Baxter Robertson by Stephen Allen
Who were your early influences?
I'd say I had 3 early influences. 1-- "California Style" Rock which included but
was not limited to surf music (Beach Boys, Jackie De Shannon, the Phil Spector sound).
2--The 1st "British Invasion" (I have since learned from an interview with Colin
Blunstone of the Zombies that British groups were unaware of this term), most notably the
Zombies, the Hollies, and of course, the Beatles. Lastly, the Psychedelic eclecticism of
San Francisco of the mid-60's (Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, the Youngbloods). It was a
great time to be a teenager the SF bay area! Somewhere in the mix we've got to include the
Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful, Traffic, and even H.P. Lovecraft!
What was the extent of your pre-RCA career (including the Roto Rooter Goodtime
Christmas band!)? Are there any other recordings?
My 1st recording session was playing piano for a Dixieland background to a cartoon. Most
of the players were older gents who had been animators for Disney classics. This band has
a long-winded history which I will not recount at this time. It was my first
"job" out of college in '73; a street band (busking to the likes of YOU). We did
an album on Vanguard (a major in "74, now defunct but whose catalogue Polygram owns)
so that CD (a recently re-issued lost second LP - in a style that’s not likely to be
of interest to any but the most broad-minded reader) is a necessary addition to the
discography. The RRGTCB originally was a street band doing what is now called performance
art, but what was then called getting people to throw money in the hat. We moved the show
into nightclubs, then did a record for Vanguard in '74 at a state-of 1974-art 24-track
studio. Was THAT overkill. We also spent lots of time recording ourselves at the band
house on home equipment under the influence of beer and pot. Later we were in and out of
various "mid-quality" studios recording early originals.
You worked with Tony Peluso for 2 LPs whom I rate for his work with Paul Sabu, Player
and particularly) Phillips/Macleod. How did that come about? Was it fruitful?
Prior to being signed by RCA I met Tony Peluso (ex-guitar player with the Carpenters) who
had learned the recording ropes at A&M records. He believed in our project and did 6
or 7 24-track demos on his own time and in fact taught me everything I know about singing
in the studio (from his experience with the Carpenters). It was those demos which netted
us the deal at RCA. Tony's innate musicality made it fun and easy to rearrange things on
the fly and I've never laughed so hard in the studio as I did when he was at the helm.
How did you come to have a track on the Karate Kid soundtrack?
Sort of blind luck and heads-up play by friends. Our guitar player’s then girl-friend
worked for Columbia publishing who was heading up music supervision on the project. They
wanted a "Footloose" approach (lots of individual pop songs as the basis for the
soundtrack--a novelty back then). Bill Conti, a very accomplished theme writer, was
musical director and wanted to get a song on the soundtrack, but he didn't write lyrics!
My contact put me in touch with Conti, he wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics. It's the
worst AND most lucrative song I've ever written!
At least it got you on the Casablanca imprint, home of my favorite all-time band,
Angel!
Amazing that you should mentioned Angel! Felix Robinson, the bass player, was in my band
for a year prior to my getting signed to RCA (and, of course, after he was in Angel).
(Pause as Baxter gets automatic upgrade from AOR hero to demi-god status). He left for the
east coast long ago, but we still ask after each other through mutual friends.
Have you had any other notable sidekicks (or even been a sidekick to anyone else)
before your solo LPs?
Yes, ironically enough. The band was playing one our many showcase gigs around L.A. at
which the members of Survivor hired my then bass player, Steph Ellis, to join the band. He
moved to Chicago within days and, only months later, they had a huge hit with "Eye of
the Tiger' from Rocky III!
My own view of your 3 LPs is that the first is the poppiest and that the second is
quite dark, a little impenetrable in some way, and that the third is the most open and
accessible. How did you find yourself developing as a songwriter/artist through that time
period?
Well, remember that just getting signed was a big goal of mine. Between Tony P. being a
pop fan and some downright sycophancy on my part, it's not surprising that the 1st EP is
the most "poppy". Also, the gentleman who signed me to my RCA deal was Paul
Atkinson who had been the guitarist for the Zombies (pop mentality? YOU decide!), so in
essence, I was being signed by one of my heroes. As a reaction to the 1st record, I felt
compelled to display a little more of my aggressive and darker side on the 2nd record,
Vanishing Point II, which felt a lot less forced. There are no out and out singles, but
it's a better record. Also, I let my bandmates stretch out a little more, so we got more
of the real band sound.
You worked with some name producers (Pettibone, Lord-Alge) on Mere Mortals - did that
contribute to the overall musical success of that LP?
I'm glad you said "musical success"! In every other way it was a stone failure.
Atlantic wouldn't let me get started on the LP without a "name" producer at the
helm. We searched and inquired high and low among my wish list to no avail. After delaying
the project for months my manager brought in Shep Pettibone (then unknown to me) who had a
few recent accolades. Shep suggested bringing in two UK-based engineers who had recently
worked on the Pet Shop Boys with him, Dave Meagan and Spike Drake. Dave had also just
finished working with U2 as well. Finally we got started only to find that Shep was a
hopeless dilettante who was moonlighting around our project doing mixes for other people.
We arranged to part ways but that stalled the project. Fortunately, Atlantic let us go
ahead with just the engineers, who ended up be the real heroes and from whom we learned a
lot. They had a completely different approach from L.A. engineers. Later, I met Tom
Lord-Alge through a friend and he graciously agreed to mix 6 tracks. He was a genius in
the studio and creatively generous to the artist (me).
You've been likened to people like Sting or Peter Gabriel, albeit with a firmer footing
in rock rather than pop music. Have you got a preference for British stuff? I guess this
is maybe the same question as influences.
Well, it's not exactly the same, since it sort of forces me to admit that I, among
millions of other Americans, are musical Anglophiles..I really think it took about 20
years for pop music to diffuse in such a way that everybody could be as cool and forward
thinking as the Brits!
You managed to more or less keep the band together '84-'88. What happened to the other
guys thereafter?
Gary Durrett (drummer) and Jay Cawley (bass) remain my closest friends to this day. Gary
produces and edits motion picture trailer (commercials) and Jay still plays and sings
professionally. Alan Maggini, the fine guitar player on most of our records is also still
active musically when he's not river rafting! And why did your bassist keep changing his
name (this one drives me mad trying to work out why - I guess it was to do with the band
the Bodeans and he gradually eased that out of his name?) It was just a lark that we kept
calling him Jay Bodean (a lilting Southern-style name). When we said his real last name
"Cawley"(like the dog), it didn't have quite the panache.
Did Mere Mortals come out on CD? I'm a complete vinyl buff, so it's not my question
this one, but a couple of people have asked me to ask.
Yes, and it's very hard to find. I'm constantly combing CD exchanges hoping to nab one.
The REAL collectors' item is the CASSETTE of the Panorama View EP!
Did you ever tour in support of your LPs, if so (obviously) with whom?
Yes. We were asked to open for Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on a national tour in
support of one her solo albums. Since "Panorama" had just been released, it
worked out that we were supporting our record as well. 26 cities. What a gas! What a
gracious lady and fine singer Christine is/was.
After Mere Mortals - what have you done (obviously I'm looking forward to hearing album
4)?
Let's just say I never stop writing songs. I did an independent CD in 94 ("the Family
Pets") and have had a few songs movies and TV here and abroad. Re: The Pets--An offer
was made by a friend; manager of a 24-trk studio. How would I like to do an album? What do
YOU think I answered? The criterion was set forward that it should be aggressive
garage-based guitar-driven, since a lot of stuff was getting distribution deals out of
this particular studio (mostly post-punk). I said I would but only if I could still write
basically the same way I always do. SO--this is an amalgam of the conditions under which
they'd give me the studio time AND my choosing the musicians whom I felt would lend the
best energy to the project. As always, Gary Durrett appears as the BIG MAN on drums. The
stand-out (I think) is John Truitt on the guitar, whose rockabilly-blues style really
tweeked the project and I must say his solos, particularly on "Police Line"
(which he PLAYED LIVE on the basic track) are some of my favorite guitar playing ever. I
wrote most of the songs in a two month period and in fact wrote "Shake Hands"
and "Police Line" the same day in a motel room in Monterey. I did acoustic
boom-box demos, which I distributed to the guys (sent them to Gary in L.A.). He flew up on
a Thurs., we rehearsed, then cut all the tracks over a weekend in April '93. Jim C. did
great job on bass and as you might hear he's a fan of the "melodic school" (Brit
pop). At 2 in the morning on Sun, with everybody completely burned (Gary had to fly back
out early Mon) I sent the 3 of them back out to do an unrehearsed version of "Hot Rod
Lincoln". This was an old rockabilly favorite that I had seen John Truitt do with
several different bands and I always thought he did a SUPERIOR version. I declined
participation, stayed in the booth. This is the 1st take, live solo, and "scratch
vocal" with no additives and was kind of a gift from me to John so he could always
have a recorded version. To keep my keyboard chops up and earn lunch (rent) money I play
with San Francisco's premiere Disco-funk-party Band--The Cheeseballs! Also, I'm the #1 fan
of my daughter's all-girl power-pop-punk band, the Donnas, whose record (on Lookout!
records) should be available in the UK shortly and whom you should look for on European
tour in May or June!
What's next - you mentioned new soundtrack/movies work - anything in the pipeline?
Maybe!
Baxter Robertson - a nice bloke, some good stuff, particularly Mere Mortals - do your ears
a favour and find that LP or give yourself a difficult task and insist on trying to find
it on CD, whatever you do - this guy’s been a well-kept secret for just too long.
Click here for
a classic review of Baxter Robertson!
