THE ZOMBIES’ HEAVENLY VOICE - COLIN BLUNSTONE
By Paul Freeman [August 2013 Interview]
I think so. I think that was one of the main things, especially at that time. I wasn’t aware of any bands that had keyboards in them. And especially, this band has always been a keyboard-based band. It’s not as if the keyboards are hiding somewhere in the background. They’re very central to everything that the band does. Also, we were very keen on harmonies, right from the beginning, which, again was not particularly fashionable at the time. It’s just the nature of the band. Rod really understands harmonies. Hew grew up singing very sophisticated choral pieces, since he was seven or eight years old. And he stayed in the choir until he was 18. And there were times, when the band played on a Sunday night, we had to wait outside of the cathedral until Evensong had finished. [Laughs] And then he would come running out and get into whatever transport we had at the time. I’m sure it wouldn’t be anything glamorous. This was when we were amateurs. And he would go from Evensong straight to a rock concert. I very much sang naturally. I didn't have any formal musical education at all. Rod would usually say to me, ‘What do you hear as the melody?’ So I would sing what I heard - which might be a mixture of a melody and a harmony. Then he would give Chris White an easy harmony, because he had to play bass, as well. Often it would be close to a single note. Then Rod would fill in all the other holes in the harmonies. So when people tried to copy our harmonies, they sometimes came unstuck [laughs]. Normally when you do harmonies, someone takes the top harmony, someone takes the melody and someone sings underneath. We didn't do our harmonies like that. So the two things early on that I think set us apart - we were very much a keyboard-based band and we always featured three-part harmonies. Later on, just before our first recording session, we suddenly realized, we had two very fine writers in the band. Our producer, Ken Jones... We won quite a big rock competition. Bands came from all over the country to go into this rock competition. And we won it. That led to a record deal with Decca Records. And we were introduced to a producer called Ken Jones. And he just happened to remark, in a conversation about two weeks before our first session, that we could always write something for the session. We were going to do covers. It wasn’t as if it was a big deal. He then went on and spoke about other things. But obviously it made an impression on Rod. And he went home and came back a couple of days later and said, ‘Well, I’ve written a song.’ And it was ‘She’s Not There.’ Right from the beginning, we knew that that was a special song. And Chris White, the bass player in the band, wrote ‘You Make Me Feel Good,’ which was the B-side to ‘She’s Not There,’ which was, again, a fine song. So I think the third thing that set The Zombies apart was that we had two quite sophisticated and very prolific writers in the band. And so, over a period of a couple of years, they built up their repertoire. And they were starting from scratch. I think Rod told me later on that he had written one or two songs before. But I didn’t know that at that point. But they had to build up a repertoire of songs, because they were starting pretty much from scratch. And I think this was one of the slight challenges that we had in the band, because, the spring and into the summer of ‘64, we were doing all covers, often things like Beatles songs, because we thought The Beatles were fantastic. And our first record was released on July the 24th of 1964. And, from that moment on, well, within a week or so, we had a hit record and we couldn’t really do Beatles songs. We couldn’t really do covers. So we were in a rather awkward position of trying to find new material and sort of waiting for Rod Argent and Chris White’s songwriting careers to come to fruition. And to me, sometimes, it’s a little bit sad, because... unfortunate, not sad, it’s a little bit unfortunate that, I think, in some ways, it took The Zombies three years, we were together on the road for three years, from 1964 to 1967, when we recorded ‘Odyssey and Oracle.’ And I think it took us that three years to find our musical identity, very much based on Rod and Chris’ writing. And, of course, as we finished ‘Odyssey and Oracle,’ the band decided to split. And so, for me, I know the others have never questioned that that was the right thing to do. And it probably was the right thing to do. We all thought it was time to get on and start new projects. But I’ve always been intrigued to know what might have happened, if we’d have kept going, with these two fine writers in the band, who were really getting into their stride. And through the next few years, from ‘67 to ‘74, they wrote so many wonderful songs. So it just intrigues me what might have happened, if we’d just held on a bit longer. PCC: Even in the early hits, ‘She’s Not There,’ ‘Tell Her No,’ even though they’re irresistible, they’re so daringly different for the time. BLUNSTONE: Well, they certainly were different for the time, that’s for sure. And I think we’re really fortunate in that songs by Rod and Chris, time has been kind to them. There’s kind of a contradiction - you would feel that they’re from the 60s, those songs, but they do have a kind of a timeless feel about them. And, for me, singing them, they feel as fresh and relevant every time I sing them. They feel as fresh and relevant today as they did, when they were first written. PCC: And certainly, another key ingredient in the band’s unique musical identity has always been your lead vocals. They’re so instantly recognizably. Were you doing the vocals just intuitively? How much were thinking out the phrasing, being analytical with it? BLUNSTONE: I think Rod and I have always worked on phrasing. Even in those days, we were starting to try and understand a little bit about phrasing. And certainly, nowadays, we really do talk a lot about phrasing. But in terms of singing technique, I was just singing as I would naturally. Later in life, we both took some singing lessons from a very well known coach in London. And I think it’s helped us, because as you get older, there’s no two ways about it, your voice does change. And I think that it really helps to have just a little bit of technique. And as I say, we did go to the same singing coach, just for a few lessons. And he was very good at pinpointing what we needed to do in technique. And he also gave us both practice tapes that we try and do as often as possible. Sometimes more times than others. PCC: In the early and mid-60s, some British artists tried to affect an American accent when they sang rock. Did you make a conscious decision not to do that, preferring to keep it natural? BLUNSTONE: Yeah, I kind of did, actually. Although, there are one or two tracks that we recorded very early on... you know, rock ‘n’ roll sometimes does require... well, it just sounds better with an American accent, the same way that opera very often sounds better in Italian. It’s just a fact of life. There are early tracks, where we might be singing some rhythm & blues classics, where I can definitely detect an American accent, when I’m singing. But I think, by the time we got to ‘Odyssey and Oracle,’ I was more comfortable singing with an English accent. It just felt a bit self-conscious to sing with an American accent. It just didn’t sound very honest somehow. And I just felt more comfortable singing in an English accent. And I think I still do sing with quite an English accent. Probably it’s somewhere in the middle now. PCC: When you did cover some of the classic R&B and rock tunes, were you concerned with finding a balance between putting your own spin on it and retaining the original’s essence? BLUNSTONE: Well, I don’t think we particularly, consciously tried to put our spin on a tune. It’s just that, when you get five people together, I think they do have an identity and it usually just comes quite naturally. I think it will sound totally different in the way that, say, The Zombies play it, to perhaps the way The Animals would play it. It’s just because they’re five different people. Certainly, we never had to work on that. We very much wrote and played from the heart. We were never consciously looking for hits or fame or success or anything. We were trying to find music that moved us and perform that music to the best of our abilities. PCC: How did the band decide on the name The Zombies? Was it just a whim? BLUNSTONE: It was a whim. I often say it came out of desperation, because, in the very beginning, back in ‘61, we did have a couple of other names for a few weeks. They were pretty undistinguished. And we realized that they weren’t really that good. And other bands had already got them anyway. We only had one change in personnel, and that was on bass. There was a chap called Paul Arnold, who was in the band very early on. And he came out with the name The Zombies. And it just stuck, right from the beginning. I think most of the guys in the band really loved it. It didn’t really signify anything. In some ways, I think it was a little bit ahead of its time, because there was no zombie culture in those days. There weren’t any zombie films or zombie magazines. And, to be honest, I’m not really sure that I really knew what a zombie was. [Laughs] I’m not even sure if I’m absolutely on the ball of what it is now. I think it’s the living dead or something, isn’t it? It was just a catchy name. And I think that, very quickly, the name of a band, it doesn’t really signify anything. It just equates to that band’s music, really. And it was never our intention for it to have any deep meaning. PCC: You mentioned that fame and success weren’t really the goals. So what was it like being in the midst of that mania with screaming fans and ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘Shindig’ and all of that craziness?
Well, it is funny how, especially when you’re young, how naturally you can accept everything that happens. For me, before it really took off, I was thinking of it as a wonderful adventure. And, traditionally, in those days, musical careers were quite short. And, from what I’d read about people’s careers, I don’t know what I was basing it on, really, but I was kind of thinking that it would be wonderful to have this huge adventure that would probably last two or three years and then that would be the end of it and I would go back to a normal life. And that was probably in the back of my mind. So that’s on one level. All the mania side of it, it’s quite extraordinary how quickly you can accept something like that. It just seems as though it’s a natural thing to happen. And, of course, it’s only many years later that I realize, this doesn’t always happen. And if you’re playing in a concert hall, and it’s to an older audience, they can be quite quiet. And they’ve come to listen to the music. And, in its own way, if you’re used to hysteria, an audience that sits down and listens to you, it can have its own challenges. PCC: But it’s own great rewards, as well. BLUNSTONE: It can have great rewards, as well. Of course it can. But it’s quite interesting and obviously I’ve seen both sides. I’ve played in every kind of venue you can think of, from the smallest club to the largest arena. And I’ve enjoyed them all. I like the variety, to be honest. In the last seven days, I played with my solo band in a really small pub on the south coast of England. Basically, I played there, because we had a new bass player and I wanted to play a smaller, more intimate venue, as much as anything for his sake. And then we drove all day the next day to east of Holland and played a huge festival, to thousands of people. Then we drove all the next day, coming back. Then I threw some things in a case, got in a plane and went to Seattle. Drove down to Portland, which is where we are now. In seven days, I’ve played in three different countries with two different bands. And three very different kinds of venues. Actually, I don’t really know where we’re playing tonight [Laughs]. I haven’t seen it yet. But I imagine it will be a theatre or convention hall or something like that, as opposed to the festival and the really small pub. It keeps you on your toes. And it’s really interesting to play to lots of different kinds of audiences. PCC: Does the whole thing still seem like a big adventure to you? BLUNSTONE: Yeah, it does, really [laughs]. It does. You know, it’s really funny, I always used to drive Rod crazy, because wherever we went, I might see someone doing a job and, of course, I was always expecting this to finish. So I would say, ‘That looks like an interesting job.’ When we first did a TV show, I said, ‘You know, a TV cameraman, that could be good, for when it finishes.’ [Laughs] And that kind of, subconsciously, had gone on in my mind till about four or five years ago, when I thought, ‘You know what? This is it! There isn’t going to be another career.’ The penny suddenly dropped. I mean, I’m saying this as a joke against myself. It’s not something that I sat down, talking about for hours on end. It’s just a little subconscious thought in the back of my mind - what’s going to be my real profession? That’s the way people would talk about the music business during our impressionable years. Now everyone knows that you can have a lifetime career in the music business. But, to a large extent, we’ve been making the rules over the last 40 or 50 years. This kind of career didn’t really exist before about 1963, where, certainly for British musicians, you could travel all around the world, playing to enthusiastic audiences, and playing the music that you love. PCC: You and your musical mates didn't succumb to the pitfalls of rock stardom. To what do you credit that? BLUNSTONE: Because we grew up quite near to London, we all lived at home with our parents and our old school friends. So we didn't get too carried away with it, really. When you come home, you're shown reality. It probably wasn't as difficult for us as it was for some people, especially the bands that came from Liverpool or Manchester or Birmingham. They often had to come down and live in London hotel. I would think that they probably had to live the rock 'n' roll lifestyle a bit more than we did. Staying at home helped us keep our feet on the ground and be a bit more realistic about what was happening. But when we were out and all this craziness was going on, we accepted that, as well. So I suppose we had two completely different lifestyles. PCC: Music, fashion, photography, art and film all enjoyed remarkable creative energy bursts in the 60s. BLUNSTONE: There was a very austere period in England after the war. This country was on its knees. If you see pictures of parts of London in 1946, you would think it was Hiroshima. The country was broke. Suddenly the sixties happened. I don't know what triggered it. The Beatles had a lot to do with it. The Beatles changed everything. But there were other people like David Bailey, Mary Quant, all the playwrights, and in acting, Michael Caine, Terence Stamp, Albert Finney. There was this feeling in Britain, especially in England, that anything was possible. It didn't matter what your background was or how much money you had. When you start thinking positively like that, it happens. It's an interesting thought that, because I can sometimes be very negative. But I do believe that, if everybody starts to think positively, things happen. It was an incredibly exciting time. On the shirttails of all of that, we came along. But without the Beatles, none of the 60s English bands would have happened. PCC: Certainly the band’s creative leap forward with “Odyssey and Oracle,” its legendary status, is one of the reasons for The Zombies’ enduring popularity. Did you know that this was something magical from the moment you’d recorded it? BLUNSTONE: What I felt was, I thought it was special. And I definitely thought it was the best we could do. That was our first chance, and sadly, last chance to show how we’d grown. What happened in the U.K., in ‘67, the music industry was still quite singles-dominated. We released a couple of singles and they weren’t commercial successes. And I think everyone in the band felt, well, there isn’t a market for what we’re doing and it might be better if we move on and try different projects. We weren't getting chart position. Consequently, the live work was drying up. Things had just gone very quiet. It really seemed to me as though life was telling us that it was time to go on and do other things. So the band actually finished, before the album was released. But even so, it wasn’t a commercial success in the U.K. And it nearly wasn’t even released in America. There were a lot of delays. And, eventually, Al Kooper, who had been instrumental in forming Blood, Sweat & Tears, and had become a staff producer at CBS, he found this album. He actually came to London and he was just buying records and he bought ‘Odyssey and Oracle’ in the shop and he loved it. And he went back to CBS and presented it to Clive Davis - and I’ve met Al Kooper many times and he’s told me this story - ‘I presented the album to Clive Davis and said, ‘Whatever it costs, we have to get this album for the States.’ Clive Davis looked at me and said, ‘We’ve already got it, but we weren’t going to release it.’ Al said, ‘You have to release it!’ And it was released. And time’s ticking away here, because it was originally released in the U.K. in ‘67. And they released two or three singles and they weren't successful. And then they released ‘Time of the Season’ and one deejay in Boise, Idaho, would not stop playing that record. And it gradually spread from there into neighboring states. And it was a long period, for six or seven months, it spread right across the whole of the States. And, in Billboard, it got to number two and in Cashbox, it got to number one. But it was something that took a long time. The band finished in ‘67. I believe it was a hit in America in ‘69. Even so, ‘Odyssey and Oracle’ was never really a hit album. It got into the Billboard charts for one week at about 98. Very strange story. Then, years later, probably 10 or 15 years later, it started selling. And, you know, it can only be through word of mouth, because no one really understands why. And it goes on selling. And it sells far more now than it ever did, when it came out in 1967. It’s quite extraordinary. But ‘Odyssey & Oracle' was so different from what we were doing before. I would like to know, if we'd stayed together, what we would have done next. PCC: It must have been a special feeling in recent years, when you recreated the entire album in concert and the audiences reverentially embraced it. BLUNSTONE: I know, people traveled from all over the world for that. Originally we were going to do one night. And it sold out immediately. And we ended up doing three nights. They were all in London, at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. And then, the next year, we traveled all around the U.K. and did four or five major concerts, just so that people around the country could see it. And it was great. We got the original members together, with the exception of our guitarist, who, sadly, has passed away, Paul Atkinson, we got all the other original players together and we supplemented that with our touring band, because there are a lot of harmonies on that album. And we had to get a second keyboard player in, which is Darian Sahanaja, who plays in the Brian Wilson band. He was amazing. He knew ‘Odyssey and Oracle’ better than we did [chuckles]. It went incredibly well. PCC: It must be so gratifying, the fact that, after half a century, the band has been rediscovered and the music holds up so well. BLUNSTONE: It’s strange. It was electrifyingly exciting... with just a little bit of terror in there, as well - can we pull this off? We thought we ought to get together with the original band beforehand, because they hadn’t played professionally since 1967. We thought we should just get together and see if we could still play. And Chris White, the bass player, and Hugh Grundy, our drummer, had obviously been practicing very seriously. When we got together, they were absolutely note-perfect. And Rod Argent and myself were all over the place [laughs]. We’d been out on the road, playing other things. We hadn’t really given it much thought. And I just thought it was hysterical, that we thought we should get together to play, to see, could they still cut it, I suppose. And they were note-perfect. It was us who were struggling. It just made me laugh. And, of course, when we realized, we had to do some homework. PCC: You and Rod do have this terrific touring band for The Zombies, do you feel that you’re continuing to build and expand on the band’s legacy now? BLUNSTONE: Yeah, I really think we are. First of all, we’re very happy to play all the old classics. And we probably play, most nights, half of ‘Odyssey and Oracle.’ And then the other songs that we’re known for. But we’re very happy to play those classic songs in the context of being able to write and record new songs, as well. I think it’s really important to all of us that we just don’t dwell on the past all the time. To not only play the classic hits, but also to discover some of more obscure tracks. And we almost have to relearn these songs, it’s been such a long time since we recorded them. We have to sit down and learn them. And it’s been great to rediscover these more obscure tracks. And we include those in the show. But we do also do new songs, as well. And I would like to think that, not only are we keeping the old repertoire alive, but we are introducing people to new music that is very strongly connected to that back catalog. PCC: And in delivering all this great material, your voice sounds stronger than ever. BLUNSTONE: Well, I think that’s very much due to what I was talking about before. I think it’s helped me enormously to see a really good singing coach. It was 10 or 15 years ago. And I only went four or five times. But it’s just learning a little bit of technique. And I’ve still got the original cassette tape that he gave me. And before soundcheck, I’ll warm up for 30 minutes. And before the show, I’ll warm up again for 30 minutes. And generally, that sees me through. And all the songs we play are in the original key. And even when I was a teenager, these keys are quite tough for a singer. So I have to go about it in a serious way, because, otherwise, I could never sing in these keys. And remembering that I have to do it night after night. It’s not just doing it on one night. We’ll be five or six nights on the trot sometimes. Then we usually have a day’s rest. I don’t know if you’ve looked at our touring schedule, but we are very committed to live performances. And we tend to go from one tour straightaway to another. So your voice has to be strong. Otherwise, you couldn’t do it. PCC: And what about the chemistry between you and Rod? What has sustained that over the years? What’s the unique kind of magic there? BLUNSTONE: Well, it’s always very hard to define, isn’t it? I mean, I did mention earlier on that Rod considers he learned to write, originally, for my voice. And I learned to sing to his writing. But also, there is a chemistry, when we play on stage. Originally, this band came together to play six concerts, around 1999. And it was very definitely going to be just six concerts. But about halfway through the first concert, we knew that that magic was still there. And it was never really discussed again. We just kept going. And here we are 14 years on, and still playing. A few months later, we thought we would just have a couple of days in the studio together. And again, that same chemistry was there. So we’ve recorded three albums of all-new material and I think we’ve recorded three or four live albums, as well. So we’ve been busy in the studio. And we’ve just started a fourth album now. We’ve got two or three songs. And we actually recorded the first track, just before we came away. Realistically, we’re so committed to live concert work, that at this point, I can’t envisage us releasing a new Zombies album until early 2015. We’re playing now till the end of the year. Then we start up almost immediately in 2014. And I know that we’re playing through till May or June. And I’m sure that more work will come in. So we just have to snatch recording time, when we can get it. I think, actually, next year, we will have to put some time aside. We’ll have to turn some touring work down, because we need to get this next album finished. But it’s a wonderful situation to be in. Neither of us thought that we would be playing live at this time in our lives. We thought those days were behind us. Rod was very involved in production and working as a studio musician. And I was writing and doing sessions for other people. And quite enjoying that sort of studio life. And we both thought that touring was behind us. It’s been a surprise, but it’s been a wonderful surprise. It’s not something that’s been planned at all. And using The name The Zombies, and playing all these Zombies tunes, that wasn’t planned either. When we started, it was Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent. There was no thought of us using the name The Zombies. And we played very few Zombies songs. And then, as we played, we realized that that’s what people wanted. They wanted to hear this material. So it’s just evolved over the years. It was probably three or four years before we really got involved in playing Zombie material. And it was eight or nine years before we used the name The Zombies. We felt we had to talk it through with the other guys in the original band. And we had to feel that we were justified in using that name. And that we were being honest in using that name. But The Zombies music is quite dominant in the show that we play, although it does give an idea of all the other things we’ve done over the years. I sometimes say that it’s like a musical journey, going backwards and forwards. It’s not in chronological order. It goes backwards and forwards from ‘64. We started in ‘61. But I don’t think we play very much from 1961. But from ‘64, when we recorded ‘She’s Not There,’ right up until the present day. And we just go backwards and forwards. And we include a few solo things. And a little bit of other material that we’ve done, when we’ve been away from The Zombies setup. We try and explain it. Without slowing the show down too much, we do try and explain what we’re playing. PCC: That journey, both incarnations of The Zombies and all the solo work in between, what have been the most rewarding and the most challenging aspects, for you, personally, in terms of the life in music? BLUNSTONE: Well, I think, possibly, the most rewarding and the most challenging has been seeing this band evolve, from an idea of just playing six concerts, and not playing very many Zombie tunes, to waking up to the idea that there’s a huge interest in The Zombies, worldwide. We’ve played in the Far East, Scandinavia, Europe, Canada, and, of course the States. And we’ve realized there’s just a huge interest. And so, it was challenging, to start with, because I don’t think we were quite sure what we were doing. But it has been, probably, the most rewarding part of my career, as well, because, whereas most bands would reestablish themselves, hopefully, with some kind of chart success, we haven’t had the luxury of chart success. But we’ve managed to reestablish ourselves, just by playing live. And just by word of mouth. It’s been brilliant. And totally unexpected. PCC: And now, touring with Et Tu Bruce as your opening act (the new pop-rock band that includes Chris White’s son, Jamie), do you find yourself taking on a mentoring role? BLUNSTONE: [Laughs] Well, perhaps in a very loose sense. I think they’re watching us. Well, I know they are. And you can’t help but learn from one another and I’m sure we’re learning from them. Some of their energy and the excitement of it all rubs off on us. And I think perhaps a little bit of experience is rubbing off on them. I’ve noticed that they are doing vocal warm-ups now, which they didn’t do before, because we do. I can hear from their dressing room, they have a tape of vocal warm-ups. But it is very interesting, that connection. I remember Jamie when he was a little baby. And here he is in a band, playing very, very well. And opening for us on tour. It’s very strange, the way life works out, but it’s very wonderful, as well. PCC: With all the great achievements throughout your professional life, are there still unfulfilled goals? Something you’re striving towards at this point? BLUNSTONE: I just feel so fortunate, at this time in my career, to be touring the world, playing music I love. And I would be really happy if this it. I mean, it’s fantastic. I suppose, it would be interesting to get some kind of chart reaction. I don’t know if I really want that or not, because, what we’re doing at the moment is really enjoyable. I’m working with wonderful musicians. We all get on incredibly well. And I suppose we do have some pressures on us, as all performers do. But, of course, the higher up the ladder you get, the more the pressures are. And I suppose everyone hopes that they’ll play in bigger places and, you know, be more widely known around the world. So perhaps, subconsciously, I would like that. But it doesn’t matter to me, if it doesn’t happen, at all. PCC: You continue to connect with audiences and the audiences continue to grow. BLUNSTONE: They do. They certainly do. Of course, if you get chart reaction or you get a huge TV show or TV series, these things can make it so, overnight, you’re playing in arenas. Whereas, it can take a lifetime to play in arenas without something huge happening in your career. So, I mean, it would be interesting. But, you know, once you let the genie out of the bottle sort of thing, it’s hard to put it back. And, if we did have a huge hit - which, if you look at the charts, is kind of unlikely, we have totally the wrong profile to have a hit single at the moment, but, just for the sake of argument, if it were to happen - it’s a wonderful thing, but it does have a downside, as well. There are a lot of dangers with huge success that I’m quite happy to live without, really. PCC: It can be a distraction for one thing. BLUNSTONE: It can be a distraction. And it’s just a dangerous world. Everything is much more intensified. And things can happen. PCC: Well, we’re just grateful that The Zombies are still making intensely gorgeous music. BLUNSTONE: Well, thank you. And that’s the key. We’re not looking to make hit records. We’re not looking to be famous. We enjoy writing and recording music. It’s as simple as that. And we’re very, very fortunate to still be able to do that on a professional level, at this time in our lives. Anything us would be wonderful, as well, but we’re not particularly looking for it. What we’re doing at the moment is enough for us. For the latest news and tour dates, visit thezombies.net. |
