with Little River Band have any influence on your success with your BECKETT solo CD?
PB: No. I tried for a single hit with "Brother Louie", but there was no plan to tour with the hit.
PM: Why do you decide to choose to back up other recording artists, instead of putting yourself out there as a solo artist?
PB: Good money
PM: What kind of music has inspired you?
PB: Pop, Blues, Rock
PM: Who has inspired you the most?
PB: Paul Rodgers, Hall and Oates, Foreigner, Stevie Ray Vaughn
PM: What artist do you enjoy listening to?
PB: Love 'Coldplay' !
PM: What was the last concert you attended?
PB: 'Eagles' 2006
PM: Do you see yourself producing new talent in the future?
PB: Yes
PM: Is there a song that you have written but never recorded
and would like to?
PB: I have a song called "Sins Of Yesterday", a great ballad.
PM: You mentioned that you have hundreds of "rarities" at home. When do we get to hear them?
PB: Guess what? My computer died with my catalog of 280 songs. GONE!
PM: What can we expect from your new CD that you are working on?
PB: Organic, blues oriented rock and soul
PM: If you had your career to do over again, whatwould you do differently?
PB: Work harder!
|
|
By Par Winberg
December 20, 1997
by courtesy of Midwestern Skies, Pär Winberg |
| Midwestern Skies |
Peter |
| 1.) Nice to hear from you and congratulation to your award. What kinda award was it you won recently? |
Actually it was a nomination for best independent production of a CD at the L.A. music awards. |
| 2.) What about the 'Lost In Reality' (a.k.a. 'Electric Shadow') album. Any commercial success? |
The first single Footprints In The Sand got a lot of airplay here in the U.S. but River North Records dropped the ball after that. They were really a country label out of Nashville and the whole set up was a mistake for us. |
| 3.) I know that Tony Scuito was in the live line up with you. Who else was/where in the band with you? |
We had Elliot Easton on Guitar from The Cars, Burleigh Drummond on drums from Ambrosia, myself and Ronn Moss. |
| 4.) For me the 'new' Player album feels like a logic follow up to your excellent self titled album from '91. Was the Player album ever meant to be a solo album of yours? |
No, I started off producing a record for Ronn as an artist and it just naturally turned into Player over time. |
| 5.) What about 1997? I know and was a little surprised about the award. I though the album was in the past and that you worked on some new stuff. Do you still see a commercial possibility with this album? |
The CD was never released in Europe. We signed world rights to River North who turned out to be impotent in Europe. We tried to buy back the CD from them, but they would not do it so that is probably that! |
| 6.) How come you changed name of the album from 'Electric Shadow', as the Japanese version is called, to 'Lost In Reality' and why did you change some songs? |
'Electric Shadow' was Ronn's idea, I changed it for the U.S. market to something that suited the songs a little more. I also added what I thought was missing on the Japanese version and remixed Baby Come Back, since we had the opportunity. |
| 7.) I just love your tunes you've done with Bob Marlette. This Is Your Life is an excellent tune. Have you written more songs recently? |
I wrote those songs with Bob and then we both got busy with separate projects. I have not seen him in a while. |
| 8.) And what about the ultimate Marc Jordan/Beckett tune Cherry Lane? Do you have any plans to work together again? |
I have always loved Marc's work, I will probably call him for my new project. |
| 9.) Dennis Lambert is not so involved in the new Player album. What about the future with him? |
Dennis has moved to New York where he has set up a new record label, Babylon Records. I spoke with him a while back. He was my mentor in the past, but it's difficult to write bi-coastally. |
| 10.) Could you name a few CD's you've bought and enjoyed the last year and have your music taste changed a lot the last couple of years?? |
I love all the 'World Party' records. A new acquisition was Andrew Dorff on Sony work. My musical tastes have always leaned towards the melodic, and I don't really care what the style is as long as the melody is there. Of course the lyrics are important also. |
| 11.) How did you come up with the idea of working with Ron again after all these years? Was it much easier for you to get the record out in the US due to the reason that he's a big 'soap' star these days? |
The record label actually preferred to keep Ronn's soap thing undercover and were not really interested in that aspect. Whether that was a mistake or not ... I don't really know. |
| 12.) What about LITTLE RIVER BAND. Is that something for the past or do you still working with them ? |
Little River Band as of last month is a thing of the past for me. The band lost it's last remaining original member and has fallen apart. There might be some totally unoriginal mock up of LRB touring around next year, but I personally don't want to be involved. I spent nine years with the band, and in the last two years it started losing it's validity, for me. |
| 13.) Could you mention some records that you've been playing on the last years and have you 'scored' a lot of songs on other artists records? |
In the last few years, because of touring with LRB and doing the Player thing I have not really been concentrating on outside writing. I have a second 'Think Out Loud' CD released in Europe right now with Steve Kipner and I hear it's getting some airplay. I'm currently working on a solo CD. |
| 14.) Do you have plans to develop your producer-talents and produce other artists like your old 'AOR colleagues' Glenn Ballard, Rick Neigher and Aldo Nova just to mention a few? Perhaps you have your 'own' talented '27' year old rock girl with killer tunes that will be out soon??? |
I have just installed a digital hard disk studio in my home and will be doing most of my work from there from now on. I intend to find some new talent at some stage of the game when I get time. Meanwhile I am in the middle of a solo project, most of which will be played and sung entirely by me. I have found that when I do this, I tend to go back to my Liverpool roots. Most of my new songs reflect this more simple, melodic style. Check out Andrew Dorff...very original!
That's all for now ... I'm going skiing!! Bye bye,
All the best , Happy new year.
Peter Beckett.
12/29/97 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
