BIG CITY BLUES January – February 2002 Issue ACE’S ALLEY Tommy Castro on John Lee Hooker and the Last Recording Session By Johnny Ace I called my friend Tommy Castro on June 14th of this year, hoping to have some heavy intellectual talk. Ha ha! As usual, Tommy had a million things happening, but asked if I’d like to go with him over to John Lee Hooker’s place, as John was recording a vocal with Tommy on Tommy’s new CD. He suggested I could shoot photos of the session and add some good vibes. I agreed. The session went real well. Seven days later, John Lee passed on. The following interview with Tommy took place on July 3rd, 2001 from San Francisco by phone. Cathy Lemons typed and transcribed it. Ace: When did you first hear John Lee Hooker and what did you think of his music and voice? Tommy: First time I heard him was on a record with Steve Miller back in the 60’s--back when I was just a kid. I loved the sound of his voice, and I was attracted to “the boogie.” It was “the boogie” I loved Ace: Did you see him in person back then? Tommy: I think, believe it or not, that it was in some small place on the Peninsula. Hooker was with Deacon Jones and Buddy Miles—I forget where. Hooker came up and sat in. Ace: Did Hooker’s voice blow your mind? Tommy: Yeah! He was quite a bit younger back then. His voice was so deep and great. I remember him standin’ up, walkin’ around the stage. He was doin’ that song—“Good Rockin’ at Midnight,” by Roy Brown. He didn’t have all the words together, but he did it in his own way. Ace: I know you are working on a new record and that you did a session with John Lee Hooker. In fact, I was there (laughs)! Can you explain to our readers what it was like to be with him and to record with him? Tommy: Well, you know over the years, I’ve been a big fan. I like the way his voice sounds. He don ‘t sound like nobody else—the way he phrases things. Occasionally when I sing, I hear Hooker’s influence comin’ out of me, which is incredible because our voices are so different. If I love something, eventually it just comes out of me. It’s out of admiration, I guess. Because Hooker and I were working at the same agency, Rosebud, we ended up doing a lot of shows together. I had the chance to listen to him sing a lot and every once in a while, he would pick up his guitar—take off and do something really wild. He was just incredible. Ace: Any interesting stories during the session? Tommy: Well, I’d say he was in good spirits—really up beat. He seemed to enjoy having us over—reminiscing about old times with you. We had a few laughs. I’d like to tell everybody what he said: “Cheaper to keep her! No! Cheaper to kill her—but don’t tell Cathy!” (Cathy Lemons—Ace’s girlfriend) Hilarious! Ace: Any last words on John Lee Hooker? Tommy: A couple of things about him amazed me. In the music scene and in the circles that he traveled over the years, a whole lot of people died young for obvious reasons: drugs, alcohol, livin’ the night-life. Hooker managed to get through it all. He seemed to rise above all that stuff. And he managed to live a long life doin’ the same music he always did. He stuck to his own style. He didn’t act like the big star he was—always acted humble. And the rumor has it that he was helpin’ a whole lot of people out. I looked up to all of that. The heaviest thing for me was listening to him singing on that tape—singin’ my song. He was singin’ it exactly the way I had imagined. Everything he did was just spontaneous. I was just sittin’ there in awe; it was like being in a dream. You would hear that great shit on a record, maybe, but not in real life. He was just so heavy! Ace: Tell us about your new CD? Tommy: It’s called “Guilty of Love” and it will be out August 28th on the “33rd Street Records” label. Ace: What was it like working with Jimmy Pugh? Tommy: Aside from being Robert Cray’s keyboardist for 10 plus years, he’s produced Gospel Hummingbirds, Curtis Salgado, and our first record. He’s a maniac—in a good way. He’s like a crazy genius—he’s a genius and he’s crazy. He would have us do things that we would never think of doin’. I told him I wanted to put songs over in a different way. He likes deep blues, soul music, gospel, and he’s not such a traditionalist. He has an open mind. He was the right man for the job. Ace: What are your favorite cuts? Tommy: “Blind in the Face of Love”—written by my friend Steven Brewton from Austin—hell of a song-writer. I also wrote with my nephew Mark a song called “Whole Lotta Soul.” “I Ain't Gonna’ Make that Call” is another favorite--a song that I wrote with Brewton. Ace: Who is playing on it? Tommy: Mostly my band--but with Jimmie Pugh playing keyboards. Stu Blank is also on the record—a great friend with cancer who is fighting for his life. He sings lead and plays piano on one song he wrote—as he was singing it—“Dirt Road Blues”—one take—live—completely spontaneous. It turned out really nice! Also my band, as usual, was a big part of the sound. They are not a back up band at all—it’s the Tommy Castro Band! The guys really out did themselves on this record—hands down! With the little bit of time that we had, they just kicked ass. Ace: How busy are you? Tommy: We finished our new record “Guilty of Love” between tours. We worked on it back and forth while we were on the road—flying out—coming back. Finally, we are just now finishing up the last minute details. Tomorrow I’m leaving for Europe. We are doin’ five or six festivals in Italy. And then we’ll be going to France—we’ll play Paris at the “New Morning.” We’ll finish up in Peer, Belgium--the biggest blues festival in Europe. Ace: Tell us about the B.B. King tour? Tommy: It starts August 4rth! As soon as we come back from Europe, we’ll hit the road, doin’ 50 some odd shows until the middle of October. Ace: Any last words on you and John Lee Hooker? Tommy: For the longest time, I have not known how to feel about this business of having John Lee Hooker’s last recorded effort on my CD. I feel honored. The way I look at it lately is he kinda’ gave me a gift on his way out. That’s how I look at it. Tommy’s website: http://ww.tommycastro.com Johnny's website: http://www.lemonace.com . Johnny’s email address: aceonbass@earthlink.net