work.” And he’d say, “Okay. Let’s move
on.”
IE: How were you planning on ‘winding
down’ without music in your life?
CH: I’m now a greeter at Wal-Mart! No –
I have plenty of things I do. So here’s what
winding down means to me. I don’t like to
travel that much, and I could care less
about flying. I don’t care what business
you’re in – it’s become so annoying to get
But I’m writing about how good he was,
how good he could’ve been, and how his
life was cut short. And I’m writing about
people like Gene Clark, who was just a
phenomenal songwriter. That’s what’s in
my book – the amazing characters I’ve
worked with over the years. So it’s all
good – I have only good memories.
IE: I’m fascinated by the fact that – at
only 17 – you traveled alone by train from
November 3
Anti-Flag American Fall
Blake Shelton Texoma Shore
Cannibal Corpse Red Before Black
Grace VanderWaal Just The Beginning
Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues
Sam Smith The Thrill of It All
Shamir Revelations
Stereophonics Scream Above the Sounds
November 10
11•2017
on an airplane, even if you’re in first class.
So I’ve been doing this since 1963, and I
don’t know what’s gonna happen with
this new record – it’s gonna go where it’s
gonna go. And will I continue working
with Herb? Probably, off and on. Will I
record again? I have no idea – for all
intents and purposes, the record industry
is dead. The young groups, they’ve adapt-
ed to it on a technical level, which leaves
me out in the cold, so I have to get help
with most of the stuff I do on computers.
So – like every other semi-aging rock star
who’s been around for the past four or
five decades – what does one do? You
write a memoir. And mine’s done,
although I have to re-do the epilogue with
Petty’s involvement. But I’m writing
about growing up in California in the ‘50s,
and about the passion that I had for the
music. I’m not writing about Gram
Parsons OD'ing on heroin in the desert –
none of that negativity is relevant to me.
10 illi i
t t i
b
San Diego to Berkeley, just to get some
mandolin lessons.
CH: Well my sister lived up there in
Berkeley – she was going for her Masters
– so it wasn’t as scary as it sounds. But I
did grab the train in Del Mar, California,
and rode it all the way to Oakland. I’d
called up Scott Hambly, who was getting
his doctorate in musicology at Berkeley,
and he said, “If you come on up, I’ll give
you some lessons.” So I just went up there.
I was this dumb little kid from a little
town, just scared to death. But I met this
Mexican sailor on the train who gave me
some quick life lessons. He said, “Man –
you’re out here on your own? Be careful.
Don’t be flashing money around, and
when you get off the train, call your sister
immediately.” And he walked me off the
train and through the station, and then I
never saw that guy again. And the
Hambly guy showed me the basics – he
said, “Here’s the kind of pick you use, and
Evanescence Synthesis
Sleigh Bells Kid Kruschev
Taylor Swift Reputation
Teen Daze Themes For A New Earth
Yung Lean Stranger
Anti Flag
November 17
Barenaked Ladies Fake Nudes
GBH Momentum
Godflesh Post Self
Mavis Staples If All I Was Was Black
Morrissey Low In High School
OCS Memory Of A Cut Off Head
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Soul Of A Woman
Sia Everyday Is Christmas
November 24
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Who Built The Moon?
SECT No Cure For Death
December 1
Chris Stapleton From A Room: Volume 2
Nicholas Krgovich In An Open Field
The Faceless In Becoming A Ghost
U2 Songs Of Experience
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings