LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2008—For John Oates, longtime member of music’s best-selling duo of all time Daryl Hall & John Oates, his second solo album, 1000 Miles of Life, scheduled for release on September 23rd on PS Records in association with U-Watch/DKE Records and distributed by ICON Music Entertainment Services, was a labor of love and devotion, a summary of his three decades as a professional musician. Amazon.com will have an exclusive digital version of 1000 Miles of Life starting on September 9th up until the September 23rd street date, when it will become available in all digital and retail outlets.
“It was a wake-up call for me,” says John about the album, his second solo effort and first since 2002’s Phunk Shui. “After 30-plus years devoting myself to my art and craft, I needed to make a musical statement that someday I could look back on and realize, at that moment of time, I did exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve never written songs like this. I was on this inspirational roll. There was an urgency to it. I realized that I had no more time in my life for rehearsals… and I took that energy into the studio.”
John dedicates the album to three inspired individuals who had recently passed away, but were major influences in his career—producer Arif Mardin (who produced Hall & Oates’ first two albums on Atlantic Records), Jerry Lynn Williams (a writer who contributed songs to Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, among others) and his original guitar mentor Jerry Ricks, who introduced him to the roots blues/folk scene in Philadelphia in the late 60s.
To prepare for the album, Oates traveled to Nashville and hooked up with veteran engineer Bil VornDick (“The guy had the keys to every studio in town,” marvels John). It was Bil’s recording technique for acoustic instruments that gives the record the airy quality reminiscent of classic albums from the past. The next step was to bring in the crème de la crème of the city’s session players, including bluegrass legends Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush, “I wanted players who knew how to frame a song,” says John, “Who knew how to take a lyric and enhance it.”
Co-produced by John with Jed Leiber, son of legendary songwriter Jerry Leiber, the album features eight orginal new songs, most of which were written this past year. In addition, there is an outstanding version of the Jerry Lynn Williams’ classic “Sending Me Angels” perfomed with the Blind Boys of Alabama as well as John’s interpretation of Daniel Lanois’ “Sometimes”. The new songs are complimented by the beautiful ballad, “I Found Love,” a folky ballad he wrote for his wife in 1993 as well as a new take on “Change of Season” originally recorded in the late 1980s.
Among the new tracks listen to “Ghost Town,” inspired by his visit to a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, this standout track with its atmospheric, cinematic feel, is a highlight of 1000 Miles of Life, featuring a plaintive banjo solo by Fleck, Blues Traveler’s John Popper on harp and an eerie New Orleans funeral march coda which seems to arise right out of the mist.
“When I went to the city, we got a chance to hang out in those neighborhoods destroyed by the hurricane,” says John. “I was shocked and embarrassed by the fact that two years later, a major American city could be left in that state of chaos. That really affected me. People losing their city but not losing their heart.”
Some of the other guests on the album include The Blind Boys of Alabama (“Sending Me Angels”), John Popper, (“Ghost Town”) Bekka Bramlett (“Carved in Stone”) and her mom Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie fame (“1000 Miles of Life”) as well as legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, longtime Hall & Oates band member T Bone Wolk, Jed Leiber on keyboards, string meister Jonathan Yudkin, bassists Michael Rhodes and Mark Fain, pedal steel and electric guitarist Dan Dugmore, drummers Doug Belote, Chad Cromwell and Shannon Forrest, percussionist Eric Darken, guitarists Tom and Bob Britt as well as Nathan Paul Chapman. Basic tracks were recorded in Nashville, vocals and guitars were laid down at Great Divide Studios in Aspen and the album was mixed back in L.A. at Leiber’s Nightbird Studios at The Sunset Marquis.
“I did everything on blind faith and gut feeling, but it worked like a charm,” says John. “The project began to take on this incredible momentum. There was a creative energy that carried the project through. Every musician dedicated themselves to these songs. It was the most effortless, joyful, inspirational playing I’ve experienced since recording Abandoned Luncheonette. There was a special chemistry… a special moment in time.”
Now that it’s finished, Oates is confident the process of recording a solo album will only enhance the music he makes with Hall and Oates.
“Doing this album is good for both of us,” he says. “When we do come back together, we bring those experiences to what we do, which makes it even better. But this is a very personal record for me and, without a doubt, the highlight of my recording career.”
John Oates was destined to be a musician. Singing from the time he could talk and playing the guitar since the age of five, his calling in life was never in question. Born in New York City, his family moved to a small town outside of Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the early 50s ....a move that would change the course of his life. Like most kids at that time, the impact of the early days of rock left an lasting impression on John. At the age of four he witnessed his first live concert: Bill Haley and the Comets playing their classic rockabilly hits at a local amusement park. Then there were the records...
He began to collect 45 rpm singles ...treasures from Little Richard , Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, Gary U.S. Bonds and of course, Elvis. He spent countless hours twisting the dial on his AM transistor radio trying to tune in the local R&B stations and listening to DJs like Jerry Blavat spinning obscure Doo Wop records.
When it came to influences John was open to more than just the top 40 hits...his friends’ older brother turned him on to the nascent folk music scene that began to sweep the country in the early 60’s. John’s interest in traditional American music began and he immersed himself in the Child’s Ballads, Joan Baez, Rev. Gary Davis, Dave Von Ronk and all the rediscovered bluesmen who began to make appearances at the Newport and Philadelphia folk festivals. Absorbing it all gave him a kind of musical split personality. One night he might be wearing a shark skin suit playing with his band doing everything from Do Wop covers to the big R& B hits of the day and then the next night he would be playing his acoustic guitar in a local coffee house singing appalachian folk ballads...to this day the very same roots and influences still can be heard in John’s original playing and singing style.
In the late 60’s John moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University and check out the city’s music scene. In 1966 he wrote and recorded his first single “I Need Your Love” which was released on the label owned by a local music store called the Record Museum. The song was arranged by Bobby Martin who at the time was producing and arranging for Gamble and Huff. The single received airplay on Philly’s R&B radio stations and John began to divide his time between being a student and a professional musician.
Around the same time he met an influential guitar player/ teacher named Jerry Ricks who had spent time on the road with Mississippi John Hurt and Son House. Jerry took John under his wing and introduced him to many of the newly rediscover performers, such as Doc Watson, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee and Mississippi John for whom Philadelphia’s folk venues, like the Second Fret and Main Point, were frequent stops in their concert schedules.
John had the unique opportunity to play alongside some of these seminal musicians learning first hand, their finger picking and flat picking styles.
When John first met Daryl Hall it was their mutual love for urban rhythm and blues blended with the more rural roots of American music that created their unique sound.
Since the formation of their partnership in the early 70’s Hall & Oates have gone on to record 21 albums which have sold over 80 million units making them the most successful duo in rock history. They have scored 10 number one records, over 20 top 40 hits and have toured the world for decades. Their involvement in the original “Live Aid” concert and the ground breaking “We Are The World” charity recording have further established them as legendary artists who have personally and through their music, stood the test of time. Their influence on modern pop music has been cited by numerous contemporary bands, like the Gym Class Heroes and the Killers, who have credited and acknowledged H&O’s considerable contribution to American music.
In addition to their numerous American Music and MTV awards, in 2005 they were inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame and in May of 2008 will be presented the prestigious BMI Icon Award for their outstanding career achievement in song writing.
John has recently been invited to become a member of the board of directors for the R&B Foundation and continues to support many national and local charities. He has just finished recording his second solo album entitled: “1000 Miles of Life” in Nashville featuring an amazing collection of some of the world’s top musicians.
He resides with his wife and son in the rocky mountains of Colorado on their ranch along with 3 dogs, a flock of Emus, Llamas and Alpacas.
When he’s not driving his tractor or making music he loves to ride his mountain bike, hike the backcountry and telemark ski.
© 2008 John Oates
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