Mention Billy Talbot’s name and the first thing that likely comes to mind is the legendary catalog of studio work he and his bandmates in Crazy Horse have created over the years with Neil Young, beginning with 1969’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.
Crazy Horse – Talbot on bass; drummer Ralph Molina; and guitarist Frank “Pancho” Sampedro (who replaced original member Danny Whitten after his death in 1972) – has also ridden alongside Young for some of the epic live performances of his career.
Talking with Billy, however, you realize he is as passionate about music made at home with friends as he is the moments of rock ‘n’ roll history he’s been a part of – perhaps more. Last year’s On The Road To Spearfish – recorded with a hand-picked group of multi-talented musicians collectively known as the Billy Talbot Band – was as broad and expansive as the South Dakota territory Billy and his wife call home, yet as intimate as a woodstove-warmed prairie cabin.
It turns out that the sessions for Spearfish have spawned another project for Talbot, as he and multi-instrumentalist Ryan James Holzer have joined forces with drummer Molina and guitarist George Whitsell (who first made music with Billy and Ralph back in the 1960s) to create the band Wolves.
Visit Billy’s website and you’ll find links to purchase the four-song Wolves EP, along with videos of the quartet captured in the moment as the music was being birthed. Holzer is mesmerizing to watch as he leads the band on guitar and vocals; his body sways in near-rapture, fueled by the sparse-yet-powerful groove of the music. Whitsell weaves his leads throughout Holzer’s jagged rhythm work, finding beauty amongst the ache; Talbot and Molina morph to create that single massive rhythm soul that is theirs and theirs alone; and the powerful harmonies layered behind Holzer’s lead vocals sound like leather-jacketed angels.
The result is some of the most powerful music you’ve heard Billy Talbot create.
Billy was kind enough to share some quiet time at home on the ranch to talk about the Wolves project, old friends, cool guitars, and music to come.
BR: Billy, the last time we spoke was in August, talking about your On The Road To Spearfish album. You were with Crazy Horse, touring with Neil over in Europe at the time. I think either later that same day or the next was when Pancho hurt his hand and you guys had to cancel the tour.
BT: Yeah – that’s right. He broke a couple of fingers.
And the Wolves sessions took place when?
We – Ryan, George, Ralph and I – got together to record some of Ryan’s songs before that leg of the Crazy Horse tour.
We went into the studio three different times during the course of a year – for a day each time – and did the recordings. The four songs on this EP are the last session we did together.
You laid down these four songs in a day?
That’s right.
Cool. Let’s back up for a second to On The Road To Spearfish, for those who don’t know. Ryan was the rookie in the band for those sessions, correct?
That’s right. Ryan had contacted me through my website – he sent me a note, and we exchanged hellos and ideas and stuff. He had four songs up on his own site that I checked out – I really loved what I heard, and I told him so.
Ryan was living out here in South Dakota; I was home at our ranch and he came to visit. We wrote some songs that we ended up recording with the Billy Talbot Band for the On The Road To Spearfish album.
And that experience led to forming Wolves?
Yeah: we wanted to do some more stuff together. I wanted to get in the studio and record some of Ryan’s songs.
There may be folks who don’t realize that George goes way back with you and Ralph to The Rockets in the late 60s.
That’s right. George was around with The Rockets: Danny Whitten; Ralph and me; George and his brother Leon; and Bobby Notkoff.
George was a part of Crazy Horse for awhile, as well – between Danny and Pancho. He’s always been around and a part of things through the years – in our minds, if not in body.
George is such a powerful player – but tasteful at the same time. The songs on the Wolves EP showcase that well.
I’m glad you think so, Brian – he’ll love hearing that.
How long since the last time you and George had played together?
Before these sessions with Ryan and Ralph? Oh … years and years. I’ve seen George; we’d hung out and promised each other things, but it just never worked out. It was Ralph who thought of bringing George in for these sessions – said he’d be great … and he was right.
It’s amazing to watch the videos of the sessions on your website, especially now that I know it was a one-day session and happening on the fly. The music is raw, yet lovely at the same time. The deep-rooted connection between you and George is obvious and great to see.
And Ryan is quite animated during these songs. You can really see it in “Know Your Knot”. (laughter)
That’s right. I remember at the end of that song – after that fierce jam – he’s looking down at his picking hand as the camera fades, like he’d peeled the meat off the tips of his fingers.
He did; he was really hurting. You can tell he’s really rocking out – almost hypnotic.
These songs are just the tapping of the surface as far as Ryan’s talent is concerned; it goes way deep. Every song I’ve heard of his is incredible.
He’s got soul.
Yes, he does.
You’ve moved back to bass for Wolves after switching to guitar for the Billy Talbot Band. Plus, you’ve brought your longtime wingman Ralph in on drums. I wanted to ask you: is there an easy way for you to describe your musical relationship with Ralph as opposed to other drummers that you’ve played with over the years?
You know, Ralph and I have been together all these years and it’s … it’s like soul-to-soul for us.
I just knew that Ralph would play great with Ryan. I knew we’d have it on the first or second take every time and not even worry about it.
I’ll tell you something, Brian: Ralph hadn’t played with anybody since Danny Whitten as smoothly as he did with Ryan.
Wow.
Yeah. Ralph was blown away and really happy with it all. He hardly even blinked and it was over. I don’t even know as Ralph has ever listened to the songs. (laughter)
Really?
After each of the three one-day sessions, Ralph just went home. That’s Ralph: I don’t know as he thinks about it much, which is really great … it’s a beautiful thing, actually.
Eric Haas is the producer for the Wolves sessions, which was no surprise after hearing his work on On The Road To Spearfish album.
That’s right – Eric’s our guy. He even sang with us: you’ll see Eric on the video for “Know Your Knot”, singing the “ooooohs.” They’re pretty psychedelic “ooooohs.” (laughter)
I know that people can’t help but draw comparisons to Crazy Horse because it’s you and Ralph, but if they can’t hear beyond that, they’re just being lazy.
That’s true.
There’s that power there that you and Ralph always generate – but Ryan adds his own vibe to the mix. And George goes out there, but he never loses his sense of melody. He’s improvising, but you can hear him find a little bit of a melody that he’s just created – and then shape it … and reshape it … and reshape it. George doesn’t play licks: he creates a groove and then finds a passage through it.
You’re right; and it works really well with Ryan’s style. He’s an incredible guitar player, too.
I wanted to ask you: there’s a cool story about the old Gibson that Ryan’s playing, right?
Yeah, I gave him that guitar. It’s a ‘66 Gibson ES-335 – a 12-string that we re-strung to be a 6-string. At the end of the third session, when we cut these four songs that are on the EP, I told Ryan he should keep the guitar. He’s playing through his old Bassman amp and my piggyback Fender Bassman … it’s a pretty cool sound.
You’re back on old faithful – your Fender Precision bass with the Tele neck.
Yeah – and the Tillman amp.
And the black Les Paul that George is playing?
That’s mine; I lent it to George for the sessions. When we recorded On The Road To Spearfish, I played it on the title song. George is a Fender man; he usually has a Telecaster – but we put him through a Fender amp and off he went.
He looked pretty comfortable with it.
Yeah, we were having a good time. (laughs)
I have to tell you: I have a natural aversion to videos – sometimes I feel like the music gets pushed aside because of the director’s vision; what he’s seeing … which is cool, if you want to get into the director’s head. But I feel like the music suffers in those cases. However, these videos capture the music being created … what was going down between you all in that room.
Yeah; that was Dan Friedman, who filmed it. Dan edited so you really feel the music. He had three different cameras: Dan was running one; another guy – Tim Schaller – was running one; and then there was a third that was stationary.
The transitions are smooth; it’s edited the way I would’ve expected a musician would edit, with a sense of rhythm and chord changes and the groove.
Dan did a great job; it takes you from one place to another at the right time. We loved it.
So we have these four tunes on the EP; how many more Wolves songs from these sessions are already in the can?
I think about 20. Dan was there with his cameras for the final session, which we released first. We’ll release the rest later on when people know who we are and what we’ve done.
What else do you have on the horizon for solo projects?
Another EP: Ryan and I got together with Jeff Chase and Stephan Junca from the Billy Talbot Band at my ranch out in South Dakota and recorded some new stuff with the Jerde family.
Tell me about them.
The Jerdes are definitely just beginning, in every way. The eldest is about 21, and the youngest of these three is just 16. They’re from an amazing family of talented and beautiful kids, ten in total.
Emily Jerde plays violin and sings on the songs we recorded with them. She also plays piano and guitar.
Payton plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and piano, and sings. On this record, he plays acoustic guitar and sings low harmony.
Eva plays mandolin, violin, piano, acoustic guitar, banjo … and anything else, apparently. She played mandolin and sang on these songs.
We also had Liza Blue on violin and vocals. She’s a friend and neighbor here who teaches music at the local high school and plays around the Northwest as a folk singer. She’s in her early thirties; talented on several instruments, such as violin, cello, acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, and sings.
And the rest of you?
Ryan played guitar; Jeff was on bass; Stephan played drums; I was on the piano. We recorded five songs with the Jerdes, all live – two of mine and three of Ryan’s.
We’ll be re-releasing On The Road To Spearfish on CD and these five songs will be included as a bonus EP. We’ll follow up with some new recordings that we’re going to do with the Jerdes in September.
Sounds like cool stuff, Billy. In the meantime, I hope we can inspire folks to go to your website and check out the Wolves sessions. There may only be four songs at this point, but there’s a lot to dig into.
It’s just a work of art; it’s not an expression of egos or anything – it’s just what it is, plain and simple. It’s out there and it’s up to the people to help it along if they like it. That’s what it’s for.
Hopefully they will. Thanks for taking the time to talk, Billy.
I really appreciate it, Brian. Talk to you soon.
*****
Brian Robbins sings psychedelic “ooooohs” when nobody’s looking over at www.brian-robbins.com
