bonus cuts for that album ’ s recent reissue ? JG : Well , what we ’ d tried to do when we recorded for Steve Popovich , Sr . — because he always gave us a budget for demos — was to go into a local studio and just throw down as many songs as we could in the week or two we had before we were going to record an album . So that we ’ d have something on tape to listen to , we had a LOT of demos , like the first time we ever played “ Have a Good Time ( But Get Out Alive )” is on the bonus disc , as is “ Rock Ola ,” the slow ballad that closes the record . But on the bonus-disc outtake , we ’ re doing it fast , as fast as we |
11 • 2020 done , so I have this huge collection of cassettes and old reel-to-reels , literally hundreds and hundreds of tapes . I had so much bonus material for “ Have a Good Time ,” we could have done two or three bonus discs . So we just the most interesting — from our perspective , anyway — and narrowed it down to 16 tracks . And it was a lot of fun , going back and listening to these things that I had when I was 40 years younger . It was all pretty good , actually — I was pleasantly surprised at how good the material was .
IE : When did you first co-write with Springsteen ?
|
JG : It was when we did a record called American Babylon In 1995 . During the sessions , I came up with a set of lyrics for a song called “ Homestead ,” and he and I ended up collaborating on it . He basically wrote the music for it , and I did the lyrics . And that was the start of our writing partnership . But these days , we don ’ t talk as much as we text back and forth — he ’ s got a lot going on right now , and he ’ s putting out that new record , and he ’ s got a film about it , too .
IE : And I ’ m sure there ’ s a lot of serious topics to text about . Like , how in
|
the hell did Pennsylvania become a pivotal swing state ? JG : I know . It ’ s crazy . And the joke is that you have Philadelphia on one side , Pittsburgh on the other , and Arkansas in between . And I don ’ t want to be disparaging to any people , but it ’ s a lot of gun-rack-in-the-back guys . But Pittsburgh is a Democratic stronghold , and the outside areas used to be very working-class .
IE : But now your son Johnny is in the business , too ? JG : Yeah . He plays in my band , and he was a big part of our last Houserockers
|