Russ Ballard has written some of the most iconic songs in rock history. He is back with a new double album that showcases new songs, as well as new versions of his classics. Russ recently took some time to talk about the record and his amazing career.
Please press the PLAY icon below for the MisplacedStraws Russ Ballard Interview –
On when the new songs were written – I’m always writing, so I’ve got lots of songs there. Right the way through the pandemic I was writing and I’m writing as much as I ever used to write. I’ve got lots of songs on the on the disc. I’ve got lots of stuff there. So, a lot of these songs, a few of the songs were written in the lockdown songs after that. I’ve rewritten some of the songs because I like the idea of the lyrics. I’ve rewritten some of them. It’s still work in progress, Jeff.
On waiting10 years between solo records – I’m always open. I’m open. I’ve never stopped playing. I do go out and play live occasionally, and I’ve been doing that right the way through. Even when my kids were growing up and stuff, even though I came off the road for a few years, I was still going out there playing, even in my brother’s band. He had a function band, and I go out there with him. I would either play guitar, sometimes play the drums. He used to have Mick Avery often used to play drums for him, from the Kinks. When Bob Henrit, who was in Argent when I was in Argent, when Bob went off with the Kinks, Mick didn’t have a gig. So, he used to go with my brother, play my brother’s band just playing sort of everything, sort of standards and “start spreading the news”, all that kind of stuff, I’ve always been doing it.
On if he has any touring plans – I did a tour last year, this time last year, about 11 months ago, I did a tour of Germany playing, it was a tour called Rock Meets Classic. Midge Ure did it as well, I did it, Robert Hart did it. We were playing arenas four or 5,000 a night, and the orchestra was about 60-piece orchestra and a choir, and it, that was a buzz, a real buzz, and that was great. So, you know, if something makes sense to me, I would do it. I’m doing a tour of Germany next month. For three weeks. So. I’ll be out there. I’ll be at mainly Bavaria, but I’m playing Hamburg as well. Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg. All those burgs, you know. So yeah, we’re doing that. I’ve got a great band. The band are fabulous. So, yeah, I look forward to seeing people there.
On how he recorded the record – I used some really good samples and samples that I’ve had for quite a time. Some good rock samples. I’ve got so much going on in the studio. Once I had the kick and the snare down, I recorded the bass, then sometimes keyboards but I recorded everything else.
On when he realized he could write for other people – It’s a strange one. I never really wrote for (others), I always wrote for myself to be honest, things that I would like myself. The only two songs I wrote for other people were “New York Groove”, I didn’t write that for Ace (Frehley). I wrote that for a band, an English band. They were 16-year-old kids, and my brother saw this band. They were called Hello. They were just 16. They were just kids. My brother said, “You should listen to this band”. They were really great. So I took him in the studio and made the song up in the studio. I had the title, I had this idea to write a song called “New York Groove”, and I had a notepad with me. I was going to New York actually to master a Roger Daltrey album that I produced. I produced this thing I’d had it mastered in London, and everyone said to me, “You should go to Sterling Sound in New York”.
So, I jumped on a plane. It was the first time I’ve been there for 18 months, I guess I had this lyric, this idea, “It’s been a year since I was here”, so I had all these words in my head, but when I got the band together in the studio, I was just saying I wanted to do a Bo Diddly beat. They learned the song and I wrote the lyrics and the basic, the finished thing in two hours. The whole thing from start to finish in two hours and then that was 75, Ace recorded it in 78. It was great when I knew he recorded it, that was great. It did really well. T
he first big hit I had in the States was “Liar”, a song that I did for Argent and then that was cut by Three Dog Night. We recorded it in 69, sounds a long time ago, 69. And they recorded it in 71. It got top 10 in America. Did well. I thought it was a blues song. I didn’t see it as a single even. But that’s the great thing about writing. I just love it. I just enjoy the whole process.
On if he has been involved in the different versions of his songs – No. The story I heard because the first, I think the first cover of “Since You’ve Been Gone” was Head East, the very first cover. I heard, I dunno how true, this is the story that Rainbow, were headlining a tour, Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow were headlining a tour of the states. They were supporting, Head East was supporting Rainbow. Rainbow heard the song there and they said, “This would be great for us”. Fun enough, I spoke to Ritchie about, I did speak to him about that story, but I’m pretty sure that was the story.
On if he ever tried to match a song to a band – No. It’s just that I write them for myself, to be honest. did an album called Winning in 74 when I left Argent. The album was called Winning. It was that song and I recorded it. It was released as a single and it didn’t do anything. Four years later, Santana do it. The second single from the album was “Since You’ve Been Gone”, for me, but mine was a lot lighter. I played on piano, so it wasn’t as rocky, but the chorus was, it had a good chorus. I think they saw it really well, when they did it, it should really have been a hard rock song from the word “go” really. Then after that, there was a song on the album called “Just A Dream Away”, and Roger recorded that, Roger Daltrey recorded that for a movie (McVicar). They are always accessible, I guess you would say.
On his relationship with Roger Daltrey – Well, it started it started really, I knew Roger from the late sixties, but we recorded at his house. We recorded Leo Sayer, his first album. My friend Dave Courtney and Adam Faith found this kid called Leo Sayer, and they asked if I would play on his album. They had all the songs. They were Dave Courtney and Leo Sayer songs. Dave was writing the tunes. Leo was writing the lyrics. That’s how I saw it. They chose to record in Roger’s house in Roger’s barn. Roger had an eight-track little studio and, I played guitar, Bob Henrit played the drums. I got on well with Roger and Roger said to me about a year later, round about a year later, he said “I’m gonna do a second solo album”. We recorded Roger’s first album there as well. Then he got in touch with me, “I’d like you to produce it”. I said, “Well, yeah”. that that was called Ride a Rock Horse. That’s how I got involved with Roger.
Then he went on tour, he did tour of the East Coast in New York, round from New York around that area, ending up at Madison Square, and I play guitar. He had a good band, actually. It was quite a big band. But when you go on with Roger, Roger was trying to do all his new songs, and the audience was going, “Who, Who, Who”, which is the problem. So, we ended up doing like a half a Who set, which was brilliant.
On if he prefers to write alone or with a partner – I used to write with a guy called Chris Winter who I found very interesting. He used to write really left field songs, and they were always beautiful songs, but he’s still, he’s still with us and he has a wonderful heart. He’s a wonderful, wonderful man. I heard a song of his. He wrote the song from the viewpoint of animals. Each verse was singing about an animal, was singing about human beings. It started with a seal, I think it started with a seal, I think. Then it goes on to, it ends with a, a deer, and a whale. It was just amazing. I actually phoned him. I had never met him, but when I heard the song, I got his telephone number and phoned him. we were friends. Been friends for years. Unfortunately, he’s not too well at the moment, so we haven’t written for about five years. We wrote, we had a couple of successful songs. Not so much in, commercially, but we wrote one that we had Nelson Mandela in the middle talking. He heard the song and he wrote some lyrics to it for the middle. So, you know we have 33% each. 33% for Chris and 33% for Nelson Mandela’s Foundation, you know? It’s now called Mandela’s Hope. It’s called “Hope”. “There is always hope when you have a dream. Nothing’s quite as bad as it may seem”. It’s very, very South African. But we were pleased with that. I just love writing with Chris ’cause we would do all kinds of stuff, you know, and it’s very interesting.
But I find it harder to write with other people because I have an idea in my head, right. The biggest problem is when you with an idea, a title or an idea, I have an idea where it should go, and the other person goes off, walks off into the next room and has an idea, and it may be totally different from what you are thinking, so it is a problem. So, I have to adapt, or they have to with that. Really, that’s the problem.
On if was ever surprised by a song being a hit – Oh yeah, that’s happened very often. I never thought “I Surrender” by Rainbow would be a, a big, big hit. That was a bigger hit than since you’ve been gone. In England it was a big, big hit. It was number one in the rock tracks in Billboard as well. I never saw that. I thought it was too complicated, and also I thought a rock band’s not going to want to sing “I surrender”. They’re gonna say never surrender. But that’s how I am, I’d rather surrender than start a war. It’s very appropriate now, actually.
On if he needs to temper his definition of success in a new musical climate – It’s a strange one because I know what you’re saying. You’re absolutely right. Life is all about change. We know that. But, I think there are no rules in music. There are no rules. It’s a very strange thing in my life. The strangest things have happened. I never expected “Liar”, I thought it was a little blues song. Suddenly, Three Dog Night recorded it. I followed the same kind of philosophy is just do something you love and you put it out there. I’ve got little elements, the shouting voices and things like that in the background.
When you look at music now, you look at the bands that are selling, that are doing stadiums and things, they’re rock. They’re usually rock bands, aren’t they? I find that to be very strange. But there’s lots of new music I love, Olivia, Rodrigo, I think her songs are really, really clever. She uses the old-fashioned chords as well, which I love, the new stuff. I listen to everything really, I’m gonna keep working the way I work.
Sometimes I do ballads, sometimes it’s just I like to put some heart and soul into, into songs as well. As you get older it’s more difficult to write about falling in love or that feeling of falling love, because you don’t do it anyway. You don’t fall in love. You might live a sort of loving life, but you don’t fall in love or “go away, I don’t need you anymore”. “Come here. I love you.” So, you try to find new vehicles. So, if you look in your head age, you try to sort of look in things, more philosophical kind of things. It’s harder to find things that are sort of, but when they, we find them, it’s satisfying. When I wrote “Voices”, I wrote song called “Voices” years ago, which was very much me about my life, like “Winning” was a song about my life. I think when you can find a song about you that affect, it’s gonna affect you more. You can get deeper into the song. So that’s how I am.
On if the closing track, “The Last Amen”, is his last song – I thought it might be seen like that actually. No, it’s not meant to be the last Amen for me, but I was thinking it’s my last Amen. It’s been a bit cynical about the things that have happened in certain walks of life with, with religious leaders. Choirs and this sort of thing. You hear a lot in England at the moment, we heard a lot about children that were, have been abused and stuff in choirs and whatever, by religious people that should be looking after them and nurturing them.
So, I wrote from the viewpoint of a kid, the kid and I’m singing, I’m singing about the pulpit and being in the church, being a kid that was in the church, how would it be to be one of those kids, sort of thing. That’s why I have to listen to it again actually, been while since I wrote the song.
