Episode 5 - Burleigh Drummond & Mary Harris-Drummond of Ambrosia

John and Alan sit down with Burleigh Drummond and Mary Harris-Drummond from Ambrosia for an hour of stories.  What kind of stories? Stories about how Bruce Hornsby first got his start in Ambrosia, Debby Boone, Ringo Starr, Michael McDonald, Edger Winter, Jimmy Buffett, and a bunch of other people all played a part in Burliegh and Mary's lives. Hear about how the soft pop stars Ambrosia killed time on the road by using explosives to launch trash cans in the air. Burleigh laments on having to practice in front of the greatest drummers in the world and Mary tells us about Sting and Stewart Copeland trying to push each other out of an airplane in flight. Burleigh and Mary talk about what it's like to have a second generation of Drummonds playing music together, and Burleigh finally clears the air on why Dave Pack isn't with the band. Most of all it's a delightfully fun trip through 5 decades of music, and some great stories told by a couple who's marriage has survived the same amount of time.

Tin Drum Music - www.tindrummusic.com
Ambrosia Official Website - www.ambrosialive.net

Transcript

spk_0:   0:08
Welcome to Soft Pass, hosted by John Michaels, a 30 year veteran tour manager and sound engineer for some of entertainment's most well known touring acts. And Alan Tillis, a mild mannered writer and entertainment lawyer by day and a rowdy musician by night, join as they sit down with songwriters, musicians, producers, managers and touring professionals. Talk about what really goes on behind the scenes in the studios, offices and on stage in the entertainment industry. Welcome to another addition of Soft Pass. My name is John Michaels, and this month we have big news here on this show. Big, big news. As you know, I've been flying this rig so low for a while, but that's all going to change this month. This month were adding a co host. I'd like to welcome Mr Allen Tillis, Esquire to the show. Allen is an entertainment attorney with the Washington D. C. Area law firm Shulman Rogers, where he is the chairman of the firm's technology, media and telecommunications department. Really, I think that's just a fancy way to say I t guy, but who am I to crush someone's dreams? In all seriousness, Alan represents established recording artists as well as up and coming acts. He's ah, musician, saxophone player and a singer. He performs locally in the D C area for like about 40 years now. He's been on recordings with East based Sole in Jolie, Malan of Bad Finger. I know, he said in a few times of Ambrosia Will. I was mixing them, and we'll get to some of that with our guests. But Allen brings to us the music fans perspective and also ah, free legal advice for the show. And I'm an avid fan of the late Dr Thompson. I think it's only right to have a music attorney by your side on any true journalistic adventure. So with that, I welcome our attorney, Mr Allen Tillis, to the show.

spk_1:   1:59
Thank you s Oh, it's funny when you talked about the meaning, It's really an I T guy at my old law firm back in the day of dos. I actually was three I t. Guy at that particular law firm. We didn't have an I t staff. Of course, this was, you know, 25 years ago, I'm the one that had to set up all the computers and tell them how to do any kind of anything on the computer. I was Mr I T.

spk_0:   2:28
The Dreams Do Come true. Absolutely We have tonight, Mr. Burley Drummond Burley is most well known for being a founding member and current drummer for the five time Grammy nominated band Ambrosia. He has been their drummer since the band's inception. He is their drummer now. There have been no other drummers than burly Drummond. He also plays drums for the van player with Peter Beckett, and he has his own project with his wife, Mary Harris Drummond Spoiler. She's Our other guest, which started in 1994 called Tin Drum, and they have three albums out under that moniker. In addition to being a drummer and performer, Burley is also a teacher. He's a producer and somewhat of a music business maven as of late. But please welcome to the show an amazing musician and my friend, the always funny, burly Drummond

spk_3:   3:15
Wow, Thank you, John. It's wonderful to be here. I know it took a long time for us to get here, but

spk_2:   3:21
it's just so funny

spk_3:   3:22
to hear you introduce Allen because Mary and I both know Ellen, but we know him as, ah you know, exotic erotic dancer.

spk_2:   3:29
So I wasn't aware of all this other stuff, so but I think it's great. I'm glad that he's his

spk_3:   3:35
versatile as he is, and I'm delighted to be on the show.

spk_0:   3:38
This is gonna be one of the best shows yet, I bet. Let's get onto welcoming our second guest, Burley's Joined by his wife, Mary Harris Drummond. She has a musical pedigree of her own. She was a singer in the band Animal Logic in the eighties with Stewart Copeland and Stanley Clarke. She was a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral reefer band and even did a couple videos with Pink Floyd, which still keeps coming up in interviews. She plays keyboards opposite Chris North, along with her husband in Ambrosia, and was a driving force in the Tin Drum Project. And when she's not on the road performing Mary teaches piano and is a vocal coach for students, young and old, please welcome the very beautiful and talented Mary Harris drumming to the

spk_2:   4:16
show. Thank you very much. Yes, I'm happy to be here. This should be very interesting.

spk_0:   4:21
Yeah, to say the least, all right, so the gang's all here, and it's Allen's debut, so I'm gonna let him kick things off. Alan, you have the floor.

spk_1:   4:29
I am so honored to be able to start off. You know, I have known these two folks for probably a little over a decade. And to me, the more time I spend with them, the more things I find out that are just fascinating about the things that they've done. I mean, you gave great bios for each of them, But there, so many more things they've done.

spk_0:   4:51
Oh, there's so many stories. Just

spk_1:   4:54
I mean, all the way to early and Mary touring with Debby Boone.

spk_2:   4:59
Hey, come on, Somebody's gotta do it. You know, there's a 1,000,000 stories. They're Debby Boone

spk_3:   5:04
is one of the sweetest people we've ever worked.

spk_2:   5:07
Yeah, absolutely. And talk about it. Pure heart. Wonderful. What did you do with Debby Boone? Well, I play drums and Mary played keyboard. I didn't play keyboards just saying, saying Just saying With Debbie, there's a funny story about, um, you know, going to the airport. Once we were late, we were on the road with Debbie and we were driving somewhere. Rather, I can't believe you're telling this story. I got to tell it. So Mary's from the country. She's from a small town called Three Rivers California country living in the country. Mary had the habit of drinking a full quarter water before she got in the car. And so there's a long longer drives than she expected. She had to go to the bathroom pretty bad. You know, she's just saying Okay, pull over to the side. I'll go behind a bush. She's a country girl. It wasn't a bush. We were in a forest Burly. My God, eso bush. Debby Boone could not just could not have not Oh, my God. You're gonna pee in nature. Like, how can you do that? You know, just Anyway, Mary can pee anywhere. Thanks, Birla. Oh, wow.

spk_0:   6:14
That's my wife. Why don't we go a little bit lighter? Mary?

spk_2:   6:18
What did you tell

spk_0:   6:19
us? What bus theater is and what other nonsense happened on the

spk_2:   6:22
road? Oh, yeah, when I was with Jimmy Buffett. Tell

spk_0:   6:25
us the inside on all the Parrotheads.

spk_2:   6:27
Okay, so one of the buses was just the band in one was the crew, and we used to have bust theater. It was kind of like charades through the window. So the buses be side by side and there would be all kinds of little skits, and some of them were pretty crazy. I mean, like, mooning and stuff like that. So people would Yes. No. And it was crazy. I mean, the things you do just to stay entertained when you're on the road. Jimmy

spk_0:   6:56
wasn't on the bus with you guys that he probably was that he was suffering.

spk_1:   6:59
Now, you know, that's not really necessarily a unique thing. I had a band in the seventies, and we had two vehicles that we would drive to gigs. I was driving the pickup truck with another guy in the truck, and everybody else was in the van and I'd pull the pickup truck alongside the van. They pull open the middle door of the van and also do similar things. And they called it Theater 55 because we're going 55 miles an hour.

spk_0:   7:26
Do you know what Ah, honey.

spk_2:   7:27
Bomb is No, I don't.

spk_0:   7:29
Okay, So this is when we were doing in the indie circuit and we were touring around in Vans Van in a trailer. You go tandem or in a convoy from gig to gig because it was two or three bands together. So you'd often be following the other band, right when you'd stop at a truck stop or something, You get those? They used to be 99 cents the honey buns. Oh, yeah, sure, you get a honey bun and you buy a little quarter milk, and then you What you do is you open the honey bun on one side and you pour some milk into it, and you leave it. Sit for a little while, and then if you're in the front van, you chuck it out the window and it hits, and hopefully it hits on the windshield, which, you know it's a sticky you can't get the wiper won't get it off. So that was what?

spk_2:   8:13
Oh, that's funny. That's pretty funny. You've been on the road to along when you're doing that really has some could on the road stories with Ambrosia. This is back in the original days.

spk_3:   8:24
We have a couple of rental cars for the band. Inevitably, you pull up to a red light and the car in front being stopped at the red light in the car and back would start pushing the first car out into the

spk_2:   8:35
intersection. Wait, Who was driving

spk_0:   8:39
these two vehicles?

spk_3:   8:40
Everybody did it. Then the two bumpers would because come connected, cause you go over the bumper and be hooked onto the other Far. We had one guy, um, Omaha, the keyboard tech. He's famous. So he was into building bombs. I know this sounds

spk_2:   8:58
like they were in their twenties. So So what would Ambrose you do on

spk_3:   9:02
those late night drives? You know, like a two in the morning

spk_2:   9:05
he would try to fire a trashcan from one

spk_3:   9:09
side of a freeway to the other with a bomb. He Bill? Uh, yeah, he'd build these bombs. And one time in a Holiday Inn, we're in a Holiday Inn that had, you know, just a single story Holiday Inn. But it was, like in the round and had all these plate glass windows looking out into a middle garden section. It was snowing, you know, Snow out there. Anybody put this trash can, But it was one of those composite built trash cans. He thought he was gonna launch it. The little bomb went off it, but it didnt go up. It just exploded sideways and blew out all the windows in the

spk_2:   9:42
Holiday Inn. Just a badge eating like a C D. C. Sipping tea

spk_0:   9:50
on the verandah during these times in Ambrose's putting bombs in trash cans and trying to launch him.

spk_1:   9:57
Keith Moon's got nothing on, you

spk_3:   9:58
know, It was really Yeah. No, really was ridiculous and stuff. Yeah. Do

spk_1:   10:02
you remember a very famous night that we were in the holiday in not too long ago? No. Well, Mary wasn't there.

spk_0:   10:11
Oh, I feel like I should stop you right here. No, I'm clean. Don't

spk_1:   10:19
worry. It was in Boston. We had just gotten done a gig were sitting at the bar in a Holiday Inn, look up at the TV and announcement Osama bin Laden had been killed. And the next morning, we were supposed to be driving from Boston to New York so the band could do the Jimmy Fallon show. Oh, right, right. So we had to get up at, like, 3 a.m. To drive all that way. And when we arrived that Fallon people I thought were just fabulous. And I still say the sound in that studio was the best I've ever heard just listening to you guys burly play from inside that studio in the audience was just unbelievable. But what was supposed to happen? Well, first of all, we saw so many people coming and going in the building that day because, you know, it was all the news. Everybody's going by and they're rushing to get this done and that it was a big deal. But I loved watching Quest love come into the dressing room and just do that. We're not worthy down to you. Burly. That was awesome thing to watch.

spk_3:   11:24
That was amazing. All the routes ban. That's one of the most meaningful moments and not my entire career, The way they treated us with the respect they showed us, like, Wow,

spk_2:   11:35
you can

spk_1:   11:36
even see. The week before, when Fallon announced that the band was coming on, they just broke into biggest part of me. All right, Roots and Fallon right on the show was incredibly

spk_2:   11:49
saying, Yeah, saying it pretty good. The fact what should ask him?

spk_0:   11:52
Well, what it can have to say about

spk_2:   11:53
kin was in the band at that time. I think this is before a while ago

spk_3:   11:58
recalling, saying the hell out of it. He's saying, Great

spk_0:   12:01
Mary, you moved to L. A. In 1982. Right? Right around there. Yes, obviously you were into music. And 82 was a hell of a time in L. A. You're talking Dream Syndicate The go go's the Bangles Van Halen, Oingo Boingo, the Untouchables, Motley Crue Ambrosia, you know, And it's so much more. It was just exploding. So it was like, Don't

spk_1:   12:25
ask her about the red

spk_0:   12:26
shoes. No, it's not that I need it. It was the time to live in L. A. In the eighties. Can you? I'm just curious. Could you take us back to a weekend out with the girls in Hollywood, say 82 83? Was there a routine of clubs like local hangouts after hours? You know, like

spk_2:   12:45
tell us about L. A.

spk_0:   12:46
In the early eighties for you. What was the scene?

spk_2:   12:48
I didn't really go out a lot. I mean, I did what Allen's talking about got into an all girl band called Red Shoes and we just rehearsed a lot. I mean, my whole

spk_3:   12:58
you were playing, all those club

spk_2:   12:59
were played. We played a lot I mean, where we're actually doing pretty good. That was, like, just like what you said. It was in the go Go's were big and I spent most my time doing music. That was what I moved to l A for And I really didn't go out that much. Guys were hitting on her every gig. She just say breakdown my keyboards. So when did you two meet? It must have been right around that time wasn't so We met right away. We met like, within a month Berlin. I got in a band with my cousin because they were roommates. John Wood. John. Good. Great guitar player. Yeah, great musician, great engineer producer, soberly. And I got in a band, like, instantly together, and we actually got together pretty instantly. Yeah.

spk_3:   13:39
So there's one of those stories where in my house were playing and I had to get around Mary to get into another room to get something, and we kind of awkwardly, you know, faced off, kind of. And that was it. I mean, we looked at each other, and that was it. That was

spk_0:   13:53
love at first sight. I was

spk_3:   13:55
the beginning right there. It

spk_2:   13:56
was one of those. It was never believed in it before, but it was. And here we are. She's still not sure, But

spk_1:   14:04
So, Mary, what impressed you more? The fact that Burley had worked with Alan Parsons or the fact that Burleigh had met Leonard Bernstein?

spk_2:   14:15
Probably Leonard Bernstein. Yeah, we got to actually go to his daughters away. So you just so I met Leonard Bernstein. It was pretty impressive. Before

spk_3:   14:22
I was swept away by Mary. I dated Jamie Bernstein, Leonard's daughter for a while because that Mary and I were invited to her wedding where she got to meet Leonard and tell him about your bathroom story.

spk_2:   14:35
Well, it's funny. And before we go to the bathroom story, Alan Parsons was there at that wedding possible that self money. He was

spk_3:   14:43
flirting with you,

spk_2:   14:43
too. Oh, yeah, you quite the flirt. So I'm in my little $40 Sears outfit with a little blue hat, and I'm in the the restroom and Lauren Bacall's in There, and she comes up to me because I just love your outfits That is just so feel. And here I am in this little $40 blue outfit, but it was nice compliment. Governments say it fits you pretty well. Speaking

spk_0:   15:11
of Alan Parsons, can we just go back a little bit?

spk_2:   15:14
Back in

spk_0:   15:14
the day, Ambrosia had a really killer demo tape which ended up getting you guys that your record deal. Can you take us back to the making of that demo and up to where Allen comes in? And then maybe we'll figure out who owes who want.

spk_3:   15:31
Okay, Herb Alford gave us an audition, so we set up it on the stage at A and M, and we played and heard came in when we were so nervous. It was ridiculous. I couldn't even get my base from foot to hit the pedal to hit the bass drum when I wanted to. It was just like doing its own thing and heard Heard us just hot. What's. Anyway? He was kind enough to let us do three demos at A and M s. So we did some called lovely lady holding on, um, as a country song, it used to be a country song holding on yesterday. Really? Because of the yodel Will

spk_2:   16:08
lackey whole Danon. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah and oh, I'd like to hear that so anyway, he passed

spk_3:   16:18
on Ambrosia, but a guy named Chuck Johnson, very dear friend of ours, who was the engineer on the first album, him and guy named Billy Taylor. Chuck was working in a studio, North Hollywood called Mama Joe's, and he was playing that demos we made and a guy named Freddie. Pero, who owned the studio, heard it, and he took it to Russ Regan at 20th Century Fox. And Rush signed us on those demos, the same demos that Herb Alford passed on. So then we began our relationship with Russ Regan, who discovered Elton John and Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton John Barry White. A lot of people like that. So we ended up doing we de mode, like 50 60 songs like every song we

spk_2:   17:00
have. Holy Cow, Yeah, Who was the engineer?

spk_0:   17:03
Wasn't there like a really well known orchestra or big band engineer that was helping you guys out?

spk_2:   17:09
Not yet, but during

spk_3:   17:10
this time we demonstrated a sound system at the Hollywood Bowl. A guy named Jim Gamble had put together this system well. They wanted to hear what it sounded like. So we were the band during the day, you know, nobody there except the chief recording engineer for London Decca Classical. His name is Gordon Perry. He was there and he was impressed enough that he took us under his wing. We went to every Philharmonic show that season and allow This is the season while we were recording our album a couple stories running parallel here we finish all these demos and Russ Regan comes back in Among the demos that we had was nice, nice holding on. And I think it was Mama Frog, you know, something like that. So he heard all 60 songs and we had country. We had pop, but we had Prague. We had this prog strain in there and he picked that. He says all this other stuff is great, but this prog this, you know, adventurous stuff. I don't have that. So can you give me an album of that? We had recently seen King Crimson and fans like that go. Yeah, we can do that. We started doing that. And so we finished this album, and Gordon Perry is there with us, you know, as we're doing this and influencing us and helping us get instruments. And we're meeting every great classical conductor in the business. George Sheltie. Zubin Mehta. You know, that was like our evenings meeting these amazing, amazing artists in seeing these great classical concerts and performing ourselves in modern. We got to play one of our songs in one of these classical. Anyway, Gordon Perry walks in one day with a copy of Dark Side of the Moon and he goes, This is the man holds up the album. This is the man who must mix your album. Now we're going Okay. You know, we none of us had heard it, so we hear it and like course, were blown away. So we call Abbey Road Studios. You know, I believe Joe's on the phone calling every road studio.

spk_0:   19:09
Wait, You just pick up the phone in California and just dial up Abbey Road Country Happy joke. We

spk_3:   19:16
call Abbey Road, Joe's on the phone and, ah, voice answers and he goes, Hi, Can

spk_2:   19:21
we

spk_3:   19:22
speak with Alan Parsons? So you go speaking on it was him on the other line. Hey was working there late, and nobody was in the building except him. So he answered the phone. So we explained ourselves and he was coming over for the Grammys, where stocks side of the Moon was nominated for, You know, a couple weeks he was coming over. So he stopped in, heard the record and goes, Yes, I'd love to mix it. So that was the beginning of the relationship with Alan Parsons. You know, the album was nominated for two Grammys on the first record, some people claim, is the best recorded piece of vinyl in existence.

spk_0:   19:57
Some people do. Yes, I've heard that.

spk_1:   19:59
And then you played on their albums when his

spk_3:   20:01
Yeah, we did. While he was mixing our record, His partner, I'm come lost forward Eric Woolson. Eric. What a talent he used to play in pop bands, and he handled the business, and, ah, but he wrote a lot of the music for Alan. So he was kind of like the silent partner. Use a partner. Yeah, but he was the partner we played on. Ah, the rave in. And of course, it was a big secret, so he wouldn't tell us the name of it if we called it the raver. But, you know, it ended up being the rave in by Edgar Allan Poe. You know that tales of mystery and imagination.

spk_2:   20:38
The way

spk_0:   20:38
Joe described it to me, he said he was. He just sat there and laid on one of the keys for like, 25 measures is the baseline he gave us

spk_3:   20:46
was Boehm Boehm. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb. It just went on and on and on were just sitting there like looking at the guy like kidding. I think there's Joe finally went. How about butter dum bum Boto partner Don't bump. But

spk_2:   21:05
oh, wow, that's great.

spk_3:   21:06
Okay, that's it, you know? So that begin that became the phone

spk_2:   21:10
stolen. And even today,

spk_1:   21:11
you're doing so many collaborations with other artists. Are you enjoying that?

spk_2:   21:15
Yes, we enjoy it. We enjoy it a lot, but it's a lot of work to It is

spk_3:   21:20
a lot of work, but, you know, it's it stretches the band, which is great.

spk_2:   21:23
Oh, yeah,

spk_0:   21:24
Ambrose and friends is the whole catalog of everyone. You want to hear that the yacht rock dimension, right?

spk_3:   21:29
What do your

spk_2:   21:30
Who's your

spk_3:   21:30
favorite? I mean, Michael McDonald for sure. Several times you've got to play with Michael and there's there's nothing more fulfilling. Yeah, Michael Bill

spk_0:   21:38
plays with you all the time right, Bill Champion,

spk_2:   21:40
and we're also in his ban.

spk_3:   21:42
Yeah, Mary and I are fortunate enough

spk_2:   21:44
to be He's amazing to play with. He's so super challenges.

spk_3:   21:48
That's like getting an education. Yeah, with that guy.

spk_1:   21:50
Watching you rehearse with these folks is so incredibly impressive. Everybody just working on the harmonies. In particular, it is just a joy to behold. Actually, one of my first favorite stories with you guys was when you were playing and backing Edgar Winter down in Tampa, Florida

spk_2:   22:11
I don't think I was on that one, but I was on one with

spk_1:   22:14
you or not,

spk_2:   22:14
Edgar Winter I That was one of my favorite artists to play with. To everyone

spk_1:   22:18
they do the sound check. I arrived for sound check and was sitting in the audience. You all did the sound check go through the songs coming off Stage ber earlier, Joe, when it Yoko introduced me to Edgar and I said to him, I hope you're gonna play one of my favorite songs of all time tonight He said, What's that? And I said, Keep playing that rock n roll. This look came over his face and he goes, I didn't teach it to them. And then he turned to the wall and he said, Do you want to go back up on stage and

spk_2:   22:47
learn it now? I just thought that was the most incredibly sweet

spk_1:   22:52
thing from that man. It was It

spk_2:   22:54
was just incredible. He's the nicest guy he is the nicest guy

spk_3:   22:58
wave just on a cruise with them and still is like putting it all out there. He's such an impressive musician that I mean, I think we did a gig with them once up in Fresno or something outside I think was Frankenstein and he was gonna has a keyboard part. But the keyboard malfunction. So he just picked up the sacks and played everything on the sex and you would have You didn't miss a thing, didn't miss a beat. It was like he's a monster, is just a great musician and great guy.

spk_0:   23:24
Speaking of other monsters, when you were a younger man, you had the opportunity to go to Ringo's birthday party. Could you tell us a little bit about that night?

spk_3:   23:33
Well, it was intimidating at first because, you know, I was there with all my idols

spk_0:   23:37
there. Sandy would call him the monsters.

spk_3:   23:39
Yeah, the monsters. Right. You know, I mean, Jim Kellner was there, and, Ah, Elton John's drummer, Nigel Olsson. I sat next to ah Mitchell. I said, next to join alone, you know, almost afraid to breathe. And so the the strangest thing

spk_2:   23:54
about Mae West there

spk_3:   23:55
to May West was there with two bulldogs on one bulldog on either side, just standing there for a long time. It was almost like she was made of wax already. It was like this. Interesting. She looks so strange. Like she was embalmed Mae West. Ah, Joe Cocker was there. But if you wanted to visit with Joe, you had to go out to his limo cause he was too wasted to get into the

spk_2:   24:17
house. So wait. Like, it was the whole scene

spk_0:   24:21
outside by the live. Oh, and then also in the house.

spk_3:   24:24
Sure, it was everywhere. And, ah, there's some party and going on. But, you know, I was, you know, poor little. And

spk_2:   24:30
how old were you?

spk_3:   24:31
21 maybe 20. You know, just my job was on the floor of the whole night. Just tryingto

spk_2:   24:38
Did you talk to Ringo? Yeah,

spk_3:   24:39
of course. Yes, I did. And that was very sweet, because my date who invited me knew him very well. So, you know, we got to awkwardly meet him and tell him who I was. And he was very Ah, accommodating it is very sweet. Yeah, Great guy.

spk_0:   24:53
Wow. I can't even imagine

spk_1:   24:54
you played behind. Ah, Marty Balin up, but Mohican Sun another?

spk_3:   24:59
Yeah, we did it. Several gigs with him and Mary had to do the Ah, she had to be Grace.

spk_2:   25:04
Yeah, I got to be grace, like, a couple times. That was fun. Whoa. She belted out Mary. It was fun.

spk_3:   25:10
A lot of people like Robbie Dupri and Peter Beckett. We've played with so many Dave Mason, Christopher Cross and Stephen Bishop, even Bishop and non for Kohli, what's need is back in the day, you know, you were aware of them. We were on our separate pass. But now when we all get to play together to really pull off their music, you have to really play it heart Feli. You have to really learn it and ingest it. And you realize how good it waas Stephen Bishop Song writing. It's just like it's great. And when you play those songs live, you realize the power of those songs. I feel lucky that we got a second chance to really play that music and really hear it, you know, and really know it for how good it is.

spk_1:   25:55
Who's has been the hardest for you to learn.

spk_2:   25:57
Probably Michael McDonald, because I've been able to sing a couple duets with him and just learning his stuff is more complicated than some of the music. That's just maybe a one for five turnaround, you know? Plus, I'm such a Michael fan, you know, with all the harmonies and the duets and the You just wanted to be so perfect. It was like, for me. I think maybe maybe Bill champion

spk_3:   26:23
too. Well, Bill. Chuck. Yeah, but Michael is Michael works so hard on stage. I've never seen anybody put out that much. So you want to be there with him?

spk_2:   26:34
Like what? You're singing

spk_0:   26:34
harmonies with him and he starts going to

spk_2:   26:36
hurt river, and it

spk_0:   26:37
starts freaking out. Do you start getting like chills

spk_2:   26:39
and stuff? How? Yeah, absolutely. I can't even imagine what that

spk_0:   26:43
would be like. V it up there with

spk_2:   26:44
these. Amazing. And then he's come over here for rehearsals a few times, of course, And it could be 9 10 in the morning and his voice is still so huge. And Bumi, you know, even his morning voice, It's like crazy. Amazing that

spk_0:   27:01
Allen, one time when I was working for Umbro Jha I was in Burley studio and I was setting up some of the live gear for rehearsal and without me knowing anything, all of a sudden Lawrence Joubert walks in the

spk_2:   27:13
door. Yeah, like a, uh, Lawrence's here. Um, I didn't even think I had shoes

spk_0:   27:20
on. I was just Yeah, freeform in it, just like chill. And, uh, yeah, you never know what's gonna happen over at the Tin Drum Studios.

spk_2:   27:30
So true. It's so true. And there's another sweetheart talented guy playing with Lawrence is like,

spk_3:   27:36
Oh, yeah, amazing. We're very lucky because where we live, we live with a call flag lot. So it's in the middle of a block and it has a long driveway to get up to it. We can literally open our door to the studio and play. We've never had a complaint. In fact, our neighbors like anything like that. They say what when we have rehearsal, Sometimes they come out and sit in their backyard and have cocktails, and this is like they get a free concert. It's wonderful. So, you know, with neighbors like that can't lose

spk_2:   28:05
now we're lucky, very lucky.

spk_1:   28:07
It's also interesting to watch you owe Interact on a double triple whatever bill it is with other bands that you haven't played with recently, maybe new way back in the day, or perhaps from meeting for the first time. It's very interesting to me to watch that interaction happen and to watch the respect not only that you have for them, but also that they have for you. And I'm thinking back to, for example, down in Virginia Beach when we did a show with Three Dog Night watch you all just talking to the band. And it's really impressive to watch the respect that everybody has for each

spk_3:   28:47
other. Oh, yeah, well, sure. I mean, they only talk about legends. Bruce Hornsby showed up that night. Yes, and

spk_1:   28:53
that was funny because you all tried to coax him on the stage. Yeah, and he didn't want to go, so I wound up standing back and talking to him, and I think I was trying to coax him to. And we're

spk_3:   29:04
talking with Bruce is probably the most ah, encouraging and inspiring talks I've ever had. You know how he

spk_2:   29:11
why was he there?

spk_0:   29:12
Did you guys still owe money for a gig

spk_2:   29:14
or something? No, no, no. He lives there.

spk_3:   29:17
He lives there. But Bruce used to play in AM brochure for about six months. He was our keyboard player

spk_2:   29:22
and Joe played with him.

spk_3:   29:23
And then Joe went often played in the range. Bruce Hornsby and the Range. And he I played through three albums.

spk_2:   29:30
And that's one of the reasons we do the way it is. So we get with Ambrosia

spk_3:   29:34
how we put that on our show. So

spk_1:   29:36
that's a great thing to talk about. The songs that people think are Ambrose's songs but are not

spk_3:   29:42
well, Yeah, baby, come back, They thought was ambrosia. So I had an interesting story. I played, you know, with the local. The big high school here did some show and one of the guys came out a dad or something came out and cornered me. He goes, I know who you are and I go who and he goes. I want to kiss you all

spk_2:   30:00
over, huh? I go. Yeah, that's great. That's

spk_3:   30:08
me. Oh, yeah. I've been waiting for a girl like you. They thought that was us.

spk_0:   30:13
Alright, Burly. You're a drummer. I heard that Neil Peart took everything that he knew from you.

spk_3:   30:18
Well, he did, Yes, but I got to explain. I mean, we did about five shows in the seventies opening up for a rush, and I said I was coming off stage once. Ah, he stopped being on. Of course he had the big set up and goes, Hey, how do you like my set up? And I go, Yeah, I like it a lot. And he goes, I stole a lot of that from you. What? And he goes, Yeah, man, he goes When you were playing on that percussion, the temps and the mallets and everything on your first couple of records, that was huge for me because I just want to thank you.

spk_0:   30:48
Wow. I

spk_3:   30:49
was like, Whoa, I've been God, Just talk to me. What's interesting about Neil's that I didn't see him for maybe 30 years, and then I'm out at the Drum Channel out here in Oxnard, which is part of Drum Workshop. I was there one day for a filming. I was doing something, and then he came in cause he was practicing. So I hadn't seen for 30 years. And he proceeded to tell me as we were talking, he recited Ire entire set list from the seventies. What? Yes, the entire set lists. And then he started in on the lyrics on every song.

spk_0:   31:22
That explains a lot with that guy.

spk_3:   31:24
Oh, it was amazing. It was amazing. And the sweetest guy, he blew my mind. How literate and how smart and how kind he was. It was amazing. Huge club, great guy.

spk_1:   31:35
I was in Las Vegas fairly recently. I was doing a conference out there. Chubby Checker was there and you'll remember there was the Bakersfield Music Festival that he did, and we all did. You met him there? I met him there. He was so kind. So I reminded him of that. And he just broke into holding onto yesterday and he wouldn't stop. And every time I saw him because we were in the same area of the show floor, every time he saw me, he just broke back into it. He loves you guys, loves

spk_3:   32:06
talking about somebody that can put on a show.

spk_2:   32:08
Oh, yeah, he's amazing. Yeah, let's talk

spk_0:   32:11
about opportunities in the music industry because they come in all forms in this business and often they're just disguised as normal choices. But a choice you make here, There could have been a missed opportunity. So let's discuss Burt back Iraq and Christopher Cross and the song Poor Rich Boy and how it it possibly could have been something else.

spk_3:   32:31
Yeah, when you get caught between the moon in New York City, that song was originally offered to Ambrosia to cut, and we passed on it. You know, I think we only heard Burt Back Rack and Carole Bayer Sager singing it. I think they both wrote it. But, you know, I think Ambrosia was beginning to go through a little bit of identity crisis because we were starting to be labeled this softer pop. And when you're in your mid twenties, you have to wrestle with that a little bit, you know, especially it coming off the Prague thing that we were originally doing, which we always tried to keep alive a little bit in spite of having pop hits. So that one was just a little poppy for us. So it we passed on it. And then, of course, it went to Christopher. Cross became a huge, huge hit.

spk_2:   33:17
Did you guys feel

spk_0:   33:18
that you were being shoved like, once the to pop hits took off? Did you feel like the label was kind of shoving you in that direction after that happened, like they had been keyed onto something and they were like, Oh, this this is what it is for them.

spk_2:   33:31
They didn't

spk_3:   33:32
necessarily dictate to us, you know, demands or anything like that. But they, you know, you could tell they were expecting it. You know, no problem. When biggest part of me and you're the only woman came. No problem. What happened was, um after we had done 1 80 with biggest part of me. And you're the only woman we had dinner with, Bob Regehr, the guy that was really instrumental and as coming to Warner Brothers. And he confided in us that he wanted us to be the prog band that he originally, you know, that we originally were That's what he was hoping for. So we were like, Oh, my gosh, you're kidding.

spk_0:   34:05
Sort of like a head screw job, you know, like, what do we do?

spk_3:   34:08
Yeah. So when we went back in the studio to do Rhode Island, we were of the mindset that we were gonna rock and do more The Prague thing, which we did, of course. Before we handed in the elm, Bob Regehr passed away. We handed in the elm toe, Warner brothers and the basically the reaction was

spk_2:   34:25
there like What the hell? Yeah, What's this? Where's the biggest part of

spk_3:   34:29
me? You know? And I thought we had a hit on there, too, with How can you love me? But the label, they didn't get it. You know, it's funny because that's some people's favorite l'm now from Ambrosia. But at the time, it was just too much of a left turn for the labeled,

spk_2:   34:44
you know, speaking

spk_0:   34:45
of that album, what was it like working with Ralph Steadman for that cover?

spk_2:   34:48
Well, he was great, cause that's a very

spk_0:   34:50
interesting character. That's on that cover. That record there?

spk_3:   34:54
Yeah, I thought it was my self portrait, but

spk_0:   34:56
someone once said about Stedman. Maybe it was hunter or Maybe you said it that he happens that capture people at their just their worst moment.

spk_3:   35:03
He has the innate ability to highlight the one thing about yourself you despise the most on he could blow that up and it's amazing, you know, because he just has that insight into you just being around you. That's his thing, man. Oh, it's amazing. And it's terrifying. Scared to be around him. But I gotta tell you, we went out to his house in the country one day, walked into this huge room, which is his art studio at the far corner of this long room. I saw this thing hanging from the wall. There's a got closer and closer. I realized it was the biggest rat I had ever seen within with us, with a spike through its head hanging from the wall. And I asked him about it and he goes, Oh, you know, I'd like I like to draw it as it decomposes every day. Oh, wow, it's just a new did it

spk_2:   35:57
stink. Uh, not really. You know,

spk_3:   36:00
when you're winging around three other guys all day? No, it didn't.

spk_1:   36:06
You know, you mentioned Christopher Cross a couple of times. Let's give him a shout out because tested positive for

spk_3:   36:13
Yeah, I hope it gets better.

spk_2:   36:15
Oh, I know that. I don't

spk_0:   36:17
know if people know, but we pre record these episodes And today was It's been a pretty rough day. We noted that Bill Withers had passed away today. And, yeah, John Prying is in critical condition with with the virus. And yeah, as you said, Christopher Cross is now tested positive. So it'll be interesting when this episode airs in two months to, ah to do some comparison as toe. Hopefully we'll be looking back and saying While we were so scared back then, hopefully it won't be the opposite.

spk_2:   36:45
Exactly. Exactly. Hopefully we will be looking back. I wanted

spk_1:   36:50
Kier from Burley about your dad and the relationship with JFK.

spk_3:   36:57
Well, my dad was, ah, head of ordinance for the Army. Use a full colonel in the Army. But he was also a speechwriter, and he actually wrote for Kennedy and for Johnson.

spk_2:   37:06
What? Yeah, Yeah.

spk_1:   37:08
So he would like travel around with them

spk_3:   37:10
on occasion. He would be in the in the group. I think they would kind of like give him assignments like Here's something coming up. But my dad was probably the greatest public figure I'd ever seen. I mean, the way he could stand up in front of all the military brass. It's just charmed the pants off him, you know, just he was amazing. I'm whether it had any effect on me or, you know, being a lie.

spk_0:   37:34
Oh, I think it did.

spk_1:   37:35
Did he approve of you wanting to be a musician?

spk_3:   37:38
Even after Ambrosia had big hits, he was willing to help me go back to school.

spk_2:   37:43
Never going t o

spk_1:   37:45
keep your day job, son.

spk_3:   37:47
Later in life. You know, he came to see me play once in. He didn't really complement my abilities, but he complimented my passion for, you know, it's like a nice way. Nice try, son. Kind of thing, you know, But, you know, he was great. That

spk_0:   38:00
sounds like an army dad.

spk_3:   38:02
Yeah, exactly. He was a great guy. He was a great guy in his own way.

spk_2:   38:06
Speaking

spk_0:   38:06
of that travel doing that, you learned the fine art of making Matsu.

spk_3:   38:11
No, I got a credit Mary for that because she has the history on that.

spk_2:   38:14
Oh, really? So, Mary, how did you? My

spk_0:   38:16
question is, is the culture comes from overseas. Armenia. So how do you get it to your

spk_2:   38:23
house? Very good friends of mine that live in a small town called Three Rivers, where I grew up in the country. Yeah, near Sequoia National Park. I had some good friends, which is actually, he was one of my publishers When I first moved down to L. A. His name is Milton Malko Nian. His family were amazing cooks, amazing cooks. And so I learned some of their dishes, and one of it was Mod Zoom, which is Armenian yogurt. And we've been doing it ever since, and it's still the same culture from Armenia. You leave the last half to a full cup of the mod Zune as your culture. So it started from Armenia. But it's just kept going through. That's why we look so good. Well, you know, cooking seems to

spk_0:   39:06
be an ongoing theme with musicians, especially with Daryl's house. What he did the hat, You know, it was like a cooking segment on all the shows, and a

spk_2:   39:15
lot of

spk_0:   39:15
the musicians that I know are really into cooking. I mean, I know Mary is Burley is if you're ever invited over to the Drummond's house and the words Mary's making her salmon come out of Burley's

spk_2:   39:26
Mo three. Answer is always yes, have that American. It could be a life changing experience. Dinner at the Germans call. This is

spk_1:   39:35
how close it came for me. Mary almost made my hall pass come true.

spk_2:   39:40
When it I bet

spk_1:   39:40
you feel knows we were over there having dinner. I told the story about playing racquetball with my wife. I hit this shot that was the perfect shot. Where the wall meets the wall meets the floor. Perfect shot. My wife looks at me and she says, You hit that same shot. You can sleep with Heather Locklear. I get the same shot. Perfect. So now I got a hall pass by I tell Mary and burly this story, and Mary looks at me and she goes, you know, Heather was my piano

spk_2:   40:11
stool. That's right. And her daughter was my piano student. So did you make the threatening call back to your wife? My wife was there. That was funny. That was funny. That's hilarious. It's great

spk_0:   40:24
over there. It's very much a family atmosphere

spk_3:   40:27
Tommy Lee was her student, too.

spk_2:   40:29
Yeah, when she was married to Tommy Lee and Nikki six. The whole shut the front door. Totally. They all lived in the same area, and I just go and wait here. They come here. Well, that was Eva. Did. Heather's daughter came here? No, not for lessons, you know. What you doing here? These are just your

spk_0:   40:50
neighbors, though. I mean, this is This is 1000 hopes, ladies and gentlemen,

spk_3:   40:54
it's intimidating being a drummer here. I mean, being a drummer here because Gregg Bissonette brought his kids over here. John Robinson brought his kids over here for Mary. And it's like,

spk_2:   41:03
you know, can I practice

spk_3:   41:04
in peace? So I don't have the best drummers in the world standing outside while I'm

spk_2:   41:09
practicing. Come on, is crazy. I had four different drummers. Kids t t teaching for different drummers. Kids. I mean, famous drummers. I mean, after a while,

spk_0:   41:18
didn't really think you were doing it on purpose.

spk_2:   41:21
Yeah, he would go tell me when they're coming. Please let me know when they're Cuffy. But even

spk_1:   41:27
today burly, don't you and other drummers get together and give each other's lessons?

spk_3:   41:32
Tremors seem to be, um, friendlier to each other than, Ah, guitarists always seemed kind of guarded. Don't watch me practice.

spk_2:   41:41
No, I think it's singers. Singers are the worst.

spk_3:   41:44
Singers are the worst. Yeah,

spk_0:   41:45
it's documented right there. Both Burley and Mary singers are the worst.

spk_2:   41:50
I could say that, though. I'm singer. OK, I could say that.

spk_3:   41:55
I call it 10 a riotous, you know, when a tender said

spk_2:   41:58
no, the head

spk_3:   41:58
spoils up. Can't get through doors anymore. Stuff like that. Oh,

spk_1:   42:04
you know, I'm a saxophone player. I can't sing and play at the same time. It was that a hard thing to learn to do.

spk_2:   42:10
Well, for me, it's easier to sing and play. When I was in Jimmy Buffett and I wasn't playing keyboards, I was just singing backgrounds. It was really awkward for me. I mean, I could do it now, but I've done so much studio work. But growing up, all I did was sing and play. So my entire life I sang in place, so it was easier for me to sing and play than just seeing. Now it's different, but

spk_3:   42:31
I like it, too. I really like singing and playing were not the mainly vocalists and ambrosia. But we do a lot of projects where we are much more of the singers. And it's great because when you're playing drums and singing, you have the feel exactly where you want it as opposed to, you know, hoping somebody else plays at the right tempo and so forth.

spk_1:   42:49
Who do you admire most? With regard to that? Who do you just look at and go? Boy, I wish I had that feel

spk_3:   42:57
The drummer for the band. Absolutely. Leave on. Leave on Helm One of the best

spk_2:   43:02
for me. Um, I would say Michael McDonald I'd say, Bill Chamblin, Um, Sara Morella's. Are you guys familiar with her? Oh, yeah, Sarah Burrell? A. Sure? Yeah. I mean, she's a great keyboard player singer

spk_0:   43:15
with Valerie. I've done a few gigs with her. Oh, yeah? Asked. She's really good.

spk_2:   43:19
Mary, how did you get into

spk_0:   43:21
the buffet band? Was there like an audition? Or how

spk_2:   43:24
did that come about? Yes, one of my really good friends. Her name is Brie Darley. Now it was Bree Howard. Then I was in another girl band with her called American Girls, and she was auditioning for Jimmy and she said they were looking for a female background singer. Do you want to try out with me? And I said, Sure, So she's the one that got my name into it, and it was a very easy audition. He just wanted He was staying in a hotel at that time, and he just said with his guitar had me and my friend Bree and another girl come and just sing with him. He was basically not just looking for the sound of your voice or are the talent of your voice but your personality to Yeah, the hang of course, exactly he wanted. He didn't want prima donnas he didn't want, you know? I mean, he basically he loved what we did vocally, but he liked our personalities and our personalities with each other to do. You still keep up with them And

spk_0:   44:20
he's I mean, do you ever

spk_2:   44:21
talk to him Christmas cards? Basically, every once in a while, I'll get a message, you know. But with the other members of the band, more so than him, though he just texted you not that long ago. Yeah, he did. It just asked me to be He was

spk_3:   44:34
asking about me, but I mean

spk_2:   44:36
yeah, right. He touched base with me on Instagram and asked how things were going, and it was really nice.

spk_0:   44:42
He's really just a former employer, but it's nice that he still keeps up with with people.

spk_2:   44:46
He was great because, I mean, I quit the ban once, and then they hired me back for twice as much money the second time. And he was they were still nice when I quit the second time because it was about family, not about him, you know, he was always very understanding with That

spk_1:   45:02
must be a 1,000,000 stories of the road over that.

spk_2:   45:05
When I was in the band, it was past his party days. So there's a lot of great stories being on the road, people that sat in with us, all kinds of famous people that sat in with us. It was it was fun. I'd like

spk_1:   45:16
to go back if we could for a moment. Toe Hornsby Burley. There's a lot of misunderstanding about his relationship with you all. Could you kind of explain his presence in your lives?

spk_3:   45:29
We were touring with the Doobie Brothers a lot at one period, Michael might have met him first, but he showed up at some gigs and he was, you know, boasting about himself to us, you know, like trying to it, you know, and we all went out and heard him play with this band, and he was great. Kind of invited him to come to L. A. To try to get a deal, and and he did. His whole band came out. Do you know how hard it is to get people's attention out here? I think moved back, I think. Molo, the drummer, stayed. So he joined Ambrosia for, like, the last six months of Ambrose's. Before we took our one big break. And, ah, he was in the band for about six months. And, um, he was in a video of How can you love me that we shot, which it's funny if you go on time life. You see these ads? You see this clip of ambrosia with Bruce playing, they're putting it to another song. How much I feel. It's like the wrong video with the wrong song. It's amazing

spk_0:   46:24
that was Dave's work,

spk_3:   46:25
whatever, but and then he went on, you know, it's funny. He got turned down by every label And then at last Ah, label always giving up. And then label signed him. And then the rest is history. And then, Joe, you know, became part of the band.

spk_2:   46:40
He was part of the band before they got signed.

spk_3:   46:43
Yeah, right, right. Yeah. And then they got signed and album of the year. I believe I'm like, Yeah, I mean, like, they got the Grammy. And,

spk_1:   46:50
you know, one of my greatest honors of all time is being ableto stand up with you guys on a number of occasions and playing the sax solo and biggest part of me. The thing I've always loved about it is it's not hard to play, thank goodness, but it was laid down by Ernie Watts. And I loved the story. You tell about Ernie in the studio. Doing what? For me. Seems like a very doable solo.

spk_3:   47:17
That's funny. He did two solos that day. He did. You're the only woman and a big part of me. And you're the only woman was almost an afterthought. One take done but biggest part of me. I mean, Ambro Sha has the fine talent of over producing everything. It does we browbeat him to death, you know, like, I mean, he literally was on the verge of walking out of the studio many times. You know, like,

spk_2:   47:42
try some Coltrane try. You know what? We're talking

spk_3:   47:45
to one of the great sax players of all time, and we're trying to tell him what to play and how to play it for him doing that solo, one biggest part of me was probably like trying to get Mark Spitz to win a race with £100 weights hanging from him. We tortured him, you know? And ah, finally, he basically had enough. And we had to piece the solo together from a lot of things he did, and it came out to be a great solo. I think it's a great solo.

spk_2:   48:10
So it was this back in the day where

spk_0:   48:12
you were chopping tape, right?

spk_2:   48:13
Yeah.

spk_3:   48:14
Right. Right. Yeah. So that's all it was, you know? You know, flying it over to another machine, flying it back, all that kind of stuff. And so we were lucky to get that solo. And it was our fault because we really, really, you know, tortured him. Yeah.

spk_0:   48:30
Burly. What is the greatest Christopher North road story.

spk_3:   48:33
Oh, I don't I don't know if I could do it. Ah, and on, you know, for the public. Maybe not. Yeah, Chris North is probably when greatest human beings and the 1st 2 records especially. I mean, he's shown on every record, then Russia did. But he was a genius on those 1st 2 records. So

spk_0:   48:53
he has some pretty famous solos.

spk_3:   48:55
Oh, my gosh. Amazing. Yeah. Lot of organ players respect him for his style. It's pretty good. He's one of a kind.

spk_0:   49:04
Mary, do you just sometimes wanna show him up like pull the lighter fluid out and just do a solo like the keys on fire and just walk off? And just like what? Like right after he tips his organ up and does this thing,

spk_2:   49:15
Because what can you do?

spk_0:   49:16
The road. He would have to run out and hit it with the fire extinguisher. Joe's hair would be awful. A white stuff

spk_2:   49:21
can would freak out. You'd stop.

spk_0:   49:24
I've just kidding. I

spk_2:   49:25
definitely different kinds of keyboard players, that's for sure.

spk_3:   49:28
Back in the day when it was a real B three, he uses a next case three an hour, but the plastic keys, you know, he would play so hard that he would break those things. And what happens when you break an old B three key? It sticks up, it pops up. So you have this kind of jagged many, many nights. You look over the keyboard and it be covered in blood. The keys would be red because he slices hands while he was playing of a key. Broke. You know, that wouldn't stop him, you know?

spk_2:   49:57
Did away, didn't he? Used to push the B three off the stage? He didn't do that.

spk_3:   50:01
But you know, when he got the smaller the XK three, he'll start wrestling with it on stage, you know,

spk_2:   50:07
and turning it side. Oh,

spk_3:   50:09
it's unbelievable. He'll turn it sideways. So a

spk_2:   50:11
lot of

spk_3:   50:12
times now it's back line. You know, an instrument company provides the back line for you. The equipment guy is not aware that this is what Chris does and he'll be out there trying to protect the keyboard in Krystle. Now, now Chris is not only wrestling with the keyboard is wrestling with the roadie at the same time. It's great show it is fantastic. Show everybody's got to see it one time in their life.

spk_0:   50:36
There's never a dull moment at the Ambrosia shows. I'll tell you

spk_3:   50:39
that's true. That's true. Yes,

spk_2:   50:41
and backstage to,

spk_1:   50:42
I mean just hanging out backstage, not just with stories, but when Rick was in the band, he would keep trying to show his knowledge of seventies music and try to stump the rest of us. And his favorite song was Chevy Van by Sammy Johns, of all things and just those kinds of things. Going on backstage is just a pleasure toe watch and have the honor of occasionally participating in.

spk_3:   51:07
It's fun, you know. We're all come from the same cloth. We know mawr of each other now than we ever did. So it's one that we get to share the music together

spk_2:   51:15
with a lot of these package

spk_0:   51:16
shows that we do. It's a really a family atmosphere. I mean, it's not uncommon to see burly come out and play drums for Al Stewart during his set for Peter back it to come out and sit in on a song with the Little River Band. Why? I don't know if that would happen anymore, but those kind of things are very common. It does seem to show some generational gap between the sixties and seventies acts in the eighties and nineties X because you don't see a whole lot with the older generation of acts. I'm seeing that everybody seems to know each other from gig in or from playing in the studios, and everybody's only a degree away from knowing someone else. As you move down generationally, it doesn't seem to be so tight in the community.

spk_3:   51:55
Yeah, you know, I actually think it's a little bit of a throwback to, you know, Ah, a couple of decades before us, Like the jazz cats who were always playing with each other. I think maybe in the sixties, with a lot of those bands didn't play their own music that was produced for them. Then you get into our generation, and there was still a lot of that going on the wrecking crew kind of guys, but bans. It started playing, and a lot of bands they were self contained, you know, they they did their own recording, so therefore we were good enough that we could merge with other people and play with other pans and all kinds of stuff like that. I got to say, Ambrosia is, I think, one of the best bands at doing that. We really take it upon ourselves to be convincing when we play with another artist.

spk_1:   52:38
That's what I was saying earlier. Just watching you all rehearsed vocals is just amazing. I remember one of the Denny Laine shows sitting, watching you, doing the vocals and awesome to watch you guys being ableto swap around parts like that and just make it sound tremendous.

spk_3:   52:57
Well, Mary, so great, cause she's a vocal arranger and she just dictate on the spot. You take this, you take this, you take this. Okay, here we go.

spk_2:   53:04
It's a lot of work backing these people, especially getting back to L. Stewart because you're the cat. I mean, that's quite a piano thing. And there's some of us in the band that do most of the charting and vocal arrangements and stuff than others, and so

spk_1:   53:20
early doesn't do

spk_2:   53:20
that. No burly Burley's one of the hard workers. I'm not going to say any names, you know, but I have to help give people that a lot of their parts in some of these acts, so it is a lot of work that it's a lot of fun, too. It's great.

spk_0:   53:31
We're actually getting to the point we will have to wrap up, but I do have one more question for you, which is pretty pertinent to your pedigree. Um last month, Debra Holland said that animal logic was in the process of making a new record.

spk_2:   53:44
What was that like

spk_0:   53:45
back in the early eighties with those two monsters on stage together?

spk_2:   53:49
It was great. It was fantastic. But it was. It was a little bit of a tug of war between Stan Lee and Stuart, because Stuart's kind of a freelance drummer toe where he'd start off one tempo and end up in quite a bit faster. Tempo

spk_3:   54:03
was a rocket ship. He was a rocket ship,

spk_2:   54:05
but that it was adrenaline. It's daily. Clark is more schooled, even paste right jazz kind of guy that so. But it worked. It worked. It was so much fun and they were such wonderful people to play with. I got to be close with all of them and there was so much fun. It was great. That was post police,

spk_0:   54:26
right? Or the Boer during Yes. No post. It was post close. Okay, so Did was staying in Andy. Where? Those guys hanging around

spk_2:   54:33
ever? No, not at all. I don't even Oh, my gosh. Stewart had some stories about that. I mean, they hated each other at that time. Especially Stewart and Sting. They literally tried to push each other out of a plane one time. What? Yes, that's what it

spk_1:   54:50
not. While I was only in the air, I hope

spk_2:   54:52
No. Yes, when it was in the air, a small plane, That's how much they hated each other.

spk_3:   54:57
So we have to spill the beans on Debbie Holland, Debra Holland, Mary and I. One of the first bands we were in Ambrosia was on a break with Michael Thompson. We became the band for Debra Holland called Debian The Dynamics. We play all the bars around town. We had a lot of fun. That was kind of Mary and we recording each other at the time. And

spk_2:   55:16
that's how we met Debbie. And that's how we met Michael Thompson. You know, it was in the band to

spk_3:   55:21
debian the dynamics. That's one of the all time great fans

spk_2:   55:24
I meant to ask

spk_0:   55:25
before when I was talking to you about the whole first demo tape and all that.

spk_2:   55:30
If I recall, right, there is

spk_0:   55:31
a point in time. Were you guys would kind of work all day in the studio, and then at night you would go play at a gay bar, right? In L. A

spk_3:   55:42
female gay bar. Yeah, the highly a house. Okay, you know, and that's where we really learned how to play.

spk_0:   55:47
Was that a normal thing to do

spk_2:   55:49
in L. A

spk_0:   55:49
like, Was it all any Any place you could have live music, They had it, or

spk_3:   55:53
Ah, well, there was a lot more live music in that day, but

spk_2:   55:56
we were lucky

spk_3:   55:57
because not only was it a great education, and that's where all our R and B roots kind of really started, which really came out later.

spk_0:   56:04
So you were playing covers there?

spk_3:   56:06
Yeah, but a lot of stuff we made upon the spot. It was a far cry from our Prague stuff. They wanted to dance. So that's, you know, that's where we started learning how to play, you know, biggest part of me grooves and al Green and all that stuff. It was a big learning experience in a lot of ways,

spk_0:   56:21
reading a crowd, all that kind of

spk_1:   56:22
structure. Yeah. Is there somebody who always wanted to play with

spk_3:   56:26
that? It's still alive, You mean? Yeah, I am excited mostly about playing with my family now because we have the family band, the Tin Drum family band in our daughter and our son and Mary, of course, and that's probably the most exciting thing for me right now.

spk_2:   56:44
We just did a live streaming thing because we couldn't do a gig together, a tin drum gig at a place called Bogeys because of the quarantine thing. Now we're all here. And so today we we actually worked up a song that I had written for Mickey when he was in India years and years ago. Sears playing guitar make explain bays, Burley's drums, keyboards singing and it was a blast

spk_3:   57:06
way Trade instruments on occasion. And it's the most

spk_0:   57:09
for those who don't know Berlian. Mary's son, burly Jr. Who we call Mickey, is also an accomplished drummer, and he plays with a pretty famous Everly Brothers tribute band, right?

spk_3:   57:20
The Everly Brothers experience, right? Yes, and they they are phenomenal.

spk_2:   57:24
They too are all the time he's been on the

spk_0:   57:26
road. He's been to similar venues. Could I remember seeing the one place that we played? There was a picture of his band next to an Ambrosia poster, so he's

spk_2:   57:35
Yeah, Oh, yeah, played

spk_0:   57:36
some of the same venue. So

spk_2:   57:37
I got a question because we had

spk_0:   57:39
Dave Anderson from Atlanta Rhythm section on the show a couple episodes ago. And he has a son, Stone Anderson, who is also a guitar player, and his kind of followed in the musical footsteps. He's found it hard to break out of the shadow. Has Mickey had any of that kind of stuff like, Is he known Maura's burly Drummond son? Or is he? Has he not had to deal with any of that kind of stuff? I

spk_3:   58:02
think he may have had to deal with it, but he claims his own, and he definitely is his own man out there. And he is. Ah, he's getting offers from great bands to come play, not at the moment, because nobody's touring at the moment, but he's had wonderful offers. His name's getting around and people are touting his skills. So

spk_0:   58:23
D. C. Similar things in his playing that inherently that you do to

spk_3:   58:27
I'll just put it this way. He's the new improved model. Okay, let's just leave it at that.

spk_0:   58:33
He's gonna be playing drums for ambrosia soon.

spk_3:   58:36
Well, maybe maybe someday.

spk_1:   58:38
I understand what you mean by the proud Papa moment. I think that's huge. And I want to thank you for giving me my proud papa moment when in Chicago you let my daughter sit in. Oh, yes, very wasn't at the show. At that point, you let my daughter do the harmony vocals and being on stage with my daughter was absolutely the ultimate high. And I thank you so much for that.

spk_3:   59:04
Yeah, there really is nothing more rewarding than that. And in my book,

spk_0:   59:08
well, before we wrap it up, I have toe We saved the best. Or maybe the worst for last. I gotta ask this question. I don't know if I'll get an answer, but I have to ask it. You know, I worked for your band, and I get asked this question a lot, and it's often not from fans. It's usually from other musicians or people in the industry. They ask about the parting of ways with Dave, and I can never give them an answer because I really don't know. It's clear that the band's moved on without him. Can you at all give any resolution to that question as to why there was that parting of ways? And if you don't want to get into it, I respect that. But I just you know, I I gotta ask

spk_1:   59:46
his attorney might keep him from

spk_3:   59:47
doing eso. Alan, just meet me when you need to. Yeah, So Ambrosia took a break around 83 80 to 82 because the working relationship with our manager and everything, it just got to the point where it wasn't working and we needed the break and it was the best thing that could have happened to me because I met Mary. That's when I feel like my real life really started and we had kids, and all of sudden I really had a life, a life I could call my own. After about six years, Dave actually called the ban to get back together. We kind of piece by piece, put it back together, and we started playing and actually Dave was kind of the impetus for putting it back together.

spk_0:   1:0:27
So this is like the late eighties, when this happened

spk_3:   1:0:29
late eighties, 89 89 then Dave would get these producing gig. So you know he wouldn't be able to make a gig here and there. And sometimes it got hard because it would be like the day before show, and it started happening to the point where we had to keep subbing him out. And then, finally, it was just better for the band to put a band that could be counted on to be there to have any kind of stability and presence. You know, you had to guarantee what we could perform, so Dave had to step away. But that's the band that has grown into the ambrosia today through many twists and turns, and Mary has become a huge part of that. That's what happened. And it's not to say Davis, probably one of the most talented musicians I've ever played with and all due credit to Dave. He wrote Amazing music, and it was a golden period time with we had together, and I'm not saying that will never do something in the future, but that's what happened. And that's where Ambrosi is today. A day was a huge part of the band, and his music still is. I think you have to gather up the pieces and go on, and that's what we did. And actually, I think the band sounds as good or better than it ever did. So I have no qualms about playing in ambrosia and who it is. I'm really happy with the way the band sounds so

spk_0:   1:1:46
and for those people who want to check out more about ambrosia or possibly get a touring schedule when hopefully things will start up again at some point. Ah, you have a website for the people.

spk_3:   1:1:56
Ambrosia live dot net, I think, is the best.

spk_2:   1:2:00
The best we got, right?

spk_3:   1:2:02
You know, it's it's good stays on top of it,

spk_0:   1:2:05
and then people can find out about what's been going on with the band. There's photos, bios. I think there's some videos up there to write

spk_2:   1:2:12
videos. There's that tour schedule. There's merchandise, there's pretty much everything.

spk_3:   1:2:16
It's a regular band website.

spk_0:   1:2:18
Well, guys, I hope that things get back to normal and that you resume your normal touring schedule, and until then, you have all the time in the world to spend with your family and make music and do a live broadcasts and do podcast with me. And I just want to thank you for taking the time tonight to sit down with me and Alan and share a bunch of these pretty hilarious story. Nice of grand. Yeah, it was great. Our pleasure. John Ellen, We love you guys and I hope you stay safe. And I hope we see again very, very soon. Yes, Burley and Mary, Thank you for taking the time. Soft pass is a wiggled wire audio production we'd like to thank our bus drivers can't see straight and miles to go Our audio advisers Microphone and stereo Blair in Music Supervisor Dan Saul Night studio lights by any position Our House electrician's Maxwell Power are monitor engineer Tad More our back line supervisor, a need offender, our booking agents doors shut and lowest price. Our joke writers Darryl B. Pain and Eaten Crow Jon and Alan's I T specialist Dale never know our public relations agent. Jackal and Hyde are travel agents Lisa Car and Mini van Gogh, Allen and John's makeup Girls, Barbara E. Doll and Barbara Seville. Allen's wife, Mary a. Richmond Tillis. And our broadcast producer, Nick. O. Time for Al until Assad. John Michael saying Thanks for listening. This has been soft past. Find us on Facebook at soft past podcast special thanks to blue microphones and the law firm of Shulman Rogers theme music by the Sami on a span. Join us again next time for more stories about the entertainment industry.