A few weeks ago, the music world paid tribute over two epic concerts to the life and legacy of Taylor Hawkins. In a twenty five year stint as the drummer with the Foo Fighters, he almost managed the unthinkable - to rival Dave Grohl's reputation as 'the nicest man in rock'. But that recognition he built up with music fans was matched by the kudos he had clearly earned with fellow musicians. The fact that at the Wembley tribute, we saw everyone from Joe Walsh and Lars Ulrich, to Roger Taylor, Brian May and Paul McCartney, is testimony to that.
So, in this edition of Six Degrees, we will be working our way towards Kevin Shields from Taylor Hawkins.
Taylor Hawkins was with the Foo Fighters from 1997 and first appeared on record, on the third album There Is Nothing Left To Lose in 1999. But prior to that, Hawkins had been drumming for a few different people, most notably, Alanis Morissette on her Jagged Little Pill and Can't Not tour, he even appeared in several music videos, including You Oughta Know.
While it is interesting to note that Alanis Morissette was once the opening act for Vanilla Ice, in the early 90s phase of her career, that is not where we are going on this journey! Back to You Oughta Know: it reached number six in the U.S. and twenty two in the UK - and it featured Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Flea, as guest musicians.
Michael Peter Balzary, aka Flea, is best known for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but has worked with many others over the years. He has played with the likes of Mars Volta, Tom Waits (on Hell Broke Luce and Raised Right Man), Jane's Addiction and even Johnny Cash.
Flea played on the Johnny Cash covers of Spiritual by Spain (on 1996's Unchained) and Neil Young's Heart of Gold on the album Unearthed, which was part of his American Recordings series, but was released after Cash's death, in November 2003. Like the others, it had been complied by Cash and producer, Rick Rubin. There are cover versions on it, of acts as diverse as Kris Kristofferson, Tom Waits, Carl Perkins, Bob Marley and Stephen Foster. Aside from Flea, there were contributions from a host of other well known gust musicians, including Fiona Apple, Nick Cave, Glen Campbell, Tom Petty, Carl Perkins, Sheryl Crow and Bill Bateman.
Okay, maybe Bill Bateman is not so well known, but he is the next link in this chain. He was a respected drummer, playing with The Blasters and also The Cramps for a brief spell in 2004.
The Cramps had formed in 1972 in Sacramento, consisting of Lux Interior (Erick Lee Purkhiser) and Poison Ivy (Kristy Marlana Wallace), before later moving to Akron, Ohio and then to New York City. They were regulars at the legendary CBGB's from 1975, with the likes of Television, Blondie, Patti Smith, The Ramones and Talking Heads.
Television was Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca and Richard Hell. Their debut album, Marquee Moon, is probably one of the defining albums of late 70s alternative music, fusing inspiration from the Velvet Underground, surf rock (like Dick Dale), Love, Buffalo Springfield and bits of complex jazz-style musical interplay. The album was produced by Verlaine, with Andrew Johns.
By the time he worked on Marquee Moon, Andrew Johns had already built himself a reputation as a producer and engineer. He did production duties on a lot of rock acts like L.A. Guns, Cinderella and Joe Satriani, but before that had engineered for Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.
He was in the studio for the Stones 1974 album It's Only Rock 'n' Roll. The title track for the record was recorded separately to the rest of the record and included Kenney Jones (Small Faces, Faces) on drums, Ronnie Wood (who had also been in the Faces, but was soon to become a full time member of the Stones) on guitar, and David Bowie on backing vocals.
In a 2014 appearance at the Forbidden Fruit festival at Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin, Oklahoma psych-rock band, The Flaming Lips, included a cover of Bowie's Heroes in their set list. Their guest for this rendition, was of course none other than - KEVIN SHIELDS.