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Picture this: Rockpages team on the verge of exhaustion from wondering around in London shopping –while we should add the trip from Birmingham, standing up for 8 hours, the Metallica gig- waiting in their hotel room to interview Don Airey. All the “bargains” can wait in their bags, and cases, while although on time we find Don waiting for us in the chaotic hotel lobby. After we ordered the traditional, and typical British drink we talked about…Greece, where Don spends his holiday regularly –actually, he said that this time he is bringing his whole family to a Greek island-, music, and some of his many collaborations in his long career. Don gave us the impression of a simple, down to earth guy, very strong, and very humorous. When Dimitris weren’t interrupting he told us great stories and punch line after punch line! The London three: Yiannis Dolas, Sakis Nikas, Dimitris Kazantzis
Rockpages.gr: What keeps a band going all those years?
Don: Money, and music…
Rockpages.gr: What comes first?
Don: Music, of course! You got to be good to what you do. To be good, you have got to enjoy it as well. That’s what people will pay you for. That’s one tricky thing, to get people to pay you to watch you play. You can keep doing so, and if it seems to be successful, you don’t let it stop.
Rockpages.gr: Is it a difficult thing to do? Earning a living playing music?
Don: I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone! There’s an old English musical song, which says “Don’t put you daughter on the stage Mrs. Whorthington” (he sings a little!). Because, it’s a tough life. It has a lot of ups, but many more downs. That’s what you’ve got to be careful. When you’re down there, and you come back up, and that’s quite hard to manage. It is physically very tough, and mentally very tough. Say, a five piece rock band there’s a big problem with the politics…the relationships, and the fact that you are together all the time. In most jobs, you go home at the end of the day, but when you are a rock’n’roll band, and you’re on the road, then you are thrown together, and that’s tricky. You’ve got to negotiate… people used to behave very badly in the old days. I used to work at the theatre, when I had time off, playing, or writing music. People on the stage, actors, had to get along with each other, and that’s more or less how it is with the music business now. People have learned to be professional, and getting on, and that’s very much easier…Mind you, it was tremendous fun in the old days…the madness, and the craziness…I do miss that side of it.
Rockpages.gr: You mentioned earlier that the hardest thing in the music business is going down, and trying to get back again. When was Don Airey’s lowest point?
Don: When my son was ill…it was very difficult, that was between 1992, and 1995, I was out for three years, and if you are out for one year, it takes you two years to come back. I really wasn’t doing well at all. We were at the hospital all the time, my son was on a wheel-chair, we were looking for doctors, and specialists. But, everything is OK now, miraculously! And, he works for me now, he is my keyboard technician!
Rockpages.gr: But, you said that you wouldn’t recommend anyone getting involved in the music business…
Don: Well, it wasn’t like that…it was just an opportunity two weeks. He was out of work at the time. So, I asked him “do you fancy this? They will pay you that”, and after one day they offered him the job, he was so good at it. I was surprised! I was surprised more than anybody! (laughs) And he just went like that, he stick to it!
Rockpages.gr: How different a keyboard player you are than Jon Lord?
Don: You tell me! (Laughs) I’m more a synthesizer player than Jon. That was my main thing. I am maybe more of a piano player than Jon, I think that’s my main difference. And, he always tends to do one thing, with a few little bits on the side, while I have always done all sorts of things…I have been an arranger, writing for theatre, writing for TV, conducting, doing solo concerts…
Rockpages.gr:…plus, you’ve worked with zillions of other artists, while Jon Lord has only been a member of a few bands, Deep Purple, Whitesnake…
Don: I think I have done more than 250 albums…in my career. There was a guy when I was on tour with Uli Jon Roth, and Joe Satriani, on the G3, Joe comes up to me and he says “Don, there this guy on the back with a wheelbarrow and he wants to talk to you”, and he had a wheelbarrow that was full of albums! It think it was 140! We set up a table, and I had to sign them all after the gig!
Rockpages.gr: Do you remember your first autograph?
Don: Actually, yes! It was in my home town, in Sunderland, when I just joined Cozy Powell’s Hammer (1974). And I’ve been on the telly, you know “Top Of The Pops”, so I went back to Sunderland to give a concert with Cozy, Oooh it was exciting! So, this girl came up to me with a pen, and paper and she went “Are you Keith Airey’s brother?”, Keith is my younger brother, and he was a guitar player in a band in Sunderland, I said “yes, I am”, and she said “can you get his autograph for me?” So, that was the first time I was actually asked for an autograph, but it was my brother’s, which I got and posted it to her…(laughs)
Rockpages.gr: You’ve played in all those albums, but you have only released a couple of solo albums, “K2” (1989), and “A Light In The Sky”(2008). Was that because you didn’t have time to make a solo album, since you were so busy working for everybody else?
Don: Well, I think that if you are a singer, or a guitar player, and you want to do a solo record they go “Oh yeah great!”, but, when you are a keyboard player they go “Oooh…I don’t know”. The first thing the record company asked me, both times, MCA, and then Mascot was which guitarists are you getting on the album, that’s what they really wanted to know.
Rockpages.gr: Is there any reason why you wouldn’t collaborate with an artist?
Don: There’s a famous story, you know Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s…he’s got an answer phone message: “Hi, this is Tim Rice, there’s no one here right now, but I’ll do it!” (laughs). That’s how you’ve got to be in the music business, you don’t say no, unless it’s ridiculous. That’s your job to get by! It is easy to say “I am only going to do this”, but you won’t last very long, if you pigeon hole yourself. Because, you cannot see yourself, as other see you. So, someone might say this is the job for our man, and if you can hear something that they can’t, if you can come up with what they would like, then they will pay you. It’s the name of the game.
Rockpages.gr: Which one of your collaborations did you e enjoy the most, and is the most memorable?
Don: Cozy Powell’s first album, “Over The Top” (1979)…it was a wonderful experience! We had Jack Bruce, Gary Moore, Clem Clemson, Bernie Marsden, all kinds of guests, and it was tremendous fun, it was a great recording. We had Martin Birch engineering, and producing…a wonderful thing to do! Most albums are fun; there are a few albums I can think of which weren’t fun. Very few! There have been a very few unpleasant experiences, but it’s all in the game.
Rockpages.gr: You have recorded two albums with Deep Purple, “Bananas”, and “Rapture Of The Deep”, which one do you think has the potential to stand the test of time?
Don: Well, from the sound of it, I’d say “Rapture Of The Deep” was a pretty good album. “Bananas” was a great album to make. That was an album I really enjoyed. We were in a big studio in LA, staying in Burbank, seeing all my old friends. The sessions were very enjoyable, Michael Bradford was a wonderful producer for the band, he opened it up for everybody, especially Ian Gillan, and he opened it up for me as well. He really made me want to play, so I am really very grateful for that. “Rapture Of The Deep” wasn’t such fun to make, it was a very full album, I thought, well, it’s often when you have something like that, it’s just got that edge on the tracks…
Rockpages.gr: I think it’s more daring…
Don: It’s heavier…I think “Bananas” was an attempt to be commercial, I think that was the drift the record company gave the producer, the manager, and the band. And, I think it was the wrong one to give. Whereas, when it came to “Rapture…”, I just straight away went to Michael (Bradford), to turn the Hammond up. I put the Hammond through a guitar amp, like Jon used to do. And I asked Mike to get it up front, and turn the others down, which he did! And that was great fun! (laughs)
Rockpages.gr: “Rapture Of The Deep” was released in 2005, Deep Purple are touring constantly, are there any news regarding a new album?
Don: I don’t know…they don’t say much. I talked to Roger about it, I am not sure what’s happening…I am sure there will be another album. The trouble you see is the touring commitments. What’s with the band, it’s a touring band, that’s how it exists. It’s a big organization. Sometimes, there are thirty people on the road, so you can understand the financial pressure. I think that the band at the moment is more successful than it’s ever been. Everything is going well, and it’s a real powerhouse! I think it’s back where it belongs, sounding like it should. It’s taking a long time to get back there, to how it sounded in the ‘70s. I talked a lot with Paicey about it…he said “I don’t know…I am not happy about it…I am not feeling it”…and maybe a year and a half ago they were singing “Made In Japan”, and Paicey goes: “that’s how it should be, on the floor!” So, we got rid of all the risers, and we put the keyboards on the floor and the drums on the floor…quite revolutionary!…and suddenly it was heavy again! And you could feel that the shows were much better… You know Purple were always hooligans… I saw them when I was a music student, studying as a classical pianist, and I was in my last year in the music college. I went to see Deep Purple…God! They just blew me away! I think that’s the point of it, and I don’t think that Purple were doing that. I think the band was very good, but it didn’t have…a killer punch! You know, if you are going to deliver a blow, it’s got to be a killer blow…
Rockpages.gr: Every time we see the band in Greece, it’s better than the last time, so I wonder how better is it going to be this time…
Don: I don’t think anybody will be disappointed! (laughs) The show is developing to a greater extent. The band has got a lot tighter. As Paicey said “I am starting to get the hang of it!”
Rockpages.gr: You have worked with both Ritchie Blackmore, and Steve Morse, we won’t get into who’s better, because that’s fruitless. But, with whom did you have a better collaboration?
Don: Well, I get on very well with Steve, and it’s a different ball game, than when I was working with Ritchie. It’s a classic rock band…I am taking Jon’s part, and he’s taken Ritchie’s part, thought we managed to stand of our own identity. But, as you get older you are not that raw creating person that you were when you were younger. So, there was a time in my life when I was playing better than I have any time until recently. When I was 26-27, when I first met Ritchie I was flying! And he was one of the most creative people I have ever met! He was brilliant. I learned so much from him. It was difficult working with him, but it was something that’s lasted in my life, and changed me, made me a different person. I think that’s what everybody who works with Ritchie will say about him. It was a monumental time. It reminds me something Dean Martin said about Frank Sinatra. Dean was a wonderful singer, but he said “this is Frank’s world, and we are all happy to be living in it”! And, Ritchie is a bit like that…it’s a funny story that Steve got the job, actually, because I played a part on it! When I was in Rainbow I found this album which was called “Faceless” or something (note: it was actually called “Unsung Heroes” (1982) by Dixie Dreggs, and there’s a track “Go For Baroque”…I played it to Roger and he went like “have you hear these guys?”…it seemed so fresh, a wonderful player Steve, and it stuck in Roger’s mind. I gave Roger the tape, although he claims I didn’t, because he wants to take all the credit! (Laughs)
Rockpages.gr: Do you have any comments about Ritchie Blackmore’s career in the last ten years?
Don: I went to see Ritchie last year, me and my wife went up to Birmingham to see Blackmore’s Night, and it was great! What a show! I think he’s playing amazing! It’s different… that’s a very thing to do, which is change your act. I believe we caught him on a good night, we could have gone the night before, and it wouldn’t have been so good. But, he did a two hour show, and my wife and I went backstage, and he gave us a wonderful welcome. It was great to see him. We talked for about half an hour, just about Rainbow, and we were talking about Purple. And I said “Ritchie I feel really strange”, he asked why, and I said “well, we’re talking about Purple, and I am in, and you are not! Isn’t the world strange?”, “very strange” he replied (laughs).
Rockpages.gr: Did he say good things, or bad things about Purple?
Don: Good things! We only say good things! He seemed to me very happy. I met his wife, Candince, I thought she was brilliant. Everyone seemed pretty happy backstage. I talked with the keyboard player, and he said he was having a ball. Ritchie can be really stern sometimes, and I can’t believe they are doing so well …
Rockpages.gr: You have also worked with the official “Madman”, Ozzy Osbourne. Especially, on “Bark At The Moon”, if you look at the credits it says that Ozzy wrote all the tracks, it that true?
Don: No, it was a sour point at the time. It’s all history now. You know there used to be a terrible thing in the music business called crossed-collateralization. And I think Ozzy, and Sharon got themselves into a hold, financially. You know, they are running a band in America, touring, 30 people on the road. The pressure is enormous. So, they said to me “we’ve got to do this, to keep this going”. I wasn’t very happy about it, but until then I was working non-stop for four years. It was tremendous amount of work, and it kind of set me off. So, in one way I have no complaints to be honest with you. I love working. I like the way she run it. The way she HAS TO run it, to keep Ozzy in shape. But, for me it always worked. The band was always great. Towards the end of my stay he was obviously getting in a bad way, and I had two children I didn’t know, and a third one coming, so I went home for a couple of years, until my wife kicked my out… “Get back to work!” (laughs)
Rockpages.gr: What would you do if you weren’t a musician?
Don: I’d been a professional cricketer by choice… I was hopeless, but that’s what I wanted to be! (Laughs)
Rockpages.gr: Let’s say that you were to leave your home permanently. Which award would you take with you?
Don: That’s a good question! I’d steal one from Leo Lyons’ (Ten Years After) house, which is a platinum record for “Woodstock”…I don’t know I think the first one that I got, a golden album for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Variations”, that was a great moment. I gave it to my parents, and they put it up on their wall, so that everyone who was visiting them could see it. That was a special one.
Rockpages.gr: How did you feel when you stepped up to the level when artists would hire you to play with them, because they wanted Don Airey to play, not just a keyboard player…
Don: Well, I must say I’ve never thought about that. I’ve never done an easy session, there’s no such thing. It’s always the same…there’s old studios around here (note: the hotel is located near Russel Square), I used to work, I passed on my way to get there, and they are all closed now. You turn up, you are sitting in a small studio, it’s always tough, and you need to put your shit together. it’s always the same thing with every session, it’s always tough. I have a studio in my house, and it’s the same thing… “The sound engineer is coming in 5 minutes”, and you get nervous, it’s nerve-racking. You have to put that to side, because it’s always two constraints, time, and money. These are the most important things in the studio. People want you to be quick, and good. It doesn’t matter who you are, and what you have done, or what you are doing now. People do call me up “we want to do an album, how much do you charge?”, and I tell them the rate, and they are always surprised. But, actually, it’s a lot of money for what I do. I am just a keyboard player, I am playing the piano! (Laughs)
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