Legendary Bassist Leland Sklar Talks About The Immediate Family, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and More!

By: Rick Landers

Leland Sklar and I began our conversation talking about his own highly successful site and his one-year old Basset Hounds, and I mentioned that I would be talking to all of the members of The Immediate Family.

In various configurations several of the group members were members of Asylum Records’ The Section, the legendary session players who laid down instrumentation and sometimes backing vocals for Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon for the label, and at other times for various labels for Carole King, James Taylor and many more top artists.

The Immediate Family is Lee on bass, Danny Kortchmar (guitar/vocals), Steve Postell (guitar, vocals), Waddy Wachtel (guitar/vocals) and the iconic percussionist, Russ Kunkel.

They launched as the The Immediate Family on Quarto Valley Records and have been making waves in the world of music by stamping out live streams of many of the hits they’d worked on in years past, and new songs they’ve recently written.

Like all other musicians, COVID-19 stalled some of their live performance ambitions and they quickly got up to speed on streaming, now to several generation of listeners.

You can catch them performing their own versions of songs they backed in the studio and on various tours, such as “Werewolves of London”, “Devoted to You”, “Running on Empty” and a swath of music that captures us with a sense of nostalgia, as well as its own newness.

Ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top fifty bass guitar players of all time, Sklar can count coup on laying down bass lines on such well known tracks as: “You’ve Got a Friend” (James Taylor), “Running on Empty” (Jackson Browne), “No Other” (Gene Clark) and literally thousands more by the pantheon of Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famers.

Observations indicate that Lee’s married to fretless basses, drawing on his musical intuition to draw out the perfect notes to lay down foundations on his work. And, he always hits the marks. During my conversation with another member of The Immediate Family, Danny Kortchmar, it was said that Lee “doesn’t make mistakes”. Believe it.

Roam the world of youtube videos of some of your favorite artists live performances or official videos and often you’ll find a guy playing bass with a cascading beard. While finding a video of Tracy Chapman (“Bang, Bang, Bang”), while drilling down on her own music legacy,  I got a pleasant surprise to notice Mr. Sklar harnessed to his bass. And, while checking up on his list of credits, I was delighted to see that it was him on bass no some of my favorite albums.

Holding down the fort on bass with The Immediate Family, Lee’s in his element having fun with his life long friends, and his gathered up a hundred thousand plus followers on his own youtube channel, that’s as delightful as it is informative. As I mentioned, Lee and I talked about his cool Beagles, and you can see them on his channel, along with him showing you how he played various legendary tunes.

After a few minutes talking about our dogs, it was time to dig into our interview and Lee’s personality was perfectly reflected, as we rolled into talk about The Immediate Family with a laugh.

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Leland Sklar: I’m just going to spend most of this apologizing for everything those other guys said, and distancing myself from them. [Laughter]

Rick: Well, they are family, aren’t they? [Lee Laughs]

I checked a lot of your recordings, and it amazed me, the folks that you had worked with over the years. Some of the artists caught my attention, that a lot of people may not know. People like Jimmie Spheeris, Shawn Phillips, and I think Warren Zevon’s quite a bit better known now, than maybe he was back in the ’70s. Do you remember those sessions with Spheeris and Phillips?

Leland Sklar: Well, yeah. I’m  actually still in touch with Shawn. We keep threatening to go back and maybe do another project. But Jimmie, I remember, we cut his album at The Record Plant. And wasn’t his sister Penelope Spheeris?

Rick: Yes. She’s like a film producer, or something.

Leland Sklar: Movie director, film director, or producer. As far as the session with Jimmie went, it was that period when my career was getting started, and the association with James Taylor and that singer/songwriter movement that began. Jimmie fit right into that. I kind of remember the location. But beyond that, I never heard any of the music after we recorded.

Rick: Oh, really? Oh, okay.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. I would say for the most part, I’ve worked on maybe about 2,600 albums in my career. I would say I’ve probably heard maybe at the very outset, maybe 100 of them.

Rick: So, when the albums come out, don’t you get a copy? Or you get them, and you just haven’t been able to get to them?

Leland Sklar: Rarely did we get a copy of it. And usually, I would be there for basic tracking. But, so many times, by the time the record came out, it was like six months later. And I had done so many projects in between, that I wasn’t following through on anything. So, unless they actually sent me it, or it got radio play, I really wasn’t that aware of it. And especially when it was like, kind of a one project, with somebody.

Like with Shawn Phillips, I’ve done a bunch of albums with Shawn over the years, and a lot of recording. So, we stayed in touch. So it’s more on my frontal lobe, in terms of thinking about the stuff. But, with Jimmie, the saddest thing was, for me, was just when I heard that he had passed away…really a young man. And that was heartbreaking. But, that list of people is very extensive at this point.

Rick: Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, it’s sad, sad. So, Shawn Phillips, is he still in South Africa?

Leland Sklar: No, I think he’s moved back to the States. Because he’s one of those characters. I mean, he was living in Italy, then he moved to South Africa, Texas. He’s really kind of a globe-trotter. But, I think the last I spoke with him, I think he moved back to the States. But, I’m not sure where he’s living.

Rick: I’ll check that out. I interviewed him maybe five, or maybe six years ago. And that was fun, because I used to listen to all of his albums, including at least one that you were on, which was Bright White.

Leland Sklar: Yeah.

Rick: That’s a great song, too.

Leland Sklar: I did one a while back with J. Peter Robinson was on it, Paul Buckmaster did the arranging. I think Mike Miller played guitar on it. [Album; No Category] But, when Shawn sits down with his guitar, he really can lay out a complete song, the way he plays and does. But, he’s a unique character. I don’t know anybody else in the business quite like him.

Rick: And what a voice. He’s got quite a range.

Leland Sklar: . Yeah. He’s ridiculous. [Laughs]

Leland Sklar on bass on Shawn Phillip’s “Bright White” 

Rick: Actually, his range reminded me of … Although they’ve got a different sound, obviously … with Tim Buckley’s range, if you knew Tim Buckley.

Leland Sklar: Very much so.

Rick: Do you know Lee Underwood? Tim’s guitar player.

Leland Sklar: I know him by name, but I don’t know him.

Rick: And then Warren Zevon. He was another guy that, I saw him once at The Bayou here. And I’m in the Washington, D.C. area. And he was playing solo with a 12-string. So, what was he like to, and I’ve heard all the stories about him. But, what was he like to actually work with in a studio?

Leland Sklar: I loved Warren. He had an energy, and a force about him that was really infectious when you were in the studio. He was not blasé about it. He really dug in, and I always just got such a kick out of his lyrics. Because he could run the gamut from the most ridiculous kind of whimsical stuff, to deeply, deeply profound lyrics. I was like a giant Mothers of Invention fan. And there was something about him that, like he could have been in Zappa’s group, kind of thing.

Rick: True, yeah.

Leland Sklar: But, a talented musician, but a really thoughtful, smart, well-educated. Which really became evident towards the end, like when he did the interview with David Letterman. How he sat there so matter-of-factly, kind of discussing the end of his life. And you just sit there, and you go, “Holy shit. This guy … This is pretty unbelievable.”

Rick: Yeah. The presence of mind. And what did he say about it? “Enjoy every sandwich.”

Leland Sklar: Yeah, exactly. And it’s fun doing with The Immediate Family, because Waddy’s connection with Warren is so deep.

So, he’s the one who really would be the most introspective about Warren, because he was far more intimate with Warren. Where I pretty much did the projects, and would see him on occasion. But, I didn’t live the projects the way Waddy did with him.

Rick: So, you were working with who, mostly? I know you had several albums with Shawn. There’s a long list. But, you’ve worked with Jackson Browne a lot, and Linda Ronstadt, and all the … sort of with the Laurel Canyon group. Right?

Leland Sklar: Yeah. We did Jackson’s [Browne] first few albums. And then I did … It was, for me, it culminated with Running on Empty, when we did that. And then after that, we all sort of went our own ways. The hardest part of it all was committing to things. Because suddenly, you found yourself with multiple artists, and trying to make decisions.

When I was with James and Jackson, we were fortunate as The Section … as their band. Because the offices, even though it was different management, they would all talk to each other and try to book things so that the band could do both. Where we would maybe finish James, and the next week we’d be starting Jackson’s tour. But, I spent 20 years with James. And in 1990, we parted ways because I had already committed to a year on the road with Phil Collins at that point.

Rick: Oh, Phil Collins, yeah. Another good one. Yeah. Pretty amazing. Did you know … If you were with Asylum, did you know Judee Sill? Judee actually, I think, dated J. D. Souther for a while. She did a song about him called “Jesus was a Cross Maker”. Although, it’s not religious. It’s about J. D. Souther and her relationship. But, she was the first artist that was signed to Asylum.

Leland Sklar: Under those circumstances, I remember her name from those days, with J. D., and all that. I was just trying to figure out how that name fit into the Phil Collins category.

Rick: I’m sorry. That was probably my brain rewiring things as I’m talking.

Leland Sklar: That’s fine.

Rick: What did you do with Phil Collins? Was that the ’80s?

Leland Sklar: Phil called me to work with him in ’82. But, I couldn’t do it, because I was already committed to James Taylor at that point. And then, ’84, he called me and asked me to do his No Jacket Required album, so I did that. And then we toured ’85, where he exploded on the music scene, into the biggest artist in the world, practically, at that point.

And then we did the But Serious album in ’89, and toured that in ’90. And then he and I parted ways until 2000. And then we went out and did the Finally, The First Farewell Tour, was I think around 2004. And then he retired.

But then, two and a half years ago, he decided to work again. And we did the I’m Not Dead Yet tour. We just actually finished that, just a few months ago. We were out, off and on, for two and a half years, doing that.

Rick: That’s a great name for a tour, I’m Not Dead Yet. [Both laugh]

Leland Sklar: That’s when everybody’s counted you out.

Rick: That’s true.

Leland Sklar: And hell, it was a world tour. We were in South America, and in Mexico, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, all over the States. It was amazing. Because, for Europe and South America, and all that, it was all stadiums. So, he was averaging like 70 thousand seats a night.

Rick: Amazing.

Leland Sklar: For a guy that’s kind of been counted out. So, you can’t count anybody out in this business. You just never know what’s going to happen.

Rick: Oh, that’s true. You know, I met Les Paul when he was 94, and he played up until he was like 101, I think. And he played like the Tuesday before at the Iridium. So you really can’t count people out.

Leland Sklar: No. And this beautiful footage of Vladimir Horowitz playing in Moscow when he was in his mid-90s. And people are sitting spellbound. If you have your physical abilities and your faculties, there’s no reason not to keep going. When we were young, there was always that “Never trust anyone over 30 in rock ‘n’ roll,” blah blah blah, all that nonsense. Then all of a sudden, the acts that are really still out really working their asses off, are all in their 60s and 70s. [Laughs]

Rick: Yeah. Look at The Stones. I mean, I saw The Stones in … I don’t know how old … They were probably in their late 60s. It was a great show. It was a terrific show.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. Charlie Watts is, I think, going on 80 now…And Mick is in mid-70s.

None of them are kids, but when they hit that stage … I remember years ago, doing a festival. I was touring with Tracy Chapman.

Rick: Oh yeah, she’s great.

Leland Sklar: We were doing festival in Spain. And we were going on after Tito Puente’s Big Band with Celia Cruz. And when it came time for them to play, there were these two guys came out of a trailer with Celia. And Celia was old at this point. And they’re helping her down the stairs, and then they get her to the stage and help her up the stairs. And she was this frail old woman. And man, that spotlight hit her, boom, she was 18 years old. Tore the stage up; it was unbelievable.

And then came off and folded up like a flower. And the guys helped her back to her thing. And a couple of years ago, I saw Charles Aznavour out here at The Greek Theatre, doing his, celebrating. It was his tour for his 90th birthday. And man, he was singing his ass off. He was all over the stage. To me, the music business really can be like being Peter Pan.

You really don’t have to grow up. You have to be serious, but you don’t have to grow up.

Rick: Yeah. That’s a good analogy. I like that. So, how did you end up playing bass? I was in garage bands back in 1964 and ’65, and everybody wanted to play six-string, but there was always this one guy who would grab a bass. So how did you end up with the bass? Did you play six-string first?

Leland Sklar: No, no. I can’t play a note of guitar.

Rick: Oh, really? Okay.

Leland Sklar: No. I’m not one of those converted guitar players who went to bass. Starting when I was going on five years old, I was a classical pianist. And I studied classical piano until I went into junior high school when I was 12. And when I got in, I assumed I would be playing piano. I was the proverbial child prodigy on piano. I had won awards from the Hollywood Bowl.

Rick: Wow.

Leland Sklar: And stuff, when I was like eight years old, and shit like that.

Rick: Wow. That’s incredible.

Leland Sklar: When I got into junior high school, there was, as they would say, a plethora of piano players. And the music teacher, whose name was Ted Lynn, said, “Look, I need a string bass player.” And he pulled out an old Kay upright from a back room and put it in my hands. I plucked one note, and felt that vibration running through me. And I said, “Sold. Let’s do this.” And he gave me rudimentary lessons, and I fell in love with the bass and never looked back.

Rick: What year was that?

Leland Sklar: Well, let me think. Junior high … probably around ’60, I guess. I graduated high school in ’65, so it must have been ’59, ’60, somewhere in there.

Rick: So, when you were graduating, I think that’s the year of … the Who came out with “My Generation”. Were you startled by how well  John Entwistle was doing bass on “My Generation”?

Leland Sklar: Well, the thing was, I was not a fan of rock ‘n’ roll, or whatever was going on during that period. Even when I started playing bass, I was still really classically driven.

As soon as The Beatles came along, and the English Invasion, that turned my head around. And then I became extremely aware. The hard part was early on, I was playing upright bass, and it was hard to be in bands because the guitar players had amplifiers. And you had drums, and the keyboard player would have an amp. But if you had upright bass, there was really no great mics or anything for them.

So it was pretty arduous. But, my father finally, when he realized how really serious I was about it, took me out and got me a little Japanese electric bass and amp. And that really changed things for me. But, the first time I heard The Beatles, and the different groups that came out of that first wave of English artists, it turned my head around.

And then hearing guys like Entwistle and Jack Bruce, and McCartney … were so many of that ilk, that I really thought were amazing, and really saw myself heading in that direction. But, I loved blues and hard rock. And that was the odd part of hooking up with James Taylor, because that was the one kind of music that I really hadn’t been exposed to.

I mean, I was aware of folk artists and the Barry McGuires and all the people, Peter, Paul & Mary. But, the James Taylor thing was a whole new animal. So, I really had to wrap myself around an entire different way of playing, once I started with James.

Leland Sklar on bass guitar, with James Taylor and Carole King

Rick: Yeah. The singer/songwriter thing. Dylan came out, but you didn’t have a … I don’t think you had a big influx of folks like … who is it, Carole King and James Taylor, Jackson Browne … They all just sort of … They basically took over.

Leland Sklar: It was another animal. When you were dealing with Dylan and people like that, it was basically a guy sitting, playing guitar, and singing. And that was pretty much it. But, orchestrating all of that into bands was really something different and fresh when James and Jackson and Carole, I mean … It was that whole period where Poco developed, and the Burrito Brothers, the Eagles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and all of that stuff, Buffalo Springfield. It was a really vital, alive period during that late 60s, kind of ’67 and on.

Rick: Did you see the film about Laurel Canyon?

Leland Sklar: Yeah.

Rick: Yeah. If anything else, it was fun. It was educational. Do you know Henry Diltz?

Leland Sklar: Oh, I’ve known Henry since he was Tad Diltz in the Modern Folk Quartet.

Rick: Really? And The New Christy Minstrels, a lot of people came out of that group. I want to tell you a quick little story. I was at the Hard Rock Café with Robert Knight. You know Robert?

Leland Sklar: Oh, I know Robert very well.

Rick: Okay. And I’ve done a bunch of stuff with Robert. But, we were at the Hard Rock Café, and Robert and I were working together. And he pointed at Henry, and he said, “You need to meet that guy. That’s Henry Diltz. He’s like the godfather of photography.” And I go, “Oh, okay. Cool.” So, I went over and met him. He was really nice. And he turned, and introduced me to Brian Wilson. Henry seemed like a genuinely really nice guy.

Leland Sklar: The thing I love about Henry, because I’ve worked with Henry now for 50 years, He’s one of those really stealth photographers. That he can be in the middle of stuff, and you’re completely unaware of him. Because, he just knows how to be around other players and work through them. But, he did a bunch of photos when we were in the studio with The Immediate Family, doing the new album. Henry was there.

Rick: Ah, okay. Okay.

Leland Sklar: He’s documented a bunch of the recording process. But, Henry’s been around for almost everything I’ve ever worked on. We’ve been, like I said, friends forever. But, I became aware of him because I was a big fan of the Modern Folk Quartet. And he was a member of that and played banjo within it. So when I finally got to meet him as Henry Diltz the photographer, I went, “You’re Tad Diltz.”

Rick: That’s funny.

Leland Sklar: He is the godfather of all of the rock ‘n’ roll photographers.

Rick: Yeah. Do you play anything … Besides piano and bass, what else do you play?

Leland Sklar: Uh, Nothing.

Rick: Okay. Do you collect unique instruments, or older instruments? There are people who accumulate stuff, but there are people who actually collect. And they’re into the guitars or the basses, and when they were made and all that type of thing.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. You’ve got the guys like the Ry Cooders, and stuff, and Lindley, David Lindley. They really find weird old instruments and they figure out how to play them. I really don’t think that way at all. I’ve got a few instruments and stuff.

There are guys that, like John Entwistle, I think, probably had about 600 basses. I was fortunate that he was a collector, because I had a bass that I really wanted to get rid of, that was a beautiful instrument. I found out he was looking for one, and I was never going to use it, because I just thought it sucked. And he ended up buying it from me, because he wanted to just hang it on a wall, which is where it needed to be. Because it was not a good player.

But for me, I only have really, two instruments that I have any nostalgic feelings about it all. And that really is because they’re covered in autographs, and the autographs are irreplaceable. But, the instruments are just instruments.

But, when I look at those, and I’ve got everybody … all the Jeff Porcaros and Larrie Londins, and all the guys that have passed … to Peter Max and George Lucas and Bob Hope and Debbie Reynolds … all the people I’ve worked with. So, those are the two instruments for me, that do have real meaning. Other than that, I can pretty much get by on just store-bought stuff. I’m not a real gearhead.

Rick: When you and The Immediate Family were formed, and I know that you guys played with The Section, and that … Had you not played for a while, and then so it became kind of a reunion to you guys?

Leland Sklar: Well, the essence of The Immediate Family was … I mean, there’s an element of The Section, but it’s totally different. Because The Section was Russ and Kootch and myself and Craig Doerge on keyboards. And we were a rock fusion instrumental group.

So, The Immediate Family’s totally different, having Waddy involved, and having Steve Postell involved, vocals, and all that. But, it really completely grew out of Kootch having a record deal with a Japanese record label. And when it came time for him to do his album, he just thought, “What the hell? I’m going to call the guys.” And everybody made themselves available, and Jackson Browne let us use his studio.

And we went in and in a week, we nailed the first album. And Kootch titled it. He thought of everybody as his immediate family, because we’ve been together for half a century, except for Postell, who’s been around for a couple of years with us. I had known Steve before any of this started; I’d done his album, and done album projects and live gigs with him. And he and Kootch hooked up, and that’s how he got involved with this.

Rick: Yeah. I was listening to, you streamed, “Somebody’s Baby” by Jackson Browne. And I was. pleasantly surprised how well Steve did it with the vocal. You just knew that he was going to do a good job?

Leland Sklar: Oh, no. No, I knew everybody would do great jobs on what they’re doing. Like we did “Werewolves of London”, Waddy singing that. Waddy was there, wrote it, co-wrote it, and all that stuff. It was really funny, though, when we started doing gigs. Kootch would tell the audience, “We’re a cover band that plays all originals.”

And it was really true, but we’re doing all these songs that the guys wrote for other artists. And this way, we could do them in the way that Waddy or Kootch or whoever, really would like to have done it for themself. And the real joy of this project is we’ve all been side men our entire careers.

So, it’s actually really wonderful to have an entity where we’re the artists. We’re not backing anybody and not subject to their whims, which can drive you crazy. We drive each other crazy enough and we know each other so well. But, it’s a real rare treat to be able to get together.

I look around that stage when we’re playing, and sometimes I just have to pinch myself. And I go, “These have been my friends for 50 years, and we still love seeing each other, love playing music, and we’re still moving forward, and not sitting … ”

There’s a lot of bands that come back together that are living on their history. Songs they’re talking about, the stories they’re talking about are from 30 years ago. The new album is incredibly great. And it’s all fresh new material. So, it’ll be stuff nobody’s heard before. But, we can intersperse that with “All She Wants To Do is Dance”, and “Somebody’s Baby,” and “Werewolves,” and things like that.

So, it’s a unique experience that we’re going through. And I’m so deeply proud and moved by the fact that we do have this. But the real tragedy is that we had an incredible momentum going that just, like for everybody else, the pandemic just ground everything to a halt. And we’re having to rethink a lot of things, how we’re going to handle things. Because there’s a lot of gigs that had to be canceled, and we’re right in the middle of a documentary film being made by Danny Tedesco, who did The Wrecking Crew.

So, things will happen. It’s just that the time frame is so flexible at this point, because nobody knows what tomorrow’s going to be.

Rick: Yeah. It sounded like you guys were just getting off the ground, and you were getting, maybe a feel for being a band that’s really fronting themselves, like the cruise that you did, and all that. And then this kind of pulled the rug out from all of that, I think.,

Leland Sklar: Yeah, yeah. We’re talking. I think at the end of this month, we’re going to livestream a concert.

And we’ll see how that goes. But, that should be really great. And I think we’re going to do it at a club we played a bunch of times, and it’ll just be us there. There’ll be no audience, or anything.

Rick: Yeah. I was telling Danny about, here in Virginia, there are a couple of drive-ins that are hosting outdoor concerts. And people are in their cars listening, like the old days.

Leland Sklar: I think it’s great. People are really hungry for entertainment and music. So, you have to think out of the box to do something like old drive-ins, and stuff. Or these livestreams, where people can sit home and watch it on TV and listen that way. Until such time as we can actually go back to real venues.

Rick: Yeah. Before we got to the livestreaming with the virus, I had a driveway concert in my driveway. And my neighbors were with their kids in their own driveways, and they were probably anywhere from 30 to 100 feet away.  So, I opened the show. And they were sitting in lawn chairs and on blankets, some in cars, and we were a little loud. We’re like folk singers. And then I had a friend of mine headline it.

Leland Sklar: That’s great.

Rick: So, I was starting to move towards that type of thing, and then we really got locked down.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. No, I think that’s for the near future it’s going to have to be situations like that, to be able to do anything. We just don’t know. I’ve got stuff booked from November until February. Every single thing that’s booked is … if things aren’t right, I’m not doing it.

And we would do the same thing with the group. We had the management write in a clause, into the contracts. Because we did that cruise just before all hell broke loose. And normally on these cruises, they say all the acts, they usually skip a year or two, because they don’t want to be redundant the following year with the acts that they’ve got on the cruise.

And they came to us, and they said, “You guys were so popular that we want you to come back next February, and do the next cruise, too.” But, we had to have a contract drawn up that said we have up to 48 hours before the cruise to bail on it without being penalized for it.

Because, especially with what’s going on in the country now, there’s no telling what a potential second wave could look like, with the amount of proximity that people are spending together. Be it protesting, be it looting, be it whatever the hell’s going on at any given moment. People aren’t practicing distancing themselves. So, the future potentially could be absolutely catastrophic. We just don’t know yet.

Rick: Yeah, I agree. I’ll be 70 next year, and I’ve been in my house for like a month or so.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. I just turned 73, and other than going to the supermarket and going to maybe a couple of times, to Ace Hardware to pick up stuff for projects I’m doing around the house, we’re still pretty well locked down, and I’m good with that.  And for me, one of the good things that came out of it is, on a whim, I started a YouTube channel of my own. I’ve been on it now for almost two months, and in the next day or so, I’ll hit 100 thousand subscribers.

Rick: Yeah, I saw that. I was like, “A hundred … That’s amazing.” That’s how I found out about your Basset Hounds.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. It’s amazing. And all these YouTube people are going, “Holy shit. It took us a year to get 1000 people. Less than two months, you’ve got 100 thousand on there.”

Rick: Well, you’ve got so many connections, and then they’ve got connections, and they got connections. So, it’s pretty impressive. It’s almost exponential, how that can work.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. And like, when we finish this up, I’m doing a video every day, and telling stories about it. And showing the bass parts to the songs that I’m doing, like Jackson Browne.

How it started out for me, people would say we saw you in an arena or stadium and we could hear what you were playing, but not as detailed. So, we had just finished this Phil Collins number, so I got a board mix. And what I do on the video is I play the songs over a speaker.

But, got rid of all the low frequency, and then with an amp I play my bass part, so that people can hear them actually sitting on top of the track.

And it ended up taking off. It’s to a point now where I’m doing James and Jackson, and Streisand and Diana Ross. And I’m going to be doing Neil Sedaka and Cory Wells. For me, it’s really this incredible community of people are sending me pictures of them having dinner with their family watching my videos on TV.

Rick: That’s pretty cool. Hey, the music business can be pretty tough to figure out. What was your learning curve like there?  I know that you were doing work for hire. Are you still doing that? Or is there a place where you can get royalties?

Leland Sklar: Very little. For the most part, you work for hire, you’re an independent contractor, you do it. But, when we started, it was kind of like being a top fuel dragster. You went from zero to 300 in a couple of seconds. Because, I went from having no studio experience to working on huge records, like overnight.

Rick: Wow, yeah.

Leland Sklar: So, we were really kind of learning on the gig. How to craft the sound, what a DI [Direct Input Unit] was and all that.

I was just used to being in bands and playing clubs, and things like that. And all of a sudden when I met James Taylor, and he took off, it was a quantum change in my life. Because when I met him, I was still in college. And I was fully expecting to be doing something in art or science. Because I was co-majors in that. And I figured I’d be in bands and it’d be a hobby. But, I never thought it would be a profession.

And then all of a sudden, he took off, and we were kind of dragged along with this Taylor tsunami. And there we were. So, it was crazy. When I look back … I rarely look back, because I really still enjoy looking forward. I don’t really dwell much on the past. But, when I look back at it, and think of all the different artists and projects, and different genres, and all that, I really feel so fortunate, and kind of pinch myself every day, feeling…knowing how lucky I am that I was able to parlay my hobby into a career.

Rick: Yeah. I think it’s a lot harder today. Don’t you?

Leland Sklar: Oh, much harder. I would hate to be starting now. Because we were lucky. L.A. had tons of clubs, and I could carry a bass with me, walk into a club and just ask if I could sit in, and that’s how I networked and met people. I’ve still got my old bass that I had back then. And I had a strap wrapped around it, and a cord, and no case. And I would go to these clubs. But, the clubs are mostly gone, and nobody’s going to let you come in and jam. And some of the bands that play the clubs have to pay to play.

Rick: Yeah, that’s true.

Leland Sklar: How do young players hone their craft, when there’s no opportunity to do it, other than sitting at home, maybe in your garage with a couple of friends? It’s really hard. And there’s so much talent out there. But I don’t know.

When it comes down to it, I always just tell people, like if I do a clinic or something, say, “Just, first step, never say,”No.” Somebody calls you to do something, do it. You never know who’s going to be at whatever it is you got called for, and it can be a life-changer for you.”

Rick: True.

Leland Sklar: Also, that’s how you meet other players. And you really try to hook up with guys who are like-minded musically, sociologically. Whatever’s really important in your life, you try to work with people that you have an affinity with, rather than a pain in the ass. And you just never know.

The beauty of current technology is, you can be one of these bands that’s trying. And put together a little video, and get it on YouTube, and all of a sudden, maybe there’s something quirky like, okay, did their videos of them on the treadmills.

And the next thing you know, they’ve got a huge following. Can happen. It can happen. But, the odds are really stacked not in your favor. So, you really got to come up with some creative ways of making things happen.

Rick: Yeah. And you’ve got to love what you do.

Leland Sklar: Well, primarily. I mean, that’s what it all stems from. You don’t go into music and the first thing you do is go and get a BMW catalog, and decide which model you’re going to get. But, there’s a lot of people, that’s the first thought they have about the music business, is they’re going to get rich.

I’ve talked to a lot of kids, and their whole idea is, “We’re going to get rich, and we’re going to do this. I’m going to do it for like five years and retire.” I’ll go, “Man, you’ll be lucky if you’re still not schlepping your gear in five years. That you can afford a guy to help you.” But, there’s a lot of misconception as to what this is. But, if you go into it because there is no Plan B, his is what you need to do in your life is play music.

Then you’re happy to schlep your own gear, and you’re happy to do this and that. Because you get to play music at the end of the day. And that’s really the criteria for all of this. If you’re not really willing to go that route, then don’t bother. Let somebody who really gives a shit about being a musician take that slot.

Rick: Yeah. Around here, there’s quite a few open mics. I just started two years ago, because I played for my dogs and cats for about 35 years, and then I came out and I played a couple of festivals, a couple other events. But, I tell you what, what I enjoy most is probably house concerts. You’re not going to get rich, but you’re going to have a good time, and you’re going to hone your craft, I think, while you’re doing it.

Leland Sklar: Oh, the intimacy of house concerts is fabulous. I’ve been working for a number of years now, with a singer named Judith Owen, and Judith is married to Harry Shearer, who’s with Spinal Tap. He does voices on The Simpsons, and all that. Judith is amazing, and we were playing up in the North of England, playing a pub, and there’d be 50 people in the place. And I’d have guys come up to me going, “Thought last time I saw you was in Wembley Stadium. What are you doing here?” I said, “Playing music. Are you having a good time?” And they’d go, “Well, yes.” Well done, we’re good.

Rick: Yeah. It’s almost offensive.

Leland Sklar: A friend of mine called me a while back, and he said a friend of his was turning 60, and was going to have a party in his basement, and wondered if we could be a band and play. And it was me and Vinnie Colaiuta (Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Sting, etc.) and Mike Finnegan (Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Ringo Starr etc.). It was like a band any artist in the world would have creamed to have.

But, we’re down there playing like R&B covers and stuff for a bunch of people who had no idea who the hell we even were.

Rick: Yeah. I’ve hosted house concerts at my place for the last … well, up until this virus. And have had Grammy winners, Grammy nominees, Johnny Farina from Santo and Johnny came in and he played “Sleep Walk” on his steel. Remember him?

Leland Sklar: Yeah.

Rick: Yeah. He and his wife stayed for a couple nights, and a buddy of mine from Minnesota, he came. And I said, “You want to open for Johnny Farina?” He’s like, “Oh, yeah.” So, I was going to do it, but I let my friend do it. It was wonderful. And Johnny didn’t care about the money. He’s playing in stadiums, so pretty good venues.

For me, there’s nothing like a house concert where you can actually meet the people, talk to them, and sort of hang out with them. And you play your music.

Leland Sklar: That’s why I like clubs, too. Business-wise, it’s great to go out and play eighty thousand seat stadium, and all that crap. But, to be able to sit in a room with people where you can hear them breathing, and then you talk to them afterwards and hang out. You talk to them from your little stage setup.

And bullshitting during the show with them, and stuff. To me, that’s what I always loved about music, is that intimacy. So, I jump on it whenever I can.

Rick: What other kind of hobbies do you have? Is it just your dogs and bass guitar?

Leland Sklar: Well, no. I’m a voracious gardener.

Rick: Oh, are you? Okay.

Leland Sklar: Yeah. So I’ll tell you, my yard is an acre, and it’s all planted. And it’s never looked so good since this all came down, and I’ve been able to devote hours every day to working out there. I love it. I have a lot of different interests.

But, a lot of things just got shut down because of this. I have a hot rod. We had just pulled the radiator out of it to be re-cored, and set it up to … near San Francisco, where there’s a shop that can do it, because it’s a specialty thing. And then their shop shut down. So, I’ve got a radiator sitting, waiting to be re-cored 400 miles from here. And I can’t do shit to the car until I get the radiator back.

Rick: What’s the car? I’m from Detroit, so I like hot rods. What’s the car?

Leland Sklar: It’s a Bucket T. It’s ’23 T-Roadster. But, it’s got a thousand horsepower small block in it, weighs 1500 pounds. So, I’m running a small block with twin turbos and dual-throttle body fuel injectors, and nitrous. A 400 turbo and a completely built Jag rear end, and stuff. It’s a monster; it’s a beast.

Rick: What is it, like a 289 or 302? How small a block?

Leland Sklar: It’s a 355 Chevy. But, I had a whole bunch of cars. I would find these cars really cheap, and think about working on them, and then, it requires too deep a pocket and too much time. So, I got rid of everything, and just kept the hot rod. And eventually, I’ll get it back on the street again. It’s just right now, everything’s been impacted by the virus.

I figure right now, the most important thing is to stay safe. All the projects, everything else, will find its way at some point. But, right now, the most important thing is to stay out of harm’s way.

BONUS VIDEO – LELAND SKLAR ON BASS WITH TRACY CHAPMAN – “BANG, BANG, BANG”