Jimmy Vivino was already a known quantity when he was recruited by Max Weinberg to join Conan O’Brien’s band in 1992 on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. By then, guitarist/keyboardist/singer Vivino had established himself as one of the most versatile players around and as a band leader, having operated for years as Al Kooper’s musical director. Since then, through the show and numerous other outlets, Jimmy has shared the stage with most of music’s biggest names and plays with legendary blues-rock band Canned Heat. Now he forges a new path with his Gulf Coast Records label debut, Gonna Be 2 Of Those Days.
Joining him for this blues outing are long-time collaborators Mark Teixeira on percussion (Duke Robillard), Jesse Williams on bass (North Mississippi All Stars) and Rich Pagano, who has played with everyone important to the blues today, on drums. Former Late Night bandmate Scott Healy delivers tasty piano and accordion parts, and monster guitarist Joe Bonamassa and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian make guest appearances that will turn your head. While the record celebrates the blues, it’s got a party vibe that is reminiscent of the two-fisted combo of Freddie King Plays and Freddie King Sings.
Recorded live in Pagano’s basement studio, each track just jumps at you with an authenticity and spark that has always been at the center of Jimmy’s approach to guitar. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t slither and slide. There is just enough polish applied to make each part sing without making things sterile.
Jimmy Vivino, Gonna Be 2 of Those Days, album cover. Photo by Danny Clinch.
Copper caught up with Jimmy midway his short tour with comedian Bill Murray and his Gulf Coast label mates (Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia, and Jimmy Carpenter and his band) in the Bill Murray and the Blood Brothers tour to talk about how the new record came together and why Gulf Coast was the perfect home for his new music. (Vivino is also doing a number of dates without Murray). We also spoke about his friendships with people like Bonamassa, Sebastian, and Al Kooper, along with how his involvement in the Canned Heat has shaped who he is as an artist. Like the new record, talking music with Jimmy is a thrill ride and we covered much more ground than this column would allow. But his musical history will soon come alive with a string of East Coast dates that end in Florida, where he once again will join Bonamassa on his 10th annual Keeping the Blues at Sea blues cruise.
It’s always fun to see where Jimmy winds up next, and this time around it’s with another bona-fide win.
Ray Chelstowski: How did you decide to land with Mike Zito’s Gulf Coast Records?
Jimmy Vivino: I met Mike years ago when he put out his Chuck Berry tribute album (Rock and Roll: a Tribute to Chuck Berry). He’d known that I had spent a lot of time with Chuck and (pianist) Johnnie Johnson and those cats from St. Louis. He was living down there at the time and he asked me to be on the record and we’ve been friends ever since. I offered him this record and he jumped on it. First of all, there are no major labels for the blues. That doesn’t exist anymore. And records as we knew them? This isn’t the same business. You have to sign with people who have a good social media team promoting your record, and he does.
And the fact that I’m out there now with him, Albert (Castiglia) and Bill Murray now is helping me get a little more recognition. Gulf Coast Records? Yeah, I highly recommend them!
RC: You have a world-class lineup backing you on this record. With all of the musicians you know, how do you go about putting a band together?
JV: I have bands stashed everywhere and I could go to just about any town and cut a great record. But Rich Pagano is one of my best friends. With (bassist) Will Lee we put The Fab Faux [one of the top Beatles tribute bands – Ed.] together and did that for a long time. I also wanted Jesse (Williams) on board, because Jesse, Mark (Teixiera) and I were the Rekooperators with Al Kooper for a long time. Jesse and Will Lee are top-notch players; almost like Hutch Hutchinson, Lee Sklar kind of players. They are so quick and they can think on their feet. I had been playing with Jesse and Rob and in between gigs we had three days off and we went to Rich’s basement and we cut all of these tracks, all but the last three. Those we cut in Woodstock.
Initially I wanted to just make this a trio album. Then I decided to add another guitar. Then I decided to put some organ in. And I thought that maybe (Mark) Teixiera could come in and play some percussion. These are my East Coast guys.
RC: You recorded at a number of locations but the record has a real “live” vibe to it.
JV: Well it was cut live with guitar, bass, drums and lead vocals, which is the way Jimi Hendrix cut and Cream cut. Johnny Winter and Leslie West did as well, because when you have the vocal going the players react differently. You tend to jam through the sessions. You can’t imagine a jam, it has to happen. When people have me come in and have asked me to just do a solo over a section I’ll say, “yeah but the drummer isn’t reacting to what I’m playing, man.” That makes it feel like it was stamped on. I didn’t want that to happen with this record. So I played all of the leads live and filled in the rhythm.
RC: Given your background it was surprising to not see any horns on this record.
JV: Well, when you work that long with horns and your sound becomes about horns and you go out to play and you don’t have them it’s not good. I intend to go out and work this record as a trio. Sometimes I’ll have a keyboard player or another guitar. It depends on where I am and who wants to play. I was the horn arranger for [Late Night With Conan O’Brien] and every morning I’d have to go in and write horn charts; every day, for 26 years. It’s also not affordable to have them with you on tour, and I wanted the freedom to make the arrangements more open. There are a few tracks where they would have been a great addition, like the title track; it kind of screams for it. But I was thinking of Mose Allison when I wrote that song, and [his style is based on] piano, bass, and drums. I know that there are a couple of other places where it would have been nice to use them. But if I start working with horns I start to have a big band sound and then I’m going to sound kinda like what I had been doing for so long. I wanted to get away from the structure [of] that.
RC: Joe Bonamassa has been making the guest rounds these days. What do you admire most about him?
JV: Joe has more depth as a player than people can imagine. That guy who comes out on stage with sunglasses on? That’s not the Joe that I know. My Joe walks in to the studio with a baseball hat and a sweater, shrugs, and then he burns. He can play any style. I think he has such a thirst for playing that he brings something to the table every time. The song he plays on was one case where I cut the whole track and I left a big hole for him to fill. He decided to do it with slide, and suggested to have dueling slides. So he takes the first solo and I take the second. Then he added some rhythm stuff which is just great. He has a way of leaning into things, and he’s a great arranger and producer himself, and I almost thought of having him produce this record. But he said that he knew that I needed to get my greasy New York friends together and do my thing with no one in my way.
RC: Did you trot out any special guitars for this record?
JV: I used my favorites. That’s my ’53 [Gibson Les Paul] Gold Top, my ’59 [Fender] Telecaster, and a Strat that my friend Jay Black put together when he used to work at the Fender Custom Shop. I sent him a Strat at his place in Eugene, Oregon and he just made this beautiful red Strat out of the garbage [guitar] that I sent him. He took a turd and turned it into gold. It’s my favorite Strat. It was those three instruments [on the album], along with a Danelectro double cutaway [model] that I used it for my slide work. And I have a Martin [acoustic guitar] that Paul Simon gave me that I used where I played acoustic, which was really only on the last number.
RC: It’s fitting that John Sebastian make an appearance on this record given your relationship.
JV: Besides Al Kooper, John is my longest and oldest friend in the business. They are both mentors to me. If I’m in Woodstock doing anything John is there. I so glad that he could make that one session. There was a Gibson J-45 [guitar] lying around the studio and John picked it up and suggested doing this song he had called “Going Down Fast.” We recorded it and it was great. Those last two tracks were done at the last minute with no preparation. That’s why I closed the record with “Back Up The Country.”
RC: Ending the record that way is part of why the track sequence of the album seems so spot-on.
JV: Well because I’m an old guy, I thought about sequencing to the point of obsession. Then when we went to vinyl I had to lose two tracks. I could only use nine tracks. I [had] forgotten about that when we were making the record.
RC: How has your involvement with Canned Heat helped you continue to shape your sound?
JV: I always tell Fito (de la Parra, the drummer and one of the founding members) that I’ve been in the band since I was 13 because my brother brought home [the single] “On The Road Again” in 1968 and we just listened to it over and over again. It was such a mystical record. The thing I took away from my experience of loving them for their entire career was that re-creation of the blues. They took it as a jumping off point and they played it their own way. Some of the great bands like Fleetwood Mac were really going for that Chicago, Elmore James sound. And the Stones, when they started they were going for those Muddy [Waters] and [Howlin’] Wolf songs and doing them pretty much the way they heard them on Chess Records. But American bands like Canned Heat were adding this rock and roll element to things and that was the difference. I love Canned Heat for that.
RC: Your upcoming tour is East Coast-based.
JV: Well we are starting all of the way in upstate New York in like Utica and we are working our way down the East Coast to the Keeping The Blues at Sea cruise with Bonamassa. I’m part of Joe’s team for that and I’m grateful for him having me. After the (Conan) show ended I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew that I was going to play, but this has been a really great thing, and I met lot of guys on those boats that I wouldn’t have otherwise known.
Header image courtesy of Ali Hasbach.
