John
Beaudin
- Hi Donald, thanks for coming in.
Donald
Ray Johnson - Well, thank you for having me.
John
- The response from your song "Here To Stay" here
in Calgary has to be gratifying.
Donald
- I'm excited.
John
- That's one of yours on the album.
Donald
- Yes it is. As a writer I draw from things that are happening
in my life at the time. When I wrote it I was in a brand
new relationship and the rest is history. (laughing)
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John
Beaudin with Grammy winner Donald Ray Johnson (left)
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John
- That tune can be inspiring.
Donald
- Well, that's exactly it.
John
- You grew up in Texas across from the Allen Military Academy
which must have been great because you started as a drummer?
Donald
- That's what I wanted to be. I would rush home from school
because the military band would be out rehearsing. With
the barracks there and the parade grounds the drums sounded
so strong. It was echoing through the buildings so it was
all really exciting.
John
- I'm a drummer and I always find that we are a different
breed.
Donald
- (laughing) Oh Yeah, you should work with some of the guys
I've worked with. Well I guess you could say that but remember
I've also gravitated towards keyboards. I also gravitated
towards what you do, I've also done radio and the singing
thing seems to be what stuck.
John
- Have you been singing since the beginning?
Donald
- Yeah, I've always done that. With the group A Taste Of
Honey, I did a lot of lead vocals when we were a top 40
band and then the girls were up front and I ended up being
a doo-wop kind of guy.(laughing) When I came up to Canada
I sort of went up front. I was getting too old to move around
the drums.
John
- I grew up in the seventies and remember A Taste of Honey
well. That must have been an interesting ride?
Donald
- That was phenomenal, almost unbelievable. As I was telling
some people the other day sometimes I take out the video
of Grammy
night and watch it just to make sure it really happened.
(laughing)
John
- Where do you keep the Grammy?
Donald
- We have a crystal or china closet in the kitchen. That's
where we keep it and I pass by it everyday.
John
- Well, I don't know too many people who have a Grammy.
Donald
- It's an amazing thing because it was such a struggle to
get there. Some people have overnight success but with us
we were a six year overnight success. (laughing) We worked
six years before we recorded.
John
- The album is sort of a Blues album with touches of Pop.
You have done so much in so many genres' what direction
are you going in after this album?
Donald
- I think the only thing left to do is combine all of these
genres. When you talk about all those genre's that's where
I have been. I think there's a part of me that is Blues,
there's a part of me that's Gospel and Pop. Who knows I
might do some Hip Hop. You just never know. But right now
I'm really leaning towards the Smooth Jazz thing. I really
admire guys like Will Downing.
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|
Donald
Ray Johnson (right) on Grammy night with A Taste of
Honey
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John
- Why do you think Blues music moves people so much?
Donald
- Because everybody has it. I found it in the days of playing
clubs. I think Blues makes the audience lose their inhabitations.
Everybody can relate to it. Musically, there are not a lot
of chord changes to remember but it moves everybody. You
can listen to BB
King
and tell it's him. The licks that he plays are simple by
licks I mean the notes that he plays in his solos but it's
distinctively BB
King.
He's so emotional I could go on and on about him. He's so
great.
John
- There are also the people who just don't get the Blues.
Donald
- Well, their form of Blues might be listening to
country music. They can complain about his wife leaving
him well that's a form of the Blues. (laughing) Don't you
think so?
John
- Well, they obviously both need counseling. (laughing)
Donald
- (laughing) Yeah.
John
- Or they could listen to early Led Zeppelin.
Donald
- So many of those early Rock n' Roll bands started as Blues
bands. Willie Dixon wrote a lot of songs that were played
by the younger bands. Howlin' Wolf tunes got the same treatment.
When the youngsters heard them they never thought they were
written by some old Blues player. (laughing)
John
- I noticed you dedicate the album to your old Taste of
Honey band mate Perry Kibble. When you met him did you two
hit it off right away?
Donald
- Yeah, that was funny how that happened. We were in L.A.
and I was living around the corner from Perry. I was looking
for a gig and a friend gave me Perry's number. That would
have been 1972. When I called him he said, "Yeah, we
need a drummer but you may not want to do it because we
have two girls in the band." (laughing) I was right
around that corner in a few seconds. One drummer was bringing
his stuff out and I was waiting on the lawn with mine and
I never left.
John
- You strike me as a spiritual man.
Donald
- I try to be.
John
- You're spiritual and seem pretty street smart. That could
be a good combination in music.
Donald
- Yeah, you're absolutely right. The time that I've spent
and the people that I've been around well I'm just comfortable
with myself now. Some times performing to me is simply exhilarating
I have to hold back so I don't get too excited.
John
- You played with Joe Houston also.
Donald
- When I moved to L.A. in 1971 I played with him. It was
a big band with nice pieces. I worked with Joe until the
latter part of 1972. He was a cool person to work with.
Through him I got a chance to meet some of the true greats
like Big Joe Turner.
John
- Now that was a voice. He had a big voice.
Donald
- Yeah, a very big voice. I also worked with Percy Mayfield.
John
- He had a very different voice.
Donald
- Yeah and an incredible songwriter too.
John
- Yeah, a lot of people recorded his stuff. Did you work
with him after his car accident?
Donald
- Yeah, I didn't know him before.
John
- He really didn't perform that much after the accident,
right?
Donald
- No, he didn't. The stuff we did was mostly around the
local scene in Los Angeles. I know that accident really
took its toll on him because it was really horrific.
John
- If I remember correctly Ray
Charles
recorded a lot of his songs.
Donald
- Yeah, he did.
John
- Did you start playing the blues early? Did you have to
grow into it?
Donald
- Growing up I started playing with Blues bands
with people around my home town and let me tell you at the
time I was so not into the blues. (laughing)
John
- Really?
Donald
- Well, Motown was out there but this is what these guys
knew how to play and so that's where my Blues roots came
from. I think sometimes the Blues is something you grow
into.
John
- What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you?
Donald
- Wow, let me think. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice,
Practice, Practice. (laughing) A lot of good people told
me just to be consistent and when it's not fun anymore just
stop doing it. I think it's a love affair it has to be especially
considering the amount of hours I've put into it.
John
- Do you still get behind the kit and play?
Donald
- I did on Friday night. (laughing) It was different.
John
- I know you're legally blind. Does your eyesight affect
you playing the Drums?
Donald
- No, not really. I know where everything is. When I first
started playing when I was young the cymbals used to be
incredibly high now the older I get the lower the cymbals
get. (laughing)
Watch for part
two of our interview with Donald Ray Johnson coming soon
