Russ Ballard - Interview

R'n'R : What kind of music did you listen to at home when you were a kid ?

RB : As a boy, I listened to a lot of music. My father was a drummer & pianist - he played in a Dixieland jazz band, so I listened to that and played along with Chris Barber band Louis Armstrong, along with Rock and blues... Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, Edith Piaf and Nat King Cole. I was sent to piano lessons aged 8 and spent five years studying before taking to guitar.

R'n'R : Your principal musical influences as a teeanager ?

RB : I was playing in a group when I was 13 so, finding the popular songs of the time, ‘My Babe’ Jimmy Reed. Elvis tunes - ‘Jailhouse Rock’ ‘Good Rockin Tonight’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, Chuck Berry - Little Richard, there were so many.

R'n'R : Tell me please your first experience in a band ?

RB : My first experience was a band with my brother and my school friends. I had an electric guitar a try voice amp an echo unit and the first Wah Wah Pedal - Our first bass was a tea chest and piece Of string. Then, as we developed, my mum bought a Framus bass and an amp for my school friend Bill Brown. My mum was great....and we became a really good band.

R'n'R : Argent was a very good band. Why did you leave it ?

RB : I left Argent because, I guess you could say ‘Musical differences’. Rod Argent was stretching out and improvising in almost every song. I thought it was too much. He is a great player, but we could have cut the solos down more. I also wanted to write more and produce.

Argent - God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You

R'n'R : How did it happen that Rainbow covered Since You Been Gone and I Surrender ? Did you write them especially for this band ?

RB : I never wrote Since You’ve Been Gone or I Surrender for Rainbow, I wrote them for me, and Since You’ve Been Gone was a single by me, in 1975, it was the first single from my Winning album. Then I released Winning as a single and Santana recorded it and it become number one the U. S. Billboard Rock Chart.

Russ Ballard - Since You've Been Gone

Russ Ballard & Ritchie Blackmore

R'n'R : Do you have the same writing process for the others artists than for yourself ?

RB : I usually write for myself. I invariably picture myself singing the song. I wrote New York Groove, for a young group called Hello, I never envisioned myself performing it. It was written in 1975, at the time of Glam Rock, so I steered it that way, however, the lyric was about me being in New York. It was a hit then Ace Frehley had a hit with it in the states, in 1978. When I was asked to write for America, I wanted to write something hypnotic, I always felt that their first hit, A Horse With No Name was hypnotic. When I produced the album Your Move I had a lot of ballads in my catalogue that suited them and we recorded them.

Russ Ballard & Bob Bradubury (Hello) - New York Groove (live 2019)

R'n'R : How did it happen that you worked with Roger Daltrey ?

RB : How did I come to work with Roger ? I knew him in the sixties and when I was asked to play on the first Leo Sayer album, it was recorded at Roger’s home studio. Roger liked the Leo songs and decided to record his first solo album at his home studio. So the same team played on the Daltrey album, Then Six months later Roger asked if I would produce his second solo album.

Roger Daltrey & Russ Ballard - Free me (Mc Vicar)

R'n'R : What are you the most proud in your huge career ?

RB : What am I most proud of ? I guess surviving through the years and being able to play music almost everyday and write tour the world and also produce. Finding a passion is key. To get up every day looking forward to work, then this world makes sense. It becomes a play ground.

R'n'R : Your second self-titled solo album (1984) (one of my favorite albums ever) contains a lot of hits like Voices, In the Night, Two Silhouettes, I Can’t Hear You No More, A Woman Like You. Did this album change your life and your career ?

RB : Did the ‘84 Russ Ballard album change my life? Every album changes ones life in someway. In writing the songs over period of time - then the recording, then going on tour and the audience recognizing the songs, it’s magic !

Russ Ballard - A Woman Like You (1984)

R'n'R : In Miami Vice you had “Voices” and “In the Night” in two of the most anthological scenes of this mythical TV show. How were you approach by the producers for this songs ? Were you a fan of the TV show ?

RB : Miami Vice... I think the director made contact with my publisher, he said he liked the songs and would like to use Voices & In The Night in two episodes. They did sound right in the stories. I never spoke to the director.

Russ Ballard - Voices (Miami Vice)

R'n'R : Today what do you think about Book of Love (2006) ?

RB : Book of Love was a Labour of love. I had read so many uplifting books on emotional growth and mindfulness, I thought the subject was good for an album. You know, Why are people unhappy? Why are we humans so tribal? Why do we separate ourselves from each other?”. There are so many potential songs there. I decided to make an album that was somewhat autobiographical. A man (me) but starting out as a wounded kid, then meeting a wiseman, I ask him Where can I find love? he says, I should look for a light, known by many names and it will be in a Book of Love and when I find the book, the great light will be shining, it was a great vehicle for songs.

Russ Ballard - Book of Love (2006)

The Zombies

R'n'R : In 2015 you released out an album called It’s Good To Be Here. Why did you choose in 2020 to re-work and re-release it ?

RB : The songs that have been released on my album, It's Good To Be Here are some of the songs from the UMU site. I’ve added new songs and recorded new, different versions of my old songs , Since You’ve Been Gone being one. I’ve also included new versions of my old songs, New York Groove and You Can Do Magic a song that I wrote for America.

Russ Ballard - The Misunderstood (It's Good To Be Here)

R'n'R : Can you say please some words about UMU Music ? What is it and does it change something for your career ?

RB : UMU was set up by a friend, he asked if I had anything he could put on his site, and sell them as downloads. At that time, I had some things : demos, and lots bits. He said, demos will be fine and sold them online. It turned out my fans preferred hard copies (as I do). That was 2014. In 2018, I asked BMG, my publisher, if they would support an album by me, they said yes, and as they were now also a record label, it was released by BMG .

Link to buy It's Good To Be Here on Russ' website

R'n'R : Due to covid-19 your European tour was postponed. I think you are very sad about it. Do you have new dates?

RB : I was looking forward to touring Germany, Austria, Holland and Belgium, until the Coronavirus hit everyone, so, sadly, the tour was cancelled.

R'n'R : Do you know how many songs did you write till today ?

RB : I don’t know how exactly. I have many songs that I never submitted to my publishers. I guess I have six or seven hundred in my catalogue...maybe more.

R'n'R : Do you think internet changed the music business ?

RB : Oh, yes, the Internet changed the music business. We used to sell records and get paid. There’s good changes - young artists can record something relatively cheaply and professionally and become popular online, also, with imagine you can make a video relatively cheaply and get online. I don’t think the internet has changed songwriting.

R'n'R : After this pandemic do you think human beings will change their way to live ?

RB : Will Covid19 change human behavior? Probably, in some ways. It’s been good to see families walking and cycling together on footpaths near me. Also, when I run in the early mornings, I can hear the birds in full voice giving the Dawn Chorus and not lost behind the planes flying over head. Whatever the changes, I hope we can care more about each other.

Russ Ballard -Since You Been Gone (It's Good To Be Here)