By: Robert Cavuoto
Best known for his vocal work with The Scream, Motley Crue, and Union, legendary hard rock vocalist John Corabi serves up a passionate, soulful dose of both new and classic songs on this all new acoustic Unplugged release!
Unplugged offers five new tracks and seven re-recorded songs, including “Hooligan’s Holiday” and “Man in the Moon”.
Recorded in a single week in Nashville with only the simplest of equipment , this CD has a monstrous sound that oozes heart and soul.
I caught up with John after his trip from Poland where he lead 6,000 guitarists on Thank Jimi Hendrix day, to talk about Unplugged and get his perspective on life in and out of Motley Crue.
******
Robert Cavuoto: Was it difficult to rework the seven pre-recorded songs so that they would work on acoustic guitars?
John Corabi: No, not really. I have written just about every song I was involved with on an acoustic guitar. Everything from the Scream to Motley Crue to Union. So, translating it wasn’t that big of a deal. It also depends on the song you pick, “Hooligan’s Holiday”, was much easier than “Smoke the Sky”. The ones I picked for my record took about two rehearsals to get ready.
Robert: Were there any alternate versions?
John Corabi: Yes. I had different versions of “Hooligan’s Holiday”, “Crash”, and “Never say Goodbye” that were acoustic / electric hybrids. There’s a few at home in the drawer.
Robert: Tell me about the writing process for the five new songs?
John Corabi: Well, I’m always kind of sitting around with an acoustic guitar – noodling. If a key word or phrase pops into my head, I just run with it. Some ideas just come and they get finished in a matter of minutes or hours. For me, they’re usually the great ones. I have other ideas that take much more time to develop. The quick ones are gifts from the “universe”. Weird, but true [Laughing]
Robert: Who influences you most as a songwriter?
John Corabi: Mainly the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. But, in all fairness, everything influences my writing. All different types of music. I love it all. Why limit yourself? Not only bands but things I see and feel. Emotions are a huge influence.
Robert: I really liked the song, “If I had a Dime”. Is there a story behind it?
John Corabi: It’s just a song about a girl I used to date. We kept going back and forth with each other in the relationship. You know, one month on, one month off, seeing other people, running back to each other, kind of crazy. So, I had the title, the music idea, and the first couple of lines “If I had a penny for every time she said goodbye…I could buy me a mansion, and still have enough to get high”.
I played it for D.A. Karkos, and he loved the idea, so we laid down a rough for it. We finished it that night. The song just totally came together. We basically exchanged lyric ideas via email and finished the song. All in all it took about three emails between us.
Robert: How long did it take to rehearse for this CD?
John Corabi: This wasn’t your typical recording process. In all, we had recorded the CD once before with a guy’s record label here in Nashville. Just a little indie guy. Anyway, he tried to hostage my master tapes for more money, and I wasn’t having it. I basically told him to give me the masters or I was going to re-record it.
No response, so I set up my living room as a studio and with D.A. Karkos, and Cheney Brannon we recorded the entire record over and it’s much better sonically and playing wise than before.
We started on a Monday morning at 9 am, and finished that Sunday evening. So, we recorded the entire CD in seven days. We mixed it in Atlanta the following Tuesday and Wednesday and mastered it on Thursday. Done!
Robert: What guitars and amps did you use to get the right tone on the CD?
John Corabi: There were very few guitars used on this record and I think that as great as the guitars sound on the record, people would be surprised at what we used.
I mainly used my Epiphone Masterbuilt acoustic and a borrowed Taylor 12-string into a direct box. We recorded with no effects or EQ.
D.A. Karkos used a Martin D-28, and an Ovation. Topher used an Epiphone EJ-200. Nothing had effects! Pretty simple.
Robert: I saw that you recorded the CD in Nashville. A lot of big name rock musicians are recording out there. What’s the attraction with Nashville?
John Corabi: I had been here a few times to write with “other” people, and just loved everybody’s vibe here. It’s a much less congested vibe then L.A., so after a few visits I fell in love with the place very quickly. I found myself rubbing elbows with people like Steve Cropper, the Wooten brothers, etcetera.
I love the weather and people are much more social and laid back. The talent as far as songwriters and session players you can’t beat! Plus Robert “Friggin” Plant lives here as well. [Laughing]
Robert: If Motley Crue’s book, The Dirt, were ever to get turned into a movie, do you think your time with the band will get mentioned? If so, which actor would you want to play you in the movie?
John Corabi: That’s a question for Motley, actually. I have no idea if I’ll be included. If they do great, if they don’t, so be it! That’s their story, it’s their choice. I was just interconnected for a second. Fans ask me this all the time about the book, or the Hall of Fame shit, and I tell them Motley Crue is Nikki, Tommy, Mick, and Vince. If they do include me in the book, maybe they could have me played by Webster.
Robert: I hear last week you sang and led 6,000 guitar players in the tune “Hey Joe”, in Poland. Can you tell us about it?
John Corabi: That was a fucking blast! They do a “Thank Jimi” day in Poland every year, and they try to gather as many guitarists as possible in the town square, to break the Guinness Book of Records by having the most guitarists play a song together!
They build a huge stage and invite well known guitar players to lead the troops into song. In the past, they’ve had Steve Morse and Joe Satriani. This year they asked Bruce Kulick of KISS and myself to lead everybody for “Hey Joe”. And it was pretty fucking cool!
We had about 6,000 guitar players playing along, and I can honestly say I had fucking goosebumps being a part of it.
Robert: You a have seen the music business change over the last 20 + years. What was it like then and how is it now?
John Corabi: Well, I came into this thing when the record companies were king! The money and the powers were there, but now with the Internet expanding and bringing artists right to people bedrooms and couches, it’s changing the way people are doing everything.
All of those powerful record companies are trying to figure out, along with us artists, just how things work. But, it’s kind of exciting to “boldly go where no man has gone before”. It’s Star Trek with music. [Laughing]
Robert: What’s your best fortune cookie wisdom?
John Corabi: Ladies, don’t put your flowers on my piano, put your two lips on my organ. [Laughter] Wait you said wisdom, I don’t know what that is!
Just be yourself, be patient, be strong!
